musical monday: motivation

(NB: I just discovered this post draft sitting around on my WordPress dashboard. I had no idea that I hadn’t published yet, so here it is now, for your enlightenment. I’ve already added two new songs to the list since I originally wrote the post, so I added those at the end of the list.)

I have recently started reading Og Mandino’s book The Greatest Salesman in the World three times a day. I find it a great motivator, to get me ready for the day and remind me to work my hardest. (See my new blog, The Year of Og, for more information about Og, the book, and my thoughts and experiences with it.)

Actually, I frequently listen to Og reading the scrolls from the book, which I have on both my computer and my iPod. I appreciate the extra flexibility that the audio recordings offer me: I can listen in the car, on the treadmill, or while getting ready in the morning. So a while ago, I created a whole playlist to listen to, with my current Og “reading” and several other songs that help me feel motivated and ready to take on the world. That way, when I’m finished listening to Og, I keep getting motivated, rather than switching over to the radio and who-knows-what.

So this week, I decided to share my “daily motivation” playlist with you, along with a few notes about each song.

• “Unwritten” (Natasha Bedingfield) “Feel the rain on your skin! No one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in. No one else, no one else can speak the words on your mind.” Ah, so great! This one is currently my favorite, just because it syncs so well with my Og reading for the month, which you can read about on my Og blog.
• “Time of My Life” (David Cook) Last year’s American Idol winner is amazing, IMHO. I love the line in this song that says, “I’ll taste every moment and live it out loud.” It reminds me, in some ways, of the next song …
• “Little Wonders” (Rob Thomas) This song always makes me think of my newest favorite movie, Meet the Robinsons and the injunction to Keep Moving Forward. It also makes me think about the small moments in my life and how they are the foundation of my entire life. Which helps me remember to live each moment in the way that I want to live my overall life.
• “Good Vibrations” (The Beach Boys) Not exactly a motivational song, but it reminds me of a fabulous speech that Del Hargis gave last December, in which he talked about the fact that everything is energy and about the vibrations that that energy gives off. Helps me focus on creating good vibrations with my thoughts, which then  attract other good vibrations into my life.
• “Butterflies & Hurricanes” (Muse) You know I can’t create a playlist without Muse, right? This one reminds me, somehow, that it’s up to me to create the life I want.
• “I’m Still Standing” (Elton John) My old roommate and super-close friend once said I was a “closet Elton John fan.” I do like him, and this song also reminds me that I’m still going, even after some kind of crappy things that have happened — which, in turn, motivates me to keep going once more, even if I’m in the middle of something pretty crappy at the moment.
• “We Are the Champions” (Queen) Need I say more?
• “Typical” (Mute Math) Another one that reminds me of Del Hargis last December, since he played it for us then. I love that line, “Can I break the spell of the typical?” It helps me remember that if I want different results, I have to do something different.
• “Through Heaven’s Eyes” (Brian Stokes Mitchell) This song, from The Prince of Egypt, reminds me that even if my life seems insignificant, it is part of the great tapestry of the world, and that without me the pattern wouldn’t be complete. And, naturally, it also makes me think of how Heavenly Father views me and whether I’m progressing in the way that He and I both know I can.
• “When You Believe” (David Archuleta) Also from The Prince of Egypt, this song has long had the ability to make me cry when I’m in just the right mood. I love thinking about the Israelites crossing through the Red Sea, and all the miraculous that symbolizes in my own life. And I like Archie a lot, so I chose to use his version from season 7 of American Idol last year.
• “Eye of the Tiger” (Survivor) Another classic motivation song. Sometimes I actually throw a couple of fake punches, just to get in the mood! This one also reminds me of high school, when they would pump it through the PA system once a year when we were set to play our cross-town rivals, the Tigers.
• “America” (Neil Diamond) I got this from an iTunes Essentials playlist about change. I’m not particularly a Neil Diamond fan, but I have always liked this song. It makes me think of my ancestors, and so many others, who gave up their entire lives for the hope of a better one. And I think: If they could do it, so can I. I might not have to emigrate from my homeland, but there are plenty of other things I need to leave behind. I also like all the “Today!”s in the chorus, which remind me that I have to act now if I am going to accomplish anything.
• “The Impossible Dream” (Brian Stokes Mitchell) This is definitely my favorite version of this classic song. It might seem a little corny, but I really love the lyrics of this song. If I really think–I mean, really … think–about what it’s talking about, it can give me chills. I think that we are all meant to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks in this life, and this song reminds me that “the world will be better for this: that one man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage” to do one of those impossible things.
• “Give Me the Simple Life” (Jamie Cullum) Another great song from Meet the Robinsons. I’d never heard of Jamie Cullum until I saw that film, but I really love his voice. And I like this song’s up-beat, cheery rhythm, and the matching lyrics. “I dont believe in / frettin’ or grievin’ / Why mess around with strife?” Why, indeed? The longer I live and “the more I see of the world” (as Elizabeth Bennett would say), the more convinced I am that all I want is the simple life; I find great power in simplicity.

There you have it! I’d love to expand this playlist, so if any of you have suggestions about other songs that you find motivating, drop me a line!

 

musical monday: mormon folk songs and hymns

I have been thinking a lot about the Mormon pioneers in the last week or so and–while this is by no means an exhaustive list–I wanted to share a few of the songs that always remind me of them. Only one of them, so far as I know, is strictly a Mormon folk song, but the others, as I said, remind me of the Mormon pioneers crossing the plains.

First are two songs that I know from the BYU Men’s Choir: “We’ll Shout and Give Him Glory,” and “Whoa, Haw, Buck and Jerry Boy.” You can listen to “We’ll Shout and Give Him Glory” on YouTube, though the video has nothing whatever to do with going to Zion, shouting and giving glory, or the BYU Men’s Choir. Oh, well. “Whoa, Haw, Buck and Jerry Boy,” on the other hand, is nowhere to be found online (at least not that I can tell), and I am sadly unable to upload it to my blog. This song was written by Mormons, for Mormons, about Mormons. I love so many things about the words, and I especially like the thought of my pioneer ancestors singing things like this to try and keep their spirits up while they walked or pulled handcarts to Salt Lake Valley.

Next is a song I first heard performed by the BYU Men’s Choir, but have since been unable to ever find a recording of it by them. I do, though, have a recording by the BYU-Idaho Men’s Choir, in which my brother was singing at the time.  “Whistle, Maggie, Whistle” is apparently beloved as a comic choral song, particularly in men-only choruses. There are a few versions available on YouTube, such as this one (although I think the BYU-I version is vastly superior). I’m not sure this song even existed when the pioneers were crossing the plains, but it still reminds me of them nonetheless.

Finally is a beautiful folk hymn that is widely known as a standard of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. “Bound for the Promised Land” (YouTube) is a classic American folk hymn, and I find the MoTab version particularly stirring–so much so that it often brings tears to my eyes. I can’t help but think of my pioneer ancestors and their feeling that they were, in literal truth, bound for the Promised Land–which then always makes me think of my own journey through life and my own quest for the Eternal Promised Land.

Below are the lyrics for all of these songs. Enjoy!

 

dance music

OK, I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted anything on here. A part of me feels like I should apologize, but the rest of me doesn’t; I’ve been really busy getting some very important things settled in my life, and setting wheels in motion for other things. And that means that I’ve been pushing my blog to the back burner.

But tonight, I really wanted to share something about my new exercise discovery. See, I recently rented the movie Strictly Ballroom to watch with my sister. I’ve always loved the scene where Scott and Fran are dancing cha-cha to Doris Day’s “Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps” behind the curtain while the competition is going on in front of the curtain. Well, when the movie was over and I took it out and went downstairs to my own room, I found myself almost involuntarily dancing cha-cha while I walked. It made me remember just how much I enjoy dancing. I’ve never particularly been a performer, especially when it comes to physical things, and that’s mostly what has intimidated me about dance. But I love music and have a natural feel for the rhythms, and dancing is just one more way to appreciate both.

So, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could dance every day for my cardiovascular exercise?” And then I thought, “Surely someone must have made an exercise DVD like that.” So I looked it up online — and then I thought to myself, “Indeed they have! And don’t call me Shirley.” The only problem was, that I couldn’t afford to buy the DVD at the time; but the next I had an epiphany, and I found the DVDs I was interested in on Netflix! The first one came about a week ago, and I’ve used it for my daily exercise almost every day since then. And I love it!! It’s hosted by Lisa Rinna: Dance Body Beautiful, Disc 1 – Jive Jump Ballroom Bump. This particular DVD includes jive, cha-cha, salsa, and disco. I knew that I loved cha-cha already, but I was shocked by how much I love dancing disco! It’s a really simple dance, and I have so much fun rolling my hands and pointing my arm up in the air! It’s great.

Anyway, I wanted to ask for help. Today I took about a half-hour and pulled together a quick, short list of songs already on my computer that I can use to dance these dances. I had tons of appropriate jive music, and the cha-cha list is growing every time I listen to my music … but I still need some more songs for both cha-cha and disco. Any thoughts about songs I would be likely to own that would also be good for dancing cha-cha or disco?

I’m really wishing that I had “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. Alas, alack.

 

musical monday: sarah mclachlan

Sarah McLachlan has been around for quite a while, and it’s not like I’m saying anything new here. But the other day while driving home from work, “Angel” came on the radio, and it just reminded me of how much I enjoy her. I love her vocals–they’re gentle yet compelling–and I think she’s a great lyricist as well. “Angel” always particularly affects me–not sure exactly why, but it just touches something unusual in me. My favorite line: “Keep on building the lie that you make up for all that you lack.”

Learn more:

• visit Sarah McLachlan’s official website
• read the lyrics to “Angel” at the official website
• read about Sarah McLachlan at the All Music Guide
• read about Sarah McLachlan at Wikipedia

 

randomness

While I love Idaho in many ways, I have found that I’m not so fond of snow as I remembered.

While I don’t love snow as much as I thought I did, I’m getting used to it.  And I still prefer it to heat.

As long as I’m on the weather–in many ways, I miss the great rain-storms in Texas.

I am more than curious to see how events will unfold after President Hinckley’s funeral (which I’m currently watching).  Who will serve as counselors to President Monson?  When will the announce the re-constitution of the Quorum of the First Presidency?  What will President Monson’s administration be like?  How will his General Conference talks change?

I’m frequently disturbed by the mis-representation of the quote that starts, “Anyone who imagines bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around and shouting that he has been robbed.”  While I love this quote, I’m frustrated that people don’t recognize that President Hinckley did not say this.  Rather,  he quoted it from an article in the Deseret News from 1973.  If you’d like to read the quote in full, take a look at the following article (just one of many in which President Hinckley used it): “A Conversation with Single Adults.”

I love teaching at BYU-Idaho.   I can expect so much more from my students than I could at a state university.  Plus, I don’t have to avert my eyes when talking to my students (because they all dress modestly); I can talk about the Gospel openly (which is nice, since it’s a strong vein in my thinking); and I actually feel like I’m a real member of the faculty (which I never really did at UNT).

I would be willing to teach full-time at BYU-Idaho, at least for a few years.  Especially if I could teach some linguistics-related classes, like History of the English Language.

If Sen. John McCain wins the nomination as the presidential candidate for President, disaster will soon follow in the Republican Party.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it caused a major party-shift.

If McCain wins the nomination, I refuse to vote for him.  I will write in Mitt Romney as my choice for President.

I’m on tenter-hooks, waiting to see how things come out in the many primaries and caucuses on “Super Tuesday” (Feb. 5).

I’m wonderfully grateful for the in-depth coverage that has been given to this presidential race.

Although I love my new PC laptop, I still wish I’d gotten a Mac.  *sigh*

While I appreciate the great love that members of the Church–and especially the youth–have had for President Hinckley, I don’t quite “get” the deep sadness at his passing.  I have no doubt that he is much happier now than he has been for some time.  Meanwhile, the Church will move on here on the earth, and can only progress.  What is there to be sad about?  (I don’t mean to trivialize the grief of so many, I am merely expressing my own feelings on this occasion.)

I didn’t realize until just recently that there was some lag-time between the passing of the President of the Church and the re-constitution of the Quorum of the First Presidency, even after Brigham Young had cleared up the succession problem.

One of the most destructive weapons against the productive use of our time is the invention of decent computer games.  I am currently obsessed with Jojo’s Fashion Show, and a few weeks ago was obsessed with Chocolatier.  Now I can hardly stand not being able to play Chocolatier 2.  And I am addicted to the 60-minute trial scheme.

I have been trying to work up the courage to leave the country for a few years as soon as I finish my doctoral degree.  I’d love to teach English abroad, perhaps in Mongolia or Jordan, perhaps through the Peace Corps or the BYU Kennedy Center for International Studies.  And I frequently think that I’d like to learn a “less-commonly-taught” language like Arabic, Hebrew, or Bengalese and then work as a contract linguist for the FBI and/or NVTC (National Virtual Translation Center).

The BYU-I English Department Secretary recently emailed all the faculty, asking for some help with a special project.  They are collecting favorite one-liner quotes from our favorite authors.  *chuckle*  I think I can do that.  My pick of my favorite favorite quotes ended up at about 2-1/2 pages.

I recently bought the actual album of Muse’s Black Holes and Revelations.  Not just the downloaded version, but the real-life CD, which I can now keep in my car and listen to whenever I want.  Oh, joy!

A few weeks ago, Mom and I watched the movie Dan in Real Life.  I loved it!  From the previews, I thought it was going to be a screwball comedy.  It wasn’t.  And it was so much better than I had expected.  Even if you’re not a Steve Carrell fan, I highly recommend it.  And if you are a Steve Carrell fan,  I still recommend it, as it’s an unusual example of his dramatic acting skills.

 

musical monday: bed-time songs

During the past two weeks, as I’ve been watching my nieces, I’ve spent a lot of time putting the Princess to bed.  (NB: I’ve changed aliases for the girls, so The Big One is now called “the Queen” and The Little One is now “the Princess.”)  I’ve always liked this job the best out of all parenting-type work, and I especially love to sing a song or two to get little ones settled.  So this week’s Musical Monday is about my favorite bed-time songs.

5. Church songs Any number of Primary songs make great bed-time songs, as well as a few of the hymns.  My two favorites are “Teach Me To Walk In The Light” and “I Am A Child Of God.”  For a little variety, I like to sing the latter in German sometimes.

4. “The Very Thought of You” Although I love the melody of this for bed-time, I tend to avoid it, since I find it hard to find the right range and inevitably end up getting too high or too low.

3. “L-O-V-E” A classic.  It teaches kids to spell while softly lulling them to sleep.

2. Rosemary Clooney songs I love Rosemary’s voice, and her song choices make wonderful lullabyes.  I do, of course, avoid “This Ole House” and “Come On-A My House,” but others I embrace: “Blues In The Night,” “The Man That Got Away,” “I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good,” “Shine On, Harvest Moon” … the list goes on.

1. “Bye Bye Blackbird” I first heard of this as a bed-time song from the movie Sleepless in Seattle, and I hated it.  Couldn’t stand the Joe Cocker version they used in the movie.  Years later, though, I heard the Rosemary Clooney version (way before Joe Cocker’s time), and I fell in love with it.

 

squeaky clean music

I’m really frustrated, because I spent a good, long time updating my blog earlier, but before I could get it published, Firefox malfunctioned and had to close down.

This morning I finished the two-day task of cleaning out my music files. I had collected about 15 gigs of music, and since I only have about 25G on my hard drive, I figured it was time to get rid of some of it. It’s now down to about 11G. The task is not complete yet, since I still plan burn some music onto CDs (stuff like Christmas music that I don’t listen to a lot but still want), but it sure feels good to have that much of it done.

I’ve been feeling really awful the last few days, with a terrbile cold. At least I think it’s a cold, but it’s quite different from my usual cold. Yesterday I even had my home teachers come over to give me a blessing. I felt silly getting a blessing for a cold, but it has seemed to help — I feel a lot better today.

Right now I’m watching Going My Way with Bing Crosby on TCM. Bing is the star of the month, but I’ve seen very little on TCM with him in it. Tonight, though, they’re showing three of his classic films, including Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary’s. It’s making me pine for some Road to movies.

The last quote was from The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Acting is acting like you’re not acting! (28 points)