Birthday Month Shuffle - 7th Edition Day 23

I can still remember the smell of the ocean... the cooling breeze... the clink of beer bottles and the taste of tequila... dancing my legs off when it felt like I could dance forever...  and this sexy song... Rosarito Beach in the late 80's.

The original version was sung by Gloria Jones in the mid-1960's.  It's got a 60's feel.  I think the 80's version by Soft Cell is much more seductive, and that's the version I danced to... real close with my partner.  He was a good a friend, and we had a lot of fun that night in Rosarito with our crowd of college friends enjoying a Saturday night out... just over an hour's drive from the college to go get a langostino dinner with all the trimmings and a beer for just under $10.  And then the rest of the evening spent partying at Papa's and Beer... or the Rosarito Beach Hotel... or one of the other places we used to hit.

Sigh... so much fun... 

Here are both versions, and I warn you the soft cell version maybe just listen to the music because the video is weird!

Birthday Month Shuffle - 7th Edition, Day 8

Whenever I hear this song, I can close my eyes and I am immediately transported

back to that first summer after I started college.

Coming back home for those 2 months.

Working my first real job which sucked, but luckily was just for the summer.

Going out with my friends and not really having a curfew as such,

but more of a "courtesy" come home time.

And hanging out for the first time with that friend 

who was your first love 

and where feelings might still be involved

but you're hanging out as just friends

along with other friends

but sometimes it's just the two of you

and it's complicated.

Movies, and ice cream, and beaches,

and driving around on Harbor and Beach Boulevards

in an orange VW that once stalled and we had to jump out to push start,

or another time we accidentally popped it out of gear while parked and

he had to jump into the car and hit the brake before it crashed into another car.

Young and stupid and carefree.

Where nothing was more complicated than

which 21 year old friend was going to get us some beer,

or wondering if the parents would miss one if we snagged it

and drank it on the beach or

wherever the hang out might be that night.

Years later, I still remember that crazy summer...

I wonder if FL does too...

maybe...?

Birthday Shuffle Sixth Edition - Day 3

I've known my friend Melinda since college.

Just recently, we've both started riding separately

and earlier this year for the first time together...

50 miles, crazy elevations...

I think about her because of the next song in my shuffle:

"Tainted Love" is one of the soundtracks of my college days.

I love hearing it when it comes on during my ride.

It reminds me of being 20 and carefree.

Dancing all night as though my legs could go on forever...

I need that little inspiration sometimes on a ride.

Especially when faced with a challenge like this one:

November Notes, Day 19

"Camera Ready"

I don't know how much time people of my generation think about how the lives of current generations are so different from when we grew up.  Sure, there are all those memes on Facebook that show an item or two that only "Gen X's" can identify.  But, where you really notice the differences are when you look at old photos... or unpack boxes from your college years (mixed tape anyone..?  or better yet, what can I play that mixed tape on...?)

Take for example this photo that my bestie that was visiting this weekend sent me.  Look at that camera... I think this is a C24 camera that used to take film that came enclosed in its own container.  You popped the film in, advanced the film with a roller, then popped the film out and took it to be developed.  Some people might remember the 110 film cameras and rolls that were a much smaller version of this.

I had one of those too.

We didn't take a lot of pictures back then because film was pricey and developing the film also cost some money.  So our parents paid for it, and they weren't about to spend a lot of money on just a bunch of random pictures, so we had to make every photo count.  Not surprisingly, we didn't shoot a lot of pictures.

I still remember my high school trip to Europe in '85.  I took 10 rolls of film with me.  I would have loved to have taken more, but tried to factor in the cost of developing 360 photos on my measly allowance.  As a comparison, on my last cruise I shot over 2000 photos on three different devices including an SLR digital camera, a point-and-shoot digital camera and my iPhone.  I can promise you that about 30% of those shots are probably throw-aways and only about 40 or so would I ever consider printing.  Not to mention the video captured on the PNS and GoPro.

Kids today will have their entire lives documented and posted online.  I have photo albums.  Whatever happened to those...?  I guess I'll have to look into making a photobook online.  Much easier than trying to weed through several thousand images now on Facebook.  

How do you capture your memories....?

November Notes, Day 13

My best friend from forever is visiting this weekend.

One of the earliest memories I have of her, 

aside from how we met,

is of her falling down the slide in grade school.

Someone had dared us to go down the slide backward.

I took the challenge and made it down.

N. didn't quite make it.

I think she panicked halfway down and then tried to turn around.

It did not end well.

Scraped face and knee for that year's class photo.

Almost 40 years later we're still friends...

It's great to have people in your life

who are there to be your memory.

We can still find things one or the other 

has forgotten/remembered.

I'm sure we'll be sharing and making many more this weekend...

Day 22 - Saturday Night Dance Party

What would you tell your 20-something year old self

if you could go back in time..?

I'd tell me to stay in shape so I could continue

dancing like I used to then.

A shot and a beer since I was generally the DD,

and I could dance all night long.

Go to bed at 3, and be up at 8 to be to work at 

9 the following morning.

And, I LOVED to dance.

Still do.. in fact, my best friend commented

that dancing at my wedding was the funnest

time she'd had in a long time... 

because we love to dance...

So tonight, I thought I would share my

top 10 all time favorite dance songs...

10. Ice Ice, Baby - Vanilla Ice

9. Do You Love Me? - The Contours

8. Kiss Me - Stephen Duffy

7. Perfect Kiss - New Order

6. Mony Mony - Billy Idol

5. Just Can't Get Enough - Depeche Mode

4. Bizarre Long Triangle - New Order

3. Tainted Love - Soft Cell

2. Strangelove - Depeche Mode

1. Into the Groove - Madonna

Along with my top 10, 

if-I-were-20-I'd-be-shaking-my-thing-at-the-clubs songs, 

because I think I'll probably be 80 and still listening, 

and probably tapping my toes, 

to dance music...

10. I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - Pitbull

9. Hey Na Na - Katie Herzig

8. Scream & Shout - will.i.am

7. Bailando - Enrique Iglesias

6. Low - Flo Rida

5. So What! - Sanchia

4. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO

3. Jump - The Cube Guys & Luciana

2. I Like It - Enrique Iglesias

1. Work Bi*ch - Britney Spears

Also guaranteed to make me get out of my chair:

Oye Como Va - Celia Cruz

Church - T-Pain

Point of No Return - Expose

Mickey - Toni Basil

anything by Prince

dance songs by Madonna

the Knack, the Clash, the B-52's, Oingo Boingo,

Linkin Park, the Cure, Salt-n-Pepa

some Katy Perry

classic dance music from the 50's and 60's

think Tequila, Twist and Shout, Swing the Mood, Wooly Bully

and, don't even get me started on salsa and Latin music...!

Day 15 - Time With Friends

Had our annual wine and mushroom party....

Still going on.... 

More when able...

MyPod Birthday Shuffle IV - Day 20 - Blue Monday

I love this song for many reasons, one of which it reminds me of drunken nights with my best friend from college dancing in Rosarito to this one of several New Order songs that were popular at that time.  We rocked out to this song and danced our way around the dance floor letting the beverages fill our souls and the music pour through our veins.

I cheated a little bit today, by pulling out Blue Monday because even though it isn't Monday, we're traveling through Oregon and stopped at Crater Lake National Park.

This photo doesn't even begin to do justice to how blue this water is.  It was so blue and so beautiful that tears came to my eyes at how amazingly beautiful this lake is.  I couldn't even begin to believe that I had been blessed with the ability to be standing in this environment and be able to see such a miracle of creation.  Seriously, it's that pretty.

Cheers from the road!

MyPod Birthday Shuffle IV - Day 16 - Beast of Burden

Just one of those songs I like for the beat.

Slow, smooth.

Easy rock listening...

MyPod Birthday Shuffle IV - Day 13 - Something About You

"Now, how can it be That a love carved out of caring 

Fashioned by fate could suffer so hard 

From the games played once too often 

But making mistakes is a part of life's imperfection 

Born of the years Is it so wrong to be human after all?"

There are SO many things I can say about this song.

The song came out in 1985.

High school graduation and starting college.

Meeting UL 2 (unrequited love) who would later cause a lot of heartache

and hardship over the next three years.

This was the first of many I consider "his songs."

And, this one is so fitting because there were a LOT

of games played, and a LOT of mistakes made

on both sides.  I really wish I could go back and tell

18 year old me not to do it.

Don't fall in love.

But I did, and years later this song

still reminds me of a time in my life when I

thought I could have anything I wanted...

Boy, was I wrong.

I thought I would share this version of the song as well.

It came out in an episode of "Grey's Anatomy" and

I downloaded it to my iPod.

MyPod Birthday Shuffle IV - Day 4 - Someday

This song has always reminding me of my friend Melinda and snowboarding.

It's about friendship and the people that are there for you.

The song came out in 1999.  I was just starting medical school,

and I really relied on my support system from home being

so far away and stressed in the MidWest.

I still have the photo in my mind of Melinda and I standing

with our boards on the side of Bear Mountain.

It's early spring so there's just a small amount of snow

on the ground.  We're wearing sweatshirts and jeans.

It's bright, it's sunny, and we're smiling.

Friends having fun.

#1579 - On Yoda

My good friend M and I are huge Star Wars fans.  Aside from seeing the originals, we went to the theatre to see the "enhanced" versions when they came out.  Unfortunately, I was in med school when the "prequel" trilogy came out, so we weren't able to go see those together, but we have a date for December 18th, 2015 to go see the first of the new "sequel" trilogy.

If you know anything about Star Wars, you know that Yoda figures prominently in the series.  And I love this meme that has been circulating recently...

Of course the most famous of Yoda quotes is the:  Do.  Or do not.  There is no try.

But do you remember these...?

 - “Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.”

 - “Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

 - “To be Jedi is to face the truth, and choose. Give off light, or darkness, Padawan. Be a candle, or the night.”

Of course, my favorite tribute to Yoda is this....

Weird Al Yankovic sings "Yoda"

2013 A to Z Challenge Post:

Y is for Yes, I Can!

Day 28 - Thank You

You are a person I can talk to,

who understands me and the words I say.

You even hear whatever's left unsaid.

You really accept me.

With you I never need pretending.

Don't have to be someone that I can't be.

When we're together I feel I'm worthwhile.

You really accept me.

You really accept me.

Thank you for loving me as I am, my friend.

Thank you for letting me be myself.

It's so good to know you love me as I am.

You know the good and bad about me.

I don't understand the things you see in me.

Though you know all these things about me

you really accept me.

Yes, you really accept me.

Thank you for loving me as I am, my friend.

Thank you for letting me be myself.

It's so good to know you love me as I am.

When a person's loved for what he does that's not unique,

cause there's always someone who can do what you can do.

When a person's loved for what he is, not what he could or should be

he becomes a special person, that's what you have done for me.

Thank you for loving me as I am, my friend.

Thank you for letting me be myself.

It's so good to know you love me as I am.

 - Music and lyrics (as much as I can remember) by Tom Franzak

Day 9 - To Be Continued

We had a party today... After a week of stressing about details and two days of house cleaning and prep the party was had... Let's just say I made up for all the stress... But hey, I got my post in...!