Birthday Month Shuffle - 7th Edition Day 29

Back in another post, I mentioned that I had not gone to many concerts,

and that a-ha had actually been the first concert I went to.

It wasn't that I particularly liked the band, more that my friends did

and it was just a way to spend a fun evening with them.

I can't say I knew any of their songs except for this one...

still it was a great evening with friends.

I love this video because it is symbolic of when MTV was really

all about music videos, and they were still such a novel

idea that singers and bands held contests to create their music videos

and a lot of creative thought went into the video.

A lot of famous directors got their starts doing music videos

as well as choreographers got to show their talents.

This song is just one of many that came out in the 80's,

but I still think the video is iconic of that time...

great memories..!

Birthday Month Shuffle - 7th Edition Day 14

Working off my iPad so not able to embed videos, but I fixed yesterday’s link... thanks Betty..!

I’ve been thinking a lot about my mother these last couple of days.  My cousin/brother insists that he’s being visited by a ghost; might be her, might not be.  I only sometimes see her in my dreams.  Guess because I’ve been thinking about traveling and summertime was always about planning the next big trip with Momma.  So today I thought I would share a post from November’s NaBloPoMo in which I shared videos I’ve made about some travels... and they’re songs from my iPod, so bonus!

Enjoy... https://caldreamsquirrel.blogspot.com/2018/11/nablopomo-2018-day-13.html

NaBloPoMo2018 - Day 29

Today is my beautiful girl's 7th birthday...

I can't believe it's already been that long...

Here's the blog post I wrote on her first night home:

Life in Dixie's Land

You can read all about her first two years on this blog...

And you can see her first birthday video here:

I love my Dixie... 

She's traveled with me all over the Western United States...

And when I travel without her,

even if it's just going to work,

she's always waiting for me when I get home...

Here's one of my favorite photos of her

she's about 6 months old:

Happy Birthday my Dixie Girl...!

#NaBloPoMo18

NaBloPoMo 2018 - Day 13

Music has always been an important part of my life.
I can't remember a time when I didn't have one song or other playing
somewhere in the background.
Ask me about the guy, and I'll tell you the song attached to him.
Ask me about the trip, and I'll give you the soundtrack.
Cycling soundtrack - 190 songs, 12hrs32min

As I get older, certain songs begin to hold more meaning.
Kinda like the song "I Lived" by One Republic.

"I, I did it all.
I owned every second that this world could give,
saw so many places, the things that I did.
Yeah with every broken bone, I swear I lived."

My trip with my mother to Alaska was all about enjoying as much time as we
could together because she was dying of kidney failure.
It also was trying to fit in all the National Parks I could
and enjoying the splendor of Alaska.

That trip was on par with a road trip my husband and I did to Big Sky..
and we also managed to see multiple National Parks along the way.


The soundtrack to that trip was "Good to Be Alive" by Jason Gray

"Hold on

Is this really the life I'm living?

'Cause I don't feel like I deserve it

Every day that I wake, every breath that I take you’ve given

So right here, right now

While the sun is shining down

I wanna live like there's no tomorrow

Love like I'm on borrowed time

It's good to be alive, yeah"

Wonder what the next great adventure will be...

And, what song will be the soundtrack to it...

Birthday Shuffle Sixth Edition - Day 20

You have to admit it... you see some beautiful things while riding a bike...

And, sometimes you just want to listen to 

good up-lifting music...

Like this song from Jason Gray...

It's so wonderful to just be in the moment...

And enjoying the ride...

I love this song so much I included it in a video

I made about our National Parks' Trip a couple of years ago...

which featured this song as part of the Birthday Shuffle then...

Enjoy that video too...!

November Notes, Day 10

"Is Your Personal Life Fair Game?"

I remember the old standard that if you were going to break up with someone, you should do it in a public place so that they wouldn't make a scene.  If they do, however, does someone else have the right to film it and publish it?  Kinda like this article I saw earlier today...

I've taken a lot of plane flights.  And, I'm so happy that you can't talk on your phone during a flight because having heard people's conversations before the flight, immediately upon landing, and waiting in baggage claim;  I wouldn't want to be subjected to 4 hours of the same.  Seriously, what did people do before cell phones made every mundane event in the day something to call someone about?

But given that we're living in an "I as reporter" world where YouTube, Vimeo, and the People of Walmart exist, how can we expect to keep some modicum of privacy when out in public?  When reality TV first started, I think it stimulated that small voyeuristic part of us that was curious about how other people lived and thought.  For the first time we were allowed into other people's homes or lives and saw their interactions with each other, their dress, their choice of dates and what they did on those dates.  

And, I think to some extent, the explosion of reality shows (plus the availability of phones with instant upload to the web) makes it now seem almost o.k. to film or record anyone you see just because it's "out in public and if they didn't want someone to see them or hear them then they should have stayed at home."  Plus you get to make fun of them too along with your friends.

So watch what you do out there, what you say, and what you wear... It's not just Big Brother that's watching...

Birthday Shuffle Year V - Day 30 - Here It Goes Again

Ok I have to admit, I fell in love with this song because of the video...


I first saw it while working out and, since I couldn't here the music, it took a bit of detective work to finally find the group name and song name.  And I added the video to my iPod.  It's one of only a couple I have where the video really makes the song... I just always wonder how many takes it took to get this right...?

Birthday Shuffle Year V - Day 27 - They Don't Know

This was life in the 80's.  Tracey Ullman had her own show.  She sang.  Videos were made and featured on MTV.  Yeah...

This song was first released in 1983.  I was in high school and falling in love for the first time.  I wasn't supposed to date until I was 16 and being in love when you just turned 15 was hard.  A WHOLE YEAR until I could go out!!?!  So this song perfectly fit the situation because, of course, I was going to see my love every chance I could even if we weren't supposed to be "officially dating."

This song still brings back memories of that innocent time and first love that turned somewhat complicated as the years went by... maybe I should have learned to have a little patience, but then my life would have been so different... or maybe not... if you've ever watched "Peggy Sue Got Married" from 1986, you understand that she had the opportunity to change her destiny, and she still ended up in the same place.  What's your thought on destiny...?

Birthday Shuffle Year V - Day 26 - Cool Change

I really miss summer sailing races...

I have always loved to sail, and while I was in residency,

one of my attendings asked if I would be willing to crew

on his boat.

I, of course, said "YES!"

I crewed for two summers, every Wednesday evening

on a J24, doing everything from grinding the main sail during turns

to being in the "pit" and hoisting and retrieving the spinnaker during

the downwind leg.

I created a video of some of the over 300 pictures I took during

those two summers.  And, I took the music that this boat pictured

up above was playing one day when there was no wind,

and they were just motoring around the fleet...

I had boat lust from the first time I saw her...

She's a beauty...!

Anyway, the song in today's shuffle has been a favorite of mine

from the time I was a child.  Released in 1979, I always imagined

myself sailing on a boat, just being pushed by wind,

the feel of the ocean gliding beneath,

and the excitement of uncharted and exotic destinations...

Have I mentioned how much I love sailing...?

Enjoy!

I also used this song when I made a video of our first cruise ever.

The song is the first of three as the video is kinda long...

but then, it was a week long cruise and I took over 1500 pics...

Birthday Shuffle Year V - Day 11 - I Feel Good

In honor of my dog Dillon's birthday,

I am using the song that I used in his birthday video.

For those that don't know me,

I don't have kids, I have dogs.

And, I like making videos of all the pics I take of them...

and posting things to their blog...

Don't judge me...

And, rock on with James Brown!

Day 29 - Dixie's Third Birthday

Today is our Australian Shepherd Dixie's third birthday, and here is her video:


If you'd like to see how she's grown, here are her other videos:

Dixie's 1st birthday video

Dixie's 2nd birthday video

Don't judge me, I just have fur children...

Where Did the Time Go...?

 

 

Seriously, where does the time fly?

Of course, last month we did our tour of

six national parks and spent some time in Big Sky,

and here's the video to prove it:

 



 

Other than that, it was back to work,

and back to daily life and maintenance on our property.

 

I will write more, and I have a LOT of pictures from the

trip to sort through.

 

Not to mention my mother is staying with us for about 3 weeks,

and if that isn't fodder for blogging

then I don't know what is...!

 

Hope your summer is winding down easy....

MyPod Birthday Shuffle IV - Day 29 - Weapon of Choice

Today is Dillon's second birthday, so today I am presenting his birthday video... As the "second child" he gets overshadowed sometimes by Dixie, so today it's all about him...!

 

 

If you haven't seen the original video for FatBoy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" you should check it out as well... It's a known fact that Christopher Walken actually studied formal dance, and there's any number of videos showing his dance moves in several of his movies... enjoy!

 



MyPod Birthday Shuffle IV - Day 23 - Heaven

It's my blog, and I'll cheat if I want to.

We drove through Glacier National Park, and if you've never been

you must go at some point in your life.

The vistas are amazing, and the drive is aptly named

Going to the Sun Road.

I really felt that if there was a Heaven on earth, it's

located at Glacier.

So I picked the song Heaven by Depeche Mode.

I've loved their music since college, and

my favorite song by them hasn't come out yet

in the shuffles, maybe its time is coming....

MyPod Birthday Shuffle IV - Day 22 - Fly Like an Eagle

I cheated a little again today.

"Fly Like an Eagle" originally came out in 1976

and was played by the Steve Miller Band.

I have the Neville Brothers 1996 version which I downloaded

specifically for this video of my husband hang gliding:

I have a number of songs like this.
Just needed the right song, and I didn't have it
so I downloaded it.
I don't mind when it comes around.

I thought of it today because I saw two bald eagles
on our trip through Idaho and into Montana.
I couldn't get any pics of them because it was from the road,
but I did get this pic of one of the sculptures in
Libby, Montana.

You know, when you take the road less traveled,
sometimes you see the most amazing things...

MyPod Birthday Shuffle IV - Day 21 - Walking on the Sun

We're in Washington!

"Walking on the Sun" by Smashmouth

has got to be one of my all-time favorites.

It's got the beat.

It's got the great lyrics.

It's the total package.

I tried to find the video I remember most

which was of one episode of "ER"

"Carter's Choice" I think,

where Carter walks into the hospital

with this song playing as he walks.

Couldn't find it, so here's the original video...

Enjoy....!

My Husband, the Dare Devil

I love to sail, and for a while in residency, I crewed on a J-24 during the summer

races on Lake Erie just off Buffalo, NY.  Almost falling into the drink as we made an

emergency tack to avoid a collision is about as exciting as I want my sports to be...

Unless you count snowboarding, which I did do for several seasons,

the longest being during our stay in Boston from 2004 to 2005.

Nothing like going down a mountain in 30 degree weather

and hoping you don't hit a tree... or fall off the ski lift

in spectacular fashion in front of everyone...

No, I like my sporting life to be tame.

And, then there's my husband.

When I first met him, he was a windsurfer.

Soon, I was learning the language of windsurfers,

and when we finally moved together to Minnesota,

I learned about the windsurfer widow's life:

trips to places to windsurf

hooking up the equipment

tearing down the equipment

etc.

I tried it once.

Fell into the water multiple times.

Decided I'd rather be a spectator.

Then he decided to kick it up a notch.

Kite boarding.

Snow kiting in the winter.

Kite surfing in the summer.

A lot more speed and excitement for him

with less equipment to have to haul around.

And trips like our honeymoon meant kite surfing for him

and white sandy beaches for me.

A win-win.

Then we moved to California,

and he found the next thrill...

hang gliding...

I can honestly say, that there was a lump in my throat

on the first day I saw him voluntarily launch himself off a cliff

and into the air.

I'm a medical doctor.

An ER physician.

I've seen people on their worst days,

so I know what can happen.

Until that moment, I didn't think about it 

happening to him.

And, now, three years and many many flights later,

the lump isn't so bad.

I still hold my breath as he takes off,

and say a silent prayer to the God who protects

drunks and small children that my husband has a good flight

and comes back to the ground in one piece.

Getting my ham radio license has made it a bit easier. (KK6FZZ, btw)

I can now provide ground support with weather reports

and instant communication while he's up in the air.

But still, having taken care of three of his fellow pilots

in the ED while on duty, I know there's always a risk.

Of course, there's a risk getting out of the bathtub,

or crossing the street, or sitting in a parked car.

But, those aren't as fun as flying along with jet planes

and eagles...

or so he tells me....

Here's a link to his first blog post:

Jerry's Lite Air Adventure Blog

which, after I read it made my lump in my throat come back...

along with the video I created from our

Memorial Day Weekend trip to, where..?

Oh, yeah, go hang gliding...

Christmas Countdown - #2 - Little Drummer Boy

There are some images that just get stuck in your head, and this version of "Little Drummer Boy" is permanently etched into my brain.

It's from the TV series "West Wing," and Toby Ziegler arranges a military burial for a homeless vet that died from exposure at the Vietnam Memorial wearing a coat that Zeigler donated to charity.

Tears, chills, this scene does it to me every time...

That's why it's my #2.

I hope this Christmas Eve finds you and your loved ones safe, warm and protected.

Christmas Countdown - #7 - Wizards of Winter

Before I saw the original video many years ago, 

I had never ever heard of Trans Siberian Orchestra. 

Now I am a fan. 

I still love this song. 

Love, love, love this video. 

And can't wait to be able to create my own light display like this...  

I keep dreaming... 

and collecting lights...

Day 29 - Happy Birthday, Dixie!

Many of you know that I have two dogs, Dixie and Dillon.  They are Australian Shepherds, and today Dixie celebrates her 2nd birthday!  Since I have no children, and my dogs are like my kids, and since I am the world's greatest Pet Parent Geek, I have made a video for Dixie's birthday... again...




Yeah, just like I did last year...




Don't judge me...