Purpose

Everything in the universe has a purpose. Indeed, the invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashion is also flowing through you. ~Wayne Dyer

Winter's soft blanket

  

 From our front porch.

  

Snow-covered monkey grass.

 

 Snow on the trees and bushes.

From our bedroom window.

 

A blanket of snow covers our cars.

Living is but a course in Love

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." ~A Course in Miracles by Wilder Oakes~

(Thanks to Beth M. for this wonderful quote!)

Fire and Ice

FIRE AND ICE

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favour fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice. ~Robert Frost

On your day

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

27 January, 1756 to 5 December, 1791

You are always with us.

I carry your heart

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

~e.e. cummings

Jumping back into the fire

It was just a year ago that I began writing So Faithful a Heart (January 13th, 2009, to be exact), and now, a year later, I'm jumping back in again and beginning the background research for my second novel, Rising From the Ashes, of which I am not going to reveal any details just yet. Several have asked if it was going to be another novel about Mozart and my answer to that question is not per se. Mozart figures prominently in the lives of two of the characters, but the story isn't about him, nor is it set in the 18th century, nor is it an historical fiction. I began the character analysis of the first character last night and will probably spend the remainder of the week doing that for three main characters before I begin outlining the plot. It feels good to be writing again.

Writer's Meme

1. What’s the last thing you wrote? What’s the first thing you wrote that you still have?


The last thing that I wrote was an entry for this blog. The first and last book that I wrote is So Faithful a Heart: The Love Story of Nancy Storace & Wolfgang Mozart. I'm not sure, but I think that the first thing that I wrote that I still have is my master's thesis, but there was a lot more before that, obviously.

2. Write poetry?

No. I am not a poet, but as a singer I am an interpreter of poetry.

3. Angsty poetry?

Doesn't interest me.

4. Favorite genre of writing?

Right now it's historical fiction, but that could change.

5. Most annoying character you’ve ever created?

Elizabeth Storace isn't so much annoying as she is infuriating.

6. Best plot you’ve ever created?

Although So Faithful a Heart's plot was already laid out by virtue of the fact that it is based on real historical events, I had to fill in a lot of blank spaces with information that historical documentation doesn't provide. The scenes at the Baroness' estate after Nancy is nearly beaten to death by John Fisher, I think are some of my best "plot-fillers", as well as the scene when Nancy goes to the theater critic, Count Zinzendorf, to appeal to him to ask the Emperor to commission her brother for an opera for the Burgtheater stage.

7. Coolest plot twist you’ve ever created?

History records a period in Nancy Storace's career when she collapsed on stage and "lost her voice" for four months. Through research, and putting two and two together, I surmised that she had a nervous breakdown and went almost completely catatonic during that four-month period and I wrote that into the plot.

8. How often do you get writer’s block?

I don't know that I've ever experienced writer's block, although I've not written enough to really say.

9. Write fan fiction?

No.

10. Do you type or write by hand?

Type on my desktop computer.

11. Do you save everything you write?

Yes.

12. Do you ever go back to an abandoned idea?

Actually, So Faithful a Heart was resurrected from a story I began when I was in high school. I started a story about two people who fell in love in the 18th century but he was married. She became pregnant with his child and miscarried. I find it very compelling that I discovered this true-life story, years later, that mirrored what I had written when I was a teenager.

13. What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever written?

So far, So Faithful a Heart, but who knows, perhaps there will be others that I will like better.

14. What’s everyone else’s favorite story you’ve written?

So far, I've gotten great reivews on So Faithful a Heart, but it's the first thing that I've written that has had a wide readership.

15. Ever written romance or angsty teen drama?

Not really - So Faithful a Heart, is a romantic love story, but I wouldn't call it a romance novel per se. It's more of an historical fiction based on actual historical events.

16. What’s your favorite setting for your characters?

I love writing about the 18th century. It's such a colorful, opulent, and elegant period in history.

17. How many projects are you working on now?

Right now I'm marketing So Faithful a Heart and have ideas for two more books brewing.

18. Have you ever won an award for your writing?

Not yet.

19. What are your five favorite words?

opulent, delicious, pert, charming, indignant

20. What character have you created that is most like yourself?

I put a great deal of myself into Nancy Storace.

21. Where do you get your ideas for your characters?

They are largely composites of people I know.

22. Do you favor happy endings?

Only if the story calls for one, otherwise it's not necessary.

23. Are you concerned with spelling and grammar as you write?

Not when I'm doing my initial writing.  It's when I start doing my 2nd drafts and rewrites that I get picky about grammar and spelling.

24. Does music help you write?

Always. I usually listen to the music of the period of which I'm writing.

25. Quote something you’ve written. Whatever pops in your head.

Mozart loved the look and smells of the theater backstage. The aroma of dusty velvet mixed with sawdust, human sweat and stage make-up captivated his innate sensuality, and the thick, red velvet curtains reminded him of the draperies that hung in the bordellos he'd visited once or twice. Perhaps it was also because of the many clandestine encounters he had witnessed between so many actors and actresses, backed up against the walls or hiding behind heavy, velvet curtains, unashamedly indulging their heated passions between acts. Whatever the reason, being backstage always aroused him, especially when he was in the company of a beautiful woman.

Exacting the price

But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose. ~ Anne Bronte

Pat, your God makes me sick

Between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest, possible difference–so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the friend of the one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the other. I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels. ~ Frederick Douglass

My heart is with the people of Haiti in their time of deep tragedy and sorrow.

On meddling in other people's lives

Some of life's lessons are the hardest lessons. For whatever reason, I messed up and it has cost me a lifelong friendship. I must now confess that it was my need to fix my friend's life that contributed to this end, and I truly regret that.

I'm reminded of Jane Austen's Emma. I have never really liked that story, and even after reading the book and seeing the film several times, the character of Emma always irked me, and made me angry. Now I know why, for when I looked at Emma, I was seeing a reflection of myself and I didn't like what I saw. (I feel that it is no coincidence that I watched the film, yet again, with my daughter, Lauren, this weekend.)  So now that I've seen my ugly face starring back at me through Emma's mirror, I must take action and do something to fix myself, for a change.

I found a website that addresses the need to fix and found some helpful information. (I'm posting the link HERE just in case some other "chronic fixers" might be interested in seeing it.) Here are some of the things that stood out for me.

My need to fix is driven by the following:

1. Compulsively driven behavior to rescue or help another person, place or thing to be the way you believe it "should be.''
2. Inability to accept people, places or things the way they are and the chronic attempt at changing them even if they are unchangeable.
3. Drive to feel "needed'' or "wanted'' which leads you to become overly involved and responsible in your relationships with persons, places and things.
4. Result of a pattern of getting approval and recognition from others for "helping'' in the past with the belief that this is the only way you can have meaning in life.

 The negative effects of my need to fix are:

1. Run the risk of becoming a caretaker to many with few people giving you the healthy emotional support you need to be a fully functioning and coping human.
2. Experience people moving away from you if they no longer desire "to be fixed'' by your advice, solutions or insights.
 3. Will hand out a lot of "I owe yous'' to those you fix in hope they will be there for you when you need them, unfortunately forgetting that your only worth to them has been the fixing you perform and they will not "come through'' the way you hope they will in your time of need.
4. Might be the one who does all the work in a relationship and, once you "stop the work,'' the relationship will die since you are no longer working at fixing it.
 5. Might have successfully used everyone else's problems to divert your attention from yourself, the only one you have greatest odds of fixing because you can have control and change yourself best.

I'm going to spend a lot of time in deep introspection in order to address this problem. I'm also going to seek to cultivate friendships with persons who are less needy and who will be more available to support me in my own personal growth and character.  I also need to find the balance between compassion and meddling and learn the difference between the two. But most of all, I'm going to work on that pesky little guy named "ego", and put him back in his proper place. 

Thankfully Emma had many redeeming qualities - loyalty, compassion, generosity - to name a few, so in the end, it turned out well for her, for she was able to see the err of her ways and cultivate those qualities that made people fall in love with her in the first place. I will do the same, and only hope that one day my old friend can find it in his heart to forgive me.

Thoughts are Things

Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than material force, that thoughts rule the world. ~ Ralf Waldo Emerson

Equality's Day in Court

Today was the opening day of the challenge to Proposition 8 in a California Federal Court. Attorney for the plantiffs, Ted Olson, gave his opening statement, challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which took away the rights of California LGBT's to marriage.



OPENING STATEMENT

(as prepared)

This case is about marriage and equality. Plaintiffs are being denied both the right to marry, and the right to equality under the law.

The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly described the right to marriage as “one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men;” a “basic civil right;” a component of the constitutional rights to liberty, privacy, association, and intimate choice; an expression of emotional support and public commitment; the exercise of spiritual unity; and a fulfillment of one’s self.

In short, in the words of the highest court in the land, marriage is “the most important relation in life,” and “of fundamental importance for all individuals.”

As the witnesses in this case will elaborate, marriage is central to life in America. It promotes mental, physical and emotional health and the economic strength and stability of those who enter into a marital union. It is the building block of family, neighborhood and community. The California Supreme Court has declared that the right to marry is of “central importance to an individual’s opportunity to live a happy, meaningful, and satisfying life as a full member of society.”

Proposition 8 ended the dream of marriage, the most important relation in life, for the plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of Californians.


In May of 2008, the California Supreme Court concluded that under this State’s Constitution, the right to marry a person of one’s choice extended to all individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, and was available equally to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

In November of 2008, the voters of California responded to that decision with Proposition 8, amending the State’s Constitution and, on the basis of sexual orientation and sex, slammed the door to marriage to gay and lesbian citizens.

The plaintiffs are two loving couples, American citizens, entitled to equality and due process under our Constitution. They are in deeply committed, intimate, and longstanding relationships. They want to marry the person they love; to enter into that “most important relation in life”; to share their dreams with their partners; and to confer the many benefits of marriage on their families.

But Proposition 8 singled out gay men and lesbians as a class, swept away their right to marry, pronounced them unequal, and declared their relationships inferior and less-deserving of respect and dignity.

In the words of the California Supreme Court, eliminating the right of individuals to marry a same-sex partner relegated those individuals to “second class” citizenship, and told them, their families and their neighbors that their love and desire for a sanctioned marital partnership was not worthy of recognition.

During this trial, Plaintiffs and leading experts in the fields of history, psychology, economics and political science will prove three fundamental points:

First – Marriage is vitally important in American society.

Second – By denying gay men and lesbians the right to marry, Proposition 8 works a grievous harm on the plaintiffs and other gay men and lesbians throughout California, and adds yet another chapter to the long history of discrimination they have suffered.

Third – Proposition 8 perpetrates this irreparable, immeasurable, discriminatory harm for no good reason.



I  MARRIAGE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RELATION IN LIFE

Plaintiffs will present evidence from leading experts, representing some of the finest academic institutions in this country and the world, who will reinforce what the highest courts of California and the United States have already repeatedly said about the importance of marriage in society and the significant benefits that marriage confers on couples, their families, and the community. Proponents cannot dispute these basic facts.

While marriage has been a revered and important institution throughout the history of this country and this State, it has also evolved to shed irrational, unwarranted, and discriminatory restrictions and limitations that reflected the biases, prejudices or stereotypes of the past. Marriage laws that disadvantaged women or people of disfavored race or ethnicity have been eliminated. These changes have come from legislatures and the courts. Far from harming the institution of marriage, the elimination of discriminatory restrictions on marriage has strengthened the institution, its vitality, and its importance in American society today.


II PROPOSITION 8 HARMS GAY AND LESBIAN INDIVIDUALS, THEIR CHILDREN AND THEIR COMMUNITIES

Proposition 8 had a simple, straightforward, and devastating purpose: to withdraw from gay and lesbian people like the Plaintiffs their previously recognized constitutional right to marry. The official title of the ballot measure said it all: “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.”

Proponents of Proposition 8 have insisted that the persons they would foreclose from the institution of marriage have suffered no harm because they have been given the opportunity to form something called a “domestic partnership.” That is a cruel fiction.

Plaintiffs will describe the harm that they suffer every day because they are prevented from marrying. And they will describe how demeaning and insulting it can be to be told that they remain free to marry—as long, that is, that they marry someone of the opposite sex instead of the person they love, the companion of their choice.

And the evidence will demonstrate that relegating gay men and lesbians to “domestic partnerships” is to inflict upon them badges of inferiority that forever stigmatize their loving relationships as different, separate, unequal, and less worthy—something akin to a commercial venture, not a loving union. Indeed, the proponents of Proposition 8 acknowledge that domestic partnerships are not the same as traditional marriage. Proponents proudly proclaim that, under Proposition 8, the “unique and highly favorable imprimatur” of marriage is reserved to “opposite-sex unions.”

This government-sponsored societal stigmatization causes grave psychological and physical harms to gay men and lesbians and their families. It increases the likelihood that they will experience discrimination and harassment; it causes immeasurable harm.

Sadly, Proposition 8 is only the most recent chapter in our nation’s long and painful history of discrimination and prejudice against gay and lesbian individuals. They have been classified as degenerates, targeted by police, harassed in the workplace, censored, demonized, fired from government jobs, excluded from our armed forces, arrested for their private sexual conduct, and repeatedly stripped of their fundamental rights by popular vote. Although progress has occurred, the roots of discrimination run deep and its impacts spread wide.


III  PROPOSITION 8 HARMS GAY AND LESBIAN INDIVIDUALS FOR NO GOOD REASON

Proposition 8 singles out gay and lesbian individuals alone for exclusion from the institution of marriage. In California, even convicted murderers and child abusers enjoy the freedom to marry. As the evidence clearly establishes, this discrimination has been placed in California’s Constitution even though its victims are, and always have been, fully contributing members of our society. And it excludes gay men and lesbians from the institution of marriage even though the characteristic for which they are targeted—their sexual orientation—like race, sex, and ethnicity, is a fundamental aspect of their identity that they did not choose for themselves and, as the California Supreme Court has found, is highly resistant to change.

The State of California has offered no justification for its decision to eliminate the fundamental right to marry for a segment of its citizens. And its chief legal officer, the Attorney General, admits that none exists. And the evidence will show that each of the rationalizations for Proposition 8 invented by its Proponents is wholly without merit.

“Procreation” cannot be a justification inasmuch as Proposition 8 permits marriage by persons who are unable or have no intention of producing children. Indeed, the institution of civil marriage in this country has never been tied to the procreative capacity of those seeking to marry.

Proposition 8 has no rational relation to the parenting of children because same-sex couples and opposite sex couples are equally permitted to have and raise children in California. The evidence in this case will demonstrate that gay and lesbian individuals are every bit as capable of being loving, caring and effective parents as heterosexuals. The quality of a parent is not measured by gender but the content of the heart.

And, as for protecting “traditional marriage,” our opponents “don’t know” how permitting gay and lesbian couples to marry would harm the marriages of opposite-sex couples. Needless to say, guesswork and speculation is not an adequate justification for discrimination. In fact, the evidence will demonstrate affirmatively that permitting loving, deeply committed, couples like the plaintiffs to marry has no impact whatsoever upon the marital relationships of others.

When voters in California were urged to enact Proposition 8, they were encouraged to believe that unless Proposition 8 were enacted, anti-gay religious institutions would be closed, gay activists would overwhelm the will of the heterosexual majority, and that children would be taught that it was “acceptable” for gay men and lesbians to marry. Parents were urged to “protect our children” from that presumably pernicious viewpoint.

At the end of the day, whatever the motives of its Proponents, Proposition 8 enacted an utterly irrational regime to govern entitlement to the fundamental right to marry, consisting now of at least four separate and distinct classes of citizens: (1) heterosexuals, including convicted criminals, substance abusers and sex offenders, who are permitted to marry; (2) 18,000 same-sex couples married between June and November of 2008, who are allowed to remain married but may not remarry if they divorce or are widowed; (3) thousands of same-sex couples who were married in certain other states prior to November of 2008, whose marriages are now valid and recognized in California; and, finally (4) all other same-sex couples in California who, like the Plaintiffs, are prohibited from marrying by Proposition 8.

There is no rational justification for this unique pattern of discrimination. Proposition 8, and the irrational pattern of California’s regulation of marriage which it promulgates, advances no legitimate state interest. All it does is label gay and lesbian persons as different, inferior, unequal, and disfavored. And it brands their relationships as not the same, and less-approved than those enjoyed by opposite sex couples. It stigmatizes gays and lesbians, classifies them as outcasts, and causes needless pain, isolation and humiliation.

It is unconstitutional.

Winter Conversation

I listen to you explain the difference
between a right brain thought and a left.
I am distracted by the smell
of cold on your face.
I lick it away like a child
with an ice cream cone
sticky fingers and sweet tongue.

Aware that I have been here before
I pause in your words.
I have slept in this flesh,
dreamed these winter bones.

Waking in the darkness between us
I hear frost sweeping the porch,
edging toward the morning.
I reach for your hand.

What, you whisper, voice hoarse with dream.
My lips, swollen with you, cold,
are silent.

~Joyce Wakefield 

The Confidence to Succeed

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

~ Helen Keller

Blow Thou Winter Wind

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho! the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember'd not.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho! the holly!
This life is most jolly. 

~William Shakespeare

A Winter Night

Now winter nights enlarge
The number of their hours,
And clouds their storms discharge
Upon the airy towers.
Let now the chimneys blaze,
And cups o’erflow with wine;
Let well-tuned words amaze
With harmony divine.
Now yellow waxen lights
Shall wait on honey love,
While youthful revels, masques, and courtly sights
Sleep’s leaden spells remove.

This time doth well dispense
With lovers’ long discourse;
Much speech hath some defence,
Though beauty no remorse.
All do not all things well;
Some measures comely tread,
Some knotted riddles tell,
Some poems smoothly read.
The summer hath his joys
And winter his delights;
Though love and all his pleasures are but toys,
They shorten tedious nights.

~Thomas Champion, 1617

The only bad thing about vacations...

...is that they have to end.

I have had two, four-day weekends in a row and I've so enjoyed them that I dread getting back into the routine. These last two weekends have been filled with nothing but lazy indulgence - going to bed late and sleeping-in late, hot tea and biscotti with Steph at 3:30 in the afternoon, endless games of Scrabble while listening to our favorite classical music station, playing around on Facebook, blogging, finding new and interesting videos on YouTube, and relishing every last minute of our quiet time spent together.

Back to work tomorrow...sigh...

The Year in Review Meme

 I got this from my sweetie over on The Incurable Insomniac.


1.  Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I think that my resolution (although not formally declared), was to start and finish my book. Not only did I accomplish that, but I published it as well!

2.  Did anyone close to you give birth?
Steph gave birth to a great new idea for a new novel! Does that count?

3.  Did anyone close to you die?
My ninety-seven-year-old grandmother died in May .

4.  What countries did you visit?
Through writing So Faithful a Heart, I visited Vienna, Austria almost daily.

5. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Money!  <-------What Steph said!

6.  What was your biggest achievement of the year?
The writing and publishing of So Faithful a Heart (which is now on Amazon). I'm still pinching myself to make sure that I'm not dreaming.

7.  What was your biggest failure?
I don't like to think in terms of success or failure. I strive to do my best in all things. Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't.

8.  What was the best thing you bought?
The first pedicure of the season, last spring. Getting a pedicure is one of my favorite personal luxuries.

9.  Whose behavior merited celebration?
Steph, Joel, Micah and Heather's for pulling together when it came time for us to move.

10.  Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Certain members of my immediate family of origin.

11.  Where did most of your money go?
Rent and utilities.

12.  What did you get really excited about?
Holding my published book in my hands for the first time. I'll never forget the feeling.

13.  What song will always remind you of 2009?
Handel's aria Lascia ch'io pianga, from his opera, "Rinaldo".

14.  Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Much, much happier.

15.  Thinner or fatter?
Fatter. I'm in the throes of menopause. It's depressing.

16.  Richer or poorer?
Poorer financially, but richer in every other way.

17.  What do you wish you'd done more of?
I didn't have time to do much more of anything.

18.  What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying.

19.  How did you spend Christmas?
We had a great little Christmas with our imediate family.

20.  Did you fall in love in 2009?
Over and over again!

21.  What was your favorite TV program?
We no longer watch TV and I'm glad. I was able to really enjoy the Holidays without all the marketing and hype, and not watching the news has greatly contributed to my current peace of mind. <---What Steph said.

22.  Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Hate is a waste of precious energy and hurts no one but the hater. Give it up. <---What Steph said.

23.  What was the best book you read?
I spent so much time writing my own book that I've really not read a whole lot this year. I started Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert but I'm having a hard time getting into it.

24.  What was your greatest musical discovery?
Oh most definitely Mozart's Piano and Violin Sonatas. We have a CD of them that I had hardly listened to until we started painting this house. I listened to that CD while painting and I literally fell in love with them!

25.  What did you want and get?
When I found out that this little cottage had gone up for lease, I wanted it so much I would drive by it every day on my way to work just to look at it again. I was ecstatic when I found out that we got it!

26.  What did you want and not get?
I wanted to sell my Mozartiana last Fall. Hasn't happened yet, but it will soon, I'm sure. Just waiting on the economy to improve.  <---What Steph said.

27.  What were your favorite films of this year?
Probably The Duchess. (I know it came out in 2008, but I didn't see it until 2009) It was an historical fiction that took place in England during the late 18th century, the same time period in which my novel is set. There were some intriguing similarities.

28.  What did you do on your birthday?
I honestly don't remember. We were in the throes of moving then.

29.  How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Early I-need-to-get-a-new-wardrobe-but-I-can't-afford-new-clothes.

30.  What kept you sane?
Steph's love, support, and encouragement. Going for and reaching my goals.

31.  Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
President Obama.

32.  What political issue stirred you the most?
Health care, Gay rights.

33.  Who did you miss?
My brother, Monte.

34.  Who was the best new person you met?
Lori H. - a lady I actually met through an online political action group during the 2008 presidential campaign but got to be good friends with on Facebook over this last year.

35.  Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Don't worry. Let it flow. Surrender. Forgive.  <----What Steph said.

36.  Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

With a little luck we can help it out
We can make this whole damn thing work out.
With a little love we can lay it down
Can't you feel the town exploding.
There is no end to what we can do together
There is no end.
The willow turns his back on inclement weather
And if he can do it we can do it
Just me and you.

And a little luck we can clear it up
We can bring it in for a landing.
With a rittle luck we can turn it on
There can be no misunderstanding.
There is no end to what we can do together

With a little push we could set it off
We can send it rocketing skywards.
With a little love we could shake it up
Don't you feel the comet exploding.
 

New Year's 2009/10

Last night we had our annual New Year's Eve party, and it didn't disappoint. At first we were afraid that the attendance was going to be down, but between Jacey and her boyfriend Kyle (he's a keeper, Jacey!), Heather and her boyfriend, Bryan (he's a keeper, too!), and of course, Allen, Ville (who showed up despite the fact that she felt like crap), and all the rest of us, we had one of the best attended parties in recent years and definitely one of the most fun! The following pictures are of some of the highlights!

Nettl gets down.

Micah & Steph do the bump.

Joel guards the food.

Ville is ready for her close-up.

Micah as Stevie as Keiff.

 

Allen gets down and dirty.