A Day for Love Songs

Two Thoughts for Tuesday

Thought #1  Picking a Perfect Love Song

I am a person that likes to listen to the words of songs.  Call me crazy (and I know you do) but I like songs that have a message, a story...something that is heartfelt.

What sent me down this path of finding a nice love song,  was the fact that I was in the car listening to some of the more modern, trendy songs that incorporate sweet sentiments like "tap that" and "gonna do ya" when it occurred to me that surely there are songs out there that are meant to woo a girl.  It was evident  by the time I was listening to LMFAO's lyrics of "I have passion in my pants and I aint afraid to show it" that perhaps professing one's  love  through music must be  passe.    (Note: It might also be pointed out that we aren't supposed to take advice about romance from a group that names their band after the anagram for Laughing my f******* ass off.)

So, for the sake of Valentine's Day, I was on the hunt for some nice love songs. How hard could this be????

As I am Googling through some of the 65 million possible websites that come up for "great love songs" I find some of them are, in fact, about love of country, love of God, love of partying, love of drugs, love of Rock and Roll and all manner of love. I narrow my quest to only songs that are professing love or lust for another person".    Still this is proving to be more difficult than one would imagine.  

On many of the "top love song" sites, there are lists of possibilities.  Unfortunately, no two lists come close to naming the same songs. 

According to a website out of  Wedding Central, a website out of Australia  the #1 love song of all time is Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On.

According to Stereo Gum it is My Girl by the Temptations.

According to About.com it is Something by the Beatles.

According to DigitalDreamDoor it is I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston  (NOTE:  I wrote this post prior to Whitney Houston's passing, but it must be said she had some beautiful songs...loves songs among them.  This particular song is among the great love songs.)

I suspect the "greatest" love song for each person is unique.  It would have to be a song that touches a person,  perhaps reminds them of a true love,  or marks a memorable moment in their life. 

When Hubby and I got married one of the songs sung at our wedding was One Hand One Heart by Leonard Bernstein.  I not altoghther clear why we picked that song other than it was originally written for an opera so it fit into the service along with Ave Maria better than  something like "Let's Get It On".

 It was, after all, the 1971 and I was a teenager so my decisions might be up for review.  In the early 70's,  I could have picked far worse choices.  (you can get an idea of some of the awful music that was available in the 70's by going to Furious.com)

If I could point out a positive about my  choice, it is the fact you can understand the words.  At the time, I didn't seem to notice that there was a lot of death mentioned in this song. 

Now it begins, now we start
One hand, one heart;
Even death won't part us now.

Make of our lives one life,
Day after day, one life.
Now it begins, now we start
One hand, one heart,
Even death won't part us now

(footnote:   If anything goes wrong with this marriage after 41 years, there probably will be a death involved. If there is a younger woman involved, there will be 2 deaths)

Thought #2  Examples of what a love song should look like and what it SHOULDN'T look like


First up cute songs written for love....



I am not a huge fan of the Twilight movies. (hard to believe but not all of us can go ape sh** over vampires and werewolves)  I liked the Twilight movies ok, but don't quite get into the attraction of vampire love.  Frankly, marriage is hard enough without the added burden of a husband that is creepy pale,  stays up all night, prone to craving human blood and is immortal.  So much for growing old together.  Still, this song is a nice love song.






This song was written by Tom Higgenson after he met Delilah DiCrescenzo.  Tom said later in interviews (if one is to believe what one reads in the media) he thought she was the most beautiful woman he ever saw and wrote the song for her.  Nothing ever came of a romance as Delilah had a boyfriend.  Still the sentiments of Tom's love song (albeit unrequited love) makes for quite a nice romantic gesture.




I love the songs that Jim Croce wrote about the love of his wife and son.  There were other besides, this one. Ingrid Croce, tells in her book Thyme in a Bottle, that she and Jim had a disagreement about their finances one night.  Rather than talk about it, he went to the kitchen to sulk and she went to bed. She said Jim had problems communicating anytime there was conflict involved.   The next morning very early, he nudged her awake and sang this to her.  (Jim Croce's songs didn't get popular until after his death in 1973. This song came out a year later in 1974)


Maybe these aren't what you consider great love songs but you have to appreciate that I didn't pick Jimmy Buffett's Let's Get Drunk and Screw (who could resist that come on) Da Brats In Love Whi Chu (which just is chock full of fun lyrics) and R. Kelly's You Remind Me of Something (he compares his girl to his Jeep and wants to wax her among other things).  How romantic!!!!

What are your favorite love songs and is there a story as to why it is your favorite?




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Around the Water Cooler 2/10/2012

I found my self saying out loud "over and over and over" this week...."I just can't believe what possesses people to behave the way they do or say the things they say.   A lot of the stories this week are just tragic.  There is just no understanding as to how people can be as cruel...evil, really as they are.   Here in KC, a 19 year old was sentenced to life for killing her neighbor, a nine year old, when she was 15.  She wrote about the horrific crime in detail saying how fun and exciting it was.   It just defies explanation.



Makes all the "minimally crazy crap" pretty laughable.  On my last post, I was talking about how this aging thing is a little perturbing and to add to my apprehension,  I see a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sly Stallone getting ready for surgery

Is There a Pill for This

What got my attention besides  the wave of nausea  that swept over me while looking at Arny,  was the line in the story that said:

For the record, Arnie is 64 and Stallone is 65 ... and still in better shape than most humans.

What????   Compared to who???  Really, this isn't settling my nerves about the effects of aging.






Money Talks, even if it is Crazy Talk

Fausat Ogunbayo, 46, recently filed a $900 trillion law suit against the city of New York and its Administration for Children’s Services for allegedly improperly placing her two sons in a Queens foster home more than three years ago.  According to Ogunbayo she says her rights have been violated.  Fausat is acting as her own attorney (are we surprised??) and going after not millions...not even billions but trillions. 

Officials from the city say the the children were removed from the home as Fausat seems to exhibit mental issues including delusions.   

I don't think her lawsuit is proving the city wrong.




Blame it on the Boobs

A Florida woman was arrested on Sunday for driving under the influence.  She insisted that she would have passed the sobriety test had it not been for her big boobs. Maureen Raymond claimed that even though she was driving over the speed limit, reeked of alcohol, had slurred speech and crossed over the yellow line several times that the real reason she couldn't stand to do the field sobriety test was the fact you can't balance when you have big breasts.

According to the police report when asked if she was ok, she responded that she had whiplash and big boobs.  Do we see a pattern here????

After doing a little dance for the police officers, she tried to undress to show off the goods but the officer asked her to keep her arms to her sides.  According to Maureen, that can't be done...you guessed it...with big boobs.





Sibling Rivalry Goes Wild

A couple of weeks ago, you might remember that John Goodman, the founder of Polo Club Palm Beach, adopted his 42 year old girlfriend for the purpose of protecting his millions in an upcoming lawsuit levied against him. John is being sued by the parents of a young man that was killed when John (allegedly) ran a stop sign while he was intoxicated broadsiding a car driven by Scott Wilson.

 Now that girlfriend/daughter, Heather Laruso Hutchins is part of the $300 million dollar trust set up for the kids, the REAL kids aren't taking it well.

John's biological children are suing.  According to court papers filed on behalf of his teenage children, they feel that daddy abused the adoption process by making his girlfriend his daughter. Now that Hutchens is  John's third child, she is entitled to a 3rd of the children's trust. According to the article, that adds up to about 5 million a year.  (I wonder if he is open to future adoptions as I am an orphan at this point in my life)

Speaking of family trees with very few branches, here is another family that had some very strange dynamics.

Aging is an Extreme Sport

Two Thoughts for Tuesday


In November, while on my little hiatus from blogging, I decided to take some road trips.  When I am not inspired to whine to all my bloggee friends, I try to channel my energy into other things.   So, I took myself to Arkansas to visit my 100 year old grandmother.   I don't do this nearly often enough and she reminds me on a regular basis that she isn't getting any younger. 

The real "bite in the butt" about visiting my grandma is I have a freakish resemblance to her.  The story goes that my mother, upon the event of my birth, started crying.  Uncontrollable, inconsolable, crying...when asked why, she said to my dad "She looks just like your mother".  She didn't mean it as a compliment but I suspect my mother wasn't my grandma's biggest fan.

Alas, in November when I walked into the living room to visit Grandma,  at least 3 family members just felt compelled to say, "Gosh, you two look alike."   Thanks a heap, family!!! Are you saying that I look like I am approaching my 101st birthday.  (Although, to be fair, my grandma doesn't look a day over 85)

Trying to look at the more positive aspects of having a grandma that will celebrate 101 is that I could honestly  claim that  I was middle aged when I had my 50th birthday.  I will also, concede that it  is gratifying to hope that I will be as funny and articulate at 100 as my Grandma is.  I would like to think that  I will still be living at home and making funny jokes and following them up with a really cute laugh as she does.    Time will tell.  What is not particularly fun is seeing what another 41 years looks like on my face.  I suspect that her face indeed will be my face in that time of my life. 

Thought #1

Why is it that as people go over the 50 mark,  there is an enormous bias (let's be honest...bigotry) dealing with aging? The only upside to this is that usually when people get into their 90's and 100's everyone thinks they are adorable. (and they are,  nine times out of ten)

Aging in America is difficult. We live in culture where youth is more than admired..... it is required.  Getting older is very much frowned upon in today's America.  (Be ever so mindful of the frown lines that would ensue by all those frowns)


 No more are the days of all the glorious quotes that equate longevity with wisdom and grace. 



The years teach much which the days never knew. 
 ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk. 
 ~Doug Larson


Age  is the acceptance of a term of years. But maturity is the glory of years.
-- Martha Graham


Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt



Thought #2

Not long ago I went to a luncheon where  a couple of the Hallmark Card creators were  in attendance.  One of the glories of Kansas City, is in fact, it is the home of Hallmark.  A lot of creative types work and live here for that company.  Anyway, John Wagner was there.  He was on the program to do a little presentation about his cartoon "Maxine".  



Maxine is loosely based on his mother and aunt, I think he said.  Or maybe he told me it was based on his grandmother and mother.   I was so busy being amused that I no longer remember exactly what he said. He is a totally entertaining guy.  Go buy some of his Shoebox cards.



So my second thought is....Please don't let me be so negative (albeit funny) that people make comic strips out of my bitchy old self.   OR if they do, they need to fork over the profits to help pay for my long term care when I am committed.

  

If one were to do a cartoon about me, this might fit.

Speaking of aging... a little joke....


After being married 25 years, a man looked at his wife one day and said, "You know, 25 years ago we lived in a cheap apartment, drove a cheap car, had only a sofa bed and watched a 14" black and white television. BUT, every night I got to sleep with a hot 25 year old blonde."

"Now," he continued, "We have a nice house, a new car, a big flat-screen TV, but I have to sleep with a 50 year old woman. It doesn't seem fair."

His wife was a reasonable woman. She replied, "Well, why don't you go out and get yourself a hot 25 year old blonde? Then I'll make sure you will once again live in a cheap apartment, drive a cheap car, have only a sofa bed and watch a 14" black and white television."

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The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
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