Each year around this time, I feel the need to build a closet in my basement to house my fully decorated Christmas tree for the “other eleven months” of the year. I usually dread hauling the tree and decoration boxes in from the garage, undressing the tree – ornament by ornament – and removing all other signs of Christmas from the house. It’s not that I’m not ready to take it all down. Believe me, I’ve usually had enough of the season by Boxing Day – it’s more the process itself and ensuring that all of the pieces of the puzzles fit properly back into their respective boxes. Wouldn’t it be great to just be able to pull out a fully decorated tree on December 1st, plug it in and enjoy it?

But…..there’s definitely something inherent in the process itself – at least of setting it all up in December – that makes it very worthwhile.

In addition to the shiny baubles and garland we decorate the tree with each year, we always make or purchase new ornaments each year – one for each of us – that have some special significance. Maybe it’s a new hobby or interest we’ve picked up over the year:

or a declaration of allegiance:

a personal passion:

gifts passed down to us that bring back happy childhood memories:

a reminder of a friend no longer with us:

or a new friend who’s come into our lives:

ornaments handmade by the boys when they were small (wasn’t that just yesterday?!):

or ornaments we just simply look forward to seeing again every year:

Rediscovering these ornaments each year is an activity I wouldn’t trade for the world. There’s nothing like spending a chilly winter afternoon listening to Christmas music and pulling them all out of their boxes again. The memories all come flooding back and, as each ornament is added to the tree, it becomes a beautiful, lit up scrapbook of our life together and it never loses its magical, warm quality for me. I just love it.

One day, the boys will move out and will take with them “their” ornaments – a ready-made tree should they need it – and should their significant others allow it! If they don’t, I will gladly keep a few spots on our tree for them!

So when I found myself in a chair at a tattoo shop over the holidays there was absolutely no question what I would permanently scratch into my skin.

Anyone who knows me would find the thought of me willingly getting a tattoo completely ridiculous. I am notoriously weak of stomach and “quease out” at the mere thought of – well – countless things. That said, I’ve always kind of wanted a tattoo – nothing extreme – something simple and something very “me”. I’ve just never had the guts to go through with it when it came right down to it.

So I don’t know what forces came together to get me into that chair (not the least of which, I’m sure, was the gauntlet my youngest kept throwing out … “you’ll never do it….get serious.” But, whatever the reasons, there I was, slightly freaked out, awaiting my “fate”.  And so it began….

I only passed out the one time.

It ‘s not even that it hurt – barely at all, in fact. It was more the thought of what was happening that did it. I couldn’t watch, obviously….and my imagination, I’m quite certain, blew it just a tad out of proportion. But, despite all efforts by my husband – God love him – to distract me with gripping conversation topics like kids’ soccer stats, I was out a minute into it.

I’m told I sported a bit of an Elvis sneer while I “drifted off” into my slumber. Charming…..

The whole thing should have taken about three minutes, but I managed to stretch it out to about twenty.

Anyway – here it is:

I know…I know….hard to believe this put me over the edge, isn’t it? But I love it. In fairness, once I regained consciousness, the guys at the shop told me that the wrist is the absolute most difficult place to get a tattoo and shared stories of how they, too, passed out getting some of their many (many) tattoos. I’m sure they were sincere and not just trying to make me feel better.

In the spirit of this blog-related mission, I suppose I could have opted for something like this:

or one of these:

Fortunately (for everyone…), I know my limits.

People keep telling me that it gets easier with each subsequent tattoo; that it becomes addictive even. To them, I say:

…..Uh…yeah…right…. Not happening, my friends.

Seriously, this is part of my Dad’s annual Christmas display “extravaganza”. As long as I can remember (and even before that, I’m told) my Dad has been making wooden Christmas displays for his front lawn. As you can imagine, he’s now got quite the collection!

As the years went on, they’d get more and more elaborate, with more lights, moving parts, motors and, of course, speakers in his garden pumping out Christmas music 24/7. I remember coming home from school as a teenager, seeing the “glow” of our house from five-ten blocks away ( à la Clark Griswold….. ).

The street I grew up on is fairly small – about 16 houses, I think – so we really got to know our neighbours well. In the past few years, my father’s taken to “sharing the joy” of Christmas by setting up his displays on every lawn on the street (whether the residents want them or not!) He’s put many of his displays on wheels, to ease their transfer down the street. It’s quite the site – watching my Dad, brothers and nephews pulling these huge displays like giant Tinkertoys around the street.

I visited my parents yesterday – I hadn’t seen them in a while. But I was also pretty anxious to see my Dad’s latest creation…..this 14-foot white reindeer which he’s strategically placed at the busy end of the street – one can only assume – to “drive traffic” on to the street.

I have to tell you – it’s quite the sight! Especially at night when it’s all lit up – I wish I could share a photo of that. This is a photo of my 13-year old with it:

Here are a few of his other “creations”…… Enjoy!

This ferris wheel is fully operational, BTW......

Just such an opportunity came along the other day and I damn near drove off the road trying to get into a position to take some shots. Honestly….the sacrifices we make…

So here’s my favourite shot:

I love how graceful they look – almost like angels falling from the sky. (Kinda makes you forget how dirty and gross they really are…. )

Here are some others I also like:

Don’t they look like little music notes on a piece of sheet music? I love that!

So here’s what I learned:

I needed a different lens with me. In fairness, this was all part of another little experiment I was doing at the time, in which I was taking my camera out with one lens only to see what I could get. While it really forced me to get more creative than I might normally, I could only get so close to these birds, without climbing up on the roofs of surrounding buildings. As such, this is about as close as I got with the macro lens I’d attached that morning:

So….a longer lens would have been a great thing to have with me.

I really love photo editing software! ….for so many reasons…. In this case, though, because it’s pretty tough to shoot up from the ground with a grey sky as your background. I was actually pretty lucky, given that we’ve had several weeks of dreary, overcast weather; there was actually a bit of blue in the sky that day. Not a ton though, and my original shots looked like this:

It’s nice to be able to add a little colour into the background (and I really added in some cases, but I’m all about the drama…just ask my husband! ) – and to crop into the more interesting bits of each shot and, of course, to sharpen those VERY-far-away birds a bit. It really is amazing what software can do these days and I’ve barely scratched the surface on this stuff.

So, all in all, a fun experiment; one I’ll repeat when I have a longer lens on my camera.

To me, a wedding song is a big deal – it should, of course, be a song that means something to both of you; a reflection of your love. But it also needs to be a song you want to associate yourselves with; one that, when you hear it played in a mall twenty years from the day, it will still make your heart skip a little…. It’s a lot of pressure for a little song!

In the end, it really should be something that represents the two of you –  and I’ve always admired those couples who do the unexpected and stray from the obvious/classic wedding song choices. Not that there’s anything wrong with them but, for some couples, they just don’t “fit”.

Anyway, my friend chose “Baby I Love You” by the Ramones.  I really, really like it! It’s a nice, simple, classic message and The Ramones give it a little modern day credibility. Check it out:

For the record, my husband and I chose “It Had to be You” by Frank Sinatra. I was going through my crooner phase (which I never really left….) and Harry Connick Jr. had just had his big break with the soundtrack to “When Harry Met Sally” and that song was featured. I thought it was perfect. Unfortunately, so did everyone else getting married that year! I was mortified when my friend and her new husband took to the floor with it a few short weeks before our wedding. My husband had wanted to pick “You Got it” by the Traveling Wilburys, which, despite the sentiment, I couldn’t bring myself to do. But he did pick an excellent last dance song – “Follow You, Follow Me” by Genesis. Great song…great lyrics….great choice.

So this all got me thinking – if I were picking a wedding song today – now that I”m 20 years older and a couple of years wiser - what would I pick?

I don’t think that I could stray too far from the classics – it just wouldn’t be “us”. I’d love to do something a little more “up tempo” like Bobby Darin’s “More” and not necessarily give in to that first dance spectacle. On the other hand, I might pick something like “Sea of Love” – it’s very sweet too. If I was put on the spot though, I’d probably pick Don Henley’s version of “Come Rain or Come Shine” – great lyrics – perfect for a wedding.

Just to tie this back to Springsteen a bit, he has a lovely song that many of the celebrity guest DJs on his satellite channel have played and talked about how they used it at their weddings. It’s very sweet  - the lyrics are quite lovely:

We said we’d walk together baby come what may
That come the twilight should we lose our way
If as we’re walkin a hand should slip free
Ill wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me

We swore we’d travel darlin side by side
We’d help each other stay in stride
But each lover’s steps fall so differently
But I’ll wait for you
And if I should fall behind
Wait for me

Now everyone dreams of a love lasting and true
But you and I know what this world can do
So lets make our steps clear that the other may see
And I’ll wait for you
If I should fall behind
Wait for me

Now there’s a beautiful river in the valley ahead
There neath the oaks bough soon we will be wed
Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees
Ill wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me
Darlin I’ll wait for you
Should I fall behind
Wait for me

Maybe I’d pick Bruce….who knows??

One of the features that drew me to the camera, though, was the expanded ISO capability, which makes shooting in low light situations (like hockey arenas, which I’m known to do a little bit…) much easier. It also produces amazing video – in fact, I’ve been told that the television series “House” is shot on Canon 7Ds. Cool!

I have to say that I’m as intimidated by the camera as I am excited by it. I mean, really – take a look at the diagram for the little LCD panel on the top of the camera which shows all of the shot settings:

Yikes! This ain’t your Mama’s Polaroid One-Step! I assure you, it’s a lot less complicated than it looks but there’s still an awful lot of information and things to be aware of before you even think of pressing down on the shutter button.

One of the first outings I took with my new camera was to a local outdoor jazz festival. It was a great night – lots of good music, great food and absolutely perfect weather.

We went primarily to see Jill Barber, a local singer who’s creating quite a stir on the jazz scene. While I wasn’t overly familiar with her music at the time, I’d heard enough to be curious and wanted to check her out.

Jill was the headliner on the main stage the night we went and the audience was absolutely packed, two acts before she ever took the stage. I knew that finding a good vantage point would pose a challenge but we managed to secure a standing spot, a little further from the stage than I’d hoped for, but still at a pretty good angle and with relatively few obstructions. I don’t do well standing in one spot for too long so I also knew I had little time to capture a few shots before I’d have to pack it in.

So no pressure…..

Jill takes the stage and starts singing – she is spectacular, and I am an instant fan. She has a real loveliness about her – charming and accessible. She opens with the song “Chances” – it’s a sweet, sort of fifties style song,  and her voice slips in and out of her signature “baby doll” delivery. (It’s not for everyone, I don’t think, but it certainly works live!) Between songs, she shares stories about the songs she’s singing – their inspiration and what they mean to her.

The stars aligned for me that night – and I got the shots that have kept me going and inspired me to do more. Here are a couple:

And here is the video of Jill’s song “Chances” – check it out – maybe you’ll become a fan too!

Anyway – I found the question interesting. Sexiest lyric….. It got me thinking about what I would choose if a gun were pointed at my head and I had to commit. Pretty tough – there are so many lyrics that make me weak, like:

The road is dark 
And it’s a thin thin line 
But I want you to know I’ll walk it for you any time 
Maybe your other boyfriends 
Couldn’t pass the test 
Well if you’re rough and ready for love 
Honey I’m tougher than the rest 

…and…

We said we’d walk together baby come what may 
That come the twilight should we lose our way 
If as we’re walking a hand should slip free 
I’ll wait for you 
And should I fall behind 
Wait for me

…and….

In the darkness my fingers slip across your skin 
I feel your sweet reply 
The room fades away and suddenly I’m way up high 
Just holdin’ you to me 
As through the window the moonlight streams 
Oh won’t you baby be in my book of dreams

…and…

Your sweet memory comes on the evenin’ wind
I sleep and dream of holding you in my arms again
The lights of Brownsville, across the river shine
A shout rings out and into the silty red river I dive
I long, my darling, for your kiss, for your sweet love I give God thanks
A touch of your loving fingertips
Meet me on the Matamoros banks

And there are so many scenarios that tug at my heart like the girl in the hair ribbon and the man wondering if he’s “the man for whom [she] put it there”, the  man desperate to know what he can do/what he can say because he doesn’t want to “fade away” and the other man lying on the riverbank with his girl, pulling her close “just to feel each breath [she takes].”

I realized, though, that these were all really more “romantic” than “sexy”.

I needed to find something a little more raw…a little less sweet….more dangerous…more edgy. Of course, there are lots there, like the blatant:

Hey little girl is your daddy home
Did he go away and leave you all alone
I got a bad desire
I’m on fire

Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things that I do
I can take you higher
I’m on fire

and the “come take a chance with me” of:

Well now I’m no hero
That’s understood
All the redemption I can offer girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now ?
Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow
Back your hair
Well the night’s busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back
Heaven’s waiting on down the tracks
Oh-oh come take my hand
We’re riding out tonight to case the promised land

That’s pretty sexy.

And what woman could resist the invitation to:

Just wrap your legs ’round these velvet rims
and strap your hands ‘cross my engines

It’s a tough call. I guess it just all comes down to what you consider to be sexy….

For my money, and with this gun pointed at my head, I’m going to go with “Drive All Night”. It’s got it all – all of the elements that give good “sexy” – love, loss, desire, desperation…(and shoes!)

Tonight there’s fallen angels and they’re waiting for us down in the street
Tonight there’s calling strangers, hear them crying in defeat.
Let them go, let them go, let them go do their dances of the dead (let ‘em go right ahead)
You just dry your eyes girl, and c’mon c’mon c’mon let’s go to bed, baby, baby, baby

I swear I’ll drive all night just to buy you some shoes
And to taste your tender charms
And I just wanna sleep tonight again in your arms

Cause you’ve got, you’ve got, you’ve got, you’ve got my love, you’ve got my love
Through the wind, through the rain, the snow, the wind, the rain
You’ve got, you’ve got my, my love heart and soul

So much of this has to do with the music though – the lyrics alone don’t do it. It’s the music and the way the lyrics are sung – how they come across. The saxophone doesn’t hurt either. Here’s a nice live version – with kind of a bonus “sexy” bit around the 5:47 mark….very nice.

Isn’t that ending nice? From about 8:53 on – “….just want to buy you some shoes….just want to buy you some shoes…. ” What woman doesn’t melt when she hears those words?

Penn Jillette picked these lyrics from Sherry Darling as the “sexiest” line in a Springsteen song:

Sherry we can run with our arms open before the tide
To all the girls down at Sacred Heart
And all you operators back in the Park
Say hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin’
Hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin’

Not sure I get it….and he didn’t really explain it very well. But I guess it’s a good lesson in perspective. We all see and feel things in different ways based on our life experiences, passions and the things that just make us tick. There must be something in there that speaks to him somehow.

So – Springsteen aside (or not) – what are some of the sexiest song lyrics to you?

I always try to ensure that the last song I hear in the car is a good one because, inevitably,  I wind up humming it all day whether I like it or not. I’d had kind of a sad song stuck in my head when I woke up this morning – something by Adele – and was pretty anxious to replace it with something a little more upbeat.

I went straight for the Bruce Springsteen channel on my Sirius radio – I haven’t been there much lately…haven’t really been in a “Bruce” mood for a while. It was great….and much-needed. They were playing a lot of that great “comfort music” – Drive All Night (an excellent live version I’d never heard), Devils and Dust, Waitin’ on a Sunny Day, Downbound Train….. Nothing that picked me up necessarily, but it fed my soul in any case. I’ve missed that.

Anyway – Outlaw Pete came on just as I pulled into the parking lot and I definitely didn’t want that stuck in my head for the day! (Honestly….what’s WITH that song…? One must have to be American to get it….. ) I quickly flipped the channel to another favourite – Classic Vinyl – and the Beatles’ song Birthday was on.

Funny….because I love the Beatles…..

…..and funnier - because it’s my birthday.

I love when stuff like that happens…..

Indoor photography is something I’ve always struggled with. I just never seem to be able to get the exposure right and I haven’t really played enough with my external flash to get consistent results. I guess if I was more of a manual reader, I might be a little further ahead, but I’m not. That being said, I took a bunch of photos yesterday during my family’s ”Q1 Birthday Celebration” (that’s fodder for another day) and I was pretty pleased with them. And I didn’t even resort to automatic settings…! I don’t know – I guess it’s like any other kind of photography – you just have to keep fiddling and playing around with your settings and it just gets easier and becomes more intuitive. It’s all about keeping at it and trying not to get discouraged. (Easier said than done…)

Anyway, when I look at this photo, I can’t believe how much he and I used to argue and fight when we were kids. Of the four kids, we were the closest in age and probably spent the most time in each other’s company. He was the “golden child” – smart, athletic, popular – all of my friends were smitten with him. A tough act to follow…. (and a tough act to live with sometimes…….I’m sure he’d tell you the same about me….)

Of course, we’ve all grown up and the things we used to fight about have now become distant memories. (Well…most of them…) We’ve grown from our “little” family of six to something closer to thirty-six, give or take a few….. So when we get together, it can be kind of a major, noisy, chaotic event. And, as much as I sometimes dread the thought of it, it’s always great to see everyone, catch up and watch all of our own kids grow up (….and argue….and fight….)

Ah…the circle of life.

So – it’s Valentine’s Day.

And while I don’t really buy into the hype that this day brings….it’s definitely nice to feel loved and appreciated. I think it’s easy to take the things we have for granted and that we, far too easily, forget to tell the people closest to us how much they mean to us and how grateful we are for their love and support.

I’d fully intended to write an entry around Nils Lofgren’s song, Valentine. But, while I was searching for the video to post with it, I came across this song by Springsteen – Valentine’s Day. It’s such a sweet little song – I’d never heard it before. It’s all about missing someone so much that you just can’t wait to see them; that nothing else matters until you’re back in their arms again. Remember that feeling? It’s the one that’s there at the start of something new; the feeling that you want to spend every single moment with someone. The feeling that you just can’t get enough of them….that you want to eat, drink, breathe them? Why does that feeling fade? It’s so fantastic. (Although I guess we’d never get anything else accomplished in life if it didn’t let up a little…. )

Perhaps it never really goes away – maybe it’s just the sense of urgency around it that sadly drifts.

I don’t know – but it’s a nice song anyway….

So here’s to my Valentine….. Happy “Every” Day baby. You are loved and appreciated.