Do You Need a Break?

Is your summer as busy as your fall and winter? Are you scurrying around running the kids to one event or another? Or maybe you’re frantically preparing for visiting family members, or going to visit family, or going on vacation. Do you need a vacation from your vacation? Perhaps you need a break.Photo of man & boy planning grocery list

SuMan and son planning grocery list image via configmanager on Flickr

I’m here to remind you to take some restorative time. A break. It doesn’t have to last a long time. What it must be is something that gives you a lift.

Music does it for me. Doesn’t matter what my mood was before the music starts, music well-played, will carry me away. It speaks to me tucked away inside. It lifts me up, stirs my feet, brings a tear, and fills my heart.

Treble cleft and notes

Musical Notes Image via Clipart Panda

Apparently, the expressiveness of music is nearly universal. Why does music make us feel emotional? According to this article in the Scientific American, it isn’t really music that makes us feel. It’s other humans. Yup. You, me, him, her. The expressiveness of a human being, something you’ve felt yourself or seen expressed by someone else. Wait. Music isn’t human, you say. No, but music is something that can be manipulated to be expressive, humanly expressive, and that tickles a memory, a feeling.

Music doesn’t do it for everyone. For some, it’s the sound of a well-tuned engine racing down the track. Others are swept away by the beauty of Monet or van Gogh or Picasso. A passage in a book can stir one’s emotions or evoke an image that moves us. No matter if it’s the notes of a bullfrog, the trill of a nightingale, the sweeping vistas of a prairie, or the majesty of mountains, it’s reaching the most human place inside you.

As I said, music does it for me. I’d like to share all my favorites with you, but that would take hours and hours and hours. Instead, let me share just one today. Take a listen.

If the link to the video doesn’t work, try this link.

There’s a place, a sound, where you find joy and solace and restoration.Where do you find a moment for yourself? What do you do when you need a break? Won’t you share? Please only post one link per comment so the bot doesn’t put your comment in the spam box. And thank you for taking time to read and comment.

 

 

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Greatest Hits of Science Fiction

It’s no secret that I love science fiction and I love music. So today I’m sharing a melding of the two in my collection of the greatest hits of science fiction.

If you’ve attended a science fiction convention, you’ve heard of Filk Songs. For those of you who haven’t heard of them, Filk songs are kind of hard to define. Even Wikipedia has difficulty! For now, we’ll say that a filk song is lyrics and music that is sung at a science fiction and fantasy convention.

Here’s a quick sample of a Filk Song:

I Hate Little Firelizards by Julia Ecklar

The guys on the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway?  (the U.S. version), took science fiction and music to a whole different level. The zaniness of improv stars: Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and Wayne Brady made for an enjoyable skit.ETA: Sorry, the Whose Line Is It Anyway youtube video is no longer available. Find it on your favorite streaming services.

Instead please enjoy this collection of science fiction hits.

And just for fun, I’m adding this collection of classic science fiction theme music.

For those of you who are wondering what happened to the Going to Mars Word by Word post this month — thank you so very much for your responses last month.  You voiced your preference and I am ever so grateful for that.  Worry not.  I’m taking a couple of months break while I finish a re-write.  Going to Mars Word by Word will resume during the fall.

Had you heard of Filk before? Do you sing or play an instrument? What is your favorite Filk song?

Is there a classic science fiction show or movie theme that you love?

I hope you enjoyed this little trip into my list of greatest hits of science fiction.

Monday’s Bad Rap

Did you know that the average person will see about 4,040 Mondays in a lifetime? Do we really dread seeing Monday’s so much? What gave Monday’s bad rap?

In a search of YouTube, songs about Monday you can find include:

  • The Carpenters sing a sad song Rainy Days and Mondays.
  • Jimmy Buffett’s Come Monday at least had a ‘looking forward’ type of message even though the song is about longing.
  • Monday Monday by the Mamas and Papas says Monday can’t be trusted.
  • And the Bangles declare that it’s a Manic Monday.

There are Blue Mondays and Stormy Mondays. Sheesh. It’s no wonder Monday causes anxiety.  So let’s turn that upside down, shall we?

wrong end for that diaper!

Nothing you wear

is more important

than a smile.

~Connie Stevens

 

Are you giving Monday a Bad Rap?

What Monday songs do you listen to?  Do they make you smile?