✨Highlights and Bombshells💥

[Endless_Night]

We need magic. Magic exists in the ether of the unexplained, and like a secret, once unveiled it is no longer magic (or a secret). Believing in Santa is a form of magic. Seeing a rainbow emerge following a summer rain storm is magic.
Hearing Pavarotti linger on the that high C in an aria is also magic. Things that stupefy us and are not in our wheelhouse of capability are often magic. Let it be ever so. Let’s not know so much that we forget how to be wowed.

Lovely.

Serendipity. That flash of kismet. Little flashes of magic and joy.

 

[hotwords229_A]

I could have written this^.

Well, except for the shameless cry for PM breasts part.

Oh cum now, everyone likes breasts.

 

[hotwords229_A]

at one point I was rather new age-y. Certified in various types of massage and body work.

Certified in massage, but you had never heard of “writing” messages on your partner’s back with your finger? What are they teaching these kids today?

 

[Endless_Night]

Oh cum now, everyone likes breasts.

So you keep telling me.

Certified in massage, but you had never heard of “writing” messages on your partner’s back with your finger? What are they teaching these kids today?

What?

 

[SalaciousMonkey22]

Full Cycle ​

It’s been a while since I posted here because it’s the end of the schoolyear and things have been so busy. The free time for Lit has gone to the Sweaters thread. You should check it out for the June challenge (shameless plug). Well. There is some shame. A healthy dose of shame is there. I’m not afraid of a little shame.

With the end of the schoolyear comes the end of a cycle. Each term is the end of a season of school, you could say. But what I’m talking about is something that happened last year to the day on this coming Monday. I had a severe disagreement, for lack of a better term, with a member of my administration and it was bad enough that I decided to lodge a complaint to my principal against him. This was the straw after a long list of incidents with him.

After discussing what was happening with him to a trusted coworker, she told me that he has harassed a few other women not only at our school but at others too.

This whole process was frightening to me - he’s a big guy, he’s my boss. I was really worried about how this year would go.

So now here I am a year later and I’m still standing. My principal did talk with him and it must have made an impression. It’s been a very difficult year but he kept his distance and remained professional with me. But this part- the part where I had to deal with him, was fine. I’ve come full circle with it. I feel like this cycle has come to an end.

This is something that I will need to revisit because he’s not going anywhere. And the budget is abysmal so it isn’t a good time to change jobs. But for now. I do feel like I’ve come full circle.

So what I’m wondering is, what cycle are you in the midst of and where are you in that cycle? Just the beginning? Living your best life? Are you learning a lesson of some sort?

I was a student for a long time and my wife was a teacher for just as long so it’s weird that I’ve always sorta felt influence by the school year. Summer feels like freedom. Autumn feels like change, sometimes the return of the grind but more the vibe of new year, new teachers new friends, even when none of these things happen. Funny how that works.

Anyway, we made a huge change last year. Today marks exactly one year since in fact. And it’s cyclical in a totally different way. But we’re just beginning to learn that new cycle. It’s fun it’s exciting it’s terrifying but it’s good.

Hopefully I’m saying that next year too

 

[firefox27eros]

Certified in massage, but you had never heard of “writing” messages on your partner’s back with your finger? What are they teaching these kids today?

It means you had have sex before the mobile phone era.
That is so sexy and I love this "primitive and old school" way because it is so good.

 

[Love_Is_Blonde]

Magic
​

Where do you find magic in your daily life? When do you stop and think, ok if Magic isn’t real, then how in the world is *that* possible??Or do you not do that? Are you a more logical person and things can usually be explained by logic and reason?

I am a woo woo person. I come by it honestly.

My mother collects stones and shells and feathers. She sees beauty in little things around her. She is an artist and sometimes she uses these things she finds in her art work. Other times she just puts them on her windowsill or keeps them on small dishes around the house or in little jars. She connects with the elements and nature, and these reminders make her happy. She writes and journals about them. She puts them in her jewelery box.

That’s magic.

I remember visiting my grandparents’ house when I was a kid. My grandmother would feed any stray cat around. She left saucers of milk out and would have regular visitors every morning; she would talk to them. She was not a native English speaker and so I think she sometimes felt more comfortable talking to the neighborhood cats than she did their owners.

That’s magic.

This morning, I took my dog for a walk; he’s a huge German shepherd that we just adopted a few months ago. He is about 3 years old they think. He was rescued from a flooded area- no one claimed him- so he’s ours- or we are his. He’s belonged here all along. He must be 90 lbs but when he jumps onto the bed or couch, he floats. Hes so graceful. He also has a sense of humor. When I give him his food, he takes his entire food bowl in his mouth and carries it to another part of the house, looks at me and then wags his tail and eats his food. Also, whenever I get up from where I’m sitting, he will immediately get in my chair and then turn onto his back and wag. He is playing little tricks on me.

That is magic.

 

[AlpineFresco]

Magic
​

Where do you find magic in your daily life? When do you stop and think, ok if Magic isn’t real, then how in the world is *that* possible??Or do you not do that? Are you a more logical person and things can usually be explained by logic and reason?

Hmm. OK, so to me magic is something I most often perceive as just 'a very cool thing I don't understand'. If you're highly highly skilled at something, far beyond my ability to understand how you do it? That's magic.
But also good cooking is alchemy, it's turning base ingredients into something amazing, that's magic.
The feelings of spending time with someone I care a lot about? That's magic.

Some things might not technically be physics-breaking-fantasy-magic, but they may as well be magic because of how they feel.

But also y'know, gimme the spell Freedom of Movement 'cause Brexi- oh wait, not that kind. Shit, sorry, don't play enough D&D.

 

[Mrtenant]

Magic
​

Where do you find magic in your daily life? When do you stop and think, ok if Magic isn’t real, then how in the world is *that* possible??Or do you not do that? Are you a more logical person and things can usually be explained by logic and reason?

Universal constants. There are 26 of them- 27 if you include the constant where my spouse is always in front of me when I want to open a kitchen cabinet or drawer. Fucking eerie.

 

[SalaciousMonkey22]

Magic
​

Where do you find magic in your daily life? When do you stop and think, ok if Magic isn’t real, then how in the world is *that* possible??Or do you not do that? Are you a more logical person and things can usually be explained by logic and reason?

While I’m not a physicist I spent quite a bit of my life studying science and math and I don’t really believe in magic per se. I think that things happen that we don’t understand but that those things are generally understandable which isn’t quite the same as magic (yeah yeah technology sufficiently advanced and all that)

I do deeply and honestly hope there ARE things that are unknowable and magical because I don’t think free will can exist without them. But I have yet to find something that seems that way.

In my life I do sometimes kind of use magic and joy interchangeably. I think there is magic and joy in small pleasures . In beauty, in art, in things you’re passionate and things you take for granted most of the time except those moments when you don’t. The magic in the power to make the rest of this bullshit worth it isn’t something to be sneered at.

 

[Love_Is_Blonde]

That’s part of it, though. What is magic? It’s something that pulls you through, and to one person it looks like joy, and to another person it might be a connection with the world around them, and to another, maybe inexplicable things that happen no matter what. Or maybe it’s just noticing things that you didn’t see before.

Or maybe I’m just easily amused. And if that’s so, I’ll take it.

 

[Mrtenant]

That’s part of it, though. What is magic? It’s something that pulls you through, and to one person it looks like joy, and to another person it might be a connection with the world around them, and to another, maybe inexplicable things that happen no matter what. Or maybe it’s just noticing things that you didn’t see before.

Or maybe I’m just easily amused. And if that’s so, I’ll take it.

Easily amused is a good place to be. I know a little about that.

 

[BreukelenAnima]

Magic
​

Where do you find magic in your daily life? When do you stop and think, ok if Magic isn’t real, then how in the world is *that* possible??Or do you not do that? Are you a more logical person and things can usually be explained by logic and reason?

I think magic is real and it occurs when you try to live every day with an open heart... And when you do, magic becomes the small moments, the gentle times, the quiet miracles that fill it up. I shared this story on the Daily Song Challenge in May and I'd like to share it as a moment in time that I'll never forget.

When my son was 7 years old, I introduced him to the music of The Beach Boys... A couple of times a week, we might stop at the local doughnut shop for a doughnut before school. I remember one such ride, early in the morning, and playing "Surfin' Safari" for him as an introduction to music of The Beach Boys... and that was it. He was completely hooked on the music. Even my daughter (3 years old at the time) got into the music. They would learn the words to the songs on Endless Summer and we'd all sing along in the car. That spring (in 2015) was a magical time.

Five months later, I took my son to see Brian Wilson and Al Jardine at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. By then, he knew every song by the Beach Boys and their entire discography. During the show, they played an obscure song that I was not familiar with, and my son not only whispered the name of the song but the album it was off of. After the show, we were walking across the mezzanine of the theatre and an old time rock n roller / concertgoer who was walking past us, suddenly stopped me. He looked at my son and then at me and said, "I don't know what you're doing, but whatever it is, keep it up." That compliment was magic... something, looking back on that time, I needed to hear. That was a magical evening and I'll always remember it.

Brian Wilson passed away yesterday and he was true musical genius and a musical hero of mine. It's upsetting that he's gone and I find myself extremely saddened by the news. I hope Brian has been reunited with his two brothers and they're making music right now.

The Beach Boys' music was magic... and it will live on forever. ...And their music helped create magic in my life, for which I will always be grateful.

 

[SimonSex]

Brian Wilson passed away yesterday and he was true musical genius and a musical hero of mine. It's upsetting that he's gone and I find myself extremely saddened by the news. I hope Brian has been reunited with his two brothers and they're making music right now.

The Beach Boys' music was magic... and it will live on forever. ...And their music helped create magic in my life, for which I will always be grateful.

The rest of The Beach Boys pretty much agreed that Brian Wilson was The Beach Boys. He created a whole new musical genre, unmistakable in its originality. Like it or not, when you hear those tunes, you are transported to a place carefree and fun.

 

[SpicyBean99]

The rest of The Beach Boys pretty much agreed that Brian Wilson was The Beach Boys. He created a whole new musical genre, unmistakable in its originality. Like it or not, when you hear those tunes, you are transported to a place carefree and fun.

He also wrote, arranged, and produced most of their biggest hits too. Not sure if you watched their biopic (Love & Mercy) but I remember seeing it on a flight, and the bands story, and Brian’s story is truly as beautiful as it is sad. The rest of the band recognised his genius, and even at his most troubled, they knew he was the architect of their sound.

 

[LustfulIntentions2]

He also wrote, arranged, and produced most of their biggest hits too. Not sure if you watched their biopic (Love & Mercy) but I remember seeing it on a flight, and the bands story, and Brian’s story is truly as beautiful as it is sad. The rest of the band recognised his genius, and even at his most troubled, they knew he was the architect of their sound.

It really is remarkable the output he managed in the first 30 or so years of his life, and equally crushing how the combination of his father's abuse and our inability as a society to deal with mental health struggles and mental illness at that time probably cost him so many more years of being able to truly enjoy the success he'd brought to them.

 

[BreukelenAnima]

He also wrote, arranged, and produced most of their biggest hits too. Not sure if you watched their biopic (Love & Mercy) but I remember seeing it on a flight, and the bands story, and Brian’s story is truly as beautiful as it is sad. The rest of the band recognised his genius, and even at his most troubled, they knew he was the architect of their sound.

If you listen to Pet Sounds from beginning to end, you can begin to fully understand Brian Wilson's genius -- the music was so far ahead of its time and that was all Brian's doing (as was all their hits before then). He was arranging the music in orchestral pieces and then combining them into three minute masterpieces. He was the rock 'n' roll version of Beethoven and Mozart-- he could hear the music in such a unique way... and he could piece it all together in his mind. Good Vibrations, God Only Knows, Sloop John B, etc... He was composing rock 'n' roll symphonies... and he was creating all this work while still in his early 20's... Just remarkable.

I think Dennis Wilson (the coolest member of the group) summed it up the best, "Brian is The Beach Boys. He is the band. We're his f***ing messengers. He is all of it. Period. We're nothing. He's everything."

 

[Love_Is_Blonde]

I’m feeling you all. It’s really hard to lose an artist who has been such a meaningful presence for so long.

 

[SimonSex]

Brian Wilson was 82 when he died. Not a bad run, as some say. Longevity can be a relative barometer at best, but it looms large as a world health statistic. By his own admission, he did a lot of drugs and had an unhealthy lifestyle for quite some time.
What about Keith Richards?!

This curiosity of how to best live a life and/or live the longest life is perplexing to me. The variables are infinite. What are your thoughts, friends?

 

[Love_Is_Blonde]

Ooh good question. I’m going to think about it a bit, and I’ll answer probably tomorrow.

G’night All.

 

[badjanus]

~Love_Is_Blonde

Are you night owls? By choice? By circumstance? I am

What is the opposite of a night owl? A day…otter? Dolphin?

Try this Test

 

[Love_Is_Blonde]

Try this Test

Good Morning!

Thank you for this! First because I like that you brought up an older topic. That’s why I originally wanted to start this thread. I would continue thinking about discussions happening in threads, and by the time I could post, the conversation had moved on. So thanks for bringing this back up.

Secondly- I scored a 16 which means I’m not a type. So now what. I guess I need to take the more in depth assessment. I will after a little nap… (haha just kidding- I crack myself up sometimes ).

One thing I do know is I am almost completely non-functional between the hours of 2-5 p.m. I’m so low-energy then.

Anyway, thanks again!

 

[Love_Is_Blonde]

Brian Wilson was 82 when he died. Not a bad run, as some say. Longevity can be a relative barometer at best, but it looms large as a world health statistic. By his own admission, he did a lot of drugs and had an unhealthy lifestyle for quite some time.
What about Keith Richards?!

This curiosity of how to best live a life and/or live the longest life is perplexing to me. The variables are infinite. What are your thoughts, friends?

Ok this question—if I understanding it correctly, is asking what makes for a well-lived life. Is it the number of years? Experiences? And the answer will have some similarities and some differences for all of us.

I thought about this, and I guess that when I look back over my life, I want to feel satisfied that I made the most of it. What gives me satisfaction in life? Did I make things better for those I love? Did I do the best I could with what I was given? Did I take things for granted? Did I pass on to others what I was given? Did I leave this place better than I found it? Did I run towards things I loved, or away from things I feared?

These are criteria that I’d want to review to answer that question of a well-lived life. And it’s a good reminder and a mental reset activity.

 

[BreukelenAnima]

What gives me satisfaction in life? Did I make things better for those I love? Did I do the best I could with what I was given? Did I take things for granted? Did I pass on to others what I was given? Did I leave this place better than I found it? Did I run towards things I loved, or away from things I feared?

These are criteria that I’d want to review to answer that question of a well-lived life. And it’s a good reminder and a mental reset activity.

Everything written above by Love_Is_Blonde ... as well as the following things that became a top priority when I became a father:

Did I teach my children well? Did I teach them the value of life and to embrace challenges and to see obstacles as something to overcome and as a chance to develop their character and a sense of self? Did I teach them to have honor and to be benevolent and giving to those in need and less fortunate? Did I teach them important life lessons and give them a moral compass to guide them and help them live their lives in a proper fashion? Did I teach to develop goals and to work diligently towards their goals? Did I teach them to never give up? Did I teach them that some goals, some dreams are so worthy -- it's glorious to even fail at them? Did I help them to believe that they are stronger than they'll ever realize and their potential is unlimited? Did I teach them to never stop seeing themselves as students, to never stop learning...and that they should always see the world as their classroom? Did I teach them to be good stewards of the earth and to be selfless at times? Did I teach them that love in all its forms conquers hate and fear and ignorance? Did I teach them to love with all their heart? ...Did I love them enough, so they could understand all of this?

 

[SimonSex]

Ok this question—if I understanding it correctly, is asking what makes for a well-lived life. Is it the number of years? Experiences? And the answer will have some similarities and some differences for all of us.

I thought about this, and I guess that when I look back over my life, I want to feel satisfied that I made the most of it. What gives me satisfaction in life? Did I make things better for those I love? Did I do the best I could with what I was given? Did I take things for granted? Did I pass on to others what I was given? Did I leave this place better than I found it? Did I run towards things I loved, or away from things I feared?

These are criteria that I’d want to review to answer that question of a well-lived life. And it’s a good reminder and a mental reset activity.

Yes, all these questions and more. Sometimes I ask myself, if I were to be hit by a bus tomorrow, would I be happy with the life that I had lived and with whatever legacy may remain. The answer is almost always a “yes”.

Pursuant to your other “Sweaters” thread, where we do right by our bodies to be healthy of sound mind/body/spirit:
Gosh, I do hope that I live a long and healthy life and that all the things I am doing are the right things. There are people in their 50’s with the wheels coming off and people like my mom in her late 80’s who are just crushing it.

I remember the Dannon yogurt commercial from the 1970’s saying that the people of Georgia were the longest lived due to their yogurt consumption.

Or the people of Okinawa also long-lived because of their unique diet. Are there things that you do for health and longevity that are a response to what you have read/seen/heard?