Song : And he said dance

I keep waking up tonight! When I can't sleep, I usually clean, read, organize or draw. Well, I decided to write instead. Still working on some kind of melody, but critiques, compliments and suggestions are welcomed! Here you go...

and he said dance

i was just out of school
with a fresh new look,
ready to conquer the world
with my pen and my book,
but the boys upstairs
told me 'you don't dare'...

then he said dance
even when the world's telling you 'no'.
hold your head up and take a deep breath.
that's when you dance, girl!
that's living... dancing with nothing left!

he was charming and fun,
understanding and kind.
he was the bit of light
in my daily grind.
then he kneeled on one knee
and raised up a ring...

and he said dance
even if you think you're taking a chance on me.
hold your head up and take a deep breath.
that's when you dance, girl!
that's living... dancing with nothing left!

the love of my life
the man of my dreams
together, we laugh, we cry.
it'd never end, it seems.
but we were living on borrowed time
and the time came, he was no longer mine.

then he said dance
even when i'm not there with you.
hold your head up and take a deep breath.
that's when you dance, girl!
that's living... dancing with nothing left!

so i danced
even though life seemed to be over.
i held my head up and took a deep breath.
he said that's when you dance, girl!
for him i was living... dancing with nothing left!

A couple of my poems...

I guess I'm working with some kind of poetry theme, so here are some of my own.

The stars are my secrets

They ask me what my name is.
I tell them ask the wind.
The wind whispers ask the fire.
The fire replies ask the sky.
The sky said the stars will know.
The stars say they know everything,
but they are my secrets...
they would never tell you
the spoils of my heart.
All I need are the stars,
my secrets.




Les étoiles savent ses secrets^fr

Elle danse
sur les nuages
Elle vole
de la lune
vers la soleil
Elle chuchote
Elle écrit
ses lettres
dans le ciel
Ell dit
ses secrets
aux étoiles

Sans sourire
Sans une larme

Elle se promène
sur les vagues
Elle voyage
vers Neptune
Elle sait
les pensées chachées
Elle voit
la passion vraie
Elle dit
ses secrets
aux étoiles

Sans regarder
Sans souci

Elle dort
sur l'air
Elle entend
la voix
Elle se souvient
Elle essaie
d'oublier
Elle dit
ses secrets
aux étoiles




The stars know her secrets^en

She dances
on the clouds
She flies
from the moon
to the sun
She whispers
She writes
her letters
in the sky
She tells
her secrets
to the stars

Without smiling
Without a tear

She walks
on the waves
She travels
to Neptune
She knows
hidden thoughts
Ell sait
She sees
true passion
She tells
her secrets
to the stars

Without glancing
Without worry

She sleeps
on the air
She hears
the voice
She remembers
She tries
to forget
She tells
her secrets
to the stars

Some French poetry...

To counter, I'm posting some of my favourite French poetry. :) I had to memorize both of these poems when I was in high school. The second one is perfectly mine. :)

Mon rêve familier
Paul Verlaine
translated text available here

Je fais souvent ce rêve étrange et pénétrant
D'une femme inconnue, et que j'aime, et qui m'aime,
Et qui n'est, chaque fois, ni tout à fait la même
Ni tout à fait une autre, et m'aime et me comprend.

Car elle me comprend, et mon coeur transparent
Pour elle seule, hélas ! cesse d'être un problème
Pour elle seule, et les moiteurs de mon front blême,
Elle seule les sait rafraîchir, en pleurant.

Est-elle brune, blonde ou rousse ? --Je l'ignore.
Son nom ? Je me souviens qu'il est doux et sonore
Comme ceux des aimés que la Vie exila.
Son regard est pareil au regard des statues,

Et pour sa voix, lointaine, et calme, et grave, elle a
L'inflexion des voix chères qui se sont tues.




L'invitation au voyage
Charles Baudelaire
translated text available here

Mon enfant, ma soeur,
Songe à la douceur
D'aller là-bas vivre ensemble!
Aimer à loisir,
Aimer et mourir
Au pays qui te ressemble!
Les soleils mouillés
De ces ciels brouillés
Pour mon esprit ont les charmes
Si mystérieux
De tes traîtres yeux,
Brillant à travers leurs larmes.

Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.

Des meubles luisants,
Polis par les ans,
Décoreraient notre chambre;
Les plus rares fleurs
Mêlant leurs odeurs
Aux vagues senteurs de l'ambre,
Les riches plafonds,
Les miroirs profonds,
La splendeur orientale,
Tout y parlerait
À l'âme en secret
Sa douce langue natale.

Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.

Vois sur ces canaux
Dormir ces vaisseaux
Dont l'humeur est vagabonde;
C'est pour assouvir
Ton moindre désir
Qu'ils viennent du bout du monde.
— Les soleils couchants
Revêtent les champs,
Les canaux, la ville entière,
D'hyacinthe et d'or;
Le monde s'endort
Dans une chaude lumière.

Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.

A little German poetry...

Since I have to read a lot of philosophy and poetry and classic literature for my German class, I thought I'd post of my two favorites.

Erlkönig
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
translated text available here

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.

"Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?"
"Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?"
"Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif."

"Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir;
Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand."

"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?"
"Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind."

"Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehen?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein."

"Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?"
"Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau:
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau."

"Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt."
"Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!"

Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit Müh' und Not;
In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.




Hoffnung
Friedrich Schiller
translated text available here

Es reden und träumen die Menschen viel.
Von bessern künftigen Tagen;
Nach einem glücklichen, goldnen Ziel
Sieht man sie rennen und jagen
Die Welt wird alt und wird wieder jung,
Doch der Mensch hofft immer Verbesserung.

Die Hoffnung führt ihn ins Leben ein,
Sie umflattert den fröhlichen Knaben,
Den Jüngling locket ihr Zauberschein,
Sie wird mit dem Greis nicht begraben;
Denn beschließt er im Grabe den müden Lauf
Noch am Grabe pflanzt er die Hoffnung auf.

Es ist kein leerer, schmeichelnder Wahn,
Erzeugt im Gehirn des Toren;
Im Herzen kündigt es laut sich an:
Zu was Besserem sind wir geboren;
Und was die innere Stimme spricht,
Das täuscht die hoffende Seele nicht.

Tango - Milonga

I went to a beginner tango lesson today.

It. was. an. experience.

Tango is the most intense dance I've ever tried and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The biggest adjustment I had to make was giving up my personal space. I'm perfectly ok with 'closed position' in swing or salsa. I have enough of my 'bubble' not to feel crowded.

(This = OK)

But in this kind of tango I was learning today, the man leads with his chest. Well, how can a man lead with his chest when it's not touching any part of the woman? This is where I was going in and out of my "this is ok-I'm in my 'dance' mode" mindset and my "this is NOT ok-step back, buddy" mindset.

(This = Whoa... Personal Bubble*!)

Everything I've ever thought a dance should be: fun, smiling, social, relaxed. Tango is not. I think of swing as the fun, social, let's-not-think-too-much-about-rules dance. Salsa is fun, social and sexy. Tango is serious, intense and sensual. It's like the grown-ups' dance. I guess I'm still in denial about being an adult, then... because I like social. I like clubs. I like fun.

I also like smiling... a lot. During the lesson, I felt like I wasn't supposed to smile. Everytime I did, my warmth was met with a look of stone-cold serious. Wow.

I'm not writing this to say that Tango is a bad dance... it is just everything I have ever learned, everything I have ever felt for and in a dance, everything I thought I knew... thrown out the window. I think I will learn to like it and I really want to learn this beautiful dance, but it will take years, I'm sure.

And it's going against everything I know.

Perhaps I'll take a tango class this autumn. We'll see. I'm discovering a side of me that I've never known... I never knew I liked to dance. I never knew I wasn't half-bad at it either. I'm loving this new side of me. :)

*My boobs should NOT be touching your chest, Mister!

around the lab.

a few pictures i took from around my workplace.

red alarm.




depth study in yellow.




way out.




going.




coming.




write.

Beach Escape.

wilson.




sunset.




beach.




point dume.

Hollywood town.

victoria.




m-i-c-k-e-y . m-o-u-s-e.




steve mcqueen, hollywood badass.

Sonova Beach!

Well, I just got back from the City of Angels and I got to wondering... whatever happened to the angels?

I lived in a small beach town (not to be confused with a beach city) one summer and I can't remember having any bad memories of it. El Segundo is like a small town, except that it has its own quiet beach(es) and lies less than 30 minutes from the heart of one of the world's largest metropolei. Everyone waves happily at you when you're walking your dog or heading to the beach. I can sit down at Good Stuff (a small restaurant) and they know that my cousins and I always eat nachos for an appetizer. They also know my choice of drink is a strawberry lemonade. I love sitting in the Blue Butterfly Cafe and watching the townfolk go by. Every shop is a niche and you're greeted by name. It's even safe to let your kids go downtown all by themselves. El Segundo is cozy and wholesome.

But El Segundo is not Los Angeles.

The City is awful. It's so superficial and cut-throat. I'm someone who appreciates a little intelligence, but that's not important in the City of Stars. It's all about a million dollar face and money, money, money! If there's one city that encompasses all that I do not value, then I have certainly found it.

I feel like the time when I watched Grease and realized how dirty the movie really is.

God cries in the rain.

Yesterday it rained for about 15 minutes,
then the sun came out and clouds went away.
Today it rained for about 30 minutes,
but I'm looking up and it's still a dismal grey.

Sometimes, I know God is crying.
Other times, I know He's weeping.

yourmom.pc

So one of my coworkers and I were working on taking account of all of the 100 IP Addresses in the building. It's gotten to the point that we have to ping all the computers and hope an IP Address comes up. Well, he got bored...

[CMD.exe]
C:\Documents and Settings\Students>ping yourmom
Ping request could not find yourmom. Please check the host name and try again.

Clearly, I'm bored enough (at work) to be blogging about this.

Ah! 25 hours left!

Independence Day Show!

had quite a night. My sister and I went to a barbecue and stuffed ourselves with hamburgers and hotdogs. Then we attempted to have a two-person watermelon seed spitting contest. ["Attempted" because we were eating seedless watermelons, so all the "seeds" were white and didn't have much spunk to get very far]

Then we got some not-very-good directions to the El Conquistador Resort, so we drove about 10 miles out of Tucson and called someone with better directions. We turned around and found a good street and pulled over between a large F250 and a Four-Runner. Then we spent the next 15 minutes taking the soft top off of my sister's car. We finished just in time to crank KLPX 96.1 [who were playing good ol' American classic rock like "American Woman" :P] and sit back to enjoy the show! The fireworks ended up being right across the street from us... perhaps 100 metres away! So here's a part of the show!

Love is... is what I got!

Rewind. Erase. Redo. New beginning.

Sorry to everyone who followed my unsent letters. Before the letters, there were two people who read my poems and songs. Sorry to you too. But this is a new blog. A fresh start.

I hope you enjoy it.

And you never know... perhaps a poem or song and a letter or two will make an appearance. ;)