13 Thursday: Have a Ball
1. THIS is the song that Joe says made him fall in love with me. I was singing it to him as he fell asleep when it happened.
2. If I ever do get a cell phone THIS is the ring tone I want.
3. Lately, I’ve been searching down and listening to songs that had a big impact on me when I was younger, like THIS one which I’m dedicating to my sister Sherry.
4. It’s that time of year again when the counseling students at Radford University are reading my book, The Jim and Dan Stories as part of a class on grief and loss. In a couple of weeks I’ll go to the class to speak to them. This year my friend Mara is going with me. She is not only a reoccurring character on my blog but she’s in my book too. We share a poetry, scrabble, and grief bond. She lost her husband a few weeks before my brother Jim died, followed by my brother Dan. HERE is my report from last year’s class.
5. I know it’s an Indian Summer when I’m dead-heading petunias in my hanging basket and have to pick out leaves that have fallen in with them.
6. Return to Sender: In lieu of death … send the flowers to the living … make your life payable … to all those you love. ~ Written on the back of an envelope while thinking about a friend’s recent loss.
7. You know how if you say to someone that you never get colds and the next day you wake up with one? I recently said that “I can’t believe I don’t have carpal tunnel from all the typing I do.” The next day my wrists were hurting.
8. The fuse to my energy supply is short and some things light it up more than others. Doing things I don’t want to do can create a real burn out. And you’d be surprised how too much talking can drain me. Loud crowded events can wear me out too, unless of course I’m dancing. See HERE and leave me a comment if you know how to rotate a video.
9. THIS is my idea of having a ball.
10. But if your ball is made of plastic, don’t put it in your mouth. Plastic toys may need to go the way of lead paint. See HERE and thank Fred for passing this on.
11. C my name is Colleen. My husband’s name is Klein. We Come from Floyd County and we sell rhymes: A line based on the alphabet bouncing ball game that I played as a girl and once considered leaving on my answering machine.
12. Years ago I wrote nursery rhymes for most of my nieces and nephews (and other little friends who are not so little anymore). Here’s an example: Andrew Justin baked a pie … Especially for his Nana … She ate so much her shoes fell off … Rhubarb and banana.
13. From Nursery Rhymes to Rap Songs: I’m working on some rap lyrics with a regional theme to go with the music to “Nina’s in Jail” by Liquid Soul for a friend’s local band. I’m thinking of calling it “Mara’s Playing Scrabble,” but I haven’t gotten very far. Please feel free to suggest a few lines. They might even get in the song.
Thursday headquarters is here.
October 18th, 2007 9:13 am
Great list. Happy TT!
October 18th, 2007 9:15 am
I loved the bouncy balls video
October 18th, 2007 9:41 am
Two quick comments: 1) I agree that we should send flowers to the living. The dead are already seeing beautiful things and the living need the comfort. 2) Your rap lyrics are too long. How about, “2 Play Scrabble With U.”
October 18th, 2007 10:13 am
I shortened it, and realized as I did OMG I was writing lyrics for it as I was falling asleep. If only I could remember them. They weren’t about Scrabble.
October 18th, 2007 10:18 am
What are the rules for 13’s exactl I got so confused on the site and don’t think I registered properly??The songs what memories and great videos
October 18th, 2007 10:31 am
Oh man, Colleen – Number 1 REALLY struck a chord in me – I knew I had fallen for Laura when she laid her head against my chest one evening and started singing “Se eu não te amasse tanto assim” (“If I didn’t Love You so Much”) in Portuguese.
Amazing stuff – Keep up the good work!
October 18th, 2007 10:57 am
Not sure what you mean, Sandy, about rules and registering. What site were you at?
October 18th, 2007 10:58 am
I love Clannad! I used to have an album of theirs but since I got rid of my records, I’ve kind of forgotten about them. I will have to check them out again.
Happy TT!
October 18th, 2007 12:19 pm
I love that video of the bouncing balls! I clicked on the link to the Neil Young video, and then listened to After The Gold Rush while watching the balls…cool!
October 18th, 2007 1:56 pm
On the curriculum at Radford. How gratifying.
Your 6 seems fitting.
I relate to your #7. It seems whenever I make a sweeping statement life brushes in to reverse it.
October 18th, 2007 5:58 pm
What an emotional entry for me. #3 really got to me and then I see my 30 year old son’s name as a nursery rhyme!!! xox
October 18th, 2007 6:01 pm
PS Coll send the video on #8 and Nelson will try to rotate it for you. xo
October 18th, 2007 6:27 pm
I adore the Clannad song. Not a bad one to have as your love theme!
October 18th, 2007 6:48 pm
Later our song was “Baby I Love Your Ways,” which was played at our wedding.
She, I already asked Nelson about the video. It’s too big a file to send.
October 18th, 2007 11:14 pm
Hi Colleen! I’m here via Michele today so hello from her and hello from me.
I enjoyed your list and the links. Clannad brings back memories of my older sister who loved them and I hated them. But I was much younger then – I think I’d appreciate them more these days. (Isn’t the lead singer Enya’s sister?)
I love that Sony Bravia ad. I watched a doco on the making of that. You know there were no computer generated balls in that clip – they used like a million balls or something like that and had dozens of cameras on the ready to film from all angles. Great clip with a great soundtrack.
I enjoyed your TT. Also looked a couple of your other posts. I studied ceramics at university (15 odd years ago) so I read with interest that post. Well done.
Enjoy your weekend.
October 19th, 2007 7:07 am
Your 13s are always fun to read and make me realize how much you gulp down life.
October 19th, 2007 9:45 am
~~ Love that you make rhymes ~~ When sitting in traffic going nowhere fast, I’ll pop up with something esp. if I see trucks waiting at loading docks. Something from an old hymn and remade — “Waiting on a door..waiting on a door, we all spend our lifetimes, waiting on a door…”
Some other “songs” pop up too, while cars race past and cut me off, but I can’t print them here…
October 19th, 2007 2:01 pm
Oh, there were so many good things in your 13!
Love the nursery rhyme! Love the flower idea, the Clannad song, the fantastic plastic info that I’m going to post on my blog today (credit to you), and the happy bouncy ball video. 🙂
~S 🙂
October 19th, 2007 3:51 pm
Love your nursery rhyme…it will be fun to hear about your rap experience!
Hope your wrists are fine now.
October 19th, 2007 4:49 pm
Great songs!
I collect bouncy balls.
October 19th, 2007 6:27 pm
As always Colleen, a very very rich TT….I had forgotten about the Frog/Toad in that wonderful Color Ball Video…
So many things to ponder on…!
October 20th, 2007 4:13 pm
I would not want to clean up all those balls