Goodnight America

Aug 30th 2006,
originally uploaded by Padrone.

I'm standing at a traffic light somewhere in West LA

Waiting for the sign to change then I'll be on my way

The noise, the heat, the crush of cars

Just drives me up my nerve

And someone yells and blasts their horn

And pins me to the curb...

And I'm driving into Houston on a rain slick Texas road

Land so flat and skies so dark, I say a prayer to float

Should all at once the San Jacinto surge beyond its banks...

I'm a stranger here, no one you would know

I'm from somewhere else, but isn't everybody though

Don't know where I'll be when the sun comes up

Until then sweet dreams, and goodnight America

~~~~~~~~
...and goodnight August moon

I thank you for your nightly beauty

and the winks from above.

I look forward to the change in seasons

and the beauty of your Fall harvest moons.

~~~~~~

Song lyrics by Mary Chapin Carpenter

and yes, she actually did write about Houston

and when it rains the San Jacinto River

is known to surge beyond it banks in a matter of minutes!

Ciao to the month of August--my least favorite

as the heat here can be so brutal. Thankfully, the

winds from the south will be slowly replaced by the North winds.

Thanks to Padrone for his wonderful photo.

Between Here and Gone

Up above me,
Wayward angels,
A blur of wings and grace.
One for courage,
One for safety,
One for "just in case"

Tonight, the moon came out, it was nearly full.
Way down here on earth, I could feel it's pull...
is it the weight of gravity or just the lure of life

I thought a light went out, but now the candle shines.
I thought my tears wouldn't stop, then I dried my eyes.
And after all of this, the truth that holds me here,
Is that this emptiness is something not to fear.
Yeah, I'll keep wondering how we know where we belong,
After all the journeys made, and the journeys yet to come.
When I feel like giving up instead of going on,
Somewhere in between here and gone.

Lyrics by Mary Chapin Carpenter
and in memoriam of lives lost from Hurricane Katrina
and for those souls still living and trying to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of that terrible storm.

Linked photo by Lindac928

Hallmark Cards

...For when you care enough to send the very best!

~~~~~~~~~~

Heard your wife left you!

How upset you must be!

But don't fret about it! She moved in with me!

~~~~~~~~~

Looking back over the years that we've been together,

I can't help but wonder... "What the hell was I thinking?"

~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations on your wedding day!

Too bad no one likes your husband!

~~~~~~~~~~

How could two people as beautiful as you--

Have such an ugly baby?

~~~~~~~~~~

I've always wanted to have someone to hold, someone to love.

After having met you . I've changed my mind!

~~~~~~~~~~

I must admit, you brought Religion into my life.

I never believed in Hell until I met you!

~~~~~~~~~~

As the days go by, I think of how lucky I am...

That you're not here to ruin it for me!

~~~~~~~~~~

Congratulations on your promotion.

Before you go... Would you like to take this knife out of my back?

You'll probably need it again!

~~~~~~~~~~

Happy birthday! You look great for your age.

Almost Lifelike!

~~~~~~~~~~

When we were together, you always said you'd die for me.

Now that we've broken up,

I think it's time you kept your promise!

~~~~~~~~~~

Passion & Moleskines

One of my favorite websites to visit occasionally is Moleskinerie and just last week a contest was set into place and a question was asked, "What's your passion?" and here was my response:

MUSIC!

Music is my passion!

Music is a universal language

and one that can bring people together.

I attended an Ottmar Liebert concert last month

and not only was I charged by his music,

I was charged by the people in attendance.

People from all walks of life..old and young!

I have an ecclectic CD collection from Vivaldi to U2

to Mary Chapin-Carpenter to Shakira to Rahim AlHaj.

Music is all around me…at work, at home, at play and in the car.

I cannot imagine life without music!

My moleskine is full of song lyrics

and notes about future songs to listen to

and/or download on my iPod or to buy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Needless to say, I didn't win the contest but I really enjoyed reading all the posts about what each person's passion was. If you have some time be sure to check out the responses. My favorite was by Amy (3rd post) and as it turned out she won the contest. I'd be interested to hear about what your passion is as well.

Anniversarius

Word of the Day: Anniversarius (Latin)

Music: August Moon, Ottmar Liebert

Anniversarius

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The word for year and to turn meaning-

(re)turning yearly...is a day that commemorates

and/or celebrates a past event that occurred

on the same day of the year as the

initial event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Special thanks as always to Boris who

was first to comment on my blog and

an even bigger "Thank You" to all others

who have commented in the past two years.

Nuevo Mexico (Part 1)

Nuevo Mexico(Luz)
Originally uploaded by mRio.

This had been about my third trip to New Mexcio and regretably each visit has been very short and this past trip/vacation was only about a 48 hour stay! Much too short! :-( However, we (Mario & I) packed a lot into our trip.

Friday morning 8/6, we flew into Albuquerque and rented a car for the drive up to Santa Fe, and Mario was my co-pilot providing me with directions the old fashioned way--map reading! NO GPS here! Instead it was an MPS! ;-)

We spend the early afternoon at the usual tourist locale in Santa Fe--the Plaza Square. The weather couldn't have been better! Cool, crisp, blue skies with intermittant clouds, rain and temps in the low 70's! AHHHH!!! No heat and humidity! We were both in heaven. We found a great little cafe to enjoy a wonderful cup of Cafe Amaretto and it just happened that our server was from Texas and wearing a UT cap. He was all to happy to chat with a fellow Texan. I would've loved to go back for another cup of coffee the day after and the day after that and so forth! As we walked the Plaza we accidently found the Santa Fe School of Cooking of which our fellow fanmenco Kym had always talked about. The aroama from that stairway was to die for and how I would've loved to take a walk through the school. Next time! So c'mon Kym, we'll be waiting for you to join us!

Maria's New Mexican Restaurant (voted Best in Santa Fe--11 years in a row) was our next stop for a late lunch! What a lunch and the restaurant boasts of the "Great Margarita List" with over 100 Margaritas to choose from! Decisions, decisions! I decided to try the Pomengranate Margarita, which is made with 100% fresh pomengranate juice and Cuervo Gold tequila which is blended to smooth perfection and frozen! As Kym would say, WOW! Maria's Margarita list, stated it was one of the healthiest margaritas to drink--so how could I resist! BTW, I conveniently brought the list home with me as a souvenir and will tuck it away in my LE box. If I lived in Santa Fe, I would be sure to go back every week and try a different margarita! Thanks for the recommendation, Ottmar!

Time Flies

.

Yes, Mario time does fly! It seems like just yesterday we took our whirlwind trip to New Mexico! A 48 hour whirlwind trip to be exact!

I'm still trying to recuperate and catch up with my sleep! Getting back to work today was a bit of a drag! I so wanted to be back in New Mexico! Thanks for posting such a wondeful picture. I will blog more about the trip in the next day or two.