42 escalators later

Today I utilized 42 escalators. 

Kind of an interesting take on things, but when you do 42 escalators daily once or so a week you get time to reflect upon  - -  well......things. 

So what did I reflect upon.....

I reflected upon - giving up

I kept thinking how hard things are, and then given that today is Good Friday- the day Christ was crucified, I kept comparing my hardships to his. And try as I may, and whether you believe Jesus is the son of God or not, I do think we can agree that he was a person who was beaten and crucified - - right?

So today was hard..FORTY-TWO ESCALATORS hard!!!!  and not to mention the pressures of the work-day. 

And was my day as hard as Jesus' day- today, some 2000+ years ago. The bible says - - "and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" 

I try to think what it is like to; give up my spirit, and I cannot. As hard as my days may be, to give up, and to give up one's spirit is beyond comprehension. 

Tonight, after 42 escalators, and countless work encounters and trials and tribulations of the day, what is it that revived and relaxed me?

It was slowing down. 
It was smelling the flowers. 
It was talking to my neighbor. 
It was breathing. 
it was the moments. 

We all need to do more of that. 

moments

the embracing of moments is where I am striving.

I think when I learn to embrace moments I will learn to embrace God and all of His creation.

 being caught up in myself is where I falter.

this happens all too often...myself, my ego, my vents, my judgments, MY RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!

FOR I AM TATE AND TATE IS I !!!

when will i learn to just accept everything for everything, for the moments are what are to be treasured.

S.L.O.W.  I.T.  D.O.W.N.

SSSSSS.....LLLLLLL.....OOOOO.......WWWWW.......

make everything momentous

movies and television take advantage of the moments isn't it time we did?

who are you?

A facebook banner post that made me think.....

What is being yourself?

I always have to remind myself that I am a self-defeating Christian who believes I do wrong, and need forgiveness.

But I ask.....at the end of the day - - - Who are you?

The Who asked this very question....((and also answered it))
"Who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Oh, tell me who are you (Who are you?, ooo?)
I really wanna to know
Oh, I really want to know
C'mon tell me who are you, you, you?
Who are you?"

And then...they said - - - 
"Can you see the real me, can you, CAN YOU?"

so, "who are you", do you know, who you are and what you believe and want to believe?

dyeing your hair blue or tattooing your body with identifiers of who you are, or having a job of power or meekness ....do these VERY THINGS define YOU???

WHAT EXACTLY DEFINES YOU?

Is it guns?

Is it Nike, Adidas, Reebok??

Is it sports teams?

Is it, is it, what is it????

Is it television, is it movies or books or poets???

Is it the very world of which you live???

Or is it your <3

Ask your <3 and see. 

I mean......

"who are you?"

top love songs (imo)

The Beatles have many, many classic love songs.

My wife's fave is "Michele", this song always had a European flair; kind of a French/Italian feel to it. Michelle  is good, but does not ring as true for me as my lovely.

My all time favorite Beatles love song, primarily written by Sir Paul is...."And I Love Her",  talk about your international feel to a song- this song has a Spanish Flamenco flavor that is hard to disguise.

the lyrics are sublime- - - "I give her all my love, that's all I do, and if you saw my love, you'd love her too....I love her"

Really isn't that the epitome of love, her beauty, her grace?

"A love like ours...could never die" - true love spoken.

"Bright are the stars that shine, dark is the sky" yup my kinda song. Stars and sky. Great guitar and lyrics that just melt me.

This song, the guitar, the words are bliss.

Give a listen.

top love songs (imo) day #3

Top love songs day three.

This is a difficult journey. There are all types of love songs. Family love songs, people love songs, but let's face it. This week, this blog, leading to February 14th is a journey of the sweetest kind, a journey of pure bliss, a journey of love, love, love.

The options are almost infinite- but we will go directly to what was considered heavy metal in my day (the  70's), right to what is arguably a band of Beatles stature and that would be Led Zeppelin.

"Whole Lotta Love"
The lyrics of this song are of a deeply personal nature and of one of which this blogger will skip describing for you. Suffice it to say that the sexual nature of this song, for this 60's/70's raised lad are as hot and steamy as it gets.

Give a listen. Headphones strongly suggested.

TOP LOVE SONGS CONT. (imo)

When Margaret and I first became romantic these are the songs I remember as being my love songs.      "Ah! Leah!" Donnie Iris     - Mar would go to take care of her grandmother in Philly and I wouldn't see her for days, and this song; Ah! Leah!, this classic pop harmony bubble gum song . The lyrics were on my mind and more importantly, my heart.
"I see you lips and I wonder who's been kissing them....I never knew how badly I was missing them"
"Your'e looking better then a body has a right to". These lines were dripping with desire. Me for her.

Well I could go on about Ah! Leah!, but since I am offering up 3 songs today we move on-
"You Better You Bet" Pete Townshend aka The Who- Sense a theme here? I wanted commitment in my mind and hers ( I hoped). The lyrics of the song are a promise. The song goes through life's ups/downs, but on the promise "you better you bet" everything is spelled out, I like that. And the fact that the song says "I just like your nose",  well, I've told Margaret a million times how much I love her nose.

"What I Like About You" The Romantics
This is in my mind THE song for my wife and I. This is high energy, jam it out, jump around, spin around.
I do dance. It isn't pretty and this is my favorite dance song and a top love song.
"you really hold me tight" Does it get any better, you bet!
"you're whispering in my ear, tell me all the things that I want to hear, and it's true...that's what I like about you!"
I want to dance just writing about it!
"when you go up down, jump around, think about true romance" I love dancing that part and more!

So there you go....
Day 1 - Silly Love Songs
Day 2 - Ah! Leah! - - You Better You Bet - - What I Like About You

Day 3 is in the works....stay tuned.

Mar did ask if I was jealous of her grandmother- "I see you lips and I wonder who was kissing them", I was never jealous of her grandmother, but I didn't know what our relationship was and until we developed our relationship, I was unsure and not confident. Of course it is now 31 years later and then as we do now, we have love and happiness. 

top love songs of all time (imo) day 1

It was 1976, the year of our bicentennial and I was a 13 year old teen male with a growing body, an extreme lack of confidence and an exceptionally strong desire to be in love with every girl my age that would walk by. 

Every summer there was a carnival in Bellmawr, NJ put together by the local Catholic Church where my grandparents and in particular my great Aunt Mimi would take us children; siblings and cousin alike.

With spinning carnival wheels promoting early gambling and rides aplenty we would be in our glory. Enjoying the evenings as special as they were. 

There was this one night....atop the Ferris wheel with the stop and go of the loading slowing life down to measurable moments....when far above the flashing lights and din of the crowd a song played. 

Silly Love Song written by Sir Paul and Linda McCartney, performed by Wings. 

The simplicity of it's pop was overwhelming and yet the lyrics hooked me - - -pure wisdom and it was then I had an epiphany. 

"you'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs, but I look around and me and I see it isn't so"

"some people wanna feel the world with silly love songs...and what's wrong with that"

That line, there it is...THE EPIPHANY!  "what's wrong with that????". There is the wisdom,  there it is....what's wrong with that. Really...what's wrong with filling the world with love songs, filling the world with love. Being in love, showing love, knowing love and WHAT'S WRONG WITH THAT, I'd like to know, 'cause here I go again!!!"

I love you