Put Another Nickel In.....

In the la..da accordion (not exact lyrics!) Music, music, music!


Our favorite Italian accordion player

Teresa Brewer brought this happy, catchy tune to our home when I was young and my Mom would play her on the turn table. The song lyrics are actually - "put another nickle in, in the Nickelodeon.." For some reason I was reminded of the song when I was thinking back on our fun last night. The event was a graduation intermingled with a little Holiday too. This group of friends are from High School. It's quite easy to feel a part of their family. They are Italian-Americans - full of love and willing to share it! At most gatherings with this group their patriarch will launch into song and squeeze box party music. A full-on everyone join-in sing-a-long is something from a different era. Possibly an era that we'd benefit from revisiting.  Maybe we'd all get along much better if we asked Mr. L to provide the fun rather than a DJ and some rap music? Not to say there's anything wrong with other genres of music.... it's just that you've got to try the sing-along! Smiles all around!  Well, smiles and tears can be had also - I digress, but I'm also reminded of another time with this same family minus the accordion yet still having a sing-along. Days after 9/11 we were all together enjoying California sunshine, love, patriotism and our FREEDOM. Our repertoire at this party was the likes of America The Beautiful and My Country 'tis Of Thee.  That time there were tears. In joy, celebration, and sadness I keep this family close in my memory of happy times very similar to my past love of phonographs, Teresa Brewer, my Mom and all of the beautiful music she played!  

YART

Yard + Art = YART! or at least in my dictionary!! I've concocted a term that I'm assuming is not an entry in the pages of Webster's. The reason for this newfangled descriptive is that as I did the daily routine in a hilly town a few miles from home - I observed much YART! Now in my most Shari-fashion I can't get the idea  out of my head. I'm stuck with incessant pings of aha moments! Is this YART, or not?, or should it be called YART -WORK? What constitutes YART? Well let's get on with it already! You tell me what you think YART is, or is not...


this YART would scare me!



very Museum of Modern YART



rusted metal

So far so good. Then there are items that confuse my sense of YART. Are there numerous categories? I guess since it's my own term I can decide the definition..... hmmmmm that's rather fun! I'm thinking this gate is rather a piece of YART - see for yourself:


tree branch gate

 I think those branches are actually made from concrete..how the heck can it stay lifted off the ground?

Why, yes, you ask do I have any YART work myself? I definitely do - meet Ms. Tomatohead:

I made her with pieces of found objects. I've talked about taking up welding in order to "pursue my craft" - HA that sounds so snobby! Now I'll become a YARTwork snob? I'm not sure about the pursuing  of anything, but it could be fun to make a New Years resolution and put welding at the top of the list! Possibly more do-able than the resolution list that begins with - Lose weight.

More YART on another day... I have plenty to share.

Gotta See One...

Sign me up, right now! If I could go out and buy a ticket for one of these productions then I would surely do so! I am utterly intrigued by the whole thing.  Imagine being out in a public spot, minding your own business and then suddenly there is some form of a show going on and you are sitting center stage.  Possibly I'm behind the times on this phenomenon ... but I AM LOVING ME THIS FLASH MOB thing!! For anyone not in the know here is wikipedia's definition :

A flash mob (or flashmob ) is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then disperse. The term flash mob is general...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob

When I Googled flash mob there is plenty to read on the idea. I intend to research much further! Even Oprah got a surprise at a flash mob showing during a taping one year ago. Modern Family did an episode recently that had Mitchell joining in on a dance in the middle of a mall plaza, much to the pleasure and dismay of Cam! The alarm on Cameron's face being only because he didn't know the steps to the routine and was left out of the production. "How could you? you've two timed me with choreography.." ever the drama queen!

Today a friend shared a flash mob video on Facebook. The darn thing even made me teary! I can be sappy sometimes. I truly wish I could have seen this show though - in a mall food court as each singer stood up and in harmony and with voices beautifully tuned sang.. "and he shall reign forever and ever, and he shall..."  la la la  la la....   A beautiful Christmas hymn, just because, just like that, just for the fun of it all!!  Gives me hope for mankind ! Now really, how do you get a reaction like that and such strong emotion from one such seemingly silly thing?!

LOVE IT !!!

Added later - here is the link to U tube flashmob:

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

www.youtube.com

http://www.AlphabetPhotography.com/ - On Nov.13 2010 unsuspecting shoppers got a big surprise while enjoying their lunch. Over 100 participants in this awesome Christmas Flash Mob. This is a must see! This flash mob was organized by http://www.AlphabetPhotography.com/

Can I Get A Witness

Rafters trembled, bodies shook, and there was a rumbling that began very low in register and crescendos to a mighty roar..... NO! not talking about an earthquake!  I'm hoping to give some credit to the outrageously dynamite movie BURLESQUE! I know dynamite seems a bit dated as a verb - but clearly this was an explosion, TNT, fireworks on film. Christina Aguilera's pipes did make the theater rafters move, I swear. The aforementioned shaking was that of some taut, young and enthusiastic dancers. Oh, my!!! My eyes were entranced by the costumery (spell check isn't liking the word costumery) and sets. Cher contributed much to the script; her singing still strong and her person still lovely. I had intended on seeing the movie later this month while in the company of others. Alas, it was a rainy day that lent itself very well to sitting indoors and being entertained. Entertained, I was!
You may want to hurry on down to the cinema and be sure to get a gander at the young male lead. Whoa!! screeching halt!... - when this handsome buck decides to exchange flannel pj's for a box of Famous Amos .... well, can I get a witness?!! really, can I?  let me know if you'll ever think of Famous Amos in the same way again!!  While I adore Stanley Tucci - he is NOT the male lead that I mean, yet he is quite fabulous in his own way.

A Burlesque explosion.. otherwise known as a picture that is blurred and flawed..but still it does look like an explosion. Guess trying to get a shot of the screen isn't so easy when you're trying to be sneaky!

Sweet Remembrance

This Birthday was celebrated in a unique fashion. Tonight Hubby & I joined a small group in a little  pizza parlor in the town where I grew up. The lovely lady who is named on the cake couldn't join us. Coco is the nickname for my sweet pal - Colleen. I went to High School with her and we were connected by the same circle of friends. Our relationship lasted many years, waning in some places, and reconnecting in others. Where she chose motherhood, religion and a more reserved lifestyle, I opted for quite the opposite.  These differences never changed my view that she was sweet, caring, funny, unique, patient and kind. Forward now to nearly one year ago. While most of us scrambled about preparing for Christmas she was enduring another hospital stay - one of many! After years of poor health, disease and complications that NO human should  ever find in their vocabulary... Coco was once again fighting to stay here on Earth, if only for a few months more, solely to continue her parenting duties. Her children were the reason for that drive and tenacity. Droves of people visited. Her family sat vigil. The Doctors who had become personally involved were friends now. She tried - really, really tried HARD, but life here with us was not in the cards. Her fight was lost on a rainy, full Blue Moon evening on the final day of the year. That anniversary to be here shortly. Tonight though was arranged by those beautiful children of hers. It was a must that they honor their Mother on this, her 53rd Birthday! A cake was made, candles lit and we sang to her too. Her only Grandchild blew out the candles.
From our hearts to yours, Coco - you are remembered and loved!

Never Enough

There are never enough hours in a day! The time spent with my girlfriends is never long enough! One can never eat, drink or laugh enough while on a get-away!  I can never get enough of San Francisco! Enough is NOT enough.. because in my book - More is More!.....  all of this and MORE can be said for my mini holiday over the weekend. The sights one experiences in San Francisco are quite possibly different from most places in the U.S., and I don't just mean tourist sites. At any given time, on any given day you will find the strange and quirky, the odd and eye opening out just waiting to be embraced by someone. The novelty never wears off for me. Magic of a special kind takes place here.

 There must have been some mass media mailing that my friends and I missed...  ohhh, that's quite a few "m" words in a sentence chain...  Anyhow the Santas of the world united on Saturday in SF. Groups, and pods, and posses were out merry-making in full red suit, white beard attire! Hundreds of them! Some pulled chariots of She-Santas, some caroling, some drinking (in public), some in camouflage, others in tutus. What an interesting way to bring in the Christmas season!

My pod delightfully Christmas-ed by getting not-enough-hours-in-a-day visiting time in with one another. We camped out in a high rise hotel with enough rations to keep us sustained for a portion of the evening. The dancing you heard tell about only occurred in our room. The bluster of the early hours waned by night so we ventured out to climb some famous hills. Caught a glimpse of cable cars, ate candy from gingerbread houses and listened to a tad of lounge music. When the sugar plum visions could no longer be brushed aside we stopped talking long enough to let them dance in our heads! Dreams of San Francisco magic are the ones that I'll hold always close to my heart.



Tiffany's magical display



The City By The Bay....

I Left My Heart in San Francisco -
  and a case of champagne too....











Spending time with girlfriends in one of my favorite cities in the world! As a young adult I was fortunate to find a group of women girls (at that time) who I have claimed as MY OWN for somewhere near 30 years! Boy do we know how to have fun; man can we laugh! Sometimes I feel we are still that young group of girls 'cause we can sure rock a dance floor -
Periodically.    Lately though, I believe, we're just glad to be in the same hotel room sipping champagne, talking over each other reveling in the unique bond that we have. Together this sisterhood has celebrated and endured many triumphs and tragedies. They are the sisters my mother did not birth. Without them ... well I can find no metaphor... I don't want to know a without them! So, rain or shine I will be somewhere near that Golden Gate, in the city by the bay, Christmas shopping in Union Square and thanking my lucky stars that I am theirs and they are mine!