Bucket of Frogs

Some days staring at the TV is all I am capable of. Other days there are moments when deep questions tickle the grey matter. Like today; when you plug your phone or ipod into your stereo or car audio system and ask that system to shuffle the music, is it the stereo or your phone that controls the shuffle? The music on my way to work was particularly good you see and I wondered which machine to afford the credit to because some days are bad  music days when every other song needs to be skipped as it is just not fitting for the moment. Sorry I digress. Or other bigger 'life, the universe and everything' type questions like; why are we here?

Now I have no idea what the answer to this question is...what? I am no Stephen Hawking am I? I ask questions about shuffling ipods for goodness sake! However in my pondering I did come to a realisation; does it matter? One thing is certain, the thing that makes it all worth while and the thing that has seen me survive has been my connections with other people.

The last couple of months have been hard personally for me, for no particular reason other than circumstances weighing me down. Now, in the grand scheme of things I have a roof over my head, I can afford to feed my family and we are all healthy. These are the times where you think to yourself get a grip, your life is peachy. But it is what it is and downward my mood has spiraled. Through it all there they have been, my little shining stars. The lights that brighten my day and keep my head up and a smile on my face no matter what I face.

Those people that can throw chocolate (and other goodies) a really, really long way and time it's arrival so perfectly it made me smile, cry and laugh all at the same time. Then chat online with you for hours about anything.

The little messages that pop up and say I'm thinking of you, how are you doing? bringing a smile with them, even though things are not rosy for them.

Oh and the laughter. The geeking out, the inuendo, the insider jokes and the down right did I just walk into that  moments that have kept me sane at work. With old friends and new; discovering those things that we are on the same wavelength about or other things that we have in common when we thought we were the only one. If I didn't eat as much chocolate the amount I have laughed recently at work I could have shed a few pounds at least.

Connections...lead to smiles...leads to laughter...leads to a lighter heart...leads to inspiration...

I had always thought in the past that my inspiration came from a couple of very limited sources. I am starting to see that it is there in everything, it is connected to everything I just need a lighter and more open heart (and probably mind) in order to accept it. That's probably why music unlocks things for me and walks in the open. I finally see my awesome friends not only keep me sane and make smile, they inspire me too.

view original here on Pinterest.

So thank you my friends, thank you for being there for me, whether you were aware or not you helped (are helping) to keep me sane. Though sometimes I wonder if, "we are all mad here." As mad as a bucket of frogs.

Just a little Stereophonics to end with today. When you are struggling what drags you out of it to face another day?

Which way? That way? Honestly?

Last week I put the beginning of my surrealist journey in your hands....catch up here if you missed it.

Into the random page generator (read bowl of bits of paper with numbers on) goes: 2, 100, 154.

 Sorry Tangled Lou and Paul, unfortunately there is no page 42 in the book...but I think you knew that Lou ;-)

And the winner is (I was never that great at holding the suspense) 100, picked by Tim Green on Twitter. Talented comic artist and also in need of your votes in a competition see here!

So, Page 100...

Flip forward 5 pages...gives me....

This is a Virtual Reality

1. Make a list of your personality traits

2. Take those traits and exaggerate or embellish them. Create a character (or avatar) with these traits as superpowers.

3. Create several superhero accessories  Examples: Her excellent organisational skills make her fully prepared for every potential crisis. He repels enemies with his love of garlic. She has a great ability to find things in messy spaces. He is a timing expert.

I don't think I could have picked a harder challenge to start my surrealist journey by myself, so thanks for this Tim. Not so challenging in terms of defacing books, yet probably the hardest task in the book for me. I have to find positives in my personality!!

Wish me luck ;-)

And seeing as it is still Tuesday there must be a tune....excuse for a little Stereophonics anyone??

What are your superhero traits? And do you have a cape??

Pages and Smiles

Stories read and stories told

Until throats are horse

The young hear tales of old

Content and tired no words I say

After a very happy

World Book Day

Our costumes, because you asked so nicely ;-)

Happy Weekend Folks!

Curiouser and curiouser

Just having a little look back over recent posts and I realised I have been somewhat laxed about including some cool tunes. This seems odd to me because music has been increasingly taking over my life.

It all started when a friend of mine started to try and 'educate' me.....apparently I wasn't listening to some great bands that I should have been! I have to admit I wasn't! What I was listening to wasn't bad, it was just quite limited.

He reminded me of the likes of the Stereophonics to my music library.

Introduced me to the Lostprophets (regular readers will be aware of the minor obsession that sparked) and Stone Sour.

By this point I had headed down a rabbit hole of devouring everything I could get my hands on from any of the bands that I liked even a little. Just as things were starting to dry up a little other friends started stepping in with suggestions of what I should try, so next came Placebo

And still more with Gas Light Anthem, Queens of the Stone Age....

Until my latest obsession popped up in the form of 30 Seconds to Mars:

At this point I started to think I had hit the bottom of my rabbit hole and could happily climb out enjoying all the music I had discovered along the way. Sound in theory, apparently though I jumped into a rabbit hole that dropped me straight into wonderland because at the bottom I discovered Last FM. Now I have eaten and drunk all the things I had to to go through the door into a whole new wonderful world packed with even more musical delights. So I will leave you with Simple Plan...my latest discovery and hopefully not my last ;-)

Oh what the hell I couldn't decide which one to include so you get both, well why not they are good songs!

I hope you enjoyed your trip down my musical rabbit hole; we had to have a trip to wonderland seeing as it was Lewis Carroll's Birthday this week!

What do you think, have I been educated well enough? Are there things in your musical rabbit hole that should be in mine? Let me know, I'd love to discover more!