Five tracks in my iTunes library with titles that contain the word “Hello”:

1. “Hello Heartbreak,” Michelle Williams. Poor Michelle Williams — do a Google Image search and the Destiny’s Child third wheel doesn’t even show up until page 3, thanks to a better-known Michelle Williams, at right. Plus, I feel bad that Beyoncé released her album “I Am Sasha Fierce” like a month after Michelle released her solo pop album, which included this song. If the “turn the lights out / ho!” bit sounds familiar, perhaps you’ve heard it on … Beyoncé’s song “Sweet Dreams,” which the same guy produced. Papa Knowles can’t let those other girls have anything to themselves!

2. “Hello Hopeville,” Michelle Shocked. I bought this tape — that’s right, a cassette tape, kids! — for the incredibly weird song “When I Grow Up,” (they’re gonna have a hundred and five / ten / fifteen /twenty babies). This and “Captain Swing” are my two favorite albums by her.

3. “Hello City,” Barenaked Ladies. “Gordon” makes me think of my former coworker Crystal, who loved this band and would play this disc in the old Get Out office. Their song  “If I Had $1,000,000″ mentions a K-Car, with which I was saddled for a few years.  My Plymouth Reliant-K  had a radio with those hard push-buttons that allowed six stations, no tape player and near the end of its life started to smell like antifreeze anytime I used the heater. (The vinyl top failed to make it classier, either.) Eventually I traded up to a Plymouth Neon (with spoiler, as TBond would point out). Note to lottery winners: Do not buy anyone a K-Car. That’s just mean.

4. “Hello I Am Your Heart,” Sara Hickman. Another track from Rubaiyat, the Elektra label’s “happy anniversary to us!” release. I had never heard the original version by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band before today.

5. “Say Hello,” April Wine. My freshman year in college, my friend Tracy made me a mix she labeled “keg tunes,” which was filled with all of the music they used to play at the high school kegs I never went to. This was one of them. And … $1.29 for April Wine?! Seriously? Remember when the labels said they’d charge $1.29 for the really in-demand songs but drop the prices of less-popular tracks to like 79¢? It is 11th in line when you do a search for “Say Hello,” which is no surprise considering the song is 30 years old. The fact the label still wants to charge $1.29 is just annoying.

WHAT SAM WORE: 12-23-09
The sweater: Merino wool V-neck from Gap.
The shirt: Button-collar cotton dress shirt by Façonnable, from Last Chance
The pants: Boot-fit trousers from Banana Republic.
The shoes: Suede sneaker on clearance from bananarepublic.com. In a happy coincidence, my latest order showed up at work today.

I LOVE Yves Saint Laurent shoes. Something about the height and design always speaks to me. I’m 5′4 so I always go for the highest shoes.  The Sculpted Suede Platform pump is my new favorite. Thought I’d share it with you all. Check out more YSL shoes including my favorite ever, the Tribute Pump.

She was the first to die that day. She will never be the first to be forgotten.

Rachel Scott was just another high school student the day her life was taken by two of her fellow classmates in the Columbine High School massacre of 1999. Using her words from diaries, letters and poems she wrote, her message of love and compassion lives on through an educational school and community program that tours the country.

The assembly we had at school today was so incredible. It was so deeply moving to me, especially because I remember that tragic day so well. A special assembly will be presented to the community in the gymnasium at Raymore-Peculiar High School at 7 p.m. tonight (Dec. 2). If you live in the area and can make it, it will be worth your time.

Called “Rachel’s Challenge,” the assembly asks us to do five things:  Treat others the way you wish to be treated; dream big; seek good influences in life; spread “positive gossip,” good words about others; and, lastly, start a chain reaction. 

I love this message. It is very similar to what I have been saying to my students for the past eight years and to readers of my newspaper opinion columns for the five years prior to that.

After asking my students if they believed they had the ability to save a life, I told them a story,  a story about a young girl. Sad and alone, she walked through crowds of people in a busy city. She came to the river. She continued walking, right into the river. Swept away by the current, her body was finally located several miles downstream.

On shore, a simple note was found, snagged on some brush near where she walked into the river. The note said, “No one said hello.”

Ever since I first heard that story, I was moved by its power. Those four amazingly simple, yet so profound, words….”No one said hello.” If someone would have just done something as simple as greet her and smile, she would not have taken her own life.

I know there are days I feel down. There are times when someone just says “hello” to me and I know I will then be able to make it through the day. Maybe that person was you —  if not for me, maybe for someone else. You might have saved a life already and not even known it. We have more power than we realize.

You may not believe this, but I do know how it feels to be alone in a crowd. I sometimes feel I have spent my entire life that way. I can make people laugh; I know I have that ability. One thing I sometimes struggle with, surprisingly, is making myself happy.

Somehow in conversations over the years, I mention that comedians are actually among the most depressed people of all. I do not know if anyone ever caught on, but I was including myself in that.

If people are laughing, they are too busy to ask you about your life, they are too distracted by the humor to see the truth, they are too misled by your comedic wit to ever think you could be withering. I suffer from serious bouts of depression, it is true. It is not something I normally discuss. It is something with which I simply deal (and most of the time just refuse to acknowledge).

I just deal with it. And all you have to do is say “hello.”

I just want to strive to be as good as Rachel Scott knew we could all be everyday of my life. I know I will not always be able to do it, but I vow to try. I accept Rachel’s Challenge! If you want to know more, check out www.rachelschallenge.org.

Normally, I would not publish my poetry on here, but this is a poem I wrote shortly after another tragic school shooting, this one at a school in California called Santana High School,  and while thinking of the tragedy of Columbine. Here is that poem:

Safe Haven

 By John VanPelt

In Memory of the Students of Santana and Columbine high schools

I crawl to natural science

To study the evolution of man

Blood on the windows, blood on the walls

This wasn’t in Darwin’s plan.

I stroll to history

To explore ancient times

Blood on the windows, blood on the walls

The blood-stained hands of crime.

I saunter to Spanish

To master a foreign tongue

Blood on the windows, blood on the walls

The last dying gasp of the young.

I skim to English

To read great authors of the past

Blood on the windows, blood on the walls

How long will this pain last?

I scurry to biology

To examine the innards of mice

Blood on the windows, blood on the walls

To violence we are desensitized.

I sprint to algebra

To solve complex formulas of math

Blood on the windows, blood on the walls

We move backwards on the wrong path.

I tear home

To escape the safe haven of school

Blood on the windows, blood on the walls

 The lesson of death has become the rule.

We live in such strange times, with such mind-boggling tragedy. Let’s get through it together. Let’s get together.

Everyone, just smile and say “hello.” We will save lives.

***Photo courtesy of Rachel’s Challenge

WHEN ONE MEETS AND GREETS

PLOOOPS!

AS SUCH.

THEN

Say Hello.

SUCH GREETINGS BECOME A TEST AMONG THOSE RENOIR STROKES BLURED BY THE CROWD.

BUT LOOK CLOSLEY AND ONE BECOMES A SCIENTIST

A SCIENCE-TEST.

SO WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

BECAUSE IF FOR YOU,

I WONDER WHICH PROVES YOUR ZEST.

hay aku ima…………….
ini pertama kali aku .ngisi blog ku yang baru…..
silahkan mampir ya……………

Aku tunggu Coment-comentnya

Sertakan juga Kritik dan Sarannya ya

Hello Readers and Followers, now’s your chance to shine and show yourself. Gather up some courage to say hello, whether you are on a flying visit or someone who regularly comments.

Tell me a bit about yourself- who you are, where you’re from, what you do, what you like the most about my blog and what you would like to see on this site. This can encourage me to also post more frequently with things you like.

This will also help you to get to know some of the other readers and if you have a site, share a link so that we can all give you a few hits to your site.

Comments from all visitors are welcome, please say hello : )

Grandes Coros: A diferencia de lo que se cree, un gran, gran coro no debe ser todopoderoso. Léase, si después de oír una canción de lo único que te acuerdas es de la parte en donde el cantante grita, las guitarras suben y la batería enloquece, es probable que dicha rola te empiece a desesperar en menos de tres días. Hay grandes coros que caen en este apartado. Mi ejemplo favorito es el de Airport Disco de Athlete (“Beautiful World, can I win you back?”). Sí, es bonito. Pero después de escucharlo diez veces me desespera. ¿Por qué? Porque ya me lo sé. Todo esto hace tan extraños a los grandes coros en el rock alternativo. Tiene que ser memorable, pero no puede opacar al resto de la melodía; tiene que ser potente, pero el ruido debe de esconder secretos: cambios entre un coro y otro, altos y bajos, diferentes entonaciones y, por supuesto, distintas maneras de llegar a él (ver: Lights and Music de Cut Copy y la manera en la que las dos veces el coro aparece con una introducción diferente). O, en su defecto, el coro debe ser tan básico –tan primitivo- que sea ineludible: el equivalente a un madrazo en la nariz (ver: Wake Up de The Arcade Fire: sublime). Otro caso de un coro que nunca cansa es Lightning Crashes de Live. Noten como la primera vez que aparece, la canción sigue constando de Ed Kowalczyk y su guitarra. Y después noten como la segunda y tercera vez que aparece,  va sumando instrumentos, fuerza, casi como si el final –esa melodía maravillosa- fuera inevitable. Recientemente me ha comenzado a gustar el coro de Say Hello de Stars of Track and Field (“Say hello, volunteer”) a pesar de lo abstracto –quizás idiota- de sus letras.

            Se me ocurren muy pocas canciones que junten los tres elementos. Creo que Kingdom of Rust de Doves tiene una estrofa maravillosa y un coro que es un pinche poema. Goodbye Song de Abandoned Pools de repente junta todos los elementos (depende de qué tan deprimido uno se quiera poner). Made Concrete de The Republic Tigers tiene bonita estrofa y bonito coro, pero el “Don´t believe the scientists that tell you what to think” me la arruina por completo. Split Needles de The Shins jamás revienta, pero tiene el toque mágico.

09/07/09

Meet my sheep, Sheep.

He’s been with me since college and I’ve honestly forgotten who gave him to me.  He used to hang on a green bag but  I had to give the bag away since it’s getting a bit torn. At least someone would benefit from the bag a bit longer than I would have left it inside my closet. So now Sheep’s hanging from my camera bag. We’re now spending more time together. He’s so adorable. I love my sheep, Sheep. <3

Since I can’t have long rock n’ roll hair right away, I will compensate with fringe-y earrings such as this pair that can be plucked up over at  I Heart Norwegian Wood. I’ve never been a horse-loving kind of girl, but these earrings are swishy and a bit lovely beast-ish.

***

These are videos I can’t seem to embed but want to share:

• ANDY WARHOL’S MUSIC VIDEO FOR THE CARS SONG “HELLO AGAIN” (not safe for work!)
  
• THE FLAMING LIPS “DO YOU REALIZE“ (pretty + lo-fi + d.i.y.!)
  

Have a merry Wednesday! Our next Dressed in Black style diary is going up tomorrow!

Source.

I say play hard and work soft

In my small rural hometown I noticed most people say hello and good morning and hi as they get to work and play in the morning.

Eye contact is involved. People wave and nod to one another. Men and women both hold the door for one another. You hear “thanks” a lot.

I think there’s more hand-holding in that small town, per capita, than there is in all of San Francisco.

I’m told in San Francisco there’s more emphasis placed on career success, than (sit down, drink optional)
relationship success. What’s up with that?

This more convivial behavior is not Amish, Quaker or Mormon. It’s just another mindset. Maybe it’s a throwback to the 50s. It is very Mid West.
Why is merely “being friendly” so foreign in San Francisco?

After a week of this time-travel-world, I recently returned to the City.

As my luggage came off the carousel, I was forced back onto the merry-go-round of San Francisco, where we go so fast, we miss meeting one another.

We’ve all got a blog, we’re Linkedn and were on Face-book, matchme.com and EHARMony. We belong to social clubs ~of some sort… and still it is  like two ships passing in the aisle at Trader Joe’s?

Did you ever think that just as you’re going out the side door of the store- with exactly the same carefully selected food items in your recyclable bag- that I’m about to buy the same items? And, I too, will walk out, alone, with my recyclable bag?

Did we both just work out, see the same film, and go out to dinner with single friends?  What are the chances we ski, hike, ride, walk, stroll, or spelunk in the exact same location at different times?

Whether it’s a merry-go-round or teeter-totter -I know it a bizarre time to be at the Singles Playground. I’ll go out on a limb- Unless the ground rules change to involve more ‘hi’ ‘hellos’ and ‘good mornings’
We will all be Living single solitary parallel lives – so close – and, yet so far away.

I say play hard – work soft.

Welcome

Thank you for taking the time to visit my Blog. The question is - why would you want to visit my Blog? Or better yet - why would anyone take the time to put all their “shit” out there for anyone to read?

I have started this personal Blog to clear my mind of all that “shit” that is floating around in my head. Every time you open the paper, or turn on the radio, or watch TV, bad news hits you in face like the stench of a public restroom.

I have also been inspired by others that have started their own Blog - quite successfully I might add! I will be adding their Blogs on my site shortly.

In the upcoming weeks, it is my intention to post as frequently as possible. I am hoping it will be therapeutic for me to “get things off my chest”. Please feel free to post a comment, don’t be shy.

Oh, BTW, a disclaimer for those of you that are offended easily. I have been told that I come across as a little brash, unapologetic, rude, lewd and crude – I think you get the idea. Take it all with a grain of salt, perhaps even a lime,  maybe a shot of tequila.

Happy Blogging,

K

Hi… I don’t know what I/m telling now. Maybe next post..

The facebook rule is a double-edged sword, exquisite in its simplicity.
It’s ever so simple and solves (or resolves) two issues in one.

Facebook sluts need not apply.

I did try to stay under the hundred quota and recently failed, but regardless, there are now at least a hundred people in the world who I know by name and would say hello to on the street.

For that is the single criterium.
Friend request comes in from Jimmy. One straight up question: Would I say hello to Jimmy on the street/would I be happy enough to pass by unseen or would I run and hide in a granny’s wheelie bag rather than be seen?

For those aquaintances who are in the grey area it resolves the issue entirely. Accept them and now you are obliged, minus awkwardness (and thankfully sidestepping the whole “so what’ve you been up to?” bullshit chit-chat thanks to status updates, facebook photo albums and general cyber-stalking) to greet them in public.

]]> http://ririe108.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/kecanduan-facebook/ Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:29:44 +0000 ririe108 http://ririe108.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/kecanduan-facebook/

facebook bukan hanya untuk gaul tapi banyak juga dimanfaatkan untuk alat komunikasi , promosi, reuni, cari jodoh,tukar info,cari lowongan, bisnis bahkan kampanya politik.

ngomong2 facebook , bisa bikin ketagihan lho..
nah berikut ciri cirinya:

* – Pertama nyalain komputer yang dibuka FB
* – Bangun tidur langsung buka Facebook
* – FB dijadiin shortcut dan homepage
* – Bengong mlototin FB nunggu koment ndak dateng2
* – Resah dan gelisah apabila tidak ada yang coment terutama status
* – punya banyak teman lebih dari 100 , hampir sebagian besar nggak kenal
* – Jauh dari komputer alternatif cek FB via Hanphone atau blacberry
* – Merubah status tiap ganti suasana hati
* – ngeblog mulai jarang lebih banyak ke FB
* – suka critain ke temen temen, friens FBnya banyak banget
* – Gak tahan kalo sehari nggak bukak FB
* – Anda baca tulisan ini sedang buka facebook

Punya ciri2 yang lain?

Setelah penantian dengan penuh harapan,
akhirnya buah hatiku lahir pula..

Argia M Ahya El Mushofa

Bahagia rasanya, sempurna rasanya menjadi seorang wanita…
Tapi..,
Weit…Weit….tunggu dulu…..!
kok begini!
Pasti ada sabotase waktu di dalam kandungan ini..!
Curang…!
bibirnya,
Matanya
dagunya
peseknya
wajahnya Plek ayahnya…!
gak kebagiaaaaaaaaaannn!!!

Duh

Couscous Rights