The inner waits for you?

I can't tell you how many times I have checked my site meter and someone has come to my blog by googling the phrase "the inner waits for you". I'm sure that they're looking for the song by Billy Joel entitled, "Vienna Waits for You", from his album "The Stranger", but have misunderstood the lyrics.

So once and for all, I'm going to dispel the ignorance and give you the lyrics and the U-tube video of this song.

Billy Joel's father lives in Vienna. Many think there is a direct corollary between when he wrote this song and his return from a trip visiting his dad. Billy was asked about the significance of Vienna, and why it was dedicated a song, and replied (paraphrased by Ann M. Leonhardt (amlst20@pitt.edu)):

He told us that he was very impressed at the respect given to elders in Europe. One day he saw an old woman sweeping a public street with great pride, and it made an impression. He wanted people to realize that there is time in life to accomplish our goals and everything doesn't have to be at a break-neck speed. Instead of fearing old age as we do here, it should be anticipated and valued. So, instead of rushing to accomplish everything in youth you should remember, "Vienna waits for you."

Slow down you crazy child
You're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart
Tell me why are you are still so afraid?

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about?
You better cool it off before you burn it out
You got so much to do
And only so many hours in a day

But you know that when the truth is told
That you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off
Before you even get halfway through
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

Slow down you're doing fine
You can't be everything you want to be before your time
Although it's so romantic
On the borderline tonight

Too bad but it's the life you lead
You're so ahead of yourself that you forget what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong
You know you can't always see when you're right

You've got your passion, you've got your pride
But don't you know only fools are satisfied?
Dream on
But don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize
Vienna waits for you

Slow down you crazy child
Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while
It's alright
You can afford to lose a day or two
When will you realize...
Vienna waits for you.

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The Enneagram Personality Test: Which one are you?

I took this personality test online and found it to be pretty accurate. You can take it, too.



I tied for The Helper (2) and The Adventurer (7), but the latter seemed to fit my personality best at this point in my life. Number 2 was more dominant before the last several years since I was divorced, although #7 was laying in wait and was who I wanted to be all along.



The Adventurer (the Seven)

Adventurers are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me

* Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.
* Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.
* Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.
* Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.
* Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.
* Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Seven

* being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down
* being spontaneous and free-spirited
* being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.
* being generous and trying to make the world a better place
* having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures
* having such varied interests and abilities

What's Hard About Being a Seven

* not having enough time to do all the things I want
* not completing things I start
* not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career
* having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies
* feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Sevens as Children Often

* are action oriented and adventuresome
* drum up excitement
* prefer being with other children to being alone
* finesse their way around adults
* dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Sevens as Parents

* are often enthusiastic and generous
* want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life
* may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

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The World's most beautiful music: Till There Was You from "The Music Man"

An incredible performance from Disney's 2003 release of the Broadway hit, The Music Man, starring Matthew Broderick and Oklahoma's own Kristen Chenoweth.

If you like schmalz, this is the song for you!

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The power of the joyful woman

Joy is our goal, our destiny. We cannot know who we are except in joy. Not knowing joy, we do not know ourselves. When we are centered in joy, we attain our wisdom. A joyful woman, by merely being, says it all. The world is terrified of joyful women. Make a stand. BE ONE ANYWAY.

~ Marianne Williamson

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Hidden strength

The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.

~ Thomas Carlyle, Scottish historian and essayist, 1795-1881

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The World's most beautiful music: John Williams' Love Theme from "Superman"

One of the premiere composers of our time and Oscar winner several times over is John Williams. With some of the most amazing film scores in the history of film to his credit, (Star Wars, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Schindler's List, Indiana Jones...), this incredible composer continues to thrill movie audiences over and over again, generation after generation.

In the 1978 film, Superman, starring the late Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, & Gene Hackman, Williams presented us with a sweeping love theme that made every girl in the audience wish that she were Lois Clark being swept off of her feet by the strong & dashing man in the red cape!

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Wow! Was I ever THAT young?

An old friend just sent me this picture. Not only was I that young, (about 13 or 14), I was a, (gasp!), GIRL SCOUT! (Guess which one is me.)

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An afternoon at the theater

For the last couple of months my girls and I have been looking forward to today, for just before Lauren came home from France I bought tickets to take them to see the touring production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of the Opera at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Both of them have seen the film, but neither have seen it on stage. I saw it a number of years ago, when the kids were small, and I loved it. Now that they are young adults, I thought it a great experience to have with my girls. Afterwards we will be meeting their grandparents for dinner at one of our favorite spots, Mimi's Cafe. We're looking forward to a wonderful day!

Here's a clip from the film of my very favorite scene!

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The World's most beautiful music: Edith Piaf, "La vie en rose"

Édith Piaf (19 December 1915—10 October 1963) was a French singer and cultural icon who is widely accepted as the country's greatest pop singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being the ballads. Among her famous songs are "La vie en rose" (1946), "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959), and "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960).

(Information source: Wikipedia. Click Here for entire article.)

Celui-ci est consacré à mon fille de jeune, Lauren.

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We've earned this one...

One of the things that Steph and I have always dreamed of having is a beautiful bedroom. After all, our bedroom is the room where our relationship flourishes. We spend more time together in this room than in any room in the house. It is where Steph has her office and does her web design, and unlike many families, we don't have a television in the living room, (we don't have a separate family room), we each have a television in our own rooms. It is also the room where we spend most of our time talking together and dreaming together.

The last eight years have been difficult ones for us as a couple--right after we moved back to Stillwater, Steph's mother had a stroke and we moved her, along with Steph's son, Joel in with us. After that, I got emergency custody of all three of my children, and soon after that, we moved into the house where we live now. Not four months after we moved in here, Steph's mother died unexpectedly, and then about a year-and-a-half later, Steph's youngest son, Micah, came to live with us. Steph and I have spent the last several years as a couple taking care of everyone else and seeing to it that their needs were met first, and rightfully so. However, our needs seemed to get neglected, perhaps too often. Finally, this year, we had a financial "break-through" and things have started looking brighter, so when my income tax refunds and stimulus check came through, we decided to spend it on us. We've been working all week on this project, and here it is!

The two photos are of our bedroom--before and after. (In the before picture you'll see a picture insert on the top left of what we wanted to do with the wall behind our, bed, but we changed our minds and didn't paint the stripes, after we got it all together.)

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