Im gonna ask you to do it again.

Its the first full day of spring and the first day of the Zodiac. Lets all celebrate the start of this new season with a much needed dance party. There are many bands with wonderful let go dance songs but this one stuck out. ALL CAPS' Summer of 09 is all around a fantastic song lyrically and wicked fun musically but they have that extra something. When deciding what to do for their music video they figured out how to get audience participation. They asked on their YouTube channel for their fans to send in clips of them dancing to the song. The result is a collage of so much passion and letting go by ALL CAPS and their fans. Old and young, male and female. Everybody's gettin down and having a blast.





Summer of ’09

I’ve made so many plans
after what you said last night,
didn’t know what to do with my hands
wanted to ask if this was alright,

and I pretend it’s impulsive
but you already know the truth,
I just want a picture of us
so I can put it on dailybooth,

now I squeeze your hand tight
after everything we did,
I know this is the last night
they’ll ever think of us as kids,
as we drive around and around
trying to escape this town,

I can’t quite find the words
but you listen and get it anyway
’cause who would’ve thought two nerds
would get to have their day too

and I pretend it’s not a big deal
and you don’t make a fuss,
but I almost let out a squeal;
you changed your relationship status,

now I squeeze your hand tight
after everything we did,
I know this is the last night
they’ll ever think of us as kids,
as we drive around and around
trying to escape this town.

weird musings on wednesday.

And when you look in my eyes

Please know my heart is in your hands

It’s nothing that I understand,

But when in your arms you have complete power over me

So be gentle if you please ‘cause

Your hands are in my hair,

But my heart is in your teeth, baby,

And it makes me wanna make you near me always,

Wanna be near you always,

Wanna be near you always.

CAPACITY TO LOVE.

RESILIENCY. FORGIVENESS. HUMANITY.

HUMILITY. LONGING. HOME.

There is love inside me that I do not understand. It is perfect and beautiful and greater than I am. I want to surrender to it, become one with it so together we can set the world on fire.

When our eyes meet, something happens to me. I cannot feel anything but love and utter, absolute awe.

There is someone who makes me me. We said goodbye this weekend for some indefinite amount of time. It sucked, but I am at peace (I guess). I wrote this to him so that I don’t call him or text him or email him because I know I shouldn’t. Right before we said goodbye he told me his favorite and least favorite things about me. His favorite thing: that I am unapologetic. His least favorite thing: that I second-guess myself even when in my heart I know I am right. They go hand in hand and my new goal is to live up to the characteristic unapologetic.

Come with me, let’s surrender to love and set the world on fire.

Will You Be There?

When I was little I didn’t want to be a princess or firefighter. Do little girls even want to be firefighters? My family was never good at playing the what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up-game. My oldest brother wanted to be a taxidermist. Like that makes any sense. Name one little kid who wants to be a taxidermist and turns out sane. The other brother wanted to be a priest because they get to drink wine. AA much?

I wanted to be a Marine Biologists. Although, I called it a Free Willy trainer.

Somewhere along the line I realized that I had a fear of sharks, and sadly they too are marine animals. So I abandoned the biologist thing REAL fast. But I have always had a fond liking for cetaceans.

Recently, I watched a documentary called The Cove. (If you have Netflix go watch it right now. It is instant). It took me two years to work up the courage to watch this movie. I knew it would break my heart. The documentary focuses on the massive dolphin slaughtering in Taiji, Japan, and the selfless work of Ric O’Barry in his quest to end cruelty to cetaceans.

Ric O’Barry was one of the trainers for the original Flipper TV series. After Kathy, the main dolphin who played Flipper, committed suicide in O’Barry’s arms, O’Barry committed his life to freeing confined dolphins. During The Cove, O’Barry is asked how many times he has been arrested; his response is “This year?”

For over 45 years O’Barry has dedicated his life to fixing a wrong he felt responsible for. And while watching this film I found myself in absolute awe. If I could live my life with an ounce of O’Barry’s passion I would be complete. O’Barry felt responsible and he wanted to change things.

And he is changing things.

It’s a sad reality, but O’Barry inspires hope.

All I want to do when I grow up is be passionate, inspire others, wonder in absolute awe. I might not be able to save dolphins from captivity but I can save myself from being confined. I can break through my fears (I suppose that includes the shark one).

I can make a difference.

And so can you.

A Village in the Clouds

We woke up before dawn with our packs on and loaded the back of the truck. It was about 30 years old and was reminiscent of one of those supply trucks from World War Two. We loaded it with milled lumber, fish netting, plastic jugs, a finished door, and two windows. We climbed on top and started the drive further up into the mountains. Some slept, others passed around water bottles and coca leaves. Locals would jump on and off the truck taking it part way to easy their own journey. Anything anyone had was offered instantly to anyone.

Around mid-day we reached the end of the road. We met some villagers with two donkeys to take some of the supplies, The rest had to be carried. A young boy named Elvis eagerly took my pack so I ended up taking an eight foot post over my shoulder. We started our journey in the truck above tree line so we were about 15,000 feet at this point. I had been in country for about a week and the altitude hadn't really hit me much thanks to the coca leaves and tea. But, every breath I took was more shallow than the last. After only a few steps I felt stabbing pains in my chest, and felt as though my brain had been replaced with helium.

A half hour in, with no path just a thin line of villagers and my compañeros making their way over the bare mountains. Just small lakes and grasses. I have been wheezing for the past twenty minutes and was relived to notice so was my friend who was nicknamed "superman" in the states. Those of us with the lumber on our backs (and used to living in a lower country) lagged further and further behind. Yet, just as everyone else we were witness to how villages in the sky experience weather. All at once. There were five minute periods where it would be hailing in the sunshine. Foggy and Hot. Bitter cold and wind. Superman and I began to talk about how great its going to be to get indoors. All we have to do is just get to where we are going.

So we march forward. The line of people ahead of us had vanished for some time but around the next bend we hear voices. Our slogging pace quickens. Once we're crest the final hill we are shocked to see no buildings (the village is still a quarter mile away) there is just the villagers come to greet us and thank us for our help. Then the skies open up and a rain/snow/hail congratulates us on our trek. I set down the lumber open my arms wide, tilt my head back and open my mouth.