In the middle of the night I call your name

I think Oh Yoko by John Lennon is one of the best love songs ever written. It couldn't be more sweet, straightforward and passionate.

I heard it tonight, for the first time in a long time, and my heart swelled. I thought to myself how terrible it would be if I had never heard this song. Listen to that piano, listen to John's voice.

If you haven't heard Oh Yoko before, you can listen to it here.

(Photo from the New York Daily News website)

Moody blues

For the past week or so, I've been feeling particulary moody. Why that is, I'm not entirely sure. Maybe it's the combination of a few things (PMS? The state of the world? Not enough sleep?) or maybe it's nothing at all.

But when I'm feeling this way I like to go here:


And do this:


While remembering to keep things in perspective.

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

In B Flat

I just got home from work and a massage and I'm feeling quite sore. That's an understatement; I feel like I got my ass kicked. I've had a couple of massages now, but neither of them left me hurting like this one did. However, I do feel a deep kind of relaxation and surrender. There is nothing left of me right now except raw skin and bone and feeling. I don't know if that makes sense...but I am certainly feeling very aware of my body right now. Anyway, I'm going to curl up bed shortly, but before I do, I wanted to share this amazing video I stumbled upon today.

Go here to see it. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but as an incentive to make you click on this link, I'll give you a quick description.

It's 20 YouTube videos that you can play all at once or only a few at a time, whatver you like. It doesn't matter when you start them. You can try and sync them up or not. It's a collabortive music project and no matter how many times you listen, there is always a new song. It's incredible.

I'll always love you, Joni.

Joni Mitchell was one of the first (if not the very first) musicians I became interested in, all on my own. I was 14 years old and I saw someone singing "Both Sides, Now" on a made-for-TV-movie and I was hooked. I needed to know who wrote that song and where I could find more music like that. Once I discovered it was was Joni Mitchell, I saved every penny I had, literally, and when I had saved up enough money for her compilation album "Hits," I begged my mother to drive me to the mall so I could buy it.

From that day forward, Joni has always been there. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, listening to Joni Mitchell always makes me feel better. And if that mood was already a good one, then it just gets better.

It's safe to say that Joni Mitchell has had an effect on the kind of woman I've become.

It's that time again...

I know a lot of people don't like Christmas music or just get really sick of it due to overexposure, but I love it. I really do. Especially at this exact time of year. Christmas is still a month away and the holiday machine is still warming up.

I've been particularly sentimental lately and listening to my favourite holiday songs reminds me of being a kid and going to my grandparents houses on Christmas day. I can almost smell the pine, hear the wrapping paper and feel the itchy tights my mom would make me wear against my legs.

For your listening pleasure, just a few of my all-time favourites:

Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
Rockin Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
White Christmas - Otis Redding

Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon