Silly Love Songs

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:21:02 +0100

I was picked on by our minister in our morning service this week to answer a question on the spot with no preparation. I failed to come up with any sort of useful, amusing, appropriate or otherwise answer. Normally I'm not this lost for words, at least coming up with something half witty, only to refine it beautifully as the opportunity passes. But this one had me stumped.

The question - "Tell us the name of a song that describes your love for Rhys". (Rhys, by the way being my husband of nearly nine years in case you don't know us and thought the minister was being ,really odd.)

So being me, a fan of Richard Thompson, June Tabor and various other expounders of love gone wrong, I had a thousand inappropriate songs going through my head. There are other songs that as a couple we have adopted as our songs over the years. None of these have anything to do with love, other than occasionally in the aforementioned 'gone wrong' capacity. One of the songs played at our wedding reception by friends who know us very well was Matty Groves (incidentally I just tried to link to a blog post I made about that song in mid May 2003, but it seems to have been written before the days of permawiblinks. It appears I was having a very bad day that day, so I�ve taken my own advice and am typing this post into Word first too). It turns out that there were people in the congregation willing me to come out with something highly inappropriate and therefore hilarious. Not being one to totally disappoint, it�s a little too late for the sermon, but the one I should have said was �Great Balls of Fire� � can anyone do any better?

Really there is no song that describes my love for Rhys, or any significant part of our relationship. We are two unique individuals, just as God intended, and therefore make a unique couple. Neither of us are popular songwriters (thank goodness), and no-one without an inside knowledge of our relationship could write a song about it. So even when you take away all the songs where love goes wrong or was never meant to be or is cruelly cut short, you are left with a (small) handful of songs that mostly don�t quite hit the mark. One or two other people were asked, and gave the answers; �It Must Be Love� (Which is admittedly a weak point in my argument, being a good song and fairly good at describing love, I think it�s just too cheery for me though.), �When I�m Sixty Four� (The respondent being that age), something by Dire Straits (reflecting husband�s music tastes) and �Wonderful Tonight� (vomit)

As the sermon went on, the point was made that these songs are different to the love songs we sing as part of our worship together. (�Jesus is my boyfriend� titles apart), yet this is where we really have to rely on the words of others to describe our personal relationship. And maybe this is why so often that act of congregational singing can be so difficult. Sometimes those words seem a million miles away from what we want to be saying to God. I would never serenade Rhys with a rendition of �Wonderful Tonight� (partly because I can�t sing and don�t know the words to be fair) because it just isn�t what our relationship is about. So what does God think when I join in with a song just because everyone else is singing. What does He think when I sit one or two out?

By the end of the service none of these questions were answered. It had occurred to me though that �Bring Me Sunshine� was as close to the mark as I�ll ever get to a song that describes my love for Rhys. I whispered it to him as the music group started up the closing chorus and he smiled, so that�s the one.

Right creature, wrong reason

Wed, 5 Mar 2008 11:55:38 +0000

It was indeed a donkey, but one made to assist with a school assembly talk that Rhys was doing about Palm Sunday. It seemed to go well from what I hear, so that's good.

I had a lovely birthday yesterday, caught up with friends, took youth club bowling, went out for pizza and played my new Wii game. A game based around basic cooking skills sounds a bit odd, and it is, but a lot of fun.

Greenbelt listings...

Mon, 3 Mar 2008 09:24:25 +0000

according to this blog they'd revealed at least some of the speakers a month ago this time last year. This year nothing.

This is my latest five minute project, and is being put to use as I write - answers on a postcard please:

So why the sudden return to blogging? A couple at church last night told me that they had been reading this thing, and so I thought I should make an effort :)

On bed

Tue, 1 Jan 2008 10:52:27 +0000

So I was minding my own business surfing the internet when Rhys rudely reminded me that I promised to tell my blog readers when I first did so whilst in bed. I pointed out that I was more on the bed than in the bed, but he wasn't convinced. Anyway, while I'm typing I may as well wish you a happy and tea filled 2008. No resolutions from here, they only come back to bite on one's rear end when least expected.

shiny new laptop

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:37:35 +0000

No, I know it's making no difference to you, but blogging on my new laptop is a wonderfully shiny new experience for me. I'm sitting in the living room, waiting for Neighbours to come on, not holed up the office wondering if I'm missing it (not that I ever actually miss it - that's what video recorders are for). I've been able to check the BBC news site over breakfast (far more civilised than the TV or radio), I've yet to surf the net from the garden or bed, but you'll probably hear when I do!

The good news today is that the damp behind the cupboards in the fairly new kitchen is just condensation. We did have to endure a Michael-Palinesque damp expert waxing lyrical on his 'why the government is responsible for the nation's damp problem' theorem, but on the whole we're relieved that we're not about to start ripping out a kitchen we finished fitting less than 2 years ago.

Anyhow, Neighbours is about to start, and violent dad Richard looks set to kill wayward teen Declan, and Toadie's having a heart attack...

About that picture angle

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:36:10 +0100

I was in on my own and using the camera timer, but to get the perspective right more easily, if more wonkily I was using a mirror. And then I decided to turn the camera on its side to definitely get me in it, but it doesn't have a flat edge on either of the short ends, so it went wonky. (It was also balanced on a copy of Songs of Fellowship music edition to give it the right height not to get the frame of the mirror in it.)

Maybe not as sucessful a shot as I really wanted, but you were supposed to be looking at the hair not the picture!

aaaw

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:32:56 +0100

thanks to all my rent-a-groupies, the cheques are in the post :)

Tonight I make my promise as a Brownie leader. I would say renew my promise, but the words have changed since last time. I preferred the old one I think, but the new one is growing on me. For the uninitiated we now say "Love my God" where as we used to say "Do my duty to God". Whole theological debate around that one I think.

much better

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:35:26 +0100

Not quite as much off as I envisaged, but at the recommendation of the hairdresser who knows far more about these things than I do.

Dith - you know not quite how close I came to adding a brightly coloured streak - but I'll save that for another, braver day!

decision made

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 14:24:07 +0100

due at the hairdressers in 5 minutes, so this is a quick one.

I decided to combine much of your advice, and have a foot chopped off. that's 12" of hair, not the end of my leg, sorry lanark.

Unfortunately wig donations are a bit difficult to find around here, and my hair's not that good anyway, I last had it cut over 2 years ago - told you I don't do hairdressers!

Anyway, for the record, here's the before photo:

see you later (or you'll see me anyway)!

decisions decisions...

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 15:41:05 +0100

I'm currently trying, and indeed managing to lose weight. When doing such a thing it is important to have goals. And to reward oneself when those goals are reached. Without putting too many figures out there, I have reached the half way stage to my goal weight loss. This would appear to be a good time to reward myself. I had thought for a while that getting my hair cut nicely would be a good reward for this stage. There are many reasons that this is a good idea:

- It is not a food related reward, so wouldn't put me back 3 weeks on my diet.
- My hair is really long, in the way and needs cutting
- Shorter hair would be far easier to mange
- Shorter hair would probably look nicer

... and not forgetting of course that hair's got to weigh something, so losing some would actually bring me nearer to my goal weight!

Unfortunately there are also many counter arguments:
- I hate going to the hairdressers, it's almost a phobia.
- My hair can look very nice when I do something with it.
- Rhys likes it better long
- They might not make a good job of it
- I've spent years growing it this long (OK mostly because I hate gioing to the hairdressers...)

So, should I get it cut? I make no promises to abide by any decision made in the comments box, but would appreciate your views (or suggestions for an alternative reward).

The reward I'm giving myself when I reach my goal weight by the way is decided and unchanging. Nintedo DS lite. In silver.