Sunday, November 2, 2008

paul baribeau

I like his outlook on life. He is all I listen to lately and here are a few reasons why:


If taken literally, this song is probably about a girl. But I always think about it as searching for meaning, happiness, God, etc. All of the trouble you go through trying to find these things, which can be found anywhere. I especially love fall and winter because I feel that there is an extra kinetic energy in the air when it rains and storms. I feel more alive and a part of something bigger when the wind runs up and fusses my hair while I walk to the post office. I am living on this world and at every moment I am connected to it by every cell of my being. Sorry if that got a little too Earth Mama for you. Anyways, what Paul finds is "made of the softest parts of snow and the quiet sound of rain and the warm stuff that melts the ice cubes and the force that moves the waves".



I love this song because it reminds you of your mortality while encouraging you to get up and enjoy life. I especially like this video of it because you can hear everyone else singing in the background and it appears to be in someone's house. In honor of this song I will make my own list according to the lyrics and encourage you to do the same. Why not make your own list, then send it to Patrick's personal blog (the Illinoise Letter Writing Project: http:// icanfeeltheillinoise.blogspot.com/).
Name ten things you wanna do before you die (in no particular order) and then go do them:
10) raise a family
9) live in a co-op
8) swim naked in the ocean
7) teach someone something
6) leave an imprint
5) publish a book
4) live in a small town in the middle of no where
3) see all of Woody Allen's movies
2) watch a lot of TV while holding someone's hand
1) cook a big meal for friends from scratch and possibly vegan?

Name ten places you really wanna go before you die and then go to them:
10) iceland
9) austria
8) belgium
7) alaska
6) bolivia
5) glasgow, scotland
4) southern france
3) switzerland (chocolate!)
2) minneapolis
1) home

Name ten books you wanna read before you die and then go read them:
10) The Complete Prose of Woody Allen
9) everything by David Sedaris
8) The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
7) Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler
6) The Sirens of Titan by Vonnegut
5) Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh
4) A Clockwork Orange by Burgess
3) Henry David Thoreau
2) House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
1) A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Name ten songs you wanna hear again before you die and get all your friends together and scream them:
10) Ten things by Paul Baribea
9) Rock n Roll Suicide by David Bowie
8) Mother Whale Eyeless by Brian Eno
7) Don't Get Carried Away by James Rabbit
6) I Woke Up Today by Port O'Brien
5) The Start of Something by Voxtrot
4) In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
3) Going to Georgia by Mountain Goats
2) Gemini by Why?
1) Hot Love by T.Rex

Cause right now, all you have is time time time, yeah, and someday that time will run out. That's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about.
Think of all the things that are wrong with your life and then fix them
Think of all the things that you love about your life, be thankful you are blessed with them
Think of all the things that hold you back and realize that you don't need them
Think of all the mistakes you have made in your life, make sure that you never repeat them
Cause right now, all you have is time time time, yeah, and someday that time will run out. That's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about.

Name 10,000 reasons why you never wanna die, go and tell someone who might've forgotten:
(I'll just name ten for the sake of brevity)
10) the sweet clarity of breath
9) the proud strain in my muscles
8) the beauty of strangers
7) sharing laughter with friends
6) the decadence of a good meal
5) the comfort of cooking dinner at home with my mom
4) the steady rhythms of my fingers on the keyboard, my heartbeat in my ears, the blinking of my eyes
3) the aesthetics of the cool, wet morning light coming in my window to rest upon my green plants
2) the electric fuzz of a first kiss
1) the warmth of hugs

Try to list the endless reasons why it's good to be alive, then just smile for a while about them:
See above

Soon the sun while rise and another day will come. Soon enough the sun will set, enough day will be gone.
And right now, all you have is time time time, yeah, and someday, that time will run out. That's the only thing you can be absolutely certain about.

1 comment:

Lucy said...

Hey Jenny. It's Lucy, from Catalina. I followed this link from your last.fm page. This is very random, me commenting on this post, but I just wanted to say that I was looking through your blog and I thought a lot of your observations about life/happiness/sadness/things you love were really beautiful. I was just remembering my freshman year of high school and playing guitar with you and how we eventually stopped being friends. It was a shame! I've actually lightened up considerably since high school, and I've been thinking about a lot of the things you wrote about in the posts I've read on here. I actually made a list similar to yours about that Paul Baribeau song. I've been listening to him a lot lately too. Anyway, keep it up. You are a great writer and you have a beautiful and interesting way of looking at the world. I hope you're doing well, whatever you're doing.

Love,
Lucy