Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Auld Lang Syne


I have always wondered what the words were to this song, and what it's true meaning was. So I went to one of my favorite websites, Wikipedia, and did a little research. Here is what I found out. For one thing, this song is a lot older than I ever thought it was!

Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish poem written by a man named Robert Burns in 1788. It was set to the tune of a traditional folk song. The title can be meant to say "old long since" , "long long ago" or "days gone by". The first verse actually bears a strong resemblance to another poem written in 1711, but the rest of the poem appears to have been written by Burns. Although back in the day, they wrote down old songs sung by men in pubs that were traditional folk songs passed down through the ages and then just took credit for it.

Here are the Scottish lyrics and then the English version.

Scottish Version.....

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And never brought to mind ?Should auld acquaintance be forgot,And days o' lang syne ?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !And surely I’ll be mine !And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,For auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We twa hae run about the braes,And pu’d the gowans fine ;But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot,Sin auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We twa hae paidl’d i' the burn,Frae morning sun till dine ;But seas between us braid hae roar’dSin auld lang syne.
CHORUS
And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !And gie's a hand o’ thine !And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,For auld lang syne.
CHORUS

_____________________

English Version....

Should old acquaintance be forgot,and never brought to mind ?Should old acquaintance be forgot,and old times since ?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !And surely I’ll buy mine !And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,for auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have run about the slopes,and picked the daisies fine ;But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,since auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have paddled in the stream,from morning sun till dine† ;But seas between us broad have roared since auld lang syne.
CHORUS
And there’s a hand my trusty friend !And give us a hand o’ thine !And we’ll take a right good-will draught,for auld lang syne.
CHORUS

___________________________________

So take a cup of kindness yet for Auld Lang Syne.........

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

~BARB~

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A Box & A Shredder




2008 is coming to a close. What an interesting year, to say the least. There have been fantastic events, and absolutely horrible events in my life. I have made mistakes, and I have been blamed for things that I did not do. But that is all behind me now. I am trying something new to end this year. I have a box and a shredder. In the box I am putting all the fantastic things that happened. I can open this box whenever I want. I can look at all the wonderful things that have come my way this year. I still have the same family members with me. And they all mean so much to me. I have good friends who have been with me for over 30 years, or some a few months. I took a fantastic trip to Europe, and had a lot of fun camping ones. I even had a fantastic weekend at a women's retreat! There was so much fun and excitement in 2008. Not even a few years ago would I have ever thought that I would be standing in Switzerland and looking at the Matterhorn. That trip is something that I will never forget a moment of. Something else that is going in the box is a name. Barack Obama. I want to remember this year for what I believe to be a new beginning for our Nation. I have so much hope and I do not want to be disappointed. I know there will be bumps in the road, as no one can be President without having a few mistakes or things happen that are out of their control. But it is how he deals with it that I have to have hope in.


In the shredder is going the things that I am putting behind me forever. Things that I will not deal with anymore. Things that I will be completely over with. Like Bush. I am done with him. How people perceive me. Done with it. If some do not know what type of person I am by now, then they never really tried to know me to begin with. Putting trust in people that I really do not know. Not doing that again either.


Some of the things going in the shredder will remain a secret just for me. Personal things. But they are going in there. I am hoping to make a lot of new and long lasting changes in the coming year. I will blog about them when I feel the need to share. Other things will just remain with me. I have been hurt to badly this year to share everything about myself from now on. I was too open this year with some, and I know now what a mistake that was. I don't want to hurt like that again. I don't know. Maybe someday I will trust again. But for now, some things will just be kept to myself.


2008 also marked the 10th Anniversary of my brothers death. It's so hard to think that it has been 10 years. Well actually 11 years in only 20 days. I still miss him so very much. I feel like our white Christmas was a gift from him. Whenever I see snow now it reminds me of him. A portion of his last week with us was spent at our house playing in the snow. The last pictures that were taken of him were of him sledding and having so much fun with the kids. One of those pictures still sits in a beautiful frame on my nightstand next to my bed. I will never forget him or the circumstances surrounding his death. Even though I would like to put portions of those memories in the shredder, I won't. I need to remember those. I need to hold on to those. Even though it hurts.


So here is to the end of 2008. Here is to the good times. Here is to saying goodbye forever to the bad times.


And now here is to everyone finding what they need to make their lives better. Here is to making friendships stronger. Here is everyone being healthy, wealthy and wise!


Here is to a new beginning.


Here is to 2009.....

Monday, December 29, 2008

A Land in Constant Turmoil

There is bombing going on in Gaza again. I have been trying to read up on this, but honestly, I just don't get it. I have been on Wikipedia this morning trying to read up on this conflict. From what I think I can understand now, the Jewish people were thrown out of The Land of Israel somewhere around the year 132 BC. And they have been fighting to get back since. In the 12th Century the Jews fled Europe because of Catholic persecution and settled again in the Holy Land. More came in the 15th after fleeing Spain, and still more in the 16th and 18th Centuries. And then in 1881 the Jews fled Eastern Europe. And it continued up through WWII. So many countries denied Jewish refugees. So they just kept fleeing to Israel. In 1947 the United Nations divided the area into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. The Arabs did not approve and refused to recognize it. This in turn caused Israel to start a war with the Arabs, which they won, and they took over more lands than what the UN set them up with. And here we are today. War after war after war still going on.
I just don't understand this whole thing. Why did the UN feel the need to "give" Jews their own State taking away lands from the Arabs? Why were the Jews thrown out of there to begin with? What is so horribly wrong with the religion of Judaism that almost the entire world has not been able to tolerate them for thousands and thousands of years? This has been going on way before the birth of Jesus, so how can some say it is because of the death of this prophet? Why are they still fighting? We are a few days away from the year 2009. Are people in the Middle East still so unprogressed in their thinking that they can not get past the whole "This is my land and I am not going to share it with a Jew."
I was raised a Catholic, but I no longer follow any type of religion. There has been so much death and destruction over religion for so many years that I just can not believe in it any longer. I do not think that people who need religion in their lives are wrong. That is for them. I just do not want it in mine. I believe that people should live their lives honestly with respect for all people. But it just does not happen. I know Born Again Christians who say that if you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you are going to hell. Some people honestly believe that you are going to hell! Gee....how Christian of you.
I did not raise my children under any type of religion. I believed it to be brainwashing to teach that at such a young age. Children believe what you tell them. I still to this day can not walk into a Catholic church without feeling the need to dip my fingers in Holy Water and do the sign of the cross before sitting in the pew. I feel like I am doing something wrong by not doing it. I decided that my children could do their own research when they were adults. My kids were going to be given the opportunity to choose, or not choose to follow whatever religion fit them. So far they have no interest. Most if not all of their friends are the same way.
I believe that organized religion is slowly disappearing as people become more educated about it's roots and they see how it continues to be the main cause of death and destruction throughout the world. I am not saying that religious people are not educated. I'm saying that some just believe what is told to them without looking into it and educating themselves. They believe it because that is what they were taught. If as an adult you have read about, or spoken to people of other religious backgrounds and you have made a decision that a certain religion is for you, then I respect you for it.
I have no hope for the Middle East though. How tragic that an area of our world can not progress enough as a people to just live and let live.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

My Year in Movies

First off I just have to say what a disappointment movies were this year. There really are not very many that stand out to me. I had to go to a website that listed all of the movies released this year just to be reminded of what I saw. So here is my list with occasional comments.....
* (not seen in theater but on dvd or on a plane)
27 Dresses (fun light comedy)
*Cassandra's Dream (bought dvd)
*In Bruges (on the plane)
Jumper
*Vantage Point (bought dvd. very very very intense the entire movie)
The Other Boleyn Girl (loved it. bought it)
*10,000 BC (on plane. fell asleep)
*Miss Pettigrew lives for a day (on plane)
*Flawless (on plane)
Smart People
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Baby Mama (funny)
Deception (saw with mom. totally embarrassing. whole first half is all sex)
Iron Man
Made of Honor (got for Christmas!)
What Happens in Vegas
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (suffers from Stephen King type ending)
Sex and the City:The Movie (got for Christmas!)
The Strangers (saw this by myself in the theater. no one in there but me. how stupid of me!)
Kung Fu Panda (or as Katie and I call it...Kung Pu Fanda)
*The Happening (on plane. stupid)
Get Smart (bought dvd. funny)
Hancock
Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Dark Knight (Heath will win the Oscar for Supporting Actor)
Mamma Mia (got for Christmas! Love it!)
Brideshead Revisited (kind of a bummer movie)
*Step Brothers (dvd. Robert got for Christmas. Funny scene with a drum set!)
The Mummy:Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Tropic Thunder (i know people were boycotting it, but hubby wanted to see it)
Vicky Christina Barcelona (one of my favs of the year)
Burn After Reading (funny)
The Duchess (good)
Nights in Rodanthe ( ok movie)
Body of Lies (good)
The Changeling (good)
Zack and Miri make a Porno (funny)
Bolt (cute..."I'll get my ball!")
Australia (ugh....the first half drove me nuts. loved the second half)
Four Christmases (funny in parts)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (really good)

And the movies that I still want to see in the theater but may miss and have to watch on cable or dvd.....
Revolutionary Road
Valkyrie (ugh....Tom Cruise is the only drawback)
Marley & Me
Seven Pounds
Frost/Nixon
The Wrestler
Gran Torino
Quantum of Solace
Twilight
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
Slumdog Millionaire
Religulous
The Secret Life of Bees
Young at Heart (Bryan said this will make me cry)
Good (Bryan just showed me the trailer for this. Looks really good)

All-in-all I think the moves this year were a disappointment. Mom and I skipped many Fridays and did not even go to a movie, or we missed because I was gone camping. I do wish I had seen the following though....
Sick Nurses
Zombie Strippers
Autotron Transfusion
Shutter
Blonde Ambition
The Hottie and The Nottie

I will blog sometime in January my Oscar choices. I still have a lot of movies to see that I think are contenders!

Saturday, December 27, 2008

A Little Taste of My Christmas

Aly getting into the presents!
Our tree
Bryan, Celina, Robert & Aly
My mommy!
Katie & Timmy
Here are a few pictures of my Christmas. As soon as we are past New Years I will go back to just regular ol blogs....
I hope everyone has a fantastic day!
~Barb~