“To regret deeply is to live afresh.” – Henry David Thoreau

This is Sheryl Crow with special guest Eric Clapton playing ‘My Favorite Mistake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpYL1ZTSnSA 14 months ago

“Character is the result of two things: Mental attitude and the way we spend our time.” – Elbert Hubbard

Time misspent is never retrieved, that’s for sure. :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBWDHyAct4w 14 months ago

“The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are, for what we could become.” – Charles DuBois

The last couple of years have brought a lot of changes for me, thanks especially to the support and organization of 43Things. But it’s also opened my eyes to the fact that the I can reach as high I want.

A perfect song whose lyrics express this is Whitney Houston’s “One Moment In Time”. RIP Whitney.

http://youtu.be/m46nvic8VIA 14 months ago

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

—St. Francis of Assisi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWbdGwH_wDg 15 months ago

Live and let live already, right?

This is Three Dog Night with “Black and White”. Groovy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRpHmsiiN_E 16 months ago

Do not get my attitude and my personality twisted…

Because my personality is me,

And my attitude depends upon you.

Ladies and gentlemen, “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxgRUyzgs0&ob=av2e 17 months ago

“Our opinion of people depends less upon what we see in them than in what they make us see in ourselves.” – Sarah Grand

Not a whole lot needs to be said about this entry. I think it pretty well speaks for itself. :)

This is Michael Jackson with “Man In The Mirror” :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW8UsJvC4rM 23 months ago

I’ve always been a fan of KISS and Gene Simmons, but since watching his reality show, I’ve gotten to like the guy even more. He’s just a really smart person, and always handles his business correctly.

Today, the fire-breathing, blood spitting creature himself offers up his keys to success:

Gene Simmons of Kiss may not be the most squeaky-clean kid on the block. But, when he looks back on his rock star life, he knows the most important thing is that he’s always surrounded himself with high achievers.

“. . .I don’t surround myself with losers. And because I don’t allow it, it often comes off as arrogant — ‘Who does he think he is?’ But I just don’t have time for that,” the KISS bass slinger told the Toronto Sun. “But those people are vampires. They will suck the life out of you.

“You have to surround yourself with people who know more, people who are more successful…”

The musician, entrepreneur and yes, motivational speaker went on to explain the importance of a killer name to a brand, band and personality.

“. . .Let’s say your name was Wallace. I would ask: ‘Why isn’t Wallace the name of your company? Why isn’t it your dotcom? How come your email address isn’t so-and-so at wallace.com?’” he said. “Even these simple things help because, everybody is really in the same business: The fame business. You have to make your name mean something, and people have to recognize your name is synonymous with quality.

“Your name and your story should precede you.”

Nice, eh? Today’s musical selection will stay in the KISS theme, but with a song that not a lot of people will know. This is ‘Let Me Go, Rock ‘n Roll’ from the original KISS Alive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAPsgUGN4wI 23 months ago

This was actually supposed to be posted a few days ago, but due to my slow-ass writing skills (and an under-achieving local power supply company that can’t seem to keep us on the grid), this has obviously been delayed, so we now return to our movie already in progress:

This is my 43rd post for the 2011 year and I wanted to make it something a bit special, so I thought long and hard about how I might accomplish this, and came up with the following:

‘Ru ~ dig deeper’ is one of the original “superstars” of 43 Things (although I have a strong feeling she wouldn’t agree with that term, necessarily), and I have been reading her entries since I first joined here in December of 2007. In fact, I enjoyed them so much I subscribed (my first on 43 Things) only a few weeks later.

Ru ~ always has a very playful way of spinning her tales, making even the most mundane of tasks seem almost like an adventure from ‘Alice in Wonderland’, but at the same time she makes it seem like it’s just an ordinary day, yet one more slice of life for her.

She always seems to take things in without judging or analyzing, but rather just accepting that it is, and that’s the way it is. This is something that I have always wished for myself, as well.

My favorite story I’ve come across so far here, in all of ‘43 Things Land’, is her tale of “The Hunt For The Jones’ Soda Bottles”. Many times it has popped into my head over the years, and has helped to keep me motivated and moving toward my own goals, and I have even shared it with a few ‘outsiders’ when trying to impart a life lesson using the story as an analogy.

When I first sat down at my keyboard to ask Ru ~ for permission to use one of her photos of the Jones’ Soda bottles for my entry today, I felt a spark of excitement crawl from my fingers through to the email, and apparently my excitement had been enough to be infectious. In her quick reply she was both very surprised and thankful that I would even ask, and I couldn’t have been happier.

Rather than copy every post of her story here, it would be much easier to point everyone to her original threads (there are actually 2 parts to her story). Also, please remember that newer entries are always shown first, so you might want to scroll down to the bottom and then work your way upwards so you can follow along in chronological order.

http://www.43things.com/people/progress/Ru2do/2991302
http://www.43things.com/people/progress/Ru2do/11214659

In all this is, for me, a huge thank you to the people here like Ru ~ that inspire others by sharing of themselves and their lives, and allowing us to participate via proxy, and also a thank you to 43 Things, itself, for creating, sharing and inspiring all of us over the years.

And another great thank you to all of you, readers and authors, for inspiring me and many others along the way with your own unique brands of heroic, and somehow always familiar, journeys through your own personal Wonder- and Never-Never Lands.

For today’s musical selection, I asked Ru ~ to suggest something she liked that was of a more ‘obscure’ nature (for lack of a better word), because I enjoy hearing new music and styles from all over the globe. I also made a promise not to watch the video until I posted it here first, so I can watch it with everyone else at the same time.

And so ladies and gentlemen, as suggested by Miss Ru ~ dig deeper herself, for our listening pleasure we proudly present “Sanvean (I Am Your Shadow)” by ‘Dead Can Dance’ singer Lisa Gerrard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xpkRj99FH0

[EDIT] Watched the video and it was very nice. In fact, I had never heard of Dead Can Dance before, so I found another song of their’s called “The Carnival Is Over”. Interestingly, both the music and the video reminded me very much of Cirque du Soleil, one of my favorite things ever. 23 months ago

“Slow down, you move too fast;
You gotta make the mornin’ last!
Just kickin’ down the cobble-stones,
Lookin’ for fun, and feelin’ groovy!”

Today has been a groovy day. Nice. This is Simon & Garfunkel with The 59th Bridge Street Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7aBNcmL9k 23 months ago

“When you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.”

An inspiring cover of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ on guitar by Edgar Cruz. I’ll bet you’ve never heard it quite like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ9jrBg4Lwc 23 months ago

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

“High Enough” by Damn Yankees:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI9ySbj4Uu8 1 year ago

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley

“Belief in oneself is one of the most important bricks in building any successful venture.” – Lydia M. Child

Obviously, bricks used as metaphors are in both of my quotations todays, so I am continuing in the fashion with 2 different takes on being a brick with ‘Another Brick in the Wall Part 1’ and ‘Another Brick in the Wall Part 2’ by Pink Floyd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7UaD1NPXbM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUASiDg-kg4 2 years ago

“We never know how high we are
Till we are asked to rise
And then if we are true to plan
Our statures touch the skies—
The Heroism we recite
Would be a normal thing
Did not ourselves the Cubits warp
For fear to be a King—“

I ALSO LIKED THIS ONE, AS WELL:

“Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—-
Success in Cirrcuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightening to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind - “

All of the above are by Miss Emily Dickinson

Today’s musical selection is “Strange Fruit” by the incomparable Miss Billie Holiday. Yeah, baby, yeah! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXdnD39GYVU 2 years ago

“God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that we try.” – Mother Teresa

I always said if Hilary Hahn ever came to play with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra I would pay anything for a ticket just to see/hear her play live.

I just found out she is coming here next month :D But it is already sold out. :(

It makes me feel better that Cirque du Soleil is back, though.

Hilary Hahn & Natlie Zhu playing W. A. Mozart KV301 on violin and piano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5esuIx-8_s 2 years ago