Would Anyone Notice?

If you were missing a middle ab muscle . . . would anyone notice?

If you only conditioned alternating sections of your hair, would anyone notice?

If you wore the exact same outfit every 50 days, would anyone notice?

If I didn't point out that the actor who plays Bill Weasley is the real-life son of Brendan Gleeson, who plays Mad-Eye Moody, would you have noticed?

Would you have noticed if I didn't tell you that if you click the "!" of the purple "Yahoo!" on the Yahoo! homepage, it sings you a tune?

Ukelele Times of the Most Marvelous Kind

Adorable kids playing ukeleles are wonderful and charming.
I think it's because ukeleles are more adorable than regular-sized guitars, and when you give an adorable child an adorable guitar, things get adorable pretty fast.

Although kids playing regular-sized guitars are also adorable, because they're just hidden by the largeness of the guitar.
... sort of like when little kids wear their parents' clothes and shoes ... they look like they've eaten the cake in Alice in Wonderland that says "eat me" and shrunk!! I don't know why I think it's so funny that little kids have small clothes and shoes. And guitars.
I went to a children's museum today and thought the little crawlspaces were so fantastic ... I wish I had really sharp memories from when I was a kid and I could fit in the smallest spaces and when I met people I greeted their kneecaps. That sounds like fun!

Scared by the Strangest Kind of Things

Sometimes I wonder why people jump at loud noises or unexpected movements and sounds. In my mind, it goes a little something like this . . .
Sitting in a boring waiting room, Claude sighs and checks his watch. Still another 25 minutes until his appointment. Claude sits back and his mind begins to drift . . . Claude's mind is having wondrous thoughts of traveling through a peaceful town in Italy, at six in the morning on a small gondola, a harpist by his side and the quiet *swish* of the paddles. He slides into his silk slippers and exits the boat, stepping onto dry land, away from the town and into a vast field of grapevines. The vineyard is quiet, leaving Claude to wander silently about the grapevines, the notes of the harp on the gondola still playing softly behind him. Breathing in the fragrance of the fields of the vineyard and the grapes, Claude plucks a perfect grape from a vine and brings it to his mouth to sample it. As his hand reaches his face, he prepares to take the first sweet bite and "CLAUDE JENSEN?!?" the receptionist calls into the waiting room. Claude jumps two feet in the air, having forgotten where he was. The other clients in the waiting room snicker at Claude ..

I have always wondered if there were any people who were prepared for anything, and could not be scared. Nerves of steel, if you will. But for the majority of us who jump a foot in the air every time something*BAM!*happens unexpectedly, I wonder if all of our subconscious minds are usually at a peaceful place, like a vineyard or a forest, just by default.
( i n c e p t i o n )

(photoshop skills by Cecilia and her friend Ron)

Sometimes I wish my bus was like this . . .

. . . because that would be fantastic.

Except eating spaghetti while driving is dangerous. Albeit comical.

Response to Last Post

Short thought for a very stressful week; the world would be so much better if we all shared this kid's philosophy.

He's marvelous. More musings coming soon!

. . . It makes me feel so very little.

Every now and then our minds stray to the universe; how mind-blowingly large everything is, how we know we probably will never figure out the true size of it all: if it could even be calculated! But even here on tiny little Earth - being one person out of 7 BILLION people can make you feel pretty insignificant. And Earth is hardly a speck on the universe's radar. Makes you feel pretty teeny, doesn't it?

Check this out: 

... Marvelous Musings, indeed! Looks like we have to shout loud to be heard in this world.
Do something significant today; it's been done before! Single beings have reached out to the whole world. If you could be one of seven billion, making a difference on a global spectrum, what would you do?

Movie Review! Oh yes

127 Hours. The Oscars are coming up next month, and this movie is definitely in the running for best picture; as it should be! I saw this a few weeks ago, and I'm still thinking about it. I've bought the soundtrack, researched the (true) story of Aron Ralston, and looked up some other projects the actors had been in. James Franco is amazing, as he was in Milk, a very diverse actor.
This movie is rated R because it is very graphic during one scene; allow me to explain.
Aron Ralston was hiking alone when he fell into a crevice and trapped his arm between the rock wall and a boulder which loosened and fell as Aron slipped. Stuck in the same position for 127 hours, unable to move or eject his arm, Aron has to make an agonizing decision. (I don't want to give away the ending but it has probably become evident what Ralston eventually had to do).
It is a concept which people never want to even think about, much less consider, but this was a reality for Ralston. This is a wonderful adaptation of a very true story, and I highly recommend it. It shows what humans are capable of when faced with death.

So there you go - this is a fantastic production, excellent acting, and very moving.

Recommendation: Don't watch this movie while eating. I was watching an interview and people were saying some had fainted during some of the more graphic scenes. I wouldn't let that deter you, however! Keep teddy bears close at hand.
Check it out!

Trailer:

Perception

Today we are going to talk about perception. It's no lie that movies as cool as Inception and the Pirates of the Caribbean series look totally rad onscreen. However, what the actors see are quite different, as they act before many of the special effects are added in. When you see the actors in these movies out on the street, many people think "wow! they're so brave! they traveled to their doom in a giant whirlpool and fended off the kraken of the sea!" Unfortunately, if you watch any of the behind-the-scenes videos for any of these films, you will be disappointed. Often these actors are braving the cold out in a drafty studio with a nothing but a green screen behind them. It's lovely to think that movies are reality, however. It seems better that way. Another example is reality television; as soon as the cameras turn off, the actors and actresses strip off their fake eyelashes and go to their actual, real-life homes. Really, do you think that these people just wake up in the morning with perfect makeup and fake eyelashes and curled hair? It's just not realistic.

I got to thinking about perception because of this video I've had bookmarked for a while on my computer:
(Only watch to about 1:20 or so because then they start talking about how the ink is made and it's not relevant to to the topic of perception)

I rather enjoy this video, it's very relaxing and nice. The classical music in the foreground adds a nice touch and the visuals are gorgeous. However, if you watch further along in the video, you can see the factory workers wearing earplugs and masks over their noses and mouths. In reality, this is a loud, dangerous factory full of fumes. Takes the magic out of it a bit, doesn't it? And that's just the question. This idea of beauty; should it be messed with? By exposing the reality behind these delightful pictures, the magic seems gone. Human nature wants to believe the magic, though. Maybe it's better to not think about the technicalities and just dream of lovely workshops where ink oozes in pretty colors all day. Makes life much better, doesn't it?
Marvelous musings.

The Strangest Kind of Old Advertisements

Hello!
I came across some strange old advertisements today and couldn't resist sharing some with you. Most of these are from 50-60 years ago; good thing, too!

                                                            "Begin Early," indeed!

                                                    Spam 'n' Eggs -WOW! *cough*

                     "How soon is too soon?" Well, it would be safe to say that feeding your infant soda is "too soon." Is there even such thing as a "Soda Pop Board of America," anymore?

 Hmmm .. not sure exactly how driving alone is driving with Hitler, but okay! Go ahead and, uh .. share your car? Or something?

Ah, yes. Thought I should end with an offensive one. All I can say is; good thing we don't live in these times anymore!

I wonder what advertisements of today people will laugh at in 50 or 60 years. "Ha! Portable music players you had to manually operate! What a time-waster! Check out my thought-powered device! It's microscopic and sits right inside my head! I'll just show you how it works by telepathy. Because we can do that now in 2070!"
Marvelous musings.

Welcome! I enjoy being me

Hi I'm Cecilia! Sometimes there are thoughts, and sometimes there are blogs. And sometimes there is a time when you tell a friend you're thinking of starting a blog and she starts one, and so does another friend, and then you don't want to feel out of the loop so you start one as well. And sometimes there's peer pressure but more often there is not. And yes I will wear all my favorite clothes at once to school because it's my birthday and on your birthday you can be exceptional. But why only birthdays?

..some tea for your troubles?