A Musical Interlude

I'm absolutely in love with their sound and it has been a while since I've smiled so much or been transported into that place where only good music can take you. If you haven't heard the Kings of Convenience before, then how convenient for you that I'm hellbent on introducing them to you. These songs all come from their album Riot on an Empty Street.

The hushed harmonies and steel strings of the first Kings of Convenience album earned Norway natives Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe a reputation as a sort of Scandinavian Simon & Garfunkel for the 21st century. They uphold that rap on "homesick," the subtle exquisite track that opens this second album. Yet the pair's artistic palette broadens as it unfolds. Piano and strings play a prominent role on the snappy pop tune "Misread" and the jaunting "Sorry or Please," while the intricately interwoven gutar lines and purring cello of "Cayman Islands" sound straight out of Nick Drake. Best of all is "I'd Rather Dance with You," a light-footed pop gem sung by Oye. Also of note: The Canadian vocalist Feist, a sometime member of Broken Social Scene, adds dreamy backing vocals to "Know-How" and "the Build-Up." From i-tunes Review.

I'd Rather Dance With You



Know-How



Cayman Islands



My favorite of these three is Know-How. Tell me if you liked one best.

This post in 40 bits and some confessions

Yesterday I was reading a post titled 82 things at Shamelessly Sassy and I liked it so much I that I asked its author if she minded me stealing her idea. She replied that I was free to steal away! Here it goes...

Now you are in for it. This will be real proof as to why this blog is called The Leaping Thought...

1. I think Swedes are the most handsome looking people on the planet. How is it possible that they ended up with the choicest bit of the beauty pie?

2. Once I overflew the beautiful countryside of Shannon, Ireland. Up in my plane I felt such a connection to that impossibly green land that I wondered how I'd not been born Irish. That's why I was so disappointed when a friend told me its landscape is as boring as only boring can be. Her words went something along the line of: Driving by, you find the first castle turned pile of rocks, green pastures and herd of sheep, utterly divine. The second is of course picturesque but the divineness factor has tarnished somewhat... by the time you pass a third and fourth rubble pit or, the fifth and sixth herd of sheep, you start to wish them all to perdition and wonder why it has taken so long for time to turn the first to dust and obliterate the nuisance of the other. Well, I just will not believe a word of it. How could you could possibly get bored of such beauty? I will ignore what she said. Someday, I'll drive there myself and no longer wonder if her opinion could somehow, overrule that first feeling in my heart.

Photo by worak

3. Green is my favorite color. 7 my favorite number. My second favorite color is turquoise.

4. My entry hallway is painted turquoise. I had it painted while my husband was away so that he would not have the opportunity to object to the color choice. It didn't work. He had me take it off and chose a blood red in its stead. The new hue looked so awful that we went back to the original turquoise. I personally think the hallway looks like a little jewel box though my husband still asserts that only the interior of a pool should be painted this color.

5. Once, on a train trip headed towards Paris, I was so tired that I fell asleep with my head supported by a handsome stranger's shoulders. When I woke several hours later I was simply mortified. He saw my embarrassment and told me that he had enjoyed pillowing my head on his shoulder because my hair smelled very good. I still remember that compliment with pleasure.

6. Four of my oldest and dearest friends, the kind that have changed me for the better and always remain in my thoughts, have the same name. Abella, del Castillo, Santillana, hermana - you guys know what it is.

7. I hated my childhood nickname. Mili sounds like a name one calls a dachshund, an old maid or the last girl to be picked for the team. Today, though a few select people have extended rights to still address me as Mili, Mile (pronounced Me-lay) is the nickname by which I am referred to the most. It suits me better.

8. My mother's name means gift from the Gods in Greek. She absolutely lives up to its meaning.

9. If I were to wish it, I can recall exactly the scent of sun warmed sand at Coronado beach.

10. I once splurged on an exorbitantly expensive pair of Christian Lacroix shoes. Though they were not intended for this purpose, I used them to complete my marriage outfit. They looked the worse for wear after the shindig but I still think they are the most beautiful pair of shoes that I have ever owned.

11. When my husband gave me my engagement ring, I was so in love with how it looked on my finger that I couldn't take my eyes off of it. So a few days after I received it, I nearly got into the type of accident that could have ended everything because I'd been too busy observing the stone and not the road. What an idiotic way to go that would have been. Death by admiration.

12. When people ask me why my Spanish sounds like I'm from Spain and not from Panama, my standard explanation is that I worked amongst Spaniards for many years and lived too long outside of my own country which is why my accent is not all it should be. The truth of the matter is that years ago I deliberately adopted some of the rhythms and inflections that make Spanish from Spain sound like Spanish from Spain and since then, they've became so much a part of me that now I can't remember sounding like anything else.

13. A couple of years back I used to do voice-over and narration work and my voice could be heard in public service announcements and commercials that aired all over Latin America. It was the accent that kept getting me hired.

14. I married in Spain. Sevilla to be exact. You should wonder how a Persian and a Panamanian ended up tying the knot there. It was an adventure let me tell you.

15. No, David! by David Shannon has become my son's favorite bedtime book. I smile at every turn of the page after David has of course done the unthinkably bad because, my boy calls it out in the cutest voice. It sounds like this: Nooooo Bay-bid! Nooooo!

16. I believe everything that has ever been said about the collective momentum engendered by people's feelings while in a crowd. I've lived it. When General Manuel Antonio Noriega had taken refuge at the Vatican Embassy in Panama, I was one in a group of thousands of protesters standing outside almost ready to storm the place. That's when I learned how possible it was to override my otherwise peaceable instincts. I've never forgotten what that lesson gave me.

17. I read everywhere and all the time: While I blow dry my hair with a hairpin holding the pages of my book open, as I enjoy my morning coffee, in the WC - aware that it is the most perfect place in terms of preventing interruptions or, standing in the supermarket line. I used to read while I walked on sidewalks but I had to end this particular practice after walking into a STOP sign post for the second time.

18. I met and befriended my in-laws before I ever met their son, now my husband.

19. I actually punched the nose of a boy who was in my first grade class because he had dared to kiss my best friend Suzy on the lips and she told me she hadn't liked it. He waited that afternoon and told my mother what I had done when she went to pick me up. I was grounded on the basis that well-mannered young ladies never ever resort to any type of physical violence. I should have whacked him harder. Little tattle-tale.

20. The most perfectly wonderful afternoon I ever spent by myself was on a trip to Stockholm. At an outdoor cafe in the main square of Gamla Stan, I ate a blueberry and frangipane tart swallowed down with a bowl (mind you it is served in small bowls, not cups) of piping hot chocolate. Heaven on earth that afternoon was.

Photo by lyng883


21. I've always secretly agreed with my aunt Lia who said that there was no way that anybody could have risked getting thrown out of the Garden of Eden for a measly apple. It had to have been a luscious mango what they took from that tree.

22. I love that word. Luscious. I insert it whenever, wherever I can.

23. Though Catholic by birth, I can say the Shabbat prayer in perfect Hebrew. My Jewish friends have always gotten a kick out of this.

24. My husband is a very liberal Muslim. Wish there were more like him.

25. What makes your religion so much better than mine that we must fight over their differences? I've always wondered why this question and its consequences must even exist.

26. I have the gift of making my son giggle and my husband laugh and smile. Rubies beyond price...

27. I've become somewhat obsessed by my blogging proclivities. Am currently taking drastic measures to curb the unnatural impulse to forgo sleep for blog surfing and post writing. Every fourth day, this is how I will post. Every second night, that is when I will stay up one hour later doing my blogging thing.

28. I was sorting through a bag of some old baby clothes of my son for donation purposes yesterday. Was he ever that little? Honestly, they look like they belong on a doll. So cute, even with the stains. I put most of them in the give away pile but a few I just had to hold back. It would kill me to let them go.

29. Certain smells seduce me but I will not tell you what they are. The appeal of seduction lies in its mystery. Remember that.

30. I wonder often about those of you who read me. Are you out there, anyone?

31. I repeat this phrase to myself at least once a day if not more - slowly for I must make haste. Napoleon supposedly said this. It came into my head via my father who loved repeating the saying to me. That's because I always hurry so much at what I am doing that my thumbs and legs and arms get tangled up from trying to do everything at the same time.

32. In that innermost, most private little place of my heart, I think I am superwoman. Can you hear the roar?

32. I don't know how to ride a bicycle. The few times I roller-skated my knees went skinless. The one time I tried a skateboard I smashed head first into a tree. I barely know how to drive. Wheels are not my thing.

33. Some years ago, a thief punched a hole into my rear car window and stole what he managed to grab. My gym bag. I took that as a sign from God. Never visited the gym again.

34. Finding new music I like gives me great joy. My sister and I have this sort of competitive little thing that flares up every once in a while - oh! you've never heard so and so sing... well that song is great... he-he I found him fiiiirst...

35. The best live concert I ever heard in my life transcends the barriers of genre, age and style of music. It was Ben Harper at Constitution Hall in Washington DC. That man and his music were on fire that night. My subsequent hearing loss from maxed out decibel levels was so totally worth it. Photo by Zach Klein

36. I can forgive. I find it so much harder to forget. How un-christian of me.

37. One time, I called the firemen to come to the retirement home down the street because I thought the building was burning. The smoke turned out to be the heater exhaust pumping air into cooler outside temperatures. No fire. Just little itty bitty dumb me. I nearly got fined.

38. I'm very fanciful. I've told you that. I can invent a whole life story for a stranger just walking past. I've always found it great fun to do that.

39. I love watching people. Best theatre in life.

40. I'm tired. The bits and confessions will have to stop here. Goodnight.

A little bit about me

This entry is only because I finally wrote something in the About Me section of this blog but, I didn't have enough space to tell you as much as I wanted so, here is the extended version in no pre-meditated order.

This is what I watch:
I'm a two reality TV show junkie. The Bachelor (this last bachelor really is the best one so far) and The Amazing Race. They are my Sunday and Monday night fix. I am also a one cooking and travel show addict - Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. His show is hilarious and irreverent and you learn so much in an off-hand way.
This is what I buy:
I adore and I do mean ADORE shoes. I suscribe to the belief that a well-made pair of shoes can make any outfit seem stylish and that good shoes are an essential part of a polished ensemble. I used to be a purse addict also but that was before the child. Ditto for clothes but, I draw the line on giving up the shoes. Nope. No way.
This is what I do when I am by myself or with just my son:
Sing. Though I don't sing as much as I used to anymore unfortunately. A long time ago I sang and traveled with a professional chorale group. It was quite an experience. Some of my best memories and learning occasions are tied to my singing. You know, if I could choose any singing voice in the world, I'd have a hard time choosing between having Federica Von Stade's and Cecilia Bartoli's voice. They are both glorious for different reasons.
This is what I like to play:
Rummykub, it is simply addictive. Haven't played in a while because my husband is a backgammon guy and I just don't get that game but, with Rummykub, I'm virtually unbeatable on a good day. Also, Tickle-wrestling and Hide and Seek with my son.
This is something I have a masters degree in and yet do not consider myself to be:
Photography. I am unfortunately not a good photographer in spite of the nice diploma.
In this, I am so much like my mother:
I love cooking and cookbooks. Lord, don't get me started on cookbooks- I'm a cookbook lady of the night.
What I love looking at:
Besides my son asleep, awake or in any other state, I like looking at art and graphics and design magazines and fashion. I love looking at flowers, colors, a well-appointed room, my husband's eyes crinkling in laughter, a happy face, a happy child, my mother lovingly looking upon my son, a beautifully served meal, an empty plate (especially if it was previously filled with something I cooked).
What I listen to:
Music of almost any kind except rap. I'm always playing something but, if I had only one thing to listen to, I would chose the Bach Cello Suites (the Pablo Casals recordings which my sister introduced me to so long ago). It gives me everything I need no matter what the mood.
Here are the people I love above all else:
My child, my husband, my parents, my sister, the rest of my family (blood related and not). I am who I am because of them.
What I strive for always:
A fair and open mind, a quiet spirit, to find the laughter and being kind.
Things I love to do:
1. Watch movies in the movie theater. DVDs are a poor substitute.
2. Inhale books. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to read. I cannot envision life without books. My idea of the best gift ever is money to buy books. I still have somewhere in an old journal a cutout from a 1980's magazine that shows the library I've always wanted. I could live within just two rooms, a library and a kitchen. Cook and read. Heaven.
What I can't stand seeing or reading about whether in real life or movies:
Children getting hurt.
Here's what I like to read:
I have a true bias for biographies, histories and cookbooks (we've talked about this), romances (don't sneer, romances are... necessary). Get your hands on a book by Georgette Heyer or Mary Balogh and then tell me you don't agree. I love novels set in Britain during the Georgian or Regency period, I gobble up children's books (there is great art there) and anything in the fantasy and fairy tale genre. Oh! I was forgetting short stories. Big Maupassant and Balzac fan. Have I told you about the poetry? Can't write it but love to read it.
Who I would like to be a little bit more like:
1. Martha Stewart. I want her craft room and I want to be as organized as her.
2. Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes. So much wisdom, such childhood zeal.
What I'd give so much to understand:
What my son is thinking sometimes when he looks out at the world through those eyes of his. All my pennies for his thoughts.
What I cannot understand:
Someone hurting a child. Bigotry, racism. All fighting born of religious differences.
Things I believe in:
1. Six degrees of separation.
2. Destiny.
3. Being grateful for everything I have.
4. My son was meant to be born to my husband and I and not, to anyone else.
What I hope to see 20 years from now:
1. My marriage still going strong.
2. My parents still healthy and alive.
3. My son, a well adjusted individual.
4. A healthy planet.
5. A Breguet watch on my husband's wrist. Shallow and materialistic I know, but I have my reasons.
6. Myself, a famous cook and romance novelist.
7. To have known the last 20 years of my life to be quietly happy and singularly peaceful.