Beanie level: Rooftop room dweller

Apparently, I’m not out of TU rabbit hole. Look what I found this week!
It’s over 2 hrs long and nowhere near 100% subbed. I’ve been watching parts at a time.

But it’s still fun seeing all the behind the scenes videos that we haven’t seen before (or at least I haven’t)
There are many cute interviews with different cast members. Besides my favorite WX and LZ together there is a real cute one with Wen Ning.

But by far the highlight is with a Jenga game/interview with Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao. It isn’t subbed either but it is really REALLY funny how Jin Guangyao is totally focused on the game and..
Well, watch it yourself starting at 2:13:16.

These people are all just so beautiful even when not in costume!

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Apparently while isolating at home, playing with flowers, refining my sourdough bread skills (which is making all my neighbors happy as I can’t eat all the bread I bake), and looking for a full-time remote writing job I leveled up!!!

I’m now a Rooftop room dweller!!!

And to celebrate I thought I’d share some of the flowers in my yard and from a dahlia farm down the road.
Top to bottom:
Pink dahlias in my yard
Orange marigold – my yard
White dahlia – the farm
Echinacea bud – my yard
Zinnia bouquet – the farm

Enjoy the pretty flowers all you wonderful beanies!!!!!
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IOTNBO Episode #11
How can this show be so consistently beautifully filmed, heartbreaking powerful and poignant week after week. I love how it makes me feel, and think, and wonder every time. BRAVO!!

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    I wasnt paying attention this episode but last time I checked, they have three directors working for this. Maybe that’s why it looks so nice. Scenes are properly allocated and they’re not rushing.

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      Well, I’ll certainly look for these directors and writers again for anything else they do.

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Watching this testament to John Lewis had me in tears. May we we all find a way to become our most truly human self. Love to all you beanies around the world!!! STAY SAFE and wear your mask!

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This song showed up on my iTunes feed this weekend and it’s been on repeat and I can’t get it the song out of my mind. Then I looked up the lyrics in English and found out why it is so soothing.

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    This is the link to the MV with graphics that say even more…..
    https://youtu.be/Q-Tr9pU0YAw
    It’s okay – we will all be okay…..
    This song is full of so much feeling of warmth and love that I just can’t get it out my mind and heart – so I hope you beanies all over the world can feel a little of what I feel listening to this song.
    ***fighting or hwaiting!***

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For all of you who struggle with squirrels – this is SO MUCH FUN to watch!!!
important – do not watch with full bladder…. you’ve been warned!

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    Lol! Thank you. This was so funny 🤣

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      I’m glad you enjoyed it. I was laughing so much watching those squirrels flounder around – and now I wonder if I should just let the little one in my yard just eat my bird seed.
      Nah.

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    I didn’t know squirrels could jump like that.

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      Apparently they can. I watched as a squirrel fell from a branch in a huge tree outside my building. I think the limb was at least 20 feet from the ground. And the little creature fell FLAT on its stomach, with all four legs out. I was shocked and watched as the squirrel laid there for a couple of minutes (I think to catch it’s breath) then carefully get up and then walk over and climb back up the tree.
      Never forgot that. They are amazing – and annoying at my bird feeder – but still pretty amazing creatures.

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        We don’t have squirrels in Australia, so it was startling to see how acrobatic they are. Years ago when I visited Canada it was interesting seeing in parks and backyards.

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    Funny, but not surprising that the squirrels totally outsmarted all the obstacles.

    My only issue with the video is why did he assume that all the squirrels were male?

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      What is funny is that he himself kinda calls himself out on it – a little….

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    thanks a lot for sharing 🙂 ! that was some funny and amazing squirrels O_o hehe

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      It is always good to find a way to laugh in a good way during these crazy and trying times we live in.

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    This was amazing! I’m still scared of squirrels but they’re so smart and agile, I have so much respect for them now.

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Hello from crazy rainy part of my world – today is Monday, right?
I’ve had two phone interviews with recruiters from different companies today. One of them was a no go as it would have been a 2 hour commute. But who knows what will happen?
But now I feel free to spend time watching a drama this afternoon.
In the meantime I wanted to share some of my poppy photos for those of you who said you liked them. Poppies are amazing in how they grow and form pods, then the flower actually pushes and emerges from the pods. I hope the following photos show a little of how amazing they are.

NOTE: These photos were taken at different times and on different bushes. I’ll have to resize many of them so they fit here. But I hope all you beanies around the world can enjoy them while you are staying safe and well!
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    First of all: yay to those phone interviews!! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!!
    Second: thanks for sharing these beautiful photos. I love poppies. In fact, when I’m in distress or suffering from pain, I try to imagine a green field full of red poppies to find some comfort.

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      Thanks – I’ll post some more just for you!!! Hey it’s always a good sign to hear some kind of response when searching for work right?

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    Gorgeous! I don’t know about you, but it feels more like fall right now than summer. It’s supposed to start improving here in a few days.

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      It is cold and dark here and crazy raining off and on all day. But it’s supposed to warm up into the mid eighties by Friday and last through next week. sigh.

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    Fascinating, thank you!

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      You are most welcome. I would have never seen this for isolating at home while unemployed. What a treat it’s been!!!

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    Wow! I adore poppies and had no idea that is how they grow. Amazing!!!
    Good luck with the interviews.

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      I also had no idea about that and only noticed it when I was going out in the early morning to take photos of the other flowers who would unfold and ‘bloom’ over several days. And this poppy would just explode over the course of an hour.
      Thanks for the good luck wishes!

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    Absolutely gorgeous 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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    Did you grow them? I have tried to grow poppies last summer but they didn’t even sprout 😂

    Goodluck on your job hunting. Fighting!

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      Normally poppies need to have their grains scattered in early April otherwise try to freeze them in the freezer and scatter them to soil, they will do great for several years just let them age naturally and birds with wind will do a good job to disperse them for next year.

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      Actually I’ve not tried to grow them from seed and always bought the plants and put them in my garden. For some reason this particular poppy plant has been very happy here and is now on it’s second summer in my garden. But I am saving the pods for seeds.
      I’ve been working on the soil for years and I think it’s been helping.
      Thanks for the good wishes on job hunting!!!

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    All the best with the interviews!, and hope the weather turns for the better soon. The photos (and the poppies) are just gorgeous – they’re like a story unfolding before your eyes. Incredibly precious.

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    thank you for sharing again beautiful pictures of flowers 😀 , instructive to see poppies at different shapes ^^ .
    and hwaiting for the interviews !

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Just finished a long forgotten Bollywood film: Jodhaa Akbar and loved it once again. A beautiful love story with music by A.R Rahman. It’s long and took a couple of days. It was worth the time!!
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So what does a beanie do when forced to stay home during a pandemic, and then finding oneself without a job, and no schedule? Well this beanie makes and sends cards to friends and family.
So in the process of creating cards I went out into the garden and started taking photos every day as the iris flowers started to bloom. I discovered that these flowers are amazingly, extravagantly, gorgeous, and detailed in a wonderful way. Which led me to working on different composition and aperture settings on my camera to get the detail I wanted.

Wowzzaaaaaaaaa – I’m so excited with the shots I got and wanted to share them here – cuz why not?
It isn’t a sense of bragging at how great they are – but more of a sense of awe that I was able to capture these incredible images!

And I wouldn’t have had the time if I wasn’t isolating at home and not working.
Enjoy!!!
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    Beautiful. Thanks you.

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      Thank you @marcusnyc20 – it’s been a fun and satisfying challenge this spring. Next up is the poppies and peonies!

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        Looking forward to these too! I love letter writing too, and the joy of receiving a handmade card is like nothing else in the world. I’m sure the recipients will be absolutely delighted.

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          This all started when a friend of my ended up with Breast Cancer, then early retirement from where we worked and on top of it has to stay home due to the pandemic. I was sending her my homemade cards now and then and she loved them. So I started writing her every day – and then that turned into a ‘theme of the week” for photos where I had to go back into my old pics and pull all sorts of shots. One week it was trees, then architectural and even portraits I’ve done of moms and new babies.
          Well this has now gone on for 12 weeks now and it’s become sort of my “covid – diary” as she said she’s keeping them. Someday I’ll read them and see what I was thinking.
          But it has become a habit. Last week she had her surgery in Portland so I made all the cards for the week in advance. But it was so weird not sitting down at my desk and writing her every morning, that by Thursday I was back at it.
          Let’s just say it feeds my soul right now.

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            Oh what a beautiful idea! It will make for a lovely diary to read at some point of time. Maybe make it into a book or something 🙂 I’m sure she treasures it even more than you can imagine!

            Your story reminds me of my craze for pen friends – I am not a photographer, but I love writing letters. I used to seek out pen friends in the early ’90s, and had many – just before email happened. Only one of them stayed on, and we met in person ~20 years after we first started writing to each other. We are now good friends IRL too, and meet and talk and email and message often, but because both of us like to write the old-fashioned way, we try to send snail mail to each other ever so often. My friend is far more creative than me and a bit of an artist, and designs letterheads and envelopes, so every letter I get from her is special. I have a carton full of her letters, and she has many of mine (mine are just reams of pages in bad handwriting, nothing creative involved). We always tell each other that one day we’ll swap and see how naive and crazy we were as kids and remained unchanged as adults…

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            The summer after my high school graduation *cough – we’re talking decades now* I met a friend when we were both in Birmingham Alabama. She was from PA and I was from OR. We have written letters all these years. There was a time that we didn’t keep in touch so much but now we are writing again. I think that i have every single letter she’s written to me.
            Hey if you want a pen pal friend let me know – I love to write letters but it seems no one else does….. I’d be happy to send you letters.

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            Ooh that would be lovely! I’d be happy to write to you too 🙂 🙂 (note that I’m on another continent, a few timezones away!)

            My gmail handle is the same as my DB handle. Send me an email, and we can swap addresses 🙂

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            sent email

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        I meant *looking forward to posts of poppies and peonies too!*

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          The poppies are so amazing. One morning I went out in the garden to find that the blooms emerge from their pod in a matter of around an hour. Did you know that???? I’m trying to put the photos together to show how fast it happens.

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            I didn’t! Are you taking time lapse photos? In any case, these should be awesome. Poppies bloom here for a very short season, but they are so gorgeous. I try to visit the local flower shows around the time to make sure I get my fill!

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            I don’t know how to do time lapse photos but I did use my phone and take a video. Of course that is the poppy that took over an hour to fully throw off the pod. the first one I watched threw the pod off in about 45 minutes.
            But now looking back at the video I listen to the sounds of all the birds that morning.
            I’ve been slowly going through them to mark them and then I’ll add the times to each one so you can see the difference.

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        Omg I love peonies!

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          There is a Peony farm about an hour north of me here in the Willamette Valley. Talk about bliss – you would go nuts for how beautiful they all are…. And the fragrance…….
          sigh – all the gardens are closed to the public right now so I’m just using my garden – and it saves on gas too!

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            Sigh~ that is my kind of heaven..

            I have been waiting for my peonies to grow. We’ve had crappy spring so they are growing so slow.

            I love your iris pics 😍 Keep them coming!

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            If they are coming up from the ground and you can see something they will grow and you will have those blooms!!!!!
            **fighting!**

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            This sounds so beautiful!

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    They’re gorgeous!

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      Thank you @bbstl! They are pretty wonderful flowers aren’t they? I am thrilled with what I got and I feel like the little child who takes the artwork to mom and says “see what I did isn’t it cool?”

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    Are they orchids? They’re gorgeous! beautiful photos too! You have a good eye 🙂

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      Comment was deleted

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      They do look like orchids don’t they @pickleddragon? I didn’t see that before – they are called Bearded Irises!!! It wasn’t until I started to really get those close ups and looked at them on my computer that I saw how gorgeous they are.
      And of course early morning rain helps with the water drop effect.
      And thanks for the compliment!

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        Ah nice! I missed the iris reference in the post and went straight to the photos (they were so distracting :D) – sorry my bad! I don’t think I’ve seen bearded irises before! I am not sure they grow in my part of the world, in the tropics where its dry and really hot and horribly polluted most year round :/ You’re so lucky to be able to wake up to so much beauty every day. 🙂

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          But I bet you have lovely flowers in your part of the world that we don’t have here. Yes I am thankful every day to live here in the Pacific Northwest….
          except during allergy season

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            Hah! Yes, we have some lovely flowering trees here. In my neighbourhood, in March-April-May (the season just ended), the skyline is just a series of colours – reds from gulmohar (flame of the forest, I think is the English name) and silk cotton; yellow from laburnums; and purple from jacaranda. I have wasted many hours just staring at them. After that, we have to survive the long dry summer, and wait for the blip of a winter we have here for the flowering shrubs to bloom.

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    These are beautiful! And I love irises – such an underrated flower.

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      Thank you @snarkyjellyfish – they were certainly underrated for me until this past month.
      There is an iris farm about 40 miles north of me but I went only for their english garden and rarely took my camera into the acres of irises.
      Next year I’ll spend more time in the fields!!!
      So color me hooked…

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        Oooh that sounds lovely – I can’t wait to see what pictures you have from that. English garden sounds nice too – the only thing I miss living in the city is having a garden. My mom’s is always fantastic and very English, though apparently her roses are giving her hell this year. I remember when we moved to the suburbs my mom’s only solace was having a garden, because we are very much city people. There’s just something about flowers and gardening that is so cathartic. I have lots of houseplants but it’s not quite the same, though it does help my small apartment feel alive.

        I think irises may be my third favorite flower (after sunflowers and purple lisianthus). I love the unique shape and the texture added on the edges of the bearded irises is delightful.

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          I always remember you as the sunflower – lover!!!!! I’ll post more photos later.
          But gardening is truly my therapy – pruning and weeding are even better for stress….

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    Wow so beautiful! 😀

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      Thanks @edgarpordwed I’m having way too much fun making them into cards and sending in the mail. Funny thing is NO ONE writes back. But I get lots of texts…
      It’s okay – everyone loves to get mail and I can still write and it’s my way to support the post office.

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        Aah thats alright! Really it used to be a lot of fun to write letters and make cards.

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    These shots are beautiful!! Thanks for sharing.

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      Thank you @eazal – it truly is my pleasure – after all who doesn’t like to see beautiful flowers in this crazy scary world we are living in right now..

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    These are beautiful.

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    Can I add a footnote to this? My friend who has cancer and has been the reason I ended up taking these photos told me today that my photos of these flowers calms her soul. I can’t think of a better compliment.
    Sorry – I don’t have anyone else to share this with – but it is the ultimate compliment for me as a friend and a photographer!

    now if they could just make me some $$$

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      What a lovely compliment! I’m sure your talent will be recognized soon. Make a book, or start a website to sell your photos.

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    Whoa! These are gorgeous! You should submit these to a photography contest. Reminds me of Georgia O’Keeffe.

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Last week on DB there was a discussion about Roy Kim, and what we thought about a come back for him.

At that time I didn’t know he had a new song that had just been released a couple of weeks ago. So imagine my surprise when it showed up in my “new music” list. So I pressed play and couldn’t stop replaying it for hours. It sounded so melancholy so that when I was done working in the garden I went online to find the lyrics in English.

And indeed this is a song of remorse and sadness.

Roy Kim has such a beautiful voice and from seeing him in interviews over the years he seems like he’s very shy and maybe an introvert. Which is why his connection to the Burning Sun scandal was such a shock.

But I read on Wikipedia that he really wasn’t taking part like the rest of the men. Granted maybe he knew or thought if he didn’t take part it would be okay… But I find that I want to let go of that part and allow myself to enjoy his music.

Listen to the sadness and all the feeling in this song while you read the words. It is haunting and lovely for me. I hope you can appreciate it whatever you think about Roy Kim as a man and artist.

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    Thank you for sharing ☺️

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      Glad you liked it @bebeswtz.
      I listened to the song first and it made me feel so sad, but then watching the music video and how he expressed it visually was quite moving.
      Even without knowing the words I could tell it was a very sad song. He is a very talented musician.

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    Goosebumps~~ I love it! ❤❤❤

    It was his association with Joon Jung Young that got him in trouble. I think he got cleared though.

    Speaking of JJY…I missed the cast of 2D1N (Season 3) 😭

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    Can you link me to that discussion? His involvement was very blurry to me, I know he was called for interrogation but I’m not sure if he was considered one of the suspects. Nonetheless I stopped listening to his music which isn’t a big deal for me even if I liked his music. But anyways I should be sure of his involvement or the lack of it to make an opinion about it.

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      Actually if you click on the link to open the video in YouTube, in the comments section someone wrote out the whole story that he was completely innocent.
      When you click on the play button, then click on the link at the top of the screen and it will open in YT.

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    That was heartbreaking.

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      Isn’t it though??? You can feel his pain and sadness…

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        Yes and reading the title makes me sad too

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          Roy Kim was my introduction to the beauty and depth of kpop – and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. There are many other groups and singers that I like, but he is special and I’ve loved music for years. So to watch this video and feel the emotions is powerful and I only wish him all the best as he continues to grow up.

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            I’ve only listened a few songs from him and have seen random videos on variety shows. Also enjoyed his guesting on 1N2D. And as fans, that’s the only thing we can do for our idols. To wish them all the best and that they don’t do anything unlawful.

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            He has done a LOT of songs for different dramas which are all very romantic and lovely. I haven’t watched any 1N2D shows so I’m not familiar with that side of him.

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            With his voice, it’s very OST-y.

            Iirc, he went twice, first as JJY’s friend (unexpected as that was the concept on that episode, to bring a friend) then the 2nd time was to help the members make a song.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFNv3oW9Nhg

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            The melancholy of his voice is really cathartic. This song and especially the MV was an interesting one to leave us with.

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Alicia Keys wrote this for her mother and grandmother. The folks at CNN added the photos. Get your tissues ready.
Thank you to everyone who is working hard and staying safe!!!

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Because… Just because. It’s Friday. There is so much cute and pretty in this video, and we I just can’t get enough of these beautiful people…

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Quiet Wednesday at home not doing anything but rest and fight off a spring cold. Found this and wanted to share it with all you wonderful beanies around the world.
Stay safe and well!!

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    Hope you feel better soon!

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    Tree pollen is getting to me. Hope you’re feeling better and out gardening soon.

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      Thank you
      The tree pollen where I live has been at the top end of the scale for weeks!!!! But it rained all day yesterday and so I hope it cleans the air somewhat.
      I’m feeling better, but still cautious – but better…

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Stumbled across this earlier – its so nice to see him smile while watching his current show where he’s been so sad for so long. Such a sweetie!

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    Am I …am I seeing 2 sets of twins.

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      I’m not sure but it looks like it. It is so hard to only watch one episode of the Return of SuperMan, but trying to find out about the families takes energy I don’t have now. If I start looking more I won’t get anything done!

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      Yep! They have 2 sets of twin daughters and a son. I love this family. They’re really sweet and funny. They are no longer on the show though.

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    I must’ve watched this clip… 3 times in the past. 4th time’s the charm!

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I know we are past Music March Madness but I wanted to share this with the beanies all over the world just ‘beaning’ along. Stay well everyone!

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March music mayhem madness day 31

Well I haven’t posted much this month. I think just been too busy trying to NOT read the news and NOT be scared – but at the same time feel grateful for everything – especially having a job I could do from home.
Not any more – yesterday was my last day and now I’m officially unemployed and trying not to get too worried. HAH
Driving home from the office where I had to return my laptop and clean out my desk I was thinking hmm what song can I post on the last day that would reflect how I am?

Then someone sent me this silly silly version of a long-loved song, and I KNEW what to share.
Unfortunately the fact that they are all crowded together through the whole song makes me kind of nuts… but that is our new normal isn’t it?

So enjoy this as much as I did.

And please stay safe and healthy!

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Just had to share this… it reminds me of some conversations about clams ;-).
(read the comments)

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March Music Mayhem Day 17

Some years ago a friend described opera as music that is ‘pure emotion’ and that is why people love it. I didn’t get it at the time and honestly the only opera I can listen to at this point is anything by Puccini. But I digress…

3 or 4 years ago when I started listening to Kpop – I was just listening and enjoying the tunes and beats and sounds of their voices.
Then one day this song came on my iTunes feed.

“Stay As You Are” by Sandeul.

I didn’t know what he was singing – but when I listened I found myself in tears every single time.
So I looked it up to see what he was saying and these were the lyrics:
————-
I still don’t know who it is
Although I have an image drawn out
But I’m not worried that you’ll be different
From what I imagined
Even if I can’t do anything
My days aren’t at a waste
Because time has to pass
In order for me to meet you
So I can recognize you
You, who I’ve never seen before
When I finally meet you, on a day I can’t predict
When we finally become a “we”
So I won’t just pass by you
So I can recognize you
Please stay that way
———-

There are more lyrics

But the feeling and the longing in this song really spoke to me even though I didn’t know what they were.
And finally I understood what my friend meant by music being pure emotion.

And now when people ask what I’m listening to I tell them “my form of opera”
May you all feel deeply and richly and somehow find the person who loves you
just the way you are.

Happy Tuesday to all you Beanies everywhere!

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Music March Mayhem Day 14

A very long time ago, I think it was around 2002 or 2003 I worked in a small R&D office that was 2 blocks from a local library, and I would go there on my lunch hour a few times during the week.
At one point I started looking at the CDs and discovered they had a section called “World Music” which caught my interest. And so I looked through it and took some back to my desk to listen to as I worked.

This is when I discovered Afro Celt Sound System – I don’t remember what album it was but I LOVED it and after that looked for more in the World Music collection. This led me to discover such wonders as Angelic Kidjo and Baaba Maal, ,and I never looked back.

Which is why I think I’ve loved kpop and many indie Korean Musicians. My iTunes list includes so much fun music, from Yo Yo Ma, to Japanese Pop to Bonnie Raitt and Justin Timberlake among all my Korean artists such as Standing Egg, Hoody, Dean and Verbal Jint to name a few.
But when this song comes on I always stop and want to thank them for being such a wonderful group.
If you haven’t heard them they have collaborated with the likes of Peter Gabriel and Sinead O’Connor with fabulous results.

So I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.
Stay safe and wash your hands everyone!!!

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    Oooh I like this! I used to be the same – just wander the music stacks at the library and try whatever caught my eye. It’s led to a very eclectic music library that can be a bit jarring when I put it on random.

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      Thanks – I’m glad you like it, and not at all surprised that you would like it too!

      It’s hard to share my music with others as they just don’t get how wonderful music is from around the world. Especially this group.
      So I enjoy it all on my own….

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    I love it! It reminds me a little of the Alt J songs I like and oddly, James Taylor.

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March Madness Music Mayhem..
Right now the news is so scary around the world and I can hardly deal with it all. And usually I end up watching these two cuties. The song Acapella by Karmin is boss!!!

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    I still squeed so hard watching them together and then I got sad because I miss them so much 😭😭🤣

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    This song was one of the ones that got me through my first year of law school. (Actually, everything on this album was great.)

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      I hadn’t heard Karmin before this video, then looked her up and I too LOVE this album.. Yep it’s fun!!

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    Lol! It’s so fun to watch such videos!

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