Fade into gratitude

I am grateful for all those times alone in the dark dark night, when I am free. Free to cry, and laugh, and smile at the universe, and offer up my voice as a gift of gratitude that I am free to be me. Even if I am alone, I am always me.

Little talks

Today, I am grateful for almost-rhymes and catchy tunes with uplifting horn sections Once, I used to love you, and a song that reminded me of a place called home, inside your arms. Until you took the house and carried it away to house a more deserving wanderer than I. Now that song just gives me the shits and reminds me how I hate your face. Lucky there is this song which is even happier and better without you! Plus the lyrics are less cheesy and I don't have to sing your name. Trickier to memorise, though. Life is great! So grateful, time.

Neil Gaiman's Inspiring Commencement Speech

My favourite writer encourages us to make good art.

Dogs, and OK Go

Every time I see a new one of their videos I think, ah, now that's my new favourite. The treadmills were enough amazing for a lifetime, but they still keep outdoing themselves. The outtakes also prove that if it's worth doing, it's worth doing it wrong once or twice then better a million times over, just like my martial arts instructor told me.

Grateful for colour

and OKGo too

Worldwide wonderful

So so glad that the intertubes was invented, and brings us communications from around the world. So so glad that motion picture cameras and sound recording technology exists, and captures moments and notions that would otherwise be difficult to share everywhere. So so glad that human beings can harbour such talent and bring us such inspiration to others, just by being awesome and letting it flow out there. So so glad that I'm in my jarmies near a heater, thinking all these tiny thoughts in such a giant world. Also, thank goodness that such talented spirits can also have a cheeky sense of humour and make me laugh with shared fun instead of cry with envy!

Love MICF, love David O'Doherty, love the fact I am guilty of quite a few of the 2010 beefs...

oops

Kids being awesome

When I was in Year 1-3 we used to choreograph dance routines to pop songs and perform them to anyone who would stick around for three minutes. In Year 5, I remember actually joining my new school's dance club and we did a dance routine to Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire" choreographed by an energetic and enthusiastic young visiting teacher. Such good memories, warms my heart still to this day. So great seeing kids being amazing and having fun to great pop songs, restores your faith in humanity's future.

You can be who you want to be

because Everything Changes. Don't forget that. Also, enjoy the many costume changes of this clip.

Investment

The fact that I am still wearing the leather jacket that cost a month's worth of wages from my first casual job when I was fourteen has proven me right.

Singing a song out loud

when you don't really know the lyrics, walking your little lady of a dog, getting smiles from strangers.

Happy Northern Fathers' Day

Thank you Dad and all the Dads out there for being so awesome... and a teensy bit daggy just once or twice..

Edge of your seat, scream til you're hoarse

Well that's what one does at live sport, of course!

Dreams

Hold on to your dream and watch it come true Myf Warhurst is singing Islands in the Stream with Kenny Rogers and it's making me cry tears of joy

Taxi Drivers who are nice

and can have a good yarn in both Adelaide and Melbourne today. Life is sweet.

True friends come from all corners of the world

and the connection is just as strong as if they were just around the corner. You just have to ration out the bear hugs, red wine and beautiful dinners.

Made me smile

Smiling sloths, what better way to cheer me up?

There is so much power flowing through you

Even if you are afraid that it is too much too harness, too powerful to control, too much to bear. You must share it, bare it and let it flow. Have faith there will be a subtle few who are strong enough to need it, feed on it. Your voice is a beautiful force, set it free...

Zola Jesus performance blew me away

Love seeing up-and-comers

Such a lavish production. Voices with a lot of potential.

I'm grateful to be born into such a lucky country.

...and that charities like One Girl allow us to give something back in the form of education and simple hygiene for girls in Sierra Leone. Having Blue King Brown perform at their cocktail gala was just a bonus! They raised more than $48000. So impressive!

Streams of falling autumn leaves

Swooshing around me like I'm driving in a car ad...

Eurovision

I am grateful for beautiful friends who freely offer a beautiful vintage silk sequin top for me to honour my love of Eurovision. Also grateful for delicious Chardonnay and delicious Roquefort & D'Affinois to share with friends during the screening. Plus wind machines, pyrotechnics, bedazzled blindfolds and euphoric petals falling from the sky. Monsieur Lordi was a nice touch too. Congratulations Sweden!

Zippy little yellow cars

...fill my heart with joy.

Although mine is not a Porsche!

The inventor of dim sum

must have been a very smart dumpling.

Driving down the highway at night singing:

" .....Hold me closer..... Tony Danza!"

A new song a week

Courtesy of The Tall Poppies: So grateful I was lucky enough to go to Uni with such talented ladies who share such beautiful songs with the world!

Winter means mandarins!

Candy from heaven...and it comes with its own wrapper!

Grateful for Grateful in April

I recently started subscribing to the Grateful in April e-newsletter. It was greatful. Thought I would continue being grateful and graceful. A couple of years ago when I was going through a rough time, I bought an A4 diary, kept it next to the bed and every night wrote a whole pageful of "Things That Make Me Happy". I still look back and smile at it. It was really helpful. This is a condensed version of the same thought.