A Few of My Favorite Fabulous Things

One of my BBFF's - best-bloggy-friend-for-life - gave me this blog award yesterday. Thank you, Katy! I am honored to get this shout-out from one of the most courageous, talented, kind bloggers I know.

As a recipient of this award I am supposed to list five things that I think are fabulous. Katy, you already named one of my favorite things - Christmas in New York! But here are five more:

1. Old movies. To Kill a Mockingbird. Roman Fever. Casablanca. Anastasia. It's a Wonderful Life. Bringing Up Baby. They don't make 'em like this any more - engaging even without outrageous special effects and lots of action, captivating even without color, powerful enough to draw us in primarily through word, character, and story and hold our attention completely.

2. On a related note: the backstage scene just before the ballet, as well as the ballet itself, in the movie The Red Shoes. This is a truly FABULOUS sequence; no other piece of film captures so brilliantly the tension, anticipation, and sick-to-your-stomach excitement of the moments before the curtain rises on opening night. From the sound of violin bows thumping to welcome the conductor, through the chaos of missing props and broken scenery, we follow dancers practicing their lifts and turns, fretting about the choreography, counting down the seconds, and finally signalling their readiness for curtain rise. It's a wonderful scene, and the ballet after it, with Brian Easdale's incomparable score, is one of our favorites as a family.

3. A really great massage. My back and leg muscles tighten up so easily. I think massage therapists are truly FABULOUS.

4. Log homes. I could browse through log home decorating magazines and books for hours. There's something so comforting about the thought of curling up with a mug of something warm in front of a fire in a cozy (or, alternatively, luxurious) log cabin overlooking some lovely mountains, with nice music playing in the background. That's my idea of heaven right there.

5. Children's books. People who come to my house usually think our bookcases are lined with our children's favorites but I've had most of our inventory since I was their age. :)

I have so many fabulous fellow-bloggers out there - I can't pick just five! (Too much pressure!) But you know I think you guys are fabulous!

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Had a wonderful visit and lesson with Kyoko this morning. My scales and fingerwork have improved. She's pleased with the improvements I've made despite the limits on my practice time. She has promoted me out of my "beginner" book and onto more "real" music today! Corelli and Cimarosa concertos glimmer ahead of me this year. As a special celebratory treat - which I much appreciated because it's been uncharacteristically hard for me to get in the Christmas spirit this year - we spent the last few minutes sight-reading Christmas carol duets. I was happy!