Tuesday's Ten: 10 "Weird" things siblings do (or is it just mine?)

I've been told that my siblings and I are scary alike from our looks to our habits. I figure it's a sibling thing in general, but I sometimes wonder if it's just us. Of course every family, and especially siblings develop a set of norms between themselves, but some of our's seem unique.

1. Finishing one another's thoughts and sentences - It has been said that great minds think alike; perhaps we simply have great minds - every single one of us. Of course that may not be it at all, since they also say that cute couples and married folks finish one another's sentences, and that certainly does not apply to us.

2. Sharing endless inside jokes - Of course any set of people who spend a significant amount of time together, especially if they are close, build a collection of inside jokes among themselves, but our collection is huge, spanning from all our favorite movie/TV/book/personal quotes to the many references we have to situations we have been through with one another and with others.

3. Breaking out in song - You know how some people would totally be up for life being a musical (or is that a select few of us)? Sometimes life with my siblings is not unlike that. You know how on How I Met Your Mother Ted and Robin share that "General Knowledge" joke? If you don't here's a clip for you.

That's how me and my siblings are with basically any set of words that coincides with song lyrics we know. It's fun for us, but could possibly drive other people nuts.

4. nickNAMES - For starters, all of our names sound a bit alike since they all end in an "ah" sound (Moriah, Uriah, Kerissa, Ayana, Isaiah). Our nicknames share the same rhythm since they are comprised of a doubled syllable sound in each of our names (Momo, UU, KK, Nana, ZayZay). Personally, I often refer to my siblings using a single syllable sound (U, K, A, Zay).

5. Laughing in tune - We literally laugh in tune, same start and end times, same kind of laugh, pretty much the same sound. It's weird, I know.

6. Reacting to everything the same way - We pretty much react to everything in the same manner, from the look on our faces to the intonation of our voices and the actual words that we respond with. I am sometimes convinced that we share a brain.

7.  Telepathy - Likewise, we seem to be able to communicate without words. Since we've already had one HIMYM example, here's another that illustrates the way it looks.

8. Being Co-workers - Ever since my siblings started working there has always been a shared workplace between at least two of us. At one point, all three of us who work were working at the same place. It had not occurred to me that that was uncommon until people said so. Apparently that doesn't usually work out and it is rare for siblings to even want it in the first place. There are days that I wished that we did not work together and I know they feel the same of me, but most days, it's great to work with them.

9. Sharing Friends - Being that we work together, attended school together, go to church together, and pretty much do everything together, we share a lot more friends than most siblings. The fact of that matter is, you can't know one Georges without knowing another, or in most cases, without getting to know us all. 

10. Conference Communication - Sharing the number of friends that we do, we often communicate in conference style, whether it's a conference call or a shared Facebook message. It's kinda funny, because it's a bit like texting the person right next to you, only with an added person who is not present in the vicinity. It's most efficient as compared with the times when more than one of us is communicating with a shared friend separately at the same time.

Tuesday's Ten: 10 Road Trip Memories

When I was younger my family traveled a bit more. I've only ever been on a plane once in my elementary years and I don't remember much of it. My family of seven used to pack into a car and take to the road to make our trips across state lines. Here are ten vague memories I have of our road trips.

  1. Super-packing - I highly doubt that anyone could pack more efficiently than my parents. The amount of luggage and such that we packed into our car should not have been scientifically possible. I can remember my dad fastening a large grey bag to the roof of our car to afford us even more storage space.
     
  2. The Radio - There were a number of familiar songs that would come on often and to this day I remember those songs and eyes on the road as we sang along. A few of my favorites were Drift Away, Underneath it All, In the Living Years, and Cruisin'.
     
  3. The Candy Shop - Occasionally we'd stop by this vintage candy shop along a familiar route that sold old-style candy at a price reminiscent of simpler times. I have no idea where it was or if it is still around, but I so loved stopping there.
     
  4. Sleep Singing - My dad handled most of the driving on our trips since my mother was not fond of driving and especially hated highways (she still does). When he grew tired at the wheel he would sing some strange version of the songs on the radio, or other songs that came to his mind. Honestly the resulting sound may not have qualified as singing, but it helped him to stay awake and it was familiar to me always.
     
  5. Non-electronic Games -Before we had portable electronic games or worse, phones, we only had one another, our word puzzle books and a few brain games. We loved it all. One of my favorites was Brain Quest.
     
  6. Books, books, books - Although reading in the car can sometimes make you carsick, I mastered the art of doing it. I got so much reading done on our road trips. In a family as big and as talkative as ours, quite time is a necessity during long hours on the road. The best silence you can have in such moments is that which accompanies reading.
     
  7. Rest (stop) - There are two kinds of rest stops that I know of. One is the traditional kinds, where you pull off an exit and find a roadside parking or picnic area where you can stretch your legs, use rest rooms, get refreshments, etc. The second is the Georges kinds where you pull over on the side of the road, switch on your emergency lights, and say a prayer as you sorta-kinda sleep with one eye open.
     
  8. The Sun - Sunrises and sunsets  are like roadside pictures, so beautiful to watch. Did you know the shades of the sky are quite different across state lines? I especially loved watching the sun peek up over and creep behind mountains.
     
  9. Crossing Borders - The excitement of crossing borders never ends. It's kind of crazy how easy it is to be in a new state in a matter of seconds. It feels so wonderful to have that mark of progress after putting in hours on the road. I always picked up one of those state maps at rest stops to mark the cities and states we stopped in.
     
  10. The End - One fantastic part of any road trip is the end. Reaching your destination is a welcome relief for legs in need of stretching and fathers tired of driving. It brings about a sense of accomplishment and the excitement of the beginning of whatever adventure you set out for.

Update: Another Near-Resolution for 2014, Language

Between French and Spanish, I really should have been able to speak a language other than English by now.

I took French all four years of high school (in part because it sounded so beautiful and sophisticated and in part because my parents spoke the language, so I figured I would have an upperhand). Those 4 years were to little or no avail. My siblings took Spanish and everyday I see how much more pracitcal that was. I would love to know both, but language is not my gift and I have not yet had the discipline to put in the hours it would take me to learn. Here are two songs that I love, one in French and one in Spanish that I would love to sing if I ever grasped either language.

Here's to hoping I can sing one of them by the end of this year.

Fun Friday: ROYALS, the Kingdom 3B Remix

My sister Kerissa works at a daycare, and besides children, she loves children’s music. Her class is referred to as 3B (the room number?) and they are having a party for which the theme is “Kingdom 3B”. Kerissa (or Miss Kerissa as her students call her) re-wrote a pop song especially for the occasion: Royals. You know the moment in one of Swoozie’s “Cheating in High School / College" videos when one teacher says to another “You’re a genius” - that was my initial thought for my sister when she introduced me to the song.

My Pink Princess by Kavita Ramchandran
*Her dress has been made purple on behalf of the Kingdom 3B Royals


Here are the lyrics:

 

V1

We walk with bubbles and duck tails

We try our best and never fail

to share toys

And when we walk we make no noise

In the halls to gym

We get compliments

 

bridge:

And every parent’s like

Kingdom 3B going down the hallway

Doing awesome, bet they’ve had a great day

They’re so cool

Setting examples in the school

And every teacher’s like

Kingdom 3B sitting in the classroom

On the brown line

No one had to ask them

Give applause;

They’re sitting criss-cross-applesauce

 

CHORUS:

And we’ll always be royals

It just runs in our blood

Having manners just ain’t enough

We gotta take it up a notch

May we be your rulers?

Call us kingdom 3B

And baby we’ll rule

And we’ll all bow regally

 

V2:

When chewing food our mouths are closed

We don’t drop crumbs upon our clothes

or the floor

And everyone who knows us knows

We push in our chairs

We always play fair

 

bridge + CHORUS

 

bridge 2:

Oh-uh-oh, oh-uh-oh, oh oh

Saying please and thank you

is something we know how to do

Oh-uh-oh, oh-uh-oh, oh oh

We know not to interrupt

And to stop when you say enough

 

CHORUS

About Time: A few small thoughts on a big thought and a beautiful film

I finally watched the movie "About Time" today. I have been wishing and waiting to do so since I saw the trailer, however long ago that was. The movie was everything I hoped for and more, which is not to say that it was what I expected. It left me to reflect on the big thought of time. What does that even mean, right? There are so many thoughts to think about time. However above all, we want to know do we, or can we ever really have enough of it, and have we really spent it wisely. What better bottom line for a story than time-travel to explore those questions?

In case you haven't seen it, here's the trailer for "About Time"

I could try my best to go on and on about my own thoughts on time, but they are too many and too scattered. The film sums it up so well, I will just say that I agree with the notion it presents.

Here are 3 quotes that just about summarize the movie:

1. "Lesson Number One: All the time traveling in the world can't make someone love you."

2. "We're all traveling through time together, every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride."

3. "The truth is I now don't travel back at all, not even for the day, I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life."

The fact of the matter is that we will never feel like we have had enough time, but whatever amount time on this earth God appoints us, it is enough. As for whether we have really spent it wisely,  the way I see it, that ought not to be measured by accomplishments and the like, but in the impact we leave behind us each day.  The greatest impact we can leave is love, and our days are best spent when we embrace them, whatever they hold. Whether it is true or not, I must imagine that for every difficult day, there is one I will want to relive forever.

via Tumblr

I love love loved this movie. The message, the story,  the set and costume designs, and the acting were all so beautiful. The cast could not have been more perfect. Speaking of which, can I just say RACHEL McADAMS!!! She is one of those actresses who is typecast for the right reason - she is such a wonderful romantic onscreen that I imagine the same is true offscreen. Domhnall Gleeson, the leading man and narrator of the story is such a wonderful character in the movie that I want to meet him in real life. The same is true of all the cast members I suppose. Richards Curtis (writer and director) gave these characters and the story so much heart. I know that the film is a reflection of his style of storytelling, but I wonder how much of the story and the humor is influenced by the writer and (some of) the actors being British. The humor is the subtle charming kind - the kind that you see in those people who say and do things that make us laugh and smile without a clue as to how or why. All the same, something about the film, and Curtis' writing in general, is so natural, as one interviewer who spoke with Curtis pointed out.

One of my favorite things about the film is the fact that there is no bad wrap about love - not one conflict of consequence takes place between Tim and Mary, Tim's parents, or Tim's family members. Everyone loves one another in such a real and deep way, and they just continue on in their daily rhythm doing the things that they do together. It portrayed the kind of life that I want for my own family someday.

I don't generally cry during movies, but heads up, I cried for this one - and I won't say more, lest I give anything away. It was incredibly moving and while many a cliche movie have tried to make us give serious pause to a similar message, this one succeeds in making us truly think about time.

Tuesday's Ten: 10 Places I want to go

1. Haiti - Being a part of my heritage, it's one of those places that I feel a sort of obligation to go and visit. I know the dark and dreary place that I see on TV, but I have heard of the beautiful bright land that was home to my father and is home to my grandparents today.

2. Germany - I've known a number of wonderful people who come from Germany and even now I have friends there who would be ready to have me stay with them. Above all else, I want to spend time with those friends and see their home as they do.

3. London - I wanna go there for every cliche reason that there is. So sue me.

4. Ireland - I've read so many stories that have taken place here and it sounds beautiful. I like the thought of rainy mornings and endless green. Also, that movie Leap Year kinda sealed the deal.

5. Australia - My friend Jonathan has always wanted to go along with a group of friends we are part of. The hope of us all making that trip is what makes this destination special.

6. India - I have known many people from India and their culture is like a splash of color on a black canvas - it simply calls to you. Already I am fond of certain Indian foods, the traditional attire and every detail of Bollywood that I hope to find true.

7. Japan - Of the most commonly thought of countries in Asia, Japan is the one that stands out to me. It seems so calm and serene, besides breathtakingly beautiful.

8. Rome - Another one of those cliche destinations. When in Rome . . .

9. France - After the amount of time I spent studying French culture and language in high school, I always wanted to go see it for myself.  As my cultural background is not without French influence, I feel some personal ties to it as well. I sometimes imagine me living there in a tiny apartment above a bakery where I would grab my daily baguette and spend my days visiting new people and places, riding along on my simple bike. I even see myself wearing a blue and white striped shirt and a red scarf (is that Italy?).

Via bijoor.me

10. Honduras - another place from whence I have met a number of people. I'm sure there are several places in South America that I would like to visit, but this one comes to mind first. I remember the first girl I met from Honduras. Her name was Emi (I don't recall what that was short for) and we were in the same fifth grade class the year she moved to the United States.