Lots of Examined Lives Out There and A Musical Recommendation

Wow, I'm blushing thinking I was the only person who liked the Socrates quote and would be so "different" utilizing it. But I am really glad there are so many people who do want to examine and dig deep. Reading and watching mainstream news one gets the feeling the human race is shallow, selfish (I had written shellfish first - Freudian slip of some type?), and only concerned about "number one".

As you can see, I've begun to master the settings and have some spaces between the words and sentences.

I just received, in the mail, a wonderfully mellow and sensual sounding recording. It is by Joao Gilberto and entitled "Joao Voz e Violao" - I think loosely translated to "Joao voice and guitar". Joao was the late husband of Astrud Gilberto of the Getz and Gilberto fame "Girl from Ipanema".

On this album it is only he and his guitar playing Brazilian samba, softly I might add. He has a soothing, almost sad voice - not asking for pity - but gently stating the hurt he has gone through. There are helpful liner notes with lyrics and, sure enough, they are all about sad things. I make it a practice to read the lyrics of songs after I listen to them once, just to see if I'm picking up what the composer is projecting. A lot of times I'm not.

I think this could put you to sleep if you were tired so listen to it when you are peppy and alert - to pick up the simple, pretty nuances of the singing and guitar work. Or,possibly, light some candles, put the kids to bed, and you and your partner slowly samba to this lovely music. Have fun!

Alyssa

P.S. I got it at Walmart!

Why Is This Called What It Is?

My name is Alyssa and this is my very first try at a blog. I've been agonizing over the template, what colors to use, the fonts, and then there is the dreaded "profile". I spent two stressful hours filling in the little boxes with what I thought were rather catchy and intriguing phrases so everyone could see how really "unique" I am. Previously, I'd gone to my Picasa photo albums trying to find a decent picture of myself and after cropping, adding a glow, warming my face up, and a few other things I figured I looked pretty good. This would be a nice picture for my profile page. I followed the directions how to get a picture from here to there, went back to put it in and the page was blank! So there went about three hours - all for nothing. And to make matters worse, the code I'd copied for the picture just won't take so I've no personal info to grab you , nor do I have a picture yet. But I promise they will be coming. I'm calling this blog "My Examined Life" as rather a play on words. I very much like the quote of Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living." But it seems a rather harsh pronouncement, quite black and white, and I'm not totally in agreement. Some unexamined lives can be worthwhile but the examined ones must be a lot richer and fuller. Like a lot of people as they grow older, I've begun to question and learn. I guess I want to cram as much of the interesting things (to me) into my head as I can within the years I've left. And could someone tell me how to have more space between these lines?? It looks like a jumbled mess!! Anyway, I will forge ahead. I'd like to write about the things I've always found fun and interesting and the new things I'm learning and enjoying. And share them with my readers (I hope I have some). And I'd like to hear your take on what I'm saying . So I'm going to quit procrastinating and hit the "publish" button and see what happens. And, yes, I'm going to figure out how to put some spaces between these paragraphs - it's driving me crazy already!! Bye for now, Alyssa P.S. Yes, that's me . I'll try to place it more professionally as soon as I figure out how.