La-dee-da-dee-dah-dah la-dee-dah…
Man, some days, it just feels like the world crushes you like a bug, and then you end up thinking of that final fight scene in Men in Black, and you get totally grossed out at the idea of all those bugs being squashed and eeeewwwww-ickk-gross!
Ugh… God, please, don’t make me figure this one out – just do as you wish, and I will follow suit wholeheartedly. Your will be done fully and forever. In your name I pray. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
Right about now, I am missing my old Golden Retrievers. It has been roughly 16 or 18 years since the father died, and a handful of years fewer for the sun… and yet, here we are, missing them, almost suddenly.
I want those hugs and loves and belly rubs. That was an amazing time in life.
And I want something more nowadays, please.
Post-a-day 2022
‘Arise,’ they told her.
‘Do it like this,’ they said.
‘It’ll be perfect,’ they promised.
But these were lies they said.
And so, instead of stepping up to being who they expected her to be, she stood up for who she truly was made to be.
And the world never was quite the same,
Once she’d set it aflame
With all that she truly was.
Post-a-day 2022
‘I want the body of Christ to be at the center.’
Oh, God, please make it so. Your will be done in all of its perfection, and may I want your will. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
I believe we can grow afraid or we can grow from fear itself. Be brave. Be honest with yourself – your true, deepest, whole, God-given self – and speak up, step up. Do that one thing every day that scares you, that will change your life for what it deserves to be and is made to be. Be afraid. Be very afraid. And also have courage, so we can grow from the lessons we learn and create something amazing.
God, please, bless us with your love. Your will be done, and may it be clear what our next steps always are. I’m your name, we pray.
Post-a-day 2022
… that was an awesome concert.
Gwen Stefani is another one of those artists who played an important role in my childhood. I remember singing the choruses to two of No Doubt’s songs while dancing around in the living room at our original house when I was only about four years old. They were “Spiderwebs” and “Don’t Speak”. I didn’t know what most of the lines meant, and I even had a few words wrong (“I gotta scream my phone calls,” instead of screening them, because had no idea that screening a call was something that existed), but I loved those two songs. To this day, I can still see the image I had in my mind of this woman climbing around and walking inside this massive spider web, while her landline phone was ringing in the distance. The phone was yellow, by the way. I genuinely thought she was telling a story of how she was doing crazy stuff, like walking in an actual spider web – she was out living life – instead of sitting around, waiting for the phone to ring, waiting for calls. I’ve related to it that way ever since it came out almost 27 years ago, and I have no expectation of that changing at his point – if it hasn’t changed already, I think it won’t at all.
So, all that being said, Gwen Stefani is kind of on par with Ricky Martin in terms of how it played a role in my early childhood. Naturally, when she sang “Don’t Speak”, therefore, I cried a bit.
And then, for Spiderwebs a coupe songs or so later, I went nuts jumping around and dancing.
I did that on several songs, of course, many of which I had either forgotten had been Gwen Stefani’s songs or that I had never known were Gwen Stefani’s songs.
Of course, she ended the concert with “Hollaback Girl“, and I then discovered that it wasn’t, “Mmm this much. Mmm this much,” but “Mmm this my sh**. Mmm this my sh**.” Rather different lyrics, yes, and the real ones don’t actually fit musically as well as my version of them. So, I’m sticking to my original understanding of the lyrics on this one.
All in all, it was a great and fun concert. And she even declared, “Praise Jesus!” at one point, which was baller in a whole new way. And no, Blake Shelton did not show up. She said early on that he was “babysitting” her kids… and my friend said, ‘I believe that is just called ‘parenting’.’ 😛 But the concert was filled with songs, and she even went over by about ten minutes, she had packed so much music into it. It was great.
Thank you, God, for the absolute blessing that was tonight and today on all levels. Please, especially, bless those who showed love to me today in particular, that they feel your love more fully tomorrow. Please, guide us all to be your love through our lives. Help us to be who you made us to be. And thank you for this opportunity of life. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
Talk about dreams being manifested that we never new we had, I went to the rodeo tonight with my mom, and my brother and sister-in-law and one of my brother’s childhood best friends met us as our guests. Fancy parking pass and chute seats and all.
It was black heritage night, and it was Bun B and a whole line of black heritage rappers, which was why we had been given the tickets by some older friends of my mom’s – just not their style, you see.
Most of the music, I didn’t know myself, but I’m a fan of good music – good rhythms and lyrics and beats and all of it make for a good time for me (though I often can’t understand any words in music, not just rap) – so I was enjoying it for the most part. Though, I was quite tired.
Just as my mom and I were going to head home, a couple songs came on that I not only knew, but loved (for ridiculous reasons, obviously). And what was the one that blew my mind here?
“Ridin’”. Never had a clue I would love to hear that in concert, but here we are, and I loved it! I felt like a little kid who just got to see a herd of unicorns fly by. It was way cool. Chamillionaire and “Ridin’”, y’all…
But get this: THEN Lil Flip comes out and dives into “The Way We Ball”! Y’all… the little girl in me was delighted to have me fulfilling dreams she never even thought to dream… It was super cool!!
(By the way, if you don’t know here songs by name, look them up! It’s likely you have heard them! They were both big hits around 2005 and 2002 respectively. And I had no idea the guys were from Houston until tonight!!)
Also, fun fact, Bun B’s birthday is next Saturday, March 19!! He put on an awesome collaboration and mini-festival in just a one-hour show tonight for over 73 thousand people, and I am grateful to have been present for it. What a lovely accomplishment to have as a sort of birthday present to himself! Happy Birthday, Trill OG!! You rock.
So, thank you, God, for that very unexpected blessing. Brief as it was, it was powerful, and I am grateful.
Just wow…
Praise be! Amen!
Post-a-day 2022
“Mommy, it’s Ricky Martin.
And he’s dancing.
And he’s wearing a kimono.
And silk gauchos.”
“Picture, please.”
Tonight was the Ricky Martin concert after the rodeo. When the full sounds of “Livin’ la vida loca” burst forth from the darkness with sparkler flames and party lights, the place went wild, myself included. And then, he was singing… he was singing these words I had forgotten that I knew prectically perfectly – as perfectly as we could get back in the pre-Internet days, if we didn’t have a copy of the CD.
And then he was dancing on the parts where he had singing breaks.
I kid you not, not even halfway through the song, I had streams of tears rolling down my face, absolutely unanticipated, unexpected. I didnt even notice I was crying until I felt a downward movement of water on the lower half of my cheeks.
But, I suppose, it makes sense. That song and the period of my life that goes with my learning its words and notes so well, those were huge for me. I remember watching Ricky Martin on MTV when I was at my brothers’ dad’s house. I remember dancing around in the living room to this song in particular on multiple occasions. I remember trying to figure out what “mocha” meant, and how it connected to a skin color.
But I never once considered any possibility of seeing Ricky Martin in real life. Let alone hearing him sing or seeing him dance. It was so far out of the realm of possibility. Ricky Martin was, to me, more along the lines of history. He was like the president or Julius Caesar. He was a real person, but not one who ever would be real to me, not the way people in my life are real to me.
And, suddenly, years and years after his initial fame and my foundation of gratitide for him and his music, he pops up… and he is accessible. I get to see THE REAL RICKY MARTIN, right there… singing, dancing, doing costume changes (including a vest that was all lace on the back with a pair of pants that had half of a kilt-like skirt… and no shirt)… looking spectacular, by the way, and bringing to life a dream I had never even known to dream.
Gracias, Ricky Martin, for all you do and all you share with the world. And thank you for releasing that book entitled “Yo” that I originally thoight was in English, and so thought you were unexpectedly thug. That still gives me a good laugh.
And thank you, God, for this spectacular blessing. Please, guide me to be your love. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
(Still had to think about it!)
Firstly, Happy Texas Independence Day!! 186 years ago today, Texas gained its independence from Mexico and became a Republic, The Republic of Texas. When it later agreed to join The Union, it maintained the right to fly its flag at equal height with the US flag, for it joined as an independent republic.
On that note, the Texas state sport is rodeo. My mom and I went to the rodeo tonight. I attended seminars all day for the Ranching and Wildlife Expo, which were awesome, and my mom joined me for the last couple, which included demonstrations and dinner from and by Prasek’s Family Smokehouse. Talk about fascinating and delicious… I got to see how to cut up a deer and a wild pig, and then I got to eat deer tamales and sausage. Wowza.
Before all that, though, when I was on a break from the sessions, I stopped at the military area at the rodeo, and ended up doing the Marines challenge on the pull-up bar. Apparently, pull-ups and chin-ups are both allowed, but I’m too much of a purist for chin-ups in a (technically) pull-up challenge. I ended up tying with the leaderboard score for females, but I was truly proud of my awesome and strict pull-ups, all will full extension and NO legs. It was a fascinating and oddly fulfilling experience to have a handful of Marines counting allowed for me as I did them. (It was also satisfying to hear their initial reactions of support to witnessing my first pull-up, as they realized that I wasn’t just some average girl in a dress.) The Sargent told me, “You have to earn this shirt.” And I did. And it was awesome. I’m the back, it has my childhood quote: Pain is weakness leaving the body. I love it (even though it’s dry fit!).
Finally, do you ever have those days where you get homely consider if you just want to skip brushing your teeth and go straight to bed? Tonight was one of those nights for me. Of course, I likely never would do that, but the consideration arose today, and big time. I am worn. out.
Goodnight!!
Post-a-day 2022
Pursuing God’s will is not always easy – golly, is it exhausting! But, boy, is it fulfilling!
Thank you, God, for this day and this life. Please, bless me in this next year of my life as I aim to embody the life you have imagined and created for me especially and intentionally. Help me to be your love in the world, through your grace. In your name, I pray. Amen.
Post-a-day 2022
(Man, that’s still hard for me to get right. I hesitate just about every day!)
hannah ananas 