Quotations, Poems, and Rockstars. Oh My!

So far from my list of "101 Things to do in 1,001 days," I have completed #27, #54, and #86.

#27 Make a Quotation Book (Started: 7/2011)

Anyone who knows me knows that I love collecting quotations, and that I can recite entire movies word-for-word. There are just some movies and books that are so perfectly written, that express an emotion so wonderfully that you just know there is no possible way someone could say it better. And those quotes are worth remembering. Then there are quotations that remind me of exactly when I read a certain book, or how I felt watching that precise scene. When you can remember exactly how you felt in that moment just by remembering a line from a scene, it truly is memorable. I love that.

#54 Buy a book of poetry. Read it outside in the sunshine (Completed: 7/9/11)

I picked up 100 Best-Loved Poems at the library, and being the weekend, decided to enjoy soaking up some sun at the pool while I enjoyed some poetry. And let me just say, it was fabulous. I discovered anew old favorites, and fell in love with unknown authors. Some of my favorites:

Jenny kiss'd me when we met,

Jumping from the chair she sat in;

Time, you thief, who love to get

Sweets into your list, put that in!

Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,

Say that health and wealth have miss'd me,

Say I'm growing old, but add,

Jenny kiss'd me.

~Leigh Hunt

And while I know that this is not the original poem, this shortened version still encompasses the fantastic wordplay and sensations that Lewis Carroll portrayed in Alice in Wonderland:

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogroves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Jaws that bite, and claws that catch;

'Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

And the frumious Bandersnatch!'

He took his vorpal sword in hand

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.

#86 See a Musical (Completed 7/12/2011)

My friend AW and I went to "Rock of Ages" at the National Theatre last week. It was absolutley brilliant. The story plot is pretty basic - boy meets girl, falls head-over-heels, but both are separated by circumstances and eventually reunite later when they come to realize what they really want. And along the way are aging rockers, Germans trying to gentrify LA hotspots, and lots of sexual inuendo and rock 'n roll classics. Its just an excuse to use famous Rock and Roll songs from the '80s, so that the audience can participate in just about every scene. And we did. My favorite part - when you first walked in, the ushers handed out fake lighters with the musical logo, that light up when you press a button. This off-Broadway performance also started Constantine Maroulis, a contender from American Idol, once upon a time. Granted, I don't watch the show, but he was pretty fantastic nonetheless.