Let’s Share What We Learned in May

It’s the end of the month so it’s time to share what we learned in May! Remember, this is a place to share all kinds of learning, both the silly and the serious. I lean toward sharing the silly since I tend to share the serious every other day. But any and all learning is welcome.

What We Learned at Chatting at the Sky

Here are seven things I learned in May:

1. What Barbie would look like without makeup (or, evidently, a toothbrush):

Celebrities_Without_Makeup_25

source

 2. When people write LOML on the internet, it means Love of My Life.

3. Beverly Cleary, born in 1916. She’s 98.

4. The Office has a surprising lot to teach us about food.

5. Casey Kasem was the voice of Shaggy on Scooby Doo. I feel like I should have known this before now because it’s so obvious. But I didn’t.

Iced SF Hazelnut Latte

6. The sugar-free version of my favorite drink at Starbucks tastes exactly the same as the regular version. (Grande Iced Hazelnut Machiatto made with hazelnut instead of vanilla.)

7. I finally admitted this to myself in May. I will, always and ever, become a puddle of sentiment and adoration when I hear old songs made new.

I don’t know if it is the simple fact that it’s comforting to hear something familiar re-made, or if it somehow speaks to the writer in me that feels the tension between creating and re-creating. (Maybe You’ve Done This Too?) And these new old songs remind me that my job is not necessarily to make something out of nothing, but sometimes is to re-create and re-imagine. I’m here to honor the truth of old, to hold the timeless realities close, and live like they’re true for me.

Maybe the fact that old songs still have new meaning help me to remember that.

Here are a few of my favorites:

  • We Built This City (Starship) performed by Aron Wright & Jill Andrews: I mean, when they sing Marconi plays the mambo, listen to the radio it’s like my soul flies straight up out of my body. That’s when you know you have a killer melody. If you can make souls fly to a lyric like “Marconi plays the mambo.” (the first Marconi is at :45, incase you need to know that).
  • Can’t Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley) performed by Jena Irene: UB40 did a version when I was in high school I pretty much played it non-stop for all of 10th grade. Then when I heard Jena Irene perform it during the final four on American Idol, well it was like liquid velvet poured out of my TV all over the hotel room floor where I was watching it. I loved every minute of it.
  • Islands in the Stream (Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton) performed by Feist and Constantines: I grew up listening to Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton sing this song. They sound like home to me, I love them so much. But this new version is fantastic, too, and gives new life to an old favorite.

And of course you can’t forget this version.

If you have written about what you’ve learned in May, we’d love to read it – just link up below! If not, I would love to hear what your favorite re-makes of old songs are in the comments.