singing. presents. bad/good videos.

hellooo!

i have a lot i want to say, but for the sake of not writing a TON, i’ll save some stuff for tomorrow.

well, it’s not my birthday anymore, though it is my “un-birthday”…  so, my birthday day. it was probably one of the best birthdays i’ve had. i only have 24 to choose from, and it definitely falls in the top 4. at lunchtime, my co-workers ordered pizza (because that’s american), and they surprised me with a chocolate ice cream cake! they also sang to me, which i need to tell you about… now, we all know how “happy birthday” goes, yes? well, so do they… except for one part. you know the part that says “happy birthday, dear danny…” apparently in thailand, that part is omitted. and replaced with “happy birthday, happy birthday. happy birthday to you.” you might not think this is funny, so what i want you to do is picture yourself at a table surrounded by 6 Thai, 1 Chinese, and 1 Brit… and then they get to the part where your name should be. and it is replaced with “happy birthday.” and on top of that, they all have… accents. …point made? hopefully.

now let us talk about gifts… Cake (the person) got me a picture frame with shells all over it. Deaw (another female co-worker) gave me a handmade Thai purse and also a coin purse with a flying cow on it(?). the maid got me a bag full of guavas! (she knows me well). but the other gifts i received from individuals all happened to fall under the same category: videos! about 5 people made me a special video, and others sent me a video already on youtube. isn’t that crazy!? Amiee (a chinese staff member), took video footage of my birthday lunch and then made it into a movie for me; so incredibly thoughtul. i truly feel blessed to go to work everyday. the people i am surrounded by are so giving and generous and will literally give you the coat off their back… um, bad choice of analogy because it’s hot year-round. …they will bend over backwards for you. i appreciate them all so much.

ok… so 2 other videos. i am actually going to post them so you can see for yourselves because 1) they are short and B) they are brilliant.

this is an example of a GOOD bday video to make and send to someone. behold, my niece and nephew:

…i keep saying if Maddy does theatre, she is going to give me a run for my money!

now, this is an example of a BAD bday video to make and send to someone. behold, bradley’s gift:

although creative… still wrong. very very wrong.

i hope you enjoyed those… and speaking of enjoying things, enjoy your friday!

a short story.

this is the story of a girl.

she was a curious girl and she wore winter hats in the summertime.

and her brother was her hero. …even though she looked like a boy because her hair hadn’t grown in yet.

and she loved to sleep. …in an upright position.

and dance. …while slightly resembling a duck.

and she loved cake.

 many years had passed, and suddenly one day it was her birthday. and her very kind Thai co-workers bought her a chocolate ice cream cake.

and she made a wish.

and now she’s 24.

the end.

[title of entry]

i wore a green shirt today because i told someone, on the other side of the world, that i would start wearing a green shirt every tuesday with them. and i did. but today i did not feel average in my green shirt… even though it’s just an average shirt.

i didn’t really do a whole lot today, on this day off due to the queen’s bday. but even though i didn’t do a lot i had a very good day. actually, i don’t usually have bad days… so it’s somewhat pointless for me to state that i had a good day.

so i go through phases with albums or songs that i get hooked on. recently, and still, it has been the new Coldplay album. and it seems i have added “the Last Five Years” to the list. if you like broadway and have not checked out this show, how dare you. this is not the first time i’ve been hooked on this album, but my broadway shows have to take turns. i can’t be hooked on two at once. i can, though, be hooked on a non-bway album and a bway album. that’s acceptable.

i don’t know if i have mentioned it in any posts recently… but my birthday is tomorrow! there is nothing spectacular planned, but i’m still really excited. i, for one, am glad i was born… other people may disagree. but i disagree with their disagreements and i object. i’m happy to be here changing peoples’ lives, one pb & j sandwich at a time.

well, unfortunately i don’t have much more to say. …i can’t believe i just said that. i mean, i could sit here and talk about things like cardboard boxes or what i had for dinner or how there is this bird outside that makes such a strange noise that i like to pretend it’s a monkey instead…

to end this entry, i’ve invited someone i grew up with to share some words of wisdom and sing you a song (and i’ll have you know it took me almost 10 minutes to find a video of this song, and this was the best quality i could find). take it away, fred…

jam tomorrow jam yesterday. but never any jam today…

it is nearing 10pm here and i just made coffee. luckily, it doesn’t affect my sleeping.

remember how i don’t know a lot of thai words? well, the ones i do know i can say fairly well. sometimes, though, this is problematic. for example: today while i was at the grocery store, i said “thank you” in thai to the cashier. she then started saying words that i didn’t understand. i’m guessing she was either trying to a) carry on a conversation or 2) inform me of an upcoming markdown on guava. regardless, sometimes i feel bad because i would love to be able to fully communicate with these people, but thai is soooo hard to learn. in due time, cashier lady. in due time.

along the lines of the grocery store, i bought two jars of jam. however, to my dismay, i didn’t need to purchase jam because i have 1.25 jars left… which brings the grand total of jam in our household to a whopping 3.25 jars. also, i think i was charged too much for avocados.

tomorrow (tuesday) is the queen’s birthday here, so everyone has the day off. and then the following day is *ahem* someone else’s birthday… but everyone has to work. and eat cake (the food, not the person i often refer to). i love birthdays. annnd cake.

currently here is my birthday wish list:

snow

stars

fireworks

that’s not too much to ask for, right? fortunately, i don’t have high expectations for these gifts…

have a good monday and make sure to check how much jam you have before making a purchase.

life: unexpected happenings… happening.

oh man… what a crazy 48hrs…

last night ryan and i were invited to a dinner party that consisted of westerners. most of them actually hailed from the States, so it was nice to have that in common. the dinner was at the home of a couple named matt and monica, and they couldn’t be more opposite from each other. i will say though, matt was soooo hilarious! this guy can talk about anything… non-stop… ryan and i couldn’t stop laughing at him. he and his wife, and their friends whom we met, were very kind and inviting to us. it was a good time.

this morning we left for cambodia at 5am for the purposes of a visa run. even though we just visited the border of cambodia, there were so many differences compared to thailand. for instance, children beggars. children walk around begging for money from anyone that will look at them. there are beggars in thailand, but it definitely isn’t as bad, and it certainly isn’t children. the begging children were quite cute though.

when i was younger, i hated surprises so much that if i started reading a book, a few chapters in i would skip ahead and read the last chapter. i never wanted to be caught off guard with anything. once when i took a holiday home while living in new york, my friend phoned me to let me know that there would be people waiting to “surprise” me with their greeting; she knew how much i disliked surprises. i think it was toward the end of ‘03 that i finally didn’t mind surprises (though it was, and still is, hard to pull one over on me).

what am i trying to say? a lot of things have happened in my life that can be categorized as “unexpected happenings,” or, if you’d like, surprises. and they are things that if you would’ve told me five years ago what my life would be like now, i would not have believed you. and sometimes i wonder if i would’ve liked to have known what the future held for me… though, in some circumstances, it would’ve been nice. nonetheless, it’s interesting how much surprise the future holds. i don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, nor did i know what was going to happen, say, 48hrs ago. life is such an adventure, and i fear that there are those out there who take it too seriously. it is rather cliche, but life is so short. you should take risks and dare to believe in the beauty and power of your dreams, ya know? i really feel like anything is possible, but so many people just wait around for something to fall in their laps (i’m the guiltiest of all), instead of going out there and claiming what they want. sometimes i think our biggest fault of all is allowing others around us to hold us back. since when did our lives belong to someone else?

five years ago, i did not expect to be here, in this moment, in thailand. my journey of 23 years definitely hasn’t been ordinary or even comparable to those around me, but i really wouldn’t change anything. and that’s what makes us unique; our stories. the decisions i’ve made in life, yes even the millions of bad ones, have only added to my already complex nature, and through it all, i have had one helluva good time.

[end motivational speech] — i honestly don’t know where all that came from, but some of the things i said reminded me of what one might read in a high school yearbook! blah blah blah pointless words pointless words.

aaaanyway, listen. have a good sunday and love life a little …for cryin’ out loud. and eat some chocolate… because… it’s an enjoyable thing to do. you know i’m right.

a quickie

i am actually running out the door here very, very soon – so i don’t have time to be writing a post. but i am.

i will say that it has been a very good day so far… lots of unexpecteds. is that a word?

in the meantime, this is one of my favorite parts of this movie:

enjoy your day = )

feeling bored? have i got a cure for you.

i was off work again today, as i mentioned in yesterday’s post. the reason i have so much time off is because my company put in extra time over last weekend getting a presentation together, so the ceo rewarded us with time off. not a bad trade, eh?

anyway, though i have (a lot of) time off, ryan does not. but luckily i am one of those people who doesn’t get bored very easily, if at all. i’m not kidding – even if i didn’t have internet connection, i would still be able to find ways to entertain myself. ryan, however, gets bored quite easily if he is not doing something productive. poor fella. so, in typical danny fashion, i shall put together a list of things you can do should you feel boredom knocking at your door:

1. sing

2. read

3. stalk people on facebook

4. sleep

5. watch vids on youtube, or a movie, or television

6. look up lyrics to songs or broadway musicals

7. look up quotes

8. play games: solitaire, sudoku, minesweeper, etc.

9. put together new outfits

10. clean

11. think

12. dance

13. make a movie

14. act out broadway songs as you listen to them (you can even use props if you’d like)

15. construct paper cranes using each color of memo note, then place them around your fish tank so the fish feel like they’re under attack

16. take a walk (outside)

17. read through old letters

18. call people

19. ryan just told me to put “exercise” but i do not condone this

20. sceneroize different things in your brain (this is different than thinking because sceneroizing involves made-up things, like the word sceneroize). this could also fall under the category, “daydreaming”

21. take pictures of yourself (lots of people do it, i just admit it)

22. write letters, emails

23. try to master an accent

24. make hand puppets (or sock puppets) and give them voices using the accent you are trying to master

–those are merely a few suggestions and all are guaranteed to rid you of boredom or your money back!

ahh! listen to what i just found! i was examining my right knee, and i found a freckle in the shape of a heart on the very tip top of my knee cap! it seriously looks like a heart. i shall call him “Art the Heart” and he shall, from this day forward, henceforth, e pluribus unum, mano y mano, hitherto, be my new favorite freckle. and together we shall conquer… the… er… world?

be bored no more, dear reader. for i have passed along the wisdom of my ways. …you’re welcome.

favorite day.

for those who may have felt “empty and uninformed” without an entry yesterday – fasten your safety restraints… a new blog begins in 4…3…2…

i must start this entry by saying something.

i have a term that i often used back in the States which is, my “favorite day.” today, i am experiencing a day which, hands down, merits me proclaiming this day as one of my favorite days. after being here nigh three months, i have been unable to say this… until today. since most of you (besides ryan and maybe one or two others), have no clue what i’m talking about, i shall elucidate: a favorite day is a day in which the weather is absolutely perfect; to your own standards and liking. for some this might mean it is hot and sunny with a nice breeze and you play outside all day. for others it could mean snowy and blustery. but for myself, it is reminiscent of a day that occurs when autumn is approaching. you are able to shut the a/c off and open the windows, it’s bright out but the sun isn’t beating down, there is a nice breeze, and you can get away with wearing a long sleeve shirt and flip flops (paired with skinny jeans and your hair pulled back with a headscarf [if you want, that is]). unfortunately, there are no seasons in thailand except for rainy, hot, and hotter. so i hope you understand my delight that i am experiencing a day worthy to be called “my favorite day.” …it’s almost like thailand is thanking me for bringing pb & j sandwiches to the lives of so many…

yesterday was jam-packed with busyness! i had the day off, as i also have the rest of the week off, and i showed chris smyth and his friend zach around bangkok. it was enjoyable for many reasons. one selfish reason, though, is that chris hails from the good land of theatre – so it was like having two friends visit in one. i was in desperate need of gabbing with someone about musicals and sing random showtunes with; thus it was nice to have “someone of my kind” around for a day.

more reasons why it was enjoyable are contained in this list: waiting for guffman (i have now exposed chris!). vintage record shop. stealing. bob the builder. bootleg software. laughing. dancing in public, crowded environments. singing in public, crowded environments. elephants. transies. extras.

and in good fashion, quote of the moment goes to chris: “i’m so excited about these candles. …and by candles i mean wine bottle holders.”

have a good day today! i hope you are able to experience your “favorite day” soon.

we’ll be back after these messages

an update is on its way, i promise. but first things first: i need coffee. stat. …i’m a nicer person after i’ve had a bit of coffee.

i will say,  yesterday was a busy day! stay tuned after these messages…

speaking of…

one of coldplay’s tracks on their newest album features my second favorite instrument ever. any guesses? errrp. the correct answer is, hammer dulcimer! the song is called “lovers in japan” and today i seriously listened to the beginning part multiple times in a row. i do the same with the rich mullins song, “creed.” my favorite part on that song is when the music stops all of a sudden… and then the hammer dulcimer comes in again. love it.

speaking of rich mullins, did you know we were born in the same hospital? reid memorial hospital in richmond, indiana.

speaking of being born, did you know my birthday is next wednesday!? because it is.

speaking of… just kidding.

i all of a sudden had this random memory of when i was in first grade and i got on the bus and told someone i knew how to spell the word “shampoo.” that morning before school, i decided to memorize how to spell it. and then the chap didn’t believe me so i spelled it for him. i should say that this memory just came about because i was going to write a haiku about guava and i was thinking of words that rhymed with guava and then i was thinking of words that rhymed with haiku – and shampoo popped in my head first. …and now you get a glimpse of how my brain works. moral of the story? rinse, lather, memorize. — hey, so if i’m thinking about shampoo can i claim i’m thinking clean thoughts?

in a few hours, i have my weekly date with my father via video skype. i always make sure to have a pen and paper handy because he says the most off the wall things. it’s wonderful.

speaking of off the walls things, one of my favorite things a one, bradley hamilton has ever said took place last week:

Bradley: i was thinking about it and i realized something. i have always loved two things in life
Bradley: batman
Bradley: and musicals
Danielle Meo: haha it’s so true!
Bradley: because on my first day of kindergarten
Bradley: i wore a joker t-shirt and i had a wizard of oz lunchbox
Danielle Meo: HAHAHA brilliant!

i think that is hilarious! i remember the first time i met bradley, it was in the music wing at cbc (not ccu), and he was wearing a “Cats” t-shirt. i think our convo went something like this:

Me: cats, huh? do you like that musical?
Bradley: yes, i’ve seen it a billion times.
Me: cool. a few of my dance teachers were in Cats.

[end scene]

have a nice tuesday!