The 79 Things Irina Loves: Not organized in order of importance (#1-21)
1. My Life Philosophy - "You do what you love, and fuck the rest."
synonymous to: Stay true to yourself; It's better to be hated for what you are, then to be loved for what you're not; because ultimately, those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.
2. Music - "If the music is too loud -- you're too old."
Synonymous to: Without music life would be a mistake (Nietzsche); Music is the universal language of mankind (Longfellow).
3. Song Lyrics - "I swear my brain is 70% song lyrics."
Synonymous to: Everything. If everything I ever quote isn't always song lyrics, then its song lyrics about 99.9% of the time. It isn't very unique of me, but it is the feelings I have whisking through my veins, expressed in words from another. To me, that's a moment. You both share that. The writer and the listener. We were looking for each other, and in those words we were found.
4. The Beatles - "Love is old, love is new; Love is all, love is you."
Synonymous to: There is absolutely nothing I could think of that is synonymous to the Beatles. Aside from David Tannenbaum, my unofficial second father, my mentor, the man who introduced me to both the Beatles and the guitar, and the most genuine human being I have ever had the privilege of knowing.
5. The Good Old Days - New York City, old and new.
Synonymous to: A blast from the past; kool-aid and orange soda, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, Freaky Friday movies, reading the babysitters club books, The Berenstain Bears, lego's, Clay, Science Fair Projects, Spice girl lollipops. All that good, good good stuff.
6. Memories - "I Could be Nothing but a Memory to you."
Synonymous to: Life is short, cherish the moments for you never know how long they will last. Memories of how we felt are all we have. How ironic, since our memories are the most biased sources. Our brains store overlap our old memories with partly relevant new memories, changing them forever. And our new memories are skewed to a certain perception based entirely on our past memories. Loves it.
7. Photography - "We take photos of things we never want to forget."
Synonymous to: I want the ability to relive my life at any given point if I so feel like it. I can't express how thankful I am that I have so much saved in photographs, be in people, places, events, jokes, art, exhibits, moments, work. Everything. Saved in unbiased photographic memory.
8. Arts and Crafts - Heart shaped construction paper cut-outs.
Synonymous to: Cut and paste, glue, fold, construction paper, clay, crayons, doodles, 3D puzzles, scissors, thumb tacks, origami, paints, chalk to a sidewalk, markers, etc. Oh, the creativity.
9. Necklaces - Big, small, beady, chained; come one, come all. I love necklaces, I do. They are beautiful, creative, decorative, and accentuate an outfit. The longer the better, the more creative the better.
10. Oversized Rings - Like necklaces, I think oversized rings define an outfit. They are beautiful and beautiful and did I mention beautiful? I'll be a crazy grandma one day and my granddaughters will find a treasure chest full of oversized rings and necklaces. Plastic heaven.
11. Crossword Puzzles - 15 across, Happiness
Synonymous to: One of my all time favorite pastimes and my all time favorite hobby. I have consistently loved crossword puzzles like nothing else. At the start of every semester in college, when we had ice breakers to get to know our classmates and had to give mini introductions about ourselves, I would always mention that I loved crossword puzzles. There cannot be one without the other.
12. Coffee - "Everyone, I am having coffee."
Synonymous to: my lifeline, the blood in my veins, an external source of body heat. I love coffee. I love conversation over coffee. I like having a cup of coffee as I kill 15 minutes before a class starts. I like having a cup of coffee to wake myself up in the morning. I like having a cup of coffee to fall asleep with at night. I like a cup of coffee as I shop in the city. I like a cup of coffee almost always. I can't comprehend someone who doesn't like or drink coffee as religiously as I do.
13. Black and White cookies - Love on a heart shaped cookie.
Synonymous to: The best cookie in the world. I think its Jewish. Because everything phenomenal and genius is most commonly Jewish. I think of black and white cookies as very retro, and very delicious. So delicious, in fact, that it should be a crime. You could call me the black and white cookie monster.
14. Hookah - The caterpillar and his hookah from Alice in Wonderland.
It would take something like a talking blue caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland to introduce hookah to the general population. I might be going out on a limb here but I think it was thanks to his doing that the hookah craze lit up and ignited itself all up and down Brooklyn. And thank god for that. It's easy accessibility makes me a happy hookah fanatic.
15. Tattoos (Mmm,mm,mm!) - Mr. Sideburns with his beautiful tattooed sleeves.
Now, I understand that tattoos are not synonymous with 'mature' or 'adult' or 'classy', but in my heart of hearts, I think there is something beautiful and poetic in a tastefully done tattoo. Even if its big. Even if its not professional. This guys sleeves are beautiful. My entry into the world of tatoooed individuals is a'comin.
16. Dogs! Puppies! Dogs! - The most adorable action shot in the world.
Synonymous to: I FUCKING LOVE PUPPIES. I want a puppy :[ This is adorable. I want the unbiased, selfless, genuine love that exists between a dog and its owner. I want that bond. I wanna smell dog breath and have it lick my face all the time. I wanna buy it hats and make holiday greeting cards that I will annoyingly send to everyone I know. It will be a beautiful life.
17. Dancing - "Never miss a chance to dance."
Synonymous to: Dancing is great, especially if you have rhythm. But it's still great even if you don't. Especially if you're drunk. Every culture and every generation has its own way of dancing and its own trends. And all of them tell a story. I love my families dancing the most. Every aunt, uncle, and grandparent has a unique style all their own. And each style has various levels, depending on how drunk my relatives get. If that doesn't explain the worth of dancing, nothing will.
18. Smiling - "The universe is brought back from the brink of destruction every time you smile." I think the one thing that I especially love love love, LOVE about myself is my smile. If there is anything I have gotten the most compliments on in all of my life, it has been my smile. I use it now, mostly for good.. ( but sometimes for evil ;] ) I know that I could make any melancholy individual brighten up with a smile, or enhance someones already positive demeanor. I know that I could get out of sticky situations by making a coy comment and smiling. I know that I could brighten the world immediately around me, by remembering to smile. It's a beautiful thing. A beautiful thing.
19. Honesty - A funny scene from Glee.
Honesty is especially difficult, because its such a subjective concept. We could be strict and unmoving with what we label as honest or dishonest, or we could be very fluid. To one person, a white lie is necessary to maintain a balance, to another, a white lie is as bad as a misdemeanor, and even yet to another, a white lie could be equivalent to the biggest sign of disrespect or a felony. I like honesty, but I think it's not always available to us. And we will always have our reasons and our justifications. This world isn't perfect, I understand that.
20. Happiness - "Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."
Synonymous to: Live and let live. Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination. It is internal, so do not try to find it externally. You could, and often times you will, but that happiness that you will find will never fully integrate itself, and one day it will leave you. Most of us develop insecurities and trust issues because of this. It's nobody's fault but ours. Love yourself, and the world around you will do the same.
21. Sleeping - "Sleep the day away." It isn't until you unwillingly lose the ability to sleep however much you want that you realize how valuable sleep is. Before I started working two jobs and volunteering, I didn't sleep much anyway. The difference then was it happened to be a choice. I didn't sleep because I was excited for possibilities for something else. Afterward, I lost all sleep, and the most exciting part of my days was the train rides I would power nap on. Weekends did not differentiate from week days in any way, and as I walked out of my house every Saturday and Sunday morning, I spited every slumberous head that lay on a comfortable white pillow. It's true what they say about not knowing what you have until its gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment