11:30 a.m. - 2005-05-18

Copy rights violated within

One of the wonderful things I received for my birthday (two months ago now) was a book by Jann Arden entitled �If I knew, don�t you think I�d tell you?�. (Thank you Maktaaq.) These are selected journals from her blog. I used to post her journal on my side bar here, but I have since removed it (sorry Maktaaq). I just couldn�t keep up to all the reading I wanted to do � something had to go.

I must admit I was not feeling any urgency to launch into the book. I love her music, but her writing? What could possibly be �in it� for me? Well, it only took a 5 minute sit down and I was hooked. She writes very candidly and from the heart. Her use of words � I completely envy. I suppose one of the things I liked the most was that I could read a lot, or read just a few entries, and my thirst for reading was quenched. She made me laugh. She made me reflective. She made me think about how I use words. But most of all, she made me laugh. To quote � �I wish they had Jolly Jumpers for big people.�

Think about that people �. Doesn�t that kinda sorta sound like fun? She�s just brave enough to suggest it AND put it in print.

Or summarize beautifully what it means to be Canadian:

�� I am Canadian. I come from a place where passiveness is a custom. Where apologies are a salutation. I am a Canuck.�

And one more (there are so many, but I�m already breaking copy right laws)

�The house is quiet. There are creaks in the stairs, that�s all you hear, that and the cat purring, a clock ticking, and the dryer throwing towels around. I love the sound of silence. The sounds of nothing. The little nothings that make life liveable. Oh to be! Sounds that make you remember lost days. Bruised legs and snotty noses and a goldfish in a bowl. Easy, careless, endless days. Where the sun hardly ever sets on you. It just lingers in the sky like a dream you can�t wake yourself out of. Sounds that form your past. Imagine a blind man�s memories � how clear they must be. A single sound that paints the most beautiful picture. A sound with colour and shape and mass. If we could only hear each other, there would be no terror, no Palestine, no Israel, no toppled buildings, no war, no hate. If we would only listen.�

Anyway, I won�t bore you further. I really enjoyed this read, and it has given me a deeper appreciation of her music. I must also confess that I am not one to listen to the words in music. I tend to listen to the melody, the rhythm, the timing. I rarely take a good look at the words, and the sentiment expressed in therein. That - I avow, must change.

Happy Wednesday - LJ