Rediscovery, kinda like Columbus

I completely love my friend’s list of favorite things (D, you’re the cleverest) and I am tailoring it to show my favorite things rediscovered recently:

àThe melodious, raucous, upbeat and moving tunes of Flogging Molly. I have loved them since the first time I was introduced at the tender age of 15 while sitting in a new friend’s car filled with adolescents. The music was playing and I yelled to the driver (we were still parked, mind you, I would never work to distract a moving car),
“Who is this?” to which he told me,
“Flogging Molly!”

“What kind of music is this?”
“It’s an Irish punk-rock band.”

What is that??? I had no idea, I just knew I had found true bliss for my heart of musical hearts.

à The incredible world of Ender and Bean. I first read Ender’s Game a very long time ago. I honestly can’t remember when or who told me to or whether I just decided that, “Damnit, this book keeps staring at me on the library shelf, I’m taking it.” I’ve never once looked back. I’ve re-read the book at least 7 or 8 times, counting recently. Yes, I know, it ends the same every time. I still love reading its tragedy and humor and intelligence, because this book is its own character. It has come to be more than pages bound together. It is epic. Colossal. The book of books. The book I wish all other books would look to and ask, How do you do it? And take something away from it. I will say this, though. While Ender’s Game is the far superior book versus Ender’s Shadow, its parallel novel, the series that follows Shadow, and Bean, annihilates its competition in the rest of the Game series. Destroys completely and utterly. Without mercy.

à Piracy and pirates and all things “yo, ho, ho and bottle of rum.” Drink up, matey’s. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was really quite a fun movie despite the persistence of Orlando Bloom at destroying every scene he’s in. He doesn’t always succeed…but on occasion he does. Idiot boy. I hope he realizes how lucky he was to get cast in THE greatest film trilogy of all time – yes, I claim it defeats Star Wars, Indiana Jones, AND Back to the Future – the Lord of the Rings, but also in the wildly popular and oh, so fun to watch Pirates trilogy. For such a terrible actor, he sure gets some fabulous parts. And Keira Knightley should stop smiling. Thank you.

Terrible vs. passable, but always very pretty.

à Driving. Yes, driving. Even in 90* heat at 8AM where the sun is staring straight at me while I sit in stop-and-go traffic. I have rediscovered my love for driving. Let’s remember, Becca didn’t drive for about two months solid. And I’m no slouch to driving, seeing as I’ve been hauling my gear 50+ miles daily since I was a sophomore in college. And no, I do not care to move right now, thank you. I can crank up the music (mostly Flogging Molly right now, but Paramore and Vampire Weekend are in the queue) and feel the A/C chilling the frames of my glasses, causing them to quickly fog over when I open the door. It’s glorious. Such freedom. An “I can go anywhere” attitude with these four wheels beneath me and this V6 engine to power me. I’m in love with my car. I have no shame about it; I claim it just as I do my affinity for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and endless reading and learning to knit (seriously) and going to bed by 10PM. Sometimes 9. Yeah…9.