This week in Awesomeness

Hi folks, and welcome to my now-weekly Awesomeness wrap-up.

As many of you know, this week has been a difficult one for me, so I'm kind of forcing myself into this right now.  Of course, I forced myself out of the house yesterday, and was promptly "rewarded" by having my (new) car rammed into by an idiot in the parking lot, so... BE GENTLE!  Check your mirrors and look where you're going.

Little Pollyanna me would like to mention it's awesome that said idiot only hit my car, and not a child (because if you can't see a big red station wagon with horn-a-honking, you probably need to get your eyes and ears and brain checked).  So... car body destroyed instead of life taken = awesome.

Don't worry, it gets better than simply not killing people...  :-)

A term I have heard for the first time this week, and have fallen in love with: Pocket Riders.  Pocket Riders are truly awesome.  No, this is not some cool new gizmo for geeks.  This is a form of virtual support that I have discovered on Pandora's Aquarium (previously mentioned twice in awesomeness, so I am resisting the urge to include it again).  If someone is about to face something they aren't sure they can handle -- such as a difficult therapy session, having to face their abuser, disclosing to someone, or just having to deal with a pain-in-the-ass mother-in-law, they will ask for Pocket Riders -- or others will spontaneously offer to jump in their pocket and travel with them.  No, nobody is actually jumping in people's pockets -- that would make it hard to walk!  But it's symbolic, that they're there with you, giving you invisible support, thinking of you as you go through whatever difficult thing you have to face, and waiting to hear how it went.  I have no idea how the concept ever came about, but it's just such a sweet and supportive thing, it makes me very happy.  Think pocket travelling might make it into a song someday...  In the meantime, there are some very dear new friends currently inhabiting my pyjama pockets and helping me make it through the day -- and I am enjoying the scenery from the pockets of a few others (one of whom is on a coast down south, so I hope she buys me a drink with a pretty umbrella in it!)  Yay to Pocket Riders!

A friend of a friend posted this link on his FaceBook wall: Ten Wicked Morsels for Living a Sexy Life, which I really enjoyed.  Bits of the writers favourite quotes compiled with her?/his? own life experience, each followed by a question to "give us cause to embark on grand and glorious adventures into the boundless realms."  I'm feeling sexier already.  :-)

And yes, I know I make jokes about this song and beginner guitar students in every guitar store playing it gawd-awfully and making me want to stab my eyes out with tweezers.  BUT... This is a kick-ass rendition of that song we all love to hate beginner-guitar-students-playing-ad-nauseam.  It's from a Kennedy Center Honors ceremony earlier this month, in which Led Zeppelin was one of the honourees.  Performed by Heart and a cast of dozens, it made Robert Plant cry, and in a Good Way.  I have to say, when the choir gets going and Ann Wilson really starts to wail -- GOOSEBUMPS.  Man, that gal has pipes!!!



Almost makes you want to forgive the endless hours of lousy players in guitar stores, doesn't it?

And, finally, I gave a "P.S." mention to this last week, but I have to give mention to Chief Theresa Spence, the Idle No More movement, and the people AROUND THE WORLD who are supporting them.  Idle No More calls on all people to join in a (peaceful) revolution which honours and fulfills Indigenous sovereignty which protects the land and water.  It was initiated by four women: Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon and Sheelah McLean in reaction to current and upcoming Canadian legislation that affects not just First Nations people, but the rest of Canada's citizens, lands and waters.  In the last month, this grassroots movement has gathered so much momentum and so many supporters, it's just thrilling to watch!  If I weren't in such a ridiculous hermit-mode right now, I'd have gone to one of their events, but have had to support them in the cyber-world instead.  TwitterTwits, the hashtag is #idlenomore -- tweet away and support this incredible movement!

Happy New Year to one and all.  2012 has, indeed, been pretty awesome.  A toast to the past and a look to the future.  I'll see you in 2013.