SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

My favorite KARAOKE Cerebral Hyperlink! (me!) ~topps, aka: SHE, sandy cheeks, writeousmom...

 last night,  -enormously blessed to be invited, along with karl and valerie, to richard and fancy nancy's for a HOT POT PARTY!

and just so you know, with fancy nancy involved, this was not a 'regular, or traditional' hot pot party.  it is not an example of what anyone elses hot pot party might be or look, or taste like, 

rather, what we got to enjoy, is more like a fine art, extra-ordinary, hot pot experience!   fancy nancy not only dresses fashionably 365; she sets her table with creative flair too!

   what was on our gorgeous plates?  mushrooms, oysters, shrimp, scallop, a cute edible ribbon tied coin purse looking item filled with fish eggs..   some tofu squares, some noodles, fish balls..

         richard bringing laughter to the table:   i didn't know fishes have balls... 

and what are these?    -and these..?    -some cute round fish cakes..      -two hot pots; one which was spicy (my go-to);

and then, beef, lamb and shrimp..   and! the wonderful peanut butter sauce..   plus the bowl of beautiful fresh greens..   bok choy, coriander..  

i might not be remembering every detail, but you get the picture, yes..    a wonderful, flavorful, meal with a spectacular variety of textures, seasonings, shapes, sizes..

delight for the eyes and palate.      sake "cheers!" and "thank you!"   wine "cheers!"  and "thank you!"

and the conversations are always engaging, educational, entertaining...   we've all come to know each other better over the past several years,  -friendship growing over each driveway happy hour, friendship growing as mutual protestors during NOTonNOBLE; a dinner at our house, their house; always taking turns...  meeting each others families..    visiting wineries together, going to plays together..   movie nights, ted lasso nights, football games.. baseball games.. pool parties, sushi parties..  

  -life long friends we have become.    this makes the night pretty awesome too! that kind of unconditional love feeling that allows you to relax and be yourself 

or did that relaxed feeling, 

i say with a smile,  come from the sake, wine, -a full stomach?

in any case, as the meal and conversations winded down..  the fun started winding up!   richard had recently purchased a karaoke machine for his son, his daughter, -their friends

but why should kids have all the fun   -write.

so we moved to the tv room, and everyone (save me); but everyone took a turn with a microphone and a familiar and/or favorite song..

i LOVE being an audience to karaoke!   i LOVE MUSIC!  and it is a great JOY! and education, really, to READ THE LYRICS to songs i've been singing incorrectly for my entire life..

  -some incorrectly, 

and some where i had the chorus locked in, but the entire rest of the song was an utter unknown

   what variety of songs/artists did we re-enjoy?   radio head, amy winehouse, carpenters, beegees, kenny rogers, chris stapleton, elvis, 

/this is not an itemized list to be sure, just some highlights from memory..

valerie sang valerie..    easiest to remember..

karl sang gimme three steps..

and that was another lesson if you will..  sometimes it is the name of the song that is locked in,  -sometimes the artist, but not the song..   and sometimes both

but who knew, among us, who sang lady in red?   everyone knew the song!  none of us could name the artist..

i know the song creep was played,  richard sang it -and i have solid memories of the song being covered by my former alden lane rock star co-worker's band..   /along with 'paris oh la la'  another personal favorite.. but what else?

fancy nancy!   she sang some celine dion in english.. and then sang a chinese song, in chinese

          -had something to do with a buddah warning a young man against dragon women, but the young man doesnt regard women as dragons.. and falls in love?   -something like that.. 

my sexy..  he sang some elvis.. beegees..  country, and i got to feel serenaded.

there was some irish bar christmas song..

and

"PIANO MAN!"   -billy joel...  

and it is here that i want to "Thank You!" ever so much, because that is a favorite and cherished CH (cerebral hyperlink) for (me!)!

this is a song i changed the lyrics to, to celebrate my blogger friends 60th birthday.

and now,  i can't sing, but i think its pretty well established that i can write..

so i re-wrote the lyrics, and had someone who can sing, debra knox, sing it for me, to share with him on his birthday, and i am ENORMOUSLY grateful for youtube, because

it's still there!

   -here's the lyrics i wrote, 

originally posted 04/27/2009:

 A THANK YOU POST FOR LEONARD STEGMANN from (me!), (she!)

 i heretofore would like to creatively thank leonard stegmann for reposting the bright red spot between my eyebrows

 by writing new lyrics to billy joel's famous hit song, "the piano man"

 feel free to grab a beer for breakfast and sing along

 "it's five o’clock on what~ever day
the regular crowd’s all logged in
 & there’s squidmann posting just for me
cut n’ pastin’ again and again

i said, squid, can you repost that story?
 i'm not really sure how it goes
 but it's funny and sweet and i read it complete
 ~ spit coffee all over my clothes

 la la la, de de da, la la, de de da, da da...

spin us a tale, you’re the blogger man
post us a good one tonight
'cuz we’re all in the mood for a laugh or two
~ & your woe’s get us feelin’ alright

now most in the sphere, they are friends of mine
we all share our stories for free
we love a good joke
 ~laugh, drink n’ choke
and there’s no place that we’d rather be

 we say, squidmann, your stories are killing us!
you’re a gift to the sub~human race
& we’re sure that you would be a rich man

                  if not for that angry red spot on your face

oh! la la la, de de da, la la, de de da, da dum

now squid, he’s an american blogumnist
 loves the Beatles, the movies, his wife
he stopped bloggin’ like crazy,
but don’t call him lazy
 he can cut, paste and repost for life

and she, she’s the pre~famous writeous mom
wearing her dreams up her sleeves
fell from the ladder of success 3 times
but just keeps wipin’ the dirt from her knees

spin us a tale, you’re the blogger man
post us a good one tonight
 ‘cuz we’re all in the mood for a laugh or two
~ & your woe’s get us feelin’ alright

it's another great day in the blogosphere
 “let’s post!” she says with a smile
 'cuz we need to connect, let humor protect
our brains from real life for a while

squiddy, you’re my favorite blogger man
 i thank God our lives have crossed path
we need bread in our jars, and gas in our cars
so, “dear Lord,
may we get paid to make people laugh!”

oh!, la la la, de de da, la la, de de da, da dum..

 ****

AND! performed for his birthday in 2011. -this thing doesn't seem to want me to link it for your convenience... but type "bloggerman, debra knox" in the search bar at youtube.      -also, debra was the awesome director of the summer drama camps taryn attended; and a great creative collaborator for a few different gigs        " THANK YOU!"             -brief research suggests she is going very strong!  award-winning filmmaker; writer, actress, musician, artist...    "CONGRATULATIONS!"    

****

these are the real treasures of life!  great friends/family, great meals, great times

great memories!

"Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!"   We love you very much.

hallelujah & amen

.... sandra... you have a lovely voice...  give it a go.. you can sing..  just talk out the lyrics..

no.  i can't sing.  but i'd win a lip sync contest..  i can emote!

..which does, i notice, elegantly open a creative door for my upcoming performance...

posted by SANDRA HARRISON KAY @ 10:00 AM