I swear Iceland must be some magical mythical place. It is beyond believable gorgeous.  Well, judging by the photos and films I have seen at least. And the people seem so real and gentle and closer to the divine than the rest of us somehow.

My discovery of the day is a terribly beautiful and terribly sad short called Síðasti bærinn ( The Last Farm). 

You can see the end coming, swooping in on  feathery wings, and you at first want to do something to stop it. But you know it is inevitable.  It has already happened and you realize there is a quiet dignity in it. And then you want to stop the possible derailing of it. Everything is as it should be.

Set in Iceland it is written and directed by Rúnar Rúnarsson and stars Jón Sigurbjörnsson.

It is split into two parts here and runs less than 16 minutes total.

Enjoy…

It’s true. Well either that or perhaps I cause rain.

If I am planning a walk to the grocery store then rest assured it will be raining during that walk. I ought to go into the business of rain prediction. I should be on the speed dial of all the local TV weather people.

All you local folks in the Baltimore area should consult with me if you are planning an event. I would even be willing to entertain bribes to NOT shop on certain days since it is possible that the very act of me setting out with my granny cart to the Giant causes the heavens to open up.

Don’t know where I was going when I took this picture of the grocery store below. But clearly, judging from the sunshine, it was NOT grocery shopping.

I must have just been passing by. Probably on the way to the Farmers Market. Where, interestingly enough, it does not rain when I go.

I do so love a new word to use and I was gifted one today that could be quite useful. It is the word tristful.

No, I had not heard it before either and I immediately thought of the word tryst. However, it turns out that there is no real connection and it in fact means melancholy or sad. As in,

“The tristful teenager fitfully tossed her dyed black locks over her shoulder and pouted as she waited in line to see the hot new vampire movie.”

Or,

“The events of the past year made Alice tristful indeed.”

This one could come in handy.

PS – Oh and in case you were wondering if I had written that fabulous title for this post I did not. Those are the words of one Ralph Waldo Emerson. Hence the quote marks.

I have seen this video at least a dozen times. Shared it on Twitter–more than once–and most likely here on this blog before (I am feeling to lazy to search and see). But I never fail to cry when I watch it. It’s such a lovely little story. The waterworks started even before I hit play this time.

Luckily there is no one here to see it right now but the cat. I decided what the heck I am going to share it AGAIN. Maybe bring a few tears to a few more eyeballs this afternoon.

The whole back story is included in the video itself so I will just say enjoy!

(Darn I just watched it again and cried again. I am such a sucker. And yes Joe, probably not anywhere near as cynical as I pretend to be.)

Thought I’d share a little treasure with you. I started feeling selfish keeping it all to myself You can thank me in the comments.

Danielle Ate the Sandwich is, well, a girl named Danielle who writes songs and sings about stuff. Sometimes she sings other people’s stuff and she plays a ukulele (awesome!), sometimes a guitar and even tosses in a bit of violin in here and there.  She records silly videos and shares them with us on her YouTube channel. That makes me happy.

I guess you would call Danielle’s music folk. Having grown up in a hippie bohemian household (hi mom! waves) I guess I am predisposed to being fond of folk. That’s right, I am a dirty hippie and I am proud of it!

I ran across Danielle accidentally while randomly surfing YouTube–as is my usual way–a bit over a year ago. A girl who plays a ukulele and sings? I mean come on how couldn’t I get hooked?

I don’t have a lot of details to share about Danielle except she was born in Nebraska and lives in Colorado (got that from her bio). The silly skits she tosses into her YouTube videos are often uncomfortable and that somehow makes them, and her, all the more endearing. Her covers are fun to listen to. But her originals are where the magic are. They are often a really great sweet spot combination of raw real emotion and burst out laughing lines.

I choose a few of the videos to share with you here. But be sure to visit her YouTube and explore the rest of them. There are some more treasures in there.

Silly and fun cover. One of the first videos I saw of hers.

This is one of my favorites. Be sure to check out the original version in guitar and complete with one of Danielle’s silly skits.  Can’t decide if I like the guitar or ukulele version better.

Some guitar for you.

Love this sweet little cover.

Another one I am fond of. Something real in there that we can all identify with.

This one actually made me cry and laugh at the same time. True story. It is all kinds of awesome and brilliant.

Be sure to bookmark this one. Anytime your feeling a bit bad, out of sorts, down, or sad give it a watch. It’s bound to raise your spirits.

Be sure to share it liberally with others too. We could all use a little more happiness in our worlds couldn’t we?

Enjoy!…

Sure you could go get that cup of coffee to try to ward off that post lunch slump. In fact I encourage it. But this little guy will ward off your drowsies all on his adorableness-knows-no-bounds own.

I mean my heart is melting here. I can feel all my hurts healing. Bottle that and the world would be a better place. Try it.

Enjoy!…

For obvious reasons Method is a big supporter of the Household Product Labeling Act. While the product in this little spot is called Shiny Suds it is clearly a swipe at the chemical-heavy Dow product Scrubbing Bubbles.

And, well, it is hilarious! In it the bubbles hang out and watch and comment on the woman showering in it.

Enjoy!

Update: Apparently, and shockingly to me at least, there has been some controversy over this ad. Enough so in fact that Method pulled the commercial. Some even tossed the “rape” word around. I suppose I am just not sensitive enough but, “Huh??!”

Just 23 months and he could totally kick my butt at pool. That’s not saying much since I suck at pool. But still, impressive!

Enjoy!

I ate a bag of these things that go by the name Lita’s Giant Roasted Corn Nuggets today. Chili Picante flavor to be exact. What possessed me I am not sure. But I am posting here to tell you they were darn good.

I suppose they are similar to those 24-hour convenience store it’s 2:30 AM and those look deeelicious CornNuts. I can’t swear to it since I don’t believe I have ever eaten a CornNut (let alone horked one..but that’s a different story for a different time).

Unlike that aforementioned Planter’s product Lita’s is offering us a gourmet treat. This is no ordinary corn folks. This corn comes from the Andes in Peru.  It’s grown in the El Calle Sagrado de los Incase (The Sacred Valley of the Incas).  Like Eden for corn this valley, according to Lita’s Gourmet,  is the perfect location and temperature to produce white juicy corn with the huge kernels that go into the Giant Roasted Corn Nuggets.

Plus these puppies are all natural, have no nasty trans fats, and are cholesterol free. Oh and in case you are wondering about how those giant kernels got so giant rest assured they are not genetically modified.

Happy snacking!