How Do You Solve A Problem......

Our household has come down with an awful malady, one we are taking drastic measures to combat.

No, it isn't swine flu.

No, we didn't get C-Diff like RP.

No, it isn't some unknown strain of a virus that doctors have never seen before.

It is NEGATIVITY.

Yes, negativity has swooped into our home and assaulted each and every one of us with its nasty way of gripping onto our tongues, and causing us to say things we normally wouldn't say.

So we are fighting this nasty beast the only way we know how....through music.

We wanted to come up with a way of telling others they are being negative, without being negative ourselves.

So, if you feel someone has just had a negative attitude, or said a negative statement......

You start singing one of the songs from "The Sound of Music" to them.

So, if Z2 tells The Princess she looks pretty crappy, The Princess may respond with...

"How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?"

Or, if Kiki Aru tells Z2 to shut up and quit being stupid, Z2's response may be...

"High on a hill was a lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo"

You get how it works? Then we not only communicate our meaning, but do it in a way as to not be negative to the other person.

So, the hills have been quite alive these past few days with "The Sound of Music"....

and it is positive music to my ears.

Somewhere In My Youth Or Childhood...I Must Have Done Something Good

Inland Empire Girl gave us a love-themed Sibling Assignment this week. Here is our assignment:

As Valentine's Day approaches, think of a specific film, book, poem, or work of art that helped you understand the emotion of love and explain why.

My answer is the film The Sound of Music.



There are so many facets of love shown in this movie. In the opening scene, you see Maria enjoying the beautiful Austrian alps, and the love of the countryside where she lives. Then she hurries back to the convent, and we see her love of God, and wanting to be of service to Him.

When she arrives at the Von Trapp home, it doesn't take her long to develop a loving relationship with each of the Von Trapp children. She is very perceptive, and watches and observes things about them so she can get to know them better.

But the best part is the developing love relationship between Maria and Captain Von Trapp. As you watch Maria blush at the end of their first dance, and she becomes confused over her feelings for the Captain. And she knows he is having a relationship with another woman, and he is her employer, and she feels she shouldn't be having these feelings.

But then they finally realize their love for one another in one of my favorite songs, Something Good.



[Maria:]
Perhaps I had a wicked childhood
Perhaps I had a miserable youth
But somewhere in my wicked, miserable past
There must have been a moment of truth

For here you are, standing there, loving me
Whether or not you should
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

[Captain:]
For here you are, standing there, loving me
Whether or not you should

[Maria:]
So somewhere in my youth or childhood
I must have done something good

[Maria and the Captain:]
Nothing comes from nothing
Nothing ever could

[Maria:]
So somewhere in my youth
[Captain:]
Or childhood
[Maria:]
I must have done something . . .
[Maria and the Captain:]
Something good

Then, as adversity comes against the family, both are willing to make sacrifices for their family, which is the ultimate show of love. They leave their beloved home and country and make a new life, far away from the ideology and hate of the Nazi invasion.

We can learn a lot about love from the Von Trapp family, and I think that is one of the reasons this musical has been such a popular show over the years, because of the many themes of love it shows throughout the performance.