S is for ... Shel Silverstein

Silverstein's was the poetry that I first learned and loved and memorized ("Alligator Pie") and the copy of Where the Sidewalk Ends that sits on my shelf has been used and abused and loved since I was in grade three or four.

Though, doing a quick Wikipedia search have shown me that, not only is he an amazing poet, but he was also part of the group Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (which ended up just being shortened to Dr. Hook). Anyone ever heard the song "The Cover of the Rolling Stone"? If not, here, you might recognize it:

Another one of their well known songs is "Slyvia's Mother".

He also wrote songs for Johnny Cash ("A Boy Named Sue", "25 Minutes To Go"), Irish Rovers ("The Unicorn"), B0bby Bare ("The Mermaid", "The Winner", "Rosie's Good Eats Cafe"), and was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his song "I'm Checkin' Out" for the movie Postcards from the Edge.

Silverstein also did all the cartooning in his books, which led him to be able to be picky about how his books came out. He would choose the paper, the binding, the print, everything, for his book. Making sure that how the book was made reflected the contents of the book. None of his books are softcovers as he didn't want his work diminished in any way.

On top of all of that, Shel was also a playwright, writing over ten short plays which have been performed many times by several companies in different forms.

It's no secret that Shel Silverstein has been loved by millions of people of all ages. His unique writing style, drawing style, and the combination of things that he accomplished in his life are a pull people can't resist.

S is for ... Season of Migration to the North

I am currently reading 'Season of Migration to the North' by Tayeb Salih. Any one who knows me knows that I have a soft spot for modern classics as well as books that are set in African countries. So when I found 'Season of Migration to the North', I thought Christmas had come early.

Sadly, I'm finding it difficult to get into the novel. There are moments when I find myself immersed in the little village on the edge of the Nile and then there are times when I am confused, finding it difficult to appreciate Salih's work. The English Literature student in me tells me the confusion I feel is the same confusion the narrator feels but I usually tell that side to shut up so I can try and enjoy the book.

I am terrible with reviews and it actually sounds like I dislike the novel, I don't. And if you want moments of exquisite straight to the point prose I highly recommend you read it.

S is for ... Star Wars

You know how, in Wal*Mart, they have those massive frames with posters that little kids (or fan girls) go through to find posters of Bumblebee, cars, the Jo Bros, Miley Cyrus, the Disney Princesses, or guitar notes? Well, even though I'm no longer legally a child, my inner self has yet to accept that. I was looking through (blame my brother) and found a new Star Wars poster. Not only am I one of the only 16+ year old people I know who even looks at posters anymore, I'm the only one who'll snatch up a good Star Wars one. I've been watching the movies since before I knew that such thing as reality existed, and have been steadily accumulating my collection of Star Wars fan-things.

Buying $5.87 posters with sci-fi characters is only one way I subtly show my love. Last week, as I was on vacation in Vancity, I bought that same brother a Star Wars original series tin lunchbox, which joins the Stormtrooper guns they got for Christmas, the $9.95 toys I've been collecting slowly for the past year, and the various comics that are collecting in their plastic cases on my book shelf. I'm still missing several which makes me sad....:'( A list of comic books, however, is always helpful for someone like me who never knows exactly what they want/what they're missing. And Dark Horse is the publishing company that puts out the Star Wars comics, and their site is definitely worth a look. Especially the page with all the comics I'm missing.

Though, if you're a fan of webcomics, check out a Clone Wars webcomic here.

However, out of all of this, I'd have to say that my favourite things we have in this house are the toys that my dad bought when he was a kid (aka: when Star Wars: A New Hope came out). If my camera was working, you can bet I'd be spamming you all with pictures. Which would inevitably take up waaay more space than I already have. Whoops!

I leave you all with a few links to check out:

ICanHasForce
Synopsis of each movie
NewsoftheJedi @ Twitter
There Is No Try @ LJ
Wookieepedia
Star Wars Shop
Adidas & Star Wars = epic line

S is for ... (Gabby) Sidibe

"I learned to love myself, because I sleep with myself every night and I wake up with myself every morning, and if I don’t like myself, there’s no reason to even live the life. "

S is for ... Sondre (Lerche)

The first time I ever heard of Sondre Lerche was when I was flipping through a Teen Vogue ages and ages ago. Of course, it wasn't until last night as I was remembering that I hadn't done a music post and wondering exactly how many days are left in February that I remembered him. So, I swooped over to youtube and have sat here, just listening, for an hour.

I absolutely love his voice and the fact that you can hear it. It's mostly guitar background with some added drumming and other mixes of instrument, but the thing you hear is his voice. And he uses his range! From down low and gravely to up and hanging in the air, he's all over the the place, which I'm addicted to.

S is for ... (Frank) Sinatra

Nothing like Frank Sinatra to wind down the evening. I like my Sinatra with a warm bath but a cup of hot coco does the trick too.

S is for ... (Yuli) Sato

Yuli Sato is a Canadian photographer born in 1990 who attends Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She runs a photography interview blog that features young talent and is the editor of Dousee Magazine.

S is for ... Sonnet XVII ( by Pablo Neruda )

I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
So I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

I just felt like sharing one of my favourite poems. If I remember correctly, it was the first poem by Neruda that I ever read and it has stuck with me since, especially the bolded lines.

S is for ... Shantel

I am a huge, huge fan of LiveJournal. It's almost bordering on an addiction. One of my favourite people to follow is Shantel aka seulmentvous.

Not only is she absolutely beautiful, but she has inspiring words in every one of her posts. With humour, photos, and fairly frequent updates, as well as her wonderful personality, it's no wonder that I love reading her updates whenever they're there.

S is for ... Surprise!

I just posted, I know. But I'm too excited to not share this with you guys. We've been featured for our first time! Here @ lemonadepoem over @ LJ. Sure, it's quick, short, and ridiculously sweet, but I'm slightly pathetically excited over it. As is Khy, especially since someone she posted about (Suheir Hammad) e-mailed us, thanking us (her) for posting about her.

Thank you to those of you spreading the word about us!

S is for ... (Nina) Simone

There is a scene in Love Actually where Karen (Emma Thompson) tells her husband (played by Alan Rickman) that he should be a fan of Joni Mitchell because she taught his very English wife how to feel. If I was Karen, Nina Simone would be my Joni Mitchell.

Her voice moves me, breaks my heart even. It would be redundant to say her voice is laden with emotion but it is. She feels the lyrics, puts a story behind every single word. It is a beautiful experience listening to Nina Simone, a beautiful, deliciously painful, and moving experience.

S is for ... Simon (& Garfunkel)

I know, I know. I'm supposed to be on vacation and whatnot, but, I've got fifteen minutes of down time at the moment, so I'll do a quick music post and then be off to the poetry slam tonight. =D (who knows, you might just get a post on that as well. :D)



The group, composed of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, has been active since 1957 and their first minor hit was "Hey, Schoolgirl". However, it was being featured in the hit movie The Graduate that propelled them into the public eye.


Their music is mellow and reminds me of strolling through Vancouver (which would be what I've been doing for the past five days). With beautiful acoustic backings and their voices doing wonderful weaving over and under and through each other, they are definitely worth giving a listen to.

Check out their site here or even buy any of their CDs from Amazon.

S is for ... Saskatchewan

There's not much I can tell you about Saskatchewan other than the fact that we became a Province in 1905, we have less than a million people in the whole Province, most of those people are farmers, and that our only pro team is the Saskatchewan Roughriders. (Yes, I've made the jokes as well.)

However, there's things that I know about Saskatchewan that are more important than the politics, the budgets, and whatnot. I know that Saskatchewan is breathtaking. We're known as The Land of the Living Skies and that name is rightly given.

Most of my pictures have been taken in the summer/fall, so they're not good visuals of our beautiful winters (those are still waiting to be loaded), but during the fall, when we go to the River (Saskatchewan River), the leaves are just...stunning.

I live in a with one of the highest concentration of trees and all of them flaming with browns and reds and oranges and the short days drenching them in this soft light is just beautiful. And when you get to the flat fields, once the crops have been taken off, the way they look like this old, faded, comfy quilt just reminds me of home.

S is for ... Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like is a bit like a Marmite, you either love it and find it unbelievably hilarious or you hate it. I love it. And with over 63 millions hits I'd say that I'm not the only one who does. Christian Lander, the genius behind the blog, has written about Conan O'Brien, Moleskine notebooks and facebook amongst other things. If you are in the mood to laugh,or be offended, then I'd suggest checking out the blog or even purchasing the book.

Ps: Yielly is on holiday until the 22nd so you're stuck with me folks.

S is for ... Suheir (Hammad)

First Writing Since (Poem on Crisis of Terror) by Suheir Hammad. Just listen.

S is for ... (The) Sartorialist

I can only assume you live under a rock if you do not know The Sartorialist, either that or you hate shopping and keep away from any fashion related blogs because frankly any one who likes fashion should know Scott Schuman, the creator of The Sartorialist. Scott Schuman has photographed the likes of Andre 3000, Kanye West and the average man or woman. I personally consider him as the new Godfather of the street fashion photographer. The man is genius.

Obsessively visiting Scott Schuman's blog has taught me that it is not necessarily about the clothes but rather how you wear them, how you carry yourself in your clothes. And the most important lesson: clothes are an extension of your personality. You can express yourself with the help of a t-shirt, a pair of beaten up converses and even a scarf worn in a exciting way. Shoot, the man has me thinking that scarves can be worn in exciting ways!

Aside from visiting The Sarts blog for inspiration, I also visit it to admire his photography. He has an eye for detail and skill that I can only envy. He does more than photograph a person wearing nice clothes but also captures a mood and emotion which brings his photography to a new level.

I strongly recommend not only visiting his blog but also purchasing his book.

S is for ... Side Ponytail

Side Ponytail is an amazing blog on everything music. It's filled with music that I've never heard of in my life and can't wait to find and listen to and learn to love myself.

Posts are quick, fun, sweet, and informative, with links, information, and pictures, which fills what most people are looking for. With fairly frequent updates and mentions of cassettes, walkmans, and other such references to the past and things that most of us grew up with, it's both a trip down memory lane and an opening to music that will go with us as we get older.

S is for ... Susie Suh

After producing her self-titled debut album in 2005, Susie Suh stated that her "mission has always been to create music that transcends boundaries, to make music that is universal.” And she certainly managed that on her album. Her songs seem to ignore established rules, they are new fresh and inspired.

I literally stumbled on Susie Suh's music, stumbled in the sense that I was moving through myspace pages randomly and there she was. I was blown away. Her voice is deep and emotive. Intense, is the best word to describe her, she is intense, her love for music seems to just spill from her mouth. Her raspy voice seems to add another layer to her lyrics which makes her music that much more enjoyable. If you want something to listen to on a rainy Sunday morning then I highly recommend Susie Suh.

S is for ... Stars

I 'discovered' Stars almost two years ago, when I was in Quebec for an exchange trip. I can't pinpoint what exactly drew me to them, but the fact that Canada boasts such an amazing band is one of them. Of course, once I got home and was in the middle of unpacking and reorganizing my life, they slipped my mind until I found a fanmix or two with their music thrown in and immediately re-fell in love with them.

For Christmas I got a giftcard to a music store and their CD was the one I immediately picked up and this song (below) is the one that I have on repeat at all times. The reason? The music is haunting, the voices, the rhythm, the honesty and truth in it all just soothe me.


Their music is just chilled out and interesting and reminds me of Canada, in a random, round about way. The way their music and their voices blend together is wonderful and they have a balance between their upbeat and more serious songs.

S is for ... (William) Shakespeare

I'm sure I can hear the groans and moans of, "Are you kidding me?!" in the background because you're thinking of all the assignments pertaining to said man through your schooling lives. It seems like Shakespeare is like Uggs, Glee, or Jennifer Aniston's hair in Friends: you either love it or hate it.

I first got my real taste of Shakespeare five...no...seven years ago. I was Peaseblossom from a scene in A Midsummer Night's Dream. To be honest, I still have the script kicking around somewhere in my room. After that, it wasn't until grade nine (about three years later) that I encountered Shakespeare again. Then, it was in the form of Romeo + Juliet. Which, as much as it's also a love/hate piece, I grew addicted through the two movies we watched with it: >Romeo + Juliet and West-Side Story. After viewing the former, I promptly went out and bought it, of course. Then last year it was Macbeth, and this year it's Hamlet. Why schools have a love for the tragedies is beyond me...

What renewed my love in the famed playwright was two things: the movie Shakespeare in Love (go. watch. now.) and his beautiful writing.

Romeo [...] Unto the white-upturned wond'ring eyes
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him,
When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds,
And sails upon the bosom of the air.

The words and the way that Shakespeare plays with them just entrances me. Even as he's funny and serious and talking of love. And here be where I end my English nerd-ity.