MEME | The Letter W

Doing the Letters Meme, where I list 10 things I love that starts with the chosen letter. I asked for a challenging one, so Nymeth gave me "W". Ha! I laugh at you, letter "W". (This makes me feel like a character from Sesame Street.)

1. While My Guitar Gently Weeps: When I talk to my friends about the Beatles, they usually tell me how much they love the Sgt Pepper album. I'm not disputing that - but personally, the Beatles album that I love is The White Album. I believe The White Album is the best showcase of just how talented they are as song-writers. My favourite song from The White Album - and probably my favourite Beatles song - is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - written by George Harrison, with Eric Clapton on guitar.


2. Winterson, Jeanette:  I quote a lot from Winterson's books and essays on this blog.


3. Washington Post Book World: Washington Post Book World will go out of print as a separate section in the Washington Post - but thankfully, it will still exist as an online entity. The Book World gave voice to well-read bookworms like Michael Dirda to chatter about the pleasure of reading - and re-reading. We need more newspapers to put this kind of focus on book culture.


4. Woods, The: The final album by my favourite band, Sleater-Kinney. Some bands stick to the known and the familiar. While some of them do find commercial success, and their music do find loyal fans - there are the other bands like Sleater-Kinney. They could have signed up with the more commercial labels, but they preferred to retain the creative integrity of their music. They never stopped challenging themselves as musicians, always mindful that they want to produce the kind of music that they can be proud of. They went a new direction for The Woods, with a new producer who was not familiar with their prior albums - who could therefore provide a fresh perspective on their work. The Woods irritated  some fans, who found it deviate too much from the music they loved - but they also earned some new fans.

   The Woods represent everything that is admirable about Sleater-Kinney: they never fell into complacency. They came to a point where they knew they were not progressing musically, and so they announced their "indefinite hiatus" in spite of all the fan-protests. They understood that life (and by extension, their music) is about moving forward.

5. Wanderlust: Wanderlust, a great book by Rebecca Solnit. It's a series of essays on the idea of walking, of wandering, of our relationship to moving, of time, of history, art, culture and politics. Solnit is as wiling to wander off in the middle of the essay to pursue a line of enquiry that interests her. I love her writings, because she exemplifies how we learn so much more when we are willing to wander off the familiar path to seek out the unknown. Wandering is to defy boundaries.


6. Willow Rosenberg: Who can resist the most powerful witch in the Northern Hemisphere on Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Dark Willow is cool too. :)
7. 
   Wild Thing: I was fortunate to have met some Anusara-inspired teachers, and they sometimes incorporate this backbend - known as The Wild Thing (show in the picture to the right) into the flow. The Wild Thing is one of my favourite yoga pose, because it allows me to play with the natural flexibility of my body. The asana is a great heart opener - therapeutic when I'm feeling lethargic or depressed.


8. Wit: Maybe it's because I'm the sort who prefers to mull things over, I find a person who can think fast on their feet very sexy. Especially if they can make me laugh.


9. Wikipedia: You don't have to know anything anymore. You can look it up on Wikipedia!


10. Walking: I walked a lot during my recent London trip, and I got lost A LOT. In fact, on my very last day, I was waking towards Brick Lane and ended up at the Tower of London - which was okay. I went in to see the Tower instead. Walking is the best mode of transport when you're travelling, and it's healthy. Walking is the best way to see a city, because everything is at the ground level, you see so much more. All of us who are able to walk should be grateful.