What is a random relaxing moment in your life that you can remember?

[WritingIsMyReligion]

To me, it has to be the first time I listened to Kind of Blue, which was last March. I was shocked--shocked!--to see that the shortest song was over 5 minutes long, and most were upwards of 9 mins. Anyhow, I put the CD in the player in the kitchen, and spread myself over three chairs and listened to it. It was very strange, not like any music I'd ever heard up until that point--at that point I'd never listened to a full jazz album before. I remember thinking how intriguing it was, and as I listened I read the exquisite liner notes--done by my hero Bill Evans, of course, who at that time I had no opinions on whatsoever--and randomly scribbled down words that came to mind.

I was just so transported, lying there listening to the calmest bit of life I'd ever heard, and thinking that this was a legend I was hearing. For awhile I couldn't quite understand what was so legendary about it, and then as I was drifting along, I realized that people were making this shit up off the tops of their heads, and I was so delighted I wanted to cry. But I didn't cry--I just lay there, drifting away, so tired and yet so relaxed, and almost fell asleep during "Flamenco Sketches" (both of the takes). And when it was over I sat up and knew that my imsomnia was going to end that night, knew that for one night I would sleep soundly, and I did--I was just unshakably transported.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. I wish I remembered the first time I listened to that album.

I've listened to it at least (literally) 100 times since then.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

2. So have I. It's ridiculous. It's like my default album.

I'm listening to it right now, but only through "Blue in Green"--it's too late to listen to the entire thing.

I just remember that the first time I listened to it, I wondered if that was what it was like to be high or something. Utterly plain-faced relaxation--wonderful.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

6. Yep, my favorite album of all time.

I have most of Miles' discography (notice my avatar?), but KOB is the pinnacle for me because of its complexity AND simplicity. I never thought something so artistic could be so accessible -- the same frame of mind I'm always in when I'm writing.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

8. That's it! It reminds me of the focused spaciness of writing.

You know, where anything in the world COULD happen, but your mind has a one track connection it's going with, and yet feeding off that otherness all the same.

Oh--I just LOVE "Blue in Green." Aww, damn, it makes me sick with yearning. The sextet is just so fucking ON. Oh, Evans, oh, Miles, oh Trane....

[Starbucks Anarchist]

16. Yep.

I recently wrote a TV script with nine significant speaking roles. The trick was to weave them all together like a jazz group, playing off each other, going on solos, then coming back to the main theme.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

19. Another reason why I love jazz:

because it welcomes life, instead of actively trying to transcend it, it DOES transcend it, and so is useful in all things.

[SPKrazy]

3. Strangely Enough

I was out on the dance floor about 20 years ago and it was like I was transported to a plane of existence that was so relaxed (completely sober) I was just dancing with a drop dead gorgeous woman and I was just one with everything.

kind of a "spiritual" experience I suppose, if you want to call it that.

that's just one of many feelings like that I've had in different situations where I wasn't looking for "relaxation" and just found it.


:shrug:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

4. It is kind of spiritual.

(Haha, unintentional pun. :P)

Jazz always feels like a dream to me. So lucidly....non-lucid. So transporting. :D

[SPKrazy]

12. Have You Ever Listened To A Band Called Portishead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9dsIH0SzwI

they are a "Bristol sound"
Portishead (IPA: /pɔːtɪsˈhɛd/) is a trip hop band from Bristol, England, named after the small town of Portishead, 12 miles west of Bristol. With their use of live jazz samples and intentionally lo-fi sound, the band has been cited as influential by many modern musicians including underground producer Danger Mouse <1> and videogame musician/producer Akira Yamaoka.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portishead

They are a mellow and relaxing band, and Beth Gibbons has an incredible voice

[WritingIsMyReligion]

14. I've heard of them, but never listened to them.

Sounds interesting! Thanks for the rec!

[SPKrazy]

15. You're Welcome

I stumbled across them on a thread here.

Started downloading tracks and now just get into them quite a lot.

I really like Steely Dan too!


:pals:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

18. Hehe.

I just can't get enough of the 'Dan. Donald Fagen blows my mind. :D

[Fuzz]

5. This one time, at band camp.

No, seriously.

I was at a jazz concert in Saratoga, NY. Many beverages had been consumed, flammable plants had been inhaled, food had just been consumed, it was early evening and getting dark, I was sitting in a relaxing chair on our tarp out under the emerging stars, and Grover Washington Jr. was playing on the main stage.

I was happy.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

9. Dang, that's the way to do it.

:thumbsup:

[Lyric]

7. The first time I ever got to touch the ocean.

It was Virginia Beach, November of 1999. I've always had an obsession with the ocean, but until then I'd never gotten to see it, touch it, witness it firsthand. We were on the beach and we were alone. It was November-chilly and windy and I didn't care. I wound up out in the water waist-high, and it was a spiritual experience for me. It hurt my heart to leave it.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

10. I love the ocean.

Can totally relate. It is just astonishingly lovely.

:thumbsup:

[Lavender Brown]

20. I know the feeling

The first memory that sprang to mind when I read this thread was the last fourth of july. I was on vacation, but it was definitely not a relaxing time for me. After dark I went to sit on the beach and watched the fireworks. I wanted to sit in the sand all night. Kind of mundane but I haven't felt that peaceful since.

[Bullwinkle925]

11. I have never heard this album.

I'm marching right out tomorrow to purchase this. Thanks for the heads' up.


As far as a random relaxing moment goes - I'd have to ponder that for a while. If something comes to me - I'll get back to you.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

17. KOB is the best-selling jazz album for a reason.

There are albums just as good as it, certainly, but Miles just does things in just the right manner. Plus, Bill Evans justs hits it from the very vapory beginning and never lets up (except for "Freddie," of course, because he doesn't play on that one. :P) I don't think I can find a single thing wrong with it, only that it isn't long ENOUGH, and as an album it's a solid hour long.

Make sure you get the version with six tracks, not five, so that you get both takes of "Flamenco Sketches." It's cool to compare one version with the other, if you're into that thing.

:hi:

[Bullwinkle925]

25. Thanks tons.

I haven't gone down the road of jazz much in my life, but I know that it is a truly religious experience for music-lovers. Guess it's time for me to really broaden my horizons.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

28. Jazz is always interesting.

But Kind of Blue is the jazz album that even non-jazz-lovers own, simply because it's easy to follow. I'll freely admit that some jazz is extremely hard to get into, but the simplicity of this album--the low-key mood, the melodic quality of the solos--takes away that edge and makes it extremely accessible to people looking to get into jazz.

[crim son]

13. One of the sweetest evenings I remember

was when I was about thirteen. I was in the family living room and it was dark except for the one light I was reading by. I can't remember the book but I do know it was something to do with history and probably a novel. In the background was playing some new music my mother had found that day - Gregorian chants. The music, the dark and the story worked together to put me in a state of euphoria that I've never felt since.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

21. I love evenings like that.

Just calm and drunkenness. Oh, and Miles, of course.

[crim son]

22. Of course! n/t

[WritingIsMyReligion]

23. Okay, definitely my theme for the night.

:P

[SPKrazy]

37. Gregorian Chants

I used to have a CD of them, I may still

Digareedoo "music" is an interestingly calming sound (aboriginal instrument from Australia)

That sounds cool Lisa

I live for moments of peace and serenity like that-and euphoria is an added bonus!
:woohoo:

[AngryAmish]

24. Long story

I had to clean up an apartment where this woman died. She was a hoarder and refused to use her toilet for a month. She had open wounds on her legs (pus everywhere) and had food and newspapers everywhere. It freaked me out but I had to do it.

It took all day but I cleaned it enough so it was no longer a hazard.

Then I was in traffic for an hour.

I got to my bar and saw my friends. They kept asking why I was freaked out but I needed about 4 beers and a shot before I could explain it.

Then my girlfriend at the time came by and brought me home. I just sat on her couch and drank beer and talked about BS until I could finish many more beers and went to bed.

It was a nice way to get rid of the willies and it has not bothered me since.

[pitohui]

26. oh my god i am the laziest sumbeeyatch on DU

a random relaxing minute that occured in my life that i can remember occurred like, 5 minutes ago

i am starting to suspect that i may be a slacker and my entire life is about loafing

i mean look at you, you are talking about remembering a moment of relaxing back in march??????

oh well someone has to be the bad example, might as well be me!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

29. I've relaxed since then!

Just that was an especially notable time, is all. :P

:hi:

[Redstone]

40. Don't feel bad; I had one half an hour ago with the new puppy sleeping under my arm

on the couch (which we do a couple of times a day). Only a week she's been here, and she'll stop doing ANYTHING if she sees me sit on the right end of the couch, and will jump up and tuck herself between my leg and arm.

Redstone

[momophile]

27. maybe snorkeling in Tonga six years ago

interrupted by the occasional panic that a shark might come along.

otherwise, floating along, just checkin' out the fish...

[AllegroRondo]

30. About 10 years ago

I was biking through Norway with an Army buddy (we were stationed in Germany, so it was a short plane ride)

We had been there about a week, just biking and camping, seeing the country. This day, we started near sea level, and did nothing but uphill switchbacks all day, ending up at over 1400 meters. We had planned on making it to a campground another 20 miles down the road, but the uphill had killed us, so we just camped out on a hillside, near a glacier. Made some hot tea, heated up some canned food, and watched the sun set over snow covered hills, in August. Surreal, fun, relaxing.

[reyd reid reed]

31. A trip to the beach when I was nine years old

We went to Rehoboth beach in Delaware and that sticks in my mind as the single most perfect, relaxing day of my life.

[ashling]

32. When I had a kidney stone

I don't think this is what you meant, but I swear it is the first thing I thought of.

A few years ago I was away from home on an interview. Thank goodness I happened to be staying in a motel around the corner from the hospital. I started having a tight pressure in my gut which became a dull pain, which got more intense.
When it got so extreme that I was mostly doubled over, I decided to go to the emergency room. As I talked to the intern and then the intake person, it got rapidly more sharp and severe. Before they finished taking my insurance information
(I didn't have any) I was sweating and nearly passed out.

At that point they decided that they could get the rest of the information later and put me in a room. They hooked up an IV and gave me morphine. In a matter of minutes I was floating on air.

And THAT is the most relaxed I can ever remember being.

[BarenakedLady]

33. I remember

Laying on the couch at my parent's house when I was a kid. Mom was in the kitchen preparing for Christmas (or some other) holiday meal. I remember the warmth and the smells of food cooking and the anticipation of the extended family coming over. I was so relaxed that I fell asleep until she yelled at me to get up and help get ready. LoL.

[azmouse]

34. Snow on the desert

I was with my husband at the Saguaro National Park just outside Tucson in Dec 1990. It was a very cold day on the desert and no one else was around in the park. Not a sound could be heard. And then it started snowing. Just a few gentle flakes drifting down around us as we stood among all the giant saguaros. But it was beautiful.

[Patiod]

35. Spending an entire day in a friend's hot tub

We were house-sitting and looking after her 7 cats.

A late summer day, had a good book, and just lounged the day away. Once in a while one of the cats would stop by to see what was going on. The water was warm, not hot.

Very relaxing until my SO stopped by and said "you do realize there are guys out front, working on the porch right? And you're still in the tub nude?" Oh well. I was 90% under water, so I doubt they got much of a show. Years of swimming have robbed me of my modesty when it comes to water-related activities.

[Evoman]

36. I suppose it was probably before University lol...but the last time I felt REALLY relaxed

was this one time that I decided to take a week off after busting my ass at school doing a reading paper (ended up being 70 pages long). I finished the paper, and my gf, a friend, and I decided to go visit my dad in Calgary. At one point in our trip we were going to visit the museum....my dad dropped us off at a tram station, and during that Tram trip, with nothing else to do but visit a museum and then go grab a coffee, I was sooooo relaxed.

[NNadir]

38. Waking with my wife in a little cabin in Big Sur when we first were lovers.

It was absolutely the most beautiful moment in my life up until that time.

[Redstone]

39. When I used to take my lunch out to the apple orchard and eat in a tree.

Damn relaxing.

Redstone