Bloorp.

Why aren’t there love songs like this anymore?

If that sounds old-fashioned of me, well, it is. I don’t generally care for modern day love songs — many of them lack the sincerity and genuine emotion that classic standards can evoke.

Even if Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark holiday, I can always appreciate a well-crafted love song from a bygone era.

“The Very Thought Of You” has to be one of the loveliest tunes ever penned, and Nat King Cole’s haunting rendition quivers with the emotion that songs today try to achieve and mostly fail.

If we heard someone sing “I see your face in every flower, your eyes in stars above,” it wouldn’t sound right, would it? Cheesy, eye-rolling, even unoriginal. Yet somehow, with a song like this, it just fits.

Do me a favour: close your eyes and let the marvelous, dreamy arrangement take you away, and if you feel yourself being serenaded by this simple poem of love, just let it happen. Your heart will thank you.

I remember this moment like it was yesterday. It’s one of my absolute favourite memories of Richard and I’m so, so thankful that my girl Christina was notorious for taking little nonsense videos on her point-and-shoot all those years ago.

The short and sweet clip you see above was one of them and for a fleeting second, I can almost make myself believe that Richie is back here with us where he belongs, smiling that little smile of his, as if nothing’s changed…

We were having a dinner party at my pal Justin’s, and our master chef Richie was teaching us how to flip pancakes.

He handed me that very pan and ran through the proper wrist flick that would send the flapjack spinning in the air, then landing smoothly on the non-stick surface. I took the pan reluctantly, afraid of dropping it or the pancake or that some general Emily Claire bumbling would inexplicably set the kitchen ablaze.

Richie, however, was firm and confident. So I went for it. There were some near misses but not long after came my first successful attempt — the pancake sailed gracefully in the air and landed snugly back in in the pan. I was so excited by this newly discovered skill that I had to fight the urge to flip every damn pancake within sight…and it was all thanks to Richie.

I miss him. I miss him so much that almost five years later, it still hurts. I don’t know if that will ever change, but memories like this help ease the pain and remind me that I once had a wonderful friend who made me a better person simply by having him in my life.

Merry Christmas, Richie.

You know what’s cute?

When the neighbourhood husky peeks over his owner’s fence with a stubby paw on either side of his head and stares at all the passersby with an innocent curiosity that really, really makes me want to snatch him up and take him home with me when no one’s watching.

That’s what’s cute.

This song can be taken one of two ways:

1. If The Land of Chocolate sequence in The Simpsons went beyond the pure joy of Homer crazily consuming confectionery at every turn and then zeroed in on more sensual, indulgent pleasures, this would undoubtedly be its theme.
2. If you were literally suffering death by chocolate, well…how can you not picture these sexy sounds wafting in the background as you meet your untimely but delicious demise?

I bought this album several years ago solely based on its title. A classic case of “judging a book by its cover,” if you will. I knew nothing of De Phazz, only that they somehow fit in the jazz/lounge category because they were filed under that section at the store. The cover art held my interest for longer than five seconds, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s still one of my favourite albums.

Admittedly, I don’t even like chocolate all that much and I never crave it. I know. That’s weird, especially for a girl. But that suits me just fine. If you know me to any degree, you’ll know that my girly tendencies are few and far between.

I wouldn’t call “Death by Chocolate” my top track on the album, but it’s definitely up there. And why pick that particular song to share? I haven’t quite figured it out, but something about indulgent desires seems fitting in some inexplicable way.

So let’s go with that, shall we?

Daydreaming is inevitable when I listen to this song.

I love this arrangement, particularly the lovely instrumental interlude so full of whimsy that I can’t help but find myself transported to an evening that feels like another, more distant life.

My mind conjures up a multitude of hazy, dreamy scenes…velvety night sky and a bold moon under which nothing can hide…a wooden dock jutting out into calm waters, the gentle lapping of tiny waves, and I’m sprawled out on an oversized blanket, staring into the endless, star-dotted sky with all the time in the world…and this pretty little ditty is wafting in the background…

Tubas in the moonlight, playing for me all night
Tell me what I want to hear
Am I only dreaming?
Am I only scheming?
Stars above me, shining brightly
Why can’t she be sitting here beside me?
Tubas in the moonlight will bring my loved one home

Now. Where the hell are the tubas in this song?

I hadn’t visited my family in New Jersey for years, so I took the opportunity to tack on a weekend stay on the tail end of my New York trip last month.

While sipping on a cup of tea in the kitchen, a faint, delightful sound perked up my ears, as if someone had lifted the lid on a music box in the next room. My chair scraped the floor as I rose from the table and curiously followed the sound of tiny bells and chimes into the living room.

There, I was mesmerized by an enchanting clock that produced the loveliest, most dainty and magical sounds, the kind that causes you stare with shining eyes in child-like wonder.

This video doesn’t do it justice—mostly because it’s not a great video—but I invite you to turn up the volume in the hopes that you may also be charmed.