My son said, “I am always striving to hear something new and different in music.” When I was his age (twenty-four), I was the same although I never listened to country. I always wanted to hear something new. My taste in music is still eclectic and so is my wife’s, which makes it a little easier to listen to music when she is around. Eventually I also started listening to jazz and my taste there is very varied to the most discordant (seldom) to the most mellow and everything in between. When he was growing up I had the stereo on all the time so it is not surprising he loves music, too.
Tags: country music, jazz music, music, my son, my son and I have eclectic tastes in music, the stereo, When I was twenty-four (like my son) I always wanted to hear something new
Posted in music, relationships, time |
What is creativity?! If you are a composer, it is putting together the notes in a fresh way. If you are a musician, it is not simply playing the notes by rote, it is putting your feelings in it. If you are a writer, your composition feels fresh: it has cohesion. These are only a few quick observations what someone else’s creativity feels like.
‘It is contagious’: Tolstoy’s definition. You should have no doubt what the piece was about: anger, sorrow, grief, joy, etc. These feeling are conveyed instantly upon hearing the piece, viewing a picture, reading the piece whatever vehicle the person chose. Of course, these observations are not exhaustive by any means. This is just a quick sampling.
Tags: art, artists, compose music, creativity, creativity in art, emotions in creativity, musician, Tolstoy, what is creativity?!, writer, writing, writing cohesively
Posted in art, beauty, knowledge&learning, life, music, your job/mission/profession |
I learned Phil Everly died recently. I immediately played the anthology I had of The Everly Brothers–a best of–“Looking Back.” It is twenty cuts and is the best collection I ever heard of them. In the eighties they reformed and came out with at least two albums. I can comment on the first, which was superb and had Albert Lee playing on it and was produced by Dave Edwards. “On The Wings Of A Nightingale” was expressly written for them by Paul McCartney in two part harmony. The album which came out was in no way dated. “Asleep” which closes the album is absolutely stunning. The whole album is fresh and worth hearing. I have no idea whether it is available on CD. By all means if it is, get it. You can’t go wrong. When you hear them sing, it is hard to separate their voices. They blended so perfectly.
Tags: "Looking Back", "On The Wings Of A Nightingale", 1980's, Albert Lee, asleep, CD, Dave Edwards, Everly Brothers Tribute, music, Paul McCartney, Phil Everly, record album, The Everly Brothers, the harmonies of The Everly Brothers", two part harmony
Posted in beauty, death, music, relationships |
I am a homebody. The grass is not, necessarily, greener somewhere else. One of my sisters loves to travel. I don’t have the same wanderlust. It is true I don’t have the financial means she has. Nevertheless, I like being home. I still make discoveries every day in my backyard and in my house. I am surrounded by my books and music. I like having them at my fingertips. I do have seven cats and four dogs that make it more difficult to just leave and go somewhere but I love my animals, particularly my dogs, and always miss them when we go away once or twice a year. Sometimes I visit my oldest friend in New Orleans. And I go by myself. It is just easier that way. When I return from a trip, home is just that much sweeter. As Richard Thompson says in a song, ‘Every heart needs a home.’ Even when I am home I only go out briefly.
Tags: 'Every heart needs a home', books, cats, dogs, four dogs, grass is not necessarily greener, homebody, music, my backyard, my sister, New Orleans, oldest friend, pets, Richard Thompson, seven cats, travel, wanderlust
Posted in balance, beauty, life, local, marriage, money, music, nature, pets, relationships, time, wisdom |
I must be getting old: Ray Manzarek (from The Doors) died today. He was seventy-four. He lived a lot longer than his mate Jim Morrison. Far too many musicians died early. Too much fame too early. Ray, at least, made it to a ripe old age. Each year someone else dies who I followed in the sixties and seventies. Of old age. I feel old, today, although I won’t stay there. From dust we come and to dust we shall return. Death and taxes. We all face that one day.
Tags: 1960's, 1970's, aging, death and taxes, from dust we come, I feel old, JIm Morrison died early like many rock musicians, music, musicians, old age, Ray Manzarak (from the Doors) dies today, rock music, The Doors, to dust we return, too much fame too early
Posted in death, God, life, music, seasons, time, wisdom |
The music collection (LPs) we got from my sister was interesting. She stopped collecting them in the early seventies. I don’t think her husband (or her, for that matter) liked the music too much. They were in mint condition. She did have good tastes. I had duplicates of several of her albums. I realize it truly is a gift to have a wife who loved music as much as me and who I can share it with. Both of us have very eclectic tastes. That is also by grace.
Tags: 1970's, LP's, music, music collection, my sister, my wife, Our eclectic tastes in music is a gift and also by grace
Posted in local, music, time |
There is nothing like home sweet home. I was gone for a week visiting an old friend. My wife was “sigless”. In the interim, the trees have become greener and the temperature had gotten a little warmer. The lilac bush is abloom. I really have to walk around my yard to note the changes. It has not gotten too hot yet so the primrose still are blooming. I am just glad to be home. I can make my own morning coffee just the way I like to and play my own music any time I want to. I noted, again, how beautiful the area I live in is. We can get too comfortable in our own surrounding. It is good to get away once in awhile. You appreciate your wife and your immediate surroundings better.
Tags: absence makes you fonder of wife, appreciating your surroundings and wife better, flowers, garden, home sweet home, lilac bush, making your own coffee, morning coffee, my wife, Playing your own music, primrose, visiting an old friend
Posted in balance, beauty, flowers, life, local, marriage, music, nature, relationships, seasons, time, wisdom |
It was an auspicious start to my trip to New Orleans. I left my house at twelve pm and did not get to my friends’ house until ten pm. The plane I was supposed to take for the first leg of my journey was delayed, which meant I would miss my connecting flight. The agent rerouted my flights but it meant almost a five hour layover in Dulles Airport. I almost did not know what to do with my time. Finally I listened to some music on my I Pod. It was an interminable wait. I was so relieved when my plane took off and my friend picked me up and finally made it to his house.
Tags: airport, I-pod, music, my friends' house, New Orleans
Posted in music, time |
There is a point your musical collection becomes unwieldy. Especially when you don’t know what you got in your collection or you become indifferent about exploring new music. There is still one basic fact about your collection: you can only play one piece of music at one time. The more you have, the more likelihood music you have may become buried. That is one advantage of having a small collection: you usually are aware of the music you have. I usually give every piece of music one playing. Sometimes that works against you when the music did not catch your attention at that point. You may not have been in the mood to hear the LP or CD or whatever format the music is in. In my case I kept expanding my tastes so the music I became aware of grew. It still comes back to the realization you can only play one piece of music at one time. That is always a limiting factor to your collection.
Tags: CD, exploring new music, LP, music, unwieldy music collections, your limits of collecting music
Posted in balance, knowledge&learning, music, time, wisdom |
‘Songs To Aging Children Come’ This is the title and a line from an early Joni Mitchell song I heard in the late sixties. In the song she says in beautiful language and this is a paraphrase: there is all this beauty around and don’t you see it. I do. And she ends the song saying: ‘songs to aging children come. This is one’. Back then and now I identified with the song. Another line was ‘people hurry by so quickly, don’t they hear the melodies…’
I saw all this beauty around me as a young adult and others were not seeing it. I could not understand that. Even today. I starting writing back then to the present to record this marvelous world before me and slow down my pace so I could capture this beauty. Then she ends the song: ‘Songs to aging children come. This is one.’ I had to grow up and still be child-like so I understood her song perfectly. I was not all alone.
Tags: 1960's, being child-like, growing up, Joni Mitchell, marvelous world, music, seeing beauty around me, sense of wonder, slow down my pace, songs, writing
Posted in balance, beauty, children, death, knowledge&learning, life, mental health, music, time, wisdom, writing, your job/mission/profession |
I don’t want more things to come into my house, that is cluttered enough; although we have made much progress. I am as responsible as my wife for more things coming into my house. There is always another book or another piece of music to purchase. When both of us go, someone will have a massive job to clear the house. I mentioned this to my wife and she did not seem concerned about this. We have made much progress in decluttering our house. It seems a losing battle. I really have to determine (in our will) what truly is important. To me it is my journals and poems. I don’t know what things my wife wants to bequeath if anything. Right now we have a menagerie (seven cats and four dogs) but they are starting to get up in age, particularly, the cats, where the youngest one is nine years old. I am sure my wife would want them to go to a good home if any animals were left when both of us are gone. You never know how much time you have. And death may come suddenly. You never know.
Tags: books, cats, clear the house, cluttered house, death and things, dogs, four dogs, journals, music, my wife, our inheritance, pets, poems, seven cats, Where would the pets go if both of us die?, you never know
Posted in animals, balance, death, God, life, local, marriage, music, pets, relationships, seasons, time, wisdom |
I don’t know why having order of your possessions is so important. And of course your mate has a different idea what that means. We still have several hundred cassettes I don’t want or am not too interested in. I am happy they are hidden from sight in the garage. My wife considers them still valuable. To be fair to her we have gotten rid of some but cassettes are really dinosaurs. Almost no one wants them any longer. I have to admit I still use my cassette deck. Most of the time to play collections of music I put together. Someone I know has all his music stored somewhere on a hard drive. And he is not the only one. LP’s are also dinosaurs. They stopped making them in 1987 although vinyl is making a comeback. I still have, maybe, two thousand stored in my living room. As neatly and unobtrusively as I can.
Our living room has become neater. There used to be piles of papers and our books on the bookcases were doubled up–no longer so I don’t want to complain too much about this room. We have made progress in making it neater. Every couple’s idea of order is different. Some houses are less cluttered and some even look so clean you can eat off the floor. Cleanliness and order are two different discussions. They are not exactly the same thing. And cleanliness is, also, another issue you have to work out between couples. As order, usually each partner has a different idea what is acceptable. Somehow you have to find the middle ground.
Tags: bookcases, books, cassettes, cleanliness and order, clutter and order, collecting casettes and LP's, couples, LP's, making order in the house, music, my wife, the importance of order and cleanliness in the houseworking, vinyl records, your possessions
Posted in balance, beauty, knowledge&learning, life, local, marriage, music, relationships, time |
