Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

It is always about the music.  I could never understand music collectors who have thousands and thousands of pieces of music (LP’s, cassettes , CD’s, etc).  How you store the music in an accessible fashion is another question.  There is a point your collection becomes unwieldy.  I never collected for the sake of collecting.  It was always about the music.  Each person has the same limitations:  you can only play one piece of music at one time.  Besides when you have too much music too much becomes undiscovered or underplayed.  The best music gets played over and over.  My collection is always about the music.

Tags: cassette, CD, LP, music, music collection, store music
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I have thousands of LP’s, CD’s and cassettes but always return to this one.  My nerves are ragged and when this happens I “pull out” this 60’s album “Clouds” by Joni Mitchell.  I did put it on cassette years ago.

The music is soothing and I will play it over and over and also search for other quiet music until this phase of mine passes.  I can’t listen to uptempo music right now.  I don’t think my episode will last too long.  I am still sleeping whole nights so I am not overly concerned.  I will play it by ear.  The more I can soothe my nerves the quicker I will return to normal.

Tags: "Clouds" album, 1960's, cassette, CD, Joni Mitchell, LP, music, my nerves, quiet music, record albums, sleep, soothing, uptempo music
Posted in balance, health, knowledge&learning, life, mental health, music, time, wisdom | 2 Comments »

All I could do was dust.  And listen to some music to counter my dark mood (the latest “Sugarland” CD).  Dusting is a mindless task.  In this house there is no lack of dust:  we have four dogs and seven cats.  Dusting is an unending job in this house.  In the process I changed a light bulb.  At least, I kept moving.  That is a good thing.  When I am depressed I don’t feel like doing that.  It can’t hurt.  And I may go on to something else after dusting.  Let us see what is going to happen next.

Tags: "Sugarland", cats, CD, dark mood, depressed, dogs, dusting, four dogs, keep moving, music, pets, seven cats
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We have too many things in our house.  And that has me depressed.  I want greater order in our house.  I don’t know how to get there.

There are too many books, too much music particularly LP’s, too many knickknacks, electronic, computer and stereo equipment.  Some of it is broken down and other equipment is obsolete.

I just want to throw away some stuff, give it away, whatever.  Some of it is not mine.  It belongs to my wife.  I don’t know how to straighten up our house.  I am surrounded by things.

I just want to throw up my hands.  I don’t know where to start.  It is driving me crazy.  The disorder that is.  I want to say “abracadabra” and wake up and most of the stuff is gone.  I just don’t know what to do.

Tags: abracadabra, books, broken down, clutter, depressed, disorder, driving me crazy, electronics, give away stuff, knickknacks, LP's, music, my wife, obsolete, records, stereo equipment, straighten up the house, surrounded by things, throw away stuff, throw up my hands, too many things, too much stuff, want order in our house
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Hoarding is wrong. Your “number” may come up tomorrow so what good did it do you. There is nothing wrong in properly using your resources and planning for the future. Up to a point.

There is always a balance. At what point is too much too much? I collect LP’s. I have too many of them. And the really good music, unfortunately, gets buried. And when you have too much you can’t give each individual new record the proper attention.

Collecting too much of anything at some level sometimes indicates we do not trust God to provide for our needs–like storing too much food in our pantries.

Sometimes all we can see, do is our very next step. Trusting our Lord is trusting He will provide for us. Yes, we try to conserve our resources but hoarding is not necessary: He will always provide us with food and shelter.

Tags: balance, collecting, food and shelter, God, He will provide for us, hoarding, LP's, music, record albums, trust God, trusting our Lord
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There is a point your musical collection becomes unwieldy.  There is so much music one can listen to.  One thing that has not changed is the power of one.  That is all you can listen to at one time.  One CD.  One album.

And the more unlistened albums you have the harder it is to listen to new pieces of music.  If it doe not get your attention right away, it vanishes in your collection.  Not every album captures your attention right away.  Many don’t.

There is too much music I am not familiar with.  My wife discovered E Bay and went a little crazy with purchases of music.  And got music I never would have advised her to buy had she run it by me.

I have several hundred CDs, maybe two thousand LPs and hundreds of cassettes.  I have trouble enough storing them much less playing them.  My musical collection has become unwieldy.

Tags: cassette, CD, LP, music, music collection, my wife, new music, record album, storing music
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It is so easy to take your mate for granted.  I was “straightening” a small pocket of disorder and came across my MP3 player.  She literally spent hours downloading music on it for me for a birthday present.

I have not used it much but I needed to thank her again for it.  I was not too comfortable with the technology but maybe I will start to rediscover what she put on it.

I have to give her a big hug out of principle.  I have been recovering from surgery and she has been terrific in taking care of me.  Don’t ever take your mate for granted.

No one has to do anything for anybody.  Every relationship is by grace.  When I am finished writing this blog, I will go to my wife and give her a big hug just for being there.

Tags: big hug, everything-is-by-grace, MP3 player, music, my wife, recovering from surgery, relationships, take for granted, taking care of me
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Every once in awhile I think about our house and what will happen to the things in it when we are both gone. Clearing and sorting through my wife’s Moms’ stuff after she died was a major task.  In fact, we had to make three trips to Texas to accomplish to that job.

I told my wife someone one day will have to do that to us.  You can’t take your things with you when you are gone.  That fact does not make any difference to her.  More things keep coming in our house.

I look around our house and know when the time comes someone will have a major task in front of them.  And a lot of things that are here and we would not get rid of will just be trashed.

I do not want to say my wife is the only one that collects things.  I collect music–CD’s, LP’s and cassettes.  I also collect books and they are practically in every room, some still in boxes so I am part of the problem too.

I thought what might be valuable if both of us are gone and would like to pass on:  my journals, my wife’s writing which is scattered–not much.

Even the value of those am not sure I will have any say over.  From dust you come and dust you will return.  I have to remind myself of that.  And maybe consider what truly has value.

Tags: can't take it with you, cassettes, CD, clutter, collect books, death, from dust to dust, God, LP, music, my journals, my wife, stuff in our house, things in our house, what truly has value, writing
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Our perennial fight about stuff.  In the garage is a Hammond organ.  It is there because I did not want it in the living room.  It does not work.  I doubt anyone wants it.  My wife thinks it is worth something.  I just want to trash it.

That is the fight my wife and I have over and over–about stuff.  It is hard to get rid of any books.  Unfortunately when you have too many books the really good ones get buried.

That does not make any difference.  She insists on keeping them.  So our book shelves are bulging.

I collect music.  My wife at some point discovered E Bay and bought lots of used LPs and CDs and now my music collection is out of control.

We have fight after fight about things–too many things in our house–a lot of things that are not being used.

Is that what all couples have–issues that will not go away and can’t be resolved no matter what?

Tags: book shelves, CDs, clutter, collect music, fight about stuff, Hammond organ, issues that will not go away, LP's, music, my wife, too many books, too many things in our house, too much stuff
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I absolutely loved Peter, Paul & Mary. I use the past tense only because Mary Travers died last year not because I still don’t love hearing them: I do.

They had a rare blend of voices and had impeccable taste as far as the material they chose to record. Usually they recorded other people’s material but they always made the material their own.

They were all excellent songwriters, too. My first concert was Peter, Paul & Mary at Carnegie Hall in 1965. It was magical, they were great!  It was the first concert I ever went to:  I was a sophomore in high school.

Their first album “Peter, Paul & Mary” (1962) is still very high on my all time list of records to play.

They sang with passion and worked at it. Their singing very seldom was mannered. They left behind many memorable albums and most of them are still in print. I never get tired of hearing them.

And if you have not discovered them it is still not too late to explore their discography. You will be in for a treat.

Tags: "Peter Paul & Mary 1962", Carnegie Hall 1965, discography, excellent songwriters, Mary Travers, music, my first concert, Peter Paul & Mary, record album, singing
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To me the music is always about feeling.  Yes, I want the lyrics if there is any to make sense and be well integrated with the music.  The music is always about feelings.  Sure, I want the musicians to be competent on their instruments.  Yet it has to be more than that.  Each musician needs to care about their song, the notes they are playing.  The audience always knows whether they care or not.  And that is the first thing I listen is the feel of the song.  It is either there or it is not.  The music is always about the feelings of the musicians and how well they express them in their music.  The best music expresses the inexpressible and you walk away enriched.  It is always about the feeling the music engenders.

Tags: care about their song, express feelings in music, express the inexpressible, instruments, lyrics, music, music is always about feelings, musicians, the feel of the song
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All I wanted to do was watch the birds and listen to music with the volume pumped up but not unbearably so.  My wife would be gone several hours.  I had just come back from shopping.

I had a dinner planned–a new recipe-macaroni and broccoli but I would not have to start it for several hours.  I was tickled pink to see a house sparrow briefly.  I had not seen one in awhile.

The snow birds (slate-covered juncos) were feeding on the ground around our large white pine tree in flocks.  I glanced out the back window:  the bare patches were getting bigger.  It was in the forties.

It felt great to be alive.  I just wanted to be, sit back, stand it does not matter.  It was my time.  I was listening to a fine anthology I put together by the Hollies.  It was much played over the years which is a good sign I did my job of mixing the tunes well.

Another anthology by Steeleye Span (an old British folk-rock band) was next.  I do not play that tape too often but I still like it.  And an old (all my music is old) Thin Lizzy album “Jailbreak” was next.

I had no concerns and will rest a little better when my wife get back from her appointments.  Meanwhile I will occasionally glance out my large living room window and see what birds come along.  Maybe even smoke a stogy while life passes me by.

Tags: "Jailbreak", bird feeding, bird-watching, birds, British folk-rock band, felt great to be alive, house sparrow, life, listen to music, music, music anthology, my time, my wife, record album, slate covered juncos, smoke a stogy, snow birds, Steeleye Span, the Hollies, Thin Lizzy, white pine tree
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