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Showing posts from October 28, 2010

Magical Moment 272, "Window to My World"

*Picture from Tales of a Tall Guy I spend hours in my music room and office everyday. It's where I write, practice, record, work, grow, get angry, feel accomplished, and create. There is a small window in this room which faces the parking lot behind my apartment building. Through it, I can see the entrance to the community laundry room and a few houses across the street with the American flag waiving by the front door. There are trees and bushes, thick with multi-colored leaves, and no shortage of birds and squirrels scurrying about. In the evening, the sunset casts a soft orange haze over the red, brick walls and it seems as though the autumn leaves are glowing, like a thin lamp shade with a bulb burning bright underneath. It doesn’t take long for me to feel inspired when I open my white mini blinds and gaze outside. Some days I feel more content and encouraged from five minutes at my window, than I do from a whole day of running around town, “being productive.” Every day is a ne

Magical Moment 271, "Subway Musicians"

I decided to take my video camera with me into the city today. I recorded every subway musician I heard  to and from Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown to my destination in the Lower East Side. It's a total of 4 trains and several blocks of underground subway tunnels. I pass by these musicians without a second thought, without eye contact, and usually without dropping change into their hat or bucket. But back when I first moved here, I was stunned to see so many people line the tunnels, corners, and platforms of the dirty, cold, and crowded subways. I've seen people with full sized harps, cellos, and keyboards down there - a tremendous effort when I realize the narrow stairs and escalators they have to navigate through to get there. So today, I made a conscience effort to stop for a few moments at each one and give them the encouragement that I myself so desire as a performing musician. By the end of the day, I was really digging  at the bottom of my purse to find enoug

Magical Moment 270, "Fried Green Tomatoes"

My husband is the one around here with the green thumb . Unfortunately, things have been a little too green lately. He planted 3 tomato plants late this summer, and as a result they’ve taken their sweet time turning red. Unfortunately, due to a forecasted frost however, we were forced to pick them as is. Now we are stuck with dozens of big, plump green tomatoes that refuse to ripen on the kitchen counter. There was only one thing I could think of to do with them, thanks to one of my all time favorite movies (and books), Fried Green Tomatoes . Every time I watch it, (besides crying my eyes out) I get a hankering for something fried. So I slipped the movie into the DVD player while I searched for a recipe and fried them up. Now that I think about, that’s probably something I can cross off my bucket list. Just like my other favorite movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s . One of the first things I wanted to do in New York City was visit Tiffany’s! The tomatoes were surprisingly good, but th

Magical Moment 269, "Full Circle"

My Sundays are usually spent cleaning the house while Eddie frantically finishes his homework that's due online every Sunday night by midnight. But this week, I begged him to do his homework early so we could do something fun on Halloween. After all, it's the only holiday that we haven't celebrated here in New Jersey yet. We spent last Halloween unloading a U-haul truck and unpacking, so I really wanted to do something fun this time. It was touch and go for a while, but Eddie ultimately came through and got his homework done early. And by "early," I mean he submitted it Sunday afternoon , rather than Sunday at 11:59 pm (true story for another blog). It's actually a pretty impressive accomplishment considering he began his 10 page paper this morning. The only problem left, was to decide what costumes to wear to the Sleepy Hollow Parade (in the town Sleepy Hollow, NY!). I dug around in my "junk" closet and found some cat ears from years ago. Not

Magical Moment 268, "A Year Ago..."

Eddie and I on our first  visit to the Statue of Liberty 11/09 One year ago, Eddie and I pulled into a northern New Jersey town with a U-haul truck of our belongings. We were exhausted from packing, loading, and driving 12 hours and had un- loading and un- packing to look forward to (thankfully we ended up having amazing neighbors who helped immensely). My old, faithful dog, Duchess, was in the back seat, and Emily the cat was cuddled on Eddie’s lap. We were unemployed, knew no one in the area, and had absolutely zero clue what would be in store for us. We were brand new civilians, just out of the Army, and both beginning new careers. I hoped I would be a musician. And Eddie hoped he would be a Park Ranger. In these 12 months, I struggled with finding work, getting rejections, and learning about the business. I played for free, played for tips, and played for idiots. I spent 3 months alone here while Eddie completed his Park Ranger training in North Carolina, and learned through

Magical Moment 267, "The Strings!"

It's been a while since I posted my progress of recording an EP/album with Modern Vintage Recordings . Today I would use one word to describe today's meeting...amazing. We recorded the strings and bass for "A Builder," and when we played it back, I actually got chills. The song now has life and magic oozing out of it. It will truly be one of the most powerful tracks on the EP. This day is what every songwriter dreams of. The day when their "creation" comes alive...like Frankenstein. I wrote this song with just piano and only imagined the strings and other instruments in my mind. It's a relief to have wonderful producers who understand what I describe, and then make it happen. Now all the power, emotion, and beauty I dreamed for this track is well in place. Here is a short video. First you'll see my producer, Eshy, tracking the bass. Then you'll hear just the strings play back. Again with the disclaimer - final vocal track is still a ways down t

Magical Moment 266, "Gimme a G! Gimme an O!"

Me dying a slow death at the Giants stadium 12/09. Cowboys lost. It’s pretty safe to assume that if I’m writing about a sport …I may have writer’s block. Nevertheless, I suppose the Baseball World Series is a fairly huge and relevant national event right now and it has inevitably seeped its way into my generally sports-free home. I’m not sure how or why I’ve developed such distaste for most, if not all sports, but somehow I have. Ever since Wednesday night T-ball at children’s church, I sensed that I didn’t belong. I never gained an interest or understanding for the purpose or rules of the game. In high school when I went out for that one year of cheerleading, our coach had to hold up a sign from the stands that said either “D” or “O” so we would know whether to do a defense or offense cheer. And even as a UNL student and now alumni, I’ve never necessarily looked forward to going to or watching the Husker games. I more or less do it out of obligation (don’t tell Nebraska I said tha