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Showing posts from January 21, 2011

Magical Moment 357, "Any Old Business, Any New Business?

Do you enjoy looking at your old yearbook photos, or does it make you cringe to see what you once were? For me, and probably for most, it's a little of both. There is proof of how goofy, naive, and immature I used to be (dorky, bad dresser, stringy hair, but I digress). And proof of how much I've grown since then (I have better hair now). I found something today from my early musician-hood that made me laugh out loud. I began playing piano professionally (I use the term loosely) during my senior year of high school. In trying to gain some more business, I asked my then piano teacher, Ceil Brown , to help create a business card for me. This was before I knew how to use a computer (oh my, I didn't realize I was so old). Ceil, in addition to being amazingly gifted and a wonderful teacher, is one of the funniest people I've ever known. She came back the next week with some very professional samples......and this one. I'm so thankful that I've kept it tucked away al

Magical Moment 356, "Eye Witness of Eyewitness News"

Channel 7 Eyewitness News is on our TV pretty often. I'm not a huge news buff, but sometimes I leave it on in the background to somewhat "stay in the loop" of the outside world. But something caught my ear today. It's been a while since I've been around elementary school age children, and it's been an even  longer while since I've been that age myself. I've nearly forgotten the silly games and rituals that take place in the world of a child. Remember the cutie shot? Circle, circle, dot, dot, now I have the cutie shot? Yesterday, I sat through ballet class and listened to 2 young girls discuss their sure-fire routine to create a snow day. It involved putting socks in the freezer, and some interesting rhymes (Zang, zong, zing! Come on sky, do your thing!). I snickered out loud despite myself. But today, I'm not snickering. The ground is covered with a fresh layer of heavy, wet snow with no signs of slowing down. And today on the news, a report

Magical Moment 355, "Vocal Lesson"

Today was the very first day I attempted to lay down vocals for my album with Modern Vintage Recordings. I went into the studio very unsure of what to expect, after all, I've never been one to boast that I had the best voice. In fact, all 4 years of high school, I never once made the select choir group. I never made all-state choir. I never got solos in the school concerts or plays. I could only muster the courage to sing a special in church occasionally because at least I had a piano to hide behind. But in a recording booth, I get no piano. And all those insecurities I have about my average voice were magnified by a million through a state of the art, condenser microphone, amplified with huge speakers, and scrutinized by an audience of 2 producers.  I know I can sing on pitch. I know my tone is nice. But recording a song is so much more than that. There is a story to tell, energy to emit, and a mood to portray. Many people can sing a melody on key and make it sound fine, but t

Magical Moment 354, "The Class Saver"

I love the moments that I "accidently" see. They're not planned, rehearsed, or expected, and I'm lucky enough to be a third party onlooker, and later describe them:   The ballet instructor was feeling the stress in her intermediate class of 10-year-olds. Energy and excitement was high tonight, and focus and obedience was low. She loved her class, and told them so every week. They loved her too, you could see the respect in their youthful attitudes. She was the kind of teacher who honestly cared if her students learned, and when she had to discipline and be stern, she wanted them to know it was only to better them as dancers...and people, for she cared about them outside of her dance class.  One little girl sat on the side this evening due to an injury. Her foot was bothering her so bad, she could barely stand. And she watched as the instructor struggled to gain control of the rambunctious  class. In an uncharacteristic moment of frustration, the instructor announ

Magical Moment 353, "Your Letter"

I had a nice, unexpected, and long overdue surprise today. Inspiration to write a song! I haven't done much writing in the last year because I've been so focused on recording. In fact, I haven't even thought about trying to write music lately. But today, I have no idea how or why, but the first line of this chorus popped into my head and suddenly I thought, "I have to write that song!" Maybe it's because I've been de-cluttering the house lately and throwing stuff away. Maybe it's because I watched the movie, Letters to Juliet last night. But somehow, this idea implanted itself into my brain, I caught some wind in my sails, and I actually finished it in one day. It's a little rough around the edges, but here is my proud work for the day!  "Your Letter" by Elizabeth Grimes 1/23/11 Verse 1: I knew the moment that we ended, I could see it all over your eyes, I could tell you were pretending that my tears weren’t killing you inside. So regr

Magical Moment 352, "Elizabeth's Box"

On my unmade bed in my bedroom, I opened a shoebox that hasn't been opened in a very long time. Occasionally, I lift its lid and haphazardly toss something inside, but today I took it out of its drawer and carefully sorted all of its contents. One of  my favorite singers  of all time is Randy Travis and I love his song  "The Box."  If you desire, you may take a peek inside mine. You'll find... ~Two paper umbrellas from Hawaii, when I flew out there to meet my sister’s first  baby . ~A book of matches from Lee’s Chicken, my very first professional piano  gig . I played there from April 2001 to December 2005. It says in very 1970s print, " Live music, favorite beverages, dress comfortable, bring the kids. " ~All the Playbills from every Broadway show I’ve seen. ~Silk lilac flowers that were in  my wedding  bouquet, because real lilacs are out of season in July. ~An old PX bag filled with dozens of military coins, given to me by Colonels and Generals fro

Magical Moment 351, "Ring Around the Telephone Pole"

Remember this video  when my dog Joy, discovered that the tree near our parking lot is the perfect circumference to always see the end of her leash, but never catch it? Every time we go outside, she silently pleads with those large, brown eyes to walk to her favorite tree and chase her leash for a while. I usually let her. But as a result of the 5th snow storm in 4 weeks, this is what her beloved tree looks like now. Her little heart broke when she realized she couldn't make her way to the base of the trunk. She tried with all her might, but the snow just swallowed her up. I admire her persistence, her resilience, and as we kept walking down the sidewalk, her ingenuity when she spotted this telephone pole. Her brown eyes once again lit up with excitement, as she discovered, "This'll do." (Notice, she managed to catch her pink leash this time!) When God covers a tree with snow, somewhere He frees up a telephone pole.