Driving through the Pocono Mountains for the first time, we were inspired by the beauty even though it rained the entire day. At one point, we got lost searching for a waterfall. In our confusion, we spotted this serene pond out the window and pulled over. As I got the camera out, the sun emerged. Eddie explained how he would go about painting this scene if he were at his easel. A touch of yellow on the branch tips to get the light green effect, how to create the reflection, and so on. When he was finished "mime painting," the sun slipped back behind the clouds and the rain continued. Those few moments made this little pond even more special. The rain didn't stop us from  finding  that waterfall though. It was worth it! Some of Eddie's paintings: Sunburst Durango Hubble  

Today is the birthday of my friend, Kevin Gaspers. I've mentioned him several times before: If I Die Before You Wake The Eleventh Hour He was my friend and fellow soldier. We went through college and ROTC together, then were both stationed at Fort Bragg. I have many fond memories of school, dancing, we even had the same birthday. :) So it's easy for me to remember him. Not that I could ever forget. He was killed in Iraq on April 23, 2007. My  Grandma Valencia wrote this poem  in his honor. It brings a tear to my eye each time I read it. He would be 30 today. Happy birthday, Kevin. We will never forget. "1LT Kevin Gaspers" By  Mary M. Valencia 4/ 25/2007   Have you named your star in heaven? There’s one there close to us for Kevin. Look! Up above, the first star of the night, this clear night reveals the multitude, so bright. ‘Twas once a twinkle in an eye,   groomed, then zoomed to heights, the sky. Never a stranger to the world below, we knew this yo...

One of the best feelings in life, is the result of seeing someone you love happy. It's why we give presents at Christmas and birthdays, why we work and toil at our jobs, and why we sacrifice our free time. It's usually for the greater purpose of pleasing someone we care for. And when that happens, our heart soars and everything is worth it. I know from experience how hard it is to see someone you love unhappy. It's  torture . His name was Theadore, and he was my teddy bear when I was a little girl. I loved him SOOO much! His dark eyes, his sweet face, and his pudgy little stomach. The only thing was, Theodore frowned. His creator sewed his yarn mouth into a downward pointing frown. I couldn't understand it. I wanted him to smile at me. After all, I played with him, cuddled with him, drank tea with him. Still, I couldn't make him smile. Lucky for me, it was Granny, the sewing master, to the rescue! After a minor surgery with her scissors, needle, and thread, Theodo...

One of the last and most challenging things in recording my album with Modern Vintage Recordings, is the vocal tracking. It's difficult to explain the complexity that goes into singing each word, each  consonant , each vowel, drawing a breath a certain way, creating a certain tone, a certain vibrato, all while trying to make the song sound fluid and cohesive. It's a lot to think about and has certainly been an eye opening experience for me. That microphone is more like a micro scope , that magnifies every flaw inaudible to the naked ear. It's quite exhausting. So it's taken me longer than expected to find my groove in the process. But I'm happy to say that we've completed 2 of the 10 tracks now.  This is a rough audio of the completed " Mary's Lullaby ." There is no mixing, no auto-tuning, and no re-verb on my lead and background vocals. But this is it. After the producers work their magic, I think this is going to be an amazing track. I am espec...

Some of my readers may know that I've been struggling with the decision whether or not  to go to law school . For the last decade or so of my life, I began noticing a pattern when it comes to my decision making. Some how, my logic always defaults to, "the harder choice is the correct one."  I suppose it began in college with simply choosing to go and graduate. Then I chose the military. And between officer or enlisted, I chose to be an officer. When choosing where to be stationed, I  had  to go to the 82nd Airborne. When getting out of the military and choosing a location to start a new career, I chose to be a musician of all things, in New York City of all places. It's the same even in the small, day to day decisions: I can't just go for a run. It has to be 4 miles minimum on an uphill incline. I can't just do a load of laundry then relax, I have to clean the entire house. I can't just write a blog occasionally, I have to do it every day consecutively fo...

In honor of April being  National Poetry Month , I thought I would post 2 short poems by my 2  favoritest  poets.  The first was written by my  Grandma Valencia . I have pages and pages, and e-mails and e-mails of her poems. She is musically inclined, an amazing artist, and a thoughtful writer. If you visit her home, you'll find her work displayed on her hallway walls, like a miniature art gallery. She belongs to a writer's group and recently, they worked their way through the alphabet. This poem, from the letter "T" is about her 2 great-grandsons. I think the image of a teddy bear tucking in 2 little boys is so creative and sweet. I'll be posting more of her work throughout the month. "Tommy Teddy Bear" Great Grandmother Valencia, February 16, 2011 Lovely hues surround the setting sun Twilight of the quiet night has begun Twinkling stars of shapes arrange their line Amazing black sky, stars, moon, create a picturesque time Restful sleep, my two ...

I never sold Girl Scout Cookies. I usually failed miserably at school fundraisers when I had to sell candy bars or magazine subscriptions. It just seemed weird asking people to buy things I knew they didn't really want. That's why I'll never make a very good politician or car salesman. But perhaps it's different when the idea you want to impress upon other people is something you actually  believe  in. For me, that is music. My music. So here goes. Here's my best shot. Just call me "Big Al" from exit 40 off the interstate.  There is a website called  Sellaband  that helps unknown, undiscovered, broke artists fund their ultimate dream: recording their album. The artist creates a profile with samples of their music and a plan of how they intend to record their project, and people can scroll through the thousands of artists and choose to contribute to their cause. They can contribute anywhere from $10 to $30,000. And for each amount, there are certain ince...