REMEMBERING MARVIN HAMLISH

Marvin Hamlish was the composer

I most admired. I was saddened

to hear of his death.

I wanted to create something

for my blog and You Tube.

I saw Chorus Line

twice at the Fox. 

I bought the tape

and the music to

Chorus Line.

and even learned the first

page to “One.”

It inspired the opening song,

“Finding My Way.”

 for my musical,

Silent Dreams

Marvin Hamlish came to Athens

for a concert. I got a balcony ticket,

went alone to absorb everything.

Then I asked if he would write,

Best Wishes on Silent Dreams

and he did.

I hoped this would be some kind

of magic touch.

The MUSIC to 

Silent Dreams, too, will

always be around.

and I’ve arranged and recorded

a jazz version

of Silent Dreams, the waltz from

the musical-- and here’s 

another Music video.

Thanks everyone for

watching. 

I really appreciate it.

check it out.

scroll down for 

more posts

Chicken Salad Days

Ode to Books

The Right Passage

CHICKEN SALAD DAYS

The journey continues

and it's going to be jazzy!

One of my oldest dreams
is to play in a jazz trio
My inspiration came from the jazz album

Shelly Manne (drummer)
plays My Fair Lady (1956)
Andre Previn played piano.

In June, I did get to play lite jazz
for a recent Art Reception
at the Lyndon House.

I have a goal to make a
jazz album of original songs
I guess that's on my bucket list,
as they say.
~ ~ ~ 
In the meantime
I got on a chicken salad kick

through the entire month of July!

I was sampling chicken salad
 all over Athens.

Trader’s Joe’s
 “Wine Country Chicken Salad”

is the best, so far.

Whoa! Those jeans were feeling tighter!

What to do?

Start a new gimmiky diet!

Now, it costs me $5 a day.

Yes, I have to earn $5
 by eating a lot less,

by feeling a little bit hungry
 all day long.

So far, so good. The jeans are looser

I NEVER WEIGH!

When I go to the doctor,

I cover my eyes and tell the nurse,

 “Do not tell me what I weigh!”

~ ~ ~

I also want to report that

I have really straightened my house.

And the garden still looks good.

I call this my Caladium Summer garden.

We are in a drought and Daisy Miller

and Caladiums don’t need much water.

Basil is healthy, too!

~ ~ ~

I have to include a photo

of my favorite roses.

~ ~ ~

Another creative endeavor this week

 was framing a photo.

Here’s that story:

Back when I was iced in,

Suzanne loaned me her yellow boots.

I kept them for a week, 

I had to make a sketch!

It’s my favorite sketch so I took a photo. 

printed and framed one

to give to Suzanne on her birthday.

HERE’S THE CREATIVE TASK!

Can I arrange these photos

in an i-photo slide show

and compose some jazzy music

 to add to

my YouTube music collection?

Check it out!

Did I do it?

Scroll down for more 

fabulous blogs!

Ode to Books

and
The Right Passage

======

ODE TO BOOKS

Once upon a time,

before amazon.com,

I went to libraries,

where I learned to love books.

 This blog is my Ode.

Oh, Shug and Celie

you taught me to

pick myself up again.

Thank you, Alice Walker

for making me love again

with a different eye.

Flannery, you made

me love Georgia folks

with all their misfit ways.

Your writing style and

character descriptions

are a joy to read.

Oh, Scott Peck, from you

I learned that life is difficult,

that love is an action.

It is love that makes life bearable.

I learned about grace

and the courage to take

the road less traveled.

Marsha Sinetar, your book gave me

 the perfect support

 when I left a corporate job

to live a different life.

Oh, Eugen Herrigel,

 you introduced me

to Eastern Religion,

 the beauty of Zen,

 the power of the mind

when focused and relaxed.

J.D. Salinger, I was introduced to you

through your Nine Stories

one of which,

A Perfect Day for Bananafish,

we staged in 1958

for Reader’s Theater

at UGA Drama Dept.

Holden Caulfield will

live in my heart.

Your writing style is one I admire.

~ ~ ~

I must mention Thomas Hardy
whose naturalistic style
 first captured my interest
 in Return of the Native.
I've read all of his books.


I took more photos

made a little music video

entitled Ode to Books

Please take a look

and see the rest of the books!

Please press arrow in photo to play 


Ode to Books
~ ~ ~


stay tuned. . .

THE RIGHT PASSAGE

THE RIGHT PASSAGE

I feel strangely peaceful

this morning

like the muddy pond

which left alone

becomes clear.

I pick up Eternal Echoes

a book I have not read for 

a long time.

The page opens to this:

One of the most tender images

is the human person at prayer.

When the body gathers itself

before the Divine,

a stillness deepens.

The blaring din of distraction ceases,

and the deeper tranquillity

within the heart envelops the body.

To see people at prayer

is a touching sight.

For a while,

they have become unmoored

from the grip of society, work, and role.

It is as if they have chosen

to enter into a secret belonging

carried within the soul;

they rest in that inner temple

impervious to outer control or claiming.

A person at prayer also evokes

the sense of vulnerability and fragility.

Their prayer reminds us

that we are mere guests on the earth,

pilgrims who always walk on unsteady ground, carrying in earthen vessels

multitudes of longing.

 --Eternal Echoes, John O’Donohue

~ ~ ~

Happiness is . . .

being unmoored with longing

 and

finding the right passage.

I am blessed.

And so are you.

And so are we all.