Monday, April 8, 2013

CONFESSIONS OF A BLUE TOMATO


STILL ENTRANCED

is the name of a song
I first recorded on my keyboard
I finally transferred it to
digital from an audio tape.

It has that sultry “slow-dancing”
sound I want for an album.

Will I ever get that done?

color me blue


I like to feel the color blue


a blue collage of New Yorker Covers

 against a blue wall

I like to take photos of things in blue



like this blue glass slipper

which belonged to Mother

Did it remind her of Cinderella?

And this is my blue living room



and my new drum set

I love playing a snare drum

in the New Horizon Band



I made this arrangement back when

 the camellias were blooming 
~ ~ ~
I haven’t posted a blog
in ever so long, because
I’ve been editing my memoir,
Confessions of a Blue Tomato.

It’s taking so long!
82,000 wds. of proof reading.

Here’s my memoir description:

Confessions of a Blue Tomato is a
compelling portrait of growing up as
a gloved and girdled girl of the '50s
with unfulfilled hopes and dreams.
This hauntingly unforgettable
mother-daughter story
of music and the movies, 
is told with psychological insight
through the narrator’s poignant
 and humorous Southern voice.

Comments welcomed!!
~ ~ ~
scroll down for earlier blogs
Remembering Marvin Hamlish
Remembering Sandra Brown
Chicken Salad Days
Ode to Books

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

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

Saturday, August 11, 2012

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

======

Saturday, June 23, 2012

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. . .