Dead In The Water

I have lost my favorite necklace. The one I wear all the time, whenever I can, that goes with everything and represents the real me. You know the one I mean, don't you?

My Kodak EasyShare Z612.

It's Dead...Dead In the Water...Well actually dead from the water. Salt water that is. Pacific Ocean to be exact encountered at Table Rock in Laguna Beach, zip code 92651.

Just had to have that one closeup shot of the strange configuration of rock, wave and sea plants. Could hear the wave approaching and figured my feet would be covered, maybe even up to my knees, but I didn't take my eye away from the viewfinder to see the rogue wave approach, come shooting up the undercut rock and catapult up and over to nail me head to toe in saline drenched incredulity. All the while Eric watching in disbelief not able to voice a quick warning to 'Save The camera if not yourself!'

Darling spouse capturing the moment with one of the last pictures my dearly departed friend would squeak out, then pulling out his tie-dyed hankie to dry off the silver & optics. Me using the tweezers from my Swiss-army knife key chain to pluck sand from the telephoto channel before retracting. Examining the memory chip and battery compartments and finding them dry, hope arising that it will 'be ok.' Driving home and immediately consulting the internet for information on salt water on cameras (...all of us will eventually face the inevitable wet camera scenario...the only thing worse then salt water is acid...) Hopes are dimming, get ready to pull the life-support plug...

Are prayers in vain?

New hope in passing days. Batteries and memory chip unloaded, recharged. Every so often a check brings optimism (it's working!) or despair (it's not!) I check the price on a new camera but it seems pathetic to buy the exact same one so I look to upgrade and am not excited.

But I need my favorite necklace...

It's Official - Luke Has An Album!

Keileigh's friend Luke has posted an EP album that's available for downloading @ lukewilliamsmusic.com. He is incredibly talented and I love his expressive poetry. It's also been an interesting experience seeing the process of creation unfold in such a young man and to see the role a muse has in inciting ideas.

We Were Wrong has great harmonizing (is that Alice?) and wonderful story telling vignettes that paint pictures that speak to the challenges faced in many relationships. The chorus with it's classic Laughing at seagulls and 18 in 1 soap...giving ourselves to fickle hope draws the listener into the festivity and despair of young love. She sings, but not for you and then she smiles from ear to ear... Yeah, I know that one!

Mary Alice has incredible lyrics that kept me rewinding so that I could get the gist of their meaning...your siren song was a swan dive; on a porch swing swaying sunlit silouette of untamed hair; a man of sunswept troubadour walks the night; you love him and you don't know why; you found that even birds could be chained to the sky... the story behind these words leaves you wanting to know more.

Sunflower with it's uptempo beat shows the artist's ability to express the resilient, enthusiasm of youth. I was made to feel but you were made to show. Love the strong guitar work at the end of the piece.

Lose My Mind's bluesy riffs, tincan echo and melancholy thoughts resonate: lost my shoes, lost my love, lost my sense of direction... Rayban eyes and allusions to diamond skies..

Don't Leave Me Alone with it's accordion intro may do for that instrument what Ryan Shupe did in Banjo Boy. Where and how did this 18 year old find an accordion to play? Check out this site for an answer and review. Angst ridden pleas ride out the wave with the fading accordion... ...memory stained highway, i feel slightly betrayed, but it would sting a lot less then the ache in my bones...

Topaz and Remember Goddess contain equally great stories hidden in the lyrics and music. I hope you'll take time to download the music and let Luke know what you think. I'm impressed with his passion for his art! Great job, Luke!

Top Ten Reasons for Being a Choir Director

I found these Top Ten Lists on this website. Here's the list for Choir Director. It's not necessarily reflective of my Top Ten Reasons for Being a Choir Director, but I can identify with the sentiment. Hope you get a chuckle from it as well!

Top Ten Reasons for Being a Bass

10) You don't have to tighten your shorts to reach your note.
9) You don't have to worry about a woman stealing your job.
8) Or a pre-adolescent boy.
7) Action heroes are always basses. That is -- if they ever sang, they would sing bass.
6) You get great memorable lyrics like bop, bop, bop, bop.
5) If the singing job doesn't work out, there's always broadcasting.
4) You never need to learn to read the treble clef.
3) If you get a cold, so what?
2) For fun, you can sing at the bottom of your range and fool people into thinking there's an earthquake.
1) If you belch while you're singing, the audience just thinks it's part of the score.

Top Ten Reasons for Being a Tenor

10) Tenors get high -- without drugs.
9) Name a musical where the Bass got the girl.
8) You can show the sopranos how it SHOULD be sung.
7) Did you ever hear of anyone paying $1000 for a ticket to see the Three Basses?
6) Who needs brains when you've got resonance?
5) Tenors never have to waste time looking through the self-improvement section of the bookstore.
4) You get to sing along with John Denver singing "Aye Calypso".
3) When you get really good at falsetto, you can make tons of money doing voice-overs for cartoon characters
2) Gregorian chant was practically invented for Tenors. Nobody invented a genre for basses.
1) You can entertain your friends by impersonating Julia Child.

Top Ten Reasons for Being a Soprano

10) The rest of the choir exists just to make you look good.
9) You can entertain your friends by breaking their wine glasses.
8) Can you name an opera where an alto actually got and kept the man?
7) When sopranos want to sing in the shower, they know the tune.
6) It's not like you are ever going to sing the Alto part by accident
5) Great costumes -- like the hat with the horns on it.
4) How many world famous Altos can you name?
3) Every time - hands down - the soprano is the last voice singing.
2) When you get tired of singing the tune, you can sing the descant
1) You can sing along with Michael Jackson.

Top Ten Reasons for Being an Alto

10) You get really good at singing E flat.
9) You get to sing the same note for 12 consecutive measures.
8) You don't really need to warm up to sing 12 consecutive bars of E flat.
7) If it sounds bad, it's unlikely the Altos will be blamed.
6) You have lots of time to chat during Soprano solos.
5) You get to pretend that you are better than the sopranos, because everybody knows that women only sing soprano so they don't have to learn to read music.
4) You can sometimes find part-time work singing Tenor.
3) Altos get all the great intervals.
2) When the sopranos are holding some outrageously high note at the end of an anthem, the altos always get the last words.
1) When the Altos miss a note, nobody gets hurt.