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Stalker or Follower?

October 7, 2018

Uncles Doing “The Rounds” In Seattle

My Uncle Walt (79 years old) lived here in Seattle for 20 years, until about a year ago, when he moved back to St. Louis, Missouri, the town where he and the other Adams family members (including me) grew up.

My Uncle Howard (76 years old), his younger brother, came with him on this trip to Seattle.

Uncle Walt drove his car from St. Louis to Grand Junction, Colorado (where Uncle Howard lives). Then Uncle Howard drove the two of them, in his car, the rest of the way to Seattle. Along the way, they made a few stops: Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Yellowstone National Park; Mt. Rushmore; and Butte, Montana.

I think its great that they are active like they are. And they were always great uncles to us kids. Actually, my Dad’s four brothers and two sisters always treated us well with a lot of love and laughter.

Culture, Music

Favorite Means Favorite!

September 17, 2018

Often times, you see headlines on the covers of magazines like “18 Favorite Beaches”, or “Top Ten Scenic Drives”, et cetera. And people (myself included) often say, “That’s one of my favorite songs“, or cars, or whatever they are talking about at the time.

But by definition, favorite means, “Preferred before all others of the same kind”.

Well then, how can there be 18 favorite beaches or one of my favorite songs?

Of course, there are ways to get around it. You might say, “That is my current favorite”.

I remember there was a local DJ, named Ichabod Crane, on FM 94.1 (KMPS), a few years ago when the station was a country station, who always used to say, “This is the greatest song in the world today”. Then he’d play the song. Then the next day, he would say the same thing about another song. That was his way around it.

My current Lizz song favorite is “All The Way Here”, a song she wrote, herself. Tomorrow, my current favorite will be “Grace”.

I’m not a grammar freak or a perfectionist, by any means. I just notice little details like that once in a while.

When I see those kind of headlines, or see the word favorite, it reminds me of ~~one of my favorite stories~~ (OOPS!) my favorite story (there, that’s better!) about my father.

It’s been many years, now, since my parents passed away. When my father died, I was attending his funeral and the preacher of my Dad’s church was there too, standing at the podium, saying a few good words about my dad.

Culture, Music

Angelique Kidjo at Benaroya Hall

July 4, 2018

I took a picture (above) of this page, which was in the March edition of “Seattle Magazine”, where they were promoting her and her upcoming performance at Benaroya Hall in May, 2018.

I took this photo of her on stage at Benaroya Hall on May 2, 2018, from my front row seat, as she performed that evening.

Music, Travel/Adventure

LIZZLES!

June 1, 2018

With as many songs that have been written throughout the ages, and with only 5, 6, 7, 8, or 12 notes in a scale, depending on which scale you’re using, you’d think that at some point, we’d run out of combinations of notes to make a new and unique song.

But everyday we hear new ones. And the songs are as unique as each of the people who wrote them. It seems like the possibilities are endless. I think that’s amazing!

Certain songs tug at your heart strings even though they can be totally different styles.

Others don’t affect you at all.

And some are really annoying.

But it’s all subjective. Songs I like may be boring to you and vice versa.

creativity, Culture, Design, Health and Wellness, Music, Photography, Travel/Adventure

Serendipity At Work

May 14, 2018

If you’ve been reading my posts, you’ll know that I’ve been traveling frequently to see and hear Lizz Wright sing.

It is one great joy of mine. When I listen to her, it sparks ideas and emotions within me and influences my creativity. Her voice, words, music, style of singing, songwriting, artistry, and her very essence continue to inspire me in various ways.

We have known about each other for nearly four years now, ever since I went to Madison, Wisconsin, to see and hear her sing for the first time, to give her a song (Lizz Wright: The Sweet Honey In The Rock) I wrote about her, and to give her a digital frame with some songs and a “Seattle Bouquet” (macro shots of flowers I had taken around the Seattle area) on it. Those things were tokens of my appreciation and affection for her. I was so taken by her then and I still am. I told her about my website, the first post that I had just written about her (Lizz Wright: Doing One Thing Really Well), and how to contact me if she ever needed to.

That day in Madison, she and Rachel (a talented piano player) were walking North toward that triangular building on the corner (in the picture above), and I was walking West, away from the Capitol, toward that same corner. I was walking back to my hotel to get ready to go to the show. I assume she and Rachel were doing the same thing.

When I was about 10 steps from the corner, I suddenly saw Lizz walking across the street, about 10 steps from the same corner I was headed for. We would have met right at the corner had not that group of 5-7 people rushed right in front of me to get across the street before the light changed. I then had to go around them and catch up to Lizz from behind, which I did.

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