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“SIRI-ously?”

May 29, 2018

Memorial weekend, I was going to level out two raised garden beds in my back yard that have been there since I moved in. I don’t want to do a garden on that grand scale and I wanted the yard to be all flat.

So I borrowed a truck from my son, Tim, and some tools to do the job. After I finished the job, I was a dirty mess. I loaded up the truck and drove back to his house to return the truck.

As I was starting to drive away, Tim said, “We’ll be eating lunch soon. You have time to go get a shower and come back.”

I thought about that for a moment and replied, “So you’re saying I’m not welcome unless I clean up?”

He said, “Uhh…pretty much!”

I said, “Hmm…..now you hurt my feelings. Don’t know if I’ll come back now.”

Right at that moment, SIRI said, “Don’t worry about it!”

We both laughed out loud at SIRI’s timing and how she joined in our conversation.

My iPhone was in my front pocket and I had turned SIRI on with my thigh!!

(Yes, I’m just that good!)

Seriously??

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.

creativity, Culture, Music, Travel/Adventure

Sona Jobarteh in Atlanta

May 13, 2018

The picture above, is a picture I took at the Rialto Center for the Arts, in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, this past April 29, of Sona Jobarteh, a musician and singer from The Gambia in West Africa.

She plays the Kora, a 21-string instrument, and she sings while she plays.

That’s so amazing to me that she can do that. It’s like rubbing your belly at the same time you’re patting your head, only 1000x harder, I surmise. Don’t you agree?

I’m inside the Center lobby, waiting for the doors to open so we can all be seated.

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“Best Trip Ever” (SEA-KEF-CDG-BUD-VIE-ZRH-KEF-SEA)

May 1, 2018

Three weeks ago, I was gratefully and gleefully heading to four cities in Europe, for an eleven-day stay.

Lizz Wright was progressing through her 2018 European Tour to promote her new CD, “Grace”, and of course, to build her fan base.

I wanted to go to the segment of the tour which included Paris, Budapest, Vienna and Zurich. I had front row tickets to see and hear her in each of those four cities. I also wanted to be “bask‘ing in the sun” (i.e. basket balling in the sun) in each of those cities. I always use the satellite image on Google to find a court that looks ok and is near the venue so I can usually walk to it. I wanted to walk the cities with camera in hand. I wanted to try foods which I’d never had before. I wanted to see and do a few other things if time would allow.

For four years now I’ve been traveling to see and hear Lizz sing. I’ve enjoyed each trip very much. This was my most complex trip, logistically speaking.

I thought it would be my best trip ever.

Lizz sang beautifully, much to the delight and enjoyment of the fans.

creativity, Music

“Looking Out My Back Door”

April 2, 2018

It’s been a year now since I moved into this house I’m currently living in.

It’s a good space with lots of light and it feels like home to me, even though I have lived in a lot of different places in my lifetime, and it’s a long way from where I grew up in a small town called Arnold, Missouri.

I think home is where the heart is.

My favorite space in the house is just off the kitchen (convenient to satisfy my oral needs).

I think of it as my creation station.

It’s a place where I can read, write, study, plan, create, and let my mind wander and wonder about things that interest me. I have a skylight over my desk and a clear view to the back yard.

I noticed that every time I look out my back door, I think of an old song by Creedence Clearwater Revival called, “Looking Out My Back Door”.

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