| Sue's profileCAN'T GET THAT SONG OUT ...BlogListsNetwork |  Tools  Help |
CAN'T GET THAT SONG OUT OF MY HEAD"I know I'm in my own world, but it's OK. They know me here." |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
If you want to catch up on one of the short stories.
|
November 26 A thought for this day HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Ran across the clip below in my mail. The author is listed as "Devilstower" and the whole article deals with the job summit and where our monies should go. I especially liked this idea (what do YOU think?):
My Secret Plan to Put America Back on Top
Beauty. Whether you believe in God, "providence," or simple good fortune, there is no doubt that America is blessed with some of the most spectacular places to be found on Earth. We don't just have the Grand Canyon and the astounding landscapes of Yellowstone, we have the literally matchless diversity of the forests along the Appalachian Mountains. We have the tropics of the Everglades and the glacial valleys of Alaska. Deserts? We got deserts. And lakes, and rivers, and seas. All of them, all of them , would benefit from (here's that word again) infrastructure that doesn't turn them into blurs along the roadway, but delivers us to them (and them to us) in a way that helps us appreciate every inch of what we have. If there must be a bridge across a river, let it be a glorious bridge. Where there's a road, let it be one that complements the landscape, sets it off, like a ring to a jewel. Don't replace miles of ugly blacktop with uglier blacktop, replace it with something achingly excellent. Hire people to be artists and architects. Train them for it. Harness America's two greatest resources -- creativity and diversity. While you're at it, don't stop with restoring the beauty of the natural landscape. Let's preserve some perfect small towns, and some city blocks that have a beauty as dignified as mountains. You know that one neighborhood near you that used to be run down, but which came back to life when artists moved in and turned shabby to chic? Let's call that neighborhood America. Nature. Hard work. Small business. Art and beauty. That ought to do it. If you want to hire some folks to cook a few hot dogs and serve up apple pie, that would be a nice bonus. Oh, and I'm serious -- no more roads. Unless, of course, they're lovely. November 25 Premier performance Sunday afternoon, Max has his premier performance with Youth Symphony here in our CA county. It was the first time he's played bass in public and had to dress up too! He was so excited---dressed ready to go 2 hours before we left. (Unfortunately, the only pics that I took that came out were AFTER the performance back at home, so sorry, no pics of his upright bass...) The concert was mostly for the Lake County Symphony (adults). This 40+ group played pieces by Brahms, Saint-Saens, Dvorak and Beethoven (they did the 5th!). There were 5 upright bass players, so Max was in bass heaven! The Youth group (all 13 of them) played one number just after intermisson. Since he was the only bass, he stood proudly with his redish bass and played well! He was so excited by the favorable comments from the adult bassists and people he didn't know from the audience. What a great experience for him---much better than he expected.
I tried to record the performance with my little Flip camera, but the glare from the overhead lights bleached out all the players. The sound came through OK, so at least there's that.
Their next performance is only about a month away---again with the adult symphony just before Christmas. He also is playing at concerts with his 8th grade band (of which he is SO proud) and the High School Concert (with the Jazz Band, doing the Charlie Brown Christmas music). He may be appearing with the 7th grade band as a bass player as well at the Middle School concert.
He has come so far with his bass and is still excited about it. Even though there is no homework during this week, he still "wears" his bass (electric) around his neck as he walks about the house, doodling constantly. Music has become really important in his life---what more could we ask?!!!!
Have a great week and keep humming...  November 21 When I am an Old Cat WHEN I AM AN OLD CAT
 When I am an Old Cat I shall wear
a diamond collar and leave my footprints
on white couches; I shall drink my cream with
a touch of brandy and spit out my vitamins;
I shall sit on the laps of dog people
just to irritate them; I shall nap on top of the
neighbor's petunias and perch on top of
birdbaths and frow charmingly chubby.
But for now I must tolerate the dog
and use my litter box and not sharpen
my claws on the sofa, so no one can doubt
the truth that cats are superior to dogs.
But every once in a while I wonder
if I should be naughty now and then
and nip a few toes, so my humans
won't be too shocked when suddenly
I become an old cat and
start to wear a diamond collar.
I don't know who wrote this, but I love this poem and had to share it with you. I found it on a bookmark and was instantly touched by it. I also got a bookmark that reads: "Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should get used to the idea." Robert A. Heinlein.
November 20 Napa happenings My trip down the Napa Valley went well yesterday. Leaves are really dropping fast from the vineyards and the smell is more musky than ever. I'm including a few pics for your amusement.    When we first landed here, I rubbernecked all up and down the valley, recognizing many of the bigger wineries: Mondavi,
 Christian Bros., Sutter Home, Mumm, too many others to name. But it's the smaller ones that are so charming that most people never heard of---like the one I visited yesterday to tune: Del Dotto. Even though they are small, they are still very classy: marble halls with inlaid tiles and classic art, staircases running up and down to other levels, a grand piano in the corner (badly in need of tuning, which I fixed!), long racks of vines and glasses, opera on the speakers. It's always fun to go into these places, but not so fun to have to tune over their other music---they refuse to cut it all the way off! But I made it through in good fashion. As you can see, nothing but miles and miles of grapes. Sorry the shot seems so dull---it was quite hazy (fog) and clouds were building up for the storm we had yesterday. I tried to get on higher ground, but didn't have the time to find a good high spot this time. It all looks like a patchwork quilt from on high. All the different kinds of grapes are different colors as fall deepens, making the distinctions more acute to the eye. In the spring everything is a wonderful green, often with yellow mustard coming up between the rows. Well, our rain and wind storm is upon us and I must prepare to go out into it to tune later this morning! Have a good day.
November 19 Catching up. Hard to believe it is Thursday once again! Where has this week gone??? I seem to have just plain MISSED most of it. Oh, I'm not complaining about all the work and stuff, just that it all seems to slide by, nearly unnoticed. Monday was my brother, Jon's, 61st birthday. I did remember to send him a card, and he should have gotten it on time. I had wanted to call him too, but STUFF was happening and its slipped my mind until too late.
Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of the premier of Charlton Heston's movie, BEN HUR. Our Yahoo Group, In the Arena, all expressed a desire to view this movie on that day in memory of it. I, of course, forgot it until last night, just before I went to sleep. Missed that one too. But I'll view it at least some time this next year. It is one of his best and the only one he received an Oscar for as Best Actor. The movie also received more Oscars than any movie until TITANIC!
Also, yesterday was our monthly writers' group meeting. I managed to read a chapter from my newest manuscript, which is entitled, "TAKEN" at this point. It is a sequel to THE RAT and I'm only up to about Chapter 11. The group was good as usual and they loved my "cliffhanger" chapter---groaning appropriately at the last sentence (which, of course MAKES you turn the page for the next chapter!).
I did manage to take some pics of the colors in the Napa Valley on Tuesday, but was not impressed by them when I got them home. It had begun to cloud up and most of the leaves had fallen or looked ratty on the plants---just too late to get good pics. But I will post a few tomorrow, time permitting (I still haven't transferred them to this computer!).
So, it's off to Napa again today and more work tomorrow, when our rain storm comes in. Then, the weekend should be a reprieve. WHEW!
|
Just so you'll know!
Quotes to note from his films
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Send a private message
Tell a friend
Add to My MSN
Add to your network
Sign up for alerts
|
|
