Happy Holidays! Happy Holidays! While the merry bells keep ringing...

I cannot believe that Christmas is just under a week away. I have already watched Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, White Christmas, and The Santa Clause. I still have to watch Scrooged and of course Holiday Inn.
With all of my free time I want to explore one of my musicological passions---Christmas music.
I was thinking of examining the orchestration of religious Christmas music to secular Christmas music. My theory (without much to go on) is that the orchestration used in the 30s, 40s and early 50s shaped what is used in the tunes. I don't know maybe I am on to something...

Learn to love me... Assemble the ways.. Now, today, tomorrow and always

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Whew! The holidays are over. Having a baby has changed the dynamic for celebrating the Yuletide cheer-for the better. It is all about her.

I have an interesting relationship with some of my relatives. They have no idea who I am or what I have done for the past twenty plus years.

I have actively been playing in bands since 1987. In that time I have written at least 100 songs, recorded with bands/solo, been in two musical productions, played over 1,000 shows, and toured the US a couple of times. Granted I am not a member of the Dave Mathews Band, but being a musician is part of who I am. And in 2010, I received my master’s degree in music history to boot! So when there are gestures that are completely oblivious to the fact that I know how to play instruments or know anything about music. I have to laugh and say things like- “Yeah, I know, I have played guitar for twenty five years,” or my favorite “Her (my daughter) parents are both musicians, you know?”

Okay, I am not super duper close to these people, but the small talk at these functions either there is no effort to find out how I am doing or if there is an acknowledgment it is usually negative. One of my favorites from about 8 years ago was, “I don’t know why you still waste your time playing, it seems like a waste of time.” A classic!

At least now, they don’t have to pretend to give a crap about me, because it IS and SHOULD be all about the baby. I want her to play instruments so bad. I hope that if she does decide to be a musician they will recognize her passion for it. I wasn’t going to post this, but fuck it they are not gonna read it anyway.

The picture is a painting that is on one of those boxes that control the stop lights. It is on my way home from work and when I was pregnant I walked by it everyday.

Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the book...

Two weeks ago, I got the email from my portfolio professor that I had passed my comps, so now I wait for the rigmarole of grades being submitted and I will be awarded my master's degree in library and information science. It has not really sunk in that I am really done with school. In January of 2007, I started my master's in music and the University of Tennessee and five years later, I am finishing my second degree. Oh yeah, I have moved 3 times and had a baby. 

For fun today I looked around at books to read for fun! I used to read a lot for pleasure before school and I am not sure what to read first. 

I have the biography of Rin Tin Tin, Chanel, and Ginger Rogers that I could read. I could read some academic books on music ranging from women performers of the Grand Ole Opry to the representation of "the other," in eighteenth century opera. 

The holidays have been busy so not being in school kind of feels like I am just on break. My husbando is waiting for the post school crazies to start. 

Speaking of the holidays we had a few folks over for Hanukkah, which was lovely and lil' miss will get two Christmases with grandparents. Next Saturday I get to see the Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas. I make it a point to see some kind of holiday show. For the past 3 years I have been chipping away at my Christmas show. I really need a writing partner who will keep me not only focused, but give me input too. Yep, after all these years I am still my worst enemy when it comes to writing. The original songs I have written are saturated with plastic Santa nostalgia and the yearning that I adore in Christmas tunes of the 1940s and 50s and nobody has heard them. The script is in its fourteenth rewrite.

Maybe I will make my new year's resolution to have Christmas 2013 be the premiere of Eve and Abe Morning's Super Awesome Holiday Shindig.

All I wanna do is...bicycle, bicycle, bicycle.

For the past month and a half I have been riding my bike to work. I am still not my desired weight and it is a great way to exercise, so I thought what the hey?! I decided to park at the Bike Station, which is a block and half away from my work. I love it! I am now a member. It is super cheap under 50 cents a day and it is 24 lock out. You can park and not pay, but that is only during their business hours. The staff is great and they do repairs!
I cannot say enough good things about it. Cheers!
http://home.bikestation.com/

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto

I want to paint. Not fine art, but stuff. My buddy J.D. made me a bookcase in 1990. It sat on the north wall of my bedroom, underneath my poster of Siouxsie, in my mom's house and displayed my lava lamp, weird pink electroball, and this psychedelic trip-out light that would spin around when it got hot. Yeah, I did a little shopping at Spencer's gifts in my youth. So what!?! Anyway, I was going to get rid of it because in all those years I have never done anything to it. It is bare wood and I have never been into painting, so...
I have decided that I am going to clean it up (it has spent some quality time outside) and paint it. I am also going to paint this window that was left in our garage. I think it will look neat hanging on the wall. The husbando is going to give me until the end of summer to complete this project and then they go. I think that is fair. If I cannot get it together they will be left in the alley where somebody will take it within an hour.
On a totally different subject. Why hasn't the music of Styx been adapted for a musical? First off, their music is amazing. I know that Denis DeYoung does musical theater now and with the popularity of Glee and rock music in musicals it seems like a no brainer. I saw "American Idiot," and I thought it was great.
The construction of many Styx songs sounds like it could be performed on stage. The set could be Anytown, USA. The story is about a girl and boy; girl loves boy and boy is gonna "make it big." The first big number could be "Lady," professing his love to his girl. "Blue Collar Man," telling his buddies that he wants to make it big. When he gets sucked into the whole fame thing, "Come Sail Away" would definitely be the finale to the first act. "Babe, " would be his lament about losing girl. "Renegade" could be when he is at his lowest low. Then the finale could be "Show Me the Way." I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about this, I swear.

Humpty Dance.

I have been in an eighties and early nineties rap and hip hop kind of mood lately. Lil M' is a fan of the Digital Underground. They were kind of awesome. With my latest music obsession I rediscovered the West Coast All Stars. Their hit was "We are All in the Same Gang," and it had a message, not only the song, but the video as well. If you don't remember them it was a super group who put out one record in 1990. Some of the players were MC Hammer, Tone-Loc, Young MC, Digital Underground, Dre, and Eazy-E. For some reason I was totally into the song when it came out. I remember watching them perform it on Arsenio Hall.
His guest that night was Bill Cosby and they were getting deep talking about gang violence and Cosby told Arsenio that there was so much violence because they were going after each others turf. Arsenio was very polite and tried to convince him that drugs contributed to the violence and it got kind of awkward.
Another part of the show I remembered was the West Coast All-Stars performing their hit. Everyone did their part and if you are not familiar with the song Eazy-E is the last performer to rap. Each performer came out from behind the curtain when it was their turn to rap, Eazy-E comes out does his part the song comes to a close and the lights go dark. At that moment Eazy-E says, "Compton." I always felt like it was a nice touch, I mean we are in the same "gang," but not really.
Today there are a lot less rivals and beefs and it seems, though I do not claim to have my pulse on the hip hop culture, and there are more collaborations for collaboration sake.
I think that is great, though I miss the super star songs. I am a great fan of the USA for Africa, Band Aid, Hear n' Aid, and my favorite United Artists Against Apartheid.
Before I go on about United Artists Against Apartheid let me say that Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas," was re-recorded in 1989 and 2004. The versions are lame, but not nearly as dreadful as the "We Are the World," remake from a couple of years ago. Now that is pile of garbage.
"You got to say I!"
"I!"
"I!"
"I!"
"I, ain't gonna play Sun City!"
Maybe I long for the song with a message.
Little Steven got together with Danny Schechter and producer Arthur Baker (who produced Afrika Bambaataa and New Order) and put together a super group to record a record.
I cannot remember everyone, but there was Little Steven (of course), Bruce Springsteen, Joey Ramone, Miles Davis, Mellie Mel, Lou Reed, Pat Benatar, Run DMC, and Bono.
I think that Bono would have done USA for Africa had they let him. I realize it would had to been called USA for Africa and Bono.
Ok. So the song is kind of bad ass and kind of cheesy, just like the West Coast All Stars.
I heard the Maroon 5 guy and whats-her-face singing the "Moves Like Jagger," and I got a little angry. The song is not terrible, but I just wish that collaborations had something to say, even if they are kind of I have only read the headline and don't really know what I am talking about...
Y'know?

APA

So I thought of this the other day...
Charter College uses APA writing and citation style on their academic writing assignments.
See NOW I can use this as a citation as to how to cite a blog for my reference list for the handout I am providing the staff (if they choose to use it) for their ILAs.

Put on your red shoes and dance the blues...

Happy 2012!
What a year! Half of the year I was pregnant and the other half I was staring at the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Gawd, I love her. She is the best ever! After 4 months of maternity leave I finally hauled my ass back into work. I was kind of hoping they would "let me go," but they didn't and I got a promotion. I am now the library coordinator, which is a hop, skip, and five classes away from being a bona fide librarian. Music has been taking a back seat with the baby and school, but some of my new year's thingy ma-bob-ers are to finish the record that I have been working on for the last three years, write more of my autobiographical Chuck Klostermany vignettes and get better on the guitar.

The little lady has kind of decided that she does not care that much about breast feeding, so very soon I will be back to my normal physical fitness activity. I find that when I work out too much, she does not care for the taste of my breast milk. TMI? I had a baby and a lot of strangers looked at my lady parts, my prudeness has been cut down a couple of notches. Get over it, it is 2012.

The holidays were a blur and I think that my parents (all 4 of them) are into having a grandchild to spoil. In a few days we set off to see the husband's parents (first plane ride!) and she can continue to be spoiled. His mom invited the entire eastern seaboard to her baby naming, so I imagine she will get some attention.

In writing this post I have decided that another resolution is to take more photographs. Good luck to me.