Haystacks

Redefining yourself isn't easy. It is often painful. Sometimes we make the choice ourselves and other times The Universe makes the choice for us. Given the latter circumstances, you either bend or you break.

I'm bending.

It's good to be back.

Who Can It Be Now?

When I was 14, I was a die hard Men At Work fan. I had the tee shirt, the poster, the magazines. I spent every weekend at my friend Tracey's house so I could watch MTV nonstop. (They were one of the first MTV darlings, for those of you under 25 years of age.) I played BUSINESS AS USUAL in a continuous loop every waking moment. Now that I think of it, I believe I played it while I slept. You get the picture, right? Loved Colin Hay!

Fast forward 25 years later. I am rediscovering Colin Hay's music. I am fascinated by the way some of his tunes (OVERKILL being the obvious example) have stood the test of time. I still love the song, and not just with a heart of nostalgia, but with a more mature understanding of the lyrics. (Day after day it reappears/Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear/ Ghosts appear and fade away) His vocals are just as haunting as they were years ago. There is a narrative quality in his songwriting that takes the listener on a journey.  (When I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened / But in my dreams, I slew the dragon / And down this beaten path, and up this cobbled lane / I'm walking in my old footsteps, once again)

At the end of this month, Jason & I will be traveling to see Colin Hay live in Knoxville. I have high expectations of this show. I hope the 14 year old in me isn't disappointed.
 

New blog!

I've fired up a book blog over on planet Wordpress. Right now I'm recycling the summer reviews from below, but soon - very soon- we will have some new content. Come on over to TALKING TREES!

A fall review

of  my summer reading adventures:

You can check out the complete list on the sidebar. Sadly, I didn't write a review of each book. (I had the best intentions. Really, I did.)  I made a point of choosing various titles and genres. I was looking for the old school summer reading list thrills.

Listed below are the reviews I posted throught out the summer.

Sailing Between the Stars by Steven James

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Four Souls by Louise Erdridge

The Pawn by Steven James

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters

Thanks again to Mark for leading our reading circle. It was fun. :)

Kenny Rogers; working for it!

Jason & I spent the holiday weekend in Texas/Oklahoma with friends. While we were there we took advantage of the opportunity to see Kenny Rogers in concert, FREE. Now, you may not be a Kenny Rogers fan. I am. You maybe did not grow up listening to his psychedelia fuzzed rock sound morph into standard country fare. I did.

He sang the hits and I sang right along with him. He told some funny stories, engaged the crowd and was backed by a stellar group of musicians. It was a top-notch entertaining show, but it was not the singing or the entertainment value that made an impression on me. It was something he said early in the show. (I paraphrase:) "There are 4 kinds of people at a Kenny Rogers show;  you're either A) a die hard fan, B) not a REAL fan, but you know a few of my songs, C) You don't care one one or the other about me, but you LOVE this shirt, or  D) You are counting the minutes until this night is over. If you are anything other than an A, my goal tonight is to move you firmly into that A category."



I've been to my share of live shows. I've seen bands I adore and bands I've never heard of. I've stood in the rain, snow and blazing heat. I've sometimes left an event feeling like I put more effort into it than the performer. It was refreshing to hear Kenny Rogers tell the crowd he was there to WORK to earn their loyalty. He didn't need to work for mine, but the sentiment was much appreciated.

On the third day...

Mark wants us to blog about Third Day. The focus this month is the live experience.

As Wendy mentioned back in the day meet and greet passes were a rare commodity. I won a fan contest in 2006. The grand prize was 2 meet and greet passes. I decided to take my mother to the Johnson City show to meet the band.

As we stood in the side stage hallway, I laid down some ground rules. "Do not embarrass me. Do not leave my side. Do not try to talk to them without me. Do not tell any cute  stories. And most importantly, do not go goofy over Mac Powell."  My mother scoffed. "Traci, I am 60 years old. I am not going to act silly over some musician. I'm a little old for that."

Just then Mac rounded the corner. He walked right to her and smiled.  "Hi, I'm Mac." She took his hand, opened her mouth to speak and said, "I...I...I...hiiii..."

"That just tickles me."

Ever said that? Maybe it was something more along the lines of , "That just cracks me up," or "That gets me every time". The question is, What makes you laugh?

For me, it's the Carol Burnett skit of Scarlett and Rhett. When Rhett compliments her on her lovely gown, obviously fashioned out of curtains (rod included), Scarlett responds, "I saw it in the window and I just couldn't resist it." I know the line is coming. I can say it with her, but it catches me and I laugh hysterically every time I see it.

Second is Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks. Just thinking about this one makes me giggle.

So, tell me. What makes you laugh?

And on the third day...

...we talk about Third Day.

My Third Day adventures by the numbers:

51: number of times I've seen Third Day in concert

15: number of states in which I've seen Third Day

13: number of official Third Day merchandise shirts

5: number of unofficial Third Day shirts

1: number of times I have said, "I know Mac Powell," just to impress someone  (my new boss)

1: number of times I've worn a cowboy hat to a Third Day show

1,310: number of miles I once traveled one-way to see Third Day in concert

1: number of times I scared another fan with my lightening fast G.A. moves

2: number of times I over-invested in a Third Day show (Huntsville, AL 2005 & SC state fair 2007)

7: number of times I've seen Third Day live in Texas

(Edit:Since Mark wanted us to talk about something that happened this week in particular; how about my MusicToday pre order has yet to arrive. How's that for a theme?)

Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters

If I told you this was a collection of free form poetry, you might stop reading immediately. So I won’t; it is so much more intricate than that. Masters introduces us to 244 inhabitants of Spoon River. Each person gets the opportunity to tell their story; the preacher, the widow, the deacon, the shopkeeper, the school teacher, the harlot, the wronged lover. These stories span the spectrum of the human experience. Each character speaks with great candor. And why not? They’re dead. The stories are told through a series of epitaphs.

Masters does not romanticize the lives of Spoon River’s citizens. There are hard accusations, challenges, startling confessions, scandals are exposed and dark humor abounds.   The lives of the characters are woven together in a way familiar to novel readers. After only a few pages the reader will start to draw family and relationship connections. The reader meets a character, then several pages later perhaps, meets the spouse, child, victim or lover of the previous character, giving a new perspective. Each monologue gives a depth to the collective story of Spoon River.

Some of my favorites are Margaret Fuller Slack, Lucinda Matlock, Fiddler Jones, Franklin Jones, Barney Hainsfeather.

(Proud SRC participant)

Summertime (bloggin') Blues

I got the 'don't wanna type ain't got nothin' to say, gonna unplug my internet' bloggin' blues.

Have you noticed that blog traffic slows in July? Posting and commenting seem to be lagging on most of the blogs I read. For my part, I haven't felt much like writing. Summers are lazy and slow around The Ward house. I learned at the knee of my grandfather how to enjoy a summer evening. It involves a comfortable chair on a porch and a lot of listening. :)

So maybe you've been on your back porch this summer and not hanging out here. Good for you! Autumn will come soon enough. We'll all meet back here. But stop by occasionally before then. Sometimes it rains us off the back porch.

"Yeah, man!"

I am constantly searching Songza, Pandora, iTunes and other various music sites to find THAT song. You know the one. The one that makes you think of someone, the one by that guy from that band you used to love, the one you danced to in 8th grade, that one that would be perfect for the wedding,  your vanity song. You know the one.

Check out  Grooveshark and for your convenience, TinySong.  I ran through a list of various obscure and hit songs and found most of them available. You can search by song, band or genre. I see this taking up disproportionate amount of my time.