Who knew?

I've been logging many hours in the garden lately so, not too much time available for blogging. I'd love to have a bit more time to write but I am spread a little too thinly these days for that. Technology is wonderful but all this ever-evolving instant access to the lives of others causes me trouble at times. Every time I participate in a new method of communication with the world and my friends, I think "Yay! A new way to eventually neglect my friends and family!" How I yearn for a simpler day when USPS mail and the land line telephone were our only two options to reach out and touch someone. I may be the only person I know who really doesn't like to talk on the phone...I mean I really don't like it. I call it my phone allergy. I communicate best in person or in writing. On the phone, I struggle to interpret things people may say because I cannot read their facial expressions or gestures. Body language is so important to me and is a crucial element of my powers of intuition. It is also something I rely on when I communicate with others, to get my point across. Before there were emoticons, I used to use my actual face to convey my feelings. Weird, huh?

I've been getting into facebook as of the past year but facebook limits my status updates to a mere 420 characters and if you know me, you surely know I have much more to say than anything 420 characters would allow me. Facebook kind of opens you up to scrutiny as well, depending on your privacy settings. I always find it interesting when someone who is not on facebook will ask me questions about my profile, photos or wall postings. I was recently questioned, with a tone of provocation, about several things on my facebook page by someone who has obviously been paying very close attention to my details and from what I gathered, engages in some deep analyzation of my profile contents with others who know me or are on my friend list. I guess this person looks at my profile while at a computer with another individual who is on my facebook friend list and has actual permission to see the details that the non-member otherwise wouldn't get to see. I was quite amused and pleased to discover that I am, in fact, interesting enough for someone else to take the time to (somewhat) routinely peruse my profile and then give my details some of their mental space to reside in for future comparison. I never realized I am so fascinating (That's a total lie. I have always known this.) but I am always happy to entertain someone!
Someone who is good at regular blogging and not neglecting his peeps is my good old friend Matty O'. He, himself, is not old but we go way back. His most recent post contains gorgeous photos of Pittsburgh. I've never really been there but I may have stopped at their airport for a layover at one time. My preconceived notion of Pitt is that it is well...the pits. I couldn't imagine anything lovely about the look of that city but it has quite a spectacular skyline at night. Who knew? Take a look at the photos and while you are there, check out some of his other posts. He's an adventurous guy with many interests.

http://mattio829.blogspot.com/2011/05/congratulations.html


Back to garden I go!

Those are some nice genes you're wearing!

My paternal grandfather is the oldest living person in Palm Beach County, FL. If you know that area and know how many senior citizens live there, then you understand what an achievement that actually is. He is due to turn 104 on July 7, 2011. He was born on July 7, 1907 or 07/07/07. Until a few days ago, he lived on his own in his condo with assisted living in the daytime but alone at night. His mind is intact, I am told, but his legs, ears and eyes are totally over this whole life thing. He was falling often, at night when he was alone. He went into a convalescent home a couple days ago after receiving a mild - moderate concussion from one of these falls. His prognosis is not great, as you can imagine. His body is slowly shutting down and as I hear from my father, Grandpa is ok with exiting stage left anytime life is ready to give him his cue. He may or may not make it to July 7, 2011 but then again, neither may any of us. Such is life.

Longevity runs rampant in my father's side of the family, although Grandpa Al is clearly the superstar of the family. My paternal grandmother died at the tender young age of 89. I tend to physically take after my father and his side of the family so, it makes me feel good to know I have some good genetics at play. Here's to Grandpa Al being comfortable and able to find some daily joys in his new digs.

Num-bah 9, Num-bah 9

Magic Hat Brewing Company sells an Ale called #9. It's a tasty ale, if that is your thing but the very best part of it is the inside of #9's bottle caps. Each one has a little saying inside. These sayings are kind of like the love-children of a Snapple cap's fun facts and a fortune cookie. Some of my favorites are as follows, exactly as they appear in the cap:

Put a glide in yo' stride and a dip in yo' hip

Walk Softly And Carry A Big Spirit

hatless beer means refreshment is near

There is nothing better than a Nifty Sweater

Circus Circus, Oh what a noble purpose


and the very best one of all...

The Devil is In The Potato Salad

Practice makes perfect!

Recently, I decided to dust off some old dreams and re-purpose them into fun hobbies. I began singing in January 2011 and in March 2011, I began playing the acoustic guitar. I am fortunate to have an old and dear friend who fronts a local band. This band is a rock/funk/jazz/fusiony kind of group and plays original music. I am their official backup vocalist and we have our very first gig coming up this weekend! I started rehearsing with this band before I had any real vocal skills and my friend was well aware of my limitations when I started. I have been diligent in my training and practice. I bought a series of online lessons from a well known internet and Hollywood vocal coach named Per Bristow. These lessons have been incredible! Not only does Per teach me how to strengthen my vocal cords and to loosen up the various muscles in the mouth, throat, neck and face which shouldn't be involved in the act of singing but often are, as compensatory muscles, he also helps build self-esteem, courage and diminished stage fright. As anyone who knows me can readily attest to, I have no fear of the stage. I have performed many times in different settings. I played alto sax for many years and was a member of every music group in my high school and I also played at the University of CT, in various orchestra, jazz and marching bands. As for singing, what I lack in talent, I try to make up for in stage presence. But...it is one thing to hog the mic at Karaoke night, ham it up for all those present, kind of refuse to let anyone else have a turn, if they do get a turn make it a duet with me...and it is another thing altogether to be a part of someone else's ensemble. I don't want to disappoint my band mates or lessen the overall sound of the entire band and because of that, I have a bit of nervousness to conquer before this weekend.

When singing at home, I can accompany myself on my electric keyboard but my piano skills are quite rusty. My mom played piano and sang very well. There was an upright piano in my home while growing up but I never had formal lessons. Like the other instruments I play (sax, flute, guitar) I taught myself. Unfortunately, acoustic and electric pianos aren't all that portable. Needing another way to accompany myself, I decided to learn the guitar. I have no shortage of willing instructors, between my band mates and various friends who already play very well. I also use the resources on guitartricks.com which I highly recommend. I bought a $60 parlor sized guitar at ToysRUs, while shopping there for birthday gifts for a cousin. I reasoned that if I like the guitar and stick with it, I can get a nicer model down the road. Well, I have that nicer model now and I am officially in love with my new Tanglewood acoustic/electric guitar with built-in tuner. It has lovely inlaid mother-of-pearl accents and sounds great! I am looking forward to the time where I can also strum my guitar on stage while singing backup vocals but for now, seamless chord changes are what I am working on.

I haven't worked much, outside my home, for the past several years. I quit my IT job in 2004 to concentrate on starting a family. I was not having luck with that and thought work stress may be a contributing factor. Because my income wasn't crucial at that time, I left the corporate world and switched to consulting work which I still do from time to time. After years of fertility struggles, economic changes and my many personal turmoils/dramas of 2010, I started looking for steady work again. The problem is that I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. As a kid, I would answer the question of "What do you want to be when you grow up?" by saying I wanted to be a rock star and I was serious about that. I saw myself as a non-OD'ed, non-heroin-addicted Janis Joplin. Actually, I was too young to understand her death or the lifestyle of a rock star but I knew I wanted to sing like her. Needless to say, that dream was not nurtured by my parents but it never really died. No, I don't foresee a late-blooming music career in my future but I do know that I am not as talentless as some people convinced me I probably was while growing up. My family didn't want me to be any kind of performer. Music was a hobby, not a career, in their opinions. I was encouraged to be a professional something or another in order to make a lot of money and live that American dream. "Be a doctor! Be a lawyer! Be anything except a performer! You are too intelligent to waste your brain and life as a struggling musician." These are the things I was told to sell me on that capitalistic American Dream. I can now say, "Been there. Done that." and that American Dream isn't all it's cracked up to be. I've been a fan of live music all my adult life and at times in that adult life I've really perfected the rock star lifestyle. Now, I trying to acquire the chops to go with it, although the lifestyle isn't exactly my style anymore...thank goodness. Whatever it is that I am doing with my recent troubadour hobby, I really enjoy it and am improving by leaps and bounds. My next musical goal is songwriting. For a very long time there has been a song inside me waiting to get out!

Rock on Fiddleheads!! :-)

Cyn City Finally Open to Visitors!

Hi! This is my new blog. Since every blog needs at least one post, to be an authentic blog, here is my first post, with some lovely words for you to read and contemplate. If I was a minimalist, I would tell my stories with selected words only and let you form the sentences around them. I am not a minimalist but I constantly fight my innate laziness.

Serendipitous
Pivotal
Lacuna
Nodus
Flibbertigibbet
Sidereal
Pentatonic
Knaggy
Denouement
Acceptance
Flagellant
Chanty
Bonnie 


Abrazos y Besos,
Cynnie
xxoo