The abiding ethos of the New Year is to gleefully leap forward- bidding the old year adieu, while revving up for the fresh one ahead. It is a narrative filled with robust enthusiasm, recalibrated resolve and reflective renewal. In the New Year, anything seems possible; this is the year we lose the weight or step up to the plate or have the epic breakthrough. We’ll go the distance this time, and it will be good. This is the prevailing sentiment anyway. But for some people, the…
Circumstances have a way of taking unforeseen turns and sometimes we find ourselves in a situation of living apart from our minor children. There can be a multitude of reasons–divorce, financial issues, geographical moves or even the kid’s own choice–but typically this is not the scenario we’d envisioned when we became mothers. We imagined that we had more time, at least 18 years, and we didn’t expect to be staring at an empty nest so early in the game. It’s a course shift of epic…
This post has been temporarily removed. Kate Bornstein *** Stay with us. Don’t sink to the bottom like a fish going to sleep. Be with the ocean moving steadily all night, not scattered like a rainstorm. The spring we’re looking for is somewhere in this murkiness. See the night-lights up there traveling together, the candle in its gold dish. Don’t slide into the cracks of ground like spilled mercury. When the full moon comes out, look around.…
My guiding principle in creating this blog is authenticity and I always write from a place of openness and honesty. But every now and then, I wrestle with the conundrum of vulnerability and the simple question of whether or not to post about some of the more tender aspects of my humanity. Such is the case with this post. In the process of chewing this over, I reread a few older posts that I’d written, in particular, one on inspiration. I’m reminded that the artists…
A few weeks ago, I posted about a scat workshop that I was starting with my teacher Greta Matassa. The four- week run of the workshop is complete and we are doing a showcase performance at Tula’s tomorrow night. Oh baby, what a fun we've had! Greta is pretty much known around these parts as the high priestess of vocal jazz. She deserves the status; she’s dedicated her life to perfecting her craft…
Hoo-rah! Tonight is the first meeting of a four week scat workshop with my much beloved teacher and jazz musician extraordinaire Greta Matassa. I signed up for this well over a month ago and am happy and excited to get started tonight. When it comes to scat singing, Greta is a nuclear missile. She’s also one of the sharpest teachers around, and there’s no doubt in my mind that this is going to be a great workshop. Scat singing mesmerizes me. Throughout the years, I…