My Senior Composition Recital -- IT'S A GO!

I'm ready to begin an Enchanted April -- the most significant April for me in a long, long time! My birthday's on 10th (Aries Rat -- 1st of each cycle) and finally, my recital:

Sunday, April 20, 2008
2-3 pm My Music
7-7:45 pm Orchestral Performance (including my Pilya)

Occidental College
Bird Studio, Music Department
1600 Campus Road
LA 90041 (Eagle Rock)

Please save the date -- I'd love to have your presence (if you can), support and good wishes that day!

Right now I'm busy finishing up a few pieces, booking and rehearsing talent, writing a little video script for the electronic music piece... remind me when you can that I need to keep breathing!

And away we go...

Just one of those days.

Milonga and Dr. Laura

Coming from a break in working on my Milonga, the one piece that's really hanging me up because I have such high expectations for it.

I took a little drive to the park where I used to walk my dogs, and I heard just a snippet of Dr. Laura talk to a young singer who really was freaking out whenever she would practice her singing... the girl would work herself up to a frenzy so much so that she'd started having panic attacks and start beating herself up for anything short of perfection.

Dr. Laura calmed her down. Said no one notices if something is not sung perfectly, but if it moves the audience. Does she do that, Dr. Laura asked her -- do you enjoy yourself? Because that's what we'll pick up on -- not perfection.

And then:

"Remember what a privilege it is to be able to make music with your body."

My god, exactly what I needed to hear today, as I struggle. I am so lucky!

Anyone Can Whistle

Anyone can whistle
That's what they say -
Easy.
Anyone can whistle
Any old day -
Easy.
It's all so simple:
Relax, let go, let fly.
So someone tell me why
Can't I?

I can dance a tango,
I can read Greek -
Easy.
I can slay a dragon
Any old week -
Easy.

What's hard is simple.
What's natural comes hard.
Maybe you could show me
How to let go,
Lower my guard,
Learn to be free.
Maybe if you whistle,
Whistle for me.

Who knew this was a Stephen Sondheim song? I sure didn't! And after seeing him -- the Dalai Lama of Musical Theater -- last week at The Colony with all my ANMT brethren (my god, what a moment in time... I'll never forget that day!)... how could I not know that song and show? Hm... just another instance of something "typical" that I don't know.

I've had the song on cassette tape that Kevin Schaeffer made me when Shaun and I broke up and it never meant anything to me. Just cute.

But today -- this week -- these past few weeks... it hits me hard:

I don't know ANYTHING about really falling in love. And that not easy to take when you're this side of the proverbial hill.

Well... live and learn. :) I have to be okay with not knowing everything, don't I?

Last night at the Bodhi Tree I let a book "fall off the shelf" -- you know, gather wisdom from whatever happens to catch your eyeball. Well, it just happened to be Marianne Williamson's The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife. How's that for copacetic?

Then I opened a chapter where she was talking about making up all these excuses for why she couldn't be with this very much younger man because "why would he want to be with someone like her" who couldn't give him children, who was so much older, etc. etc. etc. (apologies to Marianne for not quoting her well).

AAGH. Just hit it all on the head and my insanity these for these past few weeks... and then I finally read something like AGE DOESN'T MATTER -- WE'RE ALL SPIRIT.

It totally calmed me down.

I forgot.

Spirit has no age. I won't forget again.

Mae West says

"Too much of a good thing is wonderful."

'Nuff said.

Flippin' Rant

I'm feeling a big one coming on about white boys and not-so-white girls... but I don't know if I have the itlug* to post here -- if it's appropriate here or if it's morphing into a one-act! I'll let you know.

*cojones, nuts, etc...

American Adobo

A video by my friend, Travis -- hope you enjoy as much as I have ;)

Dare to Be Truthful

Here's the four of us in the parking lot of the MBar in Hollywood, right after Rick's cabaret debut "Dare To Be Truthful" with ANMT's Performers Workshop taught by Joshua Finkel.

As someone commented on my MySpace: "That's whole lotta Memorial [High School] there!"




Diane, yours truly, Jeffrey and Rick.

What a powerful group of artists. My grounding.

Is your monitor dirty?

CLEAN YOUR SCREEN!