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Some rainbows are bright, some gray, some in colors you've never seen. |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** The sun is always shining and there are always rainbows. If it's cloudy, the rainbow may be covered or in shades of gray. If the rain has just passed, the rainbow may be strong, clear, and brilliant. If the sky is crystal clear, the rainbow may appear in colors unexpected. Whatever is going on for you, there's a rainbow out there somewhere. Look for it. And if you find it, let it brighten your day. Keep it in your heart to tide you over until you see the next one. Gonna give this Johari Window thing a shot. If you think you know me or want to see what others think about me, follow the link then follow the directions. Life is words in motion: Flowing from mind, to hand, to page; Sung from heart, to voice, to ear; Life is words in motion. ~Douglas The Human Touch By Spencer Michael Free
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| I've been noticing something lately whenever I do a word count using the WDC tool for that. There's one word (of four letters or more) that always seems to top the list of any chapter, prose, or other non-poetry piece of writing that I do. Have you ever noticed that in your writing? The word is so prevalent in my writing that at this point in my entry, I've already used it four times. The word is ------>THAT. Now I know sometimes it could be substituted with which and a little less frequently, it could be eliminated all together. But for some reason I just can't get out of the habit of using that word. It is so bad, sometimes, that I even use it twice in a row as in "that that". In that particular instance the second 'that' could easily be substituted with 'which', but only if the second 'that' isn't directly referencing a specific noun immediately before either in that sentence or the sentence before it. If you have any remedies that can help me reduce the use of that word, please let me know. Unless, you can prove that that word is the most used word of four or more letters which will help me feel better about my usage (over-usage?) of that word. That 'that' is really beginning to bug me now |
Before I get into working on another chapter in my book Unguarded, I wanted to talk about a piece of information I found while researching names for this project and my feelings about its tie to the inspiration source for the book. One of the songs from Amy Grant's album Unguarded is titled Sharayah (pronounced Shah-ray-ah). The song is from the perspective of someone wanting to assist a friend who is in trouble. What type of trouble is uncertain. It is not directly mentioned in the song. But one gets the sense that Sharayah is in the verge of suicide. Perhaps the one intervening has stopped her at the moment of the attempt. But that is all up for interpretation. The intervener is aware of the situation and wants Sharayah to talk. Then the intervener tells her about God wanting to partake in her problems too. Finally, the intervener says, "I care about you." "I don't want to push you," perhaps into making any decisions except to turn away from the narrow path she is immediately on. "I don't want to lose you." "Come with me." All these statements, to me, are just other ways of saying "I love you. I am here for you. No matter what." Talk about a powerful message! Now, consider the research I've just done. I did a search on the definition of the name Sharayah, and what I found blew me away. It also, kinda, changed my perspective on the meaning of the song if you look for 'underlaying' messages. Sharayah is a female Hebrew name that means friend Keeping in mind that Amy Grant is a Contemporary Christian singer, most of whose hits came in the late 70s and throughout the 80s. At that time in my life, I was a full fledged Baptist. One of the beliefs of most Baptist churches then (if not still now) is that the Hebrew people, though the original "chosen people of God", cannot now enter the gates of heaven without acknowledging the holiness of Jesus Christ and the atonement for sins provided for by the shedding of his blood and of the physical resurrection and assumption into heaven. Now I'm not saying that Amy Grant is or was a Baptist, but taken in that light, this song's underlaying message changes from helping anyone in a desperate situation, to a call the the Hebrew people into the salvation of Jesus Christ as offered in the Catholic or Protestant faith systems. Doesn't that present some pretty interesting ideas? Personally, I prefer the more "secular" interpretation of the song, the first one I presented. It opens the dialog of Christ as Savior in a non-threatening way to everyone, but overlays that message with the statement of "whatever else you choose to do, I (me, myself) will be here and be your friend." This, in my mind, is the greater display of love. A non-judging, non-threatening, unconditional, Unguarded type of love. I think that's the message that I'm going to carry through in the book and, more specifically, in the chapter that is inspired by the song. But it most certainly a revealing discovery, eh? |
If you've read any of my blog before (not that there's a whole lot to it just now  ) you'll know that I sing with the in a community chorus. Namely, the Gay Men's Chorus of Houston. You'll also know that we are getting ready for a concert on March 31. This concert is the next in the series of our Decades series, this time featuring songs of the 80s. Part of one of the songs we are singing was recorded and posted on You Tube. I thought I'd share that with you if you cared to watch and listen. Check it out here  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp8xv4QlXHY Let the River Run from the movie Working Girl I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but I was selected as part of the small group ensemble for this concert. Our feature piece is an a capella version of Cindy Lauper's True Colors. Let me tell you, it is sounding AWESOME! And we've only rehearsed the piece as a group twice so far. I think we're even surprising our director, James. The other pieces parts the SGE is doing are the theme from Arthur and Sade's Smooth Operator. There's also an itsy-bitty "sound injection" done during the theme from Miami Vice but that's not even really worth mentioning. So to be fully prepared, we have one more Sunday rehearsal, two Mondays, one Thursday, one Saturday, and an eight hour Sunday tech/dress rehearsal before the performance on a Monday night. The whole concert is performed memorized and I'm about 70% there. Oh, yeah. Plus there's the extra rehearsals that the small group has, but they'll probably be the same day (just before or after) the other rehearsals. Now, to add to all that - my church is preparing for a busy Holy Week. We're going to have services on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, a dress rehearsal on Saturday, and performances in both services on Sunday morning. And I get to double up on all the activities for these days as I'm in both the sanctuary choir and the hand bell choir. I'll be so glad when April comes around. Maybe I can get some sleep then. |
| This one is for any music major out there. I sing baritone, frequently a fun line to sing in a men's chorus but frequently relegated to the bass line in any SATB arrangement. Now on a good day, my actual range will run from F3 (at the base of the bass clef) to F5 (F above middle C). With a bit of stretching I can even hit E-flat3 and A5 but without any real volume. Now my question come here - Why, depending on the key the music is written in, does a C-Sharp 5 in A seem higher than a D-flat 5 in A-flat? Sometimes in a song, I'll have trouble hitting a note that I shouldn't have any problem hitting. And when I see that same note, in a different key in another song, there's no problem getting it. It's a conundrum. It's baffling. It's frustrating. |
| Not that I'm complaining from, mind you. But ... it sure is surprising me. Over the past two days, I've written almost 3000 words in first draft for Unguarded. And ideas about chapter ordering have been having me flip flopping the current list about in my head. Actual order most likely won't show until I've gotten a few more together. I've begun to think of an alternate title - "Songs in the Key of Me." The reason for the change is because I'm thinking of using more than one artist's recording to inspire or capture the essence of each chapter. And as I've already used all the song titles of one record, I'm going to have to use the titles of another as I seem to be working on additional chapters already. Perhaps the chapters will ultimately have no individual names. I'll wait and see if anything else seems to line up though. Well, time to get to work on the next batch of words and see where they lead me and which chapter they'll belong to. Wish my fingers well. They'll probably want to leave my hands by the time I'm finished. |
| I just got finished working a 14 hour day at the polls here in the Lone Star State and, while I am watching the election results on CNN, I am finding my mind shoot off in all sorts of other directions. Random thoughts, memories, and whatnot is pouring out and through. - Have you ever had this happen to you? A few years ago, I remember seeing a commercial where I saw my name in print on the screen. I don't remember what was being sold, but that was a freaky moment in my life. - Wolf Blitzer has locked onto a term for the Texas primary/caucus hullabaloo, "It's a nail-bitter." Gee, ya think so? - I'm glad I worked in a voting precinct other than where I voted (I actually voted early). Had I been in my home precinct, I would have wanted to stay for the caucus after the primary voting closed. From what I saw in the precinct where I was working about how the caucus was being worked, I'd have been frustrated beyond belief on how the democrats are handling this whole thing. It's bad enough that I feel the democrats are doubly denigrating the voice of the people here by holding both voting formats. It's absolutely disgusting. I'm beginning to feel that my vote (in this primary) ain't worth a thing. - Of all the items in my port, I'm amazed to find that my crossword is about to hit 100 views already. The only thing that has a higher viewing count is something I wrote on and transfered from my former WDC account that I ended up closing in January. (And it has had no views since the transfer.) - I'm so P.O.'d at my regular c-store. They only had one package of Ramen noodle soup left and that was the shrimp variety. The only flavor that I really dislike more are the hot and spicy varieties. - I got news yesterday that I made the vocal small group in my chorus for the upcoming concert. And (there's always a flip-side to any given coin) pending on how prepared or unprepared the rest of the chorus is on certain songs, the small group may be assigned the song or portions of it to relieve the load from the rest of the chorus. Not that it's really changing the amount of music I have to memorize, but the added responsibility of the quality of the concert resting on (the small group's collective) shoulders just shot up an incredible amount. - I bought a package of pre-popped popcorn with a variety of flavors in it and one of them really surprised me. One bag was flavored with chili and sour cream. To tell the truth, I was hesitant to try it initially. But once I did - Wow! It had a nice kick and it bit me back a little. But the sour cream in the flavoring took enough of the bite and kick out to make it bearable and, dare I say it, even enjoyable. - We had a small area black out last night when a nearby transformer blew. The power company came out and kicked it back into gear. But I think they may have kicked it a bit too hard. Within two minutes of restoring power, I heard nothing less than an explosion that I can only assume can from the transformer. So I was again in the dark for another two hours before the power was finally restored. - OMG! Hillary just used the term "come back" in her Ohio victory speech. Well, I think that's about it for now. Time to try and actually write something more substantial - like putting more words in one of my stories or perhaps another poem. TTFN |
If you've read the introduction my puzzle, "Invalid Item"  , you'll know that I'm preparing to be in a concert featuring hits from the 80s (and apparently a couple from the 70s as well . I am so far behind in my memorization schedule right now that it's not even funny. Yes, I said memorization. We also have what we lovingly call "choral-ography" that we have to do on stage. Moving all over the place and waving hands hither, thither and yon while holding folders nearly two inches thick would be rather horrid looking - not to mention dangerous to one's fellow singers.Where my rant comes in is in the selection of music that the composer selected to form all the melodies and some of the harmonies that he arranged and devised. The Eighties were a decade of some absolutely fabulous music. And some rather dismal pieces that, for reasons still unknown to me (and probably the rest of humankind), became wildly popular, chart toppers. Hey Mickey is one of those "songs" for me... and one that we are doing.  Anyway, I have to spend the rest of the afternoon working on memorizing these songs. our concert is just four weeks away. Mercy! Where has the time gone? Four Weeks?! That means we've already had nine rehearsals. Let's see... so the calendar is saying we have four regular rehearsals, two Sunday rehearsals, one possible Thursday bonus rehearsal, and an eight hour dress/tech rehearsal in the next 28 days, and then the concert on the 31st. I think I'm sitting out on the next concert. |
| As a general rule I like the little efficiency apartment that I live in. I'm less than a half mile from two light rail stations (one of which is also a transit center for the city Metro buses), a mile and a half from downtown, and close to several other conveniences that make my life easier. However, since the rent is so low (relatively speaking for the location) and leases can be either weekly or monthly - well, the renters that come through are not the most desirable to say the least. My current next door neighbor seems to have a severe disregard for the rules of the lease. I don't fault him for the type of music he plays. I like it too. But the rules are that after 10 PM is when tenants are to be respectfully quiet. However, not only does this neighbor turn the volume way up so that the bass pulses through several neighboring apartments, but he leaves his front door open. Now since my AC unit is less than two feet from from his door, the loud volume that he plays that at comes right through that hole in my wall, drowning out not only any music I may be playing but also whatever TV program I may have on. It also really interferes with writing that I'm doing. So frustrating. |
| I just saw (for the umpteenth time) the trailer for Horton Hears A Who. Now a few days ago I overheard someone saying that Carol Burnette was voicing Horton. They must have had a very short short-term memory regarding that tidbit. The trailer clearly states that Jim Carey is Horton. My question is, if they are advertising Carol Burnette as having a roll, I'm assuming that her roll is fairly large, so who is she playing. If her voice is on the commercial she's disguising it well enough that I can't tell. Do you know? |
| I have a story/book ("Invalid Item" ) in the making that was originally to be part of the Musicology Anthology contest. However after putting the whole story on ice for a couple of weeks, I didn't feel I could do it justice by limiting myself to the word count required from the contest. The story is going to take a while to properly develop (with some major rewrites, especially on chapter one). Your patience is appreciated as are any comments you may have on any given chapter that has more than just lyrics in it. Also, since a "character" of this story is HIV/AIDS in the 1989 to 1992, if you have any information that may be useful, please email me directly at my WDC addy. All research help is greatly appreciated. A little about this story. There are many details that I have already included in Unguarded that are autobiographical. People's names are changed and their personalities are actually a mix of several people I have known throughout my life, not necessarily the time period that I'm writing about. Some scenes and events are foundations for actions and places that are already mentioned. But trying to make these things generally unrecognizable except for how they are described is not as easy a task as I first thought it would be. Perhaps it is because I have such a personal knowledge of it all. That is why I can see through all the make-up applied to see what lies beneath. Writing a story about a fictional "real world" place and series of events is a lot harder than actually creating a whole new world where magic is possible or science has advanced to the point where intergalactic travel is possible. In those instances, you can create all the rules for how things work, why things are done, who comes into the story no matter how ridiculous the reasoning for it (initially). In a real-world story, you have to work within a set of rules that have been in place for so long. You can't change them to suit your purposes. You can't invent mysterious solutions and use a bunch of gobblety-gook to explain it all away. You are working with a clay that is only slightly malleable, stretching and bending only so far before it breaks and the illusion you had been carefully creating for your reader falls apart. Is it any wonder that I, in general, prefer to write fantasy stories, or poetry, or ghost stories. That clay is much more malleable and I can work it with the greatest finesse. But I think it is also for that reason that I took on the challenge of writing this particular story. An author isn't going to be able to grow sufficiently in his/her craft without taking on such challenges. So for now, wish me luck and good fortune. This is a tale I want to tell. It may not be an Angels In America when it's finished, or even a Tales of the City. But it will be mine. And my "voice" will be heard. |
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