Nothing to say

I did finish my song last week. It's not the greatest thing I've ever written, but it's done, and it's mine, and after a couple of years of nothing, I'm proud of it.

I'm trying to write my Relief Society lesson and nothing is coming.

I've got to start a new song in the next day or two and nothing sounds good.

I tried to think of things I'm grateful for and nothing came to mind. (This doesn't mean I'm not grateful, I just can't seem to be specific this morning.)

I did finish my song last week *grin*. It's not the greatest thing I've ever written, but it's done, and it's mine, and after a couple of years of nothing, I'm proud of it. In fact, I'm grateful for it.

That's not nothing.

Yes, it's love

I just adore Jason Robert Brown. Not for his stunning good looks or stellar personality, I'm not sure either of those exist, after all, I've never met the guy. It's his music. Ahhhh! I could listen to his music every day. It's funny, it's heart felt, it's real, it actually means something, and in this time of meaningless drivel that record producers call music I find it an oasis.

There are other real musicians out there. I can listen to Billy Joel until the cows come home. I think Sting is a poet as well as a musician (have you really listened to "Fields of Gold?"). And speaking of poets, Paul Simon has got to be one of the best. George Winston manages to extract sounds from a piano that I didn't think were even possible. He's another one of my "listen to him every day" composers.

A real musician is not just a singer. A real musician is not just an intrumentalist, whether piano, guitar, or anything else. A real musician has something more. Something that makes them a lasting commodity. Something...

I'm always on the look out for new musicians to love. Leave me ideas! Loan me cd's! I promise I'll listen with an open mind! And maybe, just maybe, if it touches my heart, I'll add them to my list of "real musicians".

Composing

Another resolution this year has to do with my composing. I used to compose music all the time. I have a couple albums worth of music that I wrote either by myself or with a partner. The only problem is, I haven't composed, at all, in a couple of years. And I really miss it.

One of my friends, I think it was Kate, told me a story of how Michael McLean would compose a song every day, good or bad, just to get the creative juices flowing. I may have messed up all the details of that story, maybe it wasn't Kate, maybe it wasn't Michael McLean, but the point is the same. I've got to get the creativity back.

Unfortunately, I don't have time in my schedule to sit down and compose an entire song every day. The demands of kids, lessons, babysitting, and life in general are too overwhelming. But I can find a few minutes nearly every day. And thus, the resolution is:

• Compose a new song once a week.
• The song need not be perfect: good, bad or ugly works.
• The song need not be religious in nature.
• The song need not have lyrics, which makes it not a song at all, but rather a piece.
• My week will end on Sunday.

I'm rather happy with this, except for one thing. Tomorrow is Sunday, my new song is begging for a third verse, and I am completely stuck. At least there's a new song to be begging...

Popcorn

Yesterday I finished an amazing book, "The Photograph" by Virginia Ellis. I would recommend it for anyone. It deals with two women, Ruth and Maddy, who are left to deal with some pretty awful things while their men go off to fight World War II. It's told from both viewpoints, alternating from one to the other, but I was never confused about who was speaking. I do own a copy of this book, purchased at library sale for 50 cents, and if anyone wants to borrow it, let me know. Please! Borrow my book! I want to be able to discuss this book with someone!

My family, minus Sarah who was babysitting, sat down to watch our weekly episode of "Doctor Who" last night. David and I purchased the dvds of the third new season for the family, but we don't know when the fourth will be available, if ever, so we are rationing out what we've got. All the kids, even Ella, love Doctor Who. And I must admit, the idea of a time and space traveling alien is very intriguing. I think, if he were real, that I just might go. Well, at least for a trip or two. Somehow, that knowledge makes watching the series a little bit better. And so far, I'm enjoying the third season, in spite of all the negative reviews I read about it before I found it to purchase. Why do I like things other people don't? Hmmm....that's a blog for another day.

I finally watched the movie "Stardust" last night. I enjoyed it. I loved Claire Danes. I thought Michelle Pfeiffer was deliciously wicked. I was curious as to why Rupert Everett was only on for two minutes. I didn't care so much for Robert DiNero. Wow. His name is Spanish for money... Back to the point, overall I liked the movie. The dead brothers cracked me up. Tristan's evolution was well portrayed. The special effects were good. It didn't follow the book.

Stardust is one of those books that I read and really enjoyed last summer. It's a strange book to read, it doesn't flow as well as some others, it's not very fleshed out as far as a story goes, but all in all, it's a great little book. And while I could see the reasons for changing the ending, it didn't make me so happy. I liked the story the way the book ended. Why do movie producers, writers, directors, editors, think they know better than the original author?

Which brings me to "The Golden Compass." I liked the book. I really did. I found it well written and entertaining. I have heard all the furor surrounding the author's claim of "anti-Narnia" and "atheism" and I just don't care. It's fiction. Get over it. I love fantasy stories, and this one was no exception. In fact, David and the boys listened to it this last summer while I was in Hawaii. And they loved it.

The movie of "The Golden Compass" was disappointing. There were parts I liked. The children playing with their daemons, Nicole Kidman's wardrobe, Daniel Craig, maybe I should repeat that, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliot was perfectly cast as Lee Scoresby, and a bunch of other little things. Sadly, it wasn't enough to take away the fact that the movie was very long, and really quite boring. And the end was wrong. It drove my boys nuts. All they could talk about for an hour after the movie was over was how Roger was supposed to die. I tried to justify it for them, I really did, but all my excuses came out shallow and wrong.

Leave my good books alone!

I'm very afraid for the movie adaptation of "Twilight"...

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Rachael...she's having a baby. I guess that means congratulations to Dave, too.

Congratulations to Cat...she made callbacks!

Congratulations to anyone who made it through New Years alive...more or less.

Congratulations to David...you got the tree down without killing any kids.

Congratulations to me...I stood up for myself and refused to take a non-paying position just to boost my ego.

Congratulations to you...not for any particular reason...doesn't it feel good?

Resolutions

This is another "duh" topic for the beginning of a new year. Tough. Deal with it.

My resolutions so far are quite simple.

1. Lose 10 pounds.
2. Read Les Miserables.

I think everyone in this country has the first goal, or maybe something similar to it. I'm given to understand that weight loss is the most popular New Year's Resolution. Being that it's so popular, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and try it out this year.

I've had a copy of Les Miserables since I was 21. I've read the first couple hundred pages maybe 5 or 6 times. I'm finally going to read the entire book. Still, I'm giving myself the entire year to accomplish this. The plan goes like this: read three books, read one or two chapters in Les Miserables, read two books, read two pages...

I'm certain that I'll think of more things I want to resolve as the week goes along. After all, setting goals and trying to improve ourselves shouldn't be a one day a year activity. It should be something that can happen any day, any time, whenever we finally get motivated. Maybe I'll be motivated tomorrow, or the next day, or even next month...I'm not so sure I'm motivated right now!

Happy New Year!

Seems like a really "duh" title for the first blog of a new year, but there you go. It is, after all, a new year, and I do wish you happiness.

David and I went off to Laughing Stock tonight. We enjoyed it so much that we are talking about trying to do it again next year, or this year, as the case may be. It certainly helps that Sarah is old enough to babysit at home, but not old enough to run off to a party of her own. *grin*

The kids stayed home and celebrated in their own way. I found out, after the fact of course, that this included; playing chase with the dog in the house, making way too much noise (no big deal), and the grand finale...wait for it...drum roll...shaking up cans of red cream soda and exploding them in my kitchen at 12:00. Hmmm. They said they cleaned up ("and Chubs helped!"), but the floor is still suspiciously sticky. Oh well. They'll have to mop in the morning.

Laughing Stock went a little over time tonight. Initially, David and I were going to try to make it home to cheer in the new year with the kids. I certainly wouldn't have allowed red cream soda fountains, so I'm thinking they didn't mind so much. Anyway, we kissed in the new year at the stoplight at 4700 so. and I-215. Three minutes later we celebrated with the kids.

Well, my family is all set to try on 2008 for size. We have lots of big plans, lots of little plans, and lots of no plans at all. Mostly, I hope we're happy. And in that spirit, I wish you all...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!