There's so much that needs to be done around here but sometimes you just gotta take a day off, y'know?
On Saturday the boys and I went to LA for the song writing workshop. We went early because Peter had a concert that afternoon. He invited all the workshop participants to attend. More about that later. This time Peter talked a lot about using metaphors in song writing. I liked the way he presented the idea. He talked about using metaphors as keys, like keys in music. He used the song Julia as an example. There's lots of ocean imagery in that song so he described it as being in the "key of ocean". He really gives us a lot of good material and I haven't been utilizing it as much as I should. I need to take the time and read the handouts he gives us. It's a lot of material. I need to get it into a notebook so it's not a lot of loose sheets.
Towards the end of the class he asked if anyone wanted to present their song. No one was stepping up so I said I'd go first. It felt a little goofy. We had just been deconstructing John Lennon and Tom Waits and here I am about to present my middle-aged teenager song. But I sang it and people liked it. Got some great feedback from Peter. Jeff and Bill were ready to present theirs but this doofus dude who has a tendency to waste class time with stupid questions said he'd go next. His song wasn't ready at all! And he was a sucky guitar player. He played louder than he sang so you couldn't hear the words he was mumbling. When he was done singing he tried to explain what he was trying to do with the song. He wanted it to be about this girl he works with who is young and just starting her life. He wants to juxtapose her story with this old woman he knows and oh yeah, there's some guy who sells oranges he also wants to put in the song. WTF? I think even a very skilled song writer would have trouble fitting all that together in one song. AND the first line in the song is "Lizzie's in a tizzy..." Puh-leeez! Jeff and Bill never did get to sing their songs because this guy took up all the rest of the class time.
After that we drove to UCLA (Eek! Parking!) for Peter's concert. It was a big event with concerts going on all around the music building. Peter's part of it was an informal panel in the band room. It was him, a couple of guys who call themselves I See Hawks Over LA and this woman named Laura Love. God gawd, Laura Love was sooo much fun. I'd never heard of her but I left there with two of her cd's. She's a kick-ass bass player with an amazing voice. I loved her songs and her dancey and humorous performance. And I really enjoyed seeing Peter perform. The other two guys didn't grab me much. After the show we walked into town and had lunch at BJ's.
When I got home Lindsay's birthday party was in full swing. I sang my song for them and hung out for a while. Then I went to my room so they could have the rest of he house. On Sunday I was lazy. The only thing I did was organize my music notebook. I also cleaned my room (mostly). Watched the last episode of John Adams. Interesting that he and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, July 4, 1826, fifty years after the birth of the country. And after watching that show you might think that 200 years ago everyone died with their eyes open.
This morning I took Katie and Boz to the vet. Katie is doing much better. I think she's going to be with us for a while. I just have to take her in for fluids every once in a while and feed her some special food. I sure would like to fatten her up a bit.
Ok, breakfast, shower, work. Here we go again.
9 comments:
Hooray for goofing off! Although, you don't make it sound much like goofing off!
I REALLY like your song lyrics and wish I could hear the tune. I cried over the "Half a Brain" one and laughed (and related to) the "50 year old teenage'" one. Except I'm 57 and more used to the concept now :)
Glad for Katie & Boz!
Keep on truckin'!
Mommala
Thanks, Anne! You'll hear the song when you guys come out in the summer. Maybe before then if I can get it recorded. I have to start using Garage Band like Kyle.
Whew! I just got back from visiting with Dad. He was dozing in the dining room. I woke him up and said, "Hey, Dad, how have you been feeling?" He said, "With my hands." Then he gave me a Ruth look. He kept falling asleep during the visit. pretty soon they brought his dinner and I fed it to him. I had to keep waking him up to get him to swallow. Still, he ate most of his meal.
There was one woman there who really got to me. She seemed much younger than the others and maybe not so far gone. She was very nice and polite. She kept asking when her husband was coming. The staff pretty much ignored her like they ignore everyone. That's ok, they can't attend to everyone who squawks for help because there's no helping those people. But this woman was different. She seemed like someone I'd like to get to know. Actually, she reminded me of me and that's why she got to me. I was pretty well churned up when I left.
So, I'm leaving now to get my ass up the Rube. Gotta walk off this downer.
I know ou had a full day of fun and song. I hear Peter really liked your song. I imagine if all three of you sang all of your songs the mumbly guy wouldn't ever show up again. That might actually be a good plan.
Heh! Maybe, but I think if you're that much of a doofus you're probably to dense to see that maybe you shouldn't waste people's time with such a disaster.
This week the assignment is to write a song about our mother or father. I'm not sure I can handle that right now. He said we could also write a song aobut our town. I like that better. Last night as I was going up Mt. Rubidoux I was getting some ideas about that activity. Something about enjoying the view from up there and describing the sights and telling a little story about each one. Like the Fox theater and RCC and Evergreen cemetery and the Mission Inn. Places we used to run around when we were teenagers. I don't think I can get that one together by Saturday.
Bleah. I'm at work and ready to fall asleep.
azkrgunt- a rhyming device used by shitty songwriters.
I'm thinking right now is the perfect time to write about your parents. Anger and hurt can be amazing shoves.
Writing about idyllic fun memories is good, but it's also something you can do with your eyes closed. Do you really want to use a workshop to do something you can do with your eyes closed or do you want to stretch?
Nobody said the writing has to be happy and boppy and easy.
Stretch yourself. Uness you don't want to.
Don't want to. At least not in that way. Not right now. Songwriting is still pretty foreign so right now I want to keep it fun. Otherwise I might quit. Besides, songwriting in itself is a stretch. I have written a lot of cleansing type poetry stuff that probably won't ever make it into a song. It was good to get that stuff out. But it came out as a nice, cleansing flow. Songwriting takes more work.
Oh man, a little while ago I had an anxiety attack. At least I think that's what it was. I've never had one before. My pulse was racing and my breathing was fast and hard. Man, it was awful. I have some Xanax in my purse so I took half of one. I think it's helping. I did some reading on the internet and found some info about taking Xanax and propranolol together. I also keep propranolol with me for tremors. I broke one in half and took it. We'll see if it adds to the mellow. I hope so because I was feeling like I had just chugged 15 cups of coffee.
Ok, feeling better now.
You're the second friend in a week that told me she's had an anxiety attack. What is up with that?
It sounds like an anxiety attack. You should report it to your doctor tho.
I'll do that. I'm seeing her tomorrow. My stomach still feels jumpy. Ugh! That was awful and I hope it never happens again.
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