HELLO 2024 AND HELLO YOU!
The last blog I wrote was about Will Smith taking a swing at Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. What year was that? Feels like ancient history, considering all that is happening in the world. In our heads. And hearts. Well I’ve missed writing and connecting with you. The “music thing” has kind of taken over my life and this worker-bee loves to work. I still do one gig a week, teaching beginning ukulele at a local retirement community. Our … Read More
A SMACK GOES VIRAL AND THE STORIES WE TELL
I’m watching the Academy Awards, answering emails and cleaning my desk. That’s when I see Jada Pinkett Smith, sitting in the swanky front row with her husband Will Smith. The next presenter, Chris Rock, lays into her with a lame joke about her hair. She’s rolling her eyes and looking very pissed-off. Hubby is laughing, kind of fakey-like. Until he isn’t. That’s when he bounds on stage, all huffy-puffy, and smacks Chris Rock in the noggin. My computer screen goes … Read More
ONE YEAR LATER
One year ago, Friday, March 12, 2021, I had big plans for the day — two Zoom gigs and a Covid surge take-out dinner with my sweetie, wrapped and ready to go from our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Paco’s Taco’s.
But…
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” wrote John Lennon. Instead of enchiladas, I stared down a baby bowl of tepid vegetable soup that a guy from dietary delivered to my hospital room.
CARDIAC REHAB –THE GRAND FINALE OR HOW I LEARNED TO LOVE DUMBBELLS AND TRIGGER BALLS
The staff in Cardiac Rehab at UCLA offered me a cap and gown for this momentous occasion: Graduation. I thought they were kidding. They weren’t kidding nor were they laughing as hard as I was…
KEEPING YOU IN THE LOOP
Big fun happenings are happening in my world and I want to keep YOU in the loop! This Thursday, September 16, 2021, from 5:00 to 6:00pm (PST), I am the guest teacher at The Ukulele Kids Club Academy. It’s FREE and online! So all you have to do is sit your butt down and play along. I remember the first class I taught with the UKC Academy because so many of you showed up and it just felt like home.
THIS MORNING SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAPPENED TO ME
My relationship with time has always been a little wobbly but since the pandemic, wobbles have turned into free-falls and bumpy rides through the land of “what is time anyway?”
This is my way of saying I don’t remember when “that morning” happened. Was it spring, summer, fall, winter? I don’t know. But it’s easy to flash back to the moment.
PUT YOUR OWN HEART FIRST
My phone alarm goes off at 5:30am. I am jolted awake by Al Jarreau crooning his song Mornin’ because it sure is… I’ve been doing this “deliver-the-newspaper-kind-of-early” for the last couple of months so I can get to Cardiac Rehab on time every Monday and Wednesday.
YOU GOTTA HAVE HEART
My journey through post-heart attack land is a traveler’s work-in-progress. I’m learning more and more about the backroads and red flags in Cardio Land. So here’s the latest…
NEXT TIME
Apparently some astrologers report that right now is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. To be sure, I suspect a few are also saying “nuh-uh.” As for me I tell myself, “that’s entertainment.” I bring this up because when I hear the reporter talking about this new age stuff on my local NPR station I don’t glom onto spinning moons and planets. No-no. I start humming the iconic Aquarius song from Hair, the hippie musical that opened on Broadway in 1968. “The CC Strummers can do this on the ukulele,” I proclaim out loud as I’m foraging through the fridge for a snack.
But then I fall backwards in time and land at THAT matinee at the Aquarius Theater on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. It was an afternoon that shook my world.
THE YELLOW LIGHT
Maybe life is like a traffic signal. When the light is red you stop. When it’s green you go, when it’s yellow, that means caution. You have choices and choices have consequences. Ten days ago I landed at the yellow. Let my story be a cautionary tale. Over this last pandemic year I have spent more time sitting on my butt in front of the computer than ever before. For days I wouldn’t even go outside and outside around here … Read More
366 DAYS
What a year! These 366 days. They came at us like roiling storm clouds. One freaking squall after another. At times I have felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, running for the backyard hole-in-the-ground before the tornado hits. My own storm shelter is made of blankets, which I pull over my head. I close my eyes, cover my ears and go “na-na-na-na-na.” Apparently kindergarten is still in session our house. Obviously, in ways stark to slim, this year … Read More
BRAND NEW DAY
“Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.” Emily Kimbrough, author and broadcaster (1899-1989) I am not familiar with Emily nor her work, but I sure like this quote and maybe you noticed she lived a really long life. Heads up to my introvert, extrovert and whatever-vert friends. Even during these “don’t touch me, don’t breathe on me” times, our pals, our friends, our tribes, the online faces in little … Read More