22 Aug 2013

IT’S FIESTA TIME and more…

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So here is my challenge… How do I describe a “local” ukulele show so it feels like it’s happening in your neighborhood too?

Well, this is how I see it. We all need a little bolus of joy now and then. Maybe everyday. A second-wind that lifts us over the sticky spots. Making music is a great balm for what ails us. And when we have a musical family to make music with, that’s a gift that just keeps giving.

For all of us, no matter where we call home.

Our Thursday CC Strummers Class, rehearsing for the big show.

My ukulele group, The CC Strummers, is gearing up for our really big show this Sunday, August 25 (at 11:00 A.M.) at Culver City’s version of a county fair: Fiesta La Ballona. For the last couple of days I’ve been watching the workers pitching tents, laying electrical doo-dads and the “carnie” guys erecting the Ferris Wheel and other vomit-inducing thrill rides. Arcade games are next. Soon the kid-friendly ponies will arrive, along with throngs of people to sample the international smorgasbord of food and drink. Booths of “artisan wares” are favorites and various local entrepreneurs set up shop to advertise their store, their philosophy, free legal services, their business (look for Bob Wayne and Sunburst Recording where I recorded my new CD). It’s a Petri-dish of humanity tucked onto the grassy field behind The Veterans Memorial Building.

Do you have fairs like this in your world?

The Veterans Memorial Building at Culver and Overland Boulevards in the heart of Culver City, California.

These street parties are fun and sparkling with energy and this Sunday, The CC Strummers are the first act on the stage (well, the dance-floor really), setting a tone of joy for the rest of the day. About 40 or so ukulele players, all gussied-up aloha style, will perform an eclectic array of music that we have been practicing for weeks. We want the audience to sing along and just feel “dem good ukulele vibes.” We have some surprises for you too.

So my Southern California friends, here are the details:

Fiesta La Ballona goes from Friday night, August 23 through Sunday evening, August 25, 2013. Parking is free, entertainment and booths are free. The CC Strummers perform Sunday morning, August 25, from 11:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. under the tent, which is close to Culver Boulevard. (The audience sits under the tent too). Afterwards there is a cavalcade of main acts and community groups that will keep folks entertained all day. Fiesta is located at Culver and Overland Boulevards in the heart of Culver City, California.

AND MORE…

The CC Strummers sharing my luau-gig at Grandview Terrace in Mar Vista, CA

Six of the CC Strummers joined me at my luau-gig yesterday. We car-pooled to a low-income housing facility for seniors. These folks are mostly from somewhere else and speak a “somewhere else” language. But we got to experience, first-hand, how music just is, just is the glue that binds us together. Even if it lasts just as long as a song. As we launched into our arrangement of “The C & H Sugar Commercial Theme,” a table of exuberant woman from South Korea leaped from their chairs, took their positions on the floor right in front of us and began their version of a country line dance. Who knew?

It was just that kind of magical day. I took a short video of Cris, Ed, Lorelyn, Nancy, Ginger and Marilyn rehearsing “Tiny Bubbles” before the show. It’s music and comedy all rolled into one.

Click here to check it out.

Have a wonderful weekend, wherever you are. And if you are near Culver City, please join us Sunday.

11 Aug 2013

IN A “FLASHING” KIND OF MOOD

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Cali, Ed, Nancy & Lillian. Nancy hands a young family her camera and domo arigato, we have this splendid picture in Little Tokyo.

I’ve been telling The CC Strummers, my ukulele group in Culver City, all about the big “Ukulele Flash Mob.” It’s a-comin’. And we’re a-goin’.

What’s a flash mob?” One senior asks. “Well…. You wear a trench coat and when they count 1-2-3-4, you open your coat and flash your….…ukulele.”

That goes over with a thud.

“When is it,” they ask? One fine Saturday afternoon in Little Tokyo. So I gather three stalwart strummers, Ed, Lillian and Nancy, to carpool with me as we drive to what is now vibrant and exhilarating downtown Los Angeles.

We find a place to park in the cheap lot and hike past the new condos, old restaurants and colorful shops. Suddenly we are swept into rivers of people and declare, above the cacophony, that we should tie a rope to each other so we don’t get separated. But I guess cell phones have become the new virtual “leash” these days.

We eventually find the powers-that-be, Terry and Shoshanna, the two hard-working volunteers from the Los Angeles Music Center, who have planned this flashy exhibition of spontaneity, right in front of the Japanese-American National Museum. A few moments before “show time,” folks arrive with their ukuleles surreptitiously hidden away—in grocery bags, big purses, between their legs. But even the few ukes that are now prominently displayed out in the open don’t register a passing nod of curiosity. Did I tell you it’s Nisei week? Too. The food, the taiko drums, the rows and rows of booths that sell all kinds of goodies, the whole celebration, that is what’s drawing the crowds today.

I’m actually here by accident, to tell you the truth. A few weeks ago I respond to a group email request from Terry, asking for song ideas for the mob to perform. Well that’s right up my alley after teaching the CC Strummers for three years. We like our fun, simple songs that are easy to learn and easy to play. So I share a few suggestions, and figure that’s it. Done.

Ukulele players take their positions and get ready to “flash”

Well so much for my gifts of prophecy. “Flash forward” and the organizers are using three of The CC Strummers’ song charts for the Flash Mob and I am called on to lead the group. I figure I will count 1-2-3-4, then fade into the crowd.

But no………

They put me up on the steps and tell me to start playing my uke. Suddenly people appear, almost a hundred I guess, from every direction, with ukuleles and smiles and they begin strumming along. Oh what a wonder!

“1-2-3-4 All of me. Why not take all of me…

At that point I am yanked off my stoop to face the crowd and suddenly I’m “conducting” and most important, “counting down” the songs so we all start together. At the same time. Large crowds make me nervous so I think about food instead and that usually calms me down.  Today sushi comes to mind.  And that’s how I make it through an utterly joyful mob-scene of happy ukulele players. We sing Let’s Twist Again, Dream Baby, Hound Dog and All of Me.

The “view” from the top of the mob.

Families, couples, young people, old people stop to watch and take pictures and sing along. I have to tell you, this is SMILE-O-LICIOUS! And it’s hard to imagine anything can top our splendid six minutes of flashing in Little Tokyo…

Until…

As we merge onto the Santa Monica Freeway, a long stretch limo appears to our right.  It’s big, almost like a bus. Suddenly a window rolls down and someone hangs his big naked butt out for all west-bound traffic to see.  Let me tell you, glimpsing a full-moon, on a hot afternoon, from a moving vehicle with three other people who value comedy, is better than chocolate.

“Wo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o”! That’s all we can muster at first, in exquisite unison. Eyes fixed on that big round posterior until the limo changes freeways at the Staples Center, we dissolve into laughter, then rousing commentary concluding that this butt belongs to a dude. Not because any other “dude” parts are hanging out.  Nope, we figure this kind of “display” is something a dude would do. And a young-un at that. These are not the buns of someone who is worrying about paying the mortgage. You can tell two lanes away.

Quick! Get that kid a ukulele…

——————-

Have harmonica holder, have charts, hands free!!!

Attention Cheat Sheet Fans: It is nearly impossible to memorize four ukulele songs and perform them without nary a rehearsal, but this Flash Mob pulls it off. They use cheat sheets–in an array of creative ways. Mini charts are taped to ukuleles, players are turned into human music stands when the songs are taped to their backs. And here is another clever solution: This young lady clips her cheat sheets onto a harmonica holder as she plays her banjo ukulele.

What do you do to get through a show?

 

 

 

31 Jul 2013

“SMILE, SMILE, SMILE” IS HERE HERE HERE

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Look at dem feets! You just have to SMILE. Huh…

Well that is what my new ukulele CD is all about. A breath of fresh air in our busy, cuckoo lives. Jim Beloff calls it “a perfect summer disk.” And I vote for year-around-summer!

Another happy customer writes:

“Here is a Monday morning story. I have my copy of Smile, Smile, Smile and put it in my C.D. player as I pull out of the driveway. Wow, such a good time is going on around my ears! I get on to the 405 Freeway and see the forest of brake lights ahead of me. Normally this would anger and exhaust me. With Cali’s tunes coming out of my speakers, I can’t help but feel good, smile and the drive seemed to just seemed to fly by. 
I think that this C.D. should be standard equipment for anyone who has to make a horrible daily commute. Thank you Cali. (D.C)

Except for my instrumental version of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” all the songs are original, fun and joy-full.  My musical friends on bass, drums, vibes, clarinet and steel guitar pour on the pizzazz.  Members of our ukulele group, The CC Strummers, perform on two of the songs.

Now that hubby, Craig Brandau, and I have returned from our incredible “working-vacation” in Maryland, Washington D.C. and Virginia, it’s time to send my baby into the world. Later on I’ll share more backstories about the songs and little vignettes that are smile-ready.

You can purchase (and listen to) the CD and individual songs on iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon. But here’s the cool thing, “Smile, Smile, Smile” is also available at my own ONLINE STORE. Song excerpts are posted and with PayPal you can use “plastic” money to purchase a little cupcake of joy. Please let me know if you’d like an autograph. I can do that!

Smile, CD & Feets… We have a winner!

My fabulous webmistress, Amy Pace, (who also did the CD artwork and design) has created a “compliment file” and photo gallery. Why don’t you send me a picture to post on my website–of you & the CD (& even your feet if you are flexible enough to get it all in a photo). Get creative and write a caption.

For all of you SoCal folks, I’m having a CD Release Party and Concert Sunday, September 29 at Boulevard Music in Culver City. The concert begins at 7:00 P.M. Tickets are $12 and are already on sale. I’ll perform a whole eclectic array of songs and the show will be “Kanikapila” fun!

Thanks for hanging in there with me and taking the time from your busy schedules to read my blogs and support my work.

With much gratitude,
Cali

 

29 Jun 2013

LET’S SALSA

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Photo by Craig Brandau

I run into my good buddy and monumentally talented musician, Craig Fundyga, in the parking lot at Ralphs Grocery Store. Craig handled the percussion duties on my new ukulele CD with stunning panache. In other words, he’s totally awesome. The man plays drums, vibes, steel drums, piano and God knows what else. Is it any wonder Craig is always working and he invites hubby and me to his free concert tonight. With his Latin band, Lucky 7 Mambo. Outside. Under the dimming late afternoon sky. At the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center which is spitting distance from two cemeteries, the bustling 405 Freeway and L.A. International Airport.

Photo by Craig Brandau

So we hustle over, grab a couple seats close to the stage and watch the people-panorama unfold. I love Los Angeles and here is one of the reasons. It is Technicolor. We see folks arrive in all shapes, all colors, all ages with big warm smiles and very toned legs. Especially the women. Hubby and I think we are about to hear some great Latin music, but just as Craig runs his four mallets across the vibes and the other players thump and pluck along, people all around us leap to their feet and dance the salsa. Just like that. Wherever there is space. Girls dance with boys, girls dance with girls, boys dance with boys, a few dance by themselves as if to say “oh what the hell.” The music, the hot rhythms, the groove… You just have to move. I’m dying to dance too, but I can’t. And hubby won’t. So I shake my groove thing sitting down.

Photo by Craig Brandau

Then I see her. A woman who is, shall we say, vintage. She is wearing a hot pink sleeveless top, a short white skirt, tennis shoes and she dances. She dances with such unbridled joy that you feel good just watching her. And she doesn’t sit in her folding chair hoping someone will ask her to salsa. No… She happily shakes it up, by herself. Too.  Is this some crazy elder wisdom made visible? A truth called “Don’t Wait.”

Soon my husband snags a picture of her with a much younger dance partner and she dances him into a sweaty mess.  He’s wiping the wet stuff from his face with a handkerchief while she looks like it’s another dewy morning in spring.

Photo by Craig Brandau

After the last song I push forward through the crowd of people so I can tell her what a great dancer she is. She gives me a big hug. I can feel the age in her bones through that one warm embrace. She tells me she’s only 85 years old.

 

And so it goes. I watch another woman in a wheelchair with the incredible blue eyes and one leg and a grand-daughter (I think) who does a wheelchair mambo with her. The woman claps along like a drummer and moves her shoulders in such way that I wonder if she was, in the distant past, a great dancer too.

Near the end of the evening I ask the lady sitting in front of us where she learned to dance. She writes the name of the dance studio and a teacher on a post-it which I stick on my computer. Just in case…  Because watching these people dance is like watching life, life.

And I suddenly remember a story the great mythologist Joseph Campbell shares with journalist Bill Moyers as they discuss his book “The Power of Myth.” Campbell tells of an American delegate at an international conference on religion who is trying to figure out what a Japanese Shinto priest is all about. “We’ve been to a good many ceremonies and have seen quite a few of your shrines. But I don’t get your ideology,” the delegate says. The Japanese man pauses, as though in deep thought then slowly shakes his head. “I think we don’t have ideology,” he responds. “We dance.”

 

20 Jun 2013

HAVE UKULELE, WILL TRAVEL

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I am putting on my “you-gotta-toot-your-own-horn-because-no-one-will-do-it-for-you” hat and sharing some traveling news with you.

Hubby and I are leaving earthquake country for the land of lightning bugs, killer humidity and summer thunderstorms. The little slice of earth where I grew up. Washington D.C. We will be exercising our rent-a-car on what the locals call “The Beltway.” I am hoping it is called this because it’s a cinch to drive. But I don’t think so.

This is a working vacation. Let me start with the “vacation” part. Most of you recall that I recently found a missing trunk of my family tree thanks to Google and Facebook. Connecting with them has taken us to Indianapolis and Arizona and now we’ll be hanging out with the Baltimore ohana.

Here’s a quick Cliff Notes review:

My great grandparents escaped from Russia, landed in America and dropped roots in Baltimore. They had five children. The oldest, Jenny, was my grandmother and the youngest, Sidney was the musical prodigy in the family. But something mysterious happened when Sidney grew up. He disappeared. Like whoosh… At least that’s my mother’s story and she has repeated it like a mantra year after year. “Whatever happened to Sidney?” And then the Internet happened and Google. When I typed in his name, I found his daughter. And when I found his daughter, I found his other four children. Professional musicians all…

Halaine, Cali and Laura at Sony Studios

Then two more cousins friended me on Facebook. They are my Baltimore clan. A couple years ago Halaine and Laura visited us in Los Angeles and it was like I suddenly had two new sisters. For an only child with parents who were only children, it was and IS a revelation to discover family.

Craig and I are excited to spend time with our ukulele family too. Here is the what, where and when:

Saturday, July 13, we will do an early afternoon set at the Lake Ann Ukulele Festival in Reston, Virginia. This is a quaint town center and an altogether lovely place to hang out, enjoy the music, food and great people watching. Family friendly and free.

Sunday, July 14, Craig and I are giving workshops exclusively tailored for The Northern Virginia Ukulele Ensemble (NVUE). We’re taking one song, “Sway,” and spicing it up with fancy strums (Cali) and fingerpicking (Craig). Then we bring the two workshops together and get the song performance-ready! Afterwards Craig and I will do a mini-concert and lead a kanikapila for all those in attendance. Workshops and concert are a Café Montmartre, also in Reston, Virginia.

Workshop Fee: $20 for NVUE members
Workshop Fee: $35 for guests and other non-members
Click here for more information and to make reservations.

The following Saturday, July 20, we’re doing workshops and a mini-concert for the ukulele lovers at The House of Musical Traditions. Actually they have secured another location for us to do our thing: The Seekers Church in the Northwest part of Washington D.C. So for all of you folks in the neighborhood who are “seeking” some new ukulele thrills—fabulous strums, finger-picking styles and chord melodies, playing grooves that you feel in your belly and a fun concert, this is for you. Check the flyer below for all the details. This will be one very splendid afternoon and we look forward to sharing it with you.

So here’s a toast to family and friends and music!

13 Jun 2013

HOME SWEET HOME

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Not a particularly pretty sight, huh… Unless you happen to be one of the Chem-Free guys who are busily primping and preparing our plain ol’ beige building of sixty units for the big execution, as millions of termites are sent packing into their next lives.

Or else the circus is in town…

We’ve known this thing is coming for a while, so I tear through the drawers and shelves, pitching bottles of medicine with expiration dates that go back to the 1990’s, make-up I bought at Thrifty and Save-On (before they morphed into Rite Aid and CVS). I’m giddy and a little smug as I haul garbage bags to the trash chute.

At a pre-fumigation meeting we are given detailed instructions on what to do and ten hefty-sized “don’t-gas-me” plastic bags to stash our stuff. But the first thing I do is ask for ten more. You know, just in case… They tell us to pack up the food, toothbrushes, gooey stuff you might rub onto a body part. But I watch my mind begin to s-t-r-e-t-c-h the parameters of bag-worthy stuff. By the time we drag ourselves out of the place this morning, 18 bags are scattered around the floor of our little condo. They are filled with…oh my…toilet paper and ziplock bags (yes, plastic inside plastic), my reasoning being that we put food inside the ziplocks. The paranoia starts small and grows exponentially as I pack several mini-bottles of French perfume a neighbor gave me FIFTEEN YEARS ago for watering her plants during her vacation. I toss in nail files, Q-tips, panty-liners…

I’ve lost my mind.

So here we are, hubby and I, at the local Sheraton for a two-night out-of-town spree. A couple miles from home. It’s seven in the evening and we’re hungry and homesick. “Let’s look at the vending machines downstairs…” hubby suggests. As we peruse their selection of sugar and salt-laden fake food, I offer an idea that under normal circumstances would be squashed cold by my husband. “Let’s go to the mall,” I say. “They have a fabulous food court.” My sweet Craig would rather go on a liquid diet than eat at a mall food court. But he agrees, so quickly, that I am momentarily stunned. We have to get over there before he changes his mind.

We could walk. It’s just across the street. But no… We drive, park and descend into the land of too-many-food choices… A sweet-faced young lady draws us into the dizzying world of Big Fat Pita. This style of food is a big no-no for me. I can’t eat gluten-anything and that means falafel and pita bread. But as I unleash my sad story of deprivation, her face lights up. “We have gluten-free pita. And falafel.” Now I know this is heaven and our hoped-for nighty-night snack is turning into the main event of the day. “Do you live in the area?” the friendly cashier asks. “If you do, take this card. Eat ten pitas and the next one is free.

Here’s the strange thing. I feel like a visitor. A visitor to the local mall in my own neighborhood. I have to snap myself out of this bubble of confusion before I respond “yes, we live in Culver City. Give me the card.”

Leaving our safe little nest for only a couple days and shifting our “home base” just down the road is really shaking up our sense of groundedness, our sense of place. And we are doing wild and crazy things that folks do on vacation. Like eating at the mall.

Thankfully we human beings are adaptable creatures and by morning hubby and I will begin to drop roots into this new ground. Until the day after tomorrow when we return to life as we know it and tear into those 18 bags of too-much stuff.

11 Jun 2013

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

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Every few months I entertain at the monthly birthday party for a local retirement home. A few residents can move about on their own but most are in wheelchairs and need two hearty hands to push them to the party room. Still more arrive from “memory care” and often sit there glassy-eyed and motionless. Until the music starts. Then something happens that is kind of a miracle. Bodies come alive. Just a little. For a little while. I see a shimmer of life come into their eyes and maybe a foot tapping along. Some go all rock ‘n roll and start clapping and singing along. However this musical alchemy appears, I’m grateful to see it.

Then we acknowledge the birthday revelers. After all this celebration is for them. I read their names from a list as the sheet cake, decorated with swirls of green and pink icing, is hoisted before them and their picture is taken. The first on the list is Claire. Her name has a big “108” next to it. I am almost ready to introduce “Claire, in Room 108,” when the assistant, dizzy with excitement, proclaims that Claire is 108 years old!

Claire is the oldest person I have ever met. And I have met a lot of older people but she takes the cake. No pun. The only words I can muster after I learn 108 is NOT her room number are not especially inspired… “What vitamins do you take, darlin'”?  Because Claire is beautiful and doesn’t look a day over 75. Granted she is confined to a wheelchair where she lists to one side as an aid gently spoons birthday cake into her mouth. But she is still here, breathing and showing us what life looks like on this day, in this place, at this age.

I wrote a song about birthdays. These kind of birthdays…where we get more reflective than exhilarated. When the specter of time passing begins to weigh a little heavier on our hearts. We may celebrate “another spin around the sun” but as the years fly by, it strikes me that every day is a kind of birthday and good enough reason to say “thank you” in some way or another.

“And Happy Birthday To You” is one of the lucky thirteen tunes on my new ukulele CD, Smile, Smile, Smile.” My buddy, Craig Fundyga, adds just the right splash of drums AND vibes to give this song a sassy island vibe. And with the ukulele and bass, it’s a real “feel-good” ode to, shall we say, mortality.  Yes I’m adding one more song to the pantheon of birthday tunes but this one has an added caveat: “The more candles on your cake, the brighter you light shines.”

So shine on…

CD Progress Report:

The music and artwork are now at the CD processing plant in New Jersey. I think I love New Jersey. Hopefully I will have the album in hand by early July. “Smile, Smile, Smile” will be available for sale on my website and online stores like iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby later in the summer. I will keep you posted.

 

 

1 Jun 2013

ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE

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There is a flurry of music happenings around Culver City these days. My new ukulele CD “Smile, Smile, Smile” is getting mastered and will soon be sent, via internet “tubes,” to the CD plant in New Jersey to be pressed and packaged. Whoo-whoo! Hubby Craig and I are preparing for our mid-July swing through Virginia, Washington D.C. and Baltimore where we will perform and teach ukulele workshops. Details are coming soon.  Washington D.C. is my hometown and I haven’t been back in “dem parts” for an embarrassingly long time. We are looking forward to hanging out with family and friends and I want to check out one geographic site in particular. No, not the marble monuments or illustrious museums. I want to see the big red brick apartment building near Macomb Street and Wisconsin Avenue in Northwest D.C. which is the first “home” I remember as a little girl. According to Google satellite maps, it’s still there!

Amidst all the planning and activities, the ukulele becomes an extra joy and respite for me. Meeting with my classes gives me a real booster shot of “feel good.” Twice a week. We just had a big show at the Culver City Senior Center. It was billed prominently in the May Newsletter as the “Ukulele & Dance Showcase.” And what might that be? Let your imaginations run wild for a moment.

Done?

So here we are, The CC Strummers, doing a half hour set of sing-a-long-able and dance-along-able songs. Then the ballroom dancers appear, gliding across the floor, all fluffed and fancy, as the audience sways to their pre-recorded music. Soon they are followed by the hula dancers, entering stage right, wearing grassy things, flowers…and a lot of skin. The audience really likes THAT. After their grand finale—a fiery Tahitian dance to the theme from Hawaii 5-0—The CC Strummers launch into “Let’s Twist Again” and suddenly ballroom dancers, hula mamas, even line dancers appear and snatch deliriously happy people from the audience to join the party and shake their booty. It is a very nice Tuesday afternoon.

Unbeknownst to us, one of our strummers, Keith S., entrusts his wife, (thank you Linda!), with the family video camera and she surreptitiously captures us singing and playing the wonderfully irreverent Eric Idle song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” Yes I modify the arrangement a little and replace a popular curse word with a more benign version. Can you say “grit”? We love this song, replete with sound effect mavens and happy whistlers who can toot and play the uke at the same time.

Grab your smile for the day and check out the video! Click Here!

25 May 2013

HELLO? GOODBYE? SING ALONG!

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“There’s a little goodbye in ev’ry hello.” Now that’s a sobering thought. Who wants to think about “ending” just as we are “beginning” — a friendship, a love affair, a you-name-it relationship with a who or a what?

And this happens to be one of the songs on my new ukulele CD “Smile, Smile, Smile.” The idea for this tune begins the day I learn that one of my mentors has died. First there is “the phone call.” Then the rush of emotions that follows when “goodbye” smacks you in the face. And the heart.

And wouldn’t you know it, I also have a gig that day… “Happy Hour” at a fancy retirement home across town. Oh lovely. What I really want to do is crawl back into bed, pull the blanket over my head and wish the world away. Hanging out with slightly inebriated seniors and singing songs like “On the Sunny Side of the Street” is not my idea of happy. Well not today anyway.

But this mentor, along with my other teachers, taught me to “be a pro.” To show up at the gig, no matter how I’m feeling.  And on time. Prepared. Looking good. They drilled it into my bones and doing an ostrich dance is not an option. So I slap on the Maybelline, grab a colorful frock from the closet and go to work.

In fact I arrive so early there’s extra time to hang out and that’s when I find Francesca. Or maybe she finds me… “How are you dear?” she asks, looking up from the big yellow granny square she is crocheting. I tell her the truth. That I am not okay and then I launch into my story. She lays the nest of yarn in her lap and listens, really listens. The quality of her attention is an act of kindness that resonates with me. Still.

When I finally wear myself out, Francesca speaks. This ninety-three year old who has loved and lost and above all, is still here, turns into a Zen master, right before my eyes, and lays some wisdom on me that is akin to alchemy. I am transformed by her words.

A first at Sunburst Recording… 19 Ukuleles!

And I am determined to put these words into a song and that’s what “There’s A Little Goodbye in Ev’ry Hello” is all about. And what better way to explore hard human truth than to lay on a jaunty melody, lay off the sad minor chords and turn the whole thing into a sing-a-long.

I need help from my friends. Enter The CC Strummers, my ukulele ohana. So one sunny Saturday in February, nineteen hearty grandmas and grandpas join me at Sunburst Recording to perform on my CD. In return I provide all-you-can eat pizza, promise to put their names and group picture inside the album and deliver their complimentary CD with a hug.

Done!!!

During the session, I take a short video and you know what…it will make you smile. (Click here to watch). But you’ll have to listen to the whole song to find out what Francesca told me that day. The CD is coming soon!

19 May 2013

Smile, Smile, Smile

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It’s been quiet here, on the western front, with regards to my soon-to-be-born ukulele CD, “Smile, Smile, Smile,” probably because this thing has seemed, at times, like the “never-ending” story. Two years in the making. Well that’s what happens when life happens. Like…I have to work, you know. That means doing gigs and teaching. And there’s writing, cooking, cleaning, hovering around those damned social networks and never, ever catching up on my email. I don’t have to tell you how it is… We’re all trying to poke holes in the sky.

Read More

27 Apr 2013

TURNING 90

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“Don’t get old.” I hear that. A lot. I sing at an assortment of retirement homes, assisted living dormitories, skilled nursing-almost-hospitals. A few of the residents tug at my sleeves and repeat these very words. More than you would think.

My own mother says it too. When she remembers. For the last few years she has been “87 years old.” Well that’s her story and she sticking to it. Here is a woman whose gray hair leaks around the sides of her teased-up auburn wig. She looks like a pixie-yoda and prefers conversations about sex. She insists she has no wrinkles and that mirrors lie. When I tell her she is actually 90 years old, shock registers on her face and she changes the subject. Read More

16 Apr 2013

A LITTLE MORE TO SAY ABOUT “LOSING A FRIEND”

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Last week I shared the story of my long-time friend, Cinda, who passed away on Easter morning and I received a bounty of heartfelt responses. Thank you! The people we love and who love us, the critters, the flowers on the window sill, the fresh strawberries in a bowl, the long-lived relationships, the bucks in the bank, the insights we file away on mental post-its—they come and they go. It seems like there is a little goodbye in every hello.

Thank goodness for denial, huh! But when we lose a friend, denial crashes into pieces. At least for a while… Read More

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