{"id":9231,"date":"2024-01-01T09:28:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T17:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/?p=9231"},"modified":"2024-01-01T13:05:35","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T21:05:35","slug":"hello-2024-and-hello-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/hello-2024-and-hello-you\/","title":{"rendered":"HELLO 2024 AND HELLO YOU!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

Well I\u2019ve missed writing and connecting with you. The \u201cmusic thing\u201d has kind of taken over my life and this worker-bee loves to work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I still do one gig a week, teaching beginning ukulele at a local retirement community. Our enthusiastic little band of strummers scat on Route 66<\/em> and go all country with Jambalaya.<\/em> This is my Friday reminder, up close and personal, how music heals us. One strum<\/em> at a time. Here and then gone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The CC Strummers are busy and growing. It\u2019s thrilling that our players, both local and totally not local, are forming their own groups, performing and teaching the stuff we learn in our Zoom classes.<\/a> A few of them tell me they hear \u201cmy voice\u201d in their head. Quick, call a shrink! But I hear the voices of my teachers too. Long gone, they are. Flawed, wonderful human beings who changed my life and didn\u2019t always give me the best advice.<\/p>\n

What a kaleidoscope of contradictions, this teaching business. I make mistakes. We all do. I don’t always get it right the first time. Do you? I change my mind and frequently ask “what do YOU think?” because I trust that we draw inspiration from the same well. We may scoop with different buckets and what happens next? Who knows… But aren’t we all students? And teachers? Elders? Elders-to-be?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Our windy rendition of “Sweet Caroline” at The WLA Farmers’ Market will blow you away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The CC Strummers had an eventful November…The weather is supposed to be “breezy” but halfway through our last show of the year at The WLA Farmers’ Market, the wind suddenly whips up and sends various objects flying through the air including our song sheets, music stands, chairs, hats. But we soldier on and laugh through it. Maybe if this wind storm had been a tornado I would have yelled “RUN!” But shows can be about the ways we endure, too. It feels like we’re the band on the Titanic. We know how this is going to end, but we keep playing anyway. Because that’s what musicians do. Click here<\/a> to watch.<\/p>\n

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I’m playing along with the bass and drum tracks to my song “Pony Ride” with Loki, the puppy-muse close by. Everyone should have a therapy dog on duty when they are recording!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And would you believe I\u2019m recording again?<\/p>\n

Over the years I\u2019ve written several instrumentals on the ukulele with pretty melodies you can actually hum. But I\u2019ve also had to \u201cpractice, practice, practice\u201d as if I REALLY AM going to play at Carnegie Hall. Well MY<\/strong> Carnegie Hall is the spare room at my producer\u2019s house. Together we\u2019ve been working on my album, Looking Glass<\/em>, for months. Soon my graphic artist will assemble the \u201cgift wrapping\u201d and while that\u2019s happening, I\u2019m preparing easier arrangements and video tutorials so YOU can learn to play these songs too. I’ll keep you in the loop as things progress. Please Click Here<\/a>\u00a0to watch.<\/p>\n

Friday evening is date night with my sweet husband. There are meet-and-greets with friends, trips to Trader Joe\u2019s because, when it comes to meal preparation, I need all the help I can get.<\/p>\n

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I am calling this \u201cUkulele Joy Around the World\u201d and it was painted by one of our CC Strummers, Eve Myles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don\u2019t laugh but this schedule is my idea of \u201ccutting back\u201d after I had a heart attack in the middle of the pandemic. Life is messy and complicated. When there is so much suffering and s-c-a-r-y<\/em> in the world, it can be a slippery slope into the land of despair, but I\u2019m so grateful that WE, you and me, are still here.<\/p>\n

I send weekly newsy emails with class materials specifically to The CC Strummers. But when I send a blog, it goes to everyone on my master list\u2026which means a lot of you haven\u2019t heard from me for quite a while and may have thought I ran off to join the circus\u2026<\/p>\n

Please know I\u2019ve missed this connection and hearing from you. I’ve missed the \u201cahh\u201d feeling I get being part of our shared online ohana.<\/p>\n

But if you would like to join The CC Strummers\u2019 elist and receive my weekly missives (or unsubscribe), please email me<\/a>. Our Zoom classes<\/a> are on holiday break and will resume the second week in January, 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter all that we\u2019ve been through in the world, I feel like we all want a place to be safe and connected to other human beings. Everyone has a thirst for community.”<\/em> Beyonce.
\nFrom “Beyonce. Amen”<\/a> by Michael Eric Dyson from The New York Times, December 3, 2023.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

So here we are, on the cusp of the unknown\u2026also called THE NEW YEAR! I\u2019m girding myself for a BUMPY ride in 2024 and leaning into our community, and leaning into music, to uplift, reassure, embrace us in the fullness of this moment. May we flourish. May we endure. And may we strum happy…<\/p>\n

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“This will be our reply to violence:\u2028To make music more intensely, \u2028more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.\u201d Leonard Bernstein<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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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\u2019ve missed writing and connecting with you. The \u201cmusic thing\u201d 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><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[243,132,41,106,242],"class_list":["post-9231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogentry","tag-community","tag-music-therapy","tag-ukulele","tag-ukulele-groups","tag-ukulele-instrumental-songs"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2,"label":"blog entry"}],"post_tag":[{"value":243,"label":"community"},{"value":132,"label":"music therapy"},{"value":41,"label":"ukulele"},{"value":106,"label":"ukulele groups"},{"value":242,"label":"ukulele instrumental songs"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hello2024-featured-img.jpg",800,771,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Cali Rose","author_link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/author\/crbauthor\/"},"comment_info":2780,"category_info":[{"term_id":2,"name":"blog entry","slug":"blogentry","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":138,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":2,"category_count":138,"category_description":"","cat_name":"blog entry","category_nicename":"blogentry","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":243,"name":"community","slug":"community","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":243,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":132,"name":"music therapy","slug":"music-therapy","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":132,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":41,"name":"ukulele","slug":"ukulele","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":41,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":106,"name":"ukulele groups","slug":"ukulele-groups","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":106,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":242,"name":"ukulele instrumental songs","slug":"ukulele-instrumental-songs","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":242,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9231"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9266,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231\/revisions\/9266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}