10 December 2013

Do you think...

I made a promise 44 years ago not to share the lyrics below with anybody. I'm breaking that promise now so it does not become something I forget to do in my old age. In a way I broke that promise before because I put the words into song and did sing it from time to time for others, but I never showed the text to anybody. In those days I wrote a lot of folk tunes on guitar, and this was one. The words are about me and her feelings that my family was moving away...and I have ALWAYS felt very special that somebody loved me with all of her heart. Of course, we grew apart, but this song has always been warmth in my heart and over the past ten years has often pulled me out of the wreckage of my life and given me hope that someday...somewhere...somebody cares. (Thanks from the depths of my heart, my being, and my soul Miss Debbie G., Hastings, Nebraska) Feel free to share this and perhaps it will find its way back to her, and maybe she will forgive my breach of promise.

~~~

Do you think it is possible to love someone at the age of twelve? Think about it, I for one know the answer. Yes it is possible, it happened to me. I'm the luckiest person in the world. I have the chance to care about the only person I want.

He is warm, friendly, considerate, and funny, but most of all he is all mine. I'm happy with him, yet because of him, I'm sad. To lose someone you care about is a great loss. A loss that will happen to me. Not far in the future is that fateful day when I have to say good-bye to him.

I will miss him, oh, so very much, because I care about him and love him. Someday I hope to see him again. Yes, again. When I don't know. All I know is that I will miss him, and want him, so much. Yes, so very much.

22 June 2013

Fingerlessly...

I wonder what those of us with brains tied to our fingers did before we had typewriters or computer keyboards? Had surgery at the beginning of the week to fuse a crushed joint that has been bothering me for three years. Already less pain but so much more cumbersome with this solid cast than dealing with the pain of the broken finger. Well, mostly.

I remember the vise-like handshake that dropped me to the floor the fifth time the right pinky finger was the wrong pinky to put in a handshake. Or, the first time it broke after I fell down a mountain far out from civilization. The pain was more than I could imagine. And yet, there are people who have dealt with or still deal with more pain than I ever have.My experience is paltry compared to others. It makes me more aware of them and perhaps less egocentric.

So, as I close this left-handed entry let's all take note that in a week I'll be typing with a stiff finger instead of a fingerless...

25 April 2013

Which Winch Wench...

After being stuck in the slush and then the mud about a dozen times this spring I went searching for a portable winch. I have the old "come-along" and fifty feet of cable, and a forty foot chain, and a twenty-foot towing strap, and a twenty-foot stretchy tow cord -- and all have been put to use in various combinations. I now have  biceps with more numbers than my I.Q.

I remember the portable winch that I want. I went to the magazine storage and pulled out a copy of the advertisement and there it was. So I tried to order it. Oops! Nobody at that phone, nobody at that address, no winches laying around. Off to the internet I went because you can find anything there, right?

Apparently the last time the winch was available was in 1981 which just happens to be the same date as the advertisement I saved. Various combinations of the name, deep digging, searching at the speed of WiFi, and nothing returns the product I want, nor anything similar.

I thought this was the age when you could find anything you wanted. I need a special winch but can't find it. Perhaps I should be looking for a wench instead?

08 April 2013

NPR...

Here we are in the rainy season....which of course means that part of the time it is snowing and raining together. Yesterday I saw six different types of snow mixed in with the rain and perioddically got hail rattling across the tin roof.

Now that I have a larger solar panel bolted to the cabin the two batteries I use for powering things are staying charged much better. This allows me to use the laptop for 3-5 hours a day. Soon I should be adding WiFi to that as well. I took advantage of the power available to write up a proposal for NPR (National Public Radio). A new show concept for music from living composers. I hope that they will be interested in the program concept. I've already got a few potential sponsors planned for the show and also took the time to write up proposals for them.

Now I just wait on the proverbial pins and needles and see if perhaps they stick...

25 March 2013

Yes, we have no bananas (mp3s)...

You can bet that I am upset to discover that all of my links to mp3 files have disappeared. I was unaware that podbean.com had canceled and removed me. Fortunately I received an email telling me that the links I had posted weren't working. So I've removed podbean from my blog page side-bar and will continue trying to locate and remove and other links. However, if you run across any links that don't work please take a moment to drop me a note with the URL of the web page you found it on. Then I'll go cut it out. Thanks.

In the meantime, I will see if I can figure out a better method to present sample listening files to the pieces of music that I compose.

16 March 2013

Short timing...

Does it ever amaze you how fast time continues to fly by? I look at how long it has been since I posted to my own blog and wonder where time has gone? I distinctly remember numerous times when I had things to add to it, and yet, my short time left me in the lurch so the blog got postponed.

I have been living off-grid (no power) for a a long time time and haul the laptop to town to access the internet when I have time. Seems to me I have more of the short time than I can find a use for. I need some of the long time phases to get stuff done.

So, quickly, I built a cabin in the woods. It snowed a lot. The wood stove was warm. The bed has lots of blankets that my dogs love to lay upon. I have two car batteries for power of small items and a few small solar panels for juicing some life back into the batteries. Last week I put a large solar panel up and have gotten much more done in the same short times than what I used to get done.

I still read dozens of books per year, and in the past twelve months have averaged two baker's dozens per week of most any genre. Still writing and submitting manuscripts to agents - someday, someday, someday I'll get them in print.

After a long hiatus, mentally forced, during 2012 I am again composing and as of today I'm at Opus 629. I've begun composing instrumentals with piano, and have done some arranging of soprano/piano into soprano/tenor/piano pieces, and wrote a piano concerto with five movements (Pentamerous). And just this week I bought a Casio electronic piano even though I can't play piano. Ah ha~you think I'm crazy? Nope! Just got it because I can input compositions quicker by playing the notes on the keyboard instead of clicking, clicking, clicking on the mouse-pad in the laptop. Much nicer being able to add an entire staff of notes in chords than having to do all that clicking. Whew!!!! Even finished up two older incomplete pieces.

So nothing else for now ~~ hoping that I don't take such a long time to update the blog.