Musical ears

and other, less musical body parts

Oct 08, 2023

Hum along with me, my friends…

I’ve been thinking about music and how weird it is that a single song or piece of music can be comforting, painful, soothing, nostalgic, reconnect you to yourself, give you hope and drive—and that while one song that you randomly hear somewhere can do all these things, there are very few of us who can immediately pinpoint the one exactly-right song to play at any given moment. We end up with playlists instead. Isn’t that strange?

One of my brothers sent me this outstanding photo. It is from the READING ROOM of a high-end spa in Lithuania. This is why traveling widely is so important. Where’s YOUR favorite space that is dedicated to reading? Do you even know of any? I can think only of the Christian Science Reading Rooms—I do not know of any other public space in this country dedicated to quiet reading. High-end private clubs used to have reading rooms. Do they still?

I spent all week in the distracting arms of my fair City. Truly, I am so grateful to all of you who offered me your extra tickets this week. I wish I could have attended every single one of the amazing events! I did manage to get to First Tuesdays, a reading series out in Jackson Heights (Queens) where Terese Svoboda was the main act but Richard Jeffrey Newman was the scene-stealing showman—after each open mic reading, Richard (a terrific poet himself) had the audience select a single line from the reading and he memorized them all in order to create a “found poem” which he then recited at the end of the night. It was a feat of magic, I tell you.

I was not unstable. I just wanted to capture the art, the humanity, and the vibe.

I also saw this fantastic solo concert - what a night! what a voice! The theme was “hope” and the various songs, including “To Dream the Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha, were the impetus for my initial musing today. It’s pretty interesting to hear someone else’s favorite song when you’re not with them.

Then there was this crazy madness, the Great Gatsby party! It was the best people-watching around.

Busy week!

Besides this I also had a lovely picnic with a sunset view, and of course last weekend, did the college tour with my daughter (who turns 17 today! Happy birthday, LadyTeen!)

WRITING NEWS:

I just wrote a new essay and sent it off yesterday. Please feel free to applaud. It has been truly hard to get into a creative mental space.

This is coming up:

I have to actually TELL a ghost story at this event. It is daunting! When I signed up, I thought I was going to get to write one to read, but no, this is a spoken-word event. My first!

(You wouldn’t think at this point there would be any good firsts left. But to be honest? I’m not looking for firsts, I’m looking to go back and do all the things I swore to myself I would do “all the time” when I was older.)

Honestly I spend more time copying my news from one format to another - this is the post. Read it yourself. :-)

Also!

At 2pm today I’m going to see a Julianna Forlano read at a public event - come join me! It’s at City Winery. (Julianna is a writer who is part of Pen Parentis’ Cycle of Support.) Come with me! I’d love the company!