Living Out Loud

Recently, as in two days ago, I connected with a long lost friend. Like thirty-nine years lost. It’s not like I hadn’t thought about her. I did. For a long time. The problem back then was black and white. If you didn’t have a current address or phone number, you were out of luck. Unless you hired a private detective.

Well, thanks to modern technology, I am my own Holmes. Over the years I searched Google, Facebook, linkedin and various other sources and niente. Until two days ago.

Great. Now what? What if she didn’t want to connect? What if she was hiding from the world? What if I was just being a pain in the ass stalker?

Turns out most of that was true. She didn’t want to connect for a long time. She didn’t want to live out loud. But now she does. And here we are.

Is it possible to start a new friendship from an old friendship? I absolutely think so.

Is it wrong to live out loud and share your life like an open book? No. I do it all the time.

I’m not shy about sharing my life. Look at Facebook. Look at this blog. I have things to say and I’m certainly not shy about sharing my thoughts. And yes, I put my foot in my mouth quite frequently, but whatever.

My new/old friend and I have so much more in common than we ever thought. I won’t mention her name because she is just starting to dip her toes into the social network of the world. We made a “playdate” for later this summer.

It’s never too late to make new friends or connect with old ones. We only have one life. 

Happy July 4th!

From the Inside Out

The other day my friend Cathy and I were talking about what constitutes beauty. Is it some standard that is set by marketing people? By cosmetic companies? Who decides what makes someone “look” beautiful?

Ok. Let’s face it. I don’t walk out of my house without some form of makeup on my face. Even if it’s just a quick run to the supermarket. I mean after all, someone I know might see me. Even if it means just throwing on some lipgloss, I can’t have a naked face. No one sees me sans makeup except for my immediate family and my band mates.

In today’s world, we are bombarded with expectations. Wear this product and your skin will look 10 years younger. Use this shampoo and you will have hair shinier than a newly minted penny. And so, we do. And does it work? Sometimes.

What if we didn’t? I mean what if we didn’t use beauty products and just went au natural 100% of the time? Would we, as women be chastised for not looking up to par?

For me personally, I know that I look and feel better when I have “my face on” as the saying goes. It’s kind of like that first cup of coffee. A jumpstart to what ever I have to do during the course of the day. As a fifty something year old woman I need to look my best in a world of twenty something and thirty something work colleagues and band mates. I don’t want to be the fading old woman. And thus, I completely support my local cosmetics counters.

I also know that looking and feeling good doesn’t solely come from a tube or bottle. Healthy eating, sleep and exercise are all components of the body beautiful. I know I’ll never be a Giselle but it really doesn’t matter. I’m me. I’m beautiful in my own right. Now where the hell did I put that tube of lipgloss?!

Have a beautiful week!

Up In The Cloud

It’s been a few months since I last wrote. I’ve been learning all sorts of new and interesting things. Useful? Maybe. Fun? Definitely.

Now that I am the owner of an iphone, I’ve discovered all sorts of new and exotic things to do with it aside from plain old texting and phone calls. The vast amount of apps are mind boggling. I must say I’m somewhat reluctant to download a lot of junk onto my phone so I keep it to the basics like:

Facebook, Amazon (of course), Whatsapp, Viber, news channels and the like, photo apps, Pinterest, youtube, a few games (3), netflix and various music sites. 30 apps in total. It seems like so much but in actuality it’s nothing. My boss Juan has over 200. 200! Incredible. It’s like walking around with the universe in your hand. Learning how to use all of this is like being back in school.

Last week I was talking to my friend Cathy’s daughter. Bridget asked me if I used Pinterest and I said that I knew I had created an account online probably a year ago. I’ve never used it. Don’t know how. She was aghast. She told me it was the best thing EVER and that I should just do it. Me, being the skeptical soul that I am, thought, probably not going to do this. A week later and I’ve got 13 boards and tons of pics that I truly like. Some are mine, some are a repin. I’ve found some great recipes, travel and home ideas. It’s totally addictive. I may need an intervention.

With all this new technology it’s easy to forget the simpler things like just reading a book. Ok..reading is not something I would ever forget to do, but so many people are reading their books right off their phones.

With all this new technology it’s easy to communicate with people thousands of miles across the ocean. Skype, Viber and whatsapp are the best things since Mr. Bell. It used to be a long distance charge that could cost a second mortgage. Now, I can call for free, text for free and even talk face to face from my little phone the size of a pack of playing cards. It’s amazing.

The photo apps are simply cool. It does scare me that all my photos are floating around somewhere in cyberspace and if the cloud crashes I could lose it all. This is where physical back up becomes necessary. Flashdrives are the greatest. Printing every photo is space consuming. I do have many photo albums taking up shelf space in my house. It’s not a bad thing. Looking at these brings back good times. I just don’t want to add any more bulk to my already bulky home.

And now dear readers, it’s time for a cup of tea and another chapter in the book I’m reading.

Have a great week!

You Can Never Have Too Many

No. Not shoes. You all thought I was going to say that! Books, people. BOOKS!

I have to admit that these days I don’t buy a lot of books. But that doesn’t mean I don’t own a lot. I have enough of a book stash to keep me reading for many years.

Being in the book business affords me the opportunity to “borrow” books. And I do. A lot. Yes, I love to read, but I also need to be able to recommend titles to my customers.

So today, this blog will be all about recommendations. So many people have asked me for a good book. I have lots. Now remember, these are books that I’ve read and really liked. Some are mainstream, some are older titles, some are quirky and some are just Ellen kind of books. This is a very small list. I keep book journals that go back years.  Get out some paper and a pen. Here we go:

Best Staged Plans-Cook

Peaches For Father Francis-Harris

Heads in Beds-Tomsky

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hr. Book Store-Sloan

Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler-Kanter

Where’d You Go Bernadette?-Semple

Lamb-Moore

A Reliable Wife-Goolrick

Hemingway’s Girl-Robuck

Rules of Civility-Towles

The Personal History of Rachel Dupree-Weisgarber

Domestic Violets-Norman

Half Blood Blues-Edugyan

Those Who Save Us-Blum

Snow Flower and The Secret Fan-See

The Alchemist-Coehlo

Memoirs of My Melancholy Whores-Marquez

City of Thieves-Benioff

Retail Hell-Hall

Some Girls-Lauren

Summer at Tiffany-Hart

Nocturnes-Ishiguro

My Fair Lazy-Lancaster

Wench-Perkins-Valdez

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared-Jonasson

These should keep you occupied for a little while. If you want descriptions you can look them up on Amazon.

Happy reading and have a great week!

What's in A Word?

Words are wonderful. I love putting together words to make beautiful, coherent sentences. Shaping, sometimes rhyming, repeating and pulling it all together in a tidy little bundle. No, not a blog. Not a poem. That my dear friends is what we call lyrics.

I’ve written many lyrics. I’ve edited many lyrics. I’ve also trashed volumes of lyrics.

Writing song lyrics can be child’s play or a tension mounting headache when there is a deadline and an album to complete.

There are many, many great songwriters out there. There are many, many really bad songwriters out there. I’m talking about contemporary pop/rock/folk. Lyrics for Broadway musicals are an entirely different blog. So many lyrics to consider.

Two of my favorite American songwriters are Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. Their music is good but their lyrics are stellar. The lyrics of their songs can stand alone without the support of the music. They are my inspiration when I create lyrics.

Writing song lyrics is similar to writing poetry. But not really. I know, it sounds like a confused mess. In fact, most of the modern poetry of today (in my opinion) is a jumble of random words thrown together in a pattern on a page. Look at this:

It’s cold outside

But I feel the warmth radiating

I am under

A layer of down

So cold, so warm

It’s crap, right? But let me tell you, I see new volumes of poetry on a regular basis. Award winning poetry. And my dears? Most of the time it’s no better than the drek that I just  wrote for you. In my opinion.

Back to lyrics. For the past few years I’ve been writing lyrics for an Italian rock artist. Hard rock. Not metal. Just good hard rock. The music is driving and I love it.

At first, I was correcting and editing his lyrics. The problem was the simplicity of the words. Easy rhymes. Why? Because the thought process was in Italian and then translated to English which didn’t work. Another problem was that the command of the English language was at elementary school level. And so, I’ve been given free rein.

Easy, right? No.

I write the lyrics to fit the music. I am given a quickly recorded music file and a title. And then, I write. No theme. No boundaries except for the musical phrasing. He always has a title in mind and that title must somehow fit into the song, usually the chorus. But it’s up to me to decide what the song is about and where it’s going. The songs are long. It’s a slow process and each song takes me weeks to complete. But I love it. And when it’s finished, recorded and performed I feel a great sense of accomplishment.

I’m no Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan and I don’t think I ever will be. But then again, who knows?

Have a great week!

PS: Check out the new BookLink Facebook page!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/BookLink/268651983208355

Hooray for Hollywood

I love movies. I mean I REALLY love movies. Netflix and on demand are the best thing since the invention of the wheel. And Imdb is so great at reminding me who is who. For those of you not familiar with Imdb, you should check it out. www.imdb.com

I don’t remember the first movie I saw, but I do remember standing in line at Radio City Music Hall waiting to see Mary Poppins. Now that was something. What a theater. Classic. And remember drive-ins? Summer memories.

I have no problem watching 2 movies in an afternoon. Days off are spent either reading (you knew that) or watching movies. AFTER the laundry, groceries and other assorted chores are completed.

Of course nothing beats GOING to the movies. The smell of movie theater popcorn is intoxicating. Sitting back in comfy seats and watching the big screen. Too wonderful.

Years ago, many years ago, the movies stayed in theaters for months. Now, if you don’t catch it within a few weeks of release, you can forget it. What is up with that?? Don’t blink your eyes because the movie you were dying to see on the big screen is now up for grabs on your local on demand channel. Some people have larger than life TV screens. That kind of justifies not being able to get to the theater. But still. Since the timing is not always in my favor I have to decide which movie is worthy of the big screen. I love chick flicks but I can wait to see those on Netflix. Action films NEED a big screen. Any movie with Johnny Depp needs a big screen. That also goes for musicals.

I will never tire of movies. I’m ready for my close-up.

Have a great week!

Saga of the Phone Part Deux

So now that I have my new phone I’m still working out the kinks. It’s more than a phone. It’s a whole new universe. It’s a tiny computer that fits in the palm of my hand.

So far I’ve been able to make phone calls, text people and surf the web. I’m trying to get a handle on taking photos. I’ve been able to download pics onto my PC from the phone. But trying to organize the pics ON the phone requires nothing short of a PhD. And Instagram? Not getting that concept at all. Tried it. If I want a real photo I’ll use a real camera. And if I want to manipulate said photo, I’ll use photoshop or paint shop pro. And since when did this symbol ### become a hashtag?? What is up with that??

And then there is the icloud thing. Not getting that at all either. It has somehow taken every contact from my facebook account and tossed them into my phone. Great. Tried to look up a number. I’ve got something like 700 names to scroll through. And birthdays are listed as well. Happy birthday one and all. I’d send a card but by the time I finish scrolling through all the contacts your birthdays will be long gone.

Everyone says Twitter is the way to go. Wrong. Do I really need to see what people are doing every waking minute of the day? I don’t care that you got up and brushed your teeth and 10 seconds later took a shower. TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!!

Now for the apps. This is the interesting part of the phone saga. I have only added around a dozen. News, navigation, facebook (of course), some games and a few other assorted fun things. I’ve also downloaded my music. Of course I did. That was the first thing on the phone agenda. I’ve put my apps into tiny little folders on the tiny little desktop of my tiny little computer, er, phone. It’s all very tidy. And tiny. I may need a stronger eyeglass prescription.

As a well rounded and informed woman of the world, I need to accessorize. Ah yes. Cell phone covers. I own a couple. Well, ok, more than a couple. Think of it as jewelry for the phone. Wouldn’t want my phone to be boring. And charger cables. Got a few to match the cases. Well come on…a pink case needs a pink USB cable. Sorry Apple. I can get them for $5 at the drugstore.

All of this stuff is new and exciting for me. And a bit frightening. Now I really know what it’s like to be connected 24/7. My advice to myself is to put down the phone, step away from the computer and pick up a book. Or cook something!

Have a good week!