blues
October 14, 2009
- After considerable time and work, I've managed to convert six of my books from soft to hardcover all available at http://stores.lulu.com/divajc The reason for this is that I'm offering these books to schools and libraries and they prefer hardcover books for long-lasting reasons.So, here's a page I built with the new covers: http://www.fyicomminc.com/books.htmlIf you know a school or library ...
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October 8, 2009
- The question I have is what techniques do you use for REINVENTING YOUR ARTISTRY?I have been challenged in each new decade with reinventing myself.In my twenties, when I began performing for a fee, I utilized my youth and vitality and fulfilled my need to absorb the purpose of musical studies – self-expression.In my thirties, I concentrated more on building a repertoire of pieces I could sing ...
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September 23, 2009
- Saying Goodbye We embraced, there in the parking lotof the ordinary. How could I know your arms were arguing last things?Your cheek in my hair.For a moment I pressed against you. Goodbyes can be vast.In a breath, we traded lives. I didn't knowyou were a cliff I had reached the edge of.Your touch echoed.I simply followed it like song. First published in How to Get Heat Without Fire, ...
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August 1, 2009
- My sister calls and emails daily the last few days of July and the first few of August. Each beginning of August I get blue. Terribly so. By the time September rolls around I usually snap out of it. Don't know why. Just the way I am. It's hot and humid. I hate to close the house up for a/c, so it's nice now that I'm the only one home to just let the fan blow in the open window. The garden is ...
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July 27, 2009
- The blues. Everyone gets ‘em. They are much worse than the pinks, much more common then the violets, and much more serious than the greens. Law enforcement officers get the blues, and so do Harvard professors (just to pick two random groups). Poor people get the blues; rich people get ‘em; and professional animal trainers get ‘em. Just ask the next one you see.So what can we do when we get ...
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July 13, 2009
- That’s right: today we’ve gone into the vault and pulled out a never-before-seen video and posted it on YouTube. This is the celebrated* recording of me teaching Jason Headley how to play the “I’m a Man” riff on the “harp,” or “harpoon,” or “mouth organ,” or “harmonica.” It’s as if Little Walter himself came back from the dead to teach Paul Butterfield (who would ...
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June 2, 2009
- Back from Paris, more tired than alive, for a couple of nights in Auvillar. There's a composers' workshop in the main house now, so I have moved to the office apartment for a few days. The composers are outside eating dinner, and I am not invited. I went out to pull my clothes off the line, and we all pretended like I wasn't there.I don't like it. It's like being a ghost. Perspective: ...
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April 8, 2009
- I've counseled many sad and blue writers during my nursing career, and as a writer, I've been there myself. Since writing a novel is essentially creating and breathing life into one or more characters, it's only natural to mourn their absence when they are no longer a part of your routine.The stages and treatment of grief apply to any loss whether it's real or perceived, but writers have unique ...
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March 27, 2009
- That's one quadrillion dollars. I've never seen that figure used before this morning. Hernando de Soto, author of one of my favorite economic books: The Mystery of Capital, used it in an op-ed piece in today's Wall St. Journal. Apparently, that's the amount that the Bank for International Settlements estimates as the worth of new derivatives (mortgage-backed securities, collateralized debt ...
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March 21, 2009
- The harmonica is the answer. Want to lose weight? Play the harmonica. Dry, chapped skin? You need a harmonica. Broke down and brokenhearted? Let's play the blues. I believe this so passionately that I’ve written a book about it called How to Play the Harmonica, available from Gibbs Smith Publisher this September, 2009.Today’s harmonica moment is dedicated to harmonica wizard Lee Oskar, who is ...
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