Soothing the Soul

I was going to tell you a tale of woe involving an incident at my daughter’s school choral concert last night, but I dallied too much with other stuff so there really there isn’t time to tell it.  Let’s just say that the whole thing kept me tossing and turning last night, so I really need to get a good night’s sleep (I almost fell asleep looking at my e-mail with my cell phone!)

What am I going to do instead?  Well, I feel a song coming on, so I will follow septetembermom’s lead whenever she needs a pick-me-up and offer you a peaceful end, or beginning, to your day.(Plus I could really use a big dose of calm this evening because my nerves are still a little raw because of “the incident”-curious aren’t you?)


Well, without any more delay, I offer you:

“Sailing…that takes me away to where I've always heard it could be.
Just a dream and the wind to carry me and soon I will be free.”

There is nothing like the melody of Christopher Cross’s Sailing song for total relaxation.  I haven’t heard this song in ages, but cranked it in the car ride home this afternoon and it still has the same effect-that haunting melody makes me think of the ocean and instantly I’m at peace! I wonder whatever happened to him? Just look at the beautiful pictures, then close your eyes and allow the music to float around you...I hope you enjoy it!

Text and a tune

I have resigned myself to posting only about once a week, and even though I’m not happy about it, I’m dead tired-I think I have some form of insomnia where you can get to sleep but not stay asleep. I am wide-awake every morning at 4 AM (and have been for the past four days), and since I cut out all caffeine a year ago, my energy level is waning by eight o’clock. In fact, I am fighting to keep my eyes from closing as I try to type this up!

I thought I would ease into a better night’s sleep by doing two things I love-a little bit of creative writing (something that Septembermom over at My Voice My View does weekly) and listening to one of my favorite bands. The writing comes from a post idea called Microfiction Monday found at the Stony River blog. You are to look at a selected picture and write a story about it with 140 characters or less, and this includes all punctuation and spaces. I write like I speak, so I had a hard time with this- I kept telling myself (with every re-write) to paint a picture with my words, and I think the result isn’t half bad (tell me what you think).

Sadie sat motionless, captivated by the blueness of the water. The ocean purred around her, coaxing her body and mind to relax. Finally at peace, she made her decision.

And my tune for the evening is by one of my favorite bands of all time-Journey-and the song-Faithfully. I’m hoping Steve Perry's beautiful voice will lull me off into a nice batch of REM sleep. (I'm just loving that 80's hair!) Sweet dreams everybody!

Looking back to just relax (with a little Lionel Richie)...

Things are hectic in my world with many impending deadlines before the Easter holiday, soccer start up with my son, and my daughter's gymnastic season won't end for a couple more months, but I am doing my best to keep in touch with all of you. My post tonight is not what I had intended, but mental and physical fatigue always goes along with the pressures of not having enough time for what I have to do and want to do, and I decided once again to “look back” in order to relax.

I am a child of the 70s and 80s so I tend to look to music from those eras when I need a breather. Tonight is Tuesday so I am going to treat you to a favorite soothing tune of mine from the 80s-Lionel Richie, former lead singer of the Commodores, singing “Hello.” I will touch base with you later in the week with a longer post, I promise, but until then, sit back and enjoy!

Firendship and Tunes

I wanted to side step today and talk about something that is near and dear to my heart, and that is all of you. See, I live far away from family and all the friends I grew up with, and many of the friends I have now are through work, and you know what most work friends tend to talk about when they are together… Plus with work friends I am never sure what to share and what to hold back because once again these are work friends, and things could get sticky if you reveal a side of yourself and you cease to be friends!

My post tonight is for a couple reasons-I first want to thank all of you for finding joy in my joy, “getting” my sense of humor, and listening without judgment, and I truly hope I have entertained you in some way. I am also feeling pretty mixed emotionally this evening, and what better way to get mellow than with a song or too, right? So I am giving you a couple Tuesday Tunes tonight to calm you down from a couple old guys (yes, they are looking old I’m afraid) who are the kings of mellow. Here are Simon & Garfunkel with “The Sound of Silence”, and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Goodnight everybody!

Tunes for Tuesday

This post is going to do double duty tonight. I really can't remember when I first heard this artist sing, but these two songs touched my heart and whenever either was played on the radio, I would turn up the volume and croon along. (My daughter even likes them, and we both have them loaded on our MP3 players.)

So without further ado, here are two songs to get you thinking about your family this holiday season, sung by the man with a funny name (I still don't think I pronounce it right.) Here are Home and Lost videos from Youtube, by Michael Buble .

*He starts things off doing Home in a country twang (not good), but it's just a joke, so be patient and wait for the magic...

Tunes for Tuesday

Tonight we are going to travel back in time to 1975 when this song was sung. The country had just been through the Vietnam War and Watergate and former Vice President Gerald Ford was now our President.

The first time I heard this song wasn't on the radio-I heard it at school in 1976. My not-so-ordinary English teacher, Mr. Farmer, played it us to on a (cough) record player as a way to explain narrative poetry, and I remember thinking that I had never heard a song so beautiful. Of course, I had an insane crush on my very young (he wasn't more than 24), long haired/mustached English teacher, partly because of his look, partly because of his avant-garde approach to teaching literary works, (I mean, we were listening to popular music in English class!) but mostly because he was the first person to tell me that I could write, and I loved him for that.

When I started substitute teaching I wanted to thank Mr. Farmer, but I found out he took a job with another school district a few years after I left middle school, so this song goes out to all of you and to Mr. Farmer, wherever he may be-thanks for your support. Now close your eyes and enjoy Wildfire, by Michael Martin Murphey.

Tunes for Tuesday

It's time now for the second installment of Tuesday Tunes.  I traveled back in time for today's tune choice. You will see George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Elton John and Jeff Lyne all on the same stage. This song has always been a favorite of mine and since this was one of the last performances by the late George Harrison, it makes it all the more special. So take a moment and hear how George's guitar cries out in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".

Tunes for Tuesday

It's such an unexpected surprise when I go to some of your blogs and there's music playing (like at Christine's blog, Christine's Corner), or when your post centers around a forgotten song by a favorite artist (like September Mom at My Voice, My View -jump on over to her site to hear an oldy but goody by Annie Lenox ). I sit back, relax, and just breathe-remember,

"Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." (William Congreve)

This may be what you need to help calm your nerves in an otherwise hectic day, so because of this and the sites of these two ladies, I have decided to make this a weekly addition to my blog. Every Tuesday I will try to provide you with a little musical relaxation, and I will start things off tonight with a heartwarming number by Rascal Flatts. Close your eyes and listen to the words of My Wish, and have a good evening.