trampoline time

 I know, I know..... life is really rough :D

Many of you know one of my fave things to do is to lay on the trampoline on a nice day.

We've had several nice days, and the above photo is my view when I'm chillaxin' to some tunes! 

 I also scam on the boys as they're playing ping pong and don't know I'm watching

Okay, they probably know I'm watching but I like to think they don't

 I'm so artsy with my photography skills

SOMEONE around here has been hiding in the shrubbery :)

the boys are back in town

So fun to have Henry and John over to practice new music with Davy!

Someone was really happy to relax after his first semester in grad school!

A very, VERY familiar sight - hehe - and one of my favorite things to listen to from the other room!

There was MUCH poker being played during Christmas break!

Talk about CARDS.....

everyone's a comedian :)

I snuck this pic of Tay while she was warming up by the fire :)

Tay brought her kitty Mila over for a play date with Kitty... Kitty was NOT very hospitable :/

Aw, and there's the Mouse :) Having some fun with his friend Caroline :)

happy Friday

Happy Friday! 

~

My laptop is at the Apple store getting new speakers - for the second time...

Apparently I keep blowing my speakers out because I listen to music too loudly :/ 

ANNOYING!

Luckily, I'm armed with some Halloween candy, and a new episode of Suburgatory :) 

~

Anyway, the post meant for today will have to wait till Monday...

which all of the sudden reminds me of something Charlie Bucket's teacher said 

in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory:

"I've just decided to switch our Friday schedule to Monday, 

which means that the test we take each Friday on what we learned during the week 

will now take place on Monday before we've learned it."

These things just pop into my head.

~

Go chill out with a nice DC and see you on Monday!

Landslide

This was a really rough week and an ever rougher weekend.

At some point I'll probably post about it but I don't think I can do it yet. 

I'm sure those of you who are FB friends know what I mean...

John put this together today at the perfect time - whew :)

Something John, the Mouse and I recently recorded.

Kind of poignant in my life right now.

Our pics of the Swiss Alps outside of Lucern provides the eye candy.

Vocals start out a little rough... but most of it's good, hehe - enjoy :)

xoxoxo

w.o.t.e.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

For you hip, slick and coolio peeps..... you've probably already heard this song.

I just recently heard it, thanks to my hip, slick, and cool friend Cindy ------> her *BLOG* btw

and, well.....

ohmyfreakinggoshIloveitsomuchIwentcompletelynutsyfaganandIcantstoplisteningtoit!!!!!

But the thing is, you've got to WATCH it too, because that's half the fun. No, really.

At first, you're like hmmm..... and then you're like well this is interesting.....

and then you go oh they're all playing this guitar..... and then you go hey they're taking turns singing.....

and then before you know it, you're totally SUCKED IN to this song!!! (written by Gotye, fyi)

So the group is Walk Off The Earth (WOTE)

and the song is "Somebody That I Used To Know".

The group from left to right are: 

Joel Cassady, Sarah Blackwood, Gianni Luminati, Marshall and Taylor. 

Suffice it to say I'm going to download them on iTunes, subscribe to their YouTube channel,

and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

*** CUZ THAT'S HOW MUCH I LIKE THEM ***

You can also find Sarah Blackwood on Facebook and YouTube

And Gianni & Sarah's blog/music channel on YouTube. 

HAH! That should keep you busy and out of trouble for a while :)

So enjoy - and have an awesome weekend! 

FAB

Saturday night at It's A Grind Coffee House was absolutely fabulous! And I do mean FABULOUS. Before I even parked my car, I could see that the place was packed. What performer doesn't love playing to a full house!? I've just got to say PEOPLE! You're the BEST! What an amazing show of support to come out like you did and stay to hear all 3 sets. I know from my own personal experience, that looking out into a sea of familiar and friendly faces does more for your confidence and overall performance than you could possibly imagine. Many thanks!

First up was Riley Lyon, and I am not exaggerating when I say she was absolutely amazing! At 15 years old, and her first "official" public performance, this singer/songwriter has confidence, poise, plays her guitar like a pro, and has a repertoire of original songs that are fun, catchy, melodic, and unique. She had previously had them professionally recorded and made into a CD - and good thing she did, because she sold a lot of them! Go Riley!   

*   *   *

The second performance was my son Davy's band. Henry Webster, Amelia Shelton, Davy Walker and Jimmy Melnarik. They still don't have a band name. I think that night they introduced themselves as "Bank of America". What can I say. Middle Child. I have a tremendous soft spot for them though. Even when they are practicing I insist on quiet everywhere so I can just sit there and soak them in. I'm always sad when they're done. I know they must think poor Davy's hippie mom really needs to get a life. But see, I've been around long enough to realize what's completely stupid about life, and what's simply amazing about it. And when something is simply amazing, you stop and you listen. Although I do admit, I pretend I'm listening to them in a pub in Scotland. 

*   *   *

*   *   *

Last but certainly not least - though I always give them such a hard time - was my husband John's band "Primrose Gardens". Playing all original music from John's CD of the same name - as well as some new songs he has written for a new CD he's working on - these two long time friends John and Darryl, and their sons Davy and Evan, have a great time rocking together and putting the fun in dysfunctional. Heheheh :) And seriously, John and Darryl are incredible musicians, especially when it comes to playing lean, mean, screaming guitars!

Thanks again to everyone - we'll have to do that again soon!

52 pick-up

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend! We had gorgeous weather and, as you can see, lots of eye candy!

Our Saturday morning was spent at the one-and-only True Tone Music in beautiful Santa Monica, California.

Even I, who unfortunately let my guitar playing skills wane years ago, admit to pangs of guitar coveting here. 

Saturday was my husband John's 52ond birthday, and True Tone was his outing of choice. Two weeks earlier Davy had picked out a really lovely mandolin here for his 19th birthday, and it needed some service. So what better day to bring it in than John's birthday? And of course in the meantime, he got to play the Special Edition Gretsch guitar both he and Davy have been drooling over for quite some time. Is this a HAPPY FACE or what :)   

Both guys got to play it for a while. In the end though, John settled for a new capo for $20 instead of the $2400 Gretsch. I'm thinking that was a pretty wise choice. I'm sure the boys will end up with that Gretsch at some point - they have practically every other make of guitar known to man - but all in good time. The Mouse's orthodontist will certainly thank us. And the Mouse's teeth will look better after Phase 2 than that guitar would look up on our wall.  

You know how everyone has their own version of what they think Heaven will be like? Well, I can't help but think John's Heaven is going to have a lot of guitar walls like this. Oh, it will have all the usual things like gardens and sunshine, blah, blah, blah. But just like my Luna will have fields of grass as far as the eye can see, with bunnies to chase, and trees to rest under? John will have guitar walls as far as they eye can see. Guitar Heaven.

A close-up of the Gretsches - the light & dark orange ones are the Brian Setzer signature models... VERY COOL

Last but certainly not least, stacks upon stacks of Orange Amps. I've never seen so many in one place at one time. The cream of the crop of the amplifier kingdom, coveted by Walker boys young and old. Which is ironic because I'd have to sell all 3 boys to purchase one. And speaking of boys, I realize the Mouse is not in any of these photos. I wanted to get a pic of him playing the electric stand-up bass you see in the center of these Orange amps. But he was no where to be found. I think he was upstairs wreaking some type of havoc in one of the practice rooms - I really didn't want to know what he was up to. It often involves a lot of money or bad smells.

Anyway, John ended up having a great birthday. I love you old man - hee hee :) 

music in my head

First off, as you can see, I am still experimenting with light and shadows in my photos. Helpful hint: if I were you, I would get used to it, because I'm having way too much fun to stop just yet :) I love how these photos turned out. This is a Murono glass paperweight that I got in Venice Italy 2 summers ago. You all know how much I love color, and this little gem was just too colorful for me to pass up!

Now. Do you ever get songs stuck in your head? Of course you do. My brain is like a 5 disc CD player but each CD only has one song on it, and it's on automatic shuffle mode, and I have no control whatsoever what song is going to play, or how many times, or when those songs switch to new songs. Sometimes I can have a main song stuck in my head for days on end, with just one other song occasionally shuffling in to taunt me. I know: freak.

Yesterday was classic. It started out with the kindergarten song "Inchworm". Do you remember that one? 

Inchworm, Inchworm, measuring the marigolds

you and your arithmetic will probably go far

Inchworm, Inchworm, measuring the marigolds

won't you please just stop and see how beautiful they are?

Where in heaven's name did that song come from?!?! What file did my brain have to go to and dust off to pick that one out?!?! Driving around town running errands, I thought I would go mad. Oh but it gets better. All of the sudden an Imogene Heap song gets shuffled in. From Inchworm to Imogene Heap? Well, okay. Over, and over, and over. Now, I like Imogene Heap as much as the next person, but her songs are really intense and I can't do them over and over so well. Not to worry! Because "Are We Human?" by the Killers took over. Of course it did. Because this song must be on a CD in my brain that never gets removed. Whenever I have more than a few minutes of silence in my brain and the CD player is miraculously off, I can always count on this song to come on - autopilot. 

I love to share the songs that are driving me nuts. I'm such a giver like that. My family begs me not to but I can't help it. So whether it's "Dust in the Wind" or the theme song from Gilligan's Island, I must spew forth. I live to torment them. I have a secret weapon too. A song that I love, that they all detest. And it's one of those songs that will play on their shuffle for a long, looooooong time once it's been entered into their pointed heads. Remember the song "Brand New Key" by Melanie? The perfect song for maximum torment. The chorus is especially affective :)      

actually hip

~ Julian Casablancas ~

So last Thursday on the Apartment Therapy blog, New York contributer Annie Werbler wrote a great little blurb about Julian Casablancas coming out with his first solo album entitled Phrazes for the Young. She actually wrote it somewhat apologetically, being that AT is basically a design blog... but she adores Julian Casablancas so much she just couldn't help herself. I admire such passion. And I'm always on the lookout for new music to reach down into the depths of my tie dye world and pull me up into the present. And his photo alone was enough to intrigue me. So I gave Phrazes for the Young a listen. I was instantly surprised. And instantly pleased.

Julian is the lead singer of the Strokes - a band I don't care for so very much - but he definitely has his own thing going for him with his solo music. I'm not much of a music critic - in fact, I'm lousy - but Julian's voice has depth and meaning, his songs are all diverse styles of genres, each with it's own very catchy edge, and his instrumentation is complex but never too much so that it overshadows the simplicity of his voice or the fun in his songs. There. That's about the best I can do. Luckily for you, I have a link where you can stream the whole album ---------> RIGHT HERE. Then you can hear it for yourself and hopefully enjoy it too. And purchase it. And enjoy it more.

listening is better anyway

So today my voice is gone. I know a few family members who's names shall not be mentioned who may possibly be slightly giddy about that - lol. No matter, it means that I will be a better listener today, which is always a good thing in more ways than one. Literally of course, and also because I loooooooove to listen to music. I love all my oldies that drive the fam crazy, but I am constantly in a search for new music as well.

I recently found the above video on Mrs. French's site, Bliss. It's filmed in Ireland (where else could that pub possibly be!?). John and I have performed in some tiny places in our time, but just look at where they are and how the group keeps expanding - you will really get a kick out of it! Not to mention how GREAT the song is. I loved it so much I ended up hunting down Lisa Hannigan on iTunes and downloaded her entire Sea Sew album for $8.99. Of which I am delighted to be listening intently to today. 

A Small But Meaningful Life - first post

Well, here I am. The first post ever on my blog. My blog? Weird. I can't believe I'm attempting to fake my way through this. I'm not young, hip, or cool. Actually that's not true - I am still cool. But definitely not young or hip. And I don't really know what to say of particular interest. But I love to write. LOVE IT. And I love to do crafty, creative things someone other than myself or my kid's friends might like at some point along the way. My life lately is feeling just a bit on the scattered side. This and that are all over the place. In between kids and friends and chores and errands and definitely hiding behind laundry. Paintings here, poetry there, photography still elsewhere. Dogs, drawings, ideas that keep me up at night. Projects constantly simmering. Mosaics still patiently waiting to be created. An Etsy store that MUST be created! And of course antiques all over the place. So I'm going to try to bring all these loose ends together here on my blog. A tall order, I know. But it might be a great thing - it could be a terrific thing.

I guess I need to introduce myself, considering this is my first post. Most of my friends still don't know what a blog even is, and the ones that do think it's mainly an exercise in narcissism. Fine. Nevertheless, I still need to establish my voice here. So because I have a headache and can't think of anything too creative, I'm going to rip off what I wrote about myself in my Facebook profile:

I'm the mom of 3 boys. There's a husband (of 26 years) in there somewhere too. I'm a bohemian. Color makes me happy. I'm so tie dye I need my own Ben & Jerry's flavor. I have more favorite scents than you would believe. I have a weakness for peace signs. I'm super creative. I will only use McDonald's straws. I don't know what I'd do without music. I love sunshine but I HATE the heat. I love food way too much. I read magazines backwards. I have 2 tattoos. Abused and abandoned animals make me cry. I love decorating but I hate excess. I'll do anything to avoid a public toilet. I am fun loving but I love to be by myself too. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. My speed record in my Bug is 120mph so far.

So that is pretty much me. Let me explain the "small but meaningful life" part of this post. Remember when Meg Ryan said that? In "You've Got Mail"? She was explaining her life to Tom Hanks via the internet. That description really struck me. Because no matter how small a life is, you still affect a lot of people, a lot of things. No matter how small it is, it can still be full of meaning and richness. I definitely have - and am blessed to have - a small but meaningful life.