Jump Little Children: Cathedrals

Last weekend, Kevin and I took a beautiful drive up to Boothbay Harbor, Maine to sit and watch the sailboats come in and out of the harbor. On the drive up, "Cathedrals" came on the radio and, as usual, stunned me into silence.

This is one of those songs. I've never owned it. I had to look up who wrote it for this post. Turns out, it's by a now-defunct band called Jump, Little Children (the name of a very cool Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee song...maybe more on that next week). Yet, every time I hear it, I hush. I turn up the radio. I feel a swelling in my chest. Every time.

It's the melody. The slow build. The beautiful cello. But it's also the lyrics.

I once spent a summer in Bologna with my grandmother's cousins. My "aunt" Paola (really a cousin some times removed) insisted that we go to Rome. She took me on the train and we spent the day in hot, crowded lines looking at the all the beautiful architecture and breathtaking murals. It was a strange feeling, being in the presence of such awe-inspiring history and art in the middle of a crushing, Disney-like mass of people. We entered the Sistine Chapel and were literally pushed by the crowd, shoulder to shoulder, from one end of the building to the other, necks craning to take in the view as we were jostled out the door. I felt small. I felt wonder. I felt overloaded. I worried about my purse.

Mostly, the experience gave me a profound and inexplicable feeling of loneliness, almost of loss. A longing for home, in the truest, non-locational sense of the word. And somehow this short song by Jump, Little Children captures all of that. So simply. So beautifully.

Jump, Little Children: Cathedrals (live at the Music Farm, 2002)



In the shadows of tall buildings
Of fallen angels on the ceilings
Oily feathers in bronze and concrete
Faded colors, pieces left incomplete
The line moves slowly past the electric fence
Across the borders between continents

In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is

In the shadows of tall buildings
The architecture is slowly peeling
Marble statues and glass dividers
Someone is watching all of the outsiders
The line moves slowly through the numbered gate
Past the mosaic of the head of state

In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is

In the shadows of tall buildings
Of open arches endlessly kneeling
Sonic landscapes echoing vistas
Someone is listening from a safe distance
The line moves slowly into a fading light
A final moment in the dead of the night

In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is

Suzanne Collins: Mockingjay!

Eeeeeee...August 24th is tomorrow! Cue fan-girl squeals and much anticipatory silliness.

Seriously. Don't try to call me.

Mockingjay book trailer:

Summer Blog Reruns: Another Secretary Gag

Another blog rerun for a busy week. It's true. I heart Candid Camera.

Back in September, I confessed my love for a certain goofy television series and mentioned a Woody Allen bit that I couldn't find on YouTube. Well guess what I found? I *love* this woman's reactions to his dictation. Ah, high comedy.



(If you're reading from Facebook, here's the link)

Summer Blog Rerun: Lean on Me by Bill Withers

I'm working furiously on a revision of my novel this week, so here is another blog rerun. I taught the kids in my Songwriting for Kids class this song again this year...they loved singing the bridge, of course!

Ever since I can remember, Bill Withers' Lean on Me has been one of my favorite songs. My brother and sisters and I used to sing it constantly--on car trips, while doing the dishes--getting especial pleasure from the "Call on me brother, if you need a hand" line (which is still the most fun part to sing).

I remember sitting with my brother at the old upright piano in my grandparent's guest cabin trying to figure out the chords while my mother talked about the bear she'd seen through the window. (Yes, my grandparent's guest cabin had one dusty bed, no running water, and an outhouse, but of course there was a piano. My grandmother will always be the a-house-is-not-a-home-without-music type of soul.)

The thing I love about this song is how it captures our innate, human tendency to feel like we are alone in this world. When hard times come (and boy, do they), we often try to shoulder the burdens on our own, either because we think it's heroic to "soldier on," or we don't want to bother anyone, or we just don't think anyone cares.

But the song reminds us of something we need to try very hard not to forget: we are all in this together. We need to swallow our fear and pride and acknowledge that we all need someone to lean on every once in a while. And then, we need to reach out a hand.

Here is a great live version of Bill Withers singing Lean on Me (listen closely to the lyrics, they're so simple, but they're creative genius):



Lean on Me
by Bill Withers
Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you don't let show

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me

So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

Lean on me...

Summer Blog Reruns: Rules by Cynthia Lord

This week, I'm working hard on a revision of my novel, so I'm going to take a break and do a few blog reruns. In honor of Cynthia Lord's new book Touch Blue coming out this month, here is a rerun about her first book.

Rules by Cynthia Lord: Originally posted June 11, 2007

I know that I'm behind the times. It's been well over a year since Cynthia Lord's book Rules came out, and about six months since it received the American Library Association's prestigious Newbery Honor Award for her "distinguished contribution to American literature for children." My favorite kidlit bloggers published their thoughtful, insightful reviews ages ago. And I just read the book this weekend.

Rules, simply put, is a story of a young girl trying to find her place in family, friendships, and life, while also figuring out how to deal with her younger brother's autism and all the unusual pressure and demand that condition can put on a family. This may not sound like light reading, but Cynthia Lord's humor and honesty and real, three-dimensional characters make the chapters fly by and you hardly want to put the book down. (As evidenced by this Sunday morning when my husband said, "Let's make pancakes!"...which is usually enough to make me drop whatever I'm doing and immediately dash for the kitchen...and instead I mumbled absently, "Mmmm...maybe after I finish this chapter. Or the next.")

I don't want to say much because you really should just read it, but here is one of the details I loved most about this book:

Catherine, the main character, is constantly writing rules for her brother, David, so "at least he'll know how the world works, and I won't have to keep explaining." Some of Catherine's life rules include:

• If someone says "hi," you say "hi" back.
• Not everything worth keeping has to be useful.
• No toys in the fish tank.
• Pantless brothers are not my problem.

While some of these rules are written out of adolescent frustration, there are some rules that are incredibly poignant and show a real, deep love. For instance, David often has trouble finding words to express himself, so Catherine writes him these two rules:

• If you don't have the words you need, borrow someone else's.
• If you need to borrow words, Arnold Lobel wrote some good ones.

So throughout the book, Catherine and David, quote to each other from Andrew Lobel's Frog and Toad books, almost like a secret language between brother and sister.

"Dad's still coming," I say. "Late doesn't mean not coming."

But those words don't help. So I reach over, wipe away his tear with the side of my thumb, and say the only words I know will calm him: "'Frog, you are looking quite green.'"

David sniffles. "'But I always look green,' said Frog. 'I am a frog.'"

This is what makes the book so lovely. The relationships. The very real, honest quality of Catherine's interactions with her brother, her father, the new girl next door, the boy she meets in the waiting room of David's occupational therapy appointments. This is not a drama about how difficult it is to live with autism. This is a book about growing up. About families. And as Cynthia Lord (who lives in Maine!) wrote on her website (totally worth checking out) in answer to a 5th grader's question about why she chose to write about autism:

Life is long and challenges come into every family, even if you don’t start life with them. RULES is about accepting there is value in everything, even in imperfection. Sometimes things can’t be changed, but you can change your feelings about them.

According to Booklist, Rules is geared for grades 4-7, but I think there's something here for all ages. I think a younger child would enjoy having this read out loud, and obviously I enjoyed reading it as an adult. (I did eventually get to those pancakes, too!)

Grab Bag Friday: Blackberry Crisp

After all that blackberry picking last weekend, it's been a bit of a blackberry theme week. Yum! This crisp recipe was SO delicious. I got it off the Rachel Ray website, then modified it (reduced the sugar, eliminated the sunflower seeds...in a crisp? is she serious?) until it was just right. (For me, anyway--if you like your crisp more goopy and sweet, double the granulated sugar and corn starch that goes on the berries.) I think it's the almonds that makes this so yummy. I'm putting almonds in all my crisps from now on.

Blackberry Crisp

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 1 tablespoon cold butter
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced or chopped almonds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups blackberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Pour the blackberries into a wide shallow baking dish (an 8x8 should do the trick). Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar and the 1 teaspoon of cornstarch over the berries. Set aside.

Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, almonds, and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut the butter into small squares and knead into the flour mixture (I prefer to do this by hand, but you could probably cut it in with a fork.) Spoon on top of the blackberries to cover, but not absolutely thoroughly.

Bake 25 minutes and serve with ice cream.

Pearl by Bright Common

I've been listening this week to a new album by Bright Common, a local group here in Brunswick. Pearl is their first album and by turns, it's haunting and lovely, expansive and intimate.

Around here, lead singer John Bisbee, is more well known for his sculpture than his crooning. He works almost entirely in metal, and more specifically, nails (hence the band named after a nail). His sculptures are intricate and breathtaking. When you stand in front of a John Bisbee work you can't help but be moved in some inexplicable way. Perhaps because all that common metal suddenly looks so delicate and beautiful. In 2004, The New Yorker described his work perfectly, "In Bisbee's hands, the spikes are transformed into objects of surprising grace." [See some of Bisbee's art]

Bandmate Mark Wethli is also a visual artist. Mainly a geometric painter who deals in deep swaths of shape and color, his full-scale Piper Club airplane sculpture was recently on display at Fort Andross this year and was a very cool departure. Like Bisbee's work, this piece took something as large and industrial as an airplane and allowed us to look at it from the inside out until it became something delicate, fragile, and full of wonder. [See some of Wethli's art]

But this post is about music, not art, and this is all to say that this is not your typical first album, nor your typical new band. These artists are attempting to bring the same sensibilities they bring to their visual art into an aural realm. And it's really quite a lovely experience.

Listen to free downloads on Bright Common's MySpace page.

Download the full album on CDBaby or Amazon.

Blackberry Picking by Seamus Heaney

Photo by respres

Kevin and I spent yesterday afternoon picking blackberries. The berries were perfect. So ripe that sometimes you barely touched the branch and two or three berries would go tumbling to the ground. I got bramble scratches up my arms and a ping-pong-sized welt of a bug bite on my ankle, but it was SO worth it. Especially after I made the most delicious warm blackberry crisp ever (more on that on Friday).


In Poetry Writing for Kids this year, my students (third through fifth grade) were going to study Seamus Heaney's poem "Blackberry Picking," but I am always a bit overly ambitious. Instead of studying 25 poems in 5 afternoons, we only had time for about 20 (they did, after all, have their own writing to do). This one, sadly, is one of the ones I cut from the roster:


Blackberry Picking
by Seamus Heaney

Late August, given heavy rain and sun
For a full week, the blackberries would ripen.
At first, just one, a glossy purple clot
Among others, red, green, hard as a knot.
You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet
Like thickening wine: summer's blood was in it
Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for
Picking. Then red ones inked up and that hunger
Sent us out with milk cans, pea tins, jam-pots
Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots.
Round hayfields, cornfields and potato-drills
We trekked and picked until the cans were full,
Until the tinkling bottom had been covered
With green ones, and on top big dark blobs burned
Like a plate of eyes. Our hands were peppered
With thorn pricks, our palms sticky as Bluebeard's.

We hoarded the fresh berries in the byre.
But when the bath was filled we found a fur,
A rat-grey fungus, glutting on our cache.
The juice was stinking too. Once off the bush
The fruit fermetted, the sweet flesh would turn sour.
I always felt like crying. It wasn't fair
That all the lovely canfuls smelt of rot.
Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.

Grab Bag Friday: Twitterpated

Okay, I've finally succumbed to this whole Twitter thing. I'm just testing the waters and figuring things out, so if you're an old pro, please do come by and say hi. I can be found @josephinewrites. Hope to see you there!

As the wise old owl explained: "Don't you know? He's twitterpated!"

Hooray for 2010 Summer Workshops!

I had so much fun teaching my Poetry, Fiction, and Songwriting workshops for kids this summer. It's hard to believe they're already over. In Fiction, the students wrote fabulous stories about adventures that took place everywhere from Mt. Kilimanjaro to Mine Hole Land to a drawer in someone's bedroom. In Poetry, there were sestinas, villanelles, and beautiful free verse that could break your heart.

This year, in my Songwriting for Kids workshop, the class worked together to write a song about a river that I'd like to visit (especially that cave full of gold!) I think my favorite line in the whole song is "the trees are doing the cha-cha in the wind." How great is that? You can listen to this year's class singing their song in The Listening Room and here are the lyrics:

The Moon Shines Bright onto the River
by the 2010 Songwriting for Kids class


Chorus:
The moon shines bright onto the river
The moon shines bright onto the river
The moon shines bright onto the river   
The moon shines bright onto the river

Verse 1:
The owls are hooting
The river’s moving
The trees are doing the cha-cha in the wind

The waves are crashing
Against the rocks
Drops of water splashing on a stranger’s skin

Chorus:
The moon shines bright onto the river
The moon shines bright onto the river
The moon shines bright onto the river   
The moon shines bright onto the river

Verse 2:
Flying fish are soaring high
Starfish on a rock
The water’s deep and cold

Coyotes are howling
An owl lives in the forest
Near a cave full of gold

Chorus:
The moon shines bright onto the river
The moon shines bright onto the river
The moon shines bright onto the river   
The moon shines bright onto the river

Bridge:
The dark blue sky is like
A blue blanket
On my bed

Chorus:
The moon shines bright onto the river
The moon shines bright onto the river
The moon shines bright onto the river   
The moon shines bright onto the river 

Neil Gaiman: The Graveyard Book

This weekend, Kevin and I went on an exciting trip to New York City where we ate great food, spent time with old friends, saw a great Broadway Show, and for the car ride, we brought along the audio version of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. You know...that little book that came out in 2008 and got some attention by winning the Newbery Medal, the Hugo Award, the Carnegie Medal, and oh, at least a half dozen more major literary awards. I admit, I'd never read it.

Now, I'll also admit, I'm *glad* I'd never read it. Because listening to Neil Gaiman read the book aloud is so much fun, I'm certain I wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much if I had read it on my own. Most books, I like to curl up on the couch and create a world in my own head. But Neil Gaiman's voice is built for storytelling. He draws you in and invites you to hang on his every word.

Of course, the story is chilling. Our hero, Bod (short for Nobody), enters the novel as an infant whose family has just been brutally murdered. In an unprecedented act of generosity, the ghosts of the local graveyard take him in and vow to protect him. What unfolds is part mystery, part straight-up fantasy/adventure, but what is most intriguing is Bod's coming of age story. Bod is a living, flesh-and-blood human being trying to fit into a world that is not his. In the end, after all is said and done, The Graveyard Book is about familial love, growing up, letting go, and finding your place in the world.

Next time you're trying to decide what to listen to on a long car trip, I recommend checking it out.

Summer Blog Reruns: The Court Jester

Because I can never get enough Danny Kaye...

Grab Bag Friday Movie Vault: The Court Jester, originally posted March 28, 2008


(Fair Warning: Hyperbole will follow.) I was browsing over at Educating Alice, and she posted this clip from the 1955 Danny Kaye movie, The Court Jester. My family and I used to laugh ourselves to tears watching this movie. And I still hold that it is one of the most hysterical comedies of all time. And that Danny Kaye is perhaps the most hilarious comic of all time. That's right. Of all time. :)

Now, some of you who know me may argue that I have a somewhat, oh shall we say, specific sense of humor, but that's a discussion for another day...

Here's my family's beloved "Brew that is True" scene and some fun trivia about The Court Jester from IMDB:

• Unimpressed with him in tights, producers of the film made Danny Kaye wear 'leg falsies' to improve the shape of his legs. This adds a touch of irony when Hubert Hawkins offers the princess all of him, including his legs and calves.
  
  
• Danny Kaye's daughter, Dena Kaye, said for the rest of his life, when people recognized Danny in a restaurant, they would walk up and spout the entire "brew that is true" speech.
  
  
• Basil Rathbone was a world-class fencer and it was due to his efforts that the hilarious fencing scene was filmed without injury. He later admitted that several times he was almost skewered by Danny Kaye's sword.
  

Summer Blog Reruns: Stevie Wonder for Kids

Since I'm headed to teach my songwriting workshop to 5-8 year olds this morning, I decided this rerun was in order...

Stevie Wonder for Kids, originally posted February 28, 2007

I thought for the last day of Black History Month, I'd talk about something purely fun. I get a lot of requests from parents looking for children's music that won't drive them batty. These parents have ususally spent insane amounts of time listening to the typical, vacant, sing-songy variety of kids music that permeates the genre (you know the kind I'm talking about). It's usually when they catch themselves humming it on the way to work that they realize they would rather scrape melted gummy worms off the sofa than listen to another minute of this stuff.

Aside from sending them to Zooglobble and Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child, I have another miracle cure for these desperate parents:




Stevie Wonder
(Cue angel choir and light streaming down from heaven)

First of all, Stevie Wonder was signed to Motown Records when he was just 11 years old. That is supercool by anybody's standards.

Second of all, go to iTunes and listen to/download Uptight. What kid wouldn't love to dance around to this song? What parent wouldn't love to dance around to this song? See? Problem solved!

A special treat:
This is from the 1973 season of Sesame Street. Now this is music! Pure energy. The video quality isn't the best, but YouTube has confiscated all the versions that were clear due to the recent lawsuits. Hm. A topic for another day. Enjoy this one while it lasts:

Summer Blog Reruns: Abigail Thomas, Safekeeping

My husband and sister are both attending a week-long workshop with Abigail Thomas this week and I get to go to hear her read on Friday! So I thought this blog rerun would be appropriate for today...


Abigail Thomas: Safekeeping, Some True Stories from a Life, originally posted March 10, 2008

My sister recently recommended Abigail Thomas' Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life as good airplane reading. When I first glanced through it, I admit, I groaned. The chapters are extremely short, the story jumps around with no chronological order, the viewpoint changes from third person to first person to second person with no warning. I thought, oh great, another too-cool-for-school, experimental memoir that's trying to be deep. Thanks, Anna.

Then I started reading.

Safekeeping is actually a very lovely, well-crafted book about marriage, love, life, and mostly, memory. It is the story of a middle-aged woman who is trying to piece together her memories, trying to sort through and reconcile her life after the loss of a close friend who was "once upon a time" her husband.

The short, out-of-order chapters work because that is how memories come to us. In short, uncontrollable bursts. A displaced memory of a smashed dish, a loose fragment of a conversation, the cramped feeling of an old apartment.

The switch in viewpoint works surprisingly well. Instead of coming off as unbearably post-modern or uber-artistic, it serves as a simple, concrete tool. A woman trying to get a 360 degree view of her life. We see her as a young woman as *she* remembers herself. Then we see her as she imagines an objective observer might see her. Then her sister comes in and says, no that's not how it went at all...don't you remember?

And that's the thing. We don't remember. Not exactly. Abigail Thomas writes on her website:

I’ve written nothing but non-fiction for years now in spite of my poor memory.  I can remember moments, and scenes, but not what happened when or what came after...But  if I could remember everything in its proper sequence, there’s a lot of life that’s interesting to live but not so interesting to write about, let alone read. And frankly, I’m bored by chronology. I don’t even believe in chronology. Time is too weird. It contracts, then it shoots forward (or back), it dawdles, stops still, and then suddenly we’re twenty years down the road. Whole decades evaporate. For me connecting the dots is not as absorbing as the dots themselves. I’m more interested in why certain memories stand out. Why these and not others?

It's a great question, and one that I've been thinking about ever since I read Safekeeping. Writer Anne Lamott said this about the book, and I don't think I could sum it up better:

[Safekeeping is] not so much memoir as a stained-glass window of scenes garnered from a life. This is an unforgettable portrait of a grown-up woman who has learned to rejoice in being herself. Reading it, we feel the crazy beauty of life.

Summer Blog Reruns: A Little Friday Humor

Because all three of these deserve repeat viewings...

Grab Bag Friday: A Little Friday Humor, originally posted March 6, 2009

Here are three videos that made me smile this week.

My sister, Steph, sent me this one and I roared. I love the airplane bit at the end:



I came across this one on the blog As The World Stearns. It's another clip from Improv Everywhere. These people are creative geniuses.



Lastly, this one is Improv Everywhere's latest mission. I just love how quickly a simple thing like a high five can put smiles on people's faces. When these people get on the escalator, they're dour, lost in their own little worlds (like we all are half the time). When they get off, more than half of them are grinning, interacting, enjoying the moment. Think about that. It's brillant. What can you do to brighten somebody's day today?

Summer Blog Reruns: The Clash

In order to focus on my songwriting, fiction, & poetry workshops this week, I'm posting some summer blog reruns in lieu of live posts. I feel like a little Clash this morning...

The Clash: Should I Stay Or Should I Go, originally posted May 6, 2009

Last week, on Music Wednesday, I posted a couple sweet classic songs from the '40s. As Monty Python would say...And now, for something completely different...

Recently, I've been working on a novel in which one of the characters is a little obsessed with Joe Strummer from The Clash. So I've been perusing YouTube a bit for classic punk rock, and here are a couple treats.

Here's a live version of Should I Stay or Should I Go, one of the most popular "mainstream" songs by The Clash. I love the goofy dancing, I have to say:



This Lifetimes documentary is a hoot. I love the girl who says:

"I don't know why I like them. That's why I like them. You don't have to know everything."

Brilliant. I might have to steal that for my book. :) [UPDATE: Sadly, the fun lifetimes documentary has been removed from YouTube. Instead, follow this link to a 1979 interview where Joe Strummer waxes on about piracy, Northern Ireland, and giving it all you've got. Boo to the YouTube police.]

Summer Blog Reruns: Barbara Helen Berger, When the Sun Rose

In order to focus on my songwriting, fiction, and poetry workshops this week, I'll be posting some summer blog reruns. This one is hands-down my favorite children's book of all time...

Barbara Helen Berger: When the Sun Rose, originally posted January 22, 2007

This is a bold statement, but I think Barbara Helen Berger's When the Sun Rose is my favorite picture book of all time.

It is a very simple, short, sweet story about two friends spending the day together, but the images and words are so striking and beautiful, you immediately get completely swept up. I've used this book in a number of my Songwriting for Kids classes, and each time I turn the page, there is a quiet intake of breath from the whole group. Ms. Berger is a master at creating a sense of wonder.

It seems that when I walk into the kids section in a bookstore, I am just bombarded by books that are trying to grab my attention with as many bright colors, images, action, and glitz as they possibly can (check out Fuse #8's great September review of Not a Box for more on this topic). So I love it when I come across a book that leaves me with a sense of calm and wonder. When the Sun Rose is a rare and breathtaking example of this. Take your time with each page, absorbing each one...I guarantee you will close the book feeling refreshed and renewed. It is a great gift.

Now here's the bad news: this book is out of print. You can still find a few used copies on Amazon or at AbeBooks.com. But check your library, and if they don't have it, get it on interlibrary loan. Do what you have to do, but find this book. And if you happen to run into dead ends all around, check out Barbara Helen Berger's Grandfather Twilight instead (a perfect bedtime book which deserves a blog post all its own...so stay tuned).

For more about Barbara Helen Berger and her beautiful work, visit her official website.

Grab Bag Friday: Freedom

Here's a question for you: how do you maintain productivity in a world filled to the brim with entertaining distractions?

I know myself. I know that when I sit down to write, I cannot read "just one" kidlit blog post before I start. Or do a "quick email check." Or play a round of Scramble "to clear my mind." Before you know it, I'm updating my Goodreads page and surfing for So You Think You Can Dance clips.

It's ridiculous, but I know for a fact that no matter how excited I am about a writing project, given the opportunity to stall, I will.

Now last November, I was stuck in a time-sucking vortex of my favorite blogs when I came across a post about unplugging at Upstart Crow, and a reader (God bless him) commented that he uses a program called Freedom. Freedom is a free program for Mac & PC that disables your internet for as long as you tell it to. Log on and type "90" into the little box and voila! 90 distraction-free minutes. The only way to get back online is to restart your computer. Which, as it turns out, is just enough of a deterrent for me. When I've spent a productive, clear-headed morning hitting my word-count goal, I want to kiss whoever invented this software.

Technically, there is another way to handle this problem. It's called will power. But for those of us who don't have it, there's Freedom. 

Phil Collins: Find a Way to My Heart

Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I've recently been reunited with my childhood friend, April (who turned up in Georgia of all places!) When we were kids, April and I were inseparable. We walked, cross-country skiied, or swam to each other's houses almost every day. We started clubs together (and at least once used the other kids' "dues" money for candy.) We suffered through braces together, bad babysitting gigs, pom pom squad, and serious doses of family drama. 

Through everything, we listened to music. Constantly. April gave me my first mix tape (songs taped from the radio, no less...truly old school). She also gave me my first Madonna tape (which was promptly confiscated by my mother). But what I remember most is listening to Phil Collins.

I remember sitting on April's bed in 1989, her Kirk Cameron poster smiling down at us from it's place of honor on the ceiling above her pillow, and putting Phil Collin's ...But Seriously tape into her little boom box. That tape was revolutionary to me. The big brass band, the soaring melodies, the social consciousness. I got the piano book, taught myself every song on the album, and made myself cry every time I played "Colors":

Deep inside the border
Children are crying
Fighting for food
Holding their heads
Breaking their bread with a stone

...and then transitioned into fighting mad at the lines

People living without rights
Without their dignity
How loud does one man have to shout
To earn his right to be free

I still pull out that dusty cassette tape from time to time and no matter how long it's been, I can still sing along with every word, hum every note of that brass section, and get sad and riled up all at once. In a way, it's like reconnecting with an old friend. To quote Mr. Collins himself: "Find a way to my heart/ And I will always be with you..."


Phil Collins: Find a Way to My Heart

Grab Bag Friday: Chicagoans Unite!

I'm breaking all the rules today. I'm going to write my Grab Bag Friday post on Thursday and ignore every one of you who does not live in or around Chicago. See, my friend Kate Corby is going to be in this REALLY BIG DEAL dance show in Chicago and I CAN'T BE THERE! And did I mention there's a $10,000 grant on the line?

Lucky Chicagoans, I need you to be my surrogate. Go. Vote for Kate's company. When's the last time you went to a dance show? It will be fun. You deserve a night out. And as Kate points out, there will be a very special place in "arts supporter heaven" if you spread the word.

I've pasted a letter from Kate below with all the details. And if you *do* go, please please write me and tell me all about it. Seriously. Now that I'm in Maine, I have to live vicariously through you Midwesterners, you know.

Dear friends and family,

We are very excited to announce/remind you that we have been selected to perform in The A.W.A.R.D. Show! at the Dance Center of Columbia College. We are one of 12 Chicago companies chosen to participate in what is A REALLY BIG DEAL. Over three evenings of performances audiences will pick the 'best' work from each show through voting after a post-performance discussion. The top three pieces will be performed a second time during a fourth night of adjudication, competing for a grant of $10,000! Erin Kilmurray, Emily Miller and Anna Normann will be performing our collaborative trio Go in fashion forward costumes by Maggie Dianovsky.  The event is designed specifically for audiences new to dance and the seats at the Dance Center are really comfy.  What more could you ask for?!

Want to help?  Here is your mission:

1. Call the Dance Center box office at 312-369-8330 to buy up to six of our reserved tickets for Wednesday, July 28th by Tuesday, July 6th!  They are $15 a piece.  Your code word is "Corby."  Seriously.  Do this soon -- like right away. If our reserved block of tickets is gone that's fine.  Hopefully some 'general' tickets will still be available.  They are non-refundable.
   
2. Mark your calendars for 7/28 and 7/31 (in hope that we will get into the final performance).
   
3. On Wednesday, July 28th at 8 pm bring your tickets and your fine selves to The Dance Center of Columbia College, 1306 S. Michigan Ave. (Roosevelt Red line CTA, just off of Lakeshore with many parking lots nearby), and watch Erin, Emily and Anna tear it up on stage.  They're pretty great.  Be punctual as late-comers will not be able to vote.
4. Stay for the post-performance discussion with the adjudicators and artists.

I know, I know, it's summer and you may very well be out of town (or you may not even actually LIVE in Chicago), but there will be a very special place in 'arts supporter' heaven for you if you recruit your friends to attend.  Thank you so very much for your support!  We really appreciate it. 

More information on The A.W.A.R.D. Show!

• http://www.colum.edu/dance_center/performances/AWARD_Show/index.php

• http://www3.timeoutny.com/chicago/blog/out-and-about/2010/06/12-competitors-lineups-confirmed-for-the-award-show-2010/

More information about us:

www.katecorby.com

Very warmly,

Kate Corby & Dancers

Peggy Lee: Black Coffee

Because some mornings, you just need a little Peggy Lee and no more needs to be said...

Peggy Lee: Black Coffee

Today I Feel Like An Author

When I was a kid, I felt like an author. I wrote book after book, stapling together pages from old invoice pads or receipt books that my dad would bring home from work. I illustrated my books. I gave them away as gifts. There was no doubt in my mind that I would always be an author. I would have a house filled with books and I would write all day.

And then somewhere along the way, doubts began to creep in. So I went to school for writing...who cares? Lots of people want to be authors...what made me think I could do it? What if I didn't have the chops? The drive? The stamina? Who could write a novel anyway? Even if I could do it, who would want to read it?

But today, as I sit in my house full of books, gearing up to work on a new revision of my novel, I have this picture hanging above my desk. My younger self, grinning at me, whispering "I know you can do it!"

Me, circa 1982ish:

Pablo Neruda: Book of Questions

I'm working on curriculum this week for my summer songwriting, fiction, and poetry workshops, so I've been thinking a lot about words and how we use them. The sounds of words, the definitions of words, the emotion of words. It's amazing that we can jumble letters together and convey so much.

I wrote a couple weeks back about The Dreamer, a middle-grade novel based on the life of Pablo Neruda, so here is an excerpt from Neruda's Book of Questions that plays with the concept of words and how we use them.

LXVI.
Do the o's of the locomotive
cast smoke, fire and steam?

In which language does rain fall
over tormented cities?

At dawn, which smooth syllables
does the ocean air repeat?

Is there a star more wide open
the the word poppy?

Are there two fangs sharper
than the syllables of jackal?

Summer Reruns: Goin Home Antonin Dvorak & William Arms Fisher

Another blog rerun...this one is the most popular post I've ever written with over 6000 viewers since it went up. It was originally posted as part of my American Songs Vol. 2 "Stories Behind the Songs" series...

Goin' Home: Antonin Dvorak & William Arms Fisher, originally posted October 7, 2007

So if you can believe it, here we are at the final story behind American Songs volume 2: Goin Home.
If you've missed the stories behind American Songs volume 2 in previous posts and would like to catch up, please use these links:

• Goin' to the West
• Evangeline
• Gum Tree Canoe
• Oh Susanna (free download)
• Long Track Blues (Sterling A. Brown)
• Unclouded Day (free download)
• Oh Sister (free download)
• This Land is Your Land

Story behind the song: The melody for "Goin' Home" was written by the classical Czech composer Antonin Dvorak in 1893 as part of his Symphony no. 9: From the New World (a symphony loosely based on Longfellow's poem "Song of Hiawatha"). In the early 1890's, Dvorak was invited to teach for a four-year residency at the American Conservatory of Music in New York.

Dvorak was very interested in "peasant music" when he lived in Prague, and when he came to America, that interest transferred over to what he referred to as "negro melodies." His copy assistant Harry Burleigh (an African-American) played a large role in introducing him to these folk songs. Dvorak began to promote the controversial idea that African-American music would be the future of America. He incorporated these musical themes into his own music, and admitted talented African-American musicians into his classes free of charge.

Now this idea of Black music as the "future of America" was controversial in a number of ways. Some, as you would expect, felt he was tainting the fine art of classical music by incorporating such a "lowly" art form. Others felt that Dvorak's analysis wasn't authentic, but based solely on some of the popular affectations of "negro melodies" written by white men (like Stephen Foster, for example)...I found this interesting piece in a May 30, 1893 article in the South Carolina paper, "The State":

Had Dvorak, who is learned in music, been long in this country, he would know, as nearly everyone else knows, that none of the so called "negro melodies" is of negro origin..."The Swanee River," "Nellie Gray," "Massa's in the cold, cold, ground," and the other accepted melodies pertaining to Afro-Americanism are the creations of white men. Dr. Dvorak ought to spend a winter in Blake Township, Colleton County, or on Hilton Head Island. There he would hear genuine negro melodies. He can't hear them in the concert halls of the North.

Nevertheless, Dvorak's interest in African-American melodies (which did include spirituals like "Swing Low Sweet Chariot") affected many in the music world. One of his students, William Arms Fisher, took his message to heart and began collecting, arranging, and publishing hundreds of African-American spirituals. He also wrote words to the Largo movement of Symphony no. 9, which became known as "Goin' Home."

I chose "Goin' Home" for the last song of American Songs volume 2 because, despite the fact that it is not technically American music, but European, it was monumental in the way the world began to hear traditional American folk music. And thematically, all the songs on this new album have to do with traveling, moving, trying desperately to get to a place of hope, freedom, or love. How else could it possibly end?

Here is a very interesting article about Dvorak and the American landscape of the 1890's from University of Texas. (If you click on the gorgeous Bierstadt Indian Canoe oil painting, you can watch an analysis of "New World Symphony.")

Here's more on William Arms Fisher and his relationship with Dvorak. (Scroll down until you hit "Fisher.")

Here is a beautiful version of the 2nd movement played by the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra:


Lyrics (Click on the song title to listen to a sample):

Goin' Home, music by Antonin Dvorak, words by William Arms Fisher

Goin' home, goin' home,
I'm a-goin' home,
Quiet like some still day,
I'm jes' goin' home.

It's not far, jes' close by,
Through an open door,
Work all done, care laid by,
Gwine to fear no more.

Mother's there 'spectin' me,
Father's waitin' too,
Lot's o' folk gathered there,
All the friends I knew.

Home, home, I'm goin' home.
Nothin' lost, all's gain.
No more stumblin' on the way,
No more longin' for the day,
Gwine to roam no more.

Mornin' star lights the way,
Res'less dreams all done, all done,
Shadow's gone, break o' day,
Real life's jes' begun.

Dere's no break, ain't no end,
Jes' a-livin' on,
Wide awake with a smile,
Goin' on and on.

Goin' home, goin' home,
I'm jes goin' home,
It's not far, Jes' close by,
Through an open door,
I'm jes' goin home.

Summer Reruns: Marianne Moore What Are Years?

Over the summer, I'll be posting some blog reruns to save a few extra minutes of summertime. Since Kevin and I will be celebrating our TEN YEAR anniversary in a month or so, I thought this one was appropriate...

Marianne Moore: What Are Years? originally posted November 17, 2008

Ten years ago when my husband and I first met, before we were even dating, he made me a birthday card with a Marianne Moore poem handwritten on the back. With my birthday coming around this week, I've been thinking about this poem again.

Moore asserts that courage lies in accepting our mortality, and within those confines, managing to find (if not satisfaction) joy. At the time, I thought Kevin's card was sweet and thoughtful (he knew how much I admired Moore's poetry). But now, ten years later--I woke up this morning, we went through the confines of our daily routine (teeth, face, hair, coffee, work), and laughed about some little thing or another. On our drive to work, I watched the sun glancing off the last surviving leaves dangling from the trees and thought: How pure a thing is joy.

What Are Years?
by Marianne Moore

What is our innocence,
what is our guilt? All are
naked, none is safe. And whence
is courage: the unanswered question,
the resolute doubt, --
dumbly calling, deafly listening--that
in misfortune, even death,
encourages others
and in its defeat, stirs

the soul to be strong? He
sees deep and is glad, who
accedes to mortality
and in his imprisonment rises
upon himself as
the sea in a chasm, struggling to be
free and unable to be,
in its surrendering
finds its continuing.

So he who strongly feels,
behaves. The very bird,
grown taller as he sings, steels
his form straight up. Though he is captive,
his mighty singing
says, satisfaction is a lowly
thing, how pure a thing is joy.
This is mortality,
this is eternity.

Grab Bag Friday: Magnolias with Sunbow

This weekend, I'm attending my grandfather's memorial service, so I leave you with this gorgeous picture of magnolias from my cousin's photo feed. I love the sunbow arching over the flowers. We miss you, Papa.

Summer Reruns: I See The Moon

This summer, I plan to spend a bit more time offline, so I'll be posting a few summer blog reruns. This post about one of my favorite lullabies continues to get the most hits out of any music-related post I've written over the years (with the exception of one other popular song, which I'll put up sometime later this summer)...



Lullaby: I See The Moon, originally posted March 7, 2007

Photo by Jamelah.
On Monday night, driving home from the studio, the skies were completely clear, and there was the most beautiful, just-past-full moon. It got me humming one of my favorite lullabies, "I See the Moon."

This old song has gone through many variations, and transformations (including the well-known rhyme I see the moon and the moon sees me/God bless the moon and God bless me) but according to Mudcat, one of my favorite sources of information about traditional music, the closest to "original" goes like this:

I see the moon and the moon sees me
Down through the leaves of the old oak tree
Please let the light that shines on me
Shine on the one I love

I love this song, not only because of the melody (which is on one hand very pretty and sing-songy, and on the other hand, very melancholy), but also because of these lyrics. They're so simple and true. When we're far away from someone we love, we try to look for the little things that connect us. It's somehow comforting to remember that the same moon that's shining on me as I go to sleep will be shining on you when you go to sleep, even if you are hundreds of miles away.

Kids, especially, get this. I've used this song in some of my workshops for kids, and they immediately have a list of distant friends and relatives they want to sing this song to. It's relevant to their lives.

And that, of course, is the coolest thing about a song like this. It was written in a completely different century, and it is still immediate and relevant to our lives.

You can listen to or download a free mp3 of my version of "I See the Moon", and read the full lyrics in the Listening Room at SongwritingForKids.com.

You can also click here to listen to the Stargazers hit musi-comedy version from the 1950's. This is the first version I ever heard of "I See the Moon," and it is certainly an experience. I came across this impassioned post from the blog Popular on FreakyTrigger.co.uk where Tom Ewing reviews every #1 single ever to hit the UK pop charts (he's currently up to 1972). His word for the Stargazers version: excruciating. Well, let's see what you think...

Pam Munoz Ryan & Peter Sis: Dreamer

I'm getting ready to teach my summer poetry workshop and to get in the zone, I picked up Pam Munoz Ryan's, The Dreamer, a middle grade novel based on the childhood of poet Pablo Neruda.

I don't know what I was expecting, but this book is so delicately and beautifully woven together, it took my breath away in parts. It chronicles Neftali's (Pablo Neruda's given name) coming of age. Specifically, his conflict with his father, who wants him to stop dreaming and make something of himself. But it's Neftali's dreaming that allows him to find beauty and wonder in everything he sees. In the raindrops, in the call of a bird, in the shape of a pine cone, or the beauty of a word.

Munoz Ryan adds a bit of magical realism to the story as Neftali's mind shifts between dream and reality. Zeroes from his homework laze about and drift off the page. The favorite words that he keeps hidden away in his drawer sometimes work their way out and arrange themselves in interesting combinations before his eyes. The reader cannot help but be caught up in the same wide-eyed wonder as Neftali himself.

The climax of the story is gripping, as Neftali is confronted with the cruelty of the world and the decision to strike out on his own path. The afterword about the author's research and the inclusion of the Neruda poems at the end are just what the book needs to bring things to a satisfying close. It's such a gift to read about specifics in Neftali's childhood and then see his daydreams come to fruition in Pablo Neruda's beautiful poems.

Of course, I can't write about this book without mentioning that the illustrations are by one of my picture book heroes: Peter Sis. Who better to portray the surreal images and daydreams of a young poet's mind?

Certainly a must-read for kids interested in writing. And I would even say a must-read for anyone who has ever been a dreamer, or worried about pleasing others, or wondered how to discover who they will become.

Grab Bag Friday: New Yorkers and Ghostbusters

I haven't posted a video from Improv Everwhere in a while and they have been busy creating hilarity as usual.

Their most recent prank, The Tourist Lane, is a riot. If you go to the webpage, be sure to scroll down and watch the actual news footage on the project.



And last month, I loved their reenactment of the New York Public Library Ghostbusters scene. The project was intended to raise awareness for the giant budget cuts (25%) facing the library. Once again, creative genius.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Last night, on the season finale of Glee (yes, I'm a fan, what can I say?) coach Will Schuster sang Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. It's a version that has exploded over the last decade and I suppose it's inclusion on Glee means that it has truly become ubiquitous.

Every time I hear the IZ version, I'm stunned that even a song so familiar can become fresh and new when you come at it with genuine creativity and honest emotion.

This video shows IZ playing the song and includes footage of the thousands of fans who came out to his memorial service in 1997.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Summer Reruns: Ruby Bridges, Through My Eyes

It's summertime! Hurrah! To eke out just a little more time for gardening, writing, and other sunny day activities, I plan to post a blog "rerun" or two each week. Here's one from the wayback machine...February 2007...according to my blog statistics, this has been the #1 all-time most popular Please Come Flying post in the Books category to date:

Ruby Bridges: Through My Eyes
February 12, 2007

Most of us know the story of Ruby Bridges. The little girl in the Norman Rockwell painting who was the first black student in the all white elementary school in New Orleans. What you may not know is that in 1999, the grown-up Ruby Bridges wrote a stunning children's book about her experiences during the now-famous integration of that school.

I picked up Through My Eyes a few years ago and was completely swept up in the story told by the child who walked through so much hatred every day at 6 years old. Ruby Bridges takes you right back in history and in simple, eloquent text, lets you know what it felt like to be her. Not as an adult looking back, but as a child, right there in the middle of things, bewildered, hopeful, and sometimes scared. It's an absolutely fascinating book that will give any child or adult a fresh and very real perspective on an old story we've probably become too familiar and comfortable with.

To read more on Ruby Bridges and her efforts to promote diversity in her adult life, please visit the Ruby Bridges Foundation website. Ms. Bridges now works with elementary schools to fight intolorance and injustice in the schools. There are some great quotes from kids on the site, like this one from a 4th grade student in Los Angeles:

I used to be rude to people before being in the program. Now, I can start being nice to new people I meet. I also had some racist feelings toward a Latina who had hurt my feelings. When I was angry, the first thought I had was that I didn’t like her because she was Latina, not that she was just mean. Now, I think about not being racist, even when I’m angry.

Now that's real work!

On the Official Ruby Bridges Website you can:

• View pictures from newspapers during the de-segregation in New Orleans
• Read articles about Ruby Bridges
• Get your school involved with Ruby Bridges' new book project!
• Request school visits or speaking engagements
• Download a Lori McKenna song about Ruby Bridges

View Norman Rockwell's painting The Problem We All Live With at Wikipedia

Grab Bag Friday: Monkey Bread

Okay, so this image has nothing to do with monkey bread. It's a glimpse of the cute fabrics you could win if you head over to my friend Amy Schimler's blog before Monday. Hurry, go! And when you finish entering the contest, then you should make some monkey bread!

A student recently gave me this recipe and my sister and I tried it out last weekend. We can report that it is super fun to make (anything that gets rolled into balls then coated in butter and sugar is right up my alley) and it tastes delicious. Imagine a sticky bun, only slightly less sweet.

We decided it's a great rainy day activity (especially good for kids to help with) and a perfect treat to bring to a potluck!

Tajuana's Monkey Bread

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups flour
1 pkg yeast
1/3 cup raisins
1 egg
1 cup warm water
2 tsp butter
Flour
¼ cup butter
1 banana – diced
Finely chopped walnuts
Bundt pan

1. Add sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in bowl. Mix together. Set aside until step 14.
2. Place flour and yeast in bowl.
3. Add raisins, walnuts, and banana. Stir in.
4. Add egg to flour mix.
5. Add water and 2 tsp butter. Stir until dough pulls from side of bowl.
6. Put dough on floured surface.
7. Shape into giant ball.
8. Knead for 5 minutes or until smooth (if you add banana, it will still be sticky even after kneading.)
9. Cover dough with bowl for 5 minutes.
10. Grease pan while dough is rising (butter works best).
11. Melt ¼ cup butter. Save until step 14.
12. With knife, cut dough into 4 pieces. Cut each piece into 8 pieces. If you feel these are too large, you may want to cut them smaller.
13. Form each piece into a ball.
14. Dip in butter. Roll in sugar mix. Put in pan. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture on top.
15. Cover dough with plastic wrap and cloth towel.
16. Place pan in warm place and let dough rise for 30 minutes.
17. Heat oven to 375.
18. After 30 minutes, remove dough coverings.
19. Bake bread for 25 minutes or until brown.
20. Take out of oven. Immediately turn upside down onto serving plate. Serve warm or cool.

*If you put the plate on top of the pan and then flip them both over, there is less of a chance that it will fall apart.

Recess Monkey: Jet Pack

I've been working a bit this week on a story about a janitor, so maybe that's why I got such a kick out of the new video from Recess Monkey (thanks to my favorite kids music connoisseur Zooglobble for the link). If you're in the market for some fresh, funk-influenced, space-themed kids music, the new RM album, The Final Funktier (due out June 15th) seems like it's going to be pretty fab, by the way.

Recess Monkey: Jet Pack