upstate new york

Furman Hill we called it.  In my teen years I used to ride my bike to the very top of this hill, and then fly down.  Doubt I could make it up there now.  Aww, youth.   

"No wonder you're so nice.  You're from Penfield," my doctoral professor said to me years ago after realizing she had been to my home town.

"I'm a hick," I should have told her.  That's what my mom says about herself.  But small town folk are sweet and simple, I have come to appreciate over the years. 

Since July 1st we have been thirty minutes from my hometown, in similar country.  This summer we have made a road trip to DC as well, but this has been our home base, in Victor, New York.  For the past ten years we have returned to my home area for a month, usually trading or renting houses.  So we had our own place to stay.  Twice the accommodations fell through, so my parents welcomed us with open arms.  Last year we also went to Europe, and we have made road trips every year from our various home bases in New York.  Up until a couple of years ago we also visited my grandmother, who died at the age of 100.   

This first shot is Annabel two years ago; the rest of the shots are from this summer:

giveaway: from here cd

Ladies and gentlemen!
We are doing a different kind of giveaway of Gary's new CD, "From Here."

1.  All you have to do is post a comment on YouTube about this song (you need a Youtube account to do that)...and give a thumbs up if you like!  By doing this everyone will get a free CD!

2.  If you also mention this giveaway on your blog we will send you two CDs - "From Here" and "A Whisper Can Change the World."

The CD has a combination of original rock songs, ballads, even a bluesey tune.  There is a surprise at the end.  Sky did the graphics, with a tad bit of input from us.

 Hope everyone has a great weekend.

corner view~me

The me I was fourteen years ago.  A new mother with a five day old babe in my arms, me crying everytime Gary sang "Sky's Lullaby," a song he still hasn't recorded, although it is one of my favorites.  Me: a wife for one year.  I always dreamed of being married to someone who could sit at a piano and sing with me.

The years have passed and in the busy-ness of raising three kids I spent ten years not painting, something I used to spend hours doing every free Saturday I had when I was young and single and free. Until one day in 2003 I sat down by golly and painted something entirely new, something in reds and yellows, something I never would have created in my twenties.  I have moved many times since that photo was taken with Gary and baby Sky at the Steinway, and now we have a new piano, a Bosendorfer, I know how to grow food, there is the Internet and Youtube and Facebook and email, but I still have some of those paintbrushes from my younger days.  And I am going to pull them out when we get home.

Somehow I have come to be the me that I am today.  I am finally taking singing lessons.  "If not now, when?" I have to ask.

And a few days ago I took the kids to the Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria, where I lived in my twenties -- a place I took for granted when I was a young thing.   We walked through the halls surrounded by working artists, we looked at large colorful abstract paintings, one of a kind handmade sweaters and belts, bottle cap pendants, shiny glazed pottery, and in that hour I found myself, and I remembered oh yeah, I am an artist.  I don't care if what I make pleases anyone.  I just need to make things again.

Me now.  More relaxed, happier, certainly wiser.  Sometimes I feel the inklings of what it will be to be an old lady.  But I am still a girl at heart.  And soon I will be an artist again.

p.s. This video is what my creative energy has gone into in the last month.  Song is "A Whisper Can Change the World."  We did have a team, but I gave input.

i've been busy

As I mentioned in May I am now the artist management person for our family company Marksland Entertainment.

In addition to traveling this past month and staying in seven different places to date, we have been doing a social marketing campaign with a creative team to try to get Gary's music out into the world and create a buzz.  Up until now, he has been a very low profile songwriter.  I am now trying to get his songs into TV and movies, as well as sung by artists who don't write their own material.  

Some of you are my friends on facebook, so you may have seen this, but here it is for all of you nonfacebookers :) -- Gary's first official music video of his song A Whisper Can Change the World.  This was the title track on Gary's last CD, released in 2007.  We want feedback.  Honesty is appreciated, as we are just beginning the video making process with a team of people.

We are also finishing Gary's new CD, "From Here." We are making several more music videos with our creative team, and the next video will be a song from the new CD.  Stay tuned for a giveaway of "From Here."

Also the kids are all beginning their acting "careers."  We are returning to Hollywood in two weeks for them to do advanced boot camp with this guy.  We are also going to meet with some music biz people for Gary...

Annabel, by the way, is in heaven.  Her dream is to be an actress. 

The other two are really excited too.

Hope you are all well.  Sorry I haven't had as much time to visit you all, but I haven't forgotten you.  See you all on corner view.  This next one will be a challenge.

florida

 

 

 

Took the family to see Gary's relatives.  We hadn't been to Florida in several years, since Shawn was a baby.  We had a great time.  Uncle Peter's driving lessons were a hit.

gratitude

Today is my birthday.

So far this summer I have gotten to see friends, family, Amma, visit beautiful and inspiring places, and generally enjoy our travels wherever we have gone.  I will be posting more about the various adventures we have had as I get time.  But for now, for today, I just want to reflect and appreciate what a great life I have had and am having.

I am blessed, and I am grateful.

That's the best birthday present I could ever get.  I am happy.

corner view~saturday

 

Our kids love their cousins.  It's pretty rare that I get to spend a Saturday with my sister and her family, as we live far away from her.  Now that we are visiting family in beautiful upstate New York, staying in a great house for a few weeks, complete with a pool, this is what I got to do last Saturday.  No photos, but I jumped in on this hot day and gave the kids some impromptu swimming lessons as well.

city of angels~final post (for now)

Sam Ash Music Store.  Hollywood, California.  Gary's choice for Father's Day, 2010.  Time spent: 2.5 hours.

city of angels part 7

Taekwondo practice at the hotel, a Father's Day surprise discovery - Cantor's Deli, a retreat with Amma, and Shawn dances in the shoe store, the perfect floor for doing the moonwalk. 

city of angels part 6

Yes, there is still a bit more!  We had so many interesting adventures.  Below is from our day in Santa Monica on the beach playground.  The gymnastics teacher in me came out.  What I loved was that this was a playground for kids and adults.