Valentine's Day

A happy day to everyone.

A few years ago I gave Doug a valentines gift- a cd cover finished with titles and a blank cd to record. This is something we (as Jon & Paula) do quite often and has resulted in some really great and funny music...it's a fun side project for both of us. So, this year he recorded the music to all the titles on that cd. Really great stuff!

Here are some samples
Cupid's Poison Arrows
Five Foot Two

Other great hits include:

"Not Just a Hallmark Type of Love"
"Claudius and His Anti-Love Army"
A cover of "My Funny Valentine" (another favorite standard of mine)
"Mine Until the End of Time (What time is it again?)

"Jon, Paula, & Blossoms of Love"

and many more....

Coincidentally, I made him another cd this year. This one should be fun to research. I put some historical love such as Abelard and Heloise and also some made up diddies such as "Brunch with Adam and Eve (Hold the Fruit)". That's actually one of the fun parts for both of us is thinking of or looking at the title and then doing the research for the song. Doug said his favorite's on the cd he just did were the covers he had to figure out.

So happy day to everyone and know that you are loved!

I think I could be freakin' out just a bit.

Last night we had another class. This one discussed pain management options, the actual delivery and what to expect and more relaxation techniques. There were a lot more questions and discussion amongst the group which was nice. I learned a lot. But I think it may have made me a bit more frightened. To be frank, not so much afraid of the pain as I am of the potential ripping...and ripping without pain meds. Lots to think about. I think Doug and I decided to get a Doula which should be comforting to the both of us. For Doug it will let him freak out if he needs to or at least try to enjoy what's happening and not worry about our requests and remembering crucial things to do. For me, I want to hear what's happening at every stage...I think to hear communication whether I answer back or not will be the best distraction for me...even over a relaxing touch. I want to know what stage I am at, where the baby's at, what's going on with the doctor's thoughts, etc. Another thing that maybe freaked me out was when I was told that now would be a good time to have a bag ready to go to the hospital-YIKES! So, guess I am really gonna do this. (Hehehehe...) But I know we will do this...and universe willing all will be safe and as smooth as it's going to be.
Her room isn't done yet...hopefully in a weeks time it will be set at least but I have some time today so I think I will try and start painting. Friends have been very sweet-Steph helped patch and spackle...a lot. And Dawn may help paint today or in a few days...yea!

Other than the baby, I am trying to clean up and wrap up some house stuff. I have not had much time for creative projects lately but need to set aside time for that...Oh, I have been working on a secret project for valentines...that has been fun.

Das what im talkin' about

Who's got Big Ears?

Learning and Laughing

Doug and I went to our first childbirth class last night. I don't know what I expected really besides learning some much needed basics... I know I had not intended on laughing that hard for so long. We were both laughing so much at times that I was crying. Whooo, good times... I wish I had taken some photos. The other couples were not exactly like us...I think the couple we most seemed to associate with were two students from Taiwan. We did learn a lot though. The main goal of her class was to prepare us for childbirth and to have us feel strong and positive going in so that fear and confusion wouldn't come into play. So we saw some movies, held some props (some which we wanted to take home for projects), learned some anatomy (did you know that the uterus is 500% larger at birth!), and did some relaxation exercises. Funny highlights included me in relaxed position while getting a massage from doug while he tells me what a good job i am doing. HAHA!! Ahhhhh... Other good times include us writing down everything we had eaten in the last 24 hours and realising what an elite hippy Doug is. That was hilarious. What a great day to ask him that question. List toppers included gazpacho, yellow curried pork with rice, blueberries...beverages included port wine and carrot/apple/ginger juice (freshly made of course). I think we were the only two in the class the met our dietary needs. Doug made out the list and then said, "God, this makes me sound like the biggest hippy. Let's never do this exercise again". Man, I loved our time together in this class...I really am a lucky lady.

An interesting lady...

Went to a workshop yesterday with Pauline Oliveros. It was a deep listening workshop which I guess she holds all over the word and teaches in Troy, NY and before that taught the class in San Diego. Listening to her theories and thoughts made me miss California. I liked what she had thought about the way we hear... listening versus hearing and what really listening, deep listening can offer our brains and souls. She spoke a lot about what she had learned through the years and why she kept with it and playing. It was a great workshop.

She had us conduct an experiment as well. There were probably at least 75 people there in a loft type environment...big, on a city street but on the 5th floor. The acoustics were quite nice-it was like the building held in the echo without a lot of reverb...it was a very solid but open noise. But I am getting ahead of myself. She instructed us to think of a song-one that we knew very well. To think of a song that held a nice meaning for us...one from our childhood. Then she told us all that at a given time we were to all begin singing that song but a a very slowed down pace-to sing each syllable with one whole breath. So we all stood up and placed ourselves in various spots around the warehouse. Then she told us to breath a few times...one last breath and then to begin. It was beautiful...and it all seemed to go together perfectly. It was a bit challenging to listen to what was going on around while concentrating on my song because at that slowed down I almost forgot the tune several times. Plus, I found it a little distracting that out of all the voices in the room I could mostly just hear Doug's...so I was glad we recorded the session to listen to later. It sounded like Buddhist monks chanting. In fact, a woman who entered the room late said that she thought we were all instructed to chant but then was confused when she saw different people singing differently and such. At the end of my song I went to sit down and just listen. The most remarkable part of it all was that even though she had never told us how long to do this nor when to stop everyone came to an ending at the same time...she called it a "consensus". And she said that in the hundreds of times she has conducted this it always ends in a consensus. Wild. She also talked about how such experiments have proven to increase the other side of the brain to equally heighten both lobes of the brain...to raise the levels and also become evened out...really fascinating. You can catch her on You Tube and there are a few others who have conducted the workshops on You Tube as well. She has also written a book on the subject and it can be found here. The recording is about 12 mins long so I probably wont post it here but if you come to the house you should check it out...really cool stuff.

Saturday morning

Doug and I went to Java to see our pal John Baker play some improvisation with pals. (If you get the chance to listen to John's recent solo release you really should. It's great to zone out to and great for background, it's on our favorites lately. Lots of loops, guitar, soft noise, just what I love to listen to. He also released some music on a new compilation cd available at the above link...Jon and Paula have a track on there too via DBLF studios.) Well, John wasn't there but we really enjoyed what we did hear- Two men playing with looped guitars, spoken word, piano sounds and people speaking. This video was taken while there... mostly as a sound bite (Doug got the whole recording) and as for something to experiment with when I got home. Now I kinda wish I had recorded more.

Knoxville-a good place to call home

You know, I love where I live. I think Knoxville is pretty, the people are very friendly...and it's finally getting much needed attention downtown and in its surrounding areas. It's becoming "cooler". Well, every once in awhile I get a taste of it's true potential-this weekend Knoxville was great in so many ways. First of all, the weather was incredible...if I wasn't huge and could hike I would have had a hard time deciding what to do as the mountains would have been calling. As it was there was something great for everyone. The Big Ears Festival didn't disappoint. The nice part of having Ashley Capps close by is that Knoxville benefits with good music. For three days Knoxville was visited by some pioneers in the field of experimental, instrumental, and avant-garde music. I missed shows I wanted to see like the Necks and Matmos but did get to see Pauline Oliveros who, previously, I only had heard of. Local musicians played improv noise and music at one venue, the museum held others, the Bijou was inundated by great acts, there was a moog and theramin workshop all weekend, short films, comedians...it was awesome. While at a workshop a lady told us that a team of Brazilians had flown in for the weekend to teach a Capoeria workshop, another group of Latins had travelled in to teach salsa dancing, there was a cycle convention at the convention center...the list goes on. It was great to see it all happening here and see so many people come out to experience it all. But I admit, I did pass up some really great shows to just sit on the porch with Doug and enjoy the weather. I don't regret it either-good conversation, sweet company, some nice guitar on the porch...great weekend in Knoxville indeed.

Buddies

This is a great milestone. When we adopted the kitties we could only hope that hunting or hiding from each other would pass and that they could one day snuggle. Yea! They are very different from each other but seem to co-habitate great-Lots of wrestling and playing. They have definitely grown on us and each other.