This book was a bit of a surprise. Though a Christian fiction, it was uplifting, not preachy, and often about church music. That has always been my favorite part of church. The main character is a pianist, so I could relate in many ways to her need to practice when there was no piano around.
The above theme runs through the book set in WWII, Canada, and then Japan. The bigotry towards the Japanese since Pearl Harbor is shown to us through Rose and her family. That is another theme.
Though this is fiction, I heard enough stories from my dad and other WWII vets that this felt quite true. And for those who like romance, there is a little of that. Not sickeningly so, just something positive to look forward to.
Linda spoke of how her writing was seasonal. NaNoWriMo, CampNaNo and Just Jot It January becomes her writing time. Me, too. It seems those programs help motivate me properly. I haven’t won every time. And sometimes, like last month as I tried another goal, I made no progress at all. But often I make the 50k. Even on the camps. That would probably not surprise my teachers. Most of my report cards had comments like, ‘Darlene talks too much in class.’
This year I’ve over-goaled my life with all the gifts I’m trying to make and so writing has fallen by the wayside.
And I still have to podcast and start reading aloud my books, starting with my memoirs. The area in my house I planned on using, suddenly has Diamond Paintings.
My recorder playing, piano and voice practice have fallen off.
There are only 24 hours in a day. Still!!! I stay up reading until 3 or 4. With my old dog waking me often, sleep also seems seasonal. Heat and smoke and bugs of summer, icy cold and snow of winter affects everything in our house. Where we hang out, how we sleep, either covered up over my head with warmth or sheet to keep bugs off. And all this affects energy and pain levels, ya know?
Maybe I need to organize my day better and my week to include everything I want to do.
Thank goodness for the treadmill. It still gets used most days of the week.
How does anyone get anything done with a job? I did do NaNo. But the rest of this, writing, knitting, especially learning new stitches, artwork, music, etc. Little got done. Too tired. Housework. Phew!
Seasons of our lives are as influential as the weather. Whew!
I bet his song was about somebody else’s daddy or a confused girl who seemed to be in love with her brother.
I don’t know where that came from. Just a trip into a bit different.
This was a prompt from the Random Word Generator. Sometimes random feels personal!
I could spend hours in therapy over this word. That may be one of the most exciting words while being the most perspiration producing of all times.
I remember the first day of voice classes. I had decided never to come back. I wouldn’t walk out like one guy. That would draw too much attention. But why’d I come to this class? No, nope!
I took 8 semesters and then voice classes with the teacher. I ended up soloing in local churches, singing with a Renaissance recorder group. We even made a recording in a studio. My prof sent students to me. Yeah.
But piano accompaniment was also part of the class for me. Whereas I learned to love singing solo, I’m still terrified to play the piano in front of people.
On the flip side of it all. I haven’t sung a solo for decades. Now I think I’d nearly die. But really, I miss singing.
Well, that sums it up. Therapy is too expensive. You’re welcome.
I thought I had it made! I saw Golly Gee and Animal Crackers came to mind. Ah, alas, I was wrong, as the lyrics point out below. She says, Gosh, oh Gee. Well. Too bad. Shirley needed the nod. I bet if I did a deep search, we could find when she actually said, Golly Gee!
I think I’ve talked about how I was/am a Shirley Temple fan. In sixth grade, (60 years ago!) I was the leader of my class’s Shirley Temple Fan Club, membership ONE, ME. I would sing the songs for my classmates. Where did I get the courage? Well, the year before, my friends and I did The Wizard of Oz, so…
In sixth grade, I was 12. My mother told me she was Shirley Temple’s actual age. Ms. Temple was already an ambassador. Well, here’s her wiki.
My piano teacher did everything she could to keep me interested in playing the piano, so she found this book for me, yes, I still have it, and it is in the same shape as I am these days.
The only centerfold I’ve ever loved!See the Lassie sticker? There is a sticker on every song in this book. That meant I could play them near perfection. Ah, but now, it is sadly hard to play. Maybe after cataract surgery? I can only hope!
Lyrics
Animal crackers in my soup Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop Gosh, oh gee,but I have fun Swallowing animals one by one
In every bowl of soup, I see Lions and Tigers watching me I make ’em jump right through a hoop Those animal crackers in my soup
When I get hold of the big bad wolf I just push him under to drown Then I bite him in a million bits And I gobble him right down
When they’re inside me where it’s dark I walk around like Noahs Ark I stuff my tummy like a goop With animal crackers in my soup
Animal crackers in my soup Do funny things to me They make me think my neighborhood Is a big menagerie
For instance, there’s our Janitor His name is Mr. Klein And when he Hollers at us kids He reminds me of a Lion
The Grocer is so big and fat He has a big mustache He looks just like a Walrus Just before he takes a splash
Animal crackers in my soup Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop Gosh, oh gee, but I have fun Swallowing animals one by one
In every bowl of soup, I see Lions and Tigers watching me I make ’em jump right through a hoop Those animal crackers in my soup
When I get hold of the big bad wolf I just push him under to drown Then I bite him in a million bits And I gobble him right down
When they’re inside me where it’s dark I walk around like Noahs Arc I stuff my tummy like a goop With animal crackers in my soup
When they’re inside me where it’s dark I walk around like Noahs Arc I stuff my tummy like a goop With animal crackers in my soup
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “golly gee.” Use “golly gee” or another interjection that displays the same sentiment in your post. Enjoy!,,
Black and white has been the constant of my life. It was the nightmares, yet the bright dreams, too. When earliest memories are of sitting in front of the keys and perfection demanded, black and white. No shades of gray.
Suddenly black and white was a super power. I dreamed my house was piano keys. That I had a swimming pool in my black and white kitchen no gray needed.
Per Ms. Hill:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “black, gray, and white.” Use one, use ’em all. Bonus points if you use all three. Have fun!
I decided I had better get over here and try and see if I have anything at all to report. Sadly, I feel I have much more to-do on everything than any Ta-Da could handle. So let’s see if I can figure out What Day of the Week Is It Anyway? Tuesday means somehow Monday happened and I missed my writers’ group again. I think it is the timing. Sometimes it is after my only meal and I feel I need to wash dishes or nap, sometimes both. My phone isn’t near when I am not at the recliner or the bed or the desk. So hearing an alarm is always elsewhere and I missed it.
And I feel badly in that though I seem to get writing done, it is seldom their prompts that I’ve been writing, and I can’t read aloud right now. The news that I may not even get my surgery until after the beginning of the year is so discouraging. I usually have yWriter read back to me what I’ve been writing. If I am in editing mode I have Word read my work to me. I can’t wait until my eyes can read again! I miss stories coming into my eyes! I often miss things that are read to me. But I’m doing the best I can.
So, I have nearly made the daily quota for NaNo for the day. It is supposed to be 15,003 I’m at 14,861 so before I go to bed I will probably hit that. But with the two medical procedures coming up that will take up whole days I wanted to be a couple days ahead. Not that the procedures will take that long but each time we go to town it is four hours of driving and wearing on body and soul. Who knows how much energy I will have to write those days?
Four socks and a hat are in the early stages so I can’t even feel anything more than happy to be making them. The hands feel good doing what they can, you know?
And maybe because I’m supposed to be writing, I have found my recorders fun again. AND I just found the music book with Moonlight Sonata to play again! Yay! Me! I think I can blame the Pandora station called Classical Study Music Radio. They seem to tease me with that song every other piece! Guess who needs to dust her piano keys? Yep! This gal!
Though I can read music since my eyes are so bad, maybe I should work on this one (I used to have memorized) with just ears so I will try this guy out tomorrow:
Someday maybe I’ll share my musics with you. Right now I wish I could find a quiet spot in the woods where no one can hear me and just mess around with notes and sounds. After all, I share my blunders and mistakes with art, knitting, and all. Yeh, a lot of psychology is involved in the music of my life. It’s a work in progress.
Ode to Joy. This is often a beginners song in whatever instrument you are trying out. Here is one of my favorite recorder teachers teaching the classic. I am using this video to teach myself to play it on not only soprano but also alto and tenor. Both of the latter are much harder on my hands than the higher squeakier soprano.
Sarah Jeffery
I’ve always been interested in codes and other languages. Maybe the beginning code of my life was music. As a five-year-old, I can remember more of my music lessons than kindergarten or even first grade. Music code was followed by alphabets and Dick, Jane, and Sally. Not only did I learn that code, in the boring sense of black and white, but reading became one of my favorite things.
When I was little, I had a toy piano like Schroeder, with color coded music with keys that match the notes. Maybe that is why I see music and some odd things in colors. Smells have colors. Words have colors. My fingers on the piano keyboard make cartoons in my head. Okay, I never said I was totally sane.
Okay. Not Beethoven but cute, right?
Great for color-coded toy piano, not the best key for beginning recorder.
So sorry to have let my stream erode to elemental music but that is where my crazy ADD floats off to. I have overloaded on the code words when there were so many out there like these:
biodegradable.
photodetector.
electrodermal.
octodecillion.
moderatorship.
modernization.
modernisation.
photocathodes.
Just think of where I could have gone with photocathodes, whatever those are.
Per Linda:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “ode.” Find a one- or two-syllable word that rhymes with “ode,” or use the word “ode.” Have fun!
Sigh. Practice time is nigh. I’m getting better. It’s hard to hit the eighty-eight keys when midnight is in sight.
I’d love to say I’m improving on either recorder or piano. But I’m trying to keep the sessions light and as fun as possible. It’s been a long time since I put this much effort in. Trying to clear the practice cobwebs.
Sight is a problem. Cataract surgery not until after September’s consultation. Until then, I’m embarrassed to admit, I’m stumbling on what I could play flawlessly when I was 12. Having larger notations and less on the page helps. As I play a bit of cellular memory eases my plight.
On the recorder a lot is playing recognized tunes. I can read the music. It’s my fingers. If you don’t fully cover the holes air escapes and the higher squeaker tones come out. It’s a matter of laughing at myself and keep trying. Arthritis might be the problem. But if I stay relaxed and quit if it hurts too much, I’m more likely to try again later.
Housemates and neighbors haven’t complained at my late play time. The new position of my music/hobby room is far from open windows or others’ rooms. Still, when I wait too late I’m too tired.
So I’d better not delay the delight.
Have a wonderful Fourth of July!
And good night!
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “contains ‘igh.’” Find a word that contains the letters “igh” in that order and use it in your post. Enjoy!
A lack of sleep night had me scurrying for words when talking to family. But I had my ups and downs in the day getting lots of recorder things done, piano practice, even scales with fingers running up and down the keyboard.
A couple boxes got unboxed. The first signs of the heat showed up. Though in comparison with those west of here our temps were down, I don’t think we got to the predicted 95. Not looking forward to the triples due tomorrow through Wednesday. Too hot to be productive when there is no AC. Well, we have fans and a little window AC. But not the whole house kind.
Keep cool everyone!
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “up/down.” Use one, use them both, but try to put one in your first sentence. Bonus points if you use the other in your last sentence. Have fun!
My music/hobby studio is nearly complete. At least the piano is where it needs to be and most of the music books and things are situated. And knitting gear (because the knitting has no home yet) are in the place I want them to be. I even sat and practiced, actually played something over and over until I got it right, and then played some more. Yay! Me! The lighting is good. There is an overhead light and one for over the shoulder. The sound is good there and I feel better not being parked next to my son’s bedroom. I wish I were soundproof but whatever.
Oh, and the–whatever this piece of furniture is called– is now in the entryway of the living room. It will be cleaned out and filled with things like scarfs, gloves, hats and the like. The masks are on top.
Oh, those are portraits of my brothers and me as kids. And that was the flag I received for my vet dad when he passed I think that was a decade ago. I do miss him.
The basket next to the–whatever that piece of furniture is called–will be cleared out for boots and shoes, etc. To the left of that piece of furniture is a small hat tree. I want to make another longer one in the open wall to hang our coats.
My brother, son, husband and I worked very hard getting the furniture moved and in the new homes. Today started the going through the mountain of boxes we created while moving things around. We felt like we were playing Tetris sans the fun but irritating music!
The vlog studio still needs work but we are seeing more progress, No picture it or of the dining table that though it has been cleared is surrounded by mount boxes. But hey, that is a lot done for a bunch of retired and disabled people!
Hope you all had a Fantastic Friday and have a great weekend!
Working on my series: Haven.
Doodler (zendoodle.com)
Music major: voice and piano
Mom of four great adults
Reiki II practitioner
I have been on disability/retired for 10 years now from depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia.
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Welcome to my personal blog site. I see myself as a free thinker, life explorer, and wisdom collector. Some of my favorite subjects are psychology, philosophy, relationships, society, reading, writing, technology, and lifestyle.
Rose Among Thornes: an inspiring World War II historical fiction by Terrie Todd
Darswords 
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