“A writer wants what he has to say to be heard again and again. He wants it to be heard after he is dead.”
William Saroyan

Recently, I stumbled on a group of writers, poets, photographers and artists, who much like writers on Yahoo 360, just can’t help themselves. They must create. At Gather.com, these writers remind me why I like to write and like steel sharpening steel, I hope that I get better with each challenge they throw my way. I have to admit that while there are writers of every stripe and talent, there are enough talented writers there that I humbly bow at their feet in reverence at their creations. There are, of course many people who can string sentences together, blog-style, and some who really don’t seem to be writing in English as their first language, but there are so many who have honed their craft, that it is all I can do is to read their stories and poems and hope that some of their talent rubs off on me. (And oh by the way, we earn points and cash for posting the pictures, stories, poems, essays, chatter, and comments.)

There are times as a mom that I just have to ignore what the sensational son is doing and go about enjoying my own life. The Househusband and I celebrated our 30th anniversary the other day (thank you!), we had a splendid feast; and the day before that was Father’s Day with another delicious restaurant meal. We’ve been eating from the doggy bags since then. I talked to the star of Hollywood U last night, only to find that he was dipping taco chips into a jar of spaghetti sauce and calling it dinner. This is one of those times that I have to remind myself that he knows right from wrong, has plenty of cash on hand and our phone number if all else fails. If he dies of malnourishment, it is not my fault!

I find it interesting that after striving for 30 years to be separate and apart from our families, The Househusband and I are contemplating a move back “home.” Although we have decried that small place is a cultural backwater, a gossip’s delight, a town hundreds of miles from anywhere, we also realize that despite living in a large metropolitan area all this time, we haven’t availed ourselves of its amenities more than a handful of times in the last few years. More and more, anything we can get here can at least be ordered from websites and delivered there. The one thing we are still unsure of is the quality of medical care since we are aging daily and definitely won’t be needing the orthopedists who repair the typical skiing injuries, bull-riding accidents, or tractor-pull manglings, but instead need internists competent to service bodies that are just breaking down of their own accord. Oddly enough, it is the idea that our own son could move back here next year for grad school that keeps us teetering on the brink of deciding to pull up stakes and move back to the “homestead” as it were.

I discovered a fun website that is giving me a kickstart opportunity for writing stories that I’ve been meaning to get out in the open. It is called 100words.com and the premise is that if you spend time each day writing just 100 words—no more, no less—you will end up with 3000ish polished words at the end of a month. I enjoyed just focusing on the 100 words for that day and at the end of May, I did have about a chapter’s worth to get going on a short story or novel. I found though, that there are a lot of gaps from one day to the next because I was being so terse. I feel that this text will benefit by a considerable rewrite with the addition of text, but it is a good start and I’m glad I did it. Now I look forward to seeing my June writing as well.

A Fine Song for Singing/Jean Redpath (1994) We first heard Jean on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” on the radio. This Scotswoman is a devotee of Bobby Burns’ music and “Annie Laurie” always makes me weep.

Track Listing:
1 I Will Make You Brooches
2 Up the Noran Water
3 Captive Song of Mary Stuart
4 Wild Geese
5 Capernaum
6 Now the Die Is Cast
7 South Wind
8 Song of Wandering Aengus
9 Rohallion
10 The Tryst
11 John O’Dreams
12 Broom o’ the Cowdenknowes
13 Annie Laurie
14 Broken Brook

Home, Home On the Road/Bryan Bowers (1991) We first discovered Bryan on Garrison Keillor’s “Prairie Home Companion” on the radio, and then saw him at Seattle’s Folklife Festival. He plays autoharp like nobody else. So fun! You’ve gotta catch “Four Wet Pigs” and “The Scotsman.”

Track Listing:
1 Flowers of Edinburgh
2 Berkeley Woman
3 Four Wet Pigs
4 Stately Mansions
5 This Age We Live In
6 The Scotsman
7 Scotland
8 Bad Boy
9 Grandfather’s Clock
10 Beautiful Life
11 Stephen Foster Medley
12 Prison Song
13 Dixie

America, the Beautiful/Boston Pops Orchestra & John Williams (1996) The quintessential album of patriotic tunes, Nobody does “Stars and Stripes Forever” like The Boston Pops Orchestra.

Track Listing:
1 Fanfare for the Common Man
2 American Salute
3 America, the Beautiful
4 This Land is Your Land
5 Rodeo: No. 4. Hoe-Down
6 The Battle Hymn of the Republic – Attributed to W. Steffe/Arranged by P. Wilhousky
7 Prayer of Thanksgiving
8 The Entertainer
9 Alexander’s Ragtime Band
10 Strike Up the Band
11 The Music Man: Seventy-Six Trombones
12 When the Saints go marchin’ in
13 The Stars And Stripes Forever
14 America, the Dream Goes On
15 Variations on America – orch. William Schuman

American Jubilee/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra & Erich Kunzel (1988) So many fun Americana tracks. It’s mom, apple pie and a hot dog all rolled into one. I especially like John Williams’ “Liberty Fanfare.”

Track Listing:
1 Liberty Fanfare
2 Yankee Doodle
3 Variations for Organ on ”’America”
4 Cakewalk: Grand Walkaround
5 Cakewalk: Wallflower Waltz
6 Cakewalk: Gala Cakewalk
7 Symphonic Sketches: Jubilee
8 Dixie
9 Battle Hymn of the Republic
10 Variations on a Shaker Melody
11 American Salute
12 Star Spangled Spectacular: Intro, Mary Is a Grand Old Name, Give My Regards to Broadway…
13 God Bless America
14 America the Beautiful
15 Stars and Stripes Forever

Little Deuce Coupe / All Summer Long/The Beach Boys (2001) Amazingly, they compiled an album of all their car tunes. My favorite is “409.”

Track Listing:
1 Little Deuce Coupe
2 Ballad of Ole’ Betsy
3 Be True to Your School
4 Car Crazy Cutie
5 Cherry, Cherry Coupe
6 409
7 Shut Down
8 Spirit of America
9 Our Car Club
10 No-Go Showboat
11 A Young Man Is Gone
12 Custom Machine
13 I Get Around
14 All Summer Long
15 Hushabye
16 Little Honda
17 We’ll Run Away
18 Carl’s Big Chance
19 Wendy
20 Do You Remember?
21 Girls On the Beach
22 Drive-In
23 Our Favorite Recording Sessions
24 Don’t Back Down
25 Be True to Your School
26 All Dressed Up for School
27 Little Honda (Alternate Take)
28 Don’t Back Down (Alternate Take)

The Best of Star Trek – 30th Anniversary Special! (Original TV Soundtracks) (1996) Can you believe it? A whole album filled with my brother’s favorite Star Trek tunes. My husband went to music school with Ron Jones (track 7 and 8) and despaired because Jones made the rest of the composition class look like they were discovering “Mary had a little Lanb.”

Track Listing:
1 Star Trek (Original Series Main Title)
2 Suite from the Trouble With Tribbles: Bartender Bit / They Quibble Over
3 Suite from the Trouble With Tribbles: The Muzak Maker / The Scherzo Maker
4 Suite from the Trouble With Tribbles: A Matter of Pride / No Tribble At All / Big Fite
5 Star Trek: The Next Generation (Main Title)
6 Suite from Heart of Glory: Moment of Decision / Battle Signs
7 Suite from Heart of Glory: A Klingon’s Feelings / Let’s Make a Phaser / Heart of Glory
8 Orchestral Suite from the Inner Light
9 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Main Title, Season IV)
10 Suite from the Visitor: Rainy Night
11 Suite from the Visitor: Steve O’s Cue / Freaked Out
12 Suite from the Visitor: Dad Admonishes
13 Suite from the Visitor: One Last Visit
14 Suite from the Visitor: Second Chance
15 Star Trek: Voyager Main Title (Extended Version)
16 Suite from Heroes and Demons: Last Hope
17 Suite from Heroes and Demons: Dr. Schweitzer
18 Suite from Heroes and Demons: Armagonnen
19 Suite from Heroes and Demons: Where’s Freya / To the Rescue