music to my ears | Search Results

Apr 29 2017

Posts

Music to My Ears (and Heart)

“Music can change the world because it can change people.” ― Bono

Today is the 100^th day of the 45^th President’s new administration. Many of us are weary of his Tweets, Executive Orders, his incompetence, narcissism and probable untreated mental illness, his misogyny and prejudice, and his lack of understanding how government works and who government represents. As I’ve written before, I probably spend too much time watching cable news and the parade of talking heads, the circus of Trump’s cabinet and Republican Congress, and reading fake news, social media posts, and online opinion pieces. Like many others, I periodically take a break on Facebook and look at videos of babies, jumping goats, mischievous cats and cucumbers, and dogs who talk or do other incredible feats. This week I also played a Facebook game by listing 10 concerts, nine of which I attended, one that was a lie. It helped me survive this week of political madness. Continue reading →

Tagged Albums, Beatles, Bob Dylan, CDs, Concerts, Facebook Games, Family, Friends, LGBTQ, Madison, MichFest, Mixed Tapes, Music, Music Festivals, Protest Music, Social Media, Soundtrack, Summerfest, Wisconsin

Aug 08 2022

3 Comments

Posts

For the Love of Movies (& Memories of My Mother)

“Ever since I was a child, films, like good books, served as windows to worlds sometimes unfamiliar or far away due to distance in time or space. Movies depicted characters both fictional and historical, unraveled mysteries or documented adventures; they always engaged my emotions and attention. Some films are more familiar and familial, memoirs or morality tales that act like mirrors to my lived experience, or road maps of my internal journey. I prefer non-fiction to fiction. Most fiction, in my view, is simply reality in disguise, employed to protect the innocent and the guilty. As a memoirist I am most interested in the stories we tell and the stories untold about our lives.” – Excerpt from Stories We Tell/Stories Untold

Continue reading →

Tagged Cinephile, Family, Father, Films, Gratitude, Joanne Woodward, Lesbian, Marriage, Memoir, Memories of My Mother, Mother, Movies, Paul Newman, Racine, Stories, The Last Movie Stars, Wisconsin Film Festival

Apr 26 2013

3 Comments

Posts

My Butch Girlfriends

First, one of my ex-girlfriends is visiting Madison in a couple of weeks and we’re going to get together for dinner. We haven’t seen each other for probably over twenty years. I’m looking forward to her visit for a number of reasons, including seeing how time has changed us and how we might remain the same. My recent post, The Ties that Bind explored who in our lives help make up a family, and how friendships bind us together and to our personal history. Continue reading →

Tagged Family, Relationships

Jul 18 2021

Posts

Summer of Soul Revisited

“Memories are not the key to the past, but to the future.” — Corrie ten Boom

Memories provide us perspective on understanding the present from the lens of the past. Memories are also a portal to the future as lived experiences and our history are revisited by new generations. Continue reading →

Tagged Activism, Antiwar Movement, Civil Rights, Dick Gregory, Flower Children, Friends, Hippies, Madison, Memories, Music, Politics, Racine, San Francisco, Sixties, Star Trek, Summer of Love, Summer of Soul, University of Wisconsin, WNOV, Woodstock

Jan 19 2018

1 Comment

Posts

Another Trip Around the Sun

“My life is better with every year of living it.” — Rachel Maddow

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Grateful. The past weekend I celebrated another trip around the sun, 365 days, one-day-at-a-time. Songs come to mind, the first from the soundtrack of my life as a young woman growing up in the fifties and sixties, Bob Dylan’s, My Back Pages, followed by memories of people, both here and gone, and my gratitude for their presence in my life, Rufus Wainwright’s cover of Who Knows Where the Time Goes? Continue reading →

Tagged Birthdays, Death, Family, Films, Friends, Gratitude, Grief, Loss, Madison, Memoir, Mother, Sixties, The Pentagon Papers, Third Act, University of Wisconsin, Work

Feb 18 2013

Concerts

To read about some of the concerts I’ve attended, the impact of music as the soundtrack of my life, and the memories and people I shared the experience with click on:

Music to My Ears (and Heart)

Beach Boys, Beatles, Bob Dylan & the Byrds

Waxing Sentimental

Mar 23 2024

Posts

The First Goodbye: Remembering Uncle Willy

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” ― Shannon Alder

“Some people, sweet and attractive, and strong and healthy, happen to die young. They are masters in disguise teaching us about impermanence. ― Dalai Lama

Today is St. Patrick’s Day as I begin drafting this reminiscence and tribute to my Uncle Willy. He was born William Roger Mason ― my mother’s favorite ―and beloved ― younger brother. Since I was child when I knew him, he will forever be remembered by his endearment, Uncle Willy. Continue reading →

Tagged Brother, Death, Family, Family Heritage, Family History, Family Stories, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Gun Violence, Home, Loss, Memoir, Mother, Oral History, Racine, Recovery, Relationships, Sisters, Suicide

Feb 05 2024

Posts

The Last Goodbye

We bid farewell to our father, grandfather, and great grandfather.

“Someday I’m going to write a book about our family!” — This writer as a defiant 16-year-old.

“I look forward to reading it!” — Our beloved mother

First, I haven’t drafted and posted new content for this blog since the end of October. The past three months have been a challenge and an unexpected journey. Though I’ve not written for my blog, I’ve done more writing during this period compared to what is typical. Most of it communication with bio and chosen family, journal entries, and social media posts. Continue reading →

Tagged Blatz Party, Brother, Chosen Family, COVID-19, Death, Elegy for my father, Family, Father, Friends, Funeral, Gratitude, Grief, Holidays, Internment, Loss, Love, Memorial, Memories, Mother, Obituary, Racine, Stories, Tag Team Sisters, Tribute to my father, Visitation

Oct 10 2023

Posts

Dispatch from the Hideout: It’s Not Over, Till It’s Over!

“It ain’t over, till it’s over!” — Yogi Berra

This past weekend, the weather in the upper Midwest changed dramatically from unseasonably hot temperatures — 20+ degrees above normal — then dropped below normal for early fall. We went from wearing short sleeves and short pants to sweaters and sweats. We turned-off air conditioners, or closed open windows, we turned on the heat or used our fireplaces. Instead of outdoor social activities like dining al fresco, we began moving indoors.

Like the past three-and-a-half years during the pandemic which now can be classified as an endemic, most of us now get vaccinated in the fall. This year in addition to the annual flu shot and pneumococcal vaccine, there’s a new RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) immunization, plus the updated COVID vaccine protecting us from the newest variant. Health experts suggest that moving forward we will receive an annual COVID vaccine like the flu shot. Continue reading →

Tagged COVID-19, Dispatch from the Hideout, Endemic, Family, Friends, Holidays, Immunizations, Loss, Pandemic, RSV, Seasons, Things Change, Virus, Winter

Sep 17 2023

Posts

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude

Meditation definition (Oxford Languages) – a written or spoken discourse expressing considered thoughts on a subject.

Mortality definition (Oxford Languages) – the state of being subject to death.

“You don’t get to choose how you’re going to die, or when. You can only decide how you’re going to live.” — Joan Baez

As a person of a certain age — living my seventh decade — death and dying are on my mind.

Recently, there have been unexpected deaths of friends and loved ones, plus celebrities and artists in the public sphere, caused by accidents, deadly health crisis, unknown reasons, suicide, or overdose. When we’re unprepared for the sudden news, it’s both shocking and unsettling. For many of us, it’s a reminder of our own mortality. Continue reading →

Tagged 9/11, Celebration of Life, Chosen Family, Death, Death and Dying, Family, Father, Gratitude, Grief, Legacy, Life and Living, Loss, Love, Meditations, Memoir, Memories, Mortality, Mother, Sisters

Mixed Metaphors

Mixed Metaphors, Oh My! – A place where words, this writer, and readers play together.

Matches for: “music to my ears” …

For the Love of Movies (& Memories of My Mother)

My Butch Girlfriends

Summer of Soul Revisited

Another Trip Around the Sun

Concerts

The First Goodbye: Remembering Uncle Willy

The Last Goodbye

Dispatch from the Hideout: It’s Not Over, Till It’s Over!

Meditations on Mortality: Grief & Gratitude