Wishing for an encore

David Bowie: "I don't know where I'm going from here, but I promise it won't be boring."

The news crawl caught my eye as I was halfway out of the room. It said that David Bowie had died. I sat down and turned the sound up when the news report started. It seemed unbelievable. Ziggy Stardust dead? Suddenly I needed to listen to his songs again. To hear "Let's Dance" and "Heroes." And "Dancing in the Street" with Bowie's proud and booming shout of UK. My mind drifted back to watching the film "Labyrinth." 

"Time passes and you must move on. Half the distance takes you twice as long. So you keep on singing for the sake of the song...after the thrill is gone." Frey/ Henley

And seemingly, in a blink of an eye, there was another news crawl that Glenn Frey had died. I recalled being 19 and going to an Eagles concert. Frey's music accompanied me as my twenties became thirties, and beyond. I thought how, after all these years, I still enjoy listening to "The Long Run" and that "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks" still makes me laugh and sing along.

"Looking back, we've touched on sorrowful days...you will find peace of mind if you look way down in your heart and soul." M. White/V. White/Stepney

The first serene notes of Earth Wind & Fire's "That's the Way of the World" always put me in a reflective mood. Maurice White, a gifted songwriter and musician, was also a founding member of Earth Wind & Fire. We have him to thank for giving us "September" and "Shining Star."

Paul Kantner: "You can't just sit around and make protest albums all your life; eventually it comes to the point where you have to do something."

The world became quieter still when Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane) and Dan Hicks (Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks) both passed. As 2015 drew to a close, there was news that Natalie Cole and Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots) had also died.

                                           David Bowie - 1947-2016
                                           Glenn Frey - 1948-2016
                                           Maurice White - 1941-2016
                                           Paul Kantner - 1941-2016
                                           Dan Hicks - 1941-2016
                                           Natalie Cole - 1950-2015
                                           Scott Weiland - 1967-2015

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Rock/pop biographies and memoirs are in abundance. It's easy to learn more about the stories and people behind the songs. Check out books by or about: Paul McCartney, Ronnie Spector, Gregg Allman, John Fogerty, Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, DeeDee Ramone, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Jim Morrison, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Wood, Karen Carpenter, Dave Stewart, Keith Richards, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Joe Perry, Janis Joplin, Chrissie Hynde, Linda Ronstadt, Carly Simon, Warren Zevon, Pattie Boyd, Rush and Earth Wind & Fire.

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    Love Your Heart in February (and always)

Confucius: "Wherever you go, go with all your heart."


February is dedicated to heart health, and includes the celebration of Valentine's Day with all types of artwork and symbols of the heart. We sing songs about the heart, cross our hearts and hope to die if we tell a lie, and vaguely worry about random chest pains. But how well do we know this muscular organ that keeps us alive? 

Consider this about the heart:
*a normal heart valve is about the size of a half dollar
*our hearts beat about 100,000 times a day
*each minute your heart pumps 1.5 gallons of blood
*a woman's average heartbeat is faster than a man's heartbeat by almost 8 beats a minute. (From the Cleveland Clinic) 

Did you know that a man's heart weighs about 10 ounces and a woman's heart weighs about 8 ounces? (From WebMD)

Every year in the United States about 735,000 people have a heart attack. (From Centers for Disease Control)

Which day of the week is the most common for heart attacks? No surprise - Monday. (From the Journal of Epidemiology) 

Let's love our hearts and go for a walk while listening to a playlist created just for this hard working muscle.
Song suggestions: 
Young at Heart - Frank Sinatra
Unbreak My Heart - Toni Braxton
Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen
Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John & Kiki Dee
Your Cheatin' Heart - Patsy Cline
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty
Heartache Tonight - Eagles
Open Your Heart - Madonna
Owner of a Lonely Heart - Yes
Piece of My Heart - Janis Joplin
Heart of Gold - Neil Young
Heart and Soul - Ella Fitzgerald
Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart - Judy Garland
I Left My Heart in San Francisco - Tony Bennett
One Small Heart - Mary Chapin Carpenter

 "Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams...keep me in your heart for a while."  Keep Me in Your Heart - Warren Zevon (1947-2003)


                             
                                   February Days

1       - National Freedom Day (Lincoln signed resolution to end slavery)

2       - Groundhog Day

3       - The Day the Music Died (1959 -- near Clear Lake, Iowa)

6       - Take Your Child to the Library Day

7-12  - Children's Authors and Illustrators Week
         - Freelance Writers Appreciation Week

8        - Chinese New Year (Year of the Red Monkey)

9        - Mardi Gras

10      - Ash Wednesday

14-20 -Random Acts of Kindness Week

14       -Library Lovers Day
           -Valentine's Day

15       - Presidents' Day

29       - Leap Day. Celebrate an extra day!! 

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Enjoy new books by Jonathan Kellerman, James Patterson, Debbie Macomber, J.D. Robb, Lisa Gardner, Jo Nesbo, Phillip Margolin, Ian Rankin, Chrissy Teigen, Carrie Fisher, Ethan Canin, Stephen Coonts, Yann Martel, Will Shortz, Danielle Steel, Joyce Maynard, Diana Gabaldon, Jeffrey Archer and the Dr. Who Coloring Book. 

February is American Heart Month, Library Lovers Month, National Black History Month, National Haiku Writing Month, National Mend a Broken Heart Month, Spunky Old Broads Month.


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                         December

Sarah MacLean: "As winter approaches - bringing cold weather and family drama - we crave page-turners, books made for long nights."


The days of December may be shorter in sunlight but the to-do lists just get longer. Clean. Decorate. Bake. Shovel. Wrap. Celebrate. Visit. Be sure to set some time aside each evening to read. Brew a cup of hot tea or pour a glass of wine. Gaze out the window and watch the snow fall and slowly accumulate. Or, if you're lucky enough to be in the South, sit out on your porch and enjoy the twinkling stars through a canopy of palm trees. Wherever December finds you, read and rejuvenate.

Readers needing to stockpile books for the long winter ahead will be happy to find new releases by James Lee Burke, Jayne Ann Krentz, Stephanie Laurens, James Rollins, Danielle Steel, Terry Brooks, Martha Stewart, Christopher Buckley, Bee Wilson and Dean Koontz. Watch for Pablo Hidalgo's Star Wars: The Force Awakens The Visual Dictionary. And the annual favorite - World Almanac and Book of Facts 2016.


                                December Days 
                         

1     - Rosa Parks Day

2      - Birth of Ann Patchett, 1963. Bel Canto

4     - National Cookie Day

5     - Birth of Calvin Trillin, 1935. Alice, Let's Eat

6     - St. Nicholas Day

8     - Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day

9     - Birth of John Milton, 1608. Paradise Lost

10    -Birth of Emily Dickinson, 1830. Poems

14    - Birth of Shirley Jackson, 1916. The Lottery

17    - Wright Brothers Day. Read David McCullough's The Wright Brothers

20    - Poet Laureate Day. Who is the poet laureate of your state?

22    - First Day of Winter

23    - Birth of Norman MacLean, 1902. A River Runs Through It

24    - Egg Nog Day

26    - National Thank You Note Day

28    - Birth of Stan Lee, 1922. Spider-Man

31    - Make Up Your Mind Day; Universal Hour of Peace Day 


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                        Random Word


Eugene Ionesco: "A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing, or thinking about writing." 


Coda: \Koh-duh\noun\Italian/Latin 1745-55\ The concluding part of a literary work, especially a summary at the end of a novel. Also, in music and ballet - at the end of a composition or final part of pas de deux. Random House Dictionary 


Congratulations to everyone who participated in National Novel Writing Month, National Memoir Writing Month, or endeavored to write every day in November. Keep writing and reading and thinking!



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                     And away we go...


Roberto Saviano (Italian journalist): "Every hour seems pointless, wasted, if you don't dedicate your energies to discovering, flushing out, telling."      


We're halfway through November - the month of novel writing (or essays or picture books or memoir). And today is I Love to Write Day. 

Are you busy writing every day? Dreaming of impeccable nouns and verbs? Pleased when one perfect sentence is finally written? 

Or are you regretting that story idea, ripping up the first draft, and cursing the idea that you ever thought you could write?

Welcome to the world of staring at blank pages and missed deadlines. But there's also the world of that aforementioned perfect sentence or impeccable noun.

If you're stuck or even on a glorious roll, try one of these three exercises from Now Write! Nonfiction, edited by Sherry Ellis.

*In 15 minutes, write about the first 15 years of your life. Don't edit or sabotage - just WRITE. Use a timer.

*Finish this sentence: "I'm the kind of person who _____________ but ______________.

*Find a street corner or a park; sit with eyes closed, and listen to the passing voices. Form an image of what someone looks like...open your eyes. Does your expectation meet what you see?

If you're really stuck, rewrite another writer's essay or chapter - would you finish "The Grapes of Wrath" in the same way? Or, go to an art museum and sit in front of a painting...write what is going on just beyond the frame, to the left (or right!) of the painting. For example, in Renoir's Dance at Bougival, what music is playing? Are other couples dancing? What conversation could be overheard? 

There are almost countless books about writing...check your library (shelf 808) or book store. A few ideas:

* Now Write series - fiction, nonfiction, mysteries
* Writing Down the Bones - Natalie Goldberg
*The Writing Life (compilation of essays from National Book Award winners and finalists.
*The Art of Description - Mark Doty
*On Writing Well - William Zinsser
*Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
*We Wanted to be Writers - Eric Olsen & Glenn Schaeffer
*Write Away - Elizabeth George
*Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction - Patricia Highsmith
*On Writing - Stephen King
*A Field Guide for Immersion Writing: Memoir, Journalism, Travel - Robin Hemley
*The Discovery of Poetry - Frances Mayes

It's not too late to grab a pencil, take a deep breath and begin to write your story. 


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                         November

Ray Bradbury: "You must write every single day of your life. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff the books like perfume and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads...may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world." 


Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles) may have been a fan of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The idea is fairly simple: write a novel in 30 days. Remember, I said the IDEA was fairly simple, not the action itself! If you've ever sat staring at a blank page or screen while your brain screams for the right verb or adjective, you know that "The Grapes of Wrath" or "The Metamorphosis" weren't penned over a weekend. Maybe a decade of weekends.

Writers write. Writers edit. Writers cry. Writers rewrite. Writers whine. Writers read. Writers write again. And sometimes the idea of not writing is even scarier than the blank page. 

If you believe you have a story to tell, tell it. Maybe it's a novel or a poem, a picture book or an epic essay. Maybe it's a story about your family or your college years or the cute puppy that understands the true meaning of friendship. 

This month is all about writing. Grab a pencil, take a deep breath and start at the beginning. Write your story. 

Beatrix Potter: "There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you." 


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Readers will be thankful to find new books by Michael Connelly, David Balducci, Janet Evanovich, Stephen King, John Irving, Carly Simon, Jeff Kinney, Marissa Meyer, Giada De Laurentiis, Neil Gaiman, Mitch Albom, Rick Steves, Nora Roberts, James Patterson, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Shonda Rhimes, Mary Higgins Clark, and Isabel Allende.



November is National Memoir Writing Month, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), Family Stories Month, National Family Caregivers Month, Picture Book Month, National Family Literacy Month. 



                                        November Days

1      -  National Authors Day

1-7   -  World Communication Week

5      -  National Love Your Red Hair Day

9-15 -  World Kindness Week

10    -  Sesame Street Day

14    -  World Pickle Day

15    -  I Love to Write Day

16-20- National Book Awards Week

19     - Rocky & Bullwinkle Day

21     - Guinness World Record Day

22     - Mother Goose Day

24     - Dr. Who Day

27     - National Day of Listening

30     - National Math Awareness Day


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October, or turning over a new leaf

Thomas Merton: "October is a fine and dangerous season in America...a wonderful time to begin anything at all."

Every year on my birthday and, again, on January 1, I set goals and list any changes I need/want to make. Sometimes I'm successful in my changes, other times not so much. After watching the leaves begin to turn from green to red or gold, I am reminded that change can come at any time, not just on a birthday or the start of a new year. This is the beginning of a new year, of sorts. Since spring, I've enjoyed watching the first appearance of tiny buds, slowly growing into full leaves which provided shade all summer. Now, they're giving me one last burst of color. And a lesson on turning over a new leaf.

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Readers will be happy to find new books by Adiana Trigiani. Sophie Kinsella, John Grisham, Debbie Macomber, Nicholas Sparks, Vince Flynn, Rainbow Rowell and Jane Smiley.

October is National Book Month, National Reading Group Month, Computer Learning Month, National Pizza Month, Children's Magazine Month, Photographer's Appreciation Month.  

October Days

1      -  International Music Day

2-4   - National Storytelling weekend

4-10 - Mystery Series Week

          Great Books Week

13    - Silly Sayings Day

14    - national lowercase day

16    - National Dictionary Day

18-24 -Teens Read Week

19      - Evaluate Your Life Day

20      - Information Overload Day

24      - Make a Difference Day

25      - World Pasta Day

30      - Checklist Day (Rory Gilmores of the world, unite!)

31      - National KnockKnock Joke Day

            Happy Halloween