Clapton

The Ottawa concert was a gem, easily my best-ever concert. Why? Well, apart from the obvious (total mastery of music, series of hits played with feeling and intelligence, Clapton's personality and his easy rapport with the members of the band), I was surprised at how deeply some songs moved me. What astonished me was that the lyrics themselves were not as important as the music (re: my ongoing discussion with my friend Steve on the matter).
I was totally blown by "I feel wonderful tonight" that brought me back to what??!! I don't know, but I was totally there. It's like this song tap into a deep strong flow of pure joy that I forgot I had ever felt. It was an exhilirating feeling.

What is your calling?

When a new friend asks my mother what I do for a living, she answers: Matchmaker! This reply is always met with a gasp and a puzzled expression. My mother then goes on to explain that my true calling is to bring together people with shared interests: You want to get rid of an old computer? A friend of mine has a child who could use one.
I have always had that drive to "match" people up and it has always fascinated my mom. I think it has somewhat abated in recent years but it was rekindled recently with Freecycling and Bookcrossing. Those ideas are very stimulating, but my passion for institutionalized "matchmaking" has faded...
As for myself, I rather thought I would be well suited as a housecleaner, as I like nothing more than impose order onto chaos. I guess that is a very transferable skill as many can testify to that.
What about you? What is your calling?

Bella Frika Pierre 1999-2006

Suddenly but peacefully, with her family by her side on Monday September 18, 2006 at the age of 7. Frika was an extraordinary German Shepherd, devoted and caring. Survived by Minuit, her lifelong companion, and by Yseult, Paul and Pascale, her caretakers. Frika leaves all those who have come in contact with her with fond memories of a playful, opinionated and caring friend. Our heartfelt thanks to the Kemptville veterinary clinic staff for their support in her last days. As an expression of your sympathy, donations to the Ontario Veterinary College's Pet Trust Fund (http://www.smilingblueskies.com/pet_trust_fund.html) would be appreciated.

Songwriting

I have been writing songs with my friend Steve for over a year. We have gotten into a rhythm and scheduled weekly sessions which works out fine. We use IM and either write one line each or one writes a bit and the other improves on it. It really depends on the degree of energy, the type of song and so on. It's always a collaboration, though I am unofficially in charge of the words and he deals with the music.
So it is up to Steve to check for flow, awkward words or to stop we when (not if) I get too verbose. It helps me simplify my writing. It is great to have someone critique your work as it unfolds. When I like a line but we decide it doesn't fit, I put it in with the other "misfits", hoping they can eventually turn into a song. Songwriting is quite fun because I end up looking at words in a different light. For example, after writing this, I know we will write a song called "Misfits".

Often, I get myself a title and write a song around it. I usually like the ambiguity of the word and like to write on two levels. I guess the difficult part is to not write a poem since I don't know anything about songwriting. I just enjoy playing with words and Steve enjoys playing with notes. We figured something's bound to come out of this.

So - a funny thing happened today. I started singing a new song. It came out of nowhere, all prepackaged and ready to go. I just had to write it down. It doesn't seem to be a song I remember but who knows!? Anyways... It was a fun experience.

Gone are the dog days of summer

I have this thought I amuse myself with. What if you wrote an addendum to all books/movies where all the main characters have dogs? How would the story then unfold?
Well, for example, murder mysteries would not exist because a dog would either:
1 - prevent a murder happening by sounding the alarm;
2- catch the bad guys within hours;
3- defuse the situation by destressing their owner so that the impulse to commit murder would not take root.
See where I am heading? No. Read on.
Dogs are such perfect creatures that when you listen to them, you get better. We praise the dog for its faithfulness, selflessness, sense of fun, hard work, unconditional love... Do I need to go on? If we were more like them, we would be saner and our books and movies would be kinder and more fun.
Which brings me to why I haven't blogged much this summer. I was with my dogs, enjoying myself. There is nothing to tell when things are going well (les gens heureux n'ont pas d'histoire) and so I was staying quiet. A "fan" said I was awfully quiet so I wrote this little blog... I hope you enjoyed it.