Pahchisme Plaid

Amazing versatility in his playing and singing. I love the living room feel. I could handle being seranaded in my living room.

If I haven’t found you, find me please. This Twitter is new to me. Not even sure what the# thing is or how to use it.

@PahchismePlaid

I just recently started a new venture! It was my first stab at interviewing for Songstuff. I had the privilege of interviewing my very first lyricist, Patty Lakamp, and what a pleasure it was interviewing her. You all should get to know her. She is a delightful lady. I hope you get the chance to interact with her on Songstuff. I would like to hear that you read the article, but if you didn’t, I’ll let you know that she has been a journalist. Would I ever love to hear about her experiences doing that! You should know I think she had some tips on things in the article prior to it’s publication that I believe made it much more of a fluent read and she was so gracious in the manner in which she suggested them. I think her journalism expertise and her graciousness worked for my benefit. What a blessing! I am SO glad she was my first interviewee! It led to a wonderful and fulfilling experience and has enabled me to look forward to the next one. Stay tuned here on Songstuff to see who the next featured lyricist, songwriter or artist will be! 😉

Thank you Patty, for agreeing to this interview as the featured lyricist on Songstuff. I'm excited to be able to get to know you a little bit and I'm sure our members are looking forward to knowing more as well. Let me start out by asking you, How did you get started writing song lyrics and what brought you to Songstuff? In April, 2016, we were having dinner with friends, and somebody said, Tonight let’s go around the table and each of us say what is on our Bucket List.” (I hate that kind of thing, but what can you do?) I didn't have a clue what to say. I didn't have a Bucket List. I felt I had already done, or was doing, everything I wanted to do. But it was my turn, and everyone was waiting, and before I knew it, I heard these words come out of my mouth: “I want to write song lyrics.” ----- ‘Before I knew it, I heard these words come out of my mouth: “I want to write song lyrics.” I think I was as surprised as everyone else! My husband of 34 years looked at me and said, “Really?” A few weeks later, I was thinking about it and I realized it was true. So, I wrote my first lyric, “Green Eyes,” knowing nothing about how to do it, and started searching online for more information and places to learn. I discovered SongStuff and lurked awhile before I had the courage to actually post a lyric. Later, I found the American Songwriter Lyric Contest and entered. I won an Honorable Mention, which gave me the confidence to keep going. American Songwriter Magazine Lyrics Contest Honorable Mention: Nov-Dec 2016: Green Eyes Honorable Mention: May-June 2017: Friendship Hurts If You Do It Right Have you ever ventured into other areas of music? Only on the dance floor. If you had unlimited resources to create any genre and style song with the instruments and artists of your choice, what would that genre/style be and, who would the featured vocalist and/or instrumentalist be and what would be the feel of the song and what theme would you write on? Well, you had me on “unlimited resources!” And does that include bringing dead musicians back to life? If so, I’d go for John Lennon, Dan Fogelberg and Glen Campbell. (You said I had 3 choices, right?) I would let my musicians/vocalists determine everything about the music. As for the theme, it would be a love song, which can cover a lot of territory: Love for your spouse, or more interestingly in a lyric, for someone else’s spouse; for your kids, your friends, your home, your dog, your country. Do you fit into a particular style or genre of writing? Honestly, I’m so new at this, I don’t know. But I like clarity. Some writers like to be purposely vague, and those songs can be lovely to listen to and allow listeners to hear whatever they want to hear. That’s not me. I want to communicate a message and leave no doubt as to what I’m talking about. If you could select a food or foods that best describe your writing, what would it be and why? Red hot chili peppers raw cookie dough snuck by the spoonful home-baked apple pie onions Mocha Latte with whipped cream and a cherry on top Tootsie Pop Cotton candy Buttered popcorn Omelet Fresh-squeezed lemonade Sea-Salt caramels Imported fine chocolate Bubble gum or Something not mentioned here Something familiar, only with a twist. So, how about French Toast with cinnamon ice cream? (Don't forget to answer why). How did you know I’d forget? To me, writing about something familiar without adding something extra, or saying it in a fresh way, is boring. What sort of environment(s) do you find yourself writing in? My favorite place is my tiny little home office with all my stuff around and the whole day ahead of me. But I have learned to keep a notepad and pen with me wherever I go: at the gym, on my bedside table. I’ve even been known to write lyric notes on my golf scorecard! What is the process you use for writing your lyrics? Computer with three windows open on the screen: RhymeZone, Thesaurus and MSWord; a couple small spiral notebooks for specific notes to save; and a cup of coffee nearby that is invariably cold by the time I get to it. How formulatic are you when you initiate your writing process? Do you free-write and then format it or do you start off with an intended format? I have learned that I can save a lot of time and grief by first writing out in prose exactly the message I want to convey, with notes about examples or phrases I might use. That way, I have a reference point to check my lyric against. Recently, I’ve begun to outline the messages by Verse, Chorus and Bridge before I even start writing. The prose exercise often gives me the hook and some interesting ideas and perspectives I didn’t know I had. Then the actual writing is a lot easier. I’m sure everyone has a different style and procedure, but so far, this one works for me. -- “The prose exercise often gives me the hook and some interesting ideas and perspectives I didn’t know I had. “ Do you have a favorite genre to write for or do you just see what comes out and determine the genre after the write? I sit there and I think about what message/revelation is trying to come out of my head! What problem or issue I’m trying to understand. Then I work up a lyric, post it online, and see what happens. How much freedom do you allow your collaborators with your work? I have not really worked with co-writers, except as valuable critiquers of my work. As for musicians, I want them to have complete freedom to do their thing. I might offer input here and there, but that’s it. Even though I write lyrics, I think music is more important in a song. Good music can save a bad lyric, but not usually the other way around. And when you get them both right, it’s magic! What's been a most significant experience or observation for you as a writer? That it’s one of the few things you can do better as you get older. Age and life experience give you so much more to bring to the party. I also love golf, where it seems ability usually declines as you get older. Also, I think writing lyrics is a socially accepted way to be totally self-centered! (“No, honey, I’m not focusing on me again; I’m writing lyrics!”) Do you have boundaries in how/what you write on and in how you will allow your work to be used? I think this is a question for a more experienced lyricist! So far, nobody has wanted to use my work! Although I think many of my lyrics would work very well for television. What are your aspirations with your songwriting?Practically everything these days is on the web, so my lyrics will live longer than I do. I want my work to be worthy of that longevity. What should fans be watching for within the next year of two from you? You’re kind, but I think you might be confusing me with someone who has a fanbase! I just want to keep doing more of what I’m doing, only better and more imaginatively. If you had input on the next musician or songwriter, mixer, producer, lyricist or arranger to be interviewed on Songstuff, who would that be and why? I have met a number of very talented people on Songstuff. It would be hard to single out just one. Has being a member of Songstuff been beneficial to you? Absolutely! We’re all here because we love music, and I have met many people on the Forums who have contributed immensely to my education! I enjoy trying to help out with lyric critiques and I try to do that conscientiously. Most important to me, Songstuff is where I connect with musicians, particularly “moptop” (Dominick Giarraputo), who has put so many of my lyrics to music. Without his talent as a musician and producer, all I’d have are words on a piece of paper. We have a lot of fun together, even though we’ve never met in person. If you were to offer any advice to your fellow songwriters, what would it be? Writing is easy; editing is hard. Do the hard part. If someone really likes your work, what is the best way for them to keep up with your latest writings? Lyrics: The Songstuff Lyrics Showcase “Member Collected Works” Here is the link to my Songstuff "Collected Works" page: http://forums.songstuff.com/topic/47214-patty-lakamp-lyric-collection/ My Soundcloud page is: https://soundcloud.com/user-65781454-339533478 Patty has a B.A. in Journalism. She was an advertising copywriter and creative director for half of her working years, and she loved every minute of it. She then changed careers entirely and became part-owner of a municipal bond firm until she retired. She had to study hard and acquire various certifications and licenses to sell securities. She states she learned how to do all kinds of mind-numbingly boring financial things that were not creative in the way that she wanted to be. She finds writing lyrics in retirement is more fun View full interview

I did the same search on “study concerning singing is good for you”. This particular header caught my attention: “The Neuroscience of Singing”. I found it quite fascinating. I had already heard about the synchronized heartbeats from a co-singer. http://upliftconnect.com/neuroscience-of-singing/

I am so glad you brought this up! This most certainly could be an extension to this article. I have been exposed to the idea of play to stimulate creativity. As a matter of fact, I believe you were a contributor to my exposure to the idea of that awhile back. Not necessarily the scientific side—but makes sense to me. I definitely need more play. I’ve also “heard” of that report about singing, well...not sure if “that” report, but some reference to a study done, but I hadn’t pursued it further—it also just made sense to me. Glad to have your contribution on other ideas for creativity stimulators—play and just staying focused. How could I forget negativity as a creativity killer? Well...I think I’ve possibly become immune to it—over-exposure maybe, lol. However I can attest to the fact that having some positive reinforcement to counteract negativity helps. Something you’ve been instrumental part of through the last number of years. Thanks, friend.

Creativity Killers and Creativity Stimulators So what stimulates creativity and what kills it? Well, I don't pretend to have all the answers to that and as a matter of fact, lets just say I'm on an exploration trying to figure it out. I still find it a challenge at times to pull out that creativity. I seem to be more in tune with what the creativity killers are in my life. I've discovered that feeling overwhelmed is one of the biggest creativity, in fact, brain activity killers, in my life. Having too much on my mental to-do list, multiple things/people demanding my attention within a short period of time, constant interruptions when I need to concentrate, feeling sick or overtired, low blood sugar or fluctuations in blood sugar disorganized space (unless I can get into the headspace where I'm so focused I can ignore my surroundings) mental fatigue. Looking at my above list, I have to brainstorm, "How can I combat these creativity drains?", so here I go to work thinking about what to do about them. I'm looking at my mental to-do list and I think, "I need to sit down and write out a list of my to-do's so that I don't stress over forgetting something important. Then I need to prioritize what's most important and what I can let go of and of course, if there is the option to do so, what can I delegate? I might need to scratch in some phone numbers next to a few of them, so I don't have to slow down my process later when I address each task and I might even try to guess how much time each "to-do" might take. I can get the less than 5 minutes out of the way first and scratch them off my list. However, I know from experience that interruptions delay completion of many of these "to-dos" from being completed in the simple timing that it appears. Still, having that to refer to gets that off my mental checklist I'm trying to keep in my head. My schedule is inconsistent and being a mom and wife, I'm constantly "on call" all the time. My outside-the-home work is somewhat inconsistent as well because though I know I will be working certain days, I can also be called in on short notice to work days that I'm not previously scheduled to work. It happens all the time, so sometimes I think I'm going to have some "free" time and then I actually don't. I can't really do much about that, except.... LEAVE.... Its not often I do it, but sometimes, I just have to leave. My household is very busy and demanding of my attention. All my children are old enough that I can leave now if I absolutely need to. One I choose to not leave alone, so I do work around that, but my go-to's are: Going for a walk (oxygen does wonders!) and think, observe my surroundings. Driving my vehicle to the local boat landing where I watch the activity on the water and get some thinking time where creativity can be stimulated. (Here I can take my pen, paper and recorder with me in the car). I curl up in the seat and start scratching my thoughts on paper Go to my local library. Its quiet there. I don't record there, but I do have pen and paper and lots of books surrounding me with ideas for creative thinking if I require them. Unfortunately, leaving is not always practical and other people's situations might allow them to get the concentration time at home. They might even have a "do not disturb" space that family members honor. I don't. However if I did..... Let the answer machine get the phone close the door turn off cell phone turn off social media Now that that is established, here's what I've come across lately...An article in the Huffington Post called, "Stimulating Brain Waves May Boost Creativity and Ease Depression", written by Carolyn Gregoire, suggests that Alpha brain wave stimulation is a considerable factor in creativity and also refers to a study being done on the effects it may have in allieviating depression. The study she cites used electrical impulses designed to enhance alpha wave oscillations. It showed participants performed an average of 7.4 percent better on a test of creative thinking". https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/17/brain-stimulation-study_n_7087828.html Do you have to get shock therapy to access those Alpha Brain Waves? There must be other ways! Gregoire also states in her article that MEDITATION can increase those alpha waves and she links it to a 2010 Norwegian study. See the above huffington post article. Here is a link to help beginners with learning how to meditate. https://theconsciouslife.com/how-to-meditate-a-guide-for-beginners.htm What I am about to say is not scientifically proven at all, its just a theory. What about the music that claims to stimulate alpha waves, like this one? I happen to notice that there is a favorite piece of music that gets me in that perfect headspace for creativity when I listen to it. You may or may not be a fan, but I discovered this on the soundtrack for "City of Angels" and I love it! Its called, An Angel Falls by Gabriel Yared. What happens is I get involved in the music. My heart races or settles with certain change-ups and sometimes my head feels like it will explode with emotion. My mind is trying to picture when the grouping of strings come in and where the bows are on the strings with the different sounds and how their frett hands might wobble as well as the possible expression on the faces of those playing their instruments. I do this sort of thing off and on throughout the composition. Sometimes, I just see colored lines of light darting, circling, diving or rising with the music. The thing that this does for me is help me to clear my mind of other junk, so that I can think creatively. It makes me wonder if it stimulates those alpha waves. I've often also found that the times when creativity gets stimulated is during prayer, not exactly when I want it, but it does happen and I think for the same reason that it happens when I settle down to go to bed (I also get ideas in the shower). Its because my brain is settling down from the day's activities. I also tend to fall asleep at those times, too, so if that happens, I let it. My brain doesn't function well when I'm overtired or sick. Its all a gift--prayer, sleep, rest and creativity--they're all welcomed by me, so whatever happens, I accept it. So we've got the ears and mind so far. How about tactile senses? How often have you taken off your shoes and just "felt" the sensation of your feet glued to the ground or placed your whole palm down on a table or desk and paid full attention to what it felt like. My favorite, how about skimming (if you're a woman) your man's stubble with the palm of your hand? (I do it with my face) just barely touching the ends or maybe even his short-cropped hair (crew cut) or bald head. Guys, sorry, I don't know how to advise you, just the ladies. You'll have to use your creativity. Okay, so that's ears, mind, tactile, lets do visual. How about looking closely at nature. I mean, really close. Take a snowflake, examine it. How many branches does it have? does it sparkle? How about a flower? Notice the petals, the stamen, the pistils, the pollen, the colors on the inside vs. the outside and hey, go for the tactile, too. Feel those petals, they're often incredibly smooth on a rose or buttercup or if you have a dandilion, you can do like with the facial stubble above. You just might have to wash the yellow off your face afterward. At night, you can observe the moon for its features, the galaxy for its features, feel the air. All this does is to help push off the busyness and help to refocus. I suppose if you close your eyes, a pleasant smell can do the same, and if you take a moment to think of savoring your food, each bite, focussing on taste and smell and texture, it might be enough to feel that calm that I personally think is the first step in accessing creativity. Basically experiencing the moment. I'm going to try it. I haven't done so well lately. Since this is all exploration for me, I ask you, what are your creativity killers and what do you do to access your creativity?

I couldn’t get to the Link to be able to read it. 😕

I watched that youtube clip, @ImKeN I HAVE seen it before as part of a larger documentary. It was touching--made me teary--happy/sad teary. I wish I could remember what its called. I think I re-posted it on my fb a looooong time ago. I may be able to find it. I think it was during the experimental phase of them using the ipods to introduce favored music to the nursing home clients. Not only was I fascinated with it, but quite tickled with how it brought out each person's personality and emotion. I watched a few more that were featured after your posted youtube, too. One showed the activity going on in the brain of a woman being hooked up to imaging and listening to some of her chosen music. The brain lit up all over. Quite amazing to see, but I particularly like the ones of those people struggling with dementia or mental illness who don''t respond to anything, and then you play familiar music to them and..... Those are the ones where it captures something special. They should do that ipod thing in EVERY nursing home, every care facility. It brings them to life! Years before I had seen that clip, there was a woman I used to visit. I didn't previously know her, but long story short, I'd visit her periodically to read Bible passages to her and sing her hymns. She had a brain injury that left her unable to move from the neck down and rendered her highly emotional. She was in long-term care. Sometimes I'd bring my kids in. She loved that. She LOVED hymn-type music. She'd sob every time, but it was because it touched her somewhere deep inside. One nurse didn't like that she got emotional and even scolded her for it. I had left a CD of music (one of my fav's) with her because she liked it, but she told me her son took it away. She was so reliant on everyone else to tend her every need. I think the best thing that could have been done for her is to allow her to enjoy her music and let her escape to a brighter reality. Music does that as well as evokes memories. Music has so many amazing powers.

I like to experiment, try different things, so it’s not easy to pick something typical. Typical for me is vocals only and I’m not keen on posting that here. I have a few with me singing and playing guitar, but lately more focused on collaborations with musicians. Writing style varies, too....what to do, what to do....?

I just looked it up—multi-meaning Word, so I’ll clarify that your voice is unique, unusual, uncommon, not like everyone else, having character of its own—that’s what I meant and yes. As I see it in this instance, is a good thing.😁

BTW, its not just that track, but I also find your voice quirky (in a good way), unique and I'm liking it because of that.

I (and likely most of your general listeners), didn't hear anything bad that stood out to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the track. I think I favorite-ed it on SoundCloud. I suspect that as I listen more, it will go in one of my playlists (supposing that's okay with you?).

Amazing voice, incredible sound....what she is saying is a mystery--doesn't matter. I still like her sound. Your "Sweet Side of Somber" is pretty amazing too! Thanks for sharing!

Bowie like I've not yet seen him. I like when the old and new (not new, new) blend. Charming....

Oh dear....(sigh) the beginning of something is always the most awkward part...so I’m just going to break in by making conversation with my imaginary audience and if I get a reply, whoa! I’ll have to give my imagination some major credit! I thought I would start by commenting about one of a few amazing abilities music has. The ability to bring forth memories. My earliest recollections of my personal taste in music began with those vinyl 45s. I had some stories such as Snow White and the 7 dwarfs put out by Disney accompanied by a reading book. I learned to follow along even though I couldn’t yet read by turning the page every time I heard the chime on the record. I had also seen the Disney movie and learned the songs. When I was outside I naively thought if I just delicately held up my arms with first finger extended like Snow White did and sang beautifully/sweet enough, the birds would come land on my fingers. (It didn’t work). Another favorite of mine was a Sesame Street record where Cookie Monster sang “C” is for Cookie, that’s good enough for me” and Ernie sang a different track that went “D,d,d, d, d is a vey nice letter, every day I like it better, that lovely letter called D,d,d, oh yeah! That lovely letter called D”. I remember taking a nap every day on the couch while my mother folded laundry and as I was dozing off, I’d hear “As the sands of the hourglass, so are the days of our lives” followed by the theme song tinkling it’s piano tune, dun, dun, dun, dun, DUN, dun dun, dun...”zzzzz”, sorry, don’t recall the rest as I was is Lala land. I recall skipping along a little golden book imaginary brick road that my brother, some kids my mother babysat and I had laid out down our hallway through the living room and into the kitchen. We would start at the beginning linking arm in arm saying, “Follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road, (then sing-songy) Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road” I also remember my brother and I standing beneath the maple tree we so often swang from (rope swing) and climbed on and looking up as the seeds fell (they looked like bras fluttering down) and we would sing “Shake, shake, shake your boobies (instead of “booties”) while we shook our non-existing chests thinking we were getting away with something we weren’t supposed to say or do. We would giggle like mad as we did. As I grew a little older, I remember listening to Pat Benetar on vinyl 45. “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and a song with a big green apple on the label of the vinyl with the song “My Sweet Lord” and I listened to them over and over and over. I have memories of riding to church with my dad on Sunday mornings headed to a late service at a different church. He would play 8 track cassettes in his truck and together we would sing, “King of the Road”. I knew it by heart. I recall my older sister and her two friends outside with her friends playing “Hot Stuff” by Donna Summers, pausing and rewinding the tape cassette as they were making up coordinated dance moves to the song. I soon discovered my sister did not want me hanging out with her and her friends and she certainly didn’t want me imitating her dance moves. As I got into 5th grade I encountered stage fright after my friend convinced me to perform a dance with her to the song, Elvira, that she made up. I knew the dance well enough, but panicked on stage and zipped through the steps as fast as I could not minding time with the music and zipped off stage after all the steps were completed. She wasn’t too happy with me. I remember my fifth grade teacher, Mr. B. and all the things he used to do to shock his students (like scrape his nails across a chalkboard or slam a pile of books on the floor when all the students were looking down, quiet and concentrating on their quiz or test) trying to embarrass a classmate named Sherry by singing, “Sherry, Sherry baby”. She would turn as bright red as a ripened tomato. As I got into Jr. high, roller skating was a favorite pastime and I loved the free feeling of gliding along on the wheels as my hair trailed behind out of my face and colored light swishing around the light gray floor while the BeeGees tunes were playing. The faster the song, the faster the skate, the freer I felt. more to come... got to take a bit of a break. (Back).... My Freshman year of high school was darkened near the end of the school year with sorrowful news. A classmate of mine who was in my homeroom, whom I had been close friends with through Junior High and was in her mid-term of pregnancy, had gotten into a car crash that killed both her and her baby. Her brother had been the driver and was deeply affected by the whole incident. The whole school was saddened by these events. A friend of ours had selected the song, Free Bird, to play over the intercom in memory of her. Now whenever I hear that song, it brings me back to that memory. I remember when i was a freshman, there was a guy rumored to have interest in me (all I ever heard was rumors--no confirmation). Sometimes we would speak on the phone and he would mess around with his electric guitar while we were talking. I heard him playing "Stairway to Heaven" and would ask him to keep playing it. I was amazed with his talent. Whenever I hear that song, I think of that moment. Round about my Junior year, I had a homeroom classmate who did take an interest and let it be known. He was sort of a dark and brooding fellow. Jeans, t-shirt, black leather jacket (also played electric guitar). Apparently, he always wanted to know what I was thinking when I was sitting in the window looking outside. He called me sometimes and also wrote these amazing letters with such interesting character to his handwriting--long letters at that and many. He asked me out, but I was just not interested in anything but a friendship. He was more of a romantic than me. I wasn't ready for that kind of seriousness. I wasn't ready for kissing or any of that stuff. However, we remained friends. He was a huge fan of Pink Floyd. He was the one who introduced me to Pink Floyd. I thought their music was a little bit creepy back then, but it grew on me. I recall one letter he wrote me, he said he was in a tent at night with his good friend (who was interested in my best friend) and they were listening to who else? Pink Floyd! Particularly, "Wish You Were Here". He said it made him think of me. Now whenever I hear that song, I relate it to him. He used to walk with his friend very long distances to leave notes, roses and candy bars for me on an old 57 Chevy that my brother-in-law was trying to sell on our lawn (see what a stupid girl I was back then!) But then my dad took his truck and chased him and his friend down the road (cause he heard a noise outside) with a rifle in his truck and asked them if they had been on his property. They denied it. Wouldn't you? He wanted me to watch some of the Pink Floyd videos, which I did and Whoa! that scene with the meat grinder just about turned my stomach. Ewwww.... There were high school dances and all the gals lined up on one side of the dance line and all the guys lined up facing them about six feet away (except for the ones dancing away off making out). You'd think we were going to do the dosey doe, but no. There were regular favorite rock songs played each dance. I recall this one girl, long bushy curly dirty blonde hair and she danced in a world all her own, rolling her head to the music, taking up her personal space and twisting her body (she was a dancer) to the music of a song I don't know the name of or the group, but I remember very key sounds of the song. I wish I knew what it was called. I don't hear it much on the radio. The guys jaws dropped. She definitely had their audience. I met my now husband my Senior year. He had graduated from a different school a year before. He called me every morning and every night. We went on a number of dates and ironically lived just a short ways from each other, though we had never known each other until....well, too much to write here...got to keep some things personal. He had this really nice truck he and his dad had refurbished with a very unique, attractive 5 colored zigzag on the side of a conservative navy colored paint job. I could hear the truck rumbling up my driveway before I ever saw it. However, he was a very conscientious driver and I was allowed to ride with him. He had an amazing stereo system and some incredible tweeters in his truck and he loved to adjust his radio balance, treble, etc for perfection and it sounded REALLY GOOD. I used to wear a sailor dress sometimes and I had long blonde hair/blue eyes and one day he wanted to play a song for me on his stereo, so he popped in tape of the Bellamy Brothers, "Do You Love as Good as You Look". I must have turned the color of a tomato I was so embarrassed. One of the bands I just loved to listen to that he played on that stereo was The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, particularly Mr. Bojangles and Fishing In the Dark---ahhh...they sounded soooo good on that stereo. I can still remember how my chest rumbled when the drums did their thing in Fishing in the Dark. Cool Change by the Little River Band was another favorite. At that time country hadn't been so pummeled into my music world as it had later been and I enjoyed some of it. He and I attended a Clint Black concert, a Kathy Matthea concert, and a Vince Gill concert. Clint Black's Killin' Time and Put Yourself In My Shoes and Nobody's Home are three other songs that will forever emblazon him and that truck and those times in my mind. I drew the line with Dwight Yoakam's twangy country sound, dug my heals in, but eventually secretively grew to like him (Shhhh....my husband can't know). He pinned me down (haha, little personal joke there) and proposed to me around the Christmas after I graduated and we were married a year and five months later. Our dance song was Alabama's, "Forever's as Far as I'll Go". I dare say he meant it. He's still with me, lol! I could go on, but I think this is a good place to stop. What songs do you hear that call up detailed memories for you? Where you were, who you were with, how it made you feel, and does it make you feel things all over again? What powerful memories does music bring for you?

To have a sense of purpose to me is the best feeling, especially when tied to particular gifted-ness God has given me for the particular work He has for me to do. I agree that it is tied to everything we do. Its a strong motivator when you feel in line with your purpose and and big de-motivator when you feel out of line with it. Its energizing particularly when you see things fall into place that tell you you are just meant to be there at that moment doing that thing and that it serves someone else's need and your own at the same time. It helps prioritize what is important FOR your purpose and gives direction of a degree. I have felt the worthlessness in the terms that you refer to. Look at all the extremely gifted musicians, poets, lyricists, craftsmen, business operators, managers, vocalists, writers, mathematicians, technology wizzes, multi-linguists, interpreters, architects, and variety of personalities and appearances, the uniqueness of every person then (of course from my Christian Perspective), the stars, the sky, the moon, sun, forest, time, temperature, separation of oceans from land, the power of the waves, the depth yet undiscovered, the galaxies unchartered, untouched, the process of a child coming with all the genetic material prepackaged and the Mind behind it all--that All-Creative Architect of this massive universe. Absolutely, I feel like a speck of dust. I've not yet explored the album you cite above, nor feel as though I entirely grasp what's going on in your mind, but the stimulation of mind that your blog article theme induces certainly brings me to that wonderful place of awe and simple acceptance of my dust particle contribution and puts much in perspective. Its an incredible sensation to take it all in.

I want a personal secretary for Christmas. If that’s not possible, I’d like a housekeeper. If that’s not possible, maybe some virtual reality that makes me see myself organized and my house as clean and organized. An illusion will satisfy too.