Forever Young: 02/11/12

Blog Manifesto

This blog is dedicated, as the title would suggest, to the qualities of being young. We are young writers. We are playful and sensitive, fluid and changing. We are unashamed with our art. We wonder at the world, puzzle over the meanings of things and twirl in delight at images and ideas that float by, grabbing at them as they pass. We are curious and constantly inquiring and prying concepts open and taking assumptions apart. We are on the ground, close to the earth. We have bare feet and wiggle our toes into nature. We carry our blankies still and wrap up cozy and comfy with each other and tell ghost stories and shiver at creepy things. We laugh and we cry and we take a lot of naps, drained from our outings and exertions.

We write as gifts to each other, tying them up in ribbon and leaving them around for each other to find, hiding and waiting for the person to wake up and read. Surprise! We weave our stories together to create a bond. One writes, then the other. then another again. We have a shared reality that we have crafted, bit by piece by patch, by string. We write simple, honest authentic things, with our unique voices. You can tell each one of us from the other, without knowing who wrote what. Our voices are clear and gentle and original. We whisper and our personalities roar! Like children, our feelings are strong, our passion for what we write shakes us. We are moved and sometimes left breathless, by our own words or the words of each other. We cannonball into each others spaces. We fall backward into each others writing, like into a pile of leaves or a soft bed. We gobble and grin and ask for more. (footnote kudos to JC)

Then we go to bed, wake up to a new day and do it all over again!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Distractions:

My journaling friends love to dmt. This is one of my least favorite games to do because first of all I don’t have the tools that others use to draw with which means my drawings are immature and shaky and secondly, you have a HUGE clock that flashes the countdown right in front of you. This clock is such a distraction. I do not do well while being timed. But I will draw because it makes my friends happy.

I enjoy playing pool. Most of my friends do too. Occasionally they invite me to dmt with them. I am timid and selective with my artistry and sometimes I choose to wander elsewhere. Well, the other night I decided to seek elsewhere on my own and wandered into the pool room. I was brought to the challenge by some king. This king thought he was some pool sharkey…he beat me the first game. My reply, “I’m just getting warmed up”. He beats me the second game. This time getting more determined, my reply was “ok…I’m warmed up now”. King starts to chat. He asks asl. Hmmm…what is asl? Maybe he had a typo error. I do not ask. I do not answer. Pretend I didn’t see the message. Then he puts it in plain English…Age, Sex and Location. Ohhhh….Should have figured that one out. I answer…60fusa. His comeback was “cool”. By now he starts toying around. He won the first 2 games…easy prey. He is totally relaxed. After all, he is playing against a 60 year old female from the

usa

. He has solids. He stretches, he yawns, he shoots he misses. I chalk my stick and stick tip. I start pocketing stripes one by one… and king is trying to distract me with his chatting. Whoa. What’s happening? Don’t shoot at that one. His eyes are widely opened by now and trying to distract Reese…chat chat chat…reese this…reese that…but I pay no attention. He went from one occasional word to full sentences. I have him worried now. C’mon black ball. I must take a deep breath and shoot very slowly. But not too slowly. Just the right touch. In in in I am shouting to myself. It’s like it is moving in slow motion and finally it drops down. Right into the left corner pocket. Victory for Reese… A couple more games are played. I’m on a role now…we are tied with 3 games each. We decide this is our last game…the tie-breaker. I need to concentrate each and every move I make if I want to win this. And I am in it to win it! We both are doing quite well…anybody’s game. E x c i t i n g!!!

All of a sudden, in walks Rosie and JC. Dirty muddy shoes cause it had been raining all day. They are drenched. Water dripping from their raincoats all over the floor, every step they take squish, squish, squish = distraction #1.

“Hi hi Reeeeese” Rosie shouts as I am ready to make my next move. “Hey Rosie, how’s it going”? Rosie sits on a wooden stool…trying, yes she is trying to be quiet = distraction #2.

Then there is JC…”Hi Reese” Hey JC, how’s it going? JC looks around but there are no more empty stools. = distraction #3.

Rosie and JC start in… 1 stool 2 peeps. Rosie move over, Ok JC. Got enough room now JC? Mhmm! JC says, “do you have enough room Rosie”? Not really…JC moves his tiny tushy over a tad more…half cheek on half cheek off. Same for Rosie. Even Steven. Now ya got enough room Rosie? Rosie replies with her primpy little mhmm. Oh JC, I’m sitting on something wet. Why is this chair all wet? Wipe off my half of the chair for me JC. Please JC--- Rosie pleads. JC replies “wipe it off yourself Rosie”. No you do it for me….on and on and on they went with their distractions. Concentration totally gone…Way too many LOL(ing)… Kings victory. Ahhh who needs a trophy anyways.

Trophy’s sit on shelves and collect dust. My friends don’t get dusty. Maybe just a web here and there.

the story of e

if you want clarity of pitch and quality
sing on the vowel e
it is the beginning.. the very beginning of finding the natural voice.

this knowledge was something that took me a long time to find. and as simple a concept as it seems.. it took someone else to tell me. and then to show me. and then to guide me. until the 'aha moment' was achieved. every other tuesday morning, from 11am to noon, i have experienced an 'aha' in it's many forms.. for going on 12 years now.

e is the brightest of the vowels.
and the widest.
it sure is pingy.. you can pluck a beautifully sung e right out of the air.. it is so palpable..

when you say e
your lips smile
try saying e
without your lips
can you do it?
of course you can.
the smile is transferred to someplace further back in your mouth..
can you feel it?
eeeeeeee
if you cant feel it.. try saying ayy and slide into eee
bet you can feel it now.
pretty cool huh?
did you remember not to smile?
if you smiled.. try it again.
mhm... what you felt...
is your pillars.

the vowel is not formed with the lips
or the tongue
or the jaw
it is formed with the pillars.
the pillars are in the back sides of the mouth.. back where the tonsils are..
and man, are they ever lazy..
your lips have been happy to do all the work, so why would the pillars jump in and take over?

why is correct formation of the vowel so important?
because most of the time, you are singing words..
and it's nice if the audience can understand what you are singing (without you practically spitting on them to get your point across)
it's also necessary for pitch accuracy.. ease of projection.. legato singing..
AND.. the pillars are directly attached to the vocal cords.. so if you arent utilizing them, you are ignoring an important part of how we produce sound.

once you understand this concept and you have mastered pronouncing e without your lips..
you now know more about how the human singing voice works than 90% of the professional singing population.

exciting prospect, but sad.
those famous opera singers should know better!