A Voice from the Grave

 The most emotional moment of my entire music project

I’ve been editing over 100 newly digitized files from cassettes of 3 decades of my children’s music

I discovered one tape among my Dad’s things. He died in 1997
My kids recorded 45 minutes of music (songs with piano & guitar) for his 66^th birthday in 1983
They were 7, 10 & 13 at the time.  I have no memory of this.  My voice is nowhere on the recording.

Not only did Dad save the tape from 1983 – 1997, but at the end he recorded his own message to them
and sang 2 songs himself.

Maybe it’s national & world events but one song the children did is haunting to me

This the chorus of “One Tin Soldier” –

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of Heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

This is the how the children sounded.  10 year old Karen is playing the guitar.
It’s only 4 minutes long.

One Tin Soldier

This was my Dad’s message

Thanking his grandchildren

If you read this far and listened, thank you

Connections – Bob Dylan and Me – 4 Degrees of Separation?

Moving requires new connections – here & also on MFP I’m glad to connect with old friends and even make some new ones.

I moved a lot in my early life – THREE high schools in very different environments.
My ongoing family music project and a recent documentary illustrates that.

In 1962 we moved to Queens, NYC.  I was 15. 
My mother joined a chorale of a local group of women.
One of the women was Grace Van Ronk.  I remember when her husband died, and the women at the wake were commenting about her son. 
It seems he looked like a hippie – long hair, beard and clothes of the era.

I remember the women talking about how “Grace must be so embarrassed.”
More likely she was proud of her son and his music. I understood that he was quite well known in the evolving folk music community of Greenwich Village in Manhattan. 

I liked folk music and even bought the album of the “Newport Folk Festival 1963.”    I still have it.

Last week I was watching a documentary about Bob Dylan.  I always liked his music, although I must admit I preferred it sung by somebody else, usually Peter, Paul & Mary.
When I bought a guitar in 1968 trying to learn to play from a PBS show, I used the song book “Folk Music Today” with a lot of Dylan songs. 

Anyway, what a shock when repeatedly featured on the documentary were videos and commentary of Dave Van Ronk! 
It seems he was a mentor of Bob Dylan and many other musicians.  He was known as the “Mayor of MacDougal Street”
There was even a movie based on his life.  He released several moderately successful albums. 

Some google research - “Van Ronk was born in Brooklyn.  He moved from Brooklyn to Queens around 1945 and began attending Holy Child Jesus Catholic School”
That was OUR parish. That’s how our mothers met.   Joe & I were married in Holy Child Jesus Church.  

Connection #2 – As I edit over 100 newly digitized tapes of 25 years of my children’s music, I found a performance of my DD (Hayburner1969) at age 12 broadcast by the European Broadcast Union.  Two children from each of 5 countries were featured. 
The other USA musician was Joshua Bell.  If you follow classical music, you recognize the name.  He went on to a famous and very successful international career.
My DD stopped competing after college, got married, had 3 kids and teaches middle school music.  I did write on Spark about her successful return to the stage back in 2016. 
In 2019 we traveled to Munich and St Petersburg for her performances. 

If you’ve read this far, thank you.  While I don’t blog as much as I used to, it’s nice to have a platform to record my thoughts.

If you would like to hear my DD on that International Broadcast, this is the link. 

Jeanne (Hayburner1969) at age 12

(If not clickable, just copy and paste the URL into your browser)

http://www.brigs.us/portfolio/Music%20Archive/Tape-61b%20Music%20Joy%20of%20Youth%20USA%20Jeanne%20Backofen%20Arabesque%20I.mp3

“Stop Whining and Find Something to Do” - An Update – Where I’ve Been

 It’s been over a month since I blogged about my unplanned summer

I did write about it on a few of the Spark “lifeboat” groups I’ve joined.

This is a general update

After I stupidly decided to “hop” for a fitness survey in June, my injury was finally diagnosed by MRI on August 9^th
I have a “tear in the posterior horn of my medial meniscus”
Fortunately, I had one of these in my other knee in 2017, so I know that it will heal with treatment and TIME

I decided to continue with rehab exercises only at home.  I have a treadmill, a bike, resistance bands and a whole lot of stairs.
This is preferable to rehab with a therapist because of all the clients who refuse to follow Covid safety guidelines.
Not even the death of a well known church member and the hospitalization of others has convinced our majority to get vaccinated or at least wear a mask indoors around other people.

While I gradually increased my walking time & distance, I kept up with my upper body exercise with my set of hand weights.

Then on August 19^th, I cut my hand on a big sharp knife while emptying the dishwasher.  My DH Joe bought a set of new knives to process our garden produce. They are way beyond anything necessary to cut vegetables.  Lots of blood in the sink and stitches required.  The cut was on my very dominant right hand and limited its use.

That ended hand weight exercise and even my ability to type. 
The stitches were removed yesterday and my fingers are working fine. I was lucky actually.  It could have been much worse.
 
Meanwhile, I have buried myself in a very emotional project – organizing & indexing over 100 cassette tapes of my children’s music
Some of you may remember my DD Jeannie from Spark (Hayburner1969) and how she returned to piano competition in 2016 after 25 years
What you likely did not know is that her early career included performing with her piano partner.  They even won a trip together to NYC.
Hearing these little girls play again is emotional because Jeannie’s partner Mimi died at age 13. 

I’ve listened to about 50 hours of the recordings and I’m about half way done.
I’m using “Audacity” software to trim sections of each tape in separate files.  I’m creating a new section on my website – a family archive of an important part of our lives.
At one point we had 3 pianos so they could all practice at the same time.   Also flute, string bass, trumpet and trombone echoed through the house. 
A few tapes are of Community Theater productions.  Jeannie had child solos while I was in the chorus and sewed a lot of costumes. 

Summer is almost over – not what I planned, but I know others have had much worse to deal with.
I am grateful that I can type again and can now walk 4 miles over the course of the day in 1 mile intervals. 

I am also grateful for my online connections.  I’ve been reading even if not able to respond much.
Stay safe, stay well

Eileen

“Stop Whining and Find Something to Do”

Downton Abbey fans may remember that advice from the Dowager to her granddaughter (Lady Edith, jilted at the altar).

My summer hasn’t been what I intended.  After my stupid (hard to diagnose) leg injury, I’ve been in rehab for 4 weeks.  While there has been improvement, I have not been able to return to my normal fitness routine without setbacks.  So now I’m scheduled for an MRI AND been prescribed Diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug a lot stronger than Advil.  Overnight I felt almost normal but will follow my doc’s advice “do not stress your leg.”  Rehab is on hold except for easy home exercise until the MRI discovers exactly what damage I did to myself. 

Here is part of my project

These are 2 boxes of the 100+ cassettes I have recorded of my 3 children’s music competitions and performances (1975 – 1993). 
After that they were on their own. 

All are labelled with date and event and the majority have detailed contents of repertoire on assorted index cards, note and legal pad paper.

My goal is to transcribe all this into organized spreadsheets and arrange to have the tapes transferred to digital format of all those they want to keep.

Many are tapes of lessons and assorted practice.  Surprisingly they are quite interested in those as well. 
We have the equipment to do this ourselves and have done a few over the years, but this is WAY too many.  Time to pay a guy.

I have several reel to reel tapes too.  Once upon a time cassette recorders were “new technology”
We bought a VCR way back in 1978 to record their local TV appearances.  Never did buy a video recorder though.  Never could have imagined how easily it is done now.

Fortunately, the later years, including Jeanne’s return to competition in 2016 (Cliburn) were automatically recorded for purchase. 
When she performed in Europe, it was great to be was able to sit back and enjoy it without dealing with the old, very bulky recording devices that I remember using. 

This will be pricey, but considering we haven’t travelled since Feb 2020, it’s worth it to spend some money to preserve an important part of family history.

So between my injury and our increasing Covid numbers it’s time to follow the Dowager’s advice.

The entire quote began “You are an intelligent woman with a brain…”  so I better stop whining and complete the project in front of me.

Still Playing the "What If" Game

The venue may have changed (from Spark to MyFitnessPal) but the goal is still the same

Every morning I log in somewhere for my daily dose of motivation.  For 12 years it was Spark, now I am becoming quite comfortable in my After Spark life.

Now I check in with my 2 lifeboat google groups of refugees.  I like keeping up with old friends and learning about possible final destinations.  The more info the better
My reading list of blogs keeps me connected as well as reading the comments on my own blogspot blog.

Then I check in with my new teams of Sparkers over at MyFitnessPal.
More friends being found every day.

While I love the connections with friends old and new, I know that for me nutrition is most important. 
I learned long ago that I cannot outrun my fork.  Also I have an innate tendency to underestimate the calories I consume.  Occasional checks with my food scale bring my portion distortion back to reality.

Fortunately, I like data and playing the “what if” game – also know as “Adventures in Food Tracker Land”

I have essentially disengaged from Spark and now use the MyFitnessPal food tracker.
It’s hard for this long-time Spark cheerleader to say this, but I like it better than the SP version
If there are complaints about it, I haven’t found any yet.  Note that I use a laptop and not my phone. 

This is my plan for today. Always keeping an eye on sodium and sugar.  It’s in everything!

I can easily adjust it to reflect changes during the day and when done I will be informed what my weight is predicted to be if I ate like this every day.

Whatever I decide today, I will know the facts going in. 
I prefer that to being blindsided or retreating into denial – Very easy for me to do.
One day won’t hurt but over time THAT does NOT end well.

I’ve got to have a plan I can LIVE with.

My goal is to make my choices and own them, NO SURPRISES, NO EXCUSES

Be Careful What You Google

 As an early tech adopter way before the Internet became a household word, I was aware of unexpected search results.  I was teaching a STEM summer course for Middle School girls for a local university which they advertised as “Girls Online.”   I told them that wasn’t a smart title.  Sure enough, a search of “Girls Online” did NOT bring up the projects of my girls interested in Math/Science/Computer careers. 

Fast forward 20 years
I have been rehabbing a stupid injury for several weeks (details at end). My treatment includes a device to electrically stimulate my leg muscles for 15 minutes after my workout on the machines.  I remember that device from my last injury 5 years ago.  Now I learned that I can buy that device for home use.

So I googled something like “muscle stimulation devices” 
It was immediately evident that legs were not the only body parts people were interested in stimulating.

The search results produced a wide variety of options.  At least I was wise enough not to explore them at random.  I can only imagine the popup ads THAT would have generated in the future.

I decided to check whatever WALMART was selling.  It arrived the next day

I will take it to my next rehab session so I can be sure I am using it properly.  Situating the pads seems to be most important for the best results.

In the past I have needed rehab after a fall or accident.

This time it was stupid pride.

It was time for me to replace my custom orthotics. 
I have very difficult feet (flat, severely overpronating and with an extra bone that should have fused to another in the womb but somehow didn’t)
You know you are weird when the ortho doc calls in an intern to observe “something you don’t see very often”

Anyway, I credit my custom “industrial strength” orthotics for keeping me upright and “in the race” for the last 25 years.

No little piece of plastic in my shoes.  These are SERIOUS things
These are the 2 ½ year old ones I wanted to replace

Before I saw the ortho doc for reevaluation, I had to fill out a survey about my “problem”

I didn’t have a PROBLEM.  I wanted new orthotics.

The questions as to what I was and was not able to do seemed unnecessary. 
How far can I walk?  Can I do household chores etc.
Can I stand for an hour?  Can I stand on one leg?

CAN I HOP?    HOP?  What am I 12?
All I had to answer was YES or NO.  But I decided to HOP.

4 times on my left leg but only ONCE on my right leg when I got a searing shooting pain.
I couldn’t even put weight on the leg.
RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) helped some but it was obvious I did something that I couldn’t fix myself

I have a “fat pad impingement” on the right side of my knee which impacted the surrounding tendons and muscles.
I never knew a knee had fat pads. 
Supposedly rehab should be successful and I feel a LOT better than when I first started, but it will take several weeks to be back to normal assuming I don’t reinjure myself.

They remembered me at the rehab center so my home exercise sheet states in capital letters

Eileen, GENTLE NOT AGGRESSIVE!

Good advice.  I will file that along with “Rest and come back stronger” and “Slow and steady, gradual improvement”

Opening a 42 Year Old Time Capsule

One benefit of the 16 months in my hermitage has been the discovery of long forgotten keepsakes.

In 1978 QUBE-TV in Columbus, Ohio held a months long “Talent Search” where daily, weekly, monthly and grand prize winners were determined by votes of the judges and the TV audience who voted remotely.

My DD Jeannie and her piano partner Mimi were the grand prize winners and won a bunch of prizes including an all expenses paid trip to NYC for the girls and their mothers.

I always had photos in my well organized albums but this box of souvenirs was a surprise. 

I saved our airline tickets, stationary from the Americana hotel, brochures from the sites of the city and some very special drawings of our experiences by 8 year old Jeannie.
Reading the Playbill of Annie was fascinating.  By then Shelly Bruce had replaced Andrea McArdle in the title role, but Annie’s understudy was Sarah Jessica Parker who also played one of the orphans. 

Jeannie and Mimi met in a Yamaha group piano class of a dozen kids at age 6. 

Within a few months their teacher moved them to a class of 4. The following year she decided to teach them together at side by side pianos.
They performed around Columbus as soloists and together like a pint sized version of Ferrante and Teicher. 
They even played F & T’s “Theme from the Apartment”
At age 11 their teacher decided that it was time they went on to study separately with different teachers.

My next project is to convert to digital format all the dozens of cassette tape recordings I made from 1976 – 1990.
Fortunately, all are labeled and indexed with the repertoire on each one.
I was very organized back then.  Joe believes we should do the conversion ourselves. 
My choice is to pay a local company to do it for us.

While I was examining this 1978  time capsule, I got a text from a grandson to tell me that he was about to cross the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn. 
He is visiting a college friend whose family has a membership at Breezy Point Beach Club near Coney Island.

I replied that I watched that bridge being built and sent him these 60 year old photos below of my girlfriends and me exactly where he was going.

He said that his friend’s family knew exactly where those pictures were taken.
A very cool coincidence!