Music conference

This is why I love what I do. I get to hang out with nut cases like this for a week at a time. I went to Atlanta to meet with some of the top people in the sacred choral world to present some songs and learn about the publishing biz. My father-in-law Paul is the one on the front row left with a beard. There was a top arranger (Brant Adams), an editor from Shawnee press (Joe Martin), and a Nashville contract songwriter/arranger from Word Music. The last guy, Rob Sterling, had written and produced for Point of Grace among other groups. Ah, the six degrees of separation from OBU has begun. I thoroughly enjoyed my week, I learned a LOT about publishing from the inside. I got to meet with the editor from Shawnee, who saw a lot of potential in one of my songs, Home. He's going to take it and work on some fine points of piano accompaniment and choral part-writing (not my native gift, I'm the first one to admit it), and once his name is associated with it it'll be a matter of time before it's published. Meaning, in about 2 years, if past patterns hold true. But hey, published is published, I'm not knocking it, I can't tell you how excited I am!
I presented a new piece to the whole conference panel, the one I posted earlier, and got a lot of positive feedback on it, lots about good lyrics and love your melodies. So the next day I'm feeling good and proceed to my private meeting with Rob Sterling to show him my favorite songs like King of All of Me and You are More. I got a large slice of humble pie handed to me, so you can never keep too big a head about you in life. It was all true, dangit, so I can't pretend that he was just a stuffed shirt ripping on praise and worship music. Anyway, even humble pie goes down well with lots of Cool Whip, yet another use for my favorite topping.
I also got to hang out with some of the most fun people, from as close as 5 minutes from the conference area to all the way from Korea. Who knew Korean opera composers like to do the maraca dance and ride around in convertibles with the top down? I love it! It was a truly inspiring, enjoyable conference (who gets to say that about business conventions?), and I'm SO there for next year. Craig Courtney and Mark Hayes will be there, I'm all over it! Do you like my street cred? Word.

Darnedest thing

We washed our car and let the towel dry outside overnight. We could do away with the need for towel bars entirely.

Malibu Tad

My friend Tad is currently in Malibu right now teaching at a vocal workshop, so I thought I'd take the inspiration to market a new product...

Hats

Ferris sketched these cool bonnets, I really liked them. I finally twisted his arm into letting me show them to you.

Camping fun

Last weekend we went camping on the Buffalo River. We had such a blast that we invested in some real estate. If anyone wants to come use our cabin, feel free!



We stayed on a national park, so we had bathrooms and showers, even a restaurant. Remember that restaurant. So, as soon as we got our tent up (which we did very smoothly, I might add, Grizzly Adams watch your back), we rented a canoe and had a great float, we saw lots of birds and a beaver waddling up the bank. We only floated sideways a few times, after which we got the hang of the whole steering thing. As soon as our float was over, we pulled up on the bank and the thunder and lightning started, so we dashed to the car. It was relaxing, laying in the tent, listening to the rain, until we got hungry. I had only brought grillable stuff, and I'm not thinking rain steak sounds too appetizing. So, we went to ...the restaurant! It had a gorgeous view of the river, so we dried out, warmed up, and ate well. Fortunately the sun came out just as we finished, so we got to walk around and work off the meal. We found out about a historic mining town nearby, so we went and took some interesting pictures of mines and stuff, and just enjoyed walking around in the mountains. We saw a mother deer and her fawn, and of course they dashed off by the time I got my camera up. The next morning we hiked to the scenic overlook, passing places that I mentally named Weathertop, Lorien, Rivendell, you know, serious geek stuff, but the hike was gorgeous. We passed two more deer on the way back, and they stopped 30 feet off and watched us. Finally they made a trumpeting sound, it sounded as though they were telling us what they thought of us. We took the hint and left. We had a wonderful time, and saw so much more beautiful scenery than we have pictures of, but you'll get the idea. Enjoy!


Our tent!







Natural Bridge.









The mine we found











Cool stuff

Hot off the presses

A Love For All Seasons.aif

Nekkid dog pitchers

Well, Kirby couldn't stand the heat any more, so we got him shaved.
He's so funny, here are the pictures:

Before:






















And after:

Paula Deen live

Hey, y'all! I'm quoting Paula. I am ravenously addicted to cooking shows, and I really enjoy Paula Deen's shows. She has such a Southern country flair, it reminds me of so many people in my life. Well, she now has a live traveling show, and I went to see her in Shreveport. What fun! She has a surprisingly earthy sense of humor. The funny thing was, cooking was the lowest priority. She made pork chops, collard greens, and mac and cheese, but she would get as far as a stick of butter (she tossed a stick to a lady in the audience) when something would come in her mind to say. She would just walk off and go to the edge of the stage and talk with someone, leaving her assistant to do all the real cooking. Her husband and brother were there too, chatting and making funny comments. My Mom and I had a lot of fun. She filled the CenturyTel arena, so she's doing all right. Paula is a person whom I feel deserves everything she gets because she went through such rough, low times in her life, and turned her own destiny around with determination and God's help. Go Paula!

What else would you be?

My friend Jerusalem asked what else would you do as a career if you could change. I love music and dealing with kids so much that if I weren't a music person of some kind, my first choice would be bag lady. I don't know if I can do anything else, or would want to do anything else on a long-term basis. I've tried to run from myself a few times, working in a vet's office, waiting tables, or not working period (that lasted a month, partly from boredom, partly from necessity). They were such dismal failures I've learned to quit fighting it. The first time I waited tables I was HORRENDOUS. I still hesitate to go into an Olive Garden because of bad memories. The vet's office started all right when I was an animal assistant, holding cute kitties, but then they put me in the office, and all that common sense multitasking stuff sunk me.
I'm interested, what would you do if you could have a dream job?