How I Listen

iTunes: To hold and search through the vast amount of music I have acquired as a music therapist. (By the way, Apple, I loved iTunes 10 and would very much prefer it if you reverted to that style).

Noisetrade: Some of my favorite artists I have found and sampled (for free!) from this site. They even have ebooks now.

Spotify: I am a Premium user now, thanks to the half-price student rate. Yipee. This app is especially valuable for music therapy (no more relying on youtube!) and because I am often without reliable internet. It’s worth it.

Grooveshark: Occasionally, and mind you it is seldom, but occasionally Spotify does not have what I want. Namely, the Peter Pan soundtrack by James Newton Howard. Or, say, the most recent Sherlock score. That’s when Grooveshark proves quite handy.

Are there other (legal) ways I should know?

Homeward Bound

I recently rediscovered this as an instrumental track. With only the title and melody in my head it grew to be one of my favorites, reminding me that I will not be away from home forever. When I looked up the lyrics it held ever more meaning. The first stanza is especially appropriate for my current adventure interning in the Midwest.

 http://youtu.be/Oen6UAyn3qk

In the quiet misty morning
When the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing
And the sky is clear and red,
When the summer's ceased its gleaming
When the corn is past its prime,
When adventure's lost its meaning -
I'll be homeward bound in time

Bind me not to the pasture
Chain me not to the plow
Set me free to find my calling
And I'll return to you somehow
If you find it's me you're missing
If you're hoping I'll return,
To your thoughts I'll soon be listening,
And in the road I'll stop and turn

Then the wind will set me racing
As my journey nears its end
And the path I'll be retracing
When I'm homeward bound again
Bind me not to the pasture
Chain me not to the plow
Set me free to find my calling
And I'll return to you somehow

(softly)

In the quiet misty morning
When the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing
I'll be homeward bound again.

Hearing Voices

This sudden return to the blogosphere brought to you by my desire to write something other than book reports, research assignments, and job applications.

Today: musings on the power of the human voice.

Unlike the majority of millenials, I grew up listening to radio. Until I was about 14, FM was where I tuned. Television, movies, and even music were very low on my list. Some of my favorite and oldest memories have the voices of John Avery Whittaker, Ranger Bill, Carl Kasell, Chris Anthony, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, Terry Gross, John MacArthur, and Alistair Begg in the background (and sometimes foreground). That is probably part of the reason why a person’s vocal quality matters so much to me now.

One class in college started me thinking about this. Originally when I registered for [cringe] Post-tonal Sight Singing I was, surprisingly, looking forward to the experience. The professor was listed as one I had previously. Considering he taught “normal” music theory chords as members of the Mafia and I had retained that well enough, I was confident in his ability to have me correctly sightsinging seemingly-random notes off a staff by finals. And with a smile on my face, too.

Imagine my disappointment when I walked into the first day of class and found instead the IT guy sitting at the piano with textbook and dry-erase marker in hand. Later I came to find that the IT guy was actually a graduate composition student who worked for the tech center on the side, but what I noticed first was his voice: deep and strong, with a certain warmth. It reminded me of someone else I couldn’t quite place until about the 5^th week in when a classmate leaned toward me and whispered “Don’t you think he sounds like Shere Khan?” Liiiightbuuulb.

http://youtu.be/sw2Qjm6whlM

Yes, it’s like that, minus the sinester quality. It did keep our attention in class, which is quite the feat considering it was an early morning class for music students. So there’s that: “Sightsinging with Shere Khan”.

I don’t have stories for the rest of these, but they deserve a mention.

John Avery Whittaker’s quality is a chicken and egg situation. Which is more important? Would I attach a feeling of comfort to his voice if his character was not marked by integrity, kindness, and loyalty? I would say yes considering other similar figures whose voices I do not enjoy as well.

Tom and Ray Magliozzi (a.k.a. Click and Clack) gave the laughter that put the added shine in Saturday mornings. MANY a housecleaning task was and is lightened by their humor.

Alistair Begg is my favorite Scotsman and one of my favorite storytellers. Even if he hadn’t retained that lovely accent I would still listen. I can take a hard truth more easily when it is handled with such care.

Carl Kasell. I think the news lost a great sense of clout and substance when not announced with your vocal chords, although Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me has suffered the most.

Chris Anthony, many may underestimate the value behind your openings of Odyssey, but you could convince me that even a cloudy Monday held excitement if it began with “Hi! This is Chris! Welcome to Adventures with Pilgrim!”

Now I wonder how people perceive my own voice. 

The Best Sandwich

I love this sandwich. It was my own idea. I take it to school at least once every week, so you know it travels well. Stick this baby in a solid plastic container and it's good to go, whether by car, bike, or foot.

Bread: my insides are gluten-intolerant, and all that potato-based bread gets old after a while. I also need a slice with enough body to hold a hearty sandwich together, so my favorite is Food For Life's Ezekiel 4:9 Sesame Sprouted Grain. The price varies from "Hmmmm...a bit pricey" to "Well, nope. That's crazy", depending on the store and location.

Condiments: Olive oil mayo and dijon mustard with chardonnay wine. Because I'm that sophisticated.


Lettuce: Spring mix, because you need all that dark green stuff. And it adds so much flavor.

Meat: Without all the artificial stuff

And last but not least: Oregano flakes! It's subtle but it matters. 

This is so good I had to share it with the internet.

Merry Christmas!

Give the doll a caption:

...six months later

Since it’s been six months, it is time for a blog post, but since it has been that long, “let me sum up”.

Between June 17th and now:

- I held a part-time job (that wasn’t work study) and a large credit load simultaneously, and was mostly successful. But I don’t want to do that again.
- Experience continues to reinforce what I’ve learned about interpersonal relationships.
- God filled in the gaps made by disappointments and sometimes immediately replaced them with something lovely.
- I read two books for pleasure: Out of Africa, by Isak Dinesen, and The Blue Castle, by L. M. Montgomery. The Blue Castle I read during finals but Out of Africa I only partially read and it took the entire semester. More on that later.
- Affirmed for not the first and probably not the last time that social networking sites and their ilk are like black holes in my life and I do not miss them when they are not accessible.
- Time has flown.

It’s a good thing I buckled my seatbelt six months ago.

Over winter break one of my goals is to apply to internship sites to complete my music therapy degree. Internship is only a year away. By this time in 2013 I will have completed my undergraduate courses. Gone will be the days of midterms and finals, wearing jeans during the work week, staring at a computer all day, private lessons on the viola, and having month-long breaks at the end of a lot of work.

I still have two semesters at school, so my other goal is to expand my guitar skills and learn as many pop and rock songs as possible so I can just unpack an instrument and play. Next semester I take the mental health practicum, which is a mini-internship leading music therapy sessions for clients with mental health needs. In preparation I should be able to play anything from the 60’s to 90’s. This will probably be the second most difficult practicum repertoire-wise, after medicine and rehabilitation, which could be any age group and therefore any music from the 20th century into this century.

That’s me, carrying the entire shelf of music books home from my local library.

Be Still. Please. And buckle your seatbelt.

I'm in another one of those times when God doesn't feel very...close. Yes I do my usual time with Him, so we are in contact, but there's just something different. Maybe it's comparable to the transition time a soldier has to got through when the firing ceases and you find yourself somewhere peaceful. After all that commotion and pain, which for me really picked up pace about a year ago, what do you do when allowed to rest? And what do you do if you're not entirely sure if you made a Christ-honoring impact?

"Be still, and know that I am God".

Psalm 46:10 keeps echoing in my mind. I imagine God watching me run around down here with "so much to do" and "so little time". He must get a lot of laughs out of the spectacle. He probably also gets tired of trying to talk to me when I have my head stuck in a book, or a tv show, or a game. Being still is only half of what He asks. The second part requires thought, careful consideration, effort.

But alas, I must now return to studying the wonders of the human body and exceptional children. So far A&P is winning in the interest category. My music therapy classes and experience have already covered much of the other class's material, which is actually quite a blessing. One of my summer jobs involves playing in a pit orchestra. Just a warning to anyone out there who may be considering it: learning how to play keyboard (read: synthesizer) for a musical theatre production when you've been classically trained all your life is like learning to drive stick while you race other drivers. It's not just your life at stake; people are relying on you! So between Legally Blonde and A&P, not much else gets done. Thankfully I can walk to the theatre, which is at my school, so I am not wasting away.

Two funny things related to that before I go: the first time I walked there it started raining as soon as I stepped out the door. It was so exciting. No really! Yay for High Sierra backpacks (which can hold all my A&P books, a full Camelbak water bottle, Macbook, and lunch, btw) and the bright yellow rain skirt built into the bottom of mine! And huzzah for rainbows, too. One appeared right before I got back to my apartment. Definitely a God thing. And what was the other funny thing...oh.

Ha. After a couple treks I figured out how to avoid all but one crosswalk, but when I got there it took forever. I noticed that the walkman going the other way lit up, which was weird. Finally I checked out the post with the buttons and found out I pushed the wrong one. But the good thing about intersections is that normally people don't stick around too long, which means little embarrassment for me! Until I posted it. Well then.

-------

Good things I found:

The BBC version of Sherlock Holmes. By far the best I've seen, and jolly good music too. PBS.org lets you watch season 2 for free until 6/19.

Spotify: free music streaming! (There's a pattern here...).

Radiolab. My top favorite science podcast, tied for first place overall with Allistair Begg's Truth For Life, which is also great.

Snippet and Ink

snippet and ink

I found this site via Bryce Covey's photo blog. It's wedding-centered, but I love it for the photo ideas. The photo of the tiny ring bearer running down the isle is the best (March 4th under Sunday Editions)! I'm really looking forward to honing my photography skills this summer. I've been negligent to the point of forgetting what an f-stop means. That's sad.

Also slightly depressing are the ponds here at school. They're being dug out to get rid of all the nastiness that accumulated thanks to the flocks of geese who (that?) have taken up residence. The fountains will be reinstalled, which will be lovely. But right now it's annoying because we have to take the long way around to get from the conservatory to the cafeteria (I refuse to call it the dining hall. It does not merit that title). So to remind myself what the ponds will eventually look like, I post this photo.

Favorite File

I created a new page (see the tabs above), wanting to display short blurbs, but not realizing that it won't show up as a new post. So I will post them twice, once here on the main page and then also on the "Favorite File". This new page is a way for me to keep track of things I like while also sharing them. We'll see how it goes. Don't forget to check the "Images" page for updates, too. :)


3. Everything Music Therapy

Wonder what music therapy is? Almost everything you want to know can be found on the American Music Therapy Association's website: http://www.musictherapy.org/.
You can find a lot of information there, including how to find an MT-BC (Music Therapist - Board Certified) in your area, which schools offer music therapy as a degree, and the competencies music therapists must exhibit when in practice.

 Rule no. 1: Please don't call it musical therapy. Thank you. :)

Famous music therapists: Dr. Deforia Lane. If you want to see an MT-BC in action, google her.

Dr. Michael Thaut (rhymes with doubt). "Father of neurologic music therapy". He gave some great quotes for this article in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/science/17angi.html.

2. Photographer's Websites

Take a break and enjoy some beauty.

Bright redhead with bright ideas, from the Shetland Islands: http://www.davegifford.co.uk 

These two are also from the Shetland Islands and have an affinity for boats :)  http://www1.clikpic.com/willsmartinsmith/index.html

http://scottgoudiephotography.com/

Bryce Covey is a very gifted wedding and people photographer, wonderful at capturing personalities and the energy of an event. http://blog.brycecoveyphotography.com/

More to come.

1. Song lyrics that read like a poem

 Band: Switchfoot

Writer: Jon Foreman

Restless

I am the sea on a moonless night,
Calling, falling, slipping tides
I am the leaky, dripping pipes
The endless aching drops of light
I am the raindrop falling down,
Always longing for the deeper ground
I am the broken, breaking seas
Even my blood finds ways to bleed

Even the rivers ways to run
Even the rain to reach the sun
Even my thirsty streams,
Even in my dreams

I am restless, I am restless
I am restless, looking for you
I am restless, I run like the ocean to find your shore
I’m looking for you

I am the thorn stuck in your side,
I am the one that you left behind,
I am the dried up doubting eyes
Looking for the well that won’t run dry

Running hard for the other side
The world that I’ve always been denied
Running hard for the infinite
With the tears of the saints and hypocrites

Oh blood of black and white and gray
Death and life and night and day
One by one by one
We let our rivers run

I can hear you breathing,
I can hear you leading
More than just a feeling
More than just a feeling
I can feel you reaching
Pushing through the ceiling
'til the final healing
I'm looking for you

Until the sea of glass we meet
At last completed and complete
The tide of tear and pain subside
Laughter drinks them dry

I’ll be waiting
Anticipating
All that I aim for
What I was made for
With every heartbeat
All of my blood bleeds
Running inside me
Looking for you

Backstory: Lead singer and principal songwriter for the band Jon Foreman wrote the song in Europe, with the intent of "trying to embody the story of the rain," which comes from the idea that raindrops are on a "relentless" journey back to the ocean. "I was thinking about the idea that I'm on a journey myself," he says. "...reaching and searching and longing for more.