The Extraordinary in the Everyday

When the apocalypse comes, Robin and I will be well provided for in two areas: batteries and tape. 

Robin buys batteries in bulk at every opportunity, “because you just never know,” he says, “I take them with me to every gig!” And, in fact he does; I have been the beneficiary of his gig batteries more than once. 

I, on the other hand, like to buy tape: tape to wrap presents, tape to mail books and cds, and my favorite, painter’s tape.  I particularly love a pale green painter’s tape that I use to…

I would normally write an intro about my dear friend and collaborator - but I said it all in the video!  Enjoy, Jenny 

Roadblock – A Haiku Milieu collaboration 

It started with Jenny’s haiku.  I get a new one every Sunday morning, accompanied by a photo that I assume inspired the poem (or maybe it’s the other way around).  Not just Sundays, Jenny posts miscellaneous haikus whenever she is inspired.   

Then there’s the invite.  It is fortuitous that I am in her orbit. When I saw this particular…

Happy New Year!  I hope the second day of 2022 is off to a wonderful start for you. 

For me and mine this New Year’s Eve, the past and the present played nicely together. But the end of year didn't start out that way. 

Shows were cancelling.  Places were shutting down.  Unknowns were swirling like the heavy cream I have not been putting in my coffee for the last 4 years, and the hard edges of missing things from long ago, like the aforementioned cream, things I thought I no longer longed for…

This is what it feels like to be me at this time of year.   

It feels like absolute confidence in the goodness of the world, and that sneaking suspicion that Santa's gonna overlook everything I didn’t do right last year, and that I’m gonna go to sleep wrapped in the arms of family under bright stars in the dark sky twinkling in the crisp night air, delicious smells wafting through the house.   

I always feel that way inside at Christmas. 

The older I get, the more I notice the gulf between feeling…

We all make mistakes, and in the end, if you pay attention, you can even enjoy the process of learning what NOT to do. 

To wit: I was rushing.  I sent the Black Friday email out with typos. 
  
I knew I wanted to send something to my Sunday Haiku Milievians, but I didn’t know what.  And like so many things these days, I had no idea what to do.  I knew the ideas would come if I got started. But wanting to get started?  Not so much. 
  
So first I had coffee with my family.  My daughter Jessica was home…

Greta Lind. We went to college together.  Her last name is my mom's maiden name.  We always thought we might be related.  She's an inspiring friend, amazing at everything she turns her hand to: author. actress. artist. mom. body worker.  And a deep, dear friend of the soul. 

You might have seen her as Katie Kenicott on TV's All My Children, in the movie Rudy, or heard her on Indiana Public Radio in the Audie Awards finalist audio drama, The Ernie Pyle Experiment. 

But before all that, my kids…

The Haiku Milieu-vians have spoken. 

This summer.  Ah, remember summer?  The sun rose around 5 am and it stayed light until almost 8 pm?  Yes.  Think back to THEN. 

And perhaps, there among the other wonderful memories of summer, you might remember filling out the annual Haiku Milieu survey?  The one where you tell me what you'd like to see happen next?  

You spoke, I listened.    

As Richard Dawson used to say on Family Feud, SURVEY SAYS! 

Haiku Milieu-vians, your resounding, #1 choice for what…

Al Rose.  Singer/songwriter extraordinaire, inveterate traveler, proprietor of Kopi Cafe alongside his beautiful spouse Rhonda, and genuine disciple of his artistic muse. Friend to artists everywhere, with a keen eye for those who could use a hand, and dear, longstanding friend to Robin and me. 

Take a listen to any of his songs, and you'll see the ingenious ways his hospitality shows up in his songwriting, which is luxuriously rich and dense with image and meaning.   

If you like, you can get…

This has been a big week.  I have a day job that affords me the ability to take creative risks.  I concluded my service with an organization that was important to me this past Friday. 
  
I have been making music for a long time.  Four years ago, I started taking a photo and writing a haiku. I thought it was just to keep myself creating when things in work and life got busy. 
  
It became something more. 
  
The more I did it, the more I realized how much I loved having a way to think about what I was…

This week, the collaboration blog transforms into the Creativity & Collaboration blog.  And who better as a contributor?  None other than Steve Dawson, with whom I am privileged to sing this Friday, October 15, as part of the band for the release of his album LAST FLIGHT OUT.  

Tickets are here:  https://www.oldtownschool.org/concerts/2021/05-08-2020-funeral-bonsai-wedding/

As a gentle reader of my work, you are no doubt aware of Steve's influence on me as a writer, producer, teacher and all-around…