"Creativity is a drug I cannot live without" Cecil B. DeMille

Gasp for air! What a week. Lots of creativity required, so I am one happy camper!
Monday: I got a pair of the darling striped rain boots from Aldi. Too cool! Now I'm ready for walking the dog in those autumn rains.
Tuesday: Sandie Wollasch, Dominik Steegmüller and I were in the studio doing backing vocals for Wolfgang Abendschön's new album. He releases a new CD every year and this is the 4th year that we have done his backings. And we have SO MUCH FUN ! There aren't any sheets to sing from. We get to invent, and arrange the BV's all by ourselves. And Sandie and I never run out of ideas. And once we get started, the backings kind of take on a life of their own and they are super unusual and complicated; just the way I like it! The 3 of us have an amazing musical vibe in the studio. I wouldn't mind singing backings with those 2 people once a week!
When we were done and had eaten our pizzas, I went upstairs to Florian's studio and spent several hours with him making sure he didn't wreck any of the last mixing of "Inner Sanctum". (I say those ridiculous things about Florian, but in truth, he is a genius! ) He filed and polished on the mix. Made tiny adjustments that you will never hear, but now he (and I) are completely happy with the mix. And that's good, because on ......
Wednesday: Final mastering of the CD ! All the frequency peaks and valleys are given just the tiniest adjustments so that each song on the album works with every other song. Then the silence you hear between the songs is set. It's not a science. It's just gut feeling. This album should be meditative and contemplative so we decided on relatively long pauses between the tracks. By long, I mean that instead of 5 seconds, we chose 6 seconds.
The mastering was done by Jürgen Lusky in House of Audio in a studio that was built just for this sort of thing. It's a close, quiet atmosphere and I was a little self-conscious because I had washed our dog that morning and didn't change clothes. I think I smelled a little bit "wet doggy". But I doubt you will hear that on the album. Also, I forgot to eat before I went and my stomach growled louder than the music on the speakers. But you won't hear that either!
When we were finished there, I popped back over to Kangaroo Studios to record the song "Heile mich, Herr" for the tribute album of Hella Heizmann songs. Her daughters are finishing the album that Hella began before she became too ill to work. They gave me the honor of singing the last song that Hella wrote. She wrote this for the patients at the Klinik Hohenmark where she spent several months recovering after having a mental breakdown several years ago. It is an honest and simple song with a text taken from the book of Jeremiah. "Heile mich, Herr, dann werde ich heil. Hilf mir, dann bin ich geholfen. " (Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed. Help me, and I will be helped.) It was hard to sing with the lump in my throat.
Thursday & Friday: have been spent preparing for 2 concerts next week. October 2, Eddie and I and Luke and Florian will be singing in the Evangelisch Kirchengemeinde in Achern. We will be trying out a couple of the songs from the new CD. It is actually quite unusual for Eddie and I to have a duet concert and it isn't Christmas. :) We are looking forward to it.
October 3, I have a concert with Samuel Jersak and Luke at the Ev. Lutherische Kirche in Lauben.
So I've spent a lot of time thinking, praying and putting together those two programs.
Eddie has his first performance of the season this evening. "Barbier von Sevilla".
And last but not least: We just got 3 tickets to see The Gaither Homecoming in Wetzlar on October 9! We 3 are super excited about that. David Phelps, one of our most favorite tenors (and a graduate of our Alma Mater, Baylor University) will be singing with them. Can't wait!

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." Scott Adams

Good and Old

We have now narrowed the choices for the cover of the album "Inner Sanctum" down to 4. I'll tell you what: YOU try to get 15 people to agree on the perfect album cover. Ain't happenin'. The butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker all have quite differing tastes in such things. We do still have time to get it right. I will not abandon ship......
Thommy Mardo did not disappoint us with his photos. They are just beautiful. What a talented guy! Wanna see one? OK...... Enjoy!
Florian is in the studio getting some mixing done. We'll join him later on today in the studio to hear what he's done. Gotta see whether he's messing everything up. :)
I had to turn up the temperature to my water bed. You know what that means? Summer is over. And THAT means that it's time for the Weinlese at the Schlechts. That's right. Time to cut those gorgeous juicy grapes off the vine. They are picture-perfect and sweet as can be. Stamp them barefoot into juice. (no not really. But I think of that "I Love Lucy" episode every year when we harvest grapes.) The work itself doesn't take all too long. Then Ruth and Traugott reward us by setting up beer tables and benches between the rows of now fruitless vines and feeding us ham hocks and fresh bread and various spirit-filled concoctions made from the fruit of the vine. Then there's coffee and cake at the Schlechts for the ladies while the guys get to ride tractors pulling trailers of grapes to the grape-collection barn to have the sugar content measured. Then there's more eating and mirth and maybe a round of sauna and maybe some slides or maybe just some good old jaw-flapping. And that is the operative word here: good and old.
I treasure this ritual and look forward every year to this day. I feel a part of an age-old tradition that has all but disappeared in the urban world. I love it!
Now, if you want a good old giggle, what better thing to listen to than a baby's laugh. Even better if there are several babies involved. Great little video. Less than a minute in length, but oozing with good feelings. It's nicknamed "The Anti-Depression-Video. Watch it and you'll see why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-UF-h1K4rM

Me and Sandie Wollasch

You know what is really really painful? Not feeling particularly good about how you look and then seeing yourself through a professional photographer's lens. BEFORE PHOTOSHOP !!
When you avoid looking in the mirror too much, like me, then you can conjure up this mental picture of yourself that isn't all that bad. Sure, there are the odd wrinkles and bulges and sags. I'm not blind! But, hey, it's not all that bad.
Then you see the pictures. The photographer's proofs do not lie. And there you are..... wrinkles, bulges, sags and all. Now, I know that by the time the photographer has worked his magic on the photos, I'll look for all the world like a regular glamour puss. :) But I have met the enemy face-to-face. And the enemy is me. I may not be able to do much about the wrinkles and sags without getting very very close to extremely sharp instruments. And that ain't gonna happen. But, those bulges-
I have now joined Weight Watchers. I am allowed to eat 22 points of food a day. I'm still trying to figure out what that means exactly. But I just stuffed myself with a nice soup I made from fresh vegetables and a dollop of sour cream. Altogether: 4 points.
I had so much fun singing with Sandie Wollasch last Friday. She is a ball of fire when she sings. All over the stage and all over the octaves. I LOVE listening to her! The ultra cool arrangements of standards that she and guitarist Matthias Hautsch have come up with are fascinating and intricate and fabulously entertaining. You should hear her version of "Tainted Love" and "Light my Fire" and "Eleonor Rigby". Knocks your socks off, baby!
So, I'm going to lighten up so that I can to a better job of keeping up with her. I was out of breath just watching her perform!
We have wrapped up our house renovations. We're all tired of the dust and the noise and the inconvenience of living in a construction zone. For now....
As we sort through the portrait photos for the album, we're thinking about who we want to officially thank in the CD booklet of "Inner Sanctum". Aside from the ubiquitous, but completely unnecessary, word of thanks to "the One who made this all possible- our Lord, Jesus Christ" there's of course, Florian. And then my partner in all things love and crime- Eddie.
Yesterday we had a visit from a lady who lost her husband quite suddenly 4 weeks ago. He was 51. She is dogged by the guilt of not having told her husband enough times how much she loved him. My suggestion to her probably doesn't seem kosher to some people, but I suggested that she go for 30 days to a catholic church of her choice (so that she, as a protestant, doesn't see anyone she knows) buy a candle, light it, take a seat and tell her husband all the reasons why she loves him. She should write them down, and whisper them aloud in the quiet of the church. Who can tell me for sure that her husband won't hear her??!!?? This ritual won't hurt her or anyone else, and it might help a little.
Sometimes you have to think outside the box.
When she left, Eddie and I fell into each other's arms and said "I love you". Nice and loud.

Southern

I lived a big portion of my life in the American south. Here's a little insight into how us sutherners talk......

Southern women know their summer weather report:
Humidity
Humidity
Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots:
The beach
The rivuh
The crick


Southern women know everybody's first name:
Honey
Darlin'
Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Driving Miss Daisy
Steel Magnolias
Gone With The Wind

Southern women know their religions:
Baptist
Methodist
Football

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:
Chawl'stn
S'vanah
Foat Wuth
N'awlins
Addlanna

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen:
Men in uniform
Men in tuxedos
Rhett Butler

Southern girls know their prime real estate:
The Mall
The Spa
The Beauty Salon
Southern girls know the 3 deadly sins:
Having bad hair and nails
Having bad manners
Cooking bad food

More Suthen-ism's:
Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit, and that you don't "HAVE" them,
you "PITCH" them.
_____

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up "a mess."
_____

Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."
_____

Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is, as in:
"Going to town, be back drekly (directly)."
_____

Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular, sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.
_____

All Southerners know exactly when "by and by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.
_____

Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad.
If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin'!
_____

Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" and
"a right far piece." They also know that "just down the road" can be 1 mile or 20.
_____

Only a Southerner both knows and understands the difference between a redneck, a good ol' boy, and po' white trash.
_____

No true Southerner would ever assume that the car with the flashing turn signal is actually going to make a turn.
_____

A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.
_____

Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines, ... and when we're "in line,"... we talk to everybody!
_____

Put 100 Southerners in a room and half of them will discover they're related, even if only by marriage.
_____

In the South, y'all is singular, all y'all is plural.
_____

Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.
_____

Every Southerner knows tomatoes with eggs, bacon, grits, and coffee are perfectly wonderful; that red eye gravy is also a breakfast food; and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.
_____

When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself lookin'," you know you are in the presence of a genuine
Southerner!
_____

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it -- we do not like our tea unsweetened. "Sweet milk" means you don't want buttermilk.
_____

And a true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the freeway.
You just say,"Bless her heart"... and go your own way.
_____

To those of you who are still a little embarrassed by your Southerness: Take two tent revivals and a dose of sausage gravy and call me in the morning. Bless your heart!
_____
And to those of you who are still having a hard time understanding all this Southern stuff...bless your hearts, I hear they are fixin' to have classes on Southernness as a second language!
_____

Love, Peace and Happiness

You may not know that I lived with my Air Force doctor Dad and Mom and baby sister in Japan for 3 years. Of the many things that my parents bought while we were there, only a few have survived. These brass trivets in the photo are now living at my house. My Mom always said that they are the Japanese symbols for love, peace and happiness. If a Japanese person happens upon this blog and reads something else, PLEASE let me know!
One and a half rooms finished. Hands hurt, knees hurt, back hurts. And that's all just from watching Eddie work! But we are so happy with how our solution to our floor problem is working out.
Who says you can't breathe new life into old things?
Not me!
My 82-year old Dad just told me he wants to get married. He and his girlfriend have been sneaking around the old folk's home at night. They are enjoying each other so much! My Dad sounds like a teen-ager on the phone.
Who says you can't breather new life into old things?
Tomorrow Eddie and I will get up at 6:30 AM for our 18th First Day of School. Alex began first grade in 1991 and Luke begins his senior year at the European School tomorrow. When I got pregnant with Alex, this was not a reality that I could possibly imagine. All these years of getting up, getting children up, then sending them off to be schooled by teachers who have vastly different priorities and belief systems from mine. Grace has helped us make it thus far!
On Thursday, Eddie and I go to Thommy Mardo's photo studio in Mannheim to have our portraits done for the new album, "Inner Sanctum".
Thommy, PLEASE breathe new life into these old things!!!!