A Few Things to ponder:

Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.

If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free
yet?

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the
world to one person. 

Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty,
some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different
colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box.

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than
standing in a garage makes you a car

I need a chocolate intervention.

Pretending I’m a pleasant person all day is exhausting.

If you love somebody enough, you can still hear the laughter after they’re gone.

Things just haven’t been the same since that house fell on my sister.

The voices in my head told me to buy more shoes.

Tough Times Never Last.  Tough People Do.

You never win a pissing match with a skunk.

Have an awesome day, and know that someone who thinks you're great
has thought about you today!



More stuff from friends on the internet.  Enjoy. 

Old People and Technology

(sent to me from a friend – enjoy your laugh)

I was in a cafe recently when I suddenly realized I desperately needed to fart. The music was really loud so I timed my fart with the beat of the music. After a couple of songs I started to feel better. I finished my coffee and noticed that everyone was staring at me.

And suddenly I remembered I was listening to my iPod -- and how was your day?

That's what happens when old people start using technology!

Oh, those college kids!

Found on facebook:

http://www.carlsonschool.umn.edu/holiday11/#.TvXB4VXvuMQ.facebook

Enjoy!

Stuff I Learned This Week:

1. The ships at Pearl Harbor are still leaking oil. 

2. If a section of instruments (like the saxophone section, for example) all play together in an orchestra, and the rest of the orchestra does not play, it’s called a soli.  Thanks, Tall Guy.

3.  During WWII, we had German and Italian Prisoners of War in many states in “prison camps”.  Their accommodations were the same as our GIs who were guarding them.  The “prisoners” in some camps took over the cooking, and cleaning.  They were also used for labor on the farms and elsewhere.

4. There is an Atlanta in Nebraska.

5. It is possible to crochet in the near dark during a choir / band concert.  It’s a bit more difficult when your variegated yarn turns black. 

It Takes a Village (Literally)

It Takes a Village (Literally)

This video from the small Yupiq Eskimo Village of Quinhagak, Alaska, was a school computer project intended for the other Yupiq villages in the area. It is going “viral”.  If you haven’t seen this treatment of one of Handel’s greatest works usually done at Christmas, it’s worth the four minutes or so it takes to watch this.  You might get a couple of smiles.  I did.  Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=LyviyF-N23A

Shop Amazon's Christmas Corner - Holiday decor, tableware, and entertainment

Doctors and Creativity

When I was in medical school, I noticed that most of my class had other interests besides medicine.  Many of them were and are quite creative people.  While most of us are indeed science geeks, there is also some creativity that has to get out.

I have met some awesome photographers, painters, and authors.  We are also poets, carvers, and sculptors.  Many (mostly women) physicians work in fabric art, making awesome quilts, knitted or crocheted pieces or embroidery. 

Then there are the musicians.  One of my friends writes symphonies.  Many of us play instruments.  And an astonishingly large number of us are singers. 

Even as old as I am, I feel the need to produce music.  I have told my blog friends that my husband plays the organ, and that two of my children are in the marching band (see the photo on the blog).  Three Speed plays the trumpet and Tall Guy plays the saxophone.  Mom is a singer.

I sing with a women’s group.  This is our eighth season together.  Our numbers vary depending on who can spare the time.  Our ages vary from late teens to late 70’s.  Our occupations vary from farmer to teacher to student to shop owner.  Our concert was last week.  This is the web site that has our music posted:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AntietamSingers

The individual pieces are also posted:

Emma Lou Diemer:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AntietamSingers#p/u/0/FVwHc5q0QFY

Afrika Kyrie na Sanctus:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AntietamSingers#p/u/3/AJRkYy0K6Fg

Missa Brevis, Eleanor Daley:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AntietamSingers#p/u/2/BT2Fc1HtjDA

Messe Breve by Leo Delibes:

http://www.youtube.com/user/AntietamSingers#p/u/1/EBsnWiTee5s

Meditation “Dona Nobis Pacem.”

Meditation

Meditation may be thought of as a modern invention.  It is actually an ancient practice, going back to the Hebrews, the ancient Chinese cultures, and many other parts of the world.  The word comes from Latin.  It may mean the third step of an ancient form of prayer.

Modern science has studied the process.  There is concentration, relaxation, and an altered state of awareness as the brain waves shift from the right frontal cortex to the left frontal cortex.  Blood pressure is reduced, heart rate slows, respiratory rate slows, and oxygen consumption slows.  Seratonin increases, which decreases insomnia, depression and headaches.  Other benefits include less muscle tension and increased attention spans.

Where do we see meditation used today?  We see doctors using it in pain management and stress relief.  It is the basis of the Lamaze method of labor pain relief.  Any time someone has you breathing to help with a difficult or painful procedure – it’s a form of meditation.

Yoga is another organized form of meditation.  The stretching and breathing together keep you focused on your body, your posture and how you are feeling.  In fact, many forms of meditation have you concentrate on breathing.

What brought this subject up?  I had two concerts this weekend.  I realized how much singing is another form of meditation.  We sang several different settings of the Mass.  It takes intense concentration on breathing and on all the other singers to make the music be right.  It flows through the body and into the church, echoing and wrapping around all of us.  The organ leads and joins. 

For a few moments, we are all one.  It’s a transcendent experience. 

I hope you find something like this in your life.

We ended with the phrase “Dona Nobis Pacem.”

Give Us Peace.

Techno-Dino 5 - An Anthem

One of my doctor friends couldn’t figure out how to copy a web site so you could just click on it.  It took me quite some instruction to learn to do the same thing when I learned.  My children, of course trained me.  They gave me lots of looks like “She’s really never going to get this!”

I told my friend that I was a techno dinosaur.  She suggested I look up the following video from Trout Fishing in America:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=synDS-IJb1g       (When I was a Dinosaur)

I also enjoyed a couple of others on that same site by the same group.

This one is for all my coffee loving friends:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ia13f72-4&feature=related      All I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee

This is for the Moms and Dads and Pediatricians out there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnplhUelCZg&feature=related  I Think I’ll Need a Band-Aid

Enjoy!

Too Much Work?

Dropping Marching Band

Friday was the last football game of the season.  This was the last time I got to see my kids march on the field in High School.  It was incredibly cold and windy, but I was prepared. 

I always chat with the parents that sit around me.  Since I don’t particularly care for football, it passes the time.  The Mom I was talking to was the parent of an 8^th grader who is in the middle school band.  This child has decided to stop playing in the band because he thinks that the marching band is “too much work.”

Our marching band practices marching on a field in front of the school.  They have one week of “band camp” that lasts from 8 AM to 8 PM.  The rest of the time is half days or 9-5.  On days more than 4 hours, they are “fed and watered” (as I call it) frequently.  The entire town gets to see them practice.  The road is the main route through town.  Evidently this scares the kids because it’s “too much work”. 

The kids need to learn to march in formation and learn the program.  This is the first time the freshmen are exposed to walking and playing at the same time.  There is not enough time to teach this after school starts, with the first game the first Friday of school.  Football practices all summer, too.

It is a bonding experience for the kids.  My boys started Freshman year with 90 good friends.  Many were upperclassmen.  They had been running around the school for weeks.  They had new nicknames.  I wasn’t sure who “Bill” and “Jiffy” were, so would just hold out the phone, and one of them would grab it.

They lost weight, shaped up, and complained about all sorts of aches and pains.  I think it was boot camp for band.  The next three years were much easier. 

They have had the chance to travel.  They have had to raise the money to go on these trips.  They have had to learn responsibility.  My children are much better at being on time and remembering to bring all their things.  Plus they have become better musicians.

There are rewards for that hard work.  I feel sorry for the children and parents who don’t see it.