A Great Start!

Winter Quarter 2015 began with ESL students from twelve different countries in my first class and two scheduled readings. 

 

Many thanks to Rebecca Crichton of the Northwest Center for Creative Aging for inviting me to share my work at Horizon House and to the lovely audience of readers! A special shout out to the wonderful gentleman who pushed a podium my direction so I didn't have to juggle the mic and a book at the same time!

I also want to thank Peggy Sturdivant for the opportunity to participate in It'sAbout Time Writers Reading Series at the Ballard library. It was a pleasure to share the podium with K. Michael Overa as well as the Hugo House guys, Robert P. Kaye and Ian Denning.

A great way to start a new year!

A Truly Humiliating Experience

I'm grateful to author, Mary Rowen for including my guest post in her Music Tuesday blog series yesterday.

I am not a music person. My office is silent when I plan classes or grade papers. I don’t plug my ears with earbuds when I walk. NPR plays on my car radio. When I write, I prefer to hear the words in my head. Should I write in a public place, the music must be loud enough to drown ambient conversations. And though there are musicians I appreciate and enjoy – Dylan and Cohen, Marley and Cliff, Muddy Waters and Louis Armstrong – when I listen, I want to listen. I’m not fond of background music. Our home is a quiet place.

In my teen years, I attempted to teach myself folk guitar. Didn’t we all? Wasn’t that the thing in the 1970s? I didn’t get far. I lacked both patience and a singing voice to accompany the guitar. “My bags are packed, I’m ready to go …” was such a disappointment to my own ears, I gave up.

Still, when my daughter began kindergarten, I was convinced of the importance of a music education, and Erin started piano lessons. Read more . . .