moya

Seems a shame to be hurdling towards the end of the year and, perhaps the end of all time, without making at least one more entry here. I’ve been away from my posting a long time…for fact finding, making art, living. Julia Cameron did say that we need to fill the well so that we have things to write about.

The first half of this year was spent in cyber school… courses in screenwriting and creative writing with a focus on fiction. It was INTENSE. At one point my Dad asked me when the Spring term would be over and when I told him he said that my eyes looked like “two peas in the snow”. So I took the next two terms off to do a little travelling and, finally, to focus on my major project. It’s coming along nicely and I’m pleased with what I’ve got so far on that score.

Guitar practice has been fairly consistent—a few breaks but I think that’s normal for an amateur with no aspirations of going on tour. I sold a few household things and purchased some new electronic toys for music listening and making. Keeping it simple so I don’t blow a fuse (in my brain as well as the house).

I’ve also made a decent stab at having a social life and actually got out for some dancing. Apparently, it’s not quite like riding a bike and I’m rusty on a lot of the pattern stuff, but I was a fixture on the floor for all the booty-shaking to the classics. Yah, this middle-years body has not forgotten how to rock. And there seemed to be no need for an invitation… many of those in the group I signed up with simply got up and danced together without waiting for someone to ask… what a relief! And what a lot of fun! I have yet to make some lasting connections but one should probably attend more than a few functions. Getting out takes practice, too, I guess. I’ve been hanging around my little cave a lot these past couple of years. It’s comfortable enough. And I have some great people in my life here—mostly family. Sometimes, though, no matter how much you love and enjoy your kin, you just want to hang out with friends. I miss my away friends and I’m not giving them up, but it’s time to make a new circle—one with a smaller circumference. One with local phone numbers so I can call up and say, “Let’s do lunch.”

So, there it is. My catchup in a nutbar sort of shell-out. Just one thing to add: my annual Top 10 New-to-Me Tunes List. With the above in mind, I’m calling it, “Seeking Friends for the End of the World“. Lend me your ears. And maybe your favourite moves on the dance floor. And, perhaps, if we’re very lucky, we’ll share time over cups of coffee or whatever your brew might be…

Seeking Friends for the End of the World, Top 10 New-to-Me Tunes 2012

• Easy Come, Easy Go     Great Lake Swimmers    A great opener, in keeping with the theme 😐 I saw this Ontario-based band in concert last summer and liked them quite a lot.
• Flowers in December     Mazzy Star     It IS December. And this tune is hauntingly beautiful. Harmonica, baby!
• If You Were Here     Carey Brothers     A cover of the Thompson Twins song, featured in the feature, “Sixteen Candles” (1984) with Molly Ringwald. Have always loved this melody. Dedicating it to my away people and my friends-yet-to-be…
• Pumped Up Kicks    Foster the People     Makes you want to dance. Ellen thought so too. Go on, get up off of that thing. You know you want to…
• Thing For You     Jann Arden     Soup for the romantic soul. “I like the way you walk beside me like a paper in the wind…” I like everything about this song.
• Flightless Bird, American Mouth     Iron and Wine     Beautiful. And, here’s where I want to note that I’m not entirely flightless these days… thanks to my American friends. [The volume may be a little low… toin it up!]
• Seven Nation Army    Melanie Martinez     Martinez was one of my favourite top 10’s on “The Voice” this season, and I’d never heard this song before (a cover of The White Stripes song on the album “Elephant “) but she made me love it. Update: No longer available on You Tube. Blah!
• I Won’t Give Up On Us     Jason Mraz    “I see that you’ve come so far to be right where you are, How old is your soul?” Can we really be timeless beings moving from one dimension to the next? Deep thoughts for a sweet song.
• What We Gained in the Fire     The Mynabirds     This song reminds me of a poem from Qu Lei Lei’s “The Simple Art of Chinese Calligraphy”: “The wild fires of the forest will never burn out the grass of the fields. When the wind blows in Spring, the shoots will rise again.”
• Rooty Toot Toot     John Mellencamp     (Love the car!) My retro new-to-me selection. Who knew? Chair dancing…

I’ve added a couple more because rules beg to be bent if not broken and these two kind of round out my selection.

• Going the Distance     Cake                              Spoiler: sometimes you just cannot have your Cake and have cake. It’s silly. In a good way.

This last one is a video I’ve seen at least a dozen times and have yet to tire of.

• Murmuration, A short film (2:00) by Sophie Windsor Clive & Liberty Smith; music by Nomad Soul     A murmuration [mur-muh-REY-shuh n] is a flock of starlings but to me it’s music made visible. Go full screen. See for yourself.

Peace and love to you and yours in the year to come. Enjoy every blessed minute of the holidays!

Moya

 

 

 

I can’t sing well and I have so much to learn about playing the guitar but I love to write.

Holding On and Shifting Gears by Moya K Maxted © 2011

grass stains * daisy chains
frogs to tame
Mama in the doorway
"only keep what you can"
eyes fill * turn away
then Mama’s thing or two to say,
someday you'll understand... baby, you will understand 

twisted * tossed * ripped * lost
fate or mistake
something new takes shape in every break
there’s no fighting life, so just go with the flow
look to Greater Things coming down your road		

holding on and shifting gears
running down a track of tears 
learning how to let go with the flowing of the years
holding on and shifting gears

time warped ward just sifting fears
looking in the mirror thinking How did I get here?
isn’t that me there yesterday
and who am I since
you went away?
who am I supposed to be now?

holding on and shifting gears
running down a track of tears
learning how to let go with the flowing of the years
holding on and shifting gears
learning how to let go with the flowing of the years
holding on and shifting gears ...

July 20 2011: in Line 4, changed the word "take" to "keep" (for 
original content intention)
July 21 2012: changed from "can't fight it with running or tears" 
to "rolling down the tracks of my tears"
also tweaked the last refrain and a word or two
July 23, 2013: dropped the line, "who am I supposed to be now?" 
It simply didn't work into the melody

Ring the bells that still can ring     

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in.

~Leonard Cohen, “Anthem”

A new year approaches. And although I have always resisted the practice of making resolutions, I can’t help but think of the possibilities… of the ways things might change both in the world around me and in my personal life. Mostly my personal life, to be honest.

These past twelve months have brought significant changes for me and I suspect the trend will continue on into the new year. So, the other night as I stood shivering and snapping shots of the lunar eclipse, I did as my friend Mindy had written earlier that evening, and said “goodbye to everything that (I) have outgrown”. And then I made a wish. Several times. Just in case wishing on the moon is not as potent as wishing on a star. Though that’s hard to imagine. The eclipse was an epochal event.

Sharing the excitement of the lunar eclipse 12 21 2010 with my Mom and nephew. Bad camera work…you wouldn’t know I was a Media Production grad 😛

As twenty-ten comes to a close and we slide over the cool crest of Winter into the warm cradle of Springtime, to what will you say goodbye? What will you take with you? What are you wishing for?

As part of my farewell 2010/hello 2011 reverie, I created a shortlist of tunes from my You Tube playlists. It was a challenge to choose “favorites”. I love each of the following, however, there are more that didn’t make the final cut—some that I love even better and will remain on my playlists for a long time to come. These are not all new songs but were new to me this year.

In no particular order:

2010 Playlists: new-to-me Top 10

Everybody Got Their Something (Nikka Costa)

Hey Soul Sister (Train)

Crush (Dave Matthews Band)

Count on Me (Lucy Schwartz)

When We Are Together (Texas)

Darling I Do (Landon Pigg and Lucy Schwartz)

Hold On (Jamie Walters)

Missing an Angel (Johnny Reid)

Time Has Told Me (Nick Drake)

Home is Where the Heart Is (Elvis Presley)

If you’d like to listen just click on this link:

Season’s sweetings 🙂

Best wishes for your health and happiness in 2011