For Paschal

My friend Paschal loves music! So much that he catalogs his memory by his experiencing different performances and listening to songs as he travels and explores the world on his own unique path.

This past week I was looking for something to watch to unwind at 10:00 PM. All the favorite shows were caught up on, including American Idol, so I watched an old episode of America's Got Talent. The two videos that follow are by the duo I think should have won the competition. They are awesome and take old classical styling to a new level by making it their own with modern beats and rhythms. So enthralled was I with these musicians that I did a first, I downloaded the album. I just couldn't wait to get this one.

Paschal, hoping you love this as much as I do and enjoy seeing a couple of guys who spent 7 years playing in the New York subways making it big. Here are: Nuttin' But Stringz!

This first video is part of their performance at Duke University and serves to introduce them a bit.

This second video is what convinced me to buy the album. Enjoy!

Butterflies are Free and So Are My Evenings!

Thank you so much for your patience with me not posting for 3 weeks. That job took a lot out of me! Now, thankfully, it is finished. Yay! My evenings are my own again!

So are my lunches. Before I started the evening job I could take an hour lunch on days I didn't have evening obligations, like choir practice. When you take an hour lunch you have time to spare. You aren't left with that rushing to eat and then get back to work feeling. Instead you can sit and work a sudoku or read a chapter or two. You can go outside and enjoy the day. Or you can sit and chat with other people at the lunch table and make friends. That's so soothing!

My boys were glad to see me when I got home yesterday. Hyram told me that waiting till 10:00 PM for his supper was not good for his digestion. Hooboo said my absence took away from his night time socializing. They both got spoiled last night. Hyram got extra treats, Hooboo went in and out several times, and I kept the sliding glass door open so that they could sniff the night air and feel at peace. My reward for this was to wake and find both cats on either side of me in bed this morning.

So what are my plans with this new found freedom? Well, I intend to get the desk cleaned off and do some better house keeping than I've had time for. I also plan on treating myself to a morning matinee today. It's been a while since I've gone to a movie and there's the new Star Trek movie out. That's just today though.

Another thing I hope for is renewed time to play scrabble with Sandi online. This is one of my favorite evening activities. We chat up a storm when playing and are often so busy chatting that we made a rule that we wouldn't extend each other's time so that we would get playing done too. (g)

Reading is also a goal. Sandi sent me a bunch of books to read and a work friend lent me another so there are about 7 books on my bed waiting for me to either start or finish them. Do you read more than one book at a time? I seem to lately. Right now I'm working on "Hide and Seek" by James Patterson and "Birsinger" by Christopher Paolini. There's also the short story "A Tiny Feast" by Chris Adrian which I printed off of "The New Yorker" website. My friend Susan gave me the link to that one.

Other things I hope to do with the evenings that are mine again are: update my resume, catch up on Internet TV watching, make it to Wednesday evening choir practices again, and more frequent blogging. Somewhere in there I need to finish my taxes. I was so rushed this tax season that I just filed for an extension and now I have time to look for a couple of documents. Plus I've got some pictures I want to share with you, but that will be another post. Enjoy the puzzle!