A Blog about life and living through my life experience and perspective. I am a writer, singer/songwriter childhood savant musician...Trying to find my niche and stake my place in society...
Homemade baked Ziti ( a cross between spaghetti and lasagne ).
Salad
Garlic Texas Toast
Made with penne pasta and whole milk ricotta , this easy recipe is so scrumptious!
Italian seasoning, shallots and sweet onions, ground beef and ground italian sweet sasuage, sliced mushrooms. Garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Prego sauce. Ricotta cheese with parsley added tops the cooked noodle mixture. Lots of finely shredded mozzerella tops it all off. Bake @375 degrees for about 30 min.
Dessert and a song lol...
Homemade chocolate chip cookies with a cup of coffee for dessert...
I'm so saddened to hear about Rick Davie's cancer diagnosis. I read this on Facebook today! I have been sad all day! He is yet another idol of mine. It's still a great wish of mine to one day meet this man. Like so many other unrealistic desires of my heart this one reminds me that the clock is ticking for all of us. Today I am reminded in the forefront of my heart to make sure that the people in my life that matter to me hear that I love them and think they are awesome! Even strangers that I admire, I'm not afraid to try to tell them that I do. The goal is to have no regrets regarding my relationships. Other things I may regret will be harder for me to except. My relationships with family and friends hopefully will not be among those things. Things I regret are more in the realm of self inflicted misnomers to myself. Making mistakes and choices that have hurt me personally. I wish that I had protected myself more throughout my life in my associations. Lots of second guessing and self introspective mind speak is relative in my life. I guess some of that is good and promotes personal growth. After all, how can we move forward if we don't really look at where we have been?
Even at my 53 year old vantage point, I still have more questions than answers about life and living! I do however enjoy the time I take to visit my savant. I never tire of sitting with the keys and creating music. From covers to originals , I love to lose myself in playing music. Hours can just vanish when I'm creating!
I truly hope that Rick Davies is comfortable and at peace as he undergos cancer treatment. I'm wishing all the best for this cherished, talented man. I know that I'm not alone in wishing him all the best! I'm holding on to my dream of meeting this man one day!
With love and adoration!
I am thrilled to give you the links to today's uploads to SoundCloud. I had so much fun making a symphonic track of my original Lost In The Game! This is my arrangement of my original. I played this on my keyboard in a symphonic "Chamber", voice. I love how this took on a totally different vibe. Lost In The Game (symphonic track). Written by Tyna J. Metzner
This cat is so soft you wouldn't believe! What a treasure. I found her via a cat rescue group. I've had Clarice since she was a small kitten. She has a meezer personality for sure. Extremely playful and a bit snippy. She has a really sweet side too but only when SHE wants to be affectionate. She is a treasured family member!
Today is the first day of school in our district. Zoe is starting 8th grade. Her last year of middle school. So far she has managed to escape the drama that middle school can be. The ridicule and scrutiny of her peers seems to have eluded her. I have heard nothing of anything like that. I hope she can avoid the drama. I'm grateful that she has surrounded herself with nice friends!
I'm hoping to find some semi quiet time today to make some new goals. I have several chore type projects that I need to accomplish. Mostly I'm waiting for cooler weather! It will be 110+ this week outside so I try to avoid being outside. Yesterday however I decided to trim a row of large oleanders that were growing out of control. They are along the driveway, right by where I park. I have been annoyed by backing into them while trying to put my G-daughter in a car seat. I hacked them way back! I used a pair of trimmers so it was a good workout in the process. This was an extreme amount of outside work in the heat. I drank a lot of icewater before, during and after. That project took an hour and a half and by 9:30 am it was so hot! I did however have the satisfaction of accomplishment. My husband noticed my gumption! Showed him what a tough chick I am lol. Saved a ton of money doing it myself!
The problem with being a full time housewife is you are never finished. You just keep adding tasks to your to do list while repeating the day to day chores.
No 401K, I stay home all day. Without social security I'll have no retirement benefits! Where's my pension? Ugh, the things we do to ourselves!
I have a much different take on the music industry now. I just watched a documentary done by the band 30 Seconds To Mars. This aired on Palladia. I'm so sad! I had no idea this is what record labels are like. I had no idea that to sign with a record label you are essentially selling your soul to a devil. I had no idea that artists are in serious financial debt to the labels that represent them. Now with digital music artists and labels take a huge finacial hit. Then you have people doing covers ( like me )...
I guess I nust assumed that to be signed with a major label means you have arrived?! Not so I see. Awwww, what an eye opener! I'm so disappointed. I was aspiring to try to do something! I will still try but I won't be as disappointed when I don't make it anywhere lol! My Mom used to always tell me " be careful of what you want, you might get it " !
I guess I understand the need artists have to get paid for everything they touch. Record labels and now even fans are stealing music for free! This new generation knows nothing about paying for music. They get it all for free all over the internet! Legally and illeagally. I knew some of this but I really understand it better now. What a shame! I thought artists had it made if they were signed to a big label! Not nessicarily so! Sounds as if the bigger the artist, the harder they fall! The more in debt they can become!
What a sad and sorry shame! I guess you have to really just love contributing to the history of music. The adoring fans make it worth it! For now I guess that I should consider myself lucky... I have nobody (other than my husband who doesn't like the time I take playing) to tell me what I can do. I can make a fool out of myself all over the internet, (I probably have). Nobody tells me no don't do it. I'm free to post what I want/ where and when I want (and I do lol). My own originals I am speaking about! Like this one...
This one...
And lastly this one!
I post these wherever I can! Too bad we musicians can't just use the honor system with fans... You listen to it- pay me lol...you like it, you invest in it lol! Invest in me fans lol... I get how difficult it is to get paid! You would have to have a tremendous following to ever even get looked at by a label. I guess I love the process of creating/ writing and executing music. I suppose I have that in common with famous artists. I hope they still enjoy at least that part of it. Sounds like the monetary reward has never been as great as I thought. I thought that a good attorney would ensure a good record deal...NOT!
I think it's so interesting to be able to see other peoples perspective. My daughter put together clips of our summer vacation. She obviously liked the water. She was in charge of taking pics and video with the GoPro camera. I called Zoe and her friend Paige the "mermaid photogs". If I had the camera I would have taken more pics of the landscape and food lol. Zoe did a great job of including the G-kids in on the fun. Britt, her hubby and four kids joined us for a night and few days. It was great to hang out with them! Click on this link to view this video, if you like vacation videos lol. ➡️My daughter's perspective of our vacation.
Now that we are back, we have the arduous task of getting back into school mode. School starts here on Monday. Back to school shopping is on the agenda this weekend. Zoe is starting her last year of junior high. I hope this will be enjoyable and memorable for her! She is a stellar student and rather shy I think. She takes her education very seriously and we appreciate that! Her hope is to complete the dual enrollment program in high school earning her AA degree and graduating high school at the same time. Two graduation cermonies lol!
Her Dad has a good handle on steering her education. He works as an enrollment counselor for University Of Phoenix. He has helped my big kids structure their classes and degrees. He has guided them through getting set up in college classes to picking degrees. He knows the ins and outs of degree programs and which degrees pay the most. This really helps my big kids as they are in the process of earning their degrees! This is something that I'm so grateful to my husband for! This has been such a blessing.
It's an incredible age in which a lot of a persons education can be obtained online! I wish I had that opportunity when I was a single Mom in the 90's! Now I'm a homemaker in my 50's looking for work with no degree. I've been a stay at home Mom for so long with gaps in my job history... I wonder if McDonalds would even hire me? I think about cleaning houses...at least I would be able to create my own schedule. I think about trying to find a place to play my keyboard. That I would love to do but I don't know that I would want to put myself out there in bars by myself...
I really hate that in my 50's after having given my family all of my time and energy I suddenly find myself trying to magic up a career for myself! It's so humbling and embarrasing! Daunting, depressing and discouraging come to mind. Ugh, the things we do to ourselves! God, I wish I had a purpose and a freakin career!
