For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate. Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day. I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge. At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter. At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.
I think the best way to talk about this day is to use FAQ format. I used to do this quite a bit in the early days of my blog. The last time I did so was here back in 2012 when I was blogging about the A t0 Z challenge. .
The FAQS of Life: Micro-volunteering in Frequently Asked Question Format
Q: Do you know what today is?
A: Yes.
Q: Are you going to tell me?
A. Perhaps if you asked me, rather than asked me if I knew.
Q: What is today?
A: It's International Micro-volunteering Day.
Q: Is Micro-volunteering a thing?
A:It must be, if it wasn't, it wouldn't have a holiday.
Q: When did it become a thing?
A: it's been a thing for almost 20 years. The term was first used in the U.K. In 2006 and had migrated to Spain by 2008.
Q: What is Micro-volunteering?
A:This answer is from ot's Days of The Year Page, The idea of micro-volunteering is simple: individuals take convenient, bite-sized actions in support of a good cause and often perform their activities or service from home.
Q: How did the day start?
A: Well the day started a minute after 11:59 p.m. Some people were fast asleep, some were well on their way, others were working 3rd shift jobs, still others, ...
Q: When did International Micro-volunteering Day start.
A: 10 years ago it began when the day was created and promoted by the Help from Home Foundation.
Q: Como se dice International Micro Volunteering Day en Espanol?
A: Día Internacional del Microvoluntariado.
Q: Do you have any suggestions for micro-volunteering?
A: Yes
Q: Are we back to that joke again?
A: Yes
Q: What suggestions do you have for micro-volunteering?
A: I thought you'd never ask. One suggestion is to volunteer doing task that you already know how to do, so there is little to no training involved. Another is to keep your activities to things that can be done in thirty minute to 2 hour chunks. One examples are to volunteer to read at a school, or day care center, or nursing home. When my daughter was homeschooled, she would volunteer on a weekly basis for about an hour and a half a week, working at the P.B.I.S (Personal Behavior Incentive System) store at my wife's school. Children would earn a kind of currency for following the code of the school and then would be able to trade that currency in for prizes. As a full time substitute teacher, I would imagine there are boundless opportunities for micro-volunteering?
Q: What are some suggestions that could be done from home?
A: My daughters both crochet. One is in a crochet club. Some members of her club crochet hats at home for premature babies or people having chemo. People can have baking parties on the holidays and find organizations to donate their creations to.
Q: Do you know why IMVD (International Micro-Volunteering Day) is on April 15th.
A: No, but it is the same day as Tax day here in the U.S. and if I were choosing the day, I would choose April 15th because micro-volunteering is not meant to be taxing.
Q: Did you think of that yourself?
A: Yes, Yes I did. And before you ask yes, that is a Phineas and Ferb referemce.
Today was a lot of fun, no question about it. Micro-volunteering can be fun as well. In the comments tell me some things that you already know how to do, that might be great as a micro-volunteering opportunity.
To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!
For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate. Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day. I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge. At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter. At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.
April 10th is Indicted Illinois Governors Day
In U.S. history there have been 25 state governors who have been convicted of federal crimes. 4 of these have come from the state of Illinois. . That's righr 4 of the last 10 Illinois governors have served in federal prisons.
As a non public official of the state of Illinois with all the power invested in me by this great state, I proclaim April 10th as Indicted Illinois Governors Day.
There have actually been 5 Illinois governors to be indicted.
Joel Aldrich Matteson, the 10th governor of Illinois (1853-1857) was charged in 1859 in the Canal Scrip Fraud Scandal. Matteson redeemed Scrip for the Canal for himself. He was indicted but then acquitted and returned the majority of the funds to the state.
Otto Kerner Jr, was governor of Illinois from 1961-1968. In 1972 He was a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals when he was indicted on multiple charges including mail fraud, & income tax evasions. Charges he was eventually convicted og. Kerner served six months on a three year sentence. His crimes went back to 1962 when as a governor he colluded with race track owners.
,
Dan Walker was governor of Illinois from 1973-1977. Unlike Kerner, Walkers convictions came from crimes committed after his time as governor. As CEO of a savings and loan siphoned bank money for his own use, Walker was indicted, convicted and served 17 months of a seven year sentence.
George Ryan was governor of Illinois from 1999-2003 and was the Il Secretary of State prior to that, As Secretary of State he presided over a huge bribes for licenses scheme. This scheme was exposed after a truck killed 6 children in the same family and it was revealed that the trucker had paid bribes for his license. Ryan was sentenced to 6 1/2 years of prison and was released in 2013.
Rod Blagojevich was governor of Illinois form 2002 - 2009 when he was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly. When Blagojevich (Blago) rand in 2002 his mantra was no more business as usual. This was in the wake of the Ryan scandals. The problem is Blago missed his own memo, and went back to business as usual, and business was booming. Blago was caught on tape trying to sell the senate seat of President Elect Obama, and was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and solicitation of bribery. He was convicted and sentenced to 14 years and was in prison from 2012 to 2020 when hw was pardoned by Donald Trump.
While it's true that our last 3 governors have not gone to jail. We could use the growth mindset, and say they have not gone to jail yet. Why do so many of the governors of my state go to jail. It may just be a matter of linguistical expectations. What do governors and convicts have in common. They both serve terms. So in a way their first career sets up their second.
While I made up this holiday, I unfortunately did not make up the history.
That's it for me . Feel free to add a comment before moving on with your day.
To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!
For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate. Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day. I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge. At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter. At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.
This gets the Leap Of Dave A to Z challenge Spotify playlist to about a third of it's capacity.
That's all for today. Leave a comment about why you like Scotland, Science, both or neither.
To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!
For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate. Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day. I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge. At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter. At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.
April 8th is National Zoo Lovers Day
I love zoos. I'm not sure exactly when I fell in love with them . It may have been all the times Dr. Lester Fisher visited the Ray Rayner show when I was a kid on a segment called Ark in the Park. Dr. Fisher was the director of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. It could have been on my trips to the Brookfield Zoo when I was a kid, I know I had one birthday party there. It may have even been when my grandparents would take my brother and sister and myself to the aforementioned Lincoln Park Zoo. It may have been all of those things and more.
Here is a link to one of our other blogs that shows a great video from a family trip (sans me) to the Brookfield Zoo.
I really enjoying going to free zoo's. Here is an article from February of this year talking about 12 such zoos (I've been at 3 through 6).
# 6 The St. Louis was the most recent zoo I visited. Here are some pictures form my trip in March
My favorite animal, the giraffe at the St. Louis Zoo
Today is also the day for the total solar eclipse. We will be watching it at school today. The next one won't me in the U.S. until August 23rd 2044. Instead of pushing 60 like I am now it will be exactly a month before my schedule 80th birthday. My Dad turned 86 on March 23rd and he will be watching it with my Mom and brother. So that's older than I will be next next time.
Will you be watching the eclipse today? Do you enjoy zoos? Answer either or both of these questions in the comment section.
To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!
For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate. Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day. I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge. At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter. At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.
I decided to do something a little different today in describing the holiday. Instead of using my own words I am going to use some of the text found on the Plan Your Epitaph Day webpage from Daysoftheyear.com It's not the entire text just some snippets
There comes a day in every person’s life when they have to face the inevitable,
. This day, Plan Your Own Epitaph Day, is the perfect day to set aside some time to figure out what you’re going to have to say about yourself before you’re gone.
Ludolph van Ceulen had the first 35 digits of Pi inscribed on his tombstone, as he was the first to calculate this delicious sounding number out to that many decimals.
Some of the activities you can do to celebrate this day, is go to graveyards and look for inspiration in the stones of those who have already passed.
this is one more way to collect Epitaphs that have already been written to help inspire you to write yours!
Another thing you can do to celebrate this pasttime is to have picnics in the graveyard with likeminded friends.
Together you can sit and brainstorm on what you’d like your final words to the world to be.
Plan your own Epitaph day is a day for reflection on our own mortality, and thinking forward to what kind of legacy we want to leave behind for those who come after us.
So take some time to think about where you’ve been, what you’ve done, and what you’d like to say to those who come after,
April is also National Poetry Month. I have decided to write a poem about today's holiday. Mainly because I didn't create much of my own content today.
The Spotify pla list for my A to Z challenge is now a week old and 6 songs long.
Well Week 1 is in the books. Feel free to catch up on any of my posts you may have missed. In your comments, you can let me know what words you might consider as an epitaph.
To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!
For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate. Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day. I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge. At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter. At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.
Today's Holiday is Discover National Parks Fortnight
Today April 4th 2024 is the first day of Discover National Parks Fortnight. The holiday runs from April 4th to April 17th and celebrates the national park system of the United Kingdom. Don't confuse this holiday with National park week in the U.S. this year that's April 20th through April 28th which is actually a week and 2 days. Discover National Parks Fortnight is 14 days which is the correct length for a fortnight.
I have never been to the United Kingdom but I am aware of a few of their National Parks.
The Peak District
A moorland scene Pic taken from the path to Lad's Leap, centre skyline is the Pennine Way to Black Hill with Bareholme Moss to the right.
An image of Blackbeck Tarn, a small tarn (lake) atop Haystacks, a large hill in Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom. This image was taken in April of 2021
There are many other National Parks in the U.K. that I am not that familiar with.
Cairngarms is the largest National Park in the U.K. and is located in Scotland and apparently, it has moose.
To find out more how to celebrate Discover National Park Fortnight click here.
Today's song of the day is Dance Stop by Daniel Amos.
This unfortunately is the first of the songs of the day where I could not find concert footage of the song. The A to Z playlist is now up to 4 songs.
Whew! It feels like it took a fortnight to get this post out. If you comment let me know if you've ever visited a U.K. National Park and what your experience was therein. Also, if you could spend 14 days exploring any new place where would it be? For me it, would be more Greek Islands, if my lovely wife was joining me for the adventure.
To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!
For The A to Z Challenge this year, I am focusing on everyday holidays. Each day there are multiple unusual things to celebrate. Every day of the challenge I look for an event taking place that day and pair it with the letter of the day. I have also made up 5 holidays to coincide with the vowel days of the challenge. At the end of each post I will share a special song of the day for that day's letter. At the end of the month, these songs will be assembled in a to z keepsake playlist on Spotify. Every day is a celebration, let's unwrap today's together.
When I first started this blog in 2009 (click here for the inaugural post), I had 3 children between the ages of 3 and 9)
Back then they looked like this ...
Since then ,life happened at a brisk pace and my wife and I soon had 1, then 2, and then (for 9 glorious months in 2018-19) 3 teenagers. Now we are down to one teenager and we find ourselves the proud parent of 3 adults. Babies having babies is one thing, but adults raising adults is quite another.
Today is the first of 5 days that I will make up a new holiday. It is going to be called Adult Children Appreciation day. Here are some facts about the Holiday that I am making up right now.
Adult Children Appreciation Day was created by David Roller in 2024 to commemorate that all his children were now adults as the youngest had turned 18 that winter. Adult Children Appreciation Day was first celebrated on April 1st, 2024. Adult Children Appreciation Day is held the Monday after Easter. Mr. Roller (That's Me.) says he chose that day because it had been a family tradition for him to go to Walgreens the day after Easter and buy Easter products for 1/2 price or less. Dave's oldest daughter loved Bunnies and this was the most cost effective time to buy bunny themed gifts,
Even though the first Adult Children Appreciation Day was on April 1st, it is not associated with April Fools Day at all. Mr. Roller chose Springtime to celebrate this holiday as spring is associated with growth and all growing things mature to some sort of adulthood.
Since The original ACDA was on April 1st and April 1st is also National Greeting Card Day, the creator of Adult Children Appreciation Day gave greeting cards to each of his adult children telling them about qualities they are developing that He appreciates.
If you and your adult children are together on Easter Sunday that is a good time to give them a note or a card showing how much you appreciate them. The Next 3 ACDAs will fall on April 21, 2025, April 6, 2026, and March 28, 2027
I happen to be typing this post at a local library a few days in advance of the challenge. In the past 2 months I have visited 14 local libraries as part of the Library Lover's Expedition. I mention this because April 1st is also Library Snapshot Day an annual day that celebrates the importance of libraries. I am planning on writing apost for each of the 14 libraries I visited for the challenge later this year. For today I will just post a few of the snapshots I took at some of the libraries.
Today's Song of the Day is Any Other Way by Andy Gullahorn
Andy Gullahorn and Jill Phillips
I am a big Spotify guy and have soooo many playlists that I have created. I have made a special play list for the A to Z challenge. By the end of the month it will contain all 26 songs featured here. For now it just contains the A song.
Every good beginning must come to an end. Hopefully you have appreciated Adult Child Appreciation Day. There are still (at least) 25 more holidays to enjoy and a few more for me to make up. In your comments if you have adult children let me know what you most appreciate about them. I will try to make some guide comment solicitations for each day, but feel free to comment anyway you want.
To go to the home of the A to Z challenge click here, to see the 2024 master list of participating blogs click here. Enjoy the 2024 A to Z challenge, and Happy Holidays!
Keith Green would have turned 70 today. Here's a clip of Randy Stonehill talking about the behind the scenes story of the classic tune Your Love Broke Through.
Today is the 23rd of February. It is also the year 2023. Starting on January 23 (Actually, I started today read more about that by clicking here.) I began making posts about people born on the 23rd of the current month.
Today I am featuring Aziz Ansari who played Tom Haverford on the NBC comedy Parks & Rec.
A Typical Tom Haverford Pose
Ansari was Born on February 23rd, 1983 in Columbia, South Carolina. I was born on the23rd of September in 1964. I graduuated from High School in 1983, and I lived in Columbia for 2 years from 1996 to 1998. If you are not familiar with Park & Rec, the scene below is a really good intro to the Tom Haverford character,
The # 1 song in the United Kingdom on February 23rd, 1983 was Too Shy by Kajagoogoo.
As you know this is the year 2023. My father and I were each born on the 23rd day of our birth month. I decided that this year on the blog each month on the 23rdI would feature someone famous or otherwise who was born that day. I am writing this on February 23rd and postdating it on January 23rd as I clean forgot about doing this for January.
Mariska Hargitay was born on January 23rd, 1964. I was born on September 23rd, 1964. She and I have the 23rd and 1964 in common. She is now 59 and I have 8 months (or so) to have that in common with her as well.
This is the go-to pose of her SVU character
Hargitay's mother was actress Jayne Mansfield who died when Hargitay was 3 years old. Hargitay is best known for her role as Olivia Benson on the Law & Order spinoff series, Law & Order SVU.
On January 23rd, 1964 the # 1 single in the United Kingdom was Glad All Over by The Dave Clark 5.
On the Poetry Friday that took place on June 30th, 2022. I shared the inaugural Poetry of Music post and stated I wanted to share songs that were more like poems set to music about once a month or so. 6 months later, here I am sharing the next installment. I landed a lot closer to the or so part of my prognostication than the once a month part.
Today's song comes from the late Mark Heard, producer, singer, songwriter, and poet all wrapped into one. Mark Heard died in the Summer of 1992 a few weeks after having a heart attack while performing at the Cornerstone Music Festival in Bushnell, Illinois.
My last post contained a bit of a lament on some of the present difficulties associated with my life at this time. The Pain That Plagues Creation is a haunting reminder that while life is fraught with difficulty it also equally fraught with hope..
The Pain That Plagues Creation
By Mark Heard
As this planet falls around the sun
Trapping us in the orbit
Creation groans in unison
Like a race of frightened orphans
The darkness of this raging storm
Is covering up our portals
But a yearning for the light is born
In the heart of every mortal
And day to day we ache
With the pain that plagues creation
Night to night we lie awake
And await its restoration
Heaven knows our lonely ways
Heaven knows our sorrows
Heaven knows the things that we don't know
And the joy of eternal tomorrows
But through this glass we dimly see
This world as it was made
And the good we know must surely flow
From the heart of a kind creator
And day to day we ache
With the pain that plagues creation
Night to night we lie awake
And await its restoration
So hold on in this restless age
And do not fear your shadow
Your alternating tears and praise
Are prayers that surely will matter
And day to day we ache
With the pain that plagues creation
Night to night we lie awake
And await its restoration
The Pain that Plagues Creation appears on the Mark Heard album, Eye of the Storm. You can find the lyrics by clicking here.
Thanks for Catherine Flynn for hosting this weeks Poetry Friday at Reading To The Core.
Thanks also to my wife Amy for listening to me read the lyrics to her even though we had already said good night.
My Friend Allen Levi is one of the most prolific music artists that no one has ever heard. He performs one song called You'll be famous when your dead" I'm not sure that he wants to be or ever will be famous. But if he ever does catch on, his 16 albums on Spotify will keep the public saturated for a while.
I had been listening to one song from each of his albums on Spotify for the past 15 days now, so today when I was grading papers after work, I put the only one on Spotify that I hadn't heard a song from yet and listened to it in it's entirety.
The album called People in my Town is a kind of a concept album. Levi interviews people in his town (thus the title), writes a song based on the interview and then plays them back to back on the album.
Here is the title track from the album that introduces the concept ...
.
In about the middle Allen interviews a middle school teacher who had been deeply effected by his teachers when he was in middle school.
Levi then performs a touching song about the dedicated teachers who love on students. When I first heard this album, I kind of glossed over this song as I was not a professional teacher at the time. The song resonates much more with me now as I am a long term substitute in a middle school setting. But I think this song should resonate with anyone who has worked with young people either as a parent, an educator, or any type of yout leader.
If these songs or interviews have resonated with you in anyway consider going tot he bandcamp platform and purchasing these songs or perhaps the full album or maybe sample some more of Allen's music. WHo knows? You might make him famous before he's dead.
I have really enjoyed my short time as part of the Poetry Friday community. Up until a month ago or so, I would just occasionally see links to it on some of the blogs I follow. It wasn't until 4 weeks ago that I started posting there.
I love music, and I have a very eclectic taste in music. There are many things I enjoy about music, but I think overall I am drawn to the lyrics. Today's "Poem" is actually lyrics from a song that I think would make excellent poetry. I think once a month or so, I will share some of these songs here and post them as well to Poetry Friday, which by the way is being hosted this week by Janice at Salt City Verse.
Today's Poem/Song is How Can They Live Without Jesus by the late Keith Green.
Before I reveal the lyrics, a few quick comments about them and the writer. Keith Green was a contemporary Christian musician (CCM) from the mid-'70s to the late '80s who died in a plane crash in 1982. He was a gifted pianist, singer, and songwriter.
This song has a very strong and clear Christian message. It is a message that many may take umbrage with. I don't share it here to be divisive or evangelical. While I agree with the tone and the message of the song, I share it here because I think it's great poetry. I find it thought-provoking, and at the same time, it is enjoyable.
How Can They Live Without Jesus
How can they live without Jesus?
How can they live without Gods love?
How can they feel so at home down here,
When there's so much more up above?
Throwing away the things that matter,
They hold on to things that don't.
The world has gone crazy,
But soon maybe,
A lot more are gonna know.
For maybe they don't understand it
Or maybe they just haven't heard
Or maybe we're not doing all we can
Living up to His Holy Word.
'Cause phonies have come
And wrongs been done
Even killing in Jesus' name
And if you've been burned,
Here's what I've learned:
The Lord's not the one to blame.
For He's just not religion
With steeples and bells
Or a salesman who will sell you
The things you just want to hear
For His love was such
That he suffered so much
To cause some of us
Just to follow, follow
So many laughing at Jesus
While the funnies thing That He's done
Is love this old stubborn rebellious world
While their hate for him just goes on
And love just like that
Will bring Him back
for the few, He can call his friends
The ones He's found true
Who've made it through
Enduring until the end
The ones He's found true
Who've made it through
Enduring until the end
If you are interested in hearing the song, here is a rendition by the CCM vocal group, Glad.
Yesterday, I was cleaning out some junk from my room and decided to put on some music while doing so. I chose a Randy Stonehill You tube video, that I had previously shared here.
The video is from a series called More than a Song which is part concert and part interview. After the Stonehill segment had ended I found there was another artist form my big 5. Bob Bennet, who was also in an episode. I liked it and thought I'd share it here as well
It's been quite a while since I've posted here. So I have set my timer for 15 minutes have put on Larry Norman radio from pandora on Alexa which is playing Rich Mullin's oddly enough. I am going to just type for 15 minutes and see if I can produce a short message.
As the school. year started this year, for about 3 weeks I was working 3 jobs. I have had a long term sub assignment as an art teacher at my favorite elementary school. I also had been working along with my wife and daughter at a minor league baseball park selling concessions. There was a section in the employee handbook that said I had to disclose to my supervisor if I wrote in a blog, but I think that was written 20 years ago when blogging was more common place. The problem was that my supervisors would change with almost every shift and the supervisors I did tell didn't know what a blog was. I also continue to work 2 nights a week at the movie theatre. I was very glad when the baseball season ended in early September and I could get back to the relative ease of working only 2 jobs.
The problem with getting back into blogging was 2 fold. The first our family has 3 birthdays in a 3 week period in September which kept us all on our toes. The 2nd is that once you get too busy to do something like blogging or reading which both came to an abrubt halt it's hard to get them back going again.
I lost 30 pounds this Summer. The trick will be not to find it again this winter. I am counting calories consistently for the first time in my life and it seems to be working okay for me. My wife and I are doing it together which is better than going it alone.
My timer just went off so I will continue this again hopefully soon with the opening sentence. I always told myself that when I got under 250 pounds I would start running again.
In late 2020 Randy Stonehill released a new album entitled "Lost Art of Listening". At Christmastime 2020 I became the fortunate recipient of said album. I was instantly intrigued by the title. It got me thinking that listening to an album, a process that I grew up on, is becoming an increasingly lost art, ESPECIALLY in this digital age.
Pandora , Spotify Sirius XM, and You Tube have changed the landscape of how we consume music these days. C.D. Players, Turntables and the like have been replaced with phones, smart speaker and Roku. The days of listening to an album from beginning to end have been put on an endangered list by the very conveniences that have sprung up around us. I also have had until very recently the majority of my CDs, and cassettes packed in boxes in my house since our move. I had sold most of my record albums to Half Priced Books prior to our move. A friend just returned about 60 albums I had lent him prior to our move and gave me a record player to put them on line. The only working cassette player we own is in the 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee I gave my son when he graduated high school last year, so technically, I don't even own that anymore. I won't even have the severely limited access I have to it now when he moves out.
My process for listening to an album is as intricate and as simple as I am. Ideally, I'd like to set aside a couple hours and really dig into the album. These days unencumbered hours are a luxury, so I'll generally settle for a casual listen while attending to the everyday business of family life. This initial listen the album becomes is a little more than background noise and does not yield many if any lasting impressions. This type of listen is a first step though. I equate it to walking a few blocks very day especially when you can't make your usual step count.
After this initial listen or sometimes concurrent with the initial listen I try to pore through the album materials (or the J-card as they call it in the biz). Stonehill's J-card was quite extensive , often difficult for my quinquagenarian eyes to handle but filled with lots of great information.
For my second listen, I waited until I had some undisturbed free time. With everyone out of the house., I let the music , singing, and lyrics hit me where I was. This was as freeing as it was challenging since it is counterintuitive these days to try to do just one thing at a time.
After some time passed, I listened to the album in it's entirety a few more times. These listens help me get a real sense of the album but I was still short of my goal of being able to convey that sense to others. To achieve that goal I decided to listen to each song back to back and describe the songs while in the act of listening.
Here are my observations . . .
Mercy in the Shadowland - The first song starts with strains of a hopeful melancholy that mixes world weariness with the promises of unspeakable joy both in the present journey and our permanent destination. Featured Lyrics: We'll find our rest if we just confess our sad estate. OhJesus said The Poor in spirit shall walk through Heaven's gate
This Old Face- Whimsical wisdom amid evocative imagery is one of the thing's I've come to expect from Uncle Rand these many years and This Old Face does not disappoint. This song could be titled turning 70 as this is something Stonehill, born in 52, will be doing sooner than later. Featuredlyrics: It's been weathered by the wind of sadness and of sin but it shines whenever Heaven's love appears.:
Beginning of the Living End - Stonehill goes into full rock and roll mode with this bluesy guitar driven altar call. Featured lyrics: Every soul is a precious jewel, everyone should count the cost. We should all take a wake up call from the thief upon the cross.
Thinly Veiled Threat -The rock show continues and slows the tempo down a notch but ratchets up the lyrical intensity with a song that could be titled the vanity vanity it's all vanity blues Featuredlyrics: History repeats like a nightmare you never can forget. All our grand inventions promise us a better world and yet, they leaves us bruised and bloody and they mock us like a thinly veiled threat.
She Loves Me -
A love song about the unfathomable divinity of romantic love. As a man who is constantly amazed by the love I share with my wife this song resonates throughout my marriage, Featured Lyrics: I am much more blessed than a man can be. The beauty of her soul brings me to my knees.
Coyote Moon Every album has a song that can get blipped over in the course of the initial hearings. It wasn't until I listened to this song twice in a row that I really heard the haunting simplicity of comfort found within it. The truth in this song is an oasis. If this album were available on vinyl, Coyote Moon would make a great last song for the first side. That way, you could ruminate over it's beauty as you flipped the disc. Featured Lyrics: Here we begin hearts on the wind laughing carefree children. But then one day, they run away cause nothing stays the same,
Still Not Over You This is vintage Stonehill, 3 different verses as examples of the theme; interspersed with a bridge and a crafty guitar interlude. It's A 5 paragraph essay for the soul, with enough originality to get it placed on the top of the pile. Featured Lyrics: (I chose the bridge cause it actually has the word bridge in it and I'm all for symmetry)Some bridges we cross, some bridges we burn sometimes the scars remind us what we learn. Sometimes you just have to turn and go the other way.
Billy Frank -A song by one of my favorite artists about one of my personal heroes, It's no big surprise that I love it. What is surprising about this love letter to Billy Graham is how Stonehill paints him in human colors and not with stain glassed hues. Featured Lyrics: You were just a Carolina boy who dreamed of playing ball who turned your heart to heaven when you heard a higher call.
Since this is my favorite song on the album I'll add some bonus lyrics:
You;ve been the voice of truth to presidents and kings.
But you've never been impressed by such things
Nothing is more precious in your sight
Than Jesus Christ the Savior crucified.
The next 3 songs are called father trilogy. This led me to tweak my process just a tad; instead of listening to each song in the trilogy twice in a row, I listened to the entire trilogy back to back . In short, I tried to experience it and thus chronicle it in the way I felt this section was meant to be experienced.
Leonard Has a Toaster Stonehill again uses comedy to broach a serious subject, family dysfunction. This song is at least somewhat autobiographical as Randy is the youngest son of the late Leonard Stonehill. As to whether the toaster is actual, vegetable or mineral, I don't know. Featured Lyrics:Age to age the dysfunction carries on, like the passing of some toxic baton.
Where Are You The 2nd song in the trilogy walks us through the pains and difficulties of having a loved one with Alzheimer's. Leonard Stonehill passed away in 2014 with Alzheimer's so this song is likely part of Randy's actual journey. Musically, vocally, and poetically Where Are You evokes memories of early Stonehill masterpieces.. Featured Lyrics:I'm becoming a stranger in your distant eyes. I am wrestling the weight of my despair. I keep wishing I could hold you close enough to heal you like some sacred prayer.
Goodbye Old Friend We say goodbye to the trilogy as Sir Stonehill serenades his father with a tender tearjerker laced with hope and regret. Again, one featured lyric is not enough Featured Lyrics 1: There's a certain tug of war between a father and a son. Words we spoke in anger , damage that's been done. I guess were both just broken like the fences we never got to mend. Featured Lyrics 2: I should have thanked you so much more for listening to my song. For all the caring things you did to help me carry on. There with me like a dusty long lost letter I always meant to send.
For the last 3 songs of the album I went back to the listen twice while composing strategy utilized prior to the trilogy
Worry About Money Billy Sprague once had an album called Serious Fun. This album could certainly be title Serious Whimsey or perhaps Juxtaposition Jukebox. Worry About Money is a down home bluegrass foot stomper that at the same time is a biblically accurate rebuke of how the material world has altered our spiritual priorities. Featured Lyrics:Money is a thing that we all need. It can serve you well but for heaven's sake it's always been the frosting never been the cake.
Angel of the Highway - This beautiful song is an encouragement of staying on the road God put you on. Featured Lyrics: It's true I'm always travelling guess that's just where I belong. Moving on from town to town with a prayer and a lover's song.
Dance Behind the Laughing Sky -
If the Lost Art of Listening is an Epistle from Stonehill to his listeners, Dance Behind the Laughing Sky is a worthy benediction.. Consider the opening lines:
Majesty on High, speaks a Holy Word and breathes a billion stars.
Love's the reason why, He molds us in his hands and tell us who we are.
Life is so much more than just a waking dream a road where dark shadows entwine.
Listening to an album may be a lost art, but Lost Art of Listening makes that art priceless.
2. Watch Stonehill's 2017 appearance on More Than a Song at Dave Out Loud. It features live performances of Worry About Money and Beginning of the Living End
The Lost Art of Listening is available at Stonehill.com for $15.00. It makes an excellent Christmas present, and I speak from experience. :
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