Brane Ded, Body MT (David Stocker)

You must all be tired of reading about my Epiphany du jour... whereupon I have a life-changing, light bulb moment... and swear I'm going to do everything *the right way* from now on... only to find I have fallen off the proverbial wagon yet again - this one's different... I swear!

I was having a relaxed Friday evening, curled up with What Not to Wear (a guilty pleasure) and then my book (a Tabitha King novel) - at 11, I happened to turn the TV back on, began to scroll through the channels and ran across a program on PBS: Change Your Brain, Change Your Body. Dr. Amen (gotta love that name) himself was lecturing on the various steps in which we can bring about change, based on his new book (of course) and, naturally, I know most of this stuff - I take fish oil caplets and Vitamin D supplements... I realize broccoli is better for me than donuts... I am aware I should exercise on a regular basis...

I wasn't particularly swayed by his definitions of brain types... but when he asked the question: what is your motivation?... I experienced mental whiplash - all these years I've attempted to sculpt my habits, my waistline and my attitude... and I've never really confronted myself with WHY...

Short-term: Falcon Ridge (late-July 2010)... and my daughter's wedding (at least a year down the road) - long-term: to see my kids grow up, get married (or not) and have children (or not). I want to be healthy for myself... but really, my family is the best reason there is - e-f*cking-piphany...

I've eaten healthy (so far), I walked my 2 1/2 miles (40 minutes)... and I am drinking enough water to float a battleship - plus... I am choosing to eliminate sugar from my diet (I can do this... :-)

SONG: Brane Ded, Body MT by David Stocker (I can't seem to find the lyrics online, but the CD, to listen to the song clip, is here)...

BOOK: Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wanted by Daniel G. Amen M.D.

POEM: The Heart of Herakles by Kenneth Rexroth
Lying under the stars,
In the summer night,
Late, while the autumn
Constellations climb the sky,
As the Cluster of Hercules
Falls down the west
I put the telescope by and watch Deneb
Move towards the zenith.
My body is asleep. Only
My eyes and brain are awake.
The stars stand around me
Like gold eyes, I can no longer
Tell where I begin and leave off.
The faint breeze in the dark pines,
And the invisible grass,
The tipping earth, the swarming stars
Have an eye that sees itself.

QUOTE: "We live in deeds, not years; In thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." ~ Phillip James Bailey

Overjoyed (Christine Kane)

Given the New Year's Eve reference, I was planning to save this song for my December 31 blog - however, also given the fact the amazing Christine Kane played our concert series last night, the choice to use it today is obvious, even more so since the title so aptly describes my state of mind today!

As I've posted before, Christine and I have a history spanning back to February 2000 and it was such a pleasure to be able to present her - since she normally plays larger halls and festivals, it was both fortuitous and syncronistic that the timing and geography aligned to afford a South Florida performance. What was especially refreshing was finding out Christine has a substantial fanbase in the area, proved by the number of phone calls and e-mails I received inquiring about tickets and/or making reservations, some coming from as far as Stuart and even Alaska (long, cool story there) - we're always looking to widen the circle, and it's nice to hear when people accidentially stumble into, and are thrilled to discover, our local folk community.

We had a full house and Christine was her usual warm, wise and witty self... breaking our hearts with the tender songs (I'm with You, She Don't Like Roses), cracking us up with the wacky ones (No Such Thing As Girls Like That, Four Legs Good Two Legs Bad) and weaving them all together with her superb storytelling skills - she played all the requests, even honoring my own of Joni's Both Sides Now (after I read on her blog that she'd performed the cover at a concert a few months ago).

Loved the new tunes (I Am the Moon, The Real World) - How Not to Behave could be my new favorite Christine song, especially considering it contained a lyric that evoked my recent hard drive crash (AFGO - Another F*cking Growth Opportunity... :-)

After the show, we went to Peter Pan Diner, a local 24-hour diner/bakery/lounge (!) that provides great food (with a 20-page menu to choose from), as well as an avenue to people-watch - a salad/basket of onion rings/spinach omelet later, we headed back to my place where we continued our conversation and played with my dog Rocky (who adores Christine too!). Both of us were up by 9:00 and out of the house by 10:30 this morning, me to church and Christine to drive to Tarpon Springs for her house concert tonight.

On the way to church, driving in the opposite direction on the interstate for miles and miles and miles (95 south to 595 west was devoted to their exclusive use) were thousands of motorcycles participating in the 20th annual South Florida President's Council Christmas Toys in the Sun Run to benefit Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital Foundation - after the emotion of last night's show, my sleep deprivation of the last four days and the idea that thousands of people were giving from their hearts and wallets in order to make this holiday more hopeful for others... well, I just got downright weepy.

I am such a lucky woman, to be surrounded by the music I love (and those who make it), dear friends and new acquaintances who appreciate the sharing and a community that reaffirms my faith in the goodness of people - one can never have too much joy in one's life... <3

SONG: Overjoyed by Christine Kane

BOOK: A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are by Byron Katie, Stephen Mitchell

POEM: Lute Music by Kenneth Rexroth

The Earth will be going on a long time

Before it finally freezes;

Men will be on it; they will take names,

Give their deeds reasons.

We will be here only

As chemical constituents—

A small franchise indeed.

Right now we have lives,

Corpuscles, Ambitions, Caresses,

Like everybody had once—

Here at the year's end, at the feast

Of birth, let us bring to each other

The gifts brought once west through deserts—

The precious metal of our mingled hair,

The frankincense of enraptured arms and legs,

The myrrh of desperate, invincible kisses—

Let us celebrate the daily

Recurrent nativity of love,

The endless epiphany of our fluent selves,

While the earth rolls away under us

Into unknown snows and summers,

Into untraveled spaces of the stars.

QUOTE: "Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us." ~ Hal Borland