Adam blogs on enlightenment and us...

Our newest guest blogger is Adam. Voici:


He submits this blog post: (colon supplied by Leslie; I'm drunk but can do semi-colons.)

I am reading a book while I am Hawaii called Awakening The Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das. This reading is helping me look at Robin and Leslie in a new way. According to what this book explains I believe that these two have already become aware of their inner nature and are enlightened. They are Buddha (not Buddhists, but have found their Buddha within) whether they know it or not, but in western more modern sense. How do I know this you may ask? Well first of all, Leslie tells her friends when introducing me that, I am possibly the most talented artist alive. Since any Buddha (one who is enlightened to their inner nature and the way of things) should realize this if they really are enlightened. Second, after obsessively reading over “Robin’s Blog” last night after the two had already gone to sleep, I realized how aware of their surroundings they are and what they need to enjoy life to the fullest. Of course I am trying to attain a similar sense of myself, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It will take a while before I can utilize thrift stores to their full potential, and learn to enjoy and think it is cool to have a syndrome like ASPS. Be capable of making good found art, like how they converted a cheap rectangle of cloth into a beautiful piece of artwork worthy of their living room.

Leslie with the cloth:

So I am on a journey to attain a similar sense of my true nature. The first task will be about making something from nothing. I will start by making a sculpture for the yard that doesn’t cost anything. Might I add that Leslie and Robin have wanted me to erect a sculpture for their Santa Cruz home for years. Sorry but by agreeing to have me stay in “The Hella Cool Hilo House” the sculpture will be in Hilo. OK my mind is rolling off to find and utilize some of the free things this island offers for this project. Eventually I will enter Buddha hood just like them, happy without excesses.

(Note: One shouldn't drink and blog, I believe...)

Laura K's guest blog!

Hey, I am an absolute failure as a blogger in the technical sense. If there isn't a button, I can't do it. There is no button to add an mp3, so you don't get to hear Laura singing. Sorry! I am going to have to buy Blogging for Dummies, I can see.

Anyway, Laura's post about jazz singing is both interesting and moving. And, if you haven't gotten a chance to see her sing, I will let you know the next opportunity. She is fantastic!

By the way, for those of you who don't know who Laura is to me - she is both my wonderful sister-in-law and was my incredible French teacher last year. In her piece below, she describes, among other things, her inspiring and confidence-building jazz teacher. All I can say is, Laura is an equally amazing teacher and, if you happen to live near DeAnza, take her class! I drove over the hill for two quarters because she is worth it! Ok, here's Laura.....

Whatever is on MY mind is jazz singing. And, by the way, if you skip this very long post, I’ll never know.

It’s funny that vocal jazz is such a focal point of my life now, because I only stumbled onto the idea of even trying it, just for the hell of it. It’s always been one of my favorite genres to listen to, but studying and performing it never crossed my mind until just a few years ago. I only wish that I had found it sooner. Although, I do have memories of frequently scat singing with my best friend in the 5th grade. There were no chord progressions in our heads. We were just screwing around on “dood-lee-ooo-BOP!” and stuff like that, two kooky 10-year-olds trying to imitate Ella. Then there was the friend in high school with whom I often sang Gershwin tunes. We would fake tap-dance while singing “I Got Rhythm”, and milked “The Man I Love” for all it was worth. But those were my only early forays into jazz singing.

Fast-forward to about 5 years ago, when the delightful conductor of my chorale (at the college where I teach) left for a full-time teaching position at another school. Her replacement was a huge disappointment, so I decided to test the waters in the college’s jazz solo voice class. It might be a fun thing to try, so why not? At least I knew that my ear and sense of rhythm were good, so I probably wouldn’t make a complete fool of myself. Well, I didn’t, but it became immediately clear that I had a LOT to learn about singing jazz. Fortunately, I was in good hands.

I’ve been inspired, sometimes deeply, by many teachers throughout my life, but the person who has coached me in vocal jazz, ever since day one of that class, is the most gifted and inspiring teacher I've ever had. What follows is mostly a tribute to him, because nearly everything I’ve learned to love about jazz singing came through his example. I’m deeply indebted to him for helping me find the greatest joy in making music that I have ever experienced. He has led me through wonderful discoveries as a solo vocalist, and invited me to join a 6-member vocal jazz ensemble for one year, which was one of the very best years of my entire life. But that’s another story. Anyway, during all of that, something came alive inside of me. It is still there, and it’s the greatest feeling.

So what is it about singing jazz that’s such a high for me? The short answer is the creativity that jazz allows. Now, at first, the idea of improvising and being free in musical expression was scary to me. “What? You mean, DON’T sing the notes on the page?! In front of all these people, are you kidding?” My teacher has continually built my confidence in that regard, and has taught me to trust that I can take these risks and be successful. Without that confidence, it would never happen. And this does not mean that I don’t ever sing clunker notes, by the way! What has changed is that I now love taking that risk, being musically playful, and trying new musical ideas, even in front of a live audience.

Vocal improvisation can be scatted, or can be done by singing the composers’ lyrics and rhythms while altering the melodic line. Either way, you have to really know the chord changes well and what each of them sounds sound like. So, as oxymoronic as it sounds, successful improvisation takes a lot of time and practice. And when it works, the payoff is incredibly satisfying.

Vocalists have something unique that instrumentalists do not: words! So much of jazz singing is about telling stories that require you to play a wide variety of roles. You get to interpret the poetry that you are singing, and can convey its emotion by varying the texture of your voice, and by playing with rhythm and phrasing. It is exhilarating to connect with the audience as you take them on a ride with you through the world you are painting. And each time you invite an audience to step into a song with you, it’s a different experience, which is another really cool thing about jazz. While singing or playing, you are truly in the moment, reacting to the other musicians or to the audience. Its improvisational nature, emotional variances, and endless possibilities of interpretation make each moment ephemeral and magical.

Leslie's guest blog!

Aloha to all you Robin's blog-followers (say that five times quickly),

Although I have not been nearly the busy bee that Robin has been whilst here in Hilo, I too have been working on the house--mostly gardening and landscaping. Here is a video showing what I (with the help of my mom) have done to the yard so far.

On another note, this next bit is especially for blog-follower Laura Rodriguez: Last Saturday I went with my folks and our friends Casey and Bill to an open house at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center, up near the Volcano National Park. (Robin stayed home and worked on the fence.) This non-profit organization raises endangered native Hawai'ian birds, and releases them into the wild. It's not normally open to the public, but once a year they give the public a tour of the facility. We got to see some of the birds, too, including the Palila (first picture), and the 'Alala (second photo), the native Hawai'ian crow which is now nearly extinct--there are only about 60 left, all in captivity (though they're starting to get ready to release some into the wild). We were told the 'Alala is one of the rarest animals in the world.

Applying for grad school: boring and tedious

Lynn has responded to my plea for a guest blog. You will find it below. For those who have never applied to grad school, I can second the sentiments expressed by Lynn. I did once apply to law school about 20 years ago and - after doing this whole process and actually suceeding at getting into the school of my choice - I decided maintenance was a better profession. (It is. I was correct about that.) But, it did give my mom much needed bragging rights.

So, I feel for Lynn. And, while applying to grad school is indeed tedious and boring, I was not bored reading about it. And I, for one, positively love tedium.

I wanted to help Robin in her quest to make “Whatever is on my mind” into “Whatever is on OUR mind.” Unfortunately, whatever is on my mind is not as interesting as whatever is on Robin’s mind.

Case in point: my blog contribution about applying to graduate school. What’s that? You don’t remember a blog entry about grad school? That’s because it was too boring to post. I tried to make it funny and cute. I embraced the challenge of making a hideous process involving grade point averages, transcript orders and a history of all schools attended sound interesting. I thought, “YES! I can make people want to read this!” 145 words later, one sentence was actually worth reading.

Suffice it to say, I really hope this grad school thing works out. Forget about the advanced degree and having a rewarding career, I just never want to go through the application process again. One reason it has been so awful is that I am applying to several schools. The same autobiographical essay cannot be used for each application, 3 or 4 letters of reference are required for each school, and there is a $65 fee for every application. That doesn’t include all the minutiae of tracking what has to be sent where and when, the dismal GRE scores I need to order for the lame schools that require them and all the forms, pre-addressed envelopes and instructions for the people I burdened by asking for letters of recommendation. It just goes on and on…

At this point, I might as well tell you that I’m applying to Masters in Social Work programs so I can become a licensed clinical social worker. (When I told an aunt and uncle this they cried, “NOOOOooooooooo!” in unison.)

You can be sure that whatever is on my mind between now and the end of January will be this whole grad school thing. I do apologize for not having a more thrilling topic to write about. When this whole process is over, perhaps Robin can make a video of Leslie and me dancing to Talking Heads while throwing all of my application files into a sizzling lava flow. (Leslie is an amazing dancer, though most of you must already know this.)

I look forward to the day when my mind is available for other musings.