Music
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Unlike what you see above, perhaps the most recognizable constellation in the evening sky over Western Pennsylvania is Orion. His myth inspired the first in this series of constellation songs FIVE YEARS AGO! While his belt may be one of the easiest things to identify in the evening sky, both the lyrics and music for
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Years ago, I earned some extra cash by working in the periodical section of the campus library while attending Grove City College. One quiet afternoon, I read an article in one of the newspapers we carried about Hurricane Marilyn that “wreaked havoc in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico” back on September 15-16, 1995.
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We’ve all played the fool at some point in our lives, especially in the name of love. Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers sang of it long before I sat down with my guitar and composed the following song. Sometimes we’ve played the fool for power, fame, or glory, fleeting as they are. Like King Solomon
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August and July brim over with wedding celebrations. My son’s marriage earlier this month brought the total number of wedding anniversaries from the last week of July through today, August 22nd, to FOUR just on my side of the family. In the coming two months, I believe we will celebrate three more weddings on my
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In general, I hate greeting card holidays. However, making a regular habit of honoring our fathers and mothers finds its roots in something far deeper and comes with the promise of a long and full life. I don’t celebrate Mother’s Day or Father’s Day because it’s printed on my calendar. I celebrate those days because
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As a freshman in college, I found the poetry of Federico García Lorca inspiring (be sure to follow the hyperlink to read some of García Lorca’s work). I remember trying to imitate the style of the famed Spanish poet, without any real success. However, one of the poems found its way onto the album I
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Rather than add a few more photo poems today (I may add some later this week), I turn to the newest song in my constellation series. It’s been six months since I last wrote something musically, a sad commentary on the pace and priorities of my life from a creative perspective. It’s not that I
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What if John, Paul, George, and Ringo provided the soundtrack for a musical revival of Charles Dickens’s immortal A Christmas Carol? Thanks to The Muppets, we already have at least one spectacular musical version of Dickens’s classic, and I’ve even seen one staged in Pittsburgh. But as I wrapped up our study of the novella
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Christmas reminds me just how much I’m not at home. Strangers now own the house where I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Five years ago, my parents sold it and moved to central Pennsylvania to live closer to my sister. Shortly thereafter my mother passed away. As much as I enjoy visiting my family there
the deepening ground 