Search This Blog

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Long lost friends

This evening I had a great conversation with a friend I had lost contact with years ago. We talked for quite a while and still could barely get off the phone.

It made me think about how much I've changed, or grown, over the past couple of years. I'm proud of the fact that when I reconnect with someone now and we vow to stay in contact, I can actually have faith that I will do that.

I used to accept friendships that didn't organically maintain themselves. If someone didn't ever return my phone calls, I would make excuses for them. I'd also give excuses when I didn't make time to maintain friendships.

Now I feel like a friendship is something that two people maintain. I do have friends who are very busy, who sometimes take a couple of days to get back to me. This never bothers me. I also realize that I don't have to feel guilty for letting go of friendships that no longer work.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Home

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tuneful Tuesdays . . .

I missed Tuneful Tuesday last week because I was doing laundry at my mother's and lost track of time. By the time I realized, it was already after midnight on Wednesday. It didn't seem right to do it then.

So my one and only follower, besides myself, suggested that I pick certain days for certain kinds of posts. She has "Music Monday", and I will have "Tuneful Tuesday".

I'm going to post two videos today, since I didn't get to post on Tuesday last week. This first video is the source of the title of my blog. I think it comes from a biography of Sarah Vaughan. In the beginning, someone is commenting on her artistry, and how when she sat at the piano, she could play "beautiful changes". To me, jazz, and life, have so much in common. Sometimes you play the melody as written, and sometimes you improvise over and through the changes. Even though this was originally a blog about learning jazz piano, I thought the title was still appropriate.

So here is video number one. I love this video because you rarely get to see a clip of her playing the piano.


The second video is of another one of my ALL TIME favorite singers, Leontyne Price. Whenever I hear this specific recording, of this specific aria, I seriously lose it. I can't even come up with words about how it affects me. Her voice is just so exquisite that I go through phases where I listen to this song REPEATEDLY, for days on end. I'm in one of those phases now, which is why I'm writing about this today.

So here it is, Tacea la notte placida from "Il Trovatore"


Now I just need to come up with a theme for Wednesdays . . .