It's been a turbulent start to 2025 in my neck of the woods, to say the least: destructive fires all around SoCal, the sudden and unexpected loss of a beloved friend, the vandalization of one of the churches where I sing, and some truly alarming institutional changes at the highest levels. Given that all humans … Continue reading Songs about rainbows
music
In the bleak midwinter
Another half year has passed since my last update, and like many other folks, I'm feeling rather weary as I enter the home stretch of 2024. Fortunately, there's been a lot of personal and professional good to buoy my spirits despite the buffeting of the past year and a half. Singing has been fulfilling, writing … Continue reading In the bleak midwinter
At least we still have the butt jokes.
Merry December to all who are still observing the passage of time, happy solstice to those looking forward to shorter nights, welcome Yule, merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a joyful Great Conjunction (photo credit: the wonderful Dana Wayne)! It's been awesome to watch Jupiter and Saturn draw closer to one another over the past weeks. … Continue reading At least we still have the butt jokes.
December 31: Last, Not Least
This is the last time I will write my life Into a daily sonnet, those things great, Exciting, middling, sad, and sometimes strife, Through stubbornness one cannot understate. Tonight, I'll sing to thousands and the sky To fete a civic gem's centenary Then dinner, where we'll bid the year goodbye And sonnet cycle done successfully. … Continue reading December 31: Last, Not Least
December 28: How I Won The War
As one conversant with verse, rhyme, and scansion, And long-familiar forms of poetry, It's not surprising I should seek expansion From borders of familiarity. Though language's music is eternal, Specific phrases and their orchestrations Can bring about acknowledgment internal That such things, as Wilde wrote, produce vibrations. And so when watching other tales that came … Continue reading December 28: How I Won The War
December 23: Baroque Fix
A day of tediousness and pointless stresses Combined with ever-growing to-do lists, Is one that unavoidably depresses, Inexorable snappishness persists Until this truly frivolous annoyance Must needs compete for vanishing attention Against the zenith of Baroque flamboyance; Complexity defying comprehension. As dark can only be destroyed by light And hate can only be destroyed by … Continue reading December 23: Baroque Fix
December 22: Setback and Forth
And endless litany of work demands That's followed by the thrill of voicing song With cherished friends and those with gifted hands, Then followed by new music in a throng, Supplanted then by comprehensive mope, Upon deliverance of lousy news About a thing for which I'd dare to hope, Yet gentle hugs frustrations can defuse. … Continue reading December 22: Setback and Forth
December 20: Sum
A whole can be, as Aristotle said, So much more than the sum of all its parts, But if we look at sum itself instead, Linguistic variation it imparts. For starters, dim sum, when enjoyed with friends Is so much more than lunch with tasty food, In Latin, sum's “to be,” which then portends A … Continue reading December 20: Sum
December 19: Wassail
The beautiful guitar I mostly-play, Dave's flute and twelve-string, Janet's dulcet cello And Jeff's tin whistles join, one winter's day To lead O'Brien's Pub in merry bellow. The words are garbled, some don't know the tune, And calls for Free Bird happen frequently, But none to Christmas carols is immune, Especially when all are in … Continue reading December 19: Wassail
December 14: Up in the Air
Like children with balloons who understand The ground is deadly in the game they play And seek to keep aloft with foot or hand That airy spheroid as long as they may, I've filled my year's remaining days and nights, With singing, learning music, and performing, In hopes that all the caroling and lights Will … Continue reading December 14: Up in the Air
Libby Weber 