Buttercupchappati Chronicles

one down, many to go

Resolutions.

Well I did something this morning that I have not done for too long.

I actually sat down and really listened to some music. Not just as a background noise, or ambiance in the healing room, or in passing in the car (usually as an excuse for some loud, private singing).

So.
I made my selection - the new year always requires something grand and luscious and nobody does that better than Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - and I adore ballet scores.

Today Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty; (highlights because come on, I am still an over-committed high achiever with at least three things on the go at any one time, none of which include sitting still for four or five hours).

Then I made my big cup of coffee - self medicating with a double shot, and sat and listened.

But it's not just listening is it? What is it about music that is so engaging when we really give it our attention. We feel, hear, see and create.

I swear I heard the ballerinas toe shoes hitting the stage floor.

And the really lovely thing, really, whatever else I go off and do now, there's a whole orchestra playing in my head all day.

a new one

Two thousand and eleven, a year well launched with friends and family, laughter, dancing, singing, momo's, Texas chili, margaritas and The Rocky Horror Picture Show on dvd.

I suspect the horror part was all of us doing the time warp some time around midnight, but anyway...

It was cozy - and that is one of my main words for this coming year. I want to snuggle in and read, study, work, create, be myself; with occasional outings for travel where I do all that, just in a different place.

Key words for 2011:

reflection

meditation

mantra

reading

study

music - really listening, not just playing in the background

healing - myself and my patients

art

writing

solitude

gratitude

poetry

a dharma year
a catching up year
a year where I return to Amdo - always!
a year where I say hello to myself, everyday

well - resolution comes from resolve, so let's just see.
Intention is everything, I tell everyone else that! Best listen to my own awesome advice.

Happy new year everyone!
Peaceful, safe, prosperous and brilliant.

The summer had inhaled, and held its breath too long...

What a perfect first line.

I first heard the song "Comin Back To Me" sung by Rickie Lee Jones, on her Pop Pop album. It was love at first listen. The songwriter as poet has always been something special to me and these lyrics are an incredible example. Spare, poignant, and so evocative.

As is Rickie's expression of this masterpiece.

(And before the Jefferson Airplane fans line up to stone me in the street, please remember I was born in 1960 and the song was released in 1967)

And not being curious about covers it was a shamefully long time before I sought out the original. Also, of course, amazing.

I have been re-visiting some albums (do we still call them that?) that have meant a lot to me, and I have to say that when I listened to Rickie singing this song tonight, I held my breath so I would not sob. 

I like the original, but am loyal to the RLJ version, she extracts something that lay beneath the original recording and takes the lyrics to a place far beyond. I wonder if Marty Balin likes her cover?

Anyway, I am sharing them both here, Rickie first because that's the way I heard it first.

my new favorite song

and if you have never played Mario Kart - shame on you!

Tibetan & Mongolian music together on stage

This is awesome, Tenzin Choegyal in collaboration with Mongolian performer.

Music Is Life

 

a new album from Tibet2Timbuk2

You have to get your hands, and your ears, on this cd! I have not stopped playing it since it arrived.

It is beautiful music that will make you happy.

I am already a huge fan of Tenzin Choegyals music, his Heart Sutra cd is one of my all time most played.

You can buy it here: http://www.indie-cds.com/ and read the great review by Mike Raine.