Heather S. Ingemar's Blog, page 45

Owning It — an Explorations blog post

(This guest blog post also appears on the Echelon Explorations blog today.)

I wasn't always the person I am today.

It may be hard to believe, but even after the stories I've published and the concerts I've performed, "I can't do that" remains the first phrase I reach for when I encounter something outside my comfort zone. My internal, mental response to people's compliments tends to be "They've got to be kidding," or "They aren't serious." It has been a huge battle to get to where I am now – when I first began this creative lifestyle gig, I was one of the most inhibited souls on the planet. I couldn't allow myself to put out anything lackluster, I couldn't let myself take any risks. Worst of all, I was a slave to my 'people pleaser' attitude – I wouldn't allow myself to do anything my family might not approve of.

I played on the safe side and stayed on the sidewalk, as that Kelly Clarkson song says.

Needless to say, I didn't go anywhere.

Creativity needs freedom to flourish. Not just external freedom – like approval from your family – but internal freedom as well. That little phrase, "believe in yourself"?? Unbelievably true. You need to believe in your ability to create beautiful, worthwhile works, and you need to give yourself permission to stumble a little on the way there. Your skills? You need to own them. When someone compliments your work? You need to own that, too. Yeah, it's a challenge, especially when we're all taught to not think of ourselves, and it's even more of a challenge if you've grown up in an atmosphere that put you down more than lifted you up. But making the decision to "own" the things you're good at can give you confidence. Confidence gives strength. Strength creates a path, and paths all lead somewhere.

For me, that somewhere was into a career of writing short stories like "Middle of Nowhere," and being a professional musician.

Where will your 'ownership' take you?

Dyslexic GPS unit…??

So Hubby and I purchased a Magellan GPS unit today (we were tired of getting lost on long trips/parts runs). We unpacked it in the parking lot of the store and got it running to see what all she would do (even though I have yet to do the updates).

The funny thing? I think we have a dyslexic GPS.

If you're heading North, no problem. All her directions are bang on. But if you're heading South??? Ha. The roads and turns are fine, but she insists our destination is on the opposite side of the road from where it actually is!! For example, the pizza place where we headed for lunch today? It's on the right-hand side of the road, but the GPS insisted it was on the left.

Eesh.

I'm sure hoping this is something the updates will fix…!

Spring ahead

The weather lately has been warm and wet. I am glad to see it change, even though the weather has still been inclement enough to keep me from riding my Suzuki motorcycle into work and back.

And, as it always seems to be with the onset of spring, life gets busy.

This week, I've been fretting about when my new ukulele and its case will ship occupying myself learning peppier, more raucous-and-foot-stomping type tunes to include at my next Ale House gig (scheduled for April 29th). I've also sent off my "Crown of Thorns" manuscript for editing — and it's sounding like CoT will be released here in a few months! Exciting! My latest release, "Middle of Nowhere" (with Echelon) will be featured with a guest blog post next week on the Explorations site, too! I've also been keeping myself crazy out of trouble with my music lessons (and I have to say, I'm impressed with every one of my students!), and I've been teaching classes at the day job. On the ranch we've had lots of little fuzzy calves adding themselves to our herd, and I've learned some more tractor skillz™ with the help of my Hubby.

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I found time to pick up a book and read (currently loving Maggie Stiefvater's "Lament"), enjoy the warmer weather, and, in general, love life.

It's days like these I truly enjoy being me.

Well, I went and did it.

I'm not sure if I've got buyers guilt…

Or if I'm just worried about it arriving here safe…

Meet the soon-to-be-newest member of my ukulele herd. It's a Lanikai Tenor acoustic/electric ukulele with professional grade Belcat preamp/EQ. Slick black finish and Aquila strings. I hope we get along well together.

Ale House gig — tunes, pizza, and electric ukes

I played the Ale House on Friday night, and it was great! The venue has the coolest Celtic knotwork on the walls, the pizza they serve is excellent, and the atmosphere is lighthearted and friendly. You really couldn't ask for a better venue — which is a good thing, since I've been booked for three more events in the coming months!

The only downside was that my current sound setup (one mic for me plus Ook) was not enough to fill the venue. Even when they hooked me up to their significantly larger system, I felt like the uke got lost. Since this has continually been an issue clear back to when I did the Casino Night gig, it has forced my hand — I'm shopping now for an acoustic-electric ukulele. While I absolutely love my Luna for everything it's done for me — if I'm going to continue doing this live gig deal, I need an instrument I can plug in. There's no way around it.

I'm currently looking at a Kala KA-CE (concert size acoustic-electric) or -TE (tenor version) from Hawaii Music Supply. With their package deal (that includes shipping, nonetheless!!!), you get a hard case with your instrument. I'm also considering the Lanikai LU21-TE (tenor size acoustic-electric), but I'm not exceedingly fond of the look of the instrument's wood (nato). They do make a pretty glossy black one though, and the Lanikai does boast "professional grade" electronics. Out of all the reviews I've read, it seems to come down to personal preference.

Regardless of what I choose, next time, I'm going to be prepared!!

Nifty idea… I think…

So you all know that I've been working to combine my author-life and my musician-life, and that I've got several projects in the works pertaining to both. You may also know that I've been experimenting with recording with the intent to eventually put out a CD of my original songs.

I just had the craziest, coolest, fascinating idea. EVER.

What if I put out a CD, but not just of my music… What if I put out a CD of my music PLUS some of my poetry/prose?

It would definitely be different. I know there are cases of musicians utilizing poetry (as poetry, not as lyrics) in their work — one that comes to mind is "Lullaby" by Loreena McKennit, with the poetic voice-over by James Earl Jones. And I know the cowboy poetry tradition relies heavily on poetry as well as music.

I think it might be fun to try it.

Cat

He pads on careful paws,

A slinky study of grace

Mewling at my heels.

Feather-soft fur

Warms my hands.

I sit –

Purring, elated cat

Claims my lap!

Celtic tunes for Christian women

Also titled, "how to pronounce 'Celtic.'"

My lunchtime gig for the Christian Women's Connection group went very well. The top question I got asked — aside from the pretty standard "what are you playing?" or "Is that a mandolin?" — was how to properly pronounce the word 'celtic.'

(I will say that in Irish circles, the preferred pronunciation is with a hard 'k' sound at the beginning, as in 'keltik.' However, in some modern circles, it is entirely appropriate to say 'seltik'… It appears to be a matter of personal preference, though, if you're playing/attending an event of more traditional Irish tunes, I would urge you to go for the hard 'k' sound.)

The performance was excellent. I remembered all my words. I remembered all my chords. I had a lot of fun, reaffirming once again my hypothesis that being a musician is one of the best jobs in the world! It's amazing how one simple song can connect with people on so many levels. I had an elderly woman come up to me at the end of my performance today and tell me about her family's Irish heritage, in particular, her mother. Apparently, my song selections today were staples of her childhood — the woman's mother used to sing them frequently about the house. This elderly woman told me (and got choked up nonetheless!) that her mother had been gone for many, many years, but hearing my songs today brought back a lot of wonderful memories for her.

I almost didn't know how to respond other than to thank her for the compliment. Either way, it sure made me happy/proud/pleased to have been able to touch that woman with my singing. It's moments like that which make musicianing even more worthwhile than it is already!

Raising money for relief efforts in Japan

My friend and fellow Drollerie author, Angela Korra'ti, is doing a fundraiser to help raise money for relief efforts in Japan.

Pop on over and help her out:

http://www.angelakorrati.com/2011/03/14/raising-money-for-japan-relief-efforts/

Under the Trees: lyrics version

Well. My poem that I finished the other day? Turns out, it wanted to be a song, too. A pretty little Asian-inspired song written in C pentatonic. I'm pleased.

"Wait for You"

Under the trees I will wait for you

When the birds are singing in the wood

And when the flowers are in bloom

And when the burning sun touches the sky

I will wait for you in the wood

Where shade is easy to find

In the rains that come with Fall

When branches are bare and tall

When the earth is cool, I'll still wait for you

Under the trees I will wait for you

Because someday you'll return to me

And waiting is what love is wont to do

So I'll wait for you

[instrumental]

I'll wait for you