When Brian and I were at Blissfest music festival two weekends ago, they had a kids “parade” one day. They had hired a talent who made balloon hats, and the kids got their faces painted, and they went for a festive walk.

It was just adorable… how little can make kids so happy! As for me, the colors were certainly joyful!

Enjoy the photos.

I had much fun on the 4th of July! It started in Downtown Lansing (Michigan) with a parade. I danced with Habibi Dancers. Mom came out, all by her self with a little US flag and waved it and called to me when I passed. I stopped the parade to hug her, of course.

In the middle of the day I went home. I had to change personas from Eudora (my dance name) to “Lynn Heftone” (my singing alias). So I got a nice bath, and did my sort of Clark Kent transformation. I baked a rhubarb crisp dessert and took it over to Rae’s Yarn Boutique. I could not stay for the barbecue but at least I was there in spirit, and in dessert!

I do love costuming as an artform and as a joyful part of my life. Those who know me, know I have almost nothing in my closet either red or white, and maybe a small handful of blue items.

Therefore, I went to Goodwill on Thursday and found myself a blue skirt to dance in, and a blue gown to sing in (topped with a red sequined tunic I already had in the closet). I made it work out quite well.

It’s a good thing I did not yet dye the baby alpaca circular Peace Shawl that Alison Hyde knit for me. She suggested I dye it and I’ve intended to do so, but have not done it yet. Last night I wore it white for my holiday singing engagement. It was beautiful, AND it was a protection against a few mosquitos as well.

I was done with mosquitos when we finished singing at 10pm, and it was very dark. We headed back to the car and I watched the fireworks from there. Much better!

Luckily my camera has a setting for fireworks. If you can hold the camera steady, it works well. In the car I could lean against the frame, and that did the trick. I’m going to give you six photos that I am happy with.

It was really cool, driving to a good vantage point in the car just before the fireworks started. This town turned out in force! You can see the fireworks from the parking lots of a whole lot of stores, including the Meridian Mall, Central Park Place shopping area, Wal-Mart, Meijer (huge Michigan discount store/grocery), and many places between.

Everywhere you looked, people had set up their folding chairs on the sidewalks or front yards, just everywhere. They had policemen on bicycles patrolling, and it all looked quite civilized, but the amount of people I saw all at once? I haven’t seen that on the streets since I was in Africa.

Only at concerts or sporting events do you see this sort of density around my corner of the world. It was quite the scene. It made me remember the two years I was in Boston and the one I was in Chicago, several when I was a child… just the whole gathering-together thing that happens on this holiday. It’s a lovely thing, really, the coming together… whether there are fireworks or not, no matter what your political ideals might be.

Boom! Happy 4th to those in the US. How nice it gave us a 3 day weekend this time!

(Photos: 1) Me as Eudora. 2,3,4) The Fabulous Heftones at Meridian Historical Village… thanks to Sharon’s SO, Lynn, for taking photos yet again. I owe him many favors back! 5-10) Meridian Township fireworks, taken from Meijer parking lot.)

I have three things going on for the 4th. If you are in the Lansing, Michigan area, maybe you will want to join me for some of the fun.

1. First, the City of Lansing 4th of July Parade. I’ll be dancing with the Habibi Dancers (photos are of 2006, dancers before the 4th parade, I’m third from left in front with cane, in the 2nd photo). There is a press release page with details on the parade on the City web page. This is the text that matters most:

Sponsored by the City of Lansing (Parks and Recreation Department) this family friendly parade will take place in downtown Lansing on Friday, July 4, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. - Parade will step off at the State Parking Lots on Allegan Street and travel east on Allegan Street to Capitol Avenue, north on Capitol Avenue to Ottawa Street then travel west on Ottawa Street to return to the State Parking Lot.

2. Rae’s Yarn Boutique is having a potluck, barbecue (she provides chicken and hot dogs) and the first day of her 3-day summer clearance sale. (I’ll be there for some of the knit in but probably not the barbecue) She sent out a notice and wrote it up on her blog, Extravayarnza. Basically, this is the important part:

Join us at Rae’s Yarn Boutique July 4th!
Knit-in All Day
Grill starts up at 5pm
Bring a dish to pass or a small donation towards the main dish
Remember your knitting & a folding chair.
We’ll head down to the riverfront for Fireworks in the evening!

3. Brian and I/The Fabulous Heftones will sing at Meridian Historical Village from 7:30 to 10pm (fireworks start at 10:15). The address I have finally figured out, it’s Central Park in Okemos, 5151 Marsh Road. That should help fans of online driving instructions/maps.

We are not the only thing going at this large gala… Meridian Township issued a press release/fact sheet (in Adobe Acrobat PDF format) if you want all details. Here is an excerpt:

• Children’s Area with giant inflatable games
• Live Music by the “Fruitflies” near Central Park Pavilion and the “Fabulous Heftones” in the Historical Village
• U.S Marine Corp Color Guard Flag Ceremony (dusk)
• Mascots from local businesses
• Food from Little Caesar’s Pizza, Ice Cream from Melting Moments, Tony’s Hot Dogs, Culver’s Frozen Custard, and Subs from Guido’s
• Meridian Historical Village Tours
• Fire and Police Department Demonstration Area
• FIREWORKS AT 10:15 PM

Pardon me while I post a local announcement… to my Lansing-Area readers:

It’s official: Brian and I will perform as The Fabulous Heftones for the Meridian Township Fourth of July celebration. We start at 7:30pm on Friday and sing till 10pm, about when the fireworks will start.

It was in the Towne Courier paper Monday, according to my mother who watches these things carefully. No doubt it will be in the What’s On section on Thursday’s Lansing State Journal and perhaps the City Pulse and the NOISE as well.

The location will be at the border of Okemos/Haslett Michigan, behind the Meridian Township hall on Marsh Road (between Haslett Rd. and Grand River Ave.) at the street called Central Park Drive. It is just behind the Meridian Mall, in the Friends of Historic Meridian section of Central Park.

If you park behind the Township Hall, there is a covered area where they have a farm market. A different band will be playing behind that structure, but if you instead cross the footbridge to the right, you will walk a bit past a few historic buildings and will see the barn at left.

We will sing in front of the barn. If you want to sit down, bring your own chair or a blanket.

If you have not heard us before, we do the retro hits of the 1920’s… April Showers, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Paper Moon, Shine on Harvest Moon, For Me and My Gal, Jada, and more. It’s uplifting music, mostly love songs and a few novelty tunes thrown in there. For many of us, it creates a lovely trip down memory lane, but te young folks seem to enjoy the music on its own merits. Click the links on the songs to hear our version, if your computer is set up to play MP3 music (most are).

This is a totally family-friendly community event, bring the kids and their friends and let them dance while we sing. We love the kids. Little boys seem to be fascinated with Brian’s tiny instrument, especially when he plays it really fast. It’s wonderful to watch their little faces!

We are very excited about this concert. I grew up in this area, before it was developed (it was all fields and the Pilgrim House Furniture store was a real barn with animals in it). I will know some of the folks who come, and they will not expect to know me. Also my Mom is being her usual publicity chairperson self and has invited a list of her friends. Some of my computer students (the classes are a few blocks from the park) will be coming as well.

It is always exciting to play in a new place. Actually, we have played twice in their Wednesday night Historical society series, once as The Fabulous Heftones and once as members of Abbott Brothers’ band. But this was the first time we have been headliners. Having a 2 hour concert to ourselves? This is the most fun anyone can have on a 4th of July, perhaps!!!

Photos: Fab Heftones at RicStar Music Camp Benefit, VanAtta Greenhouse in Haslett; New York Ukefest 2006; Chicagoland Ukulele Jam Festival.

We were invited to an impromptu bonfire party Monday night and we dropped everything to go. There were many musicians there and we enjoyed playing together, and listening to each other play.

Here is a photo of three guys from The Flatbellys, with Spencer borrowing my Heftone Bass. These guys are really good people, just love ‘em.

I am SO glad it is finally summer. It seems I can’t shake memories of snow, even when the weather is hot and muggy. That last winter really did me in. I’m still thawing!

Sunday the Habibi Dancers took about a dozen women to dance at the Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan. It was wonderful to spend a day together. We danced, we watched friends dance, we ate Lebanese food. That’s as perfect a day as one can have, if you ask me.

Here the Habibi dancers are, doing a Saudi women’s party dance. I’m in the hot pink dress at front.

Here are four of our dancers in a crowd-pleasing number (they clapped and sang along with us here):

Here is the Middle Eastern Dance Ensemble of the greater-Detroit area doing a scarf dance:

We had 22 of us at dinner between the two groups, friends and family. The restaurant had a good attitude about it at the end of what must have been a very busy weekend. And the food! There is such good mideastern food in Dearborn! Ahhh…

This is my favorite place to dance all year. I had to miss it the last 2 years and was just delighted to join in again. It was wonderful.

I am off to dance in Dearborn on Sunday so there is little time online available. I thought I’d share two great recent photos.

First, my KidzKnit, session 2 at Rae’s Yarn Boutique (Lansing, Michigan) this summer. If you are interested, it’s Wednesday afternoons 2:45pm to 4:30pm. Buy a “punch card” worth 4 sessions, for $20 per card. Share the card if you like even sell an extra punch to a friend, but no refunds if you do not use it up.

The intent is sort of like a “walk in” program. No hassles if you can’t make it half the time. However, I do need a committment or I should be doing something else with my summer afternoon, thus the 4-session card requirement.

Ages 7-17, or younger if the child is already a knitter (ask first). No session July 16.

If you want a PDF flyer to distribute anywhere you think there might be interest, please click here for PDF.

Here is a photo of this week. The child far left finished a keychain, a tiny sock on size 0 DPN’s. Go, grrl! She is also working on some worsted-weight toe-up socks for herself. The girl in green is also making a pair of socks for herself in worsted weight yarn. The one between them is working on a lovely multi-yarn shawl among other things.

Girl front and center is working on wristbands. She likes to finish things, so larger projects get her frustrated. The girl front right does a lot of finger-knit and finger-crochet, she’s showing off a large crochet chain in this photo.

Next, a garden photo. On Wednesday the first daylily of the year bloomed. One bloom that day, but a few days later now we have many blooms. Here is the bold adventurous first flower:

That is enough to make my heart sing. It’s not my favorite color, but it is totally beautiful the way it is supposed to be. I so appreciate the lilies just coming up every year with no fussing at all. They are just wonderful in my book, no matter what color they might be.

Off to dance…

Saturday was World-Wide Knit in Public (WWKIP) Day. What a day it was in the Greater Lansing (Michigan) Area, especially for those who knit! (Warning: long post with lots of photos, I could not help myself.)

Unfortunately, that headache I had the day before? It stuck around. It was better than Friday but it hindered my fun more than I wanted.

Here’s an early photo of Dewitt Farm Market/Lavender & Peonies KIPping. (For the record, today I’m not naming names though I know at least half of those in most of the photographs… I work hard at names but I have so many people in my life!)

Later we had moved to the shade on the other side of the tent. We lost a few folks, gained a few more. Here’s a later photo:

Ironically, my hubby Brian was playing music inside one of the businesses on the same block where we knit. He is in the band “Scarlet Runner String Band” and they were at Sweetielicious Pie Pantry (otherwise known as Sweetie Pie by locals). Brian is playing banjo here.

When I went in to take this photo, the wife of the bass player was there. She’s a big knitter, mostly preemie hats for Sparrow Hospital. I told her we were KIPping so she grabbed her knitting and joined us!

One woman came from Buffalo, New York (blue shirt at right). She was in town for a wedding and Rob at Threadbear told her that the KIPping was starting in Dewitt at 9am so there she was! The woman at left came to the farm market not knowing it as WWKIP day. She ran home to get her knitting and came back to join us. Notice she’s doing a magnificent two-colored Christmas stocking for herself. It was really beautiful.

At 11am I went to the next stop on the KIPping tour. I went to Patriarche park in East Lansing, where Rae’s Yarn Boutique and Woven Art/Nancy McRay joined forces. It was not just a gathering, it was an event.

First park photo: the end result of over 20 minutes of a crochet-chain contest. Two teams of three crocheters knit 25 stitches before passing to the next person, and the relay required finishing an entire ball of wool tape yarn first. The second prize was awarded to the longest chain. There were three teams of three.

I held someone else’s camera during the race, for a video. It will take a bit of editing to be interesting to anyone who was not in the race, I’m afraid…

Then we had the “Extreme Knitting” race. Two teams, and two sets of size 75, 48-inch-long wooden needles. Very heavy needles, but gorgeous. And fun. And funny!

Here is team 1. One woman on each needle and one woman controlling the yarn. It was fascinating how this became a whole-body athletic event because of the heft of these needles. The feet were moving, knees bent.

Team 2, cranking out garter fabric as a team. The yarn was actually the crochet chain made from wool tape, from the last contest. It was almost too thin for the task.

Here is the final product (the contest was to cast on and then finish 5 rows fastest, I think they had a dozen stitches on the needle.

The other team. Not five rows.

En garde! This was sort of inevitable, don’t you think? Long pointy things will become play swords every time.

And the star of the show? He loved the extreme needles, too.

After all that excitement and all sorts of good food, folks settled in to knit and chat. It’s a beautiful park.

This was after some folks already went home. It was quite a crowd, and a lovely group at that.

By the time I left the park my headache was in full force again. However, I could not miss the goings-on at Threadbear. I ran over there and some classes were just getting out, there were a zillion people there and the chatter sounded like a great party. You know the sound… a whole bunch of people enjoying the company of the others in the room. I love that sound!

Maggie Jackson of Maggie’s Ireland was there teaching and we met briefly. I chatted with a lot of friends who were finishing up from their classes. I saw some folks I know because they have loyally taken several classes from me.

I saw a bunch of folks who I’d seen at Patriarche Park and/or DeWitt farm market. I ate strawberries and cherries from the farm market which had made their way to the barbecue at Threadbear. (They were cooking in the parking lot, those resourceful dudes!)

I bought a little Drops Alpaca (light sportweight) from them for a friend. I had already purchased some turquoise for myself the day before. I had planned that purchase days before, and then when I got there the yarn had been marked down from $8 a ball to $3 a ball… so I bought even more than I expected and it cost less than my initial plan. Happy me.

So then I showed a bunch of others the wonderful alpaca and they bought some, too. We danced happy alpaca dances, I tell you.

And somehow the headache was so bad that I totally forgot to take photographs. Drat. It would have been a bit difficult anyway, because people were scattered all over the store… they had planned it for the parking lot but with all that sun and no shade trees I’m guessing they just stayed in for comfort. I just looked on Google for photos of the Theadbear event and so far I can not find any posted.

I ran home, reclined on the couch for maybe 5 minutes, changed clothes and went to Altu’s Ethiopian Cuisine to sing.

Altu told me that a knitting friend had come by for the first time to try her food. I think it was Jan who I talked to at Patriarche park. That was a lovely surprise. I love it when different parts of my life touch one another. When knitting and friendship and music all meet in one place, my life feels very right indeed.

I even knitted in public at Altu’s restaurant after our performance. Brian’s aunt, uncle and two cousins came to hear us (none of them live in Lansing but they meet here for our music) and my Mom and two of her friends also came. It was a party, though I guess I was the only one knitting at Altu’s this time. Not always, but this time.

What a day!

(This blog is about artfulness in all its forms… often knitting, sometimes soup, today a 1940’s Technicolor film clip. I hope I never run out of new ways to share creative expressions with you! )

If you like Wizard of Oz, if you like theatrical, improbable scenes with a zillion ladies in the chorus and a dozen organ grinders each with their own monkey, if you remember the June Taylor dancers on the Jackie Gleason Show, if you have never seen Carmen Miranda (wearing bananas on her head and unidentified red fruits which may be strawberries, decorating her floor-length gown)… you will not regret taking a few minutes to see a video (Brian found it, thank him) while it’s up on YouTube.

This comes from the 1943 movie “The Gang’s All Here.” We never know if something like this will be pulled from the site at any minute, so click fast, my friends.

This video is amazing. It’s trippy in the happiest Oz sort of way, condensed into merely seven and a half minutes of “I can’t believe someone thought of this, much less funded it…”

The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat

Not long ago, Brian and I (The Fabulous Heftones) sang for a banquet honoring the adult safety traffic crossing workers of Ingham County. It was really great to see these people honored, who endure nasty weather and have to wake up at an hour not pleasant for most of us. It was amazing to hear how many of them have worked this job for 20, even 30 years. Good folks.

I was really impressed with how many Police Chiefs from different local municipalities were at the event. How wonderful that they were there, showing their true appreciation for these essential workers.

We sang fun songs that the crowd was likely to know and enjoy. After all, we are about nostalgia and when a familiar song can make people smile… well, we want to encourage that smile. We had a great time, and by the looks of the faces, the audience liked it, too.

It’s worth taking the time to say thanks to all of those who work this sometimes thankless job on behalf of the kids of our communities. I remember the guy who was on our corner for years, I always waved at him every time I went by (I was on my way to work with kids after school, myself).

Finally one day I stopped and introduced myself. He was a retiree with a lot of grandkids who just liked kids, it just fit who he was to do this sort of work. He told me that on the last day of school, he would hire an ice cream truck for the handful of kids he was there for. He told me that so many kids are taken to school by parents that very few walk anymore. As a non-parent, I don’t notice that trend except when I pass by a school after the final bell.

So thanks to the folks with red hand-held STOP signs. Thanks to the police chiefs and the Lansing Safety Council. And thanks to the person who thought to ask us to perform. We loved every minute.

For Lansing residents who have not been inside the new Pattengill Middle School on the corner of Saginaw and Marshall, here is a photo of the entry hall, outside the cafeteria/auditorium where we sang. Nice, huh? The kids were in a school nearly 100 years old and showing its age, and now they have this. I’m sure they enjoy it.

Thanks to the Police Chief of Lansing Township, Chief Kay A. Hoffman for taking photos with my camera while we sang. It is pretty impossible to take photos of ourselves. She did a wonderful job!

I put up a photoset on Flickr with East Lansing Art Festival photos on it. There are merely 22 photos on this one, as opposed to a few others I’ve put up recently (I am getting my money’s worth at Flickr these days, it’s something like $25 a year for all this storage, a deluxe package I upgraded to from the small free package, totally cool.)

Saturday night we attended a music party around a bonfire. I think it’s official, we are not having any more snow till autumn. Or so I declare it after a bonfire gathering!

The coolest thing at that party was that the former members of the band “The Weepers” were there and they did a little mini-reunion. It was basically reminiscing for them and a concert for the rest of us. Wonderful, no matter what you call it. Once upon a time, Brian and I (as The Fabulous Heftones) opened for The Weepers at the Creole Gallery. Only good memories there, I assure you.

On Sunday I just could not get out of bed in time to see Kitty Donahoe at 11:30. Mind you, I typically go to bed many hours after midnight. Although I may wake up an hour or two before noon, I don’t usually have to be fully awake and dressed and ready for the world that early. I love Kitty… for years I said she had the most beautiful voice in Lansing. She doesn’t live here anymore but her voice is still lovely.

By the time I got to town I spent a little while with Brian looking at art booths and visiting Altu’s food booth. It seemed everywhere we went, we ran into people we knew. We saw Linda Abar, my voice coach when I had to learn how to talk again (after 31 days of total voice rest, not a single word of talking for a month). Linda just had her debut CD release concert at the UU church the same day we had our concert at the Rendezvous. She said she had a wonderful big turnout in spite of all the competition that night (Steppin’ in It was also playing that night to a huge audience in town).

The highlight of the early day was the Mystic Shake concert. These guys are friends and colleagues, and I never tire of their optimistic energy on stage. They just make you smile!

At the concert, there were kids dancing, and people shaking the cans this band is known for (soft drink cans full of beans and spray painted red). At one point, Ben went out in the crowd and handed out bananas to those who wanted one. It was really fun to watch him encourage a toddler to take one.

And it was fun… Crazy Richard, the juggler from Ann Arbor, happened along as Ben was peddling bananas. Richard obliged by juggling three bananas for a short while. Much fun.

But the best part? The guys noticed a little boy who had a toy electric guitar and who was wearing it with a little guitar strap around his shoulders. They invited him up for their last number.

He was SO excited! I just loved every moment of watching the interaction between the boy and Pat in

particular, who was standing next to the boy. They jumped up and down like rock stars for a while, then when Pat stopped, the kid kept going jumping left and right. Much fun, absolutely harmless (you couldn’t hear the

kid’s instrument at all in the audience), and a very bright spot in one child’s life. Those guys ROCK.

The last concert I attended was Seth Bernard and Daisy May. I’ve spoken of them here before. What a moving experience it is to hear them play and sing. Their harmonies are wonderful, they are strong at playing their instruments, being an ensemble, singing solo or in harmony.

They had a friend join them on percussion (a box that you sit on, where it makes different sounds depending on where you hit it with your hand). I am missing his card right now but I want to say Mike from Kalamazoo. They also had Jen Sygit come up and sing harmony for their final number, Shine On. Love that song.

It was a wonderful time at the fest this year. I have not enjoyed it so fully in years. Yes, it did help that this year we did not have rain. Cold can be cured by much wool, and because of that I had a great time.

I spent two days in downtown East Lansing, Michigan this weekend. It miraculously delivered almost-dry weather, though this festival is legendary for its ability to draw rainy days. I felt a little sprinkling for a few minutes on Saturday, although there were mean gusts of wind which occasionally broke artpieces which had been on display for sale (boo hoo).

I do not tolerate cold well, so I bundled up properly and dove into the first summery event of the year. I was SO ready for this season, for snow-defying events, that I decided to load up the wool and pretend it was summer. I’m glad I did.

The first day, Jen Sygit opened the main stage. What a talent. Yes, she’s my friend but I admired her work long before I knew her personally. She has a rich and expressive voice, she writes wonderful lyrics, has serious talent on the guitar, attracts great backup musicians, and writes songs so rich (lyric and melody) that you find yourself singing them the rest of the day. She’s remarkably humble about all this, but I’m a serious fan and I rushed myself to the festival so that I could hear her set.

Other friends who played on Saturday were Laura Bates and Brandon Foote (with friend Joe Bakaitis on bass). They closed down the festival at the west stage. These guys have been playing music with one another for many years, in a good number of bands including Hot Toe Mitty which got good press when they were together. Laura has a beautiful trained voice (without pretense) and I especially enjoy her vocals.

Here are photos from the two above shows! (Notice the dancing child in the first photo.)

The Down Side of Spring

Spring has sprung, as Daddy would say. It is lush and green and there are flowers everywhere.

Everything bloomed at once this year, and it is causing allergy trouble for people who usually do not have problems. I was doing fine with the flowers.

Then it rained. All the mildew that happens when it rains, attacks me personally. I can’t breathe as well, and I get bad headaches. I’m on day 3 with this one, and Excedrin doesn’t make a dent. Only sleep makes me feel better. At least it’s gorgeous outside, and there is no snow. Maybe no snow is worth a headache sometimes!

The Up Side of Spring

I planted rhubarb, little baby plantlets that were growing at the base of some big plants at my mom’s house. I did this last year and by mid-summer the new plant was doing better than the one that came with the house years ago. The plant I just put in is looking unhappy at this point. I remember that I have learned in the past to “water the stick.” Even when all the leaves fall off, or when I’m down to one single leaf, I water in the faith it’s not dead yet.

Let’s face it, those weeds we try to eliminate? If you strip them of leaves and take the stem to ground level, the root alone is enough for it to make a comeback.

One year we transplanted a peony. It got down to one very sad, drooping leaf and I watered it each day anyway. Now it’s almost hip-high 5 years later, with many blossoms just ready to pop. So I’m planning to treat that droopy rhubarb plant the same way and hope for the best.

The Best of the Up Side

Tomorrow (Saturday) is the first of two days of the East Lansing Art Festival. It’s the first summer-like event we have in these parts, each year. I will be sure to hear Jen Sygit perform, and Mystic Shake, Kitty Donohoe, Seth Bernard and Daisy May and other musical friends… as well as some acts I don’t know from out of town.

Usually it rains at some point during Art Fest weekend. This weekend it’s just a chance of rain but they are expecting chilly temperatures (in the mid-60’s F) and wind gusts up to 33 mph. One more time I’ll need to bundle up well. I do not tolerate cold well at all.

It is very good to have the Art Fair. It is very good to have the promise of summer. It’s not so good to have this headache… but this, too, shall pass.

On April 27, five members of the Habibi Dancers (including me/Eudora, front right in first photo) performed as guests in a show at Hannah Community Center in East Lansing. We were invited by a troupe which rehearses at Foster Community Center, as we do. The Ballet Maria Luz, another troupe which rehearses at Foster, was also represented in the show.

I stood at the side of the stage as I often do, taking photos when I was not preparing to dance myself. I have uploaded a number of photos (34 total) to my flickr site as a photoset of just that show.

There are some fun shots, and some quite expressive ones with wonderful costumes… the photoset contains a lot more photos of the Mexican dance with double-circle skirts and the flamenco soloist, among others.

I have decided to give in to my enthusiasm for these photos and share a good number of them here. If you enjoy these, click the link above to see more.

If only you could see them actually dancing! There was so much good perfoming at that show, it seemed every single dancer was at their best. Wonderful.

I’m so glad we were invited. (I have lost my program so I don’t know the name of the troupe… if anyone out there knows, please feel free to let me know and I’ll update this post.)

Of course, this was three weeks ago. Life sure gets in the way… I finally processed the photos last Tuesday and now a week later I’m telling you about it. Whew!

Photos, though? They are timeless. The time passed since the performance does nothing to mar the excitement of these images.

We spent the day with Brian’s family on Saturday. Many photographs were taken. Brian took this one of his sister Kathy, using my camera. Yes, this is the magnificent cook behind “Kathleen’s Vegetarian Kitchen.”

She is an artist, in the painting/drawing studio as well as in the kitchen. We get along really well, and I often wish I lived next door to Kath and Pedro (in Jacksonville, Florida… that will not happen this year, anyway). However, it is always wonderful to see them and we do usually connect at least once or twice a year.

I think this photo shows the fun, beautiful person I call my friend… in a most excellent way. Maybe you would like to go and visit her cooking blog. Even if you eat meat, you will find wonderful recipes and links to recipes she found and liked on other websites.

I’m excited about a link she includes to Strawberry Ice Cream (without egg, which works for my allergies). I also just found a link to homemade ricotta cheese which would make a really wonderful lasagna, after years without cheese in lasagna. (I can not have yeast/mold foods such as cheese and yogurt, but after 5 years of not eating dairy I can have milk and non-aged dairy products, it’s a wonderful gift to have it back.)

For the record, the 50th Anniversary event was delightful. We played a lot of music both at the official luncheon and at a gathering at another sister’s home after the luncheon. This family is very big on jam sessions, and there were two jams happening at the same time at Karen’s house.

I again have over 300 photos on my camera which I have not unloaded to my laptop. And since my friend Rae is out of state visiting her Mom for Mother’s Day, I’m going to do my best to help out at her store a few hours on a few different days… we will see how much blogging I get done with this more-busy-than-usual week. I may be posting without photos if need be.

…but at Elderly Instruments, there is a divider in the CD department/ukulele section which reads “The Fabulous Heftones.” (That would be me… and Brian.) Next to us? Jake Shimabukuro, Janet Klein, James Hill.

Pardon me while I get giddy for a moment. That is serious company and I’m allowed to enjoy it.

I really try to keep you guys up to date and not leave you waiting for posts… I’ve been crazy-busy so have fallen behind.

• We have been singing a bunch this week. Brian and I played for a private party on Friday and we have another private party next Thursday. All good.
• I have had a number of classes to teach, both computer and knitting. Saturday I teach polymer clay and Needlefelted Embellishments.
• The weather is springlike. This year it was not “April Showers bring May flowers.” This year we had flowers at the end of April, we still have them. But the last few days we have had rain. Friday it was coming down “in buckets” so to speak.
• I am knitting a baby outfit from my yarn and Knitting at Knoon’s pattern. More details and photos later.
• Brian bought me seeds for an herb garden. I have done well some years and not so well others, we will hope this year is a good one.
• I have been cooking and baking. Food is such a comfort and a joy at times!
• And I can never say enough about my beloved. How I got this lucky in life, I do not know. We play music together, we eat together, we go for walks together, we laugh and laugh. It is a good life.

Back when I can write a real column… for now it’s bits and pieces. I’m well, I’m happy… I’m busy. Hugs!

I would love to write all sorts of information about the wonderful weekend I had (last week) with the Habibi Dancers (I am one, my stage name is Eudora). This one column will have to suffice, however… there is SO much to write about, and so much work to do away from the computer!

We had our 25th anniversary concert last Saturday. We also had workshops all day Saturday and all afternoon Sunday. And those of us in the show had a special event after the show, at New Aladdin’s restaurant. It was wonderful fun, and exhausting.

Here is me wearing a Khaliji dance dress called a Thobe. This is a dance from Saudi Arabia, a dance traditionally done at all-female parties, dancing together for entertainment. It was/is *not* performed on stage there, though here in the USA dance troupes do perform variations on the theme.

I think those all-girl parties sound like our Wednesday night rehearsals, only more! I absolutely loved doing this dance. The music is wonderful, the dresses are beautiful (see second photo of us on stage showing off the dresses… I am the dancer at far right), and the women in the dance with me were much fun.

I put together a Flickr photoset with about 90 photos of our weekend. (The images are high resolution at Flickr so they load slowly, but you can start a slideshow, walk away for a good while, then come back and view the slideshow the second time without a lot of delays. Or get a cup of tea and just wait…)

Our ukulele-musician friends from Australia, Bosko and Honey, are on a long journey which started with Japan and now includes many states in the USA. They were here visiting us for two nights last week.

The four of us recorded “Row, Row, Row” in our living room on the second night they were here. They did a great job editing, and the video is up now for your listening/viewing enjoyment.

This Saturday, the Habibi Dancers (I am one) will be presenting their 25th anniversary concert at Hannah Community Center in East Lansing, Michigan. The City Pulse newspaper (I *love* these folks) put a relatively long article in their paper this week about the show.

They also included a photo of us in rehearsal for the show. I’m front/left, wearing green (though I’ll be wearing hot pink for the concert itself).

We first heard of Bosko and Honey (the ukulele act from Australia) on YouTube. Then last year in April we met them in person, at the New York Ukefest (we performed Friday, they were on Saturday). We really enjoyed talking with them but with all the distraction of a ukefest and conflicting travel arrangements, we did not get enough time to get to know them as we would have liked.

Luckily for us, they are on their way through the USA again. Tonight and tomorrow night they are staying with us. We have had much good food (Mama Bears and Altu’s) , some exploration (Old Town and East Lansing, and the weather has been wonderful for that), and a good deal of music making. Tomorrow we hope for more of the same.

The photo was taken last year at NYUkefest. I really love this video of their NY Farewell in the subway station. Wonderful.

Garnett Kepler (stage name Yasmina Amal) is in the State News (Michigan State Univ. student paper) today for her work at the World Languages Day at MSU. She taught a session called “Walk like an Egyptian” which included both dance and cultural awareness.

Garnett is my dance teacher and the Director of Habibi Dancers. The article is here.

Photo is the best one of Garnett I’ve ever taken; Minnesota, May 2005.

I just got a promotional email from Ellen Doster of the Motor City Sidestrokers. She handles a few performance spots in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak.

This is a fun, funky area which has changed a lot since I first visited there… a few years ago, I found a decades-old bakery with truly homemade pies, a block from a funky coffee shop, Mongolian Barbecue and a resale shop with bowling shirts for $75. I hope the bakery is still around…

Anyway, Brian and I (The Fabulous Heftones) are playing the Royal Oak Flea Market (in the Farmers’ Market building) this upcoming Sunday. The folks we know who have played here say it is wonderful, so we are really looking forward to it.

And what Ellen wrote? I have enough ego to love it:

Sunday, March 30 The Royal Oak Farmers Market 11:00am-1:00pm

The Fabulous Heftones make their debut performance at the Market. This duo harkens back to a much simpler time when couples wooed, spooned, fawned and fretted over each other. Their Tin Pan Alley music is happily old-fashioned…

…Brian’s ukelele prowess is unbeatable; Lynn drives the music forward with her bass and sweet harmonies. They “sell” it with their mutual moon-eyes and you can’t help but smile.

Join the treasure-hunting marketeers at the Market Cafe for a stroll down memory lane. www.myspace.com/fabulousheftones

Royal Oak Farmers/Flea Market
316 E. Eleven Mile Road
Royal Oak, MI

Some of my readers live in that general vicinity. I’d love to see you come out and say hello!

I have over 200 photos I took last week and before, in case I had time to show you. If I even try to slog through much of that, I am going to drown in past information.

For now, I have to say that I am delighted to really feel well again. Finally. We sang at Foods for Living on Friday for 2 hours. Then we spent a while filling up a cart with groceries. We came home and stuffed them into our rather small food storage area. I made significantly wonderful Swiss Chard with onion and tomato as the highlight of dinner that night.

Saturday we played at Rendezvous by the Grand in Old Town Lansing (MI) and that was more fun (of a totally different sort). The building was once an early-1900s bank with mezzanine and huge tall windows, rounded at the top. Gorgeous.

At one point I was singing “Till There Was You” (written by Meredith Willson , from the show Music Man/1957… many people know it from the Beatles), and the room was rather quiet and actually paying attention to our music. (This being a “night spot” I would not expect this level of attention.) I really enjoyed hearing the acoustics of the building at the moment, which totally make a good moment better.

My voice is really doing great after all that illness for all that time. I have not felt this in control of my “instrument” in a while. And there we were, singing to friends and new fans… and the room was still, and my voice was resonating in a two-story turn of the century building, and we were playing our hearts out. Well, this is one reason I sing. It was magic.

And the people who came out… thank every one of you. Doug and Cynthia came first, then Libby and Chris and Darby, folks from the Dagwood’s Tuesday open mic clan, a crowd of employees from Elderly Instruments (where Brian works, just around the corner and down one block).

Surely at this point I have waited too long to post and I’m forgetting someone, but it’s not at all intentional. Libby came around to give me the nicest of all compliments and I will not forget that. It was just a lovely time. Just wonderful.

And with that I’ll sign off and make other things fit into a different post.

Photos: None of us, it’s sort of hard to take pictures of ourselves while singing.

Stage (with Scratch & Sniff performing) showing vast tall windows. The Well-Fed Kids, not standing very still in their enthusiasm (you should HEAR these guys and their vocal harmonies, they are wonderful). Scratch & Sniff (Phil Wintermute and Paul Bennett) up close and personal and with odd-colored stage lighting. Cynthia with crowd behind her… Cynthia is such a friend (she’s a knitter as well as a music person) and she usually looks more bubbly than this (but here she was paying attention to the music).

Cynthia and I dress somewhat alike and wear our hair in braids often, and are about the same size. People often confuse us. In fact, once I saw a video of contra dance where someone thought C. was me, and I was confused myself. I finally figured out it couldn’t be me (given that I could not see the dancer’s face) because she was wearing clothes I did not recognize. Too Funny! I love having this energy-creating person in my life, she is a joy to me.

I can not tell you how glad I am that February is over and we are on the way to better days. The weather service says we will still have some cold days, but not as much cold and snow as we had in February anyway. This would be normal for March. In fact, we usually get a few flurries in April, too. In the meantime, the few melting days give me hope.

And the performance schedule for The Fabulous Heftones has also warmed up a bit this week! I’m happy to have a musical week lined up.

We will be playing two vastly different venues this Friday and Saturday, Foods for Living health food store in East Lansing (from 2-4 in the afternoon), and then Rendezvous on the Grand, a very fine social/drinking establishment in Old Town (three bands, show 9:30pm-1am, I do not know when we will be on during that time). How different can it get? And all fun, of course.

So here is the postcard I’m mailing out this week to friends without email access (click to get a larger image):

If you want an Adobe Acrobat PDF document to print, Click Here. It will print 4 postcards for you, that’s how the document is set up, but it is quite readable.

This postcard presents three new venus, places where we have never performed before. May I exclaim out loud about how excited I am that we will be playing JazzFest in Lansing this year? Our music is indeed very early jazz. My favorite singer of the 1920’s is Annette Hanshaw, who was one of the first Jazz singers (though sadly forgotten through the years, she was brilliant). I do a good number of songs she performed.

And let’s face it, an act in their home town is often passed by for someone outside the city limit. I am very happy to have a chance to smile at Lansing from an Old Town stage on the 2nd day of August. This is looking up to be a good year!

(Click image for a Letter-Sized PDF poster.)

My friend Temesgen is a musician who specializes in one specific style of ancient Ethiopian music. He is the house musician for Altu’s Ethiopian Cuisine (see photo at right). He plays there the first Saturday of most months (sometimes messed up by holidays, for example he will not play in July).

Temesgen has a website, Temesgen.com, and he has several CDs available there as well as a new video he just released. There is also a Youtube version of it, for those who like to subscribe to Youtube contributors. I just watched it and enjoyed it very much. It is not like any sort of music I grew up with, but it’s soothing and rhythmic in a way that is more like the earth and less like a march or a polka.

I knew Temesgen’s wife Carol back when I was still teaching computer classes. I taught her how to code HTML web pages (when there were no truly functional programs that created web pages for you). But I digress. Just suffice it to say that in Lansing it seems that everyone knows everyone these days!

Do consider taking a look at a video by a man who is keeping alive a musical tradition that is dying out. And if you find this interesting, consider reading some related detail on Wikipedia (much of which was contributed to the wiki by Temesgen himself):

• Temesgen
• Begena (instrument shown in photo above)
• Krar (smaller instrument)
• Music of Ethiopia (A bigger picture)

Well… SO much to do. The ZigBagZ Patterns were sent out to pre-ordering folks on Friday just before the deadline. It is very exciting after eight months of development, to send “my baby” out into the world.

I had some delays, the worst being several weeks of varying illness from “can not focus my eyes/can only sleep” to “wobbly knees.” The last week was not too bad, mostly wobbly knees, but then my printer gave up the ghost and we had to order another one on Monday (a small-office type, so we could not buy at the local Staples).

In the meantime, I had some issues with photographs I placed into my page layout program acting odd. I am so new to InDesign that I just could not figure out what was wrong. Brian helped me get to a place where it didn’t look wrong while printing, though I still do not know what happened.

Thank goodness that got fixed just about when we got the call on Friday that the new printer had arrived. Woohoo!

And the new printer is just spectacular so far. I printed a full ream of paper in part of a day and we had to order more toner the day after the printer got here (printers often come loaded with low-volume toner cartridges and we knew that, but it was scary how fast we used it).

This baby is fast, it’s quieter than our old one by a lot. It deals with color photographs very well. And… once I figure out how to do it, it will print on both sides of one sheet (duplexing) automatically. Without me standing by to control it. Seriously wonderful.

It’s a Ricoh, and it is HUGE (maybe 3 times our last color laser printer which seemed big at the time). However, it’s really perfect for the needs of my business and our musical act, and we gladly made room for it.

Brian did some research for this purchase, and I am thrilled with the result. Since I’ve bought a good number of consumer goods in the last year that I do not like very well. I was extremely happy for him to be the researcher for this very important purchase. I’ll have the printer longer than my laptop, no doubt.

And Now for the Coolest News

Anyway, that was the boring part of this post. I am here to brag about my mom. She and Fred entered the Polk County (Florida) Senior Games again. This is the largest Senior Games in the state of Florida (which has a lot of seniors/retirees). It is even bigger than the State games, a lot of folks participate.

So they competed in couples’ dance (ballroom, etc.) this week. And they came home with NINE MEDALS. All of them are Gold or Silver. Woohoo, Mom!!!

I am at that age where some of my friends are dealing with parents in ill health. Mom had a bit of a struggle about 11-12 years ago, but she is not wasting any time at this point. We all are lucky for this, and none of us in this family take it for granted.

Mom is clear that any day alive on this planet, is a good day. When I want to whine about what seem like big “hiccups” in my life, I try to remember that. I want to be like this woman when I grow up.

I saw my mom kick her foot up to shoulder-height two summers ago, to show off her shoes to someone behind a high counter. Mom is in her young 70’s.

Mom has the most beautiful hair of anyone I know, it’s pure white-silver and perhaps more lovely now than it ever was (and she has always worn her hair long… it’s shorter than it was but still longer than 99% of her peers).

Mom volunteers to help kids learn reading. She rides her recumbent tricycle to school, about 2 miles. Mom is involved in her churches, one in Florida and one up in Michigan. Mom socializes with friends and relatives in both states. Both places are home to her. Mom is a social butterfly of the right kind.

And she and Fred won NINE medals this week for dancing. Cool beans.

Photo added a few hours after initial post: Mom at her 70th birthday lunch. She’s wearing a ColorJoy stole… I designed the pattern, Diana knit it, Mom wears it. All good. It was August so Mom had her famous long hair tied back somehow… but there is her smiling self.

Well, I guess I’m mostly of the living again. I worked for 2 hours Thursday night. Yes, I went home and promptly passed out on the couch but it was SO good to be out again. Work is like “Cheers.” I go places where I work and I know my place, I just belong. It is wonderful.

I was lucky… with all that illness I was fighting, it never messed with my voice. My singing voice is just as clear and strong as ever, and I am grateful. My legs are a bit wobbly still, so playing bass standing up may need to alternate with sitting on a stool from time to time, but that’s OK.

I have not known for sure if I would be well enough for this weekend’s events but now it seems clear that it will work out fine. Therefore I am announcing two Fabulous Heftones concerts, late but with full enthusiasm:

Friday night, 6-8pm, Rae’s Yarn Boutique Grand Re-Opening Gala.

She moved her shop, actually opened the doors at this location on January 2 but it takes a while to get settled in. Tonight is the night. Normally she closes at 6 on Friday, and this week she stays open an extra 2 hours. Those on her email list got a little coupon for the celebration in their email boxes this morning. We’re playing as The Fabulous Heftones from 6-8. It should be a fun time. The new location is 2004 East Michigan Avenue, a few doors down from Emil’s Italian Restaurant and across the street from the Green Door Lounge. This is between the Michigan Avenue Exit of 496, and the Capitol building, about 5 blocks west of the highway/Frandor.

Saturday night, 6:30-8:30pm, Altu’s Ethiopian Cuisine, Valentine’s Weekend Event.

This is our home venue and it will be our 6th Valentine’s Weekend show for Altu. She insists that we are the only right act for the event. I have to say that we truly are “The Most Romantic Act in Lansing.” I’m not sure there is anyone else vying for the title so it’s an easy one to win, but we love that little niche of ours. And why not? Is there nothing more realistic than falling in love? It doesn’t always work out as we planned, but who does not understand that feeling? It is as normal and realistic as rain in April, in the USA. There is no cover, but on Valentines weekend sometimes you have to wait for a table which is unusual at Altu’s as a rule. Bring a friend, your kid, come alone with a book. We would love to sing some schmaltzy romance your way, and a few funny tunes as well.

My town is amazing for the arts, I say that here often. For those who have read my blog for a while, a year ago Brian and I did a workshop for the local Mid-Winter Singing Festival which just happened again this year the first weekend in February. Lansing has it made in this area, all music is well-represented and there are community sings every month even when there is not a full-blown festival.

So today in the New York Times arts section there is an article about community singing, and most of the content comes from my own community. I know almost everyone who was interviewed, it’s home and I am proud.

Sally Potter is the woman whose energy started this local movement and keeps it moving forward. However, the numbers are so large at this point she has created an energy far larger than one… and she has always been one to give credit to others doing work by her side.

I highly recommend reading the article if you just want to feel better about humanity. Whether you like the music they sing or not, the fact that folks can come together when life is not going all that well, and then they can sing and make it matter less, well… it makes my heart glad.

On the top left sidebar of the article, there is a video if you click. The video is really well done, just beautifully assembled and produced. They actually show the church where Brian and I were married, if you are that kind of curious… Folk music concerts are held in that church and that series of concerts is where I first heard Brian sing, where I first discovered “that ukulele guy.” I didn’t know his name for years but it started with the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse, which is now presented in that church. It is a center for music, for the community as well as those who worship on Sunday mornings.

If you must live in the frigid cold of Lansing, in February, there is nothing like an article and video of this caliber to make you glad you are where you are.

Oh… a late add to the post… here is a Youtube video showing clips of many of the daytime workshops from the 2007 festival. Also well worth the view and enough to make you smile. My town is all right!

Go figure. I was sick last Mon-Wed, and got well enough to dance Friday without feeling tired at all. Totally normal. Now I’m sick again. I am really going to lay low this time, I have a lot scheduled this week and I am already cancelling one thing at a time.

I will not sit up and write, but I’ll show you photos of Friday’s dancing event. In the middle photo, we were dancing together, you can see a bit of my arm in the background.

It was a lot of fun.