This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

I've Got the Music in Me (#BOTB Results)


      They say that practice makes perfect.  They also say that no one is perfect.  I'm not sure who "they" are, but the contradiction between these statements is perfectly absurd...  


Focusing on Music
Marley at a recent performance
(she's my granddaughter!)
         This year I've become more focused on creating music, this mostly due to being inspired by my oldest granddaughter Marley.  She won't be 10 until September so she's still mostly a kid, but she's become pretty serious about her music.  When I was visiting her this summer she proudly showed off her very neatly organized room and her collection of musical instruments.  She's been taking lessons in instruments and vocals.  There's definitely talent in that girl.

          My biggest inspiration came toward the end of April as the Blogging from A to Z Challenge was winding down.  A song came to me and I recognized it as my song for Marley.  Hopefully she'll be singing it soon as part of her repertoire.  During my summer visit I watched her do a five song set at an open mike night in a New Jersey coffee bar.  Though all the other performers were adults, Marley held her own and impressed the crowd.  The young lady has some guts that I never had even at twice her age.

          I've been rather preoccupied by my song (that is, Marley's song) of late so between that and the stuff of my life I've not been keeping up with blogging to the extent that I probably should.  Consequently I may have not been visiting blogs like I've done in the past.  Sorry, but for now my priority is working with my song--but more of that later in this post.   First though, let's get to the results of my previous Battle of the Bands...

Battle of the Bands Results


        My Battle between Jane Olivor and Alice Cooper was a somewhat odd pairing that I had no idea how it would turn out.  For my part, I went into this favoring Jane Olivor's version and that's where my vote ended up.  I've been a long time fan of Alice Cooper, but I was not overly thrilled with his rendition of "Always Chasing Rainbows." 

          Once again I was in a minority.  Alice pretty well ran away with this contest, but all things considered, Jane Olivor did not do terribly.

Final Vote Tally

Jane Olivor            6

Alice Cooper        11




Next Battle on Saturday September 1st!!!

          As for my song "Let's Run"--a song I've been mentioning since May--I now have two versions ready for Battle in my next round.   This Battle will be a sort of West Coast versus East Coast--or more precisely East Tennessee Coast.  I'll likely have another version by the end of the week which could give me a three-way.   Better yet, I'd still like to get some more covers for future Battles.

            I'm thinking big as usual--and chasing rainbows. 

            If I didn't dream big then I'd likely forget those dreams and try to just get through each day without accomplishing much.   With that, I'm outta here.

            How often have your dreams been accomplished as big as you first dreamed them?    Have you ever been taken by surprise at the outcome of a dream?   Does perfectionism sometimes hinder your progress?







       

23 comments:

  1. I figured Alice would run away with this one! ☺ His rendition wasn't the greatest, but Jane was just way too laid back for me. I'm thrilled your song is going to be featured in the next BOTB and will definitely check it out! Sounds like Marley has a great future ahead of her as a musician. Not surprising, since you're a "showbiz" family, yes?

    Since childhood I dreamt of one day visiting Greece and that finally happened in 2013. That was the biggest dream come true, so far, and surpassed all expectations. Adding a few more this Sept. incl. Venice and Malta. Perfectionism always hinders my progress, which is why it takes forever to do a blog post. I get hung up on graphics and formatting.

    Looking forward to hearing "Let's Run". So exciting!

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    1. Debbie D, I know my girls have been bitten by a show-biz bug so seems reasonable that they would pass it on to their kids. Hope Marley doesn't get discouraged and keeps pursuing her talents.

      I think about perfection, but know that thinking I'll achieve it can get in the way of completing projects.

      Lee

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  2. Glad to hear you're going to be able to unveil your song, LEE.

    And just the other day I was thinking about how no BOTBer has done a 3-Way in quite awhile. (Not that I'm necessarily complaining about that.) But that'll be neat if we have 3 different versions of your song to choose from.

    See ya on 9/1.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS'

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    1. STMcC, I'd rather do a run-off thing over a few weeks with 4 or more versions, but the 3 way would be okay. I'm not a fan of the three way contests either so I don't especially want to do one of those.

      I'm getting my post ready for the next Battle.

      Lee

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  3. That's awesome about your granddaughter! I'm looking forward to hearing your song!

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    1. Loni, so far Marley is showing a lot a spunk and persistence in pursuing her music. I wish I'd been that motivated when I was a kid.

      Lee

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  4. Scientific experts today know laughter can be quite healthy and even therapeutic well singing works wonders too.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Spacer Guy, laughter is great medicine, but I agree about the value of singing. Songwriting is a good way to express oneself.

      Lee

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  5. Yay, Marley! You will have such fun watching her grow!

    Dreams. I've been having some lately, always about family get-togethers, teaching, getting lost. Stress dreams.

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    1. Susan K, I wish I could be around Marley more often to help her, but she gets a lot of support from nearby family.

      I have a lot of those "lost" dreams--or maybe not lost but just wandering about.

      Lee

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    1. Roland, hopefully she'll keep her head on straight as her life progresses.

      Lee

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  7. Best wishes to you and to Marley in this pursuit of music. I think it is great that she's going for it and has such a supportive family. A supportive family means everything.

    As for your question about perfectionism...YES! It has always stood in my way. I am afraid of putting myself out there and making mistakes and then being ridiculed/humiliated because of them.

    However, this week, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and started a cooking channel on YouTube. I let David record me...and even let my voice be on the recording. I know there will probably be mean comments at some point, it always happens. But, I'm going to try to be a bit more like my Granny and live with a THWY attitude when it comes to the mean people. Perfectionism will still try to rear its head, but I will just have to try to fight through it or I will never achieve what I've set out to achieve. We'll see how that goes.

    Have a blessed week!

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    Replies
    1. Suzanne, I don't think you'll get mean comments about your videos. You're not posting anything particularly incendiary to anyone. I wish you well with your upcoming videos.

      Lee

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    2. You'd be surprised, Arlee. I've seen some pretty stinky comments on very benign videos. One was a pottery teacher that was making videos to supplement her classes. She stated at the beginning that she had to wear gloves due to a sensitivity to some of the clay she was working with. She got all kind of grief in the comments about wearing those gloves. Some folks just don't have anything better to do or feel like they have to bring down people that are doing things they aren't doing or can't do.
      Thanks for your encouragement and well wishes. :) Have a blessed night.

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  8. I didn't choose the winner but the song is a firm fasvourite of mine all the same.

    Yvonne.

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    1. Yvonne, the version by Chopin would have probably won over all the other versions of the song version.

      Lee

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  9. Lee,

    The only dream that's materialized is the publication of my first and only children's book. All others are still in limbo waiting to be fulfilled. :)

    How exciting that your granddaughter is pursuing her dreams at such a young age! That's marvelous. Perhaps, she should audition for America's Got Talent? That show has some amazing young talent to walk on stage at times. I think it's wonderful that you're continuing to write songs. I admire those who can express themselves through mewsic. I can't wait to listen to it.

    BTW, can you can change my email address for your subscription service? I think I tried adding my preferred email addy today but I don't recall getting notification. I removed my cathykennedystories addy from my inbox and I forget to check it online so today I used my preferred address curiousasacathy. If you have a way to check that then I'd appreciate it.

    Well...I'm playing catch up after a busy week. Have a great rest of the week. My next battle is also on Sept. 1st. Oh yeah, looks like I picked the winner in this round! :)

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    1. Cathy, I'm not sure what to do about your email address--not sure where I access that stuff. I think there is an issue with Blogger and blogs in general as I've stopped getting a lot of notifications that I used to get. I think that European meddling has interfered with a lot of blog things.

      Lee

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  10. Great that she is following her dream and learning all she can.

    As for dreams, I'm usually just do what has to be done person. Although winning the lottery still hasn't come true lol may need to buy a ticket first.

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    1. Pat, I got on a lotto ticket buying habit for a few years but gave it up about 3 years ago. Never won much of anything.

      Lee

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  11. Your granddaughter sounds like a prodigy. I started playing at 10, but I wans't anywhere close to where she's at now. I hope the nurturing helps her become a big star down the road.

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    1. Mitch, she's got a drive for the time being. Stardom or not, I hope she is at least happy and fulfilled by her musical pursuits.

      Lee

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Go ahead and say something. Don't be afraid to speak your mind.
I normally try to respond to all comments in the comment section so please remember to check the "Email follow-up comments" box if you want to participate in the comment conversation.

For Battle of the Bands voting the "Anonymous" commenting option has been made available though this version is the least preferred. If voting using "anonymous" please include in your comment your name (first only is okay) and city you are voting from and the reason you chose the artist you did.

If you know me and want to comment but don't want to do it here, then you can send me an email @ jacksonlee51 at aol dot com.

Lee