Walk Journal ~ November 25 Ramblings

Finally outside again and so glad! The sunset was spectacular.

Hello; my name is Katherine and it's been two weeks since my last walk.  

Two weeks.  That's the longest time between walks or workouts that I've experienced since getting back on the road to healthy.  Part of  becoming fit was the realization that as much as I'd like to, I'm not able to actually do everything I want to do.  There are simply not enough hours in the day or days in the week.  So when I started making better choices for myself in the food and exercise departments, I also started making better decisions for my after-work schedule.  I've tried hard not to overbook myself so that there is plenty of time to shop, prep dinners and lunches and walk, either outside or inside (with Leslie).  But I lost control of the calendar last week and the previous one as well and wound up having 8 evening obligations in 11 days.  Add in several long days into evenings at work and my life quickly became a flashback to drive-through dinners, sleepless nights with no decompressing time and no time to work out.

Despite the cold, it was a relief to get out.  I did my usual dusk/dark route--one with sidewalks and streetlights.  But it was still pretty light when I started out and made my way down to the river.  Knowing it would be dark by the time I reached my usual picture place at McCarter Park, I paused at the river's edge at the park several blocks from my house.  The empty, still swings said as much about the cold as the thermometer.  So did the ice on the very shallow water.  I'm grateful for the shallowness, though, as the 2 - 4 inches of rain predicted for this week could really do a lot of damage otherwise.

A couple of hundred feet more and I'm saddened to see yet another house is gone.  So strange to see these empty lots.  There is really nothing that says a home was once there except for the emergency fencing and a small bit of rubble.  It's almost as though a giant crane dipped out of the sky and plucked them up.  It's only about a dozen houses that will ultimately be razed in the wake of 2011's Irene.  A small number compared to the houses that were lost elsewhere in New Jersey last year during Sandy and the whole towns that were destroyed this month in the Philippines.  I can't help but think of how powerless people are in the face of these natural disasters and how strong the communities are that overcome them.  My mind wanders back to the days just after the hurricane (or tropical storm) and how amazing this town, my friends, colleagues and neighbors, and my family were in the days and weeks after it.

No time to look back though.  Knee is feeling not awful so I try running a little--emphasis on "a little."  But it's more running than I've done in months and shortly I'm enjoying a gorgeous sunset at the pond.  The purple aura of the setting sun isn't as vivid in this picture as it was while I paused to admire it.  It was pretty dramatic.  I headed off to the back of the park as the light quickly began to fade but then thought better of completing the circle around the pond.  The other side is wooded with rocky, rutted paths, hostile roots and wicked stray branches.  And I know the bears aren't all asleep yet--we've had a lot of evidence of their bulking up at school lately and had to order more "bear-proofing" on our dumpsters.  Probably not a good idea to wander alone in the dark in the woods.  The Girl Scout leader in me prevails.

It's about two miles to the pond from my house and another mile and a quarter to get back downtown.  No running on the way back.  It's weird but when I run I look ahead, watching for each little milestone and enduring the dialog in my head (go as far as the orphanage, run to the church, you can make it to the spring ....).  But on the darkened streets and sidewalks, I'm mostly looking down, trying not to trip on broken concrete or miss a curb.  The last thing I need to do is fall.

Turning onto Broadway, I walk along the river to the bridge and then turn for home.  The snowflakes are up on light poles and glitter and glow so warmly and our homespun candy canes line the sidewalks of the retail district.  This is such a special time of year in this town and this weekend coming up will be a lot of fun with a downtown open house and holiday parade.  These local traditions make living here such a sweet experience--they create a certain rhythm of promise and comfort and spell "home" to me.  

Oddly, as I took this last picture, my trusty walking companion (known as iPhone) powered down for no good reason that I could tell.  Forced to walk the last half mile without music, my thoughts seemed to grow louder in the silence.  Of course, there's always music in downtown Denville.  There are speakers all throughout downtown and by this weekend, there will be Christmas music all day, every day.  Tonight there are familiar old standards.  I don't know of any other town that does this (although I'm sure there must be some).  You just have to smile when you're here.  There's music in the air plus coffee on three corners.  And much, much more.   

So good to get back out.  I hereby promise myself not to sabotage my schedule, whether by accident or by my inability to say no.  Three nights out of five is the limit.  I can't afford for it not to be.

~~~

Soundtrack for a Monday night--members of Team Katherine, those who helped me so much last year.  Perfect for getting back on track.

Colbie Caillat's new single, Hold On
Andy Grammer's EP, Crazy Beautiful.  
Chris Wallace's record, Push Rewind.  Listen to Keep Me Crazy--fun song.
Tyler Hilton's record, Forget the Storm.  Loaded Gun: best running song.

Team Captain Gavin DeGraw was not on this walk (iPhone #fail) but his new album, Make A Move is in my head almost all the time.  

3.88 Charity Miles for Nothing But Nets.  Malaria still robs a child of his or her life every minute.

Concert Diaries ~ Chapter 17: Tyler Hilton

I've written in the past how finding one musician you like can lead to finding another one and then another.  Sometimes your favorite musician tells you who he's listening to and you check out that artist (how I heard Hiliary Williams) and sometimes someone you've met because of the music shares his or her favorites with you (how I first heard Tyler Hilton--thanks JM!)

Tyler Hilton in the role of Chris Keller, One Tree Hill

Do you know Tyler Hilton?  Maybe you were a fan of One Tree Hill, the television show, and enjoyed his performances in the role of Chris Keller.  Or maybe you're a Johnny Cash fan so you saw his portrayal of Elvis Presley in the biopic, Walk the Line.  He played Murphy Bivens in Charlie Bartlett.  He's an actor.  And a singer.  And a songwriter.

One of the things that these singer/songwriters who capture my attention have in common is that they're all generous and have espoused certain causes and/or charities.  Gavin DeGraw does a lot of outreach in the Veteran community and has championed the reduction of malaria in sub-Sahara Africa (a favorite cause of mine from 'way back).  Michael Franti started the Do It For the Love Foundation which brings the joy of live music to terminally ill patients.  Tyler Hilton has taken on the cause of literacy in areas that lack for funding.  He visited a school in New York this year that had been hard hit by Hurricane Sandy and brought books that had been donated through his foundation.  This attribute of generosity and the propensity for giving back and involving fans in these worthy causes make these folks even more attractive to me.

This was my second Tyler Hilton show.  I'd seen him back on a cold and windy night in January at the Gramercy Park Theater.  He shared the bill with Teddy Geiger and Ryan Cabrera that night and Rebecca Perl opened (I hope to hear her again live some day).  Tyler's warmth and energy were impressive that night.  I'd already found his music and lyrics irristable and I came away from that night an even bigger fan.

This time around I signed on for a VIP meet and greet as well as the concert.  It's an opportunity to hear the music up close and personal and meet the artist.  I like having the opportunity to tell musicians who really mean a lot to me how much their music has enhanced my life.  Tyler Hilton falls into that category.  He, or more accurately, his music, accompanied me on a lot of my walks last year, helped me dance again in the living room and encouraged me to get my health back on track.

The concert was at a restaurant in Teaneck, Mexicali Live, and the meet and greet was to have been there as well.  But the day before the show, I received an email that the private preshow location had been changed and was being kept a secret until just before the performance.  I'd receive another email in the morning with instructions as to where to meet Tyler.  Strange.  I started feeling a little nervous about this concert adventure.

Sure enough, Sunday morning I received a second email instructing me to go to the Starbucks in Englewood.  Starbucks?  Just a regular old, one-on-every-corner Starbucks?  I assumed they'd rented the whole place out for us.  But no, when I finally arrived (after a tense 30 minutes of being lost because I failed to trust the GPS) I could see that it was like every other Starbucks you've ever been to with people attached to their laptops and iPads, couples and little groups scattered about.  Over in the corner was a group of young women--teenagers and 20-somethings.  One of them, an older one, was "taking attendance."  I gave her my name and stood apart from the little crowd, thinking I am so out of my demographic and wondering what in the world I had been thinking, wishing for the umteenth time that I had a concert buddy nearby.

Tyler called in.  Oddly enough, he and Dion Roy, were lost too.  In Newark.  His street team put him on speaker and we listened to him tell us to sit tight and he'd be there soon.  And he was.  He strode into the Starbucks with his guitar, Dion with him, unpacked quickly while chatting with about 15 or so young women and one middle-aged one (and one or two mom-drivers of the very young groups of girls).  

He could play at my Starbucks sometime ...

Tyler has a strong, beautiful voice and played a couple of new songs for us.  Lots of people don't like new music.  They want old, familiar tunes that they can sing along to.  I do too but I also love it when an artist shares new material.  I think it's a privilege to be among the first to hear a new creation.  These new songs were really beautiful--ballads, the type of thing I could listen to all night.  I hope he's working on a new album and that these songs will be on it.

The crowd that happened to be in Starbucks that night really got lucky.  Although curiously, some never even looked up and I wondered if recording artists dropping by and playing were a regular thing.  After all, a recording artist happens to be seen around my town quite a lot.  But he lives here.  And we try to give him his privacy when he's out.  (Like Monday afternoon, when I saw him emerge from Subway.)  But back to Sunday night...  Tyler chatted some more and then played a cover of a song from Keith Urban's new album.  Cop Car was written by a friend of his, Sam Hunt, and he performed it so well.  I think he wanted to play more but because of the late arrival, it was almost time to move to the next venue.  Tyler signed CD's (Live from Atlanta) for everyone, took his time chatting with each person and patiently posed for pictures.  Then it was off to the restaurant.

Just a short drive away, I found Mexicali Live with no problem.  It's a restaurant with a decent size stage.  There are tables upstairs and down and a small bar.  I took a table downstairs, feeling guilty for taking a 4-top but the 2-tops were all taken and, of course, experienced my usual "table-for-one" problems.  No, I'm not waiting for anyone.  Yes, I'm here by myself.  When the waitstaff finally realized I was there, though, they couldn't have been nicer.  Eventually, I ordered dinner (steak salad was really good) and a beer.  Looking around, I was relieved to see I wasn't the oldest one in the room anymore but the over 40's were still clearly the minority.  I didn't catch the name of the young woman singing on the stage--she'd already started when I came in.  She was okay and did a number of Ed Sheeran covers and some original songs.  Dion Roy came out and sang a few songs from his album including my favorite, Daughter--just a gorgeous piece of music and the lyric is what every parent wishes they'd written for his or her own child.  I wished his set had been longer.

My table for one.

Tyler's hour-long set included all my favorites, a couple of songs I didn't know, the Keith Urban cover again, his outstanding cover of Rihanna's Stay (which I swear he does better than she).  He gave us Kicking My Heels, Jenny--my very favorite, When the Stars Go Blue (from One Tree Hill) and California.  Someone asked him if the guitar he was playing was Hayley James (that's an inside One Tree Hill reference) and he replied with a funny story about that guitar.  He talked about writing in Nashville and how much he loved being there to write.  There's that Nashville thing again ... I will see (and hear) for myself in May ...

There was more singing, more of my favorites like Prince of Nothing Charming until he finally ended with Loaded Gun.  That's a loaded song.  It always makes me run a little faster when it shuffles its way into my workout.  It was the perfect ending for this intimate show.

Mingling with fans buying CD's, posters and more (yes, I have another new shirt), he was generous with autographs and kind, appreciative words for everyone.  It was such a fun night; both Tyler and Dion Roy are wonderful entertainers and I hope they get back this way again soon.  Watch for them both in your town and then go ... you won't be disappointed.

~~~

Favorite Tyler Hilton songs:

Jenny - from Scala in London (the second night at Scala, my brother had attended the performance the evening before)

Leave Him - live at the Rockwood in New York, small intimate and red (it's really red there, I always get distracted by that when I'm there)

Loaded Gun - This is taken from the finale of One Tree Hill.  Tyler's character on OTH was sort of obnoxious, nothing like him.  There was no crowd surfing Sunday night! And if you watch that last episode of OTH, you'll also see performances by Gavin DeGraw.

Stay - cover of Rihanna hit.  I like his interpretation so much better.

Tyler Hilton Books for Kids

Dion Roy's Daughter is such a beautiful, emotional song. I hope my own daughter will want it played at her wedding some day.

Concert Diaries Chapter Fourteen ~ Financing the Obsession

Tyler Hilton, January 2013

I have a problem.  I have this new hobby and it's not cheap.  Even the free concerts aren't cheap ... they're never in my backyard so usually travel is involved.  Hotels in big cities, train tickets or tanks of gas ... it's all starting to add up.  Actually, it's past adding up.  I'm now scrounging to make my adventures happen.

And scrounge I will because it's an obsessions and an addiction.  Maybe if I'd done more live music before now, "middle-agedness", this need wouldn't feel so great but I didn't and it is.  I can't explain the feeling that comes over me hearing someone that I admire a lot perform in person.  It invigorates me for days.  Really and truly.

So ... how to fund the new "hobby?"

Well, for starters I took on an extra duty at work.  In the world of education (at least around here), they're called stipend positions (coaches, advisors, etc.), extra work done after work, in addition to your regular job description.  I'm our district's new web master.  It's a decent stipend and I actually enjoy the work ... it's another creative outlet for me and I love the challenge of improving communication.  It should be pointed out, however, that I am, by no means, a master at this yet.  But I'm learning a lot every day and a day when we learn something is always a good day.  And that's one nice chunk of change for the concert jar.

One of the best and most upscale consignment stores in Northern New Jersey is right in my town.  Today I had an appointment for my first batch of clothes to consign.  They only take 20 pieces at a time so I already have a second appointment in a couple of weeks.  I have lots of professional clothes in sizes I can no longer wear (thankfully).  And I'll confess it here ... I'm selling clothes that are 2X, size 20 and 22.  I looked at the pile of them last night and could not believe that a year and a half ago, I was wearing them.  Thank goodness I'm healthy now.  And even though I've given away most of that wardrobe, I'm glad to have the opportunity to sell some and contribute to the concert jar.  And since I'm continuing to lose, there should be a few more drop-offs at the shop.

I'm thinking of ebaying.  Is that a word?  Can it be a verb?  I'm making it so.  I've been thinking of ebaying a variety of "stuff" that's hanging around the house.  Knick knacks that I've acquired while closing up my aunts' homes, duplicates and edits from the antique Girl Scout stuff collection, zillions of books.  It's all that little "stuff" that accumulates and you hang on to for really no good reason.  I shop a lot on ebay but I've never sold.  I'm not sure about doing it because I know it's a commitment.  Proper and timely shipping of sold "stuff" might prove difficult for me.  Work has been relentless lately and there are many, many days when getting to the post office would be a complete impossibility.  Although I could use those flat rate boxes ... hmmmm ... maybe I could do this.  It's worth investigating.

That's the plan for now ... it's not a lot but hopefully it will be enough.

Because there are other adventures planned.  One of them takes place tomorrow ...

~

Restyle Renew ~ consignments

Time for Music

I bought more tickets today.  Gavin DeGraw in Virginia Beach.  For someone else, this would not be out of the ordinary but for me  . . . well up until last year, I hadn't been to a concert--rock or pop, that is--in 29 years.  That time was Warren Zevon, with my former husband, or rather, fiance at that time.  Not my taste in music but I went for Mark (turned out to be an interesting night, but that's another story).  

My first concert ever was Seals and Croft in the summer of  '74.  A bunch of us snuck out of music camp in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts and hitch hiked over to Tanglewood and then weaseled our way onto the lawn.  At least that's how I remember it.  Funny, I hadn't thought about that in years but heard Seals and Croft in the grocery store tonight (of all places) and it brought me right back there.  Tweeting about hearing We May Never Pass This Way Again, I connected with a friend on Twitter and related the story about sneaking out of camp.  We had a laugh over it.

The next concert I remember (non-classical music) was Bob Dylan in Cincinnati, maybe 1979.  I think that's where it was.  Huge arena.  Mostly what I remember about that one is the haze of hemp that permeated that huge arena.  Since I'm not a partaker, I wasn't enjoying the atmosphere (so to speak) but I do remember thinking he was a genius.

That might have been it for me and live music had it not been for Dancing With the Stars.  That's right, Dancing With the Stars.  I don't watch Dancing.  Not my thing at all.  But everyone at work watches so I tuned in once last spring, March 2012.  There was this singer, a pretty bad dancer, but so charming, humble and generous.  His name was Gavin DeGraw.  Who?  Wasn't listening to radio, didn't watch One Tree Hill, hadn't checked a concert venue schedule in years, or I may have heard of him.  So I did what any other curious person might do.  I googled.  Then I listened.  Then I bought the music--every bit I could find, in duplicate (car and house copies).  After that came the tickets.  

My first time seeing Gavin DeGraw in person was in Big Flats, NY.  Four-ish hours away, I drove up on Sunday, sat in the rain for the show and drove home the next morning.  That night I travelled to Rye, NY to see him for the second time, again in the rain.  Rested up for a day then drove to Boston to drag my daughter to see him there.  Boston again, in September, Utica in October, Long Island in November, then back-to-back days in December in Worcester, MA and Manhattan.  Hooked?  You bet.

First and foremost, it's the music.  Soulful, sincere, original, very musical music.  Every song seems special to me.  Every song speaks to some part of me--past or present and even future.  It was listening to Gavin that gave me strength to begin to hope again that there could be something more to come in my life.  Maybe something to fill the empty spot.

Then came the summer evenings of listening to YouTube concerts and interviews.  Funny, funny interviews.  He has an endless number of stories about himself, life on the road, funny things that have happened to him along the way.  My favorite interviews are the more serious ones where he talks about music--his music or music in general.  I admire that in a business that is rather relentless, he's managed to stay true to himself.  I imagine there's been a price to pay for that.  For not always caving in to someone's else's notions of what his art should be, for having his own opinions, for his extreme generosity in regards to other musicians.  I was captivated.

I'd joined Twitter shortly before the concert adventures started.  I joined because it's one of the new ways the Girl Scout movement is using to relay information.  But I quickly branched out from @GirlScouts and followed @GavinDeGraw.  That may have been the best decision I've ever made.  Gavin tweets a fair amount.  I learned a lot about him through the short bursts of text known as tweets.  Then I started noticing other people who follow him. I followed them too.  Some of them followed me.  Before I knew it, I had dozens of new friends, all of whom were as deeply hooked on the man and his music as I was.  I began to meet them at the shows.  Some have become friends on other social media like Facebook.  I'm getting to know them and about their lives and families and they are very special people in my life.

So I give Gavin DeGraw the credit for lifting me out of the fog I'd been living in for nearly 20 years.  He accompanied me on my workouts and has helped me lose nearly 100 pounds so far.  He brought health, fun, anticipation and beautiful new friendships my way.  These are not insignificant things.  He pointed me in the direction of other musicians and so did the friends I've made because of him.  So in addition to the three Gavin concerts I've lined up, I'm also seeing Andy Grammer, Chris Wallace, Tyler Hilton and the Jamie McLean Band this spring.  

My life is filled with music these days . . . actual music and another sort of music . . . it's the music of happiness, of looking forward, of finally setting down that load of regrets . . . it's my music.

PS  There is dancing too.