When I received a secretarial award in my senior year of high school, I had submitted my “biography.” More to follow at the end of this post.
It was a special moment for me to acknowledge that a year had passed since I began writing about my life.
Currently, I am trying to compile a book from the over 2,000 pages I wrote last year for this blog. Since I’ve eliminated the word “should” from my vocabulary, I tell myself instead things such as, “I could be working on the book now.” That is because I passionately prefer writing new material over editing my book!
Pressure is never helpful for me. Even though it is boring working on the book, my motivation is the fact that I will be able to reach a larger audience that way.
“I wasn’t very nice to him”
Although I realize I’ve written a lot in one year, there are still more things for me to say. I am not finished writing!
Perhaps now I can “delve deeper.” The casual statements that I’ve made often have memories and stories to tell behind those words.
I begin now with one of those statements found at:
“I find it amazing how I have reconnected with my childhood friends. Steve was the little boy I used to boss around when I was eight years old. He was my slave, and I wasn’t always very nice to him. Steve and I played practically every day together until he moved away when I was ten. I hadn’t seen him or spoken to him until April of 2010. By my count, that would be about forty years!”
“Guess whose visiting today?” my mother said.
It had been two years since my “buddy” Steve had moved away. Today, he and his mother were coming to visit us! I believe I was twelve-years-old that day. Steve was two years younger than I, so he was ten.
The moment they arrived, Steve came running over to me. He was bubbling with excitement to show me a mechanical contraption he had brought with him. Suddenly, I felt disdain – it seemed so silly for me. I told him so.
Steve showed no emotion, or I didn’t notice. I felt very grown up. Suddenly, I felt like our childhood games were now too “immature” for me. He begged me; he wanted to play our favorite game on bikes we named, “chase-away!”
I shook my head, no. He had a lot of other ideas. We used to pretend we were in a submarine while in our bathroom. Nothing sounded like any fun for me. In fact, I started to feel quite annoyed with him. Would he ever “grow up?”
I wasn’t very nice.
I was in the kitchen. His mother, Marilyn, came over to me and said, “Judy, can I talk with you?”
I listened carefully to her words. She said, “You know, Steve has been looking so forward to seeing you – for weeks! He is devastated that you are so disinterested in what he brought to share with you.”
My eyes were wide. The impact of her words stayed with me. I never forgot that moment.
I went back over to Steve. I put my hand on his shoulder and I said, “Let me see that neat contraption you brought – tell me about it!” My attitude changed completely.
That was the very, last time I saw Steve. It was forty years later when I saw him in April of last year.
Working with Steve on Saturday.
It has been less than a year since I began creating song recordings. Certainly, I have improved from when I first started recording with George. Initially, I sang many of my songs in keys that were too high. Sometimes, I didn’t consider nuances of tempo, retard endings, or song format.
Despite all of that, I am amazed at the beauty of George’s arrangements and consider the biggest improvement of all my singing ability. Therefore, since I want my music to be part of my story – I want to have the best vocals I am capable of.
When I reconnected with Steve last year, I wrote about our reunion at:
Since that time, we’ve corresponded daily. Steve has worked tirelessly on creating “mixes” of my arrangements. He experiments and always gives me excellent feedback. Here is a message from him that shares some of his background:
On Aug 6, 2010, Steve wrote:
My first paying job was at the radio station I was volunteering at. I thought the technical work the engineers did was “cool” and whenever I could I would watch them work. I was asked if I was interested in learning how to do “fill in” work. You had to have an FCC 3rd class license to do that (as you were controlling the power level of the transmitter), so I got the study guide and studied it all by myself. I passed the test on my first try (while many adults failed it). Soon after I started working weekends, including past midnight (a “no no” for minors) and I never had any “work permits.” It was great and I was making adult money. Those were fun days. Steve
Lastly, I have begun recording new vocals at Steve’s apartment in Los Angeles. Steve has generously volunteered his time to help me. I am sharing some of our correspondence when we came up with this idea last December.
On Dec 27, 2010, Steve wrote:
I emailed a friend earlier who works in radio (we used to work together), he’s going to loan me a Neumann TLM 103 microphone for as long as I want it, we can see how you sound with it.
Steve
Oh my god, Steve, that’s soooo exciting – I’m honored to have such a good mic!
I can’t wait. When you’re back, look at your calendar and let me know when is good. I’m very open – except for my Borders nights!
Judy
It’s not the $3,300 U87 that everyone wants; this one is about $1,300 I think. It has a lot of the same components as the U87 though – the ones that are important for use as a vocal mic. I’m also going to try a new Mic Preamp, which is a critical component too, and I am hoping will add warmth to the sound.
Steve
All this good equipment – and I’m such a mediocre singer. I’ll give you A+ feeling, though!
Judy
Ps. Hey – you’ve made good recordings for me after I sang into the mic hole on my Mac. Imagine how much better this is going to be!
This past Saturday, Steve and I worked for five hours on three songs. The new versions are now on the blog, and will continue to be “refined.” I entitled this post, “I SING FROM MY HEART” because that is true for me. At this time, I am really trying to improve as a singer, so as to better convey my message.
Below are clips from my voice lesson with Peaches Chrenko. Once again, I am sharing my passion of being a singer/songwriter!
Hmm, a business career might have been more rewarding financially. No way! However, business skills are helpful in life.
© Judy Unger and http://www.myjourneysinsight.com 2011. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Judy Unger with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
myjourneysinsight 