And the music plays on

This Decker & Son grand piano, built in 1903, has been in our family since before I can remember.

The piano, purchased by my parents in 1958, has graced our family living rooms in Berkeley and Atherton, California, as well as three homes in Ashland, Oregon and our current home in Woodinville, Washington, and has been witness to countless family events, both in my family or origin and in my current family.

(This is me at the piano when I was about eight.)

(This is my parents in about 2001 – one of my favorite photos of them!)

After Mom died in 2004, Dad decided that the piano was just too big and cumbersome for him so he offered it to his kids, nieces and nephews, and other family members. But it was just too big for almost everyone and, in Ashland, Oregon, was too far away for us.

Just as he was ready to sell it to a stranger, I decided that it simply must stay in the family and had it moved to our home in Woodinville, where it graced our living room for 11 years.

With our upcoming move to Suncadia, though, I decided that it was time to find a new home for the piano. Again, no family members wanted it – or wanted to move it – so I went about looking for someone local.

But first I wanted to find the current value of this beautiful antique. I was shocked to learn that there is absolutely no market for a grand piano anymore! Digital keyboards have amazing acoustics these days and no one seems to want such a huge piece of furniture. I was dismayed to learn that my only hope would be to GIVE it away!

When posting on our local Buy Nothing Facebook page gleaned no results (two people were interested, but due to size and a possible tuning issue, those didn’t pan out), I took to Craigslist:

I did receive quite a few requests for the piano and finally selected a Sustainable Energy Specialist and his elected official wife (who also works for the environment) in Seattle, whose 1927 home, which had been in their family for decades, overlooks the Puget Sound. The thought of the piano in such a beautiful location and in such an obviously loving family made me happy. It was a totally subjective decision, just as I knew it would be.

It was sad to see the piano leave…

…but I left a few items in the bench for “provenance.”

And now it has found a lovely new home and new owners who will hopefully keep in touch with me every once in a while and who, when their time comes, will continue to pass it on to people who will appreciate its history.

It looks just right in its new home, doesn’t it?

And our new spacious living room doesn’t look so bad either.

I’ve never been a huge Michael Jackson fan, but I AM a huge SEATTLE fan. Here’s why:

I’m all lumpy-throated

Twisted Tunes

When I was commuting an hour or more to work each morning, my constant radio companions were Bob, Spike, Joe and Kaci, of the Bob Rivers Show on 102.5 KZOK radio in Seattle. They kept me laughing all the way along the 520, 405 and 5 freeways and often I arrived at work hardly even aware of the long drive or the traffic, thanks to my radio buddies.

My commute is now much shorter and Bob and friends are usually just finishing their morning show when I get into my car, but I still try to catch the last few minutes of the show, hoping for a Twisted Tune.

Bob and Spike are the talented and creative minds behind these hilarities (and Bob’s son is the producer of the best of them), and although the radio versions are great, these music videos are even better! If you live in the Seattle area, you might be able to catch one for yourself. If you’re elsewhere, here’s a little treat for you:

Kat-squatch!

Kat is headed to the Sasquatch Music Festival at The Gorge in George (Washington) this weekend. Maybe it's my "child of the 60's" mentality, but I can't help but worry. OK, "worry" is probably too strong a word. After all, she's going with six strapping young men, good guys who have been friends of hers for years (and who we know), so I know she'll be well taken care of.

And I know this will be no Woodstock, or even Day on the Green (my memory of such events!), although I know I'd be completely naive to believe that there won't be drugs and alcohol there. But this child of mine, this youngest, is now a full-fledged adult -- and one with a good head on her shoulders and tons of common sense -- so I gave her a hug and a kiss this morning and wished her well, knowing that she'll have a blast for four full days, and will come back on Tuesday, dying for a shower, some sleep and some good, healthy food!

Late Evening Entertainment with Ron

Ron arrived at our house shortly after 11 PM and by 11:15, this is what was goin' down:

A (Beautiful) Voice From the Past

Remember when I wondered how my friend Courtney Campbell might be doing?

I met Courtney many (many) years ago when she was performing at local L.A. elementary schools. I fell in love with her music, her knack for storytelling, her love for children, and her spirit, and I introduced her to Dan Crow, with whom I was working at Disney. (Dan's music was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Milo and Otis, among other places.) Courtney and Dan worked together on a few projects, and Courtney also went out on her own, releasing a few CDs and working on proposals to do her own kids' show.

Courtney became an important part of my kids' childhoods, and when she sang lullabies and silly songs like Mustard Pancakes and Red Raincoat, the rooms of our house -- and the kids' faces -- were filled with magic. When we moved from Southern California to Washington State, we didn't have to wait long before Courtney "followed" us, and we hung out with her a few more times. Then she got big in Europe and began to spend quite a bit of time abroad. At the same time, our kids grew up and we slowly (and sadly) lost touch.

Until this morning, when we received a completely unexpected call from Courtney! She'd found an old phone number of ours and called it, expecting it to be "disconnected or no longer in service." But lo and behold, we're still here, and I'm was so happy (and surprised) to hear from her! We chatted for a while and she was shocked that all the kids have grown so quickly -- as has her son, who now has a family of his own and works in Hollywood.

Courtney did finally get her own show, and can also be found at www.courneycampbell.com. If you have young children, or are just young at heart yourself, check her out. And if you're in Europe (as well as the U.S. of course), keep an eye out for her, as she's heading out on tour again. You'll love her!

Oh, and tell her I sent you!

Magic at Seattle Center: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Comes to Snowy Seattle

I've wanted to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert for years, and they always play right around my birthday, so you'd think my hint-dropping would have yielded some results in years past.

But nooooo.

So this year I took matters into my own hands. I sat down at the computer and pretty much announced to my loving and generous family that, even as we spoke, they were gifting me a night with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and thanks oh, so much!

With snow blanketing the Puget Sound yesterday, I was concerned that we wouldn't make it into Seattle, but thanks to Elisabeth leaving her AWD car at our house while she and Kat went to (sunny and warm) San Diego for the weekend, we got into town just fine. We decided to have dinner at a restaurant called Thai Heaven, which is right across from the Seattle Center parking lot. I give it negative two stars. Maybe even negative three. Judging from the lack of any spice at all in their dishes, though, they have no understanding of anything "star" related, from quality to spiciness. It was almost comedic how bad that place was -- from the loud and pushy staff to the absolutely horrendously bad food. The "orange chicken" tasted like microwaved rubbery chicken in ketchup and the Kung Pe Mao (?) noodles were slimy, stuck together and tasted like... well, like nothing at all. ("Phlegm-nominal" sounds aptly descriptive...) Steer clear of that restaurant at all costs, folks! Instead, go to the Vietnamese restaurant two doors down, on the corner. Been there often; loved it each time.

But I digress. This posting is about the Trans-Siberian Orchestra experience, not the restaurant experience before that. Since we had time to kill, Tom and I went into Seattle Center to warm up (it was still snowing and very cold), but silly me, I headed right back out again to take some photos of the Space Needle. Couldn't resist! My fingers froze solid, but I'm glad I at least tried to get a good shot with the tiny camera I intended to smuggle into the concert.

I was able to smuggle the camera inside, but the woman monitoring our section was so incredibly nice in her request that we not take photos with a camera or a cell phone, that I really had to heed her request and I only got two shots -- one from my cell before the concert even started (we loved our almost nose-bleed seats -- perfect for a concert like this!) and one after the concert, as the crew broke down the enormous stage (anyone else hearing Jackson Brown?).

The concert. Oh. My. Gawd. The concert!

The first half was wonderful, filled with familiar TSO Christmas music. (Yes, I was thinking how un-PC it was to make everything about Christmas, but I got over it.) I marveled at the lightshow and the special effects and truly enjoyed myself. I expected nothing less and probably would have been perfectly satisfied if that music comprised the entire show. I would have loved it if the band had encouraged some sort of audience sing-along, since they played quite a few traditional carols, but maybe that would have been cheesy. Cheesy, but fun. (Maybe next year, guys? You should hear Seattle sing; we're actually quite good!)

Then came the second half of the concert. Not sure I can describe it in words. Phenomenal. Incredible. Perhaps even life-altering. (Keep in mind that I'm often accused of exaggerating and being overly-dramatic.) I wanted to close my eyes to soak in the amazing neo-classical (classical-rock? rock-classical?) music I was hearing, but couldn't because the visuals were so incredible. It was an absolutely multi-sensory, mind-blowing experience. (Hey, I'm a child of Berkeley in the 60's; I'm allowed to say that.) Even my staid and traditionalist father who likes his classical music pure and unadulterated would have loved this. If you know of Wendy Carlos' Switched-On Bach, imagine that music and that genius (Bach's and Carlos') with today's technical advances and with the genius of TSO! If you want to hear a bit for yourselves, go here, scroll down to "Beethoven's Last Night," and click on "Requiem - The Fifth."

I know this sounds weird, but I had to take off my glasses to more fully experience the music; it just felt like I wanted nothing between my senses and the music! I struggled between trying to stay completely in the moment and not worry that "this will end soon," and wanting to alter time so I simply never had to leave this experience. (No, I wasn't on drugs.)

Bravo! Bravo! Encore! And oh, did we ever get an encore, one consisting of a showcasing of the two keyboarders' absolutely extraordinary talent, a sort of "dueling keyboards" that absolutely blew me away, especially as it launched into another full TSO experience.

Another encore, please?! But they didn't hear me and the lights came on and we had no choice but to leave, which I really didn't want to do.

After the concert we hung out for a while, waiting for the crowds around the merchandise counter to die down so I could buy a CD containing all the neo-classical music from the second half of the concert. After about a half-hour in line, I asked for just that CD, and was steered toward the "Beethoven's Last Night" CD which, of course, I bought. We listened to it in the car on the way home and that brought my first disappointment of the evening (well, the second if you count our experience at the restaurant): the album is more of a rock opera of Beethoven's last night of life (who'd'a thunk it from the title? my bad, obviously!) instead of the pure classical pieces I'd loved so much in the concert. Of course, I left a message on TSO's website begging them to please release an album of just their renditions of classical masterpieces. When they do, I'll buy ten. Maybe twenty!

We got home well after midnight, which is when Tom began tiling the entry way (yes, that post and photos are coming), and I didn't get to bed until well after 3 AM because of course I had to check out every website pertaining to TSO and each of the musicians. Love their blogs and journals! (And if any of you guys in TSO read fans' blogs about your concerts, please DO leave me a comment; you'd make my week because, you know, I am such a groupie!)

If you have a chance to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert, by all means, GO! Even if you have to travel for hours -- in snow, sleet, rain or dead of night. In spite of $50 tickets. Even (maybe even especially) if you find "only" nosebleed seats.

Just GO. And let me know what you think!

I'd Travel to Siberia to See This Orchestra in Concert!

...but I only need to travel a few miles, to downtown Seattle, to see them this weekend! This concert is Tom's and my holiday-season birthday gift (his is a few days before Christmas) to each other.

Today's iMemory

I'm a day and a half late in posting my regular Friday feature, the iMemory, which is a memory resurrected by a song in my new iPod.

I think I might already need to re-name the feature though (iNspirations? iMotions? iMusings? ) because surely the feelings that are inspired by my music will include more than just memories -- they'll also include hopes, joys, sorrows, etc.

Today's song is And So It Goes by Billy Joel. When I hear the first few chords of this song, a lump immediately forms in my throat, I am rendered speechless and paralyzed, and I am transported away. That physical reaction is instantaneous with my recognition of the song, and its grip doesn't release me until the last agonizing word and the last chord subside.

The song is simultaneously beautiful and treacherous, peaceful and tumultuous, hopeful and futile, and I am filled with love and pain, happiness and sadness, joy and sorrow -- to the point of feeling physically spent when it ends.

In every heart there is a room
A sanctuary safe and strong
To heal the wounds from lovers past
Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones
You answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
My silence is my self defense

And every time I've held a rose
It seems I only felt the thorns
And so it goes, and so it goes
And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave
Then that would be my worst mistake
So I will share this room with you
And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed
It's just as well for all I've seen
And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you
That's if the choice were mine to make
But you can make decisions too
And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes
And you're the only one who knows