Quote

"One belongs to New York City instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years."

~ Thomas Wolfe

City life

City life

Saturday morning light

Rock my note

I'm heading out for a hot summer night in the city, and now I've got something to celebrate! Tai Moses and Aerophant have honored At The Half Note with a Rockin' Girl Blogger Award!

Cold Tea Gets a Warm Heart

Our short film, Cold Tea, has been accepted to the Heart of Gold International Film Festival in Australia!

I'm riding on the back of a giant bird

I could say that the journey I'm on began the moment I was born, or perhaps long before that, but I know I'm not on it alone. There's that crazy and ever persistent universe, a catalyst or two, and certainly in the mix is the music of Francis Dunnery.

Two nights ago I found myself on Staten Island, sitting in a candlelit living room in a house built in 1864, listening to Dunnery play his guitar. I told Francis that before I heard his album, The Gulley Flats Boys, I was under the impression I was a perfectly happy and contended person. But I was pulled to the music almost magnetically and played the CDs so often that they eventually wore out and had to be replaced. It was the beginning of an awakening, I was opening in ways that took me by surprise and in ways I didn't feel prepared for. I was compelled to step back in time and when I did I couldn't help but look forward. And when I looked forward I knew there was only one way for me to go, and that was up and out of the life I was living.

Eventually The Gulley Flats Boys made its way onto the shelf, taking its place like a favorite Beatles album that served me well. I'd listened to it ten thousand times but what more could it offer? Surely there were no surprises hidden there. But two nights ago in that big old house, Dunnery played the songs again, and while lightening bolts flashed across a black New York sky, the thunder called out in response as if orchestrated beforehand and timed to a tee.

Francis Dunnery is a master and a servant, and with each story he shared, with each song he sang, he handed out gifts. Thankfully, as I sat in the front, just off to the side, I received every one of them.



"I'm riding on the back of a giant bird. Bigger than you, bigger than me." ~Francis Dunnery

Gift

Last night a brilliant musician put his two hands on my shoulders. He pressed down lightly and without knowing much about me or my life he said, "You've been carrying a heavy load for the past 2 years." Then he quickly lifted his hands up and said, "Things are going to start changing now."

Limitless love

David: "Katie, you need someone who'll climb the ladder with you."

Don't look back

Tomorrow I will say goodbye to my beloved horse Oakley. I will continue on my path and he will continue on his, and I will always be thankful that we were brought together in this lifetime.

In my dreams

Last night I dreamed that a man I loved sat down beside me on the couch. He was deeply tanned but only on half of his face and body. I asked him why he chose only to tan half of himself and he defensively replied, "I don't want to be completely exposed to danger!"

"Well then what's the point?" I asked. "If you're going to take a risk with yourself, you might as well risk it all, not just half."

Beauty is where you find it

Some days I find it in Upstate New York, some days along the Hudson River. But today I find it here.

What I like at 89 degrees

Nothing. Not a thing.

I may have been mistaken

The 651 emails in my "Junk" folder may have been just that.

What I like on a 90 degree night

Nothing!

Gonna pack a bag and head south, 1 block to the homestead for some good old fashioned air conditioned sleeping.

Good night all.

xoxox

At least for now I'm...

Much to tend to, The Half Note will return.

xoxo,

Katie

Gotta run, will blog later.

xox, Katie

Happy Birthday Michael!

My dear, sweet, big brother.

Under her watchful eye

Annie: "Mommy, have you ever noticed that your right eye is a little bigger than your left eye?"

Katie: "Yes I have, now leave me alone."

Friday night light

Shhh

Quiet the intellect, you'll be amazed by what you hear.

~kb.

Secret...

I get a slight rush when I see a hot guy wearing a yarmulke checking me out.

Phoning home

Katie: "What are you guys doing?"

David: "We're just talking about what it would be like to have a roach crawl in your ear."

Dreaming in black & pink

For years I've been hoping to find an apartment with black and pink bathroom tile. Unfortunately someone recently beat me to this one.

Street life

Victor and Annie egg each other on while Stanley examines Annie's social studies achievement award.

Annie-go-round

Playland Park, New York.

Loud and clear

The phone doesn't have to ring for me to know when someone's calling.

You can run...

Goodnight

I love falling asleep in a city that never does.

You must believe

Bill Evans, You Must Believe in Spring, reflects my mood and mirrors the morning, and as I become the woman I want to be, I hold onto the girl who thought she could climb inside a note, sleep inside a key, turn words into music, and music into love.

The fear of change

"The Transpersonal Self and the forces of the superconscious are such strong energies that they stir up fears in the personality. Your personal ego has its own laws, rules and ways of going about things. While a sudden invasion from the transpersonal realms of the psyche might feel pleasurable and expansive, the impact of these energies threatens to disrupt the status quo. The ego doesn't like that. So when the transpersonal inspiration begins to stir, your personality, in an attempt to maintain the existing framework, tries to find ways to neutralize this influx by putting up blocks against it. Before you can let these new energies into your life, you have to deal with why you are afraid to grow and change - with why you are frightened to become all that you could be."

Liz Greene - Dynamics of the Unconscious

Stop the world

"I hate that. All those words next to each other. I find it antagonizing."

~My friend Kristian's reaction to an advertisement posted on the 1 train.

The way things aren't

Driving along the New Jersey Turnpike I saw a billboard that I thought said,

"Divorcing? Meditation Saves Money & Time."

It actually said,

"Divorcing? Mediation Saves Money & Time."

Lucky me

I went 43 years before knowing what it felt like to guard my heart.

Things that last

Quote

“The supreme object of life is to live. Few people live. It is true life only to realize one's own perfection, to make one's every dream a reality.”

~Oscar Wilde

I lOVE THIS BlOG

Once every few months I remember that there are other blogs of interest out there, not just mine and those of my friends. So I take a quick look around and usually discover, well, not much of interest. But the other day I stumbled upon a blog titled, "lowercase L," and it's quickly becoming a favorite.

Listening to at the moment...

What I like on an 83 degree night

Fruit, ice, a book and a breeze.

The way things aren't

I thought I fell in love with the man he was, but now I think I just fell in love with the man I wanted him to be.

Father's Day

For some it's an opportunity to show gratitude, for others it's a painful reminder. For some it's a chance to serve breakfast in bed, for others it's a day to sit with a man who's lost his wife.

Whether he's here or he's gone, whether you loved him or you never knew him at all.

Silly me

This morning I turned down an invitation for coffee from a 38-year-old bright, funny, socially conscious, tall, dark and handsome (and seriously sexy) guitar player.

Phoning home

Katie: "What's Annie doing?"

David: "I'm just telling her horror stories about the awful ways some celebrities have died and she's writing them down so she can tell all her friends."

Happy Birthday!

To the most important woman in my life.