Ever wondered what’s involved in making a CD of original music? At the end of 2009 I recorded and self-produced my first “official” release, Online Dating Blues, and here’s a glimpse inside the process. (Originally published 12/10/09 on ketubahdiva.com) Part Two: A Free CD, and Busting Perfectionist Blocks After my disappointing appointment with the cigarette-smoking producer,…
Monthly Archives: June 2010
Behind the Scenes of Making an Independent Music CD – Part 1
Ever wondered what’s involved in making a CD of original music? At the end of 2009 I recorded and self-produced my first “official” release, Online Dating Blues, and here’s a glimpse inside the process. (Originally published 12/9/09 on ketubahdiva.com) Part 1: Background I’ve been singing jazz since 2005, gigging since 2006, and everyone knows the currency…
Weekly Review #13: a headless chicken, and 5 ways to tame it
So how am I doing in my quest to re-invent my life, follow my evolving Blisses and create the life I really, really want? Honestly, this week I feel like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off: so much to do, and very limited time to do it in. Tomorrow morning I head into…
When to just do it, and when to just not
Just do it Remember Nike’s famous ad? It tapped right into America’s Puritan work ethic. We seem to love to make stuff happen. To power through. At least I sure do. I’ve got more going on than most people I know, and when I set my mind on a goal (or more often, goals), I’m…
Weekly Review #12: broken commitments, and 50 years of marriage
So how am I doing in my quest to re-invent my life, follow my evolving Blisses and create the life I really, really want? Broken commitments It’s been a week of disruptions from “normal” life, so it’s a bit harder than usual to take stock. And you may have noticed that my originally-on-Fridays-and-now-usually-on-Saturdays Review is…
Musings (in the style of Montaigne) on why doing Your Important Work is sometimes so hard
Artist and blogger Michael Nobbs recently wrote an excellent five-part series on Getting Your Important Work Done, which got me thinking. One of my big goals (what Nobbs would call My Important Work, what Havi would call my thing) is to be creating art every day. Yet I resist making art. On the other hand,…
Two cool courses: the Empire Building Kit and Question the Rules
Here’s the deal: about four months ago I made a decision to change my life. I wanted to do a better job following my evolving Blisses, and I needed some help. I found that help in the form of two courses, The Empire Building Kit and Question the Rules. (See my review of the first…
Deadlines, work fugues and the importance of not always powering through
Every year I go through what my friend Meredith would refer to as a “work fugue.” In other words, a period of intense deadline stress, when the amount of work I have to do seems physically impossible to accomplish in the amount of time allotted. Everything unrelated to completing the projects on deadlines gets put…
Why I’ll never win the lottery
Okay, the short answer is because I (almost) never buy a ticket. Which does, of course, make me slightly less likely to win than if I did (but only slightly). But that’s not the real reason I’ll never win the lottery. The real reason has a lot to do with a great post the Seth…
Weekly Review #10-11: from hating my life to loving it in 4 months
So how am I doing in my quest to re-invent my life, follow my evolving Blisses and create the life I really, really want? It’s been two weeks, not one, since my last review post. (And if I were Catholic that would sound like I was sitting in a confessional.) Being in Vegas last weekend…
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When Melissa offered coaching, I jumped at the chance. I gained such HUGE insights! Each time I came up with a reason that I couldn't, she came up with a way that I could. In the end, she gave me an assignment, a realistic and doable one.I'm happy to say that not only was my creativity jumpstarted, but that the love and the joy of creativity is back.
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In my time with Melissa, I was re-energized, admitted to the things I need to stop doing, found the things I want to be doing and was given easy actionable steps to get me back in the creative swing of things. Simply amazing! She is full of energy and wonderful ideas.
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-Sally, Sally Penley Calligraphics
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