In loving memory of Jean Mangan

Jean Marie Mangan

January 25, 1955 - April 23, 2014

Beloved librarian, former co-worker, cherished friend

Rockford, Illinois lost a shining star this past Wednesday. Jean Mangan was more than just an "institution" at Rockford Public Library. She was revered by her co-workers, adored by the library patrons, and - to Marie and me - she was family.

Last Thursday night, while sitting in her living room laughing out loud at a hilarious movie, Jean suddenly collapsed and was unconscious before she could call out for help. Her mother, in the next room, rushed to her side to find her without a heartbeat. Later we would learn that it was a sudden heart attack - no symptoms, no warning. Despite the efforts of the paramedics and emergency room doctors, Jean was without oxygen for 20 minutes and sustained severe and irreparable damage to her brain. She never regained consciousness, and her family had her taken off life support on Monday. She died Wednesday morning, right after midnight.

Jean was the assistant manager of the Adult Services Department at Rockford Public Library from 1990 to 2000. Throughout Jean's decade in this position, my best friend and housemate, Marie Phillips, was the department manager. During this past week of horrific trauma, I have found myself in a bewildering front-row seat for the updates, as Marie and Jean worked closely together and Marie was closer to Jean than most anyone else in the library. I worked under both of them for that ten years. Not only was Jean one of my bosses - she was my friend and confidante. Marie and I feel like siblings who have lost a sister. Our grief is profound.

There have been so many "if onlys" this past week...and so many devastated people walking around in shock - not to mention her family, in the process of gathering for Easter just before this happened. Jean's mother, who lived with Jean, is an elegant, warm and loving woman, and she has maintained grace throughout this. Jean was her rock, and it is unfathomable to imagine what lies ahead for this family - all close, all supportive of one another - all grieving.

I've written a lot about Jean on Facebook. All who worked with her, knew her, and loved her know that there was much more to Jean than the legendary chocolate chip cookies she baked for the staff. She was a professional  librarian, dedicated to service to others, and her career at RPL touched many lives. A highlight of her accomplishments was all that she did toward planning and launching the new East Branch of the library. She worked tirelessly with her staff to get the collection ready for the move. In fact, Jean never asked employees to do anything that she wouldn't do right along with them - she worked regular shifts at the public desks, got dirty with us weeding old books and pushing loaded carts around, supervised pages (until this honorable duty was passed on to me), and modeled the epitome of outstanding public service. She was mentor to many and more than that to me.

I'll add links to her obituary and to the beautiful tribute written about her in the newspaper. I won't take credit for the fact that the library staff was interviewed and the article was featured in today's paper, but I did e-mail the obituary desk immediately after I saw her obituary online, giving them a heads-up and asking that they contact the library administration in order to give Jean special mention in the paper. Today there was a two-column article with a photo - beautifully written. Jean is surely laughing at the fact that her last name was butchered. Here is the article, followed by links to her obituary, photo gallery and guest book. The newspaper corrected the spelling of her last name in the online version.

http://www.rrstar.com/article/20140424/NEWS/140429610

http://fitzgeraldfuneralhome.tributes.com/obituary/show/Jean-M.-Mangan-101306892

http://fitzgeraldfuneralhome.tributes.com/obituary/photos/Jean-M.-Mangan-101306892

http://fitzgeraldfuneralhome.tributes.com/obituary/guestbook/Jean-M.-Mangan-101306892

And now, some random personal reflections and reminiscences:

Jean Mangan walked into our lives at the library in 1986, wearing a pretty blue shirtwaist dress and a cheerful, albeit apprehensive smile. She was immediately approachable and always witty, and never shy about setting boundaries if we crossed a line with her. She treated us to numerous hilarious anecdotes about her former job, her rollicking Irish family, and the events that occurred from day to day as we staffed the public service desks. Her wonderful mother, Joan Mangan, enjoyed with me the practice of collecting lists of hilarious names, and Jean would bring me clippings regularly, courtesy of her mother, from the Sterling-Rock Falls paper. I, of course, reciprocated. I will never forget the day that she announced to me that someone had named a baby "Gassy," and showed me proof in the clipping of the day. We laughed so hard we cried.

Before Marie and Jean took charge of our department, we had a boss we didn't like - he was always very neat and tidy, perpetually angry, and often downright crude. I won't mention his name here, of course. He constantly harangued me about my displays needing "freshening," and was forever walking up to the public service desks were we worked and straightening stacks of brochures, muttering murderous curses under his breath. He threw a volume of Books In Print at me once in a public area. For years after his passing in 1991, I would mention him as if he were still hovering, ready to torture his next victim - and  Jean would exclaim - rolling her eyes heavenward - "Elizabeth! The man is dead. Dead! Pushing up daisies!" (Pause) "Very neat daisies."

Jean was an artist and a weaver. She had her own loom and produced beautiful textile pieces. She was also a blood donor; on the morning of the day she collapsed, we were told she had given blood. She treated the people who used the library with respect -- including the "problem patrons," many of whom she had to escort out of the building. Jean had an amazing eye for details and knew exactly how to scope out an area in the library that needed rearranging and determine precisely where each item would or would not fit, and how it would look. When the library was going through dark times (layoffs and downsizing in 2010), her very presence was reassuring and upbeat. She was supportive of her staff and was quick to give praise when someone did something well. She was respected by administration and bloomed wherever she was transferred during turbulent times - most recently, she was managing two departments at the Main Library: Adult Services and Youth Services.

Jean and I had our moments. More than once I evoked her Irish temper. More than once I had a tantrum in her office. Because Marie, our manager, is my best friend, she assigned Jean the task of doing my evaluation (along with those of others, to split up the daunting chore). I used to refer to evaluations as "executions" and crack jokes about what I wanted for my last meal - to which Jean would reply, "Elizabeth, Elizabeth, Elizabeth. Get a grip! No surprises at your review. If you've screwed up, I've already told you." And this was true of Jean. She never hoarded a quiverfull of arrows to shoot at staff during personnel reviews - she was always direct and prompt in her daily mentoring of staff, and whatever she had to say to us, she said it with tact and grace and brevity - always with a smile at the end. And whenever times were tough, (and even when things ran smoothly) we would often arrive at work to see her familiar oval-shaped Tupperware carrier with the blue lid and handles, filled with her homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Jean loved animals, gardening,  music, reading, fine art and all things Irish. She disliked staff drama, the constant writing and revision of staff desk schedules, strong perfume, the migraines that plagued her from time to time, and anything that was unfair or unjust.

I can't believe she's gone. Jean Mangan wasn't supposed to die. The thought never entered anyone's mind. We took it for granted that she would be at the library, always ready with a smile and a kind gesture. Marie and I were planning to invite Jean and her mother and other close friends to our home at the completion of our three-season porch. She and her mother were at my retirement party. I remember the day I got up at 6 AM to drive her to an appointment to have her wisdom teeth out. It goes without saying that she had our backs in our times of personal travail. Along with Jean's fundamental kindness, she was frank in her opinions, never afraid to stick up for what she believed was right, and always open to new experiences. Her favorite saying, when anyone was unduly alarmed about upcoming unpleasantries, was "Close your eyes, and think of England!"

She got to go to Ireland with her mother. I am so glad that she had that chance. I'll never forget her excitement about that vacation and her description of driving a car with steering on the right side.   We were able to see her in the hospital and say goodbye, and I was able to make direct amends to her, at her bedside, for my incorrigible behavior at work while on her watch. Throughout the years Jean shared a lot with us, yet she was actually very private; as stated in her obituary, she was a true introvert. I have to wonder what she would make of all that's being written in honor of her life. Wherever she is, I can see her -- head thrown back, back of her hand to her forehead, looking skyward, comically aghast at whatever she thought to be either hilarious or over-the-top.

I want to believe she heard me. I want to believe she heard all our prayers as we sat by her, not really knowing quite what so say. I want to think that on some level, she was conscious of everything that was said to her, lovingly, as family sat vigil and people streamed in an out of her room in tears of disbelief. I was not surprised to find out that Jean was an organ donor - always thinking of others. Tomorrow we celebrate her life at a memorial gathering. Even then, none of this will be real to me for a long, long time. The only thing that consoles me is that in her last conscious moments, she was laughing, or so we were told.

I will always love you, Jean. You were a sweet spirit - a beautiful soul. May your family find peace as life goes on for them. Namaste, my friend. 

                                       

Remembering Jean Mangan

Added April 1, 2016

On handwritten journals

There are many ways to keep a journal; here is one: Either buy a supply of cardboard-covered composition books or go to EBay and search under "blank books" or "blank journals." Buy them in bulk and don't worry about the covers!

 

Then, stop at a fabric store and buy quarter-yards of the most beautiful, magical batik or otherwise sensuous fabric you can find. Invest in a couple pairs of artistic edging scissors and some pretty paper. Add a big UHU glue stick and some purple pens...or any type of writing instrument that makes your handwriting flow and dance on the page. Finally, find some stamp pads and some rubber stamps that inspire you. I have one that says "Journal" in calligraphy, and some multi-sided Celtic designs, and cat stamps, and a fairy goddess in long, swooping skirts, and a crescent moon...

 

 At home, lay an open journal over a length of cloth and cut around the book, leaving about an inch all around. Lift the book and slather it with glue. Carefully press the fabric around, paying attention to the spine. Inside the covers of the book, miter the corners, cut and glue. Cut a piece of decorative paper and glue it to each inside cover to give a finished look. The first couple of times you try this it might be somewhat messy, unless your craftsmanship and patience are a lot better than mine...

 

 Now, the real fun begins. Decorate your title page. You might want to create a special vacation journal, or a chronicle of getting clean and sober, or perhaps a coming-of-age or change-of-life theme, or perchance a daily companion for jotting down everything from essays to rants - from dreams to poems - from shopping lists to observations of people around you to stream-of-consciousness meanderings. You may want to glue a special picture on the title page. Let your imagination run wild!

 

Finally, cut about a quarter of an inch off the edge of the first page with your scalloping scissors, and glue a strip of fabric on the second page that will show when you open your book to Page 1.

 

I number my journals. Since 1990 I've filled over 300 of these little blank books. You will find your own ways and I hope you will share them with me. Indulge and enjoy!

Beyond Pachelbel's Canon: Music for Highly Sensitive People

First, an introduction to the concept of Highly Sensitive People (abbreviated as HSP)

 http://www.amazon.com/Highly-Sensitive-Person-Elaine-Aron-ebook/dp/B00GT1YES8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1397670537&sr=1-1&keywords=highly+sensitive+person

I is one.
In 1999, I made an Angelfire website which I can't seem to use and I can't seem to delete. This is a post I copied from it, followed by screenshots of four playlists I recently made on I-Tunes.

 

Music is everywhere. Walk into any store, be put on telephone hold, drive down the street at any time of day or night, and notice what you hear around you. How much of it lifts the spirit? How much of it reaches deep inside to a yearning place – a chamber of the heart where creativity and spirituality reside? As a highly sensitive person and as pianist, guitarist and fretted dulcimer player, I have long been aware of the power of music to heal the spirit. Let me give you an example.

In 1974, while living alone in an apartment in DeKalb, Illinois and biding my time in a boring clerical job at the university library, I spent many of my evenings listening to WFMT, the Chicago classical station. One night, like every other night, I had the radio on and was going about my business, when gradually I became aware of a deep peace and an indescribable sense of joy and well-being that washed over me in waves. There seemed to be a pulse of some sort behind it, a spirit healer from some unknown source, and I found I had to put aside whatever I was doing and sit, mesmerized, before the radio. Piece after piece played - everything from Strauss waltzes to Erik Satie’s Gymnopedies to The Desperate Ones from Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. And then, suddenly, it was over, and the announcer said, “You have just been listening to a program of music in three-quarter time.”

I have never, ever forgotten this. I have often thought of writing to the station and asking them if they saved a tape of the program. After that experience, I began to pay closer attention to what types of music are calming, or cheering, or exhilarating. I find I have been drawn over the years to music that seems to have the following characteristics:

--triple meter, such as the WFMT program;
--Evocative, stirring melodies;
--Hymns and church organ music;
--Although this would overwhelm some HSPs- exuberant, dramatic music with beautiful melodies and a festive sound;
--Mystical sounds in minor modes;
--Ethereal choral singing and beautiful vocals,especially men and boy choirs;
--Generally, women with low voices and men with resonant voices;
--Melodies that seem to reach deep within and bring forth unconscious memories of childhood;
--Second movements of symphonies and concertos, which seem to be more restful and melodic; (note: I have heard this comment from other HSPs)
--Music played on acoustic stringed instruments; (excluding the banjo)
--Music that resolves, as opposed to stream-of-consciousness music that meanders;
--Music with a drone or an ostinato in the background. I believe this is why Pachelbel’s Canon in D appeals to so many, and why Gregorian chant is so popular;
--Ancient music in unusual modes (scales);
--Any music in the Dorian and Lydian modes. (See Sounding the Inner Landscape by Kay Gardner for a discussion on modes and scales)

Music I find vexatious would include:

--Loud brass instruments, unless it is a clear, pure trumpet solo, accompanied by pipe organ;
--Fast, nervous music;
--Perky Christmas music, such as Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and the barking dogs singing Jingle Bells in every store and mall beginning before Halloween;
--Chinese restaurant music;
--French horns that sound like nasal, barking dogs;
--rap - the deafening assault of a thumping beat blasting from every other vehicle along an urban street lined with strip malls;
--dissonant jazz, scat singing, chaotic Dixieland bands;
--Tex-Mex music (the type that sounds like Lawrence Welk juxtaposed with Herb Alpert on acid);
--Warmed-over,trite-sounding tunes played cloyingly on an electric piano;
--male singers who can get by with singing off-key (notice how most female singers can’t pull this off and make recordings);
--the shrill sound of a shrieking soprano with too much vibrato;
--squeaking violins;
--the newfangled “folk” music sung at churches that sounds less like hymns and more like a combination of show tunes, sentimental Muzak and Irish drinking songs. I attended a funeral once and was subjected to a song that sounded, for the life of me, like a mixture of Dulcinea from Man of La Mancha and Send In the Clowns.

Some types of “gothic” music can overwhelm and overstimulate. I had to walk out of a concert once because the music was loud and frightening. I also have a strong aversion to the soulless, impersonal music played at malls and self-service gas stations –piped in as you shop or pump; sort of an easy-listening and contemporary jazz hybrid with a mechanical, demented drumbeat in the background. When I hear that “music” I feel as if I am being anesthetized, brainwashed into a lockstep trance that has become a soundtrack for our canned culture.

I have put together a list, in no particular order, of music that I turn to, over and over again, for refuge from our chaotic, clanging world.
Classical music:

Cassidy, Patrick - Deirdre of the Sorrows, Famine Remembrance
Cassidy's music is a combination of Irish melodies and Baroque-type polyphony. His works are marketed as new-age, but they are NOT - I file them with my classical music and appreciate them as such.

Faure, Gabriel – Requiem, op. 48 – Sanctus, Pie Jesu Try to find the recording with Victoria de los Angeles.

Mendelssohn, Felix - Songs Without Words, Elijah
Listen to the choral parts of Elijah, and the solo "If with all your hearts you truly seek me."

Chopin, Frederic – Piano Concerto no. 1 in E minor, second movement

Thompson, Randall - Alleluia

Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilych - Symphony no. 1: "Winter Dreams" - second movement

Vaughan Williams, Ralph - Mass in G minor, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Five Mystical Songs (especially I Got Me Flowers)

Brahms, Johannes – A German Requiem, op. 45 – “How lovely is thy dwelling place"; The Four Symphonies

Saint-Saens, Camille – Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, “Organ”; Le Cygne ("The Swan")

Respighi, Ottorino – Ancient Airs and Dances

Gounod, Charles Francois – St. Cecilia Mass – Sanctus

Handel, Georg Frideric – Largo; Solomon – “Music, Spread Thy Voice Around";
Alexander’s Feast, or, the Power of Musik - the most splendid work by Handel, in my opinion - John Dryden's poem set to music with delicious choruses and gorgeous melodies. I listen to this when I am in an exhilarated mood - it is soundtrack for joy. Caveat: Some HSPs find Handel's music overstimulating.

Hovhaness, Alan - Mysterious Mountain

Franck, Cesar – Three Chorales for Organ - try to find the versions by Marie-Claire Alain.

Vivaldi, Antonio – Concerto # 5 in E major – “L’Amoroso” – first movement - This music was played in the Swedish movie Elvira Madigan.

Mozart,Wolfgang Amadeus-Clarinet Concerto in A major; Vesperae Solemnis de Confessore, K. 339 – “Laudate Dominum”

Field, John – Nocturnes

Bingen, Hildegard von –Canticles of Ecstasy

Preisner, Zbigniew – Requiem for my friend/Life - This Polish composer writes mostly film music. This is a new, classical recording. Listen, especially, to Meeting, the first movement of Life.

Soundtracks:

The Age of Innocence - Melodic score that wraps itself around the heart.

Fairytale, a True Story –by Zbigniew Preisner, who also composed the soundtrack for The Secret Garden. In my mind, the Fairytale score is the most beautiful music ever written for a movi

Lorenzo’s Oil - not upbeat, but very stirring.
Romeo and Juliet (1968 version by Nino Rota) Back in print on CD!

Interlude (hard to find LP) Soundtrack, composed by Georges Delerue, to the 1960s movie starring Oskar Werner as a conductor who cheated on his wife with a rather twitty young woman - a very dated and somewhat schlocky movie, but BEAUTIFUL music. I found an LP of it through a used-record source. (Delerue also wrote the music for Steel Magnolias;the overture to that movie is lovely.)

Le Cinema De Georges Delerue - Boxed set of film composition by this master of melody: at times gorgeous and heartrending, at times piquant; some very familiar and a surprise by Joan Baez!

Barrett, Ruth - anything she has recorded. http://www.dancingtree.org/

Barrett, Ruth and Cyntia Smith -The Early Years – double CD of their first two albums Aeolus and Music of the Rolling World. These two women have beautiful, resonant, low voices and sing both original and traditional folk and Celtic-based music, accompanying themselves on fretted dulcimer. Seeing them in concert is a transforming experience. Listen, especially, to Unicorns and Lovers of the Moon.

Brightman, Sarah - Eden, Time to Say Goodbye, The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, La Luna-- I can hear all the snobbish elitist music critics now, in chorus, reeling off their usual phrases such as "trite," "dreck," "dross," "pure, unadultrated kitsch," ad nauseum - because Sarah Brightman truly does some things that most singers couldn't get by with. She takes traditional melodies like Women of Ireland and classical pieces such as Albinoni's Adagio and arranges them shamelessly and beautifully, complete with words and - yes - a shimmering electronic wash of sound behind it. And her voice is good enough so she can pull it off. She even does a sweet version of Dust in the Wind on her Eden album. Maybe she is dumbing down the classics, maybe she offends the purists, but I don't care - she has a voice that could melt the stars. Her version of Handel's Lascia Ch'io Pianga makes up for her rendition of My Heart Will Go On in Italian. How to classify Sarah? I don't know. She is a hybrid. Her music grabbed me and I was hooked. Her work is exquisite. I love her
.


Douglas, Bill – Deep Peace, Songs of Earth and Sky -- Bill Douglas writes beautiful choral music. Some of his instrumental compositions are pleasant as well, but the choral works are the ones that make my spirit soar. Listen to Willow and My Love is like a Red, Red Rose on Songs of Earth and Sky and The Piper on Deep Peace.

Stockley, Miriam - Miriam-- Brand-new solo release from the lead singer for Adiemus - and what a lush, classy album. She is like a cross between Maire Brennan and Norway's beloved Sissel Kyrkjebo, with a voice that catches like a sob in your throat. I write this upon my first listening to this disc - this woman is a goddess! Stadler, Gary - Fairy Nightsongs -- First heard in a magical store called Creative Energy on Amelia Island Florida, this is a beautiful disc - the type you hear and say "What is that playing? I have to have it!"  Snow, Shelley – Shamaneya
Shelley Snow has a gorgeous voice and she sings in a language all her own.

Secret Garden - Dawn of a New Century
Exuberant, swirling melodies and vocals - Riverdance-with-a-gentler-edge meets Enya - listen to cuts #10 and #13 with headphones.  Alkaemy - The Merlin Mystery
British composer Julia Taylor-Stanley's ethereal compositions; a companion to the book The Merlin Mystery by Jonathan Gunson.

MacLean, Dougie – Dougie MacLean Collection/McDonald, Steve – Sons of Somerled

I mention these two men together because I discovered them at the same time. They have beautiful voices and their music is melodic and moving. Dougie evokes the sixties troubadour Donovan and his guitar playing is masterful. (Try Singing Land and Caledonia) Steve uses Enya-esque backings to his soaring renditions of traditional Scottish ballads, as well as many of his own. Especially stirring are Scotland the Brave and Loch Lomond.

Gardner, Kay – A Rainbow Path, Ocean Moon
On Rainbow Path Kay takes us on a journey through the chakras of the body with her healing compositions. Ocean Moon is a reissue of the instrumental cuts of her beloved early album Mooncircles, which gave me chills when I first heard it in 1983.

Riley, Philip and Jayne Ellison – The Blessing Tree. There are other recordings by these people but this one shines. It reminds me of a combination of Enya and Loreena McKennitt, There a sensitive, lovely version of Lullay, Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child at the end, but the album can be listened to year-round. It is breathtakingly beautiful. Lots of acoustic piano and very nice melodies.

Hoppe, Michael – The Yearning – Deep, wistful flute playing evocative of souls who have passed on but reside in our collective unconscious.

Connie Dover – Somebody, Wishing Well, If Ever I Return-
Of all the current female singers in the Irish/Celtic genre, Connie has the clearest voice and the classiest arrangements. I have never heard her make an unmusical sound. Try Ned of the Hill and How Can I Live at the Top of the Mountain from If Ever I Return, Ubi Caritas from Wishing Well and Personnet Hodie from Somebody.

Enya – any recording! Avoid the Taleisin Orchestra’s reworking of her compositions – they are pure kitsch.

McKennitt, Loreena – any recording. The only annoying song this woman has ever sung is The Bonny Swans, in my opinion, and that is only because it goes on and on and on with a whining electric guitar in the background. All her other work is exquisite. Try The Two Trees from The Mask and Mirror.

Coulter, William - Celtic Requiem - the lilting guitar piece at the end is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Madredeus –O Espirito de Paz
Plaintive, entrancing vocals with stunning guitar.

Cifani, Liz – Bella Stella
Liz plays a variety of harps, both double nylon-strung and wire strung, and performs compositions by Turlough O'Carolan as well as some of her own.

Schroeder-Sheker, Therese – The Queen’s Minstrel
Especially haunting is Choose Me.

Stoltzman, Richard – Innervoices
No words to describe this - it must be experienced. On this album is a version of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus that moved me to tears.

Ni Riain, Noirin, Celtic Soul, Soundings
Again–quiet, ancient, evocative of deep inner consciousness and peace, gentle instrumentation.

St. John, Kate – Indescribable Night
Haunting, driving-alone-late-at-night-under the moon songs. Try Now the Night Comes Stealing In.

Grean, Lorin – HandWoven
Trancelike vocals and harp music, with a delightful piece or two for cat lovers.

Stockwell, Sarah – Dark of Moon
Listen to The Language of Stones. I consider this autumn music, preferably for October.

Price, Kate – The Time Between, Deep Heart’s Core
Hammered dulcimer and vocals, intensely beautiful and other-worldly. Good autumn music also.

Anything by Sissel Kyrkjebo, Meav, Linda Eder, and Peter Bradley Adams.
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 Over the years I have had the privilege of attending workshops by many fine, sensitive individuals who are not only attuned to the nuances of healing music, but are knowledgeable about the theories behind this. I truly believe that these people and others like them are on a positive, healing path through music and should be mentors to those of us who are HSPs - musicians and non-musicians alike.

--Ron Price, a professor at Northern Illinois University, founded Healing Harps. He works with people who have physical disabilities and has found that playing the harp has the power to relieve many of the symptoms of neurological disorders.  Update: We lost Ron Price last year. He left a great gift for this world.

--Jim Kendros: Jim is a classically-trained musician who specializes in the nyckelharpa (Swedish keyed violin)- which he demonstrates during his magical concerts with this unusual folk instrument. Jim has an exuberant presence and an intuitive style, and in addition to performing works of Mozart, Bach and Couperin, he plays Swedish folk tunes interspersed with engaging commentary. Jim has written over eighty works and shares his love of music by teaching, conducting and lecturing in the Chicago area. His sensitive and beautiful compositions are backed by a self-produced CD of his unique blend of harpsichord, pipe organ and ethereal choral accompaniments. To experience an evening with this man is to be transported to a haunting and joyous place.

--Kay Gardner, whose wonderful book Sounding the Inner Landscape discusses in depth the physics of how music relates to the chakras of the body. She has lectured extensively on the various modes of music and how the series of intervals in a scale can have the power to heal. She gives lectures and demonstrations using her flutes and presenting music history and theory in a down-to-earth, informative style. Sadly, Kay passed away in 2002.

--Therese Schroeder-Sheker works with the dying, using music to help them cross over to the next world. Her ethereal recordings of harp and voice are available through Ladyslipper Music.

--Liz Cifani, principal harpist of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, teaches of the healing properties of the overtones of the harp, and as she sits in workshop and we encircle her, all holding harps to our chests, physical proof of the power of music is felt in the depths of the body. She believes that music is an integral part of communication. To hear Liz speak is inspiring and fun; to hear her perform is to be transported to a plane of pure ecstasy.

My list is undoubtedly biased – you will have many works and thoughts to add, I am sure. I encourage all sensitive people to share with others music that provides a haven of transcendence and joy. It is only one of many ways that we can begin to add beauty and symmetry to our jangling culture. I believe that this is an important mission for HSPs; perhaps, for some of us, our life’s calling.

As promised, I offer a screenshots of my recent playlists. Isn't the snipping tool wonderful?

 

 

 

 

Approaching Easter: a poem I wrote about an actual family incident

Easter Sunday, 1959

'Twas Easter Sunday in '59
Dad drove our clan to church
And as we turned off Lincoln Drive
The car did heave and lurch.

The Flygare girls were dressed alike
In aqua polished cotton
Mom and the youngest three felt fine
And the eldest felt quite rotten.

We sat, resplendent, in a row
Taking up one whole pew
The Reverend preached his message

When the warbly solo was through.

After the sermon, Elizabeth
said, "Daddy, I don't feel good."
I stretched out on the carved oak pew
And gripped the gnarly wood.

"Every year at Easter Time"
the final hymn unfurled
Mid-stanza, it was way too late
I knew I soon might hurl.

"Make way!" called Dad through the well-dressed crowd
"Make Way! We have a sick child!"
But, alas, his pleas were all in vain
As out the faithful filed.

Yours truly, yes, so green and ill
Upchucked upon the floor
It covered Lily Brunson's shoes
And splashed upon the door.

The younger girls, disgusted
Did hold their breath and flee
Our parents were quite mortified
And all because of me.

My sisters edged against the doors
As in the back I lay
For surely, I might barf again
As the car did swing and sway.

We made it home, but valiant Dad
Went back to help them clean.
He was a deacon, after all,
And I had made a scene.

Our youngest sister, not yet born
Has surely heard this tale
Yes, to this day, the phrase: "Make Way"
Elicits laughter hale.

The moral of this story
is that rules of social graces
apply, unless you're nauseous
In formal, public places.

So, if you find yourself in church
And feel the urge to heave,
Yes, even if it's Easter,
By God! Get up and leave!

 

Spring makes gardeners (and doll collectors) want to shop

It's April 8, and I'm already shaking in my boots, because I've been on a mad shopping binge. My best friend and housemate, Marie, commiserates with me - she, too, has "the fever." It's time to decide what to use a build a vegetable garden (retaining wall with blocks, or raised beds made of cedar or redwood?) and buy the plants. (We already have herbs and Alpine strawberries...) And we need a weeping willow to replace the three trees we had to have taken down last week. And the irises, which Marie ordered - they're supposed to come today. It's supposed to get down to 25 one night next week, so she's not in a terrible rush to plant them. I can't wait to see them, because they are indigo/purple. We need to level off the walkway so we can wheel the wheelbarrow over it. And - of course - we are eagerly anticipating the completion of our three-season porch - and the cats are especially anxious because they loved to be out there when it was a makeshift screened porch. It will be done with elegance now - with the option of storm windows - and we already have the furniture - it is taking up space in our sunroom.

As for me - more dolls....sigh. This is Sydney, a Madame Alexander Favorite Friend. I found her at Barnes and Noble, of all places!

I've already posted pictures of Shannon Elizabeth, who isn't due to arrive until next month - she is a Kidz 'n'  Cats new release on pre-order. She comes with a blonde wig and the name Teresa, but this is how she'll look after I've changed her name and her wig....(buying the wig and clothing and boots for her has been quite an enjoyable shopping spree) Photo of her is actually my doll Lisbeth, who pulled back her hair and modeled the new wig for me.

Happily - the next two are birthday presents - I know about them, but my birthday isn't until June. I imagine I'll be doing some shopping for them as well. This is Grace Catherine, my new little friend  from Paul. She is a 2014 Kidz 'n' Cats re-release, also a pre-order, due to arrive along with Karin above. She's coming with the name Grace and I'm not changing a thing about her!

and this is Savannah Marie, a 20" Maru and Friends girl who will be my birthday present from Marie....

Finally - this is Bella Amarantine, a Kidz 'n' Cats "Tinka" who is coming to me from a dear friend - we are doing a trade. I sent her one of my Harmony Club 18" boys. She is impossible to find and I am elated to be receiving her. Now I'll have three with this face mold.

And, of course, both Marie and I are in a "clothes-shopping-we-don't-know-what-size-to-order-because-we're-losing-weight mode". I have three new pairs of pants that I've put through a hot dryer, but - oh, JOY! - I think they'll have to be taken in. Marie ordered some new outfits too.

And then, there's the spring cleaning...closets (this means a trip to Target for hangers! Organizer boxes! And this leads to more organizer boxes, for doll clothing!)

And there's a doll at Target named "Parker" that I want. 

Finally, there are BOOKS. But that's a whole new post! And it will probably be a longer post than this one. Stay tuned.