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We did it differently this year.
Both my Mom and Grandma are gone now, and my son who got married lives in the mainland. My ex now lives with them. My brother, who helped me raise my four kids for over 14 years, lives here on Oahu a few miles away, now, but has a girlfriend who expects him to be there at least part of each holiday. So, I share an apartment with my oldest 2 boys. Jasmine, the other half of our band, lives in a dog grooming shop nearby where she babysits the overnight pets, but comes here daily.
So, we somehow decided to eat out this Thanksgiving. Hmmm. I had nearly all the ingredients, too, especially since a local store offered $3 turkeys with a $50 purchase.
So, thought I was getting off scott-free, when Jasmine decides we should do our big traditional breakfast (which we sometimes reserve for Chrsitmas) of Sausage Gravy and Bisquits, Eggs, Little Smokies, Sweet Rolls, and whatever of the desserts we had created since the local restaurant was going to only give you one slice of pumpkin. So…besides the breakfast I made a family recipe of Persimmon Pudding, esp. since my brother insisted I make something to take to his girlfriend’s house. And, my firstborn is a Thanksgiving baby, at least every four years.
Ok so then there was the mid-day snack, too..since my brother was going there for noon celebration, and with us for early evening.
So, then we finally went out…tho pretty filled from the above. And had to wait for parking..no street parking either. But the real wait was the line out the door for this “non-reservation” place that was cheaper than all the rest ($13,50..which for Hawaii is pretty good since it also included drink and that pie). That line took about 45 minutes, and then we were put in a hot corner. The food was OK, and the pie was sliced thinner than anything I’d ever seen.
My eldest offered a short prayer…kinda embarrassed. Our normal is to have each member pray something or say what they are thankful for. Kind of loses some meaning of what this holiday is supposed to be about.
We had always said we would try this. I had always threatened we’d do this, if these grown kids didn’t help me more with the meal and clean-up.
I did have some time, while they were absorbed in football, to work on mastering an instrumental piece that I have wanted to offer a couple years, now. I sent it out as a freebie to all our FB friends, in the mass email reverbnation offers to your fans, and will be sending it to a few of my guitar students. Oh, and biggest thing, put it up on the new Android Market (Google Music) as a single, since we are still working on other stuff to be put up soon. Oh, you can have it to, this weekend, by going to
http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/3493750
But really..accept for a couple hours free, it was still nearly the same amount of work for a mom. And just about the same expense. So, I think we’ll go back to our traditions until I am too old to cook. Or too old, at least, to lift a fully-stuffed turkey. Then we can go out without me also cooking desserts and breakfast.
Or maybe by then we can go to my brother’s house, if they get married.
Marlene*** of Nightbloom
This article got me going to finally start the registration process. So many musicians aren’t getting the money that is due them! It is free, and different from ASCAP. It gets the royalties from Sirius Radio, Digital Downloads, and Music Choice, etc.
M***
Are You Too Old to Make It? | DIY Musician. Wow, what an awesome article. And just as much..the comments!! Sometimes I think I am getting too old, too sick, too frail…but I LIVE FOR MUSIC. And I am making a living at it, tho not as much as I need yet…
Still, Jasmine (my daughter) and I have gone from occasional gig to a regular gig! And the people cheer and talk to us. (She has, for the last year, played also as back-up for other young semi-famous performers.) The thing is…after kids are grown, and with some wisdom, I know I WANT to make music. ‘\
Some people never figure out what they want to do in life, no matter how they are promted. Then they give up and just “settle.” All that talent gone to waste in the graveyard.
Yes, I get so discouraged..but while there is life, there is hope.
Marlene*** of Nightbloom
Ok, so I’m just getting started here…had a couple days trying to go through tutorial, so this will probably show up altogether with the other ones when my son links it to our website. So, I’ve got a picture of our album here successfully, but still don’t know how to wordwrap, so it keeps moving down as I type.
The purpose of our blog here, is to vent a little about the music business, and show how we, an unknown duo, develop and the steps we take. Hopefully, it will help some other band be able to jump the hurdles we are jumping and give an interesting read.
I don’t intend to limit it to that, but also to insights in our lives.
To be brief today…yesterday we got involved with a couple new things…We started this blog, which I have been putting off for years. I was on another blog, but it didn’t really work our for me, and WordPress actually is more user friendly and even makes its own web pages, which I think can be attached to our website which is : http://www.NightbloomMusic.com .
The other thing we did was to get onto Google Music. It cost $25, but they allow you to add as many songs as you want (that you have created) and sell to the Android and Google world, and you keep 70%. Our album is already on itunes through our label, Tate Music Group, and the one I am in communication with isn’t sure we can add it to sites besides the sites they have put it on…which may not be fair since they put it in the wrong genre…more on that later.
But Google Music just started this week, except for their Beta version, and is simple to use…even adding demo versions, etc. And we have written a lot more than that album, and keep writing. So, after the 24 to 48 hour waiting period, our page should be up there, and hopefully we’ll finish mastering some songs and put them up.
Why did I jump on this? Well, we have been considering doing the Reverb Nation, Tune Corp, and CD Baby Distribution…but this seemed to simple, accepts everything immediately, and I don’t want to miss jumping into the latest thing…so many things have passed us by. That is the difference between my daughter’s generation and mine…they are quick to jump into things, and it goes viral. I want to be that way….yet with some wisdom.
Marlene*** of Nightbloom
‘
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
NightBloom. Here is our website. Hope to figure all this out real soon, and do some real blogging. M***
Related articles
- The Night Blooming Cereus will be Blooming Tonight at Punahou School (punahou74.wordpress.com)
We named our band after Nightblooming Jasmine. I wonder if Cereus is the same thing. Here in Hawaii, Pikake is the Jasmine of choice. My daughter is my Jasmine of choice…
Jasmine and Marlene
I had another blog, but it was based in another country. But my son says WP is more user friendly.
I promise I’ll add more later.
Marlene***
Related articles
Welcome to WordPress.com. After you read this, you should delete and write your own post, with a new title above. Or hit Add New on the left (of the admin dashboard) to start a fresh post.
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