Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Early Worm Catches the Bird.

This is the story of two (goofy) people...

Who got up early one morning,


to experience an adventure on the Pacific Ocean.





There was excitement in the air...


As well as a brisk breeze, which required lots of clothing.


They started out with the sun just barely lighting up the sky behind the Cascade Mountain...



They were looking for two things:

A sunrise

and

Eagles.

So they paddled out, dropped anchor, and then there was...



and...

And then, all of a sudden....





And as soon as the sun was up...


So we paddled back towards shore a little, and saw...





And then came the....


And thus ended our adventure.



I made sure to find a...



And on our way home, we climbed above the fog and saw a spectacular view...

Later that same day...



We enjoyed a picnic at the beach...

And my mind was flooded with feelings of...

Same facial expressions...

Thanks Dad for a really beautiful "Daddy-Daughter" date out on the canoe. It was worth the 4:00am wakeup call. Next time hopefully Will won't be out on a scout overnighter and he can go on a Father-in-Law, Son-in-Law date. But then again, let's not call it that.

Love you guys.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Song is Named...

Thank you everyone who gave me so many wonderful and inspiring ideas to name this last song on the album. You all should be poets because you submitted some very beautiful, original ideas.

Last night, My Mom and I went over all of the ideas that I received here, The Belly Diaries, and also on my Facebook page. I had about 50 or 60 submissions in all. Some of my favorites had the words "Daydream", "Ballet", "Serenade", "The First ___", and there were also some ideas submitted that had personal stories to go along with it and I was so touched.

But even with all the great ideas, I couldn't find one that fit exactly right. I even tried many different combinations of ideas.

So last night I decided to just sleep on it. I laid there in bed trying to think...think...think. I started going over words in my head like "Evening", "Twilight", "Midnight", "Nighttime", all things NOCTURNAL. When...it dawned on me that "Nocturne" would be a perfect name for the song, since the meaning of the word Nocturne is a "song of the night".

Wikopedia describes a Nocturne as:

A nocturne (from the French for "nocturnal") is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. In its more familiar form as a single-movement character piece usually written for solo piano, the nocturne was cultivated primarily in the nineteenth century. However, the most famous exponent of the form was Frédéric Chopin, who wrote 21 of them (see Chopin nocturnes).

One submission was from my friend, Lisa Davis, who suggested a French name "Joyeaux de Rever" (sorry if I mispelled), meaning Joy of Dreaming. I loved this name, and though I didn't end up using it, I did go ahead with a French name.

The final decision - is that the song will be called "Une Petite Nocturne", which in French means "A little Nocturne" or "A Little Song of the Night". I thought it was very fitting since it is a) a very short song, b) written for babies, c) a lullaby, d) to be played at bedtime, and e) I was very much inspired by Chopin's style when composing this song.

So thank you Lisa Davis. I'll send you a CD once it's released.

And everyone else - please accept my thanks by downloading your free copy of this song. I'm sorry to say this version you are getting is not mixed or mastered yet, but the final polished version will be on the actual album. All this means is the piano might have some higher end notes that peak out a little (may twange your ear), where in mastering that will be compressed down so no ear-ouchies.:) But still, it's a great version.

http://rcpt.yousendit.com/694557976/a332d36af8f891d18de0ef1a2f4b9347

Thursday, May 28, 2009

What would YOU name this song?

I've had this up on my Facebook page all day, and have been getting some great ideas...but not all of you are on Facebook. :) Will's not. I keep telling him that I know more goings-on of his family members than he does LOL...but oh well.

Anyway - I'll get to the point...

The video below showcases one of my songs going on the upcoming album (The Lullaby Album). It's actually my very very last song that I am working on right now. We are so close to being finished with this album....but I need your help.

See, part of the reason why this one is still not done is the name. Currently it's called "Baby's Dream Waltz", which I personally love, BUT...it's not a waltz. The meter is in 4/4 and I'm afraid the music purists out there will utterly scrutinize me and tell me I have no clue what a waltz is, yaddi-yaddi-yadda. Even though the way the beats fall in the 4/4 meter it resembles a waltz closely, it's still not. Waltzes are in 3/4.

I don't want to be forever explaining why I named it a waltz when it is indeed not a waltz.

I will give a free copy of the upcoming album to the person who comes up with a new name for the song. If I choose it. From my Facebook page, as of right now the following ideas have already been presented:

Baby's Dream Lullaby

Baby's Dream Dance

Baby's Dream Opus

Faltz Waltz (yes that one was a joke by the way)

Baby's Dream

Baby's First Sonata

Baby's First Dream

Peaceful Dance

Peaceful Dream

Dream Delight

Baby's Dream

Babies Dream

Peaceful Dreams

Waltzanata (yes another joke)

Lullaby Aire

Waltzing Dream

Cradle Waltz.

Music composed and performed by Jenni Thomas

from the upcoming album "The Lullaby Album" © 2009 Tickled Ivory Music (ASCAP)

Photography by Ron Southworth

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

In the Land of Giants


Giant #1: Mt. Rainier - where we drove to for Memorial Day.

Giant #2: Huge old growth trees near Mt. Rainier





Giant #3: The annoying stupid black bears who keep finding our trash

So last year, we had a bear that would always come around and get into our trash can. We called animal control but all they basically said was that it was our fault for leaving our garbage out. Well, we are renters so we don't really have a choice. No garage.

We knew the bear must have come out of hybernation lately because our trashcan kept getting knocked over. Last night, we caught them in the action and these are where we got these pictures from. And yes, I said "them", because it turns out that there were THREE bears in all.

And lastly, Giant #4: How big, brave, and wonderful Will is to our son.

It is really sweet to see what great friends those two are.