Monday, August 4, 2008

Sinatra and the Orange

This morning I woke from a dream that was taking place in Larchmont Village during Christmastime. I had walked into a store on the west side of the street and purchased on large naval orange in a white paper bag. This was to be a thank you gift to Francis Albert Sinatra whom I just recently met.

Since that dream, I've felt a little scattered. Some of that time has been thinking about what I am going to write today, usually monologuing a paragraph or two in my head. A lot of territory has been covered including why do I want to write about things I've already lived/experienced once before, Warner Brother cartoons, how energy fields seek their own harmonies, Les Paul playing guitar at 93, and will a joyful, robust life meet the criteria of modern dramatic narratives.

Presenting Francis Albert Sinatra with an orange interests me. It's also challenging and, above all, fun. i consider him to be a yogi as I've read that in his early years of developing his voice, he practiced his breathing technique swimming at the "Y". He would hold his breath and sing a song to himself swimming the length of the pool underwater. He would also watch Tommy Dorsey play trombone and observe how he would "sneak" breaths as he played, (essentially doing circular breathing) and incorporating this into his singing style.

I like stuff like this. Especially about breathing.

The line, "Don't wait for inspiration." has been on my mind the past week. Someone is telling me, "Don't breathe." Which to me implies, "Don't live."

I stop. I stop writing, thinking of the next step. I write "don't." Then I begin to think, "don't." And I stop. Don't care. Don't love. Don't breathe. Don't advantage others. Live in hell. Live in sin. Find others you can despise. Hate and blame and, above all, don't breathe.

I want to write about my experiencing. I want to write about what I've learned and the know-how gained from these experiences. This is wealth and I am very wealthy. I know what I walk with. i see this wealth around me and in me, in the classes I am involved in and the markets I work at.

And I've known this since I was a child.

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