Finding a Voice
Friday, July 27, 2007
listen ...
I spent a few hours this evening uploading pictures, songs and posting lyrics here: www.indieheaven.com/artists/colleentaylor. Soon (hopefully by the end of August?) you'll be able to buy my songs and/or CDs via this site. Stay tuned ...
In the meantime, we're long overdue for an update, aren't we? I saw Linda H at camp and she reminded me that she reads my blog -- which always somehow floors me, that real people actually read my writing here. I get the site stats every week, and consistently there are 60-100 people visiting per week ... and no, I don't visit my own blog to inflate the numbers! :) Well, having a real face and name attached to those largely anonymous stats encourages me to post something.
You probably won't be surprised to know that I've been a little distracted by a new phenomenon called Facebook. No wonder I've neglected the blog. Some of my friends (Erin, Dale) have figured out how to manage both, which inspires me to do the same. So, watch for that development in the near future ... but please don't hold your breath, just in case! The last thing I need is a liability suit from a suffocating blog reader!
What else have I been doing besides Facebook?
I've been occupying some of my time gainfully employed by my Aunt Linda as a housekeeper at her bed & breakfast, the Inn on the 10th. (Did you know that in some places housekeeping staff are now called Environmental Services workers? Hmmm. I prefer saying I do housekeeping at the b&b.) The Inn is about 7km out of Spiritwood and this morning I rode my bike out there for the first time this summer. Biking was my main mode of transportation in my last year at Regent College in Vancouver, but I haven't ridden seriously since then. Felt so good this morning -- except for a couple of saddle sores! On Saturday I'll try a gel cover on the seat.
I'm also starting a run of shifts at the local homecare office. I work there very casually as a "relief scheduler." How casual? Well, this past Monday was my first shift in three months! Fortunately it didn't take long to feel comfortable again.
At the beginning of July I did a little tour to sing 2 concerts: one at The House Coffee Sanctuary in Calgary and one private at my friend Deb's place outside Medicine Hat for the Christian Women's Club planning team.
The coffeehouse in Calgary was comfortably attended -- mostly by people I had personally invited via Facebook and over breakfast. Not much happens on a Saturday night in Kensington, even during the Stampede, so it's a good thing some of my friends and family could come! The breakfast guests were some people I met in Caronport that morning. I drove from Weyburn to Calgary on Saturday. As I approached Caronport, I called my friend Kim: "Want to come to Calgary with me?" I knew she couldn't, but had to ask anyhow. She said, "We're just feeding breakfast to our guests. Why don't you stop in? The waffles are ready." Turned out their guests were part of a group heading to Calgary that same day for a Living Waters conference, but they had nothing planned for that evening so several of them came to The House! What a delight to recognize them there.
Oh -- and I got THE SHOES! My brother's shoe store, Stride, is less than a block from The House, so after we had dinner at Niko's (highly recommended!), Tom & Lori dropped me off at The House and went to get my shoes to wear for the evening. Mmmmm. Perhaps standing for 3 sets of 20 minutes each is not the best way to break in a new pair of shoes, yet I didn't regret it.
It was a tremendous perk to spend two nights on Deb & her husband's acreage in a coulee on the prairie, to share their sumptuous food, to browse their yummy library, and to soak under starlight in their hot tub talking theology. If this is the life of a traveling musician, I'll take it! (Of course, there are a lot of miles to travel and a lot of work to be done in between.)
Whenever I'm in Medicine Hat I like to stop in on my sister-in-law's mother, Nell, usually for lunch. We had a nice little visit. Out of the blue, Nell asked, "Would you like a mandolin?" Would I?! I've been longing for one ever since Kim let me play hers many moons ago. Nell's husband had bought this mandolin at a garage sale several years ago to hang on the wall as a decoration. So I stopped at a music store for a case and strings, which a nice salesperson put on for me. The mandolin needs a bit of repair (particularly a new nut), but otherwise it's a decent sounding instrument and fantastic as a starter!
Book-ending my Alberta trip were stops in Caronport, plus 2 nights in Weyburn.
Last weekend I attended Free Methodist Family Camp at Arlington Beach. Stayed with my brother Jeff and sister Jaime and Jaime's four kids. Wrote a little song for Ross, the 3 year old ... using the mandolin! I walked in the annual 5K on Saturday morning and felt great afterwards. The weekend was intense but satisfying to have so many little visits with so many people. Amazing how many of my friends and family have little kids! Here comes the next generation. My highlight was the Saturday evening communion service. I wept through most of it. Don't remember when the grace of God and my sin and need for atonement have been more vivid.
On the 4-hour drive to and from the beach I listened to a book on CD: Good to Great by Jim Collins, a loan from my brother Tom. I've long been aware of this book and have gleaned great help from Collins' website, but it was good to get the whole thing from start to finish. It sparked a lot of reflection on my purpose and underlined my conviction about pursuing a music for a living. I know where I want to go and the steps to get there are becoming clearer and clearer.
One place I want and NEED to go right now is bed ... and I definitely know the steps to get there! Thanks for stopping by my blog, Linda H and everybody!
In the meantime, we're long overdue for an update, aren't we? I saw Linda H at camp and she reminded me that she reads my blog -- which always somehow floors me, that real people actually read my writing here. I get the site stats every week, and consistently there are 60-100 people visiting per week ... and no, I don't visit my own blog to inflate the numbers! :) Well, having a real face and name attached to those largely anonymous stats encourages me to post something.
You probably won't be surprised to know that I've been a little distracted by a new phenomenon called Facebook. No wonder I've neglected the blog. Some of my friends (Erin, Dale) have figured out how to manage both, which inspires me to do the same. So, watch for that development in the near future ... but please don't hold your breath, just in case! The last thing I need is a liability suit from a suffocating blog reader!
What else have I been doing besides Facebook?
I've been occupying some of my time gainfully employed by my Aunt Linda as a housekeeper at her bed & breakfast, the Inn on the 10th. (Did you know that in some places housekeeping staff are now called Environmental Services workers? Hmmm. I prefer saying I do housekeeping at the b&b.) The Inn is about 7km out of Spiritwood and this morning I rode my bike out there for the first time this summer. Biking was my main mode of transportation in my last year at Regent College in Vancouver, but I haven't ridden seriously since then. Felt so good this morning -- except for a couple of saddle sores! On Saturday I'll try a gel cover on the seat.
I'm also starting a run of shifts at the local homecare office. I work there very casually as a "relief scheduler." How casual? Well, this past Monday was my first shift in three months! Fortunately it didn't take long to feel comfortable again.
At the beginning of July I did a little tour to sing 2 concerts: one at The House Coffee Sanctuary in Calgary and one private at my friend Deb's place outside Medicine Hat for the Christian Women's Club planning team.
The coffeehouse in Calgary was comfortably attended -- mostly by people I had personally invited via Facebook and over breakfast. Not much happens on a Saturday night in Kensington, even during the Stampede, so it's a good thing some of my friends and family could come! The breakfast guests were some people I met in Caronport that morning. I drove from Weyburn to Calgary on Saturday. As I approached Caronport, I called my friend Kim: "Want to come to Calgary with me?" I knew she couldn't, but had to ask anyhow. She said, "We're just feeding breakfast to our guests. Why don't you stop in? The waffles are ready." Turned out their guests were part of a group heading to Calgary that same day for a Living Waters conference, but they had nothing planned for that evening so several of them came to The House! What a delight to recognize them there.
Oh -- and I got THE SHOES! My brother's shoe store, Stride, is less than a block from The House, so after we had dinner at Niko's (highly recommended!), Tom & Lori dropped me off at The House and went to get my shoes to wear for the evening. Mmmmm. Perhaps standing for 3 sets of 20 minutes each is not the best way to break in a new pair of shoes, yet I didn't regret it.
It was a tremendous perk to spend two nights on Deb & her husband's acreage in a coulee on the prairie, to share their sumptuous food, to browse their yummy library, and to soak under starlight in their hot tub talking theology. If this is the life of a traveling musician, I'll take it! (Of course, there are a lot of miles to travel and a lot of work to be done in between.)
Whenever I'm in Medicine Hat I like to stop in on my sister-in-law's mother, Nell, usually for lunch. We had a nice little visit. Out of the blue, Nell asked, "Would you like a mandolin?" Would I?! I've been longing for one ever since Kim let me play hers many moons ago. Nell's husband had bought this mandolin at a garage sale several years ago to hang on the wall as a decoration. So I stopped at a music store for a case and strings, which a nice salesperson put on for me. The mandolin needs a bit of repair (particularly a new nut), but otherwise it's a decent sounding instrument and fantastic as a starter!
Book-ending my Alberta trip were stops in Caronport, plus 2 nights in Weyburn.
Last weekend I attended Free Methodist Family Camp at Arlington Beach. Stayed with my brother Jeff and sister Jaime and Jaime's four kids. Wrote a little song for Ross, the 3 year old ... using the mandolin! I walked in the annual 5K on Saturday morning and felt great afterwards. The weekend was intense but satisfying to have so many little visits with so many people. Amazing how many of my friends and family have little kids! Here comes the next generation. My highlight was the Saturday evening communion service. I wept through most of it. Don't remember when the grace of God and my sin and need for atonement have been more vivid.
On the 4-hour drive to and from the beach I listened to a book on CD: Good to Great by Jim Collins, a loan from my brother Tom. I've long been aware of this book and have gleaned great help from Collins' website, but it was good to get the whole thing from start to finish. It sparked a lot of reflection on my purpose and underlined my conviction about pursuing a music for a living. I know where I want to go and the steps to get there are becoming clearer and clearer.
One place I want and NEED to go right now is bed ... and I definitely know the steps to get there! Thanks for stopping by my blog, Linda H and everybody!
posted by Colleen McCubbin at 1:03 AM
4 Comments:
Hi Colleen! :)
I read your blog...my sister Hannah introduced me at one point, and I check it periodically.
Thanks for sharing a bit about your journey through life.
Laura<><
Hi Colleen,
I read your blog regularly, too, when there's something new on it. I'm more likely to notice when there's something new now that I've subscribed to it via RSS feed on Google Reader!
I'm managing to juggle both Facebook and blogging for now. Shorter blog posts, maybe once a week. Using Google Reader makes it quicker to keep up with the few others blogs I follow. Facebook is still a novelty, but I think it'll get old. However not if my friends keep adding new fun applications and letting me know about them (just added Scrabulous; uh oh! that could become a big time-waster).
I'm reading your blog too, Colleen. Thanks for posting again!
carol
Hi,
I like reading your plog in a pail
where the words fill it up without fail
and a happy voice echos off the round walls
singing la la la la de da
words and a little song for ya
ever often in the softness of o kind thought
brought
out into the vast world via the internet
I think
what an awesome sister I have.
Love ya.
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