I dedicate this rose to the memory of my mother and to all mothers.
My Mother's Day was pretty nice. I made a few phone calls, went to brunch with friends, did a little music shopping, and took a nice nap.
Hope you had a great day!
I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for the cards, love, phone calls, emails, and expressions over the past few weeks. My family and I are very appreciative. Our mom will always be in our hearts. Much love and many blessings to all of you.
My mom and I took this photo in June 2007 at Lawry's Prime Rib in Chicago after we went to see The Color Purple. It was definitely a fun day and one of our last fun outings.
Today, 01/29/2008, my mom passed after battling with lung cancer. Thank you for all your love and prayers.
My big brother celebrated his birthday yesterday and I got too sleepy to post anything last night. My brother has a special (crazy) love for animals. In the photo above, the family dog, Trekkie, celebrated his 14th birthday in grand style. After all these years, even Trekkie understands the tradition and happily cooperates for at least a few minutes. If you need your pet trained to celebrate their birthday, just call my brother...lol!
Big Bro! Happy Birthday and Much Love!
This little guy came into my life when I was 13. It was a great honor to be an uncle at such a young age. This photo was taken during a visit when we lived in West Virginia. He was almost a year old and we totally bonded. We played, laughed, I changed his diaper, and even bathed him before his bedtime. I have watched him grow into the fine young man he has become. Fast forward a few years and this little guy is married today and I am very excited and proud. I wish much love, blessings, and happiness for all your years.
My niece is just as adorable and full of energy today as she was when she was born 25 years ago on this date. Surprisingly, she actually wants to go to here for her birthday. I keep a big stash of photos for just the right occasion and this one is perfect. Notice that she is holding her "My Little Pony" doll that her uncle gave her.
She is my heart and my partner in crime. We have the most colorful and fascinating conversations. I am proud of everything you are and all that you will become. With love always...your favorite uncle!!! Happy Birthday!!!
These photos are from my recent adventures in Rochester, New York over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. My mom and I were there for my brother's surprise 50th birthday party. The sign is from the lounge where the party was hosted. My brother had the pleasure of wearing the hat and cap shown above for the festivities which my gifted and talented niece designed. We went to the beach at Lake Ontario and a trip to Rochester is not complete without checking out the House of Guitars. It is a music lover's paradise but you really need a few hours or days to comb through all the inventory. It was definitely a fun and relaxing weekend.
P.S. I would remiss and potentially beat down if I did not mention the extraordinary job my niece did with coordinating this spectacular event and in making it so successful. Much love and many hugs to you.
I thank everyone who made my 40th birthday a very special day. Whether, it was lunch, dinner, a phone call, a card, a blog entry or a comment, I am very grateful for you being in my life and sharing this moment.
My birthday was restful and fun. We went to The View for drinks which has a wonderful view overlooking San Francisco from the 39th floor of the San Francisco Marriott. We then went to dinner at Maya which specializes in modern Mexican cuisine. The dinner and dessert were wonderful. Great chips and guacamole too!
The rest of the weekend was laid back. Birthday presents to self included a few needed items from IKEA and I purchased my first DVD player. Okay, stop laughing and welcome me into the new millennium.
On Monday, I had lunch with the ever so knowledgeable George and later did a little biking in the neighborhood. Biking 6 miles is so much easier in the morning than in the evening but I am determined to conquer the hills this summer.
Today's Soundtrack
"Total Praise" - Richard Smallwood
"Here's to Life" - Shirley Horn
"Love Sensation" - Loleatta Holloway
"Lost in the Stars" - Dee Dee Bridgewater
"Seven Years of Good Luck" - Joe Sample
"Faith" - Vanessa Bell Armstrong
"Hope" - The Weather Girls
"Open Your Eye, You Can Fly" - Lizz Wright
"Imagine" - Randy Crawford
"Somewhere" - Aretha Franklin
"Miss Otis Regrets" - Patti Austin
The Thoughts
Praise God! Today, I am 40 and very proud of it. My life has been very blessed and the blessings just keep coming. There will always be unfinished dreams but as long as I keep getting up, there is a brand new day to work at my goals. I am especially thankful for my family and friends and their unconditional love. I am also thankful for the music in my life and hope that it never ends.
The Photos
Special thanks to web guru Gwen for putting together the collage of photos. Here are a little description and commentary on each photo.
Photo #1 (1st row) - Age 10, rockin' the small 'fro for the annual school picture at age 10.
Photo #2 - Age 5, looking all dreamy eyed in the kitchen. Go figure! Mom may have been taking my photo for the first day of school.
Photo #3 - Age 38 in front of the beautiful stained glass windows at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
Photo #4 - Here I am at about 1 year old on an assisted stroll in the backyard with his ever so capable older brother. You will notice in the background an oil in back our house that was used for heating our house.
Photo #5 (2nd row) - Age 4 on Christmas morning with Cuddly Duddly and the rest of the crew. Cuddly had to go away when the stuffing starting falling out. Anyone who was watching Ray Rayner on WGN-TV in Chicago in the 60's and 70's knows about Cuddly.
Photo #6 - Age 37 and really enjoying good laugh during a photo shoot.
Photo #7 - New Year's Eve 2001 at age 38 and I was quite sober, believe it or not.
Photo #8 - Age 9 and another obligatory school photo but what was up with that widow's peek or Eddie Munster as it was called then. Running home after school to watch Speed Racer and Batman were the joy of my existence.
Photo #9 (3rd row) - Taken last fall with the water, rocks, and waves at El Matador Beach in Malibu, California. It is really pretty there.
So now you have seen me...ha ha!!! Of course, I only picked out the best of the best for the collage. Yeah, I know there are none from my teens and twenties but I do not have any of those pictures scanned so you will not get to see the texturized hair or the skinny ties. You will have to come over to see those gems. I will put on some good music, bake some cookies and then we can go through numerous boxes and tons of photo albums. Hope you enjoyed my birthday fun and as always, enjoy your music!
If you have traveling along with me on my web journey over the past 8 months or so, you know that my dad was a major influence in my musical tastes. When I was home recently, I was browsing through his record collection with new eyes. As I learn more about music, I recognize more titles and know there are some gems there. His tastes were eclectic and he enjoyed lots of good music.
In the above picture, I think I was about 4 years old. I am not sure the occasion other than spending time with my dad. He was my hero. He was an excellent carpenter, a great cook, bowler, and he could even play the piano. He had an old melody that he would play without any music. He loved us and was always there for us but he could also put the fear of God in us. I can remember getting a whipping during the day from my mom and being scared of getting another one when my dad got home that evening. He shared great stories and always told us how poor his family was when he was growing up. He told us about all the music clubs and nightlife on the south side of Chicago. He built and painted my early bikes. He gave me my first car, a 1970 Ford Country Sedan station wagon with the best heat in the world. Power steering was put in it before I started driving it. Before then, there was a knob on the steering wheel to help steer that big baby around the corners. It was his fishing and work wagon and I was happy to have it even though he thought I would tear up our garage backing it in. He taught me how to change the oil, the wires, and even gap the spark plugs.
He encouraged my brother and I to take risks and experience new things. His memories and wisdom are always with me.
Happy Father's Day!
I wish a very Happy Mother's Day to my mom, to all the mom's that have been mom's to me, and to all the mom's that give me inspiration.
Have a blessed and wonderful day!!!
I know I am a little late getting my greeting out but I have been busy the last few days just getting ready for Christmas. I rested most of the morning and return calls this afternoon. I am debating on driving to Sacramento for dinner or just making lasagna and clicking the remote at home.
My Christmas has been pretty good. I sang in the choir on Christmas Eve and went to see Clairdee at Yoshi's for the 10pm show. She and her band gave an excellent show. She even gave hugs and autographs after the show. This was also the release party for her new album "This Christmas". It is great album that takes new and fresh approaches to some holiday favorites.
I am most thankful this Christmas for the love of my family and friends which keeps me warm all year round (even in California!!) May each of us be a blessing in someone's life not just during the holiday season but every day. I also thank everyone who has stopped by this weblog/website since I launched it in late October. The sharing of information has been outstanding and this project has been more a blessing to me than I ever could have imagined.
Well, I better get to dinner so on that note, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and a safe and blessed New Year!!
-j-notes
I start this December 12 off a little different than I would any other day. I start by saying my morning prayers and afterwards I play the classic 1961 Duke Ellington and Count Basie album "First Time! The Count Meets The Duke" and a wonderful flood of memories of my father rushes over me. To me, this was his quintessential album and I was very proud when I got my own copy of it. Today would have been his 83rd birthday and this is how I celebrate his life every year. From the opening bass intro of "Battle Royal" until the closing note of "Jumpin At The Woodside" each track surrounds me with his warmth and love. In addition to being the catalyst for my avid love of jazz, he also gave me my first exposure to computers when I was 10 years old. He worked third shift and took me to work with him one night during Christmas vacation. He gave me a box of punch cards and showed me how to run the keypunch machine. I stayed up all night running punch cards and even took my tray of punched cards home with me. I came home and went right to sleep after all the excitement from the night before. So what would my dad think of my website? He would think it was cool and be quite proud. He taught his sons to strive for greatness and gave us a lot of love so I know he is smiling down from the heavens upon me, my brother, and my mom. The memories and the music live on. Thanks Dad and Happy Birthday!!!