Various and Sundry Monday: Vol. 24

Remember happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think. –Dale Carnegie

40 Before 40
Somehow, somewhere, my name got on a 55-and-over-crowd mailing list. At first, I got postcards for those little retirement villages. Then I stared getting adverts for hearing aids. Today, I got a special invitation in the mail for dinner at the Sizzler at 4:30 pm, a week from Tuesday, to discuss safeguarding retirement plans. That really doesn't have much to do with anything, except it is a reminder that I am getting older. Still, I have fifteen years before I'm old enough to live in one of those senior communities, and I'd kind of like to get off that mailing list.

The big four-oh is creeping up for me. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I decided I might as well celebrate it rather than fight it and write out a list of 40 things I want to do before I turn 40. I got the idea from Pink over at PinkSuedeShoe. She's turning the big three-oh next year and has made a 30 Before 30 list. She had her list ready to go right when she turned 29. I only have about a fourth of a list and I only have 10 months to finish my 40 things, so I'm kind of at a disadvantage. Still, I wanted to share my partial list here, which will stand as a reminder to finish my list of 40 things before I turn 40 .

1. Finish eight Ph.D quilts.
2. Turn out all the drawers & closets.
3. Go see an opera, live.
4. Make homemade raspberry ice cream.
5. Put bark around the trees in the plot I cleared in the back yard 3½ years ago.
6. Move. Or paint my kitchen. Whichever.
7. Write four new tutorials for my blog.
8. Learn Photoshop.
9. Make a new friend.
10. Make Christmas ornaments for neighbor gifts.
11. Take the Little Bugs to Disney World.
12. Learn to love mornings.
13. Make table runners for family Christmas gifts.
14. Read five books I haven't already read.
15. Take LadyBug to see The Nutcracker.

Jilly Bean's Book Club
My super cute sister is hosting an on-line book club. She'll be doing The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. I'm hoping to cheat and find it on audio, because I like to multi-task. If not, I'm going to hit the library and try to finish it before she does her review so that I can participate. If you love to read, check it out.



Monday Music Spot: Somewhere Over the Rainbow / Simple Gifts
I'm a little bit infatuated. I've always been a music lover. But I am absolutely amazed with every new release from ThePianoGuys. Each one is better than the last and I can't wait to see what they'll do next. I love how they weave melodies in and out and around each other to make simply beautiful music. I listen to their songs over and over and have downloaded them all so I can carry them around in my pocket.


Available on ThePianoGuys website, on iTunes and at Amazon.

The music speaks for itself, but I always love the back story. From ThePianoGuys ...

Story behind the song:
Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson were booked for a Piano Guys show in Hawaii. How could we resist filming our next video in the land of Aloha — beautiful beaches, green mountains, and fresh pineapple?? We went to our Founders and Facebook fans to ask what song they wanted us to play there. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the nearly-unanimous response. But you know how we are ... we couldn't "just" do this tune by itself ... so in the studio we found a made-in-heaven matchup in the timeless melody from the Shaker Hymn "Simple Gifts" written in the 1800's (also used by Aaron Copland in his Ballet "Appalachian Spring"). We feel it's an especially appropriate mash-up because of our profound love and respect for the Hawaiian culture — a people who are so good at finding happiness in simplicity. As you probably could hear we borrowed a lot of ideas from Iz's version which has become the stuff of legend. This arrangement is, in part, a tribute to him.

Getting a piano onto a sandy beach and then onto a big hill in a famous ranch within the SAME day (we only had 8 hours to film) was no small feat. The only thing harder would be to be predict Hawaiian weather, which ended up being our biggest challenge.

"We had a little extra help on this one. My mother, Lynne Sanders Nelson -- a main source of my inspiration for pursuing music — passed away early in life from the effects of a brain tumor. She was an incredibly-gifted musician and taught me to play music passionately rather than just playing 'notes' on a page. 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' was one of her favorite songs. We finished this arrangement on what would have been her 70th birthday. Somehow she helped. I miss her so very much, but when I play songs like this I feel like I get to be with her again. This song is dedicated to her."
-Steven Sharp Nelson

Thank you so much to the Kualoa Ranch who bent over backwards last-minute for us and provided us such a beautiful place to shoot. Visit their site — when you visit Hawaii be sure to stop by and take a tour — its where dozens of huge blockbluster movies/tv shows have been filmed.

This song is dedicated to
Lynne Sanders Nelson, The Hill Family, J. Mueller, & the people of Hawaii

Filming locations:
Beach Scene:
Pounders Beach, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii
Finale:
Kualoa Ranch, North Shore, Oahu Hawaii

Credits:
Over the Rainbow music written by Harold E. Arlen in 1939 for the movie "Wizard of Oz" -- originally performed by Judy Garland
Published by EMI Feist Catalog, Inc.
Inspired, in part, by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's cover
Simple Gifts written by Joseph Brackett in 1848
Arrangement produced by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Arrangement written by Jon Schmidt, Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Video produced by Paul Anderson and Tel Stewart
Piano: Jon Schmidt
Electric/Acoustic Cellos: Steven Sharp Nelson
Vocals: Al van der Beek
Percussion: Steven Sharp Nelson & Al van der Beek
Recorded, mixed & mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studio

Sunday Sermons: Flecks of Gold

By small and simple things are great blessings brought to pass. The gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, like the small flecks of gold that accumulate over time into a large treasure. Our small and simple acts of kindness and service will accumulate into a life filled with love for Heavenly Father, devotion to the work of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and a sense of peace and joy.
–M. Russell Ballard

Secrets

Don't only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine.
–Ludwig van Beethoven


Available on iTunes and at Amazon.
Vocal version here

From ThePianoGuys:
Story behind the song:
The American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic (Youth Orchestra) and its director, Kayson Brown, approached us with this idea. We loved it. It combined two of the things we are working to accomplish -- inviting people to classical music and inspiring young musicians. Steven Sharp Nelson had soloed with the orchestra the previous year and loved the spirit and the talent that the orchestra showed at such young ages (ages 13-18!) Together we developed the concept of "Beethoven's 5 Secrets," combining OneRepublic's tune "Secrets" with melodies and moments from all four movements of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.

We used 5 different melodies from the 4 movements of Beethoven's 5th Symphony (not including the "bridge" the orchestra plays in the middle). Try to guess where they are and where they come from!

What are Beethoven's secrets? He had many. His most prominent secret that he desperately tried to keep from the public and that caused him to be considered extremely eccentric, irritable, and hermit-like was his "weakness." He was deaf during most of his life. Imagine that...one of the greatest composers that ever lived could hardly hear. And yet, he wrote his life's greatest works after becoming deaf. He believed that art itself had "secrets" that had to be "forced into" in order to obtain art's highest level. There is no doubt Beethoven discovered many of the "secrets" of art -- people all over the world enjoy them every day. He was a true master of music, blessed by God. This piece and video are dedicated to him.

Perform "Beethoven's 5 Secrets" and the entire Beethoven Symphony No. 5 with Steven Sharp Nelson at Lyceum Music Festival this year! Work up-close and personal with Steven and other amazing professional musicians like the concertmaster of the London Symphony and Rotterdam Orchestra. Advanced players ages 13-21 are invited to audition. Details here.

Filming locations:
The Mountains of St. George Utah
American Heritage School
TPG Studios
MetCom Studio (Behind the Scenes footage)

Credits:
Arrangement written and produced by Al van der Beek & Steven Sharp Nelson
Orchestrated by Kayson Brown & Steven Sharp Nelson
Performed by
American Heritage Lyceum Philharmonic, under the direction of Kayson Brown
Additional violin work by Julie Ann Nelson (Steven's wife!) & Matthew John Nelson (Steven's brother!)
Steven Sharp Nelson: Acoustic cello, electric cellos, percussion, vocal textures
Al van der Beek: Vocal textures, percussion
Secrets originally written by Ryan Tedder, published by SONY/ATV TUNES LLC
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Opus 67 written by Ludwig van Beethoven in 1804-1808 and debuted in Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1808
Orchestra recorded at MetCom Studios (http://www.metcomstudios.com)
All other instruments recorded by Al van der Beek at TPG Studios
Mixed and Mastered by Al van der Beek at TPG Studio
Video produced by Paul Anderson & Tel Stewart


Dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

A Stitch In Time: February Finishes Giveaway Winner

Remember, there's no such thing as a small act of kindness.
–Scott Adams

Wow! We had a lot of great finishes in February! Thank you to everyone who linked up! It was so fun to visit all of you and see the beautiful things you've made. I'm pleased, if not somewhat nervous, to announce the February winner, who will receive a Reunion by Sweetwater Jelly Roll, sponsored by The Fat Quarter Shop. I had my little in-house random number generator, Grasshopper, pick a number between 1 and 49, and started to remind him that he could pick 1 or 49 or anything in between, but before I could finish my sentence, he picked 44. I asked him if he was sure and he confirmed.



Congratulations to
Peggy

whose Jr. High School play costume, was the winner.

Peggy is my mom, so now you understand why I am a bit nervous to announce the winner. Nepotism or other nefarious hijinks could be involved. But they definitely were not. When I called my mom to let her know she won she was delighted. She started to say, “Yay!” but stopped mid-word, changed her tone to one of a mother who suspects mischief and asked, “did you cheat?” I assured her that Grasshopper did not know which giveaway he was drawing for {doesn't even read my blog or know what giveaways are going on} and that it was a completely fair and honest draw. She went back to being delighted.

If you haven't already, take a minute to visit these really great finishes. I think you'll be inspired!

The March Finishes Linky Party is already open, so you can link up as you go, throughout the month of March. Remember to include the March Finishes button {code found on the March post} somewhere in your post. The giveaway, sponsored by The Fat Quarter Shop, is an Avalon by Jason Yenter fat quarter bundle in the colorway of your choice.

Leap Day Giveaway: Retro Inspired Apron Winner

Happiness is like jam, you can't spread even a little without getting some on yourself. –Vern McLellan

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Leap Day Giveaway Blog Hop!


It was a smashing success. 56 blogs linked up, each with a really great giveaway. According to the linky tool, there were 9,800 views and 7,200 clicks on the linky. I'm not sure how the linky tool tracks that, whether it is individual IP addresses or actual number of views and clicks, but according to my blogger stats I had 1,800 page views during that time. Pretty mind-blowing. I had so much fun checking out the giveaways and I even won one. You all were so generous! What say we all meet back up for Leap Day 2016?

And now on to the really important stuff—announcing the winner of my giveaway for a Retro Inspired Apron, made-to-order in the winner's choice of size. I had my little Random Number Generator, LadyBug, pick a number between 1 and 71. Drum roll, please . . .

Congratulations to
Nancy R

who said, “I love the apron!”

Nancy, check your e-mail and let me know what size you would like your apron. I'll need a few days to get it put together, but I'll have it in the mail to you soon. Also, I'd love it if you sent me photo of you wearing it when you get it .

I hope you all won't mind if I don't do I Must Ask . . . this week. I'm a mite tired out. I also missed Wardrobe Wednesday yesterday, but that was partly because my computer had a little meltdown. I'll be back to blogging, as scheduled, next week.

Thank you again, to everyone who participated in the Leap Day Giveaway, and for making it such a huge success!