notes from the kelp

…click to listen:

…about the music

Music that’s otterly fun, and very busy.

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Well hello!
It’s been a while.
Yeah, I know, I’ve been a bit scarce around here.
Not my norm, as seasoned Kelphistos know! I’ve published this pixel-sonic blog for eight full years without stop [she says somewhat sheepishly as she guiltily glances at the sidebar calendar]. As I logged on to write this entry (geez, finally!), it was either ironic, or just one of those “mystical signs from the Universe” that my skeptical self prefers to chalk up to “random odds,” that the words, “500 posts” greeted me.

Wow. I’ve written exactly 500 posts. Since 2006.
Welcome to number 501.
Not bad for a composer chickie who just blogs in order to share all the beauty/funny/bizarre/breathtaking/mundane things that my website and Facebook don’t show you.

Okay, I admit that I did Facebook this pic of aliens landing on Mount Rainier, in all its otherworldly color one sunrise as I awoke. Sometimes I spread the fun around.

I had never before gone quite this many weeks between posts, (um, seven). Sure, entries have slowed down over the years from the initial blog-frenzy of “A New Post Nearly Every Day!!”, to, “A New Post Three Times a Week!,” to “Well… Twice a Week!” to, “How’s Once a Week Workin’ for Ya?”. And finally, more recently, I joined the calm, sedate, “Blog O’ The Month Club. “Yessiree folks, each new month you can anticipate the joy of some weird offering from Ms. Shapiro in between all the weird offerings that people pay her to create!”

That’s about the right pace for me at this point in my wonderful life. Once, maybe twice a month… but always with INTENT. This is the key, for any artist.

Bella insists: Free Tibet!!. A kitty with intent.

So indulge me in a little reflection, at this 500 post mark.

From time to time I’ve perused my past sillykelpyalex.com offerings, and I will unabashedly admit to you that happily, I don’t feel that I’ve totally wasted anyone’s eyeball efforts. Whether a short handout, or a longer one, there’s always something of pith and personal meaning (well, at least to me!) within these screen dots. I’m just not someone who can waste screen dots on something that’s NOT worthy on some small level.

Much as I’ve been an early adopter of All Things Social Media and Tech, and in fact, am professionally known for mastering this happy affliction, I hereby admit: I am not now, nor have I ever been….

…a person who can be in the intense throes of LIVING and CREATING and EXPERIENCING and BEING, while able to simultaneously post ABOUT these events, in real time.
Nope. Not me.

Sometimes I can come close, by being a sequential, serial life-liver/poster (that reads like something from the abdominal disease ward), but almost always, it’s one,
and then,
the other.
In this case, seven weeks apart.
But: with intent.

So, what’s been riveting my monkey brain attention and thwarting my post-modern e-life? There’s been lots of travel– often every ten days I’m on a plane to somewhere else. In four months I will have been in Chicago, San Antonio, Kansas City, Kona (don’t feel sorry for me, not like you would), Vancouver, Los Angeles, and New York City– twice. And there’ve been lots of pieces being written under deadlines, and each gets the full and undivided attention of my giddy muses the moment I return to this sacred island I get to call home.

Sometimes my house gets a little damp. Ok, yeah, this pic made it to Facebook too.

There’s been lots of contact with the wonderful music-makers around the world who add my notes to their fantastic recipes. There’s been lots of speaking and presenting at huge conferences. There’s been lots of service to forward the work of my colleagues in our challenging field (and this newest appointment is a biggie). And, yes, in my still-balanced existence, there’s lots of love and an immensely happy home life.

Me, and Dan. You get to guess who is who.

500 posts, and more to come. Promise. The balance of the busy, with the blog, is achievable!