Friday, December 23, 2011
MUST. READ.
I wish every person in the world would read the blog entry that I'm about to post. It's so amazingly true and the answer to world peace. I don't for one moment believe that I am perfect. I needed this as much as ANYONE in the whole world. Please read it and pass it along.
I'm Christian, unless you're gay.
I hope that everyone can look past the title. I'm not homophobic, but I'm angry, judgmental, and a hater. I know this. I want to be better.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tis the season
If you are a regular here at the Patch you know that every year I wax poetic on one of my favorite things in the world. My annual performance of Handel's Messiah. It's the 71st performance in Cedar City. Not one year have they skipped doing it. Christmas is so commercial and when the economy is troublesome (even if it isn't) there's so much materialistic stress. My favorite part of the season is singing in the Messiah. Our orchestra along with the Messiah chorale perform it as Handel intended it to be; free of charge. I never have the words to express how humbling it is to sing the words from the Bible that chronicle the events leading up to the birth, the ministry, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Christ. Powerful words. Yet my ultimate amazement lies in the pure genius of Handel. He brings life to the words, he paints a picture. He uses every nuance of every instrument in the orchestra, every section of the chorale, and every soloist. I do this every year because it truly is the best part of the year for me, hands down.
In the past I've talked about Adrianne Tawa, our choir instructor. She's amazing and for the experience of learning from her, alone, makes it all the more worthwhile. Then we are handed over to Xun Sun (maestro AND doctor) who truly is astounding but the real show is watching him conduct us. Never have I seen such joy in a person. How can it NOT be the best experience ever??
Here's some of the music from last year's performance:
Isn't he amazing? How can you NOT feel pure joy performing with this man???
In the past I've talked about Adrianne Tawa, our choir instructor. She's amazing and for the experience of learning from her, alone, makes it all the more worthwhile. Then we are handed over to Xun Sun (maestro AND doctor) who truly is astounding but the real show is watching him conduct us. Never have I seen such joy in a person. How can it NOT be the best experience ever??
Here's some of the music from last year's performance:
Isn't he amazing? How can you NOT feel pure joy performing with this man???
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
TRADITION!!!!!!!
My little fam has traditions that we've built from the birth of my children. My oldest is 17 and amazingly is speaking of marriage. Her boyfriend brought it up very hypothetically but.. YIKES! She's enrolled in two colleges on top of high school and she's not that little girl who named her first doll Crunchy. My distance from my other family played out here in the Patch. I'm no longer angry at anyone and I actually see things more clearly. It's come as a shock that I won't be spending Christmas Eve at my mom's house. I'm not sure why because I thought I was clear. We all have families and I am looking at two young women who will be making THEIR own traditions too (you've experienced my youngest. She's my blog high jacker).
I've bought them an ornament for each year of their existence. When they marry they will take them for their own trees and hopefully tell their children the story behind each. Perhaps they will put a pickle ornament on THEIR tree for their kids to find to see who opens the extra gift. I believe they will kneel in prayer, thanking God for the gift of his son and that we not forget HIM as we take turns opening gifts. Will they read their kids "Yes Virginia, there IS a Santa." to keep the magic alive when someone else tries to take it away? Will they leave anonymous gifts on the porch for the 12 days of Christmas, knocking, running and hiding, and as they get older biffing it in the snow as THEIR children step over them and keep running? How many of our traditions will they take with them?
What I really wonder as I enter into the second decade of headache from hell is will I be here to find out? Time will tell.
I've bought them an ornament for each year of their existence. When they marry they will take them for their own trees and hopefully tell their children the story behind each. Perhaps they will put a pickle ornament on THEIR tree for their kids to find to see who opens the extra gift. I believe they will kneel in prayer, thanking God for the gift of his son and that we not forget HIM as we take turns opening gifts. Will they read their kids "Yes Virginia, there IS a Santa." to keep the magic alive when someone else tries to take it away? Will they leave anonymous gifts on the porch for the 12 days of Christmas, knocking, running and hiding, and as they get older biffing it in the snow as THEIR children step over them and keep running? How many of our traditions will they take with them?
What I really wonder as I enter into the second decade of headache from hell is will I be here to find out? Time will tell.
Friday, November 18, 2011
GOP insanity
Just going to share an exchange from Facebook. Names are hidden to protect the identity of the people who commented:
Female friend: We will disagree on this, but I think learning by experience is not flip flopping. I think some things are turned
into negatives when the are really positives. I am not speaking on actual events in some cases, but in general ones.
What I thought: YOU disagree because I'm talkingWhat I said: But he's behind in the polls... WHY??? O_o That's so insane :
What I said: But he's behind in the polls... WHY??? O_o That's so insane :
Male friend: the world unfortunately will not vote in a Mormon we are too weird in their view,but a balck man from africa is ok to be our president hmmmm
That's not possible. You have to be an American citizen to run for President of the US.Moi (note the sarcasm): That's not possible. You have to be an American citizen to run for President of the US.
Moi pretending I'm stupid so these people comprehend me.. Or do they???: Ohhhh you mean Obama!!! LOL! I've campaigned for him for years. Only weird racist birthers believe that old story.
So, according to the last commenter on my status, people think we're weird but we aren't. We are stupid and racist.. Yeah dude, don't help me!!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
OMG! STUPID STUPID STUPID PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just read this one Facebook:
Rob Young's Photos
Look at this lady - Let us never forget!
The world hasn't just become wicked...it's always been wicked. The
prize doesn't always go to the most deserving.
During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive'. She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids). She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted. Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. President Obama won one year before becoming President for his work as a community organizer for ACORN and Al Gore won also --- for a slide show on Global Warming. In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER I'm doing my small part by forwarding this message. I hope you'll consider doing the same.. It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated! Now, more than ever, with Iran , and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth'. It's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.
The world hasn't just become wicked...it's always been wicked. The
prize doesn't always go to the most deserving.
During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a Plumbing/Sewer specialist. She had an 'ulterior motive'. She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews (being German). Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger kids). She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids/infants noises. During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 kids/infants. She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted. Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. President Obama won one year before becoming President for his work as a community organizer for ACORN and Al Gore won also --- for a slide show on Global Warming. In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER I'm doing my small part by forwarding this message. I hope you'll consider doing the same.. It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated! Now, more than ever, with Iran , and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth'. It's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.
By: Rob Young
The story about Irena is true, however there ARE problems with it:
1. There is no way of knowing if she was nominated. The names of nominees are kept secret for 50 years.
2. Yes, this story came out originally to discredited Al Gore by saying that the prize was lost to him in 2007. Obama had nothing to do with it.
3. I'll just paste my response to this post here:
Update:
I followed up with this:
Okay, that one was sooo crazy I decided it was blog worthy which meant I had to know the facts. Research (and Wiki doesn't count) IF she was nominated, it was in 2007 according to the first appearance of the story and that would be before President Obama won but the same year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won. BUT there's no way to know if she lost to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore or not. The names of the nominees are kept secret for 50 years. There's absolutely no way to prove she was even a nominee unless you torture one of the Nobel Prize Judges.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The beginning of the end of normal childhood...
Kids are bored.. If there was no batteries, power cords, etc. whatever shall they do?? Even the finest thing ever invented is being phased slowly out.. The book.
But this is one of the things that really bugs me most. What has happened to our playground equipment??
There was a slide like this in my hometown and at my elementary school. I remember one accident. At recess, a boy who hadn't tied his shoes got the lace caught at the top of the slide and fell. I don't remember any other serious accidents in my time growing up with these slides.
This was called the Ocean Wave at our school. The pic I found called it the witches hat and we had one of those too. This isn't it. I don't recall bad accidents on this but I'm sure children doing stupid things got hurt.
THIS was the witches hat. I remember no accidents in my time playing there, in elementary school.
We had this in my hometown playground but the handles were smaller, like this:
The problem with the strider is that if someone let go, their chain would swing free and you could get beaned. It's bad form not to yell out letting others know there was a rogue chain.
See? Mind the rules, use common sense and you have fun equipment. OR stay in the house and play on the Wii. Wear the strap, though, because you can let the remote slip and injure someone in the room.
But this is one of the things that really bugs me most. What has happened to our playground equipment??
The problem with the strider is that if someone let go, their chain would swing free and you could get beaned. It's bad form not to yell out letting others know there was a rogue chain.
See? Mind the rules, use common sense and you have fun equipment. OR stay in the house and play on the Wii. Wear the strap, though, because you can let the remote slip and injure someone in the room.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
If the truth shall set you free, GW got an arm lose.
Last night was the BIG MOMENT. George W. Bush, sits down and talks about 9/11. I felt a bit nostalgic as I like the little whisker but dang! Just spill it!! President Obama hasn't brought charges and I'm kind of doubting he ever will but is this supposed to be cathartic for you or us??
It was great to see him fully disclose that they were warned over a month in advanced and did nothing to protect us. Spilled milk.
I was glad to hear that he was about to get his pets into a safe shelter with Laura because America's number one priority was the FIRST DOG AND CAT!! NOT!!! It was also a bit classless showing the footage of him talking to the first responders with his arm slung around the fireman's shoulder as if they'd be friends for life instead of 'dying of cancer from toxic fumes who?'. Him saying that when they kept saying they couldn't hear him he said but I will always hear you. History will record who made those promises then who came through with them. (Including Jon Stewarts MAJOR role in that). History will record who promised to never stop searching yet never STARTED searching. Not in the right place and he knew it, he lied to us. He lied to families of first responders who died then or from complications. He lied to the people in those buildings and in those planes. He lied to the men that fought for something they thought was worth dying for. He lied to all of us.
I'm proud of him for allowing for some of his lies. I believe deep down he is a good man but this came too late. He should have stood beside President Obama at Ground Zero when our troops risked everything to make good on Bush's promise. God Bless our troops!! THEY DID IT!
There will always be debates on who was the worst president in history. Tricky Dick? Clinton? They lied to us too. Maybe they all do. But the lives that were lost because of this man's lies... Such a waste. We've yet to recover and never will unless we unite. He could have helped with that too, last night. He chose not to.
I don't envy the task of being president. I don't envy the burden he must live with. I truly don't believe that he is a bad man. I believe he's human and tried to do right things. I wish him happiness now. I wish him peace.
National Geographic-George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview
It was great to see him fully disclose that they were warned over a month in advanced and did nothing to protect us. Spilled milk.
I was glad to hear that he was about to get his pets into a safe shelter with Laura because America's number one priority was the FIRST DOG AND CAT!! NOT!!! It was also a bit classless showing the footage of him talking to the first responders with his arm slung around the fireman's shoulder as if they'd be friends for life instead of 'dying of cancer from toxic fumes who?'. Him saying that when they kept saying they couldn't hear him he said but I will always hear you. History will record who made those promises then who came through with them. (Including Jon Stewarts MAJOR role in that). History will record who promised to never stop searching yet never STARTED searching. Not in the right place and he knew it, he lied to us. He lied to families of first responders who died then or from complications. He lied to the people in those buildings and in those planes. He lied to the men that fought for something they thought was worth dying for. He lied to all of us.
I'm proud of him for allowing for some of his lies. I believe deep down he is a good man but this came too late. He should have stood beside President Obama at Ground Zero when our troops risked everything to make good on Bush's promise. God Bless our troops!! THEY DID IT!
There will always be debates on who was the worst president in history. Tricky Dick? Clinton? They lied to us too. Maybe they all do. But the lives that were lost because of this man's lies... Such a waste. We've yet to recover and never will unless we unite. He could have helped with that too, last night. He chose not to.
I don't envy the task of being president. I don't envy the burden he must live with. I truly don't believe that he is a bad man. I believe he's human and tried to do right things. I wish him happiness now. I wish him peace.
National Geographic-George W. Bush: The 9/11 Interview
Monday, August 22, 2011
Steve Powell you are so beyond sick and wrong I am astounded
Well, well, well... Perhaps Joshie ISN'T the only person of interest:
Examiner.com: Why Susan feared her father in law
ABC News
For your convenience I've brought the lyrics and bio to the Patch. All rights and insanity belongs to Steve (Chantrey) Powell. The author of the Patch has no legal or moral(less) rights or ownership to the body of work and links have been supplied.
Steve's Songs for Susan
Waiting For You
You did it your way,
While I awaited your
Appearance in my doorway.
I spent the whole day through
Waiting for you.
It didn't happen
If you had shown up,
I would have thought that our
Relationship was sewn up.
I spent the whole day through
Waiting for you.
I could be getting a mistaken impression,
Each time you seem to gaze at me.
You let me touch you softly. Why? is the question.
And the effect amazes me.
Had trouble sleeping.
Wasn't beside you.
I felt so lonely,
For a little bit I cried too.
I spent the whole night through
Waiting for you.
Repeat bridge
Now I am smitten
Doubt I'll recover
Only one cure and that's to
Have you as my lover.
I'll spend my whole life through
Waiting for you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
The Light of the City
Words and music by Steve Chantrey
A typical morning, with sky overcast,
If you were beside me, the gloom wouldn't last.
My thinking is clouded that's true:
But only because I need you.
It's dark out, it's raining, the skies are all grey.
I don't think the sun will be shining today,
But while I am thinking of you
The skies I am seeing are blue.
chorus:
The sun didn't shine in Seattle this morning.
What did you expect, hey, what's new?
But I saw a new light turn on in me, eternally,
The moment I laid eyes on you.
The Light of Seattle is you.
Seagulls are following ferries around,
I see planes and clouds floating over the Sound
I wish I were way up there too,
I'd like to be floating with you.
chorus:
The sun didn't shine in Seattle this morning.
What did you expect, hey, what's new?
But I saw a new light turn on in me, eternally,
In ways that I can't misconstrue.
The Light of Seattle is you.
I want you, I love you, I do!
The Light of Seattle is you.
I want to be with you.
The Light of Seattle is you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
And to know you love me dearly.
If it's only in my heart
It's refreshing, it's a start.
I'm missing you.
Make some room for me within you
For the moment I begin to
Smell the perfume in your hair
And caress you everywhere.
I'm missing you.
I can love you in a secret way.
I can love you each and every day.
There is nothing I can't see.
There is nothing you can't be.
It's not perfect, but I'm missing you!
There's a picture in my heart of you.
There's a place for every part of you.
I'm surviving without you.
Such a life will never do.
I'm missing you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
You're pretty as a little doll
And I would like to play with all
The things that make a little doll so nice.
And you could dance and you could sing,
And you could do most anything,
And I could taste your sugar and your spice.
Chorus:
Mi muñequita,
My beautiful doll.
Mi muñequita,
Es fundamentál
Que eres todo lo que necesito
Para hacerme tan completo.
You are my little doll, mi muñequita.
I'd like to hold you close to me
And that's how it's supposed to be:
I'd pick you up and hold you to my heart.
My little doll will be my friend,
I hope it's more than just pretend,
And you and I will never be apart.
Chorus:
Mi muñequita,
My beautiful doll.
Mi muñequita,
Es fundamentál
Que eres todo lo que necesito
Para hacerme tan completo.
Eres mi carina, mi muñequita.
And we could find a little place,
A doll house with a little space
To have some little dolls like you and me.
And we'd be together night and day
With lots of time to laugh and play.
And that's how we would live so happily.
Chorus:
Mi muñequita,
My beautiful doll.
Mi muñequita,
Es fundamentál
Que eres todo lo que necesito
Para hacerme tan completo.
Eres mi corazón, mi muñequita.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
When you do Zumba
With its Mambo and Rhumba
You can heat up the room
And make a fool of me.
¡Santa caramba!
Do the Salsa and Samba
With your excellent body
Moving endlessly.
Chorus (after each verse):
¡I love it when you dance for me!
You really shake it, ¡and how!
You do it all so easily.
¡Do it again for me now!
They’ll never find a way to stop it.
Zumba, there’s no way to top it.
I love it when you dance for me.
Zumba there’s no way to top it.
Keep it going, never stop it.
I love it when you dance for me.
I love it when you Zumba me.
Make no mistake,
You get a license to shake,
And strike a pose like a chicken
Strutting to the block.
But there’s good news:
There are no chicken-house blues.
It’s more like dancing and prancing
To the jailhouse rock.
It could be cha cha,
Where the beat’s really gotcha,
Or another hot rhythm
We could dance all day.
Zumba stands ready
Like a swinging machete
As it cuts to the chase
To make us rock and sway.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
I said, "I love you." Is that a sin?
I just might wanna say it once again:
I love you, like it or don't.
I said, "I love you." You should have kissed me.
I felt like giving up when you just dissed me.
I love you, so I guess I won't.
You think I'm crazy, but I insist,
It's simple, I can't resist.
The lips that I never kissed, but wanted
To plant my lips everywhere on you,
And count every hair on you,
And sit here and stare at what you flaunted.
I said, "I love you." Is that a crime?
And what if I say it to you one more time?
I love you, so put me in jail.
I said, "I love you." I couldn't help it.
And you were mistaken if you thought I'd shelf it.
I love you, so cough up my bail.
You made my eyes pop out of their sockets.
You could empty all my pockets.
This flirtation isn't rocket science.
You came along and really knocked my socks off.
Now you're all I think and talk of.
So much for my former self-reliance.
I said, "I love you." Can you forgive
If I can't find another way to live?
I love you, and that is my sin.
I said, "I love you." I think you knew it,
But I got hasty and I think I blew it.
I love you. Can we try again?
It seems like all I do is take a beating,
But giving up is self-defeating.
I only hope there'll be a meeting of minds
I've waited patiently and cried a lot for
Something that I've always sought for
I hope it is the same as what your heart finds.
I said, "I love you." Can you forgive
If I can't find another way to live?
I love you, and that is my sin.
I said, "I love you." I think you knew it,
But I got hasty and I think I blew it.
I love you. I'll say it again and again
Even if it's a sin.
I love you: I've said it
Again and again and again.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
Close to my side, my Lydia,
Whisper into my ear
Softly, your voice I hear
Like ocean breezes
Washing over me
On a sultry summer day.
Soft in my ear, my Lydia,
Soft as I dream of you.
Your voice is like the dew
That quietly
Refreshes in the morn
When I wake to think of you.
Close to my heart
I feel you
Close, with no space
Between us
Shadows alone
Have seen us.
Nothing is real
But we two.
Softly inside, my Lydia.
Touch deep into my soul.
Touch me and I am whole.
With no beginning,
End, or in between,
Just this moment, close to you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
I Only Feel Love
Words and Music by Steve Chantrey
You can't really say it was love at first sight.
There was no impression that made it seem right.
I didn't feel haste
'Til I had a taste,
Now I see your face
And I only feel love.
I may have seemed clumsy, I didn't move fast.
A love that came slow is a love that will last.
It's plain to me too
That all that you do
Has made me love you.
I only feel love.
I only feel love
When I'm with or without you.
I only feel love
For that "something" about you.
I only feel love for you.
True love doesn't make itself known at the start.
The feelings just grow as they stir in your heart.
With someone so dear
Those feelings are clear.
Whenever you're near
I only feel love.
Instrumental Bridge
True love didn't make itself known at the start.
The feelings just grew and they grew!
I only feel love,
I only feel love,
I only feel love for you.
I only feel love,
I only feel love,
I only feel love for you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
You were waiting when I first awakened,
And although I must have felt forsaken,
You were there, My Dear Mother.
You were my first love.
I could hear your voice before I knew you,
Your heartbeat was calming to me through you.
I heard you, My Dear Mother,
You were my first love.
Your sweet lullaby,
My first music,
Swept away all darkness and all fear.
We would rock-a-bye,
You would soothe me,
And I knew I was your little dear.
Your eyes were the first that I looked into
Filled with love in spite of what you'd been through.
I felt loved, My Dear Mother.
You were my first love.
Other loves have lived within my heart,
Where they've shared my life and played a part.
It was you who loved me from the start:
You were my first love.
You were my first love.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
There's an ache that grows within my heart,
You and you alone have played a part.
If aching were all I have to do,
I would suffer pain to find a way to be with you.
Can you feel my love and tender care,
Strong enough to reach you anywhere?
If loving were all I have to do,
You would feel my heart reach out for no one else but you.
If there were simple answers for a way to be with you
There isn't much I wouldn't try or much I wouldn't do.
Can true love be patient anymore?
It depends on who it's waiting for.
If waiting were all I have to do,
I would wait forever for a chance to be with you.
Instrumental Bridge
Can true love be patient anymore?
It depends on who it's waiting for.
If waiting were all I have to do,
I would wait forever for a chance to be with you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
I could be in heaven or in hell,
It doesn't matter, I'd be well
If I could only know that I'd be there with you.
I could fall below the lowest drop
Below the deepest ocean trough
And find a way to reach the top to be with you.
Chorus:
The mystery
Of what you mean to me
Makes every height or depth
Another step
Toward ecstasy.
No matter where
As long as you are there,
One mystery will vanish too:
You'll know how deeply I love you.
Cast upon an island far away
I'd have no reason not to stay
If you were with me and together we were lost.
Thrown into another dimension,
Another earth another sun,
I'd want to be with you wherever I were tossed.
Wandering alone in cold and dark
There will be light, there'll be a spark,
For just a thought of you will make the world bright.
When it's time to take my latest breath,
To walk the odyssey of death
There is no shadow that will take away your light.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
I could be in heaven or in hell,
It doesn't matter, I'd be well
If I could only know that I'd be there with you.
I could fall below the lowest drop
Below the deepest ocean trough
And find a way to reach the top to be with you.
Chorus:
The mystery
Of what you mean to me
Makes every height or depth
Another step
Toward ecstasy.
No matter where
As long as you are there,
One mystery will vanish too:
You'll know how deeply I love you.
Cast upon an island far away
I'd have no reason not to stay
If you were with me and together we were lost.
Thrown into another dimension,
Another earth another sun,
I'd want to be with you wherever I were tossed.
Wandering alone in cold and dark
There will be light, there'll be a spark,
For just a thought of you will make the world bright.
When it's time to take my latest breath,
To walk the odyssey of death
There is no shadow that will take away your light.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
One of my early memories about that time in Portland is the new bright green car (I'm sorry, I never actually knew the make of the car, only the color) our family came to own. A short time after that lovely car appeared in our family, my dad drove it to Southern California to look for work in the aerospace industry. When we followed him there I was devastated to find out that he had traded in our green car as the down payment on a little house in Redondo Beach. In its place in our driveway was an old turtleback from the 1940s. Oh well.
My grandparents had preceded us to California, and were living in Santa Monica. My dad and his parents all found work at Hughes Aircraft (and probably none of them knew any more about Howard Hughes than about the man in the moon). Grandma worked in the cafeteria, Grandpa worked in production, and my dad worked in the tool crib.
In only a matter of months my dad made a unilateral and secretive decision to separate from my mom. So on a given weekend he took us to visit his parents while my mom went to spend the weekend with her aunt in Burbank. Unbeknownst to her, my grandparents had, prior to that weekend visit, transported their trailer house to Northern California, and parked it in Weed.
When we headed over to see my grandparents, and kept going north on Highway 1, something seemed amiss to me, even at seven years old. "Where is momma?" I asked. Grandma curtly replied, "You're never going to see your mother again." Of course, that was more devastating than the disappearance of the green car. My older brother, my sister and I were inconsolable. My baby brother probably just wondered what the commotion was about.
We kept driving until we reached Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Grandma and Grandpa parked their trailer house at a trailer camp along the highway, where I-90 now runs. My dad moved to Yakima, Washington where he had found work as a district supervisor for a regional newspaper. The good news for me was that I did not have to finish the last few weeks of second grade, and the next year I started into third grade without missing a beat.
The trailer camp was surrounded by bull pines and terraced up the side of a hill. I would go up the hill and play with my friends and my brother. On one occasion I informed one of my buddies that my grandparents had kidnapped us. My brother, who overheard, reported the conversation back to my grandmother, who encouraged me to keep my mouth shut (I was lying, in her estimation) by pouring a liberal dose of cayenne pepper on my tongue and making me stand in the corner.
It was also up on that hill above the trailer terrace that I conceived my first melody and lyrics. The lyrics were truly inspired:
Cigars, cigars,
Someone stole my cigars,
So I called the cops
To get my cigars.
The cops finally came.
The darned thing happened again,
So I called the cops
To get my cigars.
I'm not sure where the inspiration came from, since no-one in my family ever smoked cigars. And I am not sure why I remember it after all these years, or why it seemed to have such significance to me. The words are nearly meaningless, and the melody is not exactly the theme for a symphony. Maybe my seven-year-old subconscious knew more about my future vocation than I even knew for many years as an adult.
Nowadays, when I write songs I do a bit of editing. The first words that offer themselves as partners for a given melody do not always make it to the final cut.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
Over the years of performing, there were occasions when someone in the audience would ask if I had made any recordings. I had not. However digital multi-track recording technology, sequencing software and hard and soft digital music instruments have opened up opportunities that were not possible without enormous financial outlays in the old analog world. So I am now making amends, by making the music more widely available.
And now that I am finally putting some of my songs, arrangements and performances into a more or less permanent audio form, I occasionally think of what it will be like for my own grandchildren to put a disk into the player and know that "grandpa wrote that song."
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
Yeah "grandpa wrote that song about my mom while he was sniffing her panties".
Examiner.com: Why Susan feared her father in law
ABC News
For your convenience I've brought the lyrics and bio to the Patch. All rights and insanity belongs to Steve (Chantrey) Powell. The author of the Patch has no legal or moral(less) rights or ownership to the body of work and links have been supplied.
Steve's Songs for Susan
Waiting For You
Words and Music by Steve Chantrey
You did your own thing,You did it your way,
While I awaited your
Appearance in my doorway.
I spent the whole day through
Waiting for you.
It didn't happen
If you had shown up,
I would have thought that our
Relationship was sewn up.
I spent the whole day through
Waiting for you.
I could be getting a mistaken impression,
Each time you seem to gaze at me.
You let me touch you softly. Why? is the question.
And the effect amazes me.
Had trouble sleeping.
Wasn't beside you.
I felt so lonely,
For a little bit I cried too.
I spent the whole night through
Waiting for you.
Repeat bridge
Now I am smitten
Doubt I'll recover
Only one cure and that's to
Have you as my lover.
I'll spend my whole life through
Waiting for you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
The Light of the City
Words and music by Steve Chantrey
A typical morning, with sky overcast,
If you were beside me, the gloom wouldn't last.
My thinking is clouded that's true:
But only because I need you.
It's dark out, it's raining, the skies are all grey.
I don't think the sun will be shining today,
But while I am thinking of you
The skies I am seeing are blue.
chorus:
The sun didn't shine in Seattle this morning.
What did you expect, hey, what's new?
But I saw a new light turn on in me, eternally,
The moment I laid eyes on you.
The Light of Seattle is you.
Seagulls are following ferries around,
I see planes and clouds floating over the Sound
I wish I were way up there too,
I'd like to be floating with you.
chorus:
The sun didn't shine in Seattle this morning.
What did you expect, hey, what's new?
But I saw a new light turn on in me, eternally,
In ways that I can't misconstrue.
The Light of Seattle is you.
I want you, I love you, I do!
The Light of Seattle is you.
I want to be with you.
The Light of Seattle is you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
I'm Missing You
Words and Music by Steve Chantrey
There's a way to have you near me,And to know you love me dearly.
If it's only in my heart
It's refreshing, it's a start.
I'm missing you.
Make some room for me within you
For the moment I begin to
Smell the perfume in your hair
And caress you everywhere.
I'm missing you.
I can love you in a secret way.
I can love you each and every day.
There is nothing I can't see.
There is nothing you can't be.
It's not perfect, but I'm missing you!
There's a picture in my heart of you.
There's a place for every part of you.
I'm surviving without you.
Such a life will never do.
I'm missing you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
Mi Muñequita
Words and music by Steve ChantreyYou're pretty as a little doll
And I would like to play with all
The things that make a little doll so nice.
And you could dance and you could sing,
And you could do most anything,
And I could taste your sugar and your spice.
Chorus:
Mi muñequita,
My beautiful doll.
Mi muñequita,
Es fundamentál
Que eres todo lo que necesito
Para hacerme tan completo.
You are my little doll, mi muñequita.
I'd like to hold you close to me
And that's how it's supposed to be:
I'd pick you up and hold you to my heart.
My little doll will be my friend,
I hope it's more than just pretend,
And you and I will never be apart.
Chorus:
Mi muñequita,
My beautiful doll.
Mi muñequita,
Es fundamentál
Que eres todo lo que necesito
Para hacerme tan completo.
Eres mi carina, mi muñequita.
And we could find a little place,
A doll house with a little space
To have some little dolls like you and me.
And we'd be together night and day
With lots of time to laugh and play.
And that's how we would live so happily.
Chorus:
Mi muñequita,
My beautiful doll.
Mi muñequita,
Es fundamentál
Que eres todo lo que necesito
Para hacerme tan completo.
Eres mi corazón, mi muñequita.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
I Love It When You Dance for Me
Words and Music by Steve ChantreyWhen you do Zumba
With its Mambo and Rhumba
You can heat up the room
And make a fool of me.
¡Santa caramba!
Do the Salsa and Samba
With your excellent body
Moving endlessly.
Chorus (after each verse):
¡I love it when you dance for me!
You really shake it, ¡and how!
You do it all so easily.
¡Do it again for me now!
They’ll never find a way to stop it.
Zumba, there’s no way to top it.
I love it when you dance for me.
Zumba there’s no way to top it.
Keep it going, never stop it.
I love it when you dance for me.
I love it when you Zumba me.
Make no mistake,
You get a license to shake,
And strike a pose like a chicken
Strutting to the block.
But there’s good news:
There are no chicken-house blues.
It’s more like dancing and prancing
To the jailhouse rock.
It could be cha cha,
Where the beat’s really gotcha,
Or another hot rhythm
We could dance all day.
Zumba stands ready
Like a swinging machete
As it cuts to the chase
To make us rock and sway.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
I Said, I Love You
Words and Music by Steve ChantreyI said, "I love you." Is that a sin?
I just might wanna say it once again:
I love you, like it or don't.
I said, "I love you." You should have kissed me.
I felt like giving up when you just dissed me.
I love you, so I guess I won't.
You think I'm crazy, but I insist,
It's simple, I can't resist.
The lips that I never kissed, but wanted
To plant my lips everywhere on you,
And count every hair on you,
And sit here and stare at what you flaunted.
I said, "I love you." Is that a crime?
And what if I say it to you one more time?
I love you, so put me in jail.
I said, "I love you." I couldn't help it.
And you were mistaken if you thought I'd shelf it.
I love you, so cough up my bail.
You made my eyes pop out of their sockets.
You could empty all my pockets.
This flirtation isn't rocket science.
You came along and really knocked my socks off.
Now you're all I think and talk of.
So much for my former self-reliance.
I said, "I love you." Can you forgive
If I can't find another way to live?
I love you, and that is my sin.
I said, "I love you." I think you knew it,
But I got hasty and I think I blew it.
I love you. Can we try again?
It seems like all I do is take a beating,
But giving up is self-defeating.
I only hope there'll be a meeting of minds
I've waited patiently and cried a lot for
Something that I've always sought for
I hope it is the same as what your heart finds.
I said, "I love you." Can you forgive
If I can't find another way to live?
I love you, and that is my sin.
I said, "I love you." I think you knew it,
But I got hasty and I think I blew it.
I love you. I'll say it again and again
Even if it's a sin.
I love you: I've said it
Again and again and again.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
My Lydia
Words and Music by Steve ChantreyClose to my side, my Lydia,
Whisper into my ear
Softly, your voice I hear
Like ocean breezes
Washing over me
On a sultry summer day.
Soft in my ear, my Lydia,
Soft as I dream of you.
Your voice is like the dew
That quietly
Refreshes in the morn
When I wake to think of you.
Close to my heart
I feel you
Close, with no space
Between us
Shadows alone
Have seen us.
Nothing is real
But we two.
Softly inside, my Lydia.
Touch deep into my soul.
Touch me and I am whole.
With no beginning,
End, or in between,
Just this moment, close to you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
Words and Music by Steve Chantrey
You can't really say it was love at first sight.
There was no impression that made it seem right.
I didn't feel haste
'Til I had a taste,
Now I see your face
And I only feel love.
I may have seemed clumsy, I didn't move fast.
A love that came slow is a love that will last.
It's plain to me too
That all that you do
Has made me love you.
I only feel love.
I only feel love
When I'm with or without you.
I only feel love
For that "something" about you.
I only feel love for you.
True love doesn't make itself known at the start.
The feelings just grow as they stir in your heart.
With someone so dear
Those feelings are clear.
Whenever you're near
I only feel love.
Instrumental Bridge
True love didn't make itself known at the start.
The feelings just grew and they grew!
I only feel love,
I only feel love,
I only feel love for you.
I only feel love,
I only feel love,
I only feel love for you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
You Were My First Love (or Simply Oedipus Complex in my opinion)
Words and Music by Steve ChantreyYou were waiting when I first awakened,
And although I must have felt forsaken,
You were there, My Dear Mother.
You were my first love.
I could hear your voice before I knew you,
Your heartbeat was calming to me through you.
I heard you, My Dear Mother,
You were my first love.
Your sweet lullaby,
My first music,
Swept away all darkness and all fear.
We would rock-a-bye,
You would soothe me,
And I knew I was your little dear.
Your eyes were the first that I looked into
Filled with love in spite of what you'd been through.
I felt loved, My Dear Mother.
You were my first love.
Other loves have lived within my heart,
Where they've shared my life and played a part.
It was you who loved me from the start:
You were my first love.
You were my first love.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
To Be With You
Words and Music by Steve ChantreyThere's an ache that grows within my heart,
You and you alone have played a part.
If aching were all I have to do,
I would suffer pain to find a way to be with you.
Can you feel my love and tender care,
Strong enough to reach you anywhere?
If loving were all I have to do,
You would feel my heart reach out for no one else but you.
If there were simple answers for a way to be with you
There isn't much I wouldn't try or much I wouldn't do.
Can true love be patient anymore?
It depends on who it's waiting for.
If waiting were all I have to do,
I would wait forever for a chance to be with you.
Instrumental Bridge
Can true love be patient anymore?
It depends on who it's waiting for.
If waiting were all I have to do,
I would wait forever for a chance to be with you.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
The Mystery Of What You Mean to Me
Words and Music by Steve ChantreyI could be in heaven or in hell,
It doesn't matter, I'd be well
If I could only know that I'd be there with you.
I could fall below the lowest drop
Below the deepest ocean trough
And find a way to reach the top to be with you.
Chorus:
The mystery
Of what you mean to me
Makes every height or depth
Another step
Toward ecstasy.
No matter where
As long as you are there,
One mystery will vanish too:
You'll know how deeply I love you.
Cast upon an island far away
I'd have no reason not to stay
If you were with me and together we were lost.
Thrown into another dimension,
Another earth another sun,
I'd want to be with you wherever I were tossed.
Wandering alone in cold and dark
There will be light, there'll be a spark,
For just a thought of you will make the world bright.
When it's time to take my latest breath,
To walk the odyssey of death
There is no shadow that will take away your light.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
The Mystery Of What You Mean to Me
Words and Music by Steve ChantreyI could be in heaven or in hell,
It doesn't matter, I'd be well
If I could only know that I'd be there with you.
I could fall below the lowest drop
Below the deepest ocean trough
And find a way to reach the top to be with you.
Chorus:
The mystery
Of what you mean to me
Makes every height or depth
Another step
Toward ecstasy.
No matter where
As long as you are there,
One mystery will vanish too:
You'll know how deeply I love you.
Cast upon an island far away
I'd have no reason not to stay
If you were with me and together we were lost.
Thrown into another dimension,
Another earth another sun,
I'd want to be with you wherever I were tossed.
Wandering alone in cold and dark
There will be light, there'll be a spark,
For just a thought of you will make the world bright.
When it's time to take my latest breath,
To walk the odyssey of death
There is no shadow that will take away your light.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
Meet Steve Chantrey
I was born in Portland, Oregon. At an early age my mother made a unilateral and secretive decision to separate from my dad, and moved with my brother, my sister and me to Chillicothe, Ohio. Pregnant at the time with my younger brother, she suffered through a miserable trip from Oregon to Ohio. My dad found us after a few months, and my parents reconciled. We returned to Portland for a while.One of my early memories about that time in Portland is the new bright green car (I'm sorry, I never actually knew the make of the car, only the color) our family came to own. A short time after that lovely car appeared in our family, my dad drove it to Southern California to look for work in the aerospace industry. When we followed him there I was devastated to find out that he had traded in our green car as the down payment on a little house in Redondo Beach. In its place in our driveway was an old turtleback from the 1940s. Oh well.
My grandparents had preceded us to California, and were living in Santa Monica. My dad and his parents all found work at Hughes Aircraft (and probably none of them knew any more about Howard Hughes than about the man in the moon). Grandma worked in the cafeteria, Grandpa worked in production, and my dad worked in the tool crib.
In only a matter of months my dad made a unilateral and secretive decision to separate from my mom. So on a given weekend he took us to visit his parents while my mom went to spend the weekend with her aunt in Burbank. Unbeknownst to her, my grandparents had, prior to that weekend visit, transported their trailer house to Northern California, and parked it in Weed.
When we headed over to see my grandparents, and kept going north on Highway 1, something seemed amiss to me, even at seven years old. "Where is momma?" I asked. Grandma curtly replied, "You're never going to see your mother again." Of course, that was more devastating than the disappearance of the green car. My older brother, my sister and I were inconsolable. My baby brother probably just wondered what the commotion was about.
We kept driving until we reached Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Grandma and Grandpa parked their trailer house at a trailer camp along the highway, where I-90 now runs. My dad moved to Yakima, Washington where he had found work as a district supervisor for a regional newspaper. The good news for me was that I did not have to finish the last few weeks of second grade, and the next year I started into third grade without missing a beat.
The trailer camp was surrounded by bull pines and terraced up the side of a hill. I would go up the hill and play with my friends and my brother. On one occasion I informed one of my buddies that my grandparents had kidnapped us. My brother, who overheard, reported the conversation back to my grandmother, who encouraged me to keep my mouth shut (I was lying, in her estimation) by pouring a liberal dose of cayenne pepper on my tongue and making me stand in the corner.
It was also up on that hill above the trailer terrace that I conceived my first melody and lyrics. The lyrics were truly inspired:
Cigars, cigars,
Someone stole my cigars,
So I called the cops
To get my cigars.
The cops finally came.
The darned thing happened again,
So I called the cops
To get my cigars.
I'm not sure where the inspiration came from, since no-one in my family ever smoked cigars. And I am not sure why I remember it after all these years, or why it seemed to have such significance to me. The words are nearly meaningless, and the melody is not exactly the theme for a symphony. Maybe my seven-year-old subconscious knew more about my future vocation than I even knew for many years as an adult.
Nowadays, when I write songs I do a bit of editing. The first words that offer themselves as partners for a given melody do not always make it to the final cut.
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
It Dawns On Me That I Am a Singer-Songwriter
Until recently I was still doing mostly other people's music, the standards, occasionally throwing in one of my own songs. But in recent years I have reversed the proportion, so that now I perform mostly my own songs.Over the years of performing, there were occasions when someone in the audience would ask if I had made any recordings. I had not. However digital multi-track recording technology, sequencing software and hard and soft digital music instruments have opened up opportunities that were not possible without enormous financial outlays in the old analog world. So I am now making amends, by making the music more widely available.
And now that I am finally putting some of my songs, arrangements and performances into a more or less permanent audio form, I occasionally think of what it will be like for my own grandchildren to put a disk into the player and know that "grandpa wrote that song."
©2005-2011 Steve Chantrey
Yeah "grandpa wrote that song about my mom while he was sniffing her panties".
Monday, August 8, 2011
Bible: Literal or Figurative??
As a Mormon, I'm often asked if I find the Joseph Smith story a bit unbelievable. People who don't understand us well don't realize how important the Bible is to us so the things that Joseph Smith encountered aren't considered to be more important than the things that happen in the Bible. They just happened more recently. I especially have wondered about the Old Testament and the stories of Noah, Moses, and Jonah, etc. I've wondered if they are literal or allegorical. I came across an article on HuffPo that is on that very topic.
[URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/4-good-reasons-not-to-read-bible-literally_b_919345.html"]4 Reasons Not to Read the Bible Literally[/URL]
I like that the author, David Lose, points out that the vessels God chose were men who were fallible and made mistakes. Also that the Bible was written by several people and in the New Testament you get a few different accounts of the same events and they don't always match up exactly. Of course they don't. That is how it always is. When we record an experience we record it according to how it happened as WE experienced it. That's completely natural. Also the Bible was written by men, re-translated by men throughout the ages. THAT would have a bearing on how things are written.
My question is: IS the Bible literal? Or are parts of it metaphoric?
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