i've recently discovered that the only thing that can keep me awake after midnight is singing. music has been a huge part of my life for as long as i can remember. i like making it, listening to it, dancing to it, playing it, talking about it, analyzing it...
a project that i am really excited about right now is the singers' sandbox. jamie envisioned an environment where ensembles would get together and perform for one another, acting as a showcase for ensembles, a space to practice singing in front of people, and a chance to coach and be coached. together, jamie and i have outlined a workshop-type event to provide an environment for singers, ensembles, coaches and arrangers to hone our craft, to learn from one another and to strengthen the community of vocal music enthusiasts in the bay area.
i'm currently singing with the ecstatic song ensemble in berkeley and pride of the pacific chorus in pleasanton. unofficially, my venues include: the sidewalk on my way to the train, the shower, the car, pubs, outside pubs when they close... ecstatic song provides a playground for vocal work. one of my favorite things to do is sing barbershop tags. i've been known to sing tags through the night, past sunrise...and only go to bed because otherwise i'd be lonely singing all by myself.
i have a guitar sitting next to me, begging to be played. my saxophone and clarinet, although neglected for many years, are now getting a little bit more love as i tentatively practice whatever sheet music is laying around the house.
i just recently spent seven months wandering through new zealand, australia, thailand and india...
and tons of airports and train stations in between.
one very important thing i learned is that people and relationships are really what make a place. my favorite experiences, the ones that stick out most in my mind, are solely based on the amazing people that i was with.
forming relationships around the world is what my journey turned into - or always was about, and i just didn't know it.
NEW ZEALAND
i worked on horse farms, learned about natural horsemanship and how to ride bare back;
splashed around in warm waters on the other side of the pacific;
crawled around 60 meters under the surface of the earth, abseiling and climbing and swimming through blackness;
tramped my way through mountains, up the devil's staircase, across beaches and through prehistoric rain forests;
hitchhiked everywhere!; drank honeydew (bug excrement) from black birch trees;
danced and drummed with fire in the rain and mud, among the first to see the sun rise in the new year;
relearned how to scuba dive, and swam with friendly, nibbling blue cod under the sea at a ship wreck;
drove a self-sustaining life vehicle around, across and through the country, singing and laughing;
early morning wine and whiskey tasting; hiked around on a glacier, beside a rain forest;
floated through enormous cliffs on the milford sound;
ran around on beaches of golden, black and white sand...
journal excerpt from motueka: "i danced and sang in the new year under the
milky way around a fire, moving to the pulse of many drums and heartbeats.
as the year changed (presumably, no one had a timepiece), the drumming
intensified, people were whooping and yelling and thrashing around....and then it went back to the same primal fire dance it was before. we drummed
and danced well past sunrise, and the warmth, tranquility and contentedness
of the people around the bonfire felt so fulfilling."
AUSTRALIA
arrived when the fires in melbourne got burning, went up to cairns the day after the cyclone hit, left brisbane the day before the floods.
i saw mozart's 'the magic flute' at the sydney opera house;
scuba diving and snorkeling along the drop off of the great barrier reef;
slept on a boat; swam through the humidity post-cyclone; learned how to sail, and won a dinghy sailing race;
scrambled over boulders through a raging river; devoured kangaroo at a beach mansion, followed by hot rock massages;
ran around in the turquoise waves on our own white sand beach, naked;
finally stopped hearing the accents of the people i'm close to...
journal excerpt from brisbane: "I am grateful for all the relationships that
were kindled in the last few weeks, starting with dear mike on the way to the cairns
airport what feels like so long ago. who knew that taking the red-eye out of cairns on a last-minute
decision that first lead to breakfast with a fellow American diver, would
ultimately bring me to a group of people and experiencing that are heart-breaking to leave?
I feel confident, fulfilled, excited, loved, rich and happy.
thank you to everyone who I've shared this glimpse of life with."
THAILAND
i slept in a bamboo bungalow, surrounded by palm trees and magenta flowers, near the sea gypsy village of chao lay;
learned some advanced scuba diving techniques and explored 40 meters below the surface of the ocean;
attempted snorkeling around the island; got lost in a sea of thai faces at the most confusing mall ever;
slept in a folding coffin on an overnight train; zoomed around on a scooter, beneath ash-filled skies;
watched a bunch of fat thai men wearing plastic-covered pink boxer shorts hack apart pigs in a cement room;
oggled lady-boys on the sex show strip;
wound my way through an endless maze of teeny tiny little markets selling watches and club clothing and
sugar gliders and chinchillas in mini cages and cigarettes and deep-fried bugs...
journal excerpt from pai: "electricity buzzes in the air, the atmosphere fully charged.
ash floats down from the smoke-filled sky, burning our lungs and our eyes. we zoom
through the countryside on our motorbikes, dodging dogs and people. spent my
birthday riding around, hiking in pai canyon on the most sketchy path i've
ever seen, eating pb&j on pita, trying to find a mysterious hot spring that turned into
a desolate wasteland, delicious veggie dinner (sauteed morning glory!), hanging out
in my new (!) travel hammock. relaxed at the witching well (an amazing cafe) and ate
many delicious meals there. we all felt at home in pai, comfortable, connected.
power and confidence was oozing from my skin, this perpetual excitement and anticipation...everything is inspiring!"
INDIA part 1: GOA, VARANASI, AMRITSAR
i rubbed elbows with rich old european hippies; survived, somehow, the chaotic tangle of drivers,
buffalo, cows, kids, bicycles and rickshaws in the streets; played sitar and tabla;
floated along the ganges, amidst tourists and bathers and burning funeral pyres;
drowned in the passion and peace surrounding the golden temple...
journal excerpt from varanasi: "varanasi...benares...the city of death, city of prayer,
of life and rebirth, of wanting, of yearning, of decay and waste, of hopes and dreams, of transformation,
of cheating and scamming, of faith, of dedication, city of darkness, city of light,
of dissolution, of regeneration, of holiness, of criminality, of perversity, of banality...where Shiva's shaft of light hit the earth...a cosmic city."
INDIA part 2: MOSTLY HIMACHAL PRADESH
i started learning hindi; danced at an indian wedding; got addicted to, and then overcame my additction to, chai;
cooked lots and lots of exciting meals; learned how to ride a motorcycle, and
did it every chance i got;
became a "regular" for the first time in seven months;
slept on my balcony under the stars; meditated in my hammock;
acted as an extra in a film at norbulingka institute;
partied at the hospital with my little amoeba;
hiked and climbed and crawled and pushed all over the place...
journal excerpt from mcleod ganj: "surrounded by snow-capped mountains and pine
forests, eagles soar above and below, screaming the joy
of their limitless freedom. the rains come and go, sunshine
greeted by a rich chorus of birds, dogs and people."
TREKKING IN HIMACHAL
journal excerpt from the barot to kullu trek: "we start climbing down towards the
frozen river, through more ice slopes to nowhere...and then we hit a
mud wall. this mud wall has become the bane of my existence, and my
hurdle...we're all leaning on this 55 degree mudslide, trusting our lives to
chance! at one point i slipped about 3 meters, catching myself with my
walking stick and a rock that luckily was in the way... i've never been
so close to my own death. we finally got to the shelter of a forest....yea right!
i was looking forward to the trees, seeing them in the distance as an oasis must
look after wandering in the desert...but the crazy steep slope continued straight
through, except that now there was snow on top of dry leaves on top of the mud.
we rested a bit on the trees, and then continued to climb down...down....
then sachin turned around and said in a very grave voice, "this next part is very dangerous. be very careful. go slow."
WHAT?? we slid down a vertical grass wall, hoping that the grass we were holding onto would hold our weight, or that we could catch ourselves on the occasional tufts of grass and earth. the bottom of the wall deposited us onto the glacier that we proceeded to navigate for the next 8 hours. we followed the glacier / frozen river between two steep mountain sides. at this point, we were just looking for civilization and a flat place to pitch a tent. we were getting hysterical by this time, slipping and sliding all over the place. dignity had become a foreign concept as we fell repeatedly on our asses. i decided that it was more efficient to just go down on my ass, instead of wasting energy trying to stand up, falling, standing up again... up ahead, there was a cliff where the porters and the guides were sitting.
as we approached, we could hear rushing water...a huge waterfall! we had to climb around the waterfall, on a rocky wall. i froze, and sukhdev showed me step-by-step where to put my feet, as rocks and mud were crumbling beneath each step. after 8 hours of slipping, then bounding through, then enjoying, then dreading the glacier, we saw salvation! a muddy reed-covered slope! ...yay? our group split up, and we decided to walk through the river the rest of the way, instead of trying to balance ourselves on the mud. sachin made bridges for us to cross the river at some places, and had to basically pull me over some rocks when my body just wouldn't do it.
we finally spotted civilization up ahead! we set up camp just in time for thunder to crash above our heads and lightning to rip open the sky...then the sweet sweet rain. a perfect end to a perfect day. heh."
