This week’s “Mondays On the Move” song is called “Give me a chance.” We wrote this song with a young man from Yemen, who told us he was so grateful to Belgium for welcoming him. All he wanted was to be given a chance to give something back in return. This year has been a…
Category: autoethnography
The importance of being earnest: The evolution of a songwriting method
What’s in a Name? Every now and then, I type my name into Google to see what pops up. Recently, I found a woman from the Netherlands named Marieke with a business creating products for the home. It was hilarious to click on “About me” and see a completely different person looking back to me….
Carte Postale no. 6: Tic Toc to Prescott
Malcolm has spent the past several days in Colorado, visiting with friends from our cohort at Prescott College. From Denver to Boulder to Durango, he tasted espresso and sat in a beautiful cathedral and beyond. Update on animals: back in Rockport, on a morning before I departed, across the street perched the largest bird I…
Carte Postale no. 5: A church and a missile in the middle
This evening, I type Malcolm’s travel missives with one hand while I ice my swollen pinky. Malcolm: Morning in Iowa. Tranquil church and a museum for the Strategic Air Command. Not sure what this says about the world or my interests. The 90 year old in me loves the stained glass and the 11 year…
Carte Postale nos. 3 & 4: The Limbo Zone
Driving through the middle of these United States, Malcolm sent me a text with a photo that has become my favorite thus far. Malcolm: This is the canal lock in La Salle, Illinois. Had to drive down and inspect the past? Love the engineering of raising and lowering water level by locking it in for…
Carte Postale no. 1: The West Awaits
I know that Malcolm was a member of a band for a period of his life because he told me once not to worry about people not liking me as a performer. Did anyone throw rocks at you? he asked me. No, I responded. Then you’re fine, he said. Rocks? Seriously? I asked. And there…
Gotta get out
Most days, I live in my mind. I staff museum sites at a park, and there are many hours of the day where my own inner voices carry on a heated dialogue while I intermittently sit, stand, and talk with visitors. This winter was a rough one for me, both emotionally and for my immune system. On…
North of the border
It is the final day of April, and I am sitting in a third floor room typing away as the rain falls in a cold, wet blanket outside my window. These past two weeks, I have traveled under the auspice of Story-to-Song to two very different locations, cities, and climes in Canada. Last week, I…
What now?
The Sandbox may be over, but my work as a startup entrepreneur is just beginning. The past three months feel like a surreal, frenetic blur. They were very real and quite invaluable. I took an abstract idea and found a way to turn it into a viable business with tangible products. I even worked with…
Believe it or not
Last night, I performed at an exhibit opening at the Arts League of Lowell. I had submitted my first recorded album for an exhibit honoring the life of Kerouac called “Travels off the Beaten Track.” I knew that David Amram would be playing earlier in the gallery opening, but I got the go ahead to…
Marieke is Guiding Song 