The inspiration for writing this came when I was looking at the cover of one of my mother's piano Christmas books. The song titles started to tell a story which I have called "letter from Santa" :)
"Dear friends,
Christmas day will be upon us very soon so keep those 'Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire' and whatever you do don't forget to 'Deck The Halls' because it's 'Beginning To Look Like Christmas'! You'll want to get out your 'Jingle Bells' since we 'Need A Little Christmas' now more than ever!
'Hark The Herald Angels Sing' as we remember 'The First Noel' and the baby Jesus who was 'Away In A Manger'. 'O Come All Ye Faithful' to follow the 'Star Of The East' on this 'Silent Night' for 'What Child Is This'?
'Let There Be Joy To The World' as we gather around you 'O Christmas Tree' and sing 'The Coventry Carol' while 'Up On The House-Top' 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town'. 'Hark The Bells Are Ringing' and 'Here We Come A-wassailing' in happy anticipation since we get 'A New Deal For Christmas'.
'God Rest You Merry Gentlemen' the 'Angels We Have Heard On High'! 'Hark The Bells Are Ringing' to count down 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas' as we wait for 'Jolly Old Saint Nicholas'. 'O Little Town Of Bethlehem' 'I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day' and 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' and a happy new year!
Sincerely,
Santa Claus"
* * *
Hope you liked it!
Sonja
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas!
Well, okay maybe it isn't looking alot like Christmas quite yet, but it will be - soon. It has been a little while since I've posted something new....how is everybody? Mom helped me put out another issue of Sonja's Gazette on Friday October 12th. Volume 1, issue 6, in fact. We changed the layout....okay let me rephrase that - mom changed the layout and it's way "cooler" (can I say this?) than the old one! I am sure I am bias, but I think she is an artistic guru with all things pertaining to computers....
She took a picture with a small video camera of artwork that my sister had done and transferred it to the computer, then in this intricate "maneuveur" (at least to an an amateur like myself this process looked quite impressive) applied the computer image to my Gazette. So, there is some original artwork on display. The picture we chose for the front looks like a quaint old Christmas greeting card cover. It says "from our house to yours" and shows a merry trail of friends and family going from house to house. The pine trees are white with snow and so is the ground. The men are in top hats and the ladies in long, flowy dresses. It all looks and feels reminicent of a much gentler, happier time and so cheered me up just looking at it.
My sister has been making these homemade cards that seem to combine different textures and mediums. The effect is somewhat unusual and the creations are unique. The picture we included was a card she made using scanned pictures of my sister and myself, but instead of using the entire photo, she made our dresses from a paperdoll pattern. We seem to be floating in a purple background with glittery silver stars everywhere. Above us are musical notes also suspended magically in the air. The pictures of our faces are from when we were kids, maybe around 4 and 9 - two little princesses going to the ball, or something like that - who knows?
The final page is a poem , author unknown, about friendship. I included a section of thank you's to some special people who have gone above and beyond in friendship.
I still haven't posted any new youtube videos yet, this is moving much slower than I want it to. The songs have been ready, we are just having some difficulty finding the time to actually record them.
Any thoughts, comments about Christmas? Or anything? Well, this is a blog :) so please feel free to respond with a comment here or write me via email. I value your input.
I will leave you for now with this poem from my Gazette, found in very old archives - author unknown....
"A friend in like a shade tree beside a summer way. A friend is like the sunshine that makes a perfect day. A friend is like a flower that's worn close to the heart. A friend is like a treasure with which one will not part."
Yes, I know I am a bit early for this -but Merry Christmas, dear friends.
Sonja
She took a picture with a small video camera of artwork that my sister had done and transferred it to the computer, then in this intricate "maneuveur" (at least to an an amateur like myself this process looked quite impressive) applied the computer image to my Gazette. So, there is some original artwork on display. The picture we chose for the front looks like a quaint old Christmas greeting card cover. It says "from our house to yours" and shows a merry trail of friends and family going from house to house. The pine trees are white with snow and so is the ground. The men are in top hats and the ladies in long, flowy dresses. It all looks and feels reminicent of a much gentler, happier time and so cheered me up just looking at it.
My sister has been making these homemade cards that seem to combine different textures and mediums. The effect is somewhat unusual and the creations are unique. The picture we included was a card she made using scanned pictures of my sister and myself, but instead of using the entire photo, she made our dresses from a paperdoll pattern. We seem to be floating in a purple background with glittery silver stars everywhere. Above us are musical notes also suspended magically in the air. The pictures of our faces are from when we were kids, maybe around 4 and 9 - two little princesses going to the ball, or something like that - who knows?
The final page is a poem , author unknown, about friendship. I included a section of thank you's to some special people who have gone above and beyond in friendship.
I still haven't posted any new youtube videos yet, this is moving much slower than I want it to. The songs have been ready, we are just having some difficulty finding the time to actually record them.
Any thoughts, comments about Christmas? Or anything? Well, this is a blog :) so please feel free to respond with a comment here or write me via email. I value your input.
I will leave you for now with this poem from my Gazette, found in very old archives - author unknown....
"A friend in like a shade tree beside a summer way. A friend is like the sunshine that makes a perfect day. A friend is like a flower that's worn close to the heart. A friend is like a treasure with which one will not part."
Yes, I know I am a bit early for this -but Merry Christmas, dear friends.
Sonja
Monday, September 17, 2007
My Third Post, Bob Allen and In Defense of Teddy
Hi again! My third post. I checked my profile today and found that I have had eight views so far, I wonder who? I know Bob Allen has read my blog and was surprised and pleased to find that I had mentioned him, at least that is what I am going to believe (ha-ha)! Bob - I checked out your website and I like the way you were talking over your music, its a pretty neat effect...I know my friend Natalie (I won't mention her last name in case she wants to remain anonymous) has read it and another friend from Michigan. Who else? Would anyone like to leave a comment? Let me know you visited? No pressure, it just would be nice to know. Okay onto more content : I wrote a short story almost three years ago when we first got our two doggies - Teddy and Arnie. The story is about the youngest dog, Teddy. He is a cairn terrier and a rescue. He still had tons of puppy in him as this story will show. It is a true story and I thought about trying to submit it to the cat and dog chicken soup for the soul publication. I'm not sure if I've got the name right, but you get the idea. Natalie gave me the idea about the chicken soup book and she also gave me the reference I use in the story to a "synthetic gold squirrel" - I need to give credit where it is due! Here's the story, It's called "In Defense of Teddy" :Teddy is my year and a half old recently adopted cairn terrier. He sports tufts of unruly wiry hair that frame big brown puppy dog eyes and a button nose, he is ragamuffin in appearance and manner with a touch of class - is this possible? Extremely intelligent and precocious this spunky terrier is most definitely prone to mischief, and it is mischief that brings me to the need for Teddy's defense!On the day in question, Teddy was on the living room rug with his favorite bone snugly nestled between two front paws; a quaint picture of puppyhood innocence and contentment. With what would prove to be a false sense of security, I went about my usual morning routine. Once absent from the room, I can only speculate as to the events that must have transpired- based on the evidence! New and naive as a pet owner I did not foresee what temptation or possibilies might be in a situation like this for an inquisitive terrier! There was an almost empty pack of cigarettes sitting on the coffee table from my sister's visit the day before with one partially smoked cigarette still in the package. Do other terriers have the mis-conception that they can jump from a sofa to a coffee table like a cat? Teddy must have mastered this art because that is just what he did! When I finished my morning routine I went back to the living room and found Teddy under the coffee table, his bone long forgotten. He was surrounded by bits of chewed up paper and continued to chew happily as I watched. To my dismay I saw the cigarette package shredded all around him and no evidence of the cigarette! I could only conclude due to the over-whelmingly circumstanial evidence, that Teddy had eaten it! I wondered what effect nicotene might have on my little 15 pound terrier and the answer came as I moved in closer. Obviously nicotene had turned my puppy into a wild hunter; all instinct. He had pulled a gold drapery tassel off of the living room draperies and dissected it piece by piece. The mangled remains lay all around him and while Teddy stared at me proudly and unflinchingly it was as if he was saying, "I am not sorry. I am the proud hunter of this synthetic gold squirrel"!I have since referred to this incident as the "tassel massacre". Anyway, I was cleaning up and realized that there was also a cup of coffee left on the coffee table from the morning. It was almost full when I left the room and I wondered now if this had proved to be another temptation for Teddy. I peered into my coffee cup. Sure enough! The contents were drained dry and the cup looked suspiciously like it had been licked clean. Based on the circumstantial evidence I could but come to one conclusion; Teddy had not only eaten a cigarette that morning, but he had had a cup of coffee too!In summary, and in Teddy's defense, I would like to say that I have hope that someday he will mature in his tastes and graduate to a (proper?) high tea! Until then, who can fault him, really for taking a coffee break?Ha - ha! I hope this made you chuckle at least.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Shades of an Inner Landscape
Welcome to my second post, I am writing this on the same day, although that may not be a habit! I wanted to give an explanation of the two youtube videos I have listed. Tapestry is a song from "In The Master's Hand" which I wrote back in 1999 and Butterfly is a recent composition. I am hoping to have a new song on youtube very soon; all the videos are under my mother's youtube account vsummers8693.
I did promise to share more about my writing in the first post and I would like to do that. The song Butterfly is, in fact, a poem and I would like to share more poetry. For now though, I thought I would include an excerpt from a newsletter I put out for friends and family. This is from the June 3, 2006 issue, called Shades of an Inner Landscape.....
"To more deeply explain the shades of my journey, I wrote what I call Inner landscape, a story told more in poetic prose than plain language. For me it captures the heart of the journey rather than the details of each event. Inner landscape is my way of communicating the joy of discovery, the pain of loss, and the re-discovery of all that I hold dear and treasure. To know true blessing of any kind is a sacred event; most of us have moments or times in our lives which seem to go beyond the ordinary and take us beyond our ordinary. They are never forgotten and are often the stuff our future dreams are made of. With that in mind, here is my Inner Landscape....
"In the quiet where inner waters part; flow streams of forgiveness to the heart. Leaving night, letting in the light where dreams take flight. A place of no constraints; moving at the speed of sound; yet utterly silent; the heart in flight while still earthbound. Hope flows from Heaven's currents that run steady and deep; living water and new wine; love poured out under open skies. It is freedom's ride and it moves you, until the current spills you out on the distant shore; where you've left higher ground yearning for more. Yet that inner light burns within and you are glad; seared in your memory, all you once had. Heaven born in an earthbound heart; all that love's bloom can impart. It has carried you over, beyond and through the valleys of sorrow, trials and pain. Through thorns and briars and thistles too; and still the memory remains; of that higher place. Old shoes worn right through to the soles; stumbling even now onto sands of forgetfullness; where what you thought you could never forget has gone. Until only one grain of a memory remains; a distant thought; a glimmer of gold against the darkness of night; shining through to remind you of where you have been and what you once knew. You spin in memory; right out of control, until you remember, until you see this is always as it had to be. Truth and treasure born out of pain and finding in loss all there is to be gained."
I wrote more but this gives you an idea of what I call my journey of faith in all its twists and turns and ultimate complexities.
Until next time!
Sonja
I did promise to share more about my writing in the first post and I would like to do that. The song Butterfly is, in fact, a poem and I would like to share more poetry. For now though, I thought I would include an excerpt from a newsletter I put out for friends and family. This is from the June 3, 2006 issue, called Shades of an Inner Landscape.....
"To more deeply explain the shades of my journey, I wrote what I call Inner landscape, a story told more in poetic prose than plain language. For me it captures the heart of the journey rather than the details of each event. Inner landscape is my way of communicating the joy of discovery, the pain of loss, and the re-discovery of all that I hold dear and treasure. To know true blessing of any kind is a sacred event; most of us have moments or times in our lives which seem to go beyond the ordinary and take us beyond our ordinary. They are never forgotten and are often the stuff our future dreams are made of. With that in mind, here is my Inner Landscape....
"In the quiet where inner waters part; flow streams of forgiveness to the heart. Leaving night, letting in the light where dreams take flight. A place of no constraints; moving at the speed of sound; yet utterly silent; the heart in flight while still earthbound. Hope flows from Heaven's currents that run steady and deep; living water and new wine; love poured out under open skies. It is freedom's ride and it moves you, until the current spills you out on the distant shore; where you've left higher ground yearning for more. Yet that inner light burns within and you are glad; seared in your memory, all you once had. Heaven born in an earthbound heart; all that love's bloom can impart. It has carried you over, beyond and through the valleys of sorrow, trials and pain. Through thorns and briars and thistles too; and still the memory remains; of that higher place. Old shoes worn right through to the soles; stumbling even now onto sands of forgetfullness; where what you thought you could never forget has gone. Until only one grain of a memory remains; a distant thought; a glimmer of gold against the darkness of night; shining through to remind you of where you have been and what you once knew. You spin in memory; right out of control, until you remember, until you see this is always as it had to be. Truth and treasure born out of pain and finding in loss all there is to be gained."
I wrote more but this gives you an idea of what I call my journey of faith in all its twists and turns and ultimate complexities.
Until next time!
Sonja
Welcome to My Tapestry! My name is Sonja Miliacca and I am a singer/songwriter who has been playing guitar and singing since I was thirteen years old. I played the clarinet in high school marching band but this was a very looong four years! It just wasn't for me! However, from the first time I strummed a six string I was hooked. I took lessons for several years and spent long hours in my room learning to sing and play, a feat I found very challenging in the beginning. I listened to Joni Mitchell with awe, sang along with Judy Collins and longed to express the kind of emotion they captured so beautifully in words and music.
I was strongly influenced by folk singers and songwriters, troubadours with guitars who could fill a room with music in a moment's notice. Arlo Guthrie, Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby Stills and Nash, The Eagles and early Beatles also all had an impact on me musically.
I recorded a CD called "In The Master's Hand" in 1999. Bob Allen with The Bob Allen Trio did the recording in his home studio. Bob is a local jazz performer here in Columbus Ohio, he plays piano along with Roger Hines on bass and Joe Ong on drums at The Hyde Park Grille on Old Henderson road every Saturday night 8 p.m. to 11-30 p.m. My first recording experience was a postive one and I am grateful to Bob for his generosity, patience and time. You can visit Bob's website at http://www.boballentrio.com/.
I led the women's worship at a vineyard church in Michigan and we performed "Daddy's Girl" one of the songs from "In The Master's Hand". Since that experience I have wanted to play with a group/band again. You can hear samples of the songs on this websight. These were written many years ago and my style has changed somewhat since then. I think this is good because it means my music has changed and evolved to better reflect the person I am today.
My current musical influences would be Michelle Tumes with her hauntingly beautiful CD Listen. There isn't one song on that CD that I don't like! Allison Kraus can sing anything and I am transported. Paula Cole, Sarah Mclaughlin, Maire Brennan, Enya. Okay, these are ALL women but....that is because I am woman and a musician and so I identify with them. This doesn't mean that I have excluded men. Alex Bugnon - Love Season, Michael Bolton - anything. Michael Franks - anything. There are more but I would/could exhaust myself trying to list them all. The long and short of it is that I LOVE MUSIC! Hearing it, playing it and creating it!
I am for creativity, freedom and all things that support the positive flow of self-expression. I am against negative criticism, a judmental attitute and all things that would cause a person to feel self-concious and inhibited. I have never understood how beautiful music can be made in an atmosphere of fear or intimidation! I taught guitar in Michigan for many years and eventually formed a guitar workshop with my students. I wanted very much to nurture an environment of acceptance and safety while challenging and stimulating everyone at the same time; a balance between discipline and freedom allowed everyone to be their best.
I will write more in my next blog about my other passion - writing! After all, I think that music is poetry set to music for the most part. The inspiration for music often comes from the desire to express emotion and what can capture emotion better than poetry?
Thanks for visiting my websight and I hope you'll come back soon!
God Bless,
Sonja
I was strongly influenced by folk singers and songwriters, troubadours with guitars who could fill a room with music in a moment's notice. Arlo Guthrie, Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby Stills and Nash, The Eagles and early Beatles also all had an impact on me musically.
I recorded a CD called "In The Master's Hand" in 1999. Bob Allen with The Bob Allen Trio did the recording in his home studio. Bob is a local jazz performer here in Columbus Ohio, he plays piano along with Roger Hines on bass and Joe Ong on drums at The Hyde Park Grille on Old Henderson road every Saturday night 8 p.m. to 11-30 p.m. My first recording experience was a postive one and I am grateful to Bob for his generosity, patience and time. You can visit Bob's website at http://www.boballentrio.com/.
I led the women's worship at a vineyard church in Michigan and we performed "Daddy's Girl" one of the songs from "In The Master's Hand". Since that experience I have wanted to play with a group/band again. You can hear samples of the songs on this websight. These were written many years ago and my style has changed somewhat since then. I think this is good because it means my music has changed and evolved to better reflect the person I am today.
My current musical influences would be Michelle Tumes with her hauntingly beautiful CD Listen. There isn't one song on that CD that I don't like! Allison Kraus can sing anything and I am transported. Paula Cole, Sarah Mclaughlin, Maire Brennan, Enya. Okay, these are ALL women but....that is because I am woman and a musician and so I identify with them. This doesn't mean that I have excluded men. Alex Bugnon - Love Season, Michael Bolton - anything. Michael Franks - anything. There are more but I would/could exhaust myself trying to list them all. The long and short of it is that I LOVE MUSIC! Hearing it, playing it and creating it!
I am for creativity, freedom and all things that support the positive flow of self-expression. I am against negative criticism, a judmental attitute and all things that would cause a person to feel self-concious and inhibited. I have never understood how beautiful music can be made in an atmosphere of fear or intimidation! I taught guitar in Michigan for many years and eventually formed a guitar workshop with my students. I wanted very much to nurture an environment of acceptance and safety while challenging and stimulating everyone at the same time; a balance between discipline and freedom allowed everyone to be their best.
I will write more in my next blog about my other passion - writing! After all, I think that music is poetry set to music for the most part. The inspiration for music often comes from the desire to express emotion and what can capture emotion better than poetry?
Thanks for visiting my websight and I hope you'll come back soon!
God Bless,
Sonja
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