Corinne's Blog

Recently as I have been traveling with my mother I’ve found that she has been going through a new music phase in her relationship recovery. After my father my mother discovered healing music that helped her self confidence and got her through the day. Right now the artist that heals my mother has been India Arie. Often as I sit with my mother in the car she identifies songs that remind her of me and in some cases my personal life and my relationship.

The India Arie songs that she identified as being for me and for my relationships were really accurate this time and I was surprised…I listed to one of the songs that she said was me and Craig and it brought me to tears.

So here I share “He Heals Me” By India Arie and dedicate it to Craig McCreath: My Love and Best Friend Forever.

He heals me
Told him my biggest secret
And he told me four.
He smiled at me and said that makes me love more
And then he made me laugh
And I knew it was a sign
That he was a man,
That I wanted in my life

And with every passing day
I feel more and more of that way

He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me, he never hurts me
He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me, he never hurts me
He heals me,
He heals me

I can play him songs, all through the night,
And he will listen to every line,
And even when I’m wrong, he is still kind
He chooses his words wisely when he tells me I’m not right.

And yes he is a beautiful man,
But he is also a beautiful friend

He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me, he never hurts me
He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me, he never hurts me
He heals me

The moment that we met, he made me smile.
He has so much compassion in his eyes
I have no idea, how long he’ll be here
A season or a lifetime, forever or a year
But for the first time in my life I’m not worried about the future
Because we have such a wonderful time when we’re together
However things turn out, it’s all right
Cause he’s already changed my life.

He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me, he never hurts me
He heals me
He knows the real me
And he accepts me, he never hurts me
He heals me

I spent most of my day yesterday in my mom’s house sick. I’m still here now and I’ve noticed that being here makes me want to blog about things that are happening to me. When I am at Leo and Tom’s house or at my place in Brooklyn Park I have a very hard time thinking about anything but unpacking, and cleaning. When I’m alone in my mom’s house that is usually already spotless where I don’t have anything but the clothing on my back and the bags I carry daily around It is hard for me to find ways of entertaining myself.

My mom has internet but it is extremely slow and annoying and it is constantly losing it’s signal. My mom has movies but I’ve seen them all. Cooking here is pointless because food is usually left over in the fridge for me to eat. I find myself reading and wasting time of my life playing catch with my smart cats Emmy and Ambross while my old cat Snow watches. It’s a sad existence that I’m trying to get out of. Since just this past week  I finished the book i had been reading Skinny Dip By Carl Hiaasen (Which has a fantastic ending) and since I’m not in the mood to begin my next Hiaasen I took time today inquiring about jobs in the classifieds and practicing my violin.

It is hard to play violin by oneself when there is no music available to you. I kept trying to think of songs that I’d played in the past but without the music available to me I had a hard time creating them like the masterpieces that they are and were when I played them with an orchestra.

I got to a point where I was humming more of the song than I was actually playing. I tried thinking of my life goals for the violin to continue to play it and to join a community orchestra somewhere. To continue to play so I could someday play it for my children while we sat in the livingroom onfamily nights like Laura’s father did in the Little House on the Praire Series. Or to continue playing just to have something that I can do as a talent that may have died since the days when classical music was a primary and popular form of entertainment and not only found on a classical music Am Radio station or in orchestra hall. I thought of why I started…it was because of film I would listen to movie soundtracks and hear the classical instruments and I would go to my older sister’s concerts and see that they got to play really fun movie themes and I wanted to do that. So I thought to myself…what are you goals for playing today? I have played the movie themes and I loved them and I can check that off the list of things I’ve done. I would like to join a professional orchestra but I need more practice to become worthy of even auditioning. I can’t play for my children as for the fact that I have none so I can only play because I find the instrument itself a great release from the stresses of my everyday life.

I attempt something that I’d been wanting to for awhile… a new project to fill my ever growing free time. I am going to try to play the violin solos that I’ve always told myself that I’d like to learn someday. From Kansas’s Dust in the Wind to Brittany Spear’s Toxic.

So yesterday…which still feels like today since it is only 1am today…I spent most of my day practicing the violin solo from Dust in the wind. I’d wanted to play the solo ever since I was in Farming Minnesota at Leo’s family farm and he’d played it for me to sing along to on the guitar. I knew the song as sung but he informed me that there was an amazing violin solo that accompanied it which he later played for me from his Mp3 player back when we got to Minneapolis. I told myself that one day I would learn the solo so I could play it along with Leo on guitar. The easiest way to learn it for me would have been finding the music for it online because  I know how to read music and that would have been the best solution. I found different versions of the song but because of my lack of money and my lack of time to wait for the sheet music to be shipped in three to five business days I decided to take the harder route. I looked the solo up on Youtube and found two great videos that featured the solo.

I played the first video over and over again playing and pausing it in sections until I was able to imitate the same sounds with my violin. And slowly I could play along with the soloist as if I was the one in the recording. Then I went on to practice the ditty almost for what felt like one hundred times over and over again for about two hours until I could play the solo with my eyes closed while skipping about my mom’s house (dangerous).

I got it up to speed and my final test of it was to play it along with the original…I found a good recording of Kansas from the 70s or 80s and I played along with the recording…the first time I didn’t do very well because the recording got ahead of me but the second and third times I nailed it. I think I listened to Dust in the Wind twenty or thirty times in order to deem myself as having mastered the solo…it was a great feeling after having begun the day only have had heard the solo once or twice before. I taught myself how to play it by ear.

I’m going to post the three videos I used and later I’ll record myself and maybe Leo playing Dust in the Wind to post on here…Being home and without webcam I felt that this was an accomplishment worth blogging about and since it is quiet here and I have the time, why not?

The Violin Solo Video I used first

Kansas: Dust in the Wind (The Link to the Version of the Song I tested myself with second to see if I’d mastered it)

The Mixed up solo that I used last

A Spent the rest of the night Playing a Christmas Music book I’d found in a corner. When my mom got home I showed her what I’d learned and she told me that she’d always thought that the solo was played by two different violins…She was impressed and now I can’t wait to show Leo!

The Bird & The Bee – Love Letter To Japan

Ouh ouh ouh

[Chorus:]
From the west to the east I have flown to be near you
I have come all this way to be close, to be here with you
And now, all my heart I will lay down precisely at your feet

Ouh ouh ouh
My beloved, oh my sweet
All the gifts you have given me
The patience and the peace,
Cherry blossoms and the candy,
I am yours, I am yours
For as long, for as long as you will have me
The Bird and The Bee Lyrics on www.lyrics-celebrities.anekatips.com

Ouh ouh ouh
Dearest one, I had a dream
I mouthed the words, the sound came out,
I spoke to you in Japanese
Oh, my love, I cannot see, I heard your name
I know at once there was no place I’d rather be
All at once there was no place that I would rather be

[Chorus:]
From the west to the east I have flown to be near you
I have come all this way to be close, to be here with you
And now, all my heart I will lay down precisely at your feet

Ouh ouh ouh
My beloved, oh my sweet
All the gifts you have given me
The patience and the peace,
Cherry blossoms and the candy
I am yours, I am yours
For as long, for as long as you will have me

I packed my bag, I’m on my way
I am prepared for any season
I am prepared to stay
Here is my heart, my beating heart
Oh, how I’m longing for this love affair to start
[ The Bird And The Bee Lyrics are found on www.songlyrics.com ]
How I’m longing for this love affair to finally start

[Chorus:]
From the west to the east I have flown to be near you
I have come all this way to be close, to be here with you
And now, all my heart I will lay down precisely at your feet

Ouh ouh ouh
My beloved, oh my sweet
All the gifts you have given me
The patience and the peace,
Cherry blossoms and the candy,
I am yours, I am yours
For as long, for as long as you will have me
Ouh ouh ouh

西から東へと (Nishi kara higashi heto)And from west to east
あなたのところにとんできたの (anata no tokoro nitondekitano)The colonizers who you just
遠い道のりをあなたのそばにいたくて(touimishinori oh anatanosoba ni itakute)Taku Tei near your journey
この思いをすべて(kono omoi oh subete)All this thinking
あなたにささげます(anata ni sasagemasu)Offer prayers to you
Oh oh oh

[Chorus:]
From the west to the east I have flown to be near you
I have come all this way to be close, to be here with you
And now, all my heart I will lay down precisely at your feet

My beloved, oh my sweet
All the gifts you have given me
The patience and the peace,
Cherry blossoms and the candy,
I am yours, I am yours
For as long, for as long as you will have me

[Chorus:]
From the west to the east
All this way to be close
All my heart
(fade out)