When I started this podcast, it wasn’t my intention to only share one of my songs every week, I also wanted to share other people’s creative journeys, as well as helpful information.
Although my weekends are typically not so eventful, it’s been a busy few days so I’m going to talk about some of the things that I encountered this week.
A milestone birthday and the Fourth Grade Project
First of all, I wanted to wish my sister a very happy birthday. She came to town this past weekend so we got a chance to celebrate. It’s a milestone birthday - she turns 50 this week - so I tried to plan something that was specific to her life.
She loves to travel and has been a teacher for decades - at one point teaching fourth grade - so we started with a visit to the Chandler Museum for an exhibit called “The Fourth Grade Project.” For this exhibit, “artist Judy Gelles interviewed and photographed more than 300 fourth-grade students from a wide range of economic and cultural backgrounds in China, England, India, Israel, Italy, Nicaragua, St. Lucia, South Africa, Dubai, South Korea and multiple areas of the United States.”
At each school she visited, she asked the same three questions: “Who do you live with?” “What do you wish for?” “What do you worry about?” Their answers are accompanied by their pictures - taken from behind to protect their privacy.
It was fascinating to read their answers and to observe how they view the world, and how they differed depending on their economic backgrounds and cultures. For instance, one child worried about getting good grades because they wanted to make their parents happy, while another one didn’t want to get his pencils stolen on his way home from school. Others worried about their family members’ safety. Several students wished for their family members to be together (mentioning that because of their father’s work obligations, they only got to see him one day a week, if that) - while others wanted a new iPad. Many lived with multiple generations and extended family in their home. We may all live on the same planet and have opportunities to connect online, but this is a reminder that we all come from different backgrounds with different experiences, which may explain some of the conflicts we are encountering today.
Judy Gelles was an accomplished artist, photographer and filmmaker who started her creative journey as a new mom in 1977 when she took a photography class with the goal of taking the perfect baby photo, according to her son in an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer. “She was a diarist, documenting her daily life as a young mother and an artist,” her son said. Sadly, she died in 2020 of a ruptured brain aneurysm. But her work lives on and continues to touch people today.
Mingle + Graze: A cheese shop and restaurant
Following the exhibit, we went to a restaurant in downtown Chandler for dinner. We had a few minutes before the restaurant opened so we briefly visited the San Marcos Resort (Now a Crowne Plaza property), which we had learned about in an exhibit at the Chandler Museum. The San Marcos was founded in 1913 by Dr. Alexander J. Chandler, the city’s namesake, and was the first Arizona resort to offer resort amenities such as golf, tennis and horseback riding.
We had dinner at a nearby restaurant called “Mingle + Graze.” I found it online after searching for cheese shops and restaurants, as my sister loves cheese. We enjoyed a vegetarian version of “The Cheese Experience,” which included cheese from different countries, fruit, nuts, spreads, olives and bread, as well as a Grilled Cheese Flight and a Persian Garden salad. We had a lovely chat with the owner, Mahfam Moeeni-Alarcon, who shared her love of cheese and even brought us a delicious Persian Chocolate Cake with rose petals and pistachios for my sister’s birthday dessert.
Next we went back to my dad’s house where we looked at her childhood photographs and mementos and then were joined by my husband, sons and dogs to finish the evening with some more family time.
Podcast about turning 50
You may be wondering if my sister minds that I just shared her age with my audience, but I can assure you that she doesn’t mind. I know this because she has a podcast called “Living on the Exhale: Finding inspiration, laughter and growth from the messy middle.” In her regular weekly episodes, she interviews a variety of people on a variety of topics: wellness, mental and emotional health, love and relationships, career and money. Her background is in education and wellness coaching and she has a long list of certifications in these fields. For the past several weeks, she’s had an additional mini-episode called “Year I Turned 50.” So it’s no secret. Her goal is to try 50 new things in the year she turns 50 and she shares her experiences in her podcast.
So far this has included laughter yoga, attending a seance, taking an improv class, taking a trip with her granddaughter and walking the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage across Spain. You can follow her adventures on any podcast platform - search for Living on the Exhale with Staci Berkovitz.
Music business insight
There are two other songwriting resources I wanted to share here, too. One is The New Music Business Podcast with Ari Herstand. He recently interviewed Serona Elton, head of educational partnerships at The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC). In that episode, she explains how digital and physical mechanical royalties work. So if you’re a songwriter who may be interested in getting paid for your songs, you may want to check this out.
I also came across a new newsletter from Michael Gilbride of Mad Records, “The Mad Records Monologue.” The title of one episode caught my eye: “If promoting your music makes you miserable, read this” and it’s about why he started a Substack newsletter instead of doing YouTube videos. Totally related to it.
Another recent article is called “P Diddy proved the industry was always broken,” with the subhead “The good ol’ days” were dark times, it’s time to move on,” which is a reflection on the state of the music industry through the years - and what’s positive about the current situation. Very interesting perspectives about both issues and good insight into the music business.
Although this isn’t related to music business, one songwriting experience I had over the past week is having a group of friends over Sunday night to play music. I was able to share three of my songs - two on keyboard and one on guitar with my husband playing bass. Although I haven’t had a chance to record my latest song yet, I was able to play it for others this weekend and got a good response. Hopefully I’ll get some time to record it so I can share it here soon, too. Our oldest son joined some of the performers on drums, as he’s been taking drum lessons for a few months.
A rabbi who became a flight attendant
The last project I wanted to share today is a book that came out the same week as my book (“52 Weeks in 2021: A Songwriting Journey,” now available on Amazon - had to get the plug in). This other book is called “The Adventures of the Rabbi Who Became a Flight Attendant.” What’s so cool about this is that it was written by my childhood rabbi - Rabbi David Pinkwasser. He officiated both at my bat mitzvah and my mom’s funeral. He was also my flight attendant on a flight to Washington, D.C. several years ago. In his book, he shares his insights and stories in both professions. It’s a fun and inspiring read.
All these are examples of creative journeys - taking up photography, writing a book, starting a newsletter, podcasting, opening a cheese restaurant, songwriting - do any of these speak to you?
Song of the week
This week’s song was written four years ago, a few months after the world shifted from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown of empty city streets to Black Lives Matter protests after the murder of George Floyd. That was the primary news at the time - Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, the 2020 election and police brutality.
This song is called “Say Something” and is about wanting to speak out about an issue but knowing you don’t have all the facts. Wanting to express that you feel something that happened is wrong and you want to help those who are affected by it, but also realizing that there are often complexities about an overall situation that are not always available to you.
Maybe it’s the deep-rooted attempt to be objective after years of being a journalist - because journalism once aimed for the goal of remaining objective - but it’s also about not judging an entire group of people because of the actions of a few individuals, something that happens today far too often.
When I originally wrote this, it was more of a poem since there was no music so in 2021, I wrote some background music for it and this week’s recording is from 2021.
Say Something
I don’t know the right words to say
Need to say something anyway
We can’t be silent
Because silence means that nothing will changeCity streets were quiet for weeks
Then erupted in flames, engulfed in grief
So much sadness infused with madness
An absence of empathyHistory repeats over and over again
I don’t know the right words to say
Need to say something anyway
We can’t be silent
Because silence means that nothing will changeHe couldn’t breathe, they ignored his plea
How much evidence did they need?
So much hating, devastating
Decaying behind the scenesHistory repeats over and over again
I don’t know the right words to say
Need to say something anyway
We can’t be silent
Because silence means that nothing will change.© Leisah Woldoff
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