tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-307019592024-03-07T03:23:55.371-05:00Amazing AdventuresTales from an overloaded mindjchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12283988207939351902noreply@blogger.comBlogger1742125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-20197246067108270482023-01-01T14:17:00.007-05:002023-01-04T11:16:28.474-05:00In the Rearview Mirror: 2022 Trying to Come to Grips with Covid-19Looking back at 2022, I'd have to say there was a lot of stress. But it was overridden by the wonderful singers with whom I got to work.Music:The year began with "The Music Man," for which Laurie Henderson Jones, Noah Landry, and I shared the rehearsal accompanist duties. I've loved that show since I was seven or eight years old and Daddy bought me the jchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12283988207939351902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-67503266569597781322022-10-14T09:09:00.040-04:002022-10-14T10:16:37.650-04:00Thoughts on the Inability to Say NoThis morning, I started to write an email to a blogger acquaintance who has studied with the same sewing and creativity teacher with whom I've studied. As I was writing and pouring more of my heart out into the email, I realized I wanted to keep this email and be able
to refer back to it to make sure I've learned all available life lessons it had to offer. So that intended email is becoming a Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-21701918356624171232021-08-24T15:34:00.001-04:002021-08-24T15:38:18.076-04:00The Hackney Pouch from Sew SweetnessThis cute pouch, handy to store so many of your small treasures, is from the Minikins Season 3 collection of patterns, designed by Sara Lawson for her company, Sew Sweetness. I'm entering it in the August challenge and have to link it to my URL, but my regular blog is suddenly and inexplicably not reachable. I'll contact GoDaddy when I can carve some time away from the piano.
The beautiful Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-13569721236204595092021-07-22T19:29:00.000-04:002021-07-22T19:29:20.171-04:00
I have been using Feedburner to enable blog visitors to follow by email. Now Google is disabling the use of Feedburner, so I have removed that capability. I'm searching for some other tool to use.
I'm not using this blog much, but there's a lot of content on here that I don't want to lose. And, occasionally, I want to write something but don't want it on my jancrews blog, so I stash it here. IJan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-62426819239271850792021-07-07T10:18:00.002-04:002021-07-07T14:29:43.923-04:00Two Outies, Two InniesI work a picture puzzle on my iPad every morning in the Jigsaw Puzzle app from Critical Hit Software. I usually choose 64 pieces. I love picture puzzles. When I'm doing physical puzzles, I usually do 1000-piece puzzles. I can't start one when I'm preparing for a gig, as I get totally obsessed with working on it. "Just one more piece and then I'll go practice." Working a virtual puzzle every jchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12283988207939351902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-21127263236286231422021-06-28T14:19:00.002-04:002021-07-07T10:24:26.256-04:00Pondering ReligionI'm going to say something here that I never admit to anyone: I no longer go to any church and can't say that I believe in god any longer. I go into churches for weddings and funerals, and to play the piano for their worship services when their regular musician needs a vacation day. But I don't believe the words they're saying and the prayers they're praying. It's all gobbledygook to me.When jchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12283988207939351902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-76104712634826349422021-06-28T09:25:00.002-04:002022-03-02T16:23:28.801-05:00 I have a headache from the crap weather this morning (but while I'm ranting, my heart goes out to the people in the Pacific Northwest and the western states who are suffering from the horrific heat and drought). But my rant is this: if someone mentions that they have some condition that's making them feel bad, don't try to fix it for them. Just say you're sorry they don't feel well. And jchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12283988207939351902noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-32998243688414892392021-05-09T09:20:00.001-04:002022-03-02T16:28:10.966-05:00An Unpopular OpinionI'm anti Mother's Day. Well, maybe not anti. Maybe I'm just ambivalent about the "holiday." I don't understand why we need a day to honor mothers. Or fathers, grandparents, etc. My daughter-in-law talks to her [wonderful] mother on the phone every day, sometimes multiple times a day. In their world, every day is Mother's Day. And Daughter's Day.
I've had numerous mothers in my life. There was Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-28270407353556196952018-12-31T08:34:00.059-05:002023-01-01T11:23:33.910-05:00In the Rearview Mirror: 2018Today I’m thinking back over the highlights of 2018. The year included lots of music and lots of travel.
WARNING: Long post. You may want to grab a cuppa or adult beverage before reading.
MUSIC:
At the end of last year, after experiencing some health scares, I asked Dr. Yun to replace me as the collaborative pianist for the April opera performance. She graciously complied, although Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-87029069980883523342018-03-21T22:09:00.000-04:002018-03-21T22:09:14.946-04:00Unintended Gifts from BeyondNote: This was first written as a Facebook Note on March 20, 2017
I spent last weekend in Orlando for my 50th high school reunion, packing every empty minute with visits to old friends in my hometown. I’ve been trying to figure out how to memorialize one very special meeting, and have decided to put it in a Facebook note.
The backstory:
I am adopted. I grew up feeling I didn’t fit in anywhere.Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-2353724220521454632017-12-31T10:35:00.040-05:002023-01-01T11:15:34.893-05:00In the Rearview Mirror: 2017Today I’m thinking back over the highlights of the year. The year included lots of music and lots of travel.
WARNING: Long post. You may want to grab a cuppa or adult beverage before reading.
MUSIC:
• Tyler and I co-MD’d the “Sondheim in Love” revue at the Youngstown Playhouse. I always love sharing gigs with my younger son - what an honor!
• I played for rehearsals of YSU’s production of “The Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-20280978553788135662017-04-17T06:44:00.000-04:002017-09-09T06:33:10.110-04:00It All Comes AroundI had the most incredible full-circle dream last night and woke feeling all was right with the world.I've written many times about how wonderful my adoptive father was, how valued he made me feel. I've written a little less often about my adoptive mother. She was a wonderful person, she was just very frequently and very regularly not wonderful to me. My brothers don't see or understand that. No Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-44204659715286283552016-06-24T11:17:00.000-04:002016-06-24T12:15:30.450-04:00Define: Non-BinaryI'm an old programmer. I know from binary. I taught my sons how to count in binary, and they still know and use that theory thirty years later. But a year ago I had never heard the term "non-binary."
In case you are also unfamiliar with the term, here's what wikipedia says:
"Those with non-binary genders can feel that they: Have an androgynous (both masculine and feminine) gender identity, suchJan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-75652102048953933052016-05-25T11:20:00.000-04:002016-05-25T11:31:18.604-04:00Two peas in a pod.Two strawberries in a bowl. Two hearts, shared.
Two weeks have passed since Debbie and I got to spend the first two days of our life together, together. Nothing has changed. Nothing except, after many years as "only children", related to no one of our generation or preceding, we now have each other. We laugh, we joke, we share our hopes, dreams and fears. Honestly, if I had gone to the Sister Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-10333252600317620332016-05-11T17:00:00.000-04:002016-05-11T17:00:05.786-04:00Face to Face, FinallyI did Match .com dating for years. Interminable years. I can't tell you the number of awful first, and even second, dates. Just awful.
How different was the promise of Debbie's and my meeting from the promise of those dates? Not much!
But we had the knowledge of a pre-established relationship. I had seen her original birth certificate. She had seen our mother's signature relinquishing me for Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-87187939734815282442016-04-29T17:50:00.000-04:002016-04-29T17:50:08.632-04:00Where Did It Come From?I began playing piano by ear when I was 3½ years old. Next came accordian lessons at age 5, piano lessons at 6, organ lessons at 7 or 8. At 8 the church choir director realized I had perfect pitch. In fourth grade I started playing clarinet. Then from fifth grade through high school, I was first chair oboe. As an adult, I sang alto with The Washington (DC) Chorus, the Tucson Symphony Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-66961342211199373692016-04-25T16:45:00.000-04:002016-04-25T17:37:16.744-04:00The BasicsGertrude was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in July of 1912. Her ancestors had first settled in Essex County, Massachusetts, in 1622. She had a long history there.
Gertrude had two brothers, Roger and Raymond, who were thirteen and eleven years older than she. She was tightly bonded to her father, John, who died in the summer of 1929, shortly before her seventeenth birthday. She never felt herJan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-36978274739515365972016-04-17T08:56:00.001-04:002016-04-17T08:56:36.378-04:00Mending a SoulI always think people don't like me, that I am unlikeable.
My birthmother gave me away. My adoptive mother was the consummate narcissist in her dealings with me and raised me to believe I was dumb, ugly, and incompetent. I was never good enough.
My mother's life centered on her church and its people, and I found it and them highly critical and backbiting. I was raised in the South in the 50s and Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-30548758803120359162016-04-17T08:42:00.002-04:002016-04-17T08:42:19.374-04:00A Day to RememberThis is copied from my Facebook feed, where I posted it the day after April 5, 2016. That day will be significant forever as the day I learned I had a sister.
Wednesday is my long day, but I must take a minute here before getting up.
First, thank you for so many likes and loves and comments yesterday upon my learning (at age 65!!!) that I have a sister, and that she's as excited to learn Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-27918348081398299432016-04-09T10:50:00.000-04:002016-04-10T21:28:48.201-04:00A New LifeIt's time to drag this blog out again and record my new life as a sister with real relatives. Relatives with whom I share DNA.
I used to blog here daily and multiple times each day. Then I met the Jazzman and didn't have any funny dating-for-oldies stories to tell. I started working from home, so didn't have input from anywhere outside my brain. And the motivation faded. I started my other blog Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-72804257088162378872016-04-08T17:53:00.000-04:002016-04-10T21:29:58.046-04:00Late Discovery AdopteeI started this blog post on July 14, 2015. And then life and busy-ness got in the way and I forgot all about it. Now my life has changed completely and in searching all the blog posts I had written about adoption, I found this again. So I'm publishing it today, nine months later, before starting my next set of blog posts about my newfound sister.
Here's a bit about Kevin Gladish's blog:
A Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-13062979364691487712014-09-22T22:50:00.002-04:002019-07-11T13:46:26.466-04:00In the Mind's ArchivesThis morning on my way to work I was trying to remember today's date. I could remember that the Thursday while we were on vacation was 9/11. The Thursday after that would have been the 18th, plus Friday, Saturday, Sunday made today's date the 22nd.
My birthday is a 22nd. Each month, if I think about the date on the 22nd, I count ahead to see how many months until I'll turn the next year older. Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-40632755225403671192014-08-27T17:19:00.001-04:002014-08-27T17:19:26.412-04:00Mile Upon Mile, Minute Upon MinuteI'm an early riser. Actually, I'm an early waker. I normally wake around 5:30 or 6:00 (at first light) and then lie in bed with my iPhone or iPad until the Jazzman wakes around 7:30. Once he rouses, we sit and discuss the day until he has to get up to go to work. It's a precious and valued part of each day for me.
For the past 5 years, most Mondays have included a 7:00 p.m. rehearsal in Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-15530954143515985362014-07-02T13:18:00.001-04:002014-07-02T13:18:52.252-04:00The Why and Wherefore of AdoptionI'm engaging in nostalgia this week as I wander around Interlochen Arts Camp and observe young artists developing and honing their skills and their passions.
And, of course, as I write that I have to look up the definition of "nostalgia":
a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30701959.post-26634595488096147162014-07-02T11:52:00.000-04:002019-07-11T13:45:38.513-04:00Sound the Call to Dear Old InterlochenThere are few places in the world that bring tears to my eyes just by walking on their hallowed ground. One of these is Gloucester, Massachusetts, where 300+ years of my ancestors walked and fished and built homes for their fellowmen. Another is Arlington National Cemetery, where we commemorate so many Americans who gave their lives for this country. The one I'm experiencing this week is Jan Crewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04571973816419199463noreply@blogger.com0