HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! WELCOME 2013 - A NEW BEGINNING! HERE'S TO LIFE WITH LOTS O' LOVE HEALTH ABUNDANCE JOY PEACE HAPPINESS AND MUSIC!!!

Is It Christmas Yet?

I woke up today at 940 am and I was widely awake and just naturally got out of bed! WOW! These days, that's a rarity for me!

Is it X'mas yet? Is it over? What day is it now? Well, it's the holiday season!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL!! 
HAPPY HANUKKAH! 
THE BEST OF HOLIDAYS AND MORE TO EVERYONE!!

The end of the world never happened yet, anyway, ooh, is that scary? Hey, dears, let's inhale the present and exhale the past, as the saying goes. This is a new beginning for us all, so let's start the day with Thanksgiving and Praise to the Almighty! Let's fill our hearts and soul, mind and body, our whole being, with gratitude for the gift of LIFE, and resolve for the new year and always to fill it with more LOVE HEALTH WEALTH SUCCESS ABUNDANCE JOY PEACE AND HAPPINESS AND MUSIC!!

LOVE Y'ALL!!

Nothin' Beats Fresh Air and the Sun with Hot Chocolate...

Oh, yea, with hot chocolate, Starbucks, at that, and Breton crackers with cheese in the morning... Yup, nothin' beats fresh air and the sun with hot chocolate and crackers! I actually got all the goodies from our exchange gifts at one of our christmas parties and I'm starting to open them one by one.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY! ENJOY!
... ESPECIALLY AS THE END OF THE WORLD NEVER HAPPENED LAST 12/21/12!

Aaaaaah...

Nothin' beats Fresh Air and the Sun

No matter how cold, but with the sun out in San Francisco, nothin' beats fresh air with the sun! The warmth alone is a beautiful sensation. Remember what I said about warmth? Warmth moves, and wherever there is movement, there is warmth, there is heat. Everything adds up.

Aaaaah...

Nothin' Beats Fresh Air

No matter how cold outside, raining, drizzling, windy, foggy, nothin' beats fresh air! I do Tai-chi every day at my deck as soon as I wake up, even for a few minutes, even when it's freezing outside, and I tell ya, fresh air is fresh air. Of course, I can't use an umbrella doing Tai chi when it's pouring rain so I do it inside. But for a little shower, mist, cold wind, nothing beats a breath of fresh air.

Aaaaaah...

12-21-12

Great numbers, heh? Supposedly, the end of the world! What'd you do?

Norman and I went to the movies. We saw LINCOLN. Magnificent work! Magnificent acting! Sally Fields and Tommy Lee Jones are great actors. But Daniel Day-Lewis is in a league of his own. One of a kind! He transcends acting.



Then we had dinner at our favorite Japanese restaurant... had my Starbuck's hot chocolate and his decaf after... kept ourselves warm in front of the fireplace while watching TV... and finally tucked ourselves under the covers - while waiting for the world to end...

We woke up the following day... another day, a new day, the beginning of a new cycle, they say, the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.

We welcome the new day. Out with the old. In with the new! Life goes on...

Beautiful day!

Yeah, the Moon!

Moon at My Window

Remember what I was telling you about the moon passing by my window? While I'm warmly tucked in under the covers, my comforter and throw, my face is totally immersed in the glow of the moon. Even with my eyes closed, I can feel its presence with its light gently touching my face. Then it slips out quietly, either before or by the time I fall into a deep sleep. It's such a joy! That's why I always look forward to this moment.

Goodnight, Moon... As always, thanks for the visit. I love you.

T'is the Real Thanksgiving Coming Up!

(Photo by www.flickr.com)

The Thanksgiving Table

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

And what are you doing this THANKSGIVING, my friends? Where are you going this weekend?

Norman and I usually celebrate Thanksgiving buffet with family friends in different hotels every year. However, it seems that, most of the time, we end up at the Atrium of Hyatt Burlingame. It's everybody's favorite. Have you been there? It's gorgeous! You should try there even once and you'll fall in love with the place. With all the greens inside, trees, plants, you think you're outside, warm and comfortable under the sun, when you're actually inside the hotel, and it can really be stormy outside. Great experience!

Well, wherever you'll be and whoever you'll be with, let's all have a great weekend filled with abundance and gratitude in our hearts, okay! 

Love y'all!... and, yes, thanks for the company.

Where'd Thanksgiving Go??

I've been going back and forth across the bay this weekend for some gigs and what do I see everywhere - Christmas decorations! It's not even Thanksgiving yet!

Thanksgiving, such a beautiful American tradition, is getting overshadowed by all these Christmas decors all over town! Years ago, you don't see any X'mas decors till after Thanksgiving. It's sad!
We're in America. Don't you think we should just show respect for  this all-American culture? But no! In retail business, the only company, a department store, big one at that, that does this is NORDSTROM . Nordstrom doesn't put up its X'mas trees and ornaments until after Thanksgiving. And to think that the Nordstrom family is European in origin. I have great respect for that store, I tell you.

Here's a related post I wrote on Thanksgiving last year.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE! HAVE A GREAT ONE!

Gorgeous First Lady, Michelle Obama!

Just came back from the gym after soooooo long and I'm glad I did it! It's been difficult due to my hectic schedule but I decided to break my old pattern and just went for it! It wasn't easy breaking the habit until I saw a great picture of Michelle Obama. Look at her, look at those toned muscles! If I had them, I'd be wearing midriff, tube tops, and flaunting all the time, even in cold San Francisco!! Why not?!

I've read criticisms about her wearing haltered, off- shouldered clothes as being not representative of First Ladies! Hey, we live in the modern times! Yes, it was shocking to see women with their muscles in the 80's (was that when it all started?) and thought they looked too masculine! But it's not like that any more today. We're talking health and fitness now. Michelle looks gorgeous, fit and healthy!

FIT&HEALTHY IS BEAUTIFUL!

Yeah, she's a role model, and she's my model! 

Forward, Michelle!

A Second Term for President Barack Obama

... Second time around for my music, The Audacity of Hope, in honor of President Obama. Here's sharing. Enjoy. I'm proud of it.

http://socorrodecastro2.blogspot.com/2012/11/second-time-around-for-president-barack.html

OBAMA WINS!

President Barack Obama is re-elected so we can now move forward!

Watch More News Videos at ABC | 2012 Presidential Election | Entertainment & Celebrity News

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/president-obama-wins-reelection-promises-best/story?id=17655541#.UJrvEY7CF5g

More Halloween Treats!

Wow, this is the longest Halloween weekend I can ever remember! Halloween usually falls on a weekend; otherwise, it's just a one-night event! This year, it fell on a Wednesday, middle of the week. You'd think it would be over the next day. So how did it get longggg like that? The SF GIANTS winning the World Series 2012! The big parade was held on Halloween Day. And after that, no one could stop the city of San Francisco from extending the celebration till the weekend.  Hence, people were dressed up with Halloween costumes till Sunday!

For me and Norman, it's been a musical treat this week. Musicians that we are, we can't complain! We got invited Thursday to Yoshi's SF's Soulful Night of Keys. Friday was Michael Tilson Thomas and Lang Lang at Davies Symphony Hall with the SF Symphony! One of the best symphonies in the world, a Spectacular show! Saturday, we went to see a friend sing with the VOLTI SF at the Unitarian Church. And today was my 2nd weekend of Sandy Cressman's CONNECTED VOICE WORKSHOP at the Jazz School. What a great learning experience for me! Then on to the New American Songbook Project at Piedmont Piano Co. at night.

Busy musical weekend this Halloween ! It's been fun. Love it!

Post Script

I'm really not a serious hopeless insomniac, guys. I just get sleepless nights sometimes with my hectic schedule, and so on. Once I get my routine back, I'm okay. I'm fine. Thanks.

Don't worry, be happy.

... And the Helpless Hopeless Sleepless

Here's the Insomniac's Night Prayer on the Eve When We Change Our Clocks -

Now I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

If I should die before I wake

I pray the Lord my...........

Now wait a minute, Lord

Before I wake, please let me fall asleep first

And as we fall back to standard time

and spring forward for daylight saving time

And we fall back tonight

Please give me that extra hour to fall into a deep deep sleep

An extra hour to get my beauty rest

I just need that extra hour to make up for all my sleepless nights

Just that extra hour to be fresh and energized tomorrow when I wake up

Thank you, Lord, thank you...

If I should die before I wake

I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.

Goodnight, Lord, goodnight... Thank you.

...........40, 41, 42..........103, 104,................434, 435, 436, 437............... I can't believe I'm still counting sheep........998, 999....... Wow, an extra hour to count more sheep.............1035,....... 

God damn, what's so good 'bout the morning?!@#$%^

Talk About... Sleep

Look what I found! Some simple, natural, healthy tips to help you get to sleep . One of them is listening to music and here's a five-minute relaxation audio that will help lull you to sleep -

http://www.well.com/~mick/insomnia/


Enjoy.

Trick or Treat?!

 

It was a special treat today on Halloween. First of all, we can't have a better treat than celebrating with the SF GIANTS! And, while watching the parade, I got to see Dr. Oz' How to Sleep Better, in between commercials on another channel. How timely is that?! I've been having sleepless nights lately, I mean, literally, sleepless nights, so you can just imagine what a treat that was to catch a show that's just appropriate! Aah, to think that I had to force myself out of bed just to watch the SF Giants Victory parade right from the start. So to be able to watch Dr. Oz talk about "Better Sleep Solutions", it can't get any better than that. Another special treat on Halloween!

Then, I got a congratulatory email from the president of my alma mater, College of the Holy Spirit in MNL, Philippines, that I am one of the top 100 Alumnae for our school's Centennial Celebration next year 2013. How special is that!... ssh... 
Seriously, I'm honored and humbled. I don't think it has sunk in yet so I haven't told anybody. Let me sleep over it tonight... Sleep??

Trick or Treat??... Treat after treat after treat, I tell ya!

A Giant Celebration!

by Ezra Shaw/Gettty Images

Indeed! On Halloween, at that! What could be more Halloween than the SF GIANTS' orange-black color!

Yeah, let's watch this LIVE!
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/livenow?id=8865132

WE DID IT!... WE DID IT!!

SF GIANTS

WORLD SERIES CHAMPION

2012

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2012/10/28/san-francisco-giants-win-world-series-with-four-game-sweep-over-detroit-tigers.

What'd I tell you?! Didn't I say, "One game, one inning, one play, one pitch, one bat, one breath, one day at a time.."- That's all they needed to win!

You know why the Giants won? They were not just on the same page. They didn't just play as a team. THEY. WERE. ONE... AT ALL LEVELS... ONE!

Need I  say more?  No more... I'm exhausted! Aren't you?... But wasn't that fun?! Wasn't that exciting?! Wasn't that a thriller?! A SWEEP!! And the 4th game extending to an overtime, 10th inning?! When a game goes overtime, it's a whole new game, baby. It's anybody's game... And the Giants did it! We did it! And Sergio Romo, what a closer you are, man!

I'm really exhausted, but I'm so hyped-up! Everybody's screaming outside, cars are honking! I'm watching the news and it's all about the GIANTS, the SF GIANTS!! God, they're GIANTS!!

THE SF GIANTS ARE GIANTS!!

That's it, I'm going to bed, goodnight... past midnite... I'm beat... You're going out?... To the Civic Center??

... zzzzzzzzzz

http://socorrodecastro4.blogspot.com/2012/10/we-did-it-we-did-it.html

Aah, the Moon Again...

There's the moon, looking through my window again. Have you ever had that experience when the moon is like, smiling at you? Such a wonderful feeling! The moon is cool in temperature, but whenever I see it passing through my window, it's warmth that I feel. Aah...

Hello, Moon... Thanks for the visit... Goodnight. Love you.

Talk About... Life

Talk about Cloud Atlas, the past, present, future, how everything is connected, let me ask you this -

Do you believe in past lives?...

Do I?

22 - The Cloud Atlas Sextet For Orchestra by WaterTowerMusic

The music score to Cloud Atlas is magnificent. Let's listen to it in my studio.

Everything Is Connected

I just saw the new movie, CLOUD ATLAS, a haunting, brilliant presentation of human life, the soul, the past, present and future lives all connected together.

The official synopsis for Cloud Atlas describes the film as: An epic story of humankind in which the actions and consequences of our lives impact one another throughout the past, present, and future as one soul is shaped from a murderer into a savior and a single act of kindness ripples out for centuries to inspire a revolution. 

Interestingly, even as the film depicts how in life, everything is connected, even before birth to hereafter, it's even more fascinating how this movie connected to my new blog and all the signs I had upon moving on. 

There was a dialogue between 2 characters in the movie which ran like this, "You are just a drop in the ocean." 

And the other remarked, "The ocean is just a multitude of drops."

But as Rumi ultimately puts it, "You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop." 


Yes, everything is connected, no matter what, big or small, near or far, tangent or not, mortal, immortal, timeless, dated, finite, infinite. As Deepak Chopra says, "So as the microcosm, so as the macrocosm." Ironically, everything is also relative. But there is always one truth, the absolute, that dissipates all relativity and transcends everything.

Everything is connected, and the ultimate truth, the Absolute, is that which connects everything.

SF Giants Did the Impossible Again!

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS,

2012 NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPS!

... ON TO THE 2012 WORLD SERIES!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/23/san-francisco-giants-buster-posey-world-series_n_2007478.html

One game, one inning, one play, one pitch, one bat, one breath, one day at a time, Giants! That's all you need to win it! 

GO GIANTS!

Moving On...

I still wasn't quite sure if I really was ready for a new blog. And with a title as such! I initially saw the word, Dove, on the internet, and it inspired me instantly. A dove is a symbol of peace, we all know that, and in the Christian religion, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. I went to a private all-girl Catholic school in grade and high school, College of the Holy Spirit, in Manila. And since I'm preoccupied with a music project right now for our school's Centennial Celebration in 2013, somehow, I put 2 and 2 together. Must be some subconscious connection there. Then, I saw an excerpt - 
"Birds? Angels? These words registered later, when I was writing down my recollections. But neither of these words do justice to the beings themselves, which were quite simply different from anything I have known on this planet. They were more advanced. Higher forms." -
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/10/07/proof-of-heaven-a-doctor-s-experience-with-the-afterlife.html

All these circumstances in a day! All the signs! All the subtle connections! I played around with the title and the moment the words fell into place, I knew, I was ready to move on.

Here it is, continuing on, at the same time, intertwining with my beloved first blog, Music and Musings, and my second blog which is strictly music, Socorro de Castro. You'll find yourselves in between pages of these blogs, visiting back and forth, through past, present, future, all rolled into the moment as you read them. It's not like one closes and another one begins. They go together. They're all connected.



Everything is... Connected!

A New Chapter

After my last post on Music and Musings, somehow, I felt I've reached the peak, or shall I say, one summit of my journey.

And as my postscript says, "... I don't think I want to post anything else after these magical words by Rumi...", a new one begins.

So here I am on the next leg of my journey. Join me, my friends. Together, we'll explore more.

Nice to start with a talk on Love by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, isn't it?

Jai Guru Dev.

Maharishi Talks on Love

“There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer,

no disease that enough love will not heal,

no door that enough love will not open,

no gulf that enough love will not bridge,

no wall that enough love will not throw down,

no sin that enough love will not redeem.

It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how great the mistake, sufficient realization of love will resolve it all.

If only you could love enough, you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world.” ~ MMY