Archive for April, 2008
Today was a perfect day for a run. This morning at Meadowmont in Chapel Hill there was a nice breeze and sunshine.
More than one hundred 8 -12 year old girls were gathering. There was perpetual motion… peppered with yells, laughter, and cheers.
The 6th annual Girls on the Run 5K and Fun Run in Memory of Will Beard was taking shape!!
At 9:00am, the participants were taking their places. I don’t have the final figures, but I can tell you that last year our event attracted more than one thousand 5K runners and baby joggers, and about 30 one-mile runners. We were all excited and ready to run!
In previous years, I have volunteered as a running buddy. I’m paired up with a girl who wants a bit of encouragement along the course to keep running and keep having fun. This year, I ran alone for the first time. I had not physically prepared to run the 5K, but I am a pretty regular jogger. What the heck, I told myself, “go for it.”
I’m not sure how long it took me to complete the course, but what thrills me the most is that I jogged without stopping. It was my personal; goal not to walk. I made it the whole way. Woooo-hooo!!! That is a huge accomplishment for me. A fine finish.
I could not be happier with the awesome finish accomplished by each girl who participated. For most of them, today’s 5K marked the completion of a program that builds character, encouraging emotional, social, and physical development.
To all of those girls I say, Well done!
To everyone else, I say, Look at us go, and look at us grow!
I invite you to visit our website:
I am using my time away from the Rat Pack lounge to expand my set list. Among the songs I am mastering: Lush Life, Isn’t It Romantic, The Very Thought of You, East of the Sun, and You Don’t Know What Love Is.
Now, there’s nothing especially magical about these songs. They are actually the standards every well-rounded jazz vocalist should have in his or her tool box. I love the lyrics and the various key changes. I feel comfortable learning them.
Here’s the thing: I’ve also added a song that is moving me way past my comfort zone. It’s a song that’s going to require me to hold on to some notes and take them to a low down kind of place… and linger there for awhile.. and ad-lib myself on back to where I started.
The song is At Last. You know the one that goes: At last, my love has come along. My lonely days are over, and life is like a song. Oooooh Yeaaahhhh….
It’s there.. right there, when all the Oooooh Yeaahhh’s start that I began to feel challenged as I effort to channel the legendary blues singer who made At Last a timeless classic. Of course I am talking about the legendary Etta James.
Other singers have done the song– Ella, Celine, and Christina just to name a few. There’s no argument, though, that nobody does it like Miss Etta. Her style challenges even the most competent vocalist. So, where in the world does that leave me?
Honestly I am up for the challenge. Now that the Rat Pack has become a regular gig with a semi-loyal group of customers, I like to surprise them every now and then when I am performing… give them something unexpected.
Surely At Last will get their attention.. if I do it right.
That being said I took a walk around the park yesterday instead of going to the gym. It was such a beautiful day. At Last is downloaded onto my I-pod, so I decided to multi–task and sing while power walking.
Mercy. I laughed out loud at myself when it got to those ooooohhhh yeahhhhh parts. No worries. I’m going to get it. I’m determined, and most folks know there ain’t nothing like a woman with a made up mind!
For the next few weeks then, I’ll be working on At Last. It’s a beautiful bluesy number, and I need to feel it. At the moment, though all I feel when I sing it is, funny.