Empty

If through my cracked and dusty
Dime store lips
I spoke these words out loud
Would no one hear me?

Lay your blouse across the chair
Let fall the flowers
From your hair
And kiss me
With that country mouth
So plain

Outside the rain is tapping
On the leaves
To me it sounds like
They're applauding us
The quiet love
We've made

Will it always feel this way
So empty
So estranged?

Well I looked my demons in the eyes
Lay bare my chest
Said do your best
To destroy me

I've been to hell and back
So many times
I must admit
You kinda bore me

There's a lot of things
That can kill a man
There's a lot of ways
To die
Yes, and some already did
And walk beside me

There's a lot of things
I don't understand
So many people lie
It's the hurt I hide that fuels
The fire inside me

Will I always feel this way
So empty
So estranged?

Razones - Bebe

Razones (Reasons)
Te echo de menos, le digo al aire (I miss you, I tell the air)
te busco, te pienso, te siento y siento (I look for you, think of you, feel you, and feel)
que como tu no habra nadie (that there will be no one like you)
y aqui te espero, con mi cajita de la vida (And here I wait, with my little life box)
cansada, a oscuras, con miedo (tired, in darkness, with fear)
y este frio, nadie me lo quita (and this cold, no one takes it from me)
Tengo razones, para buscarte (I have reasons, to look for you)
tengo necesidad de verte, de oirte, de hablarte (I have a necessity to see you hear you, talk to you)

tengo razones, para esperarte (I have reasons, to wait for you)
porque no creo que haya en el mundo nadie mas a quien ame (Because I don’t think there is anyone else in the world who I love more)
tengo razones, razones de sobra (I have reasons, many reasons)
para pedirle al viento que vuelvas (To ask the wind for you to come back)
aunque sea como una sombra (Even if it is like a shadow)
tengo razones, para no quererte olvidar (I have reasons, for not wanting to forget you)
porque el trocito de felicidad fuiste tu quien me lo dio a probar (Because the little slices of happiness, it was you who gave it to me)

El aire huele a ti, mi casa se cae porque no estas aqui (The air smells like you, my house falls because you are not here)
mis sabanas, mi pelo, mi ropa te buscan a ti (My sheets, my hair, my clothes are looking for you)
mis pies son como de carton (My feet are like cardboard)
que voy arrastrando por cada rincon (That I drag in every corner)
mi cama se hace fria y gigante (My bed becomes cold and gigantic)
y en ella me pierdo yo (And in it I get lost)
mi casa se vuelve a caer (My house falls again)
mis flores se mueren de pena (My flowers die of sadness)
mis lagrimas son charquitos (My tears are puddles)
que caen a mis pies (That fall at my feet)
te mando besos de agua (I send you water kisses)
que hagan un hueco en tu calma (That make a hole in your soul)
te mando besos de agua (I send you water kisses)
pa que bañen tu cuerpo y tu alma (To bathe your body and soul)
te mando besos de agua (I send you water kisses)
para que curen tus heridas (So they heal your injuries)
te mando besos de agua (I send you water kisses)
de esos con los que tanto te reias (Of those you laughed so much with)

I Heart the Violoncello

For the last few days, barely five minutes pass where I do not hear Bach's Suite No. 1 in G major, Prelude, in my head. The melody has been sitting there, haunting me. I can't explain why. Before Bach, Erik Satie's Six Gnossiennes: No.1: Lent was on a constant loop (the Aldo Ciccolini version I should add). Keep in mind, the music is in my mind - not my iPod, although in order to bring the music to reality, I have been turning on the iPod. I do find it odd that such contrasting compositions are occupying my head space, admittedly I am happy to have moved on to Bach, but only slightly. Satie's music is very sophisticated and can throw one into a very pensive mood (as the piano often does - I call it the "brain" of the orchestra). But the cello is the heart of any composition and Bach's cello suites can easily move someone to tears if one is really, really listening. The best renderings on the planet are by Yo Yo Ma and Pablo Casals.

When I was a little kid I wanted to play the cello, my brother wanted to play the violin. My parents decided they weren't purchasing two instruments - so I was forced to play violin (or no instrument at all). I played violin for all of five years in my youth and even played in the school orchestra as well as the county youth orchestra (whereas my brother dropped the instrument after a year, go figure). Today, I can only remember how to hold the instrument (how sad). In my mind, I am convinced that if it were a cello, I would still be playing. The sound is magnificent, the instrument is held so that it is almost one with the player. The sound must be coaxed from the wood and bow, you have to ask for it, not demand of it. In my mind, while I write this, I am thinking of some of the great cello masters - Rostropovich, Emanuel Fuermann, Pablo Casals, Mischa Maisky, Yo yo Ma, Natalia Gutman, Jacqueline du Pre, Daniil Shafran, and the rising Alban Gerhardt. I also think of some of the pieces I adore like Fire Dance, Bach's Cello Suites, The Swan from "The Carnival of the animals", Elgar Cello Concerto, Prokofiev Cello Concerto... there are also works that I don't like so much (Claude Debussy comes to mind, despite it's mad brilliance).

However, to fully embrace these compositions and the talent of the musicians, one ought to watch a cellist play. The fingering technique of Alban Gerhardt is oddly similar to Mischa Maisky - although the two men "hold" the cello completely differently. Yo Yo Ma is as graceful as Rostropovich as his fingers slides down through the chords. And although Pablo Casals has the most notable recording of Bach's Cello Suites, it is Yo yo Ma's rendering that moves me to tears... every single time. Coincidentally, the two worked together before Yo yo Ma entered Harvard.

Without Casals, people everywhere would have had substantially less music to explore. Also, both he and Mr. Ma are necessary to make a point about the very transience of tastes in music.

Much debate exists as to why Bach composed these works or even when (the best scholars agree sometime between 1717-1723). I find it fascinating that the suites were so obscure as to be almost completely unknown until the turn of the century. They had not just fallen into dusty oblivion; they rested at the absolute bottom of the classical hierarchy. Back during a time when so much as installing an end piece on a cello was apostasy, Bach was falling out of current favor with performing musicians. The handful of people who even knew the suites existed viewed them as brittle exercises, deemed of slight acquisition value only because of the composer's name. The suites may likely have continued to be ignored by all, until the paper they were written on rotted into a condition not even suitable for fish-wrap and the music could have been lost forever, but for a 13-year-old young man named Pablo Casals.

Casals at the time was playing in a café in Barcelona four hours a day, for four pesetas a day, to finance his music lessons. New to the cello, he was always looking for new music. He happened upon a rare copy of the suites in a second-hand shop in 1889, was intrigued because he didn't know these even existed any where in the world, and then became ecstatic when he recognized what he had found and their worth. He then devoted a dozen years of study and practice before performing the suites in public. Casals became the first person in the world to record them (1915) and more than 20 years later (after much persuading) he recorded them in their entirety, which he did only once. Yet his ongoing passion for the works brought the music back to life. From something regarded as museum shelf paper to being revered now as a masterpiece for cello the equivalent of the Goldberg Variations, these six suites are now studied and played by nearly every master and student of the cello.

For his own pupils, Casals characterized the works by giving each piece a distinct mood. He told the young players that each suite takes its character from the prelude. According to Casals, No. 1. is "optimistic", No. 5. "tempestuous", and No. 6. "bucolic".

Yo yo Ma's execution is sometimes more like a dance out of the shadows into the filtered sunlight of a deep forest. Ma's playing is refined and elegant. His very fluidity in most passages can make his approach seem strangely stiff in others. Also, this fluency is a most individual interpretation, not as stopped or abrupt as more "authentic" players tend to read the music. You can hear his breathing, which only reminds me of how he seldom wavers from the natural breath of the music and understands the pulse. While Casals (for reasons unknown to me) preferred to play the Allemande in No. 5 straight through, Ma follows the notation for two repeated passages, prolonging the piece for several minutes longer and re-emphasizing the mood by his restatement. Though the suites may take their character from the prelude, here it seems from the prelude's very first note, which might be the single most important note when playing unaccompanied.

Though just hearing the Bach cello suites is always somehow reassuring, at this stage of the game for me, they are like old friends, although perhaps a bit more reliable. I'd encourage you to get both Casals and Yo yo Ma and start making up your own mind.

Monitor

Riding hot on the tails of music from Mali is Mexico. Volovan is a group I discovered when I saw Y Tu Mama Tambien. Below are the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by the group. It's called Monitor and I translated as best I could. Enjoy :) If anyone needs another recommendation for a great Mexican artist - Julietta Venega, Mana, and Cafe Tacuba are some greats that are constantly streaming through my iPod.



Nos hablamos pero no sabemos si será
Volcados en la ilusion
Me voy en un segundo
Hoy nesecito estar sentado desde aqui
Y los dos llegamos tarde para decirnos que

Y aunque eres invisible
Pero atra vez de ti
Y siendo intocable
Yo te siento en mis sueños
Y me lamento por no estar alla

Y hoy te miento para estar solo
Tu y yo

Y la distancia le gano al amor
Solo te veo en el monitor ouuh uooh

Esperando respuesta veo que hoy
Tu ausencia llega nada mas
Las cosas deben de seguir
Y no sabemos si se van

Hoy nesecito estar sentado desde aqui
Y los dos llegamos tarde para decirnos que

Y aunque eres invisible
Pero atra vez de ti
Y siendo intocable
Yo te siento en mis sueños

Y me lamento por no estar alla
Y hoy te miento para estar solos
Tu y yo

Y la distancia le gano al amor
Solo te veo en el monitor ouuh uooh

Y me lamento por no estar alla
Y hoy te miento para estar solo
Tu y yo

------------------------

We talk but we don't know
if we will be upset by the illusion
I will leave in a moment
Today, I need to be seated here
Although we both arrive late, and tell ourselves, what?

though you're invisible
you move back instead
being untouchable
I feel you in my dreams

I'm sorry for not being there
now I ask to you if we can be alone
just you and me

the distance to win her love
you only see on the monitor

I see that now, as I wait for a response
nothing comes except your absence
things should continue
although we don't know if they will

Today, I need to be seated here
Although we both arrive late, and tell ourselves, what?

though you're invisible
you move back instead
being untouchable
I feel you in my dreams

I'm sorry for not being there
now I ask to you if we can be alone
just you and me

the distance to win her love
you only see on the monitor

I'm sorry for not being there
now I ask to you if we can be alone
just you and me

Street Lights, Growing...

Let me know
Do I still got time to grow?
Things ain't always set in stone
That being known let me know
Let me

Seems like street lights glowing
Happen to be just like moments passing in front of me
So I hopped in the cab and
I paid my fares
See I know my destination
But I'm just not there

All the streetlights glowing
Happen to be
Just like moments passing
In front of me
So I hopped in the cab and
I paid my fare
See I know my destination
But I'm just not there

In the streets... In the streets
I'm just not there
In the streets
I'm just not there
Life's just not fair

Seems like street lights glowing
Happen to be just like moments passing in front of me
So I hopped in the cab and
I paid my fares
See I know my destination
But I'm just not there

All the streetlights glowing
Happen to be
Just like moments passing
In front of me
So I hopped in the cab and
I paid my fare
See I know my destination
But I'm just not there

All the streetlights glowing
Happen to be
Just like moments passing
In front of me
So I hopped in the cab and
I paid my fare
See I know my destination
But I'm just not there

In the streets... In the streets
I'm just not there
In the streets
I'm just not there
Life's just not fair

Songwriters: Englishman, J; Mcildowie, B; West, Kanye; Williams, A

Street Lights - Kanye West

Big Day for Madge

Go out and watch Desperately Seeking Susan, drink some champagne and listen to Confessions. God Bless the Queen!

Hard Candy

In case anyone needed some inspiration to go out and get some hard candy... I thought I would post this. Recognize that my writing has been a bit sporadic, but life has been a bit sporadic. Enjoy! Eventually, I'll get to my reviews of Murakami and Colbert.

Just one of those things
When everything goes incredible
And all is beautiful
Can't get my head around, I need to think about it
And one of those things
That used to get you down
Now have no effect at all
Cause life is beautiful
Can't get my head around it, I need to think about it

Remembering the very first time
You caught that some ones' specials eye
And all of your care dropped
And all of the world just stopped

I hope
I want to go back to then
Got to figure out how, got to remember when
I felt it, it thrilled me
I want it, to fill me

Just one of those things
When everything goes incredible
And all is beautiful
Can't get my head around, I need to think about it
And one of those things
That used to get you down
Now have no effect at all
Cause life is beautiful
Can't get my head around it, I need to think about it

You don't know what you got 'til it's gone
And everything in life just goes wrong
Feels like nobody's listening
And something is missing

I remember when
You were the one
You were my friend
You gave me life
You were the sun
You taught me things
I didn't run
I fell to my knees
I didn't know why
I started to breathe
I wanted to cry
I need a reminder
So I can relate
I need to go back there
Before it's too late

Incredible
Let's finish what we started
Incredible
You're welcome to my party

I don't want this to end
I am missing my best friend
It was incredible
There is no reason
Sex with you is...

Incredible
Just finish what we started
Incredible
You're welcome to my party
Don't want this thing to end
I'm missing my best friend
Yes it was incredible
There's no reason to pretend
Incredible

It's time to get your body groving
It's time to get your hands up

It's incredible, unbelievable
It's incredible, unachievable
It's incredible, metaphysical
It's incredible



Other than the lyrics, and the fact that it's Madge - the beat is just so flippin' enjoyable. It's also written well, especially for a love song -it really covers all the bases. Falling in love and the happiness it brings. By contrast, there are aspects of the relationship breaking down, or the sadness of a love that has died. In typical Madonna fashion, it is also bawdy - indulging in the physical pleasure of love. Another really great track, co-written with Joe Henry, is "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You." I mention Joe Henry because he has actually been a "co" on my favorite songs from her last three albums. "Jump" from Confessions, and "Don't Tell Me" from Music. He's a well established musician in his own right (since ~1986) and he also happens to be Madge's brother in law - small world. You can check out his stuff on iTunes. I suppose I may be drawn to these tracks because lyrically, I am more drawn to artists like Joe Henry than "top 40" pop. Madge is the exception in my world, whereas folks like Amos Lee, Sia, and Brett Dennen are the rule.


I suppose I'm on a roll writing about music, so I'm going to take a left turn and mention Augustana. They recently released their latest album, and it's been playing non-stop on my iPod for the last two weeks. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the band name, you may have heard of their big hit, "Boston." On their last album, "All the Stars and Boulevards," Augustana was more of a rock band that had some pop elements. They had a mega hit, but a lot of their other material had a rough feeling to it. With the new album however, their sound has become that of slow builds and big pay offs.

Augustana are masterful song writers whether you are a fan or not. In terms of the music, tone, and mood the band has perfected the dynamic of their songs to get the emotional response desired. ‘Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt’ makes the band’s last outstanding album look like a handful of demo songs patched together. This really is an album that had the time it needed put into it and the production value it deserved.

Visit the band's site here to get their current tour info (quick note, their MySpace page seems to have more comprehensive tour info). Go to iTunes NOW to purchase the album - worth every penny!

Sweet and Low - from their latest album



Anywhere you go, anyone you meet
Remember that your eyes can be your enemies
I said hell is so close, and heavens out of reach,
But I ain't giving up quite yet,
I've got too much to lose,

Hold me down, sweet and low little girl
Hold me down, sweet and low and I will carry you home,
Hold me down, sweet and low little girl
Hold me down, and i'll carry you home,

The rain is gonna fall, the sun is gonna shine
The wind is gonna blow, the waters gonna rise
She said, when that day comes look into my eyes
But no ones giving up quite yet, we've got too much to lose,

Hold me down, sweet and low little girl
Hold me down, sweet and low and I will carry you home,
Hold me down, sweet and low little girl,
Hold me down,

And i'll carry you all the way
When you say you're fine
But you're still young and out of line,
When all I need's to turn around
To make it last, to make it count,
I ain't gonna make the same mistakes
That put my mama in her grave
I don't wanna be alone

Hold me down, sweet and low little girl
Hold me down, sweet and low and I will carry you home,
Hold me down, sweet and low little girl,
Hold me down

The Cellist

"The cello starts singing under his hands, known literature gets newly discovered, unknown works come to life again."

I had the pleasure of seeing Alban Gerhardt play tonight with the National Symphony Orchestra. The man is quite simply amazing. As he walked onto the stage, I not only had butterflies in my stomach, but they were flying from my mouth in anticipation. He played Prokofiev's Cello Concerto (Op. 58), which he had played entirely by heart, without sheet music. The work, around 40 minutes long, is in three movements:


Andante (11 minutes)
Allegro (18 minutes)
Andante con moto - Allegretto - Allegro marcato (11 minutes)

The premiere of Prokofiev's Cello Concerto (Op. 58) was generally thought to have been very poorly interpreted by the cellist, though the blame fell on Prokofiev for writing a "soul-less" concerto. The concerto was seldom played afterwards, until Prokofiev heard Rostropovich play it at a 1947 concert at the Moscow Conservatory. The performance reawakened Prokofiev's interest in the cello, and he rewrote his concerto (with advice from Rostropovich) to create the Symphony-Concerto (Op. 125). Also dating from this period are his cello sonata of 1949, and an unfinished concertino for cello and orchestra later completed by Kabalevsky.

It is always a mesmerizing experience to see a great artist, and Mr. Gerhardt certainly didn't disappoint. Playing with an extraordinary amount of technique and heart, it is easy to see why he is one of the greatest cellists of our time. The crowd was delighted when he graced us to a solo encore, although he attributed this to "the birthday of a good colleague in the orchestra." I believe it was Moderato by Rostropovich, but I am not 100% certain. Watching him play is an absolutely hypnotic experience, it is difficult to find the point where the instrument is separated from the person, because the two seem so intricately intertwined. Gerhardt seems at once hugging and coaxing the sound from the cello as he sways it from side to side in a dance, with his eyes closed, head slightly bowed, his left hand moving with mathematical and mechanical precision down the fingerboard, while his right hand angles and glides the bow across the strings, gentle when the note requires it, forcefully when it is asked. The saddle and endpin are always secure in their place, but from time to time, Gerhardt's face may shift up towards the audience, and you feel as though he is looking at you, although his eyes are closed, or a foot may creep slightly forward, and somehow this slight movement, feels as though it is not on behalf of the cellist, but the cello.




Alban Gerhardt's spellbinding performances have made him one of the most sought-after cellists in the world. After his career-launching debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1991, concerts followed on three continents. In Europe, he has appeared with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the radio orchestras of Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig and Munich, the Dresden Philharmonic, Hamburg Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony (London), City of Birmingham Symphony at the London Proms, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Monte Carlo Philharmonic and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, among others. North American engagements include the symphonies of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Utah, and Vancouver. Appearances in Asia include the Shinsei Symphony, the orchestras of Tokyo and Nagoya and the Hong Kong Philharmonic.

Upcoming and recent debut performances include the Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Toronto Symphony, the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphony, as well as European tours with the Monte Carlo Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, and the Venice Baroque Orchestra, during which Mr. Gerhardt will be playing a Baroque cello manufactured specifically for him.

Among the conductors with whom he has appeared are Sir Colin Davis, Christoph Eschenbach, Manfred Honeck, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, James Conlon, Sir Neville Marriner, Kurt Masur, Sakari Oramo, Leonard Slatkin and Osmo Vänska.

Alban Gerhardt has also appeared worldwide in recital at venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Kennedy Center, the Ravinia Festival, Wigmore Hall, Théâtre de la Ville, the Châtelet, Berliner Philharmonie and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has collaborated with many renowned pianists, including Christoph Eschenbach, Markus Groh, Cecile Licad, Steven Osborne and Lars Vogt. Festival appearances include Spoleto (Italy and the U.S.), Vancouver, Newport, Edinburgh, Schleswig-Holstein, Berliner Festwochen and the Autumn Festival in Prague.

As a recording artist, Alban Gerhardt has received the Midem Classic Award in 2006 for his Hyperion debut recording with concertos by Enescu, Dohnányi and d'Albert; the Echo Classics Prize in 2003 for his MDG Gold recording of Rubinstein's First Cello Concerto; and the Echo Classics Prize in 1998 for his Harmonia Mundi recording of Brahms sonatas with pianist Markus Groh. Other CDs include: Spanish Encores for EMI; the Dvorák Concerto and Brahms Double Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic under Neeme Järvi for BBC Music Magazine; the Barber Concerto, Frank Bridge's Orations and Michael Berkeley's Concerto with the Welsh BBC under Richard Hickox for Chandos; as well as a new CD of solo works for cello (Bach, Britten and Kodály) for Oehms Classics.

View his entire repertoire, biography, and upcoming performance information by clicking here.

There is a wonderful article featuring Gerhardt, as well as the other great German Cellists (Müller-Schott and Vogler), written by the New York Times. You may view it by clicking here.

A conversation with Alban Gerhardt.

Llorona of black eyes

Do you ever get news that feels like it kinda sucker punches you? I'm felling that way today. Received some news today about a woman in my building passing quietly in the night of a heart condition. I am terribly saddened by all of this. Very difficult for me to even look at the computer screen today or even focus on the numerous tasks I need to get done because my eyes refuse to continue welling up with a salty stream. I cannot get "La llorona" out of the back of my mind for some reason.

Dicen que no tengo duelo, llorona,
Porque no me ven llorar.
Hay muertos que no hacen ruido, llorona,
Y es más grande su penar.

Ay de mí, llorona,
Llorona de azul celeste,
No dejaré de quererte, llorona
Y aunque la vida me cueste.

Si al cielo subir pudiera, llorona,
Las estrellas te bajara.
La luna a tus pies pusiera, llorona,
Con el sol te coronara.

Todos me dicen el negro, llorona
negro pero cariñoso
todos me dicen el negro, llorona
negro pero cariñoso
yo soy como el chilo verde, llorona
picante pero sabroso
ay de mi llorona, llorona de ayer y hoy
ay de mi llorona, llorona de ayer y hoy
ayer era maravilla, llorona
y ahora ni sombra soy
ayer era maravilla, llorona
y ahora ni sombra soy.

Ay de mí, llorona,
Llorona de negros ojos.
Ya con ésta se despide, llorona,
Tu negrito soñador

She was what I would call a quiet soul. I interacted with her almost everyday for the last year, we made small talk. When I was out of the office on business, or for one of my excursions - she missed me and I recounted my time away. She always had a big, bright smile, and she always told me to enjoy the weather when it was nice outside. My office is wrapped by windows from the floor to the ceiling, so I get magnificent views of the sunset in the winter. Outside of these simple interactions, we really knew nothing more about each other, but it really wasn't important. The solace of this simplicity was nice, and it was "present." Past or future didn't really matter, just the person standing in front of you at the moment. Now she's gone, and I feel so keenly sad.

So, "quiet souls," the wonderful people that you interact with on a normal basis, but you don't know much more about them. For example, there is a woman, who is probably in her mid seventies, that works as a cashier at the cafeteria in my building. It makes my day when she's working, because when she speaks, she's got this British accent and every word sounds like a melodic piece to a song. I also like that she ends everything with "dear." "Hello Dear...Okay dear...goodbye dear." I don't know, she's just really sweet and I appreciate her quiet presence in my life.

I also recall a homeless man that lived in Georgetown. He was also older. I say "was" because it has been nearly a year since I last saw him, and I think that he has passed away. There is a story that the man used to be a professor at Georgetown University back in the 70's and early 80's. He had a nice house, family...the American dream. They say he was a brilliant historian. But, one day, his wife and children were all killed in a tragic car accident. He stopped showing up at the University to teach and eventually lost his job and everything he owned. They say he went crazy. I don't know, I always figured that maybe he wasn't crazy. Maybe, the game of life meant nothing if he couldn't share it with the ones he loved. The whole story always reminded me of "The Fisher King." But, unlike many of the homeless in DC, he never peddled. He just existed. Every now and then, when I saw him, I would buy him lunch or a hot drink. I used to be furious when people were mean to him. He never really said anything...just said thank you. And, he would look up and smile. He had such a sincere smile. In my own way, I miss his presence on the streets. For whatever reason, I always felt safe when he was around.

I don't know. It seems like so many people in life are always looking for grand miracles, angels and God. Sometimes when you're so busy trying to figure out the "big picture," a lot of the small things slip by. I guess in my own way, I see these "quiet souls" just like some people see angels. I'm just grateful for those simple moments. That isn't really to say that I don't believe in the bigger things, the so called greater things. But, in many ways, life is like a very intricate painting or a complex piece of music. Although the painting is beautiful, or the composition magnificent, it wouldn't be the same if you removed any element, no matter how small it seemed.

For those who are wondering what the above means. I have done my best to translate...

They say that I do not have sorrow, llorona,
Because they do not see me cry.
Only the dead do not make noise, llorona,
And only their grief is greater.

Oh, my llorona,
Llorona of the blue heavens,
I have no will to stop loving you, llorona
although it may cost my life

If the sky rises to you, llorona,
The stars descend to you.
The moon places itself at your feet, llorona,
With the sun you were crowned.

All of them tell me the black one, llorona
black but tender
All of them tell me the black one, llorona
black but tender
I am like a green chille, llorona
spicy but tasty
Oh, my llorona, llorona of yesterday and today
Oh, my llorona, llorona of yesterday and today
yesterday was wonder, llorona
and now I am a shadow of neither
yesterday was wonder, llorona
and now I am a shadow of neither

Oh, my llorona,
Llorna of black eyes

Yet with this she says good-bye, llorna
Your dreamy dark skinned girl