The Summerglen Files

When I was in high school, my trombone teacher had an endless supply of laments about the weak state of my lungs (and tone). Unfortunately for both of us, his instructions to “breathe deeper” and “fill up my lungs” lesson after lesson weren’t exactly getting results. But what DID get results was the [...]

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There’s been some kind of nasty tropical weather system passing over Summerglen for the past couple of days, and it’s made my sinuses and head quite, er, hostile toward trombone playing. During cold and flu season each year, many trombonists are in this same boat, facing the not-so-fun possibility of having to play sick. [...]

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For the last week and a half, I’ve been having a string of rotten days–those awful times when it seems like everybody’s on your case, and like even your best efforts don’t measure up. It hasn’t been a fun week, for sure, but at the same time, it’s been a valuable week, an opportunity [...]

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Earlier this week, I stopped by Andrew’s blog and was intrigued by one of his posts about balancing creative input and output. Andrew compares his creative expression to a conversation–just as a totally one-sided conversation gets boring, creating turns into drudgery if it’s always going one way. Reading his post made me think [...]

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This past weekend, Andrew and I went to our favorite spot in the world, Mount Airy, NC. For years, we’ve gone to this wonderful little corner of the world for relaxation, rejuvenation, drive-in movies, excellent food…heck, we even got married there!
Fall is an absolutely gorgeous time in Mt. Airy, so if you’re anywhere [...]

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1. Practicing good habits, even in the face of chaotic schedules, is a good thing…
2. but there’s no reason to beat yourself up if you get a little off-balance. Just keep on keeping on.
And above all:
3. Where there’s an active schedule, success is somewhere nearby. Either the success made you [...]

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Perhaps one of the best ways to relax is to get out of town and take a nice vacation. Although it can be tempting to make excuses like, “Oh, it’s too expensive” or “I really have a lot to do,” vacation is important, even vital, to our sanity and creativity.
Last weekend was [...]

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2009 has been a wild and crazy year for us Summergleners…we’ve been writing books, setting up ways to market those books, getting a salsa band up and running, working with students, playing heaps of shows, and planning creativity workshops, summer ensembles, and various kinds of school bands. It feels like we’ve been working nonstop, [...]

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As many of you know, I just finished writing my very first book, Women Embracing Creativity: Unleashing Your Inner Artist. Writing the book was a lot of work, but it was fun work. I’m really good at showing up and doing what needs to be done day after day without worrying what the [...]

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