The title of this blog is Ed K’s Life Safari and I have been thinking about that name, what the title means and how it relates to what I am posting. One of the definitions of a safari is:a long and arduous journey. Well guess that my life safari has luckily been fairly long – 65 years so far, and at times I think it has been fairly arduous.
I have been very bad about writing on this now renamed blog, so maybe I should explain why I renamed the blog, Renaissance Granddad. To start, last year was a year of big changes in both my family and life. The year started out with my employer of 34 years Lippincott and Jacobs Consulting Engineers not having any work for me. I was basically laid off, but I was on call if they had work. So for nine months I collected unemployment and worked part-time at Target. I really didn’t go out and look for a new job because I didn’t think anyone would hire me at my age (63) to do the work that I do, and certainly not at the wage I was making. So I hoped that maybe work would turn around, but it didn’t. When my unemployment benefits were exhausted in September I decided to look into filing for Social Security benefits. What I found was that, with what I would receive from SS couple with a few more hours at Target, we wouldn’t be doing badly. So we took money from my 401K, paid off our car loan and our outstanding credit card debt, and so far we’re not doing badly at all!!
The Maiden of Stonehenge
Michael Brant DeMaria
So the other day I was browsing through the Zone Music Reporter’s New Age Top 100 Radio Air Play chart and I spotted down at #87 an interesting looking album titled The Maiden of Stonehenge by Michael Brant DeMaria. Not knowing anything more about the album, than that it had both an interesting title and a cool cover (there I go again dating myself). I downloaded it on to the iPhone and gave it a listen. As soon as I heard the flute on the first track “Lost Village” I knew that I was going to like the album and I was very, very correct!!
Ok so when I started this blog, my thoughts were to write about the music that I’ve listened to over the years and the books that I read. Well, as the site developed it started to morph into more of Edward explores new roots music, bur I still stayed within the general Americana genre which includes, folk, bluegrass, Americana, and blues with a little jazz and New Age thrown in. Then I started to spread out and include some prog rock, and I found that I really like that genre. Next came jazz and explorations of that genre has fascinated me. Over the last year I’ve discovered many new jazz artists that I really like. Now I’ve expanded into World Music and more New Age, yikes!! Over the last month or so I’ve started another site FreeWheelin’ Music Safari to have a place to chronicle these new explorations. The reason for that is, I don’t know how many people are as diverse in the their musical tastes. Do people who like prog rock like folk and bluegrass, I doubt it,Conversely do people who are fans of New Age like twangy Americana, again, I don’t think so. So from this point forward. Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries will return to its roots and go back to mostly twangy music. I will have a link at both sites directing readers to the other site, if they ARE as eclectic in their tastes as I am!! I will do my best to keep both sites going ( I think I’ll just have headphones surgically implanted)
