It's Not . . .

. . . really all about me . . .

On occasion when I'm alone, driving, waiting or otherwise alone with my thoughts, I find myself thinking about when my children were young and those memories conjure up a multitude of feelings and emotions.  All of the sentimental (some more melodramatic than others) graduation ceremonies marking their progress through various stages of their young education, the birthday celebrations and the special occasions like the Sesame Street stage presentation or the circus.  Some are thoroughly joyous - like those little faces on a Christmas morning when that day held such faithful anticipation. Some are just satisfyingly pleasant - like the daily drive to the daycare center when one rapscallion in the back seat munched his dry Cheerios from a plastic sandwich bag bathing the entire interior of the car in an oaty, fresh-baked goods aroma.  Or even a helplessly alarming panic I experienced when all three of them (and one buddy) were in an automobile accident and called me at the office to inform me of the event. (No serious injuries fortunately.)

I remember equally well, when each of them reached the age of 'non-childhood' and no longer needed to relate the gory details of their schoolday, homework assignment or friend's attitude on a particular day and, although still willing to offer a hug, no longer required one from me on such a regular basis. 

In fact, their rapidly maturing bodies no longer desired the intimate hug/cuddle/squeeze or whatever that was so meaningful (mutually) in the past. I missed that.  But I understood and I got over it.

But that's okay.  I loved every minute of it.  Sometimes there were no other deep thoughts or enlightening perspectives but I was so totally absorbed in the moment that nothing else mattered. And you know, nothing else really did.  But that, like all other things, passed and these fine young individuals matured and became wonderful young men.  

And though I no longer need to drive anyone to daycare in a Cheerios-saturated automobile, I am still as committed as ever to the well-being of these guys, although my involvement now takes very different forms, because I truly and honestly believe that my job, my goal, my destiny, my highest and greatest purpose (NO EXCEPTIONS) is to ensure that these guys are happy, contented adult individuals. Any and everything else beyond that is just . . . gravy!

What do you think?

Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Lines . . .

. . . Written in Early Spring
BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:—
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?


(from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/181415)
Source: The Longman Anthology of Poetry (Pearson, 2006)


Hope
from Ambience & Wine
©2012 Raymond M. Jozwiak
available at CD Baby

What do you think?

Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music will be released April 7, 2014  Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Try . . .

Words are all that I have to express

All the things I would like to be able to tell you but don't quite know how

Couldn't before and still can't do it now

During all of this time that's transpired little's changed

But a lot has occurred in my thoughts and my feelings for you

Countless superior intellects have searched for answers

I never gave it a whole lot of thought



Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside

For you



I have always believed that it's true

Very few things I'll ever encounter will be quite as precious as you

The magic between us so rare and so new

Though I'm not one of those that you find

Who has always the need to express to so many exactly what he has in mind

I find I have this burning that's deep down inside me

For words I never needed before



Until I tried to let you know how much I feel  inside

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel  inside

for you



I can't imagine ever having my life depend upon eloquence

And maybe it doesn't

But after all this time together it seems long overdue

And in the end it probably doesn't make a difference in how you feel

If I never say it



Now I'm daily rehearsing the way

To articulate every syllable nuance and stress when I say

How much I need to have you here today

And I won't give it up easily

I suspect that it's just as important to you as it is now to me

The words we use themselves have no meaning

So all the more must I make them just right



Now that I try to let you know how much I feel  inside

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside

for you



Until I Tried
from Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak ©2007 & 2014 Raymond M. Jozwiak, coming April 7, 2015

What do you think?

Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music will be released April 7, 2014  Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Quotes . . .

 . . . on notes . . .

(from http://musicmagic.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/quotes-about-music/)   
A painter paints pictures on canvas.  But musicians paint their pictures on silence. – Leopold Stokowski

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. – Berthold Auerbach

All deep things are song.  It seems somehow the very central essence of us, song; as if all the rest were but wrappages and hulls! – Thomas Carlyle

If the King loves music, it is well with the land. – Mencius

Without music life would be a mistake. – Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
   
Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons.  You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music. – Gustav Mahler
   
Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them! – Oliver Wendell Holmes
   
Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom.  If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. – Charlie Parker

He who sings scares away his woes. – Cervantes
   
Music was my refuge.  I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. – Maya Angelou

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Love . . .

by William Wordsworth


All Thoughts, all Passions, all Delights,
Whatever stirs this mortal Frame,
All are but Ministers of Love,
And feed his sacred flame.

Oft in my waking dreams do I
Live o'er again that happy hour,
When midway on the Mount I lay
Beside the Ruin'd Tower.

The Moonshine stealing o'er the scene
Had blended with the Lights of Eve;
And she was there, my Hope, my Joy,
My own dear Genevieve!

She lean'd against the Armed Man,
The Statue of the Armed Knight:
She stood and listen'd to my Harp
Amid the ling'ring Light.

Few Sorrows hath she of her own,
My Hope, my Joy, my Genevieve!
She loves me best, whene'er I sing
The Songs, that make her grieve.

I play'd a soft and doleful Air,
I sang an old and moving Story--
An old rude Song that fitted well
The Ruin wild and hoary.

She listen'd with a flitting Blush,
With downcast Eyes and modest Grace;
For well she knew, I could not choose
But gaze upon her Face.

I told her of the Knight, that wore
Upon his Shield a burning Brand;
And that for ten long Years he woo'd
_The Lady of the Land_.

I told her, how he pin'd: and, ah!
The low, the deep, the pleading tone,
With which I sang another's Love,
Interpreted my own.

She listen'd with a flitting Blush,
With downcast Eyes and modest Grace;
And she forgave me, that I gaz'd
Too fondly on her Face!

But when I told the cruel scorn
Which craz'd this bold and lovely Knight,
And that be cross'd the mountain woods
Nor rested day nor night;

That sometimes from the savage Den,
And sometimes from the darksome Shade,
And sometimes starting up at once
In green and sunny Glade,

There came, and look'd him in the face,
An Angel beautiful and bright;
And that he knew, it was a Fiend,
This miserable Knight!

And that, unknowing what he did,
He leapt amid a murd'rous Band,
And sav'd from Outrage worse than Death
The Lady of the Land;

And how she wept and clasp'd his knees
And how she tended him in vain--
And ever strove to expiate
The Scorn, that craz'd his Brain

And that she nurs'd him in a Cave;
And how his Madness went away
When on the yellow forest leaves
A dying Man he lay;

His dying words--but when I reach'd
That tenderest strain of all the Ditty,
My falt'ring Voice and pausing Harp
Disturb'd her Soul with Pity!

All Impulses of Soul and Sense
Had thrill'd my guileless Genevieve,
The Music, and the doleful Tale,
The rich and balmy Eve;

And Hopes, and Fears that kindle Hope,
An undistinguishable Throng!
And gentle Wishes long subdued,
Subdued and cherish'd long!

She wept with pity and delight,
She blush'd with love and maiden shame;
And, like the murmur of a dream,
I heard her breathe my name.

Her Bosom heav'd--she stepp'd aside;
As conscious of my Look, she stepp'd--
Then suddenly with timorous eye
She fled to me and wept.

She half inclosed me with her arms,
She press'd me with a meek embrace;
And bending back her head look'd up,
And gaz'd upon my face.

'Twas partly Love, and partly Fear,
And partly 'twas a bashful Art
That I might rather feel than see
The Swelling of her Heart.

I calm'd her Tears; and she was calm,
And told her love with virgin Pride.
And so I won my Genevieve,
My bright and beauteous Bride!

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
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Spring . . .

 

. . . will be here in only 91 days (as of this writing) and boy, am I looking forward to it.


Written in Early Spring
William Wordsworth

I HEARD a thousand blended notes  
While in a grove I sate reclined,  
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts  
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.  

To her fair works did Nature link          
The human soul that through me ran;  
And much it grieved my heart to think  
What Man has made of Man.  

Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,  
The periwinkle trail’d its wreaths;          
And ’tis my faith that every flower  
Enjoys the air it breathes.  

The birds around me hopp’d and play’d,  
Their thoughts I cannot measure,—  
But the least motion which they made          
It seem’d a thrill of pleasure.  

The budding twigs spread out their fan  
To catch the breezy air;  
And I must think, do all I can,  
That there was pleasure there.          

If this belief from heaven be sent,  
If such be Nature’s holy plan,  
Have I not reason to lament  
What Man has made of Man?   

What do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

You can NOW download your
very own copy of Ray Jozwiak's
newest release:
AMBIENCE & WINE

Please visit
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Then There Was. . .

I've always been curious about blogging and wary of tweeting. I mean, who really wants to know every fleeting thought that crosses my warped little mind? And I base this curiosity and wariness on my own tastes. In all honesty, I have little to no interest in the fleeting thoughts of too many people. If I think about it hard enough, I may be able to conjure up two or three names. But pop 'icons', actors/actresses (or other 'entertainers'), media 'celebrities', 'news' commentators, talk show hosts and politicians for the most part, have difficulty enough formulating a coherent sentence let alone expressing any thought, sentiment or observation about a topic that would be of even the most remote interest to ME.

So having said THAT, I begin my first blog. Yes, the thoughts, sentiments, observations, incoherent (and hopefully a few coherent) sentences and fleeting thoughts of MINE for all to see!

What the $*&#k was I thinking????

(Hear my music at http://www.rayjozwiak.com)