by Rachel | Uncategorized
They grow up so fast, don’t they? :) This month has been so incredibly busy that I missed Listen & Learn’s actual birthday (September 4, to be exact) but I figured it’s never too late to celebrate! 2 years and 485 posts is worth a little celebration, don’t you think?
My little website has been through a lot over the past 24 months. It started as a wee blogspot blog, and then became a BIG blogspot blog when it was featured as a “Blog of Note” by Blogger last September. But it outgrew its home this summer, and thus found a new one as a self-hosted WordPress site. Now it’s bigger and better than ever, and it’s not done growing yet!
Listen & Learn has allowed me so many great opportunities, including having a songbook published, recording a studio album, and meeting hundreds of wonderful readers (both online and in the real world). I have so many more plans for L&L — it feels like I’ve just gotten started!
I continue to be inspired by those of you who read, comment, and benefit from Listen & Learn, so I hope you’ll keep doing all of those things. I can’t wait to share what I have up my sleeve in the coming weeks, months, and years. Thank you so much for your support, and for helping me celebrate!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
This past Sunday, my husband and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. Zach is the planner when it comes to special occasions and vacations, so although I knew we were going to Chicago (we had a wedding there the night before), he surprised me with a stay at the W Hotel, a boat tour, several romantic meals, and a trip to the beach. Zach knows how much I love sun and sand, so it was quite a treat to spend the afternoon relaxing on the shore of Lake Michigan together.
And as I lay on that beach, enjoying the gorgeous weather and perfect company, I was reminded of just how lucky I really am. Not only do I have a loving and supportive husband, but together we have a beautiful home, an amazing family, and more blessings than we could even name. I have a career that I love and feel genuinely excited about when I wake up in the morning, and a place where I can share my work with people all over the world (you!) who find it interesting and valuable.
It’s so easy to get caught up in the tidal wave of life sometimes that we forget to step back and see the big picture. I’m often guilty of this myself. It took a day at the beach to make me realize that, all things considered, my life really is a day at the beach.
[For more mushy thoughts and snapshots from my anniversary weekend, feel free to visit my photo album on Facebook.]
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Last Tuesday was a sad day in the Music Therapy Connections office/studio. It was the day I laid to rest a sturdy old workhorse, my HP DeskJet 940c printer. I’ve had this printer since my first day of college (all the way back in 2001), and it has sat on 4 different desks in 4 different cities since then. Not bad, considering I’ve been through 4 laptops in that time!
I owe my deceased DeskJet for all of my PECS cards, homemade visual aides, printed sheet music, and so much more. It worked hard right up until judgment day, when despite trying several new ink cartridges, it spewed out blank paper. Could it have been resuscitated? Probably. But I knew it was time to let go.
The HP OfficeJet Pro Wireless 8000 and I got off to a rocky start. But thanks to the intervention of a very sweet HP technical support person, our relationship was mended and now we’re working in harmony. Its wireless capabilities, 2-sided printing (save the rainforest!), and high quality printing have all but made up for the loss of old DeskJet.
But this isn’t the only new officemate around here. Last month, I added a couple that I still haven’t gotten around to posting. I will do that soon. In the meantime, have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend. See you back here in a couple of days for my new “Sunday Singalong” video!
by Rachel | Uncategorized
Earlier this week, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger (an awesome resource for anyone who blogs) posed a challenge: publish a list of 7 links to posts that you and others have written that respond to 7 specific categories.
- Your first post
- A post you enjoyed writing the most
- A post which had a great discussion
- A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written
- Your most helpful post
- A post with a title that you are proud of
- A post that you wish more people had read
Since I started Listen & Learn back in September of 2008 (almost two years ago!) and have written over 450 posts, choosing just 7 will indeed be a challenge. But I always enjoy going back and reading through the archives, so this should be a fun project!
1. First post: An Introduction
Luckily, this one was easy :) I posted my first blog entry on September 4, 2008, not knowing exactly what I was doing or having a clear goal. I’ve learned a lot since then!
2. Post I enjoyed writing the most: The Best Birthday Gift Ever
This post came exactly one year later, on Listen & Learn’s first birthday. That was the day I reached my Kickstarter fundraising goal of $2,000, which I later used to record my first studio album. Needless to say, I had a huge smile on my face as I typed each and every word.
3. Post which had a great discussion:
Halloween Song Topic Contest
Last fall, I asked my readers to suggest topics for a new Halloween-themed song. They came up with some extremely creative ideas, which they shared not only in the blog comments, but also via email, Facebook, and Twitter. The winning topics inspired the songs Patrick & Polly Pumpkin, All the Candy I’ll Eat, and Costumes on Parade.
4. Post on someone else’s blog I wish I’d written:
Black Eyed Peas + Boomwhackers
My friend and fellow music therapist Kat Fulton is an amazing percussionist, and in her blog post, she shared a video she created for her boomwhackers-only version of “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas. The song and video were simply awesome, and although I wish I’d come up with them and the corresponding post, I’ll leave the heavy duty percussion to Kat!
5. Most helpful post: Safety Comes First
From time to time, a reader emails me with a request for a song on a specific subject. Although I can’t honor each and every request because of my busy schedule, I sure do try! This particular song post stemmed from one of those email readers, and not only did it fulfill her need, but quite a few others were able to benefit from it, as well. (Okay, I had to include a runner-up: 1 Cool Bass Line = 2 Singable Stories.)
6. Post with a title I’m proud of:
Publicity, Performance, and Praise, Oh My!
You know while trying to answer this one? That I am not very creative when it comes to writing blog post titles. Usually, I’ll use the title of the song I’m posting or keep it short and to the point. The title of the post I chose was inspired, of course, by The Wizard of Oz (one of my favorite movies of all time).
7. Post I wish more people had read: Taming the Tidal Wave
This particular post doesn’t necessarily fit in with my regular subject matter, which is probably why it didn’t receive much feedback. I wrote it last winter, when I was juggling too much on my plate and feeling completely stressed. I know that other music therapists, and everyone else, for that matter, have been in similar situations, and the strategies I listed might just be as helpful to them as they were to me.
Listen & Learn has definitely grown up a lot since that first post I linked to in #1, and I have a feeling that if I were to do the same challenge a year from now, I would have new links to share for almost every category. I would love to see some of my fellow blogger friends follow suit…how ’bout it?
by Rachel | Uncategorized
When I mailed out the preorders of my new CD on Tuesday, I expected for them to arrive either today or tomorrow, which is the official release day. So I was incredibly surprised when I received an email from one preorder customer last night, telling me that her copy had arrived on Thursday!
It is so fitting that my first review comes from Sandie, a Listen & Learn reader who has also become a friend and great source of encouragement over the last year or so. Sandie is a mother to Matthew, who was born with Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (ACC). Matthew absolutely loves music and has a growing collection of Listen & Learn CDs at home. You can read more about Matthew at Sandie’s wonderful blog.
Her email was as follows:
Hi Rachel,
Yesterday we took a day trip to the beach…about 90 minutes away from where we live. On the way to the beach we played some of your CDs in the car. Matthew still really likes listening to your songs. They are just so much fun.
Today (back at home) I heard the screen door to our house opening up this afternoon and wondered if someone was at my door and who it was. So as I peeked out my peephole I saw the mailman slipping envelopes inside my screen door and front door. As he drove off I opened the front door and scooped up the mail. Well, I was really surprised to find an envelope from YOU mixed in with our mail and I knew exactly what it was even though I wasn’t expecting it for a couple days.
Thank you very much for the CD and for the picture of you with the sweet note you wrote. It was so kind of you and it is very special. I am going to put it in a frame. We listened to your CD and it’s so wonderful!
Matthew signed “shoes” each time that you would sing the word “shoes” in “My Clothes and Shoes” song. He also really liked listening to the “Clean Up Song” and when it was over he made a happy “whooo whooo” sound and was excited. The songs are really great, Rachel.
I think my favorite is “Clothes and Shoes” but need to listen a few more times since they are all so good. I’m not sure which songs is Matthew’s favorite yet but will let you know. I think it just may be the one where he “whooo whooo’d” :)
I especially like how some of the songs have such a beautiful message that speaks to a person’s sense of self esteem and feeling good about who they are. We will definitely be listening to the CD a lot more and will still be playing the other CDs you’ve made for Matthew too. Congratulations, Rachel on your brand new CD!!
I hope that you have an absolutely wonderful CD celebration party on July 11th. And, thank you very much. :)
Sandie & Matthew
As I explained to Sandie in response to her email, it’s a bit scary putting so much of yourself into something (in this case, the music) and then sending it out into the world for others to experience. So to read her words and know that the songs are doing just what I had intended was a huge thrill – not to mention, a big relief!
I hope that the rest of you enjoy Time to Sing Hello as much as Sandie and Matthew have. Tomorrow you’ll be able to listen to all of the songs and download the album for yourselves. I’m so excited to finally share it with you.
