1.
I have wandered and been lost in many ways in my life, which has been interesting (at least to me). Like other people, I've seen and experienced wonderful and terrible things, and been astonished by the things we humans do to, and for, each other. And to, and for, the other creatures who live and breathe around us. In the midst of global warming, world hunger, apocalyptic rhetoric, and insane profit-motivated wars, I feel a ridiculous amount of gratitude for life on earth, and I'd like to see it continue... I want to talk about that, tell stories, engage and be engaged.
That's why I write, and why I sing.
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2.And, about my brother: he was a mountain guide, a fine musician, and had an absurd sense of humor. He died on Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, in 1985. I loved him as much as I ever loved anyone, and am still looking to follow in his footsteps in some ways, though I'm somewhat older now than he ever got to be. He loved "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" and other Warren Zevon songs, so I've been listening to them again and thinking of him. And I have fond memories of sitting together in a doorway in San Blas, Mexico, late at night in a tequila haze, singing "Friend of the Devil"...
So although he'd probably grin and shake his head at it, I sing because of my brother, too.
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3.And I write and sing for kids. I live with three of them: beautiful, difficult, passionate, and very funny people. I've also been working with kids much of my adult life. I don't think I idealize them, or imagine them to be perfect unsullied creatures in a way inaccessible to those of us who have been around a little longer. But for the most part they are fairly easy to connect with, laugh with, sing with, be a fool with, and care deeply about. I love that about them, and I love singing and sharing stories with them, and am immensely glad that I still get to do that after all these years.
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