Year 2, Day 106 (Back In The Saddle)

Now that Passover has passed, I will have to get back in the groove of blogging again. The only downside I've experienced was the fact that I was on the road. I am VERY grateful to those whom posted in my stead this past week, and their offerings of some great posts as well, I might add. After reading the guest posts that went up last week I've realized how much catching up I have to do, as far as content and quality. In the time I've been doing this whole blogging thing I've come to discover just how difficult it can be, as far as coming up with interesting subject matter on a daily basis. This blog is a hobby for me, though it is enjoyable. But it is also quite a task to come up with something even remotely interesting each day. Since there has been a slow down in training (not as much of an influx of student drivers coming in), I have to make time to compose my posts, along with my regular driving duties... with a student, I can write a post while he is driving.

Since all I have is an iPhone, I am a bit confined and limited with what I can post and the research I'm able to do, whereas with a laptop there is more flexibility. But as I learned in the Marines, I have to make do with what I have. Perhaps one day I'll be able to upgrade (lack of capitol being the main reason why that hasn't happened yet), but until then, I guess I'll just continue on with my usual banter.

... and Starbucks!

Year 2, Day 104 (Guest Blogger: Natali Heuss)

Bob Marley Cleans My Lawn

Last year at this time I started a tradition. One that has made a HUGE difference in my life. It wasn’t easy, but it was very necessary. That tradition was spring cleaning my life.

We throw open the windows of our home, brush away the cobwebs and pack up the winter clothes. It’s our symbolic gesture of greeting the new season. The season of growth and change. Warmer weather, flowers, sunshine. We restart the diets that we started on New Years and failed already. All that good stuff.

But, what about the rest of our life? Cleaning our house, though most of us secretly hate it, is a rather easy thing to do. Going through clothes, revamping diets- those are mere habits at this point in our lives. Last year I decided to go just a bit further with cleaning. It wasn’t so much as a conscious decision really, life just pointed out my need to take a look at the people in my life. Who I was surrounding myself with, how they made me feel. Who they really were. Who I really was. What impact they had on my life.

Most of my life I have fought for the underdog and put everyone else’s needs before mine. It’s how I almost completely lost myself in an abusive marriage. It’s how I’ve run myself down repeatedly year after year. I always rationalized it as something I was SUPPOSED to do. That putting myself first was selfish and horrible.

And then I got cancer. It started out precancerous. It seemed like just a scare. A little blip that sucked but I would move past it quickly and be just fine. When it came back cancerous and things got dark, I retreated inside. Talking about it made it far too real. And, above all, I didn’t want my girls to know. They had enough on their plate at the time. Their dad had gotten his girlfriend pregnant. A baby half-sister was NOT sitting well with them. It may seem like nothing, but to a 5 and 6 year old that were never a priority to him, having to fight with another for the bare minimal attention they already received was a rough concept. The last thing they needed was to fear losing me.

So, this inner retreat meant I somewhat disappeared from various social media outlets as well. It just kind of happened. It was all just a blur. I was trying to keep up with everything going on in my life and then balancing dr. appointments and lab work and treatments. I was a mess, but didn’t really realize it. Then I had a couple of friends get upset at my disappearance. I took a deep breath and explained the situation. One of their responses “Well, if you don’t tell anyone, we don’t have any way of knowing. So, you can’t expect me to be sympathetic to you not being around when I needed you.” Yet, I had no idea they needed me because their way of showing they were having a rough time was to disappear off of social media. The same social media that I had backed away from. See the lovely double standard there?

Other things happened as well and I just had to sit down and take a really painful look at things. I suck at cutting friends loose. I give people chance after chance after chance. I try to cling to all their good qualities, sometimes to the point of completely blinding myself to the faults. But, there comes a time where you have to step back and look at that friendship. Is it strictly one-sided? Does it balance out? Is that person a stream of constant negativity? How does their role in your life make you feel?

After answering all of that comes the even harder part- what do you do about it? Do you emotionally put up a wall and hold them at a distance? Do you break it off completely? Do you sit down and explain the situation and work on the friendship together?

That part fucking sucks. There’s no sugar-coating that.

You know what though? When you are done, I promise you that you will feel so much better.

This year, still fighting recurring cancer, but this last round finally came back only precancerous. So YAAAY for that! My immune system is completely shot though and my doctors SCREAMED at me about my stress level. To have a doctor tell you “Fuck the cancer, it’s the stress that’s going to kill you” is a pretty big wake up call. And, it is just in time for spring cleaning time this year.

Time for decisions to be made and people removed from my life. It’s never a happy thing, but it is so freeing. A really wise person reminded me recently that when you clean out the negative, you leave so much room for more positive. And I need all the positive I can get right now. We all do. Getting rid of my first weed has already made a huge difference. People that dwell in and thrive off of constant negativity will suck you dry. Their need to be one up in the misery department all of the damn time will leave them alone and bitter one day and it’s not a place you want to be dragged to. If nothing is ever good enough for them- that is their fault, not yours. Get off the train now.

Another really wise person I turn to when deep cleaning? Bob Marley.

"Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

There are people in my life that I love to death. That I know would be there for me if I picked up the phone and uttered one word- help. And they know I would do the same. Shit, a couple would hear it in my voice and I wouldn’t even need to say it. And guess what? We don’t talk every day, every week, maybe even every month. Life gets busy for all of us. It’s understood and that love and support is still there. We fit each other in when we can.

Then there are the ones that I talk to every day, every week, every month that I’ve said help to and they’ve not bothered to be there. And anyone in my life knows me saying “help” is one of the hardest things for me to do. I took wanting to grow up and be Wonder Woman VERY seriously. I can do it all myself, you know. Yeah, not really but that’s another post. :)



In the mean time it is time for me to listen to my man Marley, throw on some Three Little Birds, and clean up the rest of my lawn again.


How does your lawn look?

Natali Heuss is a single mom from Wisconsin raising two daughters to be strong, independent, and proud of their Geek-dom Super Status. The best way to describe her is this, which I "borrowed" from her Facebook page:

Graphic & Web Design/Developer by day, Ninja mom to 2 geekling girls obsessed with Star Wars by night.

Baker of full-size Yoda cakes, teacher of adult Apple BASIC class in the 5th grade, better with any controller than 90% of her guy friends, front line of defense when the Zombie Apocalypse breaks out, wanted to be Wonder Woman and marry Spider-Man when she grew up and daughters are convinced I’m secretly Velma.

Founder of UberDorkCafe. Read: Geek girl on a mission.

I speak quite a few languages, enjoy coed naked underwater basket weaving, have an addiction to Sushi and humor is my defense mechanism.

Stupid people make my right eye twitch.

I'm ambidextrously brained, I will knit for tattoos, I am the friend that everyone comes to for advice and bail money. I pride myself on keeping my eyes, ears, heart and mind open. Making me laugh goes a long way with me, I think the brain is the sexiest organ and I'm the kinda gal you can take anywhere and I'll have a good time.

I'm known for huggles and junkpunches.

Other than that, I'm just me.

The business that she started is the UberDork Cafe, a co-host on The Power Geeks internet show, creator of her own blog, and she can also be found on Twitter.

... oh, and two of her favorite quotes:

“You’re not the kind of mom to be all (in whiny voice) ‘please, please, please give me my children back. You would be all ‘You have exactly 5 minutes to return my children unharmed or I swear on all that is holy and sacred that I will hunt you down and fucking kill you.' And yeah…they’d believe you.” “Hmm…that’s not entirely true because I’d torture them before I killed them- you know, pop out an eyeball, take out a knee cap, make them eat a testicle, that sort of thing.”

"...knock on the door and when he opens it wham! They'll junk-punch him all up in his man business and he'll fall to the floor wailing and crying "why?" and then we'll say "YOU KNOW WHY!"

Year 2, Day 100 (Guest Blogger: Blanca Raygoza)

My Monkeys ... My Life

The Dallas/Fort Worth area was hit with a bad storm with several tornado sightings. Bad weather normally doesn't bother me, but today was different because the bad weather was too close for comfort. Tornados were spotted very close to my kids' schools and near the sitter's house.


I'm a single divorced parent of three awesome boys (My monkeys as I like to call them) I have a dental assistant job during the day and a second job as a Zumba instructor a few nights a week.
Parenting is a hard job and having three monkeys to raise with little or no help is sometimes overwhelming..

It was nerve wrecking to be at work during the storm. The worst feeling to have as a parent is guilt. Guilt, for not being the one to hold them when they are scared. Guilt, for not being able to be at three places at once. Guilt that doing your best isn't good enough.


Minutes seemed like hours and hail hitting the windows at work with the tornado sirens going off nearby, did not make me feel any better. In my heart I knew everything was okay, but I still needed reassurance. I was able to talk to my monkeys as soon as the afternoon patients cancelled their appointment, I was able to breathe better once I knew my monkeys were okay.

My 5 year old monkey: "Mommy! I didn't have to do my ABC's because of the motatos!" (as he smiled from ear to ear)

Me: "Motatos? What's that?"

Monkey: "You know! The scary black wind thingy that sucks you up!"

Me:"That's TORNADOS!"

Monkey: "Oh! Tornados! Ha! Ha! I'm silly right?"

My 9 year old Monkey: "Mommy, no homework tonight, I left my backpack at school because of the tornados ....it was a worthy sacrifice!"

I rolled my eyes trying hard not to laugh at their silliness and turned to my 13 year old...."Nope, no homework" no excuses just facts.


This was the conversation I had with my monkeys after I picked them up after work...and all was right with the world!

Blanca Raygoza is a proud mother of three handsome boys. She works as a dental assistant and she has a job as a Zumba instructor a few nights a week.
She is trying to live life to the fullest while raising her boys to become true gentlemen, all while sharing joy and awesomeness to those around her.

If you live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, sign up for her Zumba classes (you can visit her website for more information). You can also find both her and her class on Twitter.

Year 2, Day 99 (Guest Blogger: RebbeSoul)

When I got to Israel, I played a lot of weddings as a guitarist/sideman, particularly in Jerusalem. Often the material consisted of Reb Shlomo Carlebach's songs and that's how I learned many of them. He wrote something like 2000 songs, many of which are so popular and common in Jewish culture, people think they are traditional, folk songs. One of the most popular that I played was "Adir Hu." It's from the Jewish holiday of "Pesach" or Passover, the holiday that occurs at this time of year.

I love the scale and I love the groove. Naturally, when it came time to record the new RebbeSoul album, which was to consist entirely of the material of Reb Shlomo Carlebach, his "Adir Hu" was high on my list. Even though, I had played it often, recording it was anything but routine and expected. Here's what happened.

I was recording at the studio of Dan Gil, the Gearer Rebbe in Sharon, MA. Dan is called the Gearer Rebbe because he knows a lot about musical gear and is obsessed with it. He had just acquired some new equipment and instruments and one of them was a Turkish saz, sometimes called a baglama. I was at the studio for a few days and Dan kept telling me about the saz and how I should play it on the new album. "I don't know how to play saz. I don't even know the tuning," I replied. That didn't matter, he didn't stop trying to convince me to play it. At one point, he was setting up 4 mics in an elaborate configuration for something I was about to play and of course while doing so, he carried on about the saz. I finally conceded. "Okay, since you're busy doing this and I'm waiting, why don't you get me the saz and I'll see if I can do something with it?" As soon as he handed it to me, I strummed it once and knew it would be perfect for something. The Gearer Rebbe had quite an insight.

A Turkish saz

"Adir Hu" was exotic sounding to begin with, incorporating the fragish (Yiddish) or hijaz (Arabic) scale so that seemed like the right tune to choose for the saz. I used some of the strings as drones and whether or not that's part of the method of playing or not, it sounded good. So I stayed in the performance room for 3 hours figuring out how to play it and we got it all. I even laid down a 2nd track and the 2 sounded really good together. I was astonished at how well it came out and grateful that the wise Gearer Rebbe, Dan was so persistent.

I went back to Israel and was listening to the tracks. Although they stood well on their own, I wanted to add a few more things. I was just having too much fun with the song and didn't want it to end. I had made a stop in San Francisco on the tour before returning to Israel and went to one of my favorite music stores, Clarion Music, named after little Clara Hsu who is now a fully grown woman, by her loving father who founded the store. It's a wonderful place in San Francisco's Chinatown to explore non-Western instruments. I first discovered it in the mid-90s, with our percussionist in RebbeSoul, Cassio Duarte and both of us were like kids in a candy store. We were in San Francisco to play Great American Music Hall and Cassio heard about this store so we went there and didn't leave for a few hours. I got a dolak from Pakistan and used shortly afterward on "A Narrow Bridge" or "Kol Ha Olam Kulo" in Hebrew, on my Fringe of Blue album.

This time, in 2009, I was in Clarion music with my brother, Scott and his son Steven. We were having fun being tourists in Chinatown and this was one of our stops. I left with a jaw harp and some hand percussion from Viet Nam and China. When it came time to record the additional material for the song. I was tracking on my mobile recording studio in Israel and pulled out these new toys of mine and rolled a few tracks. I added some finger cymbals which I often use. You can hear them all over my recordings. Between the finger cymbals and the newly acquired Asian percussion, the top end was pretty well covered. The only thing missing was a deep sounding drum for the bottom end. All the drums I had to fit the bill were in the United States and I wasn't there at the moment. It was so hot in Israel, I was drinking bottles of water constantly and just polished one off. I gave it a bang and it sounded pretty good so I played "four on the floor" on the water bottle and that's what you'll hear on the track. It comes in toward the end and sounds like a big drum.

I had so much fun with this tune, I decided to do another take on it and record it again, only more techno or electronic as opposed to this version which was entirely organic, with all real instruments.

I jumped on the computer and came up with a short programmed drum part or a loop, as they are fashionably called. I added some synth sounds and created a nice bed for the new lead instruments. But what would they be? I took out my nylon string and it sounded divine, so soothing. I recorded it and didn't want to stop because I was having so much fun with the tune. I spotted my balalaika, sitting in the corner, being ignored so I picked it up and played a track of balalaika which sounded really nice too, totally different, but really nice. I liked them both and decided to use them, the balalaika at the beginning and the nylon string afterwards.

Me and my balalaika in NY; photo by Melissa Stonehill



I wanted an intense, groove-oriented bass part so I called up one of my very favorite bassists, Moran Baron who happens to live on a kibbutz just minutes away from me and he came over slammed a killer bass part. Moran has lots of ideas and usually lays them all down. Then it becomes an editing exercise to decide what to keep and what to discard. One must be brutally disciplined to discard anything he plays because it's always so musical. I loved what he played so much that I lengthened the song by a few minutes with a long ride-out at the end just to accommodate his many ideas. If you listen to the bass on the song, you can hear a variety of different ideas, all working well but all a little different from each other, especially at the end where he play 1/16 note harmonics. The long ride-out also allowed me to indulge myself, playing another one of my new toys, the jaw harp I got in San Francisco.

I called this track, "Adir Hu Revisited" and it's at the end of the album, just before the radio mixes. I liked the way it finished off the album, providing a long, late-night, college dorm kind of mood.

You can listen to "Adir Hu Revisited" on SoundCloud

RebbeSoul - singer, song writer, musician, recording artist, guest blogger:

At first glance, you would not label him as a Rabbi or a Rebbe. In fact, not even at a second glance, but RebbeSoul is a musical brand name who combines Jewish music with soul and jazz. Now he is coming out with a project renewing Carlebach nigunim (melodies) as instrumental pieces, unique from the more prevalent, Carlebach style and just as unique for the soul.

He made aliyah (moved to Israel) about 3 1/2 years ago and lives in Zichron Yaacov and, like many other Jewish, western, music creators, his heart lies in the east but his work originates far in the west. He was born in upstate New York and embarked on his musical career at the age of 22, when he moved to California. At age 12, he had a plastic guitar his parents rented for him "because they didn't believe that I would take the instrument seriously. I played at bars that I wasn't even allowed to enter because I was too young." he tells, "They just looked the other way, and let me play."

Like the classic Jewish mother, his own mother didn't see music as a worthy profession one can make a living at. With a degree in engineering and his guitar in hand, which he was much more attuned to, he traveled across the US to look for a his place. "I went out of my house in a snow storm and drove for 2 weeks until I finally got to sunny California, where I only had on a pair shorts and my guitar in the back of my car. I spent 3 months practicing about 10 hours a day, working on every style of music. I didn't care what it was."

(Excerpt taken from RebbeSoul's press page of his website, rebbesoul.com, where you can see his current touring schedule, or even order his amazing music - yes, that was a plug... and yes, I have several of his CD's).

He can also be found on YouTube, Facebook, and on ReverbNation, both as RebbeSoul, and with Shlomit Levi as Shlomit & The Rebbe.

Year 2, Day 98 (Passover Begins)

Tonight we are officially in the Passover Holiday, also known as the Feast Of Unleavened Bread. As Scriptural history shows, it is to be observed for 7 days, but it is recognized as 8 in the the Diaspora (outside of Israel). The mandate for this observance was given by The L-rd Himself, to Moses, beginning in Exodus 12:3, where The L-rd tells what preparations must be made... the events leading up to the final plague which were befallen upon Egypt: the Plague of the Firstborn. The L-rd was bringing the plagues as punishment for the severe mistreatment the people of Israel had endured by the hands of the Egyptians. The was the beginning of the Dawn of a New Era: Israel would leave their place of captivity and become their own nation. Therefore, Passover is a remembrance of those times, enduring brutality, and the miracles that The L-rd, Himself, had made known for all; the people of Israel, as well as Egypt. There are many interesting facets when you study those plagues, but I'll just focus a little on this one. For one, a lamb is to be sacrificed for the Pesach meal. During that time, a lamb was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians as a deity, so you can imagine their horror when they found out the purpose the Children of Israel had for the lambs. The blood from these sacrificed lambs was, with the use of hysop, to be put on the doorposts and the lintel (the crossbeam of the door frame), which draws the shape of the Hebrew letter Chai (ה). The letter Chai is very symbolic of the word "life" (for an easy reference point, think of the musical Fiddler On The Roof: there is a song title "To Life", in Hebrew - they they also say in the song - it's L'Chaim).

This is just a very brief synopsis, as one of my readers specifically asked for a little more information. There is a plethora of information on the subject, through a variety of sources. One such source is on the website for Judaism 101, which does expound quite a bit, and for various levels of learning (though the link I added is for the basic level).

Contrary to popular beleif (by "popular" I mean that which "The Church" has mistaught people), Passover is NOT a Jewish Holiday... it IS, in fact, G-d's Holiday. "you shall observe this day for your generations as an eternal decree" (or in some translations: "forever") - Exodus 12:17. So I hope some of you will look into this Holiday/Festival/Celebration, even partake of a Passover Seder. I think it just may change you for the better... and you'll learn something new. May you all be Blessed!l

Year 2, Day 97 (A Somewhat Busy Weekend)

It's been a long and arduous several days, getting here to Livonia, MI from Laredo, TX. I arrived here yesterday afternoon. As I had suspected (dreaded) I was pre-planned on a load which re-loads at this same place. This load is not due to load until 1900 tonight, then the first drop is due to deliver tomorrow morning in Pittsburgh, PA. The other two drops are on Sunday, also in Pennsylvania: Bethlehem, then Lancaster. Come Monday, I pick up in Dayton, NJ heading to Brampton, ON. I really don't like the fact that I'm working through Passover, but unfortunately, I don't have such luxuries as taking off for the Holy Days (plus it doesn't help that there aren't many Jewish trucking companies).

Starting tomorrow I will be taking a brief hiatus from this blog, but there are some amazing people that will be filling in for me. Tomorrow's post, however, will have been composed by me, but it will be auto-posted. The topic of the post will be a brief explanation of Passover. There have been a few changes to the lineup with in the last week and a half, but their names will be shown in the parenthetical title of each day's post.

May you all have a blessed and joyous time in my temporary absence. Should you be one of those that are observant: Have a joyous Sabbath, and a memorable Pesach... next year in Jerusalem!

Chag Sameach!

Year 2, Day 78 (Guest Bloggers For The Week Of Passover)

As I have mentioned a couple times already, I will take a hiatus from posting during the week of Passover next month. In my stead, I have lined up some great people to "take the helm" (if you will) during that time. Their posts will actually be scheduled to auto post on their respective days, so this way I can take a break in observance of the sanctity of Passover, AND The Common Voice will still have its daily posts. I recently had a reader that wished to know more about Passover, so I will compile a summary of this holiday, which will appear on April 7th. The next week will feature these great people:

April 8 - Bruce Burger
April 9 - Blanca Raygoza
April 10 - Lori Flood
April 11 - Kirk Provo
April 12 - Julie Mollins
April 13 - Natali Heuss
April 14 - Ern Mander

Each of these people will not only provide a good post, but I am honored and blessed to know them (not just because they're filling in for me). I hope you will all tune in to this channel and show each of them some love and support.

Year 2, Day 74 (Getting Home... Tomorrow... Maybe)

Larry and I ended up having to take the load on to the Atlanta area, due to the fact that the other driver we were going to swap with was going to run out of hours before he got to us. Right now there is no solid plan on exactly what we will be doing next, but one thing for sure is I (as well as Larry) am ready to get home. We've seen a lot of the country, and covered a lot of ground, but I've always maintained that when on the road - I work hard; when my time to go home comes, I expect to do so (i.e. play hard).

Next month will bring the Festival of Unleavened Bread, a.k.a. Pesach, a.k.a. Passover. I have contacted a few people to do some guest posts, as I will be taking that week off. As things begin to get lined out, I'll fill you in on whom will be posting, and on which days. I may not be doing the postings, but the daily blog will continue... even though there's only about 6 people who read it anyway. At least I can say I have a readership.

The Road Scholar - Day 114 (Holiday Over, Back To Work)

My absence the past few days has been due to my being at home celebrating Passover, and I GREATLY appreciate those bloggers that stepped in as my proxy. In case you missed any of them, here they are again:

• Day 110 featuring Lauri Rottmayer
• Day 111 featuring Lori Flood
• Day 112 featuring Chrisinda Lukens
• Day 113 featuring Sarah Storer

Now I would like, if I may, to share with you what photos I took of our meal, which we partook of last Thursday. First, my wife, Michelle, made a little centerpiece bouquet from what she found out in our yard that day:







A few days before I made it home, I picked up a boneless leg of lamb (a nearly 4 lb cut), which, by the way, I did a little digging around online as far as how to cook one, since I had never done so before. With what I had uncovered, I felt pretty confident. Wednesday night, I put the lamb in a bowl, pierced it a few times, and covered it with lemon juice and rubbed it with freshly chopped garlic, covered the bowl, and let it sit overnight. The next day, I got the grill going and put the lamb on there long enough to sear the outside of it (and just enough to give it a charred taste). Once that was done, I put it in a pan, surrounded it with fresh green beans and baby onions, sprinkled a little more lemon juice on it, then covered it with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary:




Once it was finished, we then began our Seder (and since there was only three of us, that made the preparations that much easier).

When you read in Scripture the story of the ten plagues of Egypt (which is first laid out in Exodus 6, starting in verse 2), the plague of the death of the firstborn is where you will see the first documented Seder. The reason I point all this out is because our Seder was done very similarly to the Scriptural documentation (except we didn't put the lamb's blood on our doorposts), therefore, our lamb was "roasted by fire" and none was left over until morning. What I found rather interesting about the finished product was that the onions took on the lemon flavor, and the green beans absorbed some of the rosemary flavor:




Needless to say, it was a very festive Seder, and a very filling meal (which also included Matzo Ball Soup, and an Apple Kugel for desert), and absolutely great company!