#mboards

PRECIOUS ‘ND PRISCILLA MOODBOARD

Archived from EAOnline

I thought I'd take a few moments on this chilly evening to (again) advocate Tea Parties. Really, you must have them. In fact, if you don't have them, you stand in very serious violation of the TCB (Tea Cup Brigade), which requires at the very minimum four Tea Parties per month. Well, I just made that up, but if there were such a Thing as the TCB, I do not doubt they would require four Tea Parties, if not six. With so many varieties of Tea available These Days, one has absolutely no excuse for not drinking Tea, unless one is suffering from the dreaded condition "TeaLeafIntolerance" so oft' spoken of on reputable late night cable networks.

But the really extraordinary Tea Party requires Tea of an extraordinary nature and the preparation of this beverage is what I will now convey to you. I call this concoction "Elizabethan Chai Tea," and I have been known to survive on nothing more for days at a time. While I don't recommend this, I do recommend serving it at your next Tea Party. The recipe is as follows:

1 Tbsp fennel or anise seed 6 cardamom pods 12 cloves 1 cinnamon stick 1/4" ginger root 1/4 tsp black pepper corns 2 bay leaves 6 Tbsp honey 7 Cups water 1 Cup milk (or soymilk for those who share my nasty habit of veganism) 2 Tbsp black tea

First, you ought to crush your cardamom pods to release the seeds. Then, slicing your ginger very thinly would be nice. Once done, you may feel quite secure in putting the first everything but the black tea into a saucepan and bringing it to a boil, with a good stir every once in a while. At a boil, reduce the flame and let the mixture simmer for five minutes while you go and change the CD in your stereo, decide it didn't need changing, and change it back. After five minutes have passed, add your tea leaves and remove your pot from the flame. Covered, let it all steep for another five minutes. Lastly, serve it hot to your guests (people or stuffed animals) while telling witty stories about serious things.

EA

Archived from EAOnline

Greetings again, I hope you have all been hanging in there and doing well. I've been performing as usual, with a few program changes to reflect the times, namely, the regular addition of "By The Sword" and the "Star Spangled Banner." My live band has learned BTS with excellent speed and so well that, in a recent concert review, it was named as the most polished song in the set. As for the "Star Spangled…," that continues to be a nerve-wracking song to play as it relies heavily on the audience to make it come off right. In an odd Time like this, one never knows what sort of reaction the national anthem will get, but I am counting on our collective need to give our country a hug and it hasn't failed yet. What I would most like to do right now is to play for those who have been directly victimized by the recent attacks, those in hospitals, those without a place to go. If there is any way to simply go to these people and play my violin for an hour or two, giving them the comfort and human soul that instrument can magically impart, you can bet I will find it.

In my previous post, I'd gone on a short rant about the necessity of creativity in these harsh Times. Thus, I was thrilled to receive a submission to the Board by a visitor to the site, a very beautiful poem. I encourage all to send me their creations, be it random thoughts, poetry, essays, artwork, etc., and I will do my best to post them and share them with other visitors via this Board. Following is the poem I received, may you all enjoy it. My thanks to its author, Rasheed.

Concierto de Aranjuez by Rasheed, 4-23-01, 1:02 am

Explanation: This is more about a girl I used to know than it is about music. I left this poem on her blue car one day and never got to talk to her about it until two months later, when we were on a park bench alone with July night & moon & friends in the distance that stayed in the distance. There are 11 syllables in each line because i like the image of the two 1's standing together: two individuals, like me and her! There is one meaning accessible to readers and another hidden meaning of which only the three of us (she, I, bent finger of first-quarter moon watching from the universe) know. I haven't talked to or seen her since then, and I don't think I ever will.

Concierto de Aranjuez

We've listened to this adagio before. You sat across from me on our holy bus, brown corduroy jacket wrapped around your waist, Vita Nuova bashfully in your hand,

CD's in your backpack that we traded, listened to at night, ruminated over. We told each other that our music was good, and that we were good, and that our souls were good,

and that the world and its soul were also good. Rodrigo has a way with the guitar; he can make it heavenly even surrounded by thick patches of cold bus speaker static.

One night I listened to him, violin in my arms, and fell asleep blear-eyed and dizzy, drunk with so much light. It seems things have changed now- now that you've grown up and I've failed to do so,

now that you hide from the humble reflection of my eyes reflecting your eyes reflecting the world and all of its lonely, half-dead eyes, now that the half-hour eternities of bus-

ride conversations are relegated to some unvisited fragment in our sad minds, now that you've become the society drone we'd convinced each other we'd never become.

You gave in, bought the clothes the empty people wear, and got rid of your corduroy jacket. Dante became old and shallow, the way he rambled. And Rodrigo, well, it was time to move on.

In autumn, desire-bodies died with trees, were shed like purposeless dismal leaves, and burned. I thought it would be you and I storming the city from the outskirts and breaking every

fucking neon sign and streetlight and motor until it was just the two of us standing and existing under the sky and stars, the rest of existence blurring and cancelling out.

When did you forget that Rodrigo and Dante were beautiful? When did you forget that you and your soul were beautiful? We didn't need to grow up and see the world growing with us,

we needed an adagio like this one, a Rodrigo adagio, to wake us and let us know that we were never empty like the dim city or its dim people, that

we were glowing brighter with each passing day. It was our adagio, our caravan barrelling into the dawn, by the will of the love which moves the sun and the other stars.

I have a million and one things to do so I am signing off for the moment, but thanks for reading, listening, and being strong. Very special thanks to all of you who have purchased "By The Sword."

Until next Time,

EA

Archived from BonnyTymePyrate’s Journal Archives Archived from EAOnline

Greetings to all, EA here. I hope you enjoy visiting this board, as I will certainly enjoy this opportunity to write directly to you. I will be writing as often as I can to give you updates, answer questions, and pass on the occasional thoughts that find their way through the ether to my brain. Through it all, I never cease to be amazed that people care about what I have to say, but since you are here, I will share a few thoughts on the one subject we are all preoccupied with. We all know what happened on Sept. 11th, 2001. We are all horrified and saddened, and we want to know the reason for such an attack, how we can prevent such things, and who we can blame. I cannot answer these questions any more sufficiently than anyone else…if I could I should be running the country. I can only add my thoughts and prayers to the massive pile amassed by people all over the world. My way of dealing with the many hardships life presents has always been through music. I began playing notes before I could read and my violin still bears the streaks left by countless tears which found their way onto the priceless wood during times of sadness. I was awakened on that devastating Tuesday in the same way as so many others - with a phone call from a friend telling me to turn on the television. Also like many others, I went into a sort of shock that lasted for several days afterwards, the shock at knowing the world had suddenly changed but not knowing at all how to deal with that information. What do we do? Do we cry? Or be angry? Or simply pray? Most of us do all of these things, but few feel any sort of relief. I believe that “relief” is asking far too much…there is no relief where there is no resolution and we are far from a place of settlement. I do think, however, that there is something we can offer to ourselves and to others that will take us from a place of terror and defeat to a place of progress, and that gift is the gift of Creativity. Now more than ever is the Time when pictures must be painted, poetry must be penned, and songs must be sung. There are a million ways to be Creative. Arranging posters on your wall, flowers in a vase, or baking a cake. Silly, you might say, but true - these are things that express who you are in Times that challenge the very essence of your existence. As for myself, my small gift of creativity was born in the form of a song. ‘BY THE SWORD’ was written and recorded about three hours after I first heard of the events that had taken place on the morning of the terrorist attacks on the US. It was the hardest Time to make music, but also one of the most inspiring as I knew that, through the proceeds from the single, I could help those who are in need, who need in such a way that we all pray we shall never need. I had not the Time to go into the studio, nor did I have the desire to be around other people when I recorded the song. So I used what I had at home: a free, 8-track version of Pro-Tools, a keyboard, my violin, and my voice. I sat in the bedroom and sang and I questioned myself every step of the way, but I finished the song and the fact that the first copy of the new single sold the very next day was all the proof I needed to know that I had indeed done the right thing. Since then, more of you have bought copies of 'BY THE SWORD,’ and even more have downloaded it from my website. I have also performed it in concert along with my instrumental version of the Star Spangled Banner. You cannot imagine how very gratified I am at seeing your response and receiving your letters. Your reaction has proven that the words of the song are true, that there are still people who fight for Good, who help those in need, who search for Beauty and accept nothing less. You are all Knights of the Round in my eyes. Once upon a Time will live again.

With my whole heart, until next Time,

EA