Janet's Smiles

I hope everyone is enjoying all the great music being featured in the Rocktober Music Fest, both on my little blog and the other people participating.  You are visiting them, aren’t you?  Since today is Sunday, we also have the Song Lyric Sunday group.  I’m not into football and THE ASTROS BEAT THE YANKEES (YAY!) so I can spend the day nicely in my studio listening and crafting.

Last night the hubs and I went to a newish for us venue, the San Jose Civic, and saw REO Speedwagon.  I had seen Steely Dan there many years ago with my girlfriend but Bill had never been.  It is another one of the smaller venues (about 2500 seats) so almost any seat is a good one. 

I tried to find a song they sang that had anything to do with today’s #SLS prompt of Lean/Sit/Stand and the closest I could get was this one:

The video:

Here’s one I got last night, “Take It On The Run:”

We have no other concerts scheduled for this year but it was a good one to end the season with.  Happy Sunday!

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I, who take pictures of almost anything for almost any reason, am seriously bad at taking family photos.  I just spent the day with my two sisters, my mom and my niece and got not one.  I think the last time we have all been together was for my older sister’s funeral 17 years ago!  Well, it is just an excuse for me to visit again, don’t you think?

In other news, there is a competition currently underway for the new Stream of Consciousness Saturday badge and I’m going to enter!  Here is my take on it:

Like a stream of light you know and all the twinkling stars are the miscellaneous thoughts that float through your head.  At least that’s what I was thinking.  It was taken at a Phil Collins concert last year, which leads me to the Rocktober Music Fest entry for today.  (See how I did that?)

Phil Collins has made a lot of music, both with Genesis and on his own.  I recently read his book, “Not Dead Yet” which was also the name of this tour.  It is true he does have health issues and is not able to move around the stage much but he still puts on a great show.

Phil is on the second leg of his tour which he has called, “Still Not Dead Yet” and he was at the new Chase Center in San Francisco last night but we didn’t go.  The reviews say he shows his age but can still carry the show.  It says he hinted at a Genesis reunion which would be interesting too.

Here’s “You’ll Be In My Heart” from when my son and I saw him last year.

My mom doesn’t read my blog or even get on a computer but I hope she knows that even though she is far away from me now, she’ll always be in my heart too!

What do you think of my badge?  Have you seen Phil lately?  Share!

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For the #RMF today I am straying a bit from artists that we have seen in concert and am choosing Van Morrison’s “Moondance” in honor of the Hunter’s Moon that we had last night and my word of the year, which is Dance.

Here are a couple of shots I captured.  There is a 3 day window for the magic of the full moon.  The first shot I got on Saturday night.

This one I was using the “creative effect” on the camera.

I love the orange in this one.  It is what the moon really looked like for a while.

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In this week’s #SLS installment, Jim gives us Drifter/Loner/Transient/Vagabond.  I immediately thought of Rod Stewart and his Vagabond Heart album. 

We’ve seen Rod Stewart a couple of times and he really puts on a great show.  He even kicks signed soccer balls out into the crowd and the hubby almost caught one!  There were a couple of people sitting next to us on the way home who managed to grab one and they let Bill hold them so I could take a picture.

 
His autobiography is very interesting.  He spent a lot of time fixing his hair – LOL.  Just recently he announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in February 2016.  As of right now he is okay after treatment and is encouraging men to get checked. 

The lyrics talk about where the ocean meets the sky and that is one of my favorite places to be too!

Are you a vagabond at heart?  I like to let my mind wander but definitely need a home to come back to.  Happy Sunday all. 

Don’t forget to visit the other Rocktober Music Fest participants too!

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The prompt from Linda for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is the word “Ground.”  I’ve got the perfect link to the #RMF! 

A couple of years ago we saw Nickelback in concert.  They put on a great visual show. 

We went to my mom’s old apartment today and took out the last of the big pieces of furniture.  There are just a few boxes left for me to get out of there.  Ground zero:

This is where the swimming pool used to be.

Here’s Burn It To The Ground:

I don’t want to burn the old apartment to the ground of course.  Glad I have taken some pictures there over the years!  Maybe I’ll put together a scrapbook album for my mom for Christmas.  I know she just got rid of a ton of stuff that she said she didn’t want anymore but she doesn’t have any pictures of the places she has lived and if it is just a small album, maybe she’s enjoy it and it won’t take up too much space.  I’ll have to think about that. 

Happy Saturday all 🙂 

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It’s Day 10 in the Rocktober Music Fest and I’m going to keep it simple after yesterday’s sad post. 

Fleetwood Mac has been around for a long time and anyone who follows them knows that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham have had an ongoing “relationship.”  At first it was as a couple and when that didn’t work it was a “strained” relationship at the very least.  It got so bad that Lindsey is no longer with the group. 

We saw him perform at the Palace of Fine Arts last year.  He is one of my husband’s favorites so we splurged and for the first time got VIP seats.  No “Meet and Greet” but some other cool swag:

They wouldn’t let us take pictures and I almost got in trouble with one of the ushers but I managed to sneak this one.

Shortly after we saw him he had to have emergency heart surgery.  They said that he may not be able to sing again.  I saw online that he recently performed at his daughter’s high school graduation.  Bet that was an emotional experience for both of them.  The clip only shows him playing the guitar.

I’m sending you some “Big Love” by way of Mr. Buckingham from 2013. 

Have a marvelous Thursday. 
 
   

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We heard the other day about the sudden passing of one of the guys who golfs in the tournament with my husband every September.  That means we just saw him last month.  He was perfectly fine.  He has even won the tournament a few times, although not this time. 

Apparently last Wednesday there was a freak accident and he fell.  Emergency surgery was done but he was paralyzed from the neck down.  He was able to shrug his shoulders and perhaps move a finger.  He developed pneumonia and said he felt like he was drowning.  The doctors told him that would happen a lot since he would not be able to exercise to clear his lungs.  He didn’t want to live like that.  His wife didn’t want to let him go.  On Sunday he died.  Four days and gone.  I cannot imagine. 

Makes you wonder.  Here I was moving my 96-year-old mother 100 miles away from me to start a “new life” at the same time as this 60-ish-year-old man lost his.  We truly have no control. 

So, for today’s #RMF I’ve chosen Bon Jovi’s “Live Before You Die.” 

Hug your family and friends.  Tell them you love them.  Live life without regrets.  Smile a lot.  Be kind.  You never know.   

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You may (or may not) have noticed I skipped a couple of days in the Rocktober Music Fest.  I was helping my mom move from her apartment to a new home with my younger sister.  It was kind of an emotional experience because mom has lived in this apartment for 37 years, longer than she lived in any of her other homes.  Longer than she and my dad lived the house in which I grew up.  Her apartment was five minutes from us.  She is going to be an hour and a half away now.  I know I won’t see her as often as I am used to.  She won’t be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with us every year.

I know that it is time for her to be with someone on a more full time basis as she has had some medical issues in the last couple of years that make living on her own not a great idea.  I am grateful that my sister has room for her in her new house.  I should be relieved because now the emergency room visits, trips to the library and grocery shopping will be someone else’s responsibility.

Locking the door of #8 one last time.

Putting on a smile.

Still, I am thankful for the last few months since mom has needed me to take her places and do things for her.  It made me happy to think that I could try to repay her in some small way for all of the things she did for me and my family.  She watched all three of our children when they were babies and took them to school when they got older.  She lent us her car or, more specifically she drove me to work every day, when we were a one car family.  She let us come and swim in the pool at the apartment complex during the summer and even let us use her shower when our bathroom was being remodeled.

Neal Schon does one of the best versions of the Star Spangled Banner I’ve ever heard.

Neal Schon

Arnel Pineda

Ross Valory

Jonathan Cain

Steve Smith

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I wasn’t so sure about this one because while I like Genesis (the band Peter Gabriel was with) and The Police (the band Sting was with) and there are a few of their individual songs that I like, I didn’t know what a concert with just the two of them would be like. 

To top it off, when I was reading about the tour, it said that Peter would be singing some of Sting’s songs and vice versa.

                                                                                                                                                  You know how it is when you are used to a song a certain way and when someone else sings it, it’s not quite right?   

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Today happens to be World Smile Day.  I found out about the special day last year after the fact.  I was determined not to let it get by me this year because, after all, my blog is called Janet’s Smiles and my business is A Smile 4U from Janet! 

I wondered how I was going to incorporate this with Rocktober so I started looking through my music videos and came upon this one:  Your Smiling Face by James Taylor.  We saw him in 2017 with Bonnie Raitt in San Francisco at AT&T (now Oracle) Park.

Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt and James Taylor

This one makes me laugh.

So, the premise of World Smile Day is exactly what I try to do every day.  Make at least one person smile.  It actually began in 1963 with Harvey Ball, a commercial artist who designed the first “smiley face.”  His goal was to dedicate one day a year to smiling and performing acts of kindness.

The celebration of the day started in 1999 on the first Friday in October.  No matter what bad things are happening in the world, today is a day to share some compassion, to help lessen the stress and brighten someone’s day.  Try it and see what happens.  It won’t hurt, I promise.   🙂

Here’s a bit of James Taylor singing “Your Smiling Face” from the concert:

Pass those smiles out freely today.  See how many times you can make someone smile back at you and let me know!  Here’s mine. 

Did it work?  Click the link to go to Mary’s site and see what she and the other #RMF rockers are talking about today!

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