Lara Herscovitch: random thoughts

"Pierre, a 25-year-old African penguin, was getting so old that he was losing his feathers. He shivered with cold and refused to go near water. But his handlers at the California Academy of Sciences had a novel solution: a custom-made wet suit. Working with Oceanic Worldwide, a supplier of diving gear, academy scientists made Pierre a close-fitting rubber garment with openings for his flippers, tail, and feet. "I would walk behind him," said iologist Pam Schaller, "and look at where there were any gaps, and cut and refit and cut and refit until it was extremely streamlined." Since wearing the suit, Pierre has gained weight and is again splashing with his fellow penguins." -The Week 5/16/8

"Life is getting up one more time than you've been knocked down."
-John Wayne

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Hi, Hope you're well cared for also! Looking forward to seeing you soon; coming up in MD, CO, IL, VT, CT. Would love your help with the next recording project, will send info on that soon. Best wishes to you and yours in the meantime... cheers, lara

"Do or do not. There is no try." -Yoda

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their
dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt

"a work of love, no matter how small, spreads its own special light
in the world." -Rod MacIver

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Sending warm thoughts your way, hope to see you soon. lara

"Bad week for the Shark Shield, a device designed to keep sharks away from surfboards by emitting electronic waves, after it was reported that in a pre-sales test, one of the devices was eaten by a shark." -The Week, 3/14/08

"Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go." -William Feather

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Ah, yes... thank you for keeping me hanging in there, for keeping my
teeth sharp (?) - uh, in a vegetarian sort of way... and also for the great dog name ideas* - I did pick three (from Cindy J, Michael B, and almost Karl K - sorry Rocket, if it's any consolation you were a very close finalist). Hope to see you soon. Coming up in VT, NY, NH, NJ, MD, PA, and IL. cheeeeers to spring - lara

"The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure." -Joseph Campbell

"The hero's will is not that of his ancestors nor of his society, but his own. This will to be oneself is heroism. Life is a desperate struggle to be in fact that which we are in design." -Jose Ortega Y. Gasset

"Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." -Susan Ertz

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Hi, Hope you're doing well. I'm writing a song (thanks to the AS220 audience who pick the theme for one round of songs in the coming month's show, about a (male) dog... and am seeking name suggestions. The name isn't currently in a rhyming spot (no pun intended), so no specific needs for number of syllables / certain vowels. Thanks!

This edition's tour reaches CT, RI, NJ, TN and FL (in March, a good excuse to visit if you don't already live there...) - with NH, VT, Long Island NY and PA coming up soon. Hope to see you along the way! cheers, lara

"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" -Mark Twain

"There are two kinds of travel: first class and with children." -Julian Barnes

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New beginnings, re-beginnings, ready set go; whether it's the
numerologists or the Chinese or the simply optimistic - all signs seem to point to a great year. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2008... hope to see you soon! cheers, lara

A great Cherokee chieftain tells his young grandson of an epic battle that wages within the hearts & minds of all people. "My son, the
battle is between the two 'wolves' inside us all. One is called Evil.
It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self
pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority
and ego. The other is known as Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope,
serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity,
truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about this for a
minute, then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee chieftain replied simply, "The one you feed." (source
unknown)

"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." -Oscar Wilde

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Hi, That says it all for me this time - hope you're enjoying early
December and holidays... wishing you snow, or sun/sand, whichever you prefer! Hope to see you soon. Sorry for the late notice on Greenwich this Thurs, it was just added. cheers, lara

Two Top 20 Finalist / Winner slots (Sylvia's Eyes and Just Not Here, both from "Juror Number 13)

"Learn to listen as things speak for themselves." -Basho

"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a
journey that no one can take for us or spare us." -Marcel Proust

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Hi, Hope all is well with you. Sending many thanks to Richard Cuccaro and www.AcousticLive.com, for the fun interview process and thoughtful
feature article in this month's issue (downloadable online until the
end of November). It's an honor for me to be featured in the tri-state's (and beyond) acoustic music magazine staple.

Thank you for your support; hope to see you soon (note: all events
listed online are open to the public unless otherwise noted; generally private shows aren't listed here). cheers, lara

"The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn." -David Russell

"Diplomacy is letting someone else have your way." -Lester B. Pearson

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Hi, I'm happy to report that "Blah Blah Blah (a love song)" from my latest CD, Juror Number 13, was signed for a Tele2 cell phone campaign across Europe (not the UK at this point) - if you find yourself on that side of the pond in the coming months, keep an ear out - tv / radio / ringtones / film trailer... It started airing in Croatia in June (all in English), not sure of the exact country-by-country schedule but I'm excited about it blah blah blah...

"Man is born to live, not to prepare for life." -Boris Pasternak

"Life is something to do when you can't sleep." -Fran Lebowitz

"The amount of sleep required by the average person is about five minutes more." -Max Kauffmann
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Proud to announce I'm the www.FolkAlley.com Open Mic Artist of the Month ("the place for unsigned, undiscovered or otherwise under-exposed artists to take Folk Alley's online corner stage") - Folk Alley is a fantastic, listener-supported web-family with a mission to bring folk music to the world via the Internet, reaching across the miles and the generations to provide global exposure for an art form with long-standing tradition and a loyal fan community.

Their 24-hour/day live stream, and website, is produced by National Public Radio affiliate WKSU-FM out of Kent State U. in Ohio. Special thanks to Jim Blum and Linda Fahey.

"What we play is life." Louis Armstrong

"It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably
every day for lack of what is found there." -from Asphodel, that Greeny Flower

"Let the beauty we love be what we do." -Rumi

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Hi, Thanks to so many for the great cover song ideas... instead of narrowing down the list of 175, now it's up to about 254 - going to be a long album I guess. Thank you also for your support in general, it means more than you know. Hope you're well, and hope to see you soon. cheers - lara

ps For those of you attending the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference - I am honored to have been selected for a TriCentric
Showcase (Sat 9:45 Marquis Lounge). Looking forward to seeing you there! nerfa.org

"Dog in purse gazes longingly at dog in yard." -The Onion headline, July 07

"In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these." -Paul Harvey
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Wishing you a fun/ relaxing/ healthy/ happy/ warm/unless you don't like the warm in which case cool/ traffic-free/ friend-filled/ chocolatey/ unless you don't like chocolate in which
case vanillaey/ unless you don't like either in which case
pistachioey/ otherwise- pleasant holiday weekend...

"Don't believe everything you think." -Maxine

"There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't." -Robert Benchley
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Hope you're enjoying the summer. Short (5'2"*) and sweet (sometimes): THANK YOU for all the great, funny, smart, insightful, poetic, cynical, hopeful and beautiful CT song ideas. The seeds are
planted and germinating; I have nothing whatsoever to show for it so far, but will at some point. To be continued...
*and 3/4, but who's counting.

"Learn from others' mistakes. We don't have the time to make them all ourselves." -Eleanor Roosevelt

"What experience and history teach is that people and governments have never learned anything from history." -G.W.F. Hegel

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Hi, I'm recently back from Texas (ok, Howdy)... between the fantastic song circles at the Kerrville Folk Festival and local radio, I heard many many many many - and many more - love songs pining for, about, or otherwise dedicated to the Lone Star State.

Being of a generally competitive nature, I immediately thought about
how few love songs I've heard for the great (little) Constitution State (= Connecticut). So, tell me, if you would... what is it that
you love/d about Connecticut? You qualify to participate if you have: lived, shopped, hiked, worked, swam, gotten bitten by a mosquito, flown through, thought about, or not-really-thought-about-until-now,
Connecticut.

And for those of you wondering, yes, I'm serious and no, nothing is too weird. Well maybe some things. But give it a shot anyway and see if it makes it into the song. You (individually and collectively, you know who you are) are funny and smart and creative, I love the things you come up with so go ahead... surprise me!

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook." -William James
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My computer just unsolicitedly (yes I know that's not a word) alerted
me that there is a "severe weather warning" for where I live tonight... upon further clickage, it turns out the urgent matter is that there might be frost and "sensitive plants should be brought
indoors." Glad all our problems are not all as serious as others these days... (but if plants could type they might seem so - no offense to the horticulturalists reading this). Note: the Opus Theater in unexpectedly closed, so no 5/11 NJ show. peace to the plants and their people - lara

"Noting that the number of billionaires is up nearly 20 percent over last year, Forbes declared this 'the richest year ever in human history.'... while the net worth of the world's 4 billion poorest
souls actually dropped, to less than $35 dollars each." -The Week, 3/30/7

"The [Bhutanese] Government places a premium on cultural and environmental preservation through the governing concept of Gross
National Happiness. Instead of considering the impact of legislation on the economy, the king considers the impact on the culture and
environment. The result of this seemingly impossible fairyland approach to government are real-world policies, like the minimization
of timber extraction to save the forests for future generations." -Kate Siber, Plenty Magazine, Feb/Mar 07

"More is not always better." -Cynthia Copeland Lewis, in "Really important stuff my kids have taught me"

The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face. - SNL's Deep Thoughts With Jack Handey

"...residents of an Arizona suburb reported finding small white rats emerging from their toilet bowls. The neighborhood shares a sewer
system with the Univerity of Arizona, which uses white rats for research but denies having lost any." -The Week 1/26/7

"If you can keep your head when all about are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation." -Jean Kerr

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Hi, (insert comment of choice, e.g., speaking of DC..., then deftly
changing the subject). I'm happy to report that the special Acoustic Cafe show just got special-er, with guests Chuck E. Costa and Meg Braun who will be playing some of their own music, plus our own Michael Benson on percussion (some of you voted for me solo, some band, so I compromised, flipped a coin and invited 1/2 the band... hopefully the right half! Apologies to s/he who voted to hear me with the Highland Bagpipes - maybe next time).

"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd." -Voltaire

"Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it." -Robert Heilein

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Happy winterspringwinterspringwinter, hope you and yours are well. The Memphis / New Orleans / Pensacola trip was
fantastic (including a moment for posterity (or...?) at Graceland - it
and its 5 (or was it 50?) gift shops are now TCB, emphasis on the B).

Shows coming up in NYC / NH / CT and VA, click on the "Calendar" link for details.

Thanks to Rambles and Nicky Rossiter for the recent Juror Number 13 CD review ("an accomplished album... will infect all but the coldest
of listeners... I am slightly saddened as I review an album of such a high calibre while realizing she depends on a fickle industry to bring
these songs to a wide public...").

So if I can't rely on the industry to do it, I can ask and THANK you
for doing it - for spreading the word, coming to shows, buying CDs for yourself and as gifts (Happy Easter / Birthday / Graduation / St. Patrick's Day - belated, Christmas / Chanukah - early...)...

Lara is one of Radio Crystal Blue's "Best of 2006" artists (radiocrystalblue.com), and earned a Finalist award in the 2007 Plowshares Singer-Songwriter Contest.