The Longest Blog
November 18, 2010
However, I'm fairly certain every single person in the universe could start their blog that way...
Well, those that feel the necessity to have a personl blog, a blog that talks about what they are up
to and their life's journey, and not the blogs which pertain to fashion updates or
celebrity crucifying or Fox News or non-profits hoping for another donation...
So, I'm actually starting today's entry with a sweeping generalization that everyone, meaning anyone, who has a personal blog
has had a year similar to mine in ups and downs, wrong turns down one way streets, death, music, happiness, confusion,
parenting, pets, flooding, sunshine, travel, wet socks when stepping out of a car during a downpour, excitement over
a phone call from a friend, angry phone calls from a person within the family, loss of a guitar, laughter over wine,
moving pictures (still photos that make my heart burst with love, and those you sit in the dark to see and create a reaction,
mostly due to the soundtrack, but, on occassion, due to excellent writing, acting and/or editing. Ok, maybe a great director
in the mix, too.)
I haven't written a lengthy journal entry here in a while.
But it's been on my mind.
On my mind A LOT.
Basically, life has been writing for me, and it has taken all my wherewithall to just keep my balance in the eye of the storm.
Not to say storms are bad. I rather like storms. Which is probably why I'm still standing. Drenched, perhaps,
but, for the most part, still learning that we have tools for emotional downpours---shelters, umbrellas,
treehouses, cars, ponchos, rubbers, therapists, friends, family, God, weatherpeople (I'd like to thank them for
warning us in advance of impending doom.)
Am I speaking metaphorically or realistically? Both. I think since it's my blog, and my jibber jabber,
I'll just roll with what is flowing, and share all the stuff in my head, heart and eyeballs. You can
read it all, or skip through, or go away. I won't really know what you've done, if you've even been here
(unless you leave me a note or email me or call me and say, "YOUR WORDS HERE AS TO WHAT YOU WOULD
SAY TO ME AFTER YOU READ EVERYTHING BECAUSE I CAN'T SPEAK FOR YOU." (You wouldn't call me
and say those exact words, although, knowing some of you, perhaps you might, and then I will DEFINATELY
know that you read up to, at least, this segment.) See, I don't have a tracker. I'm not spying on you, keeping
tallies on visitors, gathering info for future e-blasts. This is just an open journal to the world saying,
"Here I am. I have stuff to say." That's really all it is. That's really what we are, people walking around,
wanting to share what we are thinking and feeling, and now we have podcasts and blogs and FB and
we are blah-blahing with spray paint on walls and leaving it post it notes on computer screens...we
are all vying for attention in our own ways and....well, it's a noisy world.
1) Moonlight is a feral cat that lives on our front porch and will not allow herself/himself to be touched.
Even though we sit crosslegged and still, placing food and water, morning and night, out for this
mangled, chocolate coated, teen-i-cy cat (it has to be about 4 pounds, full grown.) It is a dark Siamese with
a General Patton holler, " MEEEEEEEEEEE-ROOOOW!" Yes, the "r" is intentional. It will meow until the
bowls are full, then semi-circle around you as if you are holding a machete behind your back, so, eventually,
you stand up and watch from behind the glass window in the front door. I'm sad
I shall never get to pet this cat, or hold it in my arms, and whisper, "It's ok General Patton Moonlight, sir!"
We will never be able to let it know we love it. It's blind in one eye, and deaf in both ears
(hence the loudest meow you will ever, EVER hear.) It wants to be heard. We hear it, we love it, and
we are not going to abandon her/him/it.
2) School. Two kids in school, two different schools, two different school philosophies, both very, very good schools
in that they are both eager to TEACH and create a solid, enthusiastic environment for children to thrive. Yes,
that's a blessing, and believe me, we are grateful.
School, for those who are parents, know what could be said here:
it's an amazing place to meet and befriend other parents, an instant way to create playdates between children;
we can meet at the park, help with carnival, check on homework, mentor students who may not get extra help at home,
pack lunches, drop off, pick up, help with other kids when their parents are (pick one/think of more): stuck in traffic,
running late from the office, plane didn't arrive, they just need time to cry, exhausted and could they please send their kids
home with yours/or you yourself ask if your kids can go to their home for a while?
Those of you without kids can skip to three. Hmm..perhaps I could have put that as the first sentence, right behind the 2),
but then you wouldn't have gotten to read about what all the parents know. So, I guess I actually typed this segment just for you
without children to say that a huge part of parenting is the Monday - Friday lifetime of 6:30 am-4:00 pm (plus after school extra curriculars)
until your babies reach 18, an unselfish gift we give our children (if we have our heads screwed on right), and even on the days when
6:45 a.m. just seems too early, you get up, anyway. And, if you are blessed, you have a partner who gets up and helps
get everything ready---breakfast, answering last minute questions ("Where are my SHOES!?" because
no one seems to know except a parent), packing those aforementioned lunches, sending one child out the
door to walk to school, one out to the car to be driven to school, and then cleaning the kitchen, the
table, spreading beds, figuring out which school papers . Over and over and over and then Saturday comes, and there is soccer or choir or theatre
or band practice or all of it or none of it...maybe a family trip to Enchanted Rock where one child goes in
and makes it through the 1/2 mile pitch black cave on her own while you are trying not to become completely
frantic in the thought they have been swallowed up by the slime and pitfalls and cave snakes and bat guano
and find them, scraped and bruised, on the far side, standing, blurry eyed in the bright sunshine, and you hug them
tight and in disbelief, stare at them, and ask, "How did you do that? Why didn't you wait for us?" And they just
stare at you and say, "I couldn't hear anything but all these echoing voices, bouncing off walls, and I couldn't hear
yours, and I figured if I just kept going forward, I'd reach the end and be able to get out, but if I sat and waited,
maybe no one would come..." And you want to weep and then you realize how much LOVE can make you almost
physically EXPLODE into a thousand million spoons full of gratitude that this person you love had the authority of
mind to take care of herself and not freak out, but somehow had the guts, the courage, to keep going, using only
her hands to guide herself through this narrow, strange universe of unknown goo and sheer blindness.
posted by Sara Hickman at 05:47 am
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“Looking Up At The Bottom Line: The Struggle for The Living Wage!” by Richard R. Troxell
November 05, 2010
Please attend the event, learn more about what it means to be homeless,
and support this new book by coming out for this book launch by my dear
friend, Richard Troxell!
"Looking Up At The Bottom Line: The Struggle for The Living Wage!"
by Richard R. Troxell
When: Saturday, November 20
Time: 2-4 PM
Where: First United Methodist Church
1201 Lavaca St.
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512 478-5684
Media Contact: Melissa Weiner .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), 505-920-4006
Book Description: Looking Up At The Bottom Line by Richard R. Troxell is an intense personal,
political, and educational guide through the last 30 years of homelessness in America, a journey
which presents Troxell's workable solution to economic homelessness in America: the Universal Living Wage.
Author bio:
Richard R. Troxell has been striving to end homelessness since he first witnessed it as a self made
mortgage foreclosure preventionist in Philadelphia in the 1980s.
Today, Richard Troxell works with people with disabilities and homeless citizens of Austin, TX.,
as the founder and director of Legal Aid for the Homeless. He is also President and Founder of
House the Homeless, Inc. (nonprofit-501c3), which he established in 1989. HtH is comprised
of homeless and formerly homeless citizens struggling to protect their civil rights and find solutions
that will end homelessness in their lifetime. He is the creator of the economic solution to homelessness:
The Universal Living Wage. He serves on the board of the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Richard Troxell earned a B.A. in sociology with honors from St. Edward’s University.
Recognition from:
The Pennsylvania Senate, The Philadelphia Bar Association, The U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, La Salle University, The late Texas Governor Ann Richards, The United Nations
Honors and awards include:
Honored by the Texas Civil Rights Commission, National Jefferson Service Award,
The Five Who Care Award, The JC Penny Golden Rule Award,
The TX Homeless Network Outstanding Community Service Award
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:05 am
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REVIEW OF “BIG BIRD, LITTLE BIRD” DVD from NAPPA, which will appear on their site b/c it won GOLD!!
November 03, 2010
Using a remarkable talent that is normally marketed to older listeners, Texas State Musician
Sara Hickman has produced a video album for children that will strike a range of chords in
everyone listening to her resonant voice. The songs are about love, family and bonding,
which she sings from the heart. Each is brought to life visually with delightful graphics unique
to each track; the colorful images are set into gentle motion to capture and develop young
attention spans. From a cappella renditions to acoustic and string accompaniment, everything
in this set is pitch-perfect. The tender lyrics – both uncomplicated and easy to sing-along with – hint
at the challenges ahead for budding personalities who will continue to turn to these songs as they grow.
It is hard to say who will enjoy this more: parents, grandparents or kids. In a separate track, Sara gives
unusual parenting tips in a chatty, nature-mom, artist-next-door style that are helpful and not at
all academic. Important note: this album was recorded at a higher-than-usual volume so turn
down the volume dial before playing.
Thank you, NAPPA! Thank you so much. I hope many families will enjoy and grow with the animated shorts
(created by Shiny Object/me) and parenting tips (Xlantic/Federico Haro shot this footage) that we've created
for you all to enjoy.
Blessings! Gratitude! Joy!
posted by Sara Hickman at 08:05 am
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Answers for Austin Children’s Museum on why I am creative :)
October 08, 2010
Saturday, October 23 at 10:00 am for families of wee ones, so come on out, watch the dvd, meet
with Sara and pick up a copy of this fun and soothing DVD for your family!
AUSTIN CHILDRENS MUSEUM: I saw that you wrote and performed at the age of 8, what inspired you
at such a young age?
SARA: I had been taking piano lessons, but the teacher looked like Marge Simpson (without a sense of humor, though)
and I had to sit in a small, windowless concrete room. She was very stern. I told my mom I wasn't too keen on
the teacher (or the room), so she took me to a music store, and there, I saw guitars. I knew the minute I saw
the guitars that one of them was going to be my best friend, so we bought a guitar (which I still have) and
that was it! Every day after school, I'd run home up to my bedroom, and sit with a little tape recorder and
make up songs, commercials, skits. It was so much fun to use my imagination in this way. I would have to say
that I was inspired by several people---my paternal grandparents, both great jazz musicians and their stories
of travel and fun; by John Denver, who, at that time in my life, was beloved around the world and wrote songs
EVERYONE could sing to, and lastly, by the great Carol Burnett and George Burns. I wanted to be like all of those
people because I thought they touched lives, made people laugh and think and feel, and it seemed very natural,
to me, to follow in their footsteps.
ACM: Where are your favorite places to take your children in Austin to have
fun and inspire creativity?
SARA: Starting from inside our home, which is a giant den of never-ending ideas/spontaneity/
art and music supplies, we expand out into nature. For example, my youngest daughter, iolana,
and I went around the neighborhood and found giant sticks, drug them home, and spray painted
them an array of colors. Then, with twine, we built a giant stick sculpture, using other natural items
(rocks and moss balls) that hung from within the sculpture. It was a ton of fun. We also like to go
to the Blanton, or to Ft. Worth to the museums, and walk and talk about what we are seeing.
Having gotten an art degree, and having two parents that were visual artists (my dad, a painter;
my mom, a fiber artist/weaver), I enjoy it immensely that I can shre the art history knowledge
I have attained from my upbringing and schooling. We also enjoy documentaries about art and music.
Our latest favorite was "Exit Through The Gift Shop", which has inspired my girls to learn how to stencil
and create powerful images for us to leave around town. We're also adding some of these stencils
to the exterior of my van, so I can make it into an art car.
When the girls were younger, we were constantly at the Austin Children's Museum. We loved the different
activities, the kitchen area, hanging upside down like bats, watching the train upstairs, seeing the current
exhibit, and the hands on creativity area upside down. We would meet there with our mom's group, or go
on our own, just to explore, learn and have family fun. Oh! And the tree slide....wow! We LOVED that slide!
Other places in Austin that inspire us are Momoko, Women In Their Art, Zachary Scott Theatre, Hyde Park
Theatre, riding the Zilker Zephyr, going to Austin City Limits Festival, hanging out with the vast variety of
photographers, artists and musicians we know.
ACM: What is your favorite song to perform? Why?
SARA: Hmm. That's a tough one because I do so many different styles of music. I guess depending on the genre,
I'd say "A Nightengale Sang in Berkley Square" for jazz; "Size Six Dress" for rock; in the folk category,"Joy", a song
about a homeless woman I befriended and created a short film about; and for pop, I love to sing "Give It Every Little
Thing You've Got". As far as my children's music, right now I'm very excited about my new animate DVD, "Big Bird, Little Bird",
and my favorite song to sing on there is either "It's Alright" or "Family Tree". They are both very, very soothing and take me
to a higher plane of love every time.
ACM: What is your favorite part of your new DVD?
SARA: I have to say, I was REALLY excited I drew out the frames for "Big Bird, Little Bird" and then Shiny Object
used their magical skills to animate it. That was a dream come true for me! I think my favorite animated short,
though, would have to be "Goops in It". It's just funny and has a definative 50's sort of styling I really like.
Overall, though, the entire process and the outcome of the DVD is beautiful and touching, and it was a blast to
work with Shiny Object (Austin based animation group) and Xlantic (they shot the parenting tips segment of the DVD).
I'm really happy it EXISTS and I can share it with the world. I have to thank Alan Luecke for supporting my dream and
making the DVD real. It wouldn't be here without his amazing ability to see the big picture and jump on board to
help underwrite it, so a big round of applause here for his generousity!
ACM: Congratulations on being named the Texas State Musician for 2010-2011.
What are the responsibilities and perks of this Honor? What was your
reaction when you found out?
SARA: Thank you! When I found out, I started laughing! I couldn't believe it, and I was elated.
The perks were breakfast with the other winners (the poet laureate, the 2D and 3D artists), and getting up on the dais
in front of the legislators, the ringing of a bell, the proclamation that we were the Official State artists, we are mentioned
in history books, and a nice document to hang in our office.
There aren't any responsibilities, but I created some for myself, anyway! After asking permission, I was given the green
light to do whatever I wanted, so I decided to focus my year on bringing creativity to families. I'm doing that in two ways----
first, through Family Time Rocks!, a band that consists of myself and two friends, Jason Molin and Gray Parsons, and we
go to schools, festivals and libraries, and perform for families and promote interaction. I've produced a cd that will be
coming out in November this year that is a FREE FREE FREE download at http://www.familytimerocks.com of songs, poems
and ideas from people of different cultures/ethnicities speaking in their native tongues about creative things they
like to do in their families. Very fun, and very FREE!!!!
Secondly, I have put together a compilation cd of my songs covered by other Texas musicians to benefit
Theatre Action Project, which goes into schools to deliver art, music and theatre. Musicians on the recording include
Willie Nelson, The Flatlanders, Marcia Ball, Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians, Matt the Electrician, Shawn Colvin, etc,
and this will come out in Feb. 2011 with a big soiree at the Paramount Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 5.
So, it's an exciting year, I've worked very hard on a variety of projects to try and bring joy and music to families far and wide.
posted by Sara Hickman at 07:26 am
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A letter to me from Michael Hicks
Regardless of opinions on the death penalty in Huntsville (no explanation needed), now
the legislature wants to give an economic death sentence to thousands of HIV carriers by
denying them the medications that keep them alive. They've not committed any crime,
they've been taxpayers and Texas citizens, yet they've been denied the help by many who
they elected. They have been told that their own lives have become too much of a financial
burden, yet the state freely funds much larger frivolous programs and projects, while also
lining the pockets of lobbyists and themselves.
I'm not an HIV victim, but a stroke survivor in a wheelchair (we met a few years back at
Poor David's Pub. I was there as a guest of Holly Barry). I nearly died at 38 and survived
on the floor for 2 1/2 days until I was found. So many have been supportive and I scrape
by on disability and live alone, by choice. I tend to be thankful for what I do have instead
of focusing on what I don't. Most importantly, I'm allowed to live. By comparison, the thought
of these HIV victims who will be forced to count away their days until they wither away makes
me physically ill. To deny them the very thing which keeps them alive is creating another
Holocaust, right here among us.
No one would willingly allow their own parent, spouse, or child to die due to something that
could be treated or cured. Yet these officials are deciding that these lives are expendable.
They don't want to pay for something that would be like the oxygen we all breathe every day.
And these souls are someone's parent, spouse or child. Just reading this newspaper article
I sent to you was enough to bring out tears of pain, strength of compassion, and the knowledge
that we have to keep marching on for what is right. Right or wrong isn't always clearly labeled,
as so many voters blindly seem to believe, but it's about making choices that can benefit us all,
not just a few who seem to feel "privileged".
I'm not an activist, just another human surviving life, and appreciating my second chance
to do so. I used to be an entertainer and the smiles I brought were my greatest reward,
as well as my greatest gift I could share. Now I enjoy writing on occasion, as it allows me
to share the smiles, but also every other emotion that we all can feel. I may only have one
usable arm and leg, but my heart grows stronger with each day. Living by example is a gift
that so many simply forget that they have, yet for me it's a simple mission to give the world
hope and faith -- by showing that it comes from within.
Thanks for allowing me to vent and ramble.
-Michael
Budget cuts imperil Texas HIV drug program | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Late
http://www.dallasnews.com
The Dallas Morning News Latest News page contains stories about the Dallas-Fort Worth area
and stories of broad interest to Texans.
posted by Sara Hickman at 06:46 am
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