Ukuleles Can Change The World

Jammin' with Los Horribles at the Mud Puddle in Niles.

Today as I reflect on the senseless tragedies in Paris and all over and mourn for the lives lost, I find myself grateful for the opportunities to surround myself with beautiful music and scenery emulating with peace and love. Being so distraught after watching the horrific events unfold in Paris, the only logical thing to do was to drive to the mud puddle in Niles with my ukulele to play music with my friends and share the joy of being surrounded and enveloped by one of the best mud puddle jams ever. 

Me and Margaret with Michael McNevin

Michael plays an original...my good friend Janet plays the mandolin.

I stumbled upon the Mud Puddle in 2012 when I lived in Union City for two years, sharing a house on a hill overlooking Niles with my son and his little family. It’s technically part of Fremont, but driving or walking into Niles, you feel like you’ve gone into a time warp with the old, historic buildings and theatre which still stands. Charlie Chaplain and Bronco Billy’s silent movies filed in and around Niles before they moved to Hollywood.

Michael McNevin owns a tiny remnant of the past, a small 300 square foot space which at one time was a barber shop and perhaps a pharmacy for a while. Now it’s a place where people gather to play music together, lovingly called “Los Horribles.” Also, musicians have performed concerts in this tiny space – but somehow even those concerts morph into jams. I never go in there without my ukulele and have spent the last three new year’s eve celebrations there opting for a place where I can play and share music instead of just listening.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Then yesterday after reading a blurb in the Santa Cruz uke news I drive to the beautiful pigeon point lighthouse to meet the dharma strummers and perform with them at the 143rd anniversary of the lighthouse!! So beautiful there...breathtaking. Large waves crashing against the shore and the majestic lighthouse overseeing it all. Tallest lighthouse in the west coast! It was a clear sunny cool day. 

This fellow who helps take care of the lighthouse sang a lovely sea chantey for us.

There I am with the Dharma Strummers who welcomed me!

The Sona Dharma Strummers welcomed me and I felt like I was part of their Gang immediately as we strummed and sang songs they specifically chose...that's how it is in the Ukulele world. You simply show up and you're part of the group. If only the whole world could be like that!!

After we played a wonderful group whom I knew from the SF folk music group played Celtic music and sea chanteys!! Perfect music for where we were! I'm so glad I hung out to hear them and enjoy the ambiance of being there. Kids were able to make lighthouses in arts and crafts and free hot drinks for all. It's also free to go to the lighthouse but it's in need of repair so you can't go in. 

Dave (on the left) is a friend of mine and this wonderful group played Celtic music and sea chanteys after the uke players. Perfect music for this scenario!

But there are free tours around the lighthouse and a panoramic view of the ocean behind it where a bunch of us watched the sunset and I happened to be standing next to a young man who proposed to his girlfriend. 

Wow! I don't even know their names...

It was incredibly moving, touching and beautiful! There is still hope for the future because there are still so many beautiful in the world.

Who knew there would also be an amazing slide show at dark filmed on the actual lighthouse lighting it up! Never seen anything like it in my life!! Lots of people there for this...I was so amazed and excited to see that!! Yes they're raising funds to help restore the lighthouse but a worthy cause and they're not pushy... 

And the entire history of the lighthouse unfolded in the dark. Right after it was over the stars peeked out...yes there is hope for the future.

On Sunday, I played ukulele at the Red Victorian on Haight Street in San Francisco with my San Francisco Ukulele Rebellion friends. The Red Victorian was built in 1903 and survived the San Francisco earthquake.  Dean, our organizer, was able to rent the space for us – and what an amazing space it is with old hardwood floors and colorful Halloween-ish décor. I walked by the Red Vic so many times as a kid – it’s been Red Victorian since the 1940’s, a hostel where people could rent rooms really cheap – still to this day not too expensive. People actually live at the hotel, and the guests enjoyed our ukulele playing.  We’ve played in various locations all over San Francisco, and have gotten nothing but positive feedback from everyone. Several new members joined us, some a little shy sitting on the outskirts.

“Come join us!” the regulars say, clearing a space right next to them so they can share the Daily Ukulele songbooks with us and play.

“Oh but I’m just a beginner,” one slender older woman with a ukulele said shyly.

“That’s okay, you’ll catch on!” I smiled at the woman and she joined us in our circle. Surrounded by my close friends and the newcomers, we strummed our ukuleles and sang our hearts out, and all was well with the world as it should be.

My Interview with Tom Hallock of Beacon Press

How fortunate I was to speak with Tom Hallock who is the Sales & Marketing Director as well as Publisher at Beacon Press. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about our phone interview before it occurred. I'm usually on the other end of interview process -- although it's been a few years for that too because I've been at my current job for almost 10 years now.  the Publishing world seems to ominous and scary, but I immediately felt at east talking to Tom Hallock. 

On June 27, 2011, “Self Awareness” posted this image of the day.
Beacon Press associate publisher Tom Hallock about to deliver via bicycle a few more copies Nancy Gertner's memoir, In Defense of Women, to Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, Mass. The moral of this revolutionary ride, as the press put it: "Beacon Press will go the extra mile for indie bookstores... on a bike!"

Since Beacon Press was founded in 1854, it has continued up uphold its reputation for publishing books that accentuate people from various ethnic and economic backgrounds. In today’s world, an acceptance and understanding of various cultures and fundamental issues is needed more than ever. I find myself concerned about the lack of empathy and understanding that currently exists and respect the staff and authors of Beacon Press for continuing to uphold the urgency for books that evoke peace, love and understanding and empathy for others no matter who they are or where they come from. As someone who has always been concerned with social issues of the world, Beacon Press is a “beacon of positive and light” in my eyes.  Beacon Press has been involved in the publication of all of Martin Luther King’s work, among many others. It does not get any better than that.

Tom Hallock of Beacon Press is a prime example of this. Although we had never spoken before, I immediately felt comfortable and at ease speaking with him over the phone.  When I initially asked Tom Hallock how he became a publisher who does the sales and marketing, he proclaimed, “I have no idea!” We both chuckled, and I felt even more at ease talking to him. He shared his experiences in publishing and his diversion to travel through China for a couple of years before returning and ultimately ending up at Beacon Press where he's been for the past 19 years.

Since Beacon Press is small, they're able to give their authors a bit more attention than the larger ones, but you still must have a platform. 

Tom Hallock's advice to an emerging writer? 

Have awareness of what's being published -- who's published it?  Go into bookstores and look at how they organize books, what they're displaying, what they look like.

Try to find your place in social media -- as in "Platform" yeah, it's true. We gotta have some semblance of a platform.  Try to find allies, people who like your book, other writers or book sellers or people who would be interested in what you're writing about. 

In intellectual terms, we as writers have a sense of all this, but it's all easier said than done. Writers know they will get lots of rejections, yet there is still that small part inside that feels a little sensitive about rejection.

My takeaway on all this? It's really good to know that publishers and editors and people who work in the publishing industry are human beings just like us. They aren't scary people at all. 

This gives us all as writers hope for the future.