December will be magic
December will be magic again
Don’t miss the brightest star
Kiss under mistletoe
I want to hear you laugh
Don’t let the mystery go now
—Kate Bush
The magic of light
Was December magic? Nature offers us a darkness, a darkness that our culture fiercely rejects. We employ all ways to bring light to the dark. Nature calls us to hunker down in a cave, storing the energy that we’ll need for Spring! Nope. Oh, the foibles of being human. Gary and I hoisted a 10-foot Christmas tree down onto the ground level of our house and adorned it with, wait for it, LIGHT! I hung sparkling strings of stars, given to me by a treasured friend, in our window. Outside, our eaves are a rainbow of bright bulbs with two illuminated 1950’s era singing angels, complete with choir books, standing at the door. As a child, the anticipation of the holiday season and what the television told me it was supposed to look like broke my heart again and again. I imagine this is the case for so many of my friends as well. And, too, this year, I have fallen in love with the light, music and hope they bring. Happy Hanukkah!
The magic of 2024
2024 was full of excellent moments and for me, these are some of them.
For my blind and low-vision friends here’s a description of the video.
The video begins as Susannah sings “The Man with The Bag.” She wears a sparkling red sequin pantsuit and peeks through lush and long vines of a bright red, blooming fuchsia plant, one hand splayed above her, and one hand on her hip. In cursive, text rolls onto the still. It reads: Happy Holidays. What follows is a montage of stills from Susannah’s 2024. First, in a black gown, Susannah is glammed-up on the cover of Northwest’s Artslandia magazine. Next, a poster of her appearing in the play “Nassim” by Nassim Soleimanpour. Next, a poster for a concert titled: The Full Wolf Moon, a sound ceremony with Julia Francis and Jessica Wallenfels. Black and white photos of the three are side by side. Next, Susannah, muscles flexed, is in a silly costume as a made-up motorcycle stunt human, complete with white helmet, bushy black mustache, and velvet red cape. Next, outside, Susannah, lips pursed, her face showing an animated “surprise” face looks at the camera with fellow singer Zach Galatis. Next, Susannah and her husband Gary, a male identifying, white human, stand in front of Gaudi’s stunning cathedral of spires that reach into a blue sky, in Barcelona, Spain. Now, Susannah smiles, hugging dear friend, drag queen, Nana Tuckit. Next, in the musical Amélie, Susannah plays Amendine, mother to the titular character. In this show moment, Amélie appears as a life-sized puppet operated by Noah LaPook. Amandine teaches her daughter. Next, Susannah is onstage at the Alberta Rose theater performing on the Live Circle Round Podcast. The next photo is text on screen. It reads: The Interfaith Portland Gospel Choir; Our mission is to employ gospel music to express the power of spirit and bring a message of faith, hope, love and joy to our community, the country, and the world. Now Susannah is in front of a large screen at the LEAD conference in Seattle smiling with her Audio Description Training Retreats colleagues. They wear matching ADTR t-shirts. Next, the white-painted Tilikum cable stayed bridge is background for a photo of Susannah standing with her running buddies. They wear knit winter caps and call themselves the Run Club. Now, wearing bright smiles, Susannah, a ski guide, and her athlete on Mount Hood in full downhill clothing including helmets and orange glow vests. Next, Sus and her mentee Aspen stand in front of the step-and-repeat at the ICAN podcast, after their recording at All Classical Portland. Once more, in front of the Circle Round Podcast logo (a cute yellow and gold cartoon lion climbing a ladder and reaching for the moon) Susannah kneels and hugs a young Circle Round Podcast fan. Now, two athletes dive for the ball on a goal ball court at Washington State School for the Blind. Next, four female track and field competitors appear on a jumbotron at the U.S. Olympic trials at Hayward Field. The next photo is of Meredith Kaye Clark and Susannah after running the Bridge to Brew 5K run in Portland. Next, more smiles in the spectator stands at the U.S. Olympic trials in sunny Eugene, Oregon with daughter Kate and her guy Chase. Now, a group photo in Artists Rep’s new lobby space; a large group of artists pose celebrating 35 years of theatre making. The artists are centered around artist Melinda Pittman‘s guitar. Now, singers Susannah and Meredith, heads tilted back, belt out a song in black and gold glittering gowns with Stephanie Lynn Smith at the piano. Next, a photo of Lucille, our beloved red hen, may she rest in peace. Next, Susannah in costume as director of an Alzheimer’s facility for the movie, In Spite of Ourselves. Finally, Susannah’s logo, a colorful collage cut out of her standing on a planet covered with flowers, one arm stretched toward a yellow sun. Her collage self wears a Santa hat on her head, and she holds a Menorah in her other hand. Text within the sun reads: Mars On Life. At top the illustration reads: Susannah Mars; Salt of the Earth; Out of this world, and beneath it reads: Happy Holidays.
The magic of music
I own hundreds, maybe a thousand songs, printed, (as we did back in the day) and placed in notebooks from all the shows I’ve sung since around 1990. Wow. Recently I’ve envied my colleagues who have all their music on a thin little iPad. They lean it onto their piano, and off they go. Any song is immediately at their fingertips. That’s where I’m headed in 2025. Yep. Cataloguing all that music. This blog is going to be my accountability buddy. I figure I can catalog at least 10 songs a week and I’m gonna write a bit about the songs that have some emotional juice for writing. Where I found the song, where I sang it, what it meant, and now means. We’ll see where this lands, but that’s my hope. It feels as though I’m making a date with old friends, once a week.
The magic of words
I will continue to practice Jon Kabat-Zinn’s words every day:
“Practice sharing the fullness of your being, your best self, your enthusiasm, your vitality, your spirit, your trust, your openness, above all, your presence. Share it with yourself, with your family, with the world.”
Lots of love to you and yours. Happy New Year, and drop me a line if you’re so inclined, here.
