Hey everyone! I hope you all are enjoying the spring weather as much as I am. I love this time of year.
Check me out on myspace, just click below or go to www.myspace.com/susanerwin. Add me as a friend!
Oh, and my voice is doing much better. Rest and therapy has worked wonders. I’ll be back to a full time schedule in April.
Best - Susan
Better news and a better day for me - my 2nd opinion on my vocal nodules proved that my problems are not as severe as we thought originally (no surgery or complete vocal rest). I am going to be able to perform 2 nights a week and limit my talking for about 6 weeks while I learn to sing and speak correctly. They stuck this scope down me and video taped my vocal cords as I sang and spoke - the most eye opening experience…. wow! Anyway, I’m doing some weird things when I speak/sing and I am going to a speech therapist to correct my problems. So much better news, thanks for those who called and sent messages of well wishes. See you all next week! Willy D’s is the placed to be for Fat Tuesday!
Susan
So I found out yesterday that I have a nodule on my right vocal chord. I was completely devastated to find out that I have two options. 1) Surgery, with complete vocal rest for 6 to 8 weeks, or 2) Vocal rest for approximatley 6 weeks with speech therapy in hopes that it will go away on its own. Still in shock and anticipation of a second opinion and an evaluation with a speech therapist next week, I am doing my best to zip my lip. My doctor told me I could go light for the next week as I ease out of my singing and other engagements… which means my last performances will be tonight and tomorrow night at Willy D’s. It’s the worst feeling in the world to have what you love ripped out from under you, but I’m gonna do my best to make a positive out of this and focus on writing, learning new songs, improving on piano, guitar, etc. So, if you try to contact me in the next month or so, please know I am restricted to emails, text messages and instant messaging (susanerwin on Yahoo IM) for the time being. Signing out for now…. will keep you posted on the progress.
To all my local Little Rock friends - check out the www.littlerockblog.com site to see the latest on what is going on downtown in the Rivermarket District. Anthony Prado, the creator and webmaster, covers everything from local fashion shows, to the hot spots of the weekend. You may even see your picture out there from attending a local event. 
I want to thank everyone for making my 26th birthday the most enjoyable in a very long time. I am so thankful to have such thoughtful friends and family around me. I want to also wish everyone a very happy holiday season! If you are looking for somewhere to bring in the New Year, come join me at Willy D’s! We are offering an optional 4 course meal with champagne and all the party favors, just like last year. Make your reservations soon, it will quickly sell out. Would love to see you there!
My best,
Susan
I just reread a favorite of mine - from Book VII of Plato’s The Republic. “The Allegory of the Cave”. The first time I read this as a freshman in college, I was baffled. I strained to understand the analogy. Then I reread it with such clarity after I graduated, and truly appreciated my liberal arts studies and college education for the first time. Thank you Dr. Norb Schedler for your dedication to our learning and “continued conversation.”
Here’s a favorite peice from the Allegory: “Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind’s eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter light, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And he will count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the cave. “
What is Beauty? When I was very young, I used to think beauty must be what everyone else called “beautiful.” And thats what I thought I was not. But as I grow older, to me Beauty is deep, so deep I can’t touch it, see it, hear it - it only presents itself in very small fragments to the senses… Beauty is honest. Beauty gives us the feeling of being loved. Beauty also gives us the feeling of being hurt. Beauty is in every part of our reality, it is just our reaction to it that can cause us to mistake it for anything else but the very essence of life that it is…
Mr. Webster says Beauty is: The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality.
He’s only partially correct, in my humble opinion…
Fall is my favorite time of year. It makes me think of my childhood when my grandparents would take me to Petit Jean State Park when the leaves changed. I love Arkansas, there are so many beautiful places here.
Just when life seems to be headed in one direction, it can take a complete different course in the matter of seconds, minutes, days…. And that is the excitement of change worth living for.
A quote from Plato…
Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything… Music is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, just and beautiful, of which it is the invisible, but nevertheless dazzling, passionate, and eternal form.