Happy Holidays!

This Holiday card is one of the things I've been learning how to do. I used an audio file I found by accident earlier this year and pictures and video from various sources on the internet. (and wait for it - you'll get to see the Jackson 5 bust a move!)

ENJOY!

Whoa, its' been a really long time! SoR-RaY! No, really, I am...I had an overpowering need to focus. I've been working really hard at developing the program and the shows I'm working on with the kids. I've been learning how to work with pictures and video. And I've been working to get my theories and philosophies clear. I have many and I'm often surprised by how "new" they seem to some people...and I realized that, if that's the case, I had better be VERY clear about what I mean. At any rate, it's all been great fun; I've also been REALLY distracted with ALL of my little friends...and, really, there are a lot more of them than there are of you just now...but never fear: This project is not lost. Just developing slowly.

Bigger companies have the luxury of Communications Departments! and Project Managers! that don't let us worker bees forget to say "Hi!" and "We're away right now but we'll be back!" often enough...alas...it is mostly just me here. I don't even want to be a big "business" (so weird to call what I do "business";p) - but I DO want to be an effective one. My life has been in constant flux with varying routines and environments and even lifestyles over the last 5 years....and my little Miss Bliss ALWAYS comes first! I've had to put a lot of effort into giving her the security of routine even as I've been so chaotic.

PS KENSINGTON OCTOBER 26, 2008
I AM OYA. THE PRIMEVAL MOTHER OF CHAOS.

So...through all of that...and especially as she's nearing her tweens and spending a lot more time by my side (YAY!); especially as I LONG for way to communicate with parents and other caregivers outside of workshops and events and I hope this will become an integral part of that focus I referred to...I'm working hard to create set routines and patterns that allow me to achieve all of my crazazay goals. I'm hoping this holiday downtime and new beginning (particularly this one, because up until now, I just really haven't been ready) will give me the time and space I need to do just that.

And may you also find all the time you need this holiday season to enjoy your friends and family, your home and it's surroundings, and to reflect on all the beauty that life has to offer.

Peace and Blessings,
jennielea!

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Do You Believe?

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An Hour of Your Time

A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" replied the man.

"Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?"

"That's none of your business. What makes you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily.

"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy.

"If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."

"Oh," the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said,"Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"

The father was furious. "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you're being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don't have time for such childish games."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy's questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money. After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often.

The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

************************************************************

"Are you asleep son?" he asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man.

"It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for."

The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy" he yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

"Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied.

"Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?"

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Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch

MY PRINCESS BUNNIES!
Two had to be rehomed - but don't worry: I kept the one I made! ;p


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Happy Thanks and Giving!

WARNING: Long post and a little personal...in my life, everything is connected and CircleSing! is a pure extension of everything I live for...
Well - I feel pretty good this Harvest Season. I've been spending the last long while reviewing my values and my goals, identifying my strengths and weaknesses; I've been spending a lot of time "taking care of business" in my heart and in my home (and in the business end of CircleSing! which is really a culmination of my personal striving...) and I've been clarifying my purposes. This is the first Harvest in a little while that I've felt really ready to celebrate...as though my time toiling in the fields was extended over several seasons. It's a good feeling when you can sit back and look at the fruits of your labours and share them with your loved ones - which in my case includes just about everyone:)

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about all the great people around me too. I've been reflecting on all the warm fuzzy blessings I've recieved and the fact that, even when things got really rough, I never felt hopeless or alone. Never for one minute.
That's pretty special:)

For more rambling and an AWESOME OFFER click Read More....

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One of the ideas I've been struggling with has to do with Marketing and Promotion (to bring things all the way down to the mundane very quickly!) I can't stand it. I can't waste bunches and bunches of paper so that people won't forget who I am - I know it works but I just can't do it. I have no problem printing a reasonable amount of cards and brochures for peeps who really want them but, honestly - I see Queen Street covered on the daily by cards and flyers! It's insane!

I'd like to buy more ads but have yet to generate the kind of income that will allow for that (although I did manage to get into Help! We've Got Kids! this year)

And I like to give back to the community. It's something passed down to me through my family but deep in my heart too - that we are all here to help each other. The funny thing is how that exact same thinking has, at times, held me back from gathering a greater financial stability for myself - thereby making it harder for me to give. *sigh* (I know I seem to sigh a lot but it's ok - it's part of a process that gets me to the next place...More like a deep breath as I dive in than a sigh...)

Another thing I've been struggling with (and winning) is time! It got to a point where I didn't have any money to give and I was fresh out of time as well - even for myself! It was a bunch of craziness for a good long while there as I tried to deal with the fact that there are only so many hours in the day...people will often say I'm lucky because I'm good at a lot of things - but, in reality, my wide variety of interest and aptitude has been the bane of my existence! (;p)

But I do enjoy a good challenge - so -

The schedule is revamped in a way that I can do all the things I like to do (presumably - it's hardly tested but my past experiences have been excellent information in this planning), one of them being:
FREE SHOWS!
(Or Circles!)
For audiences
from 10 to 200
Based on availability - 1st come, 1st serve
(with preference given to higher need communities)
Certificates available for
Silent Auctions
I currently have time in my schedule to do THREE free performances each season:
October to December, January to March,
April to June, July and August.
Charitable Donation Receipts are greatly appreciated but not necessary.
It is also of great service to me as it allows me to bring CircleSing! to a wider audience and in a way that makes much more sense to me on so many levels...
So if you book - Thank You!

AND If you know anyone who wants to PAY for a Show or a Circle -
please don't be shy about sending them in my direction too!

PS. I'll also post your community event for free on this blog!

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Ask a Toddler

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Papa and Me Programs

WWW.STRONGFATHERS.CA

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Bobby McFerrin - The Alphabet Song!

A MUST SEE!!!

From Bobby Mc Ferrin : Chant

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It's the 21st Semi-Annual Great Kids Stuff Sale!

Hosted by North Toronto MOMS:
Saturday October 18, 2008 -
9:00am to 12:00pm

Clothes, Cribs, Strollers,
Toys and More!!
High quality used baby and kids items at great prices!

St. Leonards Anglican Church
25 Wanless Avenue (North of Lawrence, East of Yonge)
CASH ONLY

Interested in selling your kids' stuff?
Visit: www.GREATKIDSSTUFFSALE.com
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Happiness

So that's a song I'm learning for my peoples - I think it's so pretty and it always makes me think about my baby and cry happy tears late at night.

It's by Bobby McFerrin - look for his version! It's hard to find. The one I had found online is gone now:( It's called Mere Words from the album Bang! Zoom!

But I sing this one all the time too:



I've been spending some much needed time developing new material for workshops and trying to recover my music files *sigh*. Setting stuff up here is slow going - I'm still all on my own here (I'll go into that more later) and I really, really need to be creative. I also really need to be a Mommy.

I am SO lucky because my daughter and I share interests. We've been working really hard on rehearsing shows that I've written over the past couple years and routines that we developed just playing together. We took it out to The Scotiabank Marathon and PS Kensington this past Sunday - CircleSing! and Happy Moon (Allegra and Luna) Productions have officially hit the road with our little song and dance show.

This is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and also to work the kids' chops for their more formal productions including: The Spooky Special (not this Hallowe'en, sadly, we're aiming for February)and The Story of Joy.

We'll be out on Queen and Spadina (we're there erratically now - it's close by - you might catch us sometime!) on October 4th for Nuit Blanche (unofficially but we ARE, in fact, official buskers).

More after the JUMP!...


And the last PS Kensington is October 26. The Samba Kidz will be joining me as the night begins to fall in a presentation of OYA~! Inspired by the Yoruban Tornado Goddess, wife of Shango - God of Thunder. It's a 6th year tradition now (4 years in the Market) and such fun for me as I conjur the power of Chaos. Anything is possible as winter begins to close in around us, it's stillness offering respite from the toil that favours the mundane over the celestial. Chaos opens the heart and the mind - and sometimes the body - to allow the infinite range of possibilities available in the universe to flow through us.

ANYWAY! Hope to see you out there:) I'll be on Kensington Avenue at Sunset.

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Still Here, Beautiful Babies!

I haven't posted for a while because I've been SO busy singing and dancing AND dealing with Mommy and adult stuff...have I mentioned I get overwhelmed, sometimes? Thought so.

Swansea Town Hall has been canceled due to a combination of low registration and added alternate bookings. There are no current plans to return to that location in the immediate future. Everything else is still running (and going really well!) and afternoon Home Hosts are still possible but tentative bookings may become confirmed in the next week, leaving me open only for January.

ANYWAY: I'm tryna learn about flash and video in general - here's a start for you while I run out to meetings today. I PROMISE I'll have more information tomorrow about our fabulous performance in Kensington Market last weekend and upcoming events.

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Swansea Town Hall - Wednesday September 17

We still have spaces available for toddlers (1-3)
at Swansea Town Hall!
11am - 12pm September 17th to November 5th. $120

You can email Lucy at missjennielea@circlesing.com or call 416-603-2335 - she retrieves messages daily. You can also print or download a registration form here:
http://www.circlesing.com/workshop.html#info

And YAY! Busking!

Busking is one of my favourite things to do!
Especially, with the kids - it always puts an extra-wide smile on people at the end of a hard work day....

Now that all the summer fun has died down and we've settled in the school, Allegra and her Soul Sista, Luna (aka Happy Moon Productions) are heading out with me to Queen West @ Spadina to show them what we've got. They've got tonnes of experience already as spectacle performers, having stilt-danced at Harbourfront festivals, out-of-town events and also having performed with me at Family Pride this past June, High Park and various other events.

We're all excited about testing out all the work we've been doing this summer with song and dance and we're hoping to use this time also to polish up for a variety of shows that I've created with their imput....its all very exciting...but more on that very soon...cuz first I got some 'splainin to do...

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Happy Teary Times!

Edited to add: I'm just realizing how obvious it is, now, that I don't watch TV. Oopsie!
O how I wish I'd seen this when I first came back.
Close enough I guess...
this is SO lovely, I can't even tell you - just watch it:)


And I got some better info, actually, about this - it's after the jump:
Molten Orange: "Just to be clear, this particular video, and the story contained in it, has some factual inaccuracies. The truth is actually much more heartwarming and compelling than the events related in the video. First, the two men who had cared for Christian hadn't seen him in nearly four years...not one year, as the video suggested.

They bought him in '69, and in a year or so later, after he became too big, they sent him to Kenya. When they did make the journey documented in the video in 1974, they were warned that Christian hadn't been seen in months, and their hopes to see him were probably futile. They didn't have to go looking for him for days, though.

The night before their flight arrived, Christian and his lioness and their cubs showed up at the camp in Nairobi, with Christian perched on his favorite rock, as if he were waiting for something. As soon as his two caretakers arrived at the camp, Christian was there. He hadn't seen them for nearly four years, yet he remembered them as if a day hadn't gone by. For more on this story, you can visit snopes.com and search for Christian the lion."

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START DATES

So, I posted the schedule without start dates, of course.
There is a click in the top right corner of this page that takes you to the live calendar (it does now, I promise:). But you must be signed OUT of hotmail or msn accounts. That's the calendar that Lucy updates for me so I know where to go;) You should always be able to check it to see what's going on. It shows a weekly view which can be advanced (as can the month) with the tabs at the top:
Start dates after the jump....

YMCA FDC - Ongoing
St. Joe's Babytime - Tuesday, September 9 and November 11
Swansea Town Hall - Wednesday, September 17
BandR - Thursday, September 25
Samba Famz - Saturday, September 13

Look out for event information coming up in a hot minute...Busking, the Spooky Special and The Festival of Lights...don't miss them!

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One Week Left to Register!

Samba Famz begins on September 13th, 2008!
Only one week left to register!
Samba Famz Fall 2008 session (registration form is attached) Saturdays Sept. 13th - Nov. 22nd, 2:00pm - 3:30pm. Ages 3 and up.






Samba Famz is a world drumming and art experience for the whole family. Caregivers and children learn to play various community-based drumming traditions combined with visual arts, dance and song. This family experience is a unique and fun way for families to spend time together and meet other families, while developing artistic skills and engaging together in a creative process.

Register now, spaces are limited!

Drum Artz Community Centre
27 Primrose Avenue Toronto, ON M6H 3V1
P: 416-538-6342 • F: 416-538-9016 • C: 647-295-0052 www.drumartz.com

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Fall 2008 Workshops Up Top

So they're not missed:

Mondays:

Metro-Central YMCA FDC – Drop-in – CircleSing! Basics

15 Breadalbane (1 block South of Yonge and Wellesley)

10:30 am. With membership or $5 to drop-in

www.ymcatoronto.org


Tuesdays:

St. Joseph’s Women’s Health Centre - Six Weeks- Babytime

30 The Queensway (2 blocks West of Queen and Roncesvalles)

2 pm and 3:15pm. Register for $50 with Kirsten at 416-530-6331.

www.stjoe.on.ca


Wednesdays:

Swansea Town Hall – 8 Weeks – Toddlers

95 Lavinia Street (2 blocks South West of Bloor and Runnymede)

11am. Register for $120 with Lucy at 416-603-2335

www.circlesing.com

www.swanseatownhall.ca


Thursdays:

Badminton and Racquetball Club – 8 Weeks – Toddlers

25 St. Clair Avenue West (Yonge and St.Clair)

10am. Members only. Call 416-921-2159 for details.

www.thebandr.com


Saturdays:

Drum Artz Studios – 10 Weeks – Ages 3-7

26 Primrose Avenue (1 block North, 1 Block East of Lansdowne and Dupont)

2 – 3:30pm. Register for $200 with Gili at 416-538-6342
www.drumartz.com

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No Baby Sharks Were Harmed

During the making of this ultra-short video:

Simple Summer 2008

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Not Sick! New Schedule!

O my goodness! I have not been sick all this time! What I've been doing over ALL this time is trying to get my head together. I could say that I've been heart-sick at times as I've seemed to experience a great deal of human and creature loss over the last few years but, at the same time, I've experienced a great deal of abundance. I guess I just got overwhelmed and needed some time to take it all in. That's most recently though. Up until then I was tripping all over myself in an effort to keep up with it all...and when I say tripping, I really mean it. The only thing I was doing right was singing and Momming and, apparently, there's a whole lot more to life than that. Go figure!

ANYHOO! It was just getting to frustrating cuz I'm just NOT that girl! But I'm all AOK now:) I'm refreshed - I'm organized, I'm thoughtfully considered and I'm SO excited to move forward now that I have some clarity.

A couple of weeks ago I posted the fall schedule (on the website: http://www.circlesing.com/workshop.html)and now it's here!:

Mondays:

Metro-Central YMCA FDC – Drop-in – CircleSing! Basics

15 Breadalbane (1 block South of Yonge and Wellesley)

10:30 am. With membership or $5 to drop-in

www.ymcatoronto.org (click link)

Tuesdays:

St. Joseph’s Women’s Health Centre - Six Weeks- Babytime

30 The Queensway (2 blocks West of Queen and Roncesvalles)

2 pm and 3:15pm. Register for $50 with Kirsten at 416-530-6331.

www.stjoe.on.ca (click link)

Wednesdays:

Swansea Town Hall – 8 Weeks – Toddlers

95 Lavinia Street (2 blocks South West of Bloor and Runnymede)

11am. Register for $120 with Lucy at 416-603-2335

www.circlesing.com

www.swanseatownhall.ca (click link)

Thursdays:

Badminton and Racquetball Club – 8 Weeks – Toddlers

25 St. Clair Avenue West (Yonge and St.Clair)

10am. Members only. Call 416-921-2159 for details.

www.thebandr.com (click link)

Saturdays:

Drum Artz Studios – 10 Weeks – Ages 3-7

26 Primrose Avenue (1 block North, 1 Block East of Lansdowne and Dupont)

2 – 3:30pm. Register for $200 with Gili at 416-538-6342

www.drumartz.com (click link)

And that's what I've got for you right now - really there's so much more, including the shows I've been working on with my daughter and her best friend and the BUSKING we'll be doing to sharpen our chops and raise funds for productions near home in the QUEEN AND SPADINA area (Monday, Wednesday and Saturday afternoons) but I keep putting it off to get other stuff done and *eyeroll* it's about time I touched base already.

Thanks for your patience....or for giving up and coming back either way:)

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