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Today is my Dad's birthday, he is 84. Happy Birthday Daddy. What a sweetheart of a man he is and Im blessed to have him all these years. My dad lives with me for the past 3 years. Im happy about that as his mobility is very limited these days and I can keep a good eye on him.

I received some sad news last night about a girlfriend of mine of over 25 years, whom I hadnt spoken to in the past three months. I was told she is terminally ill with cancer. She is only 49. How sad. She was diagnosed 3 years ago with Ovarian cancer. Her last phone call sounded optimistic, but her disease raised its ugly head again this November on her spine. I immediately called her at the hospital and she sounded so upbeat and accepting of her situation. I on the other hand was very very upset. She told me she is ready to go now. It took every ounce of strength to not start crying over the phone to her in fear it might reverse her good mood. She is in the hospital right now on pain management. Maybe its the morphine drip that is helping with her mood, but Im so amazed at demeanor at her forthcoming death. I am now on a quest to see her before she leaves us. She lives upstate. I will pray for her comfort and for her son and husband.

This coming Saturday Ill be at Greenwood Cemetery to work on the Civil War Project. We are trying to find every civil war soldier interred at Greenwood and present them with a deserved monument issued by the US Government. We have Generals from the North & South and many officers interred at Greenwood. This project has been written about many times by the NY Times, and has been on TV many times. We plan on doing the presentation Memorial Day, 2007. I will be singing the National Anthem and hopefully, God Bless America. Anyone interested in this project can contact grnwdtours@aol.com We always need people to help out.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Sorry, Im a few days late here, but as the saying goes, better late than never.

New Years Eve was excellent. My band rang in the new year at the Hudson River Yatch Club. We had nothing but raves all night long and Im always complemented on my singing voice. Its alway a battle though to get my sound right. My bandleader is always messing with my EQ and his mic always sounds better than mine...hmmmm. The presence on the mic is always much better. Its the most frustrating thing for me. For a vocalist, if you dont hear yourself correctly, you will push your voice. Especially if the presence in the sound is incorrect, i.e. not enough highs etc. OYE Im killing myself cause I dont hear myself properly. Ill go on his mic and its perfection. This is ongoing . Why does he torture me like that? My take: he wants to sound better.. thats not fair, but in this biz..nothing is!

There is nothing like singing. There is really no words to describe the feeling I get when I sing with abandon. Its like leaving your body. I dont feel well unless I sing. Im so blessed to be able to do this consistenly for 4 decades. I could have probably been a big executive in the banking industry. I was being groomed in the mangement trainee program, of the now defunct, Manufactureres Hanover Trust Co. Its either Chase or Citibank now after many merges. At that time, the bank had invested alot of money in me for training and schooling. A new computer department was formed and I was the executive assistant to the Vice President. I could see where this was going for me.. I knew that I would become an officer soon. But guess what? Im already a professional musician pursuing my career after work. I got a recording contract with RCA records and without a second thought, quit my job! Im a rock star now. Heck with banking..music is my passion. The bank was shocked when I handed in my resignation. They were coming at me with all kinds of perks, but no cigar..I was going for my dream. So its about pursuing your dreams and passion and I havent stopped. One good thing is that I have skills. So when the recording contract ends and the checks stop coming in, I pound the pavement for work. Now, I work 3 days a week at a day job and sing on the weekends. Its perfect. At this point in my life, I no longer go on the road, so I stay local and sing basically in tge New York City area and occasionally travel to L.I., N.J. & Westchester County with my band.

I was in Greenwood today. It was so beautiful out. I gave Mother goose some cracked corn and the injured snow goose came and ate as well.. More about that in the next blog.

HAPPY NEW YEAR....Believe in your dreams and pursue them! Every day is a new beginning. Go for it!

Another Wild Day in the City & Injured snow goose update

On Wednesday I went to Greenwood Cemetery to check up on the injured Snow Goose. He seems to be doing OK. Much more relaxed than a week ago. He actually couldnt have found a better place to come down injured. The New York City Audubon is on alert and has sent a urban park ranger to go see him. We are hoping for a rescue and a rehabilitation. At this time though, he is unable to be caught without possibly injuring him further. So Im watching his health along with several other people. If we see him starting to decline, Ill put the word out to the proper people and they will report it to the Ranger.

In future posts I will talk about Greenwood and its amazing history. Briefly, it was the park for New York City, prior to Central Park. If you havent been there, its a beautiful place.

I got an email from a lady that frequents Greenwood and she told me about the Mascot Goose, "Mother Goose" thats what I call her, that been at Greenwood for years. She is a domestic Pilgrim goose and at times, she is the only goose on the pond. Right now we have about 100 canada geese and 50-60 mallards along with the occasional shoveler and widgeon. She loves when the wild geese come, she has company. I was told that they are trying to get Mother Goose a nice home on a farm. She cannot tolerate bad winters. She depends on the grass to eat and when it freezes over and the pond freezes over, she literally can starve. Also, 2 winters ago, she had a case of frostbite on her webbed foot which made it difficult for her to walk. Poor thing! I got very upset to hear this. Because she is a domestic goose and cant fly, she is basically at the mercy of the pond she is on. Im determined now to bring her cracked corn when the weather gets bad. Im very fond of this goose along with many others that come to the cemetery.

The aforementioned lady was hoping we could have a double rescue of the snow goose and the pilgrim goose. I would hate to see Mother Goose leave, but after knowing what I know now about her fragility, I would want her to be relocated to the farm that has a nice barn with food and shelter for her.

The city today is a zoo! a real nuthouse. All the mobile recording & video trucks are running their wires, preparing the stages and getting the barracades up. The mad dash is on now for the Gala New Years Eve Celebration in Times Sqaure. I really believe there are more people here than Ive ever seen before. I felt left out by not pointing and shooting a camera at anything! Today they moved in a massive herd. You dont even need to walk, the crowd will move you. They are hawking hats, air horns, 2006 glasses, etc. I got a pair of red, white & blue 2006 glasses. The Naked Cowboy was flexing and posing today. How does that guy make money. I guess they throw some bills down his bvd's. I guess he is waiting to be discovered on Broadway. He is like a landmark now on 45 St. I guess he took advantage of the 40 degree weather to stand outside and pose in just his briefs and fake play his guitar. I guess he couldnt pass up the hordes of people. Nothing like a big audience.

Tomorrow night will be fun, Im singing at the Hudson River Yatch Club. I have alot of laughs with my band. We used to be 8 pieces, but have gone totally high tech and there are just 3 of us now. We have a huge sound and great vocals. www.generationgap.cc
Check out the band website. My website is: www.margeraymond.com


We are so good we never have to rehearse. Im not kidding. I rehearse over the phone. Tony, the bandleader sends me the midi file and I rehearse just listening to it. Then we just come in and play it. My rehearsing over the phone is to establish the key I sing it in. We are booked alot..Im grateful.

Now I have to join the herd and fight my way through the tourists to the subway and make it back to Brooklyn. Fahgetaboudit!

New York City is Packed today!

My working days at the NY Times are Tues, Thurs & Fri. I work right in the middle of Times Square. While walking down 42 St I watched the live advertisement of Dancing with the Stars. They have a couple dancing at street level behind the glass right in the middle of Times Sq.

I love New York City. Im happy to be a native New Yorker. There is always something new and exciting here. This city has served me well with my singing career.

When I went out for lunch today, I couldnt believe the amount of people that are here, obviously for the new year celebration. They have the 2006 atop the building in Longacre sq. already in place. They were setting up for Dick Clark's rocking new years eve. Lines for the hard rock cafe and ESPN around the block. I didnt see the naked cowboy though..must be too cold.

In New York City we always walk in herds, but today was a massive herd. Shoulder to shoulder, body to body. Yikes! no wonder I never come to Times Square for New Years Eve. Then again, I couldnt go if I wanted, Im always singing with my band on New Years Eve. I get enough of the crowds year round. So the tourists are here in record numbers. After last weeks fiasco of a transit strike, the city needs the bucks. I had to take vacation from next year to cover my losses. I couldnt get into work, needless to say. My company had a bus, but it was up in Bklyn Hgts, way to far to walk.

I did an insane thing. I went into Toy R Us in Times Sq to inquire about an exchange. Was I out of my mind? All I could do was ask myself that question..Why am I here, am I outta my mind. The place was packed to capacity? Oye, never again!

My day off tomorrow. Im hoping to go to Greenwood Cemetery to check up on the injured snow goose and do some birding.

Possum In Bensonhurst

I like to sit at my 5th floor window and look at birds, squirrles and anything I can spot with my binoculars. There has been alot of tearing down and rebuiling in my neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Today while looking into the empty lot across the street, I saw a possum. How odd! I know they can exist in prospect park and Greenwood Cemetery and Jamaica Bay Wildlife refuge. Where can there habitat be on densely populated Bay Pkwy? We have 3, count em, 3 trees and one down the block. I know they are noctural and somehow must have gotten disturbed and ran around the empty lot. All I can say is wow. Thats a first for me. Im sure my neighbors would take him for a rat, long hairless tail and fat. I felt sad for him. He must have had a nice roost somewhere, but what with all the tearing down in my area, he must have be displaced.

I was going to go down to the end of Bay Pkwy by ceasers bay to look at the gulls and perhaps find some nice water fowl in the bay, but the hordes of shoppers exchanging and buying made it like a madhouse. I couldnt find a spot! Off to pathmark and back to my window to look for the elusive possum. Will I ever see him again? Can possum survive in such sparse habitat? Or, did someone bring home a baby from upstate and let it go in the neighborhood. I wonder.