Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

6/26/17, Nobody until…..

Posted on June 26, 2017

Hi Everyone,

I hope your week is off to a great start!!!

I don’t know why, but I thought of a song the other day….a very old song, I think it was already an old song when I was a kid. But when I thought of it, the words really jarred me, “You’re Nobody until Somebody loves you”. As I thought about it, I thought what an unhealthy philosophy that is, and how damaging it can be. And I think we’ve probably all felt that way at some point. We’re in a slump, there’s no one in our life (romantically), and we feel like nothing and no one. I’ve had moments like that myself. But the song crossing my mind really reminded me to watch out for that pitfall!!! I used to take weekends off, and not work, when I was married. I spent every weekend doing things with my husband, and kids when they were young. I wouldn’t have dreamed of working all weekend!!! Now I’m not married, and my kids have grown up, so I work on most weekends. Okay, okay, ALL weekends. (It’s quiet then, and no one interrupts me while I write).

I go on vacation with my kids once a year, but I can’t imagine going on vacation alone. (It wouldn’t be much fun). And I don’t like going to restaurants or movies alone either (no one to talk to at a restaurant, or share popcorn with at the movie). I think sometimes we let the idea creep into our life that we don’t deserve fun times if someone isn’t madly in love with us. Being loved makes us feel so worthy and worthwhile, so deserving. I like working when I’m alone because it fills the time and distracts me and the days fly by—but I could go for a walk in the park, or a drive, or a museum, or an exhibit of something on my own—I don’t have to wait for someone to be in love with me to do that!!.

I don’t like the idea that we don’t feel deserving of something because we’re not currently in a romance, and when you think about it, how awful to feel like we’re ‘nobody’ until someone loves us. I’m not nobody. You’re Not Nobody!!! Mulling it over made me want to treat myself to something, to do something special, and treat myself—I don’t have to wait for someone else to do that, or to have permission to feel special.

We’re ALL special, and we’re ALL somebody—somebody special and different and important in the world. So treat yourself well, and do something nice for yourself today. I might just take the weekend off!!! I hope you have a GREAT week!! You deserve it!!!

love, Danielle

Filed Under Music, Relationships | 6 Comments

6/12/17, One Love

Posted on June 12, 2017

Hi Everyone,

I hope things are going smoothly and happily for you.

I was so touched by something last week that I just wanted to share it with you, although I’m sure you know about it too.

After the recent terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, with many injuries and deaths—– Ms. Grande organized and performed at a benefit concert in Manchester on June 4th, the proceeds to benefit those injured at the original concert.  It was a star studded, and deeply moving evening with performances by Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Black Eyed Peas, and Robbie Williams, and other performers and bands. Fifty thousand people attended, and THIRTEEN million dollars were raised, from donations and ticket sales, with more still coming in. The response was overwhelming, and the cause so worthwhile. Ms. Grande has volunteered to pay for the funerals of those who died in the attack. The One Love Manchester concert was such a brave and heartwarming thing to do, appreciated by all.

I saw a video of the concert and in particular her final song, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. Watching her perform, seeing her cry, seeing tears running down the faces of the people in the audience, it ripped my heart out and I just sat there and cried.

My niece was gravely injured in the terrorist attack in Brussels a year ago, but has survived, with incredible spirit and courage. So many others have been injured and have died in these horrifying senseless attacks. More attacks in London recently, after the carnage in Manchester. Another stabbing. New attacks in France only this week—-with a hammer, with machetes. The Bataclan attack, Nice last summer. When will it stop? Where is this taking us? How long will fear and terror and senseless destruction impact us and control us?

This has to stop. Somewhere Over the Rainbow has to be Now. The pain of lost loved ones and devastated lives HAS to stop. May One Love Manchester, and the loving gesture of Ariana Grande put balm on the wounds and get us back on the right path. Now. Kudos and my admiration to Ariana Grande, and once again my heartfelt sympathy to those who suffered injuries, or losses in Manchester, and all of the attacks.

with all my love, Danielle

PS reading your very touching comments to last week’s blog, about the foundation we established in my son’s honor:

I just want to tell Laura how very, very sorry I am about your nephew. You have my very deepest sympathy. And only a month later, you are probably still in shock about the loss. These tragic deaths by suicide are very hard to live with. I came to realize that, although we did absolutely everything we could to save Nick and help him, in the end, it was his decision and we couldn’t stop him. He once said to me “If I want to do this, Mom, you can’t stop me”. He was right, we couldn’t, we tried very hard. In some cases, you can turn the tides, but in other cases, you can’t. Try to know that you couldn’t change what happened, it wasn’t in your control, it was in his. You will always miss him, but in time, you will feel more peaceful about it. The loss is huge, but in time, you will laugh and smile when you think of him, remember silly things he did, and fun times you shared. Those we love and lose stay in our hearts forever. My deepest sympathy to you, love, Danielle

And to Keyla, who “feels so lost that nothing makes sense”, and asks what to do when you feel that way. The answer for each of us is different. For some it is medication which helps, for others its religion, for others talking to a friend, or a counselor or therapist. A friend may bring you comfort, or cuddling a pet, or a loved one may say things that resonate for you, or a 12 step group, a support group of some kind, or exercise, or going for a walk every day, or yoga. The answer is different for each of us. Try to reach out for what makes the most sense to you, and just as life seems worse at times, it also gets better. Hang on for that time, and try to find what feels best to you, and makes your life better again. love, Danielle

4/11/16, Fun Evening

Posted on April 11, 2016

Hi Everyone,

I hope that all is well with you, and relatively peaceful. We seem to be marching into Spring. I had such a fun evening recently that I had to share it with you!!!

A friend invited me to the Symphony, which was very tempting. I’ve been writing a lot lately, there has been so much unrest around the world, which touched close to home for me. I hesitated before accepting, I had a book to edit, and also because I work so hard, and keep such late hours when I’m writing that if you put me in a dark place, movies, symphony, theater, ballet, I fall asleep in the first five minutes, especially with good music!! I’m usually not a big symphony-goer, and prefer theater and movies, but the invitation was so nice and so unexpected that I decided to go. So I accepted and off I went, and it felt like a real treat to be “out in the world” and not working at night for a change. I was expecting serious classical music, and had a terrific surprise when I got there. The performance that night was a showing of the movie “E.T.”, which I hadn’t seen since it came out, but loved then—-they were showing the movie at the symphony and the whole philharmonic orchestra was going to play the music score. What a fantastic idea, and instead of the serious crowd of classical music lovers, the audience was filled with young people, families and kids—-right up my alley, and it seemed like so much fun!!! Everyone was in a great mood.

I loved the movie…ET, phone home….the whole thing is so sweet, Drew Barrymore was an adorable little girl then, and I totally enjoyed it. The music wasn’t distracting, and it added depth to the movie. And I thought it was brilliant of them to show something that the masses can enjoy, and a less sophisticated audience, and make it appealing to everyone. I didn’t even fall asleep, I loved it so much and had so much fun!! It was a totally unexpected evening and a real treat, and I LOVED the concept of a popular movie with the philharmonic orchestra playing the score in full force. It was fantastic and the most fun I’ve had in a long time. It was a real gift from the friend who took me, and I had a ball!!! If they do something like that again, I will run to be there!! I can think of so many movies where that would be fun, and it introduced a whole new group of people to the symphony who never would have gone otherwise….Pure genius and a really, REALLY fun time!!!Have a great week!

love, Danielle

5/4/15, “The Sun Will Shine Through Rain” (Nick Traina)

Posted on May 4, 2015

Hi Everyone,

I’m sorry I was a no show last week, I was busy writing, and am very happy with what I’ve been working on, and I hope you will be too. Writing is often where I take refuge from real life, and my own problems, it’s a world where I am comfortable, feel at ease, know how to solve the problems in the story, and sometimes when the writing soars, it is pure joy. After doing it for a long time, I still thoroughly enjoy what I do, even though it’s hard work and challenging at times, and even exhausting when I work 20 hour stretches on my old typewriter. Sometimes it’s almost like flying, as you rise above the clouds, and see things more clearly, about life, and intricate situations. And I always fall in love with the characters in the book, and they become real to me, just as they do to you. It’s probably because they do seem real to me that you feel that way too when you read the books. The characters I write about are always fictional, because it would be too limiting to base them on real people. So I’ve been having a great time writing, and I hope you like the book when you read it. (I never tell the story or the title beforehand. It’s more fun to keep it a surprise!! But I think you will love this one, as I do!!) » read more »

12/2/13, Love Notes

Posted on December 2, 2013

 

Hi Everyone,

Exciting, fun news to share with you. The album of songs I’ve been telling you about for two years, finally came out last week, on both iTunes and Amazon, where you can buy and download either individual songs or the album.  It’s called “Love Notes by Danielle Steel”. There are 10 songs on the album, 6 in English and 4 in French. I wrote the lyrics, and three composers wrote the music, there are 2 singers (an American woman and a French man), and we worked with 7 musicians and 4 arrangers. It is VERY different working as part of a team, and writing song lyrics, than working all by myself to write a book. This was really team collaboration!! I hope you love the songs. I think they’re really good, and I hope you do too!!! Each one tells a story, some are love songs, the singers have beautiful voices, and the composers and musicians did a great job.  We have worked on this album for two years. And I’m very excited that it’s out now, and I can’t wait for you to hear our songs. Here are the links:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-notes-by-danielle-steel/id734080554     

http://amazon.to/18bDw0T

I hope you enjoy “Love Notes”!!!!

love, danielle

Filed Under Music, Paris | 3 Comments

Special Events

Posted on October 21, 2013

Hi Everyone,

Since I share fashion shows and art openings with you, and events I go to, I thought I’d tell you about two remarkable events I attended recently. One was great fun, and absolutely adorable, and the other a more unusual evening.

On a recent trip through New York, to visit my daughters, my oldest daughter was in town to celebrate her five year old daughter’s birthday, and she had organized a luncheon at the American Girl Doll Store on Fifth Avenue. It is a haven for little girls, paradise on earth. They are among the most popular dolls now, and already were when my own daughters were small, not so long ago. Each doll has a story and a history, her own special look, with an assortment of hair and eye colors, different ethnicity, and they have elaborate wardrobes, furniture, cars, pets, kitchen appliances. A dizzying array of accessories for each doll. And the store is an overwhelming and exciting series of departments which sell the dolls, clothes, and all the stuff that goes with them. Some are even twins, and they have added some ‘babies’ to their repertoire. And amidst this extraordinary store all dedicated to these dolls is a restaurant where children and their parents shopping there can stop for lunch or have a birthday party. It’s been a while since my own kids were that small, and to be literally in a department store full of little girls clamoring for dolls, with dolls everywhere you look was amazing. The store is every little girl’s dream, and when we walked into the restaurant, there was a huge long table covered with dolls you could borrow, with little high chairs to seat them, in case you had forgotten to bring your own doll to lunch. It was an incredible scene. Dolls were being fed, talked to, dressed, undressed, there were several borrowed dolls at every table. We were mostly adults at our table, and only three children (two of them boys, who looked shell shocked to be surrounded by all the little girls and their dolls). Lunch was actually delicious, the birthday lunch was a huge success, and in a crazy way I loved it. It almost made me want to take a doll home, and as we left, my daughters and I threaded our way through three floors of ecstatic little girls picking out their new dolls and as much equipment for them as they could talk their parents into. Everyone was having fun. It was innocence at its best, and we all left smiling, and had a ball. » read more »

Filed Under Art, Kids, Music, Paris | 3 Comments

Second Chances

Posted on June 10, 2013

Hi Everyone,

Since I’ve finished some editing, I had a chance to have lunch with some women friends today, and I was intrigued and inspired by some things they said and what they’re doing. Actually, I was downright impressed.

I’ve always kept my hand into interior design in some form, although writing has been my main career since I was nineteen. But my training and schooling in design has always stayed with me, both in fashion and interior design. And in the past ten years, I’ve had a passion for contemporary art, and had a gallery for the work of emerging artists for four and a half years. That was a whole new career for me, and I absolutely LOVED it. I loved looking for new artists, going to art fairs to discover them, visiting their studios, discovering their new work, and being the ‘matchmaker’ between the artist and the collector. And my goal was to keep the prices reasonable, so many people could enjoy the work I found. And I loved every show I curated, and the artists almost became a second family for me. The years that I had the gallery were fun and exciting for me, to learn something new, and discover a whole new world, and ‘second career’ as an art dealer. I still curate at least one show every year for a gallery in San Francisco, and I have a ball with it. Branching out into art has been a wonderful addition to my life. » read more »

Filed Under Fashion, Music | 1 Comment

Music!!!!!

Posted on May 28, 2013

Hi Everyone,

I have SUCH exciting news. After 2 years of hard work, perseverance, and diligence, the song album I wrote the lyrics for, “Love Notes by Danielle Steel” just came onto my French publisher’s website for me. You can connect onto it from the States. Six of the songs are in English, and 4 are in French. You can listen to 9 of the songs for a 30 second sound bite (which gives you a good sense of each song), and one whole song for free.  Unfortunately, they aren’t set up to take American credit cards yet on that site, although eventually you will be able to. And we hope to have the album on ITunes sometime in June, or maybe July, where you will be able to download, and buy any of the songs you like. But this gives you an advance taste of what I’ve been doing with the music. I’m SOOOOO excited about sharing this with you, and I hope you love the songs!!!!

If you click on www.danielle-steel.fr, and you click on the section marked ‘Musique’, you’ll hear Love Notes by Danielle Steel.  Please give it a whirl!!!

love, danielle

 

Filed Under Music | 5 Comments

I’m Late….I’m Late!!!….

Posted on May 17, 2013

Hi Everyone,

I owe you an apology for not posting my blog on Monday, and being late this week. That hasn’t happened very often, but I have been so swamped with work and projects that for once I just couldn’t catch up!!! I really am sorry!!!

Last weekend, I spent time with my children in two cities for Mother’s Day, and this week I had so much work to do that it was like a giant snowball gathering momentum, the mountain on my desk just kept growing. We’re in the last stages of getting the music album I did ready to go online, I’m working on an art show I’m curating in August, I wrote an article for a magazine, a speech for a benefit, I’m starting a big re-write on a book tomorrow, and I’m thinking about an idea for a new children’s book, and working on an art project “for fun”. It has been a crazy week, and I looked at apartments with two of my daughters last week. » read more »

Filed Under Kids, Music, Writing | 1 Comment

April and May in Paris

Posted on April 29, 2013

Hi Everyone,

This year anyway, April in Paris has lived up to all the songs and movies about it. The weather has finally gotten warmer and gentler, after a freezing cold winter, and it has been absolutely wonderful to be here. All this week it’s been sunny and beautiful, the kind of weather that makes you fall in love with Paris all over again, as you sit having lunch or dinner on the terrace of a restaurant, or an outdoor cafe, watching people stroll by. Definitely a slice of Heaven. » read more »

Filed Under Music, Paris | 6 Comments

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