My Thoughts on Birthdays, Time, Life and Music

I just turned another year older this past Saturday, June 25th. I went out of town with my wife to celebrate not only my Birthday but our 25th wedding Anniversary. I had a blast with the love of my life, my best friend and fellow traveller in this craziness that we call life. We’ve had our ups and downs, triumphs, challenges, setbacks and achievements, We have supported each other through it all with humor, patience with life’s dramas, health issues, persistence, therapy and lots of love.

Life hasn’t been perfect..there have been detours from the road: some good, some bad, dreams both accomplished and lost, I have picked myself up from kissing the ground and started all over again a few times, I’m working on achieving new goals even at this stage of the game. We all been through our phases of redemption, reinvention and never giving up. I’m still creative, produce radio programming, continue to express myself in different mediums including DJ’ing live, to strive to do my best in my broadcast career and projects, to continue to be a positive influence in my field and craft, to still have the balls to be a survivor who says something meaningful in these columns and continue to defend and play the music I love. To live life with passion, dignity, integrity and always the goal to be a good person.

Since I was out of town since Friday, I missed the memorial for the late Conceicáo Damasceno at the Starlite Social Club in Oakland on Sunday, June 26th. She was gorgeous and a beautiful soul both inside and out from Bahia who made a huge impact in the SF Bay Area. Judging by the lineup of great performers, I’m sure that this star studded affair reflected the dance, culture, music and spirit of Brazil that Conceicáo represented for so many years. She first broke into the scene as a featured dancer of Jose Lorenzo’s Batucajé. She later formed her dance Troupe Ginga Brasil which was a mainstay of San Francisco Carnaval. She was a founder of the Brazilian awareness and cultural Association Bras Arte and later the co-founder of Berkeley’s Casa De Cultura with Mestre Accordion Bira Almeida, that produced the joys annual Lavagem every September. In my opinion, the Lavagem was one of the best festivals of Brazilian dance, music and culture in the SF Bay.

I worked with Conceicáo as Entertainment Director of Carnaval San Francisco years ago and recently as a volunteer at the annual Lavagem celebrations. I knew her for 30 years. She will be sorely missed by the community. I will miss her as a friend. My condolences to her husband Nick and her family. I was at her celebration of life not physically but in spirit on Sunday. I’m hearing and seeing all about the great celebration that I missed on Facebook. She must have been smiling from the heavens. Life makes it difficult to be at two places at the same time.