My Hobbies
This category is subject to change pretty often, probably whenever my mood changes. About the only category that will have info other than what is on this page is Cooking. Of course, that is also subject to change.
Music
Photography
Writing
© Laura Harper
I have always really liked to cook but now that I am diabetic and cooking for just one it has taken on a different perspective. I still like making gourmet dishes but the diabetes presented a big problem with the types of food that I really like - pasta, Mexican, and my all-time favorites - Chinese and Thai. I am determined not to let this keep me from eating those foods while at the same time controlling the diabetes by diet alone (I only want to take pills as a last resort). So, my eating habits have changed drastically.
The reason I have decided to add this category to my website is that my friend, Vickie, and quite a few other people think that I do not eat weird but HEALTHY. When Vickie's husband, Lloyd, had a little bout with heart problems earlier this year she asked me how I prepared tilapia (my favorite fish) because he now has to eat lots of fish. You know the drill. Quite a few people have expressed an interest in how I prepare (sort of weird, I think) my food so I decided to put things here instead of sending email to each of you. Hope this works for you!!
PHOTOGRAPHY
I really like using my camera, always searching for that one shot that just blows my mind. I have been lucky enough to get lots of those during my lifetime. I like my shots to be sort of spontaneous, not posed or artificial looking.
Nowadays I shoot most of my photos at Paddy Gibney and Bill Ayerbe gigs. You can see LOTS of those photos on the Paddy Gibney Music website. Shooting at the gigs is very special since I am also the webmaster for Paddy Gibney Music and use lots of those shots there. My hope is to capture all the fun and craziness at the gigs for those people who cannot attend. The best shots of all are those of Paddy and Bill and their many expressions as they perform. Most of those never get on the site but are saved as a historical record of their many, many performances. (Goes without saying that they are also my best friends!!!!) As much as I like getting shots of other people I do NOT like having my picture made but I sort of promised folks that if they shoot me, with MY camera, then I will put the shots on Paddy Gibney Music. So far I have kept that promise although I surely do not like it!!!!
MUSIC
I cannot begin to remember when I did not like music. However, my interests became very serious when I was about twelve years old - just yesterday! I like all categories except maybe bluegrass. I am not too fond of that. My first love has been, and always will be, classical.
I remember my Grandmother Williamson had an old pump organ and played Redwing all the time. It was years before I knew the name of the song. She died when I was four or five years old and the organ was moved to another relative's house. In later years we built our house next door to them but I did not pay too much attention to the organ until I was about twelve. Grandaddy told me that if I learned how to play the organ then I could have it. I taught myself to read music and did learn to play that organ. It was then moved to our house and is currently residing in my living room. My dad then told me that if I could learn well enough to play the piano at church that I could take REAL music lessons. I did that too.
This is where I got really, really lucky. My piano teacher was Mrs. Annie C. Owens, a Juilliard graduate. I cannot count the number of times she hit my wrists with a pencil, jumped into my stuff because I did not spend as much time practicing as she thought I should, and, most important of all, how much she praised me for learning so fast and for being so expressive in my presentations. During this time my church purchased an organ and (I was now the official church pianist) I had to learn how to play that - it was electric, no pumping (LOTS of pedals) and lots and lots of buttons (stops). My dad would take me to Raleigh on Saturdays for lessons from a former professor of music at a university in Chicago. After a few weeks he asked me if I would mind playing a number on one of the big pipe organs. Would I mind - I was elated but scared to death. After that I played several numbers every Saturday that I had a lesson. I did not get to play those big things much after that but I do remember one big performance at a church not too far away from my home. I cannot begin to tell you how proud and happy I was that day.
My piano and organ days are pretty much over now. My hands are very arthritic and you definitely need very nimble fingers (and feet for the organ) for those things. However, I do play for myself every day. According
to my rheumatologist that is the very best exercise there is for the old hands.