[stylist] Donna's on TV Monday! Here's a link if you can't tune in.

Judith Bron jbron at optonline.net
Sun Dec 21 17:17:53 UTC 2008 

Hi Donna, I ope you don't mind this feedback.  I'm not giving this to hurt 
you, but I see something wonderful emerging from one of your songs.
I just finished listening to "The Edge of the Line".  The tune is catchy and 
one I can visualize people singing along with.  However, the message is 
vague.  If it were expanded with ideas suchas:
leaving a fancy house to shop in Wallmart
Serving hot dogs and baked beans on Lenox China
Driving a used VW beetle out of a garage where 3 cars once stood
Shopping in thrift stores instead of Lord and Tailor
etc.  This would capture the pain of recession much better.  The upbeat line 
would be people still smiling despite...

Like I said, I see potential in the melody and the singing is fabulous.  To 
make it more relevant would help take it out of a limitted venue.  Hope 
you're not angry, Judith
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Hill" <penatwork at epix.net>
To: <stylist at nfbnet.org>; "nfbp-talk" <nfbp-talk at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, December 19, 2008 4:02 PM
Subject: [stylist] Donna's on TV Monday! Here's a link if you can't tune in.


Hi all,

Here's my first-ever newsletter. Thought you might enjoy. I'm not sure
if the pictures come through on our list, so it might be strange for
those who have sight if they don't.
Donna

*Donna’s on TV Monday, December 22^nd !*

*There’s a Link, if you can’t catch it Live!*

*Caption to Photo: Donna Hill, blind songwriter/recording artist and
avid knitter, presents pink afghan with “Buddy Check” in Braille to
Lyndall Stout at WYOU’s studios in Wilkes-Barre. Photo by Rich Hill

*In This Issue*

* Donna & Buddy Check

* Donna’s Appointment to Post of Innovative Nonprofit

* Quick & Dirty

* Knit Wits!

* Going to the Dogs!

* Next Time

* Contact Info

*Donna & Buddy Check*

Monday, December 22 at 7 P.M., TV-22 WYOU (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre CBS
affiliate) is featuring Endless Mountains' singer/songwriter Donna Hill
on “Buddy Check.” Donna, a Lehigh Valley native, East Stroudsburg
University grad & long-time Philadelphia area resident, is a two-time
breast cancer survivor. If you miss it, it will be posted. Go to this
link, look for “WYOU Buddy Check News” & click on the Play Media Button
for December 2008 – screen reader users, “WYOU Buddy Check News” is a
non-linked text:

http://pahomepage.com/content/health_wellness/wyou/buddy_check

Donna has been cancer-free for eighteen years. She found both tumors
herself despite negative mammograms. “Buddy Check,” a monthly segment on
the local news, encourages regular breast self exam.

“Not only did self examination save my life,” says Donna, who started in
her twenties after losing both grandmothers to the disease, “It also
limited my treatment. Start checking now; Get familiar with what’s
normal for you. I’m so grateful to be alive and healthy now. In addition
to living in a beautiful rural environment with my husband Rich and our
black Lab, Hunter, I’m doing the best work of my life.”

* *

* *

*Donna’s Appointment to Post of Innovative Nonprofit*

Born legally blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), Donna, who plays
guitar and piano, learned to use a computer with a screen reader several
years ago. Her second cancer, diagnosed just after she had finished her
third album “The Last Straw,” ended her dreams of marketing herself as a
songwriter in Nashville. Nonetheless, Donna is now using her talents as
a writer, singer and speaker to improve understanding of and
opportunities for all blind Americans. In July, she was appointed head
of media relations for the volunteer-run nonprofit Performing Arts
Division, National Federation of the Blind (PAD, NFB):

www.padnfb.org <http://www.padnfb.org/>

PAD supports blind entertainers through scholarships, subsidies,
networking and mentoring. Funding comes from tax-deductible
contributions and sales of the “Sound in Sight” CD, a multi-genre
compilation of eighteen original tracks and covers donated by blind
recording artists. Donna came to PAD after being asked to donate her
song “The Edge of the Line,” particularly meaningful in the current
recession. Hear clips at:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/padotnfotb

“Strong media presence is a powerful tool for social change,” says Hill,
who worries about the seventy percent unemployment rate among
working-age blind Americans, “It’s made a big difference for other
minorities, but there are few blind people in the mainstream media and
virtually no blind women.”

*Caption to Photo: PAD President Dennis Holston & 12-year-old, blind
jazz singer and Braille advocate Rocco Fiorentino (NJ) after Rocco’s
performance at NYC’s Birdland jazz club. Unknown photographer.

Donna is also concerned that only ten percent of blind kids are taught
to read Braille. 2009 marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth
of Louis Braille who developed the raised-dot code which remains the
only tool offering blind people true literacy.

“We don’t consider sighted children literate, just because they listen
to someone read to them,” says Hill, “But, that is what most public
school educators are essentially saying. Braille literacy is the major
link among successful blind adults.”

*Quick & Dirty*

Is this where she asks us for money, or to become volunteers or something?

Well, we certainly wouldn’t turn down either, but let me guess. Is this
you? You’d really love to help but even ten bucks would be painful and
you’re going nuts with your current schedule. Here’s a list of quick, no
cost alternatives to cash donations

* Link to PAD from your web site.

* Forward this to people you know.

* Tell your favorite nonprofits they can earn $4 for each $12 order they
take for the “Sound in Sight” CD with no minimum or upfront costs.

* I’m pretty sure I don’t know what I’m doing at least half the time, so
if you have a suggestion, let me know.

* Hey, words of encouragement are always appreciated. It really is an
uphill battle.

* *

*Knit Wits*!

Yes, guys, you can skip this, if you like. On our camping trip through
South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah this fall, I spent a lot of time
knitting. Well, what else was I going to do, drive? I made several lap
warmers and shawls, all in the same pattern -- Butterflies from “The
Pattern Library: Knitting” edited by Amy Carroll, 1981 (US publisher,
Ballantine Books). I already had it memorized – all 14 rows. No matter
that it doesn’t look as much like butterflies as big seashells. Each
butterfly, which is on a lattice-work background, is a solid fabric of
reverse stockinet with 6 ribs which start out separated by 3 stitches
and ultimately come together in a wrapped cluster. The ribs are made by
knitting through the back loop. There’re a lot of “k 1 - TBL” stitches
in the lattice as well and just as much decreasing either by knitting 2
together or using slip, knit pass. I couldn’t help but wonder why
sometimes you knit 2 together and sometimes slip, knit, pass? After a
thousand miles or so, I realized that the reason was to keep the “TBL”
rib stitch on top of the stitch that it was being combined with. If the
“TBL” stitch comes first, you use slip, knit, pass. If “TBL” comes
second, knitting the two stitches together gets the “TBL” on top of the
finished stitch! OK, tell me your latest knitting revelations. I’ll use
the best one next time and give you credit.

* *

* *

*Going to the Dogs!*

* *

**Caption to Photo: Donna’s 5-year-old Lab guide dog, Hunter, takes a
well-deserved rest. Photo by Rich Hill.*

*A few weeks ago, Hunter and I were walking cross-country on paths
through the fields near our house. With him guiding me, I often … well,
space out and get lost in my thoughts of new songs and stories as well
as the physical joy of walking.*

* *

*Suddenly, Hunter stopped, and I was brought back to my senses. It
seemed like a strange place to stop. Fortunately, more than thirty-five
years of using guide dogs had taught me something. The procedures for
occasions like this that I had learned during my four visits to the
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind (Smithtown, NY) popped into my head.*

* *

*First, I stuck my left foot forward and swept it around in front of us.
This would have revealed a ditch or a branch across the path, but I
found nothing. I heard an animal in the brush and thought Hunter may
have stopped just to look at it. I encouraged him to go forward. He didn’t*

* *

*O.K., what’s next? I lifted my right arm forward and swept it through
the air at head level. I was sure that there weren’t any overhanging
branches, and I was right. Was he staring at a rabbit?*

* *

*Next, I inched ahead and as my foot swung forward, it hit …*

* *

*A wire? A really long extension chord about ten inches off the ground?
Ah, yes, I remembered. They were looking for natural gas deposits in the
area. The company doing the seismic testing had draped wires all over
the place. We carefully stepped over the obstacle and continued on our
way. How could I have thought he was goofing off?*

* *

*“Good boy, Hunter! You deserve to bask in the leaves!”*

* *

* *

*Next Time*

* *

Donna’s visit with US Congressman Chris Carney! Till then, have a joyous
holiday season!

* *

* *

*Contact Info*

For house concerts, other bookings and information about PAD or
acquiring Donna’s writing services:

Donna Hill, Head of Media Relations

Performing Arts Division, National Federation of the Blind

(570) 833-2708

dwhill at epix.net <mailto:dwhill at epix.net>

RR #3 Box 15-C, Meshoppen, PA 18630

For Donations to PAD, Make checks payable to:

“National Federation of the Blind, Performing Arts Division” & send to
above address, or use PayPal at:

www.padnfb.org <http://www.padnfb.org/>

Published 12/18/08 by D.W. Hill


-- 
For my bio & to hear clips from The Last Straw:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill

Apple I-Tunes

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374

Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
www.padnfb.org







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