It's Time For The Next Chapter: The Final "Chicago to DC POV" Post

Photo by Carl Weaver

Dear Friends, Family, and Readers:

I've been meaning to write this post for ages but I've finally gotten around to it. The Chicago to DC POV had a great run but it has now fallen to the wayside to make room for new and exciting projects.

Please feel free to peruse the archives. There's plenty of material from pop culture, to music, to baseball, to life, and the like.

If you're interested in my musical projects including my new full band album that's currently in-production then http://rachellevitinmusic.com is the place to check.

For everything else, please visit: http://about.me/RHLevitin.

It's sad to say good bye to this blog but the fact is it opened up so many opportunities and experiences for me as a person so I am grateful to my father for talking me into starting it my senior year of college, just before his passing. I most definitely wouldn't have done it without him and now it's led me to write for several outlets that I never would have thought manageable. It's because my dad talked me into making this blog while I was still in journalism school that I was able to harness my voice as a writer and continue to learn a craft I value greatly.

Thanks to everyone who's read the site and thanks for following me on my life's journey. Don't be a stranger! I'll see you down the road.

Best Always,

Rachel Hurley Levitin

Watercolor Painting - #5 - 9/9/11

From start to finish:

Watercolor Painting - #4 - 9/7/11

So far, so good ...

Watercolor Painting - #3 - 9/6/11

Watercolor Painting - #2 - 9/6/11

Watercolor Painting - #1 - 9/5/11

Behind The Music: Writing "The Recession Blues"

Couldn't sleep tonight so I got started on a new song. Wrote this one on my ukulele after playing around with the chord progression for weeks. The music started out a bit faster-paced but I slowed it down. Once I got it to a tempo I liked, I realized that it - for whatever reason - reminded me of an old black and white film. From there, I got to thinking about The Great Depression which then reminded me of the news recently about the debt ceiling and all of the financial turmoil America seems to be in these days. So I wrote the following song (audio posted below the lyrics):

Money’s tight and times are tough

But we’ve got a roof over our heads

Working hard from nine to five

Induces some stress

But at the end of the day

We’ll come home to rest

What’s the use in complaining

Things could always be worse

There are people without the means we’ve got

Let’s make do with this here lot

So Uncle Sam’s got you down

What else is new, that’s the standard fare in this town

The news is depressin’

Especially in this here recession

But dust it off, don’t wear a frown

What’s the use in complaining

Things could always be worse

There are people without the means we’ve got

Let’s make do with this here lot

[Whistle solo goes here]

We’ve made it through wars

And other manic attacks

We’ve made it through the worst

We always make a comeback

There are people without the means we’ve got

Let’s make do with this here lot