• eurekame said on Jul 17, 2009....

  Moon- beautiful sketch...and great memories of a love lost...
   
  *side note-Tiny Dancer is my favorite song of all time...and picking a favorite is very hard for a music buff like myself.

• CreativeWoman said on Jul 17, 2009....

  moon,
  I'm almost feeling like I shouldn't comment on this one.  It seems so personal to the lady you're written "to".   I hope that she does read it and sees the lovely sketch you did of her.
  
  CW
  

• secretlife said on Jul 17, 2009....

  God i sooooooooooooo love this song!
  i miss the 70's! lol and the damn 80's too!!!!
   
  the thing i miss most are the feelings we felt when we were young and the memories we made then that we didn't realize would stay with us for the rest of our lives!

• beyondtheveil said on Jul 17, 2009....

  Hey moon. Corny little song, huh? Amazing how corny little songs can affect people.
  
  This one affected a lot of us. It is still the number one song requested by fans every place he performs to this day. He told me that at a concert about a year ago.
  
  It partly defined an era for me. I have probably designed a hundred personal tapes and cd's with my favorite tunes and that Tiny Dancer has been on every one, no exception. The first few notes on the piano surge through me, reliving thoughts and times over and over.
  
  When it was released I was working devilish hours and heard it at a neat bar I liked on the jukebox. I called the girl working over and asked 'What IS that song?'.  I had Madman Across the Water the next day. I still remember the face of that girl who told me the title.
  
  I think his greatest work is 'Funeral for a Friend', but somehow Tiny Dancer reins supreme.
  
  Thanks for the memories. I needed that just now. What a neat post.
  

• the_infernal_optimist said on Jul 17, 2009....

  Wow. Just...wow.
  
  She's one lucky lady, my friend, to hold part of your heart after so many years. :) What a sweet post.
  
  ~Infernal
  

• pusscat said on Jul 17, 2009....

  Oh moon.  What can one say to such a beautiful note to a precious lady?  I guess we all have our own Kathryn but I hope yours read this.  
  
  I love your sketch of her too.
  

• PAPERBACKWRITER said on Jul 17, 2009....

  
  {{{heartsqueeze}}}
  
  :)
  
  <3 ditse
  

• Lucytorial said on Jul 17, 2009....

  Indelible...... lovely...... gentle and exciting.  Moon, this is lovely.

• gingersoul said on Jul 17, 2009....

  Moon.....i liked that movie too...and in particular the scene in the video and the song.....anytime i see it i smile...i feel a well known fire inside..
  
  Nothing is ever completely gone when remains in our memories.....
  
  The scene and your post capture (perfectly) the bond and the camaraderie of my youth (and yours too).
  The easiness to meet new people and the easiness to become friends...the indelible strength of those deep connections, no matter how long they had last....
  
  I can't tell you how many time we would end up singing together like that during some of our many spontaneous car trips in the country or to some beach...
  We were 20-25 friends (and more would stay and go) bonding over the same political ideas, the same political hopes, the same vision of the world...
  The same love for music and adventures..
  I remember many of their faces still....
  
  I had a blue-jean baby (maybe more than one) and i have been a blue-jean baby for some others too...;-p
  
  When i go to Italy i always bump in one of those old friends...sure, they and I have changed, some of us more than others...some are respectable lawyers now, or doctors, or teachers, or journalists....
  
  But it only takes sitting together at some outdoor coffee table sipping an Espresso to take back the twinkle in our eyes, to revive old situations, to retell old jokes..like time had never passed......
  
  Then we would hug and say "Take care, hope life will treat you good" and we would go for our own lives again...
  
  But for a moment it has been like we were back in some of our second hand cars, smoking, singing out loud.......
  In a way, we will always stay there....in our memories....
  
  
  I love your sketch, Moon......:-)
  
  

• moonriver said on Jul 17, 2009....

  hi everyone.
  a nice rainy saturday morning here.
  
  i see that many of you love the elton song.
  psst. beyond. kathryn and i found the song corny at first.
  but it sort of grew on us, reflecting the song's history as a "slow starter" in the box office charts.
  jiggy (who's having a late and lazy breakfast...) is saying just now:
  "papa, i think i like that song. can we get a copy of almost famous?" lol
  
  so okay, two youtube pieces for you on a saturday morning (or friday evening, as the case may be).
  
  first, the original elton john song (with full instrumental) dubbed onto a live video performance.
  
  
  
  and next, dave grohl of foo fighters doing a fun cover of the same song.
  (i remember that red hot chili peppers did the same, but i liked dave grohl's better.)
  
  
  
  
  
  and so that the younger ones can all sing along with this song (especially the fantastic chorus), together with you 70s and 80s music addicts out there, here's the lyrics:
  
  
  TINY DANCER
  Elton John and Bernie Taupin
  
  Blue jean baby, L.A. lady,
  Seamstress for the band
  Pretty eyed, pirate smile,
  You'll marry a music man
  
  Ballerina, you must have seen her
  dancing in the sand
  And now she's in me, always with me,
  Tiny dancer in my hand
  
  Jesus freaks out in the street
  Handing tickets out for God
  Turning back she just laughs
  The boulevard is not that bad
  
  Piano man he makes his stand
  In the auditorium
  Looking on she sings the songs
  The words she knows, the tune she hums
  
  But oh how it feels so real
  Lying here with no one near
  Only you, and you can hear me
  When I say softly, slowly
  
  chorus
  Hold me closer tiny dancer
  (a pundit insists it's "Hold me closer, Tony Danza"...lol)
  Count the headlights on the highway
  Lay me down on sheets of linen
  You had a busy day today
  
  
  
  Ok gotta get back to my Saturday morning chores.
  I read all the comments so far; will do the individual replies later... :-)
  
  

• Me-Myself&I said on Jul 17, 2009....

  you are such a romantic soul! *smile* i love the song too. have a great weekend my friend. xo take care ~see ya

• diabolicdame said on Jul 18, 2009....

  Thats a very nice sketch moonie.. and from feb 1975.. and you still have it!! Aww..  :-)

  Koots must've been really special! To be remembered after so long with so much warmth by somebody kind of fulfills life purpose.. there is little more one can ask for in the big scheme of things.. beautiful post!  :-)

• raindove said on Jul 18, 2009....

  Moonriver I love your name. And this sketch is beautiful. She looks so pretty even from behind. Some memories always remain special, no matter how old. I read your post twice, it touched me so much and I know I can relate.

• uniquely-ironic said on Jul 18, 2009....

  snap shot from the past.  Very nice!  You can feel the attachment even lingers just a little still yet.

• quietone said on Jul 18, 2009....

  ah, moon, as usual... this is so touching....  

• MsStar39 said on Jul 18, 2009....

  Great memories, love the song.

• Battycat said on Jul 18, 2009....

  Lovely post and sketch, and i love the song :-)

• queenparanoia said on Jul 19, 2009....

  very nice post mr. moonriver... :-)

• lovetheresarose said on Jul 20, 2009....

  Moonriver, You wrote this captivating, yet personal letter with so much detail.. that even I wanted to meet this "Kathyrn" or Koots.. Also, great sketch. I like the angle:) Very beautiful.

• UnicornForm said on Jul 21, 2009....

  Sweet post moon, shes a lucky lady.

• ellamae14 said on Jul 24, 2009....

  hey moon, this posts stirs up a lot of old cherished memories in me. It may not be the same circumstances or our stories may be different in details but the main point is that we all loved and have been loved. Sometimes when I get hurt because I have loved I wanted not to love at all if only not to experience getting hurt anymore.
  But truly loving someone above one self and above fear of getting hurt really brings out the ultimate person in you. And that is worth it all.
  This is really sweet and indeed personal. Thank you for sharing. It makes me beleive I know you from somewhere. Maybe not in this lifetime or the next. But from somewhere. :)
   

• moonriver said on Aug 06, 2009....

  hi eurekame.
  among the many sketches i did of kathryn, this is my favorite.
  most of the others, i gave to her (hope they're still with her).
  truly great song. i'm glad you agree, my friend.
  that makes you tiny dancer fan #1.
  i like your side-notes style. i really do!
  
  hi cw.
  i know that feeling, my friend, like you were reading a very private letter.
  in fact, it took me some time (and internal prodding) to write and post this blog.
  but i had to, i wanted to, and i'm elated at all the comments.
  just you wait for the sequel to this... ;-)
  
  hi secret.
  ah, another tiny dancer fan, #2.
  i see our ranks are growing!
  you are so right about the memories of youth, my friend.
  i've been reading this anthology of six american writers, inventing the truth: the art and craft of memoir.
  the book insists that memoir-writing is in the mainstream of great american literature, which include such writers as thoreau, emerson, and whitman.
  it's a great read, if only because it can inspire us ordinary folk to write about our memories.
  
  hi beyond.
  tiny dancer fan #3.
  the nice thing about the song is that it sort of grows on you through the years.
  at least, that's how tiny dancer gradually wrapped itself around me and kathy.
  yes, it started as a "corny little song," then it grew and almost became the defining backdrop for our relationship.
  wow, friend, you really had a chance to talk to elton john, huh?
  the song has the same effect on me exactly like you described:
  the first few notes on the piano as a trigger, a lever that releases a floodgate of memories.
  and might i add, the hair-raising chorus has the same effect.
  
  hi infernal.
  kathryn and i are lucky in some ways, yes, considering what we went through.
  sometimes i still dream about certain episodes of our past.
  some sad memories, but mostly the happy ones.
  ironically, the most memorable event was an inseparable mix of happy and sad, once when we stayed at her parents' lakeside vacation house.
  that's the reason why i signed this hypothetical letter as "the lakeside visitor."
  
  

• moonriver said on Aug 06, 2009....

  hi pusscat.
  i hope it really does have that effect on kathryn ("a beautiful note to a precious lady," in your words).
  she wasn't too keen about the sketch though, saying "my backside isn't my best side," while i insisted that she had a fabulously sexy backside.
  btw, i searched for her name on facebook, and two ladies with the same name came up, but they were not her.
  
  hi ditse papel.
  ((heart-squeezes back))
  thanks for dropping by.
  <3 sangko
  
  hi lucy.
  indelible...check.
  lovely...check.
  gentle and exciting... make that wild and wooly. lol
  one time, a rumor spread like wildfire among our friends that kathryn and i spent a wild weekend together at a secluded seaside resort.
  we were supposed to have rolled on the sand and surf of the deserted beach, oblivious to the world around us, and doing the obvious things that lovers do in the dark.
  we neither confirmed or denied the allegations.
  so make that wild and wooly.
  
  hi ginger.
  you definitely know what i'm talking about here, describing much of it in details that i would have used too:
  the camaraderie that led from casual ties to lifetime bonds.
  the remembrances of trips, music, and discussions on politics, culture, and society at large.
  and all these memories coming back as in a flood when triggered by a song, a chance meeting, a visit to an old haunt.
  kathryn and i belonged to a closely-knit group of maybe 10-15 friends that lasted for years.
  what we did as a group, through those years, is worth perhaps a dozen blogs.
  kathy was one of the few who fell out too early and cut most of her ties with us.
  i still want to piece together the events that led to that sad episode.
  thanks for thoughtfully sharing your own similar experiences, my friend.
  oh, yes. you're tiny dancer fan #4.
  
  hi me-my.
  tiny dancer fan #5.
  it seems most everyone who commented here loved that song.
  and there was a time, years afterward, when i would play that song on the piano, over and over again, belting out the chorus and trying to relive my times with her.
  
  hold me closer, tiny dancer!
  count the headlights on the highway!
  
  then i'd segue into b-b-b-benny and the jets.
  
  he's got electric boots, and mohair suits!
  you know i read it in a magazeee-eeeen, yeah...
  
  thanks for saying that romantic thing about my soul, my friend.
  i'll take you up on that when i do get a chance to visit the ohio valley.
  
  

• moonriver said on Aug 06, 2009....

  hi ddame.
  yes, the sketch is one of the few of her that remains with me.
  she was, and indeed remains, a special person in my life.
  in fact, everyone -- including my mother, who's my harshest judge in these matters -- thought that we were on our way to married life in a year or less.
  there was a surprise twist that ended our story.
  psst, friend. you wanna know how "kathryn" became "koots"?
  first kathryn morphed into kat.
  then michaela converted kat into some native form that sounded unflattering.
  then everyone agreed to soften it by anglicizing it again to koots.
  rhymes with toots and hoots and puss'n boots.
  but i knew what her old-fashioned dad and mom called her, and i stuck to it.
  
  hi raindove.
  i smiled at your words, "she looks so pretty even from behind."
  i know exactly what you mean.
  like i said, she had a fabulously sexy backside.
  especially in those tight levis that she often wore.
  thanks for the nice comment about my name.
  
  hi unique.
  a nice slice of memories, indeed.
  sometimes i speculate idly about what might have been, had i married her and had kids.
  my pragmatic side tells me, our marriage wouldn't have lasted 10 years.
  there were so many factors that worked against us.
  i need another blog to explain it.
  but yes, the lingering attachment is there.
  
  hi quietone.
  thank you, my dear friend.
  
  hi msstar.
  psst, friend. i'll tell you something that perhaps only a few of my regular readers noticed.
  there's one blog i wrote, and later recycled, about other songs that also reminded me of kathryn.
  it's Midnight bus trips and desert moons.
  you're hereby marked as tiny dancer fan #6.
  
  

• moonriver said on Aug 06, 2009....

  hi battycat.
  thank you for the kind comment.
  you are tiny dancer fan #7.
  hope i see more of you at sc, friend.
  
  hi miss queenie.
  i'm glad you liked this post, my friend.
  kathryn had a bubbly personality, which i imagine you have too, in excessive amounts.
  but when she played volleyball as part of the varsity team, she became a mean and unforgiving spike machine, who could kick ass and curse like pirate.
  well, maybe again, like you too when your royal highness is insulted, haha.
  
  hi love rose.
  i'm always thrilled to the bone when i write down something from experience, choose certain details that are striking and memorable for me, and then read a comment like yours, who are drawn in by these same details.
  levis blue jeans. crummy lime-green T-shirt.
  (others teased her worse about that shirt, describing its color as phlegmatic green... :-)
  a swimmer's broad shoulders and a dancer's lithe legs.
  did i mention a face full of teenage acne? no? oh... lol
  and always the subtle scent of musk oil.
  i'm glad you liked the sketch.
  
  hi unicorn.
  well, maybe kathryn is indeed lucky that i have only sweet memories of her.
  maybe she's even doubly lucky this piano man didn't marry her.
  her parents would've probably scratched off her inheritance, and she would've found it impossible to go to med school... :-)
  thanks for the comment, lady.
  
  hi ellamae.
  thank you too, for sharing your thoughts on bittersweet memories about old loves and old hurts.
  yes, i can shout it now without flinching:
  i loved her, it was a love probably doomed not to last long, but every day was worth it!
  hhmm... maybe you're right. maybe you and i know each other from somewhere in time.
  are you kathryn? no? oh, you aren't an LA-based doctor?
  phew. i'm so relieved. lol
  
  

• moonriver said on Aug 06, 2009....

  and now, if you will indulge me for a bonus round of comments, can anyone answer this very important question:
  
  
  in the sketch, is kathryn wearing a bra or not?
  why do you say so?
  
  
  
  

• gingersoul said on Aug 06, 2009....

  Moon......well...this is a very important question, indeed....lol..
   
  Let's see....i would say she has her bra on. You said she fell alseep on that couch after an all-nigth trip...i would say she was so tired she didn't even have the energy to take it off or the right amount of privacy....
   
  But most important detail....if she was indeed bra-less i think your hand wouldn't have been that firm, my friend....lol...
   
  I  would see a lot of more shaking lines ...less accuracy in those details...;-p
   
  You know......your mind would have been totally lost in the thrill of having her laying down in front of you without a bra....lol...
   
  Or at least......this is my story and i stick with it...:-)

• moonriver said on Aug 06, 2009....

  ginger, you guessed right on the "is she or isn't she" dept.
  she was indeed wearing a bra.
  you're also right about her being so tired, she just slumped straight onto the couch to sleep a baby angel's sleep.
  
  but you missed out on the one most unmistakeable detail that says she is wearing a bra.
  look at that pencil line that defines her skyline, particularly between the rise of her shoulder and the valley of her waist.
  see how the fabric of the T-shirt is stretched tight across that part?
  now focus on that sloping ridge, almost midway between shoulder and waist.
  you see it? just a very subtle depression?
  there's your evidence.
  the unmistakeable strap of a bra that's made a slight dent on flesh because it's a little too tight.
  
  we artists have this eagle's eye for detail, especially when we've been sketching our amore for quite a while.
  and no, you guessed wrong about my mischievous left hand.
  had kathryn been naked, my hand would have remained firm, even more accurate and persistent in its well-practiced strokes.
  like in that mind-blowing titanic scene where jack sketches rose wearing only her jewels.
  
  but, all in all, i like how your mind works. lol
  
  

• gingersoul said on Aug 06, 2009....

  OMG.....the video is so funny....
  
  The Missie white cat...so pretty.....i want an all white cat with blue eyes as my last pet ...oui....
  
  And Mister Purr-Leonardo looks exactly like one cat i had in Italy....his name was Mohamed...
  
  About your unmistakeable evidence of the presence of a bra...uhmm...i don't think they are so unmistkeable......maybe they are for you because you drawned them...:-).
  
  What you said about her being so tired ....that is all the evidence i needed....:-)
  
  

• moonriver said on Aug 07, 2009....

  ginger, what can i say?
  
  i noticed that slight indent on her body terrain
  with the eye of an artist as i sketched her.
  i froze its imprint on that strathmore sketchbook.
  now, 34 years later, i notice it anew, and smile
  at the cosmic implications of an all-night trip.
  tired sleep crystallized into that subtle concavity.
  
  

• ellamae14 said on Aug 07, 2009....

  hi moonriver, I agree with ginger's flow of thoughts, she'll be too tired to remove her bra after a trip like that. I looked at the picture again and noticed that the contour of her body have a dent side. The one where bras usually are. So, u might have noticed that too, while sketching her, the bra pulled on her flesh a little too tight makes an indentation. I don't know. :) good job though. and no I'm not kathryn. I've never been on a trip like that, and the only artist i know who likes me and had given me a sketch of myself was from highschool. I don't think you are adonis, aren't u? hehe. (that's his true name btw.)

• moonriver said on Aug 07, 2009....

  hi again ellamae.
  you get my point. you get ginger's point.
  and everything's all right with the world... :-)
  
  haha, i'm no adonis, lady.
  whether by name, by anatomy, or by profession.
  and it's all right that you're not kathryn.
  otherwise, i'd be in big big trouble here at sc. lol
  
  

• beyondtheveil said on Aug 13, 2009....

  Actually, moon, he told me and about fifteen thousand other people it was most requested song. But he was looking straight at me some fifty yards away - does that count?
  
  I don't know if you have ever seen him in concert, but he is a very honest, grateful to fans, and noble bearing gentleman. I wish we had many more like him.
  

• gingersoul said on Aug 13, 2009....

  Ciao, Beybey.....:-)
   
  I saw Elton John in concert at New York more than 10 years ago...
  It has been great!
   
  Even though our seats were pretty far from the stage (due to tickets bougth at the very last minute.....basically we bumped in the concert...and a guy sold them to us as black market tickets.....you know.....)
   
  But E.J. delivered a great concert....and this song was one of them.....;-)

• moonriver said on Aug 17, 2009....

  beyond -- yes, that kind of conversation still counts. 
  no, i've never seen elton john in concert.
  a double-cd set of his "rare masters," given to me by a close friend from my high-school days, is one of my most valued possessions.
  yes, i imagine him too as an honest gentleman.
  ginger -- you and beyond are lucky.
  
  

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