Tag Archives: both sides now

Discovering my song: embracing music, finding my voice, and creating a meaningful life without a rule book … final Legal Marketing Association President’s message #lmamkt #lma23 #bothsidesnow

1 December 2023

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I never had voice lessons. I didn’t sing in high school choir. But when I was attending Wabash College, I suddenly found myself craving all the music my parents listened to when I was growing up: Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis, Lena Horne, Doris Day. And I would go to the Walmart or Target in Crawfordsville, Indiana (we only had two stores … lol) and grab any CDs I could find. Columbia House helped too! I may still owe them for some of those discs, come to think of it. And I’d pop the shiny objects into my Discman that plugged into a tape deck in my swanky 1986 Buick Century and sing WAY out loud as I drove. Those artists “taught” me how to sing.

A few years later, I was cast as one of the leads in The Fantasticks. My mother, who DID have formal vocal training, told me years later that she was terrified over what was about to unfold. She said that once I opened my mouth and let out a warble, she knew I was going to be ok.

And I think I love singing for the very reason that it’s always been mine. No one forcing rules or expectations on me. Just doing it the way that feels natural to me. It refills my well and brings me joy. Not sure if it does the same for the audience, but that doesn’t stop me. Everyone needs something like that in their lives.

Roy at LMAMW23
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So, I leave you, in my way, with a song. “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell became one of my mom’s favorite tunes before she died. And I think I know why. In this beautiful yet poignant moment of transition in my life, its lyrics speak to me in a way they never did before. I hope they will hold some meaning for you as well.

Here’s the video of me giving the ballad’s melancholy joy a go.

Thank you for this opportunity to help bring something back to a community that has given me so much. 2023 will be a highlight of my career and life. And thank you for letting me be my weird and open-hearted self. That may be the best gift of all.

Love you…

P.S. For those wondering how the whole “playlist” thing got started, one more, to bring us full circle: “AmpliMix … the OG” on Spotify and Apple Music. This was created about a year ago this time for our LMA leaders kick-off (regional presidents, international board, committee co-chairs and SIG co-chairs). It only feels right to share this far and wide. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy the positive vibes here – and maybe use this mix to ring in the New Year!

P.P.S. And for completists out there (like me!) here’s the full list of this year’s playlists. Thanks for letting me share the soundtrack in my head with you all year long!

Keep on dancin’! Music is my love language …

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Love you!

Roy

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Roy E. Sexton

President, 2023 LMA International Board of Directors

Director of Marketing, Clark Hill

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Check out the LMA Fireside Chat with LMA 2023 President Roy Sexton, and President-Elect Kevin Iredell, moderated by Interim CEO Ashley Stenger, reviewing LMA’s successful 2023 and looking ahead to 2024! 

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REGISTER NOW FOR LMA24 April 3-5 San Diego

FLASH PROMO: Register by December 31 to be entered in a drawing for a free room night and room upgrade — plus get the Early Bird discount!!

If you ever wondered why I am the crazy nut I am … thanks to my cousin Krisan Gregson for finding and sending. I was truly fortunate to have the parents, upbringing, and home I did … full of creativity, hustle, and love. #youngauthors #ptareflections #indiana #onlychild

The Oscars … A Final Word on 2017

27 February 2017

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All: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

The #Oscars … a final word. I always enjoy the show. A family tradition, we watched every year. We enjoyed the spectacle. We appreciated the good and the great amidst the marketing and the gamesmanship. We embraced the sense of community and the half-baked overtures at social consciousness. We lived for those odd and memorable moments that set one year apart from another. And we relished that we live in a country where this kind of goofy escapist display is celebrated.

 

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All in all, I liked last night’s show. And I’m grateful for the arts on all levels – from shameless commerce to high-falutin’ … glad it is ALL there for our consumption.

Other than that delightfully bizarre ending (La La Land wins … oops, sorry … give those back. Moonlight wins!), I thought this year’s Oscar telecast was a good-hearted and balanced production, and, while I am not a fan of Jimmy Kimmel, I thought he did a decent job of poking fun at the right personalities without being too invasive/obtrusive. And the whole enterprise moved as efficiently as it ever does, with a high point being the musical numbers … for once.

Here are some parting shots, culled from my social media observations of the evening …

  • Emma Stone,Ryan Gosling,Mahershala AliEmma Stone! And now she has an #Oscar … so we get a little break from the relentless charm offensive? Pretty please?
  • I know we are supposed to love Matt and Ben, but they seem like marginally interesting guys with whom I may have gone to high school.
  • Dammit. “Both Sides Now”?!? That song makes me a puddle. Perfect choice.#SaraBareilles #JoniMitchell #InMemoriam
  • “Dedicated to all the kids who sing in the rain. And all the moms who let them.” – “City of Stars” Best Song acceptance
  • Oh my! John Legend singing “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” … beautiful and elegant throwback to another era. A little Sammy Davis, a little Johnny Mathis, a little Nat King Cole. A lot of gorgeous.
  • Javier Bardem + Meryl Streep = swoon!gettyimages-645743660
  • “To save one life is to save all of humanity.” – White Helmets Oscars acceptance
  • Miracle of miracles. Seth Rogen actually made me laugh. #schuylersistersbucketlist
  • Audible – 1984, Zachary Quinto – commercial. For the win. #Orwell
  • This tour bus thing is a pretty funny bit. And Nicole, Ryan, Denzel, Jennifer, Meryl, Jeff, etc are playing along beautifully. #Gary
  • Yes. Zootopia! Most cleverly subversive film of the year. (And here comes the Moana debate again…)
  • Great ad, Cadillac. Though, it would have been better as Chevrolet. #CadillacNotTheEverymanCar … Cadillac … cars for fancy people … no, wait, for the common man … no, wait. Fancy people. Yeah. Fancy people.
  • Shirley MacLaine, still looking adorable, and still milking the reincarnation jokes…
  • US-OSCARS-SHOW“People and words and life and forgiveness. And grace.” – Viola Davis
  • “I love Lady Gaga’s grandma’s house.” – Ellen (I am not sure what the ad was for, but that line made me LOL.)
  • For the first time … in, like, ever … the music on the #Oscars is (mostly) on point. But I’d like Lin-Manuel to stop rapping. For a long time.
  • “We don’t discriminate based on country of origin here in Hollywood. We discriminate based on age and weight.” – Jimmy Kimmel
  • Words I thought I’d never type. Suicide Squad, Oscar winner.
  • John Travolta should send Warren Beatty a cookie basket. Adele Dazeem is a distant memory now. #Oscars

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89th Annual Academy Awards - ShowReel Roy Reviews is now TWO books! You can purchase your copies by clicking here (print and digital). In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the first book is currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan.  My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.