Promoting music that is melodic, harmonious and unique is a passion. With the advent of Riverdance, it is wonderful to hear the addition of bagpipes, mandolin, banjo and bodran, etc., permeating mainstream music. As a descendant of Celts, it makes me proud! I have taken very few trips for my vacations, but I also love to travel and hope to get over to Ireland and Scotland before my other leg takes a powder. (Amputee humor!) (Maybe I can raise the funds selling body parts and blood)...in any case, I do hope to travel to Ireland this June and visit some of my new "family"!
UPDATE!!!!!!
I made to the old sod and have returned a new woman! Same arse, but a renewed spirit has taken over my entire essence. Ireland surpassed everything I dreamt it would be. I am now in love with Eire and especially Co. Roscommon, that held many magical moments for me. Thank you John Kelly and John Butler for making it all possible at your end & all of those here in Tucson that contributed to the Get Maggie to Ireland Fund by purchasing hundreds of my loaves of sweet bread, furniture, etc., so I didn't have to change this from a Po'tential trip to a Ho'tential trip! Gird your loins Ireland, 'cause this Broad is coming back soon.
I am half and half (Scottish & Irish), so I honor the Clan MacBain, MacDonald and my Irish cousins, the O'Neill's, O'Brien's and somewhere in the middle, the Buchanan's. Is there anything sweeter than a man in a kilt singing Danny Boy? Methinks not...Unless of course there is a stiff wind and the twig & berries are at attention...(Maggie O'Neill Lofgren)
I also love to cook, throw parties, go to the theater, movies and go out to dinner with friends and family. Here's a joke for everyone who appreciates the Celtic, ie Scottish tradition of empathy for others:
A bloke walks into a Glasgow library and says to the prim
librarian,
'Excuse me Miss, dey ye hiv ony books on
suicide?'
To which she stops doing her tasks, looks at him over the top of her glasses and says, 'Fook off, ye'll no bring it back!
((Did I mention that I am only half Scottish?))
Music
Quite recently, I have been exposed to 2 bands that are breathtaking in their ability to perform. The David Munnelly Band and Cara. PLEASE checkout their myspace sites and hang on to your arse. Unique, masterful and entertaining to the extreme. What a blast listening to them jam at the after party! Brilliant! The music I often chose is from Round the House, a Tucson based tradional Irish band that I also represent. Their website is http://www.roundthehouse.com/ I am also in the band Ratz Pack, that I sing back-up and ocassionally Lead for. You'll love the Crawdad Song aka:"Do you Suck the Head?", Pony Ride, and Heartload, plus many more. Contact me for more details, but very soon I'll have the new Ratz Pack MySpace site up. Our old one disappeared. http://www.myspace.com/ratzpackinaz (A work in progress!)
Also, try Mp3 Direct Link for Ratz' Pack, Perspectives by Contrasts
A former opera singer, my voice has mellowed. Love to do folk, bluegrass, show tunes, Irish/Scottish, some pop.
I finally fulfilled my dream of singing in Ireland on May 31, 2008 at the Mayor's Ball at the Abbeyfield Hotel in Ballaghaderreen. Granted, it was about 2AM and the crowd was, shall we say, a bit shattered, but I did good and received many kudos in the form of pints and Bailey's, that I hid amongst the "dead soldiers", or gave away. I did indulge in 1 drink, which was Brandy & Bailey's. It is going to be hard to be a non-drinker after that....FABULOUS!
I have been a National Anthem singer for the Tucson Toros, the Sidewinders, the Tucson Highland Games and several other events. I LOVE Green Day, Rob Thomas, Mozart, jazz, blues, bluegrass, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Santana and old time Rock and Roll. But truly my first love is opera and classical music. Rest in Peace Miss Beverly Sills, Luciano and Jerry.
Movies
Musicals old and new..."The Producers" is brilliant, The Hill (early Sean Connery),The Quiet Man, Schindler's List, Braveheart, It'a a Wonderful Life, The Grinch, The Secret of Roan Inish, Sense and Sensibilities, The Color Purple and anything with Colin Firth in it and nothing with J Lo or Tom Cruise in it....
Television
24, House, Bones, everthing Law and Order, Lost, Histories Mysteries, Mad TV, Sat. Night Live (sometimes), Prisonbreak, and the soaps on CBS. I almost forgot, MONK and the 4400...There are some new ones too, Psych, Burn Notice, Pushing Daisies, Heroes, and Lord I watch entirely too much TV.
Books
The Bible, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Bubbles, Rascal, anything Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, or Jane Austen, Harry Potter (all of them), The Shining...
Heroes
My Grandparents, Grant and Pearl, my Mom Olive, Mom in law Gretchen and the rest of my darling family for putting up with me and my physical issues with such love. Ben Stein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Oprah Winfrey, Lauren K. for coming back from oblivion with such grace and Ann W. for being the Iron Maiden in a field of ungrateful, petty, jealous business men.
Glenbard West High School
Glen Ellyn, IL
Graduated: 1974
Student status: Alumni
Degree: High School Diploma
Major: College Prep
Clubs: Thespians, Chorus, Madrigal Singers, I can't remember everything anymore!
1970 to 1974
Maggie is in mourning for her Da, a World War II US Navy Vet and a husband for 67 years. Go softly onto High and rest sweetly, as your pain and fear are now gone...... Posted at 8:31 PM Sep 30 view more
About me: Howdy! Thanks for stopping by! I hail from Glen Ellyn, Il. and Chicago, but have become a desert rat here in "It's a dry heat," Tucson, AZ. I am honest to a fault, rather a sophisticated minx, that is passionate, but not entirely tarty, and doesn't tend to put up with slackers. Please let me be clear....I'm noooo beauty queen, so don't get your knickers in a knot fellas. Even though I'm a fluffy sized (BBW) 53 year old woman with a peg leg(amputee humor), and "2" arses, I still have a chard or two of hope left for a life of substance in a mutually nurturing, loving relationship. Crazy? Maybe...but.....maybe not!
I enjoy laughter, comedic verbal sparring, candor and other people who allow passion, on different levels, into their lives. A great sense of humor makes me tingle. Although I am considered disabled due to my leg situation, most people have a hard time keeping up with me. I am a great friend, so if I don't trip your trigger cowboy, no worries, because maybe we can be BFF's!
(DEFINITELY NOT interested in an online view /discussion of what you might hold most dear in the wee hours of the night! Or sending money to Nigeria, Ghana, etc. Sheesssh!)
I'm involved with many charities of a Celtic nature and step-mom to 3 boys that I adore. I am a singer, award winning baker and cook of all things comforting. Irish/Scottish in background, so I am intuitive, passionate, somewhat silly and my heart is very big and giving .....but even though I am goofy, never assume I'm not a lady.
FYI
SADLY SINGLE again,(I knew there was a reason most peroxide blondes rubbed me the wrong way), which has been devastating, but my 3 wonderful sons help keep me focused. Soooo, I am getting a divorce at present.....it rips me apart, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I am a retired board member of the Tucson-Roscommon Sister Cities organization. I have been an active fund raiser for years for the Tucson St. Pat's Parade, the Emerald Isle Society, the Show of Shows and past Co-Chair of the Arlene Morris fund. Fiercely Celtic, I am involved in many of Tucson's Irish and Scottish organizations, including a past board member, secretary, entertainment chair, and program designer for the Annual Saint Patrick Day Parade of Tucson, but I am unofficially back in the fray....
My new focus is on getting an Irish Heritage Foundation building built, similiar to the great one in Phoenix. We need donations of time, money and expertise in many areas, if you are interested in getting involved.
I was to have performed for the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, when she came to Phoenix, last December, for a ground breaking ceremony of the new Irish Library being built. However, due to her security advisors, she was only allowed 1 hour at the event, so she didn't hear me sing. I did however get to meet her and her husband, and spend quite a few moments speaking with this amazing woman. The true highlight of my life!
I helped to bring a joint US/Ireland theatrical production to Tucson on Feb 29., 2008, regarding the life of Tucson Founder Hugh O'Conor, back in the 1700's, which I emceed. This event brought the Consul General of Ireland to Tucson and now we are working jointly to get an Irish Cultural Center built here. Anyone interested in being on the committee, contact me. I was also honored to meet the members of the cast and crew, who came in from Ireland as strangers, but left as family. Caroilin, Michael, Gus, Maggie, Philip and Patrick, I wish great things for you all, no matter where life and the greasepaint take you. The Auld Dubliner will never be the same! I went to Ireland in June of '08 and got to see them all, except Gus, in Galway at the City Centre Theater performing the play. Had a blast for 2 days and the nights at the Pub were exquisite!
OK,OK I'm done.....
Who I'd like to meet: My business side would like to meet people who want to move to or invest in Tucson. I work with wonderful people in residential and commercial sales and great lenders. My musical side would like to meet other folks interested in Celtic music, the bodran, bagpipes, Bluegrass, show tunes and on a good voice day, classical. I love doing studio recordings and of course live performances. Recently I have been crossing paths online with long, lost friends and my hope is that this site will garner a few more. There has been a gilch on this site, so I am a graduate(1974) of Glenbard West High School, went to U W-Platteville and the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. I can also be reached at maggieoaz@msn.com I hope to hear from some Hilltoppers!
Every time that we listen & write music... play an instrument... dance... act in a play... or work in some audio/image/video engineering process... something is healing inside...
When we share it with friends... something is healing all over...
cada vez que escuchamos o escribimos musica... tocamos un instrumento... bailamos... o trabajamos en procesos de ingenieria de audio/imagen/video.... algo se sana por dentro...
Cuando lo compartimos con amigos... algo se sana en todas partes...
El Amor puede conducir... de manera simple... todo...
Looking around at some of the problems we are facing it is amazing the foresight the founders of this country had. We probably should have paid closer attention.
