About
Think of Rock+Paper+Music as newspaper column: a variety of topics covered with one thing in common: the voice of the columnist.
That’d be me.
And much like the rules of the game from which I borrowed the title, the focus of Rock+Paper+Music changes depending on which subject wins the throw-down on a given day. Politics, music, culture, bad TV…life. Sass and sensibility in equal doses.
Or, in the parlance of Leslie Gore, it’s my blog and I’ll write what I want to!
When I first started this blog, a rather cynical gent with whom I shared this information retorted: “Oh God, do we really need another blog? I mean, isn’t everybody blogging?” He is, as you could guess, not a favorite person. But I answered his plaint with my very first piece: (Admission Statement).
But yes, in a nutshell, everybody is blogging. Pretty much, anyway. When I was acting, everyone was acting. Singing? You got it, loads of singers out there. It’s a big damn world and one undeniable differentiation in any category of human expression is the particular voice of the person expressing. Much like snowflakes, no two voices are the same. Unless you’re dealing with the Olsen twins or any of the Kardashians. But in most cases, our uniqueness is what gives our particular contribution its specific and defining character.
And Rock+Paper+Music is my snowflake, my particular slice of life, my uniquely spiced verbal stew (please stop). If you want traditional theme blogging, I will happily refer you to wonderful bloggers who write exclusively on parenting, movie reviews, wedding preparation or the proliferation of wind farms. But here at Rock+Paper+Music you can open the package each time with anticipation of what’s inside. It could be anything: political madness, environmental issues, culture wars, religious conundrums, family and parenting, David Duchovny…whatever piques my interest, whatever’s grinding my axe, whatever life story seems ripe for the telling. My tongue will either be firmly planted in cheek, snapping at some new absurdity or making points I deem worthy. You may not always agree, or find every subject to your particular taste or liking, but I promise to keep it sharp, honest and compelling.
Leaving comments at the site is profoundly welcome and, in fact, requested, as are comments on Facebook posts. Clicking the “Like” button or Tweeting is always appreciated in today’s social media world. But mostly…it’s about the reading. And I thank you for reading and, hopefully, enjoying. That, after all, is the whole point.
Please stop by often for a slice of life as I’m seein’ it…you know there’s always a new one heating up!
LDW
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the official bio
The day her father carried the smoking TV out the door for the last time was the day Lorraine Devon Wilke unknowingly embarked upon her life as an artist. Once the kicking and screaming stopped and the dulling noise of canned laughter disappeared, she and her 10 brothers and sisters found their vivid imaginations – and the world at large – to be a very colorful and creative place. The record player now accompanied every waking moment, whether her mother’s Perry Como, her brothers’ James Gang, or the Beatles, Joni, and CSN she and her sisters devoured. Her father took them to musicals, her mother created worlds with backyard carnivals and hand-made dolls; her brothers and sisters painted, wrote outrageous basement shows, picked up guitars and sang until there wasn’t a stage they could step on and not set the room on fire. That was the truest, most cherished legacy of her family life…artistic spirit.
From there she pounced into her own version of consummate creativity: a theater major at the 
University of Illinois, she learned stage acting and script writing and spent most of her sophomore year traveling with an award-winning original musical that took her and her cast mates to the Kennedy Center. The pounding activity of live performance piqued her interest in recording and performing with bands, a passion that ironically compelled her early departure from school when the one that wooed her onto the road became too great an adventure to ignore.
Dreams and westward bookings landed her in Los Angeles, where she decided to embrace the fabled city of movies and grand destinies by trying her luck as an actor. For 5 years she studied with Robert F. Lyons, a protégé of famed acting guru, Milton Katselas, and while she honed her skills, learned how to teach the craft, performed in countless plays, landed some TV and film roles, and enthusiastically pounded the pavement along with the best of them, the siren song of music sweet music was always a seductive pull.
She launched back into full-time rock and roll in the ’80s (see Music Page), but continued to keep her feet firmly planted on all sides of her creative road. When she and filmmaker, Patricia Royce, sat around her apartment talking long and hilariously enough to come up with a timely, 
clever screenplay based on their tumultuous 30-something lives, the result was To Cross the Rubicon, a 1.7 million dollar feature produced in the early 90’s by the Lensman Company out of Seattle, directed by Barry Caillier, which went on to win awards on the festival circuit, had a short but successful domestic run, and was released in the early 2000’s on DVD and video. The film starred acclaimed singer/songwriter, J.D. Souther, and featured one of her favorite performers, David Crosby, in a small but memorable cameo. Co-starring as a prodigal rock and roll singer attempting to find balance between dreams, reality and men who’ll commit, Lorraine co-wrote and recorded several of the songs on the soundtrack, one she performed as her character, winning accolades in her hyphenated role.
Life took another unexpected but profound turn when she and the Lensman Company’s attorney, Pete Wilke, met and were married before the film was even edited, an event that heralded the most creative and fertile period of her life. He brought with him his lovely daughter, Jennie, and soon their son Dillon followed. After living a life of travel and passionate pursuit, Lorraine took some time to breathe, revel in family, write a bevy of new songs and screenplays (see Writing Page), as well as develop her left-brain skills working as a management and development consultant in a variety of business arenas. Small theater and indie films were also her playground for much of this period, but as always, music came knocking.
With a variety of plates spinning throughout the early 00′s, she immersed herself once again in band life with ROAD TO BLUE and the eventual recording of her first full-length CD, Somewhere On the Way, a well-reviewed collection of soulful roots/rock originals written, arranged and produced by Lorraine and her partner, guitarist Rick M. Hisrch. Somewhere On the Way can be purchased at CDBaby or ITunes.
Continuing to work in the music industry, she also wrote and directed projects both creative and industrial, developing her expanding skills as a photographer and photo restorer. Most recently, Lorraine has embarked upon a transitional period in her work and business life, exploring a number of entrepreneurial and creative endeavors that utilize her considerable business skills. She has recently completed her first novel, The Pros & Cons of Neighbors, and is enjoying the ever-so-challenging exploration of the many options open in the undulating world that is publishing!
She continues her world travels whenever possible, pen and camera always in hand, she experiences her greatest joy in life with her family, where all things heartfelt and inspirational are found.
