lucky and stuff.
in Loved Ones, Performance, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as caps, earphones, FOUR, friday night, friday nights, girl, help, kind, lucky girl, muscles, polo shirt, pop, purse, rap, recording, snare drum, song, ukulele, weight
“This is for you,” my pop told me, handing me an adorable little purse across the table tonight.
“It’s a recording present…and it has a ukulele on it!”
And look at that–isn’t it so adorable? I am one very lucky girl.
And WE DID IT!
We recorded FOUR SONGS in just under TWO DAYS. And, I must say, I am so excited about these tracks. I keep listening to them. In fact, I went to the gym tonight (yes, I’m the girl who goes to the gym on a Friday night. Romantic, I know)–but, I was in the weight room and listening to this one part of my song that breaks down into a rap. And there’s this rolling snare drum that just makes me SO EXCITED (that’s why I used caps, guys, cause caps are EXCITING!), I cannot help but dance when I hear it. So, I am standing there with one weight in my hand while the rest of me is sort of dancing, when one of the trainers walks up to me.
“What are you listening to that’s making you dance?” he asks.
And for a second, I can’t even hear him, my music is blasting so loud through my earphones. I see that he’s not going to stop asking me whatever it is he’s asking, so I regrettably stop the music and listen to his question.
And am instantly embarrassed and evasive.
“Oh…” I say, scrambling to think of something–ANYTHING!–other than: “Myself. I am listening to myself and it’s making me dance. And, oh yeah. I don’t go on dates on Friday nights–I go to the gym. At least you’re here because you’re getting paid to be here; I cannot say the same about myself…”
Right, so I don’t want to say that, so I say, “Oh…it’s nobody you would know…” and just kind of hope he goes away.
But he keeps standing right in front of me, staring, muscles bulging through his polo shirt, looking like he’s ready to talk to me about whatever it is that’s making me dance —even if it takes all night. Or at least until ten, when the Y closes.
“What kind of answer is that?!” he says, “Come on, what are you listening to?!”
“Uh…myself? I am listening to myself…” I finally admit. “I didn’t want to tell you that I was dancing to my music. That’s kind of embarrassing to be caught doing. I mean, I never thought anyone would ever ask me what was making me dance…”
And then that led to a whole conversation about me being a musician and then another guy came over and, having talked to me at my parents’ Y last time I was in town, asked me if I’ve cut some weight. Cut some weight. Not lost it. Huge body building men have their own language, guys. So I admitted that I might have. “But not on purpose–I’ve just been so busy lately, that I keep forgetting to eat.”
Which, once these guys got over the shock and incredulity of anyone EVER forgetting to eat, of all things, led to us talking about what’s happened since youtube happened to me.
And then I came home and played the tracks for my parents and one of their dogs. Strider seemed to enjoy it. Well, he slept through it, but he seemed to enjoy whenever I scratched his ears–and my tracks were playing when I was doing it–so there’s that. My parents listened to it in a kind of reverie, smiling or moving a little or closing their eyes (but unlike Strider, I am pretty sure they didn’t fall asleep).
My nephew and brother are geniuses in the studio. Their help is immeasurable and I could not do this without them.
Like I said, I am one lucky girl.
sleep no more + I need a doctor (cover).
in Performance, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings, video
as bonsai trees, doctor, homeless person, inch heels, kind, kind of observation, leather shop, new friend, party, person, publicist, purse, radio program, recording, shop, someone, sooooooooo, today, tom larsen, wayne tucker
Last night, I played Sleep No More’s Storytelling post party here in NYC.
And it looked like this:
(that’s Wayne Tucker, Biet Simkin, me, and Tom Larsen, from left to right–they are incredible musicians; such a privilege to collaborate with them)
I also met with my publicist today. Yes, this means I have a publicist, which is quite new for me. She took one look at my safety pinned-together purse and was quite taken a back. “We need to correct this situation,” she said. “You cannot just walk around looking like…”
“…a homeless person?” I supplied.
She nodded and I made a mental note to drop my purse off at the leather shop this weekend while I am recording.
I wore three inch heels last night. This makes me 5’11. “You are sooooooooo tall,” said someone in the audience as I walked by them. What’s interesting about that kind of statement is that it’s hard to know how to respond, exactly. You can’t say ‘thank you,’ because it isn’t a compliment. You can’t say ‘so are you,’ because it’s generally a short person who makes that kind of observation. You could say that you are not so tall when compared to most trees, but that would start a conversation that you might not want to have. Plus, there are always bonsai trees–and they totally trump your argument.
I usually just end up agreeing and then trying to move the conversation on.
Oh, and here is a video someone took of us covering ‘I Need a Doctor’ from last night at Sleep No More, if you care to watch.
And that, my friends, concludes this blog post.
I am meeting a new friend who’s visiting from Britain tomorrow morning. We met because she interviewed me for a radio program, and now we’re hanging out. The internet is a crazy and wonderful place sometimes.
the mind is a breeding ground.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as beauty, Bill, breeding ground, call, grey blue eyes, ground, harmless thoughts, lovely creature, martha graham, moment, ocean, parking meter, Preferably, present darkness, thin girl, time, transcendent, transcendent moment, typewriter, wainscoting
Sometimes you don’t sleep enough at night. You wake up early, you don’t even open both eyes yet, but you decide it’s time to write. It’s moments like these when one wishes they had a typewriter. Preferably by a window. One with wainscoting. I don’t know why wainscoting came to mind, but it did, so [...]
I know better.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as accordion, baby, brooklyn, cab driver, cake shop, conversation, doozy, happenstance, nobody, one of those days, question, random news, right, something, SPEAKER--if, sweet lady, tdbank, vowel
Right now, I am laying in a bed with freshly washed sheets, thinking about the things I said recently that made me sound rather moronic. Like, when I asked the guy in Brooklyn–WHEN HE WAS CLEARLY LUGGING AROUND A SPEAKER–if that was his accordion. He had told me that he played the organ and something [...]
cake shop. mmmmm.
in Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as Bill, bischoffs, brushing my teeth, cake shop, Cause, conestoga wagon, delancy street, good vibes, Got, hand, Inwood, NBD, opposite, pamper, shop, stop, turtle shell, uke, wild wild west
You know how, in Star Trek, they do that thing where the stars become long lines because they are traveling faster than the speed of light? Or is that Star Wars? Well, it’s Star something-with-one-sylllable-in-the-next-word, anyway. The subway was the opposite of that tonight. And I had my musician-turtle-shell-on-her-back getup going on. The keyboard (IT’S [...]
all dressed up with a ukulele.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, there are pictures here
as breakfast, breakfast meeting, care, catwalk, courage, dear friends, event, fashion, fashion event, first meeting, heck outta, japanese man, kind, kind lady, makeup, musical sense, someone, tomorrow, uke, ukulele, Voice
I am so tired right now and I have to get up for a breakfast meeting in the morning. And then I have two shows…so, right. This post will be short. A very kind lady did my makeup for the pre-shows fashion event tonight. “I have googled you,” she told me, upon first meeting. “It [...]
observations.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as altoid, headshot, hot guy, iphone, laundry room, night rehearsals, one of these days, planning a wedding, russian tea room, ukulele
I am ridiculously tired. I just spent an hour practicing my ukulele. that laundry room sure comes in handy for late night rehearsals. I recorded a song with my iphone. More than once, actually. Cause, I thought I had a good take, and then had to record the thing all over again cause my sixth [...]
got straps?
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as apartment, back pack, backpack, breaking my heart, car, conviction, disappointment, dolly, everything, Free, gig bag, grip, pack, pack straps, repeat, revelation, sam ash, today, use, zippers
I don’t quite remember when it was that I got my red keyboard, but I’ve had it for months now. Months and months. Not a full year yet, but definitely months. And I have been toting it one-handed all the while. Never knowing it could be any different. Never realizing that life was only one tiny [...]
the human pack unicorn.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as anyone, ballet classes, beach boys, canvas tote bag, ease, faith belief, freedom, gotta, horse, important date, pack, pack horse, penn station, player, purse, someone, train station, ukulele, unicorn, white rabbit
You guys. I really need to take up a very tiny instrument. One that fits into my pocket, preferably. One that doesn’t make me look like this at the train station: Cause right now I am lugging around: a keyboard, a ukulele, a suitcase, a purse, and a canvas tote bag. I think I will [...]
managed and stuff.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as beautiful people, bouquet, business, contact, eaves, floorboards, gifts god, hard time, house, kind, life, Manager, music business, open doors, porch, quietness, reason, someone, time
I played the piano for a long time tonight. I played until the snow covered the floorboards of my parents’ porch; covered the wooden eaves of the house; covered the whole world, it seemed. Snow happens every year; but it always feels new, anyway. I like the parts of life that are like that; the [...]
