First page of the Cher archive.

Recording on a night that feels like summer.

Posted by jessica on Jun 2, 2010 with 16 Comments
in Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
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Okay, so shhhhhhhh! because we’re recording.

Which means that Shane is playing the guitar and I am blogging. But I was just singing, promise.

And we’re recording Shane’s very favorite song that he’s written, so basically it’s his baby. And I can see why–I love it too.

And he also just told me that “this ain’t no R&B show,” because I suppose one could accuse me of being too fancy with the vocals from time to time. Ahem. To which I have a couple different replies.

a). But isn’t everything?!
b). But I thought you said we could use autotune. On everything. Like Cher in I Believe, cause that changed all of our lives, starting with my sister Jenna’s life. And finally,
c). Of course. You want simple; I can do simple.

Which is what I actually said.
And what I actually did.
And truthfully, I’m excited about this song. It’s quite pretty and close. Intimate, I mean. And the words, they’re the kind that can live without a melody but in this case, the melody is perfect.

And what else?
Well it’s June now. The sweet smell of honeysuckle keeps reminding me of this and I love its persistent nature. Summertime feels here because I keep finding myself with corn on the cob and the grills seem to be working overtime right about now. I bought a little boys t-shirt that’s just the right shade of green; I told my friend this and she started her sentence with, “it’s so nice when you can buy little boy’s shirts because you have a…” so I finished her sentence with “…a little boy’s build!” We laughed. Then she said she was gonna say a versatile size. I guess that works too.

But yes, it feels like summer and I’ll roll down my windows and drive by this landscape that is both home and mesmerizing and try not to miss a thing.

unbidden

Posted by jessica on Dec 5, 2009 with 16 Comments
in Funny Stuff, Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
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It’s funny how the mind works.

One second you’re crying about something or other, feeling absolutely overpowered by the strength of your emotion, positive that there is room for nothing else. Ever. When all of the sudden something utterly ridiculous pops into your mind. It’s like the guy at the funeral that cracks a joke: inappropriate, but what was said was said and what else is there to do but go with it and laugh, I guess.
But in this case the thought that just showed up uninvited was a song. And not just any song. Nothing awesome and fitting with some sort of haunting melody and redemptive lyrics to lift the soul.
Nope, it was Cher. Believe, specifically, replete with the auto tuning that made everybody drop their trapper keepers on the spot, it was that exciting.
But maybe it was a little redemptive after all because it made me think of my sister. And how much she l-o-v-e-d that song.She was all of ten years old when it came out and she couldn’t watch it enough. Seriously, she made sure my mom taped it for her. And yes, taped, circa 1998, when TIVO was something futuristic that might happen in Star Trek and we’d only be forced to know about it because my parents unfortunately liked those movies and watched them.
But Jenna would watch Cher on that stage, dressed in her fatigues with her long perfect hair streaming behind her while men more than half her age danced in their own fatigues, though I am pretty sure the closest any of them had ever gotten to a battle was maybe a dance-off. And as soon as the last note sounded, Jenna would quickly cross the distance to the VCR, press rewind, and the beat would start all over again and before we knew it Cher was asking anybody who cared to listen if they believe in life after love?

And that memory made me think of Jenna listening to another pop diva years earlier, obsessed yet again with a song on the television, and this time she wasn’t too old to restrain herself from dancing too.
She was 16 months maybe, all curls, berry-brown skin, and big bright eyes. And when Janet Jackson started singing Escapade, she went on her own escapade right there in the living room. It was hilarious because she danced like a little trained monkey only it was better because Jenna wore a diaper and I am pretty sure monkeys just go wherever. And it was so joyful, so free, so ridiculous that you couldn’t help but laugh.
And now all these years later, after these thoughts came firing through my mind one after the other–unbidden but still there–I couldn’t help but smile.