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.
on missing.
in Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as b minor chord, charity event, child, chord, fashion designer, laundry, laundry room, missing the moon, moon, music practice, party, person, rap, song, Sweet, sweet child, treetops, ukulele, way, what the heck
I should be practicing. I should be figuring out what the heck a B minor chord looks like on a ukulele. I should be memorizing the lyrics and the chords to Sweet Child of Mine, since I am collaborating on that–along with another song–for a Sleep No More post party at the end of the month. I should be finishing writing this dear little song that keeps running around in my head. I cannot figure out if it’s a rap or not. I should be figuring this out.
But, instead, I am writing.
Because I am feeling some things right now, and I thought I’d write them down. See if I can’t breathe a little bit easier because of it; the way it’s always been since I was a little girl and would write out my feelings until the feelings didn’t feel so big and overwhelming anymore.
I used to be able to see the moon from my window, growing up.
The moon and the treetops. I would stare at that patch of sky for so long some nights. I am missing the moon tonight. I am missing my piano. I am missing a person, too. Not anyone in particular, strangely enough; there is nobody to miss that way. He is gone. Every he that has ever been here is gone. Not that there have been many. But, for me, one has always been enough, anyway.
I think I will sneak down to the laundry room soon; play some music. Practice and write. Last night, my first attempt at this failed miserably when I ended up way too close to a guy with alcohol on his breath. He kept asking me questions and questions and questions. I think he was drunk; I know I was scared. I didn’t like it. So I left and went back into my apartment. And then I was annoyed because all I wanted to do was play music in peace and, instead, I ended up playing 20 questions with a man who does not practice the art of subtlety.
Tonight, I met a guy at this pre-meeting for a fashion designer charity event I am performing at next week. “Where do you like to go when you go out?” he asked me. And I realized something: I didn’t really have anything to say, other than open mics. And studios. And my laundry room.
But I do go places all the time. I go explore the city. I jump on the subway and see where it will take me. I look for bookshops. Thrift stores. Patches of Central Park I have yet to see. I hear there’s a part with sailboats; I’d like to see that. I just don’t know where the coolest clubs are, I guess. I still feel ridiculous at bars. I never know what drink to order; the music is too loud to speak over; and unless I am playing, I wonder how long is an appropriate amount of time to spend there before I can leave.
But I do love this city. Just today, I was walking through Soho and the little shops all in a row thrilled me. So did the perfect cup of hot chocolate I quietly sipped in the corner of a cafe.
I just sometimes miss the moon.
And I really miss my piano.
And him. No, I don’t miss him. I just sometimes miss…somebody…I guess I don’t know him. And that’s okay. Most of the time, anyway, that’s perfectly okay with me. But then there are nights like this. When I start out missing the moon and all my 88 keys and then it goes to missing a person, too. All those things I am not seeing and feeling right now jump on the bandwagon together, I guess, and what a bandwagon it is.
What a bandwagon it is.
But the part of life where I am singing a private little concert for some designers and publicists in a sun-lit room with the Hudson at my back?
That part is pretty sweet.
Makes the bandwagon look a little ridiculous, I guess, after all.
no small people.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as apology, bump, course, eight inches, five feet, idea, iphone, kind, naked eye, out of sight, painful reminder, person, reminder, sight, subway, uke, ukulele, vantage, vantage point
Lately, people have told me, “Please! Don’t forget the little people!” Which makes no sense to me. Unless, of course, they are literally talking about people who are littler than me. Which is quite possible, as I am on the taller side of the spectrum. So, perhaps if a person is so small that I [...]
I’m happy cause they’re happy that I’m happy.
in Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as artwork, atmosphere, Cause, couch, health insurance, insurance, kid, kind, laundry, many a night, moisture, occurrences, person, pop, sad times, sandwich, song, starters
Tonight, I sat on my parents’ couch and blinked back tears. I did not let on, though, that there was any kind of moisture pooling in my eyes, because I did not feel like crying. Well, okay, I felt like crying, since I kind of was crying, I guess–but I didn’t wanna commit to the Sob [...]
ain’t my friend.
in MP3, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings, video
as confines, dogs and cats, everything, Jess, laundry, LOSE, massive amounts, mounds, perfection, person, phone, stranger, subway, tea, tiny bit, tiny room, verge, version, weird word
It’s late. I mean, even for my brother out in California, it’s late. Which means that in New York City? All the normal people are already sleeping. Which begs a question: what’s a normal person? ……… Right. That’s what I suspected. But! Today, I drank tea and spoke with friends about being pregnant. Well, more [...]
colors in my closet make me happy.
in there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as Army, closet, declaration of independence, Duh, encouragement, faint of heart, favorite things, founding, founding fathers, jumpers, kind, love, matching pairs, missing socks, no doubt, person, song, tutus, ukulele, way
There are some things that make me happy. What does the Declaration of Independence say–something about holding these truths to be self-evident? Well, yes. And one of these self-evident truths (which is basically a really fancy way to say DUH! Oh, those founding fathers were sassy, no doubt) is my love of color. As I [...]
thank you, but, no.
in Funny Stuff
as AMOUNT, blank stare, few minutes, gig, gigs, honest mistake, mass, mass texts, musicians, nakedness, New York City, open mics, person, Philly, phone, response, shot, sort, time, VERY, wrong person
So, this has happened once before, but it was an honest mistake, and so I let it go as that. But. It recently happened again, and this time, it was a little more…awkward, I guess. See, it is commonplace to exchange phone numbers with other musicians. Especially when they get you a gig in Philly. [...]
all full up tonight.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Thoughts and Feelings
as airplane, beautiful mystery, black sky, body, cannot, choreography, contentment, face, feeling, fingers, free laughter, Furth, gift, hand, heart, holes, hou, kind, land, mind, mystery, patches, patchwork quilt, Peace, person, phrase, psyche, quilt, run, running through my mind, sense, shooting star, sky, song god, special person, thread, tonight, wear, wellness, yellow fire
All full up. Oh, it’s terrible English, I know–and I cannot remember where I first heard this phrase–but it keeps running through my mind tonight. I have this sense of contentment, of wellness, that feels even bigger than my body, if that makes sense. Like my fingers only go so far when I reach; but, [...]
a round of applause, in so many ways.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as applause, audience, captivate, chairs, darnit, different ways, doctor, life, love, more subtle ways, person, Philly, round, show, song
After my show tonight, I met a friend at the World Cafe Live in Philly to watch another friend of ours perform. A brilliant friend of ours. I have so many talented, dreaming, creative, and interesting friends–why, it’s enough to make a girl want to join in and make stuff, too, darnit. I sat there [...]
and this, this is life.
in Funny Stuff, Thoughts and Feelings
as 8th avenue, close ties, date, hand, kind, latent, legs, life, minstrel, mob, parents, person, second, six feet, smell, song, sports, uke, ukulele
It’s hard to think too highly of yourself when you’re the kind of person who manages to hit yourself in the head with a ukulele while strolling down 8th Avenue. Though, the word stroll might be misleading. I walk fast in New York. I don’t know why, but I try to pass just about everyone. Maybe [...]
