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 does not look like you wear much makeup–are you comfortable with me doing your makeup?”
I assured her that I was.
And she got to work.
And then a very sweet Japanese man did my hair.
It was nice to sit back and let other people take care of me, actually. And this is what they did:
They also put me in a dress. Courage B is the designer. And they let me keep it. And I totally would have, too–had someone not stolen it. Which sucks, but what are you gonna do, right? I didn’t have that dress yesterday, so not having that dress tomorrow won’t be that different, anyway.
Here’ s a picture of me playing (in case you couldn’t figure that out). Oh man. I had to walk the catwalk to get to the stool and microphone to sing. People were so kind and cheering. Plus, I didn’t fall or even trip. Added bonus.
The mic situation was trying, though. They only had one and nothing to plug my uke into, so I had to somehow use one microphone for both my voice and my uke. I hunched over like some sort of creature to get my voice and uke as close together as possible for the mic to pic it up, and then I BELTED THE HECK OUTTA THOSE SONGS.
Here’s me and my wonderful, completely lovely friend Jes.
One of the best parts of the night was that two of my dear friends came with me.
And here is me and beautiful Bets.
Oh! Also, I had an awesome rehearsal in Brooklyn today with some AMAZING musicians I am collaborating with for the Sleep No More show on Monday. I feel so lucky to play my ukulele with these guys. Their groove and vibe is just plain dreamy. In a musical sense of the word. Plus they have a HUGE STUFFED LION in their apartment, just chilling. And they call him Aslan. Um, what’s not to love about that situation?
I met a kind Italian man who spoke to me for a while tonight. Considering the music was thumpin’ and his accent was pronounced, I did a lot of smiling and nodded without totally understanding what it was, exactly, I was smiling and nodding about, unfortunately. But, there were two things that stand out from that conversation:
1). I kept thinking that maybe my Italian grandfather (who passed away before I arrived on the scene, but worked in 30 Rock as the senior VP of RCA) sounded a bit like this guy, and the thought warmed my heart.
and
2). At one point I noticed liquid pouring down the side of his pants. I was really afraid that I was witnessing him peeing during our conversation…Until, with some relief, I realized that he was just holding his bottle of beer upside down. Thank goodness that’s what it was.
January 8th. Cheers.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Loved Ones, Performance, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as art supplies, colored pencils, contraptions, January, Line, line of reasoning, Lucky, moment, nice things, night, pain, phonecam, reason, sketch pad, sketchpad, time, tomorrow, ukulele, veritable collection
Tonight, I was on the A train. Again. We really spend a lot of time together, me and that train. If it were a human, people would accuse us of being, like, together, I’m pretty sure. Lucky for both of us, it’s a train, and so there are no wild rumors flying.
I was sitting there, holding my sketchpad and colored pencils. Yes, tonight I went to a bar clutching a sketch pad and colored pencils. All. Night. Long. I could have brought a bag to put them in, I suppose, but when thinking about that, my line of reasoning happened like this: I could bring a bag, and then I wouldn’t have to hold my art supplies…But, shoot, then I’d have to hold a bag.
Discussion over.
Because for some illogical reason, I decided that carrying a bag–equipped with those very convenient and modern contraptions called handles! that you just effortlessly sling over your shoulder!–was much less annoying than just toting a sketchpad and colored pencils around like it was the world’s worst clutch.
Sometimes I make no sense.
Which is why I was on the A train, holding my art supplies and minding my own business, when I saw someone staring at me, walking slowly towards me. His pace picked up as he got closer, and, when our eyes met, he said, “You’re…the girl, aren’t you? With the ukulele?”
I smiled.
He smiled.
It was a moment packed with smiles, guys.
“I am,” I said.
“I saw you! Today! On the internet–can I get my picture with you?” he asked.
And I wasn’t kidding about the smiles, either–see?
“I’m Jessica,” I said, shaking his hand. Which is when I found out his name is Bernard. And Bernard is a wonderful human and what is it about the A train that has a veritable collection of wonderful humans riding it?
And then we talked about the video. How it happened. What it means. How much joy is found in those moments that Matt captured with his phonecam. And what happens next. He had some very nice things to say about that, Bernard did.
And now, if you will come this way with me, I will show you just a corner of my heart. Because, see, tomorrow is a very sad day for me. January 8th, I mean. And I had completely forgotten that it was coming up so fast–I mean, it was a ninja this year, all stealth until suddenly: BOO! I’M HERE! Which, maybe makes no sense, cause if a ninja ever said BOO! I’M HERE!–well, he’d probably be told he has one hour to clean out his cubicle and call a cab.
But, yes, as I said, January 8th is a sad day. And I was sitting in my bed tonight when I looked at the calendar, suddenly realizing that it was Sunday. Tomorrow. The 8th, come back again. Like tax day, only much more emotionally involved and, thankfully, does not leave me with a bill from Uncle Sam.
And then I realized that it is tomorrow that I am going into the studio and recording a song that will be released on itunes. That is, I must confess, a dreamy thing for me to do. And by dreamy I only mean: it’s the kind of thing that makes you want to pinch yourself to make sure that this is real. Too good to be true and all that.
And I remembered how my family and friends would tell me, back in the early days of January 8th being so acutely difficult, that there are very good things ahead. To hold on, don’t give up. But those kinds of cliches, they pale in comparison to the very real pain you feel in the moment. And the pain is so good at acting like it’s here to stay. Like it’s the final word. Like sadness is not just a feeling, but it has somehow replaced the very marrow in your bones; you keep digging and digging deeper inside, but you can’t escape it. Cause it’s your center now, this sadness, and it resides right smack in the middle of everything you know about life.
And the realization sounded like this: THEY WERE RIGHT. The people who told me that good things were still ahead, they were right. And tonight my brother texted me I told you so and I can tell you right now, that smartass response is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.
And I don’t think it’s an accident that this is taking place on January 8th. I think it sounds a lot like redemption. The redemption that somehow everyone but me knew would come all along. But now? Oh, now I’m a believer.
Here’s to this January 8th being good, for a change.
let go.
in I Lift My Eyes Up
as alice in wonderland, change, clutches, free swish, John Legend, kind, knowledge, leggings, life, ottis redding, rabbit, something, sound of the wind, springtime, today, tomorrow, version, white knuckles, white rabbit, winter snow, wonderland
Tonight, I listened. To a friend tell me the kind of words that, in the past, have not gone down so easy. Not like listening to John Legend or Ottis Redding. That kind of thing goes down real easy; my heart becomes a bowl that can never quite catch enough of what they’re pouring, it [...]
joshua tree national park.
in Loved Ones, there are pictures here
as boulders, camera, camera lens, carpets, consensus, discrepancy, east tomorrow, green, heart, house, Jase, joshua, joshua tree national park, lens, nbsp, park, seventies, sort, tomorrow
Don’t worry, Jase was jumping, too. Just from behind the camera lens. And all those boulders behind us? We climbed them. And there was quite a discrepancy over my hat. The general consensus was that it is yellow; I maintain it’s a sort of green. The kind of green you’d find on the carpets [...]
Always come home to you (Betsy & Todd’s song).
in MP3, video
as Betsy, Chief, home, right, s song, sleep, song, today, Todd, tomorrow, Yep
I have so much to do. Chief among them is organizing. Which is why I recorded a song instead. Clearly. So right, there you go. And now it’s late. Or early. Depending on how you look at it. But anyway, I need to sleep. So the organizing will have to wait until tomorrow. Or later [...]
yes, I’m grateful.
in Loved Ones, Performance, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as beautiful people, bed, Carpe, case in point, fun, girl, gratitude, laugh, life, point, sleep, Stuff, tomorrow, work
Dear Jessica, You know that girl who looks just like you? The one who has to do two shows tomorrow? Well, she’d like you to go to sleep. Like, now. You know, carpe diem. Or rather, go to bed now so that you can do that carpe diem stuff tomorrow. But first be grateful. Intentionally [...]
boo. nevermind.
in Thoughts and Feelings
as amish ways, cereal, course, darn, deference, hardwood, hardwood floor, house, kind, modesty, nevermind, rehearsal, Saturday, Saturdays, short shorts, stab, stoltzfus, tomorrow, wake, wonderful things
There are two wonderful things already in the works for tomorrow: a). The lovely Mr. Stoltzfus, who my parents have hired to do some work on the house, will not be hammering hardwood floor directly above my room at 6:30 in the morning. This also means that I can wear my customary really short shorts [...]
chicago, day one.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as bum bum bum, bums, Chicago, costume designer, crazy schedule, dancing, dancing and singing, era, good company, gosh, lingerie, nighttime hours, paychecks, production, rehearsal, sex, strange things, time, tomorrow, yoga class
Dancing, and singing, and paychecks, OH MY. Today was my first day of my new job and it was pretty awesome to be learning new music (the dirty bum, bum, bum, bum, bum…has been stuck in my head all night. See, I get to sing all the ‘bums’ (which is, by far, better than dating [...]
connected.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as AMOUNT, darndest, dear friend, Definitely, festival, game of cards, gentle soul, good listener, italian father, kind, landscape, music director, no doubt, phone, right, shape tomorrow, tea, tomorrow, way, white noise
I have all these missed calls and subsequent messages on my phone right now. From my agent, wanting me to stop by and sign a contract. From an arts festival. Well, okay, from the music director of an arts festival (though I do wonder what kind of message a festival would leave me; I’m sure [...]
the ocean again.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, photography, Thoughts and Feelings
as afraid of tomorrow, beach, falling, good heart, heart, home, krista, ocean, photo, photo credit, skin, sun, tomorrow, Touch
*Today I did this. It was at the beach. But I guess you can tell. Doing that was not without some trying, either. Zach and I fell on each other a few times before it actually worked. Some things are worth falling over for a couple of times, I guess. Or more than a couple. [...]
