This weekend was long and lots of fun. We spent 3 days recording for the first time and all 4 of us really had an amazing time and Blair, the guy recording us was laughing and dancing with us the whole time! I think that is a good sign. Juli and I were locked up together in a tiny isolation room all day Saturday playing guitar, singing and telling each other stupid jokes. It was agreed that if we get to do stuff like that for the next 20 years it would be okay.
My friend Martyn ended up showing up unexpectedly (he stores all of his gear at the studio) and we talked about all of the above, he has been supporting himself musically writing/touring for years and he LOVES it.

okay, i am hereby making a promise to myself to make a sincere attempt to stop drinking coffee after some undetermined mid-afternoon time. i am having trouble sleeping and that is very uncommon for me. normally i can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and NOTHING wakes me. 5 years ago I lived with two guys who had band practice in the house and would rock across the hall from my bedroom 3 x a week, and i slept through it all the time. in fact, one of those guys is playing with us at El Cid Monday night.
one day earlier this year i came home from work and went straight to bed. juli's dvd player was hooked up to my tv and she wanted it back for the evening. she spent about an hour calling and calling me about 26 times on my home and cell phone, knocking on my front door and then pounding on my back door and then my bedroom window, knowing i was home. she finally knocked out the screen and busted the bathroom window open and started climbing in. the minute she silently poked her head into the window, i woke up. we laughed about how i could feeeel the moment someone was too close and in my space.
point being..it is rare that i have trouble sleeping..perhaps it is the coffee, but i am not completely convinced.
i do have an unexplained underlying feeling of excitement and anticipation
of what i do not know, but i have some idea...

okay, so i let juli post pictures of my red leather senior ball dress and i am shutting my eyes and letting the chips fall where they may. oh god please give me strength to let people see some of my more humbling moments and find the humor in it..

i'm in fort bragg on my dad's laptop. woke up this morning and went on a 3 hour birdwatching tour through the botanical gardens on the coast led by the guy who owns the ice cream shop in town. he recognized me since i met him with my pop and he lent me some binoculars. i can now tell the difference between a downy woodpecker and a hairy one. i also saw a great blue heron and some big black oyster-eating bird, that was my favorite one. then went to a folk-festival in caspar, lots of hemp clothing and ceramic bowls :) keepin' it real simple here in mendocino county.
spent the day yesterday with jesse and missy and their daughter jasmine. they are friends of addi the balloon guy and he gave me their phone #. we ate organic fruit and i talked about coffee for an hour with collette and jason who own a small coffee plantation in el salvador , he is a bass player and was excited to hear that i was a musician too and they welcomed us back to town anytime and took the evangenitals card, i liked them all a lot and said i would be sure to let them know when we come up here to play.
last night i took my dad to see missy's art opening at piaci's, the pizza place that is coincidentally behind his store. going out in this town with my dad is humbling and reminds me of how others must sometimes feel being with me around crowds of people. i really see where my personality came from, only he is me to the 10th power. the guy knows EVERYONE in this town and we have to stop our conversation every 2 feet to say hi and shake hands and tell jokes. folks go on and on to me about what a great guy he is and i nod my head and say "i know, i know.." i really do know though~the guy is truly amazing and i am so lucky he is my dad. then after dinner i asked him to tell me again about how his grandfather escaped from russia in a cattle boat to going to south africa and how they ended up getting from there to ellis island...

i really needed this vacation.

yesterday i spoke with my sister berit in santa cruz.
well, she's really my soulmate friend. she was my dear friend and roommate in oakland and since i am an only child, we decided when i moved to los angeles and she moved to santa cruz to become sisters. that way, we will forever be in each others lives. she lives downtown there with her husband and is having a baby in less than two months, i am planning a visit when that happens. i remember a few years back when i was fed up with los angeles and how lonely and isolating it can get here, i went to visit berit, who was living with her friends vicki and scott at the time. vicki has 3 kids and the house was full of toys and fruit and flowers and visitors, and the yard was one big garden. vic and scott always had people staying with them and i decided when i got home to re-create what i really wanted here in LA. since it is such a driving community and people don't just knock on your door on their way to/from anywhere, i promptly started inviting people into my home for coffee and conversation, opening up and letting people stay with me whether i really knew them well or not. as a result most people i know have crashed at my house at one time or another, whether during a break-up, graduating college, visiting LA, moving back here, saving money to travel, between places, whatever. i even once moved my friend Melinda and her 5 year old daughter Marlon into my one bedroom when they were having some hard times. we had a slumber party that lasted for about 3 months. the joke at work is that almost everyone in LA has lived with me or crashed in my bed at least once.
It feels good