Wednesday, March 8, 2006

I receive weekly emails from Spirit Air listing their specials. Today I received one promoting their one-way prices between Montego Bay, Jamaica and New York City for $99, traveling on March 14th. I was so tempted to book a flight out and just spend a few days lounging in the sun, feeling the island breeze caress my skin, and catching up on some much needed rest and relaxation. Of course I can’t do that right now. For one thing, I can’t afford it and for another, I have too much going on. But one can dream…

My new intern is working on the other computer, going through the multitude of Craig’s List postings for today and sussing out any that look promising. Of course Craig’s List now is a lot of rants and raves about nothing, producers looking for new artists to produce and open mikes (another way of getting us to perform for free). I do open mikes every now and again though, especially if I have a show coming up or want to try out new material or a new way of performing old material.

This evening I’m off to New Rochelle to perform at a Habitat for Humanity fundraising event. I’m taking CDs, which I will autograph and sell and donate half the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity. They’re going to New Orleans to rebuild some of the homes that were destroyed by Katrina. The man who heads the organization is really cool and quite a character. I went up to New Rochelle on Tuesday evening to meet him and to hang out and listen to the featured music that night. A really cool band by the name of Forbidden Fruit performed. They’re kind of Blues Traveler with a reggae flair and a lot of fun. And they apparently have lots and lots of material because when I left nearly an hour later, they were still going strong.

I wasn’t sure if the affair was still on for this evening because of the snow and freezing temperatures but I just got a call confirming it is, so me and my guitar will be hitting the road once again, singing for our supper, entertaining the populace. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

Wednesday I stayed home and caught up on some filing and paperwork and started the process of cleaning my apartment. I got most of the dishes washed but was interrupted from that fun task by the UPS deliveryman, who’s very cute and such a flirt. I’m sure he flirts with all of his female customers though, because he's so good at it, so I don’t take him seriously at all. He was delivering a box from Staples. I’d ordered a storage cabinet the day before and was very excited at the prospect of being able to organize the mess that my workspace has turned into. However, when I opened the box and started taking everything out, I discovered that there were at least 50 different parts. I was ready to either put everything back into the box and return it to Staples or throw myself out of the window. Fortunately, WCC came to the rescue and agreed to come over, tool kit in hand, and put it together.

After the cabinet was assembled, with no input at all on my part I’m happy to say, we went out for a burger. My plan was to come back home, take a hot bath, have a nice cup of tea and then get into bed early. Of course that did not happen. I wound up sitting in front of the computer and working again until about 4 AM.

I stopped in an Origins store on East 22nd Street the other day to pick up one of those things that you wear over your eyes to block out the light when you want to sleep during the day. The saleswoman launched into this whole monologue about the ravaging effects that the lack of sleep can have on your skin and how I needed some special serum that they’re selling to counteract the effects of the free radicals that are currently ravaging my face and turning me old before my time. If that doesn't scare me into getting more sleep, I don't know what will.

More soon...

© Daughter of the Sun. Reprint by permission only.

March 2, 2006 - I am so over the cold and ready for the Spring. It’s hard to believe it’s right around the corner. The groundhog saw his shadow last month, which supposedly means Winter is hanging around a bit longer but I remain every hopeful. More...

February 25, 2006 - Another late night… What else is new? I performed at Bellizzi’s tonight. Two sets. I ran through my entire arsenal of songs and even threw in a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s song, “True Colors.” I don’t really like doing covers but the woman who hired me for the night asked me to and you have to give the people what they want, especially when they're paying. More...

February 19, 2006 - Another all nighter… My plan was to get into bed by midnight at the latest but I wound up staying up and setting up my page on MySpace. It turns out there’s another artist with my name (Setra) who’s already on MySpace so I couldn’t use my own name. I had to sign up using Daughter of the Sun instead. It took a while to upload the music and the photos, once I figured out how to do it. More...

February 16, 2006 - Hurray! The snow is almost gone! Just the way I like the snow. A lot of it comes down, it stays for a few days and then it melts and is gone; and not a moment too soon. I ate the last of the food today, which means I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. I haven't weighed myself but I have a feeling I've gained at least a couple of pounds. More...

Snow - I have about five days’ worth of food, and I’m prepared to hibernate until the snow melts. My car is parked across the street but I don’t know which mound it’s under. It was kind of nice being home alone and doing whatever I wanted to without having to answer to anybody or even speak to another person. I turned off the ringer on the phone and just spent some time with myself. More...

Guero's - I just got in from Guero’s. What a night. First off, it turns out they didn’t have a PA system, an amp, a microphone or microphone stand so I had to pack up all that stuff and take it with me. I lugged it all a block and a half to where I’d parked my car Monday evening and when I got to the parking spot where I’d left my car, my car was nowhere to be found. More...

MTV Comes - The MTV folks came and went Monday. It was all quite fun. I was up and dressed by the time they arrived at 9:00 AM. “We have to film the entire day,” they said and they made me put my pajamas back on and get back into bed. Then they filmed me getting out of bed, going into the kitchen and having my first glass of water for the day. They wanted to film that twice so I had to drink two large glasses of water before it was all said and done. More...

MTV- I sent off a CD and letter to MTV for their Made series. Sunday afternoon I got a call from them saying they want to film me for their “A Day In the Life” series. More...

Insulted - I got a call from a woman today who books acts at a café in Montclair, New Jersey. She wanted to know if I was interested in performing a short set of about 3 or 4 songs at her café on Tuesday. Not only was she not offering to pay me but she wanted me to buy an entrée while I was there. I was highly insulted. More...

January 13, 2006- I’ve been in bed all week with the flu. Not my idea of the best way to start off the new year but I suppose it could be a lot worse. As a matter of fact, I feel almost completely better. Just a little tickle in my throat, which means I won't be going to the movies over the weekend and making everyone in the theater hate me because I'm coughing every few minutes. More..

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