Monday, April 10, 2006

So much to do, so little time. That seems to be my mantra these days. I’ve been spending a lot of time online, working on my MySpace page, making new friends through MySpace as well. By the time I get to California, I’ll already know lots of folks there. I’m starting to get excited now about going. It’s scary but exciting at the same time.

My toe is much better. I was kidnapped on Friday. MRMCS’ girlfriend has been out of town for over a week and he was a bit lonely. It’s always interesting spend time with him and his lovely lady. He has such an enormous appetite for new music. He likes to sit at the computer and wow people with songs they maybe haven’t heard since they were a child or to make them say, “Wow, who’s that?” And then he can pull out the CD and show off. I’m always impressed. I always have a pad and pen handy (or my laptop) because I always need to take notes.

Anyway, I was forced by my kidnapper to soak my toe in a tub filled with really hot water and mineral salts. I complained about the temperature of the water but he made me leave my foot in and wiggle the toes. He’s a lot bigger than I am so I had to obey. After about five minutes of wiggling my toes in the hot water, I was able to wiggle the toes without any pain at all for the first time since I broke my toe. When I was done soaking it, he showed me how to massage the area to restore the circulation to it. It’s not nearly as purple as it was before and I can walk without pain. It’s good to have friends who are fitness trainers.

As usual, I haven’t been getting nearly enough sleep. Last night was an early one for me. I was asleep by three. Usually I’m up until eight in the morning. But no matter what time I go to sleep, I always awaken early and then can’t get back to sleep. I promise myself that I’ll just work a few hours and then take a nap but I never do take a nap.

VKS called Friday morning and asked me if I would be interested in flying to San Francisco yesterday and driving back to New York with her. I thought about it for a moment – road trips are always fun with a good friend – but I had to acknowledge the reality that, as much fun as that sounds like, I just don’t have the time right now.

BPA came into town for the weekend. She invited me to join her and a few other people at The Living Room on Saturday night to see Girl Friday. I’d never been to the Living Room, although I'd heard about it, and I’d been cooped up indoors because of my toe, so I agreed to join them. The Living Room is a cool spot. I want to perform there. I’m going to send them a CD but who knows when I’ll be able to perform there since I’m planning to leave New York shortly.

Sunday I joined BPA the lead singer from Girl Friday and some of their friends for brunch in Brooklyn. Then I had a consultation with a producer and his artist, who’s a sixteen-year old guy who can really sing. The producer wants me to help him get his best vocal performance and to build the background vocals.

I’m thinking about driving across country to California. That way, I can stop along the way and drop my CD off at spots where I can perform on the drive back. I just have to run the car by my mechanic and make sure it’s up to the task. That means I’d have to leave town by mid-May because I have to be in San Francisco by the 30th. Decisions, decisions…

Here I am, once again, it’s after midnight and I’m still up, working on the computer. My plan was to be in bed by midnight.

Tomorrow I’m going to a rehearsal studio on Long Island to meet with a songwriter who needs a vocalist to sing one of his songs and possibly co-write some others with him. After, I’m going to actually take some time for myself. Since I’ll be on Long Island, I’m going to visit ECB and we’re going to go to the movies.

I’m finally going to have my CD professionally copied. Wednesday I turn over the graphics for the insert and the master to be copied.

More soon...

© Daughter of the Sun. Reprint by permission only.

April 2, 2006 - I can’t believe it’s April already. The year is nearly half done, although some more optimistic than I am at this moment in my life would say the year’s barely begun. It just seems that time is marching along faster and faster each year. More...

March 23, 2006 - Not much new to report. Still laid up with my broken toe. More...

March 16, 2006 - What a week it’s been! A broken toe, post-Philly drama, TTT came into town, west coast tour in the works, April concert to plan, new band. More...

March 10, 2006 - It was a pretty smooth drive with almost no traffic even though we left the city at 5 o’clock. We reached Philadelphia at about 8 o’clock. It reminds me of a lot of other small towns I’ve been in, like Troy and Albany. More...

March 8, 2006 - 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. More...

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 ever 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. 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...

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