Friday, June 30, 2006

I think I’ve worn out my welcome with NAP. Fortunately I spoke with TDJ yesterday and his other houseguests have departed, which means that starting today I can stay in his extra bedroom. He’s my only friend in California that I haven’t met through MySpace. TDJ and I have known each other for many years. We met back when he was living in New York. Now he lives on the west coast, fortunately for me. And he has wireless high speed Internet service. The house I’m currently staying in has dialup and the computer isn’t located in a place that’s easily accessible to me.

“You’ll have your own separate bedroom and bathroom on the other side of the apartment,” TDJ said over the phone, “and you can come and go whenever you like and sleep as late as you like.” “Bless you,” I said. And I meant it.

Sleeping on the living room sofa in a house where two adults, two small children, a dog and a cat are present is not the way to live if you want to get a solid chunk of sleep. I’ve been so exhausted these past few days that I feel like I’ve been staggering around like a zombie.

NAP was asked to perform at Crane’s in Hollywood the other night but she had a session scheduled and didn’t know if she’s be done in time so she asked me to fill the slot for her. There was no pay involved but I agreed to do it because I felt it was an opportunity to get some more people to come to my Temple Bar show on July 12. I sang four songs, accompanying myself on guitar as usual. After my performance, I went around to the audience members and gave out cards containing my July 12 information and my web address.

There were three other singer/songwriters with a deejay spinning between sets. One of the performers had an effect box called the Boomerang connected to his guitar and microphone. The Boomerang is a sampler/looper, which he took full advantage of. His songs went on forever because it took a few minutes for him just to set up the loops. Fortunately he went on after me because he was onstage so long that half the audience was gone by the time the last person went up, which was a shame because the last person was the best performer of the night by far. Well, maybe I was the best singer but his guitar playing was exceptional and his songs and flavor reminded me of Stevie Wonder. His fingers were moving so quickly up and down the guitar that it was difficult for my eyes to keep up. I had the opportunity to see his perform with his band a couple of nights later at Temple Bar, so of course I went. His name is Satalie and again he was amazing. His was the last band of the night and I guess they didn’t really promote because there was just a handful of people in the audience, unlike the audience of the performer who went on before him. I’d hoped those people would hang around to hear Satalie because I know how it is to play to an empty house but unfortunately for him (and them), they did not.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see my hostess perform earlier. I did get to sit through the rehearsal at the house and her music and voice are beautiful. Reminds me of Roberta Flack, who I had the good fortune to see at The Apollo Theater before leaving New York.

The performer before Satalie (John West) did R&B/pop type music and had a bunch of girls who apparently were his MySpace friends. He also had a management team, which I’m sure helped to put some butts in seats that night. When Satalie started playing, a lot of the room cleared out because his music was totally different from John West’s. I don’t even know how to describe Satalie’s music. I wasn’t a big Jimmi Hendrix fan. I arrived late in the game and am only just now beginning to check out his music but listening to Satalie’s melodies and lyrics and watching him shred the guitar, I could only think that, if Hendrix were still alive, those were the types of songs he’d be performing. He also reminded me a bit of my favorite New York band, Shaka Zulu Overdrive, except Shaka is a lot cuter, although what Satalie lacks in cuteness, he more than makes up for in passion.

I got totally lost trying to get back to the house after the show and wound up in the Brentwood section of town, up in the hills. It’s beautiful up there. If it weren’t for the earthquake and mudslide possibilities, I wouldn’t mind living there.

So now I’m waiting for NAP to get off of the phone so that I can tell her what my plans are and to thank her for her hospitality. I’m sure that they’ll appreciate having the livingroom to themselves again as well. Plus, it’s got to be cramping their style romantically. I mean, it’s one thing to have your kids sleeping in the next room but it’s a whole other thing to have an adult present to witness what goes on between a man and a woman. I’m going to miss the kids. They’re so adorable and so smart. And their dog is the greatest! Almost makes me want to get one. But with my unsettled lifestyle right now, that wouldn’t really make any sense. Unless I got one of those dogs that you can carry around in your purse, which I can’t see myself ever doing. I saw a poster on a bus shelter once. It had a photo of a tiny dog, dressed in a cute little sweater and booties. Underneath the photo, the caption read, “Some dogs should be called cats.” I think that about sums up my feelings on the subject.

More soon...

© Daughter of the Sun. Reprint by permission only.

June 24, 2006 - So I’m in Los Angeles, the city of broken dreams and make believe. I’m staying with a wonderful family, thanks again to MySpace. NAP is a singer, a wife and the mother of two absolutely adorable (and exhaustingly rambunctious) children. More...

June 8, 2006 - I am loving life right about now. I’m in Northern California in a little town near Sausalito with a population of about 200. I posted an ad on Craigs List saying I was willing to exchange administrative services for room and board and, lo and behold, I got two responses the very next day. More...

May 8, 2006 - I am loving life right about now. I’m in Northern California in a little town near Sausalito with a population of about 200. I posted an ad on Craigs List saying I was willing to exchange administrative services for room and board and, lo and behold, I got two responses the very next day. More...

May 3, 2006 - I just got in from playing in the subway station. I like the F line at the 23rd Street station... More...

April 24, 2006 - I found a numerology site and, according to their calculations, I’m at the end of a cycle. I‘ve past the harvest and I’m about to lay down new seeds I guess to prepare for the coming Winter. More...

April 10, 2006 - 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. More...

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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