Tuesday, July 3, 2007

I had a great time in the UK. The first stop was Bristol, where I met the band, Laid Blak. They just signed with Island Records and are recording their first album. I'm hoping to get at least one co-write in. They performed at two festivals while I was in town. The audiences loved them and so did I!

I got to ride with them to the festivals and back, which was quite an adventure, including some Kodak moments.

I got to drive on the other side of the road. The steering wheel is on the right instead of the left where I'm used to it being, not to mention that I had to shift gears with my left hand because all of the cars are stick shifts. That and the very narrow two-way streets and "round-abouts" made driving a very exciting (and somewhat stressful) experience. I was quite fortunate in that I didn't have one accident, even though a couple of times I forgot I was supposed to be on the other side of the road.

I took a very exciting hot air balloon ride around Bristol. The weather was perfect! In fact, the entire time I was there the weather was good. One day it rained a lot but by the time I was heading out it was pretty much done.

Of course I had to spend some time sightseeing around London.

My Songs About It CD was reviewed by Girlistic Magazine in the Must Have Music section! In the article, they say, "her songs are irresistible and listeners can't help but listen just to see what she'll do next."

SCP, one of the sisters (see previous journal), came to New York for a photo shoot. She crashed at my place for a few nights and it was nice to be able to take her around and show her a little of my town, since she and her sister were so nice and hospitable to me while I was in California. We had brunch at the new River Cafe and then went grocery shopping at Fairway (my favorite supermarket) after.

Then I took her down to 8th Street in Greenwich Village to shop for shoes. We stepped off of the subway at West 4th and came up the stairs and discovered that the Gay Pride parade was in full swing! SCP never did find any shoes (although I found some comfortable sandals) but we both got lots of photos of the parade and I ran into a couple of friends that I hadn't seen in a while, one of whom, coincidentally, just went to work for Island Records and is in charge of the publishing for the band Laid Blak.

The next day, SCP had some meetings and I headed to the Urbanworld Film Festival. My friend JJA was in one of the film shorts. I was so proud of him. I had to stop myself from shouting, "I know him!" when his name appeared in the credits, although I did whisper it to the stranger seated next to me.

I'm heading back to California now. It was nice spending a little time in New York but I'm ready to return to the west coast and my lovely home in Malibu. I'm looking forward even more to returning to England. I've been doing some research on the Internet about places to perform there and where to find fresh fruits and vegetables because that turned out to be quite a challenge. When I return, I'll be armed with lots more information than I had this time out.

In the meantime, I'm working on new songs and preparing for my July 13th show in Los Angeles.

More soon...

© Daughter of the Sun. Reprint by permission only.

June 5, 2007 - Sunday I had brunch with the sisters. "Are you twins?" I asked the first time I saw the two of them together. "We share the same birthday," they said, "let's just leave it at that." I made blueberry pancakes with strawberry syrup and salmon croquettes. We started with a lovely Zinfandel, so by the time we were halfway through the meal, the conversation had become quite lively. We shared stories about music, relationships, Paris, New York and dermatology. More...

May 1, 2007 - CNC's gone back to Paris and I have the place to myself again. I have to admit that, when I heard all the strange noises outside the house at night, it was comforting to know that someone was sleeping in the room across the hall. These days, however, I'm so exhausted by the time I get into bed that I don't even wake up until the morning. More...

April 16, 2007 - I went to a networking soiree at a posh house in Beverly Hills. My friend TNC invited me, so I went to her place first and we rode to the event in her car. TNC wasn't sure how to dress for it. "It's probably not dressy," she said, "because it's in somebody's home." More...

March 24, 2007 -I had kind of a surreal moment today. I sometimes keep the television on when I'm working on the computer. Just as sort of background noise so I don't feel so alone. Every once in a while, I'll tune in and listen to what's going on. There was a commercial on for a car dealership. When I heard "Sherman Oaks," I thought they'd made a mistake. For one crazy moment, I thought I was still in New York City! I had a good laugh at myself once I realized what happened. More...

March 12, 2007 - I drove down to Chula Vista to perform at Southwestern College's campus. There was a street painting festival going on and students from the college came and painted beautiful pictures while I sang. I was tempted to drive down to Mexico afterward but one of my MySpace friends was performing in Hollywood and I wanted to get back to see her. More...

February 26, 2007 - Let's see; what have I been up to? I went to a party at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. My friend BGJ was sitting in with a band. It was a birthday party for a girl who's in the television show Scrubs. I danced a lot and gave out some cards of course. More...

January 20, 2007 - It feels like 2006 is just a rapidly fading dream that I had a long time ago. And it's only January. I'm firmly ensconced in Malibu. I have my recording setup up and running and actually finished the vocals and mixed a new song I wrote while in New York, entitled "Whatever." It's one of those fun, singing about nothing songs that the majors seem to like so much. More...

December 27, 2006 - I have much to be thankful for this holiday season. I have my health, a wonderful home in Malibu, a great car to drive around in, food in the fridge, loving family and friends, a new band and my God-given talents. And the stove is finally working at the house, which means I don't have to use the hotplate anymore. More...

November 15, 2006 - What a challenge these past couple of weeks have been. My plan was to go to Santa Barbara last Friday to finalize the details with the transfer of the car. I had to sign the agreement with the previous owner and to go to DMV to register the car, only to discover on Friday that the DMV was closed because Saturday was Veteran’s Day. More...

October 17, 2006 - I was on strike today. I decided that, not only was I not leaving the house today, but I also was not going to take off my pajamas. Fortunately, KBD’s new housemate, RJD, is away for a few days because he likes to have lots of attention and is always strutting around, puffing out his chest, bragging about his latest business conquest. The bad news is, we never got around to going grocery shopping so there weren’t a lot of options food-wise. More...

October 10, 2006 -I went out a few nights ago to hang out again with my new MySpace friend to see her friend perform. I was so proud of myself because I didn’t get lost once on the drive there. By the time I arrived at the Revolution Café, AMS and her friends had already polished off a few bottles of wine. More...

October 3, 2006 - I’ve been in Northern California for nearly two weeks now. I’m staying at KBD’s home once again, in the house overlooking the ocean and the rolling hills. Today I saw two deer grazing right outside the kitchen window. I felt a long way from the overcrowded, noisy streets of New York City. More...

September 10, 2006 - It’s almost midnight and here I sit in front of my computer still. I didn’t go out today. I don’t know if it was cold or hot but I do know that it was sunny because I sat near the window as I worked, so that I could feel the sun on my skin. More...

August 20, 2006 - Friday night was my performance at The Alphabet Lounge. There was a nice turnout, although about one third of the people arrived almost at the end of the performance. More...

July 7, 2006 - Yesterday was my show at The Talking Stick. I thought I’d get some photos of my performance but unfortunately TDJ arrived just as I’d finished my last song. I only performed a few songs. More...

July 3, 2006 - I’m in my own bedroom at TDJ’s apartment. My own little slice of Heaven. I’m sleeping on an air mattress on the floor in what is technically TDJ’s office/recording studio but who cares. I have my own bathroom and I can sleep as late as I like. More...

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. More...

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 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...

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