Tuesday, 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.

I was up until nearly 7:00 working on the final music submissions for the Rappin’ With Shakespeare documentary. The producer called me yesterday and said they wanted to replace one of the tracks currently in the piece because they didn’t feel it was in keeping with the overall musical theme. After seeing the first screening last week, I had to agree. So, since she asked me to submit a replacement piece the day before the final edit, I wound up being up all night working on three different pieces that I was quite happy to hit the “send” button on and finally get some sleep even though I only slept four hours because it’s difficult to sleep with the sun shining in the window and work to be done. Plus, KBD went out to look at some rentals (she’s thinking about moving), which meant I could have breakfast without feeling guilty. She’s trying to lose weight and if I make high calorie food around her, she’s tempted to eat it, which she does, and then she gets upset because it’s going against her plan. I had banana pancakes with strawberry syrup and salmon croquettes. Then I spent the rest of the day working on the computer – sending out emails to people, drumming up work, getting people to listen to my music, posting ads for background vocal work, etc.

I went down to the Pelican Inn the other night to play my guitar and sing some songs along with a man that I met at the moonrise dinner last week. He plays there every Friday and invited me down to share the spotlight with him. The plan was that we would take turns but when it became evident that the audience was more into hearing me than him, he got kind of upset and didn't turn over the stage to me any more. It's a cool spot to perform though, so I talked with the proprietor about performing there on an alternate night.

The trip down to Los Angeles for the screening was fun. I got a rideshare down with a man who just moved to San Francisco from New York. Love brought him to the west coast. “All of my girlfriends are west coast women,” he said. “And all of them are Aquarians. This one finally got me to make the move.” We stopped in the city and picked up a woman who said she’s been traveling with her brother for nearly a year. She sat in the back seat and spent her time alternately sleeping and writing in her notebook. I envied her and wished that I’d sat in the back seat but, as I was the first one to be picked up, I had to get in the front seat. The driver sped down 5 South like a bat out of Hell. We made it in record time and didn’t run into even one traffic jam. We did, however, pass a forest fire that made it all the way to the side of the highway. We ran into a bit of congestion right before our exit.

I was dropped off at my friend BJG’s place, where I changed and we dashed to the screening. That’s when the real congestion began. We crawled all the way across Santa Monica Boulevard and I was afraid we were going to miss the screening but as it turned out we arrived just in time to miss the cheese and crackers and speeches. The producer was just ending the “thanks for coming out” as we took our seats in the screening room.

The documentary was twice as long as it needs to be, which means there’s a possibility that some of the scenes I did tracks for may wind up on the cutting room floor. All in all, it was a well-done piece. I found myself really caring about the characters and what happened to them.

After the screening, we were all given a sheet of paper to write our thoughts, opinions and/or criticisms on. Then we returned to the reception area and schmoozed for a bit. The producer had to dash out right after and BJG and I stayed and chatted with some other folks for a bit and then headed out to Fais Do Do in Santa Monica where we saw a fabulous band called MoFro. The lead singer hails from New Orleans and his voice was so… – I don’t even know how to describe it, except to say that I almost didn’t even care what he was saying or singing about, as long as he just kept doing it. BJG of course knew everybody. He’s such a rock star. We were starving after (I hadn’t eaten since breakfast), so we stopped at a taco takeout place and got some food to go, which we wolfed down as soon as we got back to his place and crashed for the night.

I slept in his work room and woke to find him tiptoeing out of the room carrying some equipment into the living room so that he could get some work done without waking me, which I thought was very sweet of him. I allowed myself to drift back to sleep for another hour and then got up because I still hadn’t secured a rideshare to Santa Barbara. When I mentioned that to BJG, he said, “You can just take the train. There’s one leaving at 1:00. I can drive you to the station if you like.” Of course I’d like! He went back into the living room to work on his music and I stayed in the room and worked online sending emails, etc., until it was time to go.

The train ride to Santa Barbara was so nice. And for $18! I was expecting to spend that much for a rideshare! And the train dropped me off right in the heart of Santa Barbara. My plan was to have brunch at my favorite breakfast place in the United States, the Summerland Beach Café, but it was closed! So I wound up going to a little place across the road, which wasn't nearly as good food-wise but the view was just as nice.

I stopped in Santa Barbara not only to have breakfast at my favorite spot but also to meet with a man about a potential car purchase. We still have to work out the details but hopefully I’ll have a car when I head down to Los Angeles.

I rode back up to Muir Beach with a couple of grad students from Berkeley. One is from India and the other from Denmark. We had an interesting and humorous conversation about the English language, being three people not from the United States.

I arrived back in Muir Beach shortly after 11 PM. KBD baked some oatmeal raisin cookies so that the place would smell and feel homey for my return, which it did! So nice to have friends to come home to.

More soon...

© Daughter of the Sun. Reprint by permission only.

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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