I was going to post a photo of the beautiful sunniness here in Burbank and talk about the feeling of the warm air on my skin and how much I love it, but I didn't want to rub it into my midwest/east coast mates who I know are sick to death of winter. It really does put me in a great head space to be in such weather. It's the Aussie in me, I am sure. Or maybe it's being born in the center of Australia where it gets mind blowingly (is that even a word?) hot. I have never been much of a winter person.
So....we have a month off the road now to get ready for the big move. The 'pack everything in storage and hit the road full time' move...we are both trying to make a point of exercising everyday and balancing out our days so we don't get super stressed. A bit of work, a bit of play, a bit of gazing, a bit of planning, a chunk of laughing and catching up with friends. D finishes work on April 10th and I just booked us a few days away at a secret beautiful location to celebrate that and her (and mostly I put that in because she is hankering to know where it is....ahha!! That's why it's called 'secret').
The storage unit is booked, the packing plan is as 'in place' as its going to get. Doctors & dentist appointments are made and being carried out. A tonne of gigs and Musekraft opportunities are booked throughout the whole year and more keep coming our way. Everything is going along smoothly for the whole thing and in the midst of it all, we are both taking time to talk about the things we will miss from here. To acknowledge that its okay to miss things, to make the most of it all right now and to remind ourselves of the excitement around the next phase of our lives together. And also to remind ourselves that at ANY time we can change it, and make it look the way we want it to look. There is tremendous freedom in that.
We were looking at plane tickets to Australia today also. Heading out that way in December probably for two months..which is really exciting for me. To see my family and friends out that way again and to bring the one I love to meet them all for the first time. She already has great relationships with a number of my great mates out there so it will almost be like her seeing old friends too.
Do you get sick of hearing me say that I am grateful for my life? For my love? If you are new to reading this, then let me say it again:
I AM GRATEFUL FOR MY LIFE.....
I AM GRATEFUL FOR MY LOVE.....
If you aren't new to reading, then thank you for indulging my moments of great joy again.
Read back and see how different things were for me a year ago. The heartache, confusion and betrayal screaming louder than anything else in my world or my life....and know that life really can change on the edge of a dime. That it can be hard to see sometimes, but staying open to the journey of life can really bring you to the threshold of the life you actually really want...and then the rest is up to you.
....we provided the dough and the fixins and this is the creative out pouring of the peeps we have here. Each different than the other, each beautiful and tasty in its own right.
The snow has stopped in indy, and love, friendship and laughter is all around (and weird looking pizza).
Damn, what a fun show we had here in Indy last night. A room filled to capacity, a lot of laughs, great tunes, new faces, old faces and the opportunity to do what I love again, with the woman I love. I had a ball.
And now, its starting to snow. I am not sure about that but I am snuggled up, inside, about to start a fire and waiting for great mates to come over. So, if it has to snow, then this is the best way for it to happen.
This is Dionne, me and KC with our 'oh no, its snowing' faces on.
My sweetheart cooked us breakfast this morning after driving down to Indianapolis last night. Its a nice morning out here and we have a day of rehearsing, picking up pa's and then driving up to fort Wayne for tonights show. We are 'trying on' the space here as it will end up being a mini home base while we are on the road and home-less.
KC took this photo at my show last night. The show I thought was going to be a bust given that it's a Wednesday night and all. The show that ended up being fairly full of fun people who laughed, clapped and screamed at the right time every song. It was a lot of fun and I realized again that you just never know.
When I saw this photo I laughed because I realized that I stand on one foot often when I sing. That I feel like taking the other foot up is helping to push the note out of me when I sing. It probably helps tremendously :-)
So, it's a thursday...Dexter, the baby sat dog, has taken me for a walk, it's not quite so cold outside, my girls flight has just been canceled and they are trying to work out how to get her here NOW. And I of course want her here NOW. Excited to see her beautiful smiling face. I have a tummy full of oatmeal, a coffee in my hand and all is well in this world.
Did I say already that I am grateful? Can you tell?
My big tease of a girlfriend sent me this photo today....just after I was telling her how my hand (that was holding the cell phone that I was talking to her on) was so cold it was hurting. This is the street that we live on....in 75 degree weather. Unlike the 42 degree weather that I am in right now. Yes Annemarie, I am a big wimp with cold weather...I would write a song about it if I thought it would be interesting.
My sweetheart flies in tomorrow and we all drive down to Indy to hang out with mates, do a few great shows and check out the space that will become our part time home when we are off the road. My guitars are all healthy from their day in the spa (one of them had THREE cracks in it)and all is well. I have one more show here in Chicago tonight, just a quickie, and only one more sleep before I lay my lips on the woman I love.
Now if I could just get it to be a little warmer here in Illinois.
Who I miss greatly right now....she just sent me this photo, I can't remember it but it is of course of my love and my good mate Julie with the twin boys from Brandi Carlile's band.
This is Murphy, trying to change the tv channel. Seems he was sick of the program that was on.
Rainy cold day here in crystal lake. My guitars are in for their very own spa day, lucky bastards, and I have a day off over here....yay! Just what my wanting to take over cold needs to get a good kick in the ass.
I must say, after the year that I have had I had been lax in getting the new cd to media for review. I figured I could start now and just say that it's a new cd, coz to me, it still is.
It's a great review though and a great new website, check it out while you are there.
Took this tonight as I was driving to my show. I had been talking earlier in the day to my friend Julie Wolf and we were both marveling over the fact that it was a year ago now that I moved to Chicago.
I was thinking about that as I drove in and remembering the place I was at then....compared to where I am at now, and I am so completely thank-filled. So grateful for here, for this place. I know and respect the fact that it was all part of my journey and valuable for various reasons, but fuck, am I glad its done. I don't even recognise the person from then.
Ahh good old Chicago traffic, can always count on it, even at this time.
Sweet gig at uncommon ground tonight, new faces and a relaxed show. I enjoyed it....
Now I am trying to work out how to break it to KC that she is never going to see her leather jacket again (I didn't come prepared for this cold and so am stealing clothes). Btw, send a thought kc's way tonight, she is in hospital recovering from an operation to remove something that turned out to not actually be there. Very strange.
I have it up my nose...I have it under my tongue....if I could, I would possibly bathe in it. I have been on the edge of getting a cold of some sorts over the past 24 hours and the magic of zicam is saving me from it. I love it!! If I could, I would marry it.
I leave tomorrow afternoon to head back to Chicago and begin my big tours for the year. I am excited to head out and excited that Dionne will be joining me part way through (more excited if she were there for the whole thing...but I digress). She passed on an article by Dr Wayne Dyer yesterday called 'Inspiration and Hope'. It so perfectly spoke to both of us about all the changes and the direction we are both going in and how when everything is aligned and you are following your spirit, that everything will work for you. Shows are coming to us, tour ideas are flowing freely, songs are being created, jewelery orders are coming in and as people are seeing the pieces up close, sales are increasing. We sat today and made a pile of custom orders and new ones for our table stock and we both had a sparkly look in our eyes (aside from the achy body feeling occasionally). It all feels right. D gave notice at her job yesterday and her boss looked at her and told her he was jealous.
It's all so good. I kinda have those moments where I wonder what is going to go wrong and I try to hush them away from me in a 'that's old thinking' kinda voice. It's all good, it's all flowing, we are both exactly where we are meant to be and if I can say it again...I look back to where I was a year ago and am SOOOOOO thankful to the universe.
Here is the first paragraph (and the link to the rest of the article);
"When you are inspired by a great purpose, everything will begin to work for you. Inspiration comes from moving back in-spirit and connecting to the seven faces of intention. When you feel inspired, what appeared to be risky becomes a path you feel compelled to follow. The risks are gone because you are following your bliss, which is the truth within you. This is really love working in harmony with your intention. Essentially, if you do not feel love, you do not feel the truth, and your truth is all wrapped up in your connection to Spirit. This is why inspiration is such an important part of the fulfillment of your intention to live a life on purpose." Read More
I stood in the middle of the vortex at boynton canyon yesterday. Fully aware of the energy swirling around me, pushing on my chest and making my hair feel a little curlier than normal. I built my little shrine, my pile of rocks in a little tower like so many people before me had. I stood up, closed my eyes and put my hands out to the world and let my imagination go.
If we energetically are responsible for the life we create, if our thoughts really do create and draw to us the things that we want, then I didn't want to waste the opportunity. Being in the center of such a powerfully magnetic place, I dreamt of how I wanted my life to look. I imagined the shows, the friends, the love, the money, the creativity, the travel, the growth, the peace, the creativity, the home. The life I want with the sweet love of my life next to me. I imagined looking across towards her when we were very old, tears in our eyes from laughing and remembering the adventures we had up till then. I imagined dying old and peaceful with a smile on my face knowing that I had done absolutely everything I had ever dreamt and more. That I was still passionately in love with the woman who has absolutely captured my heart (and continues to more everyday).
And then I breathed out, thanked the universe and went on my way. Grateful for life and madly in love with it all. A big smile of my face because I truely felt like I had just been let in on the greatest secret of all.
You see the strangest things out here in the desert.
D and I just finished a show at the Wildhorse Rescue Ranch and are driving to our home of the evening in our monster mobile. Tomorrow we head to Sedona with D's family to spread Tylers ashes. We are heading to a place called Boynton Canyon which is meant to be one of the 4 energy vortex's that are in Sedona. Here is a place that Tyler was planning on moving to and so now we go to help him do that. It will be a very tough day in a very beautiful place.
Music, life, death and love.....this is the journey we take.
We are half way to phoenix and the land is pretty desolate and dry out here.....except for the spattering of pretty yellow flowers everyone.
Oh, and the big yellow patch of bug guts on the window.....
Xxm
Ps we have a new voice on our gps....its an aussie voice. Whenever you go off course it stops and says, ' Umm, I think we should have followed that last instruction so, if you get a chance, perhaps do a u turn or I can just recalculate the route.' We laugh our asses off everytime....
Okay, so its 6.30am. I have been awake since 5.30am. I am laying in my warm bed as I write this, listening to the LA traffic get moving outside. I am excited to be heading out on our first official road trip in our new mini van, I mean, Tour Bus.
We adorned her with our favorite stickers yesterday. Here she sits. In our driveway. All pretty and stuff.
We are hitting the road big time this year. Dionne is quitting her job, we are packing up our apartment and putting our stuff back in storage. Packing the van with everything we will need (and a few things we just want) for the next year....and come May, will be driving across country to begin the adventure. We will have official home bases with family members here in CA and in Indianapolis and some great friends in between tours. I have shows coming in all over the place....festivals we are playing at and some we are just selling our musekraft wares at, house concerts all over the country, new venues in new cities and photos waiting to be taken, songs waiting to be written. And we are excited....in a 'wish we were just doing it right now' kinda way.
Some people might think taking such a big leap is crazy in this economy, but we haven't met any of those people yet. Everyone close to both of us send us out into the world with their blessings, support and their own excitement for what is ahead of us.
If there's one thing both of us have learned in the last 12 months, its that life is too short to sit around wondering and wishing....or waiting. Dreams require action and risk and as my mate Kimberley told me last March when I left San Francisco for Chicago, with terror in my heart, 'leap, and the net will appear.'
So, look out for us in our mini, I mean, tour bus. Obama on one side, me on the other.
My sweetheart Dionne has entered into a photographic competition called 'Name Your Dream Assignment'. Her dream idea is detailed more on the site but its called 'Adventures of An Indie Artist'...so you can probably guess what, or who, it documents!! We are about a week behind in voting and would be so grateful if you could take a minute to vote for her. It requires you signing up but it literally is less than a 10 minute process and we would be so thankful for your vote.
I have often said this to myself.....90% of the time I say it in a good way though. In a 'wow, I put that idea out to the universe and it actually happened' kinda way. I think its true that we live only tapping a small amount of our potential. That we are far more powerful in an energetic kinda way, than we even know. That we really can create the awesome life we dream of. That we stand in the way of ourselves far too much.
Dionne and I are making massive changes in our lives. Which brings me to my other favorite saying:
'Never say never'
I said last year that I was going to take a break from big changes. Ha! The universe says to me.....Ahhhh, not quite yet.
We will announce more here when we can, not everyone that needs to know in our lives, does yet. But its a time of excitement and wonder and occasionally sweaty palms. And it involves this car.....or this mini van, which will hopefully be ours by the end of this day. No, jokes about soccer mums.
Just attended the meadow primary school talent show up her in thousands of white folks (thousand oaks, ca). Its amazing what can fit into an hour.
The highlight for me was my little mate Oliver, pictured in the middle (here with his cousins), doing a hip hop dance to the song Go Girl. It was pretty awesome....as his he.
Ahh, if only I hadve been in talent shows at that age...
I read a quote in todays paper from a woman in San Diego who was hosting a 'support proposition 8' party in her swanky married persons home. She said that everything she had seen so far in the arguments in the supreme court get together yesterday, told her that proposition 8 would not be overturned. She was happy about that and said, "gay & lesbians still retain all the legal privileges, which are the exact same as marriage. They just have to relinquish the title of marriage."
I think people around me might have seen steam coming out of my nose when I read that. The ignorance behind a statement like that angers me beyond belief. Granted CA has made life a little easier for glbt folks here but what a step backwards proposition 8 is. Its one of the saddest moments I have experienced in this State.
We do not have the same rights as married people.
We can't get married.
I am from another country....if I had the same rights as married people, I could marry my partner and apply for permanent residency here and then transition towards citizenship. Because my relationship isn't recognised federally, I can't do any of that. I could be dishonest and marry a man and get all of that.
As it stands, if I am in an accident while I am on the road in another state, they could legally stop my partner from having access to me or making decisions on my behalf. I have to have a piece of paper with me specifying her as my power of attorney and even then a nurse in a bad mood or with misplaced religious convictions can make that more difficult than it needs to be.
A married person would never have to do that.
If we had the same rights as married people we would jointly submit our taxes and save thousands of dollars every year in tax breaks.
If we had the same rights as married people, we wouldn't have to adopt our own children or not be allowed to have any legal say with them.
If we had the same rights as married people, we could adopt children in this country.
If we had the same rights as married people, my heart wouldn't be full of stories of people who have lost their partner only to be thrown out of their own homes by family members who disapprove of the relationship. And not have a legal leg to stand on.
Oh, I could go on.
Please lady in San Diego, get your facts straight or refrain from making such stupid comments in the Los Angeles times. Your ignorance makes me ill.
I need to write a song about this. Makes me so crabby.
the little girlie thingy is available on MuseKraft now....I just put it up. It will also be available at shows so if you need to you can save a few bucks that way with shipping. MuseKraft is going to be at Milwaukee Pride this year (along with me performing on mainstage on Sunday) and Virginia Women's Music Festival...as well as all the other shows in between now and then...and a few special ones that are yet to be announced!! It's all go mates...full steam ahead....and we are both remembering to breathe.
So you don't fully see the beautius-ness of this but our new musekraft banner arrived today and we were very excited to see it's magnificence. It looks amazing and is 6 foot long....I am so proud of the work we are doing, in amongst being occasionally freaked out or upset because something isn't working the way I want it to. We have also set up shop on www.musekraft.etsy.com which will have one of a kind pieces and photo cards will also be up there soon. It's full steam ahead and we are both trying hard not to be completely overwhelmed by all the changes and possibilities. I swear I keep repeating to myself 'if you're not scared, you're not aiming high enough'. I know this to be true.
My exercise this day consists of walking the 2 mile or so round trip to the post office in downtown glendale. Its a beautiful sunny day that started with making musekraft items and customizing the potential new flip video that we are buying to chronicle our life on the road.
We made a big ass banner yesterday that is getting printed up today and will be used at all the festivals etc that we will be doing. Its nice to feel people get excited for us and about us and I also get their trepidation for us.....given the supposed current state of the economy.
Anyway, for right now, the beautius sunny-ness of here is calling my name sweetly in the wind.
The b & g is a hiking trail in palm desert that we just completed. It kicked our asses big time but on the other side of the mountain we are all pumped to have completed it. This is Indie and Belinda, our tour/trail guides who came and picked us up this morning to kick our asses.
Great fun show last night in Indio and now its off to palm springs for a cocktail and french fries, you know, to balance the sweaty hike out
