Been really digging being in this new song game thing i'm in where you get a new title every week or so and you have to write a song and record it and send it via email to about 14 other people...all writing songs w/ the same title. The titles basically suck. "i eat buildings" was one. "desperation mambo" was the last. You can hear my versions on the softy myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/softymusic
Garage Band has been a nice tool. It only takes me 8 hours to get a mix I like (ggeeeezz). It's nice to be writing again.

Would somebody please tell me what the hell artisan bread is?

freaking time warner...freakin american express liars!! Stupid Acura roofing. Is my money not green?? I just need a few simple repairs. and one not so simple...Nobody will follow through. Is this the way the world is, or is it part of the slacker Austin mentality that I've been assuming was only in the music industry (where'd I get that?)


aaaaarrrrrrrrrhhgggh this is frustrating.

"Spritual Babe" written by Ronnie Lane and performed by Ian McLagan and the Bump Band is now in rotation on KGSR. That's me singing, "ssssstay with meeeee....."

very cool.

OH my GOD OH MY GOD!!!

my favorite web celeb mentioned me on his "the show"
check it out!!!

http://www.zefrank.com/theshow

watch the one for 5/11/06

it'll make a little more sense if you watch 5/10/06 first


it's like it's my birthday.

So I'm the 65th million person on myspace. I feel so special. I now have a way to judge how popular and important I am. What a relief.

SXSW was much fun this year. I didn't stay out too late. I only got drunk once. No fights, no lovefests. Got to sing with a lot of folks and watch Jon Greene rock out a bunch. And I slept. That usually doesn 't happen. I'm still pretty tuckered out. I'm getting old. Unfortunatley, my neighbors are not. How do you tell them that not only is 7am far too early to sit on the porch and do Dylan covers, but they're not very good? Hmmm, tricky. Oh, crap. He just went into a falsetto.

I had the opportunity to sing back up on a recording for Ian McLagan yesterday. All went well. He's making a tribute record of all Ronnie Lane songs. So, I've never heard these songs before. He gave me an idea of what he wanted and we figured it out as we went along. It sounds pretty good. Hopefully if he has Craig mix it, Craig won't mix me off the record...which is entirely possible. I got to shout and OOOOooo and do the "breathy" thing. I'm glad he didn't ask me to do anything else, because those are my only tricks. Oh, and his dog bit my pants. Cool.

I have not written in this journal for a long time....lots of stuff has happened, most of which I will not be discussing here.

Gigs have been fantastic and a saving grace. So has my husband. http://www.jongreene.com I am a very lucky person. If my life stayed exactly as it is right now forever, I would have nothing to complain about. I have never said that before.

So, what's been going on in the new year. Saw Spoon. Still love them. My best friend from junior high has moved to town. Woo Hoo! that rocks. I got a 99 on my Anatomy test! I really want to record this year....this month, actually. Got a serious itch to get into the studio and hear some of these new songs on plastic. So keep your ears open for that.

Hey, it's 5:47 am and I'm up. That's not right. And I've already cleaned the kitchen. Is it opposite day? I hope not. Is it Xtreme day? That would suck.

Anatomy is killing me. I am in denial about bony landmarks and having to know them. And if I think about what I'm reading too much, I get really grossed out. So I've poured all my attentions to the Chronicles of Narnia. I'm just about to start book 6. Just finished the Dawn Treador, which was good. Still like A Boy and his Horse the best. Can't wait for the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie to come out. It looks like they did a pretty good job with it. After I finish that I'll have to get "Son of a Witch", the sequel to "Wicked". Then I'll be done and I can stop reading forever.

By the way, I know that I'm the last one to figure this out, but Spoon rocks. I love the Spoons. Brit Daniel and the Spoons. Just checked out Girls Can Tell... mmmm spoons.


ONE LAST THING
I had a dream last night that Sherpa (cat) had an identical twin named Roy. ....that all this time I had two cats and didn't know it because they were never in the same room at the same time. There was much confusion as well as celebration being that Sherpa and Roy were exactly alike in every way. the end.

One of my heroes died the other day. No, it wasn't Santa. It was Chris Whitley. I got the chance to see him play a few time and always got that giddy " i'm in the presence of a legend and most of the world doesn't know it, therefore, I'm cool" feeling. And many time his sounds were the soundtrack to my life...like on the subway in New York just after my whole world fell apart.


Other than this sad, lonely news, today was a good day.

OY! I love Spoon! The new Spoon CD, Gimme Fiction, is clearly one of the greatest rock and roll records I have ever heard! Hooray!

I went to Barton Springs today with David and met up with Evan there. They peer pressured me into jumping into the deepest part (14ft ). It was fantastic. I didn't have a heart attack. I need to go there much more often.

Saturday night's Luna show with Torch was just about the most fun I've ever had in San Antonio (with my clothes on). Holy Cows. The addition on Evan Jacobs on keys and the new positioning of the vocal monitors was pure magic. Thank you Marcos. I hope New Year's Eve is just as much fun.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we decided to donate all the money we made from our Cedar Street gig to the Red Cross. This included tips and cd sales. It was $215. We're going to keep doing this for the rest of September. CD sales AND tips. We want to give the Red Cross a big pile of money. Austin has 5000 refugees alone. I live in a 490 sq ft apartment, so inviting them over is not an option. Money will be our contribution, and I would like to get that money from you.


The weather is beginning to change. Its actually NOT hot at night. And every once in a while I feel this senstation that they call a "breeze". Roasted chicken and baked pies are just around the corner, folks.

saturday morning study in haiku:

1.
The farmer's market
I think I woke up too late
It's already hot

2.
Groggy and confused
cuz I had to give it up
I can't drink coffee

3.
You don't speak English.
I don't know what you're saying
when you meow ,sir.

How do those kids on Rosewell keep so fit eating burgers and potato skins and cake all the time? Remember how great it was when as a teenager you could eat and eat and eat and never get fat? I had a hollow leg. I could also forget to eat for an entire day and it would not affect me at all.

"I ate a lava lamp. It wasn't lava."

I love TV. There I said it. In my own defense, I keep myself from it as much as possible. Well, very close to as much as possible. I'm pretty sure I'd love crack, so for my own good, I have stayed away from it truly as much as humanly possible.

We netflixed (the new verb: netflix. ) Sea Lab 2021. That's some seriously mindless television, but that's pretty much what I'm after. 24/7. It's nice to see that Eric Estrada is such a good sport. (yes, he's a voice on Sea Lab) We only got through 2 episodes before we passed out. One had to do with a missing Easy Bake oven.

Hey, check out www.smallfestivalballs.com
The Greater Good is one of my favorite records ever.

I had a dream about chocolate last night:

I had been in an Indian movie about chocolate so as part of the junket we had a chocolate festival. The movie was called Xan. I did not recall what my part was or what the plot of the movie was, I just know that we won an award. So I was at the chocolate festival trying all the different chocolates...each one was a rep for the corresponding chocolate film. I kept overhearing conversations about how "American chocolate is CRAP!" (which is not untrue.) I could acutally TASTE. I can almost never taste things in my dreams. And if I can, whatever it is usually tastes like a pillow. But this chocolate was fantastic. The Indian chocolate was the best. It was smooth and creamy and had a hint of spice to it. What is XAN???
I woke up just after unwrapping a chocolate ball that they had put out so you could compare the good with the bad. It was one of those foil wrapped ones you get at christmas. I had just unwrapped it and realized I didn't want it because everything else was so good...then I woke up because my cat was crying at me.

I have devolped a taste for ice in my water. I'm turning Texan. I'm diggin the AC, too. I used to fight it. Try to go as long as I could without it. What is happening to me? Grilling veggies is making me really happy, too, but that's not new.
Michael Corcoran reviewed the Torch record and that made me really happy, too.
http://www.austin360.com/xl/content/music/xl/2005/07/cdreviews_07-07-05.html He's had the CD for 5 months. The review is good and sounds like he actually listened to it...more than once. So I can't really complain. But if anyone understands the "star system" and wants to explain it to me, that would be swell. For now I'm going to chose to ignore it.

I have an angel food cake hangover. I love the stuff. Especially with strawberries and whipped cream.
...what else is new...hmm...oh, I think I've got Jon hooked on Roswell, the show about teen-aged aliens just trying to fit in and find love. I love Netflix.

I was on TV in San Antonio today. I got to judge an American Idol-esque show called Open Call on KENS5. It was really hard! They were all pretty good and I didn't want to let anyone down, but there was this one guy...country singer...who nailed all his notes, so I gave him a 9. He was the best, but he didn't win because one of the judges hates country music and gave him a 4. They didn't tell us what the rules were. I don't think you're supposed to judge by genre prejudice, but no one called him on it because there was no time/protocol/serious give a sh*t.

It's so hot. You can't even imagine and even if you could why would you want to? I feel drugged, and not in a good way. Hot weather makes you feel fatter, too.

Books:

I've been writing a lot lately. And reading. I just finished Jonathan Safran Foer's new book "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." For anyone who read his first one, "Everything is Illuminated", you will NOT be disappointed in the least. It was fantastic.
I am in the middle of a book that Jud lent me by Haruki Murakami. (The same dude who wrote "The Wind Up Bird Chronicles") I'm about 200 pages into it and I'm just beginning to figure out what's going on. I read "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" by David Sedaris the other day while it was really hot and I locked myself in my bedroom with the AC on 70°. It was good. Not as belly-laugh as "Me Talk Pretty One Day", but good.

I wrote some new songs. I really like one of them in particular called "Zedachia" about the King in the book of Jeremiah. Four eyes and myself played at Cedar Street yesterday for happy hour and it was sooo much fun. Jon and I will be doing the next two weeks as just the 2 of us to get ready for the show in Tulsa in July. We'll do a full band one again on July 12th.

I'm going to go soak myself in cold water.

OK, so last night I took some Nyquil. Maybe I have put an end to the wacky sleep schedule. Scrappy was right, I am going to miss it. But it can get awful lonley at 3:47 am. You can't call anyone. The only store open is Wal-Mart.

I don't understand it. I'm ready for jet lag to be over. I have been sleeping from 1pm to 6:30 pm. And that's it. It's amazing the things you can get done if you don't sleep all night. I cleaned my bathroom, the fridge and did a load of laundry, gave my cat some quality one on one attention and organized my desktop into neat little folders. I also played a lot of computer chess, which is a great way to remind yourself how stupid you are. I marinated some tofu, tended to my garden (around 5, when the sun came up) and flossed. Thoroughly. Now what do I do? It's at least 4 more hours until bedtime.
What if I kept this schedule for the Summer? Noon to 7 is a pretty hellacious time in the Summer in Texas. Why not just be unconscious? The only problem would be Tuesdays when I have a gig from 6-8...but that could just be the day I "get up early".

"Hmm.....", I'm thinking.

I am just about ready for jet lag to be over. We have been back for two days and I am still out of whack. For entries on the Japan trip, go to www.sweethoneytree.com
I'll give you a preview - it was awesome.
I miss Tokyo. We fell in love with that city hard and fast. I wish it was just a train ride away rather than losing- a-year-off-my-lifespan-on-a-long-ass-flight away.

Torch will be chilling out for a while. Our next show is at the end of june. I want to do some writing, playing solo...that kind of thing. I also have about 30 pounds to lose, we'll see how that goes. It's a lot harder to lose weight when you're not depressed.

for news about our trip to Japan (which is where I am right now) go to
www.sweethoneytree.com

I have been putting the journal entries for the trip there.

Also, jon has been adding to his journal at
www.jongreene.com

I want to thank everyone who came out to the 710 last night. That was just about as much fun as a person should have. Man Alive, I love that band. For those of you who weren't there...4-eyes rocked and you missed it. Sorry.

We don't have another show scheduled at the moment, but as soon as we do, it'll be posted. Probably another Tuesday in May.
This Friday is Southpaw Jones' birthday and coordinating party at Flipnotics. (7:30) That's also going to be a good ol time. I'll do a short set as will Jud Newcomb, Matt the E, Liz Pappademas, Abia Tapia, the Ginn Sisters, Bill Pasalaqua, Max and Henry...and of course, Southpaw. for more info check out the all new and improved http://www.southpawjones.com

I just came back from the big D ...that's Dallas, not Denmark. I've never been to Denmark. Dallas was just like you'd think. Ranch-style houses (but no ranch dressing, oddly enough) big, juicy steaks, some tequila (which rhymes with my name, you know) a birthday, two dogs and a kitten. Now I'm home and getting ready to avoid the week ahead. Oh, South by Southwest, how you sting, how you burn. Neither of my bands got in this year, but Matt did, so I get to sit at the popular kids' table. What a relief. I'm just waiting for the week to be over.

So, I've got this new gig at Cedar Street on Tuesdays...it's sweeet. You've got to come. No, I mean really, you've got to. If people don't start showing up, I'm going to get fired.

I made myself a tuna melt sandwich and now I have onion breath. I am alone in my apartment with onion breath and I am smiling. My cat is here, but he is sleeping in the dirty laundry. His face is in a smelly sock. Spring is here! It will be brief, so I'll try not to get too attached. The best part about the hot, hot heat that is on it's way, is that the free pools will open. As I have said many times, swimming is the only workout you can get lying down. And I'm all for that.

Scrappy (Jud Newcomb) and I played at Cedar Street on Tuesday. Met some new folk, sold them records. That's always good. Scrappy sure is a nice fella to have on stage with you. It was just me and him and we had everything covered...we'll do it again, I'm sure. Now I will go for a walk to the beloved HEB for cat food. The cat is on a diet. So I have to get him some Pounce for a treat so he doesn't get too cranky for the house sitter.

Did the "Chicks with Picks" show last night and it was fun fun fun! Where did Rich go, though? I swear, that boy turns into a pumpkin on Sunday nights or something. It was nice to have friends come out, though. Unfortunately, I could not actually see anyone from the stage because the stage lights were so friggin bright and right in my face...bright and sparkly, like a holiday. Billy Cassis and Cornbread (on bass) took over half the band and what a non-hostile take-over it was. Those guys did their homework and came to rock. It was an all rock zone. There was no rock-free area. I had poofy hair.

Later at the Saxon I got called "hostile" by a nosey man who was trying to slink his way into a conversation I was having with Wendy about purses. Whatever happened to charm? Is it under house arrest? Oh, and HEY- www.waltertragert.com is up and running. Discover Walter and then would someone explain to my why the f@*k this guy isn't famous?

It's nice to get away. I need a get away. a couple days in a hotel. I love hotels. Is that so wrong? There so clean and sturdy. They have elevators and someone's at the front desk all night long. It's great when there's a bar/cafe in the lobby...and a fountain. And the pillows are huge and the remote for the tv works. I don't have these things at home. I love my home ; it functions well as my get away from the outside world on a daily basis..but you know how it is. The outside world creeps in through the little holes in the phone and the calendar on the fridge is always screaming at me. There are also a few raccoons living in my walls.


I went to the new Whole Foods last night and it was beautiful! Too Beautiful ! I have to turn my eyes for fear of being blinded by beauty and the bounty of clean living. I must go back. I forgot to get 365 brand sodas. And nutmeg...I need nutmeg (the weirdest ingredient in macaroni and cheese)...

You know....I hate it when people flake. I have to remember that the next time I even think about flaking. I can't believe though, that people go well into their 30's and are still doing it. Not even trying to make up for it, or smooth things over. Just flat out flake. As you may have guessed, I have been on the receiving end of some serious flaking today. I always feel like such a chump. I hate that feeling. Flaking is a very not nice thing to do.

the gig on sunday was fine. i got to wear cute clothes. we did it as a trio because darwin couldn't make it. we still rocked. all is well. amy brobruk is nice. maybe we will play together more. fun. jon played with walter tragert last night also. he uses sticks the whole time. he rocks out. that's fun to watch. i beat rich at golden tee ...and it only cost me 4 dollars. what a bargain.

there is going to be a big show at rutamaya on sat feb 5th. fastball, abra moore, grupo fantasma....you should go ...here's the website. http://www.d2bweb.com/tsunami
yes, it's a benifit. there is lots of parking at rutamaya. there will be beer. room for dancing. cute boys...friendly hippy chicks. tell everyone you know about this show. ALL THE MONEY GOES TO THE RED CROSS TSUNAMI FUND. this is good. They need it. and they will continue to need it for a while. So, pass it on, o-kay?

I have a 4-Eyes gig this Sunday. Holy Crap, I have a 4-EYES GIG THIS SUNDAY!! I should re-learn my songs. I gotta go.

And it continues...
I have a new website up specifically for Torch. Go to www.sweethoneytree.com

There you will find the answers you seek. As well as a version of me, jon and chris playing peel me a grape live on kut's eklektikos. there's no where else to get that one, folks.

there's pictures, too. and a guestbook. and a journal...it's like an alternate universe. more for me than for you.
welcome to my nightmare.

Before the Night is Over, the new CD from TOrcH is now available on CD baby!! just go to: www.cdbaby.com/torch2

Buy as many as you'd like...we'll send more.

Oh what a fine show we had at the Elephant last night. Great turn out, lots of fun. Thank you for coming out. And for those of you who brought food for the Caritas food bank, you rock. For those of you who didn't, you can always go to www.caritasofaustin.org and make a donation. Oh, and the Chrises! They were awesome! How lucky I am to play with such a fine bunch of folks...that make me sound good....

I have the holiday spirit. I have a bit of a holiday spirit hangover, too...but it's ok.

peace, y'all.

ps: The new Torch records are here!!! And they are lovely. hoooray! You can get them at Waterloo Records in Austin. Soon they will be on CD baby. I'll let you know. If you just cannot wait, email me and I'll tell you how to get one.

I just finished reading a book called "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer. I'm so sad that it's over. It was beautiful. Now I'm on to "Lost" by Gregory McGuire. He's the same guy who wrote "Wicked" and "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister" (both of which are awesome). I'll let you know what I think.

I had a horrible experience at the dentist this morning. I am so sick of doctors who think they know what's best for you without even talking to you and then they're shocked that you have a clue or an idea or an expectation of service from them. My dentist is a jack ass. And he and the assistant gossiped about other people in the office while they worked on me...like I wasn't there. So professional. Oh yeah, then they tried to charge me 3 times what they'd told me it would cost. Fancy. Needless to say, I'm looking for a new dentist.

Tonight we have dinner with the lovely Katie. I'm making soup and a mushroom and cheese galette (is that how you spell it?). We will make an early night of it and then start it all over again tomorrow.


Last night at Mundi was fun!! Southpaw and Matt were a delight as always, to play with. We had some *sweet* 3 part harmonies happenin. Thanks to those of you who came out. It was great to see you! I was a little rusty and played some really old stuff cuz I felt bad about not having new stuff. Make sense? After that I mosied over to the Continental Club where the upright Walter Tragert was filling in for Jon Dee Graham. Holy Cows! Walter, Scrappy, Cornbread and yes, the Greene Machine never sounded so good! They were tight and laid back and rockin. I have to say those two skinny rock and roll boys singing "Ooo Sha Laa laa" background vocals is nothing to sneeze at.... And how about that Jon Greene! If you have no idea of what I speak, you need to check out The Walter Tragerts or whatever they're calling themselves these days Sunday nights after the Resentments at the Saxon Pub in good old South Austin, Texas! Walter's a hell of a singer. Very soulful and real. And his songs are catchy buy not empty. It's amazing how he can have you singing and dancing along happy as a clam to a song about how he's too mentally and emotionally crippled to even answer the phone. now, that's art.

After that I went to the Saxon and saw my buddy Darwin Smith rock on (my) a lovely black Guild D'armond with a band called Love County. They were good. Kind of Uncle Tupelo meets the Beatles. I would like to hear more of them and I will. Jon Greene was tired, though and we left before they were done.

Is it going to rain forever? I don't know how much more of this I can take. I have a very very small apartment. I have been stuck in it for days. Luckily, it's a very cozy and homey place, so I'm ok, but ...come on! One day of sunshine in the last 2 weeks? That's crap. I can't handle this. It's hard to focus. I need to be practicing, but I'm afraid I'll get electricuted. that's not good

My buddy Shun Smith helped me put the cover design for the new TOrcH record together last night. It's simple and not too girly. I hope to have it off in the mail by tomorrow so that we can be selling them before Christmas. they make great gifts, folks.

I saw "monster big band" at the elephant last night and what a treat that was. A real, live, tight and ballsy big band rockin my face. It was sweet. They even did a Led Zep medley. I know what you're thinking, but it was awesome. Got to talk to a lot of folk that I have not seen for a while. Got to chill a bit with my sweetie, too. I'm starting to get excited about going out to see good music again. The last few times I have been quite pleased - just dropping in to check something out and becoming smitten. Unfortunately, the last show I saw on purpose and with great expectation was Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters) at the Cactus Cafe and I was very disappointed. He seemed so disinterested and put-out. Like he would so rather be doing something else...of which we are not cool enough to know about. It really was a let down because I am a big fan. I love the Sun Kil Moon record. He's got a great voice and lovely songs, though i have a hard time understanding what the hell he's saying sometimes. Man, and he would end songs by just stopping them! It was ridiculous. I kept laughing (I tried not to) every time. He wouldn't even wait for a resolving chord or do a retard or anything. He'd just stop like he's thinking "I'm done with that. I'm bored now." And he didn't look at the audience once. It made me feel creepy. So, anyway...I still like his record, just now it's tainted with the idea of what a brat he is. boo.

On a happier note, I think some friends are going to come and sit in on the TOrcH show this Sunday at the elephant. Woo hoo! Horn players, mostly. Fun for me.

Tonight I'm roasting a chicken. First I'm going to poke a bunch of holes in a lemon and stick it up the chicken's butt...oh, sorry I mean,cavity. That's what Martha Stewart would do if she wasn't in jail. Maybe they let her stick lemons up chickens butts while she's in jail. Poor Martha.

Last night it was a bit brisk so we walked down to some "upscale" bars not far from my house. It was dark early and just the right temp to wear your coat unbuttoned. When I was in New York, I'd walk 12 blocks without question. Here I get in my car without reason. It's silly. Texas has made me a little lazy and large in the ass area. This must change. I'm going to go walk to Elgin now.

Oh, it's finally cold in Texas. I am learning new things today. Like: my house is very drafty. Very, very drafty. I am afraid of the heater. It looks like something out of "City of Lost Children". So I'm just going to cook things that need to be in the oven for a really long time. Like pot roast or turkey or shrinky dinks.

Do you know Anita O'Day? She's one of my heros. www.anitaoday.com
Jon Stewart is also one of my heros. Check him out at www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2652831 and www.poormojo.org/pmjadaily/archives/001634.html

Oh, I had such a fun and wonderful gig with the Weepies tonight. It was an honor to play on the same bill as them and a delight to have Jud Newcomb join me on guitar. I am going to bed happy. Thanks a bunch, Deb and Steve. Anytime, I'll do it again.

check them out at www.theweepies.com

we started mastering the new torch record yesterday in wimberley at billy stull's place. it sounds good...needs just a little tweeking and then it will be perfect. it sounds great. i'm really excited. there's a bunch of songs that chris vestre and I wrote together. (yes, originals!)

I've got two shows next week of my stuff and i have not practiced in a month. so, i gotta go.

the matt tour was fun. we are back. I'm glad to not be in a car anymore. we went bowling in boston in the middle of the day. they had a good juke box. I suck at bowling. and the bowling balls had no holes (candle-pin?). but it was fun. we saw "team america, world police" and I laughed so hard I almost peed. We got lost a lot. now I'm back in the hot. my body is confused. not in a boy/girl way, but in a hot/cold way. I'm looking forward to watching some baseball. Looking forward to eating some salad (against the rules on the road)...
looking forward to the cool gigs we have coming up.

thanks to everyone who came to a show, bought a cd, said nice stuff to us, fed us, let us sleep at your house, drink your tea, eat your english muffins, shower in your shower, gave us directions (that worked), ...we had a good time and we are now home safe.

oh, yeah. and thanks to the tornado for not eating us.


-s

ONly a few more shows left on the matt tour. This has been fun. We ran into a whole bunch of rain and traffic from Boston to Bucks County, PA...an area that, at night, looks very haunted. We have a house concert today. My love for house concerts is growing steadily. John Dee will be on this one with us. It will be nice to see a friend from home.

I've been slacking on the picture taking. Kinda lame, i know. Sorry. If anyone has some good photos from any of our shows from this east coast tour, please send them to me at info@seelaworld.com I'll add them to the pile.


Looking forward to the Elephant gig with Torch on the 24th...and my openning for the Weepies show on the 27th!!!

the new york show was fun. the new york was fun...on to boston. pray for us.

Last night's show at Big Red Sun was a blast!! Thank you to all of you who came out. What a lovely night. My friend Valerie took some photos, I'll try to get them up here soon. And that Chris Vestre! Holding down double duty like a pro. sweet.

So we go into the studio on Saturday. I was nervous until last night's gig. It'll be fine, it'll be fun...I feel like it's already out of my hands. There will be some originals on this one. Chris and I have been doing some writing together. It will be interesting to see how that is received. Once again we're doing live to 2 track because I am insane. In a lot of ways it's easier, but in more ways it's harder. no overdubs. none. sorry.

Tonight the Chris Vestre group has their debut in San Antonio at Luna. I'm very excited for them. Chris' CD will be out in a few days and he will be famous...more famouser.... And then we'll go on tour and make lots of fans and money and everyone will be happy.

love, seela

We had a great show with the Electrician last night at the Saxon. The McKay Brothers opened with style (www.mckaybrothers.com).
The new Matt the Electrician record is out and in stores. It's called Long Way Home and it's very good. I give it an A.

So I'm getting emails from folks asking me when I'm going to do another Seela with 4-Eyes show. You people are confusing me. When I play, no one comes to the shows, when I don't play you ask me when I'm going to play again...oh, the games you play. The language of love sounds like the war cry of wild beasts. I don't have any 4-Eyes gigs on the books now save for a private party at the end of October. Wanna crash it? this journal entry is a coded map.

I have a rehearsal with TOrcH tonight. It's the pre-recording-what -the-#%&!-are-we-doing rehearsal. Brian reminded me that the less planning we do now, the more opportunities we can gain from our lack of planning later. It made sense to me at the time. Then he said something about how you can't soar like an eagle when you're surrounded by helicopters or something. This is a guy who wants to own a cow just so he can take it for walks.

Diva is an annoying word. When you use that word people think you're annoying. Sort of like "supposibly". Even though diva is a real word (I think), it's just like you said a fake word by accident without knowing it...and you're only saying it because you heard someone else say it and it's a short cut to what you really mean but are too lazy to come up with a phrase for. Come up with a better word. You don't have to make one up. There are lots of good words. But if you want to make it up, make it good. Who ever made up "bling-bling" is funny.

I sometimes say "decent" as a joke because when I was in 3rd grade everyone said "decent" as if it meant "quite better than decent, rather exceptionally cool". But this "everybody" was a bunch of 3rd graders. We didn't know what "decent" meant anyway. If in 15 years you want to say "diva" as a nostalgic, smirky nod to the past, I salute you. And I know that's just what you're waiting for. Me to salute your ass.

Back from Matt tour. Need water. Need clean food. Need to stop moving. Only 5 gigs, 3 days of recording and an x-ray before we head out again. Some of PA is underwater, so I can't go back to Easton where I used to live. I didn't really want to go there, but I certainly didn't want the place to get flooded. That sucks.

I gained a spare spare tire on the road. Mostly from eating. Oh, and not self propelling my body. I didn't have much sugar, except for the Dove bar I ate on the way home. I would never eat one of those in regular life. Matt somehow managed to lose weight. I think he's bulemic, acutally. I heard him say that he's not getting a new pair of pants til he's a 29. Then he stuck his finger in his throat. I didn't think anything of it at the time. And I had my head in a bag of "Smart Food", so I was distracted. Anyway, Matt doesn't like to talk about stuff like that and he really does need a new pair of pants. In this business no one cares what motivates you as long as you're motivated.

We leave for tour with Matt on Monday. I am not ready. there is a stack of papers on my desk yelling at me. My fridge is full of new ecosystems, all my clothes are on the floor because there's no room in the hamper. I love you, Austin, but I can't wait to leave. To get far away from my ringing phone and everything oh so familiar. I will be glad to see you when I return, but for a moment you will not have the same hold on me that you do now. You will be just another town. I will be freed. If only temporarily, my teeth will stop clenching and my shoulders will relax.

I will take pictures and may try to update this journal as time and computer access allow, but then again, I may blow that off.
Peace to you all, and please keep us in your prayers.

-s

this "Indian Fall" has me confused and giddy like a schoolgirl who's failing all her classes. I took a good brick- to-the-head type nap today. It was only an hour and a half long and I think I had 12 dreams and I woke up sweaty.

I got the new Jesse Harris record. I'm pretty sure I'm the first on my block to own it. It's good. I don't love it yet, but I'm sure I will. He's addictive. You play the record about 6 times and you're stuck. You love it. It's all you want to listen to. You wear it to school everyday. And people say you smell, but you don't care.

I'm going on tour with Matt soon. I'm quite ready to change my location daily. There's a nice kind of freedom in that. That is, until Matt ties us all together and makes us sing scales for 4 hours while he has native girls feed him grapes. Other than that, I suspect fun will be had by all. I'm worried that all my plants will die while I'm gone. Or someone will break into my apartment and steal all my soap or shoes or something I really need. Go on ahead to www.matttheelectrician.com to find out more. The dates should be there ...soon at least. And come see us and say Hello!

I need a new car. Or just one that works. I have 2 that don't. It really is true that not all double negatives make a positive.
I love Spottiswoode. And so should you. This record (Building a Road) is so good. Get it. www.spottiswoode.com I want to go to New York to see them live at Joe's Pub on October 28th. That would be rad. I'd wear a red 3 piece suit and walk up to him and go, "Lord Spottiswoode!! Yo, Spot! It's me, Seela. I spent a bunch of money I don't have to come up here and see what I'm pretty sure will be the best show I've seen all year. I had to walk to the airport from my house. You wanna hang out after the show? I know we're going to be great friends, you and me. We have absolutely nothing in common and you know how opposites attract!! Lets go have late night (or nite, whatever) pancakes at some hip New York diner that famous people go to. We'll act like we've been going there since before it got discovered by Ethan Hawke and we just come for the food. Don't you just love the drum groove on "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"? We can talk about stuff like that. Hey, where are you going? Oh, Ok, I'll just meet you there then...." And then we'll be pen pals for life.

My list just got longer, but I'm not letting it get me down. I made the list and I control the list, the list does not control me. Maybe if I started capitalizing it : The List....maybe then one could say that It controls me. but I'm not, so ..... It was created by me for me. It is my tool, not my master. I sat on the porch with Jud till 4am drinking beers. That wasn't on the list.

I think I was a professional plant killer in a past life, because I'm really good at it. I've managed to kill some succulents, you know, the kind you can't kill? Negligence is a key component in plant-killing, I have found. You learn something new everyday. I did not inherit my mother's green thumb. That she gave to the cat, apparently. My sister can kill plants she's never seen. She does it with her mind.

To radio promo or to not radio promo...that is the question. It seems to be on everyone's mind these days. My mailman was just asking me this morning if he should radio promo...and I told him it was the best bang for his buck. So that's what I'm going to do. I'm probably going to have to start selling my hair to do it, but that's cool.

The Matt tour is officially starting on Sept 6th and ending Sept 23rd. www.matttheelectrician.com Short, but chock full o' goodness. And joining us this year will be Liz Pappademas on piano, accordian and more backing vocals. www.lizpappademas.com She kicks ass. You'll love her. I am very excited about getting out on the road again. Yahoo! Possibly going to new york in october. double yahoo!
meanwhile, back at the halls of justice.
I wrote out a huge list of things I have to get done this week. i have to write a song called birthday girl. That's one of them. There's about 36 more things. One of them is "fix things".It's very general. But it all must be done this week.

Oh I had so much fun at my birthday party last night. It's 3:55 and I'm still in my pajamas. I can hear my cat's thoughts. that's how much fun I had. Thanks you guys.

So the site has been formatted so I can do it all by myself. Thanks to Scott Benham who has been babying me for the past 2 years (?!) and taking care of everything.

There is not enough ice cream in the world to lower my core temperature right now. I need to go swimming. or just submerging. I hope my submerging suit is clean.