doll hut rockabilly invasion

good picture of becky (cattie ness), don't you think? :) cattie ness & the revenge, w/whom i'll play, are on at 3 pm sunday at the doll hut in anaheim... last wkend, they all visited for a "band sleepover," as becky called it, & we practiced for 2 days, til i was so exhausted, i was playing w/my head on the yamaha electric piano... we stopped for a sec while johnny rage gave me an energy drink w/the incredible name of "monster rehab," & by the next song, i was playing while not just standing, but jumping up & down! i could hear & see the notes before i hit them! it was a bit like my old days w/stimulants, when, to paraphrase friends of bill, i'd get so up, my eyeballs would enter the room before i did... adam laughed, "you kicked your stool like jerry lee lewis!" apparently, monster rehabs do the job... it wasn't long, tho, before i felt like i might die, & shortly thereafter, our 2-day rehearsal & recording (johnny runs sound at a few LA clubs, so brought his recording gear) adjourned & all headed home to points north & south... to begin @ the beginning, when the band arrived, cars pulled in & stuff started flying into my house: johnny unloaded 100s of lbs of gear & fabi, adam, & john brought in suitcases & backpacks & sleeping bags & becky platters & platters of food (all contributed, but she was the guiding force behind our awesome dinner & breakfast). this place has never been so filled w/bodies, music gear, & things to eat! in the morn, becky made double espressos for all -- yes, cattie ness comes off like a tough, glamorous chick, but really, when it gets down to it, she's a mother hen. :) my culinary contribution was pancakes, which i dished out dollar-size (becky insisted, & i wasn't gonna argue). i made adam a mickey mouse cake @ his request, but drew the line when one of the male band wags requested a phallus. i have standards!!!!
hope dusk devils will come for a mountain retreat weekend, too, but dusk devils fan #1, john k, was probably correct when he wrote, "i don't think the dusk devils are a real sleep-over kind of band"... actually, it's funny to ponder rick, scotty, & brian p sitting around in their pjs w/stuffed animals... :) i leave this here for their rebuttal. :)

aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh

i'm playing a set w/cattie ness & the revenge this sunday at 3 pm as part of a rockabilly fest... arrrrrgggghhh!!!! blogger won't upload the flyer! you can easily find it on facebook, i know -- will try later. :) dusk devils will play sun oct 23 3 pm at the desert empire fair during their rockabilly day (tho we're not really rockabilly... ssssshhhh!!) -- hope to get a flyer for that one soon, but i wouldn't be able to upload if i had it, anyhow! ok, headed for bakersfield now, then back for breakfast w/art fein, whom i haven't seen forever, & after that, i hope, the LA fair, which is sorta en route to the doll hut, which is in anaheim...

back on the rollercoaster again?

- "no, you're just having feelings, being human." that's what my wise sponsor said kindly when i called her, blubbering & choking & feeling traumatized. after the last many days of high times & extreme fun & affection & laughs w/musician friends, i went to the yard to calm down, pull budding tumbleweeds, smell the fresh air, unwind. i went to throw away a box on my side of the arroyo, a box i'd noticed last wk & kept meaning to throw in the trash, & found... my kitty. she has been dead for over a month, killed by a coyote. i saw it happen. she was a gorgeous cat... she now is far from that. i can only guess someone hiking found her & recognized her as my kitty & brought her back to me... dear sister angie, known by her daughter as the "cat jesus," comforted me via phone; then her kind friend doug said a prayer for me that i have peace. his prayer actually helped me wash the horrible image of what remains of poor skittles from my mind.
- i'm grateful to my friend jp, former boxer, who, when i was in my last depression, reminded me to always roll w/the punches, that the ups & downs are just life & i absolutely MUST not let it get to me cause it'll all pass. i don't have to feel lost, pathological, abandoned, on the road to ruin, or guilty, as if i'm being punished for having had good times of late, simply for feeling sad & even shocked, revolted, scared by the cat's dessicated corpse...
- i will get help burying her remains properly tomorrow, along w/her kitty toys. w/all the good lately, i have to expect some bad here & there. that's life, & into each life, some rain must fall, & ad nauseum; to quote thoreau: "the price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it" - swift, "may you live all the days of your life" - and finally, "all men die. but not all men really live." (william wallace)
- may we all live fully today. may you be safe, comforted, & suffused with life.

distracting self from needing to vacuum up dog hair!

oh boy oh boy oh boy! spun, won, fecund, done, sun, & myriad happy rhymes! i was reminded recently that the man of 1001 faces is not lon chaney! we all killed arcade zombies to jukebox howlin wolf, smoked green cigarettes & watched tom & jerry, rolled & rocked, tho no socks came off... god of heaven & earth & all in-between, you expand my circle of friends & goodness all the time, & tho life continues to contain speed bumps, if i pay attention, i am rewarded more than ever can i repay...
it's autumn now, but life's in the air & the billowing painted sky last night cracked & flashed & boomed & rained rhythmic fragrant tears & as the storm sailed across desert & valley & headed out to coast, its earthy aroma delighted all i heard from. following the storm's progress by way of phone & facebook -- i liked it! :)
life life life: going deep, keeping it light... how you? my mind-state's fractured-by-happiness & fun... a light rain falls... must go clean... must go clean... so easy to procrastinate, play music... will post gigs soon; hope you enjoy this video. if not, go to another site, for pete's sake!
"we're so stupid. you're a dumb girl. you smell," said my friend, but it was funny, not mean. i know many monsters, often being one myself, & prefer the happy ones, as would any sane person, which i happen to be right now. so i hung out w/this monster & his friends the other night; like all the coolest monsters, he's misunderstood, but still the most comforting presence in the room; weird & rough & profane, but also kind & fun & attentive, w/ultimately -- i think -- a nobility that comes from being busted-up yet surviving, coming out stronger, mended by the strong glue of love & experience bringing wisdom... gotta go clean now for cattie ness & the revenge's arrival: it's a band slumber party! dusk devils, you are next! pack your bags!! :) "friend(s)... good..." have a nice one, friends. :)

got that fully alive, fully alive feeling...

zing! now you got it, too!
we alive!
carpe diem!

life! life! life!

still near-dead from the NM-CA drive, i was wakened by a knock on the door yesterday, beginning a day of seven visitors!! food, laughs, bawdiness, smoking, griping, loving, camaraderie... the eve ended w/a movie marathon: "jesus christ superstar" followed by "orgazmo." i was grateful this morning when i woke & realize the house hadn't been struck by lightning. :) at NM we hiked to a mtn top w/a woman who turned out to be a healer possessing much historical knowledge & alternative medicine wisdom -- she led us to a gigantic medicine wheel made entirely of quartz!, perched atop a sheer, red cliff! my travel bud kim, a strong & potty-mouthed & kind southern beauty, took me on many steep & treacherous hikes on said trip, for the higher we went, the more exotic rocks we could find -- so i came home w/a number of gorgeous pieces.
this morn beneath a lovely, breezy, cool sky & to the melody of birds, wind, & chimes, i worked on my shrine, adding bits of treasure i'd found in a few abandoned areas along old rt 66: broken cookery & tile, an old coke bottle, a vintage tail light, even some carnival glass & an old toy horse! then i used my quartz specimens to fashion a mini medicine wheel on the stump of an old oak the former resident of this place inexplicably had torn out... stood back to examine my work (it sparkles! like my labyrinth, it radiates ancientness, calm, if pondered...), looked over, & saw a tiny lizard -- but what a lizard! just one inch long, it looked like a fat mini-dinosaur! i never catch the little guys, but this i did, & after taking a few shots of what looked to be a liliputian triceratops & posting it on facebook, adam from cattie ness shot back that it was a horny toad! looking it up further, i discovered it was the california variety (natch); they're endangered in many places; they're loners & so are best left to survive on their own; can be a federal crime to take, even! (ex-hubby b commented, "good thing you didn't pick it up in the oilfield! they'd fine ya a million dollars!"); & eat red ants!... i knew just where to release him -- the beautiful exotic baby went right to a rock in the backyard, near the steps, on which is a red ant highway. i sat for a few minutes &, w/some satisfaction, watched him feast. now it's time to prepare to go practice w/becky & her band, then get the dog boys & visit loved ones.
"love attracts love," wrote st therese, the little flower, as well as, "i would like to fly as the eagle does, but i can only flutter my wings" -- i am, you are, we are the horny toad, the ant, the lonely climber, the red rock: let me be complete in the tininess & weakness of my ephemeral living form, be more compassionate & patient w/earth's creatures -- we are all so delicately small! -- & find comfort in the vastness, amazing beauty, & temporality of this. pay attention! do not take for granted one single thing!
yes, life! life! life! what a blessing! what a constant surprise! what a fragile gift! may you feel blessed & happy today...
ps - here's one more pic, just cause i love it so...

1840 miles, 7 days

dang! can't believe i'm home! when i left, it was still summer -- have come home to crystal-clear & crisply-cool, fragrant early-morning mountain autumn!
too strung out to sleep -- still vibrating from the road. left abq nm yesterday, slept 4 hrs in the backseat of my good old truck... wow! so grateful to have had such a wonderful road trip, so grateful to be home. more later... carino to anyone reading this... :)

blablablablablablabla

here is a little video to celebrate great music, friends, & a bee-yoo-tee-ful day... huge, huge birds are in the trees out the window! they must be a foot in height each! wow!

labor day weekend...

check out these flyers for two great shows! james also will play a 3rd, sat night @ taft's oasis (i'm crossing fingers roscoe'll offer again to give me dough to stay & play piano after hrs!!). then there's a special barndance-tribute to hank williams. can my constitution handle seeing both james & phil alvin in one weekend? this calls for an "OMG," i believe!! click here to read electric earl's ad for this 4th, sure-to-be-fun show: tribute to hank williams