this weekend's proposed route...

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- the desire to write might come back soon... just been so dang all-over-the-place, when i get wherever i am to rest, i just wanna crash!! a quote from horace: "in life's clear dregless wine immerse / your heart, throw spun out hopes away / don't trust tomorrow: CLUTCH TODAY!"
- hope all've had/are having happy holidays season... :) :) :)

happy thanksgiving to all. :)

"[he's] old enough to know the score, but [he's] young enough to want more more more"

my friend the big lug just sent me an email quoting the above; i think he feels he resembles that remark, to paraphrase groucho... i think the line i most relate to in that song is "try to make a living during the day, deep in the night i throw it all away," even tho i'm now, as my folks say, alternately "retired," "independently wealthy," or "a working musician"... none of those are true, but it's kinda cool my folks are depicting me that way to others. it's better than them saying, "our elder daughter's a bum right now." :)
saturday's show's gonna be a scream... unfortunately, i still don't know the cover, & neither does james... wa-la!

"the girls at trout's"...

- that was donnie's caption to accompany this image; i like the bangs: L to R, short, medium, long... the other eve i got to practice very briefly w/karling, donnie, cesareo, & AJ at AJ's home, teeming w/food, joyful young family, & cool mexicano-rockabilly motif; then it was off to rick's for DD practice & i've said this before in past yrs w/past lineups, & maybe it just happens when there's a happy union of ability, talent, friendliness, high energy, & dedication, but we REALLY SOUNDED GREAT!!! bsp claims nearly each wk he's not been practicing, but (between you, me, & the net) i think he might be fudging a bit bc ea wk his playing rocks harder & more genre-appropriately... too, happily for me, he & i, who maddeningly used to fight like cats & dogs, now seem to be getting along just fine, & there's nothing that can aid musicianship for me than shared friendly feelings...
- i'm especially now looking fwd to our show sat w/james & the blues express (flyer below) cause i think we'll have a real chance to wow all & ourselves w/what we know we really can do... at our 1st oasis show w/them, i forgot my piano stand & had to play on a barrel that rocked & rolled on its own, making playing a bit tough! at another (maybe the same one?), our old bassist showed up late, so we did the 1st 6 songs bassless, which isn't horrible, but feels bottomless compared to the usual! at the last one, our former guitar player was a little shook up that night, i now know, cause he'd just gotten reamed by james for telling him he was leaving the band... so this'll be our time to shine @ the oasis (not having expectations, just hopes!)... at any rate, i know i'll have my fun, & i suspect the others will, too! :)
- after our awesome DD practice, it was out to trout's, where i saw a ghost from the past & our interaction, i'm thankful, was happy; got to catch up w/the kidwells, lisa p, lynda fette, & russ davidson, asking the last to deliver mark powell a happy bd from me; met craig garrison for the 1st time & later learned we both love alice the goon; & bsp & i got to play a few songs as pt of karling's "bakersfield band" (lineup listed at top)... all this activity acknowledged, am starting to realize the most exciting news of late is i just found out this morn i'm going to france w/becky & fabi, & we're gonna play the good rockin' tonight festival!! will be in la belle france long enough to learn some french, find jogging paths, enjoy local cuisine & soak up culture as i follow becky around (she knows the ropes), maybe even take a side trip (visit gene taylor? how far's antwerp from where we'll be, i wonder?)... fabi also really piqued my curiosity re travel to mexico city, from which she hails... life life life! love love love! carpe diem, friends, carpe diem! :) :) :)

rock-rock, rock-a-billy boogie...

(<- :="" a="" br="" good="" hey="" i="" it="" m="" on="" pic="" putting="" s="" top="">- life is good! how is you? had another fun wkend w/the revenge & cattie, this time in fresno, opening for deke dickerson... his poor bandmate, rockabilly gorilla "cialis" (a killer bassist of inventive, melodious lines & full, fat tone, who shall remain anonymous) got horribly sick during their 1st set & fabi jumped right up onstage @ banged out 2 super-rockin tunes on the doghouse bass w/deke & "sugarballs." back at chez brad, where the band stays, becky & john had whipped up quite a feast of sausages, tri-tip, & lasagna... yum yum.
- to back up a bit, in quite fortuitous timing, i got my super-cool frankenstein-sized snow boots from the post office on the very day we had our 1st snow up here! -- of course that meant i just had to don them & tromp down to the mtg, where en route i was interviewed by the channel 9 LA news van! then fabi & johnny arrived to pick me up for the gig, & when they saw the snow, laughed & jumped around like little tykes, even having a snowball fight! we made their requisite stops to aero dog (for 99 cent bomber dogs) & bravo farms (for gourmet cheeses); i enjoy riding w/these young musicians more than a person rightfully should when you've got 3 bodies squished in a truck cab.... :) yes, it was a fine time, tho i was so, so happy to get home & in my own cozy bed looking out on "my" mountain while sipping hot beverage & enjoying dexter on the laptop...
- today i volunteered at our lovely frazier park, working w/two gals on WRP raking leaves & clearing the pond & freezing my butt off!! must wear more layers en la futura... what a wonderful time it was to work hard in the beautiful outdoors, making new friends... the boss gave me a whole bag of balls for roscoe! icing on the cake! :) this eve brought conversation w/dear young woman i met in sta fe in january... so nice to catch up w/her... then my dear cousin decided she was no longer mad @ me & my heart is warmed & grateful for this...
- wed should be hopping: practice w/dds to prep for show w/james & blues express (yay! flyer below), then "jam" w/visiting OC rockabilly royalty at a local honky-tonk. we'll be practicing for a december show... maybe some christmas tunes? sure hope so! :)
- heard this quote twice recently, so here it is for you: "we cannot control the wind, but we can adjust the direction of our sails..." with that, here are some pix from the fresno show @ audie's; the 1st one i find particularly amusing since becky looks as sexy as i do dippy ... may you be warm, fed, & happy... :)

yaaaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnn!!!!

that's not a reflection on this image! just lately's been fun, but not manic... which means i'm nearly asleep a lot of the time! anyways, after 9 days of crazy high energy & creativity, the rollercoaster peaked & gentled out... we had a lovely bd party for my ex-husband, then i went out w/bsp & met up w/eddie e & wes c for a bit, then played a fun quincenera down in santa ana for fabi dean's little sister, who had the coolest gown! she looked like a little punk rock princess! we got to eat chicken mole they'd brought from mexico city! it was, need i say, mouth-on-fire scrumptious! we (cattie ness & the revenge, in this case) came on after the mariachi & pounded the joint! it was a fun set... then i was gonna go see james @ his eldorado halloween show, but the revenge was tuckered out & i wasn't gonna go by myself dressed as a zombie french maid, for heaven's sake! that's just dumb!! not that i'm a supermodel or anything near it... just wanted some company, going in a fairly skimpy getup like that... anyhow, we caravanned home & becky talked my head off & we got lost & it was super tiring but also fun, then halloween came & i only had my costume on for about 10 mins, not long enough for a pic, so i'll just have to make sure it fits for next year! or i'm thinking i might modify it to be a pilgrim @ the above show... no! what am i saying?? i can't be a frigging plymouth-style PILGRIM!!
anyways, back to halloween: went to crazy duck chinese restaurant up here on the mountain w/my friend, then watched a scary demon movie & scared the crap out of ourselves, then later went to the beautiful new library & checked out books & hiked up to this dilapidated, cool old house i'd like to buy, a (an) historical monument w/rough-hewn, dramatic stonework & killer view, but the whole house is brittle! it's a tear-down & start-over, unfortunately, cause tho existing house is rustic-cute, it's dangerous to inhabit! it's also abandoned for now, as you might guess, so we grabbed a bunch of apples off the tree... apples grow well here, little sweet crunchy ones... i just realized i need an apple tree...
- the wind's blowing here to beat the band! stupid wind! no yardwork today - glad i did it yesterday... well, i have no creativity, so this humdrum writing will have to do for now... :) heading to smoggy bakersfield to be w/dusk devils & family... hope snow doesn't come, like's predicted. i'm bringing my hiking boots, just in case i have to somehow crosscountry-it back up to my house (i'm about 500 ft higher than town proper, & i'll get snow when "downtown" frazier has none!) to get my dress for saturday's show w/cattie ness & deke dickerson in fresno. that should be a blast! go to www.cattieness.com for details... ok, bye all! :)