mamas & musica (belated post)

feliz dia de las madres (tarde)!! whether you be a biological mother, a mother of choice (which in its way might require even MORE love), mother others whom you do not or have not raised, or heck, even if you just love & care for someone... HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY TO YOU!! ... one of my biggest regrets is i never will get to meet james's mother, tho i can be happy that he is who he is due to his mother's love, & my mama is so, so loving tw james, i can only & always be ever-more indebted to & in awe of her & dad for their unconditional support & kindness... happy mother's day, bertha ellen skaggs, dear soul, rip, & ramona christina forquera gia, & all other mamas (definition above)!...  forward, here's a pic from kim martin, a nice photographer i met at the saturday benefit for kid ramos at the OC marketplace (many good ppl there; lots of love & support; lotsa longtime friends from the musician community; so many accolades & atta-boys to james ... he opened the show w/a blistering mini-set, then we hit the road for bakersfield, stopping along the way home for some well-needed time in the woods! what a beautiful drive, i say!)... one of james's friends titled the pic, "nephertiti and the sphinx"! i've heard "cleopatra" for yrs due to hair & eyeliner, but james said, "nah, everyone says 'cleopatra.' now nephertiti: that's cool!" ...

well, now it's days later. our trip was a greatly-needed respite: food, love at the gias, a quick stop to garden at the mountain pad, home to the boy w/boxes of grub... so we started out this morn this way:
james (up all night, talking nonstop, happy & hyper, just read me a love letter he wrote me): i'll show you how to do a really GOOD uppercut.
me (still asleep): i know how to do a good uppercut! watch! (i bear down, wind up, & swing an uppercut right into my nose & we both hear a loud crack)
james: oh sh*t!!!
me: ow!!!!
james: can't you just be happy being a black belt? yeah, you DO have a good uppercut, you klutz! here, i'll get you an icepack...
so yes, i almost broke my own nose. it actually already is funny, tho the damn thing still is sore & i'm convinced i knocked my nose crooked! he says it's just a bit swollen & it'll go down, so for now i can fantasize i'm a recovering pugilist til the tissues shrink back... anyways, i had to write about it. i mean, how many ppl do you know who accidentally almost break their own nose in such a manner?
we're taking a break here from music practice now.  tomorrow we'll play, then us w/matt samia, who is subbing for abeyta, then all of us. it'll be a whiteboy james all-star jam! harharhar! :D it just sure sounds like big fun to me, a freer, looser show requiring us to have the skill & ESP & willingness to "go there" i just read about in willie nelson's book last night... we just had a victory on "take me back," which we're doing much more vernacular-style than blues express does, more like the frank stokes version james best-loves... we moved the key, then listened a few times to the FS 1920s recording, then played it much simpler, much darker yet lighter, which makes sense to us & maybe to others or not... well he just came up & said he successfully hooked up the scanner so we can scan a bunch of his family pix borrowed from bro mike & he's tapping out a 5 royales tune on my keyboard, so time to practice again. mas tarde! de veras! adios! jajaja!