how are you? i am well. now, since on a blog, one writes about one's life/etc, how to describe the last many days? will try.
had fast, smooth ride out to donna's; feeling naturally wired lately seems to make time pass quickly & entertainingly, tho at worst, i am confused & discombobulated due to inability to organize... got to my friend's & we leaped on ea other w/happiness & headed to denny's, where i was rewarded by one of her spontaneously slapstick moments when she somehow stuck the soda straw in her eye... donna can be quite serious & intense, but i also have had some of the funniest moments ever w/her, face hurting from all the laughing we do (actually, another friend of mine, now that i think of it, much reminds me of this; i'd been prepared for him to gig me on april fool's day, convinced he could NEVER do it for a 3rd yr in a row, but dang if he didn't!!)... friends now 20 yrs, donna & i caught up; when i told her about my crazy fun peripatetic life these days, she commented, "everyone wants a piece of jenny. you're popular!" zoinks! i laughed out loud; me? popular? wow!! whether it's true or not don't matter; i was delighted & shocked to hear this - me, who used to cry when teacher'd call on me. :) how life can change people, if we stay open to it, huh? :) i think the comment speaks as much, tho, for my friend's generosity, to compliment me that way :) ... next a.m. brought SPECTACULAR fun running the claremont "mills," this wilderness running/biking course up & down tall mtn paths; oh! what a wonderful time that was! i wish i had places like that, well-traveled, well-defined paths overlooking nature, that i could visit every day... here is all wilderness, of course, but the defined runs are along the stinky highway, or only a mile or so... anyways, onward:
(was just outside & vagabond kitty, who comes to visit, then is on her merry way for another adventure, was sniffing my truck bumper. i wonder what it smelled like that caught her nose?)
ok, we went thrifting & yardsaling, as is donna's & my bargain-hunting m.o., & just after i told my friend i was looking for yard art, an awesome statue appeared at one yardsale, this cambodian or chinese or some east-asian figurine, for THREE BUCKS!!! "wow," said i, "some folks would say we manifested our reality just now." she replied matter-of-factedly, "i always do..." hmmm... she does have the most impeccably decorated house, all super-thrift, but all super elegant-looking, too, truly!, & i've noticed she'll say, for instance, "i think i'm going to change my color scheme to tans," then we'll go out & dang if she doesn't find a whole bunch of linens & decorative stuff in tans for dirt cheap! she got me a lovely skirt that i will wear to france... taking it on train tomorrow to show to becky, who's leading our tour of la belle france (have i mentioned this here? dunno...) & hope she approves. becky wants us to look "elegant" for the blue monday rockabilly fest we're playing. "elegant" is NOT my strong point. i hope i'll get up to snuff...
on a whim, donna said yes, she'd like to go listen to music, so we embarked on a madcap drive on the freeways of lost angeles & wound up in a dark, smoky blues club packed w/revelers & bluesmen & impeccably taut & sexy burlesque dancers... i kept wanting to leave, once i'd heard the acoustic, old-timey wingnut set i was interested in, but she was enjoying the music, so i left her at the barstool & spent much of the eve outside looking for stars in the cloudy sky & smoking, tho i usually don't, & met a fun, crazy gal who told me she makes her boyfriend's stage suits (how cool is THAT?) & riffing & jumping & promenading around w/mad others, then we headed home & got completely lost, but it had to be funny in the end. we must've driven 50 extra miles getting home!! next day we went to the pomona arts colony, where they were having a flea market. yesss!!!!! i got a tiny strutting baby figurine that might be quite old, judging by his little outfit, plus a tiny old-time radio figurine, each for a quarter from a nice old man, & some pretty dresses, one i hope will work for france... i hit the road for points south to, i thought, listen to more music, but my friend who was having the show, i later learned, got hurt & was m.i.a. for the eve. still, oblivious to the extent of things, i ultimately had sufficient fun, walking around a beach town & having a juice & then some miso soup & then some apples & bananas, then, feeling all healthy, a cigarette, & that night saw
bridesmaids & a cool cartoon show called "adventure time" & had a pleasant-enough, nice breather... next morning i headed to big's in fullerton for rehearsal w/karling & the atomics in the joint's small conference rm; all were gathered at the table, maybe nursing hangovers, & i got a free plate of grub from the buffet (good stuff!) & we all waited for brian paxton to get there from bakersfield, then set up & had a nice rehearsal... karling has quite a strong, street-corner voice, i think, when she goes unmiked. cool! my old friend manuel (big manny) couldn't make it cause he was recuperating from knee surgery, but i had a nice talk w/him while waiting & will see him on may 7 for the special "gene & eddie" barndance at joe's in burbank... yay!... the opening band, high energy, did some songs we do in dusk devils, like mercy (last week's openers, dead zed's choppers, a band i enjoyed, do blue moon baby), then handsome young michael walley came up & did some bagpipe tunes, like he'd done last week in lompoc, tho sans his kilted garb, & the vibe of the joint immediately went into a sort of mysterious reverie & even reverence when the first drones sounded... then we went up & i got to play facing a table of the cutest little girls! from harsh experience, i know i always, always need to bring my amp (never again will i go thru the house; that just sets me up to have bad sound), so since i could hear, i was able to play some stuff that had me thinking, wow! where's this coming from? it was too cool... the set went really well; karling twirled & twirled, which is always a good sign, & anthony redhorse, guest on doghouse bass, filled in very musically. i thought we sounded really tight, & karling said afterward people told her her band's never sounded so good! :) soundman tim maag, he of the punk rock lineage & sly bedroom eyes, complimented me highly on harmonies & playing. "i soloed you on the buck owens songs," he said. "you sounded really great! like buck owens!" i got some dough, then snuck out to see if my injured friend was ok. if he wasn't gonna be at his sunday jam up in whittier, i would head to echo park to see my stepson & his gal, the latter whom i'd not yet met, & then be able to get home a day earlier. i pulled up to the frog pond & walked on in to compliments from a handsome biker! wow!, & there was my friend, looking ashen & kinda banged up, but vertical... he came over wild-eyed & said, "you got your keys?" i said yes, we went & grabbed them, & i got to play more music w/him & his guitarist, even! wow! these are well-known, accomplished, & beloved musicians... it was so swell! again, having my amp right there, i could play what my mind heard for the most part, & on a lot of it i tried to stick to horn-like stabs, since already there were two guitars on the stage, tho i did rip out some solos they threw me, & some sounded ok-enough, i must say!... they wanted me to sing, but all i could come up w/was "my babe." after, my friend said it hurt to sing cause of his injury & dang, if i'd known that, i would've tried harder to think of more bluesy songs! as-was, others came up & sang & it was fun to back them, see the enjoyment in their faces as they vocalized... the coolest part of this stint was when one little gal was singing & this biker chick to my side lit the cigarette i'd been goofing w/& i smoked & played piano & looked around & people were laughing! my friend, who was watching, later said, "you're really funny. you're like a comic. people dig you a lot!" that was the best of all... also, several people came up at both gigs & quizzed me on how long i'd been playing piano & complimented my technique. one big samoan-looking fellow, who turns out had mutual friends, said, "yeah, i told myself, 'she knows what she's doing; it's just natural to you, you can tell'," & tim maag had said some amazing things, like that i had "economy of energy & motion." wow!! life can be strangely wonderful, don't you think?
i hung out a bit, then hit the road for echo park & greeted my stepson at his bitchin pad off glendale blvd. he had to get to bed for work, & so next morning i got to explore old, hilly, seedy, beautiful, urban but leafy echo park for the 1st time. loved climbing steep, steep streets, right there in los angeles, for pete's sake!; at one particularly cool, large old rock house, an elderly mexican lady in peasant-looking garb was sweeping her porch & as i passed her house, i spied her million-dollar view of los angeles! it made me happy that real folks had these amazing views, not just rich folks... cody's girlfriend kate, a brilliant, science-minded, sweet girl, told me that's what in-part attracted them to the neighborhood, that it was such a mixture socioeconomically & racially... before actually meeting kate, i found her a beautiful blue sparkly dress i thought would look nice on her, & which i was so happy that she loved!, & him a shocking t-shirt w/graphic of gorgeous mummy-woman at out of the closet's $1 rack, plus a t-shirt i'll wear today at practice that announces, "i just don't listen." because it's true. i'm not sure why i don't listen. but i don't... stepson has taken a long time to meet someone to love, but now he has, & they have a lovely life together, i can tell, in the coolest condo overlooking echo park itself & the gorgeous LA skyline, & i'm so happy for him. :) little cody, happy at last. :) everyone deserves to be happy, i say!!
cody treated us to soup plantation, then i hugged them goodbye & hit the road. like always, as soon as i spotted my mountain town, all my stress fell off & i just sighed a big "aaaaaahhhh"... in my house, i felt peace & calm, a different kind of happiness. it had been such a great trip, but how nice it is to be home, lovely, sweet home. :)
if you're still reading, i thank you for your intrepidness, & hope you'll comment. carpe diem, friends. carpe diem! :)
time to pack up & go again! feliz dia, amigos!
