Connecticut.

After a day filled with pals in the Northampton area, I sped off (after a late lunch) to Milford where I will be camped for a few days.

It was fun kicking around that town at a very easy pace. And popping in and out of a few bookstores looking for a damn Final Cut helper. I'm intimidated by that damn video editing program.
I hate to admit it.. but it's true. I have it now, and I'm afraid to you use it.

WTF???

I'll be seriously back at work tomorrow doing more to try to fill some holes in October. November is getting interesting with some possibilities looming out there and waiting for word on some dates before I can proceed.

I have my work head screwed on pretty straight and I felt like the time off helped me get some perspective. Instead of plugging away, I tackled a few things and did what was in front of me instead of trying to plow through it. Maybe I found a little gray area for some fleeting moments.

Progress...not perfection.

I had an opportunity to share my ideas with some folks and it was good. I really love contributing to people more than just for work. I know that that some people just want the work side and that's ok. I feel like who I am and how I go about what I do most days is generally coming from a compassionate place that truly seeks to make people's lives better. Not that what I do is going to make all the difference and not that I think that I can do it it any better than anyone... I just do what I do with love and good joo joo in my heart... seeking to find ways to make that ever so slight bit of difference for people. And yes.. I have negative stuff... and judgements... and my issues. And this year especially I have taken so many of my difficulties into the rooms and communities of the AA groups I am connected to and really worked on my judgements and resentments and looked to others for the feedback on how to continue my journey of continually moving away from the drink instead of closer to one.

For the requisite haircuts we all need to get...

Gretchen... I have already HAD the PSE Official "Do" and here is proof...



How about that?

This is the only cute picture I have ever seen of myself. And it has to be with The Osmond Brothers?

Whiskey..Tango..Foxtrot??

this photo courtesy Eleni Austin...completely stolen from her myspace page.

Tuesday

photo: Erin Cole


So this is from the last show of the year... A Holiday Hamlin, if you will. She's painfully photogenic... she never has to resort to making dumb faces like I do!

Damn her!!

The morning is rolling along... the coffee good, the half and half fresh, and the day not too cold out there. It's supposed to be almost 50 degrees out there today! WTF?? I am pretty sure Natalia isn't reading the blog today so it's ok to say that I am hoping to be a pleasant surprise at her gig tonight at The Living Room. She's there with Meg Hutchinson and Anne Heaton. Even more... Ginger Leigh is upstairs after that so it'll be a night of music and socializing for my last night in NYC. I'm gonna head out to CT in the morning to grab the rest of my crap and hug on my friends up there and then on Friday I am heading towards South Carolina.

You will notice that the puppy cam is gone from the bottom of the page. I took it down because 3 of the puppies went to their respective new owners and I felt it was time to let go. Being the true Cancerian that I am, letting go is a beautiful challenge (I am learning to embrace it.) in my world.

Go little Shiba Inu puppies! Go out into the world and be adorable strange little dogs!

And as the night goes by.

Here we are in Trina's apt. after a really nice dinner at the best place around...(which is pretty freakin' nice I'll say...)Janie joined us and a great meal was had and we held a chair for Susan altho she never showed... but she did call from home to say she missed us. Love that.

I do love these women... and I do love my job. It's gonna be really hard to go home and not do this for a while. We won't start back up till probably April.

I'll be fine... just going to have to kick some booking ass and get back in shape for next year. I think I'm gonna do yoga when I go home. I love yoga in Bisbee.

Ok, it's after 11pm... Jane is texting me and driving...BAD JANE!!!! Love ya pal... great to get a nice Last Supper for the year withchoo!

Ok... I am off to think about slumber now. I drove all day and my brain is a little fried at this point. Either that or I'm completely overwhelmed (which is somewhat likely)

I can't believe I am done. More please... please?

Three Oaks.

Sleepy town this morning. Seems like I am on the right side of the cold that attempted to take over my health and good attitude. I will once again say that using a damn neti pot has most likely kept the goo from building up and making me sicker.

I have a spa appt. for Ms. El-Frida set up for tomorrow.. wiper blades/tire rotation/oil change etc here at my beloved Three Oaks Ford. Our wipers suck... nothing like driving in dirty snow to show you exactly how much they suck and where.

Lazy morning... video editing/uploading..(Tom..I'm doing a montage just for you!)and we head to Benton Harbor for the show around 5ish.

Only a 25 mile drive to a show... what a concept!

A few flakes of snow here but no storms or anything. It's warmer up here in "my room" than downstairs so I have my video stuff sprawled all over up here.

Should be a productive vid day.

Acorns and cold feet.

I got cold feet. Literally... it's chilly here at The good ol' Acorn Theater! I may just have to go put on some smart wool socks! It's not snowing but there is snow on the ground. We got here and went to a movie called "Trouble the Water" at the Vickers Theater here in Three Oaks. Of course we went and grabbed food from Nelson's Saloon first and brought it to the movie... that's just how you do it around here.

Emails flying around following up on bookings... I originally was just puttering through gossip sites till Trina started asking me some questions and I decided I could go get some answers. Here's the good news... I don't mind working at all hours on this job. That says something to me. I just got done sending an email to this neat man I had a brief semi-business meeting with and I feel pretty damn grateful for all that I get to do/see/hear in the course of doing this job. It's a good thing I didn't get into it for the money because there is not much of that. My challenge will be to make sure I can continue to do it because this is what I know I am meant to be doing right now.

I know I have said over and over how much of a learning experience this has been for me, but I say that and it really only encompasses a small portion of what I am learning about myself... not even about the job... but because of the job. And really, I don't fully have words for all of it. I am a work in progress. Very flawed in some ways and very human. And at the same time I will continue to dream and look at this adventure with sparkley colored glasses and endless possibility. I know that these women look at me like I am crazy sometimes. I don't want to separate myself by saying it's east coast vs. west coast mentality. Maybe I am a bit off my rocker in my ways of thinking. But I am becoming a really decent tour manager and constantly looking for ways to make it bigger bolder and brighter for all of us out here.

Being at The Ark with a nearly sold out crowd on Saturday was incredible. Made me so present with the fact that people will come hear these incredible artists. The price they paid for a ticket was so small in comparison to the joy they got from that show. And it was evident on their faces. I love that energy!

Ok.. enough outta me. Time for smart wool!

El-Frida gets a checkup!

Here we (me and Frida) are bright eyed and stuff. Getting the trusty (crusty?) chariot into the spa for a lil' sump'in sump'in. I figured no better way to finish up the season than with a happy healthy ride.

I have some work to do this morning, then off to my AA meeting to say once again how much I have enjoyed being a part their recovery community. The strange part of all of that is that with any luck, I'll get to see this community again...but the inevitable change in who is still attending is a reality that is well....sobering. There is no iron-clad guarantee that any of us gets to keep our seat in those rooms. But I have today...am grateful for today...and with my head screwed on relatively straight I hopefully move in the right directions.

I am offering up a sacrifice of a free range chicken to the great co-op board gods that they will see fit to grant Natalia her parking space assignment today. That will make our transit quite easy although it means maneuvering into Brooklyn. I feel confident that it'll all be just fine no matter how we meet back up. Really, if I take the train in then that means I get to say bye to my wonderful friends here in CT then instead of tomorrow.

And just a sidenote.. Trina, Susan and Jane are all basking in the sun in St Maarten. Let's all wish them well..and let's hope the gig went well!

A funny photo..a headline..and...me.

Completely unrelated to anything in my word...

CNN headline:
Is GOP scapegoating Palin for loss?

Can I say.... I thought this would happen??? No surprise. It couldn't possibly be that the country doesn't want the same old same old.

Anyrant...

I hit the 7am meeting this morning. It required actually making sure I got up via an alarm. Which also meant being awakened from a dream where I was about to start shooting pigeons in some city street...as everyone else was. Huh... WTF? An I that much of a follower? I would tend to think not, but maybe I dunno nothing.

Now back here at the ranch I'm making the oats and getting ready for a tasty healthy bfast. On deck today is the oil change Frida would like to have and some video work.

Nothing pressing... I don't think. Unless I'm forgetting something.