Yesterday, missed a day

Well that's gonna happen, especially if there's an early morning call for something (even if it's dance class and a crossword, but I digress). I definitely don't sleep too well, and every now and again, I find myself careening through a day unable to focus due to lack of sleep. A certain acupuncturist friend of mine recommends large amounts of vitamin D, and who knows, maybe that's a good thing. She has been reading my fairly depressive commentary since I've been back in the US, and that's her 'from a distance' diagnosis. Dude, you need some vitamin D. Yeah maybe, or maybe it's just that I'm not filtering the negativity that I'm feeling and we're not too used to hearing that kind of unhappiness outside of the therapist's office. We shall see, or perhaps we shall D. Whatever will B, eh? (A?)

But I have been typing enough that my wrists are starting to bother me when I set them down on the desk in front of the keyboard. Maybe I need to look for one of those padded deals, or hey, how bout a towel? there ya go... where's my towel? Vitamin T? Tell ya the truth, I think I'm lacking in vitamin S. This might sound like I'm making fun of a distance diagnosis, but actually I'm not. (I'm just a wise ass at heart) This is not news to anyone, I'm quite sure...

Played a kid's birthday party yesterday, an 8 year old who lives out of town and who thinks I'm really cool, so could I come (again, 3rd year in a row) to his party? There were gonna be a bunch of kids there, around that age, and I felt like I had nothing new to share, and what the heck, I don't know what to do. I definitely fantasized about getting out of it in some way, calling in sick, getting lost, talking the mom out of it, but I let those thoughts come and go, and I simply showed up with my stuff and trusted that it works out OK. There is definitely something to that process, and I've had AA folks quote me their line that 'showing up is 90 percent of it' or something like that, so that's what I did. And it worked out pretty well, I kept a group of kids moving and singing for about an hour, which ain't that easy to do. Try it sometime and you'll see what I mean. His mom wrote me a nice check for $125 (I think I had quoted her $75), so it was a profitable hour, but likely more so for having the faith to go ahead and show up and let it rip (again). And then there's the fact that someone like M would have to work hard for half a month to make that same amount of cash, and holy crap, what a world!

This week is pretty quiet on the work front, check that, it's fucking silent as there is not one paying gig, so I'll either have to manufacture something out of thin air, or just hope for the best. But I booked some studio time with Rob on Monday and Tuesday and I'll work on some of the new songs that I got started in Gus Russell's studio. Rob's is better for singing and hanging, plus he owes me a bunch of hours as I did a ton of work on his last project, so off we go. I have 4 new songs in various states of completion and it will be good to make progress on them. One of them is this Fat's Waller inspired song called 'Because I Want You', and I think it's pretty darn good. I had Gus play it on piano, as I thought I wasn't quite up to the task, but then when we listened back, there were some things that I needed to have just so, so I did the punches, made the phrasing the way I wanted it, added some little flourishes that my ear wanted to hear.

It's an interesting mix actually, because now the track is a blend of both of us. He played a real nice solo, which would have been beyond me, but then I added the personal nuances which would have been beyond him. And if someone says, 'Are you playing piano on this song?', the answer is yes. (and they don't have to know the whole story, the answer is yes, goddammit :-) I've never had that experience of sharing a track like that, but it makes perfect sense and it'll likely happen again sometime. Looking forward to singing the vocal and maybe adding a guitar and bass part. Is it 'commercial'? Yeah, kind of, especially if we were living in the year 1935, but who knows, maybe it will catch a retro wave and someone will want it. I like it, and I like especially how it came to be. I was in the airport in Vientiane, Laos, waiting to board a plane to Hanoi, and I just started messing around on the guitar with a certain idea in mind, and now here's a song that I like with word and music that make sense... It's my little baby.

Because I want you, I'll do anything you want to
It may be crazy but it's just the way I feel
I'm being real
I'm a honey bee, I've been buzzing round the honey tree
It's just amazing what your love has done to me

And if I'm dreaming, please don't wake me up
You see I'm beaming when I'm drinking from your loving cup
I've got the nerve to believe that I deserve you
And all I want to do is serve you all of my love