Freak City

during the summer. But for now,

www.cafepress.com/frankweever

I've been posting on lj lately, but in this other community, which doesn't show up on my main page. So, I'm not neglecting my writing here, just in a different venue.

I had a good gig tonite because a huge chunk of my church choir came. Yay for suppportive people. No, they're not fans, per se, but it's just nice to sing to a crowd. I did get two gigs this week that pay. I'm shocked.

I want to swim in the ocean.

I was sad because I messed up some dates and had to reschedule programming this summer, and one place said they could not reschedule at all. But then I got an email from someone who wants to book me for a gig that pays. So I lost one and gained another.

Getting a cut on my thumb right where I click my mouse is most annoying.

A sunny day to take a walk and rediscover a little park only four blocks away is quite lovely.

Realizing that someone always becomes "away" on IM a minute after I log in is hurtful, but I'm shrugging it off.

Feeling inspired from listening to kick-ass musicians at the Old Songs Festival and playing both piano and guitar incessantly since then (and recorder and jaw harp) is wonderful.

and...now I can only think of good things: I exercised five days last week and feel good. I hope I continue my little program because I really want to be healthy.

My nephew and I had a fascinating conversation at the dinner table on "what if the colonies stayed part of Britain?" and all the future things that may or may not have happened. A real brain opener. Happy 4th of July!

Finally! Done with a crush! yay! I think I've been too busy to really give much thought to it and I recently ran into the person and...nothing. Not that it was a big deal, but I already wrote a couple of songs and I was done. Now I want to write non-fiction stuff about my teaching stuff I do. My mind is into a different mode. Hurrah.

busy, busy. Two weeks of teaching camp are over. Just spent today doing working on a game about Tea with the kids, which was fun. We made a video too of a sweet recipe from 300AD. Surprisingly, onions, ginger, orange and tea go well. Planning, planning. And eating lots of Muddy Buddies. Yum!

Take that 24 hour stomach bug you once got and condense it into a few hours- that's what I went through today, which sent me into the ER because I was passing in and out of consciousness while my body was exploding. Tis amazing what modern med can do. Just during the ambulance ride while they started streaming my blood with anti-nausea meds and saline through an IV, and oxygen through the mask, I was feeling much better by the time we got to the hospital. My hubby met me there and stayed for most of the day stroking my head. I told him I liked going out on a date with him and all, but the location was a bit lacking in romance. In the end I needed two iv bags to get me back to functioning, and sleeping away most of the day both there and at home.

The only thing we can come up with is I had pistachio ice-cream the night before and there is currently a recall on pistachios containing salmonella. Ben and Jerry's. Say it ain't so.

One day gone for preparing for my music camp next week. Argh. But at least I'm not dead from my "heart stopping from extreme dehydration" as my dad told me happens from severe food poisoning- he was a tad worried when I spoke to him over the phone tonight. It's the little things that keep me grateful :)

.

My piano students (two sisters) were over the other day. While one was taking a lesson the other was on my computer. Afterwards they were hanging out while I chatted with their mom, and the one sister asked if I could email something she had typed up. I opened gmail and it came up with her sister's account. The sister hadn't logged off. I said something about that being dangerously open to someone sending emails in her name...

and proceeded to email the document from my computer from the sister's gmail account with this message:

"I love you so much. It brings my heart such warming gladness to help you in all ways. Here is your monologue full of sweetness and light and rainbows and puppies. Love, love, love!"

Um...it was not well received and now I fear revenge from the tween. I will be sure to log out of my email account before they come over this week.

Here I sit in the library waiting to facilitate a meeting that should, it really should be simple and straightforward. Really. It should. I'll keep telling myself that.

http://us.imdb.com/name/nm3209586/

--- I've had several, really violent, gory dreams in the past couple of weeks. I don't watch horror movies and I'm not into Steven King type books. These dreams are really gross. I wake up, and I'm not scared or unable to go back to sleep or anything, I just say, "eeeewwww." The last one involved someone I know as the host body for total evil hacking up the earth, one bloody person at a time. Gross, and not entertaining at all, brain-o-mine! Ya hear me?!

--- While researching for my camp on original American music that sprung from the early twentieth century, I'm finding it all really fascinating. What an exciting, scary moment in history. Great music, too. Ives, Gershwin, Ellington and Copland are my focuses. Did you know Twinkies were invented then?

--- My mom asked me to help her move something and part of it broke apart and landed on my shoe-less foot. It really hurts! Still!

--- I got a haircut last month and it's still so hard to look nice in the morning. If it was shorter or longer, it would be ok, but it's juuuust wrong.

--- I think I have an album cover. Two people came through for me, and I'm almost certain of which one I want. So, by next month I'll have an album. I'll make two copies. One for me. One to mail to cdbaby to put up as a digital download. I look forward to the feeling of accomplishment.

--- Will I ever have the resources to buy pretty things from Victoria's Secret? That is the ultimate question.

--- And I'll miss my Tim.

--- And my foot still hurts!

Both shows were fun this week. Maybe I just need to sing alone once in awhile. The first show was for an event so there was a crowd, and I made them sing along with me (children's songs), the adults didn't look to happy about it, but the kids had fun and that's who I was singing for. I just got back from my solo gig. My cute guy came with me, and one of my band members showed up to listen. That's about it besides the people working at the cafe, and two customers hanging out there for the evening. Whatever. I played my two new songs, the first one I forgot the first verse, but the second one was really good and so I'm happy. I'd be fine never doing another show again, maybe stopping by an open mic once in awhile, but I got asked by a shop owner to perform in a few months, and he gives out free ice-cream to performers, so I said yes (I already wrote about that.) It's time consuming and depressing to take my music career seriously, so I'm going to just enjoy singing whenever.

This morning I walked and walked and had thoughts swimming around, trying to come to a conclusion, a comfortable place, the right state of mind, but I can't.

How much harder does adult-hood get? I mean, I've had serious responsibilities for years now, which lops off the heads of many personal dreams and ambitions- and they just keep coming (both the responsibilities and the lopping off of heads.) Then there's acting mature in correct situations. Youngins can be excused for stupid behavior, adults can't. There's a point where it's not cute or a roll-yer-eye thing, it's a "grow up and act your age" thing. Then there's the clothes too; you can always have a style, but you can't look like you're "trying" to look young, that's considered pathetic. The career thing is tough, what do you want to be when you grow up...and then grow up again...get fired...hate your job...etc. And the physical part is the most depressing because that's just going to get worse and worse.

On a positive futuristic thought, at some point you get so old you don't care anymore. But I've got a long way to go before that nirvana.

Wait, wait, wait. I won't end that little rant there. I love being my age for many reasons including the freedom to be an adult and be treated like one by people of all ages. I'm taken seriously and that makes me take myself seriously. I'm much more attractive now than I ever was because of the comfort in my own body (being attractive is being confident.) As Gogol Bordello says,"I never want to be young again...*scream*"

What's my problem? Dunno. Honestly, things are pretty good right now. Why can't I be content?

To get ready for my gigs, I've been playing my guitar like I did a long time ago. My fingers are sore! Holy crap! But it's a good thing. It makes me feel cool to be getting my big callouses back. I'm learning other people's stuff (I'm getting sick of mine) and I'm excited about it. "What a Wonderful World" is fonging hard, but so pretty. I am doing my own songs for the Sat show, but I get to play my three new ones! Maybe I just need to put aside my old songs to be excited about music? Dunno.

Just to say I am here. I have two shows this week, which is nice since I haven't performed in awhile. By myself. The first is a children's event, so I'm only singing a few of my own stuff and doing things I taught in choirs and camps (pirates!) Then a regular gig. I was hoping to have my cd ready by now, but I'm not an artist and after asking four people now to help me with the cover for the last few months, I'm thinking it will be blank just to get it out there (there's some discussion, but no tangible results.) I'm not able to make any physical cds to sell, so it will only be a digital download. At least it's something. I also want to make a video of myself singing "Flow my Tears" to put up in youtube because after three years I'm still freakin' obsessed with that song (which is also the first track on my album.) Nice that it's royalty free. Dowland wrote it over 500 years ago, so no decendents have sued to make money off of it (unlike the Happy Birthday song decendents who are greedy assholes.) Then after my two shows this week...nothing much. I was going to go all the way to September when I have another gig, but I got contacted twice now by a nice guy who owns a local place asking me to sing. He gives out free ice-cream (but no money..) so I'm having a hard time refusing. That will be in July. So I'll only be taking a month off from singing out. My band's also been contacting me "Becca withdrawl!!!" has been the common theme saying they are humming my songs, missing our jam sessions. Kind, awesome band people. Ok, off to take a shower, then spend hours editing radio plays for a class I chose not to charge for????!!!!!!

Good: I live with awesome people that I love and like very much. It's when I leave the house that I'm never sure what's going to happen.

Bad: Wow, sucks having people mad at me, but "that French phrase about that's how life is, or something."

Not really ugly: I walked into the Muddy Cup and the worker smiled and said, "A chai again?" Again. As in, he remembered that two months ago, I was in here and ordered a chai. He got a tip for that. And I wrote him a poem:

Cement Truck Barrista

It's Springtime in Albany
and the cement truck Barrista
mixes and pours
mixes and pours
caffeine
for his paved customers.
He smooths our grooves
and patches our cracks
until
with a charming smile
he lays the final layer
of cream.

www.outoftheboxalbany.com

Ok, its been updated, lots of content, then a mistake with the styles, but I'm going to leave it as is for a bit. Wacha think?