So what have you been doing lately? Or, I am seriously in need of a caffeine fix

Lots has happened in the last couple weeks. First off, I began tutoring, and used a page hidden on this site to promote. (I mean, if you really want to see it, you could click here.) Well that business, started to supplement my lack of Real Estate earnings, took off! And I’m now tutoring near-full-time.

Recently, some fabulous friends of mine invited me to see their buddy, Zak Salazar, play a show in Long Beach with his 3 piece folk group: Zak Salazar and the Western Junkyard. Seriously, be watching for this one. This band rolls like they hopped a train because Nashville got jealous and kicked them out. I swear, Cash and Dylan both want to be friends with this guy, and I think they write songs together. It’s pipe and whiskey music, if I ever did hear. Zak’s got a song about that, too.

Prior to the Juice-Harp Solo, and the Travel-Trunk Bass Drum, there was a four piece jazz quartet that near-literally knocked my socks off. I was putting my freshly acquired moleskin pocket journal in my pocket after scribbling some notes from the night for this very blog entry, when the pianist and leader of the band approached me. “You must be cool if you have one of those,” said, nodding to my little black book. I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that, but it opened the door to a good conversation about Jazz and the night. You can imagine my surprise to discover the group never played with each other before and spent the entire set just “callin’ tunes.” Musicians. Psh. In all honesty, though, it’s been sometime since I was that enthralled by a Jazz act like I was their’s.

Despite what the last two paragraphs would lead you to believe, the night was actually not centered around musicians, but rather a Book Signing/Launch. The book is called I Am. You Are. and is a collaborative-art-project-turned-blog. The I Am. You Are. blog now features reader-submitted tweet-sized self-reflecting statements beginning with either “I am” or “You are”

Example?

Well, I could write:
I am forever on a Journey.
And you’re stuck reading about it.

Or, as:

Adriana in Long Beach wrote:
I am the storm.
You are the calm.

Lob in Sacramento wrote:
I am unemployed, and here I fought hard not to be just like everyone else… so much for individualism.

And

Bailey in Irvine wrote:
I am not a girl

(Share yours in the comment field, or here.)

The whole event was set in a Used Bookstore in Long Beach’s Art District. So if folk + jazz + poetry-books-gone-blog wasn’t enough, I spent the entire evening collecting titles to add to my ever-growing read-eventually list (excuse me, sir, your nerd is showing). Check out TheStoryofOpen.com. And support independent bookstores and the local arts. Seriously.

Fast forward to this weekend…

On Thursday, I had the immense pleasure of seeing my dear friend Faye Blais play at a little bar in Silverlake/Los Angeles. While in Taiwan, Faye and I met by happenstance one weekend while she was traveling through for a few shows/visiting friends on her way from Australia back home to Ontario, Canada (go ahead and count the continents in that sentence). Instantly, she and I became friends. Faye is one of the few people who truly seems to love anyone she meets, and it shows up in how she lives, and it shows up in her music.

She was traveling with two other incredible ladies on what they dubbed the Cherry Pickin’ Tour. Sarah Burton and Jacquie B. were as delightfully talented as they were a joy to be around. Ms Burton and Faye shared the spotlight as they traded off the mic showcasing their songs, and providing percussion and harmonies in between. In addition to the third voice of the three-part harmonies, the multi-talented Jackie B brought an arsenal of instruments to flavor and spice the set.

There’s talk of this tour rolling through in the fall; if it comes by your town, don’t miss it.

(As a side note, my oldest friend in the world came out to Faye’s show to hang with me. Jensen and I have been buddies before birth. It was great to see him, and have him pause from his busy LA/film business life to hang.)

Friday, I saw Jason Chase, the man who helped inspire my naming, again. It was a blast to see his show a second time. As part of an on-going bit, Jason brought up my blog throughout the night, and once even had me feed him the web address which he repeated through the mic. If you’re here because you sat through Jason’s show, please leave a comment and say hi! I’d love to hear from you. Last time I saw Jason, I wrote about it here. Go ahead and poke around and read some. I promise you I’m not as exciting as he made me out to be. I am, however, still pushing for him to record and youtube his original, “Communication,” because frankly, I do give a tweet.

Things to look forward to in the personal calender:

Thanks to PlugItMusic.com I won tickets to an Amy Grant show on Monday night for my mom and I. She’s ecstatic.
Tomorrow (and by tomorrow, I mean in 4 hours) I leave for the local mountains to spend the day sledding in the snow. Then I’m driving home and walking around outside in my Rainbow Sandals (yes, I do love southern California, actually).

Things not to look forward to:

I officially have about 2.5 hours to sleep, thanks to the coffee at Jason’s show. Please, God, let there be espresso in my horizon.

I am seriously in need of a caffeine fix.
You are a champion for making it this far.

So, what have you been doing lately?