Cuba

Had a nice night with Tori, her guitar player Johnny, and Mike, who's playing drums for her in NYC.

We went and had a nice dinner at a restaurant called Cuba, on Thompson between Bleecker & 3rd. There were a bunch of chess stores there, and Mike loves chess and sat down and played a game with someone who was really good.

I bought a t-shirt and me and Tori went to a hat store, and she helped me pick out a hat :-) I love it!

Then a little Pinkberry, and we walked by all alot of music clubs, and I was pointing them out to her. We went by Bitter End, and I saw one of the guys who works there who is friendly with me. He invited us in to listen to one of the bands that just started jamming. They were great! Alot of great touring and session musicians.

Good birthday so far :-)

Sweet & Sour Chicken

is basically a dessert right? It's like a donut, with some chicken. And the sauce is like all sugar. But...its yummy.

Reading for Faraway Bayou was tonight. 

I think it went well! :-)

I met some awesome people in the process.

Last Exorcism

Had a great day at the beach today.

This evening I went and saw The Last Exorcism and my parents went and saw Eat Pray Love (which I had already seen).

The Last Exorcism was scary and I loved it!!

Then we went to dinner at a great place by the water.....Mmmm I had Steak & Cake (Steak with a crabcake). Yum!!!!

Brussel Sprouts

and mushrooms

grilling on top of my stove

Water & diet cream soda

Had a good talk with rapper Etcetera tonight.

We are going to be working on a song together.

Must sleep....

Goodnight!

Root Beer Floats

from Wendy's are sooooo goooooooooood. Yum.


Had a nice Bikram class this evening. I forgot cash and they're like, oh you can pay next time. Wow, being a regular has some perks I suppose. I have to say, Yoga to the People is pretty much the bomb. I like the teachers there a lot.

Got my design touched up at the barber shop, and had a nice therapy session with my therapist who just switched from her residency at Columbia to private practice, so I hadn't seen her in a few weeks.

Don't read this

Don't read this because it's way past my bedtime.

Today after work I went to an info session at Dixon Place to talk about teaching artist opportunities. So many great people in the room -- artists who spend time teaching and working with kids, seniors, disabled, etc.

Had a lovely date in Brooklyn at this awesome soul food restaurant called Night of the Cookers. Had some awesome lemon chicken & greens.

Good conversation, walk around the block, through the park, after dark....Reminds me of my favorite Jill Scott song. Name that tune.

Looking forward to my show tonight at Googie's with Adam Tressler & Rebecca Muir.

Over & out

(Go watch GLOZELL) on YouTube, she's a comedian who posts hundreds of videos, and always ends with over & out, a wink and a kiss. LOL....

Dreaming of release parties

Good night tonight with my parents...

We went to Lime Jungle & Holey Cream, a great Mexican food / ice cream combination, introduced a few weeks ago by my friend Cara. They are both on 9th Ave by 54th & 53rd, respectively.

Had some great conversation.

Now about to sleep. Release party is tomorrow!

My Custom Van

I went and saw a great play that my friend Ruark Downey is in, called "My Custom Van," written by Michael Ian Black. It was on the Upper West Side, which was kinda random, but a cool little place called The Drilling Company Theatre.

Afterwards, I met up with Cara for the last time before she goes on her cruise ship!

We went to Lime Jungle, an awesome cheap but sit-down, really good quality Mexican restaurant. Amazing corn on the cob appetizer, quesadillas, and tacos. Afterwards, we went to Holey Cream AGAIN for ice cream.

BBBBBQQQQQQ

Today I had BBQ twice....yes....its true.....don't be jealous.

First, I played for a kid's birthday party in Long Island. They had some ribs, pork, cornbread, delicious mac and cheese with corn and jalapenos...excellent.

Then tonight, I went to Dinosaur BBQ to hear some friends play. Unfortunately, I had to leave before they even started playing, but I DID share some BBQ with my friend Cara (who's been delayed another week before she goes on the cruise ship). We had more ribs, mac & cheese, greens, pork, cornbread, and I liked their spicy barbecue sauce. YUM!!

Bikram & BBQ's

Today after a long morning/afternoon at my kid's music job, I went down to the Bikram studio in the Lower East Side. Something many of us do is try the intro rate (usually around $20) for a week of unlimited classes at various yoga studios around the city. It's a good deal, and you get to try out different studios. It was a nice class with a great teacher.

Later in the evening, I made up for all those calories burned by eating my face at BBQ's with my friend Todd. I had quarter chicken honey-glazed (white meat) which comes with fries and cornbread. Aaaah soo good!

We saw a woman eating this:

She was about to go in!! It looked delicious, but so, so wrong....

Joanna Numata / Floetry / Indian food

Took class today with my girl  Joanna Numata. Not only do I consider her a friend, but she is an amazing choreographer & dancer. One of my favorites for sure. I look forward to working with her more. We both share a love of the group Floetry, and today we danced to "Say Yes."

JOANNA

FLOETRY

I also took tap class with Germaine Salsberg. Nothing else quite gives me that same feeling as when I'm tapping. Feels so gooooood, and I have some SERIOUS shoes that make it even more fun to tap.

Tonight I had rehearsal with Jason Rabinowitz, the lead singer of "The Bloodsugars," and Matt Katz, keyboard player, who taught me a couple new songs. We had Indian food that was amazing! Samosas, nan, raita, chicken masala, saag, the whole deal...Delicious!