I Believe I Can Fly

Today I spent most of the afternoon on the social networking loop: Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, Formspring, etc. etc......  the internet can suck me in sometimes, and I loop around to the same sites, and it needs to stop! AAAAH...but it was good to just waste some time and be unproductive, gotta be honest.

Tonight I played at a private party for this guy Sanyale. He was throwing a dinner party in Columbus Circle for his co-workers, and the theme was setting goals and accomplishing them, so he wanted some inspirational songs. I sang "Something," one of my originals (I'm gonna be something...I'm gonna go somewhere, etc.) and then I sang "I Believe I Can Fly," or rather, we all sang it. Haha, they knew it better than me, all the words, and inflections, and they were even harmonizing! It was awesome, actually. GREAT energy....They took CD's, and signed my mailing list, and I even got a delicious to-go plate of rice, pasta, lasagna, chicken wings.... It was definitely a good showing for me! Posting a clip below of me rehearsing "I Believe I Can Fly."

I discovered a band called "Little Dragon," thanks to a post on facebook from my friend Lucas Madrazo. So I looked them up and downloaded a bunch of their songs. They're from Sweden, and the lead singer is Japanese-Swedish, and has a really cool voice. They have a bunch of artsy videos on youtube, and I am posting one below.

ALSO, LAST NIGHT MY NEW NEPHEW WAS BORN! I welcome to the world Calum Jonas Shenk Colvin, born at 1:26 am yesterday morning! So now my nephew GUS has a little baby brother!!

Life is a stonewashed onesie

I don't know what I mean by that, but I ran into my friend / artist Jonte at BDC, and he was rockin a stonewashed denim onesie:

I took Anes' class again at BDC tonight, and it was amazing! We danced to "In Love With You" by Erykah Badu feat. Stephen Marley. It's off her album "Mama's Gun" and I had totally forgotten about it. Posting it at the end of this blog. Take a listen! It's beautiful!

So I think I am performing next Saturday at Pianos upstairs @ 8 pm, and May 18th is the release party at Bitter End. Woo hoo!!!

Mama's Gun - Erykah Badu

Diet Cream Soda

Here are some things that I like/love that others may find disgusting:

1. diet cream soda
2. spam!
3. imitation crab meat
4. orange/grape soda
5. chicken liver (though I haven't had it in a while)

How do you feel about these items? I'm sure there are plenty more but I can't think of them right now. Comment people! Who's reading my blog?

Great day today....after work this morning I took a delicious nap, then had a great appointment with my therapist.

Then an AMAZING bikram class today at Bikram Yoga NYC on the Upper East Side. Probably my favorite yoga studio. Very nice facility and great teachers. My teacher tonight, Patrick, is a funny guy, so there was lots of laughter, and it was a really good practice.

AND....I finally booked a date for the CD release party. I almost don't want to say it, because it's changed so many times, but I feel good about this one. It's Tuesday, MAY 18 @ Bitter End @ 8 pm. This is the perfect day of the week to try and get press and music industry down, and hopefully I will have some help doing that. But either way, I'm sure it will be a great show and I can't wait. Hopefully I can perform before then too.

We'll see...

Goodnight! Time to eat some spam and noodles!!

Get Me Outta Here

I'm posting this Esmee Denters song "Get Me Outta Here" at the end of this blog entry. I've been diggin this song for a minute, though the video's a little lame. I love the hook and the feel of the song, and it's so dang catchy.

Here's a pic of my new design:

I had a Story Pirates rehearsal today...always a good time.

Still trying to book the dang date for the CD release party.

Ran into a little problem with the volume on some of the tracks on the master, so printing is being delayed a little bit....

STAY TUNED.....

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The Real

I gotta be honest, I had a rough couple of days. Sometimes life starts to feel too real, and it seems like there is no way to escape.

BUT I gotta feel these feelings, it's the only way to get through it. I heard a quote from my friend, "Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional." I like that alot, not sure where it came from.

Last night I went over to my boss's house. She is the owner of the kids music program where I work, and she had some good ideas for my career. She used to work at Atlantic Records, so she is familiar with the music business, though that was in the 90's, when everything was quite different. She has a sick place on the Upper East Side. It was my first time going over there, so we hung out, and had some Indian food.

Today I played for some auditions for this motown show that my friend is directing. I like playing for auditions. It's a great way to hear some good singers, and I ended up knowing alot of the girls that came and auditioned.

Had another rehearsal tonight with Jason from the Bloodsugars, learning some new tunes.

Sigh....life goes on & on, trying to figure it all out, trying to make it all count...

OH NO!

I forgot to write in my blog last night!!! HORROR OF HORRORS!!

HAHAA.......

WELL......

Yesterday I had the pleasure once again of taking Joe Buffa's class at Chelsea Piers. We danced to Danity Kane's "Lights Out," and it was reeeealy fun!!

I also went and got my design did up right. I loved going to Washington Heights now that it's warm. The Heights just comes alive, everyone is outside in the park, in a good mood, etc. I got a really nice design, I don't feel like taking a picture and posting it here, but trust me, it's NICE. Heehee.

Today I just took some Bikram, and I'm already wiped, so I'm taking a little bitty nap.

Grand Central

I love that middle section of Grand Central subway station where literally EVERYONE is walking in different directions. It's amazing there aren't more collisions. Everyone just weaves their way in and out.

Tonight I met with Kahari Mays, boyfriend of Joanna Numata (see previous blogs), who is a producer, as well as model, etc. I laid down some piano for a track he was working on. It sounded good I think!

C R A Z Y

Feeling a little crazy today....

Rarely am I getting enough sleep.....

I stay up way too late.....

I did however, pick up my beautiful Yamaha MO-8 from First Flight Music. They had replaced a couple of the keys, and my friend Jonathan Cody White who lives in my neighborhood, helped me bring it up my 5 flights of stairs. Thanks Jonathan!

I'm glad to have the keyboard back! It's my baby!

I also was able to take Anes' class at BDC. He is one of my favorites! Big movements, very fluid but great musicality. I sweat alot in his class, but I feel so good, like I've just gone swimming. Haha, and he's an awesome guy. He came to one of my shows at Pianos, and he writes music as well, so now that he's living in NYC, we're gonna try and collab!

I feel like my life is, to quote Chelsea Handler, "borderline amazing," but I'm so scared about everything. Will I make any right decisions. Will my music be heard? Will anyone care? 

The PR firm we met with yesterday doesn't have time to help me with my CD launch party, so I hope we can find someone else. I would really like to put in the effort to have a proper launch party with industry folks there. I'm trying to keep the faith that everything will work out!

On & On & On & ON...

Today I met with Oui 2 PR firm, Rob Goldstone & David Wilson, friends of Ayhan, who produced my album. Good meeting...looks like they will be helping with my CD release party....getting industry people to come out.

Tonight I played a last minute gig with Carmen Noelia at Tillman's in Chelsea. Pretty cool venue.....We did all R&B covers including "Certainly" & "On & On" by Erykah Badu. We killed "On & On!" We also did "Wonderful" by India.Arie & "Golden" by Jill Scott.

Look at this pretty face :-)