NEW ADVENTURES IN BLOGGING

Hi everyone!!

It's been quite a while since I turned my attention to this blog. I've been working endlessly on another project--one that takes the attention away from me, personally--and it is finally complete!

Check it out here: FLOCK OF WORDS !!!

I will keep this blog up for the time being, because I know I will be traveling and my loyal followers (loved ones) will want to be kept abreast of my whereabouts! Meanwhile, though, Flock of Words will be getting my full attention!

Please check it out, if you haven't already, and click the link in the right sidebar that says "Fly With the Flock"... It will make you a "follower" and you will receive email notifications when I post something to the website. PLEASE share with friends and show as many people as you can!

Thanks for your support! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!
xx-E

Celebration, Elation

Yes, yes, YES!!! Extremely productive week! Lots accomplished and lots to celebrate!

At the beginning of this month I ventured over to Hotel Cafe to see The Barr Brothers put on an absolutely breathtaking show. I hung around and introduced myself to the band after and had a nice talk with Brad Barr and Andres Vial. Got inspired.

The next day I was still thinking about the show. Staring at the CD they signed for me, listening to it play, I had to express it all somehow. So I decided to write a review. Spent the day working on it, fully immersed, alternating between listening to the album, watching YouTube clips, reading interviews with the band, and just general freneticism.

I finished the article and sat staring at my computer for a while, feeling the anti-climax of it all. So, to combat this, I sent out some emails to music websites I really like asking if they wanted a submission. Within a week I got a response from Grateful Music, LLC.  Sent the article in to the appropriate person and heard back in next to NO time! A beautiful, complimentary email about my writing, my voice and style. Needless to say, the article ran that day!  Check it out here! (And check out their music below...)

From this seemingly simple moment blossomed an incredible week! Contact with the properly connected people got me 3 more feature assignments (Bonnaroo, Firefly, and Newport Folk Festival) plus the possibility of press credentials. :D

I get to cover ALL THE GREATEST BANDS EVER!!! AHHHHH!! In addition to the obviously heart-stopping excitement that I feel for Phish, Radiohead, Jack White, The Black Keys, Death Cab, etc etc etc (so many incredible headliners!!!) there are also probably 50 other bands that I can't even believe I am lucky enough to see. And not just see but write about!!! AHH! Everyone get jealous!! This is the best thing ever.

In the meantime, I continue to listen to music all day long. Interpreting and writing about what I'm hearing, feeling, thinking, experiencing. Found a couple new friends to share music with, which adds a pleasant dimension. Also, tomorrow is the 5th annual Record Store Day. I cannot wait!! I have decided that it is totally reasonable and necessary that I reward myself for this amazingly productive and awesome week in my career by getting to Amoeba Records tomorrow morning at 8AM to wait in line to buy myself this.  (AMAZING!) I called today and was informed that Amoeba only got 18 copies...18!!!!! And only 8 if I want the one with a poster. SO, Reba and I are going to get some heady coffees and hopefully meet some cool people in line tomorrow morning in the hopes of walking away with one of the limited editions... I totally deserve it!!! Gotta celebrate the wins!! Keep your eyes peeled for more writing...and my new website... coming soon! woohooo!

Welcome, 28!

Will photos be enough this time? I somehow don't feel much like writing... my mind is wandering like crazy. But I wanted to share some of what's been going on, so enjoy a bit of a picture tour!

Asheville
Went to Asheville to soak up all the culture and spend time with a very dear friend, who reminded me that I am happiest when I treat life like an adventure, that music always makes you better, and that love is precious. 

vagabond musicians in downtown Asheville

a nice hike and killer waterfall

zoomed out

Triple Falls -- nice picnic site!

along the Blue Ridge Parkway

amazing afternoon drive

sunset hike w Phil

hazy horizon

magnificent North Carolina sunset

Santa Barbara
I spent a lovely birthday weekend in Santa Barbara with Becca. We had a gorgeous dinner at Seagrass restaurant (with wine pairings!) and took a trip to a few vineyards the next day. We ran on the beach at night with little Penny and celebrated in the best way possible! 

fog rolls over the road on our way north

overlook en route to Santa Barbara

dinner at Seagrass

Alma Rosa vineyard

nice spot to sit and sip

Rebecca channels Virginia Madsen

zin in the woods

flight of zin

turning 28 in room 28!

heading south

ostrich farm? of course!!

hi friends

bahahaha

pastries and coffee in Slovang

Los Angeles
No photos yet!! I am getting over a killer ear infection that had me out of commission for 2 weeks or so. Trying to write a little something every day and trying to gain focus for my muddled mind. The weather is getting warmer--good for hiking and wearing sweatshirts on the beach--and I am spending time outdoors and trying to soak up as much music and art as possible each day. Last night was a MIND BOGGLING show by the Barr Brothers at Hotel Cafe, tomorrow an improv show featuring the very talented James Mastriani, and Saturday a poetry reading by the recently published, hypnotizing word genie, Jeremy Radin. Can't wait... See you soon! xx

A countdown to...

... not sure what's coming, let me be completely honest! But the countdown has started: 10 days before I embark on an indefinite journey.

I just hung up the phone with Rebecca, who talked me off the edge of panicky abyss by reminding me that whatever happens "all will be good." So true.  For now, it's time to move on from my current happenings to another sort of projection.

The current iteration of the plan looks something (if I were to consolidate it) like: Connecticut-->Asheville-->Los Angeles-->New Orleans-->Houston-->?   I will be adding some arrows in there along the way, but these are my definite markers.

Leaving Connecticut is bittersweet. I have enjoyed being so close with/to my family, reuniting with old friends and spending time reconnecting to the (sometimes hard-to-find) little treasures that this area has to offer. I am, of course, sad to have to abandon my miniature charges; Gabriel and Ally know just how to make my heart break at the thought of leaving them! But it's time to move on, and that's just what I'm doing.

I suspect each phase of this journey is going to satisfy a different need, and that by the end I will have filled a long-developing series of voids (and prepare myself for what is sure to be a massively important year)...

Asheville is coming at just the right time. Not sure how to write about it with any appropriate degree of subtlety; simultaneously, I can't really be too specific because I am not exactly sure what awaits me there! I plan to be embraced by the Blue Ridge Mountains, by music, by home-cooked food, by human connection...by aged love. Asheville is for illuminating the things I like about myself, reminding me how I'm special and different, and for acceptance. I have a feeling that being swept up in child-like love and consciousness is the best possible way to set myself up for what will follow.

Los Angeles is Rebecca, as well as a dozen things that I've been waiting for,  hoping for, dreaming of, putting off, shying away from. It's confronting a whole host of possibilities and projects that I've been keeping compartmentalized for the past year. Time to untie those ribbons, open those flaps and unpack those boxes. Los Angeles is breaking into new life.

New Orleans is the space to honor that new life.  A place for creativity to flourish. Writing, writing, writing, reading, reading, writing more. Jazz fest, music all around us... Walking the streets, taking it in... Can't say much more about it than that! That's what it's all for. We shall see what comes!

Houston. Time to be, breathe and blossom... A weekend with Sadhguru to cement the things that need securing and to let go of the things that need release.  By then, everything might be different... There's no way of knowing. Life has a way of surprising us, now doesn't it?

And so, here's The Head and The Heart to play us out...

I wish I was a slave to an age-old trade
Like ridin' around on railcars and workin' long days

Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways
Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways

Call it one drink too many
Call it pride of a man
But it don't make no difference if you sit or you stand

'Cause they both end in trouble and start with a grin
Yeah they both end in trouble and start with a grin

We do it over and over and over again
We do it over and over and over again

I know there's California, Oklahoma
And all of the places I ain't ever been to but
Down in the valley with
Whiskey rivers
These are the places you will find me hidin'
These are the places I will always go
These are the places I will always go

I am on my way
I am on my way
I am on my way back to where I started

One more for the stars and the eyes of the walls
I hear your name...

I saw your face in the crowd and you came out
You saw me walkin'...

You got a sign on the door and it reads to me
Just like the grass and the sun and the...

The Hour of Bewilderbeast

I'm really trying to get some serious work done but I can't stop listening to Badly Drawn Boy and daydreaming. These things happen I guess.

Postponed writing a post about my week (over new years) with Becca and the boys (Phish) at Madison Square Garden because I kept thinking that there was no possible way I could do justice to the epic level of awesomeness with my measly words.  Trey was out of control amazing, we were practically backstage every one of the 4 nights, we met some amazing people, we had some legendary post-show meals (next level korean bbq where we vibed out with new friends and ate like royalty, banana pancakes with nutella, hot greasy ny pizza, etc) and we danced our faces off. Here are some poor quality cell phone pictures that I am still super proud of...

night 1. backstage

night 2. legitimately backstage... we said hi as they walked on stage.

night 3. heyyy page!

night 2. Fishman getting nasty on the drums

mmhmm

korean bbq

ancelmo

epic hair-off.

:D

<3 (notice how we are actually ON the stage...almost)

I kept thinking all week how my experience of Phish is exactly what I imagine a serious drug addiction to be like...and I really wanted to write about it, but I don't think now is the time. Suffice it to (concisely) say that there is an amazingly poetic parallel and you can all look forward to a breakdown of that in the future. (I know you can't wait.)

In the meantime, let's see...January has been a blast.  I cancelled my usual trip to New York for Satsangh this month on account of the fact that I was there so much in December and I had been traveling for 5 straight weekends (from New Orleans to New York and places in between!) and I was plain exhausted. Also, lately I've been feeling less of an urge to escape this place.  Perhaps it's partly to do with the fact that I now have an official "end date" to my Connecticut residency, or perhaps that I've been enjoying my experiences with friends here--new and old alike, or perhaps it's the unexpected closeness I feel with an unlikely companion that I've been spending an increasing number of days with over the past few months... Whatever it is, I like it.

I've been working a lot more and so it's been harder to spend the amount of time I want to with my family. Wishing my grandfather didn't live on the other side of the river...although it's lame of me to even say that, we are in the same state after all. I want to spend the next +/-2 months that I'm here taking advantage of being geographically close to my loved ones. So get ready family!! I'm going to be cooking you some serious meals and forcing myself into your lives a lot more! ;)

Badly Drawn Boy is still playing. (I got Spotify recently and it's changing my musical experience.. it's EVERYTHING.  It might be the only thing in the world that has ever made me give a second thought to owning music...it's plain amazing.) I wish I could just embed some mp3s for you here, but I don't know how... so here are some videos if you want to hear some of his incredible art. ("Cause a Rockslide" was the first song I ever heard of this genius (thanks to my darling McFee!) and it's so intensely beautiful and amazing... sigh. that's the second video down there..)

Now, I am going to finish this pot of tea and trot off...  See you in February :)

Anniversary Of An Uninteresting Event

I know my last post was about an anniversary...well today marks another anniversary for me.  Perhaps it is in fact, as the Deftones say, an anniversary of an uninteresting event (also, I just love that song), but while the event itself may have been uninteresting, it certainly set off a VERY interesting series of events!  That being the case, I felt it deserved a celebration of the best and happiest kind. I called my dear friend and social coordinator, Sarah, and told her to get something together. So on Friday night, I bought some champagne and we drove to West Hartford and met up with 6 or 7 fairly awesome people... We had a fantastic meal at Ichiban that included a higher-than-recommended number of sake bombs followed by a mini, impromptu YouTube dance party and an icy walk to SideBar where we continued some seriously amazing, Russian-encouraged debauchery. After what seemed like 10 hours of dancing, laughing and fun, Sarah and I were rescued by a certain blonde hero and his trusty muscular sidekick and the night took another turn. By 5am, I felt I had honored the anniversary with an appropriate level of celebratory fun. (I think at one point during the night, Timur actually said I looked "too happy" ...check!)

My favorite part? Mother nature chimed in to the festivities by symbolically dumping a blanket of fresh snow all over us through the night and into the next day--toasting my clean slate. Cheers!

sake! sake! sake!

this might be what "too happy" looks like..