Adios 2010... Buenos Dias 2011

This'll likely be my last post o' the year. Here at Job #2 and then heading straight to Jon's so we can get to his gig 'round bout 9pm. Tomorrow I need to SLEEP seriously and I cannot wait. I only got 10 hrs of sleep total the past 2 nights. Tuesday night Jon was over at my house and we were lounging in bed, him playing his National Resonator and me singing. We were up 'til 2 am doing that and then I happened to check my Facebook and found out some terrible news about a musician friend of ours who had died suddenly a few hrs ago. Mean Gene gave Jon his 1st break into the local music scene and so Jon was pretty upset. We were up another hour after that, Jon calling/texting people about it.

Last night I went to the jam at the Big Easy and hung out w/LDB and his new GF and this cool librarian chick who is also a blues scenester. I didn't want to play though, and I didn't. I've been drinking wine lately b/c for the 1st time in my entire life my Process is not only late, it's 2 weeks late and yes, I took 2 pregnancy tests earlier this week which both came out negative, so that gave me permission to get back on the hard drinks last night (Crown and Diet Coke)--tall ones! Still not sure why the Process isn't working right, but I guess there's a first time for everything! Anyway, so Jon and I were up late again after we got back to my place and I'll sure be up late again tonight. Hence the need to SLEEP LATE tomorrow which I will.

Otherwise tomorrow should be a pretty sedate day; I guess we'll have to head to Jon's gig in the early evening but otherwise I got the whole day free and I am so gwine enjoy it though I bet it'll go by fast. 2010 was overall a pretty damn good year I have to say. I learned so much about myself and especially love and relationships. I am so grateful I got to spend most of it w/Stefano, who showed me the kind of love I really deserve, and showed me what a wonderful, healthy fun relationship really is. I miss him, I truly do but I guess he still hates me. Anyway, I'll never again settle for anything less than near-perfection, which is what Stefano was to me.

Ending the year with Jon is also near-perfect. We are an incredibly amazing match together and we love each other so much. He's already proven to be so good for me in so many ways. The 2-drink maximum policy he inspired me to initiate, and his gentle, loving calmness has been just what I needed. His musicianship has also been a huge influence on me. His family and friends are all great to be around. I can't wait to get our music project up and running, and in fact he already got us a gig playing at a friend of his' house next weekend, just the 2 of us probably sans drummer! I'm also looking forward to 2011 being a big year for us in every other way too, as I do want to start officially seeing if I can get pregnant or not mid-to-late 2011. (If I'm not already that is, but I don't think I am!)

So that's it. I've got a good station in life now and I have no heavy complaints--a far cry from 2009, that's for sure. Gwine move forward in 2011 and accomplish more great stuff. And always, strive to be a better me. Happy New Year to all of us!

Absolutely Delightful Christmas!

Aww, what a nice past few days. We didn't do everything on schedule or as planned, but big deal. It's the damn holidays.

So last Thurs. I went to Jon's gig which was pretty sedate, there not being a huge crowd there that night. I sat in the back by the dartboards and painted my nails, drank my 2 glasses of wine, and played "Scrabble" on the iPhone. And I had told Jon under no circumstances was I going to play! I said I'd play, but only if I got a taste of the gig, heh heh. I was off duty and ready to relax. Naturally the bassist, a friend of ours, wanted me to play and of course the answer was Nyet!

Fri. we slept in, way too late unfortunately b/c I only had time to rush home after we went out for breakfast tacos to make 2 batches of sausage balls as opposed to my 4 batches. But then we headed to Baytown a couple hours before evening church service to help his mom w/the food and cooking and whatnot. Jon put me in charge of shredding the chicken, just as I'd done at Tamalepalooza, hardy har har! Then his niece showed up and we headed to the church. After the service we ran into his aunt/uncle/cousins, then repaired to his mom's house for their Christmas Eve festivities. His sister finally got in from her flight from Chicago and his other sisters showed up and various other nieces/nephews, etc., plus Jon's dad at one point. It was fun and our chicken soup was a huge hit and it was just a good time. At midnight is when they opened presents and people finally started to trickle out. When saying goodbye to his aunt she told me to call her "Aunt Rosie" and his cousins kissed me and said "Welcome to the family." Aww! Jon's mom also had gotten me a pashmina of different shades of blue and a watch bracelet. I was touched, and I really really love pashminas and want to get them in all different colors! We didn't get to sleep until after 3am.

Sat. we slept in as much as possible, and fortunately I still had enough sausage balls leftover to take to my aunt's house, so I didn't have to wake up early and make more. Jon and I rushed to my house to get my presents for them and it was then that I said Jon and I could exchange gifts. I hadn't wanted to exchange gifts in front of everyone, I'd wanted it to be private. Jon handed me a big box and apologized for not wrapping it. It looked like a boot box. It WAS a boot box!!! He'd gotten me the beautiful red ostrich boots I'd tried on the day we took him to the Dr. a couple weeks ago. A couple of tears squeezed out, I was so surprised and touched. I couldn't believe he got me those beautiful boots! It was The. Perfect. Gift!!! (I'd gotten him 2 nice black leather-esque photo albums for his many print photos that he still keeps in Walgreen's photo envelopes [I know these things can be scanned and digitized but let's face it, that's a huge project and one that he's not likely to do anytime soon] and some Sensual Amber body butter b/c I have some and he likes the scent and he uses body butter on his dry skin patches. I also got him a gift certificate to the movie theater so we can go see True Grit and I also bought a very cute, very sexy naughty schoolgirl outfit for me to wear for him. I gave him the movie cert. at my aunt's house later that day and put on the naughty schoolgirl for him last night when we were finally alone at my house. [He LOVED it!])

We headed to pick up pater familias where he gave me my present (the old timey-Blues Calendar that he gives me every year that I love--it's my wall calendar at Job #1 and it also comes w/a CD! He also gave me a mix CD that he made and gave Jon a copy as well) and then we were off to my aunt's house. We ate, opened presents, took pictures, Jon dozed off on the couch for a few minutes. It was a typical Christmas! We were ready to head back to Baytown around 6pm and my uncle told Jon "Welcome to the family!"

Back in Baytown his mom and sisters and nephew were eating but I was too stuffed, though I did have some banana pudding, mmm! Jon and I then got out the guitars and began fooling around with a melody he came up with. Then I offered to show him the songs I'd identified for me to sing as he'd asked me to find. I showed him Taj Mahal's "I Rode Some" and he loved it! (I was nervous singing but I figured I'd better just get over it and pretend I wasn't nervous and just plunge right in and do it. Fake it til you make it, baby.) Then I showed him "Rock Salt and Nails" as done by Levon Helm. Then we did "These Arms of Mine" as done by Roy Buchanan. We also worked on "She's Into Something" as done by Robert Cray, Albert Collins, and Johnny Copeland. It was fun, if a bit nerve wracking, to work up songs sung by me, but Jon was nothing but encouraging and he wanted to play the Taj several times!!! He certainly has a lot of confidence in me!

Sunday a.m. Jon made breakfast for us, eggs w/the leftover sausage I'd brought for the sausage balls I didn't have to make. His sister had to go to the Galleria to make an exchange and Jon wanted to spend time w/her so I said we could forego the documentary at the MFAH. Jon's mom and other sister and niece also planned to go, but I didn't see how we could fit 6 people in any of their cars. Jon insisted we could, saying "We're Mexican!" and in the end, we took his car and I had to ride lying down in the back of his Dodge Magnum. Guess he showed me! (His 19-yo niece had offered first, and attempted it but she's 5'10" and I refused to let her when it was clear I'd fit better back there.) It was fine back there, I just lay down and played on my iPhone and the girls were complimenting me for taking one for the team. We dropped them all off at the mall and Jon took me to Crave Cupcakes for being a good sport! I got cranberry orange, yum, and then we ran by his house to get some needed items, including my iPod. After we picked them all up from the mall I even managed to catch a quick nap on the way back to Baytown!

The evening was taken up by going to the wake for his great-aunt that had died last week. I got to meet more relatives, and then we sat through the rosary. The rosary always makes me mellow--I get a lot of thinking done during it. Then we went to eat at a local Mexican restaurant w/his mom, sisters and niece and nephew, then back at Jon's mom's house Jon and I got out the guitars and practiced some more.

Monday we slept way in again--much needed!--and Jon made breakfast for us again. We got ready for the funeral and headed out to it. On Sunday Jon and I weren't sure we'd go to the funeral but then we decided to since if we hadn't his mom would have had to go alone. It was soooo cold all weekend long and Monday was no exception. At the cemetery we huddled with his aunt and uncle and his mom's cousin and I was wrenched between Jon and his mom! Then we went to the local community center for post-funeral camaraderie and barbeque. And dessert! I met way more Jon relatives, mostly cousins. Finally it was time to take his mom home, pack up our shit, and head home to Houston. It had been a really fun weekend and we ended it with a slow romantic night at my house last night.

Tonight I'm taking Jon to see True Grit since this is his only night free this week. He's playing Weds. night, Thurs. night, and of course Fri. is his NYE gig. He just found out their bass player is coming into town tomorrow and has been assigned to stay w/Jon at his house, so I told Jon to just stay w/me all week and he agreed. I'll enjoy that, not having to trade nights between our 2 places like we usually do!

Aaaaand It's ChristmasTime!

Although I prefer Festivus, what with the pole and the Airing of the Grievances and the Feats of Strength! Today I have a short workday meaning just Job #1, no Job #2, yay!

Last night was way fun. Jon and I had taken Mon. and Tues. nights off (although he had to run out on Mon. night to the House of Blues to attempt to sell some tickets to his NYE gig) b/c we knew we'd be out on Weds. and tonight. Blues jam last night of course, and Aaron, my guitarist friend that I quarreled with this summer, came out and we hugged and drank and all was forgiven. It was warm enough for me to wear a cute outfit: black tube top and long skirt w/cowboy boots, though I did need my sweater as the night progressed. I got to get up and play w/Jon and later, LDB came out and we got to play together too, for the 1st time in like 12 years!!! It was awesome. He's a really damn good drummer. After the jam Jon and I went to a park at 2:30am and then we went to Kroger to get warm scones and then we went to his place where we finally got to sleep around 5am!

Thank God these slow holiday days of work are here, and I've spoken before of how much I love them. Tonight since I'll be getting home at a decent hour for the 1st time in months and months I get to wrap the few Xmas gifts I got and begin making the sausage ball batches so they can just be thrown in the oven in the morning. Jon's playing tonight and I'll go out there with him, meaning I'll also have to be there from 8:45p-1am. And b/c I got so little sleep last night (this morning) and we'll be out late tonite also I'd like to get some kinda sleep in the a.m. before we hit the ground running. Our schedule for this weekend is shaping up to be:

• Fri: I finish making the sausage balls, get my stuff together, and Jon and I head to Baytown where we'll go to evening church service w/his family, then have Christmas festivities at his mom's house w/his aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. We'll stay the night, of course.
• Sat: Back to Houston, pick up pater familias, get to Aunt P's by 1pm for those Christmas festivities.
• Sat night: OFF?!?! I think so! Ahh bliss.
• Sun: 2pm documentary screening of Boxing Gym at the MFAH w/li'l bro and hopefully Jon's sister. Back to Baytown immediately following so we can attend the wake of his recently-departed great-aunt.
• Mon: Funeral of his great-aunt. Followed hopefully by lunch w/Tito J back in Houston before he leaves for San Antone?

Whew! Merry Christmas and a Happy Festivus to the rest of us!

Lovely Weekend!

So the gig on Sat. night was kinda lame, mostly b/c George is just not with it sometimes and that makes mine and Leo's jobs harder. Also we were on our 4th song of the set when the power source to my and Leo's amps went out. Ugh!!! I said to Jon, who was there watching us of course, "You see why I drink???" In other weird news, the last girl Jon dated before me was there, as she also happens to be an ex of Leo's. It only bothered me a little bit seeing her there, since although she is pretty and tall, she is a total weird bird and is very neurotic and was a major headache to Jon when they dated. They didn't even speak at all at my gig since she's such a weirdo. Interesting that she still keeps up with Leo, though. One fun thing is that one of Jon's best friends from way back showed up to meet me and see me play and I was so touched at that! Also Jon's friend from our coffeeshop visit on Friday came by too and that really meant a lot to me b/c he's a guitar magazine writer as well as being an incredible creative writing teacher and so I kind of am impressed by him. Jon later said he enjoyed sitting in the audience w/George's wife and Leo's girlfriend Mir, that he never gets to be a groupie/roadie and liked it. Ha ha!

So once we were done playing Jon and I scooted outta there to his friend's house party. It was a nice little party with nice people and I immediately started in on the vodka. They had party munchies and I ate 3 cupcakes. Jon's friend had even made MY sausage balls, the ones I always make! The strange thing to me about that party though was that, let's say there were 20 people there--well 18 of them were obese/overweight! Whoa. At one point Jon and I went to a spare bedroom to have some quickie alone time but we got freaked out when we heard what we think was a mouse or something in there, so we skeedaddled. I won the party game of guessing how many marshmallows are in a glass jar and I won the jar and also a rooster kitchen towel/potholder set. We finally left around 2am.

Sunday we slowly got up and tried to attempt continuing fixing my downstairs toilet. Ma and Fred came by to bring me my bicycle and a pool lounge chair. I had run out to get breakfast tacos and I ran into a girl I know there who I found out lives near me! I got tacos for everyone and back at my house we ate, visited a bit and watched the Texans lose before Ma and Fred left and Jon continued with the toilet. We gave Ma one of Jon's new CD's and she was delighted. Jon and I realized after yet another trip to Home Depot that I either need a new tank or a new toilet; so I decided to think about it. We headed out for the day, stopping by the Big Easy for one of our guitarist friend's going-away party. My crazy dancing girlfriend made me dance a song with her and I couldn't believe this, but Stefano was there and he walked right past Jon and me holding the hand of a pretty, dark-haired girl! Wow. Well, good for him, I hope she deserves him b/c not too many woman would deserve an incredible man like him. (I'm just surprised he has someone so soon, I mean he hadn't dated anyone for awhile before he and I started dating.) Jon didn't even notice them, I had to tell him about it after we left.

So after we made an appearance (20 min. tops) we snuck out and went to his good friend Jim's house. Jim has a beautiful home and his wife had been wanting to meet me, so we went up there and they took us to eat at a seafood/sushi place near their house. It was a nice dinner and we had a good time, Jim's wife and I drinking "French-tini's." Jim is a great, very funny, very cool guy and I always have a good time hanging out with him. We made plans to do Jon's blues jam this Weds. night.

Slow Saturday DAY

Because once I leave this quiet, sedate easy 9-5 shift at Job #1, I will be moving faster than the speed of sound! Well, once I do leave here I gotta swing by the Walgreen's photo and pick up the Christmas cards that Jon and I decided last night to send... then I have to rush home, get my gear together, shower/change into some kinda outfit that will work at both my gig tonite immediately followed by the party at Jon's friend's house. Whew!

So the last couple days have been nice and relaxing but I needed them b/c when I hit "publish" on that last blog post at Job #2, I began to feel bizarre-o. Not really bizarre-o, I knew exactly what was up and I was a-feared. I started to have body chills and aches. Shit! I got my damn flu shot in October! I texted Leo and said I was still willing to rehearse though--and I totally was!--but he called me and said let's call it off. I said well yeah, maybe we better, in case I have contracted some bug and therefore would NOT want to pass it on to him and George. I immediately went home and put on my furry leopard coat, put the heat on 77 degrees, took some zinc under Jon's strict orders, popped a mess of Ibuprofins, and curled up on the couch into a pitiful little ball. Jon came over before his gig at the Big Easy and brought me the rest of the Crave cupcakes, which I didn't even want so you know I was feeling poorly! He felt my head and tummy and sho' nuff, I had a bona fide fever! But I was determined to beat this thing, whatever it was, and by 11:30pm-ish, the fever had broke and I was sleeping fitfully. Jon came over when his gig was done and we were up 'til about 3am, hanging out and eating the cupcakes, at which point we finally went to bed.

I called into work on Thurs. though, seeing as how I had gotten very little sleep and now needed to recuperate and rest up in order to make DAMN sure I was well, or getting well. Jon and I spend the day together, going to eat at my local Teo (as opposed to his Teo near his house), doing a little shopping for parts to fix both my toilets, going to see his friends at his friend's little music gig at a local barbecue restaurant, and then Jon had his Thurs. night gig w/this annoying harmonica player that I played with this past summer. I stayed at Jon's house while he was gone, determined to work on my latest sheriff file, get some reading done, and make sure I was totally rested and relaxed and staying healthy.

I called into work again yesterday since I had to work the Saturday shift today, and just needed to make 100% sure I'd be well and rested up for it and as double insurance, stayed in bed w/Jon til noon. Then I ran home, ran by Job #2 briefly, then met Jon and a friend of his at a coffeeshop near their house where I also ran into my music-loving cameraman friend BB. Jon and I then headed to Baytown to see his mom. She made us a salad for dinner and Jon's real (biological) father (who he didn't meet until he was 25!) came over and we all ate and drank wine and had a nice long visit. Jon and I didn't even leave until midnight! But it was great to meet his dad who has a wonderful head of hair and is cute and charming so I keep telling Jon that I'll keep him since he got good DNA (chuckle!).

Good Lord, Where I Left Off?

Ow, it hurts to even think right now. I just came from the annual networking event of the African American Health Coalition, of which I am a faithful member, thanks to Job #1. I grubbed seriously and ate way too much b/c today is one of those long-ass days where I will have been gone from home ALL DAMN DAY (longer since I spent the night at Jon's house last night). I went from Jon's house to Job #1 to the networking event, now I'm at Job #2 for 3 hours, then straight to rehearsal. We got a gig this Sat. at one of our usual haunts and I managed to negotiate the time to be 7:30-10:30 instead of 8-11 b/c one of Jon's friends is having a party and he and I want to get there toot suit. You can bet I'm gwine try to actually close the gig down closer to 10:15pm! Shit, when I took this gig way back when I didn't know I'd be dating Jon and would have his events to add to my social calendar!!!

So anyway I promised to write about the magical event that Jon took me to a couple Sundays ago. It was at the home of one of our local favorite keyboard players, a man of 74 yrs young. This is the one that we played a benefit for a few weeks ago, along w/Jon's band and other bands. Jon is like a son to Earl; so is some of my other musician friends. I don't know Earl that well, to be honest. But we went to his place and his wife served up a crapload of soul food: pigs feet, greens, cornbread, cakes, ribs, etc. etc. I wasn't that hungry but I ate 2 pieces of her delicious coconut cake. As a gift I'd brought a huge bag of oranges picked that day by Jon from my grandfather's tree. Several of our other musician friends were in attendance by the time we got there, a couple hours late. (We'd stopped by Jon's on the way from Pasadena and got distracted for a little while.) Their instruments were already set up in the "doghouse" which is a groovy icehouse structure out back in the yard. Lots of neighbors/friends were there too.

Jon got ready to play w/the band, all white boy musician friends of ours. I watched and drank a beer. They were awesome, of course and the blacks were dancing it up. A friend of ours in attendance, the owner of the Big Easy, Tom, was watching w/me and he leaned over and told me how fortunate I was to be witnessing this; I knew he was right. At one point Earl managed to come to the doghouse from his home and since he was weak and on oxygen, he sat down right near Jon and Jon did the O.V. Wright song that Earl taught him and that I love love love. Earl broke down and started crying and we all freaked out a little bit and I totally teared up! (So did Jon, I later found out.) Tom leaned over and told me that Earl probably knew there would not be too many more of these doghouse events. Jon had told me that they used to do this every Sunday!

Then our bass player friend called ME to the band so I could play a few songs, along w/Tom who plays harmonica!!! Oh boy, was I tickled! I didn't think I'd get to have the honor of playing a few songs in the legendary doghouse! I did fine, I knew the songs they called out and people kept dancing. No one in the audience had suspected that Jon's little girlfriend played bass and they were all tickled as well to see me up there. After we played about 5 songs we took a break and went to the house to spend time w/Earl and I finally got to talk to him a little bit. He's played with all my favorites, from Albert Collins to Gatemouth Brown and he knows Stevie Wonder, ZZ Top reveres him, etc. etc. Earl's wife had made a special pan of cornbread just for Jon and she sent us home with that, plates of food, tons of the delicious deviled eggs, plus the rest of the cake! As I said... it was a wonderful, magical evening.

Anyway, so in other news, things have been great w/Jon. He had to go to Ohio last Fri. for an annual concert/recording session/master class thing he does up there for a blues charity for cancer organization. I drove him to the airport and it was a good thing I did that, as my car Blue Lou ended up being in the shop until Tuesday and cost... Ugh... $1,400 to repair. (Puke!) So I drove his cool black Dodge Magnum all weekend. I also slept at his house on Sat. night after my (lame) gig since we were playing right down the street from his place. Also I was supposed to have lunch on Sunday w/Jon's mom, cousin, aunts at a restaurant near his house but that actually ended up not working out since they were running an hour late from Baytown and I had muchas cosas to do.

I picked up Jon from the airport yesterday afternoon and took the last part of the day off from work so we could spend time together. Everything is really going well and we are totally falling in love. It's just EASY with him, I don't know how else to describe it. He and I are on the same page about everything. We have nothing but fun w/each other, even if we're just lounging around. I was going to take him to the High-spanic Health Coalition holiday party last night but he was so tired and I was on the fence about it anyway (I really just wanted the free Mexican dinner) so we ended up blowing it off and going to eat at our fave Mexican restaurant followed by a trip to Crave Cupcakes!

Weekend With My Baby Daddy

So me and Jon had a hell of a McCartney weekend. We are falling in love pretty damn fast. Everything is great. I'll have to bullet point the past few days though:

• Weds: Can't remember if I mentioned the holiday gig w/Phillipo at the St. Arnold's brewery? Anyway it was fun.
• Thurs: Justin Townes Earle show w/my bro. Awesome time. Me bro was wearing my fedora and a tie and looked adorable. He drank a double tequila w/a water back. I could only have 1 drink since before the concert I'd been at Jon's and since I felt like I might be coming down w/a cold I'd been drinking hot tea w/honey and Black Crown Royale. I had another Crown at the show and managed to sip it all night. Me and bro had a total McCartney time and JTE got a kick out of both of us at separate times. (He kept looking at me and smiling when I raised my glass (cup) to him and he loved it when my bro yelled out for a Lightnin' Hopkins song.) After the show I went back to Jon's since it was right around the corner.
  
• Friday: Worked from home. Well, from Jon's house. Jon put me on zinc lozenges and sinus rinses for my cold-fighting and I continued w/the hot toddy teas. I went to the periodontist 1st thing in the morning and he said my gum was better but that now I have to get cleanings every 4 mo's, dammit, for prevention! At least my new Oral B toothbrush arrived in the mail this weekend. It was time to get back on the ultra-expensive yet incredibly effective electronical toothbrush action. Jon and I had soup/sandwich for lunch, then we went to the Dr. for him so he could have a painful lump on his lower back checked out. (Turns out it is his floating rib??? Wild.) After that we went to see his friend Jim and then we ran around a little and then we went to have chicken soup at the One's A Meal where the beloved mean waiter John gave me the business as he always does. I said "This is my new boyfriend" and John said I changed BF's the way I change shirts! Then Jon and I went home for R&R night and we slept about 10 hours, much needed for the cold-fighting.
  
• Saturday: Tamalepalooza! Jon's family's annual day of tamale making. We went to his aunt's house in Baytown and I met more of Jon's family. I got along famously with all of them, as I've been doing with the rest of his family. I had to go to Baytown separately in my car w/my gear as I had a gig that night for a local incredible artist. He's moving to Paris and so we got to play for art, instead of money! I was pretty excited about that. Before though I had to shred a couple of rotisserie chickens for the tamales. Jon was having too much fun watching me in my apron in his aunt's kitchen. We ate fajitas since the tamales weren't ready before I had to leave. The gig was kinda lame but whatever. The artist's dad, who is a sweet cool guy, was dancing to us and he fell and broke his arm, ugh. We cut our set short, picked out our art (I got a huge piece priced at $2,600 called "Big Pink"!), and I headed back to Baytown and Jon and his family. We hung out awhile more and then repaired to his mom's house to stay the night.
  
• Sunday: Woke up, realized I'd successfully fought off my cold, yay!, spent a little bit of the morning w/Jon's mom, then we went to Pasadena so Jon could meet Ma and Fred and we could have lunch with them. Ma is not doing too well--they put her on insulin last Friday for the 1st time ever. After lunch we went to her house and Jon admired Popo's orange tree, so we decided to strip the whole tree almost. I held the ladder for Jon and he picked dozens of oranges that were actually pretty yummy! We had a nice visit but then we had to head to Houston for a truly incredible experience which I'll have to write about in the next post...
  

To Live is to Fly, Cont.

Ok, lessee, where did I leave off...

Sunday: Left Jon's, went home to get showered/changed for the benefit at Big Easy for a local beloved old black blues piano player. (He has emphysema, or as I made up on the spot on Sat. night when talking to my li'l bro and Phillipo about it, "Black Key Lung." Guffaw!!!) We'd gotten the gig just a few days before and I was totally tickled to be involved in this huge day, also b/c Jon would be running it and playing as well. I promised Leo we'd play much better than we did on Sat. and we did! We also all dressed in black, it being warm enough again outside for me to wear a short, cute black dress. Jon watched us play and it's a good thing too b/c the stupid backline amp went OUT on me during our last 2 songs and Jon had to run up there and bang it--annoying!!!

Anyway... it was a great time and although Jon and I had planned to NOT debut as a couple in front of all those blues scene people and musicians, I was hanging around him enough for people to figure it out anyway. His friends came out to see us, including his ex-gf and her husband and 2 kids and I ended up getting along really well with all of them and even dancing w/the 14-yo boy in front of the whole club while Jon and his singer were playing, and she made up lyrics about us on the spot. Hi-larry!!!

After the long day of music and merriment and drinking (my 2-drink maximum in FULL effect--and shorts, even! Not talls!) Jon and I repaired across the street to attempt to get some Crave cupcakes but alas, they were closed, so we went and dropped off my car at his house and had a nice quiet dinner nearby. Then we ended w/a cozy relaxing night at his place.

Monday night I had my monthly sheriff meeting and Jon ended up meeting us at dinner since we always eat at this Mexican restaurant that happens to be right around the corner from his house. Mudflap was telling war stories all night, but later on that night when Jon and I were in bed he sent me a text saying he likes Jon, that Jon seems like a good guy. Which is funny b/c Jon couldn't even get a word in edgewise all night and I barely could!

Tuesday night Jon came to stay w/me at my house; I'd left my extra gate clicker in his car accidentally on purpose over the holiday weekend as I'd deemed him "gate clicker-worthy", so he let himself in after he was done stuffing envelopes w/his new CD that just came out. I'd just that day gotten a last-minute gig w/Phillipo for Weds. night at the St. Arnold's Brewery, a company holiday party and I was trying to find a drummer. After I'd struck out with like 3-4 drummers Jon made a couple phone calls and got me a damn good one! He rocks!!! Then the next morning he even loaded up my gear to take to his house so that I could go straight to the gig after work instead of having to go down south to my house to get everything.

The other momentous thing about Tuesday night was Jon told me to my face that he loved me. He said it a lot. He also said he wants to be with me forever! I told him I loved him too, and I do. He knows I've been crazy about him since Day 1. I think we all knew. I gave him my house key the next morning. (I've already had access to his house all this time, via the key he keeps in his mailbox for when he accidentally locks himself out, hee hee.)

Something else significant happened on Tues. night and that is that Stefano and I had a really great, therapeutic phone conversation. We talked for awhile, each professing how much we both still love and care for each other and how we want to continue to be in each other's lives. Stefano apologized for the harsh words he had for me last Friday but I maintained that I deserved them. He played a song for me on his guitar that he'd written about this whole situation called "Yellow Rose in the Wind"--since I love yellow roses and he bought them for me often. It was so sweet and touching. I cannot WAIT to begin hanging out with Stefano again. I've really missed him and I know he's missed me.

So the gig last night went fine. I went to Jon's beforehand to get my gear and change clothes. It was awesome to be gigging in the brewery although the acoustics were horrible since it's a warehouse, but it was a nice little party w/decent food. The pumpkin cheesecake was great. I had 2 of the Christmas ales which were sooo yummy! (Just 2!) And the songs went well and the drummer, who is a FB friend of mine and who I know from years ago, did wonderfully. A real pro! Our party songs ("Blue Christmas", "Kiss", "Johnny B. Goode" etc.) were fun and cheesy but whatever. I made an easy 3 figures (Phillipo also tipped me for finding a drummer--I'll use that $ to buy Jon breakfast this weekend!) so that'll go towards paying off the new amp and I'm also looking to buy a 5-string bass as well. Killer! I got home around 10:30pm and Jon let himself in around 2am after the blues jam was done.

Rehearsal tonite, followed by Justin Townes Earle in concert! I'm gwine w/li'l bro, and then I'll stay at Jon's since he lives right near the club. Working from home tomorrow--well, working from Jon's. We can't get enough of each other. Was it Confucious or Barry White who said, "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Baby?"

To Live is To Fly

...Low and High.

--Townes Van Zandt.

Damn, there been a lotta that lately. I'm gwine hafta do my bulleted recap of the past few days:

• Wednesday: Blues jam at the Big Easy. I got all prettied up, pretty dress, boots, etc. Stefano confronted Jon, asking about the nature of our relationship. Jon said he was sorry for the way things went down. When I got there Leo was sitting at a table w/Stefano and Stefano's harp player. I shook everyone's hand and retreated to friendlier areas. I met Jon's mom, 2 of his sisters, and other family friends and they were all awesome. I even danced w/his mom! Good times. Until Stefano got up and played "Further On Up The Road" and his song "Big Big Mouth." I got it. Boy, did I get it. I danced anyway. I got up next and played and had a lot of fun. Visited w/Jon's family/friends. Got nice and drunk and closed the jam down and left w/Jon.
• Thursday: Jeez, I'm straining to remember. Lessee, that was Thanksgiving. Went home from Jon's, baked the sausage balls, picked up my pater familias, we went to Aunt P's house. Had a lot of fun. Smaller crowd this year now that my dad is single. Me, my dad, and uncle got into my Crown Royal black... nice. Dropped off my dad, went up north to Jon's sister's house. Met Jon's other sister and her family and more friends/family members. Everyone was sweet and nice to me. We played Pictionary and my team won, hell yeah!!! I kicked some serious ass w/my cartoonist skills.
• Friday Day: I left Jon's and went home to shower/change and then meet up with Stefano as we had "unfinished business." I met Stefano at the church near his house and I just let him talk and get things off his chest. It was difficult and he hurt my feelings, saying I had no class, but I supposed he's mostly right. I just felt like the shittiest person on earth. The whole thing made me sad, but I finally got my gate clicker and house key back. Then I went back to Jon's and he and I hung out w/his cousins and cousin's girlfriend and went pawn shopping which I'd never done before and which was very enlightening and interesting! Jon was very sweet and had brought me a breakfast taco AND a cupcake b/c he knew I'd need cheering up. Awww.
• Friday Evening: We packed a bag and went to Baytown to see his family, go to one of his friend's bday party, and stay the night at his mom's. We had another T-giving dinner which his mom made and which was so yum. The friend's party started out great and we even played Rock Band (I sang) but I had way too much Black Crown Royale to drink and sometime towards the end of the night, threw up in the yard, thereby ending the party. Jon had to cart me home at which point I threw up in his mom's driveway.
• Saturday Day: In the morning Jon said that was never, ever going to happen again, kinda scaring me straight, to be honest. We went to breakfast w/his mom and sisters and I couldn't eat a single thing. But it was still nice to hang w/them all and his mom called me "Mija" which Jon says she's never called any of his girlfriends before! They all left to go shopping and Jon gave me the $5 tour of Baytown, where I'd never spent any time at which is a little strange considering it's not far from where I grew up.
• Saturday Evening/Night: Back at Jon's in Houston we lounged around and then I left to go get ready for my gig while Jon hung out w/his mom/sisters. Picked up my bro so he could accompany me to the gig. Stefano's band was there, of course; I was a little unnerved seeing Stefano. I still love him and feel terrible about what I've done. The gig was eh. I was subdued as I wasn't drinking a damn drop and also I'd barely eaten all day. Phillipo showed up and hung out w/me and li'l bro. Leo was drinking and George was playing sloppy. Whatever. I was just anxious to get out of there and get home to Jon.

Gonna hafta finish this later, tomorrow hopefully!

Thank God for the Blues

Hey, that's not a bad song title. Anyway, I'm just glad I play in a blues band. It would be difficult to play in, for example, a reggae band these days. I'm just trying not to be so down but it's hard when you have people in your life that you really care about and love and they are down on you for your recent life decisions; plus you know in your heart you have really caused some serious damage to someone that you really truly loved and hated hated HATED to have to hurt. I wrote a song about it, like to hear it? Here it goes!

Actually I did write a song about it yesterday, in about 10 minutes. It's called "Crying and Lying." It may have to be a country song, don't know yet b/c I only wrote the lyrics so far. (Then again most country can easily be adapted to the blues.) I also wrote a song about my grandfather. BTW I did write a loving, heartfelt song about Mr. Wonderful Stefano early this year called "Constant Reminder" and I do want to go ahead and work that up, meaning get the music for the lyrics. I gave the lyrics to Leo so he could do the music and he never did.

Last night I made tons of sausage balls; they now await their fate in the fridge. Job #1 is so blissfully slow and quiet today. Job #2 should also be. Then the fun begins tonight in earnest. I am a little freaked out about Stefano being at the jam. How should I act? Should I smile at him? Give him a wide berth? It will hurt my heart to even see him. He is posting on the FB how happy he is and I can't help but wonder if he's trying to show a happy face when he's dying on the inside. I know, I know, the ego on me, huh? I know one thing, I'm gwine be drinking it up hard core tonight. I went to Spec's on the way home last night to buy another bottle of Black Crown Royale and a jug of sangria to take to Jon's sister's tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Heavy Heart

Lord, how my heart is heavy. These past couple days have been rough. Jon has been helping me, of course. I've spent the past 2 nights at his place. Tonight though I have got to make my batches of T-giving day sausage balls. It was Jon's idea to make them tonight so all I have to do on Thurs. a.m. is throw them in the oven and bake them--so we can sleep late together, I assume, before heading off to our family events. Tomorrow I won't be home AT ALL: Job #1 followed by Job #2 followed immediately by a cool blues show at this club I've never been to followed immediately by the blues jam at Big Easy. Jon's family will be there (he's picking up his youngest sis from the airport today) as well as his cool friends we had dinner with last week.

Unfortunately, it appears Stefano will also be there, at least he indicated so on the Facebooks. If he is there I need to have Leo get my gate clicker/house key back from him, and Jon and I are still playing it extremely cool. Stefano changed his FB status to "Single" today and of course lots of comments from our mutual friends and fellow musicians ensued. When I saw he did that I did the same thing but then I removed the status change post from my wall--trying to keep it as low-key as possible. Stefano sent me a text yesterday saying we needed to talk and he wanted me to come to his house tonight to do so, but I don't like the sound of that. I am so sad thinking of him and how I've crushed him. I mean it really, really hurts. It's bad/sad enough I will have to see him this Sat. at our shared gig. My brother will be there with me for support. Yes--I feel like a total heel.

Anyway. I guess one day we'll all get over this. This week should in fact prove to be activity-filled and promises to be very fun. Weds. will be killer, even if the jam is a little awkward at times. Thurs. I'll bake them balls and go to my beloved Aunt P's house. That evening I'll go up to Jon's sister's house for evening dessert/game time and meeting the rest of the family. Friday I may spend some of the afternoon rehearsing w/Leo, and Friday night is either 1. Patrol if Mudflap can do it, or 2. Family time w/Jon, or 3. Big Easy for a show. Saturday Los Lonely Boys are playing an afternoon free instore at the record store--awesommmmme!--and then that night is my gig. Sunday will also be sooooo fun as there's a great benefit at the Big Easy that Jon is playing but TODAY I got an invitation for US to open the show! I said HELL YES and notified the boys. Cool!!!

Lord, help me just get through this week. Seriously, I have begun to pray again, but it was time for me to start up again regardless.

My Life is About to Change

Like... Big Time. I'll hafta do last weekend's recap continuation later.

Gig tonite w/Jon and Stefano. Tomorrow: rehearsal followed by live radio spot followed by evening gig. Sunday: to Pasadena to check on my mom followed by afternoon gig.

And tomorrow before rehearsal: A Huge Talk w/Stefano. It's killing me that I have to do this. He is the most wonderful man I've ever been with, the best boyfriend I ever could have dreamed up. And yet I still have to have the Talk with him. I'm going to be so sad. My heart is breaking over it. I don't want to have to do it, but I must. It's all about the future, which I've begun to contemplate again. And the likelihood that in all seriousness, perhaps Stefano and I do not actually have good odds for a future together.

It boils down to the one issue that's always been in the back of my mind anyway, and which he does know about, and that is my desire to have a family one day, most likely by adoption, and he has always been adament that he does not want children.

Of course, my friendship/relationship with Jon over the past month has indeed complicated things. And the death of my beloved Popo brought it all to a head anyway. Pondering the future seems to be part of the grieving process, or at least mine.

Tuesday night Jon invited me to dinner with him and his friends, and we had so much fun. It was 2 other couples and 1 baby. Afterwards Jon and I repaired to his place nearby and then Jon totally blew my mind. He said that he wants me, that he wants to have a relationship with me, that he thinks about me all the time, that he's developed real feelings for me, that this is all a surprise to him but he always has fun with me and he truly likes me a lot and cares for me deeply.

When he told me he wanted a relationship with me I said "You DO?!?!" truly surprised, myself. He said he wants me all to myself but that he doesn't want me to do anything for him, that whatever I do (i.e., w/Stefano) I need to do it b/c I want to do it. I said I had no words, and that I didn't know what to do. But I did tell him that I have the same strong feelings for him too and that I was going to have to think about how to proceed. I did mention the issue I have w/Stefano, about the adoption/family thing, and to my intense surprise, Jon took my chin in his hand, lifted my eyes to his, and said "Adela, I would love to have a baby with you." And I tell you what... ain't nobody EVER said that to me before.

We went to a movie premiere together at the museum on Weds. night, followed by the blues jam, which Stefano also attended. Last night I went to Jon's to spend the night and talk about my decision and my and Jon's future together. He kept looking into my eyes and saying how he's finally found me and I make him so happy and he feels safe with me and we have no walls up with each other and how happy we'd be together. I said that I decided that I wanted to give us a shot. And that I would be having the talk with Stefano this weekend.

As I stated before, I'm absolutely miserable that it's come to this. I didn't expect things w/Jon to force the issue, although I have thought about it a couple of times over this past year. My only consolation is that I do believe Jon and what he's saying to me. And I do think he deserves to have his shot with me. But he's got a lot to live up to. He's got big shoes to fill, the biggest.

Here we go.

WOW. What a Weekend. Pt. 1

Good lord in heaven, where do I start? Lessee, I left Job #2 on Fri. evening and went to Jon's house to hang out for awhile. Got home late, spent the night w/Stefano at his house. Sat. a.m. we woke up DAMN early in order to go pick up li'l bro and get to breakfast, and hells BELLS was it worth it! I had the chicken and waffles. O. M. G. I didn't think I'd like it that much but godDAMN they got a good scald on that bird! Not greasy at all, full of delicious chicken flavor... I haven't eaten that much in weeks. Hot chocolate topped it all off.

We got to the Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins thing and it was so incredibly wonderful and so damn cool. Almost everyone was there, meaning most of the Houston blues scene and most of us musicians. My pater familias was running around already drunk and interviewing and filming everything. The media was there. We'd brought a bottle of Seagram's 7 that didn't last nearly long enough, what with everyone taking pulls on it from time to time. Naturally Leo and George were there, even one of my librarian friends. Music writers, academics, degenerates--you name it! All our pals! I saw that the local councilman hadn't shown up so I promptly sat in his front row reserved seat--I knew he probably wouldn't come! Actually he did show up late, but took a seat on the stage/dais, so his seat in the front row would've gone to waste anyway, and I am, after all, Bella The Adela and SHOULD'VE been in the front row! Chuckle!

After they unveiled the marker (story here by my little music writer pal) much photo commencing began and then the music started. Jon's band was the opener. I was so proud of him! God he rocks my world. So we were there for several hours, taking pic's, visiting, networking, having a killer awesome time. Then Leo got it in his head that we would go visit Lightnin's actual grave, and Jon was even up for that, so when things finally wound down we all headed over to the cemetery, which was actually quite nearby. After awhile walking around looking for the damn thing (the cemetery guys finally showed us--hee hee) (we'd had a map drawn by the Lightnin' marker organizer guy but we didn't interpret it correctly) we took pic's and I had the idea for the 5 musicians (me, Stefano, Leo, George, and Jon) to place our cowboy boots (Converse sneakers in George's case) around the grave marker for a cool photo.

After that we bid adieu to Jon and went to Spec's for the UNT One O'Clock Lab Band concert. How freakin' cool is that! Besides I needed to stock up on Crown Royale, and I got the new Black label (90 Proof, yo!). While there Little Drummer Boy called me up to see what I was up to and he said they were going to eat at all our favorite Taqueria so me, Stefano, Li'l Bro, and Leo headed over there and commenced drinking muchas margaritas w/LDB and a bass player pal. Apparently I drank a lot of 'em. And got a little rowdy. Jon came and joined us later and the merriment continued. The waiter at one point wasn't sure he should serve me another, but he did, yay! Finally we bid adieu to Jon again and the whole dinner group headed over to see the documentary film, Thunder Soul.

Will be finishing this post later, to be continued...

Weary

I'm just weary. I lost my beloved grandfather Popo this week. He died at around 11:37pm on Sunday night. Fortunately I managed to get it together enough to be there. I also took my brother and pater familias with me. It was an incredible thing, for him to take his last breaths with all of us--my mom, 2 aunts, 4 out of 5 cousins--there, holding his hand, hugging him, kissing him.

So it's been a numbing, sorrowful week for all of us. We had the wake on Tues. night. The funeral was Weds. I finally went out on Weds. night to rehearsal and then the boys joined me at Big Easy for drinks and toasting to Popo. We had SO much fun, and Phillipo met us there and brought me flowers--so fucking sweet. I stayed the night w/Jon. I have taken all week off from Job #1. I've just been too overwhelmed b/c I have had to take care of Ma and do some logistical things for her, now that she's alone at Popo's house. I also spent the night with her there on Mon. and Tues. nights.

I'm having a hard time caring about much these days. People ask me questions: what do you want to eat? Are you going back to work? Do you want to do ___? And I just DON'T. CARE. Last night was absolutely awful. My aunt ambushed my mom at Popo's house to begin taking things out of the house before we could even finish mourning or being in shock or how about DISCUSSING things like rational adults. I had to race down to Pasadena and meet my cousins there and they were all just shell shocked b/c no one could talk any sense into my insane batshit crazy aunt. And I just didn't care. I refuse to fight w/anyone. I don't care about STUFF. My aunt was forcing my uncle and cousin to dismantle furniture and haul it outside to put into their trucks and SUV's. Then my uncle began having chest pains and they had to take him to the hospital. Consequently we had to skip starting the rosary last night as planned and now my uncle is in the hospital and will have open heart surgery on Monday. Good job, Aunt T. Popo must be looking down at this and feel real proud. Real fuckin' nice!!!

Mr. Wonderful Stefano came over last night when I got back and spent the night with me. He's so amazing and wonderful. And Jon has also been such a great friend through all of this, and I get to spend time w/him when Stefano isn't available.

Killer amazing jam packed weekend coming up. Stefano and my li'l bro will begin tomorrow w/breakfast at the Breakfast Klub. Then we'll go to the Lightnin' Hopkins memorial dedication, which will be amazing. Jon's band is playing. Tomorrow evening we've got a documentary screening at the park which will also be awesome! Tomorrow night we end at Anderson Fair for Kelly Jo Phelps, who I've never seen!!! Sunday I'll go to the gun show w/L. as she is in the market for some home protection. Then all day we'll be at Blues for Food. Jon's band is playing. So I got plenty to take my mind of things this weekend.

Back to work and reality next Monday. Hope to finally start caring about things again, maybe.

Shine A Light

Show me the way
Take me through the night
To the break of day

That Band song's been going through my head lately. The rough week continues. Monday night I managed to get a good night's rest thanks to popping a Valium on an almost-empty stomach. It was kinda fun b/c it took effect in less than 10 min. and I had to hurry up and finish getting ready for bed before I got too wobbly. I went to Pasadena on Tuesday morning to see my grandfather Popo. He is progressively worse, however the things he's doing are right out of the Hospice handbook. He's got the classic signs which is actually a little comforting in that they're so universal. My mom wanted to get out of the house so we went to breakfast and I had 1 breakfast taco. I'm still losing weight. I went to work shortly after that, saying to my Popo that I would see him later, which is always the last thing I say to him.

Tuesday night I was ready for a drink, but when I got home from work I passed out on my couch for a bit after drinking 1 glass of wine and also b/c my eyes were tired from crying. But I got it together enough to shower/change and go meet Phillipo at Brasil where we drank wine and saw this groovy fiddle player chick and her band, several musicians whom we also knew. It was a very nice scene to just sit there, sip wine, and watch the band play and they did lots of Grappelli-Django type stuff. We shared a slice of carrot cake and a hot chocolate (the weather turned cold on Tues.) then we ran down the street to Avant for the open mic, which Phillipo has been getting into lately. We got more drinks, hung around outside a little, shared my pipe. Saw a couple of musicians we knew. But I ended up leaving soon after midnight in order to go meet Jon at his place, as he was getting done w/his gig for the night.

Weds. I slept in a little bit though I barely managed to sleep at all since Jon snores like a BIG MF'er and did so in my ear all night long. I went down to Pasadena again to check on everyone. Tues. night my uncle had come over and played guitar for my Popo and sang some church hymns. I was trying to remain strong but when Popo saw me he took my hand and kissed it, which I couldn't believe, and I promptly lost it. My mom asked me to sing to Popo too and of course I drew a blank on any good songs that I knew, and could only think to sing "This Little Light of Mine" and "Amazing Grace" but it was hard to get through the songs b/c I kept crying. Then my mom wanted to get out of the house again so we went to the mall to walk. I hadn't eaten anything all day so I had most of a spinach/cheese calzone. After dropping her off and telling Popo I'd see him later I went to work.

I cut Job #2 off short last night so I could rush home, change clothes, dig out my 5-string fiddle "Felix" from the closet and tune him up and go back to Pasadena. I was sooo rusty, man, but my aunt was there and she made a few requests and I just played everything and anything I could think of, from Bach, to Schubert, to "Rancho Grande" (we thought he'd recognize it), to "Faded Love", "Uncloudy Day", even "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." My other aunt and cousin came by later and we were all there hanging out w/Popo until 10pm. A nighttime hospice nurse came by and said Popo's vital signs were good but that he could not rule out a transient ischaemic stroke (which my other cousin had theorized he'd suffered at some point that day, or maybe the day before). While I was there Jon was texting me, checking on me, and he offered to come by after his gig hosting the jam at the Big Easy was over and I agreed to that, since I was missing him and also thinking that I didn't want to sleep alone. I had planned to pop another Valium in order to get some rest but Jon advised against it, and when he got to my place after 2am I didn't need it anyway since it was comforting enough having him there.

I came in a little late to work today but my mom reports that Popo is still the same. Tonight I'll be able to get some music therapy in, as Allen Toussaint will be playing and I am so excited about that I can't even say; Stefano is taking me of course. He already brought some brandy for us to sip since a 40-degree cold front is coming for the next couple of nights, dammit. Thank God in heaven that tomorrow is my monthly work from home day. I'll be able to run down to Pasadena again at some point. I'm just not worth much these days, totally distracted, not eating much... Just wishing my Popo would hurry up and get better. I'm glad I can be there for my mom, mostly though.

Just A Few Seconds, Your Name and Your Time

...And I guarantee that you will be mine!!!"

R. Kelly is also a bad influence on me these days, along with Prince and Curtis Mayfield.

Man, I totally blew Sunday. Lost. Gone! Well, Mr. Wonderful and I did go for a run 1st thing in the morning. Then I went home, showered, changed, and picked up li'l bro so we could go down to Pasadena again. My cousins were going to be there and Popo has held on so we wanted to go see everyone. It was a nice visit and my aunts were even civil to me, for once. I was civil right back. Ma had told me to be stoic and not cry (like I did last Weds.) and I did until right before we left. I said to Popo, "I'll see you later," and cried as I left. He was even worse then than he was before. Now he wasn't even really seeing us, or able to focus, or something, and he was talking about the farm from when he was a boy. He was also seeing people from the past: my grandma, his sisters/brothers, etc. Sigh.

I dropped off li'l bro and I had made plans to get together w/BFFF Jon but we didn't know what time, so I called him while I was driving home and he said he would come over then, in the afternoon, so that's what he did. He'd never seen The Last Waltz all the way through so I insisted we watch it; actually my copy was at his place where I'd took it last week, thinking we'd have a chance to watch it there. He brought it over and we watched the whole thing. Jon is actually so close to Bob Margolin (Muddy Waters' guitarist) that he stays at his house when he goes to Mississippi for the Blues Music Awards! ("Aaagghhh!" I screamed internally with jealousy!!!) Jon also threw out that he's opened for Taj Mahal "too many times to count"!!! Acccckkkkk!!! See why I wanna make Jon my new BFFF? Hence, the R. Kelly song title of this post. Which I am well on my way to doing.

Anyway, so the rest of the weekend... Friday night when I got home from Job #2 I passed out on my couch from exhaustion from 8:30p-10p. I woke up long enough to shower, change, and get to Stefano's house. Sat. we went to see the 1pm showing of the French Pastry documentary which was really wonderful--when the one chef drops his sugar sculpture I actually teared up! After the movie we had to hit the Chocolate Bar since I was going through DT's and needed a fix. The rest of the evening/night we hung around Stefano's house wearing very little clothing and ordered in for dinner and drank a good amount of wine. Damn, it's fun being a grownup!

So this week... I actually have a couple nights off which now feels WEIRD since I've been going going going for weeks now!!! I feel like I have to fucking force myself to stay at home tonight and behave which will not be that hard since Jon/Stefano/every other man it seems will be watching the football game and/or baseball game tonight. (Eye roll.) However tomorrow night I have allowed Phillipo to talk me into going out, and after that I have tentative plans to meet Jon after his gig and hang out. Weds. is off as I have convinced Leo to give me a week off. Thursday is the legendary Allen Toussaint in a free concert at the park!!! Aaaaaaahhhhh!!!

Weight Loss Note: I have been dropping pounds. Around 3 to be exact, in the past week and a half. I just don't have much interest in eating b/c I'm too busy going out, drinking, and carousing w/Phillipo, Jon, etc. It's kinda cool, seeing as how the holidays are upon us and the average person gains 6 lbs. over the holiday season. I'm getting a big head start should I get my appetite back someday. When/if my Popo goes that's gonna be another big hit to my system. I can't believe I didn't do a goddamn thing yesterday for Halloween, which is typically my favorite day of the year; I was just too damn busy w/Everything Else In The World to even think about H'ween. Here's what I really need to do tonight: work on my songwriting. Got a great title for a new song too, "Hellhound Riding Shotgun." Heh.

Da Blooze

Whew. It's been a CRAZY ASS week. I got home shortly after noon today. Had too much fun last night. Had fun on Weds. night too. Also Tuesday. Monday was also great. Sunday too. Here's the breakdown:

Sunday: Brunch w/li'l bro and Stefano. I haven't had much of an appetite since last week. I ate a couple bites of queso and couple bites of hummus, but I drank 2 of these $10 decadent lemon vodka drinks. Then Li'l bro and I went to see Jackass in 3D where we were both kinda tipsy so we laughed our asses off. Dropped off li'l bro, went home, passed out on the couch for a couple hours. That evening, went to hang out w/my new guitarist BFFF Jon at his place. Met Stefano after that back at my house.

Monday: Monthly sheriff meeting. Had to turn in my Taser, dammit, but they said if budget allows me to get it back in the future that will definitely happen. Disappointed Mudflap, et. al. when I said I couldn't go to dinner as I was gwine to the blues show at House of Blues. Met Stefano and Phillipo there, but the sound was so god awful we split early. Stefano went home, Phillipo and I went to the Big Easy. I was still a little hungover from the day before so made it a relatively early night.

Tuesday: For the Sake of the Song Premiere at the River Oaks. It was HUGE. Stefano met me at the theater and my dad was there, natch, videotaping, and it was just so cool and awesome. I've never seen the big theater that packed before. I also got to hug Vince Bell who I love and adore so so so much. It was a wonderful event and just so soul-fulfilling.

Wednesday: Rehearsal. I decided to drink ONLY wine all night. Then I went to the Cont. Club to meet Phillipo. We drank more wine there, then left my car and went to the klassic kuntry show at Fitz where we drank even more wine and danced. I also danced w/my Music Editor friend who was there. Then Phillipo and I went to the Big Easy, on the way to get my car blasting Willie Nelson and singing very loudly. We got to the BE just as the house band (incl. Jon) was finishing up. I bid Phillipo adieu and headed out w/Jon to go hang at his place.

Thursday: We played live on KPFT at noon and it was so much fun. After that we went to have a couple drinks before I had to head to work. Then I had to rush home after Job #2 and pray that I could figure out how to work my new amp/cabinet since we were hosting the monthly Houston Blues Soc. jam at Big Easy that night and as the house band, we have to supply the backline. I had to call Rozzy and he walked me through some of it. When I finally got everything plugged in and going, I checked that my next door neighbor wasn't home, plugged in Big Red, and WAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH. DAMN!!! That thing melted my own face off! I was floored and awed. And so excited! So Big Easy was a huge success--full dance floor, great crowd, and Stefano played and Phillipo and even my ex M showed up and lots of other pals and it was just a killer fun time. I danced some and jammed and drank... Stefano left early since he had to work today and when we closed out the night and played a last, quick set Jon showed up, having gotten a damn speeding ticket on the way from leaving his gig to hurry and come see us. We felt bad! But I went home w/him and hung out w/him til today so hopefully I cheered him up.

Tonight I was supposed to go see Chuck Prophet at the Cont. Club w/li'l bro but bro got a good deal to go see the Butthole Surfers in Austin, so now I'm not sure what I'll do. Stefano is waiting for me, of course. Jon is back at Big Easy tonight but I'm kinda wanting a break from there since I was there 3 times this week! I definitely need some kinda beauty sleep and I haven't been home ALL week and it would be great to just chill. This weekend I have nothing booked (except for a French pastry documentary tomorrow at the Museum of Fine Arts) and I'm so glad to get some down time, though I will be spending some major quality time w/Big Red and my new rig to become intimately familiar w/it and just work on some bass lines.

Can Never Be Satisfied

I play the Devil's music
And I'm going straight to hell.
Woman, I'm trouble...

Yep, we do a cover of that Muddy Waters tune. I love it. Shit, I live it. I have been suffering lately and I got no one to blame but my damn self. Don't want to get into it too much here but I've lost my appetite too. The good thing is I've dropped a couple lbs. over the weekend. All I ate yesterday was a couple of bites of hummus and a couple bites of queso at brunch, then that evening I had 3 small bites of string cheese and a Blow Pop. I drank a lot of booze all day though. Sigh. I guess it's a fortuitous thing, what with the decadent holidays soon upon us. Heh. Heh. Ugh!!!

I guess it all boils down to the fact that I am still affording myself the luxury of Not Thinking About the Future. Because it's Adela Time and my happiness is my #1 priority. Because of what I went through the past 5 yrs. But.... how long can/should I continue to bang that experience like a cheap drum? Then again, to whom am I answering? It's MY life, right? So what if I need to be selfish and narcissistic for awhile? Then again, that's not very Christian--at all.

My li'l bro has coined a certain syndrome "Male Insanity Syndrome." I think I'm going through "Female Insanity Syndrome." Maybe I'll write more about the symptoms later. Maybe I won't.

Monthly sheriff meeting tonight. I have to turn in my Taser--waaah! Then I'm meeting Mr. Wonderful Stefano and Phillipo at the House of Blues for a big blues show. Maybe that'll be a little good medicine, we'll see.

Whoo Whee... It's PartyTime with Goodtime Charleena

That would be me. Hot damn, I didn't get home 'til 7:30 this morning. Last night was way too much fun and I maybe got an hour of sleep so, ouch, it hurts today. "It" being everything. Mommy! Uncle! Someday I'll get too old for this crap, but I kinda doubt it, heh heh.

So rehearsal went fine but I was drinking box wine. Leo and Mir got into an argument in front of us, so I'm glad I was drinking the wine. I had 3 travel mug fulls then it was time to get to Fitz, where Phillipo said he'd meet me. Leo begged off b/c he was tired but he said he really wanted to go except for Mir would get pissed at him for partying w/me. I said that I was more fun than a barrel of monkeys, to which he and George agreed. Then I headed to Fitz and Phillipo had a bar tab going so we had a couple drinks. My friend FM was there and later LDB showed up, though I was mad at him for calling cops "little piggies" on Facebook. He apologized profusely and at first I was mean to him but later I let him hug me before Phillipo and I took off for the blues jam at Big Easy.

Naturally my #1 latest fave guitarist, Jon, was hosting the jam--he's the one that won the IBC's back in 2005. For the past couple of months I've been trying to buddy up to him b/c I am totally crazy about him and also yes, have a tiny crush on him. Phillipo gets jealous when I talk about Jon, but he needs to get over it. Jon made me get up and play bass out of nowhere and I didn't want to at all, but I told Jon he'd owe me and I made him kiss the new blister on my right thumb that I'd developed at rehearsal earlier. Then later on I pretty much ordered him to let Phillipo play guitar so that Jon could sit w/me and we could shoot the shit. I was drunk by then for sure. Jon asked what we were doing later and I said I didn't know and he said he was going to eat somewhere after the jam shut down at 2am. I was down for going anywhere Jon was going!

So by 2am and after much drunken shenanigans Philipo wanted to come over to my place of course, but I said I was going to hang out w/Jon so Philipo was a gentleman and took off. Jon and I went to a local taqueria; he had a taco and I had an iced tea b/c I'd made the mistake of mixing box wine, beer, and Crown that night. Shit! Then he invited me over to watch a DVD of the Howlin Wolf story and since he knows I am dating Stefano I figured there'd be no harm. We watched the DVD and then I wanted to see a DVD of a live Albert Collins concert in Germany but by then I'd decided I was going to crash there and just drive home in a couple hours when it was time to get to work. I sooooo admire Jon, soooo much and we have a lot in common, being Taurus blues musicians from east of Houston. Yeah, we ended up in his bed watching the Albert Collins but it was a big bed, and hey, I don't have a ring on my finger or nothin'.

Ugh. I've said it before and I'll say it again... that 6th drink is almost always a mistake! But I'm still looking forward to the concert tonite, I need to get some jazz piano infusion.

Gotta Get My Groove Back

So I've been takin' it easy the last couple nights. This week I got to sleep in late and get to work late(r) than usual (heh) b/c everyone is at MLA/SCC in Austin. It was only me and our Info. Assistant on Monday and then yesterday it was just me, her and our newest entry-level Librarian, and today she was gone and it was just me and entry-level Lib. Niiiice! Also I got to leave early for a meeting offsite, and am now at Job #2 for a bit before heading home to put on a cute outfit for rehearsal tonight followed by some klassic kuntry at Fitz. LDB will be there and Leo said he'd come w/me too, so I hope he does.

Last night I did however, work on and pretty much complete my Personnel report that I hadn't even worked on for over a damn week, so that's good. But even on my night off I still had work to do. (I swear, I must secretly love work, I do so much of it...)

We've got a gig this Sat. for the MBGC (hey, see our name on the flyer, cool!). So tonight we'll work up our songs that have gone by the wayside while we were preparing for the IBC's. Should be fun to get back into those songs and work up some new ones. Leo says we'll work on harmonies too--I love to sing harmony and this makes me so happy! Tomorrow night will be fun as we're gwine to Discovery Green to see Jason Moran, who graduated from my high school (years after me, natch) and is getting amazing press in the jazz world. Gawd DAMN the weather has been so fuckin' McCartney! High's in the mid-80's and not too cool at night. LOVING IT. Thank you Jesus!

IBC Letdown

So I got IBC Letdown today. Lots of great things happened yesterday. We really brought it and we melted some faces. We played a killer set. And it was close, very very close. The judges took forever to tally the scores: like over 20 min. It was then that I began to worry, b/c everyone kinda knew it would be between us and this one other band, led by a guy who's been in the music biz for over 30 yrs. But when it was announced, we were 1st runners up, so we came in 2nd. An extremely close 2nd, from all accounts. So that's a good sign. Also that hell, we've only been together just under a year, and Mr. IBC Winner's been doing this for decades! Good sign for us! We really showed the Houston blues world that we are CONTENDERS, baby!!! (BTW Mr. IBC Winner was 2nd back in 2007 when he made an attempt then.)

Yet I still can't quit the second guessing and replaying today. I'm bummed and I know it'll pass soon... but I still can't help but question certain things yesterday, including the shit that is completely out of my control. For example, of the 6 judges, only 2 were musicians?!? (A drummer and a sax player.) For real?!?! Seriously?!? WTF is that all about??? (Another was a singer but I've never counted singers as musicians, ha ha.) And one was a radio DJ and one was a friggin attorney, no joke! An attorney who produced a harmonica documentary, but still! The last one was a producer from a local recording studio. Anyway... One of these days I'm gwine get the nerve to ask the Houston Blues Soc. prez (who is a buddy) why in the hell they got these judges for an International BLUES competition. I guess I would be more at peace with the decision to score us 2nd if the judges were blues musicians of the highest caliber or at least some blues friggin' experts. Then I would respect the decision, 100%.

Regardless, it was a good experience and we had a lot of fun during this whole IBC process. Maybe we even gained some fans too, who knows? There was a community table where all the bands could sell CD's and merch, and apparently we sold 3 CD's and that apparently was 3 more CD's than any of the other bands sold! Leo says we may not even want to do it next year, it'll just depend on where we are in our Leo Trio life and career. And yesterday, bottom line, was fun. I had so many people come out, I couldn't believe it. My dad's 2 cousins came out w/my aunt and uncle. My old college benefactor came out w/his wife and son. L and her sister came out. Phillipo of course. My dad and his ex-girlfriend. My li'l bro was my escort/bodyguard. Stefano was there all day, natch. And the place was packed and we played for an elbow-to-elbow crowd which is always so much fun. So, que sera, sera. Now we move on to our next endeavor/success, whatever that may be!

Sigh. I'll get over these blues in a day or so. It's also just plain ol' letdown, after building up and up to something and then it's just OVER. Like post-wedding day letdown, post vacation letdown, etc. That kinda thing. We rehearse as usual this Weds. for our upcoming gig on Saturday. But tonight, I'm gwine go do a little shopping at Target after work, then try not to think about music for a couple of days. But when I come back to it... it'll be bigger and better than ever. I'm sure of it.

Lockdown. Off the Grid! It's Go Time.

So my handlers and bodyguards are now insisting that I go Off The Grid from here until Sunday. It really shoulda started last night, but I was talked into going out to Discovery Green park to see Two Tons by the music editor of the Press. (He likes me.) I didn't really want to go, except kind of; I can take Two Tons or I can leave them and I usually leave them. But I knew my cousin would be there and it was an incredibly beautiful night last night and also, Stefano and Leo insisted I go hang w/Music Editor b/c they said it'd be good for all of our careers. I said to both of them I do not befriend people b/c I have an agenda, that I don't use people and I certainly wouldn't want anyone to use me (not sure what anyone would use me for, but still...). I said if he ever wanted to write a piece on me/us then it would have to be him that brings it up, NOT me.

So I went! And had a pretty good time. Most of my pals were out there, I found my cousin, brought some box wine w/me, me and Mus. Ed. had beers, I made him dance with me, and I made a local photographer take a pic of us that turned out pretty cute. Then I gave Mus. Ed. a ride to the Continental so he could see/review the Old 97's show (I definitely didn't want to go to that--not that I don't like them, I was just TIRED--but it was sold out anyway) and on the way I blasted Bonecrusher for him, which made him giggle. These 2 black guys were stopped at a red light next to us at one point and b/c I was tipsy, I rolled down the window and saw that they were laughing at me, a crazy Hispanic girl blasting Bonecrusher!!! Musta been my 2 ponytails on top of my head. Anyway, it was kinda funny.

Tonight is just a bday party at a restaurant and it's one of Stefano's friends who's turning 50 so it shouldn't be that crazy of a shindig. Afterwards we'll go home, I'd love to catch up on the 2 Weeds episodes I've missed lately, and then we'll sleeeeep... Tomorrow is supposed to be Easy Like Sunday Morning. I'll sleep late but not too late b/c I need to get to bed early tomorrow night. I'll relax, then I hafta go to U of H for this website thing for my Women's Health Board, then go across the freeway to Leo's for rehearsal. After that it's home for a night of relaxation: a nice satisfying healthy dinner, doing my nails, getting my outfit ready for Sunday, doing some laundry, reading, movie watching, NO drinking and NO valium to help me sleep--I'll want to fall asleep early on my own.

There's a chance I might go to dinner at a new restaurant w/Mus. Ed. and my cousins, but that'll be early, around 7-ish if we do go. Mus. Ed. wanted me to go out again tomorrow night but I had to tell him that if I went out on Thurs. night then Sat. was out. Leo was on me like flies on shit about this, and he was very happy when I told him a happy medium had been reached. Stefano also angrily ordered me to NOT go out on Sat. night! (He'll be at his gig and therefore I'll be left alone and unsupervised.) Damn, these guys are serious. I can't blame them though. I have little to no resistance when it comes to going out, as we all know. Even Phillipo offered to babysit me at my house on Sat. night but then we realized that that would be a very bad idea, since whenever we get together we always start drinking... a lot.

Sunday a.m. I'll get up early, go for my run, listen to The Holmes Bros., Taj Mahal, SRV, Bonecrusher, and then get my neighborhood breakfast tacos, just like I did before the Semi-finals. I'll get dressed and do my hair/makeup carefully and thoughtfully (haven't decided on my final accessories yet), then get to the straw-drawing by 1:30pm. Immediately after that I'll go to my bro's place where I will relax, finish getting dressed (I don't want to show up at 1:30 dressed b/c I want my final outfit to be a surprise to the other bands), finger my bass and practice a little so that I'm warm all day long, and then me and li'l bro will get to the gig around 3ish. Maybe even 4ish depending on what order we'll play in. I don't want to watch the other bands if there's any that go on before us. I want to be fresh and deliver The Leo Trio w/no distractions. But after we play... oh the partying shall commence! I'm bringing my own party supplies: flasks, lollipops, and my pipe. No matter what happens, I am definitely going to have a good time!

Ooh My Little Head

Owww... just a few drinks last night and my head's had a slight, almost-under-the-radar ache all damn day. Gimme a break. All's I had to drink was 1 Crown and Diet Coke, 2 Miller Lites, and 1 Frangelico mit lime!!! Then again, we didn't eat very much. There were 4 of us sharing 2 appetizer platters, so I was mostly just picking at it. Then I was busy dancing for awhile. It was so fun though! We saw this band and they are old timey! I love them! They got mandolin and washtub bass and gong! I'd talked Mr. Wonderful and Leo into joining me last night and natch, there were plenny of our music-loving friends there. At one point on the dance floor the harp player came out and leaned against me as he played. Aw shucks!

Rehearsal tonight. We had rehearsal on Monday night too; was supposed to be Sunday but George's brother came into town and he hadn't seen him in 2 yrs, so we postponed. Having Sunday off was soooo awesome... especially since I was exhausted from working Greek Fest on Saturday. We'd gone out on Fri. night, of course, to Festival Chicano, then to Big Easy after that, so I didn't get much sleep before having to be at Greek Fest at 8am on Sat. I usually don't work the day shift at Greek, but I'd signed up for day this year so I'd be free at night for musical festivities.

Greek Fest was groovy. My adrenaline got pumping once, when there was a possible heart attack victim in the gym (where they have the Greek dancing kid shows) and I was working in the kids' area which is right next to the gym. Me and another deputy RAN INSIDE and this woman was on the floor, leaning against the wall. We lay her down and I unbuttoned her jeans in case we'd have to do CPR--I was thinking I wanted her clothes to be loosened. Fortunately the deputy I was with is also a paramedic, and then a woman ran over, saying she was a nurse. They monitored the pulse in her carotids and I checked her pulse in her wrist; but I was so nervous at 1st I was searching for it with my thumb before I realized what I was doing (you don't check pulses with your thumb as we have a pulse in our thumb!) and quickly switched to my fingers, where I detected a pulse, indeed, thank God. They called an ambulance and we tried to clear the many people in the audience out of the way. Then the Chief showed up and asked me if I'd had lunch yet, to which I said no and he said to go ahead. I trotted off just in time to meet Mr. Wonderful at the gate, so I escorted him inside and we got to have lunch together!

They were shorthanded for the evening shift so I worked an extra hour, then grabbed my free Greek plate and pastry box and headed home. I had just enough time to shower, change, relax a little bit, then Mr. Wonderful picked me up for a nice pizza dinner. We ate totally vegetarian, including the verdura! We decided to skip the last night of Festival Chicano, then we went to see our friends play at the Big Easy. One slow dance and one drink but then I was sooo tired we went back to Stefano's house, where I proceeded to sleep for almost 12 much-needed hrs. After I finally woke up we went for a nice run/walk, and then went to see our other friends play at Central Market. I love Central Market! I got 2 kinds of chicken salad, these huge cranberry/blueberry muffins, and this totally decadent "white chocolate pumpkin bread." Stefano let me pick out ingredients for our dinner that night and I picked fish, veggies, risotto, wine, and some beautiful bread. Stefano grilled everything and I brought over the Greek pastry box for dessert.

I had to take Monday off from Job #1. I'd been so drugged up on Benadryl last week but I had too much important stuff going on and couldn't take any sick time off. And I had so many things to catch up on around the house (the usual: mail piling up, dishwasher needed emptying, laundry, towels folded, etc. etc.) that I figured I was due for a damn break. So Monday was great and I got a lot done before heading to Job #2, then rehearsal. At rehearsal we ran through our set twice but George's bro and their friends headed over while we were in the middle of everything and they had beer and they requested some of their fave songs, and we did them but it was kinda distracting so Leo told them rehearsal tonite and on Sat. will be closed rehearsals. I didn't mind the distractions 100% as I figured it would be good training. I remember in high school this fellow violist who would practice, uninhibited, while the entire room was filing in, tuning up, getting ready, etc. and he said it was good to training to remain focused while a bunch of stuff was going on around you and there were lots of people in the room, also to not get as nervous in auditions, playing for large groups of people, etc.

Benadryl Funnnnnnnnn

Not really, it's making me stoned and drowsy. After I got home from rehearsal last night I passed out on my couch around 9:30pmish, lights on, tv on, still in my clothes. I took another one today at lunchtime (7 hrs. ago) and am STILL drowsy and my heart is beating weird. But I'm still gwine out tonight! I must! It's the 1st night of Festival Chicano. Phillipo will meet me there, also George and his peeps will be up on the hill. However I cannot sit on the hill as I'm in a nice pinstripe suit and pumps b/c I'm at Job #2 and will be heading straight to the Fest, so I'll need to sit in the seats.

I ain't got much else to report except that we finally decided on our final 5 songs for our setlist. 2 straight shuffles instead of 1 (and I feel so good about that, b/c I am a straight shuffle bassist--that's where my strength lies), 1 classic slow blues, 1 jumpy one, and our cover of "Roxanne." 4 originals and the 1 cover, which is a unique cover indeed. We come in at 18 minutes so we're golden, golden, golden!

My Name is NOT Bella

People constantly call me "Bella" and I don't really like it. That's not my name, it's my stage name. It's a pretty enough name but when I was given that name about 10 yrs. ago it wasn't one of America's most popular girls' names, like it is now! Ok, rant over. Hee hee!

How did yet another perfectly good weekend get away from me again?! Oh jeez. Well, Friday night was SO worth it, with the free Texmaniacs concert. It was me, Mr. Wonderful Stefano, George, his wife, Phillipo, and Phillipo's mom and stepdad. We ALL danced! The .99 cent margaritas were flowing! It was so great. We only stayed for the 1st set though, as I had to get up early on Sat. to work on my Personnel file for the new applicant I'm investigating. That's b/c I made the appt. to interview him on Sat. afternoon.

Before I left to go downtown and pick up the unmarked patrol car and get to the applicant's house (a goddamn HOUR away from my house) Stefano called me, urgently saying that the cheesy sports bar we played at last week needed us to play at the last minute that night--however we had no drummer. So we immediately got on the horn to all our drummer friends. All my drummer peeps were either already gigging or busy with other commitments. Then I was busy w/my interview for a couple of hours. But after I was done and driving back Stefano said they got a drummer, actually one I'd played with back in August when I sat in with that other band for the outdoor gig the night of our in-store performance.

I hated to have to miss the live CD show at Anderson Fair but god knows I need the gig and the $ for that cabinet I still have to buy for my new amp. It was still a very hard decision, but my li'l bro made me feel better by pointing out that Bill Cade would totally understand. Anyway, the gig was lame, as I knew it would be. The prob with playing at sports bars is no one's paying attention to the band in the corner. They're all smoking and drinking and watching the big screen TV's. But I always enjoy playing w/Mr. Wonderful and his harp player and the drummer is also a pal, so it was all good. Several Crown and Diet Cokes also took the edge off. And that $ at the end of the night sure didn't hurt either. We also went to Waffle House afterwards for a pecan waffle--yum!

On Sunday I slept 'til noon. I had to, as we didn't get to bed 'til 4am! Then I had to get up and work on a new bass line for one of Leo's songs. I wanted to spruce it up a little bit. Rehearsal was short and sweet thankfully, but we are still a little undecided on our 5-song set list. It's a delicate balance between "types" of blues songs--i.e., we have a standard slow blues song, then we have a straight shuffle, and then our blues cover of The Police's "Roxanne" which everyone always gets a kick out of, but now we have to decide on the final 2 songs. Song order is also a major consideration, due to style and keys, etc. Hmmmm.

After rehearsal I ran by Express, a store I rarely go to but I had a gift card and I had some ideas for our look for the finals. We decided on a black and white color scheme and I'd gotten some look ideas out of the Victoria's Secretions clothing catalog, so I was curious to see if I could find something similar at Express. I did, actually! These really cool black shorts that were sparkly as they had silver thread woven throughout. Unfortunately there were only 3 prs. left and the largest size was a size 4. FORTUNATELY I fit into them!!!!!!!!!!!! Hello, Crown and *DIET* Cokes and all this running I force myself to do!!! I then found a snug, long-sleeve white cotton shirt w/silver cufflinks (size SMALL!) to go on top and my outfit is now complete, once I add shoes from my closet (black cowboy boots?) and maybe a silver tube top under the shirt, which I also already own. Total cost: $91 but with my gift card and another discount I paid $57. HELL. YEAH!!!!!

Then to celebrate, I went for a run along the bayou. Last night Mr. Wonderful came to spend the night at my house and today he started his new job. He was a little subdued last night as his 3 weeks of freedom came to an end, but I already talked to him today and his 1st day went fine. I'm so happy to hear it. Tonight is a night OFF for me, and tomorrow too but Wednesday begins the nonstop madness again. Rehearsal Weds. night, and Thurs. night is the 1st night of the 3-day Festival Chicano that I must make appearances at. Friday night is when I'll take Stefano to the Festival; after that I want to go see our friend's band play at the Big Easy; Sat. I have to work security at Greek Fest from 8a-4p; Sat. night is the final night of Festival; after that I want to see my new guitarist friend that I'm obsessed with play at the Big Easy; and Sunday we have rehearsal again. Madness, I tell you, madness!

My Kingdom for Some Beauty Sleep

Agh! I been living it up too much this week, and the fun continues tonight, tomorrow night, and of course, Saturday. I can't help it, can't help it, the girl can't help it.

Monday night we all went out to dinner after the meeting. When I got home around 10pm SC called me, as he was a little tipsy on gin and we ended up talking for 2 hours. He had mailed me 3-4 of his CD's last week as a gift. His songwriting is hit-and-miss for me, and he has a god awful singing voice but it's still sweet to listen to his music. Fortunately he sings on very few of his tracks, relying on pros to do most of the vocals.

Tuesday night (and I have to consult my Google calendar to remember what the hell I did that night), OH YEAH! Stefano's band played at this new club that is a beautiful club but in a not-so-great neighborhood. They charged a whopping $7 to get it--on a Tuesday night?! I don't THINK so. (I was on the guest list, natch, but damn!) Consequently there were only like 10 people there, and I'd brought Leo and Phillipo! Later on a couple more people showed up, including the older woman singer who we beat out at the IBC semi's last week. But she was very friendly to all of us (we've all known her a long time anyway) and it was fun hanging out. I drank 2 gin and tonics (goddamn $8 each!!! Fortunately I didn't pay for either of them) on an empty stomach and then Phillipo invited himself over to my place to have cigars and more drinks, which ended up being several Frangelico's. Stefano came over as well after he'd gone home and unloaded his gear and showered/changed and by then I was feeling very little pain.

Last night I had rehearsal and come to find out the IBC finals are only *20* minutes long! So we had to figure out which 5 songs we want to do. Then I wanted to run by the blues jam to see my guitarist friend who has actually WON the IBC in 2005, and also I'm a little obsessed with him these days! Tee hee! When I walked in, the house band (which he leads) was already taking the stage but they all had to comment on me as I walked over to where Phillipo was sitting waiting for me, calling me "Lady in Red" since I was wearing a tight red top. The bassist is in one of our competition bands in the IBC, but again, we're all friends so it's all good. Phillipo was already a little tipsy and he and I began throwing back Frangelicos since they'd been so tasty the night before! An hour later when the jam finally started (and no, I don't play in jams anymore even though Phillipo kept trying to make me sign up) and Mr. Fabulous Guitarist finally got a break he came outside to talk to me and I asked him for some general IBC advice, and then we just talked for a little while. I sooooo adore him!

At one point he had to run back inside to check on the jam and I was outside smoking my pipe w/Phillipo and some guy popped his head out to ask me if I wanted to play, and I was like, "no." A minute later Mr. Fab popped his head out to ask me the same question, to which he got the same answer, but then he said "You can play with me!" and I jumped up and practically ran inside, excited as a little girl!!! We got to play with a vibraphone dude who was awesome, though Phillipo said they were calling it a "vibrator", hee hee hee!

So tonight Leo is hosting the blues jam at the place where we'll have the IBC finals, so George and I are gwine go and perhaps sit in. Stefano will also join me and Phillipo too. Tomorrow I'm working from home which is timely and MUCH NEEDED, although I have probably had enough drinking and raising hell for the week. Tomorrow will be more drinking and raising hell however, as the legendary Texmaniacs are playing a FREE show in South Houston at that groovy Tejano club Phillipo and I went to last December! George and his wife are DOWN and so am I and Stefano and Phillipo!

I thought I had this upcoming weekend completely free but I cannot resist the Texmaniacs and frankly, that would be a crime against nature if I could. Then my dad also let us know that another favorite musician of ours, this totally awesome folk singer is doing a live CD on Sat. night, and goddamn, I CANNOT miss that. Look y'all, these are deathbed memories. I'll rest up someday on my deathbed and think back on all these incredible musical adventures I had as a young woman. Live now, sleep later!

Day OFF yesterday!

Yesterday was literally the 1st day I've had completely OFF--nothing scheduled at all!--since Sunday Aug. 1. And hot damn, did I take advantage of it. First I slept til noon or so. I'd had a gig the night before with Mr. Wonderful's band where I drank several Crown and Diet Cokes, followed by a 2am trip to the Waffle House so I was READY for some damn sleep! Then I had a 16-item "To Do" list, including going for a run, getting groceries, doing 3 loads of laundry, getting gas, running the dishwasher, going through the pile of mail on my kitchen counter, etc. etc. ETC!!!

Last week was just nuts, but as I've said so many times before, what else is new? The Amy Tan reading on Monday night was awesome and just what I needed to cleanse my palate from my world of nonstop work, music, work, music, these past few weeks. I even made a friend, this really sweet woman who let me sit by her and her friend and we exchanged info so we could become friends on Goodreads. After that event I headed to a club where they do open mic comedy night as it was the birthday of a friend of Mr. Wonderful Stefano's, so we decided to go say hi to him and have one drink. The comics were mostly terrible, but it was still kind of amusing.

Tuesday night I had to go pick up Mudflap so he could come get his plain white wrapper car which has been at my house for awhile now. Then Stefano called me to tell me he and his brother made chicken and broccoli and invited me over for dinner, which was sooo nice! Wednesday night I had rehearsal and that went well, with us adding 2 songs for the upcoming IBC finals. The semi's were 25 min. max sets (we timed ourselves at ~22 min.) and the finals will be 30 min., so by adding 2 songs we should be golden.

Oh yeah, Tues.-Thus. I was also at Atascocita all day for the Use of Force class, which I have to say, was so much fucking fun!!! The instructor was this legendary instructor, one who is retiring this December, and who I've never had a class with but have heard tons of stories about. He's so awesome! He truly is a treasure, and it's a wonderful thing that when he retires, he's going to join up with us Reserves!!! His powerpoints were so funny, with hilarious videos, pictures, etc. He told tons of incredible stories. He's also totally country so it was so entertaining to listen to his vernacular. Oh my God, I loved every minute of it. And when we took the final test ("knowledge inventory", as he called it) I got a perfect 100. Yay!

Thursday night was LEGENDARY. The Texas Tornados were playing a free concert at the park downtown and I was prepared! Phillipo came to my house and since he'd come straight from work I supplied him w/a t-shirt and I had plenty o' coco rum and a cigar for Phillipo and my pipe and my camera, so off we went! I knew EVERYONE would be there, and I was right. We descended upon the scene and immediately I had to greet, like 20 people that I knew! Hugs left and right, kisses, etc.!!! LDB was playing w/the opening band and he came up and hugged me. My cousins were there. Tons of my musician friends and music-loving friends were there! It was so fun!!!!!!!! Phillipo took my only $2 I had on me and we borrowed another $1 from a friend so he could buy a sno-cone that we could spike.

When the TT's took the stage I was right up front, against the stage in front of Flaco! I've never seen the dance floor covered w/people at these concerts, but I'm not surprised it was for this show. It was a KILLER FUN AWESOME SHOW! When Louie Ortega sang Freddy Fender's "Before the Next Teardrop Fall" I couldn't help but start to cry like a damn baby. It was bittersweet! Otherwise, I kept raising my travel cup (of coco rum) to Flaco and smiling and winking at him. My late great grandmother Julia used to have a crush on him... and so do I! I could see the set list so as soon as they had 2 songs to go I escaped from the front and ran over to the merchandise table so I could buy some shit and have it signed. Before doing that though, I ran into one of the music writers from the Houston Press and made him dance w/me.

However--the merch table only took cash, of which I had $0.00 on me! So I raced over to Ricky, the host of the Lonestar Jukebox radio show--it's good to have friends!--and asked him for a $20, which he promptly handed over. Thus I was able to buy a TT CD and have them all sign it. Except--while waiting in line this woman recognized me from the IBC semi's and we chatted a minute, and then she handed me her CD so I could get it signed for her b/c the throng was mad and autograph-crazy, but in doing so I returned to her my CD instead which had all the autographs and accidentally kept hers which was missing one. Oh well.

Then Phillipo and I went to the Big Easy and I bought us a couple drinks. Stefano had said he'd meet me at my place later (he and his siblings were busy as hell moving their parents into the new condo all day long) so Phillipo and I headed to my place and I immediately poured some more drinks and put on some Townes Van Zandt so I could school Phillipo on his better songs. Stefano showed up after awhile with red roses--awww!!!--and we bid Phillipo a good night.

Friday night was also fun as it was finally the night when I could spend with Stefano's entire family. We made plans to eat at their fave Vietnamese restaurant, and I brought a bottle of white wine and Stefano brought a bottle of red. We grubbed seriously, then went to get ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. Yum! The 'rents also gave me a lamp as they are still trying to downsize belongings and I need furnishings for my spare bedroom. Score!

Saturday morning was highly amusing as I ran by the radio station to pay Ricky back his $20. I ended up finding his unopened copy of The Leo Trio CD and he allowed me to open it, pick a song, and introduce it live on the air! It was so awesome! My dad has started calling our drummer George the "Denver Harbor Flash" and so that's how I introduced George on the air as well. I played our song "Pawn Shop"! And actually a few people I know were listening in and they heard me, I found out later! Killer!

(Unfortunately, then I headed up to the gun range for my annual qualification, only shooting the handgun as I didn't have time for shotgun, and I shot pretty poorly. Passing score is 196--I scored 196. FUCK!!! My grip on my handgun is too low, for some reason. God knows where I picked up that bad habit!!! I need to work on that, FOR REAL.)

So then I had to go to the U of H-Downtown campus for a training session for my Women's Health Network Board, as I volunteered to work on our website. (Why? Why do I continue to load myself down with obligations??? Sigh.) However, I stayed only an hour and a half, then skipped out to do some needed household shopping, then to have just a little bit of downtime before my gig w/Stefano's band. Damn, is that too much to ask? Apparently so!

The gig was groovy. We got there early enough for me to have a whole 1/3 lb. cheeseburger and fries. Their drummer loves me b/c I spent about 12 years of my life stuck in a tiny room with just my viola and a metronome and so my meter is SOLID. We played a great 3 sets, and I even sang Albert Collins' "I Ain't Drunk, I'm Just Drinking" which was so fun! At the end of the night the bar owner bought us all rounds, then Stefano and I went to Waffle House, where he'd never been! I said, incredulous, "You mean you've never known the pleasure of 'scattered, covered, smothered'?!?" I had a pecan waffle. Yum! Best of all, I've got 3 more gigs w/them at this place over the next 3 months, and sister, I need the money!

Now begins another crazy damn week. Monthly sheriff's meeting tonight, followed by dinner w/Mudflap and co. Tomorrow night Stefano's band is playing at a nice-looking new venue, and Leo and Phillipo said they'd accompany me to that. Weds. night is rehearsal of course. Thursday night I FINALLY have free, and Friday night, too unbelievably.