It's been a while, but here I am - gald to be back. We're rehearsing for two Obama fests here in NYC - one at Cafe Vivaldi on July 15, and another on a yacht on July 20. We'll be playing a party on the 4th, and doing the Acoustic Showcase on August 6, Going into the studio this Monday to finish up some mixing. Did I mention that I'm writing new songs? Well, I am - the first one is call Two More MIles of Daylight, another is called Feels Right. Hopefully, in the midst of all this musica creation I'll also manage to get out to the beach, and away for a few days vacation. Now - my bike is calling. See you 20-25 miles later.

It's one of the first warm nights here in Jersey City. We can leave the wondows open. I love that - exept for the mosquitos that fly in. Apart from that, there is a lovely little breeze stirring the curtains - this should make for very pleasant sleeping - mosquitos or not. We go into the studio on Saturday to double acoustic guitar tracks and start recording the new ones - like Fading Light (see previous blog). Another of the song is called Firefly. This is a song about releasing yourself form self-imposed captivity. Pretty little song, if I do say so myself. Wrote it - I don't remember when - probably around the time I moved into this apartment - but I'm not sure - might have been before that. Strange - I can usually remember the time and place when I first got the idea for a song, where I was living and how old I was when I wrote it. Not with Firefly, however. Oh well - that's not nearly as important as how the song sounds. I'm pretty pleased with the pre-production we've done, so I'm looking forward to getting the ball rolling on Saturday afternoon.

Starting to rehearse the next round of tunes for the new CD. They're all similar to those that up here now - nature inspired - but mellower tempos and more pastoral sounding. Just waiting for the engineer to call me back to confirm the date and time. The first one is called Fading Light; got the idea for it while riding through the Puget Sound area in Washington State. It was a single lane road, but full of trucks, SUVs and campers driven by tiny old folks who could barely see over the wheel. I was terrified! The shoulder was far from generous, and there seemed to be an inordinate number of dessicated deer carcases in the drainage ditches on the right side of the road. What happened to those deer? Why were there SO many dead deer ( Has to be one every 50 feet or so) and why were they so DRIED out? Apart from the hideous contents of the drainage ditches, they were about 2-3 feet deep. So if I should go off the shoulder trying to get away from the 18 wheelers that seemed bent on killing me, (or at least sscaring me to death) I would surely suffer some dreadful injury by falling into this mud-and-carrion-filled ravine. Did I mention that I was terrified? How did I get a pastoral, mellow song out of this? Well, riding a bike on a narrow road, at sunset, with lots of trucks, and being in a state of terror are not conducive to life. It's also very hilly out there - so I needed all my breath to get up the hills. I decided that I had to calm down, and looked for something positive to focus on. The sky was this incredible shade of pink/orange and blue, as the sun set. I'd never seen this shade of color in the sky before. We were surrounded by stunning fir trees - there was also incredible quiet when the semis weren't roaring by. I was also with a man I was incredibly on love with; we were going to camp that night, probably in some beautiful location. Very few things were better that snuggling up with him in a tent. So, if you subtracted the trucks, dead deer, narrow shoulders and Grand Canyon depth drainage ditches, it was a truly beautiful experience. I'm not being completly sarcastic there. Sometimes you have to accentuate the postive. The loveliness and the love seemed better to focus on than all the other 'distractions'. The line "Fading light and a tired sky" came into my mind - I filed it away mentally and wrote the song when I got back from the trip. I survived, and lived to bike another day. Broke up with the guy, but have since found antoher. Also have gotten hooked on biking, so I'm trying to convice Joe to come with me on a little bike tour. Who knows? Maybe we'll find a similarly 'interesting' road. I'm off for a ride.

What a day - short on work, long on travel. Had to go up to Englewood NJ from Jersey City. It's quite a trip - involving 3 busses, one light rail, one PATH train, and walking with lots of heavy stuff on my back. Had a great time though - did a workshop teaching teachers how to teach music. Fun, fun, fun. Now I'm off for an easy ride on the bike until the sun goes down. Hopefully, I'll see some bats, or the pheasant that used to hang out in Liberty State Park. Maybe I'll get really lucky and see the falcon. Either way, I love riding easy at dusk. Tomorrow's the say for the hard ride. Afterwards, I think I'll repaid to the local bistro for some local, reasonably priced gourmet fare and a glass of thier reisling. Tasty goodness.

Hey There! I'm watcing Sweeny Todd tonight with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham (can't remember her last name at the moment - is it Carter?) Anyway - it's pretty good - Johnny Depp and Ms. Bonham are truly estimable actors. Can't hold a candle to Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury, though. Especially when you get to "They all deserve to die" Somehow, when Len Cariou sang that, I felt like he meant it can could really do some serious damage. When Johnny Depp soes it, I see a skilled actor who's handlung the text expertly, but don't really believe him. Depp's handling the vocals very well though - Sondheim is tough, and he's done a fabluous job. Now I'm off to take a shower and wash the Jersey City road grit off myself. See - it's either music or bikin' over here. If I could find a way to combine them safely - without making myself more subject to the predations of indifferent motorists - I would indeed. Did I say Go Obama? No? Well here it is: Go Obama!