An insufficient explanation

On her blog, my friend Katie wrote: “Silence on a blog can mean one of two things: complete lack of activity (thus having nothing to say) or overwhelming activity (life in a tornado or other such image of frenzy and chaos).” I have fallen, suddenly and abruptly, into the second category, thus explaining the longest gap in my blogging career so far (an entire month! This from a girl who has clocked in at a tragic frequency of four entries a day, however small). I have a stack of books on my desk waiting to be reviewed: Isak Dinesen’s Seven Gothic Tales, Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose and, lastly, but absolutely not leastly, a reread of Salinger’s Franny and Zooey. They were all wonderful, especially the last two. Especially the very last one.

How to explain the gap? The most exciting and obvious explanation is that I have been in and out of the studio at Murder Mountain Records over the last few weeks, recording a 6-song EP that is getting closer and closer to complete, though…not just yet, my friends. We’ve more work to do.

Gabe Rodriguez stopped by to play bass on a few tracks, Lucas Hicks donated banjo and accordian, Chris Newton, drums. An entire fleet of police sirens made an unexpected (and perfectly timed) debut on one song, while another features Bug Jerome and I turning everything within sight into a percussion instrument (including, but not limited to, brooms, forks, tables, guitars, cement floors). I’ve discovered the artistic possibilities of the megaphone, as well as the beauty of the “Rock Lead” effect on my 4-track.

The track listing, for those of you kind enough to offer your two cents, goes as follows (no particular order, yet): “Oh Heavens No,” “That Old Trick,” “Something You Say” (more commonly known as “Morgan’s song”), “Red Shoes,” “Sugar or Cream” (a dorky new one, written for Mitch and played at the last few shows) and “Knock On Your Door” (often referred to as the “slappy guitar one”).

I’ve also stumbled into a band of brilliant folks around Bellingham, that is masterminded by MMR’s Bug Jerome and features a handful of songwriters, drums, synth, bass, guitars, lap steel and, yes, megaphones. No name for the project yet, but I hear that Halo of Bees and Sounds Like Awesome are both on the table (though I’m pretty sure Sounds Like Awesome is very, very close to the edge of the table). Next Friday we make our debut at the Rogue Hero, and you probably won’t want to miss that.

All in all, music has been eating up an enormous portion of my rather small attention span, so there’s been little left over for blogging. I, for one, can’t complain, but I feel I owe You (oh, vague You of the Internet) an explanation of sorts, and a declaration that I do fully intend to get back on the blogging wagon any minute now, though possibly not for a little while.

On top of that, I’ve been spending a significant amount of time in the kitchen at home, baking breads, soups, homemade granola, vats of spaghetti sauce (for spaghetti, lasagne, and freezing), cakes, cupcakes, cookies of all kinds, all so Mitch can eat decently while he studies and studies and studies the night away. I’ve been making jewelry for a friend’s bridesmaids, as well as beginning to rough out the album art for another friend’s forthcoming CD. There’s much to keep a girl busy, but please, bear with me! Don’t abandon me completely, for I shall return!

Herb garden

I’ve wanted one for years.

I planted one (finally) today: peppermint, oregano, rosemary, lemon thyme, lavender and parsley.

Now we wait and see what happens.