The Us's



November 21, 2008

From the ever lovin' Elaine:



A speech from Harvey Milk, who was shot to death in 1978, after being the first openly gay man to run for public office in the United States.

Gus Van Sant has made a movie about his life, which also looks fascinating:



(An aside, Milk's killer is the reason people use the phrase "maybe he ate too many Twinkies.")

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There's Only Yes



November 20, 2008

I went to go see a blackbox theatre production of Rent last night in London. I've been in love with that show since I was 15, it imprinted on my bones. Mad creatures of various sexualities living on the razor edge of life, loving and dying and making art. Little hungry baby Olga ate it up.

I always walk away from it with a huge heart. Then I came home and watched this:



And it feels like one continuous thread. Not being afraid of being over-sentimental, or too earnest, and acknowledging the basic impulse to love. Like Maya Angelou said, America is growing up. And seeing this commentator from MSNBC almost in tears over the parts of the country that are still holding back is insanely heartening.

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Overjoyed



November 5, 2008

I'm a continent away from the soil in which change is being fostered.  But I still woke up today with my heart like Christmas morning, giddy and girlish and full of love.

Last night I walked to the corner store in my London neighborhood, and right at the counter was a little old English woman asking the young Indian man behind the counter, "Who do you want to win?  Obama, right?"  They both agree, with hope and instant camaraderie in their eyes.  I chime in.

"You two are making me so happy right now!"  I say in my unmistakable American accent.

The woman looks at me and tells me that all of Europe, if certainly not the entire world, wants Obama to be president.

And now it is November 5th, and the world is a different place than it was the day before.  I am so happy to be alive for it.

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VOTE.



November 4, 2008

That's the main thing, really.  If you're reading this, vote.

I am holding my breath, and I have everything crossed.

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Wildlife Preserve For Fledgling Songs



November 3, 2008

I've been writing snatches of songs that never make it into the wild.

I've been working too much.

BUT.

I had an AMAZING gig.

I've been making wondrous long-lost new friends.

AND I bought shiny new super-cheap thrift store amazing gloves.


(Overwhelming Super-Gloves Of Cuteness.)


Bonus pictured: Elaine and me from our trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Pictured elsewhere: other things I've been doing in the last great while. And here.

Not pictured: beautiful Halloween costume given to me by dear friends where I was a harem girl. Or a lamp genie, according to a nice English stranger who stopped me in the street. Oh yes. I rode the London Underground half-naked decked in shiny jeweled material in the freezing cold. Awesome.

Super bonus: the lo-fi taping of Feather for the London gig, reincarnated into a folk song that should be played on a porch to an audience of fireflies.

Download: Feather (Live)


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London Gig This Sunday



September 5, 2008

Thanks to the magic of I Am Not Lefthanded, I'm playing a gig this Sunday at the Fly on New Oxford Street, as their opening act. It will be very exciting. There will be confetti. Cuddling. Tiny elephants. Bad juggling. Ponies. And somewhere in there, I will sing!

Come. Wear a funny hat. It will be grand!

[Click for more details]

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Built For Repeat



August 21, 2008

A snapshot for the evening, a half-stolen melody, a baby song tucked between the corners of other things happening all around me.

Play: Remember

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