a new world

i seem to be about as consistent with blogging as with almost everything else in my life...except...well...hmmm. music??? i do crave more consistency even there, but i do keep going...even if slowly at times. when it's the "slowly" part, i try to remember that quote i heard from one of the great jazz men, which one exactly escapes my steel sieve mind at the moment (maybe Charlie Parker?), but he said (probably in completely different words) that sometimes we must set music down and go live life, because if we're not living life, what have we got to write about? well my heart and mind are full to reeling these days, so believe me, i'm writing plenty. i'm currently on song number ELEVEN (!!!) for the new album...maybe even twelve...and yes i'm counting a couple that are mostly complete in my head but i haven't actually sung them into the microphone yet...

i did a workbook called the Artist's Way several times many years ago, and it really changed my creative life...one thing i remember from it (other than bookshelves full of 'morning pages') is that we have to remember to 'fill the well' - like our creative ideas are like fish in a pond, and we've got to keep feeding the fish and stocking the pond...well, one thing that stocks my pond is...um...fish...i LOVE them. betta fish especially. i've been keeping them for so many years now i lose count. one betta in my personal long lineage who stands out for having the longest life is Gurgi...he lived for five years, which from what i understand is quite unreasonable for a betta! wish i could find a pic to post...but my current bettas are Monet, (seen above, and named by my friend Ana) and the latest addition to my little family, Pinky. i may have to get another betta and name him The Brain. here's Pinky in his new biorb world:

i'm totally in love...and finding ridiculous excuses to spend more time in the bathroom, which is his new kingdom...hmmm...may be time for another bath...

oh, i'm really excited also about a creative experiment my dear brilliant acupuncturist artist friend jena has begun, called 108 Nights 108 Dreams - the participants write down dreams as poems and post them...108 of them. as they come. i wrote down my first one this morning. i love this brilliant little experiment. a lot of my musical inspiration comes from dreams, and i've been lazy about mining them for jewels lately...this is a great excuse to un-lazy-fy myself...and the poems that have been posted so far are beautiful...

lately, instead of worrying about all the things that slip through my fingers, i am trying to amuse myself by watching the pretty patterns they make as they fall...