| Jump To Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | ... | 33 | 34 | 35 | Next Page |
Posted: 2008-05-12 00:00:00
Updated: 2008-05-12 23:03:47
It's not Myanmar, and it's not China, but it matters still. It is, in this case, two counties in my home state. It was, just a few days ago, an F5 tornado, which is no joke.
Just as in the case of the two twisters that hit my home town last February, there were no deaths in Stuttgart. I will take a tornado with no deaths, if we have to have such an increasing number of tornadoes each year, as it seems.
You can help, if you so choose, by following this link to KATV and the Neighbor in Need Fund:
http://cfc.katv.com/external.cfm?p=neighbor&menu=marketplace
The rivers are down, somewhat, here in Arkansas. I am home in the house of my childhood for a couple of days, recharging, and I am grateful for this time and this place. Hopefully all of you are safe and well, yourselves.
Posted: 2008-05-08 00:00:00
Updated: 2008-05-09 09:50:58
Mood: in a fine mood, indeed
Click on 'more' to find out about the Lost Girls Pirate Academy page and what we have up our sleeves for that!
As if there weren't enough networking site candy kicking around to rot your teeth...I've been creating new ones on the web. Please feel free to visit any one of them, as they're all different.
I now have a page on Gaia.com: http://pixiebardsooj.gaia.com
I like the way that Gaia seems to work--you can recommend books, post quotes that mean something to you, and share 'seeds' amongst people that you find on the site who seem to be rolling with the spirit of saying something worth saying, living their truth, etc. There's still more about it that I haven't had a chance to explore.
A few fans alerted me to the existence of Paganspace.com, and it would be silly not to have a page there: http://www.paganspace.com/skinnywhitechick
I don't have a lot of stuff up on Paganspace yet, but soon, soon I will send music in to 'paganradio' there, which seems to run on my profile automatically.
Lastly, and this is the big announcement of sorts, I created last night a Myspace page for The Lost Girls Pirate Academy: http://www.myspace.com/lostgirlspirateacademy
Next on my list is creating a Tribe for the Academy on Tribe.net, but for now, Myspace will hold down the fort. It's our dream to launch lostgirlspirateacademy.com very soon, also--and all of the sites we create, Myspace or otherwise, will hopefully serve as a forum and as a trading post for fan art and fiction about Wendy, Green-eyed Sue, and their crew. We have a good bit of stuff to share already, but we want more! Know that you're welcome to share how the Wendy Trilogy has inspired you with me, especially as a comment or a story or drawing or other form of awesome creative output.
If you're lost at sea about all this, I'll explain briefly:
On my albums Sirens, which I released in 2006, I included three songs about what might have happened, had Wendy chosen to become a pirate instead of sticking with the Lost Boys and staying the proper little mother figure. The three songs take you through Wendy's difficult transition to pirate as Hook's adopted daughter--he double-crosses her, of course, but she catches him in the act and, with the help of Tink and Pan, she 'inherits' the ship and the crew. Gradually, Wendy replaces the crew with Lost Girls handpicked by Peter Pan. Green-eyed Sue is the first to arrive, and Mr. Smee is the last to go.
There's more, of course.
I'll post the songs themselves to the Lost Girls Pirate Academy Myspace page today so that you can hear them if you haven't heard them before.
For now the Wendy Trilogy can be heard on Sirens or on the Tricky Pixie Live album. I plan, by the end of the year, to give the Trilogy its own single/EP, called Pirate Girls, which will also include the Academy's new Alma Mater (up on Myspace right now), and perhaps a few other choice nautical songs.
The Wendy Trilogy is so beloved by so many people across the world at this point that I am quite happy to give it more attention, and to breathe new life into it by getting the Academy project going. We've got t-shirts, stickers, an official logo, exclusively commissioned art by Amy Brown depicting the Academy's two saucy founders, many many stories of how the songs have touched one person or another, and one rollicking bit of fan fiction so far. Please, if you want to be a part of this piratical adventure, do! Feel free to get in touch with me with your music, stories, and art.
I forgot to mention that Tricky Pixie is now scheduled to perform at Tall Ships Tacoma this summer, which means that we'll be singing my pirate songs quite close to many beautiful vessels with masts and sails and sound wooden decks. I'd like to have as many girls as possible join us for the singing of the Lost Girls Pirate Academy Alma Mater on that day. The details for our show date and time are on the schedule page. If you'd like to be part of this, send me a note through the contact page. :D
Posted: 2008-04-01 00:00:00
Updated: 2008-04-01 23:50:59
Mood: sleepy, but fine
On March 27 2004, I threw a CD release party for my first album, Haphazard. Everybody came! Two days later, March 29, was my last day at my day job. Shortly after, I went on my first tour. And I'm still working hard, and happily so, carving out a career by living my dream!
Last month in Texas, I had an amazing day-long visit with one of my best college friends, whom I hadn't seen in two years.
Over lunch, she asked me, "Are you happy?"
And she told me a story that I had forgotten.
Seven years ago, she and I were in our senior year of college together, on a trip to Texas for a regional theater competition. One night during our time in Texas, she had held me in her arms in our motel room while I cried over a difficult choice I had to make. It was my 21st birthday.
'This is when I have to decide' I said to my friend, 'whether to continue with theater, or pursue my music instead.'
"I've waited for years to ask you this," she said, back in the present, at our table. "Are you happy with the decision that you made?"
I didn't even have to hesitate for a moment before I said "Yes!"
The choices and the noise that we make are what clear the way for us to live our dreams. As far as living my dreams is concerned, I see no other choice.
Four years ago, this very week, I left a normal life to strike out as a brave troubadour, writing my own rules and learning the music business slowly and carefully--from an independent perspective. And I'm still going, still learning, still making strides.
Following your dreams is an act I find to be easy and smooth, once you get started.
I have not once fallen on my face in the past four years. Only a couple of times have I worried that I would not make ends meet. I have written new songs steadily, made incredible friends all across the country who are happy to feed and house me when I'm in their area, and produced six studio albums of my own music, with minimal financial assistance. I am debt-free and healthy, and all of the details of my professional life fall into place with magical accuracy.
Yes, I am happy.
I don't have a day job, and I am happy.
I don't have a permanent address, and I am happy.
I am not married, and I am happy.
I do not fit the conventional, generic, American assumption of what happy means, and I am happy.
I get paid, by appreciative people, for being myself, each time I open my mouth to sing. I keep to my own standards of professionalism--which include turning down some shows and taking a break when my body asks for one. I have several
weekly opportunities, all across the country, to improve people's lives in my small way. I am even participating in my business field without playing games, and I am surviving at it.
Could I have done all of this with theater? Certainly.
But I do not regret the path I have chosen for a moment. I'm just getting started, after all, and there's nowhere to go but up.
I am happy. I am living my dream. It is, at the same time, the easiest and the most difficult thing I have ever done. Every moment, whether frustrating or full of laughter, is worth the work I put in.
Therefore, I maintain that if you take the plunge and leave the job or circumstances which make you unhappy and tired, if you refuse to settle for less than happiness, the way is made clear for you to make a living doing what you love, what you're good at, what feeds your soul. I have found my niche in this world, and if I can be an example to
others, if I can encourage others to fight free of their own--yes--self-imposed shackles, then my work is twice as meaningful.
The decision is there for you to make. The hardest part is figuring out what it is you want. Once you're there, all you have to do is say yes, and you're free--free to make the decisions you need to make in order to go where you want to go and do what you wish most to do!
Posted: 2007-11-18 00:00:00
Updated: 2007-11-18 22:24:29
New fan Trevor kindly posted just about everything he captured on video at last night's Pittsburgh house concert. You can watch them here: http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=ryudoowaru&p=r
and I mean all of them. Trevor was busy! I'm very grateful to him and to the whole crowd last night. There were only ten of us, but we were the ten coolest people in Pennsylvania. :D
You can also view a whole bunch of the other clips of me that have made it onto YouTube--conveniently listed to the right of the clip you're watching. Fun stuff!
By the way, thanks Trevor, and all the other fans who've posted concert clips on YouTube! You make me feel famous.
Posted: 2007-11-16 00:00:00
Updated: 2007-11-16 00:09:42
Mood: thrilled
Since I learned about Pretty Bird Woman House yesterday morning, they've met their $27K goal! They can now afford to purchase a new building for their women's shelter outright! GOOD JOB, movers and shakers! I salute you.
Check it out: http://prettybirdwomanhouse.chipin.com/pretty-bird-woman-house
| Jump To Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | ... | 33 | 34 | 35 | Next Page |