Reading:
“ The Stand” by Stephen King

Movies:
“ Farenheit 911”
“ The Terminal”

Latest Thoughts:
I was talking to a very good friend the other day and he said to me, “You’re kind of doin’ a ‘Kate’ aren’t you?” I nearly spit up my soymilk.

“Yeah,” I said. “I guess I am.”

Yup. My life has gone into overdrive and there’s nothing I can do about it now. Well, I’m not having a kid or anything- Kate, Tori, Sarah and Madonna all still have that on me.

But I did just buy a small dairy farm in Upstate NY with my fiance’. The thing is, we did this because the land is breathtaking. We won’t be milkin’ any cows or driving tractors (yet.) The house was built (I use that term loosely) in the 1800’s. I’ve been spending the last few months helping to rip out plaster-lathe walls, ceilings and floors, not to mention re-build a fieldstone foundation. My muscles ache, my nails are chipped and splitting and my brain is silly putty. Basement had to be dug out, (it was mostly dirt crawl space) and cement was poured. The roof will come off soon and a new one framed on. Then shingles go on - probably my job. I keep proving myself competent in certain areas and unfortunately, it obligates me to that job for all eternity. So far, I’ve become the landscaping architect and laborer, (fancy-talk for lawn mower and garden planter and believe me-there’s a LOT of land to mow) the stone layer, the rabbit tender (I will hug him and squeeze him and call him George) and the exterior scraper/painter. It’s all good though, because when it’s done, it’ll be a beautiful, small country home.

It’s had another ramification though-that of further delaying my work on the new album. But never fear. Sessions are booked for the continuation of the mixing. We have about half of the album done, half to go. The raw footage for the artwork has been completed but I’ve yet to get the design together.

I’ll talk a bit more about the music later. For now, let me wax pathetic about my new town and the surrounding area.

I’m moving to a rather remote area and the culture shock is mammoth. For example, I’m a person who eats mostly organic food. Some farms grow it out here, but you can’t find it in a store to save your life. It must all get shipped out to NYC and California. On the other hand, if you want Diesel fuel, Mountain Dew or anything made by John Deere, then you’re in luck!

Now, it’s true that dental health is not what it should be in these parts, but I haven’t heard a banjo yet, so I feel pretty safe. EVERYONE is involved with the Fire Department/Rescue Squad. I mean it. Just about everyone I’ve met. I wonder what will happen when they learn that I’m not? Also, I’m getting nervous about this red pickup truck thing. I don’t have one. I think that might put me at some disadvantage with the locals.

The people are so nice and obliging, at first I thought it was because they felt sorry for us, being clueless “city people” and all. But after a while, I started noticing something. Folks here just flat out love to talk. I mean, they’ll stop what they’re doing, stand in a driveway and talk for 3 hours just because there’s a warm body there. I’m not much for talking myself, which makes this phenomenon particularly cruel. I’m always looking for the “out” of a conversation so I can get back to my busy non-talking activities. Stranger still, gossip is an absolute art form here. I mean, we all gossip and I’m sure it’s the same everywhere, but this is extraordinary. First day on the property, a neighbor drives up and starts talking trash about the previous owner (a guy who happens to be really nice and has become a friend.) This guy doesn’t even know us and he’s “warning us” about our friend. Later, a couple stop by with their little son, to hit us up for potential wood-cutting business. I’m not kidding you, THREE hours went by of talk about everyone in the county. Not negative necessarily, just stuff like, “so and so accidentally burned his hay field down, trying to burn some wood,” and “McGreerey’s farm is over dat hill dare and dey got lots of tractor parts for sale.”

Bottom line is, it’s a different life out here. Most of these people are hard-working survivors. I’ll be happy to become a part of the community.

So, after August I’ll be Upstate full-time. Hopefully I’ll have a working studio set up before too long because believe it or not, I’m feeling the need to start writing again.

Let me just say a few words now, about the new T-shirts. The picture on the front is of “Tirk” the monster from the “Equipoise” cover. I scanned a photo of the painting and tweaked the image in Photoshop to be more like what I’d paint if I did it over today.

The funds from these T-shirt sales will go toward both the artwork and the mixing/mastering of the CD. You’ll see from the STORE page, that there are 3 sizes from which to choose; Large, Xlarge and Women’s Large. The Large and Xlarge are substantial sizes. I could wear the Large to bed but not as a regular shirt. It’d be too big. But the Women’s Large is cut much smaller and will fit most women up to size 10 or so.

At any rate, I hope you like them. I had fun making it.

So until next time, stay well. I’ll try not to let so much time pass before I update again.

Many Worlds Archive