pale beneath the blue

100 dollar toothbrush

2007-08-16T12:14:00.001-07:00

For years the question has been asked, "Is there any difference between $20 salon shampoo and $2 Suave?" Personally, I like the $20 shampoo, but can't afford it, so I relish the few days after going to the salon when my hair actual does what it's supposed to. Anyway, I recently purchased one of those cool Sonic toothbrushes from Oral B that was $120 with a $20 mail-in rebate. Sounds crazy. Seriously, how much of a difference can there be? Well, there was a 30 day money back guarantee so I decided to bite the bullet and find out. The truth is, there's a huge difference. I had been using one of those $5 electric toothbrushes and was concerned about it tearing up my gums. After one week of my new tooth brush, my gums feel fuller and healthier than ever, and my teeth actually feel clean, EVERYWHERE! This thing gets in between the spaces better than anything. I love my new toothbrush.

Now the question is, "Is the $100 toothbrush any different than the $60 toothbrush?"

Rhonda

Turbo Tax call center in India

2007-06-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is just the strangest thing ever. I got a notice from the IRS that I hadn't paid my 2006 taxes. Oh? My credit card was charged when I e-filed at Turbo Tax. So, how can this be? Well, I did end up having to mail my return which makes Turbo Tax believe that you are sending a check. Well, that's nice, I have this printed receipt stating that I paid and it's on my bank statement. So, I tried to contact Intuit. First off, that is a chore in itself. Because truly, they would rather not be bothered.

So, when I got an email back, it was obvious to me that whoever sent it, was not actually living in this country. They used the term, "and I would kindly ask" about 10 times in the email. So, I called. I had no idea what the person said her name was, she seemed nice, but she couldn't grasp what I was trying to explain to her. So, I tried another way. I emailed again saying that I needed a refund. Finally, someone must have understood that word. Of course they replied saying that I must call them.

The girl I talked to was very nice and cordial and of course, by this point, I was completely annoyed and asked, "So where are you located?" "India," she replied. "So do you know anything about our Federal Taxes?" I asked. "Of course." Then it got fuzzy, but I think she was trying to say that they had a lot of training to be able to work there. But that's the point. I had to gleen that from what she actually said, most of which I couldn't really recognize. So, is it just me, or does it seem wrong to have an outsourced call center for something that has to do with our Federal Taxes?

Still waiting on my refund,
Rhonda

This Rocks...

2007-05-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

Oh, my gosh, Wednesday night television is sooooo boring so I started searching my HDTV to see if any random channels would pop-up. I found the best reality show ever. I hate reality tv. Seriously. But this ROCKS! Shear Genius on Bravo is my new favorite. For those of you who know me, I like to do goofy things to my hair so I'm cracking up at these stylists with their awful personal styles--but once in a while they do something really cool. The girl who cut with garden shears and the Farrah Fawcett lady who cut with a box cutter, did amazing things. It's really crazy. I saw another episode this morning where they were doing color and this guy was like, "Uh, I don't know what I did, but it's blue." How comforting is that to hear from your stylist? At some point in my life, I'd like to actually learn how to cut hair so I can be able to speak "stylist" so I can stop having to go to Super Cuts to have my hair fixed after I go to the salon. Someday...

don't you just love a good day?

2007-04-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Today I:

1)Got a job with the number one builder in the area
2)Spent time hanging with Mike Taylor and Shiv at WOXY studios
3)Heard a great secret that I can't tell, but it's so exciting!!!!
4)Had a great workout
5)Bought a great new book
6)Stuck to my diet
7)Found .11 while doing the laundry
8)From out of nowhere, actually by accident, someone listened to a new song of mine and actually gave me
the name of someone to contact about it. How strange is that? Plus, this is from someone who hasn't liked
anything I had written previously. Kind of a 2-for-1.

I love having good days! Let's have another one tomorrow.
Rhonda

My Brush with Fame

2007-04-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I went to my favorite club to see one of my all-time favorite artists, Mr. Chris Trapper from the Push Stars. Fortunately, Mike Craft was there with his digital camera to prove that, well, I guess it can't prove that Chris knows me by name, or that we "partied" together in Virginia Beach one year for my birthday, but it does prove that he was at least willing to have his picture taken with me. I honestly haven't been out to see live music for quite some time. I had forgotten how much I enjoy watching folks who are really amazing. How do I decide who is amazing? Well, if I want to write a song in the car on the way home, something amazing happened. Or, on this occassion, while Chris was getting some help from his friends, The Princes of Hollywood, I realized that I wish I could hook-up with someone who is a fabulous writer and musician who would force me to work harder at what I do. If only we could get Emily Strand to come out of hiding to write songs with me...or someone else that is just as good. Know anybody?

The Truth about Super Wal Mart

2007-04-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

As I was standing in line at Wal Mart last night waiting for the drunken cashier to ring up the long line of people, I had some interesting thoughts...

1)Why do they have 30 check out lanes when there are only 3 open at any given time?
2)Why did Wal Mart feel the need to open Super Wal Mart? Did they feel that they could destroy more land in more cities if they opened larger stores? I really can't imagine they are planning Kroger's demise. That is just not going to happen. They can battle it out with Meijer all day and I won't lose any sleep, but don't mess with Kroger.

So, while I was waiting there in line for 15 minutes (at 10:20p, I might add) to get my$4.88 Galaxy Quest DVD, dental floss, and toothpaste, I realized that the whole Super Store dealio was really a public service. Because Wal Mart really does need something positive on their side. So, I'm thinking that after walking around one of their stores, the VPs realized that the one thing they could do to help their customers the most, was to seperate the Little Debbies from the Cat Litter. Make the store huge and move everything around so that no one can find it, add more products so folks can buy more pointless crap, but maybe they will lose a few pounds in the process. Myself, I find it aggravating that I can't run in and pick up a Starbucks Frappuccino and some cold medicine in 5 minutes or less, but no one else there seems to be in any hurry. I guess you can walk around all day when all you do is sit home and collect a check. At least, that's my take.

An ode to my crutches

2007-02-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it's just about that time. Time to say goodbye to the crutches. I can't just yet, I need to see what the doctor says in a couple of weeks, but I certainly need them less and less. It's quite refreshing to be able to walk into the gym without them. Or get in the car and not have them get caught on things, be in the way, or smack me when i go around a corner. Yeah, Me! I feel so grown up, though I still walk like I'm about 18 months.

Today, I was trying to write a song about graduation or something not specific, but where you help someone until they can do things on their own. What was funny (well, it amused me) was that I was really struggling to find the words so I thought, "just write a song to your crutches. They've always been there for you and now it's time to seperate from them and go it alone." So, I wrote a couple verses of that and then turned on some music that I put together two days ago and then the words I wanted came out nearly perfect. I still need one line, but I'll find it. It will come to me when I least expect it. I think it's really funny sometimes where inspiration finds us...

Cold air and a writing binge

2007-02-05T21:45:00.000-08:00

It's no surprise that after weeks and weeks of mild weather, it's now freezing cold in the Midwest. Sunny and 8 degrees. Though it gets to a point when you can no longer feel how cold it is. It's just cold and there's no determining what the current temp or wind chill is as I found this morning having to take the dog out. It was just cold.

Things got off to a slow start this morning. My only plans were to re-record a piano and vocal track for a wedding-themed song I wrote with a guy in NY. I was attempting to record to a click track (like a metronome), a droning constant that never wanders. Let's just say, I need to spend more time practicing to a click, but that's not really any fun, which is why I never do it. At any rate, I was struggling with a couple sections of the song so I decided to record an old song "Unrelenting" and then come back to the piano track. Well, during Unrelenting, I was looking for a synth pad and found this cool pulsating noise that spurred on a whole new idea. So I recorded that and tried to write lyrics for it, but they were really lame. So, then I read my email and got something from another co-writer in Austin. She had some great ideas for a chorus of a song I've been trying to re-work into a country tune. But in trying to help her with the back story for the song, I came up with another idea. I remembered that I had this little piano piece that I recorded back in September...an hour later it was mostly done. And it was fun.

I've been pulling my hair out over songs that I'm trying to make sound commercial and not for my use (yet no one else seems to really get what i'm trying to say, so it's probably all for naught) and then God totally drops this one in my lap. I'm thrilled to be able to add it to my collection of songs that I get to sing for all of you. I won't tell you the name, but it's a story about a girl. Yep, that's all I can tell you right now. I'm a little uncertain about 2 lines, but other than that, I think it's finished. I'll see how I feel in the morning though. More cold and snow is expected. I don't know for certain if all the creativity today was because I didn't really want to have to go outside or not. But I'm guessing that it didn't hurt.

So, did you watch 24? Why would they ever allow Jack's father to be alone in the room with someone who is essentially a prisoner? I don't care if it is his son. grrrr.

Who knew that high amounts of Glade Plug-in was toxic?

2007-01-11T11:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I certainly didn't know until I was overexposed. It started last week when I found a Glade Plug-in in the office at one of the model homes. It smelled like Bath and Body Works, Juniper Breeze. It's a small area, so anything is overwhelming. I immediately unplugged it and opened the door. But my nose started running so, 10 minutes later, I put it outside. I explained to my boss that I was quite sensitive to smells and he seemed to understand and said we could look at doing something else to take care of an odor he felt was present.

Yesterday, when I opened the door to the model, I was overtaken by fake Apple/Cinnamon smell. As soon as I found the plug-in, I again put it outside and cracked the door to air out the house. I had been at work for 5 minutes and my eyes were watering. When I went back in yesterday evening to use the restroom, someone had plugged the thing back in and closed the door. My nose started running, my throat started to burn and my sinus cavities burned and ached. I immediately put the thing back outside, but couldn't air out the house because it was nearly time to close. I woke up with one side of my nose feeling swollen.

When I went in today, I was again overcome by the stinging cinnamon and my eyes began to water and my throat and nose started to swell immediately. I left the front door open and went to open the back door too, but it was already too late. My throat was burning, my nose was running--I would have thought it was a cold except it cleared up when I went outside or out to the office (garage). The problem with an allergy is that it continues to get worse upon each exposure. Now I'm afraid to go in the house to use the restroom. It's only 2:30 and I'm here until 7p. Hmmm, I wonder how that's going to work.

I was searching on the internet to see if I was the only one to have this reaction and found:
iVillage: http://health.ivillage.com/prevention/0,,bw_7kq3j8m1-1,00.html
http://www.dld123.com/q&a/index.php?cid=370

Apparently, Glade plug-ins have been known to cause fires and there was a recall a while back if you missed it. But they've been found to cause allergic reactions of all forms in babies, cats, dogs and all kinds of folks. The question becomes, do you really know what you're breathing?

Writing again

2007-01-11T11:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was trying to rewrite a song I had lyrics for but had only played through it enough to realize that my chorus wasn't really working. I rewrote the chorus at work. When I got home I was playing guitar to the new chorus and heard in my "you had the top down, and the windows rolled up". Not my usual fare, but I went with it and totally rewrote the entire song while James was on hold with TimeWarner cable. I still think it needs some work, but I recorded a rough outline last night. When I listened this morning, I realized it was waaaaayyyyy too slow, but had some promise. I'm looking forward to getting this thing nailed down--maybe in the morning while my windshield is being replaced...

New Year, New You

2006-12-28T15:13:00.000-08:00

I couldn't decide where to put my New Years blog post, so I'm cross posting it here. Check out my thoughts on making the best of 2007 at http://politicsisthenewreligion.blogspot.com/

peace,
Rhonda

A year in Review

2006-12-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

I still can't believe it's the end of another year. I would have to say, that even with the album not coming out, it's been a very productive year. Even taking most of May, Sept, Oct, and November off, I played 64 shows this year. I was in NY and DC twice and finally made my way to Boston and Wisconsin. Fun stuff. I don't know what 2007 will hold as far as travels, but I'm thrilled that I've had the pleasure of meeting so many interesting folks this year.

In the songwriting arena, I've written and co-written several new pieces. Some maybe you've heard, and some maybe not, but here's the list that I've come up with:

1. Ricochet
2. Don't Understand (co-write with Scott Murray, Australia)
3. Private Milton (co-write with Scott Murray, Australia)
4. Today's the Day
5. Phrases
6. Bob Pollard (co-write with Jim Danehy at Improv Night)
7. Future of Things
8. Hymnal
9. Break Down the Walls
10. Untitled spoken word piece (July Improv Night)
11. On the Case
12. Forgive Me
13. Better Off
14. Say You'll Be Mine (co-write with Chris Yurchuck, NYC)
15. Perfect Fit (co-write with Chris Yurchuck, NYC)
16. It's My Heart I Can't Trust
17. I Want to Know

I think there are others that I am not currently thinking of as well. I know I've started like a million songs this year and it's been a difficult year to actually finish things. But I'm thankful for the amount of songs I have worked on--creativity feeds me. Though I've been working on writing songs that are maybe a little more commercial, I'm feeling the urge to go off in a new direction and just see where it leads. It's so difficult to make music without commercial influence, but I think it's time to get back to it.

Wishing everyone a creative 2007,
rhonda

I got it, I got it!

2006-12-26T13:24:00.000-08:00

IT's finally here. The one we've been waiting for. Yes, it is the master for She Dangled it...

Can you believe it? My goodness, I've written an entire album's worth of songs while I was waiting for it to get here. Those, hopefully you will hear sooner rather than later. Heading to the replication house this week.

It must be winter, I've been spending all my time indoors

2006-12-07T20:46:00.000-08:00

It's amazing to me that last week it was 65-70 degrees and today I wore a long sleeve t-shirt with a wool turtleneck sweater and coat and gloves and at times I was still cold. They are expecting tonite to be the coldest night of the year so far. Thank God for cable.

At any rate, even with all the time in the house, I haven't been spending a lot of time on music. Yes, of course, I did write a song a couple of weeks ago, but that happened in like a second and I haven't felt like doing anything hard. However, I've been trying to co-write with a guy in Manhatten. There are online songwriting communities where you can hook-up with other folks for co-writes. Our co-write has taken forever to get off the ground. We have completely different ways of wording things and we're both kinda dark--our assignment was to write an upbeat wedding song. Oh, sure, I'll get right on that. So, I've been spending the past 3 weeks or more making lists of things that remind me of weddings--words, scents, saying/phrases, symbols--everything. I've started 3 different songs but they all begin with the same 2 lines:

How do you know when it's time to stop looking?
How do you know when you've found the one?

I have literally written 3 different, completely different ideas based on those starting phrases. I haven't completely finished the songs, but I've been pretty close. My co-writer felt that the first was too dark and he was having trouble connecting with the second so I didn't even send him the third.

Finally, I broke down and just started writing, writing anything that would come to mind based on a verse that he wrote. I felt like I was really having trouble connecting with it, but I sent him what I wrote anyway to see if we could make something happen. He made a few minor changes and said he liked some of the lines and that we should both keep working. Well, I finally spent some time at the keyboard (you never know sometimes if it's going to be a keyboard song or a guitar song, and yes, it does make a difference) tonite and sorta finished it. It still needs a bridge and some polishing but I think it has some promise. I'm a little concerned to hear what he says about the music and melody since he's more of a country guy, but we'll see.

I'll keep you posted,
Rhonda

Expand your group of friends

2006-11-28T06:04:00.000-08:00

Our friend Bella is looking for a new home. She's an 18 week old pit bull terrier. She's spent time at our home but we cannot keep her (though she is probably more well-behaved than our puppy, Bowie.) She is house broken, gentle and a joy to have around. She currently resides in Toledo, OH, but travels well. She has not been spayed as her owners were hoping to breed her, but she is up to date on all her shots. If you are interested in adding this entertaining and smart puppy to your family, please contact me at pbtb04@gmail.com .

I so live in the dark ages...

2006-11-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

So, yes, I have cool music gear, and well, a laptop, but other than that, I don't really care about electronics. I broke down and bought a 1gig Nano in the spring for all my traveling, but honestly, I don't use it unless I'm on the road. So, when James and I realized that our 1997 Sam's Club special television set would no longer work with the antenna, we had to break-down and go shopping for something high-tech.

Best Buy has to be paradise for electronic junkies--phones, cameras, computers and yes tvs. It's really amazing to see Carson Palmer shuffling for his life on a 50" Plasma. Personally, I don't need to see the pores on someones face to know that they are sweating, but I digress. I couldn't believe how expensive everything was, though I know prices have come down a bit, but seriously $3500 for a television? There are people who would love to spend that much on a car, or they could eat for a year. To me, the almost-always-broke- musician, it seems ludacrious to spend that amount of money on something unless it's going to help me make money or save my life. At any rate, we went home empty handed and tried to watch Desperate Housewives on our budget set-up. We missed the first 18 minutes because we couldn't get the station to come in.

The following day, I recommended that James stop by a discount tech store to check their prices. We had decided to go smaller rather than larger and the salesman pointed him to a 32" Olevia that was on sale for $10 more than the 27" he was interested in. Since I had the credit card, I stopped by after work and picked it up. We plugged it into the wall and hooked-up our antenna and whoa! it was like we fell through the rabbit hole. Our NBC affiliate has a weather channel? NBC and Fox both broadcast in HD--yippie! There's a whole set of Jesus and PBS stations all of which are in HD. We haven't seen so many channels in years! And the HD looks amazing. James keeps turning it on just to look at the picture. Yeah, just wait, I think we're getting cable on Friday...

We won. We won.

2006-11-08T14:23:00.000-08:00

We are number one. All others are two or lower! Yes, thank goodness. The Smoke Free Ohio law passed in yesterday's election. Hopefully, I'll be back seeing live music again in bars and taverns soon. We're still waiting on word as to how they plan on going about implementing the law, but at least the people have spoken.

Wherever you are, I hope that the election turned out the way you had hoped. We'll be discussing this more in depth, as well as Rumsfeld's departure on my politcal blog: Politics is the New Religion.

election day and pet peeves

2006-11-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

I hope that if you are a US citizen, that you voted in today's election. I also hope that you didn't get frustrated by the long lines and confusion that was going on in the polling places. I've been sitting here today attempting to re-write lyrics for some songs and it's been really tough to focus. I've been able to watch interesting video on MSnbc.com but there's no news and there won't be until later tonite. Stay tuned.

As I've been patiently waiting, I've been going through emails and really frustrated that my family members send me so many forwards--probably none of which are even true. Have you seen the patriotic Pepsi can with urges not to purchase Pepsi products. Hello? Snopes and UrbanLegends.com both show this is a hoax. And what about the little girl with Leukemia who is supposedly hoping to get money from the Make A Wish Foundation? Yeah, just keep forwarding the email and she'll get money every time it's forwarded. Okay, so, I hate to burst your bubble, but there's no big email forwarding dept. that keeps track of these things. It's a HOAX!

So, before you hit "forward" please go to your favorite search engine and type in a description of the email and see what comes up. Your busy friends and family members will start returning your emails again. However, if you are gullible enough to believe this stuff is true, I highly recommend a few minutes of inner reflection and try to figure out what else you are being gullible about. Goodluck.

Yoplait/Dannon: Unapologetic

2006-11-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

I wrote to both Dannon and Yoplait. Here's the responses I received in my inbox:

Dear Ms. Everitt:

Thank you for contacting Yoplait regarding carmine used in Yoplait strawberry yogurt.

Carmine is a naturally derived red color extracted from the dried shells of the cochineal beetle. Carmine is an FDA approved ingredient and is commonly used in many foods such as ice cream, soft drinks, sweets and candies.

We appreciate the opportunity to share this information with you and hope you continue to choose our products.

Sincerely,

Gerald Vortice
Yoplait
Consumer Services

>Original Message From: rhesound@yahoo.com
>
>I was really ticked off that there was beet juice in my raspberry custard style yogurt, until I found that you put Carmine in your Strawberry Original Yogurt. I don't know that I can put another spoonful in my mouth after finding out the Carmine is a bug-based colorant. I can live with my yogurt being not so pink and I'm sure that others would feel the same way if they knew. Thanks. Rhonda Everitt

October 30, 2006
Dear Rhonda Everitt,
Thank you for contacting the Dannon Company, Inc. We appreciate your interest in our products.

Carmine is a safe, FDA approved, natural, vivid red color derived from the female cochineal insect. Most other red colored products use this coloring also, listed as natural ingredients. The FDA allows the term "natural color" in ingredient statements, however, when we use a natural color we specifically state the color used.
The following is a list of yogurts that contain the carmine coloring:

Activia - Strawberry, Blueberry, Mixed Berry, & Prune
Danimals Drinkable - Strawberry, Strawberry Kiwi, Strawberry Banana, Raspberry, Blazin' Berry, & Cherry Berry
Fruit on the Bottom - Boysenberry, Mixed Berry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Strawberry Banana, Cherry, & Raspberry Frusion - Strawberry, Strawberry Kiwi, Banana Berry, Cherry Berry, Peach Passion Fruit,& Wild Berry La Crème - Strawberry & Raspberry La Crème Mousse - Strawberry La Crème with Chocolate - Strawberry
Light N Fit Creamy - Blueberry

Once again, thank you for contacting us. We are pleased with your interest in our products. If you have any further questions, comments, or concerns, now or in the future, please feel free to contact us at 1-877-DANNON-US (1-877-326-6668), Monday through Friday, 9 A.M. to 6 P.M. Eastern Time.
Sincerely,
Lisa Moore
Consumer Response Representative
Ref#:831623N

I have found Carmine in organic foods as well. I guess since it's "natural" it's okay. I'm still offended by the whole bug thing, so I'm learning to get over the beet juice.

Ch-ch-ch-Changes

2006-10-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's the change of season or another year passing, but lately things seem to be changing. It's like I wake up in the morning and I have no idea whose life I have usurped, but it's not mine. There are seasons for things--I know I've always liked to spend time taking in or reading, then writing, then performing, then really practicing and honing my craft. Maybe this is just a time to relax and enjoy those around me before the record comes out. I definately feel like an alien in my own life right now--I haven't relaxed in a while. And when I was relaxing it was only because of the painkiller cocktail that was prescribed to me. I didn't even enjoy it so I guess it wasn't true relaxation. Wow, that means I haven't actually let go in, I don't know...geesh, maybe 6-7 years ago on that quick trip to Canada. A camping trip in Ontario in the middle of an Ohio heatwave. It was fabulously spontaneous though I think I still longed to get as many fun things in as possible. And after 3 days I had to face my real life again.

I know there have been spurts and fits of enjoyment--2nd row seats at Barenaked Ladies back in '99, hanging with my sound engineer friend Jeff at Aerosmith in '87, writing a new song and for just a moment, wallowing in it, knee boarding, surfing, scuba diving at Devil's Den '05, at times in New York this spring.

When I look back, I can see why I could never relax or be content with anything, but now, now I'm just a complete workaholic overacheiver. It's an illness. I'm sure that someone in a lab coat is working on a cure as we speak. But I don't believe in medicating, so I guess I shall spend some more time journaling, playing with the dog and enjoying this sinfully delicious Choxie Mint Cookie Crunch bar. Maybe this is what David Bowie was singing about back in the 70s. He seems to have survived...

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

2006-10-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's my birthday today. I won't say which one, but a huge thanks to Luke Pace, from the Terrors, and Patrice for texting me birthday greetings. And Allison, Beau, and Sabrina for calling. So, for my birthday, James got me a puppy. I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Everitt/Mikel family--Bowie.

Ziggy says there's a 98% chance...

2006-10-07T13:45:00.000-07:00

That you should learn the history of the Federal Reserve. Yes, Dean Stockwell (of Quantum Leap) hosts this interesting look at how the Federal Reserve was formed and what we don't know about International bankers can hurt us. Check it out on this Google video entitled "Monopoly Men": http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7065177340464808778&q=us+government&hl=en

Rhonda
ps--I love Sunspot. Hey, did you guys see Scott Bakula? on The New Adventures of Old Christine? He doesn't look like this anymore...

You'll have to live without me a little longer...

2006-10-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor yesterday and it seems that I can't put any weight on my leg for the next 6 weeks. I don't mind the break, but it makes gigging a little difficult. If anyone wants to volunteer to help move equipment for one of the upcoming shows, please let me know. I'm out of commission until November 20th.

Love you all,
Rhonda

The new album grrrrrr...

2006-09-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

So, I've spent the last two days working on an order for the new record and currently I'm stumped. It sounds pretty darn good, though. Well, I think. I've got one song that is on my hard drive at home, but not on my laptop which is confusing things a bit. At any rate, I'm trying to find that thing that leads one into another and I can't seem to unearth it. I'll keep searching and checking through some of my favorite albums for some ideas.

And hey, while you are waiting...do you need a new home? If you live in the S. Dayton/N. Cincinnati area of Ohio, check out Maronda Homes. I'm currently working for them to make some extra cash to pay off bills from making this record, again grrrrr. At any rate, it's pretty interesting and if you need a new place to live, it's a lot of house for the money.

xoxo--
Rhonda

A great way to get back at Insurance Companies

2006-09-23T09:02:00.001-07:00

We all know that I've had a bijillion dollars in medical bills over the last four years and for the most part, I've been very pleased with the insurance company that handled most of the claims. However, why is it that they get to make all the rules and we, regardless of what is best for our health, have no choice but to follow the rules they've set, or we are left holding the bill? After my second opinion in NY with a very well-known doctor, my insurance company only gave me credit for a small portion of what I actually paid and then put it toward my "out-of-network" deductible. I didn't even know that I had such a thing. So, now none of that counts toward my regular deductible and the surgery that I just had. Does that make any sense? It's all in the same calendar year, but they've figured out ways to reduce my deductible so that I have to be responsible for more. Why don't they just say, "You're going to have to 50% of all expenses." Wouldn't that be easier than spending money to pay someone to write that gigantic book of rules? And then pay someone to apply those rules to my expenditures? Then pay someone to explain it to me since I still think that they are wrong?

Thank God, someone in the state of OHIO has finally gotten smart. They've introduced a bill in the state house and senate for a single-payer plan. What does that mean? Well, from the website, www.spanohio.org , it appears that it would give every OHIO resident health care. Yes. I am currently not able to focus on the details since I'm still a little out of it from surgery #20, but I definately think that taking profit out of the picture and giving everyone health care is, certainly something to consider.

What do you think? Oh, and I hear that we'll be voting on the smoking ban this November so make sure you get out to the polls, though I'm not completely sure it matters...check out this video http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/

All you techies out there--can this be true?
xoxo and protein bars,
Rhonda

Finally, let

2006-09-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

New fall season

2006-09-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

Currently, I'm watching Jericho, not sure how I feel about this, I guess it's like LOST except an entire town is forgotten. I watched Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip the other night--that was interesting and yet, hard to follow. I'm really looking forward to Grey's Anatomy, Men in Trees, Brothers and Sisters, Help Me, Help You, Ugly Betty, 30 Rock. I watched The Class the other night and was somewhat unimpressed. There are so many characters that are hard to keep up with, but parts of it were cute until the girl got hit by the car and then I was a little frustrated.

It looks as if the only interesting shows on Fox are Family Guy and King of the Hill. 24 starts in January. Not that I will actually have time to watch any of these shows on a regular basis, but I'm amazed at watching the premiers this year, I was taken back to when I was in Elementary school and couldn't wait to get the Fall Preview issue of TV Guide. That was the greatest thing ever next to the Sears and JCPenney Christmas catalogues. Alright, well, I need to go and see if I can manage to get my leg comfortable so it will stop hurting.

xoxo,
Rhonda

Things you missed last night if you weren't at the Trolley Stop

2006-09-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

Last night I played from 9p-12a at the Trolley Stop in Dayton, OH. Now the Trolley is one of my favorite clubs, but it was Labor Day and I didn't realize that when I booked the show. It was also my second wedding anniversary so James was not happy to say the least that he had to carry a PA and hang out at the club all night. However, it ended up being a pretty fun night and if you were there you would have witnessed things like:

--James and I devouring a Cassano's Pizza (yes, I think that was my anniversary gift)
--"Why aim high when you can aim easy?" Joe's comment on my book reading goals for the year
--Joe making me laugh during the very serious "Break the Spell"
--My rendition of Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy" Well, Juliet liked it...
--Random people hugging me and telling me that I sound like Ani DiFranco and Tori Amos
--The discussion of Isreal waiting for George Bush's official okie dokie to take out Hezbollah which led into
--The discussion of this

See, you just never know what you are going to miss.
XOXO,
Rhonda

Someone at Starbucks has gone mad

2006-08-31T19:44:00.000-07:00

So, I will have to say this is almost disturbing, not as much as the Carmine, but disturbing none the less. Yes, this is the Starbucks Barista action figure. I guess I didn't ever feel the need to play with dolls, so this is really odd--I was too busy playing football and baseball to mess around with dolls. The girl at Starbucks said she was just mad because the doll has a little tattoo around her upper arm and apparently, actual Baristas are not allowed to have those showing. Maybe it's cute, in a Rachel Sage kind of interesting way, but I really have no idea what they were thinking.

What do you think?

Did you know that you were eating bugs?

2006-08-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday I started watching a video on Google about Genetically Modified food. Find it here>>> . I was appalled--do you know that tomatoes are being modified with FISH genes? First off, how gross is that? Secondly, what happens if you don't know that and have an allergic reaction? There's so much info in this video that you need to watch it yourself.

Last night I received an email from my good friend Andy Valeri at Uncommon Sense TV that I found to be too much of a coincidence to let it slide. The most shocking thing I learned is what Carmine is. Remember when I was upset that they put Beet juice in my yogurt? Well, apparently, Carmine is also used in Yoplait yogurt which I don't know how I could ever eat again after reading this description from Wikipedia:

Carmine may be prepared from cochineal, by boiling dried insects in water to extract the carminic acid and then treating the clear solution with alum, cream of tartar, stannous chloride, or potassium hydrogen oxalate; the coloring and animal matters present in the liquid are thus precipitated. Other methods are in use; sometimes egg white, fish glue, or gelatine are added before the precipitation.

Seriously, how disgusting is that? I've been trying so hard to eat non-gmo foods--no partially hydrogenated oils, no high fructose corn syrup--are bugs okay because they are natural? I don't quite know where that fits in. We don't have a bug category or even processed food category in our food pyramid. Hmmm...that's got me thinking...

What I really want to know is, who makes Carmine? As in, wouldn't workers at a food plant wonder why they were boiling bugs? Do they think it's okay to feed bugs to the unsuspecting public? And how does everyone involved sleep at night?

Personally, I've decided that yogurt doesn't need to have added coloring--I'm pretty sure that I would feel much better if it was just sort of strawberry colored in spots. I guess I'll sit here and think about this some more while I eat some carrots.

Here's a link to a book selling site with more information: http://www.truthpublishing.com/GroceryWarning.html

I personally have stopped taking Nexium just from changing my diet. I have other friends who have cured themselves of other disease and "conditions" to which there are no cures, all because they've stopped eating things that are not really food. It's just a thought, but I think it's worth a try...

Love and longevity,
Rhonda

My new obsession

2006-08-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

So, you all know that I love movies, right? Oh, I've got some things to review...I guess I had better get on that. Talladega Nights is on the list, just so you know. Anyway, have you ever checked out You Tube? A lot of unsigned bands are putting music videos up, but there's also a ton of other interesting documentary like things. I keep finding myself lying in bed with my laptop falling asleep watching something wierd about the CIA, religion or fake food. I highly recommend going to You Tube or Google video and try searching for a subject, everything has meta tags so it's pretty easy to find something of interest. Check it out. There's a movie at Google Video called the Truth and Lies of 9/11 that I highly recommend. Lots of interesting things to think about.

Also, look for my movie reviews at www.palebeneaththeblue.com on the message boards.

xoxo,
Rhonda

Tri-State Womon Fest

2006-08-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to everyone at Tri-State Womon Fest held yesterday in Cincinnati. Trice and I both got some sun while playing, eating and meeting new folks. The big excitement was when a tent blew over in the middle of our set. No one got hurt fortunately. We also had the pleasure of talking with Brenda Slagle who MC'd the event and is apparently heading to Chicago to audition for Last Comic Standing. She should do well.

A big thanks to Bev (I believe) from Women's Way who chatted with us for a while and filled us in on our song "Inside" (Hologram EP) which is getting airplay on NTG Radio out of California. Who knew? She had us record a little radio bumper right there on the spot to send to them so now we'll have to listen in and see if it gets played. Bev's been working on a documentary about women in music for quite some time and we look forward to being a part of that in the future.

Until then, I guess we're back to NTG Radio. All Women, All Day.

Hugs, kisses and conspiracy theories,
Rhonda

More 911 Conspiracy

2006-08-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'm probably the last to find out about this, but here's a documentary about 911 called Loose Change. I found it free on Google, check it out here>>>>http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5946593973848835726

The news we've been waiting for...

2006-08-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

Yes! We won! Cincinnati is Number 1. All others are 2 or lower. We beat Cleveland and Columbus out for an IKEA store. Read all the details here>>>http://www.journal-news.com/local/content/news/stories/2006/08/15/HJN081606IKEA_s.html

A Little Something for you Conspiracy Theorists...

2006-08-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

Just got a message from Uncommon Sense TV that took me on a wild-ride through some interesting scenerios for the 9/11 attacks. Considering that I've never actually been convinced that Bin Laden did this, I was mesmerized by all the info in Internet-ville. Start here>>> and then follow the links to other sites and read more of the story. A very JFK-like cover-up is what it sounds like, so don't expect to find out anything new in the major motion picture WTC.

Feel free to post your thoughts--yes, make comments and I'll publish them.
Take care,
Rhonda

ps--if you're from Dayton, don't miss this home-town boys opinion on this whole issue...Charlie Sheen.

This just in...

2006-08-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

Runway model Tatyana Simanava, 21, was hospitalized in May after she turned the wrong way upon emerging from the rest room of the luxury motor home she was riding in through Brooklyn, N.Y., and fell out the back door into traffic, suffering a broken arm and wrist. Newspaper stories described her as ... blonde.

Thanks for the news update, Ray.

Mike brings up a good point...

2006-07-28T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, you know, I haven't paid to see a show all year. Granted, I was supposed to see Peter Mulvey, but I got stuck in NYC longer than expected. I certainly haven't spent $200+ to go see one of the top grossing acts (see yesterdays post). So, who are you guys paying to see? Anyone? Or are we all just sitting around at the Poison Room listening to Dale Johnson's crazy stories? (By the way, if anyone knows of a nice, intelligent girl, who isn't completely psycho, Dale would be interested in hearing from you.)

Top Grossing Touring Acts this year...

2006-07-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

Just got this from my buddy Andy Valerie at Big Beef Records .

ENTROPY BEAT
The ten top grossing touring musical groups for the first half of 2006 include these seven. Next to the names is the year they got started.

1960 PAUL MCCARTNEY
1962 ROLLING STONES
1969 AEROSMITH
1971 BILLY JOEL
1976 U2
1981 LUIS MIGUEL
1983 BON JOVI

This supports the thesis of western cultural entropy outlined in "TheQuiet Storm: Blowin' in the Wind of Cultural Decay." While there isnothing wrong with these groups, a thriving civilization would be expected to have a higher percentage of more recent bands.http://prorev.com/quietstorm.htm

Superman Returns and Nacho Libre, one man's view

2006-07-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

So, if you've ever been to see Pale Beneath the Blue live, you may have noticed or met one of our adoring fans. He writes poetry, he screams at computers, and apparently writes movie reviews with his own special flair. Let me introduce to you...Ray Bigelow:

Bryan Singer Is A Thieving Scalawag!
A Movie Review by Biggles of Antartica

I was recently in our nation's capital (unless yer a scurvy furriner)explaining in a resonating voice to my nieces The New York Times choice of Benedict Arnold for spokesman while waiting for the theatrical release we had paid for to get interesting. Sadly, themovie never quite took off, but at least some young children now understand the classical definitions of "treason" and "quisling weasels".

A light Summer it's been for Hollywood sequels, unless you count ScaryMovie 4, Mission Impossible 3, X-Men 3, Pirates of the Carribean 2, and Superman Returns. Superman Returns is actually Superman 5, but since 3 and 4 have beendeclared more non-canonical than the overhyped DaVinci Code snorefest,it's been regulated down to Superman 3. And did anyone but me cheer wildly when they recognized Stan "The Man" Lee in Princess Diaries 2?

The most original plot of the season centers around a hero of the classical mode who wears blue tights and a red cape; has black hair, asuper physique, fighting prowess, a secret identity, a hidden crush ona pretty girl, dead alien parents; acquires a relentless, hairlessnemesis; takes a severe beating before his last battle; saveschildren; and has a kick-ass musical soundtrack.

Yes, I'm talking about Jack Black's Nacho Libre!

Or am I? A touching story of a down-trodden orphan raised in a monastery to devote his life to feeding other orphaned children and tending to the spiritual needs of impoverished Central Americans, who dreams of providing better food for his loved ones, dares to rise above poverty, shares a life of chaste affection, promotes celibacy,and overcomes the temptation of both passive mediocrity and financial lucre - and what is done to this story? It's warped into a Nietzschean fantasy where a dead-beat dad impregnates a bad spelling,liberal reporter who hops from bed to bed so quickly she can't tellher child's father from a farm boy to a pond pilot (who incidentallygot incinerated by his paramour in his previous movie); and where "thehero" abandons them without a word for five years, only to return andspy on the cohabitors's with x-ray vision like a Pagliachic peeping tom.

One character (played by the great Frank Langella from Dracula 1979 and Sphinx) asks does this Superman still stand for truth, justice -all that stuff? This reviewer says "No!" And certainly not "the American Way". He didn't even had to ask! Superman Returns was NOT asequel to the prior generation's Superman movies; it was a blatant and inferior rip-off of Nacho Libre!

In my opinion, Superman wasn't the only person shivved in the back in the theatre this Summer.

Time is running out to make OH Smoke Free

2006-07-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Patrice just told me last weekend that Smoke Free Ohio was at the tail end of collecting signatures on petitions to make the entire state of OH smoke free. Obviously, you can still smoke in your house, but all work places (which means restaurants and bars) are included because someone has to work there. They still need signatures to get this thing on the ballot in November. If you signed a petition last year, do nothing. If you haven't yet signed the petition, go to www.smokefreeohio.org and download one. Then get some signatures and then get a friend to download one so you can sign it. Petitions are due July 31st.

Goodluck and Godspeed.
R.

If you live in Warren or Montgomery Counties, I will have one for you to sign at Borders in Dayton tomorrow night.

They pelted us with ro-- fish?

2006-07-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, usually I don't make a big deal about stuff on the internet, but oh, my...have you seen this video? This poor guy is being bombarded by jumping fish.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=4053b7970ed852f0df1d6e5e84ed54a9.568554

Comparing Protein Bars

2006-07-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

So, I'm just lying around today since my leg is all freaky and I hope to just hang out at the pool all day. Though I may have to go out to find a new book since I finished my other one (I'm still baffled at how some of the people connected and how the entire thing got wrapped up in about 20 pages.) But I digress. Since I've been working out quite a bit and have been living on Protein bars that I would do a comparison.

First up, Zone Perfect bars. I only eat them in Chocolate Mint so I don't know about the other flavors, but this one is tasty. Very little dairy and 15g of Protein. It's not all natural, but that's it's only down fall.

Second, Power Bar Nut Naturals. Have you ever read the ingredients for Power Bars? It's frightening. I really don't think it can be considered food. The nut naturals however, do at least have nuts. I can tolerate this bar, but pick up the Mojo Bar by Clif when given the chance--they both have only 10g of Protein. Good when you need some carbs but want to keep your protein intake up.

Third, this is my new favorite--Builder's Bar by Clif. This is 20g of protein and includes only natural ingredients and a very minute amount of dairy. The chocolate one is the best as far as I can tell, though non of the flavors are offensive. The cookies and cream is a little too sweet for my taste though. But this is what I eat before or after a really good workout. (Oh, I see from the website they are adding Chocolate Mint flavor...mmmm).

There are some good tasting bars out there with more protein but they do not have natural ingredients. If you aren't concerned about that sort of thing, I recommend:
Detour--30g protein
ProMax, Honey Peanut--20g protein

And my standby, ever faithful, good anytime bar--
Luna Bar by Clif, in Chocolate Peppermint Stick--10g protein (all natural, no dairy)

Have a happy protein-filled day,
Rhonda

Ikea next door?

2006-07-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

So, it's been rumored that Ikea is looking at land in and around Cincinnati. Could it be that Patrice and I will no longer have to drive long distances with so much Ikea merchandise in the van that we can't see out the back window? How cool would that be, really? Well, we won't know for another month, but why not check out the OH Ikea site and let the world know where you'd like to see the Ohio Ikea go. And if I find out that you voted for Columbus there will be no more funny Ikea stories for you.

A big thanks to Jen Segrest for keeping the dream alive for all of us Ikea-holics.

Smooches to all,
Rhonda

ps--that's me in my kitchen with my favorite Ikea light fixture. Photo by Dale Johnson

The government is spying on me...

2006-07-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was kinda serious when I said that we should just take over Mexico and that way we could have more beaches/warm weather and if those folks want to live in the Midwest, be my guest. But mostly I was kidding. However, I heard allusions to this story on my long drive back from Atlanta a couple of weeks ago... and then today, I got this from my buddy Alex in San Antonio:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50981

Check it out. Freaky. Amero...

My day

2006-07-10T21:45:00.000-07:00

Today, I...
Worked on an online songwriting class
Checked my email
Took a shower
Went to the dentist
Stopped by Borders in Dayton for a few minutes
Got a smoothie at PLanet Smoothie in Dayton and said hello to Caitlin
Worked out at the gym
Painted orange circles in my guest bath
Went to Chipotle (never again)
Played 7 hands of solitaire and won 4
Watched "The Cooler"

What are you all up to this summer?

Baseball...the great Aryan Past time

2006-07-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

July 1st, someone randomly gave us Reds tickets so against my better judgement, I headed downtown with part of the fam. I hadn't been since the new stadium had been built but it always seemed as exciting as watching paint dry so what was the point? However, we had free parking and once we found it, we were off to the watch the Reds vs. Indians.

I don't know when it happened, maybe when the franchise was raising money for the new stadium, but everything went crazily commercial. There's Dippin' Dots and Montgomery Inn Ribs you can buy. Between innings, there's some announcer guy talking to folks on the Sofa Express big red couch, there's the Crest White Strips Smile Cam, and the Snappy Tomato Pizza wheel. There were also these really strange computer generated shorts which made no sense and looked really cheesy. As if all that wasn't disturbing enough, I finally took a look around during some stupid "commercial" only to notice that everyone I could see in the stands was Caucasion. I'm not kidding. I suddenly was frightened that I had somehow been transported to South Dakota or maybe some aliens had abducted us as we walked through the parking lot of the Underground Railroad Museum (yes, the system by which slaves would head to Canada undetected.) So, I don't get it. The guys on the field were from every nationality imaginable and yet, we white folks are the only ones who go watch them? We did actually see maybe 10 non-whites on the way out--out of 40,600. So, truly, does no one else like baseball, or are they just frightened by the large numbers of white people drinking alcohol?

The South in Radio

2006-06-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

So, I drove from Knoxville to Atlanta and back to Cincinnati yesterday. A long trip made even longer by the fact that I had such a horrible time finding any radio stations to listen to. There is little to no music that I want to hear so I usually look for NPR or talk radio. I couldn't find any NPR stations on the way to Atlanta and the AM stations all played music or church services. In fact, there was a lot of church. Really wishing I would've spent a few bucks on that iTrip for my Nano. I finally found Neal Borts on a Knoxville station by the time I almost hit Chattanooga. Then when I hit the Northern part of Georgia, I was listening to the local news which included obituaries. Had never heard that before. Then I heard a story where a 4 year old boy got out of the van to go to the restroom at a gas station and his parents left his there. They thought he was asleep in the back of the van and they headed onto Tennessee. They were near Knoxville when they heard on the radio the Police were looking for them. It was like 4a or something. Can you imagine? Apparently, they drove back to get the kid and no charges were filed. I'm kinda shocked about that, but glad they aren't going to jail.

More soon.

Nachooooooooooooooooooooo

2006-06-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to see Nacho Libre--the new Jack Black film. I love Jack Black--Saving Silverman, School of Rock, High Fidelity. He's so, full of energy for a big guy. He did seem to slim down a bit for this role, but he was wearing nothing but stretchy pants through most of the film, so maybe he decided it would be a good time to make friends with Jenny Craig. The film is actually a really cute story. An orphan who grew up to be a friar in the same orphanage with dreams of becoming a wrestler in Mexico. I laughed, I even cried. This was a good family film which means that I'll be watching again with the fam, much to the chagrin of James, who really didn't want to go see it in the first place. When you watch this, make sure you stay until the credits are done rolling. I totally forgot about it and left, but if you've never seen all of Napoleon Dynamite, go rent it. A must see for comedy lovers.

Goodbye, Manhatten

2006-06-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

I finally made it back to Cincy. Monday was spent in Manhatten seeing a doctor at the Hospital for Special Surgery. With all the great minds at this place, you'd think they would come up with a better name. Oh, well. You can read more about that at www.toyotacamryismynemesis.com .

I couldn't believe how hot is was on the island and what shocked me more is that during the day, all the NYers looked as if it didn't even phase them. I was sweating like an Ohioan in inland Florida in August. Sweat was dripping off me-those subway platforms are like 200 degrees. I felt a little better on the way out of the city noticing that everyone on the train looked as if they'd been punched in the face. Not that I wanted them to look bad, but at least I knew the heat was getting to them as well. I managed to head out to Rockwood Music Hall that evening and caught a duo (though I never caught their names) the lead guy played acoustic guitar and sang with a voice like the guy from the Postal Service, and his partner in crime played the lap steel with an E bow. That was pretty cool and worth the long subway ride home.

I miss the city, but came home and plopped down by the pool. I started reading a Tom Clancy novel that Tom Clancy didn't actually write. Does he ever write them? It's my first so I don't really know. I was just shocked by the 8th grade writing ability of the author--the dialogue is hideous. Things that women would never say--I don't care who they are. I do think that is the hardest part about writing a screenplay or novel--getting inside the head of a character when there are a million characters. I think you need to develop them before you ever write the opening line. But that's me. I keep reading, but I think I'll go back to John Grisham next time. Much more interesting.

R

Day 2-Studio

2006-06-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

It's nearly 8p and we're on song #4 out of 10. We'll be here a while. So, I went out a little earlier for some dinner and ran into a guy named Michael, a street vendor who was telling me about a Grenwich Village special that was on PBS. Something Woodie Guthrie, The Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan. Very interesting. He also clued me into a label in the building next to us on Broadway and a studio up the block where Ziggy Marley recorded. Apparently there's another studio across the street as well. It was interesting. Then I proceeded to put my crutch in a manhole cover and may have broken my leg again.

Now the tech is here talking to Denise about Harvey the studio ghost. The story goes that Harvey was a dentist that killed his mistress when they got found out. I still don't know how he died, but apparently the place had been a hotel previously. They are now building a hotel next door and something across the street. I don't know what. More before I leave.

Rhonda

It's now 2:55a and we just finished Wishing. We're now standing at 6 down and 3 to go. We've decided to nix one since it doesn't look as if we'll have time to wrap things up before dawn. I've just finished the last of my Starbucks cookie stash. I can't believe that I can only get these cookies here in NYC. Sucks living in the Midwest.

Anyway, I've been reading, playing solitaire and working on the computer to stay awake. HOping that I get a little sleep today after the session. I don't have any plans, but things tend to change rather quickly around here. It's been beautiful outside--I hope I get to enjoy a little of that. I'll be seeing a doctor here on Monday--a second opinion for the leg. I'll keep you all posted. But what have you been doing?

Rho--

Day 1--Studio

2006-06-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

Back in NYC, it's lovely though I'm mostly stuck inside. However, I only had to walk two blocks to see a girl in a white linen dress riding a bicycle in the bike lane going the wrong way down a one way street. She seemed to be distracting the other bicyclists and cars enough to not get hit.

If you've never been in a recording studio, you may not know that the tempurature is usually chilly, at least somewhere. It just so happens that it's really cold in the control room where we're mixing. When I went out for Starbucks at 10:30p, it felt like I was on the beach on a warm balmy night, the wind warming my frozen limbs as I walked along noticing all the interesting store fronts. It's gorgeous here. I'm definately glad to be back even if we're just starting our second song at 10:30p. One down, nine to go. It's going to be a long weekend. I'm just hoping to be able to enjoy the city a little since I don't know when I'll be back. Apparently Rhett Miller is playing a show in Central Park tomorrow, but I will have to miss it, I'm sure. There's no way we'll be far enough along when the show starts. Bummer. Rhett is my Wally World. He and Conan. But I think it will all be okay, because we are working in a studio on a street named BOND. That has to mean something good, right?

Mucho love--Hope you are all out watching Nacho Libre. Make sure you tell me about it.
Rhonda

New x-rays, New York

2006-06-15T14:40:00.000-07:00

So I posted the latest x-rays on www.toyotacamryismynemesis.com . You can see the bone isn't healed just yet. It is an improvement in some ways, at least I believe, but it's not healed.

Also, I finally got to NY today. My flight was delayed after they changed our gate 3 times in Atlanta. I don't know what was going on today, but the airports were crazy. People were everywhere.

Surprise! It's everyone you haven't seen in forever

2006-06-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

I drove up to Canal Street tonite because my merch girl somehow packed Canal Street's light in with my stuff. Wouldn't be such a big deal except that gas is back to $2.95 a gallon and it's about 40 minutes from my house. Oh, well, I'm frustrated and needed to get out so why not go check out Musician's co-op and sign up? Great idea, but when I got there, Flyaway Minion was having a cd release party and the place was packed! I guess I missed a few things, Joe Anderl, Wil Cope, Steven Gullett, Eric Cassidy and Tod Weidner opened things up. I chatted with our lovely and talented myspace friend Juliet, I saw George, Kim, Monica, John Lakes, Craig Houston, Amity, Dan Stahl, Angel, Brian, Adam Edwards, and about a million people I didn't know. The place was completely packed and the band was on fire. That's always exciting for a Tuesday night. I couldn't stay for the entire thing because it was a little smoky--the show was sponsored by Camel so really, what did I expect? But what I heard sounded great and the EP that I got with my $5 cover sounded good too.

I was a little wound up when I got home so I cleaned the kitchen. It wasn't that messy, but it's the little things and then once you start, you see more little things. Like the sugar jar has crud on it, and then you see something splattered on the wall behind the blender, and then how did that get there? Hmmmm. Well, it took about an hour, but I think I got it all. Then I couldn't sleep so I headed upstairs to play the keyboard which turns into recording four new ideas and listening to the really lame "electronica" version of "witches" that I did before the tour just for fun. No, you're not hearing it, at least not as it is. Well, it's nearly 3a, I guess I'm back on NYC musician time. I guess I'll be ready when I go back next week.

Your assignment this week is to clean out the refrigerator. That's always fun.
Rhonda

Comparing...Moe's Southwest Grill and Qdoba

2006-06-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

I've been comparing casual Mexican restaurants. Tuesday it was Moe's Southwest Grill for burritos. Meh. That's about all I have to say. The chicken was a little wierd, the chips were not coated in lime--they were colorful, but not tasty--the queso was kinda alfredo-like, and the margarita was undrinkable. Yes, we threw it out. It's a shame because it's a great idea. The salsa, however, was quite good and I was soooo wishing that I could put it on a burrito from Qdoba. So, the next night we ate Qdoba and it was aaaaahhhhhhhh. Except for the ranchero sauce. There's no pleasing me.

Comparing...Smoothies

2006-06-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

I've been comparing smoothies. Monday, I went to Smoothie King for some protein after my kick a** workout and nearly got into a fight with the guy behind the counter. It seems that everytime I go there, some little blonde girl blends the snot out of my smoothie. All I did was ask that he not over blend it. Apparently he was offended and had the nerve to say that everything was computerized. What?!!! Are you telling me you can't stop the blender when it starts making that high-pitched whirring sound? He actually had the nerve to talk about me behind my back when I was out at my car getting my smoothie card. The smoothie was fine, but it really irritated me that he lied to me instead of asking if I was having problems with my smoothies being too runny. Maybe he thought that I was incapable of understanding smoothie technology?

Today, I decided to meet Beau Alquizola at Planet Smoothie. Thank goodness hot rocker, Chris Dunaway, was working. He made me a great C-Monster. And imagine, it wasn't over blended and I didn't even have to ask. Mmmm, Capaccino bread.

I haven't had much to do so...

2006-06-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

I've been cleaning the house. I don't just pick up. I rearranged the living room and feng shui-ed the office/studio. I'm finally filling up that bag to drop off at Goodwill and we may be putting some things on Ebay soon. I just hate spending time posting things on ebay to make a couple of dollars if anything.

I got my free credit report for the year. Yep.
I bought, washed and cut up celery. I think I've only done that one other time.
I went to the pool a couple times because I'm too afraid to surf with the leg.

I did a test to see how long I could go without playing the piano. Apparently 5 days is the max. I had to get out of bed at midnight last night--it was calling out to me. I played for 2 hours and recorded a little something inspired by a photo from Tid in Evansville, IN.

I've also been watching movies. What? I haven't had time to watch a movie in forever and yet I've been reviewing them like crazy on the message boards at www.palebeneaththeblue.com . MI3, DaVinci Code, Yours, Mine and Ours, Fun with Dick and Jane and more. I still need to check out that movie that my friend Jerel recommended. I guess I should get on that.

I'd rather be nesting...or writing

2006-05-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since my last post. I haven't felt much like doing anything since I returned to Cincy from NY. I don't think it's depression...it's spring time and the trees are blooming and the grass is getting cut on a regular basis and I know that I'll be wearing a swimsuit soon. So, yeah, I've been working out and just standing outside smelling the air. That's something you don't really ever want to do in NYC. In fact, I remember trying hard not to breath at all some days on the way to see the muffin men. But recently I woke up and wanted to go shopping at IKEA. It was a perfect day for it, except that I'm broke and the closest one was 4 1/2 hours away. So, then I came up with a plan to fix our deck/patio thing in the back because right now it's useless. And there's guitar pedals and cables and papers and stuff all over the house and how am I supposed to accomplish anything with that in my way? grrr.

I was beginning to get a little testy. Okay, more than a little. I was becoming downright impossible to be around. Finally tonite, we had the 3rd installment of "Who's Song is it, Anyway?" at Kaldi's Coffee in downtown Cincinnati, and I realized what my problem was. I hadn't been creating at all since I got home. Yes, I sort of designed a new T-shirt today, but I was so frustrated getting the thing in the right format and couldn't do what I wanted to do that I was ready to rip my own head off. I'm not generally a violent person, but technical things that are difficult just for the sake of being difficult drive me nuts! Fine, I understand that you created this program and you are smarter than me, but if you want me to buy it and use it, then make it simple, darn it!

But I digress. Improv night was as usual, a blast. We had some newcomers as well as some faithful folks who keep showing up. Our prompt was "rounding up the _______ and holding it for ransom." Eric wrote about burn-outs, I wrote about a girl who was freaked out because she found that her boyfriend had never given up his ex-girlfriend's t-shirt, John and Jun didn't get very far about the Shaman so John wrote a song on the spot about his friend, John Gault, Liz wrote about babies and kitties and needing money for new shoes, I forget what Andy wrote about, and Sharon wrote a song in 5 minutes that was amazing but she didn't like the prompt so she picked "conspiracy of kindness" and worked it into the lyric. Our lightning round was all about delivery, mail and moving businesses until Lauren decided she wanted to do animal products and then folks started making up jingles about that. I don't think that anyone will forget Sharon's "Fancy Feast" or "U-Haul" diddys in the near future. Oh, and Zachariah rapped about Overnight Express, I think. I must clear some video tape for the next one, probably in July.

At any rate, I feel much better, though I'm hopped up on coffee. But I even wrote a WaMu jingle in the car on the way home. It's stupid and it's rap, heh. I'll try to have it prepared for the next one. Maybe I can get some sponsorships that way...hmmm.

Oh. Last night I watched the DiVinci Code and you can find my review on www.palebeneaththeblue.com 's message boards.

Sightseeing in NYC

2006-05-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

I've been in NY a little over 3 weeks and I'm just now getting around to seeing the sights. I've been walking until I can barely move. I finally got to see Central Park. It's so strange to be here and see things that I've been seeing for years in movies. It reminds me how much I love film and am seriously considering working on doing some short films in the near future. From Central Park we headed to Midtown where we had to walk five blocks from Rockafeller Center to a Barnes and Noble to get to a restroom. (See previous postings) Dinner was in Little Italy--it was okay, but hardly Carraba's. The evening finished at the Empire State Building--$16 per person, thank you. It's gorgeous, but so crowded. There's virtually no way to have a conversation with someone while up on the observation deck. It is beautiful and highly recommended if you've never seen it at night.

Today we walked around the sight of the World Trade Center. I'd never seen it standing, just in movies and on tv during 9/11 attacks. It was really hard to be there. Maybe because I've been through so much myself but I was fighting back the tears as soon as I saw the timeline of events. It all comes back and it's been almost 5 years. From there, we headed down Wall St. and then onto Battery Park to see if we wanted to head to the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island but everything was closed already. For a "city that never sleeps" stuff sure closes early. Next we headed to Soho for a quick shopping trip and then stopped at Times Square on the way back to Allison's to watch 24 and Grey's Anatomy. I should have been in bed hours ago since I'm heading home tomorrow, but I stopped at one of a thousand Starbucks in Soho and now I'm wide awake.

Okay, that's enough about me, what have you guys been up to?
Rhonda

Recording, mixing, Recording again

2006-05-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

I've been in this cycle for a while of recording a song, getting almost finished and then deciding that I don't really like it so I re-record it. I'm still here in NYC as you can tell and we've been re-doing vocals and some piano parts and adding a little this and a little that, and taking away some things too. Just thought you'd be interested in seeing where I've been working the last couple of days. Of course, I'm not in the picture because I forgot my camera and had to pull it off the website. There are so many great folks who've recorded here. I feel so blessed to be working with Denise in such an amazing space. I thought it would be way more daunting than it is. More soon.
Rhonda

The mysteries of NYC explained

2006-05-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

I've got this love/hate relationship with NYC at the moment. At one moment, I love it here. The subway is so amazing--the big buildings, the people, the lights. But being in NY for so long has made me understand what I appreciate about the suburbs. There are still plenty of things I would change about the suburbs, but there are a few things that I miss. Qdoba, Chik-Fil-A, Carraba's, McAllister's Deli, Planet Smoothie, my bed, the smell of fresh cut lawn, a few other things, but that's most of it. I certainly don't miss worrying about gas prices, though.

The thing that had always baffled me-- several different friends had mentioned that people urinate on the street in NY. Gross and why? Well, I finally figured it out. There are no restrooms in Manhatten. If you go to a Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, or Virgin Superstore (for those of you who don't know, this is a gigantic record store--not a place where you can buy virgins or anything that relates to being a virgin), you will find a restroom and if it's not out of order, then you are having a good day. If you go anywhere else, say Jamba Juice or Chipotle, the restrooms are locked because they don't want people coming in off the streets just to use them. I think it's a marketing tactic. Buy something and we'll let you use our facilities. Makes sense, but it creates a very difficult situation for out of towners who, say are on crutches, don't move quickly, and don't know their way around. I think I actually saw some guy urinating next to Banana Republic today and I definately smelled urine when I was walking home from the train station. Granted, the bulk of it does seem to come from homeless people--that would be people who don't have homes and sleep on the steps at the subway station, which is entirely different from the "vagrants" who ask for money in Cincinnati--posers. So, the mystery has been solved. Now I can sleep at night.

the wall comes tumbling down

2006-05-08T22:36:00.000-07:00

If you listened to the Tea with Hungry Lucy podcast, I made a comment about seperating myself from the music that I write when I'm on stage performing. Well, I've been here in NY working with my new friend Denise Barbarita trying to finish up the record once and for all, and it's crazy, but I've been crying for two days. Denise has this gift of being able to get you to connect with a song even though you don't want to. Some of the vocal takes over the last two days were completely unintelligible. I do think that we are getting some great stuff--things I've never been able to do before. But I'm a little concerned yet. I haven't really listened back to things much. Just hoping we got something usable. We do seem to be making progress. Mostly, I'm hoping that I will be able to get through the songs when I play them live.

Finally, I'm understanding this iPod thing

2006-05-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

K, so I know how to use an iPod, I'm not completely dense. However, when I broke down and bought my little 1 gig nano when I was flying to DC in March, I wasn't really sure what all the fuss was about. I was able to use it driving to Austin a week later and could drive at night without keeping everyone else awake. But I didn't really use it at home because I don't have time to listen to music and I'm not crazy about having things in my ears. But everyone in NYC has one so I've been taking it on the train with me. I figured I might as well fill it up though. So, I went to Emusic.com to find some new tunes and finally came across Howlin' Maggie. Since my accident happened when they released "Hyde" I never got a copy. I started listening to it on the train today and when "Where My Funky People" kicked in, I was taken back in time to all the times I saw Happy and the guys play that song live. I started bobbing my head and wanted to get up and dance, but then realized that I was still on the subway. I was walking around SoHo listening to the rest of the record and enjoying every minute of it. I'm so sad that I haven't been able to see Happy in forever, but thrilled that I have the opportunity to relive his genius on my iPod whenever I want.

Surburban Eye for the Urban (girl)

2006-05-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

Allison recently lost her roommate and I'm kinda stuck here for a little while working on the record, so we decided to clean out some of the stuff in her apartment. Last night we were up until 4a, cleaning her kitchen. We're still not done, but here's a list of some interesting things we found:

peanut butter from 2002
unopened mustard that expired in 1998 (it does go bad)
little ceramic animals that allison's mom gave her off old tea containers?
rose's lime juice that had been sitting opened but unrefrigerated--it was brown
chinese stuff doesn't go bad even after 5 years
baking powder that expired in 1995
almonds that had been hiding under the microwave
contact solution that expired in 2001
nearly empty containers of OJ, oatmeal, spaghetti sauce, & things i've never seen before
dead plants and empty hanging flower baskets

It's amazing what you find when you live somewhere for 10 years and have a multitude of room mates. I was reminded last night why I decided that I would have to move every 5 years. It's a shame that we don't have video cameras--that was some priceless television.

Have a great day...and maybe take a moment to clean out 1 cupboard.
Rhonda

My Adventures in NY

2006-04-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

I've been spending some time walking around in Manhatten and this is just some of what I've witnessed:

a man singing loudly with his ipod
street vendors of every kind
men kissing
pedestrians making traffic stop for them
the sound of a million conversations in languages i can't understand
nyu film student in starbucks buying paper cups for his production
an older woman dancing crazily through the street as she listens to her ipod
british looking rockers walking down the street in hip clothes and doc martins
some young guy begging to heal my leg
a guy on the subway with no legs, shakes his coffee can which apparently means "give me money, i'm poor"
a guy that looks like Jeff Snyder (an i-see-sound.com staff writer)waiting for the subway
the chrysler building
the ed sullivan theater
rockafeller center
a film being made
5.75 for a bud light, are you serious?
the guy who lives under the bridge in queens
arlene's grocery

It's been an interesting time in NY so far. Can't wait to see what else I run into...
Enjoy where you are,
Rhonda

Boston and NY

2006-04-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Oh, my gosh. I can't believe I didn't get into an accident in Boston. We actually have video footage of us trying to get out of town and we just keep looping around on the highway. It's craziness. But a great experience. We played at TT the Bears Place in Cambridge with Count Zero, The Ghettobillies, and Fluttr Effect. Great crowd, great club. Allison's friend Jeff came out and brought some friends and they videotaped our performances. (We'll eventually have some of that available for you.) Also, Jim Schultz from Sonicbids came out to see us and hung out with me most of the evening.

Schenectady Rocks!

2006-04-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

A huge thanks to everyone who came out in Schenectady. You guys are the best. We're glad that you enjoyed yourselves. A big thanks also to Phillip Stone for the great article in the Schenectady Gazette.

Also, thanks to Moon and River Cafe--great place you've got there. Thanks also to the Bookdrop Bees from Troy, NY. Ilan, and I even have the same guitar. I have pictures but I can't get them off the camera. My computer has decided that I've got enough pictures, I guess. My favorite quote of the night: "Schenectady has so much history, there's no room for the present."

We had a great time visiting John and Temi--thanks for a fabu place to crash. Hope to see you all again soon!

Rhonda

PA, Cleveland and PA again

2006-04-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

Like going through Pennsylvania once isn't enough, we decided to make two stops with Cleveland in the middle. Pittsburgh actually wasn't bad this time. I had to turn around only once and that was only because I had absolutely no idea where I was going. Carnegie Mellon is a beautiful campus so that was cool.

On Wednesday, we headed toward OHio. My friend Todd came out and hung out with us and even took some amazing pictures. Hopefully he will send them and I'll post asap.

Today, Thursday, we drove back into Pennsylvania to head to the Coffee and Tea Room in Williamsport. An interesting town of about 30,000 folks. I met a guy named Phil who was writing a novel about a new world that was dependent on some sort of "black oil." He says it's fiction, though it sounds vaguely familiar. Allison and I covered "What's Up?" by 4-non Blondes. That was interesting. I love pulling something off at the last minute.

We were planning to head to the hotel gym but decided to get a drink instead. I apparently said the wrong thing, "No, just one shot. I just need something to loosen me up." All the guys turned around to see what I looked like. Then we came back to the room and watched Sex and the City. Then I watched South Park--I had never seen that before. Funny. Aliens. Then there are the commercials with the girls who want to talk to you. They dress slutty and say things like, "Flirting on the phone is fun." Really? Is it? Because I would think that sitting home and talking on the phone instead of going out to meet real people is well, PATHETIC! Real life never ceases to amaze me. More from Schenectady tomorrow...
Rhonda

I hate the IRS

2006-04-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

We thought we would enjoy a somewhat leisurely Easter at home in Cincy but that didn't exactly happen. Allison and I did get to go over to Hungry Lucy's place to be a part of their podcast (should be up soon) which was a blast. They are so cool--we had tea and everything. But I spent the rest of the evening working on taxes, watched Desperate Housewives and crashed. Then Monday, I spent all day until it was time to leave for the show, working on taxes. Fortunately, we're getting money back, but still--it took forever and I'm not even positive that I did them right. I used Turbo Tax and everything. Could you all please call your congressmen and tell them to vote for fair tax?

To ease my pain, some friends and really cool new folks came out to the Trolley Stop in Dayton to hang with us. We had a great night, I just wish we could have gone to Gem City Records and walked up and down the strip a little. But, I guess I'll do that when I'm back on May 19th for the CD Release. I'm trying to get this stuff all done with Blake this morning. Gotta get it to the presses, and we have to hit the road.

Stay tuned,
Rhonda

Kokomo Rocks!

2006-04-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to everyone who came out to Sycamore Marketplace last night. What a great time we had. Joe Cameron got things rolling, and Allison and I finished up. I'm still struggling to completely learn her song, "Agree" on piano, but she stepped in and pulled off some background vocals. A good time was had by all from what we could tell. We both hope to go back sometime in the future and see all our new friends again. Thanks once again to Lindsay Webber for putting it all together. She is the bomb. Pics of the Kokomo gang will be up soon.

Peace and happy Easter,
Rhonda

Daytonians party in Chicago

2006-04-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

Chicago again. Seemed kinda pointless, but we were in for a surprise. Mick from Gidgets GaGa was the first person we encountered at Red Line Tap--amazing guy. We were just hanging out talking with him after load-in and then I see this guy that looks familiar--oh my gosh! It's Drew Perfilio! Drew is a poet who worked at Canal Street Tavern for a while and I had sent him a message about the show but never heard anything back. Wow, it's great to catch up. We had to run out to the car and get a few more things and on the way there, I saw some other folks that looked familar. No way, it's Eric Cassidy from Shrug and his wife Kate. Apparently they were in town seeing David Gilmore (Pink Floyd) the night before and were looking for something to do and ran across my name on a message board or something. Crazy.

We all got to catch up a bit and then Chicago Nick showed up, a guy we met on Wednesday at Jazz It Cafe. He was supposed to meet up with us for Chicago pizza but had to work late. We were happy to see him--late is always better than not at all. Drew ended up calling some friends, David (from I can't remember where) and his girlfriend, Texas Rebecca. A fun time was had by all and we've got the pictures to prove it. Check this out. Later Drew took us to The Green Mill, an infamous jazz club. Cool place and very surreal. You can see it in High Fidelity and Oceans 12.

Happy Easter.
Rhonda

Chicago, Kenosha and Madison

2006-04-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

Chicago was a blast. We met some new cool folks at the new Jazz It Cafe. Everyone there was so nice and attentive and tried to drag their friends out. It was a gorgeous day so it was no wonder that everyone was in such a great mood. Hope to meet up with some of the folks we met there for pizza this afternoon.

We did get a parking ticket in Chicago--that was not cool, but we drove up to Madison, WI after the show to stay with Allison's friend. It's a bit of a drive, but not bad. Of course they are doing construction and at the first toll plaza, I somehow ended up in the wrong lane and went through the EZ Pass lane. Hope that I don't get a ticket for that as well. Our driving adventures never end.

So, Madison is a cool place. I see it as the Austin, TX of Wisconsin. I never imagined living farther North in the Midwest, but Madison is pretty cool. Kenosha was interesting--Cameron at WIPZ was very helpful. So, we're not sure what program we were actually on but the schedule said "Spank Tank". The town seemed more typical Midwest small town than Madison and what is up with Milwaukee--is that a yeast smell? We were out from town a bit and still it smells a little wierd.

What a cool evening. We played at A Room of One's Own, a womyn's bookstore in downtown Austin. Allison's friend came down and brought some of her friends and then Mike and Ben from Sunspot came down and hung out with us. We all headed out to dinner which was a hoot. Mike is hilarious and very informative. It started hailing about half way through the evening. I haven't seen anything like that since I was a kid. It sounded like the building was going to fall apart. Fun stuff though. Our favorite quote of the night, "You can still buy my cds and come to shows, but we're not sleeping together again."

This is the rock star life

2006-04-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last night was a fun night in Muncie--thanks to everyone who came out and to Dale Johnson for video taping. The MT Cup is where all the cool kids hang out from Ball State. Hilleary opened for us and was amazing. Hopefully we will see some more of her.

But we left there and headed toward Indianapolis and spent the night Katie Trotta's parents for the evening. Oh, my, it's beautiful here. And Katie's mom had chocolate chip cookies for us when we got in late and then we got waffles and fresh fruit for breakfast. I don't get that at home. So, I need to go shower and we have to hit the road. Allison is crocheting frantically and I'm chatting with Katie's mom. I love this business!

more soon,
rhonda

2006-04-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

I finally broke down and joined a gym. I'm sure that based on this photo, you might wonder "why"? Yes, the crutches have been good for the arms. Looking forward to the next set of photos.

photo by Deogracias Lerma

Who's Song is it, Anyway? part 2

2006-03-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

Tonite was the second installment of our improv night at Kaldi's in downtown Cincinnati. It was our first beautiful day here in months so it was extremely slow at the coffee shop. And there were a ton of other functions going on in and around town so I kind of expected it. However, there were 4 of us participating and writing songs--Sharon, Eric, Beau and myself.

Our prompt was "like a common criminal she stole..." we had to go from there. Eric and Sharon were up first and they are amazing. Sharon just jumps in on the piano even when she has no clue where the song is going. Beau and I were having some issues--I was trying to follow his melody on the guitar which was a little tough, but we wanted to do something really cool and interesting to break up the monotony so we were trying some different things and I realized that I can white girl rap. I've always wanted to, but never had the push to do it, but it just kinda came out.

Then it was on to the lightening round--things you drink. Eric made up a lovely story about his first ever Mountain Dew that he had at the YMCA. Then Sharon made up a jingle for Silk Soy Milk and nearly fell off the chair at the piano because she was laughing so hard. Then she played for Beau as he sang about how Ocean Spray Cranberry is good for Urinary tract infections. And then I screamed into the mic and played really fast singing "Rocket Fuel, rocket fuel..." That was fun. We did another round of jingles and then the girls from Pike came so I chatted with them and Sharon went back to accompianing Eric. I think that they've decided to do a record together. Which was part of the goal of doing this whole improv night--finding people to work with that you maybe wouldn't have otherwise. It was a good night.

The theme is crazy...grrr.

2006-03-28T20:41:00.000-08:00

I'm exhausted and frustrated and want everything to be finished so I can just sit down and write a song. I guess I can't complain too much, Improv night is just two days away. But finally tonite I had to just push everything aside for a few minutes and play guitar. I started by working with a poem by Ray that he sent me yesterday? Maybe it was today and I forgot already. Anyway, then I moved on to writing a song about a guy or maybe a girl who was making up things in his own mind to keep from believing that he got dumped. Then I moved onto a lyrical idea I'd had a while ago about a girl who went silent one day and no one can figure out why. I didn't really get very far before I stumbled upon "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson. It seems that once you find the chord progression and rhythm pattern, you can't get rid of it. It's like an addiction.

So, anyway, I was brushing my teeth and recalled an anonymous comment where someone stated that they liked my writing and I should write a book. Which I do have answers to everything, though, they are rather simple and wouldn't even fill one of those little grocery store pocket guides. For those of you who read this all the time, I'm going to give you all my answers for free and there are no pills to buy. Are you ready? Alright, here goes:

Overweight? Stop buying bigger pants!
Can't sleep? Write 3 pages of anything every morning--just let things flow out. And you could stop with the coffee.
Restless leg syndrome? Again with the coffee and maybe work out once in a while.
Reflux? Get yourself out of debt and other situations that are stressing you out.
ADD? It's not that you can't concentrate, you just have too many things going on in your mind. Relax. Breath and stop calling it a disease.
Crazy? Okay, I got nothing...you're on your own.

Just trying to help.
Rhonda

Sunday, March 19, SXSW cont'd

2006-03-22T22:51:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's morning already. Plus, we have to pack and check out before Allison's gig at Bella Blue. Jinkies. It never ends. I'm hoping to have enough energy to get through my performance this afternoon. Also, it's raining, again. Lovely.

It didn't rain too hard so Allison and Jenn got to play my keyboard at their outdoor shows. I worked my way back and forth between Bella Blue and Vanilla Girl (two very fun stores with lots of talent). I got to see Lynn King (NJ), and Rachel Palli something. I will find out her name, she was amazing. Poor thing, the airline lost her keyboard stand and she had just gotten her keyboard that morning. I got my throne and stand for her and was happy that I did. She was really good. But alas, it's time to head out again. Allison and I must get to Cafe Caffeine for another show. Oh, and the sun is coming out.

Cafe Caffeine is this gorgeous cafe that I would surely hang out at if I lived in Austin. They had the same light fixture that I have in my kitchen, hanging in the restroom. I had to laugh. We gushed over everyone that was there since they were so kind and attentive and we were soooo not ready to leave this amazing place. Austin is the best oasis I've found as an artist. Nashville is great but more pushy and commercial. These folks just sort of sit back and let things roll. They are great people and they seem to care, none of that fake, "that was nice" "thanks for coming" kind of thing. My buddy Paul (whom I met last year) came out and spurred us on to head outside and play some more as the weather had cleared up for a bit. Since Matt the Electrician was playing after me (a local), folks were walking over and sitting on the sidewalk and listening until our time was up. They were very appreciative as were we. I did not want to go home. I already felt as if I was home. James could drive down and visit, right?

Alas, Allison forced me out of the place and we headed back to pick up Jenny and Kyle to head home. We said our goodbyes to everyone and set to hit the road. We had one last stop before leaving town. WHATABURGER! A favorite of Bobby Hill and now I know why. It's something I can't quite describe, yet delicious to the last bite.

Our 17 hour drive home quickly became a nightmare as we got stuck in traffic for hours heading N to Dallas, hoping that we weren't going to get stuck in all the flood waters. Three hours we sat there, yet found ways to amuse ourselves. Jenny was singing Debbie Gibson songs and then we both started acting completely goofy and sang Eternal Flame at the top of our lungs. We had to do something to pass the time. Then we started texting Mike Huberty from Sunspot. We would send a couple lines from a song and see what he would write back. He's so fun. Then we put in the Sunspot sampler and sang Scott Baccula about a million times. I have one word for you, "crackula." Only Sunspot could use that in a song and make it work.

My goodness, I'm tired. It's been 22 hours and I'm finally nearing home. I think I slept a couple of hours at some point. I cannot wait to take a shower and sleep. And do it all again sometime soon.

XOXO,
Rhonda

Saturday, March 18th, SXSW continued

2006-03-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

I don't know what I was thinking really. I had plans of doing lots of things--seeing cool bands and interviewing folks for www.i-see-sound.com as well as meeting new people and promoting my new record. So, far, I've made a few new friends but I have done nothing else. The internet connection in our room is not working this morning so I'm not going to get to check in with my online class either. Crud. Oh, well, I have to go play this show with Allison at the book store. Maybe that will be interesting. But I feel bad that I'm leaving all my other room mates to fend for themselves. Oh, well, I don't have a choice.

The bookstore was cool. Bookwoman, a women's bookstore in Austin, just W of the capital a few blocks, is like everything else in Austin--really neat. Brian Baker from City Beat stopped in to say hello, which was nice because I'd never met him in Cincinnati. The sound was really super strange, but we were running it so it was to be expected, I guess. Everyone there was really nice and I found this very strange photocopied book called, "So Midwest." I was getting quite a kick out of it so I bought it. I'm sure you'll hear more about it in the near future.

Anyway, Allison and I headed out to Ruta Maya, this really cool club in some business complex (music equipment, sound companies, advertising, graphic designers, etc. ). We talked with Bob Baker (www.thebuzzfactor.com) and then rushed off to Vanilla Girl (clothing store) to hear our room mate Jennifer do her set. On our way out, Madalyn informs us that Melissa Ferrick will be coming to perform for an hour and told us not to leave. But we couldn't blow off Jennifer so we ran to see Jennifer and then grabbed she and Jenn Franklin and headed back to Ruta Maya. We caught the last few songs but it was good. However, I had to give the sound guy a dirty look for just sitting there and not adjusting her guitar level on the last song. Why do they do that? It's so annoying.

We weren't there long when it was time to go again. Finally, Dale Johnson called and asked me to meet him at a private party where the Minni Thins were playing. We dropped one Jen off at the Four Seasons to schmooze and Allison and I headed over. What a cool place. It's an apartment complex with retail stores in the bottem, and a covered outdoor picnic/ampitheater place. Who knew? It was good to see the Cincinnati gang--I'd been trying to reach them for a couple of days.

After that, I had to take Allison to her Indie Grrl gig way out in BFE. We got to see lots of Austin on this trip and we got lost on several occassions. She was playing at Y Bar and Grill. A pretty fancy place. I sat and leisurely and ate a steak (yes, I'm a carnivore) while listening to the tunes. Allison got free dinner for playing. Mine was okay, but way overpriced for the quality. Anyway, we rushed out of there to head back downtown to see if I could possibly get into Rhett Miller's set at Emo's. On the way, I received a text from my friend Jim from www.sonicbids.com . He said that his co-worker, Heidi, was getting ready to hit the stage at Trophy's so we decided to head there instead. We picked up Jenn Franklin and managed to pick up the other Jen too and headed over. Heidi is in the all-girl, EJ Labb and the Association. The were hot. I cannot explain to you--seriously you had to be there, but it was the bomb. I don't even like rap, but this was cool. And then I realized that apparently it's a thing with Jim and I since he was with me last year for Vanilla Ice. After that, we made space in the car and took Jim downtown too and tried to see what we could find. Rhett was over, but Okkervil River would be onstage in about an hour and 15. Already the line at their tent was down the street. Again, I would not be seeing the band I so wanted to see. Fine. I give up. Let's see what else we can find.

We meandered down Sixth and looked at signs posted on the doors of clubs and couldn't find anyone we knew of or were thrilled to pay to go see. Finally, at the same club I was turned away from the night before--Martha Wainwright was onstage now. And up next, Josh Ritter. We were all singer/songwriters so we felt comfortable with our decision to stop searching and pay the $15 cover. Martha is good. She was sweetly singing and mesmerizing the crowd as we were struggling to find a place to watch her. We finally headed upstairs and found a place to sit though we couldn't actually see her. We were all tired and didn't really care. We had done it, we found a real show to get into. For Josh Ritter, we secured a spot behind the stage, though above it--a very strange vantage point. It was freaking me out a little, but it was cool sitting on top of the drummers head. It was a good show, but nothing amazing which led me to wonder, why do some people make it and some do not? A question I pondered with my friends Damon and Derron from the Minni Thins when we noticed they were standing next to us. They both recommended that we stay for Two Gallants as they had interviewed them earlier in the week. So, when they sucked, I thought that I was too tired or they had really horrible taste in music. I was told later that they also left the show because the band was just awful and exhausted from playing so much that week. After we dropped everyone off, we made our way to the hotel and crashed once again.

March 17th in Austin

2006-03-21T08:36:00.000-08:00

So, this is the first time I've been able to get back on the internet--I was swamped yesterday. This is a recap of Friday--I'll get to Saturday later.

Friday, we woke up to warm, sunny Austin--I wish. It was freezing and I was thrilled that I remembered to bring a warm sweater and long sleeves. Honestly, most of the day is a blur now. I think we went downtown to see if we could find anything going on, but our parking meeter was only for an hour and 15 minutes. We did stop in to see one singer/songwriter guy--he was pretty good. Actually, nearly everyone here is good. There's no question as to why most of them are here. So, we walked around and finally decided to head over the Austin City Limits set to the KEXP taping. Of course, we didn't get to actually see anyone perform because we got there at the perfect time to just miss them. But it was cool to be there anyway and we got to see part of UT.

I must say this city is by far, the coolest place I've ever been. Minus the music, it's still exceptionally cool. Lots of artists and folks who make clothing and jewelry. If you've ever been to Yellow Springs, OH, it's kinda like that except miles and miles of it.

But as for music, I was thrilled to have Mark Messerly and Dawn Burman join me for the Gogirls 2 song night. Things were running behind so we got to hear Sara Bettens (former K's Choice) do her sound check. It was amazing and unexpected. After that, I had to run Mark and Dawn and my friend Ben (Sunspot) back to downtown then I drove back South of town and picked up my keyboard, Allison Tartalia, Jennifer Richman and Deborah Crooks for a night on the town.

Downtown was a mess. It was, of course, St. Patrick's Day which screwed up everything. There were so many people in the streets that we could barely walk. We walked at least 10 blocks to get to the club where Rhett Miller was playing under an assumed name. Normally we would be able to pay $10 or $15 to get into the show but they were accepting only wristbands and badges. What? Are you serious? The club isn't even full--how can you not let us in? I was crushed. I had come all this way and tripped over people on my crutches and now I can't get in. We meandered around a little and decided to get some Mexican food at a little place nearby. Then we decided to see what else was going on. Nearly every club was taking only wristbands and badges so that's why so many people where just milling around in the streets. The clubs that were letting people in had metal bands or a bunch of folks we had never heard of. The one band I wanted to see, I missed because of the stupid time change and my inability to understand that it was actually 12a and not 11p. I was exhausted and confused.

On our way back toward the minivan, we caught a few acts on the street which actually were pretty good. There was a brass jazz band from New ORleans, and a little bluegrass band. The blue grass band was amazing--the guy playing stand-up bass playing really percussively, while smoking a cigarette and talking on the cell phone and the kids that played violin, guitar and banjo were probably in jr. high or high school. It was good, and free.

We fought the crowds and went back to 4th St. where there had been an outdoor tent--maybe they still had something going on. But no. When we got there, there wasn't anyone playing and there were just people. We decided to cut through between the street and the tent--ick. I got some sort of beer infused muddy crud on my shoes and crutches--now what? It just so happened that there was this nice pool of water at a building across from the parking lot we parked in. I stood near the edge and stuck the bottem of my crutches in to rid them of crud and suddenly, there's this guy on a cell phone walking through the pool. He gets out on the other side and is telling the person on the phone that he was wet but he couldn't figure out how he got that way. He looks down and says, "I must be drunk." Really? We all laughed. Then he proceeded to yell at the person on the other end of the phone. "Come pick me up, B#*&#! You're going to make me get wet again!" And he walked back into the pool of water. Gee, was it really any wonder why she wasn't coming to get him?

Well, time to head back to the hotel and then do it all again tomorrow.

SXSW on the Cheap

2006-03-17T15:13:00.000-08:00

I played in Nashville on Wednesday night with Jenn Franklin. Fun was had by the guy from British Columbia who stopped in to hear some tunes after the hockey tourney. We drove straight through and hit Austin about 1:30p. I only got about an hour or so, maybe 2, of sleep on the ride over but the adrenaline kept me going most of the night.

I'm sharing the cost of a 6 person "suite" so it's only about 20-30 bucks per night. Jenny Schmidt is splitting the gas with me and we're only eating 2 meals, good meals per day. Jenny bought me a margarita at dinner. That was yummy.

We saw Sunspot at a free show at 5p and then hung out at the whole FREE show thing on 6th St. for part of the evening. Then I headed S and hit the Small Stars FREE show. Good stuff but somewhat unsatisfying. I think I was too tired to really appreciate anything. I headed down the street to the Gogirls Music showcase just in time to see Rachel Sage's last song. I like the trumpet player. I'm carting around my room mates so I agreed to stay for Jen Foster's set. I was literally falling asleep during it. She was really good so I felt extremely bad and wanted to apologize. Jenny Schmidt said that people would probably assume that I was just drunk. I'm not certain which is worse. So, Jenny drove us back to the hotel where I almost immediately crashed.

Planes, Trains and Micorophones

2006-03-09T20:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, I've had an interesting week. It's been flying by. We had a great time with the folks who came out to see us in Evansville last Friday. I turned around about a million times on that trip--it was just one of those days. Patrice and I enjoyed playing with Heidi Schwartz from Nashville. And I will be heading to Nashville in less than a week to play another show with Heidi on the way to Austin.

It's crazy though. I went to DC on Monday--I flew into Baltimore and walked out the door at the baggage claim and got on a bus that took me to the train station where I caught a train to Union Station in DC. I could have taken the Metro to Arlington, but Blake came and picked me up. The train station is beautiful. I'd never been in there but there are these Roman soldiers that stand and stare at you from their pedestals near the ceiling. It's kinda weird. Pretty, but wierd. When I walked out of the station, there was this Asian guy with an amplifier singing hymns by this big statue and he was snagging people to sing with him. I think they were singing "How Great Thou Art." That's something I don't normally see in Cincinnati.

Blake and I spent 20 hours in about a day and a half working on the mixes and we're almost done. I've got some work to do here but hopefully, I can still get everything done. On Wednesday, I got dropped back off at the train station and reversed the process to get back to the airport. The coolest thing was that there was XM Satellite Radio in the armrests on the plane. I got to hear some cool stuff on XMU, the college station. Fortunately, the plane rides were uneventful.

So, now I'm back home fighting to find a microphone that will allow me to record some descent vocals in my house. Apparently, dry wall is not the best thing for recording. Either that or I just am not supposed to get this new CD done. I guess we'll see.

More later. Big show this weekend in Newport with Jayne Sachs.
xoxo. R.

Oh, My Gosh--It's March

2006-03-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

I've been held up in the house creating new tunes and booking shows that I totally missed the beginning of the month. It's crazy. I was up until 3a last night working on mixes for the new record and making certain that I'm prepared for Blake to get his hands on the tracks. James is adding some cool things to Witches, it almost sounds like a song now. I do believe that progress is being made, though we are hardly finished.

Allison and I have been making some progress booking some things. It's very cool watching things come together--but that EASY button would be even better. I hate that I've hardly been out of the house. I haven't seen anyone or any shows, nothing really. I did watch Zoolander the other night before my photo shoot, but that's about it.

I also learned, sort-of, some Ben Folds Five stuff yesterday on the piano. I've seen him play live otherwise I wouldn't believe that he's actually playing it all. It's crazy. He's the only person I've ever seen break a piano string. That was on the first song. Amazing stuff.

Can't wait to see you all this weekend. There are new songs to share and lots of cool things to talk about.

The First ever "Who's Line is it, Anyway?"

2006-02-23T22:19:00.000-08:00

Oh, my goodness. What a fun night. Our first songwriter Improv Night at Kaldi's was a big hit for everyone there. I don't think that we could create that kind of magic every week, but definately once per month. It does mean that if you make it to one each month, you would write 11 songs this year. Even if you aren't a songwriter, you can participate. Folks were banging on the bongos, the triangle and I brought some cheap whistles that folks were enjoying. Everyone watching would just jump right in on their instrument. It was pretty cool.

Our prompt this month was "It was a typical Thursday morning..." We had to write something from just hearing that, though it didn't need to be the opening line. First up were Chris Dunaway from the Star Killers and new to town, Mark (oops, I forgot his name). They wrote their song in like 10 minutes and it was a Christopher Williams kinda thing. Then came Liz Bowater and Nathan Foster (Star Killers) with this really nice tune, well thought out and Nathan even sang back up vocals (when did they have time to practice that?) Jim Danehy (Bulletproof Charm and former Barrelhouse sound man) and I were up next with a very short little punk thing that made no sense, but was made better by Eric Falstrom's beatboxing. Then Luke Pace (The Terrors) teamed up with his friends Kyle Volk and Jessie to come up with a complete song in less time than we had. Then Sharon (The Shirts/Beau Alquizola band) pulled out this amazing song in about 20 minutes (that included recopying it) and didn't practice or anything. She just sat down and started playing. It was crazy.

The lightning round was great fun. Everyone had to pull the name of a breakfast product or restaurant out of hat and sing a jingle. My favorite was Nathan's tune about Count Chocula coming into Kaldi's, played to Billy Joel's "Piano Man."

Yeah, you missed it. Be ready next month and bring a pen.

Rho--

Pro Tools and long days

2006-02-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

It's after 6p and I haven't showered yet. I've spent all day trying to learn enough about Pro Tools (recording software) to work on mixing my record. I've been working on Stethoscope, Evidence and Wishing today. Stethoscope was starting to drive me nuts, so I moved on, but it's not done yet. Hoping to get through the rest of them tomorrow.

I've been writing like crazy so I have a billion things to record as soon as this is finished. Something called "Okay, Alright, Uh-huh", a little ditty called "Phrases", a heart-breaking love song that remains untitled, and something titled, "Ricochet". I've also been working with a lyricist from Australia and from some of his writings, I pulled out a jaunty little thing about a military man called, "Private Milton."

I haven't been blogging because there aren't enough hours in the day, but as you can see, I'm still practicing and playing everyday. I have to go shower now so I can meet and chat with the photographer. We have to get some ideas in place before we shoot this weekend. Oh, and I just cut my hair--yes, I did it. I couldn't stand it any longer.

More soon--xoxox,
Rhonda

Grammys and Laptops

2006-02-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

As I sit at my computer looking out my front window, I see the sun melting what little bit of snow fell on us last night. The ground was covered when I got up but it is now no more than a smattering.

So, the past few days have been busy. I've been trying to fix the vocals on my jingle and haven't had much luck. Then yesterday I played a show at the Lane Library in Oxford, OH. I'm not a big fan of small towns, but Oxford is different. Everyone is helpful and kind as expected but they are also very worldly. I met an almost 4-year-old who's favorite bands are Keane and Coldplay. And since his name is Duncan, he's been checking out the latest from Duncan Sheik. I mentioned XTC to his mom and she started singing "Senses Working Overtime." I don't think anyone from my small town or my current Cincinnati suburb has ever heard of them. I don't know if www.woxy.com realizes the impact they have made on that community.

Anyway, I didn't watch the Grammy's last night. It usually sucks and the audio is horrid. But mostly it's just depressing because I'm not there. You'll have to let me know what the highlights were, I don't have time to read them on msn.com. I'm hoping to practice some this afternoon, but today I'm busy dealing with business stuff--booking, instrument insurance, mailing out press kits, blah, blah, blah. It never really ends. See, most of you get up, go to work and you come home and you can relax--at least in theory. Working from home is great. I can wear what I want, go to the post office when I want, eat lunch when I want. The biggest problem is that there's no one telling me to get something done right now. So, if I get off track, I'm just off doing something meaningless until I realize what I'm doing. But I love being able to work in bed in the morning or at night or while watching tv--Dell laptops are the bomb. But in exchange, I work non-stop. So, you aren't so jealous now, are you?

Well, happy working and I hope that if you are working with extruded plastic parts or deodorant, that it's because you want to.
Rhonda

Fun with horns

2006-02-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

So I spent all day today, okay well from when I woke up at 10, then wrote for 40 minutes, then had breakfast and rode my bike during the View--so from about 11:45 until about 3p--I was recording here at my house. The worst part is that I was only recording a :30 piece. Considering that I know very little, I guess it's not too bad, but it still needs vocals and cleaned up a bit. Tomorrow, I need to fix a guitar part and then do the :60 version.

After that, I went to a townhall meeting with Congresswoman, Jean Schmidt. I quickly realized that politics may be a possibility at some point in my life. I have the answers, I just need to get everyone else to listen. I've never heard of her and don't know what her track record is. Mostly I agreed with her, but was highly disappointed in her ideas of dealing with our current medical/health insurance system. Maybe she just wasn't prepared, or maybe she hasn't really ever been in the hospital. I'm hoping to call her office and give her some pointers.

Hope you all have a great week and I encourage you to learn something new.
xoxo,
Rhonda

Generosity is in the air unless you are from Seattle

2006-02-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

Friday night at Borders started with high school freshman, Holly Nibert, opening. A great start to the evening, she started off with Nirvana and got everyone's attention right off the bat. A great little songwriter she is, keep your eyes peeled for her. Some other interesting things happened as well. I was playing something when a nice lady put a really cool hemp bracelet with blue beads on my keyboard. When I was finished with the song, she told me that she and her grandaughter had 100 more bracelets to make for kids in the Cancer ward at Children's Hospital. She said they also make them flip flops, scarves and blankets to help them feel as normal as possible during their stay. She sells bracelets and different items only to get money to buy more materials. Isn't that amazing? I will post her info as soon as I get it out of my van. After that, I mentioned that I was trying to raise money to get to SXSW and some guy came up and handed me 10 bucks. I tried to give him a cd but he just wanted to help. How cool is that?

Saturday night, James and I headed to the Blue Note to see Sunspot, Peter Adams and Kristen Key. After turning around 20 times, we found it. I must say, Peter is good, but Sunspot is amazing live. It's fun music these 2 guys and one girl put on an entertaining show. They truly the hardest working band I've ever met, and I've met alot of them. When they play at Chicks Rock Fest in April, you will want to be there.

Sunday at Borders was fairly usual except that my friends Jerel and Tammy showed up to hang with us. Then high school junior and co-writer, Alycia Mikel, showed up to play two of her own tunes. Fun stuff and I didn't even get a parking ticket.

Unfortunately, Seattle's luck wasn't so good. I used to be a Steelers fan, but since the Carson Palmer thing, I've been rooting against them. I could not believe that the calls during the first half were all against them. Seriously, how did they get to the Super Bowl if they are constantly making fouls? According to the refs, these guys are incapable of making a simple tackle and yet the Steelers can make a touch down without the ball actually being across the goal line. Not a fair game if you ask me. I guess this is why I don't watch sports very often.

Hoping to record tomorrow here at home. I'll keep you posted,
rhonda

I've been in a creative state/Return of the King/Please Pray

2006-02-01T20:37:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I've been quiet the last couple of days. It's not because I'm avoiding you. I've just been practicing and writing and writing and practicing and helping Alycia with voice lessons after school. I realize how little I know every time I try to help someone new, but I think that some progress is being made. I'm hoping that she'll play a song or two at Borders Deerfield on Sunday.

Also, Patrice and I had a show last night with Kelly Thomas, Entheos, and Mi and L'au. Quite the night at the Poison Room. Kelly is an amazing guitarist and then she has these killer vocals. Allison and Carl of Entheos do some really cool things, great songs, great harmonies--one of the more modern groups around the area actually. Then Mi (Mira--Finland) and L'au (Laurence--France) were mesmerizing but Jenny kept talking all the way through their set. Mira has a beautiful voice and the music is stark and haunting. Remember that scene in Return of the King where Pippin sings in the castle? Though I couldn't stop laughing because I could envision the late night advertisements hocking "Songs from the Shire" CDs, it was beautiful. Honestly, I'm surprised that someone isn't making money off that end of things yet. Enough of that, if you have the chance to see them, it's different and refreshing and makes me rethink everything I do.

Anyway, tonite I was watching the first part of the news, as I always do before I have to drag myself up to bed, and am just seriously concerned about what is going on in the world. Cincinnati is not my favorite place but I've heard that crime is getting worse everywhere. If you believe in God or some sort of higher being, I think that now is the time to pray for whatever city/state/country that you live in. Personally, I'm sick and tired of hearing about it and though I'm not scared, I don't want anyone to end up as a victim. From dog knappings, drive-by shootings and child abuse (and that was all just from tonite) to bank robberies, muggings, break-ins, and rape it's out of control. I would think that after 9/11, we would all be ready for anything and not willing to put up with this crap from our own citizens. Pray for a solution and the ability to act if necessary.

Is the Internet in jeopardy?

2006-01-30T09:17:00.000-08:00

I got this from my friend Andy Valeri in Dayton, OH. I wanted to pass it along so that you can at least be informed. If you have any other information regarding this issue, please feel free to post a comment or email me.

xo,
Rhonda

Telecommunications companies like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress for the right to control where you go on the Internet, how fast you get there, and how much you pay for the service. To see what some brazen telecom execs had to say, and to send them a message about how you feel about the Internet, go to:http://www.commoncause.org/HandsOffMyInternet

Please forward this message to friends and family. If we generate heat at this stage in the debate, it could really pay off as telecom legislation works its way through Congress.

Thank you Columbus, OH!

2006-01-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

We had a blast in Columbus last night with three amazing bands--Langus, Rayburn, and Ryan Smith and The Agency. The crowd was stoked, the music was thumping, we had some friends there, and made some new ones. Of course, Trice and I had to make our traditional Taco Bell run in between sets and had some interesting conversations including urinating outside at hippie festivals, and someone thought I said "lap dance" instead of "Lactaid" and well, you can imagine the rest of the evening.

A huge thanks to Ryan, Alex/Felix, Mr. Inappropriate, and everyone who was there, for a great night.
Love you all,
Rhonda

It's the little things...

2006-01-27T05:52:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning, still in and out, not ready to get out of bed, when a thought came into my mind. I grabbed my journal and started writing the chorus to a song. Then I had an idea for an opening line. In about 8-10 minutes I had an entire song. I love when that happens. The interesting thing is that I've been really frustrated all week and couldn't figure out why or where it came from. There's someone in my life that I've had no desire to talk for about 5 days. I knew I wasn't mad at him really, just no real desire to say anything to him at all, nor really anyone else, but some of you have been able to pull me into conversations.

So, I thought I was done with the song and then some more things were coming so I wrote it all down and realized that the last time I spoke with him, he cut me off mid-sentence. That was it. Forget it, I'm done. It wasn't even a big deal, but he does this all the time. He's not really listening to me--his mind wanders and so it doesn't matter what I'm saying. If he has a thought that seems important at the time, he speaks. And because he wasn't listening, he doesn't even realize that he's doing it. Meanwhile, I feel extremely unimportant. Normally, I'd probably just give him a hard time and go on, but with the leg not healing, the keyboard driving me crazy, being broke and not leaving the house to work, I was beginning to lose my mind.

What is more sad, I think, is that I can totally talk about him in a public forum because he will never read this. He knows this blog exists but doesn't care to surf over to see what I'm up to. He's never even seen www.toyotacamryismynemesis.com . Again, he knows it's there. Is that bad? Or just expected after we've known each other for 9 years?

Rhonda

Roland Tech Support and Bob Guiney

2006-01-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

I finally did it. I broke down and called the stupid tech support folks from Roland about the keyboard. I was ready to take the thing back because though it has some really cool features, there were a lot of things I couldn't figure out, like how to record and save a song. Shouldn't be that hard and why put a sequencer in something if you can't save what you record? Well, come to find out, it's a little wierd, but it's possible and I'm sure will become easier with time. At least I hope so.

I also did (musician code for "recorded") a guitar track for "Riding Through Indiana in a Pontiac" today. I wasn't in the mood to sing though so that was it. But I'm thinking it needs piano on it too. Then this evening, I headed down to the Poison Room to hand out some flyers for Tuesdays show. I love that place. Fortunately the smoke wasn't bad so I could hang out for a while. I finally got to see Buckra after years of waving to them at music conferences around the country. After that was Bob Guiney aka Bachelor Bob from "The Bachelor." I, of course, never watched him on the show but have run across him on Oprah, The View and other such things. He's cute and cuddly looking in real life too. The music is what you'd expect--kinda Matchbox 20 or any other random band that you sing along to on your FM dial. I was sorta hoping it would be a train wreck--just to make me feel better about myself--but it was pretty descent. He's got a nice voice for what he was doing, surprisingly high for a man, but it works.

He or someone from the club ordered a bunch of LaRosa's pizzas. I don't know if it was a ploy to get folks to stick around, but it didn't work and they have massive amounts of pizza to contend with. I just enjoyed watching "Anchorman" on all the TVs while watching a band. Watching Jack Black punt the dog off the bridge made me chuckle. I needed that.

Until tomorrow--
Rhonda

Still practicing and with Patrice, too

2006-01-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

Yep, I sat down in front of the keyboard last night, while everyone else in the house was cackling at American Idol, I was doing part to not suck this weekend. And, work on some new things, too. So, that was yesterday, at least. Today, I was sitting at the keyboard trying to figure out the sequencer and try to understand it better when I got the phone call. I was suddenly on family duty. No emergency really, but someone needed help that only I could give them. I hate having to be responsible. But I got up and drove 66 miles so I wouldn't get blamed for the rest of my life. Then I went to visit my dad. Then I went to my mom's house and mooched food from her. Then I went to a Mary Kay party at Patrice's, and at 11p, we got to run over some new songs. Finally. Hopefully, we'll have a couple new things for you this weekend in Columbus, and more coming soon.

Love to all,
Rhonda

Shows, Caffeine stupor and more

2006-01-23T11:16:00.000-08:00

The weekend was chuck full of good shows to be at and I was fortunate enough to spend time with some great folks in Eaton and Cincinnati. Friday was an interesting show since it was my first with the new keyboard. A little disappointing because I've practiced, but there were so many tunes (brand new, old, covers) that I couldn't remember anything. Thank you to Tim Jones and Mark Bell for bringing out their friends to be with Patrice and I.

Saturday was lovely. The worst part of being a performer is that you are always performing and don't get to see your friends' shows anymore. So, I was thrilled that Tod Weidner (shrug) came out to Rohs Street to share the evening with me. A good time was had by all.

So, Sunday I had planned to do a lot of things but was exhausted from drinking coffee late Friday night ( it was very tasty) and then not getting any sleep. I was going to record a little jingle I made up at 4a Saturday, but couldn't get the recording stuff to work right. I ended up making dinner instead--that doesn't happen very often.

What did you do this weekend?
rhonda

Oops! The days are flying by

2006-01-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

I have actually been practicing. I even learned two new covers on piano. I've just also been writing this week. You can find a review of the Shrug disc, "Whole Hog for the Macho Jesus" and also an interview with Shrug frontman, Tod Weidner, at www.i-see-sound.com . That was lots of fun, but hard work. Not used to cranking something out that quickly.

So, tonite is my first show with the new keyboard. I'm a little concerned since I've been really frustrated with the sequencer aspect (that's how you record and make drum loops and such) and I'm considering exchanging it. I need to hurry and decide and it took me 2 weeks to decide on a refrigerator and then I chickened out and didn't buy it. I'm not good with decisions and especially not quick decisions.

At any rate, I've got some new things planned and looking forward to being out and about, though I'll be missing some great shows tonite. The Star Killers are playing, Backseat Virtue, and a bunch of others. Can't wait until tomorrow's show with Tod Weidner at Rohs Street. I hope that some folks come out. If you've never seen him, you will not be disappointed. He's an amazing talent.

xoxo,
Rhonda

I must admit.../ Sam Ash and Practicing

2006-01-17T21:22:00.000-08:00

Yea, so I didn't practice yesterday, but instead I interviewed Tod Weidner of Shrug. He's one of my favorite songwriters. Hopefully, the review of their new disc will be up on www.i-see-sound.com tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

Today was a new day though. I finished a course on www.songu.com before I even got out of bed this morning. I worked on writing the Shrug article. Then I went to Sam Ash to get a case for my keyboard and my salesman, Jon Rohs, was busy so I sat down in the keyboard room and practiced. I actually made some progress on the new song so I worked on it more when I got home. Still struggling with the chorus. But then I started practicing for this weekend's shows. Then I got interrupted, but when I got back at it, I played lots of guitar songs. Nearly everything I know. It feels good to just play sometimes. Looking forward to being out again this weekend and I can't wait to see you all.

Much love,
Rhonda

ps--Blame Ray Bigelow for the snow. He was playing Snow Emergency yesterday to get the snow to come.

Colts lose/24 Season Premier

2006-01-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

Interesting day. I took a nice long walk, something I haven't done since sometime in November. It felt good to be out and feel the sun shining on my three layers of clothing making me very, very warm. I enjoyed it anyway.

I did take some time to work at the piano today and then worked on my lyrics after watching the last 14 minutes of the Colts/Steelers game, which was painful. I'm a Steelers fan, but was rooting for the Colts since my doctor is in Indy--I feel like I have some sort of bond with them. Plus, I don't know if they've ever even been to the Super Bowl. At least Manning was able to get through the entire game without losing any body parts. They'll be back next year.

If you didn't know, I'm a huge fan of the tv show 24. I've been looking forward to the premier for several weeks now. So, we had a little 24 Viewing Party at the condo with some popcorn and goodies. We sat on the floor on blankets so we could also eat and before I knew it, 2 hours had passed. Great stuff. Thanks again, Keifer and I'm looking forward to the next two hours tomorrow night. Just sad that President Palmer is no longer with us. I wanted to vote for him in the last election.

Well, hope everyone is having a great long weekend.
Ciao,
Rhonda

Learn Rock Guitar

2006-01-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

It's amazing, but after you've been playing guitar for about 6 years or so, you can get through a beginners "Learn Rock Guitar" book in one evening. I guess it's good to know that I've learned a few things over the years. The question is now, should I get the next level book to make sure I didn't miss anything, or just move on the level I'm actually in? They could be one in the same which would be a bit disappointing. Hmmmm, what to do.

I did work on my lyrics some more too, but I didn't really get anywhere. I'm really stressed out about the leg right now so I feel like I'm not accomplishing much of anything. I have to totally immerse myself in something to forget about it. I did do some crutch-assisted tap dancing today. That was fun. Oh, and I posted new x-rays today at www.toyotacamryismynemesis.com .

Much love,
Rhonda

Home Studio

2006-01-13T22:09:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to leave the house around 11a today to run errands and get things done. Instead, I got in the shower a little after 1p. I started messing with an all vocal version of "Unrelenting." I don't think it would ever work necessarily, but it was interesting to try. I'm still trying to figure out the software I have and that was half the problem. The rest of the time I was just attempting different things to see what worked and what didn't. I also did background vocals for "indie kid." Let's just say, I haven't figured out the effects or the volume, but I can at least get something recorded.

I'm hoping to sit down tomorrow and rewrite the lyrics I've been working on...just make another pass and see if something comes together a little better. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but I always know when it's not right yet. I'm having issues with the chorus still. And the prechorus. I'll keep you posted.

Have a great weekend--see a show,
Rhonda

Studio Today

2006-01-12T20:05:00.000-08:00

Spent most of the day at www.studiothebambooroom.com with Erwin Musper and Knob Overlord, Adam Pleiman. Fortunately I didn't have to do much except make decisions, Ryan Child got to make all the noise. Pretty fun. We added cello to:

Nothingness
Wishing
Witches
Evidence
White Wedding

I'm tired and am still dealing with my new song. I'm hoping to rewrite the chorus tomorrow and see if that will fix it.
Must sleep,
Rhonda

All Music, All Day

2006-01-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

So, the day began with me being afraid to go to the basement. What I didn't explain yesterday is that I wrote these really cool lyrics, but I couldn't find any music to go with them. I went to bed tired and frustrated and then couldn't sleep because I wanted to finish the song. But this morning, I wasn't in any hurry to try it, because I didn't want to fail. So, instead, I spent the first 2 1/2 hours of my day playing cover songs (just in case I want to cross over to the dark side sometime.) Then I took a shower and went to the keyboard. Fortunately, the first thing I really tried was closer. Next, I refined my chord structure and voila--a new song. I think. I still have to come up with lyrics for the prechorus section, but other than that, it's not bad.

Personally, I'm just thrilled that I had an idea all by myself, at least lyrically. And if it sounds too Postal Service on the keys, then I can switch it to guitar and sound like any number of female acoustic acts. Eventually, I'll play it out and we'll see what everyone thinks.

I did take a little break to work on booking, write some reviews for www.i-see-sound.com, and make homemade chocolate chip cookies. But the rest of the day was all practicing and figuring out what we're doing in the studio tomorrow.