HAPPY NEW YEAR!



2004

Rather than make up a list of shit that I'll never do this year, I'm just going to sum it up by saying I'm going to make this a year of self-improvement and trying to me some happy. 2003 pretty much blew, so there's nowhere to go but up!

New Year's Eve started out poorly, but eventually ended up being really fun. I was CrabZilla because I had my period and I was crampy and sick to my stomach and of course pissing and moaning. I tell you this so you can get an accurate idea of what a fucking DIVA I was when we got to our gig.

The first mishap was driving to Worcester First Night and trying to find where we were performing. The directions had us take an exit off the highway and then said "drive until you see the festivities." That was it - end of directions. Say WHAT? Could they be LESS specific??? Amy and I drove together and she drove while I navigated. I fully admit (and this is well documented and known) that I am NOT good with maps...my brain just will not compute for some reason when I look at them. That being said, I was pretty useless trying to guide us to wherever the fuck we were supposed to be. We eventually found it after driving all over downtown Worcester and then asking a cop. I was annoyed.

We got there and no one seems to know anything. It appears they only hired people over the age of 70 with no social skills to give out information. Eventually a dude brought us to where we had to be and when we walked in, we nearly passed out. We may as well have been in Indiana Jones' Temple of Doom. This was a GIGANTIC STONE ROOM that could have easily doubled as a train station or nuclear war shelter. Now, if you don't know much about sound issues I'll let you know that this room was an acoustical NIGHTMARE. Clearly the people booking these types of things know nothing about acoustics or just don't give a rat's patootie.

We did our sound check and knew there was no way to salvage the sound, so we came to the decision that if it was going to sound like ass, it was at least going to be a loud ass. We cranked up the volume. I was annoyed still.

So, we have two sets that evening which meant that we were singing for nearly two hours. Most venues plan ahead for that kind of thing and supply WATER for their performers - in particular vocalists - but nooooooooooo. No water. Nowhere. I asked Grandma and Grandpa First Night info shleps and they said there was no water, but I could go down the street to the CVS and get some. I said in a very snotty voice "I'm not travelling for water."

I've been trying VERY hard to cut out sugar from my diet. (There's a reason I'm telling you this) I've been doing really well not having it at all and feel like I've really accomplished something good for my health. Sugar is like crack to me, though. Once I have it - I cannot stop. So, after being told there was no water my only alternative was ginger ale from the soda machine- which has tons of sugar. I through a hissy fit over that because I was annoyed that I was being forced to drink this when I had worked so hard to get it out of my system.

Eventually a very nice gal brought us some water, but not after I had bitched and moaned about it to anyone with ears AND drank almost 2 cans of ginger ale. We decided that we have to ALWAYS have water in our contract now. Oy.

Despite the acoustic nightmare we faced, the show(s) went well. I thought we performed great and we had a huge crowd. People were a little hestitant at first (probably since they were being blown away by the sonic noise they were faced with), but eventually really got into it. We sold a ton of CDs and a lot of people came over to tell us how much they enjoyed it. By the end of the night, I felt a lot better and was in a great mood.

After the show, we jumped in the cars and headed out towards Swampscott. I was fussy (and probably annoying to Amy - so sorry Amy!) about going. I was in full-out Diva-mode courtesy of Mother Nature, so I wasn't sure if I wanted to drive all the way out to Swampscott only to have everyone leaving as we got there. I eventually felt guilty about not going and agreed to go as planned.

I'm glad I did.

I had a GREAT time. The party was thrown by our friend Nancy and her husband Whiskey. Whiskey's band was playing and Ben and I each sat in and did a tune with them. I did "All of Me" and Ben did "Summertime." The interesting thing is that I never really get to hear Ben sing because he's doing his vocal percussion thing all the time. I have to say, I really, really love his voice. He's got one of those super-cool, laid-back but really high impact voices. It's just smooooooth.

Ben then proceeded to sit in and play drums too. So, let's review. Ben plays:

-Piano
-Violin
-Does Vocal Percussion
-Sings
-Plays Drum Kit

Amy and I were like, "what CAN'T he do?" So we started joking around saying, "need an atom split? No problem!" The kid's super-fucking talented and a real sweet guy on top of that. It's nice to know him and be around him. But he makes me sick with all that talent.

The party was a test for my will-power because there was tons of booze and food there. I successfully avoided any more sugar and had nothing to drink except water. I felt very victorious that I didn't chow down on the butterscotch cookies that were screaming my name from the table.

Another part of the party which I found amusing and revolting at the same time was this guy that we'll just call DUDE. DUDE was obnoxious. He was talking to me and Amy walked in and he said, "I like HER!" All the while, staring at her chest like he was about to dig into a juicy steak. Yuck. I mean, Amy's got a great rack - but have some class, yo.

Anyhow - he was just gross. He was there with Nancy's neighbor as her date/boyfriend and hitting on EVERYONE in the room. He pulled me up on the dance floor and started rubbing up on me like a dog in heat until I told him to beat it. He also did this crazy dance by himself which I repeated for Ben, Amy and Nancy later after he had left and we all found that quite amusing.

Overall, though, the crowd there were very friendly and fun. The guys in the band were really happy to be playing, and I think any party where people sit and and play is a good one. It was a fun time. Good times.

I'm back from Crankville and in retrospect realize that despite all of the obstacles and oddities it was a great night. I am very lucky to be able to sing and make money at these types of things, and I'm also very lucky to know such great people. Amy, Ben, Shah, Nancy and Whiskey made the year 2003 come to a nice close for me - and I thank them for that.

Here's to a prosperous and happy 2004!





- posted by Taunia @ 9:53 AM