Band, Book and Birthday
June is always a fun, busy month for me, not least of which because my birthday is on June 22. It's also the first month of summer, gay pride month, and usually my favorite weather in LA (not too hot yet, but plenty of beautiful, sunny days).
This year has been no exception. Kicking off with the video shoot for "Winnipeg Beach" the first weekend in June, we were expecting it to be cloudy and cool which I thought would be appropriate for the video since the initial concept was that I was bringing home part of Winnipeg back to LA in my luggage. However, we were all pleasantly surprised when we got to the beach and it was a gorgeous, warm day!
The next weekend was LA Gay Pride and it was a fun one. It was a little mellower than in past years which was probably good for me. We didn't have any out-of-town guests, no gigs or parties, but I did celebrate in the festivities each day. Friday we went to the Purple Party, which was a new free night at the festival grounds where Macy Gray "performed" (she only did 2 songs, neither of which was "I Try", and then left the stage, returning later to badly DJ for awhile). Saturday, Dylan and I went down to Westchester to pick up a keytar I found on Craigslist for $40 and to visit Amy at her new place. That night, we went dancing at Eleven and then hung out with Andrew, Luther and Vampy til the wee hours. Sunday we got up early, I made my pride donuts, and we went to Marc's for a pre-parade brunch party. We had a great time at the parade and the festival, where we saw Margaret Cho, Justin Utley, Transkontinental and others on the main stage. Dylan got worn out and went home eventually but I stayed until the end so I could watch Sam Sparro perform, who I really enjoyed.
The weekend after that, Dylan, Ben and I went down to Long Beach to hang out with our friends in the band Crush. The Traitors and I will be opening for them (along with Swivek) at their record release party on June 30. We had a BBQ with them and I got to listen to the whole new record. The next day, we had a Traitors/Turbo Sunshine rehearsal at Elene's and she cooked dinner for us all.
My birthday was on Wednesday the following week and since it was our turn to host dinner club, we incorporated that into my birthday party. I invited a few extra guests and it ended up being probably the biggest dinner club we've had. Every plate in our house was used except for two - and we have a lot of plates! It took us a few days to get caught up on washing dishes!
Elene's birthday is the day after mine, and she had a party at Bar One on Friday night so we went to that and had a great time. I really enjoyed chatting with Dinah Steward, a singer/songwriter who is a friend of Elene's.
Saturday I spent most of the day finishing "My Antonia," which was our book club selection for this month. I had over 100 pages left but I finished it around 1 a.m. I really enjoyed this book, and didn't think I would at first. But very quickly, it started reminding me of my childhood home out on the farm in Kansas - it's actually set in Nebraska, but in the area which is virtually the same as the high plains of Kansas where I grew up. Immediately, the main character's grandparents reminded me of my own, and their farm in the book was so similar to my grandparents'. It was a really fun book to read.
Sunday we had a Traitors rehearsal, our second with Myles on drums, and it was great! I am so thankful that Myles is helping out and adding a new layer of sound to the band. I've never heard him drum before but I had confidence in him because I know that whatever he does, he gives it 110% and does things the right way. I'm so excited for our show on the 30th.
I've also been doing Robin's boot camp in the evenings, and I've only missed three days or so which is really good for me! It's much easier for me to work out in the evenings.
This has turned out to be a great month, but of course it has flown by way too quickly. I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy it!
This year has been no exception. Kicking off with the video shoot for "Winnipeg Beach" the first weekend in June, we were expecting it to be cloudy and cool which I thought would be appropriate for the video since the initial concept was that I was bringing home part of Winnipeg back to LA in my luggage. However, we were all pleasantly surprised when we got to the beach and it was a gorgeous, warm day!
The next weekend was LA Gay Pride and it was a fun one. It was a little mellower than in past years which was probably good for me. We didn't have any out-of-town guests, no gigs or parties, but I did celebrate in the festivities each day. Friday we went to the Purple Party, which was a new free night at the festival grounds where Macy Gray "performed" (she only did 2 songs, neither of which was "I Try", and then left the stage, returning later to badly DJ for awhile). Saturday, Dylan and I went down to Westchester to pick up a keytar I found on Craigslist for $40 and to visit Amy at her new place. That night, we went dancing at Eleven and then hung out with Andrew, Luther and Vampy til the wee hours. Sunday we got up early, I made my pride donuts, and we went to Marc's for a pre-parade brunch party. We had a great time at the parade and the festival, where we saw Margaret Cho, Justin Utley, Transkontinental and others on the main stage. Dylan got worn out and went home eventually but I stayed until the end so I could watch Sam Sparro perform, who I really enjoyed.
The weekend after that, Dylan, Ben and I went down to Long Beach to hang out with our friends in the band Crush. The Traitors and I will be opening for them (along with Swivek) at their record release party on June 30. We had a BBQ with them and I got to listen to the whole new record. The next day, we had a Traitors/Turbo Sunshine rehearsal at Elene's and she cooked dinner for us all.
My birthday was on Wednesday the following week and since it was our turn to host dinner club, we incorporated that into my birthday party. I invited a few extra guests and it ended up being probably the biggest dinner club we've had. Every plate in our house was used except for two - and we have a lot of plates! It took us a few days to get caught up on washing dishes!
Elene's birthday is the day after mine, and she had a party at Bar One on Friday night so we went to that and had a great time. I really enjoyed chatting with Dinah Steward, a singer/songwriter who is a friend of Elene's.
Saturday I spent most of the day finishing "My Antonia," which was our book club selection for this month. I had over 100 pages left but I finished it around 1 a.m. I really enjoyed this book, and didn't think I would at first. But very quickly, it started reminding me of my childhood home out on the farm in Kansas - it's actually set in Nebraska, but in the area which is virtually the same as the high plains of Kansas where I grew up. Immediately, the main character's grandparents reminded me of my own, and their farm in the book was so similar to my grandparents'. It was a really fun book to read.
Sunday we had a Traitors rehearsal, our second with Myles on drums, and it was great! I am so thankful that Myles is helping out and adding a new layer of sound to the band. I've never heard him drum before but I had confidence in him because I know that whatever he does, he gives it 110% and does things the right way. I'm so excited for our show on the 30th.
I've also been doing Robin's boot camp in the evenings, and I've only missed three days or so which is really good for me! It's much easier for me to work out in the evenings.
This has turned out to be a great month, but of course it has flown by way too quickly. I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy it!
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