Back to Funemployment for a Week. Or, as Some People Call it, Vacation.

I've only been back to work for two weeks, and already I'm on vacation! No big deal. It's only a week hiatus. Gives me more time to blog! Seriously though, I've got plenty to do. I've got a fundraising campaign to launch!

My band, The Picture and the Frame, is gearing up to record a full-length album with a wonderful producer - Raymond Richards, who also produced Local Natives' debut record "Gorilla Manor." This is a fantastic opportunity. We've already recorded two tracks with him, and they sound great. The trouble is, we have to figure out how to pay for the rest of the album. That's where the fundraising comes in. We're in the "pre-launch" phase of our campaign, with the help of a site called Pledge Music.

If you'd like to hear the first cut from our new record, you can listen to it and download it for free here:

Just push the blue download button.


Catch up with my other doings after the jump.


What else have I been up to, of late? Saturday Alex sat me down to straighten out my finances. He wants to help me be able to retire at 50, he says. I know it's a good idea, but it's hardly the most fun way to spend your time. I told him he could arrange my finances if I could organize his damned closets.


I went to my first voice lesson in a couple of weeks. It felt good. Then I went home to tidy up and make sangria. I used pinot grigio, and I chopped up some honeydew, watermelon, and peaches in it. Note to self: get a melon baller. It needed a little something, so I added some of the Thai basil I've managed to root in my windowsill and some Grand Marinier. Jamie, Kim, and Alex came over around 7:00, and we drank sangria and chatted for a bit before going down to Guelaguetza for dinner. Guelaguetza is a lively Oaxacan place in a former Korean banquet hall. Inside it's like a hacienda, but outside it looks like a pagoda. They had a live band that night, with 3 guys playing a carved wooden xylophone. For those of you that don't know, Oaxaca is a region of Mexico known for its mole. We got a mole sampler for the table with rojo, negro, coloradito, and estofado, served with handmade tortillas. So good! I think the negro's my favorite, but they're all really yummy. Alex liked the negro so much, he ordered more for his entree. Jamie ordered the tacos de chivo (goat), saying he wanted to order the weirdest thing on the menu. I pointed out that they also served chapulines (grasshoppers). He said maybe he was okay with the second weirdest thing on the menu.



After dinner we stopped at Jamie and Kim's favorite Korean grocery store, where we found enormous Fukushima brand peaches. I don't think I want any part of those.

Sunday I went to a birthday party for a very cute 1-year-old named Josie. Her mom, Jana, really outdid herself with the whole thing. Gorgeous! Then Alex and I went to dinner at his friends Bryce and Nico's place. Delicious berry cobbler!

Monday and Tuesday back to work!