The Twisted Gypsy

Watch this beautiful, creative commercial. Simple ideas told in a clear, innovative way, are so inspiring. It doesn’t take much to get outside of the box:

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Although I vowed to never eat at this establishment again, I do support this chicken:

A view from the January apartment…

So, we are working on this project in South Florida that has brought 6 different schools together with students from all walks of life.  Actually, they are from walks of life that you would never see having grown up in Kansas.  Ahem.  That is, except for if you worked in a very eclectic neighborhood in Chicago.  You get the picture.  They are completely different from me in oh-so-many ways.  With that said, I am totally fascinated by them and have learned so much just stepping back and listening to what they have to say.  Because they have had such struggles, such insanely difficult experiences, their emotional starting line is way beyond what you would expect from a fourteen year old.  It is humbling to witness them spilling their hearts out on stage.

So, after sharing so much of the darkness of their lives, they wanted to write an uplifting opening number, r&b style. Did I mention I am super white and from Kansas?  Did I mention Nippe is super white and Swedish?  Yeah.  So, here is what we all came up with.  When we were finished, we recorded a little demo to send out to them to rehearse. The verses are missing so the students can create their own solos, but you can hear where it is going.  In case you missed it, we are not r&b singers…but I am not quite sure it turned out to be r&b anyway. =)

Find_Your_Light_DEMO

We just turned Katy’s closet into a full on recording studio.

After reading some disturbing reports, seeing some disturbing documentaries and hanging out with some cool people I decided to try ‘vegetarian’ on for just a week. One week led to two and then two lead to three and and….

Side Note: When I was a kid, about 7, I was a vegetarian for quite some time.  After having a very traumatic experience at my friend’s family chicken farm (a whole fiasco of a story) I refused to eat animals for a while.  Eventually, I got over that.

Back to now.  Now I am perplexed.  I really hate labels.  I really hate limits.  Calling yourself a vegetarian or vegan (of course do it if you want to) really puts you in the corner (like Baby in Dirty Dancing.) Also, I am not going to lie-sometimes I crave a piece of juicy, red meat. So, I am going to be more conscious about the meat that I eat.  No more cheap meat.  No more eating animals that have been grown in a sunless, over stuffed, dusty coop and fed inedible substances. No more contributing to the problem. I am only going to eat happy animals that had happy lives or no animals at all.

We booked a staged reading of Let There Be Balloons in May in Ft. Lauderdale at this new bar/cabaret space.  So, this show has been on my mind and the topic of many conversations lately.

This song is sung by the father (Rupert) in the story. The Balloon Factory, where he has worked for years and years as the foreman, has just closed its doors.  Everyone in town is in shocked and struggling with what the future holds.  Rupert is also grappling with those feelings, but simply cannot let go of the past in order to deal with the now…

The Balloon Song- Listen Here