Happy 71st Wizard of Oz. I wore out my copy by refusing to take naps unless I could watch it to fall asleep to...looking back I'm not so sure that was the best choice of movies to fall asleep to.

Heavy head. Heavy heart.
Play. Repeat. Skip. Retreat.
Nevermind the heaviness.
Nevermind the why.
Nevermind waiting for the time to pass us by.
I met you when I knew.
I met you when I was new.
Heavy heavy I heard is your heart?
Play. Retreat. Skip. Repeat.

Radio Hill. A Tape Machine. The Dots. A full-band tracking day for a couple more songs that insisted on being part of this record. Looking forward to sharing the finished product soon. Getting to that point where you only see the inside of the studio for days in a row...which means soon might actually be soon...we hope.
Always hope.

New flier I made for our show next month. Looking forward to playing the new tunes live. Hope you Los Angelenos can join us.

Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my. Monday is Tuesday is passing us by. Bye-bye. Walking down the street the taping of feet. In sync with strangers we might never meet. War is wondering if the war is meant to end. If peace was a paycheck might we cash it in?

Oh but Boys will be Boys.
Girls will be Girls.
And our little ones will one day rule the world, or rue the world.

Don't cling to pain like a cat never fed. Let your mind tell your body it's all in your head. Again. But the walls of the human heart are as thin as tissue paper but we're always making plans for later. Don't dress wrong in all the right clothes she'll still sing a song solemn and slow.

Oh but Boys will be Boys.
Girls will be Girls.
And our little ones will one day rule the world, or rue the world.

Talk is cheap (don't pay for the truth). Man is cheaper (don't have to be you). Fun is expensive now a days (but you don't have to pay). Maybe god likes his letters lowercase.

Oh but Girls will be Boys.
Boys will be Girls.
And our little ones will one day rule the world, or rue the world.

Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my. Monday is Tuesday is passing us by. My oh my.

I'd like to write a story about anything being possible. Then I'd like to live in it, wrapped up like a baby on a cold night in September. I want to whisper 'I know' in your ear and mean it. But for now I must go, or I'm gone. For now you must leave, or you'll never stay. Let us live, or we'll die again.
It's time. 

 

Had much fun designing this...

by Seaton Brown in Pershing Square (Downtown Los Angeles). 

I just got back from a trip to Palm Springs...a couple days out of LA is good for the soul. My Momma retired from teaching the end of this school year so we went out there as a celebration of her and all the hard work she has done over the years. My Mom is the best teacher I've ever known but it's time for her to pursue other endeavors - I'm excited for her. We had a amazing time out in the desert - good friends, family and sun...cervezas and pools didn't hurt either. Now it's back to recording. I spent the last two days in the studio barely catching the light of day. I feel like there's still so much to do...but I'm getting it done!

I forgot to bring a camera but at the end of our trip we did some mobile phone documenting...and yes, Sonny Bono is in all of our pictures.

Took the subway to Hollywood. A gentleman on the train challenged me to a game of basketball said if I lost he got to take me out on a date. Another guy sitting next to me told me I was too skinny and that I should eat a taco (in spanish). My Dad picked me up at the Hollywood Highland Metro station. We got caught in traffic because Hollywood Blvd was shut down so that Tom Cruise could go zip-lining across the street for the Jimmy Kimmel show (this all happened about 10 yards in front of our car). My Dad told the security guard holding the traffic he hoped Kimmel or Cruise were paying for all this mayhem, the guard said 'no your tax dollars are'. Finally we arrived to see Jon Brion at Largo (a father's day gift to my Dad). Got to the show and I ran to the restroom - on the way out Fred Armisen (from SNL) and I collided into one another. He was so kind and concerned that I was ok that it made me wish it was Saturday (Night Live) night so I could go home and watch later. And then the show we were meant to see...Jon Brion did his impression of Tom Waits singing Katy Perry's 'I Kissed a Girl' (among other feats). He also played 'God Only Knows' and made the audience of 300 sing it - we all broke off into parts of our own volition and managed to cover both the melody and harmonies - pretty amazing. After that since there was no SNL to be watched my Dad and I went for a drink and closed down the bar. The end.

All in one night. Thank you Los Angeles. Thank you Dad. 

Summer came and went and I forgot to set
foot on the shores of a beach.
And now it's Summer again
and I rest my sometimes heavy head
on saying never...never again. 
And to all the world worn souls,
resting soundlessly in their private dens
Together again find a long lost friend
in Summer.

Walking down the street the tapping of our feet in synch with strangers we might never meet. The click of the trigger, a fall like a loaded gun. War is wondering was the war ever meant to be won. Children rest your heads on the souls of our wounded men. If peace was a paycheck might we cash it? 

Did quite a bit of singing today for the new record. Then the earthquake scared the crap out of me. I'm a native Los Angeleno and I should be used to it...but I'm not sure you ever get used to the earth moving under your feet. Today we worked on a song called 'Nothing Nada Nothing'...song sounds a bit like the repercussions of The Rolling Stones getting locked in a room (overnight?) with the Andrew Sisters. It was a good day. Lions and tigers and bears oh my - Monday is Tuesday is passing us by...

To blog more frequently. Here. On our own website and feed it with a click of a button to the rest of our social network (identity?) pages. Ah modern technology.

June gloom in full swing here in sunny Southern California. I'm staring out the window at a little girl punching a purple balloon waiting for the bus with her mom and littler sister. She's punching with such conviction that I suddenly feel lazy, more so than usual. These 4th floor wide open windows are staring down at Broadway, can't help but think that street has seen so much more than I ever will.

I'm glad it's a weekend.

Hope yours is lovely.

We are new. Every day. And older. Every day.
Analog popcorn...makes me feel like yesterday might survive.
As might I.

He lived down the road with his head full of gold, his eyes full of magic and mime. He told us a story of life, love, and glory. He said that he meant it this time. A self-proclaimed 'master of love yet a master of none'. As a master to some...he lived just down the road.

A land full of exhibitionists with not nearly enough spectators.

Hey friends,
I've been nominated for a Lionheart Award a $5,000 grant to put to good use for my non-profit organization I HEART. It's quite easy to vote for me just click here and then on the left side of the page click I Support This Lionheart and you're done! No signing up or giving email addresses etc. 
Thanks much! Fingers crossed!
Love,
Rose
arose_iheartinc11822

People are mean...some. Sometimes me?
Sometimes you know that sorry will never be enough...but you pretend. I pretend.
Moving on because really what else is there to do? Wallowing is unbecoming.
People wallow...some. Sometimes me.

There sits a wide open window with a woman in a long red dress, hair dark and strong. Orange walls and a barber chair. Pink rollers, aluminum, Aquanet. The way it used to be. Hairdresser comes out on firescape for a smoke. Confidence in his masterpiece emanates across the 5 lanes of traffic that separate his window from mine.

I saw an art exhibit - poetry on carpet. It was lying on the ground. Most people stopped to read and acknowledge the poems while one person decided to walk on the carpet much to the gallery owner's chagrin. I left thinking the man that stepped on the poetry rude as he was also somehow helped illustrate the artist's point.

Our parents give us names that might give us greatness.
Years...in letters.
Our parents give us wisdom that might save us, might learn us before the lessons falls hard.
Years...in sentences.
And passion. They give us passion and pain and then hopefully we build things that mean more than us.
Years...in Art.

Would you like to borrow my sweater a while? I'm not cold if you're not cold she says with a smile.
The weight of her words like water to the fields...let all that leaves your lips grow.

Days crash like waves and you beg for more with just enough in your pockets.
But you have the Locket that never held a picture, nothing ever fit within it's limits.
You have the Postcard she sent from the end of the earth...signed with a kiss, I forgot to miss you.

Of course I have or haven't I ever been. In love, I am. You. Once.
Is that not what you think of me?
Am I a Starfish or a Pepper Tree?

The River runs where none other could and the dawn smiles upon nothing but good.
All things apologize in the quiet light for the thanklessness of another last night.
You carried her shoes to the shore, so much sand so little time.
And you missed her standing next to her but she was gone before you met.

Of course I have or haven't I ever been. In love, I am. You. Once.
Is that not what you think of me?
Am I a Starfish or a Pepper Tree?

And you pray for something to remember...these days are yours. These days are yours.

- a poem inspired by Kafka on the Shore