stonecupid

Chili

My husband (who is from Cincinnati) is making Cincinnati chili over spaghetti for us tonight. A guilty pleasure!

It was such a spectacular day in Ojai today. The weather and flora and sky were resplendent with springtime. A brisk chill in the air and gusty wind, but enough cloud action to remind me that yes we do have weather changes out here. They're subtle, tho. I come from Iowa, and my youngest brother just surprised me with a visit from there this weekend. He was on a road trip with his friend Don, his son, 2 of Don's kids and a german shorthair/beagle puppy who was very cute but had a penchant for pissing willy nilly and putting his forepaws up on the counters to get a better look. 

I had a concert in Ojai last night that went very well in the end, after light commitment in the community that had me in a hand-wringing, bawling tizzy on Thursday during which I vowed not to do a similar show in Ojai for at least a year. Too upsetting. I have the little jazz gigs at the Inn, sitting in with people, and sitting here practicing my guitar and writing songs for me and for my songwriting group. I will be playing Altadena on April 19th, sharing a bill with the same cool songwriter with whom I shared the bill last night, and I'll try to book Santa Barbara, Orange County, Northern California, Texas and Iowa for little jaunts this year. I'll play Tujunga in July. I'll be teaching, and setting up a performance workshop. I have plenty to do.

I went and spent a few days while the wildflowers were popping in the Anza Borrego Desert March 8-10. Above is a picture of a desert lily from that trip. 

My son has just come home with a funny movie he wants us all to watch. So I'll sign off.

Caffeine and Taxes

I'm doing everything I can to postpone getting back to my receipts readying for the date with the tax accountant on Friday. It's a yearly ritual, and every year I vow to do upkeep as I go along, or input to Quicken, or start sooner. But every year we make our date with Ed, and jam to prepare for it just days before his arrival. I've been on my email, my listserv, my linkedin, my tea and now coffee (Obama blend= Kenyan+Kona Blend) to steel myself. Now I'm here and this is getting ridiculous. It's zero hour and I have to add up all the receipts I sorted yesterday.

Here goes nothing. And it's a lot of nothing this year.