tropical storm vanessa (HOME, 34,568 miles)

hello dears,
i find it hard to believe i'm sitting at a computer, since i've been sitting in my car for the last ELEVEN hours, navigating I-20 in the midst of a blinding and driving rainstorm. I wrote a song on this tour - in fact, I wrote it on the first day of the tour, as I was driving to Indianapolis in the rain for SIXTEEN hours - and there's a line in the song about chasing the rain....well, today, the rain was chasing me. Twice, I tuned into AM radio to hear that I had just passed through a county in which funnel clouds had been spotted. I drove in a tornado watch for who knows how long, and there were many stretches of time when the only things I could see were two little pinpricks of red light belonging to the car in front of me. sheer madness.

and yet, I made it home. The Restless Traveler tour has drawn to a close - this leg of it, at any rate (though one could make the argument that my entire life is one big R.T. tour). And I have to say - it was SUCH fun. Thank you (again, a million times over) to the musicians I toured with and the friends who took me in. It would not have been possible without your kindness and generosity (and that means you - Doug, Heather, Emily, Shelley, Dani, Elisa, Vicki, Michelle, Beth & Ted, Cheri & Aaron, Aunt Sam & and the gang, Julie & Brianna, and Keith).

So I try not to eat junk food while I'm driving (and the struggle is a mighty one), but today I just broke down. I don't know if it was the gray gray skies or the incessant downpour or the fear of losing my life in watery blaze of glory, but I couldn't stop eating junk. I wanted to say "crap" there but that sounded gross. Anyway. For lunch, I ate Popeyes fried chicken (and mashed potatoes!), something I haven't had in forever....for dinner, I bought a chopped beef sandwich and a danish at a gas station (what???), and then later had to stop for milk for the danish...my breakfast was coffee cake (read: a pound of brown sugar, resting heavily on top of a thin layer of breading)....all of this while I had nuts and fruit in my cooler...something just possessed me, I suppose. The only other food breakdown I had was on the 10 hour drive from DC to Atlanta (lay's potato chips, a snickers, and a dr. pepper), so I guess I could be doing worse. I know that I will be eating lettuce exclusively for the next week as penance (save Thursday, of course).

I had a lesson in how-big-Texas-is today. I was driving from Birmingham to Dallas, and you pretty much take I-20W the whole way. Since I was heading west, the mile markers were decreasing, so I could always tell how far I had to go until I reached the next state line.... AL, MS, and LA are less than 200 miles wide (at least at the I-20 section of the state)....when I hit Texas, I nearly snorted my dr. pepper through my nose (yes, I had one of those too).... it's over 600 miles through Texas on I-20 - and that's definitely not the widest part of the state. Crazy.

What else? The new album is coming along and if God will grant me just one more favor I don't deserve, it'll be ready in time for the tour in January. If you've pre-ordered, you'll be getting an email from me shortly with a longer update, and if you haven't - what are you waiting for? You can click here to do so: http://www.vanessapeters.net/icecream/thinthread.htm
Makes a great Christmas gift! As would a copy of Sparkler for all of your nearest and dearest...

So I'll be taking it slow (-er) in December, then gearing up for the tour in January with the band (please please please mark your calendars now!), and then on January 31st I'll be skipping across the pond again for some touring, Continent-style. We just booked our first show in Italy for Feb. 24 if anyone is looking to take a late-Valentine holiday.

So please keep in touch. And of course, I hope your Thanksgiving is full of just that. I know I could never list the things I have to be thankful for, but if you have read this far, then I know you care (at least an iota), and that is just one of the things I am grateful for. :)
until the next time,
t.s. vanessa

Digital Recorder for Sale

hey kiddos,
more interesting entry coming very soon, I promise...
but for now - I'm selling my Fostex MR-8 digital recorder. It's been used one time, and I still have all the original packaging and the manual. It is in perfect condition. I'm throwing in the Smart Media card I bought with it as well. $300 OBO, and if you are in Texas, I'll deliver it to you.
This is a great system - super user-friendly and great for recording live shows and working on scratch tracks at home. I just never got around to learning it and now I'm unloading equipment I don't need.
let me know if you are interested - info@vanessapeters.net
a tour wrap-up coming soon....
love
vanessa

having a capitol time (Washington, DC - 31,891 miles)

ciao!
a capitol time! get it?! ba dum ching!
okay, enough bad jokes (for now, anyhow). i'm sorry for the blogging backlog...that means this entry will either be woefully inadequate and short, or ridiculously long. it depends on how long my hands hold up typing on these tiny laptop keys (have my fingers gotten fat?).

nothing is worse, by the way, than typing a huge blog entry and having it vanish. BLAST.

the last time we spoke, i had just arrived in Brooklyn, NY and Bush was still in office. Some things have changed, and some things haven't. ahem. That was two weeks ago. Since then, I have been through, to, over and around New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, and back to Maryland (a little bit of backtracking is essential to an indie musician's tour).

I have seen Joan Baez and Sarah Harmer in concert, as well as Thea Gilmore and Howie Beck. I have overeaten almost every day and still managed to lose a pound or two, thanks to all the walking. I'll bet Vicki and I walked 30 miles in the few days I was in New York. We walked all over Greenwich Village, Little Italy, and covered many miles in Park Slope (Brooklyn). We ate at a Mario Batali restaurant (Otto), which was good but overpriced. We had Ciao Bella gelato (bad, and overpriced). But we had $5 Thai food that rocked, tri-berry scones, and my new favorite indulgence: a cafe au lait made with half and half instead of milk (oh, the decadence!).

i've said it before and i'll say it again...if it weren't so cold....i would totally stay here. this is such a great part of the country. tree-lined streets, lovely old brownstones, red-brick paved sidewalks, parks a plenty and an awful lot of energy. the cold and the high rent is what keeps me away. still, i see why so many musicians live out in this part of the country - it's a lot easier to tour out here, because the concentration of cities is so much denser. oh yeah - the tolls would keep me away too. i bet i've spent close to $100 on tolls since I've been up here. really.

before i lose this entry as well, i want to take a minute to reflect on the incredible good fortune i've had on this tour. i have 5 dates left - i can't believe how quickly it has passed - and in 6 weeks, i have yet to pay for a hotel. i have been blessed with incredible friends who have gone out of their way to make sure i was warm, well-fed, and had a comfortable bed (she said with a nod of her head). My friends Cheri and Aaron organized this concert for me today, lent me a cell phone for a day, and packed me a lunch for my drive to NC. They even labeled my food with the cutest notes - my sandwich ("a little sandwich music!" - my publishing company's name), my apples ("apple green and charcoal gray" - a song of mine), my grapes ("you have a GRAPE voice!"). so cute and sweet. the guys and gals of Buhanan Records in NC organized a great concert and showed me a wonderful time in NC - and thanks especially to Alex for playing accordion with me during my set. The accordion sounded unbelievably pretty with "apple green." thank you!

my friends beth and ted made me ravioli last night and blueberry pancakes this morning. vicki fed me and housed me for 2 weeks, indulged my baby food cravings, took me to a Joan Baez concert, and was an all-around fantastic host and friend - and despite spending all that time with me, she has still decided she wants to be my manager. No, really. Her new company is StellaStar Music, named after her little 7 month old star, Stella, and she's going to help me take over the world, one fan at a time.

I've only gone the wrong way down a one-way street once so far, and it was yesterday in DC. And the other guy was so nice about it.

thank you, thank you, thank you to the lovely audiences so far. Williamsport, PA, Keyport, NJ, and Riverdale, MD have been especially fantastic, though everyone has bowled me over with encouragement and support. In Carrboro, someone came up to me and said, "you are just a beautiful person. You play guitar beautifully, you have a beautiful voice, and your lyrics are beyond beautiful. Thank you." I stood there a bit dumbfounded and finally managed to say, "No, thank YOU." Such kindness keeps me going on those long, long drives.

What else? Thanks to all of you for reading this far, and for all of your encouragement. And please, please, please - start gathering a group of friends and make plans to come out to an Ice Cream on Mondays show in January. We all want to show the band a fantastic time, don't we? (yes, we do).

all my best to all of you and THANK YOU AGAIN! (It's the lovely fall day that is making me feel so darn grateful - that, and all the kindness).
take care,
vanessa

Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY. 10.31.04. An amazingly beautiful park, just around the corner from where my friends live (I'll be staying with them for about 2 weeks). Brooklyn rocks. 

Uncommon Ground, Chicago, 10.24.04 I believe if you go to their site, www.uncommonground.com, you may be able to find a recording from that night. I'll be posting songs on my website as well (one day). 

This photo sums up my long drive from Canton, OH to New York City (much of which was made in the wee hours). The $6 scrawl in the corner represents my frustration at the toll to cross the Holland Tunnel (a $6 toll??) and was my in-motion attempt at keeping track of any and all expenses... 

Here's a shot taken from a scenic overlook just as I entered New Jersey, on my way to New York City. I think this was the only time I have stopped my car to take a picture during this whole trip (though I have wanted to many times).