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