August 8, 2006:

:: NEWS! ::

I've lined up my very first songwriter round in Nashville at a new hotspot called Lyrix.
Wednesday, September 20th
94 Peabody, 615-734-6426

I'll be taking the stage at 9:30 with Jim Sales and Julie Durden. Barbara Cloyd is the host.
Rounds start at 7:00, there's an open mic starting at 10:30,
and apparently the food is good too, so I'll be making a night of it.

I'll also be at NSAI's Song Camp 102, workshopping new stuff, and attending some panel events where there'll be opportunities to pitch songs to some publishers... yay!

Great news from FACTOR today as well (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent on Record).
They're going to sponsor me for half my expenses. Double yay!

My San Francisco vacation was a blast -- of heat! Arrived the first day of the monster heatwave and left the day before it ended. Whew! Click here to read all about it.

While I was in California (and feeling guilty about all the fossil fuel I burned up getting there and back..) I read an issue of the American version of Common Ground magazine.

A few interesting factoids:

2.5 million Number of new plastic bottles used by Americans every hour
6 Number of times more plastic than plankton floating around in the ocean
46 million Number of tons of trash created by California annually
(enough to fill 2 freeway lanes 100 feet deep from the Mexican to Oregon border every year)
90 Number of developing nations whose combined GDP adds up to
less than the amount Americans spend annually on garbage bags.

Check the Links page for my new Link of the Month. Photos will be posted soon in the Gallery.

What I've been reading...

The way we eat : why our food choices matter / Peter Singer, Jim Mason
I can't seem to get enough of finding out where my food is coming from. Organic rules!

My dream of you / Nuala O'Faolain
Summer fiction from one of my favourite Irish writers.

Villages/ John Updike
Finally finished this one after three renewals... he writes detail so wonderfully.


Current Day Job:
Wrapping up my second oral history project for Craigdarroch Castle, a national historic site in Victoria, BC.