The Mulanix Street Orchestra

I have some friends who are in a band. A good band.



I met them through some other friends and we just clicked! Even though they are all in their early twenties. One of them is asleep in my studio right now, and the lead singer is asleep in my kids' room (she has been sick and her roommate is out of town so she's nervous staying at her house alone, so I asked her to stay here and have been stuffing her with Mucinex and orange juice).

The one in the studio is also an art major. He has been using the studio to work on collage posters advertising their next show, which is this Friday, in town. They are also playing two shows in St. Louis next month-- one with a band that has been on David Letterman called An Horse. It's a band they are huge fans of, so playing with them means the world to them.

I think I have learned more about new music in the past few weeks than in the past twenty years.

J likes to hang out here because nobody knows where he is. It's a respite from his busy life and people constantly stopping by his house and making demands on him. It allows him to think and work on his art and be anonymous. Every day when I go out there, he has hung another poster or another piece of art or in some other way made it a cooler place to be.

At any rate: With all of these musicians hanging around playing guitar until the wee hours, I pulled out Tommy's guitar and learned to tune it (okay, still learning) and yesterday I learned two chords. I had to cut down my nails to be able to hold down the strings on the frets. It took me awhile to learn just two simple chords, so I just practice them over and over.

E, the singer with the cold, can really write the HELL out of lyrics. I am really amazed. They have a great sound (J is the drummer, but he plays multiple instruments, completely self-taught, and so is she).

I haven't really met or hung out with their bassist yet-- just have met him a couple of times at J's house.

At any rate, this has all been very fun and absorbing.

Sam has been at his father's since Monday, but the boys are here for a few hours today and I swear, this morning he is taller. He said he has noticed that he can look his father directly in the ear now. Good grief!

As for work, I am really busy right now! Which is great! I am a little leery because I am engaged to work on another huge grant this summer-- same grant, different clients. And we haven't really gotten started yet. I've been working on manuscripts for them, though, and a group in Toronto, so basically every day this week, I've been engaged with one manuscript or another. I have two more to do this week, and then one more next week. I just want to knock them out so I can get back to writing poetry! (I admit, the band and E in particular have inspired me to get back to it).

My knitting has stalled out since Christian's diagnosis-- I had to rip out a lot in the hospital because I kept messing up, but I am still "working" on a new shawl! With baby Alpaca. I think I'm focusing on guitar and poetry this summer, but I am sure the knitting will be in there too!

So, anyway, now you know (at least in part) why I've been so busy and too busy to blog!

In other news:

1) I hit a car in my drs parking lot on Dereck's birthday. Fun!

2) I am on anti-inflammatories for my rotary cuff and they are helping

3) The Wellbutrin is still helping me act like a normal person (aka, awake)

4) The children are now out of school!

Anything beyond that, well, I just can't remember because I had a running list of things to report in my head and then too many things happened to remember them all. But the important thing is that life is good and I'm having a hella lot of fun. I feel vibrantly alive-- which is the opposite of how I felt for most of winter.

I hope you are well!