hello, june!

june is a very special month for me. first of all, there's juneteenth celebrations to revel in. it's black music month -- but isn't that every month? and yep, it ends with my birthday so i'm determined to find a fun, celebratory moment inside of every single day. i'm giving myself 30 birthday presents. let the games begin!

how cool that things begin with a solar eclipse today -- from what the hippies tell me, this ushers in a fresh, new start. i end the week with a stellar gig at the edison ballroom on 6/3 that should find me all decked out and singing billie holiday's earlier, bouncier, more upbeat material for the better part of the evening. to tell you the truth, i'm still marinating on an idea that's blooming and growing in my head from the performance i did at lenox lounge for the harlem jazz shrines festival in may. more on that later.

in a perfect world, i'd take a whole week this month to mix my next album.

the mermaid parade happens on june 18. that's always a good time. there are the free new york film society movies, of course. probably with daniel carlton. there's weekly sunday songwriting sessions with rawn and jon. really great, to develop those muscles and write and play and sing. and yes, i have to go to the jazz age lawn party and i have to dress up like it's 1920 and i have to enter the pie contest. i just have to. very curious about dances of vice's event powerhouse stomp, probably because i love cartoons so much. (a live orchestra playing 20s hot jazz? i'm there.)

the really exciting news is, i start my unlimited kung fu lessons in chinatown. (and really, how many can i possibly stand, with all the boxing i'm doing every day?)

hm. if i were smart, i'd get to spa castle at least twice this month. and ride my bike everywhere.

with a lunar eclipse on june 15 and another solar eclipse on july 1 (yowza! three eclipses in a month. how often does that happen?), i'm starting to wonder how this will affect the more mundane moments in my world.

oh, i almost forgot.

today's birthday present: day 2 of my detox fast. (un)fortunately, this is too extreme for me. i'm switching to juicing and raw foods. *sigh* i miss boxing...