...boxing conditioning sessions, karate and piano practice...

Believe it or not, I think I've found a hobby to make money (more on that later). The hobby that's giving me my body back is definitely boxing -- although I'm going to make a concerted effort to give karate a chance this summer because I'm so abysmally bad at it, and I should allow myself to be really bad at something for awhile, to see where it goes. 

I love boxing because when each swing is deconstructed and I can get it into my body, it makes perfect sense. I feel as though I'm using my physical self to play a very elaborate and exhausting game of chess. If I can make my body outlast the other fighter, if I have enough stamina to outlast the fight itself, I may win -- but more importantly, I will outgrow myself.  That has happened in a thousand ways since I started boxing.  It can't be helped. The more you learn, the more your body remembers, the more you grow.

It's the same with the piano.  Right now, I'm practicing scales and fingering technique. It's so labor-intensive that it feels like I'm working with someone else's hands.  They just won't obey me.  I'm going to stick with it, though.  I'm convinced that I'm sticking every note into my voice and making it stay there by playing it and singing it and playing it and singing it, one at a time, over and over again.

So that's my summer: boxing conditioning classes and piano practice; getting knocked on my butt all the time in karate; writing a slew of songs and recording them; and playing music with all my projects, including Georgette and my original Black Americana songs.

Oh! And fun the Jazz Age Lawn Party, of course... 

bye-bye, piano mine

I'm getting rid of my beautiful old upright piano by the end of the summer. No need to donate it to a church or anything like that. The action is busted and it'll cost more than its worth to fix it.  Needless to say, it hurts a lot to let it go. For all of the songs it pulled out of me. For the songs I could have written on it and won't. For the intervals I learned and the ones I didn't.  For the chords I dug up and dissected for a melody that wouldn't leave me alone. For all the weeks that went by when I didn't touch it at all.  For the one who gave it to me in the first place -- God bless him, where ever he may roam.

Believe me, I'll keep plunking away at this piano until it's all the way out the door. I'm still smoothing out all the wrinkles on a new song cycle for the next Black Americana album. I don't know the chords I'm hearing in my head and the only way I can find them is if I sit at a piano and feel my way through them. Until it goes, here's to the next piano I get.  Hopefully, it'll be another wooden upright.

And yes, that whole declutter the apartment extravaganza is going quite well, thanks for asking.

travel tips from this blackgrrl on the go

yeah, i know. you're not me. but if you're anything like me (and who isn't!), you'll need something on this list. i intend to do quite a bit of traveling this year, so i thought i'd touch on and review my favorite grrl gear and share it with all of you.

1. flip flops. put your shoes away and put these on when you get to the airport. if you do, you'll be the one to breeze through security.


2. a well-equipped pda. it's nice to have all the information you need on a city in the palm of your hand. and other stuff too. like an up-to-the-minute currency converter. a clothes size converter. and basic phrases in a dozen languages, stuff like where's the bathroom and when is the train leaving and who do you think you are. heh. stuff like that.


3. noise-cancelling headphones. this is essential, for obvious reasons. although they're pricey, they're worth every nickel. believe me -- when you're stuck next to that bratty screaming kid, you know you'll wish you had them. i highly recommend BOSE.


4. a pocket roll-up piano. if i can get to a flat surface, i can practice the piano. amazing.
5. an ebook reader. i want one of these more than i want an iPhone. of course everybody's got their version -- sony's is beautiful, amazon's looks straight outta the 70's, like tandy manufactured it -- and everybody has drm issues. they've got to get all of that straight before i pay $299 for anything. i'm sure apple will come out with their better, more streamlined and way more expensive version and blow everyone else's completely out of the water. i don't care. the idea of taking 160 books on the road with me without having to actually tote them around is very appealing. in the meantime, instead of buying the latest crap fashion magazine at the airport kiosk, lose yourself in a graphic novel. i highly recommend Fun Home.


6. basic black tea -- preferrably Earl Grey. because somewhere in there, somebody's going to work your last nerve. you'll need a cup of tea to calm all the way down and unless you're headed for the UK, you're not going to get it. case in point: nobody seems to have any decent tea anywhere down south. (and no, Lipton doesn't even rank.) getting decent black tea (twinings, for example) is a trip and a journey. you don't walk to the bodega at the corner, new yorkers: you get in the car and drive to the piggly wiggly, the cub foods, the red & white. and then you have to find parking. and then when you get inside, you have to find the right aisle. really, it's too much. way easier to reach into my purse and pull out some lapsang souchong. (oh, and watch out for that flavored non-dairy coffee mate. it's a lu-lu.)


7. a sports bra and running shoes. because no matter where you're going, you will feel the need to hit the gym and run a mile. i eat like a longshoreman, so working out is essential.


8. of course you're bringing your laptop. but if you're without an iPod or an iPhone like me because you're not ultrapayloaded just yet, you might want to join last.fm -- if there's an internet connection, there's always a ton of great music.


9. a digital photo frame. this is a beautiful thing. all your happy moments, ever changing and at a glance. last -- and if your skin is anything like mine, certainly not least...


10. khiel's lotion, lip balm and hand cream and liquid soap. i can't even walk to the mailbox without these products. because it's a dry, dry world out there. and i'm the blackgrrl that needs moisture constantly.