Happy Halloween!
I hope Samhain treated you well this year.
I, personally, had a very chill weekend. But let's be honest. I celebrated Halloween during the entire month of October. Something I really love to do is dress for the occasion. I'm not a hardcore, detail oriented cosplayer, but I enjoy making my own costumes for not only All Hallows Eve, but also for the occasional convention. This year was the Halloween of many costumes. For example:
I started the month with Princess Mononoke, getting to show her off at Halloweenapalooza day 1 of October, and again with a photo shoot half way through the month. Then, last week, I brought on the "Forest Witch", a very freeing and sultry aesthetic.
This past Friday, I played my last solo show of 2016 in Moline, IL during an event called "Noche de los Muertos", a street fair and celebration. I came as Wednesday Addams, and left as half a sugar skull kid. The crowd was wonderfully open to my somewhat depressing music (in my mind if tends to be that way), and even though I was working through my old habits of self doubt and anxiety, I ended the set with a fun crowd participation song where every one howls to the moon.
Saturday, we did a little work, going to a show, like any good musician should, and my original plan was to be "Arnold" from "Hey Arnold". But wouldn't you know it? Global Warming left me sweating before I even left the house, so I changed into regular old street clothes. Lame, I know.
But yesterday, it was the night of Halloween! And I had my final costume picked out. Pusheen, the cute and lovable loaf of a cat. Again, it was a hot day, but I persevered through the sweat and wore that cat suit with pride, picking up my partner's niece from the school bus, teaching lessons, and handing out candy. My dear cat, Luna, hated the costume, but she hates other cats in general, so I'll chalk it up to that.
Today, day after Halloween, I will lovingly put all my costumes back in the closet for another time. I'm sure you'll see them again next year. On to bigger and better things, right? Like new songs? You betcha.
Last week, I hit into a patch of good humor, and came up with two new songs for the upcoming album. I love them so much, I'll have more B-sides than before, aka, a couple of the original picks for the album have just been booted. I'm doing my best to let the music take me where it wants to go. And, I'm thinking that a bit of electronic beat making (and frustration) may be in my very near future. With that in mind, I'm still plugging away at the initial production. Guitars, drums, auxiliary percussion. It's very slow going at this point, but I'm doing my best to keep at it. I think I'll put up a clip of something next week. Until then, stay tuned for more updates!
peace and love and all of the above,
nalani