One week....

Today....

I become her wife.7 more days.

How lucky am I?

I ask you.....

New for Mothers Day!

So, new in MuseKraft land is this piece that we made for Mother's Day. Check it out at our site www.musekraft.com or at our etsy site where you can custom order your own piece, with your own words on it if you choose. It's a beautiful piece and I wear this exact one around me neck.

We will be putting up new pieces especially for mothers day really soon, so keep checking back!

xxM

Picture perfect...

Driving back to LA today, we happened upon this beautiful body of water.I think its the San Gabriel something arother. We pulled off the road and D went climbing down the hill with her camera in tow to try to capture the moment.

We did our last show in sf last night and caught up with the last mates this morning and now we head back to get ready for our wedding and for our move into our home. We are very excited and so ready....

Xxm

Tonight....

This is the space for tonights house concert at Cindys. It's warm, its sweet, its Cindy Buck for goodness sake.

Xxm

Harris Farm Ranch

This is what it makes us do everytime we drive past. The stink of cows poop make us want to cry. Imagine if that was what people thought of when they thought on you (I only know a few things and one person that causes the same reaction). Oh poor cows at Harris ranch....

Xxm

There's snow on den der hills...

Ha! I can hear my Midwest friends say...that's not snow!!! Yes, tis true but hopefully all the snow my chicken butt is going to see.

We are bound for my beloved Bay Area for a weekend of shows and fun things with friends. The first lot of mates fly in for our wedding this week too. Mates kerrie and rachel come in from my hometown, Adelaide. They come into the usa for the first time ever and are hitting some fun west coast spots before the wedding.

Anyway, its a big month in our world...another one, and we are excited for it all...and, in 4 weeks...we get to move into our house. After 5 months of being away from her, I can hear her loud and clear.

Xxm

Some things just aren't sacred....

And of course I mean the selling of an inferior brand of tim tams at ralphs grocery store here in the usa.

I think I stood and looked with my mouth open wide....shocked and appalled I tell you. Arnotts biscuits...what were you thinking when you sold them a license to use???

Xxm

The day..

Is coming to an end as we made the drive back to LA from Las Vegas. I think its a great way to combat jet lag...perhaps.

We have 4 weeks till we get married and everything is ready...except what we are wearing so part of today was spent clothes shopping. It was mostly fun and we are definitely well on our way. We have mates flying in from all over the country, and the world and we are both giddy with excitement over it all.

This is what I think on out here in the Nevada desert this monday.

Xxm

Ummm

A tv in the mirror in the bathroom? Now, I could poop with that...

Who thinks of these things?

I love the flamingo so far, even with donny and Marie Osmonds faces all over the side id the hotel!

On the road....

Driving to Las Vegas, the memory of a hot Australian summer replaced with a cold rainy day out here on highway 15. The comfort I find in the tour van....the smell, dashville, my girl, the crew of friends we are driving to meet for an adventure this weekend.

All of it keeps me warm inside and puts a smile on my face.

Xx m

The view from here....

Yes, believe it or not, this is someone's view...from their apartment. I just sat and stared at it, trying to absorb it all and take in the beauty of it. It felt very special to sit there and just look. Watching the cars go back and forth across the bridge, watching the city as it turned to night and all the beautiful lights came on. The friend who lives in the apartment told me that the first night she stayed here she walked in and saw the view and burst into tears...it's that awesome.

Of course, this is Sydney Harbour. Somewhere I would never live but was grateful to have a few moments to soak in the beauty of her. Of course...I might consider living here if this was my view every night!!

We fly home today after 2 1/2 months of being here. My sweetheart got to see my country from the ground up. Living with friends and family, sharing with them, loving them more and becoming part of their world.

And now we say bye for another year (or until they all get their asses over to the US!!). 

Tis always the hard part.....

xxM

FAIR DAY......

We arrived back in Sydney last night and found out that it was fair day here in Sydney on Sunday. Fair Day is the equivalent of Pride Day in the US.

A huge park, lots of naked men wearing chaps, free condoms and lube, lots of entertainment..you know, everyone being just who they are...in all their glory.

We walked around it holding hands, smiles on our faces, sweat on our brow...it's was so fucking hot we could barely last a few hours but came away with lots of fun photos and swag. None of which we have room for in our bags (which by the way we are putting off repacking because we are scared of how much shit we have to pack...).

D is making her way through a pack of tim tams and we are all indulging in yummy frangelico while we sweat up a storm here in Sydney (secretly I am jealous she can eat tt's and put on NO weight at all...lol).

Homeward bound....

xxM

Dreaming of Kidogo...

Our last show in Perth was at a place called the Kidogo Arthouse. It's a 100 year old limestone art gallery that sits on the edge of the Indian Ocean in Fremantle. There is no seating...just wooden floors that people bring blankets and cushions to sit on. People bring picnics and wine and groups of friends and sit and share dinner together before the show starts. You can sit and listen to the sound of the waves crashing outside and smell the salt in the air.  It's a magical building and I have always said its my dream to find venues like this in every city I play in.

It is actually one of my dream shows to do. Relaxed, intimate, friends sharing with friends, amazing history and acoustics, it feels really earthy with an open appreciative audience that is happy to do and go anywhere. We finished this night with a song by U2 called 'Still Haven't Found'...and it was stunning to sit back and listen to 100 people sing it back to me.

Perfect show. 

xxM

The Duty of The Aunt

 

This is me, my niece Skyla and nephew Ethan. We had a 'Bindi' birthday party on the weekend to celebrate their 6th and 3rd birthdays respectively. Skyla does an amazing Bindi Irwin impersonation. 

This morning, I am off to do Aunty duty and take Skyla to school and go watch Ethan do gymnastics....yay for Aunty duty....at 7am. The musician in me is screaming 'who gets up at this time?'...just seems so wrong. lol. 

We have one more week here in Australia. My heart feels sad to leave my country, my family and summer but then, it's also excited. Excited to be heading back for our wedding, to move into our house (at last) and to start creating our home and for some of the great playing opportunities that are starting to come in for the year. 

It's always the dilemma my heart faces....the juggling of missing and excitement.

Off to school then!!

xxM

Adieu....

We just spent two days down south again....saying 'see you later' to the ocean...the one that looks like this:




















This is bunker bay and by far my most favourite beach in the whole world. Any wonder why. The water was a little chilly this day but it called to me the second we hit the sand and I just dove in and didnt want to come out.

But then, it was our mates Jemma & Jane calling us out to whisk us off for lunch and a few beers later and a wonderful sunset and this is what we were reduced to:














Good mates that we say bye to for another year (or until they get their asses over to us). Makes both of our hearts hurt to say bye to them. Where's my giant suitcase when I need it?

Shows finished, oceans swum, bbq's had, aussie cup full...now its back to Adelaide for the final week of family time and 6 year olds birthdays and then we start the journey home. A little browner, a little wider (well, me at least!!) and our hearts filled with love for our mates. Dionne loves it here and often times has looked at me and we have pondered moving back here together. For now though, our home in Indianapolis is calling us...and our wedding day and a year filling up with fun shows, festivals and creativity.

xxM

Just because.....

So damn cute....and the joey aint bad either.

I was under pressure to provide an opportunity for my visiting loved ones to witness a Kangaroo. It was starting to weigh on me. One day, we stopped in a little beach town called Busselton and were finishing eating when we looked up and low and behold..there, on the grass, were three baby joeys. A man, who I will call 'Rick', was looking after them. Pulled them out of their dead mummas pouches on the side of the highway and was nursing them to a place where they could just go out and be back in the wild...of some sort. Or at least, just not dying of thirst and starvation on the side of the road.

They were absolutely beautiful and I felt like a good Aussie.......

xxM

Me and a Kite

This is an Australian Black Kite...it's only a baby, about 18 months old. It sat on my arm and I looked deep into it's eyes as it looked deep into my brain...a kite can see so well that you could hold a newspaper a mile away and it could still read the headlines. I felt like it was checking out the lines in my brain as it looked at me and seeing my own reflection in it's eyes was kinda humbling.

We have a week and one more show left in WA. It's been awesome to be here. To hang out with mates, to do some great shows, to swim in some awesome water and to just be. My heart pines for the house that we have bought and the home we will create but I am trying to keep myself present here right now, enjoying every moment. Being grateful and open to the possibilities. A million people have asked us if or when we are moving back and my mate Jemma keeps threatening to hide my passport. Who knows really, but not right now is the answer.

Keeping in the moment...

xxM

It's how we roll....

Sunday nights house concert with our mates Jemma & Jane. It was a magical night in White Gum Valley...the weather was close to perfect, the moon close to full, the crowd magnificent. It was one of those shows where everyone felt excited to be there, they were ready to hear music...to listen, to laugh, to be involved.

We have another 10 days left here in Perth and three shows...a lot of swimming to do and mates to hang out with. It's been a great time and I wish I could bundle them all up and take them with us. Just makes us committed to coming back more often.

Oh...and I bought a didgeridoo today. It's been years. I started to learn how to play about 15 years ago up in Darwin and stopped because I was told it was disrespectful to the aboriginal people. I have been talking to a number of folks about that and was recently told that there are some tribes where only the women play and that generally, if a women's ceremony is taking place then a woman plays the didgeridoo. So, I bought one and got it shipped home. Hoping oneday I can play it respectfully and spiritually...that day may be a long way away though coz damn it makes me dizzy to play. Gotta get that circular breathing going!

Anyway, this is our life...today.

xxM

A perfect day in WA.....

This is a Wedge Tailed Eagle we met up with today at Eagle's Heritage Rehabilitation center just outside Margaret River. They have about 40 birds there in huge cages. Birds that have been tortured or injured by stupid humans. We met one bird that kept crying like it was lost, we found out later that it was kept in a parrot cage and had cigarette burns all over it when these folks found it. Stupid humans. There were birds that are released each day for a big ole fly around and come back every day to their cages, to the people that help them heal. It was pretty awe inspiring to be that close to birds of prey, birds I grew up with flying around South Australia. I remember them talking about how they were pests, how they carried away baby sheep and how they needed to be culled because of that. Many wedge tail eagles are now extinct because of government mandated shooting programs. Stupid governments.

We then wound our way down Caves Road towards the tip of Western Australia where we found ourselves at Cape Leeuwin, its the most south-westerly mainland point of Western Australia and it's the point where the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. The Southern Ocean seemed prettier today - three shades of beautiful turquoise green but a little too rough to really swim in.

We stood on the edge on the Indian Ocean side and spread a small portion of Tyler's ashes...knowing that he would have loved being here with us in person and knowing that he was here with us in Spirit. It was his birthday last week, 5 days after mine. I watched my girl scatter his ashes and felt a familar pain in my heart for her loss, for my loss and for our loss....I also felt incredibly proud of her and the fine person she is in spirit, soul, heart and body.

I marry her in two months.



From a perfect evening here in Margaret River. Our second bottle of local wine, fresh food waiting to be prepared for dinner, parrots squawking outside.

Hmm...what will tomorrow hold I wonder...

xxM

All photos (c)2010 by Dionne Ward & Martine Locke. Please don't steal them.

The Irish are Coming....

We are having a 'nanna nap' right now, getting ready for our show tonight in Perth. It should be a fun, relax show at a local irish pub. My mate Jemma is playing the show with us too and I have heard that they have the best guiness on tap...what more do you need, I ask you!? Love Irish pubs, I am yet to see a 'real' irish pub...in Ireland...but that will come soon enough as we have already started talking about doing a tour through England/Ireland. Will give the guiness report then too.

We have had a busy week of shows and family. D's dad and step mum came into town on thursday and we have been walking the city and trying to stay cool. Last night we had a family get together and they got to meet my mum and Jemma & Jane, who are family to me. It was wonderful to sit and watch them all talk and tell stories of growing up in other countries and traveling. I felt honoured to sit there and witness it and to listen.

Of course the highlight was the bbq...which is very australian, and very needed. Feel like I am getting back in touch with my Aussie roots, another dozen or so bbq's should do it.

So...what do you think the caption of this photo (taken by 42) would be then huh?

xxM

And now for something, completely different....

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in
1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the English issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666. The Scots raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards" . They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line in the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability. It's not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing."Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Americans meanwhile are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of their allies, just in case.

Meanwhile...

New Zealand has also raised its security levels - from "baaa" to "BAAAA!". Due to continuing defense cutbacks (the airforce being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister's bath), New Zealand only has one more level of escalation, which is "Shit, I hope Australia will come and rescue us". In the event of invasion, New Zealanders will be asked to gather together in a strategic defensive position called "Bondi".

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No Worries" to "She'll be right, mate". Three more escalation levels remain, "Crikey!', "I think we'll need to cancel the Barbie this weekend" and "The Barbie is cancelled". So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

Perth....

We arrived in Perth two days ago and have already hit the markets in Freo, gone for a swim at South Beach, eating breaky at the fav cafe and had a bbq. It's nice to be back and sitting in the warmth and love of my friends Jemma & Jane.

Jem and I have known each other for about 13 years and Jane and I for about 7 years and they are real 'heart' friends. I haven't seen them for 2 years and yet instantly we were sitting talking deeply about life and laughing hard over silly things that no one but us gets. And they have both welcomed Dionne into their hearts and world with open warm arms. It's yummy.

My mum flies into Perth on Tuesday and D's dad and step mum fly in on Thursday and we all all get a few days to hang out together. They haven't met each other yet and I am excited for them to do so. We are taking D's dad and step mum down south for 5 days to Margaret River - probably one of the greatest places in the world. AND in between times we have a slew of shows - both solo and Velvet Janes shows to do.

I feel very blessed....on this, my birthday.

xxM

Me mum.....

This is, of course, my mumma. For anyone who has read this blog before you have seen her before.

I love my mum a lot.

She drives me crazy sometimes but I miss her when I am away and still cry when I think about her not being on the earth anymore. The same way I cried about it when I was 12 or 13.

I think most of us have such up and down relationships with out parents. I didn't have a relationship with my dad for the last 15 years or so of his life because he wasn't a nice man at all and I just decided that I didn't want him near me. I cried when he died but it was more because my little brother cried when he told me he had died and I didn't like to hear my little brother cry.

I am so grateful for the way my relationship with my mum has grown as we have both gotten older. I realized a number of years ago the best thing I could do was to just let her be, to not try to change her but to celebrate her just the way she is...with all of her quirks, none of which I have inherited of course.

I think if I can move through this life with her sense of humor and her ability to still smile widely and truthfully, even after all that she has gone through, then I have indeed lived a successful life.

xxM

Port Pirie....

My family and I are all hanging out together all week up in a town called Port Pirie. For those who have never heard of it, its about 2 1/2 hours north of Adelaide and honestly, was never a place I would have considered coming for a family hang out. We have a mate who has a holiday house up here and it turns out, its a wonderful place with amazing views of the ocean. You can't really swim out the front, which is a bugger, because of all the rocks and HUGE blue crabs...but it's nice to sit out there and sip some wine as the sun goes down.

We have been playing board games, card games, eating, taking walks on the rocky beach and watching movies. We tried to go crabbing yesterday but ended up being either too scared to venture into the deep seaweed to flush them out or just kinda giving up in a fit of 'oh well, we tried...and didn't want to eat crab tonight anyway'. At one point my nephew Spencer and I were joking about driving up to the deli up the road and buying a dozen crabs for $17....although we couldn't quite work out how to explain to everyone why they were frozen (when, afterall, we had just spent hours catching them....ahhm).

Anyway, it's been a lot of fun to hang out and to have this time to spend with the family and for them to get to know Dionne. I am not sure if she is quite chilling with the Aussie sarcasm just yet but she definately is in there holding her own!!!

We hiked out to the end of the Port Germain jetty yesterday which is almost 2kms long but before we did, the ladies of the family got together for a quick pickie! This is three generations of our family together.....all of whom I adore and are proud of.



Now just to work out how to get them to move a little closer....hee hee

xxM

The New Moon....

This is the moon that greeted us and welcomed the new year in for us here in Adelaide. I took it as a good omen...a beautiful welcoming into a great year. I do believe this will be a big year. I am marrying my sweet love, moving into our house, creating a beautiful home filled with art and light and love, recording probably 2 new cds and continuing to develop and experience this truely creative life.

I feel very blessed. Sick of me saying that yet?! Well, I can't help it. I do.

Last show in Adelaide tonight and then a week vacation with my whole family together by the beach. Hopefully some time to write in there and to sit and soak in my family....and possibly the two will combine!!

xxM

the after xmas...before new years thing

I think I have run my girl ragged over the last three weeks. We have walked over the whole of Sydney and gone to just about every favourite bit I have ever had here in Adelaide. Hanging out with the family has been a lot of fun and watching them get to know Dionne and laugh and joke with her has been awesome to watch and experience. I think we have both put on 10 pounds since we arrived...well, maybe just me...I don't think Dionne could ever put that much weight on. Drat it.

Anyway, we had a beautiful xmas day in the botanical gardens with my whole family together and the weather has been mostly performing well....tomorrow is going to be 106 degrees (41 C)!!!! Whilst part of me would prefer to be in that kind of heat instead of the kind of freezing cold I keep hearing about back in the US, 41 is actually a little too hot, even for me. Think it will be an 'inside' day tomorrow. Our first day out on the ocean resulted in us both getting sunburnt to the point of peeling, which we both kicked ourselves for. We head out to Pt Pirie next week for the whole week with my family and will be on the beach every day while we are there...so hopefully, we have learnt a good lesson this week!

We have our last show here in Adelaide this saturday but before then, we have New Years Eve to celebrate tomorrow. I want to have some moment with myself and with my girl tomorrow where we can reflect on the past year and give thanks for it. Separately and together.

It's been a big year of HUGE changes and exciting developments;

Dionne gave up her job in LA to come and work with me on the road and to develop a new career for herself as well as slotting into performing with me. She proposed, and I said YES with tears in my eyes and happiness in my heart. We gave up our apartment in LA and put our belongings in storage for 12 months. We drove 26,000 miles in 6 months (41,000 kms) touring from one side of the US to the other. We traveled to 4 countries and experienced all of their cultures wholeheartedly. We bought a beautiful house in Indianapolis (which we wont get to live in until April). We fell in love more and more and more and I feel blessed and grateful everyday for the life that we are creating together. And then, to cap it all off.....we got to spend xmas and nye with my family in Australia.

And I got to do what I love doing for another year.

For all of this, and so much more, on this eve of new years eve....I am thankful.

And for you, gentle reader, thank you for being interested in it all for another year. Thank you for turning out to the shows. For buying the cds. For singing along with the songs. For booking house concerts and for continuing to believe in what I do enough to keep turning out.

Here's to a successful, love filled, experience driven 2010........and to taking time to say thank you.

Thank you......

xxM

The Curiosity....

I bloody love this photo. The little fella reaching out with such curiosity, his big beautiful eyes and his long eyelashes coming towards the lens....I think a second later he tried to grab the lens to see if he could eat it, but in this moment his beautiful, gentle curiosity was breath taking and heart touching.

I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.
Eleanor Roosevelt

xxM

(photo by Dionne A Ward)

Happy Everything.....

happy xmas, happy hanukkah, happy kwanzaa, happy friday to you......wherever you be this day. If nothing else, I think of xmas day as a day to sit with the people I love for a while...share good food and good laughs and be grate-filled.

On this day, I am extremely grateful. That I get to have all my family together, in the same place at once and to look at their smiling faces and to laugh hard with them......such a tremendous gift I have been given.

Be safe my mates, tell your people you love em and raise a glass towards the sky in honor of gratefulness....

xxM

The story so far....

So, it's the night before the night of Xmas eve and we are both sitting here soothing our burnt skin.

Yes, it is true....we went to the beach and surely didn't pay too much attention to our sunscreen....the old 'slip, slop, slap' was lost on us.

We pay for it now.

My mum has stories to tell of having to slather me with aloe vera from head to toe when I was a kid. Seems fair skin and red hair really does mean BURN....its still not pretty, and I am a dumb ass. As I keep saying to D, we will only ever do it once....well, once again, after a long long time of not doing it.

We spent the day walking through the Cleland Wildlife Park on Monday. My brother Anthony and I pretty much grew up right around the corner from there, so it's a favourite place to visit everytime I am back. And you know, for me, hanging around with all this tame wild life never gets old....like these little fellas:




How could that get old???

Or this for that matter:



We ran around the park like little kids feeding all sorts of animals and staying mostly away from the Emus....coz you know I have a bad story about an emu and a banana.

Baby Kangaroo feeding number 1:



And baby kangaroo feeding number 2:


...okay, they're called Joey's but baby kangaroo just keeps coming out of my fingers.

Tuesday we headed down to Semaphore beach for a 'date day'. Just me and my girl, a beautiful ocean and a distinct lack of sunscreen. Oh the arrogance of us. Silly people we be. We walked the beach and out along one of the jetty's out there where we happened upon this fellow:



It is of course the famous Mr Percival and I kept asking him where Storm Boy was but he just kept looking at me with this look on his face. Storm Boy, of course is an Aussie movie about 'one boy's love of a pelican'.....hell, don't let them put that on the ballot...it would surely be voted down in a landslide.

NO PELICAN LOVING ALLOWED.....

Tis a glorious time here in the homeland, it's as hot as hell and we are expecting a storm coming in tonight. Thank goddess. We are both lathering ourselves with aloe and hanging out with da familia on this night before the night of xmas eve.

Thanks for checking out the photos, there are about 600 more thanks to the veritable clicking talents of my sweetheart and I am sure I will bore you with them all by the time we are done.

xxM

The Grace...

Scenes from Thursday nights gig. Twas fun, loud and raucous. More on January 2nd....you know you wanna come to the gig.

Thanks to 42 for the photos.....amazing job!!!

La Familia......

This is my niece Skyla and I...it was our first day in Adelaide and the first time I have seen her in two years. She has grown up so much...and wow, you should see how she jumps rope, I was super impressed.

We just did our first show here in Adelaide and it was a full house of fun people. I always forget when playing shows in Adelaide how most of them are on good size stages with great PA systems and lights and it always feels easy on stage. Usually D and I have to pull sound ourselves and are lucky to have a candle, never mind a full stage set up. It just made our work easier, you know?

Anyway, it was a great fun night and I think we did really well on stage together. D was a little nervous because it was her first time playing here, in strong Velvet Janes territory, but people clapped loud and cheerily when she sang and it was wonderful to feel the love. It was also amazing to catch up with friends, some of whom I have known since I was 14-15.

(side bar...my brother just walked into the room and said 'mmmm, toasted cucumber sandwich...can't beat it'. Weirdo.)

Lots of family stuff planned. I bloody love it. Miss my family like crazy and want to squeeze every second out of my time with them. AND I am trying to talk them into coming to the US next year for a white xmas...would be amazing.

xxM

Blue Mountains

We spent the day hiking and driving through the Blue Mountains yesterday. It's a spectacular part of the country - akin to the Grand Canyon in some ways (but different in others) but with more trees. We caught the railway down to the bottom - this is a picture of us (me and D, Nerrilee and Alex) as we are leaving...it goes straight down at about an 80 degree angle it seems. You literally have to hang on with your bum cheeks to stop yourself from sliding off the seat. It's over faster than a sneeze and strangely enough, they played the Indiana Jones theme song as we went down.

I didn't like that.

I wish they had've played an Aussie anthemic song. It seemed wrong.

Anyway, we did our first house concert here on Saturday night and it was a lot of fun, with a lot of laughs. Some of the crew who use to come see The Velvet Janes when we played in Sydney turned up and it was nice to see their faces and catch up after the show. John, a regular music lover all the way around and fine supporter of what I do, brought me this huge bag of Aussie treats. Use to be that he would bring red frogs (google it) to gigs because sure enough the red food coloring would go to my head and make me a little giddy. People liked to watch that. Hmm.. In the bag this time were tim tams, mint slices, minties, arnotts chips and twisties and fantales. God, it totally brought it all back for me...growing up as a kid here and spending 20 cents on a bag of mixed lollies. Sure as hell couldn't get anything for 20 cents these days. Which is the other thing I noticed, everything is SOOOOO expensive here. I paid $4.50 for a meat pie yesterday, I almost fell over backwards.

But it was worth it.

Did I tell you, I can't wait to get to Adelaide. I get to see my mum, and I will cry. But that makes me very happy too. Go figure.

xxM

Something to live by.....

Need I say more, really?

Bondi Beach, New South Wales

In the homeland.....

So, our first day here back in the homeland started with a pick up at the airport by my good mate Alex...a trip to the supermarket to buy favourite things that I have missed in the 2 years I have been away from home and a drive through Bondi Beach and across the bridge so D could take photos. I fell asleep at some point....before going across the bridge and woke up in a little park on the other side.

It was a very refreshing, if not strange, nap.

Our flight across was fine...totally fucking squashed in though. I sure as hell haven't gotten taller or wider but damn those seats seemed squashed. At one point when the woman in front of Dionne pushed her seat back she thought she was reaching back to hug her....that's how close she came. Rules for flying are changing so much that it is making flying harder and harder and more and more difficult. When you are carrying as much luggage as we were and are, it makes it even harder. I found myself coveting those in first class and business just a little more than I have in the past.

Anyway, I had a quick call with my mum today...who is beside herself with happiness at our impending arrival in adelaide and it's 8.30pm at night here and I think I am almost ready to go to bed.

Or maybe have a tim tam before hand.....oh, the things I miss

xxM


oh...and here's a photo of my mate Alex....pretty, no? This was the piece of driftwood I picked up out of Sydney harbor...for my massive wonderful world wide art installation I am going to do when we get back to our house

Here we be....

Here we be....
Originally uploaded by martine.locke

All rugged up in the chilly LA weather. Heading to the airport to fly to Australia. Did I tell you I can't wait to see my mum?

Xxm

Saturday night...do da do da doo

Saturday night...do da do da doo
Originally uploaded by martine.locke

Yup, this is how we roll this Saturday night in LA. Time to catch-up with a few mates and only two more sleeps till we board a plane and head back to Australia for 10 weeks. My mum cried last night when she realised how close it all is.
Yay.

Look out my Aussie mates, here we come.

After wood fired pizza, beer and yanky mates of course.

Xxm

Good ole Aussies....

yes, that's us...always thinking ahead of the curve. never letting things take us down. being creative and ahead of the ball in ways of the creative.

and then, there's these guys.......



you can catch them pretending to be kangaroos at Sydney Fringe in January....

you know you want to...

the in and the out

IMAG0002.jpg
Originally uploaded by martine.locke

So, of course when one is on the west coast one needs to visit the magnificent eatery known as 'in and out burger'. Never one to say no to such a fine opportunity.....

cm

doah...

So I just realised that my last blog posting didn't even make it to blogger. Hence the reason why I have just changed my phone service and am no longer with T Mobile...my phone carrier for 7 years (and how I would upload my blog posts). I am a capricorn and very loyal by nature....that's why it took me 7 years to change phone service, I just kept thinking it would get better. But alas, twas not to be so.

Anyway, I had posted this photo:



This is from last Sunday at our favourite restaurant/bar in LA...and the scene of our first date 15 months ago....so, it carries some importance to us. Tommy (the tall one in the picture) is a sweet sweet man who I met in Illinois through my friend Amanda a few years back and he has fast become a sweet friend to Dionne and I. I will miss him when we head back to the Midwest. Anyway, we spent the afternoon together at The Abbey people watching and chatting and laughing..it was a tonne of fun, the weather was perfect, the conversation perfect, the people perfect.

I always find it interesting and often times saddening that my life and the people I love are spread out over so many different countries and cities. Of course, those are the consequences of a life spent on the road and traveling. I was thinking about that over the weekend and pondering on my dream to get them all together in one room so they could all meet, knowing full well that they would all love each other as much as I love them. I had a realisation that perhaps that wont happen until my funeral and how I needed to make it a goal to have it happen BEFORE then..lol.

I am grateful for the people that are in my life. For the love and happiness that they bring to me and me to them. For the lessons we teach each other and for the fact that I can't think of one person I call a great mate that doesn't make me hold my belly and laugh at times. I am blessed.

These are my thoughts this Tues...nope, Wednesday morning as I continue preparations for our trip to Australia...IN 6 MORE SLEEPS!!!!!!

xxM