APRIL 10th...

Wowzers, I can't believe that I've been married to the one and only Dave Ray cpa for seven years today, how is this possible?! We met when I was merely nineteen years old, tied the knot at twenty... yikes! I am now the age he was when we got married. We've been growing up, livin' lots of life and Time is a-flyin' as we try to learn a little everyday how to be better people together. As my dear friend Jayme Lynn put it so perfectly, I am a balloon and he holds the string. I drive the guy crazy, bless his heart. He is my complimentary opposite, my ground and my much better half and I am happy to be his gal. Seven Years down, forever to go...

And I am an aunt, hooray! My pretty baby sister, the girl I shared the twin top bunk bed with till I was seventeen, Katie the boo (and husband Lanny the manny) had her very own baby today... lil' Heath Bradley, 7 pound 6 ounces of perfection, he is so so beautiful and I so wish i could have been there to behold his newborn sweetness delivered straight from the Heavens, and hug my Boo for being a brave mama, she is a mom... double wowzers. He is the first grand baby and nephew in the White Family, making mom and dad a grandma and grandpa, pretty cool. It was a big 'ol good day and I am so very grateful for the gift of family... it is my everything. Thank you Lord.

EXCUSES...

I know. Lame Sauce. What's the deal.... I disappeared off the face of Brookie Babble, and left ya hanging on day nineteen of the 30 day song challenge, and i'm sorry, but I have my reasons and well.... i've just been... busy. Yeah, Busy with my real life. Trying to exist in it, be present in it, which has forced me to re-prioritize for a bit, say yes to some things and no to others as opposed to yes to all things, which has been my crazy mode of operation for about twenty seven-ish years. Basically I've been gone since 2008, and that was fun, mostly, but I made the decision to stick closer to home for a bit. To not go elsewhere, to just be, here, with Dave, and that has been good. It has allowed me to develop some habits, consistent ones for a change, at least for now.

See the plan was, after the holidays I was going to go to another place in another state for a while and make a certain record, and I intended on doing that, but it just didn't feel right, at least right now, well the going away part that is. So I decided that there are many musically talented folks in the state of California, and therefore here I be, making lots of music in California, and then returning to my own bed at the end of the day. I write and write and write and sing and sing and sing. It is a really wonderful thing, writing and singing songs, but it also drains the brain, by the end of the day it leaves me a bit blank and not super bloggy. And ya know I just don't love doing anything half-arsed. All or nothin' baby. So Anywho, I intend on writing a blog post unto itself all about that next record and the songwriting process and the soul searching and the whole massive undertaking of creating something from nothing making an album process. I'm deep down in that process, in my head, churning often about it and what I want it to sound like... or more importantly, feel like...

(writing a song yesterday with Jack called "surrender")

As well, I've quit running, (not that I ever really started) and I've taken up Yoga and Yoga has been changing my life. Really. I'm so not sporty and athletical. But I think I finally found my sport! (yes I am calling it a sport) Yoga seems to make perfect sense to my more naturally limber frame and free spirit, oh and there is no fear of getting clobbered in the head with a ball, woo! Making time to take care of my body and spirit has been a challenge cause it means using any small bits of free time more wisely, meaning less time on the internet, less time in front of the TV, less time on the phone and yadda yadda. Oh and Yoga isn't cheap, so I canceled the gym membership I never use and cut out a few other luxuries and committed to this practice and to Lululemon :). The benefits are way outweighing the sacrifices, not to mention recharging my creative batteries after long days of writing. I'm challenging myself and feeling the progress... getting stronger, happier, more peaceful, more flexible, more focused, more balanced and a clearer spiritual connection. All I can say is that I feel good... inside out.

In addition to the Yoga practice I also joined a Healthy Habits challenge which last nearly 60 days. This isn't a diet or an attempt to lose weight, but more of an over-all overhaul of my daily habits, particularly eating habits. Cutting out the refined sugar and carb-o-licious junk food which I love dearly, like cupcakes and chips, mmm i love my chips... and instead opting for generous portions of fruits and vegetables and protein. Oh and lots of H2o and several trips to the bathroom. No it is not a vegetarian diet, but just a healthier more aware one. I gotta tell you, it's HARD and takes A LOT of effort. I never knew that I was a sugar-addict, and it's in everything, even in my beloved raisin bran crunch. Yes I feel a bit deprived, but we do get a day off a week, and I live for those days. In addition to the nutrition, is the 30 minutes daily exercise, 15 minutes of uplifting/spiritual reading, daily journal writing, accomplishing one personal goal daily, and taking the time to compliment another person or help another person daily. It is a big to-do creating healthy habits, but I am really noticing a difference. Again, I just feel good. Yay!

Gosh, I could keep going. I am back in Girls with Glasses mode too... yes we are still getting our glasses on and the future is looking bright. Fingers crossed, we'll keep you posted. Oh and Summer, my fellow gal with glasses had the cutest lil' baby boy a few weeks ago, woo hoo!! But we are getting back to the business of making cute quirky videos which will be available for the world to see soon!

Are those sufficient excuses? I know, everyone is busy, and I do miss blogging and miss y'all!! My realistic hope is to post twice a week, and finish up that song challenge, I need to think of an angry song for day 20... oh and I'd also like to act some more... and go to Paris... Oh and to have like 4 kids

ps- oh and yeah I did a lil' blog make-over, what do ya think? Listening to any good stuff lately? Tell me about it!

Day 19: A SONG FROM YOUR FAVORITE ALBUM

This song reminds me of when I was just sixteen, a semi-shy junior at Heritage Academy , enrolled in beauty school part time and taking voice lessons... the second time. After my first experience with singing publicly in our high school musical "meet me in St. Louis" I decided that I should take voice lessons over the summer. My voice teacher was a classically trained vocalist, she had a high voice as clear as a bell, with steady strong vibrato and a range that spanned the piano, kind of like Christine from Phantom of the Opera. I adored her voice, I however could not manage to get my low pitched rhaspy vocalizer to produce that lovely clear tone that I dreamed of. We would practice classical tunes, and do vocal exercises "using our diaphragms". No matter how hard I tried, my voice refused to cooperate and that left me and my instructor frustrated and discouraged. I learned to dislike singing. The "shoe" just didn't fit, so I quit after my sessions were done and took a break.

The following year we had a guest voice coach come to our school to do a workshop. I decided to attend, afterwards she had talked me into signing up for just one lesson with one of her teachers, despite my previously developed anxiety attached to voice lessons. Her method of choice was "speech level" singing, which is the use of your natural voice, or basically... speaking on pitch. Sounded interesting. I remember showing up to my first lesson at a piano shop next to Skateland. I was greeted by a young twenty-something guy behind a piano in a small room, he started to play and began by teaching me a few warm-ups that felt and sounded a bit awkward. Here we go again. That's we he stopped and asked me, "have you ever heard of Carole King?". Have I ever heard of Carole King!? Of course, I was raised on Tapestry, I knew every word. He began to play those familiar piano chords of "It's too late" and said "sing it", I remember being nervous and out of breath, heart pounding, but then I started singing "stayed in bed all morning just to pass the time..." before I knew it I was belting out the chorus with my eyes closed "And it's too late baby now it's too late!" I just wanted to keep singing and singing and singing. It wasn't a fight, it wasn't a strain... it just felt right. I actually almost liked my voice. For the first time I was content with the fact that I was never gonna sing like the little mermaid. When we finished the song he asked me "so Brooke, what are you going to do with your life?" I said "I'm going to be a hairstylist, get married and be a mom". He said "I think you should re-think the hairdresser thing... I think you should think about music". Music?! Huh? The thought had never crossed my mind, but it was something to think about. Needless to say that voice lesson changed my life, I thought about it, I took his suggestion and as you all know, I never did finish beauty school. It's been complicated and wonderful, Somedays I wonder to myself "what was I thinking?!" But when you've got it within you, you do what you have to do.

Couldn't find a decent video of the original recording that would allow me to post on my blog, But I found this amazingly raw live performance. The guitar solo in this video is so good it hurts.

How about you?

PS- This post was technically supposed to be posted on Valentines Day, so Happy belated Valentines Day, hope you ate chocolate

DAY 18 : A SONG THAT YOU WISH YOU HEARD ON THE RADIO...

This video is nothing special, but the song is hot sauce. If only the radio played something this cool. So obsessed. I am pretty sure there hasn't been a day that has gone by that I haven't listened to "what's the drawback" since I was introduced to The Silver Seas back in November by my pal Emily West. I have all three of their records and practically know every word to nearly every song. I'm probably their biggest fan. I've been on a mission to convert every person I know to this band... and that my friend, includes you:)

Best line of the song "she likes the magic chords in E.L.O."... perfect.

(From their current record Chateau Revenge)

another fun tune from their previous album High society...

who do you wish you heard on the radio?

DAY 17 – A SONG THAT YOU HEAR OFTEN ON THE RADIO...

I kinda quit top 40 radio, though occasionally I will flip past to just keep with the times and hear what five songs we are beatin' over the head with... over and over and over and over and over again, the repetition makes me wanna pull my hair out. A quick way to ruin a good song is to overplay it. That being said, as an artist it would be a golden problem that I would probably welcome. These days I've been diggin' 1o0.3 the sound, which is an independent classic rock station that plays vinyl back to front and doesn't shy away from B sides, they got all the good stuff covered, from Clapton and Elton John to ELO and Zepplin. Of course there is my trusty stand-by, K-Earth 101 that sticks with the golden oldies, although they are starting to throw 80's and early 90's songs into rotation which is kinda weird, I guess "oldies" are relative. And then there is 103.5 ............. the coast. They always do this excessively long pause inbetween "along" and "the coast", drives me nutz. They play all those soft rock hits that are "perfect for the office". I even like to check in with Hot 92 Jamz for my old school R&B fix with the Art Laboe connection, have you ever heard Art Laboe talking over the sexy hip hop beat? bizarre, i've always thought he was sort of an odd fit for the station, but a legend. If I'm near my computer or iphone then it's all about pandora... it is what radio should be, such a vast selection of tune-age, old and new, fast and slow, mainstreet and obscure, country or rock and roll, jazz or Christmas music 24/7, cinematic or fusion jazz, Sinatra or Metallica, Esperanza Spalding or Justin Bieber. Heck, even my songs are on Pandora. you want it you got it. And that's how I like my radio radio...

I could post a Katy Perry song or GAGA or that Bruno Mars song that kinda sounds like High Hopes and Heartbreak, but strangely I've had the conscious realization lately that I've been hearing this song almost every time I turn on the radio... almost thirty years later:

Layla by Derek and the Dominos. How about that guitar lick, now that's what we call in intro

How about you?

DAY 16: A SONG THAT YOU USED TO LOVE AND NOW DISLIKE...

My heart will go on by Celine Dion. I used to love this song, back when Titanic hit the theaters. I actually was a massive Celine Fan as a kid, my favorite song was "if you ask me to" and "where does my heart beat now" I remember I would have to wait to get her cd's for Christmas and Birthdays, I had them all. I remember getting this record so I could listen to the song on repeat. I also had a thing for Leo, who didn't? And then I went and saw the movie... it destroyed me, watching that ship go down, knowing of course that it happened in real life... and then as if the situation wasn't bad enough there was no room for Jack on that tiny pathetic piece of wood and so rose just let him go to sink to depths of the sea... that part was pretend but still super traumatic. I couldn't think about anything else for months, couldn't sleep, couldn't handle it, nor could I handle the song any more, My heart could not go on.

I won't even watch the video below:

DAY 15: A SONG THAT DESCRIBES YOU...

This one was tough, I've been stumped for days, but the other night I was watching re-runs of the Wonder Years and "in my life" came on and struck a nerve. I'm pretty sure everyone can relate to this song... it is universal. But I'm of the sentimental kind, I often think back over my somewhat short twenty seven years thus far upon the earth, and there are "places I remember" but what I mostly reflect upon or reminisce about, are the people. I guess I've always been able to love people, a lot. It has been both my strength and my weakness. There are those people who've been easy to love, some more complicated, people with problems, the wrong people, the right people, people I've lost, people I miss, people who've changed, funny people, people I've hurt, people I've forgiven, people I've never met but have always been there (like my grandpa White that died two weeks before I was born), people that have known me for as long as I've lived, people who make me better, people who I pray I'll be stuck with forever...

"In my life, I've loved them all"

this post is sappy I know, but sincere.

How about you?