August 22, 2003 - 3:46 AM

From Sierra to Xochitl

I think my toe is broken. My foot hurts. My shin hurts. Maybe it's just the sneakers I wore today (no arch support). I'm so delirious right now from lack of sleep, though, I can't remember if I dropped something heavy on my foot in the past week to cause this pain (and there's a good possibility that I did since I had to move so much recording equipment).

Today, I started a new session with an artist named Sierra Swan. I was quite happy to move away from the rap/r&b stuff that had been inflicted on me; the song she was working on reminded me of an amalgam of Concrete Blonde, Siouxie Sioux, and brit-pop. Anyways, while setting up, I experienced the kind of pain I used to get during the first week of Track practice during High School after a long winter of laziness - shin splints and tender arches. These ailments sent zots of neurons into freak firings up and down my leg. Plus, my second toe (the one next to the Big Toe) was so tormented, it couldn't bear to be touched. It wasn't swollen or discolored or anything; I just couldn't move it or touch it without wanting to stab myself in the eyes with a pen.

Speaking of which, now my eyeballs feel like they're floating in their sockets. Maybe I should go to sleep.

Oh, I did get to play cello on Sierra's song, which was fun. She had been trying to get a string sound via various synths and a mellotron (a really neat vintage keyboard that plays tape loops...if you recall the flute sound on the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields" song, you're recalling the sound of a Mellotron playing a tape loop of a flute). Sierra finally gave up in exasperation, saying "I wish I played the violin." I said that I play the cello. She asked skeptically how long I'd been playing; "since I was 5," I responded. That clinched it, and she bade me venture home to fetch my viol. I acquiesced. The end.

Before I forget, Hi Xochitl! (pronounced somewhere in between "sohchee" and "suhchee"- or, as her niece calls her, "shoeshee") Thanks again for having dinner with me. You were looking good, girl. When heading back to Michigan this weekend, babe, remember to take some of this California warmth with you. And email me when you come back to visit home, ok?

Now Listening To : Joni Mitchell-Ladies of the Canyon
Random Thought : Do you have any idea how messy an apartment can get if you barely spend any time actually living there?

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