I admit that I’m judgmental of jealousy. I see it as a surface mask for more truthful emotions beneath its glare. Namely fear. Fierce lightening fear. Branching off from fear is insecurity, like splintered tree limbs that have been singed and struck by that same lightning. All together, the solid base of love gets rocked by this storm and it’s not worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPR8-FdD7oc&feature=youtu.be This new song was written in the first three months of Echo’s life. That was when I was still feeling upside-down about sleep deprivation. I wish I could say that she’s become a better sleeper, but the truth is that I’ve just become better at dealing with never sleeping more than about three hours at a stretch! Even at…   …read more.

Dear Ambassadors, This is the era for fand funding, or “crowd funding” as it’s often called, and many, MANY bands are doing what I did by asking their supporters to support their next projects. With sites like Kickstarter out there, and many other similar platforms, it’s become the new business model for the music industry. Well, I’m inspired by this…   …read more.

People often ask me how it is I could have fallen in love with someone when we didn’t speak the same language. At first I would explain that through my remedial Chinese and his odd English words, we managed to struggle slowly with conversations while limping on my little red pocket-sized Chinese-English dictionary. Then it occurred to me that we…   …read more.

There is something about power tools that gets dykes all tingly. They’re the ultimate “butch” display, especially when they’re paired with a well-stocked toolbox and <gasp!> a bulging tool belt. At least, this is what I’ve witnessed. Having performed at several women’s festivals over the years, it was always the women with the tools who got the most respect, like…   …read more.

Recently, a friend quietly confided in me when we crossed paths in Toronto. It was the night of my gig there this past summer and, though our conversation may not have even lasted ten minutes, it was poignant. She said that returning to Toronto after several years of not living in the city was bittersweet. That the city has a…   …read more.

We live on both the 5th and 6th floor—the top—of an old apartment building here in Beijing. Our apartment is a split-level so there’s an upstairs and a downstairs. There is no elevator in our building. There are 84 steps that lead up to our main door. Because of our two-floor apartment, there are another 14 steps on the inside…   …read more.