FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD DONATE TO THE ART-MAKING This was the first song I wrote after first becoming a parent. Echo was just a few months old and I was so tired–CONSTANTLY–that I couldn’t think about anything else except sleep. The rhymes in this piece are simple and predictable because they’re the product of a sleep-deprived brain that couldn’t think…   …read more.

  FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD DONATE TO THE ART-MAKING “The most substantial songs [on the album] are… innocently foreshadowed in the kiddy song “Balloon”, whose lesson is that it is all too easy to be careless and watch something joyful and treasured slip from your grasp, never to be recovered.” — Gerry Lipnowski, Montreal (early preview write-up) Echo wrote this song,…   …read more.

  This summer, I had the chance to work with Pat Klaasen of Whiteboardvideodrawings.com. They helped me put together the promotional video above. Basically, it’s an overview of my career and an “I’m back” type of video, specifically letting people know about my new album (2016) but also reminding people that there’s a long story that precedes this album release….   …read more.

  FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD DONATE TO THE ART-MAKING It hasn’t been easy to be in a cross-cultural relationship that is always operating in my non-native language, but rather than complain about it all the time (as I started to feel my blogs were doing), I’m proud to have captured the beauty of its beginnings in this song’s lyrics. The track…   …read more.

It is not surprising that the Chinese bureaucracy is confusing. Even Chinese people express this, acknowledging that paperwork issues are enough to “grow your head,” (让你头大了) which is the literal translation of an expression used to convey the feeling of your head about to explode. Two years ago, when my son was a newborn and we were returning to China…   …read more.

I am so happy to report that we are in the final stages of the new album for 2016! It’s a full album with three themes: Songs For Adults / Songs For Kids / Songs For Adults w/ Kids. There will be 16 songs, only 2 of which are re-makes of older material that I couldn’t resist re-recording to capture…   …read more.

Our apartment complex just experienced a minor face-lift. A new courtyard recreation area was built this past fall equipped with a covered “game-playing” zone for adults, an essential to all residential blocks. Yet, each time I bring my son outdoors to play, the tables are empty. That’s because around the corner, nestled up next to a stack of recyclable cardboard,…   …read more.

Every Tuesday for the past year, I have thrown my guitar on my back and ridden my bike to Dandelion Education Center to teach a music-for-tots class. Even though my one-year commitment is coming to a close, I really want people to know about this little center. It’s amazing. Designed for children aged 3 and under, it’s a great destination…   …read more.

At first, she was inching herself closer and closer to the computer if there was a video playing. Constantly making her move her body back “to protect her eyes” made me wonder. Then we noticed she would sometimes strain and cross one of her eyes to see something in the distance. It was time to get her vision checked out….   …read more.

Several months ago, I was alone for the week with only my son because my husband and his mom took our daughter on a vacation to Sanya (三亚, Southern Chinese paradise). The resulting restfulness I felt–having only one child at home–was significant. I found myself able to get more work done and found a rhythm with my toddler (he had…   …read more.