“Five days in Paris.” Even the sentence sounds romantic. Say it in French and my knees get weak. I have passed through the cloud of romantic illusion and I am typing this from the (ironically misty, but) comparatively clear and clean-cut realm of the Netherlands. Right now I am sitting in a poche library in the small town of Nijmegen,…   …read more.

Well, they say things happen in threes. The day of my show in London (October 30th), I started by heading downtown from the borough I was staying in (Lewisham) to a street called Denmark Street just off of New Oxford Street. It was my first experience of downtown London coupled with the subway and the “overground” trains. Honestly, the one…   …read more.

When I got into the taxi yesterday for the airport with a big suitcase and one guitar case and my carry-on bag, I was heading to the airport to fly to Europe FOR THE FIRST TIME. Yes, I have never been to Europe, for gigs or pleasure. All those years of constant touring and not a single airplane ever routed…   …read more.

I am very excited that this record is finally finished. Five years of songs — and you’d think there’s be more knowing my rate of writing in the past, but I blame children for there only being 16 tracks…  🙂 I will be releasing this collection in Beijing, first. Then, throughout 2017, I’ll continue to have release performances in various…   …read more.

This arrived in the mail yesterday. I had just come through the door after several hours at my local “office” (aka: a nearby cafe) doing some paid writing work. Nearly 3-year-old Pazzy was tugging on my sleeve to play “train tracks” with him but my jacket wasn’t even off yet. My boots were only half unlaced. My mother-in-law was there,…   …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.

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.