StarStruck!

I'm a huge fan of an up-and-coming singer from California named Tyrone Wells.... he is amazing!

I discovered him a few years back through a website called Pandora, an online streaming radio station. The site finds new songs that are similar to songs or artists you already enjoy. If you haven't tried Pandora yet, check it out... it's a great way to find new music that you might not have heard before - lots of unsigned artists and independently-produced albums.

Back to the point... I love Tyrone Wells. His songwriting is beautiful and uplifting, his voice is incredible, and he's not bad to look at. He's also got the stage presence of a HUGE star just waiting to happen...

AND HE LEFT A COMMENT ON MY MYSPACE PAGE THIS WEEK!!! I'm very giddy about it... that's right, giddy... like a pre-teen girl... it's fantastic!

So now I love Tyrone Wells EVEN MORE because he actually responds to questions from his fans... and in a very timely manner (as in... less than an hour after I asked a question on his blog).

So here's my request: check out Tyrone's website or MySpace page, and if you love him as much as I do (or even if you're mildly intrigued or interested in his music) check out his tour dates and go see a show near you... you won't regret it. I saw him on the west coast leg of his tour a few months back and he's great... and his opening act, Jason Reeves, is also incredible. Well worth the $12 ticket cost, so I'll be seeing them again when they're in Portland next month.

http://www.tyronewells.com/ or www.myspace.com/tyronewells


PS - Yes, I realize he may not have actually left the MySpace comment himself... he was recently signed by Universal, so he's probably got managers and other people to answer questions and respond to fans... but it's still very cool and it still made my day.

Doggie Crack?

Here's how you know your dog hasn't been getting enough exercise... she starts to:

1) Run in small circles at a speed so fast that papers fly off nearby dressers... like tail chasing, only she's so quick that she's usually AHEAD of her tail, or...

2) Run towards the wall at full speed, climbing halfway up the wall before bouncing off and starting the process all over again.

I love my new job, but I think it's taking it's toll on poor Abby. In fact, this is getting ridiculous... I'm taking her on a very long off-leash walk to tire her out right now. Bye!

Growing Up Before My Very Own Eyes...

We all grow up. We wake up one day and realize the world looks different from how it looked just weeks or months or years before. And if we're particularly astute, we notice that the world hasn't really changed that much. We've changed.

We're usually not aware of the growing up while it's happening.

But every now and then we find ourselves in a magical moment - a moment when everything slows down just a bit and we realize our worldview is shifting right before our eyes... that things will never be the same again... that in some way, our life from here on out will be defined as "before this" and "after this."

For me, that moment came in an underground nightclub in Paris, France when I was seventeen years old. Giddy from champagne and floating across the dance floor in the arms of the most gorgeous French man I'd ever seen, I grew up.

It's hard to say exactly what changed. I guess it dawned on me that I exist... that I really, really exist. I have free will. I am a separate entity from everyone else on the planet. I have my own life, and I can do whatever I want to do with it.

Until that point on the dance floor, the boundaries in my life were all created by other people. But in that moment I realized I can cross those boundaries.

It's funny... I didn't really cross any boundaries that night. I didn't even kiss that gorgeous French man. But I knew I could, and that made all the difference.

It was Annie Lennox playing in the background. I can still hear the opening bars to "No More I Love You's." Shoooo be doo be doo doo doo... aaaah-ahhh. To this day, every time I hear that song I remember. And every time I hear it, I wonder when the next magical moment will come for me.

How about you? When was your last magical moment?

Packing... and children... and selling out... and freedom

I've been packing my things all day. My new job at Nike has inspired me to make the big move across town to Beaverton. That's right... Beaverton. The "not-Portland" of Portland, Oregon. That little voice in my head (you know, the one that used to run my life before I got wise to it's presence) keeps whispering "You've done it Amy... you've sold your soul." After all, I'm working for a HUGE corporation and moving to Beaverton.

But here's the interesting thing: I'm really excited about the changes that are happening in my life right now.

Until this year, life always looked like a series of choices between two extremes: black or white, chocolate or vanilla, marriage or freedom, sell-out corporate job or lifetime of poverty.

Then I grew up... somehow, when I wasn't really paying attention, I grew up. And now I look at things a little differently.

You see, I used to think those choices defined who I was, so each choice was a really, really big deal.

But in the past year or so, I've found this "me" person inside... and she's there all the time... through all the choices... wherever I go. Defining her isn't so simple anymore. She exists all on her own, fully formed.

Some of the choices I make fit her like a well-worn sweater pulled out of the closet on cold winter mornings, while others are a bit scratchy and tight through the shoulders. But she's still there, intact, the whole time.

Now I have the freedom to "try on" lots of different choices and see how they feel. I don't have to worry about losing myself in the transitions... I couldn't do it if I tried... I'm in there, through thick and thin. And I don't feel any pressure to define myself "correctly." I realize now that was always for other people's benefit, anyway... and it doesn't seem too important these days.

So I spent the day packing... and the whole time I listened to the kids laughing and playing outside my apartment window. And it made me smile. Those kids, they're onto something...