hi everyone!  wow, this has been one long lasting winter. spring leaves are sprouting despite the tango that winter and spring are doing all over this city…i’m alright with it, despite my cussing into the cold winds that push into me and my bike as i ride (and sometimes it doesn’t matter which direction i ride in, the wind is playin with me)…but i am very much dreaming of beaches that live in the far south.

what has been lighting me up these days was my last solo show at the bookworm. wow what a nice venue for this songlighting that i am doing. i guess it was a combination of the astute books in rows and stories (ha! pun intended) rallied around the room and the such good listeners in the audience, that my intentions to conduct a Q &A about songwriting (something i so enjoy sharing) were realized. thank all of you that made it that night! please share and spread the music! my next show there is the 15th May. shunyi folk should know about the 14th May – i’m playing the orchard. (for those of you not in china, shunyi is a recent flash mostly expatriate suburb of beijing located near the airport in the north)

about to head out to the mountains for a spell or two…need to get out of the jing for a few days and gather my energies…going to attend a 5 element spring retreat featuring a very talented new zealander friend of mine, cameron tukapua. i’ve already attended 2 other times, and each time has been beautiful and amazing. the learning never ends. 5 elements is a daoist form of “the natural way” of the world and everything in it. the elements all join in a cycle that feeds itself neverending.  water (winter), wood (spring), fire (summer), earth (late summer) and metal (autumn) – we all have these elements in our selves, and depending on the balance in our thoughts/attitudes/daily routine will therefore reflect in our bodies (the meridians) – so in balance, everything flows naturally; in imbalance, congestion which causes either a deficiency or excess, which causes dis-ease in the body. cultivating ease is the message…

if you wanna know more about 5 elements (it’s like the farmer’s almanac for everything) you can check out http://elementalspirit.co.nz/nature.html

so anyhow let’s see how the world turns. about to start packin it up. i wish you all a lovely spring, and i’ll be posting new music (electronic and other fun stuff like photos, videos and acoustic new songs) in may.  buy my album on itunes! support support support!  xoxoxo  jess

ah, here comes the misinformation. it’s not bad, really, just the girl that wrote the article for BJ Today decided (she’s new at this)(http://www.beijingtoday.com.cn/expat-news/the-generous-spirit-of-a-beautiful-voice#respond) to read the China Daily article (http://www.chinadaily.net/metro/2010-03/08/content_9553711.htm) that I was properly interviewed for, and just paraphrase and assume things about me. So the first sentence depicts me as 39, which i am not…sigh! ah, what is age…right? and many other silly wrong errors (i started piano lessons when i was 3, not 12; i am rehearsing my band for my solo show; etc etc)

it’s good, i am getting press. positive press.

the solo show the other day at The Orange Tree was really fun. i haven’t played solo in a long time, so it was a good exercise. i thought it would be lonely and really sedate, but the sound system, my voice, the emotion of the songs was wide and filling for all that came (a full room). the bookworm will be really nice – especially on a sunday night (7pm)