slo-mo espresso and acoustic piano

Sally Lieber (of Vicious Fish) picks me up around 7pm and we pop over the Golden Gate Bridge. The clouds are all jaggedy and malevolent out over the Pacific. We interpret these meteorological portents to mean there will be a great sunset--but not for us to enjoy--cuz we gotta get to Cafe Divino in Sausalito for our evening gig.

When we get to this wee, funky Italian eaterie there is a teeny bit o' confusion with the owner-- are we playing? Are we not? Where's Judea? (It's our lovely buddy Judea Eden's gig, though every time she has Sally and me come sit in/ and trade sets. But tonight her car is outta commission. ) It's all a miscommunication. My midde name is "Miss Communication". No major tears are shed, no overly rash words are spoken, and then Sally & I start trading sets.

I settle in at the Young Chang (yes a real piano--yes). Its fun to do. After a few songs I open the lid. LOUDER LOUDER!! MMMMMMM hmmmmm. Inspired by this 7 foot grand, I play all my songs about Knoxville in a row. After my set Sally starts in on her rockin set.

I go sit down with my pal, filmmaker Chelsea Walton. I start eyeing her dinner. Oh! A taste--well, ok! She's eating some succulent roasted veggies with garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar--yum. And gnocchi. Oh, yeah, a taste of that too, Chelsea? Ok! Yum. The obliging waitress, Letitsia appears with my very own veggies, foccacia...and an arugula salad. Sweet! (and savory)

Some new attentive folks wander in for wine & tunes. I start up my second set. For some reason, the brand name of the espresso machine catches my eye:

FAEMA

I point this out to the crowd, pronouncing it: "FEMA" Could it be a sideline of that certain organization much maligned (with good reason) of late? & Sally quips:

"You'll order your espresso, but you won't get it for two days."

Aye.