Rockin' It Homestyle

Thank you to my best friend, Jessica and her sister, Kristie for setting this up!

I'll be in Mississippi for my Dad's wedding next Saturday, and that night I'll play at Zachary's in Columbus. This town is the site of my alma mater , my first real job, and the church where we were married. My old apartment is two blocks from there, so it literally is my old 'hood. I'm still tracking down an amp, but being related to 50 people in the tri-county area (most of whom share the last name Pepper) ought to provide enough connections to work that out.

In my old apartment, when my next-door neighbor did yardwork she could literally hear me singing and playing in my living room. Not, like, through a window or anything- through the exterior wall. (Yeah - I know. It was a really nice place.) The day she brought this embarassing phenomenon to my attention, she said, "hey - don't worry about it. It sounded great. You should consider playing in bars; my friends and I would totally come hear you." That was the first time I really considered the possibility. The moral of the story: kind words are powerful. The next chance you get to say some, go for it.

If you're in the area, I start at 9 p.m. Kristie's the bartender, so give her a fat tip for making this happen!

I'm Singin' My Songs Off Of Any Old Stage

That's from a Carolyn Arends song called "Seize The Day" that you would have heard last night if you were at Wolfie's Waterfront Grill. I probably shouldn't gush about my first gig like an excited teenager on my blog. It's probably not very professional. But, what the hell. You only live once, right?

This is me having MAJOR fun last night!

These are some of the nice folks who showed up for moral support...

Johnathan Baer and Diego Ross (vanilla bear and chocolate bear, respectively) then Amber and Kathy, wrapping up with Tom and Charlie doing it like they do.

I had so much fun it's ridiculous. I can't remember how long it's been since I lived in the moment. Not looking ahead to anything, or remembering anything; I just kept looking around thinking, "now this is what I call a job!" To make it even better, I had the pleasure of meeting and trading business cards with the very nice Greg Anderson who books local entertainment. Yay!

Tuttle INSISTED I take a picture with her and my first musician-type paycheck. I mean, she just wouldn't let it go. (She's gonna be pissed that she turned out so dark. I'll have to photoshop that before she sees it and gives me a licking. Ha, get it? Licking. I kill me.)

Thanks so much to my super roadie/manager/husband for all the fabulous behind the scenes stuff. I'd totally post a picture of him, but he had the camera. See what I mean about all he did? Thanks to everyone for your encouragement. You all rock my socks off.

Rocky Watch '07

A family who lost their golden retriever has posters up all over my community. The picture shows a beautiful dog named Rocky whose owners are offering two thousand dollars for his return.

Immediately my heart went out to them. My dog is a golden retreiver mix, and I know what adorable personalities those dogs can have.

Then I thought, "Two grand? For real?"

After seeing the poster at a stop sign I caught myself sub-consciously scanning the cornfields for this dog. The longer I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed to take a drive around the area. Just to see. I mean, they're offering two large for this dog. Who couldn't use that kind of money? Maybe I'll put a bowl of dog food in the back seat of my car...or carry some treats in my purse. At what point does one become a lost dog stalker?

Here, Rocky! Come here, boy!

Then I wondered, is this family just loaded, or is their kid suicidal over the loss of this dog? Or both? Is this a show dog? Can he bring you a beer from the fridge? As I began to fantasize about finding Rocky and returning him for a fat wad of cash, I hit a disappointing ethical wall. Should you take that kind of money for doing something you're supposed to do anyway? I mean, a decent person would return a lost pet for free. But I have anal glaucoma about turning down two grand. (In other words, I don't see my ass doing it.)

Tell me what you think:

1. Would you go out of your way (even a little) to find this dog?
2. If you found it, would you accept the reward?
3. If you lost your dog, what's your reward offer ceiling?

My dog loves to chase geese, and there are a lot of geese around the lake. I'm just going to, umm, well, I had to go by the lake anyway because I have this thing...

Hell with it. I'm gonna look for that dog.