And so, i'm in!

My pledge

The queen...the queen.

Sitting in the consulate offices at the moment, 10 minutes away from being sworn in as a british citizen. You know, I am so used to raising a beer to the queen that this should be old hat.

Its kinda bittersweet as I sit here in this room, all alone, with no one but the queen to talk to.

Xxm

Ms Julie

This is my great mate Julie Wolf getting ready to lay some organ parts down in the cd. I am so excited to have her playing on my cd. We have the next 4 hours in the studio for her to do her thang. Then it gets sent back up to Evan (hi!) where he does his magic again and then soon, the baby comes home to mamma.
Xxm

The bay....

Here is the wonderous san fran bay, the golden gate over there on the right. Feels like I left it a long time ago, what with the recording, the car accident and other major changes in my life. It feels strange to come back to it a changed person.

And back again.....

Through altama pass....

Them there cows....

This part of driving back from LA always makes me sad and groused out. The thousands of cows lined up at Harris Ranch, waiting to be slaughtered. The smell greets you from miles away first and then suddenly, in the middle of nowhere....cows. All huddled together and not knowing anything else but what they see around them. Sure there's some deep lesson in there, but right now I gotta hold my nose to stop myself from gagging.....

Ollie.....

Turns 5 and we all get to eat candy chocolate cake and then fall asleep in a sugar coma.

Ollie.....

Turns 5 and we all get to eat candy chocolate cake and then fall asleep in a sugar coma.

Yay for Australia...

Post thanksgiving haze.....laying on the trampoline looking up at trees. Chillin.

In great aussie news, John Howard has been voted out of power and Australia may finally have a chance to pull itself out from under the bush regime fear and back door dealing. Good to know our votes actually helped bring change.

Now, back to the chillin.....

Only in LA

The babies...

Hard to see them because we are all outside, at night, and they are jumping on a trampoline....but these three are the comic relief for my thanksgiving. Savannah, Ollie and Declan.....they make me laugh hard and on normal days I would be jumping on the trampoline with them, going just as crazy.

I am happy to see them, to be with them, they bring great lightness to my sore soul.

XX

Me and Z

This is my mate Zoe, we are on our way to toys r us, to buy me a toy......

The color

Of here....

Is a pretty green with a haze that covers the mountains so that you can barely even see them.

You know

You're bored when....

You start taking photos of your feet....just for entertainment....

The things u do on the road....

3 hours into a 6 hour drive and boredom sets in.....my first time trying buffalo jerky and definately not my first time reading trashy magazines. I am glad to know what Brad & Angelina are doing this thanksgiving. Makes my life feel complete....

And

Speaking of fault line.....isn't this crazy? This stops for the highway (or the highway was most likely repaired after it went thru it) and then picks up on the other side of the road. I sure as hell wouldn't live anywhere near here, but I would be tempted to come sit on one of these mini hills next time an earthquake hits, just to see if I would roll. Sounds kinda like fun, no?

Xxm

On the way.....

To Los Angeles to spend thanksgiving with mates. I love coming through the Altamont Pass, about an hour outside of San Francisco. I love seeing the windmills in action, for some reason they have always made me happy. Sitting on top of a fault line, doing their thing.

I always have mixed feelings about thanksgiving. I love any excuse to get together with good friends to eat good food and drink good wine, and I love to take moments to be thankful (esp this month) but this holiday also holds a lot of sadness. Not just for those that lost their lives and their cultures centuries ago, but for those who have no where to go, who feel like they should have somewhere to go. The pressure to have loved ones to share with is just too much sometimes.

Anyway, for those of you reading from Oz, this probably makes no sense to you. But to those of you here in the US, I wish you a happy day, whatever you do.

Xxm

The road...

I arrived back in San Fran yesterday after a long drive back. The earth was amazing to witness along the way though.

The cd is getting final touches on it now and next week it moves into the mix down stage and from there into mastering. Hoping to have it back in my hands mid December so I can do a happy dance over its existance. Maybe then I can put a few little tastes online too so you can hear.....?

Today = Chiro and massage appts trying to get a plan to heal my body after the accident.

Xxm

No place for curly hair...

Some where under all of this hair, I stand beneath a mountain and take a minute to soak it all in.....

Out here

The view takes my breath.

So, who does own the mountains?

M

Low flying

Cloud coverage in Oregon.

Portland

Just pulling into Portland, gotta pick up another rental car and then start the 10 hour drive back to san Francisco. The cd sounds amazing and I am excited to hear it all finished.

But right now, its been bucketing down for hours and I am trying to remain calm while driving with all this water. Hoping that I get over being scared to drive.

Xxm

Does anyone else....

See the problem with this sign?

Celebrate...

This is us, celebrating the almost end of the cd.....

I know....

It always looks like I am sitting on this couch....but you know, its kinda hard to take spontaneous shots of yourself....

This is the last day in the studio. I just had a massage so I am slightly blissed out and I just finished doing a live take of a new song called 'Fall From Grace', which made me happy.

I start the drive back to the bay area tomorrow, with my new rental car. Looks like the insurance company is definately going to write our car off, which is what we were hoping for. Now I gotta keep showing up for my massages and try to get my body fixed.

And then get this rockin cd out and into your hands....so exciting!

Xxm

The ritual....

This has been my morning ritual for the past week. Getting up, having coffee and shooting the shit with Megan and Evan. I am going to miss them and can't wait to come record and hang out with them again. Good souls.....lots of laughs.....and great fuckin coffee!

Xxm

Rod

The electric guitar dude doing his smoking electric guitar parts.....

All that's left....

Megan, Evans wife, makes the best espresso coffee in the world! (I just told Megan that line would get a rise out of you Tour Wonk!). I have gone from having one cup a morning, to exploding out of bed in the morning the second I hear anyone up so I can get my daily fix. And now, I am up to two cups a day. And all is well in the world.....

Into the studio again today. We split today, which was meant to be the last day, into two half days to give myself a break on singing. My neck is still sore from aforementioned car accident and it makes it a little hard to sing well.

All is well though....

Xxm

Ps - in other random news, to the wonderous person who asked, there indeed has been talk in Australia about santas not using 'Ho ho ho', but not for the reason you thought. Check it out here: http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22738300-2,00.html

When I grow up

I want to be......

And this is actually a really beautiful cd...

Xxm

Just for the Wonk

Here's what's happening in my world today....two more studio days, no clue how I am getting home yet, stiff back, still weep over cancelling my trip to Europe but the world is getting ready to cook turkey......and all is well.

Xxm

And yes...

The pupil, breathing.

Monday night

And here is the master, at work in the studio. Its raining big time outside and a little inside. The songs are coming out, going down, being cathartic and crabby and passionate and everything in between. We are praying that the power stays with us and have the heat on high so that I don't cease up and can't play guitar anymore.

Cancelled my trip to Europe today, can't carry a backpack for three weeks. Fuck hey? If you would have told me a few months ago that I would be sitting in this studio sometimes barely able to move and with my heart dropping on the floor, I would have called you crackers......but here we are. Looking for the blessings everyday.

Thanks for the emails, the thoughts, the calls.

Xxm

Seattle

I have a day off in Seattle today and am hanging out with my friend Kate. She is in the middle of setting up a location to start shooting a commercial (think shower scene and some 'luxurious' bath gel) and I am just chilling, writing in my journal and occasionally chatting. Just being around.

Its great to have a day off. My entire being needed it.

Xxm

And....

This is where you will find me sitting.....working on tunes, trying to keep up with the old ones and the influx of new ones that just keep wanting to come out....

Mary

The studio dog who likes to sit on my foot and keep it warm.....

The studio....

This is Evans studio in Tacoma, Washington where we have moved to record the rest of the cd. Everything is going really well, aside from the occasional stiffness (in my shoulders). I am unbelievably excited by the songs so far. They feel strong and sexy and open and honest....and I feel a certain amount of pride welling up in myself with every song. Just so excited to hear the end results.

We take a day off tomorrow before getting stick into four straight days and then, I don't quite know how I am getting home yet. Still waiting for the insurance company to let me know.

Keep smiling mardi, keep smiling....

Xxm

Tracking....

Almost 7 songs down.....2 more to do. Drums and bass that is. See mum, I am alive....don't be scared.

And I am even smiling....

XX

And Evan with my drum machine....

Just because.....you need to see his face and him modeling my drum machine.

The Evan dude

This is Evan Brubaker, producer of this recording extravaganza. We just started recording the first song of the cd as I sit here with heat packs and advil. We are at the Spectre studios outside of Seattle laying down drums and bass and I can't tell you how happy I am just to be doing it.

More from here soon....
Xxm

Seattle....

This is my friend Kate Wolf, I stayed with her and her partner AB last night in Seattle. I arrived after a 4 hour drive with a sore body and sore heart and they swept me up, loved on me, fed me, gave me heat packs and aspirin and a warm comfy bed. I love them and I love that I have them in my life. So if you ever see them, tell them that mardi loves them.....they'll know who you mean.

Xxm

Hank, Ray and Nayo

The three dogs of love in Seattle. They make everything so much better.
Xxm

Hwy 84

So, this doesn't look so bad...but this is my car in the crash repair lot after we were hit by a motor home towing a horse trailer. The other side of the car is wrecked. We are all mostly unscathed, a little in shock and now trying to work out how to get another car and what is going to happen to this one.

Given the size of the motor home and the speed that he hit us and the amount of times we spun around and the impact of us hitting both guard rails on both sides of the road, we are lucky to be here. Once again I am grateful for my life.

This has been on hell of a month....

Xxm

Hwy 84

So, I haven't put anything up in a few days, mostly because my phone isn't letting me send pictures from Hood River but also because I was in a car accident on Sunday and its taken a few days to deal with all the different parts of that.

We were run off the road by a motorhome pulling a horse trailer with two horses in it. He didn't see us and tried to pull into my lane, hit my car, it bounced into the guard rail, spin around, clipped the edge of the front of the motor home and landed sliding over 100 meters on the left hand guard rail. Its pretty miraculous that we are here to tell the tale. The local and state police all commented that we were incredibly fortunate that no one else hit us, considering we spun in front of two lanes of cars.

My friend Suzanne and her two year old son Jenner were both in the car with me and we are all really sore two days later. I was diagnosed yesterday with whiplash and have been dosing up on the massages and chiro visits to try and get me ready to record.

One day at a time though. My car is totalled and I will have photos up soon to show. I am sitting here in downtown Hood River waiting to get picked up to go get the rental car and although my heart and my body aches, I am grateful for my life.

This better be one damn good cd....

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Xxm

Loving these girls....

They make me laugh hard with their naughtiness....

XX

Mount Hood

I took this at 7am this morning as I got up and loaded myself with every piece of warm clothing I had with me and went out for a walk. Suzanne, Aaron and Jenner live at the base of Mount Hood and this was the breath taking view that kept me company on my walk. Amazing...makes me feel very small and insignificant and humbled. And it felt nice to breath....and feel my nose get very cold.

xx

Pizza and Friends

So..these are my mates Suzanne & Jennifer....they both make me laugh very hard. We are sitting at Suzanne & Aarons cafe,Solistice in Bingin, WA(across the bridge from hood river)...they are making me eat and drink the entire menu..and seriously..it's amazing food!! The sweet potato and bacon, blue cheese pizza (which is what you see) is spectacular to eat!! Go visit them next time on your way through WA/OR.

Anyway, my phone still isn't responding correctly....but I wanted you all to see them.

Thanks for all the little comments (you know who you are) I love them!!

xxM

Photo problem!

So, I have lots of new photos and suddenly my phone doesn't want to send them anymore......please hold while I work out what is going on, and know that you will probably are a bazillion new photos all at once.

In Hood River right now, being loved on by friends....good for my tender soul.

Xxm

So....

Really, I'm not so much trying to show you my ass, in as much as I am trying to show you the HUGE rip I just put in my favourite jeans when I got out of the car to stretch.

Oh....and the pretty fall tree that matches my hair. (yes, I know you can't actually SEE the rip....I am at a public rest stop trying to be a little inconspicuous as I take photos of my ass).

Xxm

Somethings......

Somethings just make me very happy......read into that what you will.

Mt Shasta

I always get so excited when I see mt shasta poke its head out. The drive down the mountain and then back up is always like a roller coaster ride. The temperature dropping almost 15 degrees is never as exciting....

I am about to stop in the happy town of Weed for food....been driving almost 5 hours, only another 6 to go!

Xxm

Hay?