naomiland

just another day....

and i had my mind blown yet again by one of the amazing musicians on this album.

tim pierce

that's the best discography i can find online. don't know if it's the most up to date, but gives you some background info on mr. pierce.

other key players in this game are curt schneider (engineer, bass, and some guitar) and brian macleod (drums). not to mention my producer paul fox who, in addition to producing this album, plays some incredibly inventive keyboard parts. ("i'm happy" - it's COOL!) can't really find good website discographies on these guys, but every day i am lucky enough to work with them is a gift. seriously. goofy as that may sound. i am learning a lot in this recording process. and it's all good.

these guys are so musical and creative AND technically perfect. a rare combination. fun to watch them work.

i'm starting to think about album art. a few months back i began to create what i would like to be my CD booklet...but now i have other ideas. and the fact that i'm being asked to think about this is so exciting! the whole thing becomes more real every day. i have one idea but i'm not sure if it's too odd. hard for me to monitor oddness seeing as they tell me i'm not quite normal. so what seems like a great idea to me sometimes just confuses other people. and that's why i have a manager. wait - two managers. and two business managers. (girl needs a lot of help, clearly!)

going to dinner with my brother now. i can't believe i might only be in LA for one more week. as this next step of my career becomes more real the reality of it starts to hit me...it's a bit overwhelming. but i'm focussing on each day and what needs to be accomplished from the time i wake up to the time i go to sleep. i'm doing ok. except for dried mango binges which leave my stomach quite uncomfortable. wow - i can't believe i just cited "dried mango binges" as my biggest issue.

life must be good.......

:)
xoxo

so as not to forget

i haven't blogged in a while. it's not for lack of wanting to blog...more for lack of time. and emotional energy. been in the studio a lot, writing (hehe yes - there will be at least one new song on the album!) and living in the world of this album. and when i come home it seems all i have the energy to do is glance quickly at my email, not reply to anyone, sign on to myspace, not reply to anyone, and then go to sleep. i've always heard from other artists that the process of recording an album like this can really be stressful, mentally and physically exhausting, emotionally difficult...and i think i probably thought to myself "shut the hell up! you get to make an album!" but now i see the truth in that assessment. which does not negate the incredibly wonderful parts of this process. it's as thrilling as it is panic attack-inducing. i've been pushed quite hard at times (write another single in a week!) and gone through an array of emotions in regards to various parts of this process....and it's all falling into place so beautifully.

next week we record strings at a studio in LA. yes, i'm still in LA. everything takes longer than one thinks it will...so i'm living in my business manager's spare room. gave up my apartment when i thought i would leave LA at the beginning of february. looks like i'll be leaving more like first week of march. but back to the strings...

these guys have composed string arrangements for three of the songs on the album:

david campbell

and

van dyke parks

so ya - i can't wait. everyone tells me that the string date is one of the most exciting parts of making a record. the thought of these two guys composing music for my songs is....humbling....thrilling....surreal.

and what else.

oh ya! i went to the universal music grammy party last week. there were tons of people there....probably people i should have recognized....but i only recognized one man - al gore - and thanks to a new friend was lucky enough to be introduced to him. we spoke for about 15 minutes - i told him all about "say it's possible" which was inspired by his film, "an inconvenient truth," and we exchanged contact info. (that part was REALLY surreal.) people were coming up to him, asking for autographs, and there i was giving him my email address and phone number. i won't get into my political beliefs here since i really don't have the energy to put together the necessary big words (i suppose i could just say that the republican party of this era is comprised of crooks and villains - there - that was easy and mostly monosyllabic!) but

PLEASE MR. GORE, PLEASE RUN FOR PRESIDENT!!!!! WE NEED YOU!!!!!

ok. enough said. it was a total thrill to talk to him. a bit anticlimactic since i met him within the first 30 minutes of the party and pretty much felt like i could leave after that....but it was a fun party and i met some nice people.

what else.....hmm.....oh! my friend allison is a finalist in this competition: vote for allison! so check out her song and vote for her if you feel so inclined....

i intended to describe various other experiences in and out of the studio but it appears my brain has decided to shut down for the night.....

more soon.
xoxo

i did it all for the wookie

some of you might remember my first episode of Virtuality on youtube - in case you don't, here it is:

anyway - that part where i talk about being scared of the wookie on hollywood blvd? well, apparently i wasn't the only one!

check this out!!!

what we want

to want to be with someone impossible to be with because of circumstances beyond your control.....and how many men could read that sentence and wonder if i'm writing it about them? hmmm....quite a few, i'll admit. and the assumption that i am even writing about myself....could be...or maybe not.

one thing i've learned: when someone does not want to be with you, you need to let him go. you cannot make someone want you. you can force him into a corner and control him for a certain amount of time, if you have the right leverage (something very important to him) but that time will end and that person will resent you more every day. you cannot hate the person he's interested in now. you cannot wish that person harm. you cannot threaten to hurt that person. that new person has nothing to do with you. move on. be graceful. please, for one moment in your pitiful existance exercise a bit of self-respect and get a fucking life of your own. (oh no - i have no one in mind here....not me....no way)

this is my blog. i can write whatever i want. and that's the beauty of it.

i'm so tired of the ex-girlfriend who refuses to let go. i remember when i was 18 and met my first boyfriend. he had broken up with his ex-girlfriend many years prior to meeting me yet she threatened me every time she saw me. which was often. she called on the phone and screamed at him daily. she was insane. and now she's dead. died a few months ago. too bad. she was actually a really talented guitar player. but anyway - it's pathetic. i am so tired of watching women act out against other women when their relationship with a man has ended. i am tired of watching women disgrace themselves by refusing to let go of a man who does not want them. if a man doesn't want to be with you, please, move on! to put it in ridiculously simple terms, there are so many men out there. and the one who doesn't want you is clearly not the one who will make you happy. i'm also tired of being on the receiving end of this madness. obviously the first thing people say is that the man needs to stand up to the woman and tell her to stop. but sometimes it is not that simple. sometimes she has things to hold over his head...the threat of making life miserable...and the willingness to act on that threat.

insanity is a bitch.

there. i've vented. to my blog. and i'm sure nothing will change. and i'll move to london. but god - it's hard to watch that kind of shit. you want the people you care about to be happy. you want them to live fulfilling lives. to watch someone you care about being controlled by another person's insanity is tough.

ok,
goodnight....

oh - and another thing

holy crap - tyra banks is amazing. i never thought much about her until i read that people magazine article...where she's on the cover defending herself from the awful media...maybe this is all a big marketing ploy aimed at people like me who never cared about her one way or the other - but i don't care if it is. the message she is sending to girls and women is incredible. it's about time someone in her position had enough self-confidence to stand up to the press when they call her "fat" at 5'10", 160 lbs, and tell the world that yes, she has gained weight since her modeling days, she was airbrushed when she was modeling (like 99% of the photos are) and who the f*ck cares! that she feels sexy at this weight and doesn't think she looks bad and sure, her clothes might fit better when she weighs a bit less, but she's not willing to starve herself just to lose a few lbs.

unfortunately, most people in the public eye put themselves there for many reasons, one big one being the need for constant approval from outside sources. actors and musicians are notoriously some of the most insecure people in the world. it's really not surprising at all when you take a good look at the profession they (we) chose for themselves (ourselves). so i just have to say how much i admire tyra banks for being such a positive role model and speaking some truth. i hope to someday have that kind of confidence and self-esteem, where i don't care what people say about my outside appearance and am not afraid to show the world that we don't have to buy into the standard of beauty designed to sell jeans and makeup and cars and everything else out there. that's what the world needs. not another anorexic celebrity showing teenage girls how to achieve a slow physical and spiritual death.

um....oh my god....

it's kind of just hitting me that i'm about to move to london. holy sh*t. HOLY SH*T. i am suddenly overwhelmed with such excitement. i can't type fast enough and i'm hitting all sorts of keys i don't mean to hit nsak'onsdq'gi ehqgvf eqr and i promise it's not too much coffee!!!! i'm just starting to understand what all this means. it's been such a whirlwind - like i said, 7 months ago i was seriously wondering how long i would be able to stand waiting tables in LA before i moved back home to my mom and dad's couch, and now i'm moving, yup, but not back home....to london, to release my first real album, to tour the UK and europe and get ready to come back to the US and release it over here.

i was just writing to a myspace friend in the UK and got so excited at the things i was typing. it's like i got so used to typing them "gonna move to the UK and i'll be touring quite a bit over the next few months so i'm sure i'll play your town...will post on here when i know the details" when suddenly the meaning of the words i was typing totally overwhelmed me. wow. i want to see the white cliffs of dover! my mom used to sing this lullaby to me and it mentioned the white cliffs of dover. i never imagined, when i was a little girl, that i would be able to go see those white cliffs. i never imagined a lot of the stuff that's happening now.

oh - and another thing i'm really excited about. i FINALLY found a new artist whose album i can listen to from beginning to end and really stay interested, loving the music, each song bringing something new while maintaining a consistent thread throughout.....lily allen - her album is great! it's fun and i smile when i listen to it. the production is wonderful, too - really showcases the songs while creating an interesting and unique musical world around them. love it. i hope i get to play some shows with her someday. i think that would be fun.

now i'm going to start packing up my apartment! i begin moving into my storage space on monday....

hope you're all having a lovely weekend...
xo
terra

day 2

of my proposed increase in blogging.

so far so good.

(hi dad!)

i have a little break from the studio. i went for accupuncture this morning. feeling good.

one thing i would like to tell you. no matter how great the ads look, no matter how believable those before and after photos seem to be, even if it seems like not only a great idea, but the absolute perfect solution to your life's problems......those over the counter fat burners never really work. they do make you jittery and sick feeling. and in my case seem to have bloated me up like i'm 4 months pregnant. but do they give you the figure you've always dreamed of? nope. not the case. i'm glad i had this moment of weakness because now i can tell you what you already knew! just say no to over-the-counter fat burners. it's a scam. drink 8 cups of coffee if you want to know what they feel like. but save your money.

that's all for now, folks. and i leave you with a new slogan:

"terra naomi, making your mistakes for you!"

xo