Sometimes my Spanish acts like a woman...

There are days when it feels beautiful, authentic, clever and bold... then there are days when it feels clumsy, timid, difficult and refuses to show up for the occasion - whether that be an in-depth conversation about life's intricacies, or small talk with a friendly taxista.

There is no doubt in my mind that I have definitely arrived somewhere close the point of fluency that I always dreamed of as a little girl... took me 17 years to get here, but it happened. Even after all this time, however, I still find my mind hitting the wall at certain moments. Even as I write this I find my little overworked mind simultaneously translating the thoughts into Spanish. There is a lunfardo (Argentine slang) word - "kilombo" - it means something along the lines of "a chaotic mess." It originated in the 1800's when a slew of immigrants found themselves here in the capital of Buenos Aires and were ushered into camp like areas called "kilombos" - a madhouse of various people, languages and cultures.

MY MIND IS A TOTAL KILOMBO.

The point I'm arriving at slowly but surely... The past few days despite all of the fantastic things that have been happening for me in this extraordinary city, I have been feeling oddly enough and for the first time ... like a foreigner.

Perhaps it's the fact that I've never been away from my family this long or that I spent so many years prior to this in serious relationships where I always had a someone to share my life with. Now. In my new life, I am totally and utterly accountable to me and only me. And as I navigate my way through my new life in this new city with new friends and new involvements it sometimes feels really solitary.

With that being said my "down" days are few and far between - and almost always hormonally triggered - hooray for being a girl. When I take a step back and good look at my current situation I am happy indeed. I work a lot, what with my three jobs, various freelance gigs and the recording of the album - but I play A LOT to stay balanced. The best part about being a free-agent. I can eat pizza and drink red wine four days in a row if I want to. I can go dancing every night of the week and take the bus home if I want to... alone... or accompanied for that matter. I can meet my friends for drinks and live jazz in fabulous little locales and leave half way through the set when it gets too "experimental"... Furthermore, it's the first time in my life where I'm living undoubtedly in the moment and I can honestly say that it is the best place I've ever found myself to be.

I got cast in a film and the whole experience was wicked cool. Being the only North American on the set with Argentine, Bolivian and Chilean filmmakers - I had this constant feeling of "wow, I don't know how this came to be but it is completely perfect"

My role was very small and my biggest line of text was said mid sex-scene so I doubt it will be noted at all, however, the experience of seeing how complex movie-making is was eye-opening to say the least. The lightening, attention to detail, equipment, preparation all for a 20 second scene. It's intense. I have a whole new-found respect for the cinema world.






Real Joy.
As for the album, today we finished laying down the pre-production tracks on the last two songs. We now have 16 songs laid out and from that group we will choose 11 for the album. The next step of the process will be to replace any programmed tracks with live instrument tracks, then eventually move on to mixing and mastering. In other news, my band and I will be performing our first show here in the capital in December and once we have a solid set - more shows to come after the first of the year. I will most definitely be posting videos and photos.

Sending you all love and hoping that life is keeping you on your toes in ever-changing, challenging, surprising and fantastic ways.

Un abrazo,
TJ