we have no kimonos today.

it’s been brutal, and i’m getting no sleep, but i’m happy. really, really fucking happy. i feel home.

not because i’m back in the house, but because i’m working on art every day.

the boston phoenix has me on the cover this week….

the article is great, even though i come off as a slightly cartoony version of myself.

i swear i don’t always answer the door in a kimono, that was pure coincidence, man.

the writer, eugenia, spent a lot of time hanging out and even spent a night getting tipsy at a party at the cloud club.

we all liked her.

journalism is so strange. you invite these people into your world for a little bit, and they go back to the public with commentary & assessment.

i can never quite figure it out.

but i figure i have nothing to lose by being myself, being honest, and “oversharing”, as she puts it in the interview.

why not?

we’re all going to die.

my life in reality has few authentic kimono moments lately.

i wake up, don no kimono, eat a piece of fruit, get to rehearsal, and spend hours in the ART rehearsal basement, creating this beast with my comrades.

i feel like a machine. but not like an efficient machine. i feel like something being used for the wrong purpose.

i’m trying to take care of myself, i really am.

i’m not drinking. i’ve quit coffee. i’m trying to exercise every day. i’m getting enough sleep, almost.

in the rehearsal room, i try to stay focused and watch as this production unfolds into a thing of true beauty, twisty darkness and profundity.

the cast is starting to band together, our little musical ship is floating further out into the water and we’re shackled to each other for good.

this shit has to float or we’re fucked.

(does that metaphor even work? don’t care. whatever – things are starting to feel critical.)

i have to say…i’m having a hard time trying to juggle all this.

my “normal” life, if you can call it that, is already a full time job at the moment – more than a full-time job.

the off-line hours in the rehearsal room mean that business (rock business, music business) simply isn’t getting done.

i have to make impossible choices.

i watch as entire empires i’ve built slide down the slide of the cliff and into the water because i simply don’t have enough energy and hours in the day to keep them afloat.

and my main practice is letting them go without too much fanfare. i’ve been practicing that for years…it’s getting easier.

this reminds me to plug one of the books i’m loving now: “buddhism is not what you think” by steve hagen. (along with phillip pullman…i’m finally reading “the golden compass” before bedtime every night, too)

so hagen wrote a fantastic book called “BUDDHISM PLAIN AND SIMPLE” that i’m always recommending to people. great writer, wonderful way with words and images. check ‘em out.

and always remind yourself: help is not on the way.

being back in theater-world is feeding me, it’s feeding my brain, body and soul.

being around people who are so committed to their work, so committed and unwaveringly INTO their work – THAT is what i like about being in productions like this.

nobody’s fucking around. nobody’s phoning it in. nobody’s half-assing or half-trying.

everyone here is HUNGRY. and because of that, the production will be a force to be reckoned with.

we did our first full run-through the day before yesterday. we all felt it…the show is going to DESTROY people.

here’s a great shot of the ensemble:

and the costume fittings are to DIE for:

during the run i sat in a chair and let one of the last numbers (which i’m not in) wash over me like a tonic. claire was standing behind me. we were both in tears.

it’s working, it’s working.

and meanwhile, on the practical front – people keep bringing us the most delicious foods. the cast and crew of the show are blown away by my fans’ generosity on a daily basis and i feel like a proud mum every time someone shows up with a feast made of love to feed the whole company. here are some pictures…

@politelyoffend & lona brought a fucking food-gift FEAST:

belly said thank you, thank you, thank you.

i’m working hard on an “EVERYTHING CABARET” blog for those of you that are about to attend the show, and it’ll include lodging/restaurant/local boston info up the WAZOO…

plus a list of recommended reading and films and internet rabbit-holes you can crawl down in order to get the deepest & most profound experience from the show.

stay tuned. and i’m planning on announcing the LINE-UP of the late-night post-cabaret shows THIS MONDAY.

the tickets will be EXTREMELY LIMITED (each night only holds 175 people) so be ready to snatch them up. i’ve planned EIGHT nights and every single act i’m bringing in is SUPREME.

to whet your appetite further…this is our sally bowles (aka aly trasher) singing with me on our blissful provincetown adventure in the bar with john cameron mitchell. sean captured it on his EyePhone:

i wasn’t lying, i had NEVER tried playing mein herr on the piano. not too shabby. but it is only two chords. eh.

…………………………..

on the music business front, fanciness:

NPR made me “song of the day” and spun “idioteque” from the radiohead album. my phone went crazy with texts from people all over the country with congratulations.

i’m always happy when NPR support me, because it impresses my parents.

they don’t care about pitchfork and boing boing. they’ve never heard of you. are you listening, the new yorker? please help me impress my parents. thanks.

the NPR link is HERE.

it was also a huge press week –  billboard did a giant spread and wrote an article about me & twitter. it’s up on the web HERE, but check it out on newsstands while you can…it’s the august 14th issue (with “trey songz” on the cover). it’s got this gorgeous-as-fuck photo by lindsey byrnes:

in UkuleleHead/vinyl-land, the orange vinyl is in the HOMMMMMMEEEE STRETCHHHH.
click to snatch up yours:most of the run is sold out, the shirts are getting readied to be sent out, the first-run-red-vinyl is close to being sent, posters are signed, people are being contacted about haikus and whatnots…things are on schedule and good. if you ain’t got your wax yet, get it at http://music.amandapalmer.net ASAP. for reals. you can also grab the HOT “UKE CAN DO IT” shirt lucy coombs painted…

neil is coming today.

i’ve missed him a lot. he gets less real when he’s not around.

we’ve determined that after a certain point, we become theoretical lovers instead of real ones – ideas to each other instead of flesh and blood memories.

zoë keating, cellist road warrior, claims that the theoretical-lover threshold is 3 weeks. i think she’s just about right.

onwards, onwards…..

love.

AFP

p.s. here’s a link to the phoneix interview online: http://bit.ly/AFPphnx