Pinnacles of 2009: Through song lyrics and days to remember 7:10 PM

January: HAWAII

“They’ll make statues of us and put it on a mountaintop”

February: INDIA (Four weeks of ashram life. Hari Om.)

“This postcard can’t deliver what I see”

2.02 Hong Kong

2.03 Mumbai

2.06 Yoga Vidya Dahm Yoga Teacher Training

March: INDIA (Amonth of borrowed time in the heat)

“You’re karma’s best idea for me”

3.09 In the recording studio

3.11 Happy Holi!

3.12 Goa

3.19 Hampi

3.24 Pondicherry

4.02 Udaipur

4.07 Longest day ever. Mumbai - Hong Kong - Los Angeles

April: CALIFORNIA (back to the real world)

“Someday I hope to find my horizon”

4.30 First American gig of the year in Hermosa Beach

May: OREGON + ALASKA

“Can the world be more like a black and white film or photograph”

5.03 Reiki Certified

5.13-18 Portland

5.17 Jimi’s Graduation. MBA.

5.18-24 Alaska

June: PORTLAND

“I’m free to do this and a little bit of that”

July: LOS ANGELES

“Music is my aeroplane”

7.05 Death Cab for Cutie @ the Hollywood Bowl. Fireworks!

7.12 Ray Lamontagne @ the Hollywood Bowl

7.23 Blink 182’s first show back in Las Vegas

August: NEW YORK

“The city won’t let me pretend”

8.02 Blink 182 in Jersey. Front row surprise. Confetti. Smile.

September: HAWAII

“There’s so much in this world to make me believe”

9.30 Pearl Jam @ Gibson Amphitheater

October: THE MIDDLE

“It’s the hurt I hide that fuels the fire inside me”

10.01 Kudos Uncle Ted

10.23 Ben Gibbard @ the El Rey

10.28 Foo Fighters Storytellers

November: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

“Hold your own, know your name, go your own way”

11.11-15 Music Therapy Conference in San Diego

11.15 A burrito at Sombreros!

11.17 Them Crooked Vultures @ the Wiltern

11.21 Released my first album: Our Little India

11.22 30

December: PLANET EARTH

“A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs, a moment”

12.13 A lucky library book

12.03,12,&17 Acoustic Sessions in Redondo Beach

12.26 Reunited with beautiful Aussies in Hawaii

I feel as though I lived ten years of experience in this one. I travelled approximately 26,000 miles by airplane. The huge changes I made in 2008 paid off well for me to live this one as a year in transition. Nothing felt permanent, and one of my biggest accomplishments of the year was being better at okay with that. I learned such a tremendous amount about the world and about myself that I looked back on 2009 feeling a bit exhausted, but excited to enter a new decade with greater awareness and greater potential to live my best.

Thank you to every single person who was a part of it. Thank YOU.

Thank you. 11:46 PM

I found $500 in a library book.

I am an extraordinarily lucky person. I try to say this with humility but it often comes across as boastful but I don't even care anymore cause I want to be able to talk about the good things that happen to me. And I don't mean that I'm lucky because I was born into a good family, comfortable life, have lots of support, and have my basic survival needs taken care of without worry. I am very grateful for that, but I am talking about being lucky with chance. I win contests on a regular basis and if I enter a raffle I usually win whether I want to or not. I often find myself in the right place at the right time to meet whoever I want, and not only do I get to go to cool events but I'll usually end up in the best spot in the crowd. It just happens. I don't believe in jinxing myself or that now that I'm blogging about it it's gonna stop, cause I talk about it all the time. I am lucky. Fortunate might be a better word.

But this is just something else. Five hundred dollars. I would have been happy to find one dollar.

I was quickly walking through the library last week to check out the book The Artist's Way (which so far I am loving) and on my way to the front I passed the book Who Moved My Cheese and thought it would be cool to reread it cause it's short and has a good theme. Last night I picked it up and took it to bed with me to read for a bit before sleeping. When I opened the book, 5 $100 bills fell onto my lap. I wish this had been filmed or something so I could post a picture of my face in that moment in an expression of total confusion as my thoughts went from "what is this fake money doing in this book.......no i think this is a real $100 bill......holy @#%&* oh my god there are 5......what is going on.....wow i'm really not tired anymore..."

I've come up with 10 different scenarios of why this money was in this book.

1. Someone read the book and liked it so much that they left deliberately left the money for someone to find in hope of inspiring positive change.
2. A good samaritan walking through the library pulled the book off the shelf, stuck the money in, and put it back as a gift for the next person who borrowed it.
3. A senile old woman borrowed the book and forgot she was hiding her money in there and then returned the book.
4. Someone made a bad choice of temporarily holding money in a LIBRARY book and it got returned without them knowing.
5. The library is testing my moral values to see if I will report the money.
6. Willy Wonka (as a metaphor) is testing my judgement and will reward my honesty by giving me a Chocolate Factory (as a metaphor) if I turn it in.
7. Karma is testing me.
8. The universe is answering a call, and balancing out my finances since I got called off from work so many days this month.
9. The pages of this book are magical and can make money appear out of nowhere.
10. Someone somewhere wanted me to have this.

Who knows. I may never find out, and it's probably none of these reasons. Though I am an optimist that believes in the good samaritan with a hope that I can do that one day also, I am also sympathetic to the senile old lady who has lost her money. The suspicion of being tested is a sign of guilt, though the feeling of guilt is a sign that deep down I feel like I am not worthy of this even though I am aware that I can use this money in more virtuous way than someone would would find it and go shopping. It has been 24 hours since I found that money and I'm still not sure what to do, but I gotta say that if my biggest dilemma right now is trying to figure out what to do with $500 that I found then I really have to take a moment to stop and think about how great my life is. Lucky. Fortunate. Whatever you want to call it, it's good.

And keeps getting better. To add to the craziness, this morning I ran into Taylor Hawkins at Borders.

Another moment of precise timing. I drove out to the valley to meet Gail for lunch. According to my GPS I was 5 minutes from where were going to meet but according to my bladder I only had 2 uncomfortable minutes left. So detoured into the Borders parking lot and just as I was rushing to the entrance, the drummer of my favorite band was rushing out with his wife and son and we greeted each other with a casual hello. And that moment was topped with a couple hours at Follow Your Heart with Gail. The events that lead us to become friends is another level of all this.

Thank you.

Kudos my hero, leaving all the best 10:31 PM

Nine years ago tonight I met Dave Grohl for the first time at night 2 of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas at Universal Amphitheatre. I was six months out of college, in a job I disliked, slightly aware that the path I was headed down was making me unhappy, and not sure what to do about it. I left my apartment that evening wearing lavender corduroy pants, tall black boots, a black Volcom top, long grey sweater, and a red beaded choker that I bought on the street in New Orleans. I had a $175 concert ticket (I bought from a scalper) that I knew would get me a good view of the stage. It turned out to put me in the right place at the right time with the right person for the right events to quickly unfold into a moment where Dave and I were standing side by side backstage smiling at a disposable camera being held by Shawn Fanning.

When I woke up that morning I had no clue that would happen.

I drove home that night in some weird dreamy state with my mind blown, that something like that could happen to me. When the reality of it sunk it, it changed the way I thought. I ended that year shaken by the trauma of 9/11 and woken up with the realization that if I can meet one of my biggest heroes, I can do anything. And the next year my life completely changed, 2002 was when I really became a musician. Now I'm not gonna say Dave Grohl was responsible for me becoming a music therapist and world traveller. I don't mean it like that. But I do want to acknowledge how one crossing of a path can help spark something and create a pretty big shift. That's part of why I'm still a huge fan of the guy. I have so much gratitude for him helping me believe. Thank you.

Looking back, the best part is on that night I had no clue that event was just the beginning of many more beautiful chance encounters.

I very much like a good story about how people meet. I was looking at this archive of KROQ Xmas shows on Wikipedia and didn't know how far back it went. In 1995 line up included Foo Fighters, No Doubt, Bush, Alanis Morrisette, and Wesley Willis (amongst others) and this was an important one because this was the show where Gwen Stefani met Gavin Rossdale, and where Dave met Taylor Hawkins. At the same show! I went to this annual KROQ show four times (2000, 20001, 2002, 2006) and have very fond memories of seeing Incubus play with a string section, Weezer for the first time, No Doubt for the first time (so happy I cried), Coldplay's first American performance, and Foo Fighters playing a surprise rock set. However the 1999 show that I didn't go to also had a big effect on me. I remember listening to a live radio broadcast of it and feeling a deeply painful regret because my favorite bands were playing and I wasn't there. I refused to experience that feeling ever again. Sure made up for that one.

a beautiful day, don't let it get away 12:14 AM

It rained all day and I had no obligation to do anything. I love rainy days.

(Now I'm about to do what I don't want my blog to become- a glorified rundown of mundane daily activities. I'd much rather go for themes and organized thought. But this day was so good I had to get it down. And I'd like to rebel even against my own restrictions.)

I woke up to the the sound of water drops outside my window and felt immediately soothed and happy, especially since I wasn't scheduled to work. I opened my eyes to my nearly perfect rainy day. The day I dreamed of every single time I would have to drive to work in the rain. I could have stayed in my pajamas all day but instead changed to comfy yoga clothes and spent most of the late morning reading on the couch with a constantly refilled mug of green tea. Had a lunch of butternut squash soup with a hummus and avocado sandwich while watching a travel channel program about Italy.

I sat down on the rug of my room to meditate and when I opened my eyes I saw a smiley face drawn by John Frusciante that I taped onto a drawer of my dresser. I had forgotten it was ever there, and it made me think of him and that made me think of Gail and how I hadn't talked to her in so long and that it sure would be nice to reconnect. So I called her and she was another lucky soul to be at home on a Monday afternoon. Our conversation was great enough to do justice to our unique and specially regarded friendship.

I got the urge to get out of the house so I took my macbook over to a local coffee shop and got a hot cup of acai white tea. I spent a couple hours doing travel research for my upcoming India trip, which is set with plane tickets but the itinerary is still a bunch of ideas. So with a Lonely Planet travel guide and almost infinite information online, I educated myself on Dharamsala, McLeod Ganj, Varanasi, Rishikesh, and New Delhi. I've tentatively decided to keep most of my travels around the Himalayas. It's a pretty big task to answer the question, "where do I want to go?" as a resident of our planet. Hugh joined me for a bit and when we walked out to the parking lot in the dark it was so windy and cold that we were blown away to New York City and we are now in Greenwich Village and it is 1965. Which would have been a much more exciting concept then getting in our cars and driving home, but there is a peek into my next type of travel- time travel.

Anyway, I came home and did some yoga and then ate a fantastic dinner of eggplant parmesan and vegetable soup. Alysha and I had our weekly phone chat which is one of the best things to do on a Monday night. Laugh, get the toxins out of our head, and say whatever we want. If everyone else was in on it, our conversations could save the world. And now I sit here. The rain is over, the cold remains and I'm about to get under my down comforter.... and the electricity just went out. Lovely :)

This was a good day. Good nite.

"If not now then when?" 12:27 AM

I am proud to say that I now have a personal coach. Coach Tim is a fellow music therapist, coworker, friend, and a kindred enthusiast of life who now has a designated role of helping me achieve my goals more effectively than I could on my own, teaching me how I can do and be better, motivate me to be my best, and holding me accountable to my plans to reach my goals and dreams. I've gotten 2 common responses to telling people this:

1. "You got a personal trainer? That's cool."

No, this is not personal training at a fitness gym. Similar concept, bigger vision.

2. "Why do you need this? You are already motivated enough."

I don't NEED Tim as my coach in order to succeed. I'm pretty confident that I could reach my goals without him because I do have a tremendous amount of drive within me. However, it is difficult to keep that up on my own. To constantly push myself out of my comfort zone, discipline myself, get myself to take action quickly, and to battle that voice of doubt in my head. In the past couple of years I've learned how important these things are and I've taken bold enough steps this way to make it a part of my everyday life.... but it's not easy. I could definitely use the help.

Another thing I've learned this year is how amazing things can happen when you team up with someone with a meaningful connection. In just two months with Rory, we wrote more songs together than I did in five years on my own. And now there is Scott who I get to create music and eat good food with, Jay Paul and Alysha working on a music video for me, Lisa who has checked to see that I've worked out every day this week, Matt and Hugh who I played a show with tonite, the family I live with that allows me to live this beautiful life......... and so on, it seems infinite at this point. I believe everyone in my life has their purpose in helping me live.

In 2008 when I was planning my big travel adventures and dealing with a lot of scary change, I would listen to Incubus' song Drive as soon as as I woke up in morning. Before I could even get out of bed I would reach for my ipod and let the song sink in before starting my day. I did this for months. It helped me not freak out about quitting my job, moving out of my apartment, or leaving the country. I listened to it a lot on the road when that question of "what and I doing?!?!?!" came up. The song still keeps me grounded, focused, inspired, reassured, and hopeful. Now I have a human presence to do that. It is someone's job to do that for ME. That is such an awesome concept.

On the topic of dreams and goals I hit one tonight. I played my first of three Thursday night Acoustic Sessions at the Bean Counter in Redondo with Matt and Hugh. We all did well and enjoyed it. It was a nice vibe, cool audience, and good sound. Though I appreciate with all my heart my friends and family who come out to support me at my shows, as a performing musician a big hope is that you'll attract the ear of strangers who will like your music without knowing anything else about you.

And so tonight for the first time I sold a CD to a stranger. That is another awesome concept.

Acoustic sessions every Thursday in December 4:08 PM

I will be playing at the Bean Counter in north Redondo Beach the first 3 Thursdays of December at 7pm. This Thursday I'll be playing with Matt Kallish and the rest of the month with lovely Sara Dee. In fact I am sitting here right now in this comfortable cafe listening to my own album playing overhead.

It's a strange thing listening to my own voice. It's taken me years to get used to it and one of the biggest battles in recording was listening to playback after playback, feeling so uncomfortable each time and wanting to throw a whole bunch of effects on my vocal tracks to hide behind. I don't feel that discomfort anymore about singing, but I saw myself on VH1 last Friday when the Foo Fighters Storytellers show aired and there it was again. It was my 5th national TV appearance (4 of those involving Dave Grohl) but still totally strange. However I'd be happy to take on he challenge of getting comfortable on camera. I don't really watch TV anyway.

The second shipment of CD's has gone out spanning the US from Hawaii to New York and across the world to India. This album has truly been a labor of love. It was WAY more work than I anticipated, but worth every bit of effort. So now I am getting it out there and moving on. Writing and recording the next one has already begun.

There is a small moment between decision and action. It is up to you to fill that moment with fear or COURAGE. 9:49 PM

About a year ago Mumbai got attacked by terrorists. I just got back from Italy and was planning my trip to India. I had a round trip ticket to Mumbai and was enrolled in Yoga Vidya Dahm's yoga teacher training course for February 2009. Out of genuine concern many people discouraged me from going, and my parents seemed surprised that I was even considering following through on my plans. Out of fear I questioned whether or not I should go, and considered canceling the whole thing, getting a refund, and using the money to record an album in Los Angeles.

To try and make an educated decision, I asked around for different opinions.

The people who had been to India before said to go, that I'll be fine.

Most people who had not been to India thought I'd be crazy to take the risk.

There were two conversations in particular I clearly remember. One was with my Grandma while standing in line at the post office in Hilo. She told me that I should go. "The last you want is to regret not going, and to find out it was safe after all and then think oh shoot I should have gone to India. Plus if you are going to study yoga you should do it there. Oh and don't tell your dad I told you that. " The second one was with Hanif, the owner of a postal center in Torrance who helped me with my Indian visa. When he gave me the papers to fill out I asked him about his opinions on safety there. "There are dangers everywhere. You can't let that stop you. There are more dangers here driving on the freeway." The woman behind me in line chimed in and agreed with him.

It was a hard call to make. A terrorist attack is valid reason for concern, but not necessarily a reason to not go somewhere. Causing my family to worry about me if I went would make me feel guilty, but regret would lead to resentment. I trust my intuition to keep me safe and I take the path of least regret.

So I went and I am SO GLAD I DID.

And I was scared, mostly of the unknown and anxiety about entering a third world country, knowing this would be the farthest outside of my comfort zone I ever dared to venture....alone. But once I got there it was okay, I learned what I needed to know, and I eventually ended up staying twice as long as I planned, and had some of the best experiences of my life. I even recorded an album there, so also I did what I would have done if I stayed back but with much better songwriting material and beautiful new person to make music with. Sometimes you can have it all. Have your cake and a thousand more. I released that album we call Our Little India just last week. That music exists as the BEST souvenir of all my travels so far.

While in Mumbai I visited the places that got attacked. Though there was somberness still lurking in the air, it felt safe. A tour guide walked me through the gorgeous Taj Hotel (though partial burned) after going through three security checkpoints and commented on how my parents must be worrying about me. On the day we celebrated Holi, Rory and I had lunch at Leopolds (the cafe that got shot up) with new friends, all of us with colored paint on our faces and clothes...laughing and glad to be there.

In all this, the scariest thing of all - more than the terrorist attacks, more than than being on a airplane for 15 hours wondering what I was getting myself into - is sitting here thinking about how I almost didn't go.

Welcome 11:11 PM

I celebrated the end of my twenties and arrival of my thirties with grace and drive by booking a trip around the world. AROUND THE WORLD!

Los Angeles -> Taiwan -> Bali -> New Delhi -> London -> Los Angeles.

Departing on January 18, 2010. But first I have an album to sell, a trip to Hawaii, songs to write, and good intentions to plan.

Here we go.