DANCING ON THE CEILING

I went back to my high school today. It's been 29 years since I graduated.

In high school I was a Vikette. The Vikettes were/are a drill team. We did dance routines at halftime for football and basketball games and marched in parades on Thanksgiving and Memorial Day.

I don't really have a lot of fond memories of being a Vikette. You know that Motorhead song "The Chase is better than the Catch?" It was like that. When I was 15 it was really important to be able to "say" I was a Vikette but I hated all the effort required once I was one. We used to start practice at 7:00 AM or something.

Still, I was intrigued by the idea of donning dance shoes and performing at a high school football game. For old times sake, I went to a practice at Hazel Park High School today. We rehearsed in the gym. Everything looked pretty much the same as it did when I went there in the 1970s. And I realized I still really don't enjoy learning dance routines.

When I got home I showed Willie what I learned and he thought it was really good. He told Dylan "Come and see what Mom can do!" Dylan didn't come so I went to him and showed him. He didn't seem to enjoy it very much but he promised me he would come to my football game. My parents will be there too.

At the end of the practice I talked to Mrs. C. Can you believe my advisor is still around ? She looks the same too. I told her I would help her with fundraising and design a website for the Vikettes. She was really excited and so was I. It felt good to go back to high school after all.

THE LONGFELLOW WRITERS CLUB

I often get asked "what inspired you to want to start a rock band?" It was a series of fortunate events. I was the P.T.A. newsletter editor for my kids' elementary school when I found out one of the kids in the Writers Club (I had a bunch of students help me put it together...like my sons always say "Why should I have to do all the work around here?") was related to Jack White of the White Stripes. He came to the school for an interview...well here...just read the article from May 2002:

YOU DON'T KNOW JACK
(But we do!)

Being in the school gym never felt so hip. With a day of numbers, letters, nouns and books behind them, it was time for show-and-tell with a talented young visitor not much older than the members of the Writers Club. As Jack White, 26, of the Detroit band White Stripes sang We're Going to be Friends the young writers had to agree and being a kid in school felt pretty cool.

Members of the Writers Club are used to interviewing interesting people but until last month they had never gotten the chance to interview a bona fide rock star. They got their big opportunity when music sensation Jack White arrived promptly at the school gym at 3:30 on a Friday with red and white guitar in hand.

Jack is extremely busy these days. His band is critically acclaimed around the world; White Stripes' third album White Blood Cells is named by several rock editors in their top 100 picks for 2001 and their video for Fell in Love with a Girl can be seen regularly on MTV. Having toured the UK and Ireland, most of Europe, Japan and New Zealand, the band is now in the middle of a U.S. tour that will have them headlining two shows at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on May 22 and 23. In addition, the band will be recording a new album in London, England, later this month.

With such a demanding schedule Jack still found the time to chat and sing with a group of 30 enthusiastic K -5 students. Student, Grace M., arranged the interview. Grace just happens to be Jack's niece. Grace and several members of the Writers Club stayed after school one day to make posters with big red markers (red and white are the official colors of White Stripes fans) and listen to the band's latest CD on a small boom box. A flier went home to members of the Writers Club to wear red and white on the day of the interview.

Jack passed out the lyrics to We're Going to be Friends from the band's latest CD and discussed the thought process that went into writing a song. He played several songs on his guitar and questioned the students about their own writing. He talked about his own school experiences, listened to the children talk about theirs and took questions from the group.

These are some of the things we learned about Jack. He has traveled all over the world with his band. They are in the middle of a North American tour and may possibly go to South America next. It takes him anywhere from 15 minutes to a couple of days or longer to write a song. The song I think I Smell a Rat is about bullies. Jack does not like bullies at all! His favorite number is 3. He used to have a dog but he is currently petless. He’s met some famous people but so far has never met any of the guys from *NSYNC and when asked if he liked mermaids he replied he thinks they’re great!

After the interview, Jack hung around to takepictures and sign autographs. He thanked everyone who wore his favorite color - red - and said he would like to read some of the kids' poems one day. He left the gym having made 30 new school friends. Later that evening, his band picked up a couple of Detroit Music Awards at the State Theatre in Detroit, one for Best National Album, White Blood Cells, and one for Best National Single, Hotel Yorba.

The very next day I signed up for guitar lessons. :)

PAPER MYDOLS

I was cleaning out my desk at work, (I must have been bored or looking for change for the candy machine) when I ran across these paperdolls that an ex-coworker created in 2002. I thought they were so cute, I printed up a set. The next thing I knew I was creating a book.

So what are you waiting for? Grab some scissors.

You can order a fancy smancy paper set or download it for FREE and print it yourself--just click here.

WRITERS MEETUP

I went to my first Writers' Meetup tonight and it was really interesting. It's a really good group and I feel I learned a lot and contributed a lot too.

More than anything, I realize how lucky I am to have a great agent and a editor. And to have had everything happen really fast for me. Some writers devote their lives to their work and never get published. I feel truly blessed.

Oh, and it was "Parent Night" tonight at the high school and I got escorted by my fabulous son onto the soccer field. What a joy!

ROLLER DERBY QUEEN IN DOCOS

The Mydols got requests today from two different women filmmakers to use the song "Roller Derby Queen". One was from an Australian who is doing a documentary on the resurgance of Roller Derby down under. Her production company is called Big Island Pictures and then we got another request for the song to be in a doco about Women with Tatoos from Snakegirl Productions.

I spoke to a screenwriter today too about Rock Star Mommy and she was so generous in her praise. It felt amazing. I am keeping my fingers crossed...

ROCK STAR MOMMY MAKES THE COVER OF MEDIABISTRO.COM

My agent was interviewed for a story titled "Pitching an Agent: The Nonfiction Boutique : This agent wants to work closely with authors that have an uplifting story to sell".

You can read the article at http://www.mediabistro.com/.

MYDOLS' SOCCER

It's soccer time for mom too! This year the Mydols have not one team but TWO teams at Total Soccer. We have our Championship E Division team. (We won last year. We're the best of all the teams that suck!) And this year we are adding a D Division team for the girls who are better athletes.

I'm designing new shirts for us. We already purchased black socks with pink polka-dots! Hey we may not be the greatest players but we have the cutest uniforms. All the refs say so. So there!

PRETTY SMART NEWS

In Korean Jee Yeon means "pretty smart"--and that she is. That's her peaking behind the teacher with two fingers up, which mean "I'm happy".

Here's what she has to say:

Hi? How are you all of you doing?

I am good.

I am really sorry that I haven't checked my e-mail for a long time(It's almost about a month)

I also still miss you a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still study English hard because of being ready to meet you and whole family someday.

I don't want to forget English so nothing I can't talk with you. If it happens, I might feel really terrible.

I am kind of busy , because junior is a leader grade in my school. We do all the things.

I am a leader of girl's dormitory for this semester. So I call the roll and check that they clean up their own room or not

If some of girls have the things that should not be in the room (like food, cosmetics, etc.) , I confiscate the things.

So I need to have a strong sense of justice.


Also we have a gym fesitival on next thursday. I am really exited!!!!!!!!!

Because I am a relay race player. (You know that I can run fast!!)

And I play basket ball, too.

And my brother got a little cat from his friend. I haven't seen him yet, I hope the cat is friendly.

But, usually, cat is not as friendly as a dog.

Is Barney friendly? Does Ozzie like him? I hope Ozzie is not jealous of him.

September 25th is thanksgiving day of Korea. So I am going to go home for ten days for fall vacation.

I will eat a lot!!!!!!!!!! I haven't go home for three weeks.

I miss you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bye~


Jee Yeon

MERRY FREAKIN' CHRISTMAS

The Mydols have been asked to be on a Chrismas compilation CD with some of Detroit's coolest bands. The last CD April Boyle put out was the "Family Hootenanny". That one made many "best of" lists for kids' music. It's really good. Just ask my niece Elise!

Merry Freakin' Christmas is not for kids. Um...there are no references to reindeer sweaters or fruitcakes in this song.

We had the pleasure of recording with Luis Resto on it. Luis has won Oscars and Grammys. (He co-wrote "Loose Yourself "with Eminem.) Needless to say, this single is pretty polished by Mydols' standards. Look for it over the Holidaze.

MY HOUSE ON HGTV

I spent the WHOLE day working on invitations for my parents' 50the Wedding Anniversary. When they celebrate their 75th I'm going to ORDER the invitations. The ones I made turned out very nice but I think I'll gouge my eyes out with a fork if I ever see gold ribbon again. (It was a pain in the bum to tie a ribbon on each invite.)

Later I called my friend David Reed. (http://www.reedphotos.com/ Check out the events/music section and you'll see me! He also shot the cover of my book.) He's going to photograph the party for us. He does such great work and he just lives down the street so I love working with him.

I was emailing my sisters with a party update when my friend Karen called and said she just saw me on HGTV. It seems they are running the segment they did on our house 2 years ago AGAIN. Karen had never seen it and she was so excited. It was cute talking to her.

I also got an email from JeeYeon, our Korean exchange student. Her English is still very good. I miss her so much on days like today. I mean, she would have helped me tie all those bows. (The boys let me suffer alone.) JeeYeon and I used to package all the Mydols' Pop Tartz box sets. It would take us hours. I sent her pix of Dylan playing soccer and I missed her even more. It sure was good to hear from her. She is doing great!! I cannot not wait until we meet again.

Today was a good day.

SOCCER RULES

Dylan had his first high school home game last night. Grandpa and Grandpa Davids and Grandma and Grandpa Cianfarani came...as did half of Royal Oak. We saw a lot of parents from Longfellow and EVERYONE was saying they can't believe how big Dylan is getting. TELL ME ABOUT IT!

Dylan played so good. This picture is one from the website I do for the team. I had a lot of parents tell me how they check it every day which was nice to hear. AND I sold a lot of t-shirts too.

It was a good night.

TODAY WAS ALL ABOUT SCHOOL WEBSITES

NOOGIEFEST AND MORE...

I got my pix back from Oakland today. Here's one of our stage. Wasn't it cute? We had really great weather. Check out the blue skies...


Well after a weekend of feeling like the "rocker" part of "mom rocker", I'm back to feeling like M-O-M part. I worked the JV Soccer game (Dylan was the ball boy) selling t-shirts. I drove back and forth from the High School 4 times today. ARGH!

I'm hosting a website for the Freshman soccer team and designing/selling T-shirts, hoodies, sweats and window decals for all the teams. Can you say S-O-C-C-E-R M-O-M?

Next week I start my PTSA duties at the Middle School.

But, I have a few things I'm doing for me. I'll be talking to Tiffany Petrossi of http://www.rockinmoms.com/ some time next. I'm hoping to partner with her on a few projects. And I'm hoping to speak to a screenwriter who is interested in my book next week too!

And last but not least, The Mydols are going to play at Gilda's Club Noogiefest Halloween Party. We did it last year and we had so much fun. Gilda's Club is such a wonderful organization. We're really happy to feel like we are part of their family.

BACK TO SCHOOL

I took yesterday off. It was the kids' first day of school. I walked to school with Willie as his new building is only 2 blocks away. They renovated the old high school into a middle school and I volunteered to help direct kids to classrooms. Everyone was lost. I also spoke to the PTSA President and I took on a position in the executive committee so I'll be active at both the high school (Athletic Boosters) and middle school this year.

Dylan also started high school yesterday and seemed to have a good first day. He found all his classes OK. He got himself to soccer practice right after school. He seems really organized. He's really growing up. He's become very independent.

I did some writing in the afternoon after I got back from the middle school. I spoke to my agent about my new book which is a middle reader novel. I can't want for her to read it. In the meantime, we are now working with Joel Gotler who is a book-to-film literary agent. He read my manuscript and liked it. He's talking to a few producers on my behalf. I found a very interesting article about about him Hartford Observer. I look forward to working with him.

SUMMER OF LOVE

I'm writing this from the San Francisco International Airport. The Mydols played across the bay in Oakland this weekend at the Art & Soul Festival. Paige flew down from Seattle and we had a reunion of sorts.

The festival was great. I think we played pretty good considering we were unable to practice together. And it was so much fun hanging out with all the other bands. Joy Rose did a great job pulling everything together.

It's the second time we were flown somewhere, picked up by a driver, and put up in a nice hotel. We truly were treated like rock stars. (The other time was when we were on The Greg Behrendt Show.)

Filmmaker, Kate Perotti, hung out with us. She drove up from LA. Today we all went to the Summer of Love Concert in Golden Gate Park. There were over 100,000 people there. It was really fun but I am EXHAUSTED!!!! We did so much walking today--through the Mission, Haight-Asbury etc...I'm glad to be sitting down finally and I can't wait to get home!!! I miss my family so much.