Untitled

Today, I went from "Why does this keep happening to me?" to "What can I do about it?". From the musician who accused me of being afraid to work with people of his race when I turned down his offer to collaborate to the dental assistant who assumed I would share her view of "blacks" as a race of people prone to violence, the past week has been a doozy. I understand that stereotypes are based on experience. But here is the thing, they are based on LIMITED experience and very little understanding.

I'm not denying that we are culturally pre-disposed to some behaviors. I'm hispanic and I can identify with some of the stereotypes but don't reduce me to them. I'm more than that . I am a human being capable of making decisions and taking actions outside of a group. So we come from different backgrounds. So what? As our environment changes so does our behavior in that environment if we allow it. It's a choice. It's an individual choice. And I'm not saying that we all have to conform to the same behaviors but we do have to share space on this planet and either we do it together or we destroy one another. Which do you choose?

Whether you are allowing yourself to be who other people make you out to be or you are allowing yourself to dismiss the humanity of another human being because they are black, white, asian, arab, hispanic, gay, lesbian, transgender, conservative, liberal, libertarian, athiest, christian, buddist, agnostic, american or otherwise...whatever. Your statements about others are more of a reflection on you than they are on them. You can not possibly fully understand another human being unless you are that human being so why don't you just give people a break? As far as I'm concerned, the only choice we have is to act with love or not. For the rest of my life I will do my best to choose love. I don't expect to be perfect but I'm certainly going to try. 

 - LM

 

 

Blindside

Bone dry, inside my mouth but let my words fly

My hands were shaking, made my fist tight

‘cause I was about to start a war

it was a good day, the blue sky blazing with the suns rays

then I saw nothing but your cold hate           

In words I wish I could ignore

Yeah, it seems like you were patiently waiting on my

blindside, just walking the pavement and the

worst sign was that I couldn’t take it 

No, I can’t go there ‘cause you don’t play fair sometimes 

 

You know that nothing’s right just because you paint it on a

big sign. Just because you care to take your piece of mind

and cast your fear into the world

I thought I knew this,

but my anger built beneath my surface

and before I knew it, it unfurled

Yeah, it seems like you were patiently waiting on my

blindside, just walking the pavement and the

worst sign was that I couldn’t take it 

No, I can’t go there ‘cause I don’t play fair sometimes

 

I wish I could take and make the world right

Just so I see you in the best light

Maybe, if I can let it go….let it go…..let it go

 

But it seems like we are patiently waiting on the

blindside, just walking the pavement and the

worst sign is that we never make it                               

when we take it there ‘cause we don’t play fair ………

we can’t take it there ‘cause we won’t play fair……sometimes

I want to take and make the world right

If only I can let it go…

 

 - Laura Marie ©2010

Download now or watch on posterous

Blindside2.mov (14778 KB)

 

 

 

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My heart over floweth...

Yeth, I am very thankful ;)

There is so much to say here about all the people who made the new EP possible and for all the people who came out to support it's release last month. I'm going to be brief. Not awards ceremony brief but, c'mon, there are a lot of people to thank and they all mean so much to me. I could go on and on and on but you'd never read that long. Perhaps you've already stopped...don't 

The team players. The people who actually put the music together. I don't know how I got in a position to work with such talented people. At one point, I looked around the room and said "I'm the least talented person here" and I'm not fishing for compliments, I really meant it and that being in that situation was awesome. I want to be surrounded by people to learn from so, thank you for being you:

Mack Damon, Anthony Diaz De Leon, Joe Cortez IV, Jason Ybarbo, Robert Cherry, Justin Schneider, Jake Owen, Nate Davenport, Wes Harllee and Matt Adler. And thanks to Steve Fallone at Sterling for mastering and Colton Holiday at http://www.krop.com/coltonholliday/ for the artwork.

I would love to tell you about each of these people and why they are so amazing both personally and professionally. I won't here but, trust me, amazing. 

The muses, producers, collectors and contributors whose very generous contributions enabled me to present Last of the Ones in the best way possible:

Liza and Bella Stevens, Marc and Kathleen Weiss and www.solesupportmedical.com, Randy Langford, Virginia Valenzuela, George and Marcy Valenzuela, Veronica Wood, Rebecca Rojas and Rachel Marsh. 

Margaret Vasquez, Celia Barrera, Viq and Tom and the Watkins Family, Dew at Dewberry Jam Community Radio http://am1670.net and Wild Bill Rowan (Swamp Angel too!) of the same station, Nate Davenport at www.natedavenport.com, Kevin Clougherty at http://turingtest.com, RB of www.rbacoustic.com, SQUIRREL :), Darren Ramirez, Mig Villarreal and special thanks to Steve Circeo at www.T4TX.com for his support and participation in the CD artwork. 

There is also a long list of people near and far who also pre-purchased the CD in support. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Then, this happened....

The CD release party was amazing. Many of the people listed above were present and my heart was full to see so many friends and family members in one place. I felt like I was having another wedding. My face hurt from smiling. 

The artists who performed in support of the event are all amazing and deserve your attention. 

Chris Taylor -could not have pulled it off without him either. Full on emotional support and running sound. Count yourself blessed if he is among your list of friends.Though, you probably already do  http://www.facebook.com/christaylorfanpage

Wes Harllee and Adam Flohmeyer -Um...amazing and they're just getting started http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wes-Harllee

Wendy Colonna -a beautiful, wonderful force of nature. Attention San Antonio people, she drives down from Austin to play here. Get out and see her! http://www.facebook.com/wendycolonnamusic

Jake Owen who performed with me. Jake rocks. Period.

*******

The people OMG! The people who were there.  My family, my friends (since grade-school), my new friends, my biz friends, musician friends, their 'fans', FB friends, Myspace followers,Twitter and social media people, ...here is a partial list of the businesses/organizations who were represented (I list them this way because, besides being great people, their work in this city should be recognized) and families:

Hollywood Studios, Rockhills Church, Texas Music Coalition, G2E Services, Primadonna Productions, Melissa Ludwig Band, D'Anthony Salon Spa, San Antonio Film People-Dora Pena et al, Tesoro friends, SA GoGirls, SAPodcasters et al, Navarrete Consulting...I know there are more but I'm drawing a blank...

Families: The Valenzuela and Kleffner families, The Harllee family, The Vasquez Family, Chris and Cat's Rock Group :), my music family (Reza, JP)

*******

And, I can't forget The VIPs 

The night was possible because Pete Kleffner, Margaret Vasquez, Irene Ruiz, Chris Taylor and, yes, Mack Damon made it so. 

Please tell me I didn't forget anyone!!!

Oh yeah, CDs available here: http://lauramarie.bandcamp.com/

 

 

 

 

Posted via web from Laura Marie Blogs

GoGirls Love

Friday night Invasion of the GoGirls during Austin's SXSW. See that tiny person on stage in the picture below (wish I had my zoom app)? That's Melissa Ferrick. If you don't know who that is, let me 'splain.------ For you So Tx people, think the female version of Monte Montgomery. Some would compare guitar skills to Ani (I don't know Ani well enough to say) and her voice has super powers. She was thrilling------- I was honored to be on that same stage and it was great to hang out with Addie Brownlee (NY), she is 'good people'. Madalyn Sklar was rockin' the chatroom and Carol Plunk (who plays that stage tonight) was a wonderful stage manager.------ Looking forward to my gig tonight at Thunderbird Coffee. A little more laid back, I'm sure but I'm still aglow from last night. It was so wonderful to have so many friends in from San Antonio, familiar Austin/ Buda faces in the house and to have Chris Taylor with me on guitar and my old bandmates JP Leal and Rudy Diaz (both of Bombasta) on bass and drums. Good times!--------

All my best, Laura Marie (sent via mobile)

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See! It's easy :)

So easy, in fact, that it makes me wan to do more -LM

All my best, Laura Marie (sent via mobile)

Posted via email from Laura Marie Blogs

Tiger destroys lion at San Antonio Zoo

Tiger destroys lion at San Antonio Zoo. 

In a ferocious attack at the zoo's play center, the tiger was quoted as saying "I can haz you on a platter!" 

You're next!

Photos by Z.A.K.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from Laura Marie Blogs

I make no resolutions...

I make no resolutions

This year, I make no resolutions. Sort a....I mean, I have definite intentions. I intend to be incredibly happy. Happier than I've ever been, as a matter of fact. But that isn't a 'new year' thing. It's more like I just found out what makes me happy and I keep reminding myself to do it.



And, I intend to be healthy in mind and body. Which, thankfully, can be done by following the same procedure for happiness so, that works out for me. I'm a horrible mulit-tasker. I do it but then nothing gets done very well.



And it's funny, because I never thought I'd find the way to happiness, health or anything by listening to the complaints of others...especially when they were complaining about me. But, that's exactly what happened. The biggest complaint of those closest to me was that I wasn't present even when I was present. Know what I mean? I was being me: a horrible multi-tasker. My body was there but my brain was elsewhere wandering through the past or worrying about the future. Once I got past the criticism, it was really quite flattering. I'm wanted here and now...in present time. Happiness. Of course, I'm still incredibly busy and find it difficult to make time for everyone. But, quality, you know? Good stuff.



Now I'm so much more aware of what I'm doing. My brain used to be on automatic. Hello. Goodbye. How are you? I'm fine. Love you. Good night. - nothing much there. My relationships were about as satisfying as fast food. They put off the hunger for a while but, empty calories,not satisfying. I was missing something good. Something really good. It was a number of things that woke me up to that. A book, a friend, a relative...a seven year old boy who won't let me get away with anything. When I realized how much of me was on automatic my problems began to make total sense. A wise Canadian once said, 'If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.'
(That's right, I quoted RUSH).



Example:





This is a quarter order of nacho's at a local restaurant. That's right, only a fourth of the full order. Holy crap! Part of me would have loved to dig in and mindlessly munch. I mean, what's to decide? It's in front of me...I'm hungry...so eat! But, a bigger part of me is awake and mindful of what I'm doing, what I'm eating, thinking, feeling...etc. It no longer feels good to be automatic. So I'm not.



Don't get me wrong. This isn't a diet...just an extended metaphor. If I thought I would have enjoyed eating it I would have. But, I know myself. There are things in that pile of food that I definitely do not want in my body. So, no. Not for me. If you like it, enjoy! Next round on me :) This is just me taking deliberate action for myself, being present in every decision. Every day I make a decision about what I'm going to eat, who I'm going to see, what I'm going to do. Life is not a drive through. I'm sure it sounds exhausting but it's not. It feels much more like living. And, when I coast, it's more like flying or floating or whatever that feeling is when you don't have to worry. I still get caught up in day to day things and I still get complaints, etc, etc. I can think of three people right now who have asked me to slow down and spend some time with them and, I promise, I'm working on it. I just want it to be real.



This month:


Candelight Coffeehouse on Wednesdays the 14th and 28th with Reza Kaleel. (San Antonio)



New single available here:

And, one more thing. I'm engaged in conversation with a couple of you about philosophy and religion. It's been interesting but, I don't want to argue faith or belief. If you want to know my thoughts about God, religion, etc. you can read A Course in Miracles or The Shack. Both books are very much in line with what I believe. And, if you want to know what I believe about what I believe, consider this:

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" - Shakespeare

Welcome to the world

I have a new nephew!!! He was born last night - 21in 6lbs and 12oz. I'll be traveling to see him this Christmas so, yeah, my gig calendar is kind of empty right now. No worries though. If you are in town (SA) you can catch me this evening at Candlelight and I'll be back at Casa Chiapas on First Friday in January. Also, more gigs to come. For now, I want to spread the word about something so, if you could help me out, I'd really appreciate it. Here goes:



This holiday season I ask you to help me give to a cause that is close to my heart.

When you purchase my song 'Last of the Ones' from Noisetrade.com, I will give %100 of my earnings to the Advent Conspiracy that is making leaps toward solving the water crisis in impoverished nations.
You can listen to the song on the widget below and pay any amount from $1 to $25 to contribute OR send it to some friends who might enjoy it and get the MP3 download for free. This year, I want to make a difference and help meet the needs of people who are literally dying for fresh water.

Every year, 1.8 million people die in 3rd world countries from drinking contaminated water when the crisis is one that can be resolved. It takes as little as $10 to give a child clean water for life and we can do that.

The Advent Conspiracy:



The Advent Conspiracy is not affiliated
with any ads at the end of the clip.




Please post, re-post or whatever you can do. And, if you buy the single, let me know! I'm making a special thank you page and I want to include you.

Your help in spreading the word or supporting the cause would be greatly appreciated. All my love - Laura Marie

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