More like the mantra of every single cat in the house. ( “I do what I want”.)

But let me tell you, gang, that carpet shampooer is GREAT! This is the one I got (luckily, it does not come with a dog):

But it is specifically for cleaning carpets that are exposed to pets. This thing is incredible. So lightweight, so easy to use, and the carpet dries quickly — it doesn’t saturate the carpet. And it gets up so much dirt.

It really made me so happy. So far, I’ve only had enough time to do one room in the house — 4 more to go. But wow. (Here’s a link on Amazon if you are interested.) My home is finally going to be clean again!!

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Other than that, yesterday was not fun. Losing that hour each March always makes me crazy. But today I’m already feeling adjusted to it, so here’s hoping the day will be more productive. (The weather is splendid, so that also helps!)

The situation with Peitor’s family ended up working out great. I can’t post the details, but it was a really good thing he went to Iowa when he did. But he had his hands full for 2 weeks.

Now he is in Los Angeles, which I’m sure will not be fun — mainly because of everything that everyone in LA has been through. And then he’s back to France in time for Series Mania in Lille. So we shall see!

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Phil is supposed to be live tonight at 8PM Eastern time. Check here later to confirm.

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Meanwhile, life goes on.

I’m celebrating a very beautiful anniversary — 43 years ago, I had my first professional solo gig as a singer/songwriter in NYC. It was at Speakeasy, on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village. And it was spectacular. My songs were so well received, it was crazy. And I was so nervous. (The club was way far down at the right.)

When I first got to NYC, I thought I would just audition for bands or producers that needed a singer. But that didn’t go well because I didn’t have a very powerful voice.

Finally, one producer I auditioned for was kind enough to have a conversation with me after my audition, which led to me playing him a couple of my own songs on his guitar. And he said, “This is what you need to do! Forget about singing other people’s songs. Your voice isn’t suited to that, and your songs are really good.”

Well, that terrified me — the thought of just standing on a stage with my guitar and singing, all alone. It took me a while to get up my nerve to finally do it, but in late February of 1982, I went to an open mic night at the extremely famous folk club in Greenwich Village — Folk City. And I was so fucking nervous.

And I’m not making this up — I was allowed to sing 2 of my own songs and when I started singing “When Wyoming Calls Me Baby”, everyone in the room was chatting to each other, drinking, oblivious to me. The place was packed. But then suddenly, after singing about one verse, everyone stopped talking. The entire club was completely silent and everyone’s eyes were on me.

I was just terrified. But I kept going. And the same thing happened when I sang my next song, “Breaking Glass.” Everyone was silent until the end of my song. And then the applause was deafening. It was beyond anything I had ever dreamed would happen to me.

And the guy who booked the shows at Speakeasy, which was another folk club down the street, came right up to me the minute I got off the stage and he shouted, “You’re really good!” and on the spot, he booked me for my first solo gig ever, and from then on, I had gigs in Greenwich Village (and elsewhere) every week, for several years after that.

After the open mic night, I remember coming up from the subway near the Camelot building (that I posted about the other day — where I lived with my first husband, off Times Square), stopping at a payphone on the corner, holding my guitar case, and making a collect call to my best friend back home in Ohio.

Since it was February, it was a cold night but really clear, and since it was NYC, there were of course bright lights lighting the night and cars and taxis were zipping by. People everywhere. And I was on cloud 9. I remember my voice was shaking when I told her “I got a gig!!”

And about 10 days later was that gig and my world changed forever.

Even though I absolutely hated the music business, today I am content to just remember how happy those early days made me feel.

Below are the 2 songs I sang. “When Wyoming Calls Me Baby” is a demo with a full band. And “Breaking Glass” is from a vinyl record that Speakeasy produced in the summer of 1982. The recording is now in the Smithsonian.

It was so great to be part of something beautiful for a while.

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Okay. Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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