The new album is out!

Hi all! Just wanted to let you know that yesterday we put the last finishing touches on our new album, Where the Road Bends!It went to print today and we’ll have it in our hands by Saturday 5/10 for the cd release party. Woo hoo!!!

If you’d like to purchase one, you can pre-order them on our website for $10 between now and 5/10 - after that, we’ll be selling them for $15, so it pays to order early!

Treadmill Desk

Treadmill Desk
Originally uploaded by {platinum}

Well, here it is! So far I've walked about five miles between yesterday and today, all while checking email, catching up on th news, even playing World of Warcraft. In fact, I'm walking right now! I'm thrilled with how the desk came out, it was easier to put together than I expected. You can check out more pictures here. Enjoy!

Walking and working

Just bought a treadmill yesterday and got it set up in my office. My goal is to create a treadmill desk like this so I can walk and work at the same time. I threw some cardboard over it this afternoon to make a desk for my laptop and have been walking for over an hour now. It's surprisingly easy! I plan to get a piece of wood or acrylic to use as the desktop and to mount my monitor to the wall instead of using the laptop, but for the moment, even this simple set up is pretty effective. Plus now I don't have to bother buying a new office chair!

Best Live Acoustic Band of Orange County!

We won, we won!! Woo hoo! Saturday night was the 2008 Orange County Music Awards, sort of like our local verson of the Grammys, and the Fallen Stars took home the award for "Best Live Acoustic Band." It was our third or fourth year competing (I can't remember which!) and our first win! Here's a picture of Bobbo, Gregg and me with our good friend Corvette Sandy, one of the founders of the OCMAs. She was so happy for us it was tough to tell who was more excited about us winning - us or her!

It was such a rush to hear them call our name. They played our song "Raining in Hollywood" as we made that long walk throught the crowd to take the stage and it was great seeing so many familiar faces smiling and cheering for us on the way! Bobbo and Gregg both said a few words and I for once was speechless! :) After we left the stage the other founder, Martin Brown, told the crowd that we were a great example of the spirit of the OCMAs because when we started a few years ago we weren't all that impressive, but we worked hard and improved every year and have become a really great band that everyone should go and see! Oh, and now we're eligible to perform at next year's award show too!

Anyway, it was a terrific night and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that came out to the many semifinals and finals to support us and to the judges who put so much hard work into putting the OCMAs together every year. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We're going to Europe!

We finally bought the tickets yesterday! I was so nervous I made Bobbo sit next to me and hold my hand. :) We're going for three whole weeks and will be visiting Germany, Italy, France and England, wrapping up with a Foo Fighters concert at Wembley Stadium! So excited!!

We've got the passports and the plane tickets, so next on the list is booking places to stay. Germany is pretty much all set, since we're staying with family, but if you have any suggestions or recommendations for the other countries, please let me know!

Photoshop Disasters

Photoshop Disasters

Up side - Laughing at the horrors wrought by bad photoshopping.
Down side - Questioning the reality of every photograph you see!

Not just another campaign speech

By this point, you probably know that I'm supporting Barack Obama for president. Regardless of who you are supporting, I encourage everyone to watch the speech that he gave today on the issue of race. It's a response to the concerns raised about his former pastor, but it's also a candid and thought-provoking conversation about the role of race in today's society and politics, and it's worth listening to no matter what your political leanings. Don't listen to just the sound bites you hear on tv or the snippets that are quoted online. Set aside some time and really listen to the whole thing. (Look, I even posted it right here for you!) Or, if you can't find the time to watch, please read the transcript. It's well worth it.