jaimes

Patti Smith. Singer. Songwriter. Musician. Poet. Artist. Author of the book Just Kids. Mother of Jackson and Jesse.

“Let’s just say that I think any person who aspires, presumes, or feels the calling to be an artist has a built-in sense of duty.”

Check out the trailer for the documentary Dream of Life, in which Patti jokes, “As you can see, I was not a mother that used bleach.”

So, I’m super busy trying to parent, volunteer at Girls’ Rock Camp, and you know, shower and stuff. The girls are soundchecking today for tomorrow night’s performance. Here’s a clip of the band I’m coaching at practice.

Are you ready to rock, ATL? This is Lemon Lime Light!!!!

You do not want to miss these girls live. They’re playing at Variety Playhouse tomorrow night as part of the Girls’ Rock Camp ATL showcase.

It’s not often that you see funny pregnant ladies on TV. The SnL ladies have boasted a few bumps over the years, but most actresses have to conceal their pregnancies to stay in character. Not so with Samantha Bee. Her belly has been all over The Daily Show and I love it. They’ve made jokes about it on the show and written her kids into sketches. It’s good to see celebreties schlepping through those final months of pregnancy like the rest of us.

And with her 3rd baby on the way and a husband (Jason Jones) who is also on The Daily Show, they may just overthrow Jon Stewart and turn the DS into a reality show about their family life. But until then, fans can get some juicy details of Samantha Bee’s life in her new autobiography, I Know I Am, But What Are You.

Here’s an exerpt from the book about Samantha and her dad’s musical differences:

“He always liked to remind me that I went through a very serious love affair with the music of the Smiths and that he thought it was terrible and depressing. I liked to remind him that Billy Joel was a much more interesting songwriter when he was suffering from depression and doing things like drinking furniture polish, not making songs like “Uptown Girl,” which was, coincidentally, my father’s favorite.” – Samantha Bee

And here is Samantha promoting her book:

One of my mama friends posted this video on facebook today. It made me laugh several times, and I had not even been drinking.

Send some link love to mama blogger Marija Thomas AKA My Mom’s a Nerd AKA Lady Muffintop. I’m happy to see I’m not the only mom who’s willing to make a jackass of herself on video.

I’ve been on a Weeds marathon lately. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s the one on Showtime where Mary Louise Parker plays Nancy Botwin, a suburban widow turned weed dealer. The job keeps her family in her cookie-cutter neighborhood, Agrestic, until season four when she moves closer to Mexico to open a maternity store. Of course, the store is a front to cover the real business of smuggling drugs and immigrants.

Nancy Botwin is a hustler and a mom. She’s doing what she has to do so she can do what she wants to do. Now, what does all this have to do with you and me? Am I suggesting we start a ring of hustlin’ mamas? No, not exactly.

But the idea of doing one legit business in order to support your less than practical passion as an artist is something I am suggesting. And rather than calling it hustling, I’m calling this concept leapfrogging. Why? Because putting a name to a concept makes it easier to digest and remember. And because Leapfrogging Hustlers is my new band name. Just joking. (more…)

I just spent seven days in Virginia with family and friends, and I’m a little out of sorts. I’m in a weird mood that I’m not sure how to shake off. It’s been building for a while, but I wasn’t quite sure what was bugging me until now.

I tend to make an ass of myself, a lot. This is something my close friends have always known (and thankfully accept), but now that I broadcast my shenanigans through this blog and social networks like facebook, it brings the occasional insecurity to a whole new level. I put a lot of myself out there, from goofy photos and videos to confessionl style blog posts and then I wait. I wait for comments, reactions, virtual feedback for my vulnerable ego.

And if comments do not follow, I panic. This happened when my bff posted a video of me and one of my favorite people on the planet singing an impromptu song about donka doo balls. Yes, on Memorial Day when people were cooking out and even visting graveyards, I was making up a song on guitar that was inspired by reality tv and condiments. Of course, this video was posted on facebook. That’s what we do.

But when only a few people commented on the video, I got all panicky. (more…)