I wasn’t much of a fan of Royal Caribbean cruises until I tried Utopia of the Seas after watching a video of the train dinner show. So we set sail on a short 3-day cruise on Utopia to test it out. It was so much fun, we booked Star of the Seas, the second in the Icon class of ship (Icon of the Seas was the first). The real star of Star of the Seas to me was the Lincoln Park Supper Club, a 1930s Chicago themed dinner show with paired cocktails, music, and food. It was fabulous!

So when we heard that the third ship in the Icon class, Legend of the Seas, would have a Hollywood-themed supper club, we booked it, too. Not sure if we’ve lost our mind or if we’ll follow through with the cruise (these cruises are becoming outrageously expensive), but this year we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary so we thought we’d splurge. Anyway, we’re anxiously waiting to hear what the playlist and cocktail and food menu will be. It sails on July 4, so we have almost 8 weeks until we find out. All we know is that the theme is 1920s-1950s Hollywood and that there will be a sax player added to the jazz ensemble. Oh, and, there’s also another train dinner show like on Utopia but with a Silk Road theme following Marco Polo’s route from China to Italy. Sounds like a blast!

In the meantime, I’ve set the bar high, hoping for a few favorite songs to be included. Here are three:

Moonlight Serenade

Harlem Nocturne

Feeling Good

Had one of those days when something hit me hard. Overwhelmed by the emotion, I struggled to work through it or even think about how to work through it. And then I remembered the secret – music! So I thought about “Under the Gun” I’d recently remixed and realized I hadn’t created a comment video for that song. Nothing like music and the appreciation from your fellow musicians to bring me out of the funk. Hope you enjoy! Happy Friday!

Browsing the streaming services my songs are on, I stumbled upon “Under the Gun” on  Spotify. Please take a listen. If you like it, please follow “Screamie Birds” or add it to your playlist. Thank you!

Getting in the mood for working on my novel, “Night Moon,” I was listening to the album I created for “Night Moon” during FAWM 2026 and realized I hadn’t posted a comment video for “Woman in Black.” So proud of this song and appreciative of the wonderful comments from my fellow musicians. It’s motivating me to get back to work – lol!

I wrote the lyrics during Nov/Nov mentioning a “Sazerac” and, ironically, found the Jazzy Saz (based on a Sazerac) at Lou’s Jazz & Blues on Star of the Seas in December.

And yeah, where there’s a Florida tiki bar, there’s a biker dude – catch the “some of them ride Harleys” line in the song.

This April marks the 30th anniversary of National Poetry Writing Month. When I signed with my literary agent for my novel Real Women Wear Red, she told me that my writing was “poetic, almost lyrical” and I wondered what that meant so I started exploring poetry and songwriting.

When I wrote my first official song for professional feedback, the mentor asked if I knew the difference between a poem and a lyric. It was obviously a poem. He helped me turn that poem into lyrics and it became “Everybody Lies.” Often my song lyrics start off as a poem. But can lyrics also be a poem?

What about “Just Another Dude.” Is it a poem or strictly a song?

“Just Another Dude”

You were the one I’d dreamed about
You were the one who hurt me most when I found out
I thought you’d be the one who’d be there forever
No, not ever

It may seem so simple from where you stand
You think you can just reach for my hand
But let me tell you something that may seem rude
You’re nothing more than just another dude

When we were together
We thought we were so clever
But that’s what you do when you are young
When you feel so strong

It may seem so simple from where you stand
You think you can just reach for my hand
But let me tell you something that may seem rude
You’re nothing more than just another dude

You know I hate plans that fall apart
I play my hand from the start
You like secrets I can tell for sure
Under cover lover is the allure

It may seem so simple from where you stand
You think you can just reach for my hand
But let me tell you something that may seem rude
You’re nothing more than just another dude

What do you think? A poem? A song? I can only hear it as a song now, especially with the repetitive hook.

Here’s the song written during FAWM 2025.