As part of Nov/Nov (the replacement for NaNoWriMo), I started writing a novel called “Night Moon” last November. And as I was writing, I began imagining an album. This is my focus for FAWM (February Album Writing Month) this year.
As a bit of background, the story is about a married woman who sleepwalks and ends up in a place called the “Night Moon.” You can sign up for news of its release here.
This is the title song, “Night Moon.”
Mixed in headphones.
I gathered a few clips from our fabulous evening at the “Lincoln Park Supper Club” on Star of the Seas in order to experience the highlights as one piece.
The 6-course meal is paired with a cocktail for each course (no, I did not finish them all – tasting only – lol!) and the music was paired with the theme of 1930s Chicago. On its sister ship, Icon of the Seas, the supper club has a New York theme and is called the “Empire Supper Club.” The upcoming Legend of the Seas has a Hollywood theme and is called “Hollywoodland.” And, yes, we’re booked on that ship!
It was all so fabulous in its own right but I felt especially close to my dad who loved Jazz and music and fine dining. Yes, I’m definitely his daughter. In fact, when I met him for the first time as an adult, we were sitting in his living room and he stood up to turn on his music player and said, “If you’re any daughter of mine, you’ll love this.” It was Jazz, of course. And I loved it! Yes, dad would be proud!
Really feeling the emotional tugs from the past on my heart this week so I had to do my version of the Beach Boys “Surfer Girl.” The video is from Newport Beach and a couple of nostalgic “then” and “now” photos. The older I get the more I miss the past – what a cliche – lol!
Mixed in headphones/recommended for listening.
I’ve been in a real nostalgic mood lately. But I do that when I’ve been living in Florida for too long. I’m also missing those that I knew from way back when. There’s something about people who knew you *back when* once you get to a certain age.
And what better way to warm of for FAWM (February Album Writing Month) – less than a month away.
So this is a remix of the song I sang in my high school spring concert. Dedicated to Mr. Vaughn, my music director who chose me for the Acapella Choir, the Concert Choir, and for my first public solo when I sang “If You Go Away.” Later I discovered he had ties to Karen and Richard Carpenter and, somehow, made me feel even more honored.
Also dedicated to my friend Carol (the tall one in the pic) who shared so many adventures together.
This is wildly different from how I sang it in high school but to think of the great production tools I now have at my fingertips is pretty cool. I think Mr. Vaughn would be proud.
It’s a new year and a new month and I always think of Elvis in January since his birth date was 1/8/1935. We were an Elvis family with me in the lead, although my mother didn’t mind hiding behind me in her swooning (she was born the same year as Elvis). I wrote this song after she died (August 16, 2023) – the same “day” that Elvis died.
This story is fictional but the photos are real. I miss those days more and more.
Photos:
Swimsuit beauties – my mother and her friends on Balboa Island, California. My novel “Letters on Balboa Island” is loosely based on those adventures.
My mother’s kids – my sister, brother, and me.
We found ourselves hanging out at Port Canaveral again today. We love watching the cruise ships. That’s how we found ourselves cruising on Utopia of the Seas last summer. That was a 3-day test cruise for Royal Caribbean (did not expect to like this cruise line) – we thought we’d be 1 and done. Instead, it instigated a 7-day cruise on Star of the Seas, my 25th cruise.
And once onboard Star of the Seas, not only did we have a blast with the nightlife – a Jazz Supper Club, Disco Night, 80s night, a romantic dinner at Chops Grille, and an evening at Lou’s Jazz Club, but we went on a sunset catamaran sail out of St. Thomas. Simply fabulous! So then we booked the brand new not yet sailing Legend of the Seas.
I’m been feeling so restless since then. I’m dying to get back out to sea. We have plans for a March cruise on Sun Princess and are double-booked next December on the newest Royal Caribbean ship, Legend of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale, but also Discovery Princess from L.A. We can’t be in both places at the same time so we’ll see which cruise wins.
Sounds fabulous right? But in the meantime, how do I stay landlocked in my house? I realized watching “Gone With the Wynns” on youtube and their latest boating lifestyle, that I really need to hit the road. Live in an RV, live on a boat. I need to be more mobile. Land or sea, it doesn’t matter. I just can’t stay home like this. I never really could. Isn’t it time for the next leg of “The Journey“? I may continue that story this year.
So to tide me over, I put together this video paired with 3 of my favorite songs I wrote in 2025. You might have heard them before. 
Happy birthday, Elvis! In honor of the day, I posted this short on YouTube from “Vegas Nights” on the Carnival Mardi Gras. I’m also going to highlight an excerpt from “Elvis, Tom Jones, and my BFFs.”
Carol’s parents drove their Buick Riviera through the desert from southern California to Las Vegas every August and would stay at the Tropicana. And when Carol reached a certain age – 13 or 14 – she was allowed to invite a friend along. The first friend to go was our friend, Beverly. And I still remember my excitement over the postcard they sent me with a picture of the Folies Bergere.
Carol invited me to go to Vegas with her the next year to see Elvis at the International, but I had to turn her down because my family moved to Oregon. But Beverly got to take my place and I eventually saw Elvis in Portland. And, later, as an adult, I stayed at the Tropicana several times and saw the Folies Bergere several times as well.
I also saw Tom Jones a couple of times, too. Anyway, here’s the Tom Jones story Beverly shared with me.
I think it was at the Desert Inn and we saw it two years in a row. It was Pizazz. It was like a Broadway review. Lots of dancing and singing. I don’t remember it being a story, more like different acts somehow put together. Probably a typical Las Vegas show at that time, very flashy. We always sat in a booth (Carol’s Dad tipped big) and of course those were in the back. Tom Jones was in the booth next to us. Carol says she doesn’t remember much but she does remember putting a hole in her dress with her thumb trying to rearrange herself to get a better look at Tom. She remembers her dress was the one she wore to the Willard graduation.
Oh, Carol, I can just see you doing that right now. I so remember us squealing over Tom Jones when he first came out. And how my mother, more of an Elvis fan, said, “He walks like a horse.” lol!
Her comment didn’t stop us from thinking he was pretty exciting.
Kathy Holmes @ Screamie Birds Studios 