Hi Friends!

It's amazing what we forget as time goes by...or try to forget, as it may be. I have been taking the time to do what EVERYONE should do...GET YOUR AFFAIRS IN ORDER!

Let's be REAL...we are not here forever! Thing about life is...there are no certainties except that the party will end (and the taxman will be the last to leave). I think it's a good thing we don't have a "use-by" date. Otherwise, we'd all be focussing on it and it would be the in forefront of how we spend our time. I believe spontaneity would be nothing more than an afterthought. It's those moments in life that bring the greatest joy...that stolen kiss, that "just go for it" moment...you get the gist of what I'm saying.

We all spend our lives gathering...well...STUFF! Items, food, people, debts, memories, etc. The "Stuff" that define our lives. Who we are is all around us in what we gather and who we gather around us. It all adds up to who we are. Even people who share their lives and home are defined separately in this life. We are all ONE OF A KIND! Unique in EVERY way. Even identical twins and multiples are individually a SINGLE IDENTITY. This is really what makes up this World and everything in it. There is NO ONE in the entire World like YOU! Ain't life grand?

Now, that said...In this unknown expansion of life, we must decide what we want to do with the STUFF we spend our lives gathering. I think we would all like to leave behind even some small reminder that says, "I WAS HERE. I EXISTED." Well, you'd better get your gatherings together and take care of it NOW. No one should be left with your STUFF and especially YOUR DEBTS. Most of us live in THE RED so we need to make sure we have a plan for that too. It's not fair to leave your STUFF to someone who is most likely grieving, to deal with. TAKE CARE OF YOUR AFFAIRS!

In my endeaver to practice what I am preaching here, I have been doing just that. Filing STUFF THAT MATTERS, disposing of STUFF THAT DON'T. Finding fragments of my past that I have filed somewhere in the back of my mind or "closet". Pulling out the skeletons of past and ridding myself of them too. This process has been an incredible Biography of WHO I AM. I am actually getting to know myself better through this process. I am defining myself and what I have contributed to this World. I have discovered, we ALL live a PRIVLEDGED LIFE because we have LIVED! That's what it's all about...LIVING! Mistakes, bad judgements, wrong turns...it's all part of it and how we deal with it as it comes...and goes.

As a Songwriter...I have filed so many songs away that I had completely forgotten. Some are easy to understand why they have been "forgotten"...trust me! I spent my younger years trying to make a statement in alot of my songs. JANE'S PHILOSOPHIES and POLITICAL VIEWS set to music! I actually wrote a Rock Opera called "SUCH IS LIFE" so I could define the World as I see it. The recordings are dated BUT they are a BIG part of who I am as a Songwriter. I have decided to blow the dust off them and put them up here. I have found the first song I ever wrote & recorded. I will put it up when I get the nerve...It's called "He Gotta' Good Love". I will also put up the song I wrote for my Parents Anniversary the Year my Dad passed away. I couldn't wait to play it for them...I never got the chance. It's called "And We Dance" . They loved to dance! Even when there was no music...they danced to the rhythm of their hearts. That was something that just "stuck" with me through the years, so I paid tribute to that in this song. I will have it up today.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for taking these precious moments of your life to read my words, hear my songs and share your thoughts. It TRULY is appreciated.

Now GET YOUR AFFAIRS IN ORDER...Starting...NOW!

CJxxx
Janie xxx

CRITICAL TIMES was the first song ever to radio in Australia that spoke of AIDS. I was inspired by a 60 Minutes story about "Sharlene", a Kings Cross prostitute that was knowingly working with AIDS and without protection. It was BEFORE there were laws to deal with such criminal behavior. She was arrested and no one knew what to do. Human Rights Activists wanted her released immediately as she had "broken no laws". The politicians ignored it for as long as they could. AIDS in the 70's & 80's was SCARY STUFF! No one knew ANYTHING DEFINITE about IT! I wrote this song and sent it to Jeff McMullin at 60 Minutes and THANK him for the inspirational story. They used this song in the follow-up story months later.

SHOW ME THE WAY TO HEAVEN is actually a note to my Dad after his passing. In the days leading to death, he had surgery. During the first 2 days after, my family were so worried they all told him how much he meant to them. How much they loved him. I arrived the same day they told him. When I came in he said, "Thank God you're here. I need someone who can make me laugh. Your brothers and sister are writing me off. I was too zonked on drugs to respond but I heard every word they said. It was so nice to hear but creepy. I'm not going anywhere so don't you go writing me off". After 5 days he was told he could go home the next day. We went to pick him up and he had died while we were in transit. I never got to tell him in words what he meant to me. It has haunted me since. Every member of my family paid Tribute to this LIVING LEGACY of LOVE. He was what every man...every Dad...every Friend should be. I pray everyday that he knew my tribute to him without words. I honoured him by not telling him at his request...I wish I had. This is my note to him in song...I Love You Dad!