Although my time here in MySpace is still VERY limited, as promised I'm trying to post new content e'ry now & again. So here's a new poem I scribbled this morning, tentatively titled AS THE SUN RISES:

Somehow, in my head, I had planned for this CD to be released on the 24th - a 6 day - for love. And The Creator, in turn, overruled the decision and made its "born day" October 1, the initiating spark, primary influence, new beginning. So I yield to the Universal wisdom and now share my new baby with you.

If for any reason the button doesn't work, go to http://www.CDBABY.com/srenee2

Hey folks! Just popping in to let you know that I have spruced up a few things on my page.

Hey people! After I logged into MySpace today for the first time since April 27, I thought it would behoove me to say Howdy here in the blog. Of course I had to delete a gajillion spam comments and messages (which is why i hardly ever come here in the first place), but four months really is unacceptable.

Hey people! It has been another LONG minute, so I'm only popping in to say that I apologize if you've been trying to reach me through MySpace. The only reason I'm keeping the page here is because it's been a nice way to reach out to some of the producers I'd like to work with.

But...
if you want to correspond directly with me, use Facebook.
If you want to read my random ramblings about life and the industry, check out StefChat at my artist site, www.StephanieRenee.com

I will not be blogging here anymore. Promise! Too many sites to keep up with and MySpace is not a priority.

Thanks so much for all the love you folks have shown me over the years, but mama is dedicated to a new and improved connectivity. MySpace has too much junk to be that vehicle anymore.

Hey peoples! How can I boil down the latest in a few quick steps:

1) Bought a guitar, learning to play, looking for a few good dates from cute nerdy boys...all of this is discussed on the StefChat page at the newly-redesigned StephanieRenee.com. Will not be making many blog updates here on MySpace because I check in here so seldom now. I'm trying to keep ownership of my writings and such as much as possible, in one central location.

2) Got a new radio show launching TODAY, Feb 18 at 1 pm Eastern, called the HUMPDAY HOLLA. Music, chat, good stuff. Dial 646-929-1611 to talk to us live on the air while we discuss the music and our favorite artists. Bookmark www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SoulSanctuaryRadio to have easy access to the program, or you can click on the Flash player below to listen live. Hope you'll tune in!



Other than that, life is blessed and crazy busy, as usual. Will try to pop in again soon with more news.

For all of my bossiness, I'm realizing that I rather like the fact that Damon--my musical husband--no longer asks about my availability to work on our new stuff. When he calls, it's always with specific instructions. This is what's happening. This is when and where you need to be with me. This is what I want you to do. And we have yet to encounter a conflict. He sets the wheels in motion, and I'm eager to accommodate. I lyricize. I sing. I create. On cue.

For another artistic pairing, this might be stifling. Misguided, even. But I've known Dizzy more than 20 years now. He is the Ashford to my Simpson, the Ozzie tinkling ivories to my Rubyish vocals. And no, we are not...nor ever have been...a couple, since many of you keep asking. Works better this way. Together, loving each other only as friends and co-creators, we get shit done. Beautiful, magical shit sometimes. We're a co-ed Jam & Lewis, minus the superstardom.

2009 is about reinvention. I have cut off, cut loose, redesigned and revised so much of myself and my plan in 2008. This year is about action. Being. Doing. Kineticism. Regrowth. Replacing what was lost or discarded with a more suitable iteration.

I meditate and make lists, taking considerable pleasure in watching the various tasks get scratched out and completed. And then a new list begins. I've considered keeping the pages in a notebook, so that by year's end I could reflect on all of the many bits and pieces of fulfillment that have led to whatever new whole is in my future. But that would disturb the Feng Shui up in here. I'm recommitted to removing clutter this year, too. That which is unslightly and inutil is outta here. The atoms must vibrate at a higher rate now.

The waves keep crashing on the shoreline, but the tide hasn't pulled me either way yet. I'm still surfing just beyond the undertow, enjoying the fluid motion and wondering exactly where the current is headed.

And so it happens that one of my eldest (in the sense of time known, not years lived) buddies from my poetic days found me on Facebook. It is he who first gave me sound advice gleaned from the numerological value of my name. And so, upon seeing his notice pop up on my laptop screen, our convo once again turned to the esoteric. He offered to give me a Saturn Return reading, meaning one that is more annual than lifetime in scope. I accepted.

How does one react when one is advised to not f&ck up one's own karma? LOL

Meaning:
things are all falling into place now. In the worlds of astrologer Rob Brezsny, I should begin the practice of pronoia, a belief that the universe is conspiring to confound me with abundant blessings at every turn. In other words, don't question the benevolent nature of today's events and occurrences. Acknowledge them, be thankful for them, and "ride the wave, Stupid!"

I feel that. I get it. I'm actually quite good at it, even if those closest to me and whom I love most dearly are not necessarily in the same zone. Which does make it a bit harder to maintain an even flow of anything. Sometimes feels like a filmy cloud of guilt overshadowing the good times. The threat of a wagging finger from just beyond peripheral vision.

Still, I press on, grateful. Aware and mindful. And ready to spread the love, if folks would PLEASE stop being so curious and skeptical about where all the goodness is coming from and why.

Hey folks! Haven't been to MySpace in 2 weeks and haven't posted a blog in ages, so I figured today was as good a time as any.

A week ago today, I lit another candle on me olde birthday cake. Which, of course, is always cause for pause and reflection. Where and how I have traveled in work, art, love, spirit and potential. And while last year may not have had all of the fireworks and pizzazz of some years past, I feel very grounded. Fully in my skin.

Today, I feel no pressure to live up to some crazy ideal of how my artsy life should appear to the outside world. I live everyday in a safe, affirming, creative space. Whether the muse of the hour is singing, writing, filming, DJing, photographing or teaching, that's where I am, in all of its beautiful completeness. Over the past few weeks, I've felt like the Girl In The Plastic Bubble...listening to all of the media chatter about the upcoming election and stock market crashes and realizing that so little of that mess infuses my world. I can care, from a distance. But my path and my daily routine are pointed in a much different direction. And that's not only OK. That's great!

Over the next few months, I plan to eke out some time away from my paid artsy duties to get back in the lab and FINALLY finish up this next CD project. But it's going to sound much different than I'd originally planned. I've lived and loved a little since then, and 5 years after the debut disc, I feel absolutely NO pressure to outdo myself. This album is more about DOING MYSELF. And if you listen to my radio shows, you know what that means...an unpredictable stew of words and rhythms. Instead of fearing or being intimidated by the vocal booth, I'm looking forward to the process this time. I have a lot of caterpillars that have been maturing in their cocoons for YEARS now. I need to split the sack and let them fly.

So forgive me if I'm not here in MySpace much anymore. Too many distractions. But I promise to pop in from time to time and keep you updated on my artistic itinerary. I'm hoping that you'll still want to come along for the ride.

What's up dahlins? Been a minnit, I know, but Mama's been busy undoing and regrowing (and no, I don't just mean my hair).

Inevitably, the cutting of one's locs is a metaphor for other life processes and goings-on. In several ways, I needed to get out from under the weight of things. Expectations, goals, perceptions and such. And so the freedom I feel being back to my beautiful, but seriously untamed, tresses is quite liberating. Despite my best attempts at trying to style my unloced hair, it continues to do as it pleases. I two-strand twisted it yesterday, just to help give it some order, but neglected to tie my hair up as I slept. Sure enough, the twists on the left side of my head got bent in some strange angles overnight and, unless I wet my hair again, bent they will stay until I untwist my hair sometime tomorrow and unleash my coiffed fro. If I just wash and go, my hair curls, waves and/or lays down flat and straight...depending on what area of my head it grows from, of its own volition. No amount or brand of product will style it into quiet contrition. It is wild and unruly, yet fully touchable and soft. Of its own mind and direction. Envy of the straight-and-flat, scourge of the neat ringlets. And it don't even care.

And thus, as I step into Libra Season '08, I let my hair take the lead of how I will be perceived. Independent, strong-willed, free. And liable to do whatever I please. Softly, of course. Most of the time.