I am back home , here in the Midwest after the very best week of all in California. Many thanks to Christy for driving thru the SNOWSTORM to get me from the airport, and many thanks to Northwest Airlines for the upgrade to First Class. If one HAS to leave, that would be the way to do it.

Just heard from our friend Kitty, who did the most wonderful photo shoot with us yesterday , on top of a mountain in a park. We haven’t seen the shots yet, but it would not suprise me at all to find they are the most magic , lovely , fey photos anyone has ever taken of us. And we have had some rather wonderful ones so far. I never felt so relaxed during a shoot as I did yesterday. Malena of course, has modeled for years and is amazing at it, and we have worked out the best way to make me look like something other than a stick of nerves, hee-hee, but this shoot with Kitty was the easiest , and funnest thing ever, like playing. Kitty is so very much fun and we adore her SO, she made me feel like the slinky-est coolest thing ever. I can’t wait to see what we look like thru her eyes.

Next time I go back we will get Mimi Ko, another California girl, in on the action, that girl is going places with a camera!

Malena and I spent the rest of yesterday working on practice tapes to give to Adam Stemple, who is playing with us at the Garrison Keillor gig in two weeks. Adam ought to enjoy figuring out the songs quite a bit ( good thing he is Amazingly talented ) as for some reason my mic did not not pick up my vocals and the only thing that came thru on the tapes, for the most part, is Malena’s harmonies. I have to learn how to use this 4-track thing, Really!

(I ought to mention that a tape with only Malena’s harmonies is miles ahead of many things I have heard in their entirety. Oh yes. And yes, just as soon as we have something good enough, we will be putting up MP3’s on the website.)

I am missing California , and my bandmate , quite a bit just now, but glad to be home with all the cats, who actually seemed to have missed me. Christy has been laughing at me for talking to my tomato seedlings , but they did quite a bit of growing these past five days and I thought they deserved a little praise. Perhpas it was the fact I adressed them as ” Dudes” that did it….

Love and snow and hopes of a Garden here,

Lorraine

Still having the most fun ever out here! Malena and I went and saw Tori in concert last night. She is one of my favourite performers ever, always has been , and last night was one of the best concerts I have ever seen her do. It was just her and her piano, which I love best. She was on fire, magic, wonderful , fun, silly and , well, just plain magic. I am in awe of her and am greatful every time I can see her play. Could have listened for hours.

It was lovely too seeing everyone at the show. Photographer Mimi Ko was there, I don’t know why I didn’t remember she lived here , but it was a lovely suprise running into her, and of course seeing Kitty Cat is ever wonderful, cozy, sweet and like coming home to a person you Need to see more of. I finally got to meet a band I have been listening to on and off for several years now, The Endless, very nice to meet you Adrianna and Dave ( sorry if I am spelling your name wrong, Adrianna, and Dave, I might have got your name WRONG, I am SO bad with names, drop me a note if it is not Dave and I will correct that…. ) And a Very big thanks to all of the Neil fans who came up and said hello and wished us luck on the cd! You made us feel so very loved!!!!!

Almost as cool as the show was the fact that Malena let me drive her little Miata home from the concert. Heady stuff for a girl from the Midwest, tooling up Sunset Blvd in a sports car at one in the morning. Oh yes!!!….My Flash Girl bandmate, Emma Bull, used to live out here and always wanted a car like that to drive around in, and I say to her now, that Emma, you were right, NOT an over-rated expierence.

Today is a photo shoot with our Kitty Cat and maybe Mimi Ko, who has , I believe , been talked into coming along and taking some shots as well. We are going to be the best photographed band ever, these two have Vision!!!

Love and pianos ,

Lorraine

I used to wonder, with a certain amount of envy , why my bandmate Emma from the Flash Girls , and then our friend Kitty Cat and now Malena, all always seemed to be so perfectly dressed. All three of them had the coolest clothes, and funnest things, things I had never seen in the midwest, let alone could afford to buy. Magic, wonderful, beautiful, cool , hip , funky, fun wonderful clothes. Sigh, I would say, to myself, I guess I just don’t have it in me.

Well, now I know the secret. Now I know. Two words people: Fashion District. Ye gads, block after block of shops right in downtown LA ( maybe downtown LA, I am a little hazy yet on the geography out here in LA yet ) of the funnest shops ever. Things I have seen in the Midwest, for three and four times the price, for sale right on the sidewalk. You can buy long velvet capes with lace in deep purple velvet. ( yes, I did ) green silk dresses, long swirling skirts , velvet pants, the best scarf EVER for your friend Betsy Stemple’s B’day and the coolest belly dancing belt sewn all over with sparkling things, coins and a floor lenth net skirt and silver jewels. ( all of them I did )

And more. I am sure of it. There is a pile of clothes in Malena’s sewing room, which I have taken over, the size of a small hut. And I am not yet broke. Tho I would be if I lived here, no doubt about it. Might well be why Emma moved to Arizonia.

Of course Malena bought quite a few wonderful things as well, ( Jacket: silk, red and black, feathers, sparkling things , still in awe I am ) so I am certain never to catch up, and I have no doubt when we see Kitty Cat tomorrow night that she will also be dressed most elegantly, but then, for once, so will I.

And when I go back to the Midwest, and work in the garden, file books in the library or stop by the farm store, I myself, will no doubt be the best dressed girl going. Oh yes!

Love and light and cool clothes for all!

Lorraine

Chocolate. She is talking about chocolate. If you ever want something from me, send Mangos. If you want somethig from Malena, send Chocolate. They actually go great together, and if we are together, we will feast.

I am off to LA in the morning for more practice and fun with Malena. This is a good thing. We are going to see our friend Kitticat and take some more wonderful photos, go to see Tori in concert and do a little gardening. And Shopping. I have been promised Shopping.

Chris Ewen, from the Future Bible Heros has once again, for me at any rate, agreed to help with the cd booklet. I am quite sure that I would not want to do one with out him, he has done the Flash Girls and Folk UnderGround and has a most wonderful sense of cool. He is also going to be playing on several tracks on the cd.

Just spoke to Lojo tonight about schedules and music and such, andI want to send special love to Dana Jean Wolter from Shakesperes Love Child , who is the coolest ever, and whose love and support mean ever so much to us!!!!! ( you SO rock , girl!!! )

All is coming together. This is going to be magic. It’s us isn’t it? Count on it…..

Music and magic and magos and chocolate ,

Lorraine

when your feeling down and icky…….just eat something dark and sticky!

I’m here making potions at 12:00 midnight. (that’s very normal for me, as some of you know)

Out of nowhere we’ve been getting all kinds of publicity and gigs. Our site is doing really well for only being up for a few months.

Once you find something you love, everything falls into place. Lorraine and I get along so well. We compliment each other’s talents. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had the same thought at the same time, or called at the exact time the other was in need. We even have the same dreams.

On my site, I constantly rant about the power of thought and the spoken word. I now have someone (Fabulous Lorraine) who believes in the same things and loves to bring happiness and peace to all around her. As you can see, we’re flying. I’m so glad I can share every step with our fans. Thank God for the internet, right?

We’re getting ready for our Garrison Keillor benefit in May! This proves my “anything is possible if you believe” theory..with technicolor realism! The songs are really coming along nicely. “Just me and Eve” will make you laugh. Neil is such an amazing song writer.

I’m having a good time setting up our store and getting the products ready. It is my prayer that the magic we feel will come through in our music…and we will share all our love with you.

Well, I’ve got to pick some lavendar for the Bath Salts I’m working on.

Love and Legacy Chocolates,

Malena

Good Morning, Lorrraine here, writing from Malena’s computer…

I have yet to find any orange groves out here in the West , but I have found a lot of other things that more than make up for it. For instance, you can drive five minutes and find the Best Indian food ever made. This more than makes up for the lack of orange groves . And there are lemon trees, and palm trees and gardens that grow roses taller than I am, not to mention the kind of plants that I can see generally only in exotic plant type shops, all growing just as ordinary as you please all over the place.

Did I mention the Indian food?

Also, Malena is here. ‘Nuff said.

We worked most of yesterday on the CD and got quite a bit done. We are making practice tapes on Emma’s ( Emma Bull, of the Flash Girls ) old 4-track, which I can run well enough for Malena and I both to sing into and record, and we ought to have a version of just about everything by the end of the day today, except for Jane Yolen’s song which is still waiting for a tune.

Lojo Russo ( www.lojorusso.com ) called yesterday and we talked about ” I’ll Tell Me Ma ” which we are doing a version of. She will be singing it, as her version is the coolest , most haunting thing I have ever heard. She is going to call and sing it into Malena’s answering machine today so Malena will have a something to work with. ( ah, the heights of recording technology ) Malena will do some of her wonderful ghostly backing harmonies that she is so very good at and I will be fiddling all over the thing. Lojo also offered us another song, hurrah!!! We get to hear that for the first time today, it’s called ” I ( heart ) Stephen Merritt ” and she says it is written in the style of Stephen Merrit and is Right up our alley. Can’t Wait!!!

Some of you may know that Malena and I have been offered our first actual gig last week. We will be playing at a benefit concert for a free medicial clinic, with none other than Garisson Keillor, next month. Aaahhhh…I have had some serious first gigs with my bands before ( Flash Girls opened for Warren Zevon and Folk UnderGround played the Main Room at First Avenue ) but this one blows my little mind. ( I tried to think of a more elegant way to put that, and nothing I can put into print came to mind…) Adam Stemple will be backing us up and we are SO looking forward to it. I think it will be more fun than new kittens and we have been working hard on the songs we are going to play for it. We are beyond happy to have been asked, and honoured as well.( Not to mention dancing wildly around the room from time to time in a frenzy of excitement )

Today is more recording , more working on songs and more walking about the lovliest place I have ever been. Malena has promised to take me to see many wonders the next time I come out ( in two weeks actually, lucky things that we are ) but for now , the music is more than enough.

And perhaps some more skateboarding.

( did I mention I learned to skateboard yesterday? )

Who would have thunk it?

Love and light from the West,
Lorraine

It’s been a week since Malena went back to her home in the West. Darn house still feels empty without her , even tho she left all sorts of fun things for me to play with…Corsets, which I can’t get into on my own, make-up that looks great when SHE puts it on me but becomes possesed by devils when I try and do it, and a bunch of skirts that I have promised to bring back to her…( Right. Someday. She hopes. )

And practice tapes, lots and lots of practice tapes. The photos are a lot of fun, but the music is magic. It was really hard to go back to singing and playing over the phone, and writing via e-mails. Together is so very much better. When you hear Malena sing over the phone you think ” Wow. She’s great. Best I’ve ever heard. Amazing ” When you hear her sing in person, she is much much better. Much. It’s hard to think, stand, breathe…She doesn’t SING about banshees wandering a graveyard, a ghost of a beautiful maiden dead to early for love, hit records down in hell, or a vampire lonely in the dead of night. She BECOMES them. Really. I could go on…. Fortunately for all concerned, if the practice tapes are any indication, this talent of hers translates just fine, thank you very much, to tape. And CD. We think it’s going to be a mighty fine bit of music in a couple of months, this MIRROR, MIRROR.

This weekend I go West myself, to spend some time out in the orange groves with Malena . ( I made that up, the bit about the oranges. I have no idea if there are orange groves. One can hope ) We will have the weekend to work on more songs, make more of these little tapes and get just a little bit closer to CD time. Hurrah!!!

Been long enough apart I say and if I seem calm and cool and collected, not excited, just another, ho-hum, weekend with my bandmate….I will tell you now I KNOW how wonderful it’s going to be, and I could be dizzy with it all. Very dizzy.

We’ve also been hard at work on a Lorraine a’ Malena Store, which we will be talking more about in the weeks to come.

As well as the music.

Music, Magic and Goodnight,
Lorraine