End o' week musings

I apologize for skirting on you last week, but I had a severe asthma attack and ended up in the hospital's emergency room in the middle of the night. I felt pretty icky and stayed home from work the next couple of days... I'm doing much better this week and have some good adventures to share.

The Renaissance Pleasure Faire (http://www.renfair.com/ ) has opened at the Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale and I've been dancing my tushie off. I do four shows each day, plus two parades. The Faire runs weekends through May 20. If you come out, the best place to find me is at the Kids Kingdom stage in the Food Court (near the privies) at 1 p.m. Look for the happy chick with the swords- ha ha!

On Wednesday, my friend Daryl called me late in the day and invited me to go with him to the Grammy Museum  (http://www.grammymuseum.org/ ) in Los Angeles to hear Zakk Wylde (http://www.zakkwylde.com/ ) talk about his new book. Daryl leads the House of Rock children's band program at the Fret House ( http://www.frethouse.com/ ) in Covina and is a wonderful guitarist, who play everything from classical and flamenco to doom metal. He's in the band Death Kings, as well as several other projects.

OK I digress. For the unfamiliar, Zakk Wylde plays guitar for Ozzy Osbourne and has his out metal outfit, Black Label Society. He is extremely talented and a little bit, well, wild (or Wylde lol!). Off stage, he is actually quite well mannered and really, really nice. I've interviewed him a few times and met him before and he was always gracious to me.

Wylde has just released the book, "Bringing Metal to the Children: The Complete Bezerker's Guide to World Tour Domination" (William Morrow, $25) with Eric Hendrikx (http://www.erichendrikx.com/ ). It's filled with stories from his life and travels, his philosophies, advice to aspiring musicians and more, plus a ton of photos of intriguing illustrations. I've barely nosed into it, but it's a fun and interesting read and written as if Zakk is talking to you.

Scott Goldman, Los Angeles vice presidents of Foundations, served as the interviewer for the evening. He was quite good- he was personable, had a nice selection of questions and knew when to let Zakk ramble a bit and when to go to the next topic. He also opened the session at the end for some audience Q&A.

Of course, I had to ask Zakk about his writing process. I got a lengthy and informative answer, well worth a listen. The main point Zakk made was that you should write often and a lot. He also said it was important to work through writer's block. One way is by listening to things that inspire you and then sitting down and writing. I just love Zakk's no excuses attitude-- which extends to everything in his life! We all could use more of that!

After the chat, I had the opportunity to peek at the Heavy Metal display in the Grammy Museum and get in line for the book signing. Zakk took his time to briefly talk with each fan, pose for photos and sign, sign, sign. He greeted me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and called me sweetie-- who says those rocker boyz don't have good hearts?!  (And before you grrrls get fluttering, Zakk is very happily married and is noted for remaining faithful to his beloved no matter what happens out on the road. ~ yeah, I like that too!).

More Ren Faire this weekend and next week my big day will be meeting with guitarist Tracy G for dinner and a nice talk about old times and music. Oooo and I'll be interviewing Sabaton and DragonForce on Monday- woo hoo!

By the way, the 35th Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade is still accepting entries to march down Colorado Boulevard on Saturday, April 28. Join the fun http://www.pasadenadoodahparade.info/

In rotation this week: Sunny Sweeney, Charlie Haden & Hank Jones, California Transit Authority, Bring Me The Horizon, Tracy G.Group and Erin Wurtenburg.

Photos we got 'em: Just a couple of cute pet photos off the web.

Thought o' the week: Connections and kindness count.  It's true, sometimes karma comes back to you and if you're living right, it will be extra good. I hear that I'm known for being nice to people and trying to help them with all kinds of things. I'm not bragging, as I believe that doing things for others is a big part of what we are supposed to do during our time on the earth. And it's not always a big thing, sometimes it's just introducing two friends who would be great together or giving that extra ticket to a person you know who would really appreciate the opportunity to go do whatever it's for.

The payoff is that I feel good and I'm at peace with my place in the world. The icing is that occasionally someone treats me back, whether it's lunch (that just happens to be offered when I'm short on cash) or an outing, which perks my spirits. Yes, I have a lot of good people in my life. I'd like to think I choose my friends wisely and for the different joys they bring to me. Hopefully I give some of that joy back.

Life is too short and too hard to not reach out and ease the pains. Make good connections and be kind.

Keep on rockin'
Mickie