**To see pictures from my trip click here.

Going to the inauguration of the first African American president meant a lot to me and my family.  Being of mixed ethnic decent, this is the first time I have been able to identify with a United States president.  For my father, being an African American man who was born in the segregated south, this was a day he hardly imagined would happen in his lifetime.  Aside from race, I am also deeply inspired by our new president’s message of hope for our nation.  For the first time I am excited about politics in a way I have never felt before.  I am so thankful to have been a part of this glorious day in history.  The feeling of unity and camaraderie amongst those who attended was amazing.  I have never felt so close to my fellow American. 

January 19, 2009 –

Me and my dad got through lines that wrapped around the building to pick up our purple tickets.  I quickly twittered how I felt about the whole experience saying “feeling like Willy Wonka with my golden ticket to the inauguration (except it’s purple lol)!!!!” and The Huffington Post later quoted me.  Click here to check it out.

January 20, 2009 –

Fortunately, I was born to a family of stealth ninjas because that is the only way I can explain how we made it into the purple section of the inauguration.  We waited in line for 4 hours in what was more like human corral areas than lines.  The large mass of humanity waiting to get in was incredible!!!  I must say that I have never been so physically close to strangers in my life.  The beautiful thing about the whole situation was that even though people were frustrated about waiting for so long, everyone was generally in good spirits.  People were just so happy and hopeful!

Luckily, my dad was paying close attention at all times to where we needed to be to get in.  As soon as he got word that we were in the wrong section, he had us hurry to get to the right place.  If we had hesitated to move, we probably would not have made it in.  In the end, we found our way to the purple gate before they stopped letting purple ticket holders in. It definitely was NOT an easy feat to achieve, but we persevered. The main problem was that the actual location where they let us in, was not clearly marked. They also didn’t let us know that they intentionally weren’t letting purple ticket holders in early because they didn’t want us loitering so close around the vicinity of where President Obama was going to be located during the inauguration for security reasons (as I found out from my uncle who was texting me news updates as we stood in line).

Overall, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world, even the hardships of getting in. It is a story I will be telling my children and grandchildren one day who will be born into a world where having a person of color as president is truly possible.  So all of the confusion and struggle to get in was worth it. We witnessed history.

It’s been a little while since my last post! I’ve been really busy writing this last month. Submitting lots of songs to producers and artists! We also just did some more work on my solo project this last week. And now we’re planning to start having me perform at some small venues! I’m starting to get a little acoustic set together and practicing. Can’t wait! So look out for some dates soon

Yesterday, I did an acting workshop up in Sacramento. Just brushing up on my skills. It was so much fun. Reminded me of how much I enjoy acting. I’ve taken acting lessons off and on for many years so its fun getting back into it.

Alrighty, gotta run. I’ll be back soon with more updates. In the meantime, check out this cool cartoon about global warming….I’m really trying to educate myself more and more about all of the issues with the environment. It is a major issue and I want to be part of the solution

Been busy working and travelling. I went to the AES (Audio Engineering Society) conference in NYC at the beginning of this month which was fun except for the hot, humid weather which was weird for autumn. But it was definitely cool to nerd out over all the gear and see old friends. Then I was battling being sick for while, off and on with the flu, but I’m happy to say that I am feeling fully recovered as of today.

I’ve written a bunch of new songs that I’m very proud of. I have to say that the hardest part about being an artist sometimes is just staying focused. It’s really easy to get distracted when you feel like you’ve hit a wall creatively, but its even more satisfying when you overcome that wall and jump over it. I feel like I’ve been jumping leaps and bounds and it feels great.