A Villa Called Love

It's been a while since my last post as there's been a lot going on. But the most important thing that's gone on is... Sam and I are engaged! This blog has quite frequently been like a shrine to our love I guess and in some ways this may seem like the "end" of a little love story. But in truth it is just the start. Maybe the end of chapter one. But I think it continues to get more interesting and exciting.

I'm sure you'd all like to know the details of how I popped the question so here's the basics. I bought a pretty heart cockle shell, sewed myself some padded velvet lining and sealed the ring inside the shell with a little superglue. I say "a little" but it was a bit more than planned. But we'll get back to that.

This gives you some idea what the shell looked like.

If you don't already know Sam and I are in Australia so she can "meet the Fockers" so to speak. A couple of days after our arrival in Perth we went over to Rottnest Island, a small quaint island just off the Perth coast. I had planned to ask her later in the day at a remote location but when we arrived an opportunity presented itself so when coupled with my consideration to the time difference to the USA (for her to call family and friends) and my general anticipation of the moment I decided to seize this opportunity. We had dropped our bags at our villa but couldn't yet get the key so Sam suggested we walk the 10 meters to the beach and enjoy the beautiful view and some sunshine. She headed off and this is when I realised I should take my opportunity. So I headed down with guitar in hand and shell (containing the ring) in pocket. I dropped the shell while she wasn't looking and pretended to find it (how sly) and then sat down and tried to open it with a little pocket knife. I soon realised I'd used a little too much superglue. In the process of me chipping the lips off the shell and getting nervous Sam started to get wise to the situation, knowing that this shell was a little too perfect for just finding on the beach.

I soon got it open though and started to very casually say the following little poem and presented her the ring.

I know that I could travel
All the world and never find
A girl nearly as beautiful
In body and in mind

For us I'm sure that happiness
Will flourish endlessly
For this and so much more
I ask you Sammy B

Will you marry me?


And the answer was "Yes, yes, yes!!!"

I then sang her some of my songs on the beach. You may be wondering about the ring. But I felt putting a photo of it up was a bit of a poser thing to do.

I've written Sam many poems and songs and if you look back over this blog you can presume that anything about love, or even anything similar, is written for and about Sam. She is without question that greatest gift I've ever been given. She surprises me every day with another amazing and unique facet to herself which makes me love her even more. I could go on endlessly, but luckily I've done (and will continue to do) all the going on in this blog so just revise for more on how incredible she is.

My wish is that everyone could have the amazing love, connection, chemistry and support I have with Sam. I know that not all do though, unfortunately few, and for this reason I will always be thankful. If you are someone reading this and wishing you had this sort of love the only thing I can assure you is that true, honest, pure, beautiful and unconditional love does exist. I have no question of that now. And I am so happy to know this is true because of first hand experience.

But enough gushing. Below are some photos of Rottnest. I will post more photos of our trip to Australia soon. I will also post some of the other things I've written recently that I've not had an opportunity to post due to our limited net access here and I will fill you in on what's happening with my solo EP's.

So - again - I'm very happy to announce that I will be living in a beachside villa called "love" for all my life. Thanks to Sam. I love you Sammy B and shall forever!

Can you believe our villa was named "Love"?! It's even more amazing when you know stupid names of other villas...

Deserted beaches everywhere we went...

I know..."Awwwwww..."

I had a little of my Photoshop fun with some of these photos...

This was taken at the eastern tip of Rottnest. That's the CBD of Perth off in the distance.

One of Rottnest's many salt lakes at dusk. Stunning...

Sam. Stunning...

This little guys descendents are how Rottnest got its name. The Dutch captain who first found the island thought these Quokkas were rats, hence "Rott"- Dutch for rat - "nest". It was nice of it to smile for the camera.

"This is my olive buster. I advise you keep your distance..."

A piece of coral washed up on the beach. I got really lucky with my timing to catch the water at this moment.

Love leaves a memory no-one can steal...

A few weeks ago a long time friend of mine had her husband die suddenly and unexpectedly. He was a REALLY wonderful guy, and she has always been such a great person and great friend, so supportive of me and my music and my music career, through all its stages back to my first regular gig and right back further to when we studied music together in high school. They were such a great couple and so in love. Plus they have a beautiful little girl. So the news broke my heart. When I sent her a card and gift (2 kits to make flowers by hand with her daughter) I wrote this poem in the card.

Before that though I will also share the quote in the card.

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal." ~ from a head stone in Ireland.

That is a very touching statement, and more true than ever in this case.

Most of my friends have said that this circumstance has made them appreciate what really matters in life. I think it's a pity that we require such tragedies to appreciate what we have and focus on the great people around us that add so much to our daily lives.

Today is the ideal day to show someone you love them and make them feel special. Not just on certain days of the year or certain occasions.


For My Dear Friend

This love so great as any known

Makes such a loss hurt to the bone

The pillar of this happy home

No greater loss could there be

By no means could these words express

The pain that's felt or make it less

But to describe this man requires excess

Superlatives indeed

Still many knew him much better than I

But I knew well the size of his dear wife's smile

A happiness no money could buy

So plain for all to see

I wish with all my heart and soul

That he may have lived til he was old

That there should be no need for these word's console

But this is not how it will be

Yet as long as those that loved him breathe

He'll live on in their memories

Of countless happy times, so please

Don't be swallowed by sorrow's sea

Keep sharing that beautiful smile

That he so loved to see

My Focused Face

It's time you saw my focused face. More to the point, it's time I really got on my focused face. It's 9 days until I leave for Australia and there's still a lot to do to get my EP finished. Just to add to the pressure (biting off more than I can chew again - as those of you who are regular visitors here have read about before) I've decided to do 2 EP's, one for my upbeat tunes and one for my more serious, laid back tunes. To give you a stronger idea I'll say, one for my Bob Marley/Jack Johnson side one for my Bon Iver/Fleet Foxes side.

So although I've been working hard for a long while now it's time to get back to that "3-4 hours sleep, all work and then more work" mode that tends to result in me wearing my focused face a lot.

And here it is...




That was courtesy of Sam who surprised me by filming me while trying to finish some EP artwork photo edits in Starbucks.

Here's why I was doing the edits - I present to you my finished EP artwork. Very simple, just a front and a back, and I know you can hardly read my writing but it's OK, the song titles will also be on the disk. I just thought it had more character with my own writing. You will find it'll be more legible when you're looking at it in person, which you will all soon be as I'm sure you're dying to buy copies!

Calienteza EP - Front




Calienteza EP -Rear




Riqueza EP - Front




Riqueza EP -Rear
 



So I hope you like. It was a lot harder than it looks. Finding a Polaroid camera is really hard these days for one! ;-)

I've got to try to get some sleep so buy for now. I'll leave to you to ponder the titles meaning. I will just say though that "Riqueza" is said Ri-kay-za, for those not so acquainted with Spanish.