Bean're

Bean’re and me.

Bean're is a dear friend of mine. He is brilliant and kind. A talented carpenter and contractor, Bean're is a master of several trades. This year, he also added bartending at the Broken Spoke Saloon to his long list of fabulous credentials. Bean're lives life to the fullest...I'm talkin' about high-octane, high spirited, high on life energy that is contagious. The other day, he came for a visit to my river homestead here in Nashville. Why we just laughed and he lifted my spirits way way heaven bound. Our conversations are filled with wonderful purpose. Enlightening and contemplative.

Bean're is the mayor of everywhere he goes. He is the host of the moment and loves to usher folks into a memorial experience, even if it's as small as grabbing a coffee at the deli. He would make sure you had a great life moment. Bean're is about the moment. I recommend that when you see that bright smile and crazy fun Charlie One Horse top hat you introduce yourself to the one and only Bean're. He doesn't know a stranger.

Kidnapped by a rock band to Sturgis.

Kidnapped to Sturgis by the Jasmine Cain Band

As you all know, I always ride my motorcycle, Tigerlily, a chopped out 1999 Harley-Davidson Sportster, to Sturgis, South Dakota for my annual wild west cruise.

This year, whilst preparing for the journey from Nashville, up drove rocker Jasmine Cain and her guitar player Jeffro who sequestered Tigerlily, threw her into their gear trailer and then hijacked my ass into the Ford Explorer, and west ward ho we were bound.

It was a straight drive-through, all of us pumped up no sleep with huge amounts of Pilot Travel Center's undeniably and steamy intense energy coffee. We were no doubt wired. My kidnappers wanted to see just how much coffee I could drink because they were placing bets about how fast each one could make my heart race!

Because they stole me so unexpectedly, you will see me in my hippy moo-moo dress, without makeup and with my eyeglasses on....unshowered. Yes, I was kidnapped right before I was to get all bada$$ primped and therefore ready to mount my chrome steed and gallop west.

(Besides being kidnapped by a rock n roll band and forced to sit in the passenger seat of an SUV enroute to the world's largest motorcycle rally with my motorcycle locked away in a trailer PURE TORTURE!!!! OMG, these videos are a rare glimpse into the unkept, schlep at home look -- however, I did wear fabulous shoes.)

THE FACTS: The captors

Jasmine Cain Beeeech. A notorious head-banging rocker chick and NO patience aka Pixie with an Axe

Jeffro Bo Dean a guitar slashin fool aka SLASHER

The captured Sasha aka Chrome Cowgirl.

Miss Tigerlily, Sasha's beloved Harley-Davidson hidden in the captor's gear trailer.

So without delay, let me share with you below some random video secretly captured about our journey to Sturgis.

VIDEO 1 - about the kidnappers. see me delirious from too much coffee. I'm forced to speak about the good time I'm having... what do they want from me? !!!

VIDEO 2 more about the kidnappers. . .she's the diva kidnapper. oh, and they made me wear 7" stilletto heels so that I couldn't run fast.

VIDEO 3 trying to catch some wind! i can't take it anymore as we speed down interstate 90, past the Badlands, without my trusty motorcycle roaring between my legs! I try to escape but they pumped me with so much caffine and Jeffro keeps threatening cruel tickle sessions; just the anticipation of another tickle attack makes me convulse in laughter! Those who are feverishly tickelish know what I'm talking about!

VIDEO 4 the kidnappers owning the road by scaring drive-by folks. An example of "owning the road," by Jasmine Cain - beeeeatch.

VIDEO 5 skillful kiddie carousel riders at Wall Drug. Or maybe not. I try to make light of an insane situation....this is just how bad I need to ride...you see how I'll ride anything at this point so I hop on a kiddy ride with the two kidnappers. Jeffro had to get off of it tho, 'cause the ride wouldn't move bein he's such a strappin' lad.

VIDEO 6 the kidnappers testing my skill at water spout trials. I know I won this...but I had to let the kidnapping diva Jasmine win or else who knows what she'd do with sweet Tigerlily!

VIDEO 7 the kidnappers try their hands at some games. they ain't so lucky as they think! I withheld my lucky charms. Then, a little babe barters and diva kidnapper girl gets what she wants in the end while Jeffro Bo Dean tries to prove his might.

uploading....please return later on to check it out...

VIDEO 8 JC breaks a boy's charm just because she can, and then wraps him up in pink...hear the tale he has to tell to avoid being kidnapped and turned into a rock n roll stage slave.

uploading....please return later on to check it out...

VIDEO 9 Victory as the rock star kidnappers are tortured with shockingly out of tune instruments and left utterly confused. I flee whilst their ears melt. And away I go!

uploading...please return later on to check it out...

See below the ransom photo: FOLKS, I NEVER DID FIND OUT WHAT THE RANSOM WAS! Jeffro had a hard sharp object pointed in my lower back. I never did find out if that thang was loaded or not. He said to me while we took the photo, "Look happy, don't move, or else it'll be a double banger!"

Click the ransom photo to enlarge.

photo captions

1. the "look happy" photo by order of Jeffro . . .

2. i think about how to run, while the kidnappers decide what to do with me . . .

3. here I am making a MAD dash out the photo booth curtain . . .

4. then i'm yanked back and forced into a sing-along led by Jeffro Bo Dean crooning "I Am IRON MAN". . .

http://picasaweb.google.com/chromecowgirl/Sturgis08# - see a pictorial about STURGIS 2008!!!

Don't ask why. Just Ride.

Don't ask why. Just ride. You don't have to have a reason to ride. You just get on the bike and wander around. Sink deep into your saddle and chillax.

Riding doesn't require a reason. It's a passion. It's a yearning...a longing in the soul to be out there. To connect with the adventure. The moment that has no "have to do" attached to it.

You don't need a reason to ride. You do it because you just must. It's a craving that is pulsing in your blood stream. Beats your heart.

Movement is part of the life of a rider. To move through....to experience.

Sturgis is around the corner. Bear Butte is standing tall and proud sweeping and swirling the clouds. Riders will be arriving soon.

Feel the spirit of the ride. Don't ask why. Enjoy the mystery.

Jasmine Cain Band featured in Easyriders Magazine!

According to the article in this month's Easyriders, Jasmine Cain is known as the Pixie with an Axe. I agree. She plays killer bass and is a powerful singer and songwriter. Commanding the stage with sweet ferocity, she's been playing the major motorcycle rallies for years performing for several tens of thousands of people at any one rally and is finally getting tremendous recognition! I met her years ago and seeing her evolve into a superstar level artist is so exciting.

She has dearly earned this, putting her heart and soul into everything she does for her music. The road has been extremely long and filled with challenges that would make even the most accomplished musician want to hang it all up. Not Jasmine. She toughs it out because music is the oil that runs in her veins and she loves performing for any type of gear head audience, especially for the bikers.

Performing her stunning originals in a manner of stadium quality-showstopping entertainment, she's a walking library of great rock cover songs including country. High energy! She can play for four hours straight with only a quick 15 minute pee break, and this is NO easy task. Her stamina definitely comes from being a rancher's daughter and keeping up with the demands of tending to the farm, so, yes, she is areal cowgirl from the Wild West. She rides horses and dirt bikes.

You can't take your eyes off of this marvelous and eccentric-looking band. Jasmine Cain is an artist who has truly honed her craft on the road playing every style, with all kinds of bands, until she formed her own group. Jasmine Cain Band has also opened for a few national headliners. Her music is along the lines of Nickleback meets Evanescence.... if I was working in the record business again, I would sign her on the spot. She's one of the hardest working artists I've ever met and a TOUGH business woman too. A record label's DREAM artist.

Her second release is "Locks & Keys" which she co-everything'd and with pockets turned inside-out - foot the bill. A powerhouse collection of ballads and high octane rock, the album draws you in and you just can't let go of the listening experience, because her captivating style won't let you! Her first release "The Inside"received amazing reviews and she sold plenty at her shows and online.

Though Jasmine lives in Nashville, she's a native South Dakota girl born in Sturgis! When she's home here in Tennessee, you just might see her rollerskating down the honky tonkin streets of Lower Broadway, carrying her Warwick bass, her long purple, blonde and black locks blowing in the breeze. Yeah, she'll perform in rollerskates, too, when the mood strikes. Jasmine laughs all the time and loves to make an entrance. We have a super time together because we both love music and we're silly about everything having to do with the motorcycle lifestyle.

Oh, and another thing, here's a girl who, on her own, last minute booked The Whiskey and The Viper Room in L.A. all in one night and so impressed the booking folks that they told her she can come back anytime! That's a rockin' feat! She revs up the wildchild freespirit in everyone so life feels like a good time and an easyride! Biker chicks ROCK!

Go get the June Easyrider magazine and read the fabulous article about her. Oh, and it's the 420 issue, that is, the 420th issue. A must!We roarrred over that! However neither one of us partakes in the herbalessence. You can also read the article in the PG version V-Twin magazine. Yes, the article is written in such poetic language and in ol skool rockin' roll voice that it would make a great cover piece in Rolling Stone mag, too! Beautiful feature. It'll take you higher.

www.myspace.com/jasminecain - listen and watch some videos. Don't expect inflated myspace numbers. She doesn't "mine" for myspace fans. She doesn't hard sell anybody, she only wins everybody's attention. Haha! And she loves to make friends so stop by her myspace or at a concert and reach out.

Making Peace....a lesson in crocheting love.

Now, I am making peace with this odd moment in my life. This bazaar month of April.

Making way for some deep soul work and healing now while I grieve my daddy.

I have written a long, personal journal about this month of April. It is now a short story that I will publish maybe next year.

Last night I had a deep conversation with my beautiful Godmother, Yeshoda, who owns a spiritual growth school in Florida. It was a breakthrough. You see, she and I really do not know one another that well. But we do on a soulful level as it turns out.

Last night, I just freakin' sobbed my eyes out over the enormous emotions I was feeling at the loss of my daddy; I had to forgive myself for being so blind with desire, at the stupid loss of income and money and time spent trying to do something awesome for my beloved motorcycle life through a contest that just wasn't worth it; I just have to be and feel all the emotions that are all tangled up right now instead of being stoic and holding back.

Yes, so last night I screamed on the river bank here in Nashville into my hands I let flow all the loss, the craving for my daddi Poppi, the anger I feel at myself, all of it...but there is more...there is more to this grieving process than I could ever imagine.

Grieving is the art of everything you feel in your little painbody rushing at you at once, all tangled up in the spirit of the loved one who is watching from the otherside encouraging you to be a better person, sit tall in the saddle of your life, abandon all the things that tear you from your center, your truth. They become your guardians to encourage you to evolve, bust through the membrane of fear, falsehood, and away from those dark characters and situations that do nothing but tear you down and keep you from your evolution and betterment.

I'm on a mission now. Today, I'm working on my book edits which are just so overwhelming, but I'm approaching it slowly and purposefully, like an artist may correct a canvas. This book is so important to me even though it may be just a git-er-done product to the publisher. It's my works, a legacy that I leave behind for all the world to enjoy...through which to be inspired.

Today, I'm working on my music...because it's the place where I can be wild and free like on my motorcycle...jam out and be a rock star and dream.

Today, I'm back on my cleanse program, cleansing all the toxins out of my body and fasting. Releasing the toxins from bitter foods and bitter experience -- freeing my body to experience deep JOY once again through good vibrations.

Yes, my friends, I take you with me on the healing journey -- but you be on your journey too. I will be your example that you too can barrel through the adversity to evolve as a higher spirit and wilder human.

Love,
Sasha

TBEAR Needs U!

http://www.tbearwear.com/articles/index.htm

TBEAR needs lovin' hugs.

The legendary TBEAR, journalist extraordinare and beloved character in the motorcycle culture, has experienced an unusual slip on the ice which has severly damaged the muscles in BOTH of his legs. He is in leg braces from his cha-chas to his ankles and is in a rehabilitation facility for longterm and would love to hear from you. He doesn’t get much computer time because he’s on slow computer that blocks out myspace and his connection to his creativity, but you can please reach out to him via e-mail which he has access to and give him kind, loving words of encouragement: tbear@mhcable.com

It’s very lonely to be in a small, rural rehabilitation center, especially for a vivacious character like him! Because of his accident, his two wheeler needs to be converted into a three-wheeler which is a great expense. Let's put our heads together to think about how this can be done for him as a gift to his incredible journalism and support of the lifestyle and motorcycle industry.

Love,

Sasha

Finalist Round 2 Miss Sturgis Contest!

My dear friends and family and those new folks who I haven't yet met who supported the Miss Sturgis contest:

Thank you so very much for your love and support. I have made first place in the second round of the Miss Sturgis contest. There are two more rounds to go and then Miss Sturgis will be selected. Since I am now a finalist, one of 12 final girls from which Miss Sturgis is chosen, I am no longer in the voting catagory.

The Sturgis Bike Week committee will select the Miss Sturgis winner after the fourth round of voting and all 12 finalists are selected. With that, I encourage comments to be placed on my Miss Sturgis contestant page so that the committee understands why you voted for me, and how much you love Sturgis, and all about YOUR passion for riding. http://www.misssturgis.com/girls/?p=5 and place your comment.

I am truly honored by your support. The comments on my contestant page are breathtaking, I feel ya'lls beautiful glowing light in your hearts.

God bless you, treasured people in my life. I'm so happy about being a finalist and deeply grateful to the people who have supported this contest and voted for me. The passion that folks share for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally certainly shines; it's evident that the legacy of riders and racers over the 68 years is something to uphold and cherish.

To think it all started with Pearl and J.C. "Pappy" Hoel, an incredibly enthusiastic and generous couple who loved to share their passion for motorcycles with a family at large. Who knew this rally would evolve to be so big as to attract riders around the globe. The residents of South Dakota are warm and loving, and it's always a pleasure to receive their kind embrace during rally season.

To me, the Miss Sturgis title is to celebrate all that goodness and to recognize the female motorcycle enthusiast who journeys to the beautiful Black Hills on her own ride. I'd like to take this title to new heights, encourage people to follow their dreams, and to share the title to promote great causes.

Peace and love, Sasha

Who Said A City Girl Can't Be Country?

I'm in the thick of mixing this song. Holy cow. What a challenge. I have alot going on in the song admittedly. It's like I have a blank canvas and now I have to choose from a hundred colors to paint the picture, but not muddy it all up. And then what is the consistent color that is the foundation for it all.

I have all the tracks I want and now it's a matter of painting the picture. I have white out the canvas on this song so many times, for all kinds of reasons ranging from my learning curve producing my own music, to what the song musically represents, to achieving that perfect blend of Nashville meets NYC.

Blending, mixing, carving, crafting. Today, I'm closer than ever with this song. My energies are going to crafting this song today. Blending and sculpting it. It's an artsty redneck symphony which is complicated.

I don't want to muddy it up. It needs to be a masterpiece. Later on I'll post a mix. Tell me what you think.

xoS

The Hottie on the Harley is still in the running...UPDATE!

Well, further to my post this morning....looks like I'm still high five in the runnin...

I encourage your votes, my beautiful friends and family and those who love girls who ride motorcycles and the legacy of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally!

VAVAVAVote away.....www.misssturgis.com

XOSASHA....

I've Got The Music In Me.

Bound and determined. Is that what it takes? I've got an itch I need to scratch. It's musical. It's a need to get my songs and motoroadeoMC magic out to the world. I'm on a mission. It feels really good. I'm filled with inspiration. Filled with this vision. I've got the music in me...

There is power in faith. I'm faithfilled. Just doing and enjoying each moment of doing...of the process. I used to get frustrated and sometimes cry about my dreams seeming so difficult to achieve. But not any more. Because I enjoy the process, now. The art of doing. The art of being fully in the moment and engaging myself in the activity of now. Right now.

Right now, I'm communicating to the world. What motorvates me to do this? Because I just love so much that I want to share my existence. I want to know about your existence. You inspire me to create. I inspire myself to create. The act of living is inspirational. I like to share things I learn and I like to learn. I can only do that by making myself known to you. And likewise, you known to me.

I've got the music in me. Some interesting rhythm, I'll tell you. I do hear a song in everybody. It's been said that every person is a storybook. I say every person is a song, many songs, many melodies.

I want to share my songs with you. My melodies. Tonight I'm mixing...rough mixes. Preparing and grooming my music to be sent to a professional mix engineer, who is the finest mixer in the world out of NYC. He rides motorcycles, too.

Ziggy, my new guitar, and I are totally into one another. I've composed something with Patrick that is just so pretty, very Beatles sounding meets, me. I don't know what it will be yet. I love the chord changes. I've been studying the Eagles' music. There some dang gorgeous chord changes. I've realized that music which is truly pouring forth from the soul in its purest and truthful form will move other souls. It reaches the core in its truth. The type of melodies that the Eagles write, is like choregraphed physical movement, though it makes your spirit dance and moves you on a journey...that's where your mind is able to connect, because first your soul is swept away by the music, then your mind is able to fall into a place of awareness. Embracing and engaging your whole being with the sound that becomes a taste that becomes a scent that becomes something you sware you can touch -- while your mind paints pictures to see.

I've got the music in me. Like you do, too. The key right now is getting the music completed and into the world for all to enjoy and feel inspired.

I encourage you all to pursue your deep dreams that are in you, yearning to come forth.

With love and artistic passion,
your friend,
Sasha

MISS STURGIS 2008 - Vote for me!

Hello dear friends and family.

My pilgrimage on my motorcycle to the Black Hills for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota every year is a high octane, fun and spirited event. As a chrome cowgirl, I feel like I'm blazin' trails on my chrome horse as I gallop through the wild west enroute to one of the most soulful landscapes in America.

I'm entering the Miss Sturgis contest to roarrrr new meaning to the title. To me this title is about the ride! It's about the rally! And of course it's about being a girl who lives and breathes motorcycles.

As most of you know, I love to ride my motorcycle to the rally and I treasure the state of South Dakota, its people and its history. I honor the legacy of the motorcycle rally and races and its co-founders Pearl and J. Clarence "Pappy" Hoel, (Mr. Hoel also founded the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club). Pearl will forever be known to me as "The Pearl of the Rally." I'm also all about supporting girls who ride motorcycles and seeing more female energy thundering across the country wearing big s'miles. July 2008 is the release date of my new book called Chrome Cowgirl's Guide to the Motorcycle Life by Motorbooks International.

So, for the above heartfelt reasons I have decided to enter this contest and capture the title of Miss Sturgis and promote it for great causes.

The voting is done by people's choice (info is here) http://www.misssturgis.com/ I would be so honored if you would vote for me by going to this URL and clicking on my photo: http://www.misssturgis.com/contestantlist.php - You can also read much more about the contest there. There are four voting rounds therefore I'll resend this message when the next round comes up again.

The voting starts over on Feb. 16, March 1, March 15 and the final three will move to the finalists on March 29. Miss Sturgis will be chosen by April 19th.

If you're interested, read about the rally history here: http://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/
In addition, please visit this Sturgis Rally charity event to learn more about how you can support a great cause: Kids & Chrome - http://www.kidsandchrome.org/.

Feel free to share this e-mail as appropriate.

I appreciate you all so much in my life. Thank you dearly for taking the time to read this e-mail and for considering to vote for me!

Peace and love, ,

Sasha Mullins-- http://www.bikerlady.com/

Rolling Around, Serving It UP!

Yeah, this year, I am going to be rolling around on my chopper and SERVING IT UP, the music, the books, the merch. The dream comes together 2008! The vision is full on and upstoppable. The wheels are going to carry this vision worldwide.

The band motoroadeoMC is going to blow yer mind, grab your heart and soul and deliver you into that bad ass space...wild and free on the open road.

The book Chrome Cowgirl's Guide to the Motorcycle Life! is a shut up and ride read. It'll light a fire in your fingertips and you'll be revving your life full gust. Wide open, friends.... This book is quirky, inspirational, in-yer-face fun, and will be a dog-earred sum beech book you'll carry in your saddlebags and share with friends when they need a bit o uplifting and humor.

The Chrome Cowgirl merch is sexy, and on top of the saddle beautiful for all sizes, shapes and mindspace. In development now...to be launched this year.

There's more stuff on the horizon JUST FOR YOU's ALL. My amazing friends, family, fans, --- You are my heart...so I'm creating great stuff to enhance your journey....rev it up....

Yeah, I'm ROLLING AROUND and SERVING IT UP just 4 u.

Peace, love and tire burn branding....

xoxoxoSasha

Jasmine Cain Band

Last night, Jasmine and drummer Steve came to break some bread at my house on the river. I opened the door to a gleaming, glowing songstress holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and her new CD in the other. This precious, sparkling soul was beaming, filled with the promise of success.

She's the incredible bass playin', lead singer of the Jasmine Cain Band. And she is a bold example of earning your fan base and being extremely dedicated to your craft. Jasmine is a no holds barred, balls to the wall business woman, as well as creative genius.

Her manager is herself. When she's not on stage astonishing the crowds, she's "number crunching" and booking gigs out and in...all the while paying for the trip as it unfolds, and paying for the way to go home...all through the keen sense of being her own booking agent and accountant. "There are times when I don't know how I'm going to get the band home because clubs bail out or whatever happens out there...so I get on that phone and book other gigs for the return trip. " So dedicated to her career she doesn't give in to the stress that accompanies juggling so many business duties in addition to being the artist. No, Jasmine excels....she rises off the chart for the ocassion, and exceeds the audiences expectations.

She also drives her Ford Expedition to the gigs with all band members including "Merch" the merch girl packed in there together. Whatever it takes...it's about realizing her vision and she is in the midst of the magic...the journey to achieve the level she's always hoped for...it's right there...

Jasmine released her new record on January 1st and has already sold 600 CDs at her appearances (including other merch that she has). This is a girl who takes her career as serious, literally, as a heart attack, because her heart would be attacked and saddened if she couldn't perform. She truly lives and breathes being an artist.

Jasmine Cain educates herself. Reads about the music business, asks questions, sits with pros in the music industry and carefully culls information. She has amassed a sizable fan base playing the motorcycle rallies and venues in between across America. Just last week the band played BOTH the Viper Room and Whiskey-A-Go-Go and received a warm welcome from both usually difficult rooms to get into....but she rocked them against the wall...and left them wanting more. Then drove 36 hours back to Nashville, crammed in an Expedition with her band mates, pulling a small trailer with all her equipment.

She's been on the road like this for a number of years, building and stretching and attracting all kinds of audiences. I remember this girl...when she began...and since the start she's been all a-fire and brimming with rock n roll that'll stone you from her attention-getting melodies, licks and lyrics. Her new record she painstakingly funded on her own dime all by earning one fan at a time across the USA.

This recording was a four month intense project. Because she's such an astute business woman, she had to push that part of herself aside for a minute so that she could fully enter into the chamber of creativity -- the crayon world of sheer inspiration...listening to the rhythm in her soul and giving birth to the songs that would chase her down the road while on tour. She had to lose herself in the musical moments and sharply focus her talent like a locomotive rolling along the rails letting all this music pour forth and pour forth it does on Locks & Keys.

I leave the track analysis up to the listener. But, let me tell you, she is, by far, the hardest working, hottest rock N roll diva on the planet. All of those sleepless nights, angst about how to get home from a three week long gig, and enduring the dark days of facing music industry people who tried to puncture that vision....have paid off. Her sensual, super high energy performance puts her in a league of her own...her intensity reminds me of the early days of Alanis.

I spun her disc while she was here eating my home cooked chili and drinking some Coppola Rosso, and it was hard to concentrate on any conversation because my ear was constantly craning to absorb the powerful tunes demanding my attention. Truly, this chick blows my mind with her unusual talent. I've seen her evolve over the years into a super star...a performer who deserves to play The Warp Tour, Bonaroo and everything in between...opening for Aerosmith. She's that entertaining.

But this girl manages herself, makes all the business phone calls, maintains the myspace account, books the hotel rooms, keeps the band working, deals with production snafus......all alone. Admittedly, it is hard work. "I've got four lives to take care of," she says about her band, her eyes wide in all seriousness.

At this point I'm wondering....who at The Warp Tour will say to this outstanding artist who is self-managing and self-booking her incredible band, okay, you're booked for the tour! Now a days it's so much about labels and big money deals and having a representative fronting the band. Well, let me say here that if any of the promoters out there want to buck the system and take a chance on this chick dialing you up looking for a spot on a hot rock tour or festival...pay attention.

I hope Warp Tour will take her on because this chick plays to huge crowds at all the major motorcycle events and is on tour with the Easyriders Rodeo...which is a big deal in our biker culture! The fan base is gigantic and not in the manner of having some intern pull myspace friends in, or hypoid conversation from record label people wanting to shove product in yer face without even having a chance to know the artist.

Jasmine's been touring all kinds of venues and every out of the way place in between her rally gigs for a strong and solid whole lotta miles-- and people love her. She's just mesmorizing! They ask her to return.

She tells me, "I'm going to make it!" And I tell her, "Chick you are making it! Your time is now. It's happening." This hard work is paying off for this admirable songstress. She's going to be huge and, you know what, she did it mostly alone, IGNORING the naysayers, IGNORING the heartbreakers and focusing hard on the art of making her dream a reality. Jasmine is the example of living and breathing and dying for your art. She's courageous, and she's a survivor.

Jasmine Cain, with her waist length colorful hair, sexy bass playing, and versatile singing, ...will leave you stunned and a loyal fan. www.myspace.com/jasminecain

This is music. This is truth. This is an artist pursuing her passion, so she can breathe. She sings of the things that you want to say, but you just can't talk about. She sings of things that you feel deep in your heart, she explodes your thoughts into songs.

Love Is All There Is

Love cures

Love heals

Love encourages

Love is all there is.

Love is Gratitude. Please think of only the good things in life that you are grateful for because through those good things, flows the healing energy of love to cure other areas in your life which trouble you. There is power in those good things, those blessings which you have in life. If you are terminally ill, think of good things, like the hand that holds yours, like the nurse who cares for you, like the hope you give another to power through... If you are experiencing a job loss and possible financial disaster, think of the good things, the love of your child or spouse, the fact that love surrounds you in your darkest hour and it may not even be so much a person type love, but a very deep spiritual unseen love. Think about the hot meal that you're able to eat.

I, like you, have experienced so much in my short time here on earth. Many times I have traveled through such a dark night of the soul, I could not even dream that there is any good. But then I would look around in my imperfection and warped perspective, and there, across the room would be my kitty cat staring at me and she'd roll over on her back and look at me upside down as if to say, I love you mom, let me be a clown for you -- and she would make me chuckle in my misery. There were lots of times when I could not afford a supper so I'd eat a diet bar, or, I'd dine on a hot, steamy slice of pizza and I could only have one....and that pizza would be darn tasty. I'd share it with my kitty cat. Or the hot bagel from H&H fresh out of the oven. I would eat it plain while strolling slowly back to my tiny apartment. I'd be lost in that moment and tell God thank you so much for giving me this small moment with my bagel from H&H when everything else seems like it's in the shitter.

Love is all there is. I'm loved and I'll lay my head in the lap of the invisible Jesus. Think about how much power we have in the love. The power pulls us through and tells us not to be anxious or concerned. Be active, yes. But pray before activity and planning...using your mind is deadly without prayer...things get tangled up if the action of praying doesn't straighten the confusion.

Yes, Love is all there is...even when no one is around. You feel that deafening loneliness. The crappy job, the terrifying unemployment, the diagnosis of a disease that will be a long fight. In this big world, past the sky, into the universe, to visit the furthest star, there is love. Upon which the universe comes into existence...on that powerful energy. That energy is ours to mend and heal and boost confidences and inspire and realize that within ourselves is every answer to every question.

Love is all there is. In our every action. When we eat, do we choose loving foods that will empower the physical, the mental and stimulate awareness within our spiritual? Do we choose loving activity when we encounter another that will create a life changing ripple effect? Do we stop to consider our thoughts, that they come from a place of love...so that we will not scold ourselves and enter into a place of self-loathing, and misery from frustration based upon the outward goings on in our lives.

Love is all there is. Love the situation that you are in, into a healing energy. The only effort is just to look at the situation, feel it deeply and realize the good surrounding you...any type of good will do because from the good comes the love.

xoS

Healing the Life Weary.

Acceptance is the key to healing the life weary. I bring to you the example of the passionate artist. The passionate artist gives all to their art in hopes of sharing their art with the world and thus making a living at their passion works. The passionate artist derives great joy and purpose from their art. They feel alive and inspired.

In the early adult years of the passionate artist, there is a need to work a job that supports the activity of pursuing the dream of art. In those early years the passionate artist does not expect to have to work at the dues paying support job for too long, willing to sacrifice for a small paycheck to support the art and then fostering the art to become their lives work.

But sometimes the years roll on in sacrifice and the passionate artist experiences an anxiety beyond measure because the soul yearns to break free from the have to do's in life. They have to work a job that is draining of the life source art that the passionate artist truly enjoys and thus they will suffer until the moment they can engage themselves in their art for eternity. Here on this earth, through prayer and diligence and splitting the life in two: the have to support onesself jobs and part-time employment related to the art that by no means can support a life, the passionate artist struggles onward. Determined. Focused. In faith.

There is a point where life becomes weary from this effort. Confusion and delusion sets in. The guitar stands lonesome in the corner. The canvas unpainted. Journals empty. The typewriter still. The script is unread. The passionate artist becomes weary of their efforts to fulfill their heart's desire to engage fully in their art, their dream work. The dream is long and arduous. Is that the sunsetting now on such a bright and hopeful star? They move through life like a ghost seeking the light.

No matter what the self help books explain...the passionate artist has journeyed through all the self-help: attitude adjustments and diet and activity and on and on ... the passionate artist does all the things such as network and pursue education to add dimension to their craft; and still the arduous task of rising and working at a meaningless job saps the life out of the artist. An indescribable weariness sets in from living a life so completely opposite than what the passionate artist had in mind, had in heart, had in dream....since a child.

The passionate artist then comes to a place where he or she is feeling helpless. Feeling broken. Feeling like they are prepared to give up their creative gifts. For their gifts are not a hobby to be toiled at once in a while. No their gift is something they must do, they must experience in order to feel the life pulse through them, their blood swim up stream to beat their heart where the indescribable love resides.

At this point, the passionate artist collapses in a heap of frustrated tears and confusion. They are weary, struggling still to make ends meet all the while a small flame of hope burning deeply within that just maybe someday will make an appearance and they will delight in their days engaged in their art for all the world to enjoy and ponder. They have sacrificed so much to achieve their yet unrealized dreams.

With water-filled eyes, the passionate artist has no where to turn any longer. The prayers haven't worked. Though still, they will lift their eyes to heaven and ask why? And the arms of a Saviour wrap around the broken child within who asks why. The Saviour in wordless action lifts the passionate artist into His arms and coaxes the passionate artist into a divine sleep to heal the life that has left the passionate artist terribly weary. The Saviour knows this pain well. The glory of love and art unappreciated in a cold, dark world.

Upon awakening the passionate artist feels completely still. Extremely light. The heaviness is gone. The furnace of hope is ablaze. The passionate artist is thoroughly encouraged to create the greatest piece of artwork ever. And the passionate artist sits to create and then pauses and speaks aloud that the Greatest artist of all move through the talent of the passionate artist who sits before their craft.

And from that moment on, the passionate artist accepted the unquestionable Greatness that desired to move through -- and the passionate artist created for none other than the greatest Creator of all which led to volumes of people awakening and following the art of the Passion.

You see, the extreme desire that the passionate artist had within was not for their own sake of enjoying their craft and talent for all the world to experience and thus make a living. The entire gift was being cultivated for the single purpose of the Great Creator to move through the little passionate artist. And the work of art that resulted was from the challenging journey of devotion that the passionate artist lived to achieve their dreams.

In the end, the passionate artist surrendered their desire in order that the desire of the Great Creator would take priority and thus heal the life weary.

"Genuine self-acceptance is not derived from the power of positive thinking, mind games, or pop psychology. It is an act of faith in the grace of God alone." - Brennan Manning

My friends, guard your souls and your craft. Hold your beloved art sky high and ask that your great talents serve for the Greater Creator. Be yourself, true. Accept that in that truth is your greatest artwork.

Here Comes Chrome Cowgirl.

Today, I finalized my manuscript. From the author's point of view anyway. I await my darling editor's commentary and keen editing for my review. I trust him; he's such a talented chrome cowboy with a touch of bad boy. He understands my crayon world -- Chrome Cowgirl's Guide to the Motorcycle Life -- the book sure to tickle many and arouse the seventh sense around the world. What is the seventh sense. A sense of self. Who you are. Really.

So, now the second total focus is on everything Chrome Cowgirl, of course, career wise it is the focus. The first total focus is Poppi. This Chrome Cowgirl will stay near to her Poppi to encourage him to experience his bucket list in a most bold way, of course. If you don't know what that means, read the previous post from yesterday. [update: the post had to be removed by orders of my mean mother]

Good thing my Patrick is a participant in my crayon world. Hence. We are both WANTED. [click on that photo strip on the left to enlarge it!] I want him; he wants me. Hee Ha. Ha. Sigh....can't wait to marry my man. What to do....?! Another thought for another time. We went to see the movie the bucket list, with a gigantoid bucket of popcorn....oh the calories...the oooozee butter. The enormoid diet soda! Anyway, my bucket list is to spend as much time with my Poppi, marry Patrick, be a good soul to everybody, encourage as many dreams around the world to come true so there will be lots of strong, happy folks. There's more, but that's good for now.

So, here comes Chrome Cowgirl drawing her own crayon trail to follow on her motorcycle, all around the globe. I'll write more later on. I have to go help Patrick set up my ol' futon that I slept on for years in NYC. Now it's actually going to be used as a flop couch in our music room. I have a real bed to sleep in now.

xo

Fast Little Girl Loves Two Wheels.

Fast. Big. Two Wheels. - See even as a youngster that's what I wanted. I had a need for a big, beefy bike...a bike that was even way bigger than me. Note the Richard Petty sticker on the bike...it was all about speed and big. Big Speed, Two Wheels.

That bicycle -- I loved it. A Yard Sale treasure. My mother said, it's too big. NO! It was perfect. You see how tiny I am on that bike! But I had my own way of steading it and hopping up on the pedals and taking off. I loved how that bike would just sail me along the road. That love for two wheels grew ever stronger.... it became an obsession.

Before the motorcycle love affair began...it was bicycles. Oh I would go on Centurian Rides...that's how insane I was. Big bicycle quests every weekend. I'd easily do a 25 mile a day jaunt...sometimes as much as 60 miles. But the big 100 miles that was really challenging...hills, the whole nine. A real challenge. I mean it was awesome. My legs would be shaking and the next day, I could barely lift my legs to walk I would have trashed them from going the distance and doing those hills.

The only bicycle I have now is little Lollipop - the vintage Schwinn that I got at a yard sale last year. $8.00 find. That wonderful freedom machine you see in the photo above is some where I don't know...my parents got rid of all that stuff I had stored at their house. Yeah, I wish I still had that bike. But I had no where to put my stuff because I lived in a super tiny apartment in NYC. The Shimano bike that I had (that's when Shimano actually had their own brand of bikes) -- the one that I did all my amazing treks on -- was stolen from my NYC apartment building -- the locks were sawed completely off. Can you imagine? I was devastated, in such shock I didn't know what to do...I was pretty much lost without that bike. I couldn't believe it. Someday I'll get another one...but that has been quite a long wait for my someday.

Two wheels and a fast bike...that's my ticket to ride. xoSasha

Passions

As many of you know, riding motorcycles is a very deep passion for me. Because it is a connection to my soul. It is the primary way in which my soul enjoys to communicate to the world at large, that and music and writing.

So, I decided I would combine this passion for riding with other passions, that of performing and writing music; and writing books and articles. I have composed a wonderful fiction book, though it is in the progress now. She (the book) is a story about female riders. She is good and it is about the journey. It is about the evolution that happens on the open road, saddled upon a chrome horse -- and what that chrome companion means to us.

This book, She, though that isn't going to be the title, it is my pet name for my first work of fiction in the form of a novel --- is going to reveal to the world so many things about the journey; about sisterhood; about how strangers are angels in disguise. Those who come along on our life journey and provide a sparkle to it.

The characters I reveal here because they are names which will linger long after the story is told. GypZ, Cherry, Jolene, Angie. These are the sisters. These are the sisters who will show the world what it means to have a passion for riding, and the journey of life. These are the sisters who are just like you and me.

xoS

tuned vocals....nope we're talking campfire versions.

okay. the vocals on any of my demo songs that you hear on myspace are NOT tuned. they are just plain. i'm supposed to announce that they are unedited vocals. i'm still working on the vocal tracks, but i'm sitting with them....breathing them in and contemplating them. i might alter an arrangement here or there. sort of like when i perform a new song live and just live with the tune on stage, let it take it's course as it evolves into its final presentation.

you see, i'm writing and recording these songs pretty much home grown style. for now. what's fun about that is, when the final versions are finally recorded....whew....quite the production I would imagine. for now, they are CAMPFIRE versions. you know....versions of my songs as if we were all sitting around the campfire after a loooooooooooooooong day of riding far in the saddle.

we're just singing out loud and living out loud. tuned into our moment.

i felt i had to say these things, because the expectations of perfection are becoming increasingly soul-less. plus, in the music business, that's important lingo apparently. this campfire girl is just all about the crack snap pop and sizzle of a magic natural moment. lots of the songs i like to sit with and let 'em reveal the most awesome journey it's going to take not only me, but all of us on.

have a wonderful day...and week...
God bless.