Wednesday 14th

The fish knife vs the crowbar

It is a beautiful sunny day outside and I am sitting in my studio bouncing down my multitracks for some folks who wanted a go at remixing them. It feels oddly intimate, giving them the tracks in their individual little pieces. Like I'm exposed. The word dehisce springs to mind. I have to trust.

Car got broken into on Sunday. There was nothing to take, so nothing was taken, but they managed to destroy the winding mechanism on the window they broke, which is going to cost hundreds to fix (which the insurance wont cover). I am not happy.

Thursday 8th

Why is it that raspberry juice from a wine glass is just so much more fun?

Wednesday 7th

From the lovely Mr Pete at toxicpete.co.uk

Very very nice - something a bit different - something fresh and rewarding!! 'Body' by composer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/producer Leni Ward is something of a new-age experimental suite. It puts a new edge on electro/orchestral fusion as it weaves its magical aural tapestry of darkly tinged, ethereal moods crossed with bright, optimistic futurism - a masterpiece of modern experimentation into the atmospheric and awe inspiring!

Like a modern day Tubular Bells, 'Body' finds Leni Ward picking up on a theme and running with it and running and running until she can run no more. 'Body' is a beautiful piece of work that's experimental, atmospheric and innovative al la a youthful Mike Oldfield and yet it's also a work of modernistic vibrancy and poetic exploration al la Dido. However, Ward is actually unlike both of the aforementioned; Leni Ward is pretty much a one off and this totally home-made epic is quite stunning in every aspect. From concept right through to production and packaging Leni Ward has not missed a trick; 'Body' is beautifully conceived, stunningly performed and very professionally packaged.

Reading up on this fascinating musical all-rounder I get the feeling that Leni Ward is a somewhat private and perhaps reclusive but thoughtful being. I think she's quite opinionated and won't entertain fools gladly. This is one focussed and ambitious young lady with massive talent and a natural gift for expressive composition and understated performance. Leni Ward also seems to know exactly what she wants and where she wants to be and something tells me that she'll get there through hard-nosed dedication, constructive creativity and unbounded musical prowess. Leni Ward probably already has everything she needs to be massively successful and 'Body' suggests that Leni Ward is gonna be a force to contend with by any standard and at any level.

'Body' is an absolute beaut of a work - it's chilled, evocative, expressive and like nothing else I can think of. Suffice to say that Leni Ward has put together one hell of a package here that'll surely test her creativity when it comes time to do a follow up album. 'Body' is slick and seamless and can be hypnotically relaxing and calming just as well as it can be motivational and inspirational. A modern miracle of the digital musical age that feels like it has strength in depth and longevity written right through it. Bloody fantastic - and it's oh so good to hear someone really taking on-board what modern instrumentation and recording techniques are capable of doing and putting all that knowledge into a work as rewardingly creative as 'Body' - a real breath of fresh air - quite stunning!! Beautiful - one for the chill room, one for now, one for the future - 'Body' by Leni Ward is pretty damn exceptional!!

Tuesday 6th

Today a queen ant flew up my trouser leg and bit me on the knee. It made me sad.

Yesterday, Boyfriend took me to a field and decided I should learn to ride a bike. Yes. I know. I picked it up pretty well on the grass, but lost control as soon as I hit tarmac and went over the handle bars. My shoulder is a pretty array of scratches now. I wanted to take the video camera and blog the cycling lesson, but Boyfriend wouldn't play. He's very dull.

Not a lot to report, honestly. Not much I can talk about, anyway. You know how I am with my Secret Things.

Sunday 4th

Tonight I find myself afloat and dressing for lost lovers. Digging down in cloth for a tunnel through this nostalgia. There is an event I plan to attend which I know will be full of ghosts and I must look impenetrable. What does one wear to impress people who aren't there?

I am supposed to be at a party right now. I plan to be, as soon as I've listened to these back catalogues, designed a fort, chosen my shoes.

Saturday 3rd

These are some of the things I should have said yesterday but didn't because I felt genuinely awful. And kind of hung over. Which is weird as a tee-totaller. Ever just had one of those days where you want to take your body off and put a fresh one on? Like that.

I should have said a big thank you to Albert Freeman for playing me on his totally awesome radio show on Wednesday. He played Catechisms, which surprised me in a totally pleasant way.

I should also have said thank you to Ape TV (sky 196) for playing me on their new music show.

I should also have said thank you to the people who are going out of their way to help me, with absolutely no need to. Especially everyone who's offered me gigs lately, and the folks who've been offering various other things I can't mention.

I should have said another thank you to everyone who has bought the album at this point. The preorders have been coming in far faster than I expected them to, given that I've had no publicity at this point. I'm astounded.

We have settled on a release date: 9/6/08. We're currently sorting out reviews and suchlike, though we may be a bit pressed for time. We also have a few ideas which are being put into motion. Which I also can't talk about. But at least part of it will involve e and the girls from the label sitting on the floor sorting things. Oh, how I love to sort things. I had a box of beads as a young child specifically for sorting into size/colour/shape/etc. Hours of fun.

I'm sitting here listening to the album, which is not a common occurrence really. I think I might be proud.

Oh, and I ALSO should have said that yesterday I discovered the joys of houmous and have spent the last 48 hours feeling sad that I've lived for 23 years without it. People: educate your children about the joys of chickpeas, before their lives are wasted too!

Friday 2nd

In reference to yesterday's conundrum: in a myspace emoticon battle, who would win - ninja or jedi? Boyfriend assures me that "in a very real sense" the Jedi are the natural evolution of the Ninja (or is it the other way around?) and thus any battle between them would be both extremely well matched and massively anachronistic.

Last night was a great gig. Not a lot of people there (as is the case when Curse of the Leni is combined with warm summery bbq weather) but very responsive. Set went down quite well despite a range of technical issues & my ballsing up of Burn (which I put down to it being its first outing). Had fun. Had so much fun, I didn't want to go to sleep. Or stop talking. Ever. Was up til three, body decided to get me up bright and early for fun and japes. Basically, I want to be curled up under something today.

Thursday 1st

In a myspace emoticon fight, who would win: ninja or jedi?

I have been out in the sunshine listening to GY!BE, stomping my way over to the polling station, thinking (partly) about blogging. I came up with a lot of good ideas. I know I did. I couldn't tell you what any of them were.

Very successful day yesterday, in the small scheme of things. I now have an additional three songs to add to the live show. STILL haven't worked out a way to make My Heart work live without the string quartet, which is annoying. However, Burn sounds excellent, and the new structure of Schrodinger's Cat probably sounds more like the way I wanted the song to originally.

Off to Nottingham this evening for a gig with my good friend Hannah Brackenbury. To date having driven to Nottingham only once ever, despite living so close to it, and having failed to make my sat nav work this afternoon, I'm a little worried that I may never get there. So I have decided to aim to turn up an hour and a half early, which should at least mean I get there on time. Hopefully.

For lunch I had homemade sushi and I am about to make two of my famous BLTs. Life is good.