Hobnobbing With Rock Stars

On Monday, my to-do list only had one item on it: order a nipple. Today, my main objective was to mail a copy of my new book to Jonathan Cain, the songwriter for the band Journey. The book is at the post office, ready to leave rainy Washington for sunny California. I’m still hoping to […]

Dear Fran, I hope you’re still talking to me. In my last letter to you, I sure did a lot of complaining. I had another great idea for our Ellen episode. You want to hear it? A while back, I had a small brush with the band Journey. You can read all about it here. […]

Now that my Journey Project has come to an end, I confess I’m a little bit depressed. It’s been going on for six months and was pretty exciting. My video is now up and running. I hope my three closest relatives enjoy it. Today, I also mailed signed copies of my book to Jerry Butler […]

Well, to make a long story short (W-what? Me make a long story short?), I heard back from Jerry Butler and he advised that, “I finally got a chance to talk to Jonathan Cain about this. He has approved your use of the song with respect to his publishing rights.” He called me to tell […]

I dialed the phone number I had been given. “Hi, Jerry? This is Marie de Haan. I emailed you earlier today [January 17, 2013] about using that Journey song for my author video.” “Hello, Marie. Yes, I got that email. Tell me exactly what you want to use the song for.” “I have a cancer […]

During the launch of my Journey Project, I was last seen whipping off an email to some lawyer in the abyss to try to legally obtain permission to use a song from the rock band, Journey. I thought my project would end right there, but I was wrong; within two hours, I received the following […]

It all began January 17, 2013. I had spent countless days revamping my website and I was exhausted. If you’ve read this blog at all, you know that my gift is more along the lines of writing, not computer maneuvering. I sat back in my office chair, sighed, and began thinking to myself (as opposed […]

Thanks, Ches, He was 92 years old and lived a very full life. Yay! Yay! Yay!!! I thought they didn’t give him a very good diagnosis. That’s why I try not to put too much stock in doctors’ words. I am supposed to be dead, too, and I’m not. Very happy for you and your […]