Beth/Lyric signing off!

Well, well, well.  Those 30 Freaking Days went by hella fast!  I didn't exactly get to blog as many times as I'd hoped because I was busy doing things that were dipped in crazysauce.

Without writing a novel here, I'll recap my last couple of weeks:

I signed up for a Hula Hooping Class.
While I realize this wouldn't scare most people, I had a bad experience attempting to draw out the hula from my hoop one time.  I was with a couple of friends, having henna done for my Minutes With You album and the henna artist basically forced me into giving it a whirl.  I couldn't do it.  She kept trying & trying, saying she'd never met anyone who couldn't.  I was so uncomfortable and almost started to cry.  One of my friends came over and said "Hula Hooping is your dominoes", explaining that she could never figure out the little dotted rectangle game.  That sentiment still cracks me up!

I contacted several Song Publishers.
When I first moved to Nashville about 16 months ago, I thought I wanted to get a publishing deal, meaning a publishing company would pay me to write songs for them to pitch to other artists.  I quickly realized that in a town where a lot of writers should be working in a bakery if they enjoy cookie cutters so much,  I'm more valuable as an artist who writes their own quirky material.  Adding some dried berries to your dough never hurt nobody!

But I have a small collection of songs that I thought might be worth playing for some publishers, so I scheduled some meetings to play my little tune tots for them.  Guess what song they liked best?  Streetlighting.  A song I'm putting on my personal EP.  I will take this feedback as reassurance that I'm on the right track.

I put a blue patch in my hair two days before a photo shoot.
And I'm so happy I did.  Thanks to Cindy Kaza-Redmond for giving me edgy hair for the first time in my life.  :)  And major props to Lynsey Peterson (assisted by Blake Cannon) for MAKING effing clouds for our shoot.  It's refreshing & inspiring to have creative friends who fully embrace your vision...even when it's homemade indoor clouds.

I asked people for help.
This is NOT something I'm great at.  I'm a do-it-yourselfer at heart, and tend to shy away from asking people for assistance when I can work hard and figure things out on my own.  But I'm attending SXSW this month in Austin, Texas and I really need to have some great recordings to hand out to people I meet there.  Being that every piece of the project puzzle is damn expensive, I knew that I needed to humble myself and do a little online busking...either that or be in debt for the next year.  So last night, I launched a LYRIC EVERLY KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN.  People have been incredibly generous already and I'm so thankful for the support!  The scary part is that if I don't reach my total goal by March 31st, none of the donations go through.  I'll be holding my breath for the next 29 days!

I got a tattoo!
And I haven't told my Mom about it yet.  :)  On the 30th day of this blog, I went to Black 13 Tattoo Parlor here in Nashville with a very specific request.  The word "Now", placed on my left wrist.  It's a reminder to myself to not put things off, to live in the moment, and to do things that scare me.  I'm a huge typography nerd, and Marty "Riet" McEwen drew up the most beautiful, embellished script letters that please me so.

I just want to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to each of you who read this blog while I pushed myself these last four weeks.  I did a lot of things that I've always wanted to do, but never had the nerve.  Plastic surgery, a name change, my first tattoo.  No big deal.  :)  It's easy to put life & dreams off until tomorrow.  I prefer Now.

Beth - Days 12 through 14

Even though I'm not posting a blog every single day, I've been working on tons o' scary sh*t with dedication.  Well, except for the first few days after my slice & dice, but I was scared constantly during that, so I think I'm covered.  I really do have quite a few big things in the works, but Rome wasn't built in a freaking day, you guys.

One thing I am scared of, but ready to discuss is the NEW NAME I'll be recording/performing under.  Here she blows!!! 

Lyric Everly.  There were many ideas tossed around when I decided to adopt an alias.  Several years ago, my friend Keith mentioned a little girl named Lyric, and it's been my favorite female name ever since.  It literally means "the words of a song".  Everly flows well with it,  I think,  and carries musical connotations.

Why would I do such a thing?

Several reasons!  Pseudonyms are more popular in the entertainment biz than you might think.  Guess who was born Eileen Edwards, Alecia Moore, Gordon Sumner, Peter Hernandez, Mary O'Brien, Declan MacManus, or Brenda Webb.  The list goes on.  It's important to have a memorable name, that's easy to pronounce and pleasant to the ear.

I write in different genres sometimes and it's been increasingly difficult to distinguish between a song that is "totally me" as an artist, versus something better suited for someone else.  I'll continue to write country & pop tunes here in Nashville, but will only release songs of sweetness & light under Lyric Everly.

Carl's been the biggest advocate of this concept.  Ever since we decided it would be best for me to be a solo artist, rather than us being considered a duo, his biggest pet peeve has been when people introduce us on stage as "Beth & Carl Miner" or "The Miners".  Not rockstar.  At all.

This is hilarious and so true:


Really, I'm just trying to get ladies out of their skirts.

So there you go!  Lyric Everly.  We launched this and put up this (complete with the first ever Lyric Everly song!) if you're willing to follow along.  Whew!  I'm glad that's out of the way!  Onto more scary business...

Beth - Days 7 through 11

Welllll....I got my splint taken off on Monday!  That's partially a fib.  I was supposed to have it taken off on Monday, but I called on Friday because it was driving me batty and they said I could take it off all by myself as long as I retaped it back on at night.  So I called my Mommy (a nurse) and hyperventilated for 10 minutes before I did it.

They took my stitches out 2 days ago, where the Good Doctor proceeded to compare his rhinoplasty technique to "fileting a fish".  O.M.G.   

And here is my McFish Sandwich, 9 days post-op.  TAAADAHHHH!!!!

I'm very pleased with the results so far and I think it looks pretty natural.  Dr. Frenchman said it won't look its "best" until around December, after all of the swelling goes away.  He said I'll especially continue to see improvement in the area on either side of the tip, where they removed cartilage.

In true "big reveal" fashion, I only did my hair & makeup for the "after" shots.  :)

I'd like to thank everyone who has been gracefully supportive of my decision to do this.  I'm also thankful that anyone in opposition kept their opinions to themselves.  Well played, players.

On my very first outing after removing the splint, I discovered this on my drink's cap:

Just call me Andy Borowitz from now on.  :)

ACTUALLY...that leads me to my next BIG SCARY ANNOUNCEMENT.  I'm adopting a stage name.  More on THAT coming in the next blog!  It's only getting crazier from here.  Thanks for reading.

Beth - Days 3 through 6

Note to future 30 Freaking Days Bloggers: save things that will put you "out of commission for a week" until the END of your 30 days.

I feel like I'm a week behind in my scary adventures after my procedure on Monday! I've been all taped up at home, on these amazing pills that make me feel HIGH AS A KITE. For someone who rarely even takes an Advil, these last few days have been like an out of body experience. My friend, Ladd, said I should've tried writing some songs while I was trippin'. I can only imagine the brilliant concepts that were unwittingly wasted. :)

Carl has been so wonderful (as always), cooking wholesome meals to speed up my recovery. Lots of salads, homemade black bean burgers, roasted butternut squash, smoothies, and other tasty niblets. He also handwashed my hair when I was too incoherent to be trusted in the shower. That is love.

FAIR WARNING! I'm going to share some pictures with you now that might scare you. Hell, they scare ME.  That's the point, I suppose.

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Night one.  The creature emerges.  I refresh Carl on our wedding vows.

The morning after.  Wondering if instead of a "rhinoplasty", they thought I requested to be "hit by a bus".  Honest mistake.

Day 3.  Hair of royal awesomeness.  Feeling a little optimistic about the potential of my survival.

Day 4.  My locks of unlove are cleansed of all iniquity.  I tell Carl to pretend I'm auditioning for the Phantom of the Opera.

Day 5.  I stop taking the magical rainbow pills.  Life carries on, slightly less amusingly.  To spice it up, I trade in my boring ice pack for a bag of frozen blueberries.

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You are officially up to date.  Might as well throw in a load of laundry while you're at it.  You're on fire.  May you all know the joy of frozen fruit on your swollen mug this weekend.

Beth - Day 2

I told you yesterday was going to be a doozy, so here it is;  I had a rhinoplasty done.  It's something I've wanted to do for 15+ years now.

I was about 12 years old, riding with my dad in the car, when I told him how unattractive I felt.  Then I burst into tears as I went on to explain how much I despise my nose.

I remember going over to friend's house about a year later and she had this little toy with tiny metal rods that took whatever shape you leaned it against.  She put it on her face and you could see every feature (eyes, mouth, etc).  I tried it on mine and all you could see was a nose.

Around the age of 14, I met with a booking agent and he told me that I had to have new promo pictures done because of how big my nose looked in my current photos.  So embarrassing! I cried the whole way home.

I took a yoga class and went out to dinner with the whole group one time.  One of the guys said he spoke Spanish, so I asked him to say something.  What he said translated into "Your nose is very...Jewish".   Followed by everyone's nervous laughter.  I was mortified.

I've never gotten comfortable with my nose, even after all these years of living with it.  I feel like it's a separate part of my body that doesn't belong.  As though I'm wearing a pair of those Groucho Marx glasses.  It's on my mind ALL the time - having photos taken, talking to people, performing, etc.

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So, I brought the idea of plastic surgery up to Carl.  He didn't think it was a good idea, but I explained to him just how much it would mean to me until he understood.  I finally had the nerve to tell my Mama, a few days ago, after avoiding her phone calls for a week.  Her reaction was beautiful and sweet - a huge relief to me.

I realize that a lot of people are completely against plastic surgery for various reasons.  Those people have obviously never had a big nose.  There, I said it.  :)

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I went in for consultations with two separate surgeons this month, to compare cost & technique.  I chose Doctor Frenchman because he had the best online reviews BY FAR.  Plus he & his office staff are very calm and comforting.  His wife has actually been his anesthesiologist for about 30 years.

Yesterday (1/24), Carl drove me to have the procedure done.  I was super nervous and almost didn't get out of the car.  But I did.  I got out and I walked inside, signed some paperwork, then they took my "before" photos and gave me a gown to change into.  When they started my IV, they gave me some sorta happy happy joy joy meds, so I wasn't nervous anymore.  I was hoping to be visited by a unicorn, but no such luck.

The next thing I remember is being home in bed.  I don't remember going into the operating room,  getting dressed, walking to the car, or anything else.  I slept for about 19 hours yesterday, only waking up to eat a little something with my pain pill.

I'll post another update either tonight or tomorrow.  For now, it's all ice packs, peroxide & pain pills for me!  xo.

Beth - Day 1

Carl & I bought a vintage 1945 house a couple of months ago and we still don't have window treatments.  While I don't plan on keeping it this way (mostly for our neighbor's sake), it has been nice waking up with sun rays on my face and chubby robins chirping in the bushes through our glass portal to the outside world.

This morning, we woke up all easy like Sunday morning, and laid there chatting about some things that are coming up.  Things that I haven't told many people about.  Things that scare the bejeezus out of me.

My darling husband is excellent at doing things that are beyond his comfort zone.  I am not.  I prefer to overanalyze every little detail and possible outcome until I've talked myself out of doing it at all.  All the while knowing that the times I've felt the most alive are when I throw caution to the wind and leap without looking.

So...I came up with the idea for this blog.  I was originally going to call it "30 days of things that scare me", but that's a pretty effing long title, you guys.  You'd never remember the url.

I will spend these next 30 days doing things that make my heart race.  Reporting back here after each experience.  Hopefully with 100% positive and magical results!!!  Maybe not.  But the scariest thing of all to me is the regret of not doing something when you had the chance.  Perhaps the Secret of Life is simply "doing things".

Some of the items on my agenda will be more intimidating than others.  Day 1 is sharing this with you.  Tomorrow will be a doozy.  Multiple doozies to come before the end of February.  I'm scared.  :)