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Thankfully I haven’t had any “Vacations From Hell”. Although I’ve had vacations with plenty of bad moments – haven’t we all? Luckily there’s always enough good stuff that happens, that the trips ultimately get saved.

But there have been some vacations that have come pretty darn close. Those times when nothing seems to be going right…

This song takes place in a specific moment in time: 3 months after I first met my future husband during a trip to Barcelona (where we spent 6 hours together for one night).

At that point he was coming to visit me for the first time, and when he arrived earlier than expected, the first thing I said was “What are you doing here?” – which we still joke about.

But that outburst was about more than just coming too early. We seemed to be starting something really serious, but at the same time the vast physical distance between us seemed like it was going to make a relationship impossible. Was this something we should have been attempting at all?

After 20+ years of being together, I think the answer is obvious…. 🥰

I’ve been asking my friends to give me ideas for songs, and one friend mentioned his recent (and infuriating) attempt to try and get Lady Gaga tickets for her Barcelona concert later this year.

TicketMaster has had a criminal monopoly on ticket sales for forever now, and anyone that’s had to use them knows the absolute frustration that I portray in this song….. 😅

My husband is a “Feeder”. No, not in a fetishy sense (though, um, that’s apparently a thing 😅), but it’s just in his Mediterranean blood — he can’t help himself. He gets joy from people tasting yummy food, especially if he’s cooked it himself.

Meanwhile, I am most definitely an “Eater.” I just enjoy food way too much.

I guess you can see where this is going… 🙈

I grew up in Los Angeles, but never felt at home there. Then I moved to NYC, and I finally had the feeling of “Yes — finally THIS is home.” Now I’m in Barcelona, which has been great, but for a variety of reasons it hasn’t felt quite like home just yet. And now… NYC no longer feels like a place I can live anymore, which is really weird to me.

So where exactly is “home” now, then?? It’s a question my husband has also had often, as he detests his hometown, and has had to move so often and rebuild his life each time. Is home just the place you’re currently living? The place you feel “settled” in? Or is it something else that makes a place “home”….?

As a gay geek, you sometimes need to “come out” twice in life. Comics and games have been an important part of my life for forever, and define who I am just as much as my sexual orientation does.

I never shied away from saying I once owned a comicbook shop, or that I worked at DC Comics for over a decade, or that I’m now working in the boardgame industry. (Even though many people often think it’s “childish” to love geeky things).

I’m super proud to be called a geek, and always will be. If you know most of the references in this song, hey — you’re a geek too! If you know ALL of the references… then we will be BFFs. Oh, and regarding my childhood crush Buck Rogers, here you go. You’re welcome!

On April 28, 2025, all the power went out in mainland Spain, Portugal, and parts of France. This was not the first city-wide blackout I’ve experienced in my life, but definitely the first that affected a whole country. Without internet or even cell service (everyone was trying to use it, so it became unsuable), it became super evident that we as a society are just NOT prepared for events like this. 🙈

It lasted less than a day for most, but it made me wonder… what would happen if it lasted much longer? How would people cope and react? It made me think of the show “Carol and the End of the World” — many would probably just want to party as if the world was ending.

I wrote and created this song before that night was even over, and it required the least amount of edits — my fastest to make song yet! 

As most of you know by now (or have picked up from previous songs), I fell off a cliff and broke my back when I was 19 years old. “Not Again” was more about my recent Guillaine-Barré syndrome, but this song is about my OG injury.

While most would see this as a tragic event, I have always seen it as something that radically changed my life for the better. Had this never happened, I would probably still be living in L.A. (a city I hate) and probably working at a Starbucks (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’m happy I’ve been able to work in two of my dream industries).

Basically, this event really opened my eyes, radically changed my outlook, and made me want to change everything about my life.

With “Promises” in the last album, I wrote about the American people who are just… lost, and well, stupid.

But I had to write about “he who shall not be named” as well. Being portrayed as a drag queen who desperately wants to please her “daddies” would certainly not make him happy, so… say hello to “Little Miss Orange Marmalade”! 🤣

The chorus for this was stuck in my head for days, so I had to write it down and make a song. I think I’m mastering the SUNO app, with my prompts/directions, because this came out exactly as I wanted it to sound – it’s almost scary.

True story.

My husband and I took one of our regular trips to Mallorca to see his family. The plane trip was less than an hour. Shortly after we were picked up from the airport, the doorman from our building videocalled us to show us that he was in our apartment, walking in a few inches of water everywhere.

It was such a bizarre thing, and we immediately had to take the next flight back home. Luckily it wasn’t that much damage in the end, and insurance paid for most of it. But what a nightmare and inconvenience it was…

I’ve written a bunch of songs about my husband and I together, but I wanted to write a song solely about him.

He’s been a photographer, journalist and documentarian, specializing in visual storytelling. But he’s also known as an oral storyteller as well.

He just really loves to tell stories in any way possible, so this is a little story about him. His enthusiasm is infectious, and you can’t help but get swept up in it… 🥰

In the previous album, I started with the “meta” song “This is Just a Test Song“, which ended up quite fun. I really wanted to end this album (the last??) with another very “meta” song that wrapped up this whole songwriting journey.

Ever since I made these three albums, there have been so many moments where, during a conversation with someone, I’m tempted to say “actually, I wrote a song about that.”

Just like in text messages, where I’m sometimes able to have entire conversations in GIFS, I’m sure I’m going to get to a point in life where I talk entirely in songs that I created. That’s my goal, anyway…

“Wanna hear it?”