Well, she’s already a storyteller through her songs. But Janis is also a published fiction writer, particularly in the science fiction genre. She has also edited a book Stars, featuring original stories based on her songs and written by well-known science fiction writers.
And now she has just published a new short story online called “Mahmoud’s Wives”. Go read it, you won’t be disappointed.
Most nights, if I’m still up at this hour, it’s because I don’t want to sleep (go figure). Tonight, I’m still up because I can’t sleep. I have nights like this and tonight’s one of them.
I had gone to bed at about 11:45 p.m. and within seconds, knew I wasn’t going to fall asleep. So instead of willing sleep to come, I decided to get up and do some work.
I finished resizing and uploading Rowy and Lynda’s photos of the UK LRC to the online gallery that I maintain for Janis. Lots of interesting photos there, go take a look!
I also finally updated my electronic journal. Well, I updated some of it. What I do is write (or to use the current word, “journal” ) in my Dana and then upload it to my home computer. From there, I copy the entries into a software I use called The Journal. Looking at the very first entry there, it looks like I’ve been using it since 2002, altho I started keeping a paper diary more than 30 years ago.
I have almost half a year’s worth of journal entries in the Dana, and have just updated The Journal to February 2006. More work to do.
Looking at the UK LRC pictures reminded me of the first time I saw Janis “live” (in Singapore in late February 2005) and the second time I saw her (at the UK LRC followed by the Brighton concert in April 2006). That’s almost 14 months apart. Here are the pictures we took together on all three occasions.
Singapore, 26 February 2005
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Mill Laine Barns, 16 April 2006
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Brighton, 17 April 2006
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Oh, and this photo of us comparing the size of our hands:
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The UK Living Room Concert hosted by Rowy and Lynda, with organisational help from Anne, was held in the village of Offham, on the outskirts of Lewes near Brighton. As one of the stipulations of the LRC is that it must be held in a living room, the UK LRC was held in an actual living room in a converted farmhouse called The Barn, itself a part of the Mill Laine Barns Holiday Cottages.
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A group of us arrived a few days before the day of the LRC and stayed at the other cottages.
Anna from Dublin, Marjan from Amsterdam and I stayed at The Granary.
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Arlene and Joanne, and Sue and Jak stayed at The Stable (from which they became known as The Stable Girls). Next to The Stable was The Dairy, the smallest of the holiday cottages with the tiniest of kitchen. Anne stayed here with her husband, Mike. PeteCC was their living room guest, while DavidUK, who was sleeping in the gardener’s room in Rowy’s cottage just down the road, came to The Dairy for his daily sustenance and Rudie fellowship.
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The Dairy on the left (with the black walls) and The Stable on the right
Rowy and Lynda stayed in the main cottage, The Barn, with two of their friends.
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In The Barn’s living room is a beautiful tapestry which would serve as the backdrop for the concert.
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It turned out to be the perfect backdrop, highlighting the guest-of-honour’s white hair most becomingly.
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There was some concern that The Barn’s living room was perhaps a bit small for the audience of 40, but in the end, it was a cosy fit with some on the floor (and not minding it one bit).
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I had needed a couple of items from the online merchandise store, but with only a week to the Living Room Concert, the only way to make sure I got the items was to have them sent to an address near the venue, and to have it delivered by courier service. So I put through the order, after which I sent an email to Kimbe, her assistant, to look out for the order and help make sure it got progressed as soon as possible. This was his response when he saw the shipping cost – “Chet, no need to pay such an absurd amount. Janis can bring them, if that’s okay?”
If that’s okay? Of course, it’s okay. 
And brought them she did. Shortly after she arrived at the venue, she’d walked over to The Granary where some of us were. I opened the door for her and she handed me the package, saying “Chet, this is yours.”
I later found out that she had in fact hand-carried the package in the vehicle with her all the way to the venue at Mill Laine Barns. A picture Anne had taken shows the package in her left hand:
Thanks, Janis. 
Not because Janis sang it at the Brighton show. Or because it was my first time hearing it “live” . But because she asked for help with the lyrics and we, the audience, obliged. Yes, we sang along. Yes, we were her backing vocals that evening. 
Now, everytime I hear the song, I will remember singing along to her “live” in Brighton on 17 April 2006.
