10) Maryland Crabs, which I got in exchange for a CD

9) The Montauk Lighthouse in NY; I cried my eyes out at the Shipwreck Museum inside

8) Provincetown, MA, just in general, is an amazing place where strange ideas that could never work anywhere else in the world just seem to make sense.

7) Finding osprey nests...EVERYWHERE

6) Writing on the ocean

5) Walking the breakers of Cape Cod

4) Learning how to clam, then making chowders, steamers, etc.

3) Catching up with old friends; this is Sarah, who took me on my big kayak adventure.

2) Sunrise.

1) Sunset.

Having spent so much time writing this summer, I'm starting to understand the process a bit better.  Here's the thing: to write a good song, you have to get a kick out of what you're doing.  If you sit down with the intention of writing a song, that's all well and good.  But don't commit to writing a tune until you've found a motif or phrase that you really really love.  I mean really love.  Like, you should chortle aloud to yourself at how much you enjoy that piece.  Then use that piece to write the rest.  Writing a song is like entering into a relationship: you have to find great joy in being with the tune initially before you'll naturally commit more of yourself to it.  Nobody likes to spend hours with things they don't like, right?  So.  Find a good line, fall in love, and roll with it.

When I got back to my room, I read a blog from one of my favorite writers and businessmen, Derek Sivers, reminding all of his readers the importance of artists.  I felt good.

Two minutes later I got a phone call from one of the labels I've been pursuing, telling me they weren't interested in buying "Daytime Fireflies;" it's just not the music they like.  Feeling low.

I went to drown my sorrows in a bowl of hot soup from the Asian joint on the main drag.  I got a fortune cookie.  The paper inside said, "Stay determined, and you will get through this."  I was on top of the world.

The moral of this story is: ignore what everybody says.  Nothing will line up if you do, plus you'll get emotionally dizzy.  When I got back to my motel last night, I turned off my phone, and wrote a great song.  Sometimes it pays to be a bad listener.

I finally got over my sickness and got to spend a good 4th of July with my friends Sarah, Britt, and David.  Sarah and I got out on the Bass River kayaking, which was fairly death-defying considering the amount of boat traffic we saw.  Still, we managed not to get hit by any drunk yacht-drivers, and we had a great 4-hour paddle.  The kayak outfitters warned us that if we went too far, we would end up in Portugal.  And oddly enough, that's exactly what happened.  So here I am.  Writing you from Portugal....no, no, not really.  Did I have you going?

Yesterday I wrote all day and today is shaping up to be the same.  I had lunch with my cousin Mike in Boston and now I'm back to ukulele land.  Hope you are all staying cool and enjoying the summer.

I wrote a lot of songs in the last few days and spent yesterday getting a few recorded.  I just can't seem to write enough.  Off to write more...