Elizaveta Ephemeris

Traveling, TED, Strep Throat etc

I am currently in Paris.

Yesterday I had crepes for breakfast.

Before that I was in Portugal, and I loved it. I would like to go back. I love the sound of the Portuguese language. It is soft, hard, romantic but unpretentious at the same time. It is cozy. French is beautiful, but it's difficult and twisty on the tongue. Italian - my first love - is open, honest and gorgeous like a sunlit cathedral. Of course there are many dialects of Italian, too. Portuguese is like cuddling under a blanket with a loved one, knowing that there are tasty things to eat in the kitchen and the day is stretching in front of you, lazy and welcoming.

I performed in London at the Elgin in Notting Hill. Unfortunately, my throat was not great, and I started coughing mid-set. I was not sure I could go on. Fortunately for me, I had my magic tea with me, the crowd was supportive and kind - and I went on to do all the songs, even the 'big' ones.

Missy Washington, aka i102fly, made me a special little something to wear for this show:

 

At this point, I am waiting until tomorrow to see how I feel and if I don't feel better, I'll go to a French doctor and probably end up on more antibiotics. Let's hope not. But I have rehearsing to do, and a TED performance next week - Tuesday. 

Right now I am working with a French stage visual effects wizard Cyrille Brissot. He and I are going to TED together and we're preparing something special for my show there.

 

tedxhollywood and random encounters of the ex kind.

I had a ball yesterday, participating in the event. The presentations were informative and amazing, as well. I also got to meet Curt Smith (of tears of fears, among other things) and it sounds like we will collaborate on a song. He was extremely gracious towards me.

I was also inspired and blown away by the photography presentation by Jay Mark Johnson. What he does is something called timeline - or spacetime - photography. I can't really - and probably shouldn't try to explain what it really is on here, but I do recommend his website and checking out the concept: it will make your mind spin, and in a good way. I love being exposed to things like this: areas where philosophy, art, poetry, science and technology are fused into one, without trying to negate one another.

When you go to the Artworks section of his site, you find yourself with a brilliant quote by William Blake:

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through the narrow chinks of his cavern.

- William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

This photo below is one of his, and it is a shot of a dancer in motion. Simply amazing.

http://www.jaymarkjohnson.com/artworks/

 

Then, we were treated to a presentation by Rob Schwartz, who is the creative CFO for Chiat/Day, and the mastermind behind the recent Pepsi Refresh Campaign, which invests $$ into grants for community-oriented ideas around America. It reminded me of my friend and fan Geoff Cottrill, who has singlehandedly reinvented the Converse brand (I am very partial to it, especially because I got to do a music video for them last year and now own a gazillion multi-coloured converse kicks, hooray!), and it is also all branding centered around giving back, community, art and connection between people.

If you have a brilliant idea, go to the Pepsi website and submit it! You never know. My designer Missy (http://www.i102fly.com) and I were thinking of trying it out to raise some funds for a Cambodian orphanage she has been involved with for a while.

Curt Smith spoke about how his career and interactions with fans have been dramatically changed by the use of social media and played us a couple of collaborations that came from it, including one with an amazing cellist Zoe Keating. I'd love to meet her! Maybe now I will!!

All in all, it was a blast. I got to meet lots of new people and make fans. I also overdosed on free cupcakes. Sue me.

At the end, as we were leaving, there was someone walking down the parking lot alongside us, who complimented me on my performance. He looked familiar, but I could not place him. And all of a sudden it struck me: he was the neighbour to my ex's power boat where the two of us lived for a year or so, before we broke up and I moved out! When I pointed it out to him, he looked flabbergasted and said: oh wow. But you look so different now. (it was a positive). and your music is so much more... uh....

What a difference two years make. I drove away, whistling. Hello, new life. I am SO on top of it now:)

 

Tito Melega who organized the event and graciously invited me to perform, Melissa Washington (who styled me, equally graciously), and myself.