The Go-Go’s tour was really excellent for me.  It was shocking/thrilling seeing how much people seemed to enjoy our shows.  Doing the official Meet & Greets was a new thing, very intense.  Almost like being your own warm-up act, but fun and heartwarming too.  Some people cried when they met us, which is just so…crazy flattering!  Being “ahemmm” slightly older than I was on past tours, my body really felt the wear and tear of it all, but playing for Go-Go’s fans is SUCH A RUSH, I’d get 80 minutes of a super-high, followed by the crash of reality: aches and pains and exhaustion.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  I’m also so proud of my Gogo sisters; everybody kicked butt!

During the middle of our tour – we stopped in LA to received a star Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is such an incredible honor to be included in the Walk of Fame. Our star is located on the very corner where the Go-Go’s were born. At the time, the basement of the building was a punk-rock club called The Masque. We rehearsed and performed our very first concert in the basement of the theater where our star is located. If you’d like to visit our star all the info you need to know about the location is available HERE.

So, we finished our final show in KV’s hometown of Austin, and the following morning, while waiting to get on the plane home, I found out my nephew Danny had just committed suicide.  It was a shocking visceral moment.  Feeling like a zombie, I made the journey to SFO, then immediately booked myself to Portland, Oregon via Seattle.  Danny had been living in McMinnville, a small town about 90 minutes south of Portland.

Danny was my sister Meg’s son.  Meg and I are very close; we live together, and because she is five years older than me, she had a profound influence upon me growing up.  Danny was 25, a drummer, a likable guy, and struggled most of his life with depression, something that plagues a lot of people in my family, including me.  My sister is heartbroken, and I can’t help but keep wishing that he could have hung onto life a bit longer, as my struggles with the disease have been helped a lot these past 16 years by medication and education.  Maybe things would have gotten better for him in the future.  I am so sad about this and wouldn’t wish it on any family.

Meg, her daughter Gena (who lives very close to us in San Francisco) and I leaned on each other a lot those days in Oregon.  It was creepy going to the funeral parlor, and weird organizing the “wake” we threw.  Like, wait, we’re having a party over this?? When we came back to California we had a Wiedlin family gathering with all my brothers, sister, nieces, nephews and spouses.  That was nice.  It sucks that it seems to take a drastic event to get everyone together, but I still enjoyed the day. One of the things we did to honor Danny was set up a donation site in his name to MusiCares, an non-profit organization that helps struggling musicians in times of need.  If this is something you’d like to be part of, you can donate HERE.

Back at home in San Francisco I crawled into my bed for several days, emerging only to play guitar and sing (as a guest performer) on a young artist named Dan Sartain‘s upcoming record.  It was exciting to feel like a studio musician!

The next morning it was back to the airport for me, to travel to Chicago; I had a wedding to perform!  Rosemary & Jan, two wonderful people in love, and suddenly able to be “civilly united” in the state of Illinois, asked me to be their officiant.  This was such a loving lovely event to be part of; it makes me crazy that there are people who would deny others the right to be legally joined!  Love is LOVE! If you’re interested in having me perform your wedding there is more info HERE. The ick part of my trip is that the dang hotel used that room freshening chemical that has gotten me so sick in the past. So I felt like death when I flew home, and ended up in bed AGAIN for days.  🙁

This week the Simpsons comic book story I wrote (with art by my friend Tom Hodges) was released. What a blast that was to create!  Look for “THE SIMPSONS TREEHOUSE OF HORROR #17” at comic book stores, if you are so inclined! More info HERE.

In couple days I fly to London for several big events, well big for me anyway!  I’m going to be acting in director Steve Balderson’s latest project: “CULTURE SHOCK” which is filming there right now.  Then I’m going to the London premiere of Steve’s last movie “THE CASSEROLE CLUB” which I am in.  Then the following night is the premiere of “CAMP CASSEROLE”, the documentary made by Anthony Pedone about the making of The Casserole Club!  This all takes place at London’s Raindance Film Festival.

THEN, on Oct. 1 and 2 I will be appearing at Entertainment Media show signing photos and meeting & greeting. I haven’t been to England in years and I’m pretty excited!

When I get home I gear up for my yearly charity event BOWLING FOR BOOBIES.  This event is always a blast, and we always raise lots of money to help real women currently fighting breast cancer to pay their bills.  It would mean a lot to me if you donated. The Busted Foundation is a tiny organization, and virtually all the money we raise goes to the women in need. You can donate under my name HERE.

I will close with the words of Winston Churchill: “Never never never never give up!
Love,
Jane