NASHIIIIIIII

Hello Lovely People,

Let me start by saying - this is a really cool idea. Kinda of like an e-"sisterhood of the traveling pants" if you will. except no pants.

It is so good to read up on what you guys are doing! I can't believe it has been 2 years since graduation. Things have changed so much for all of us... Has anyone been back to visit the mellon? I keep thinking I'll go, but my plans keep getting thwarted.

So what's up with me? Well... I am currently on hiatus from living in New York City until June - I've been in Orlando, Florida for almost two months and am staying another month. The reason is that my body decided to fail me miserably. I was having a lot of unidentifiable health problems (which really had started back in college - I always had stomach issues, sinus issues etc... and was treated for ulcers and a whole bunch of other stuff.)

Well they finally figured out what it was - I have Crohn's disease - which for those of you who aren't familiar is an auto-immue disorder (basically my immune system doesn't recognize my own cells in my gi tract and proceeds to ferociously attack). The suck part is that by the time they figured out what the hell was wrong with me - I was so deep in shit that I had to spend the better part of December - February in the hospital with all kinds of infections - culminating in "colorectal surgery" where they took out about half a foot of my small intestines and left me a nice little scar down my abdomen.

Needless to say, I decided to take a few months to live at home with my parents and recover from the craziness that has been my life.  It hasn't been all bad though - I've learned a lot about myself - found strength I never knew I had, and I've learned to really appreciate my family and my friends who have been an undeniable and constant source of grace and love for me. I've also had to clean up my act and cut back on the drinking, stop smoking and generally address my usual self destructive behavior. I now run 5 times a week and do yoga twice a week. my ass is quite firm.

I'm loving my time here in Florida. I got to see caitlyn for a week during our mutual friend's bridal shower, (please ask her about how her poo ended up in someone else's yard next time you talk to her). I'm working at a sushi bar literally next to my house a few days a week, teaching jazz voice lessons, going to local auditions, taking a shakespeare acting class and an improv comedy class, practicing, exercising, writing, and generally getting ready to return to new york. I also booked two shows here for the end of may to showcase what i've been writing to my friends and family in the area so that should be fun.

Musically - I'm still developing my own material. After I left school I stopped singing classically entirely. In fact, I actually don't think I've had a single voice lesson since my senior year of college - which completely baffles me sometimes. I started writing and playing the piano a lot more regularly. Eventually I started open-micing in new york - found musicians who were into what I was doing, put a band together and I've been gigging steadily in new york (or whatever random city i'm visiting) since last may. Some of the highlights of my career so far have to be...

-recording my demo (you can hear most of it on www.myspace.com/nishaasnani)
-finding back up singers - seriously the coolest thing
-working with a dance company who choreograph to my original music - they actually use my stuff at a lot of showcases and we just got invited to play in scotland as part of a dance festival next summer (sweet)
-singing a christmas series at the plaza hotel this past holiday season (in between hospitalizations...)
- singing at yankee stadium during the world series
- randomly being recognized on the subway by people who had come to my shows
-writing/practicing/loving life as a struggling musician.

What I really SUCK at - and maybe you guys can give me some advice on this... is getting my stuff online. I have still not managed to get a website together and just can't seem to get into this whole tweet my life post everything online thing - especially now - when i try to spend as much time as i can outdoors - i just forget that i even have a computer or a facebook account - and i am certainly not making good use of the promotional capabilities of the internet.

As far as my personal life goes - I have not been in a really serious relationship since Ian and I broke up. It was really difficult for me after that - and it's kind of still a sore spot since Ian refuses to talk to me or acknowledge that I exist. (awkward)

What I have found is that I like dating. I think it's a gemini - born in spring thing. I love the beginnings of relationships. I have been having a series of thrilling, totally intense love affairs that always seem to end after a few months and it's actually totally ok with me -  because I can still appreciate them for who they are.
About a week after I got into Orlando, I met this really cute, really sweet guy - Austin. He manages one of my favorite restaurants, and dj's a local radio station. It's really cute when he dedicates songs to me on the radio. I always squeal like an actual 14 year old. We met because we were both playing a "Beatles night" showcase. Things are generally fantastic - he's great company, great physical connection, he makes me laugh a lot so -  we'll see how it goes. This is us like 3 days after we started going out...we're just both a little crazy, and a little crazy about each other. :)

He's so cute.

Anyways - I know that this is a lot of information. Thanks for reading all the way. I really look forward to hearing more from all of you - and keeping in touch regularly so that we don't have to post mini-novella's to fill each other in on what's going on.

I'm sending each and every one of you, individually, a hug and some love today.

Nish