Buy the ticket, take the ride or One Night Only

I started seeing posts and getting messages on my facebook last night.. Rinjani's erupting again, flights are being cancelled.  Friends and acquaintances waylayed at airports around the world.

So I call Virgin Australia when I got home for work and they confirm, some flights have been cancelled, but mine's still a go.  I'm flying from Christchurch to Brisbane to Bali.  I think, OK, this ash cloud is going to blow over, I'll be there tomorrow night, Bintang beer in hand.  

I called again at 4am before my 6:30AM flight.  No they said, my flights still a go.  So I take my bags and my wonderful flatmate, and we haul out to the airport.  Upon arrival I'm told my flight's still a go, but the leg from Christchurch to Brisbane has been bumped to an afternoon flight run not by Virgin Australia, but Air NZ (of which I conveniently received an official email from Virgin Australia stating this change when we return from the airport at 6:00AM.)

I also call the travel agent I've booked with, Escape Travel, and am told to wait until we hear from Brisbane, where "ash cloud meetings" are held to determine whether flying conditions are OK.   Additionally they inform me that not only can they generally only notify of changes during their business hours, but my Bali flight is still a go and I should WAIT UNTIL WE HEAR AFTER THE MEETING TO CHANGE MY FLIGHT. 

At 2pm, when I hadn't heard, I called Virgin Australia.  They confirmed that Rinjani's still going, and the second leg of my flight, from Brisbane to Bali was cancelled, but that my flight from Christchurch to Brisbane was still all systems go.  

Thinking this was pretty weird, I asked why they wouldn't just postpone the whole thing and I could stay in Christchurch until it's all sorted.  

This is where a very fun little game of "buck passing" comes into play...

I was told yes, that is odd, but the travel agent booked the flight so any changes had to come through them.  

I then called the Escape Travel again and they informed me that it was too late to pay to change the date of the first leg of my flight, and if I DIDN'T GET ON THE PLANE TO BRISBANE I would be treated a s a no-show, and forfeit the cost of my entire booking.  

At this point, I thought, this is some sort of bureaucratic loop, it does't logically make sense.  Why would Virgin Australia fly me to Brisbane only to make me wait indefinitely (LITERALLY DAYS) for an ash cloud to move instead of just changing my booking?

So I head to the airport again thinking this is ludicrous, I don't know very many people in Brisbane.  Why would they waylay me in transit without support?   

Low and behold, when I check-in for my first flight (it was operated by Air NZ but Virgin did officially book me on it from a Virgin flight with a forwarding itinerary to Bali!) the Bali flight was cancelled, and I was told they couldn't check my bags through to Bali, but Brisbane should know more about the whole situation, they're closer to the action, etc...

Virgin Australia even KNEW ABOUT THIS as the agent from AIr NZ couldn't fine the additional baggage I added to my ticket, so went over to the Virgin Australia counter to confirm the booking.  

I thought, OK, this could make a little sense!  Maybe they've sorted it, or have a system in place, or are grouping people together from streamlined destinations to reduce the disruption to service.

Unfortunately, that is not the case, and the Brisbane branch of Virgin Australia were somewhat horrified to find that I'd been put on a flight at the risk of either losing my entire booking or being in limbo until a volcano stops erupting.  

Logically, it would seem that you either change the flight, or accommodate those that are in Brisbane until this whole thing blows over (literally) and yet I was told they could either fly me back where I came from and further delay my arrival at my destination, or cover my accommodation for ONE NIGHT ONLY when I've been booked on a forwarding flight 3 DAYS FROM NOW!  

As tempting as it was to hop on another 3 1/2 hour flight back to exactly where I came from, I opted for the hotel, and will be in Brisbane for the next few days.

I'm lucky enough that a bunch of people stepped up via a facebook post I put up, and I have friends and places to stay until I leave.

It's really mind-boggling that I was forced to choose between either losing my entire flight or showing up to a place without plans, without knowing if I had any people here, only to be told that I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place and that I'd only have a guaranteed place to stay for a night (when they re-booked me for 3 days later!)

Between Escape Travel and Virgin Australia, it looks like I just can't win, and that's a shame because when these things happen that's when a company really has the opportunity to be flexible, accommodating and at least cover a girl's hotel when she's told by literally every company representative to get on a flight to limbo!  

Love,

Norma Jean 

I'm on your team, be on your team with me

They say you're pretty lucky if you can count your good friends on one hand.

Having connected with some great women around the world I consider myself luckier than most.

They're all amazing, capable, beautiful, lovable, empowering human beings, and it is such serendipitous magic that we're in each other's lives.

It's interesting though, as free-spirited, independent women we're all subliminally bombarded with messages, daily, about how we're not enough.

Because we're women, our value as humans is tied to our relationship status, age, demurity, niceness, size, money we have (or don't have) along with countless other irrelevant factors.

While sometimes difficult, it's important to utilize our strength to value ourselves.  In other words, be on your team! That's much easier said than done, and I personally find that it helps to have others on your team with you.

So most importantly, surround yourself with people who love you, so when those moments of doubt inevitably creep in, someone will remind you "I'm on your team, be on your team with me."

It's taken me a long time to even recognize that doubt, let alone be able to turn it off and breathe.  I'm lucky enough to have friends who encourage me to value myself, be on my team.

This is part of why I'm moving back to Bali, and part of why for the first time in my entire life, I made the decision to not take a job in front of me, and value myself more than expectations set before me.

Love,

Norma Jean

You can view all of my doodles, with everything I love on my website, Norma Jean Loves

a world of doodles is born

It all started with a boy.  A boy and a book.  A book and a tender heart.

Let me elaborate... about a year and a half ago, I dated a boy.  We had a lot in common; he's smart and funny, comes from a good family, and makes music.  It was only for about 6 weeks, and it ended because he just didn't like me that much.

Objectively, it wasn't a good fit, and our lives were in different places.  As a logical person, this totally makes sense.  As a life-long romantic, who was currently a traveling, musical, bliss-sprinkler in the midst of the counter-culture shock of the west, and the first winter I'd had in years (and a pretty rough start in Australia,) it was slightly devastating.


Feeling pretty isolated, and not having internet (part of said rough start) I joined my local library to check my emails, and keep in touch with the wider world.

Libraries are magical universes unto themselves; time stops, things are still, there are limitless stories.  All is quiet thanks to the watchful eyes of dowager librarians in lumpy grandpa cardigans.

It is here, in a library, in suburban Melbourne, that I found an American friend who's heart had also been been tender, and open, and bruised, and resilient.  All at the same time.   His name is Leonard Cohen and his 'Book of Longing' brought me so much.

I had started writing poetry about feeling sad, that longing for community, the isolation of winter - both in Melbourne and being coldly alone in a new place,  expectations set upon women, and mostly girly, romantic notions of things that didn't work out.


Reading a book of how someone else felt the same way was inspiring, and inspired me to start creating out of it.  It started with a couple little doodles.. they weren't for anyone else but myself.

I think I started drawing them as a roadmap to get back to myself, to gain perspective of  my life, what I value, and how to genuinely love myself in the face of isolation, a consumerist society, and the illusion of loneliness.  


I'd take pictures of them and read them on the tram or waiting at bus stops, reminding myself that everything is okay and the feeling that it's not, is temporary.  I started sharing them with friends who felt similarly, who'd internalized the idea that in any way they just weren't enough.  Enough for a boy, enough for a job, enough for themselves.

Sometimes the road we pave for ourselves helps others get to the same destination.

Friends encouraged me to share them, and I decided to launch the ambitious project of posting a new doodle, everyday for the entire year of 2015 on my Instagram.

It's been a pretty great ride so far, and the road that I've started down I now walk with heaps of supporters, friends, and an entire online illustration community.


Today is day 280 out of 365.  I've gone through more relationships, friends, jobs, and moments of self-doubt since those first little cartoons.  I've come out stronger, my heart confident that I know who I am, and that I'm not only okay, I'm great (hopefully with a sense of irony, humor and a bit of grace!)

Love,

Norma Jean

Check out my Instagram  or website, Norma Jean Loves where you can see my doodles, music, and everything I love.

All that JAZZ

A couple weeks ago the very first Ubud Village Jazz Festival happened in Bali!  Not sure if I ever mentioned this, but in Australia I was bestowed with the moniker of "Jazz Girl!"  Not only do I LOVE jazz, my voice is jazzy, I sing jazz and generally feel giddy when people go off the beaten track and jam (by the way, this excludes most elevator jazz for those of you who are thinking about rolling your eyes.)

Jazz is a language.  The framework consists of the same 12 keys which are interpreted into 4 scales (major, minor, major melodic & minor harmonic.)  They say to really become jazz proficient and have great dialogue with other musicians, you have to be fluent in all of the possible combinations.
While I'm definitely NOT there right now (and singers are generally held to standards that are a bit different) once you understand how much work it takes to get there, and you get what's going on, the real appreciation begins.

Seeing everyone play in their trios and groups was fantastic, but the real fun started at the after-hours jam sessions held on both nights of the festival.  The nice thing about jazz being it's own language, is that no matter what country you're from, if you know the framework, you can communicate and create something greater than the sum of its parts, musicians or instruments.  

While I've been stuck in the stone age (i.e. without a camera) I'll forgo the cave drawings and share some links that others posted:

The AMAZING Dian Pratiwi

Peter Beets is RIDICULOUS.  I couldn't find a clip from him at the UVJF, but this is an original that he and the same trio (Marius Beets on double bass & Gijs Dijkhuizen on drums) play and one of my favorites!

And last, but certainly not least, are festival darlings Ventura Trio! Janice, Bruno & Marcus came all the way from Brazil, and are so in sync with each other (I really hope Justin Timberlake & crew didn't completely ruin that phrase) you could tell they just LOVE playing together!
They made a great video of their time here in Bali.  Watch out for some great music, Kopi Luwak, Gavin Shoesmith's Blues for Fi, and your's truly at 7:38 :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4Cb_p4SPM4


There were so many other great musicians at the festival!  Check out Ubud Village Jazz Festival for upcoming events and updates for next year's fun!

My album, The Devilicious Sessions, was just recently released on July 11th, 

and is available on iTunes

Check out me, Norma Jean, on facebook for all
performance updates, new songs, and other musical shenanigans! 

i before e, except for little old me!

Part of being truly happy is accepting yourself wholeheartedly.  There is no good or bad, better or worse, they're just lenses in which we see the world through.  This also applies to things like "supposed to", or "normal." Yes, it would occur to most people to play a bunch of gigs before they ever think about recording an album.  It just wasn't on my list of priorities at the time.  

That being said, having recorded my first EP, I've learned that songs are similar to crisp, new, denim jeans - they need to be worked in a bit before the fit is just right! (Bali is also one of the few places in the world where you can get a feeling for singing with bands as the majority of musicians will bring you in on their sets to sing - almost EVERYTIME!)

Having sung my songs from The Devilicious Sessions for over a year, when Bar Luna approached me about doing a night that was just mine - I jumped at the chance!  

 Having never gotten to create my own setlist and play songs that I wrote with covers that I could adapt and make fun and bluesy, I got to a point after singing for about 20 minutes where you gain a certain kind of momentum and really take people on a musical journey - altering the atmosphere.  

Obviously, I've experienced this seeing other musicians perform, but it really felt like an accomplishment to finally be able to do it myself, with the songs I've written!

 My amazing producer, Lloyd, (who even though he wasn't feeling the greatest) flawlessly accompanied me and kept the vibe perfectly bluesy!

Hello, I'm Norma Jean ;)

Post-performance glow!

Tons of friends came out to support me!  I'm SO blessed!!!

My album, The Devilicious Sessions, was just recently released on July 11th, 

and is available on iTunes

Check out me, Norma Jean, on facebook for all
performance updates, new songs, and other musical shenanigans!

Follow me on Instagram for doodles and updates

SEE MY DOODLES at www.normajeanloves.com

What, like it's hard?

Having never really sang before (apart from being the queen of rocking out in the car, and the star of my 6th grade musical) I came to Bali in January of 2012 on a holiday.

Whilst strolling down the picturesque, quaint Goutama street, I stumbled upon the most brightly colored art shop I'd ever seen.  I stopped, admired, and had a chat with some people that are now some of my close friends (and ended up designing my ROCKSTAR album cover.)  They said they wanted to write songs... I had just written a bunch of songs!!! What, like it's hard?

They stared at me incredulously and I sang them a song that is now known the world over as "the orange peel song", or Charming Start and they immediately got excited! Having loved writing little songs and singing them for my friends over the past month to ward off the chill of Korean winter, additional support from other artists was just what I needed as fertilizer to sprout, and a dream was born.

My contract in Korea was up 2 months later and I was scheduled to start law school in the fall.  I had a few months to kill... Why not come back to Bali and make an album of my little song?  What, like it's hard?

It's been almost a year and a half since that dream was born.  The response has been OVERWHELMING!  So many people helped me along the way, from jamming to contributing to the album, to fundraising!  The album launch was so packed some people stood in the streets for hours!
During this process I've learned more than I could have ever imagined, worked with incredible musicians, written many more songs, made the best friends a girl could ask for, and now live in Bali indefinitely (that's a story for another day though.)

It's been a long road, but one that's definitely worth it (and maybe a little hard ;)

My album, Norma Jean the devilicious sessions  is now available on iTunes, HERE, and check out my facebook for all performances, new songs and musical happenings!