I just spent about three hours (that felt like 12 hours) cutting things out for a Cara Austin mailing that’s coming up. I have blisters! I didn’t realize that this is what having a record label would entail.

Seriously, though, Moe, Jay, Beth and Deirdre – thanks for lending a hand. You guys are awesome.

I’ll post more details on the mailing shortly. And Jay told me today that he has some never-seen footage of a gig that Cara played a few weeks back. We’re going to tackle the technical challenges, and once we have those solved, we’ll have clips of a new song that Cara debuted at that show…coming soon.

Actually, that title is too dramatic. By far. But a lot of you have asked me where I got the name for Fat J Records. Some of you have even thought that it was a half-veiled drug reference (it’s not).

The name comes from my cat. My friend Denise, who I used to work with, always used to refer to Jay as “Phat J.” It was a good name for him because back in the day he was a little chubby as well as cool. The name stuck. But when I using his name for the record label, somehow using the name Phat didn’t fit (because I didn’t want anyone to think that Cara Austin sang 90’s era rap music).

This week Cara took me and Chris (my husband) out to a special dinner of Jamaican food. It was to celebrate Chris’ birthday (which was in January…nothing like stretching your birthday out for a couple of weeks. Or months!) We went to a great restaurant in Cambridge called Ortanique. The best thing about the restaurant? The owners (who were the friendliest people alive – check out their picture on the website on the “about us” tab), and the Beef Patties, which were scrumptous.

Cara and I both developed a taste for the Jamaican Beef Patty when we were in Bermuda on vacation last year. Yes, it seems weird to fall in love with a Jamaican Patty in Bermuda, but I still haven’t had one as good since.

Actually, all the food at Ortanique was tasty, so if you’re craving Jamaican food (Curried Goat, Ox Tail, Jerk Pork, Fried Plantains), I recommend it. We’ll go back.

I am really bummed because I missed the Idol Gives Back show last night. I was talking to my friend Moe this morning and she was telling me how amazing the production was – how cool it was to see all the ways that the money that they raised last year ($75 million) was being put to use.

I am going to try to find some clips from the show to put up here throughout the day, as well as information about the organizations that they are supporting.

  -Quote from Jason S., after hearing about Fat J Records for the first time

This is Kyley as a puppy. She’s wet and eating dog hair, but she is cute anyway.