Valerie Day Sings

My son Malcolm thinks I’ve become a science nerd. He teases me because I can’t stop reading books about the brain and I talk about neuroscience all the time. But I can’t help it! Because of the research I’ve done for the Brain Chemistry For Lovers show, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole into the rapidly evolving world of neuroscience.

And what a world it is! Because of the latest advances in brain scanning technology, scientists can now look inside the brain and get a more complete picture of who we are and what makes us tick. Discoveries are being made every day that help to answer some of the questions that we humans have been asking for centuries. Questions like…

Who are we? Why are we the same yet different? Is it nature or nurture that ultimately shapes us as humans? And then there are the more pressing questions like….why doesn’t he ever put the toilet seat down? Why does she always nag about the dishes? and…why oh why can’t he find stuff in the refrigerator when it’s staring him in the face?

Ok - maybe those last few questions aren’t exactly earth shattering, but they do end up leading us to THE all encompassing question…what makes women and men so different from each other?

One book that helped to answer some of those questions for me (and that I still think about when faced with that open toilet seat) is called:

The Female Brain
by Louann Brizendine, M.D.

Continue reading ‘Sex in the Brain - Part One’

A couple of weeks ago, Darrell Grant and I took Brain Chemistry For Lovers to Wilf’s for a preview show. We were joined for the first time by the “Brain Chemistry Band” - the professors of jazz - Kevin Deitz on bass, Gary Hobbs on drums, and Mike Horsfall on vibes. Also appearing for the first time was the video part of the show created by filmmaker Jim Blashfield. In it, our imaginary lovers, Alice and Bob, come to life, and our “science guy” (and real life science advisor for the script), Dr. Larry Sherman, converses with us through the miracle of modern technology about the science of Romantic Love.

I was insanely nervous. Darrell and I had been “workshopping” the show for a little over a year at Wilf’s - reading from the latest version of the script - trying out new songs or a new order of existing songs. We felt like this was the perfect setting to try out the video, launch the band, and to make an attempt at doing the show from memory. Before we knew it, our little home turf “preview” (read rehearsal in front of live audience) had morphed into a performance in front of OPB’s Art Beat crew, VH1 (who had come to town to videotape an interview with John and I about NU SHOOZ for a show to air March 09), and Marty Hughley from the Oregonian. Continue reading ‘Brain Chemistry For Lovers - the Oregonian Review’