Life Would Be Perfect If I Were Jonatha Brooke

Written by Meghan Daum | 02 July 2010

If I could do my life over again, I'd be a musician. By that I do not mean an oboist, as I was (quite seriously if also rather under duress) as a child and through college, but rather, a singer-songwriter. And if I was truly lucky, and, moreover, stunningly talented, I would be Jonatha Brooke.

I've been a fan of Jonatha's since, oh, 1993 or so. In about 1998 I tracked her down to do a profile in GQ (which, irritatingly, never ran) and we got to know each other a bit. Jonatha is smart, hot, thoughtful and an incredibly gifted musician. In an arena of female singer-songwriters that can too often rely on musical and literary platitudes, Jonatha does neither. She's a sophisticated musician and a beautiful lyricist and she continues to prevail despite the frustrating vagaries of the music business. She's made a whole bunch of records by now and over the last several years she's put them out herself. So check her out! (For extra fun, she's just released a single: a cover of Pat Benatar's Love Is A Battlefield -- good timing, since Pat has a new book out.) That and more can be found on Itunes here or on Jonatha's website here. She's also much better about updating her blog than I am.

Incidentally, Jonatha's also a reader. She's been a great supporter of my work over the years. There she is above reading, ahem . . . a certain new book. This shot just totally made my day. Can I turn it into my screensaver? Maybe if I weren't such a computer dimwit.

Happy 4th of July, all. And also happy 2nd, 3rd and 5th. Not 6th yet, though. Let's not jump the gun.

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