Friday, October 30, 2009

Playing Dress-Up

It's 73 degrees, sunny, and Christmas decorations are going up down the street. We have our windows open today, bringing clarity to every thumping car and angry conversation on the street below us. I'm wearing five layers and still chilly, but no one had better even think about closing that window.

Last night we had a movie night over here and watched The Thing. Why had I never seen this movie?! The Skidozer 301 and Kurt Russel's feathered mane alone made it a quality night. Throw in the song Superstition and some roller skates and I'm sold!

Tomorrow I'll be rocking out a Halloween celebration downtown. The main street will be shut down and they are having a Halloween fashion show, among other things. The fun thing is that the fashion show isn't costumes, it's actual fashion designers putting together outfits that follow a theme. A pretty big crowd comes out for this, and you will be hard pressed to see a larger group of drag queens together in one place in this city all year. I should really have a costume in mind at this point, right?

On Monday, I'll be starting a two week project in a new studio. This is the kind of place I dreamed about working in. Awesome office space, great clients, a more than impressive process and portfolio. There will be a lot to learn, very quickly, but I'm excited about the opportunity and ready for a chance to really take things to a new level. Big changes ahead!

For now, I'm going to head out and enjoy this amazing weather. I'm going to drive home with the windows down, take a walk, and enjoy a relaxing Friday night. I have all day tomorrow to figure out a costume, right?

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Yeah Yeah Yeah love

You know I like to write, and you know I like music. Specifically, you know by now I love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and think that Karen O. is the epitome of awesome. Combine all of those things and you have this, my write up for the really cool new site 80 Minutes for Life. Go, check it out, and be sure to check out all of the other great bands, playlists, and write ups on the page. Enjoy!

(And for the record, this is the not the love letter to Karen O. that one friend expected. I have a lot of love for the boys, too!)

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Don't make no


I'm currently sitting with a dog and blanket both up around my chin, typing in the dark, from the comfort of my couch. It's been a beautiful, almost perfect autumn day outside. The leaves are yellow and red, and the sky is gray and rolling. I met a friend for coffee today and the coffee shop played both The Smiths and Chris Isaac. I wanted to let them know that they could have saved themselves the effort of the good music - I was ready to offer them my firstborn at the mere sight of my latte.

Yesterday was not so beautiful or perfect. It started off well, dropping my car off and grabbing coffee. Not even the double shots of espresso could fend off the overwhelming fatigue that set in later that day. I feel like a wasted a whole day, tired and cranky, at home. On the bright side, I don't need a new engine. That's right. I've stayed in town for four very long months. I've missed some very important events, and all because a valve was blocked at some point and the light just needed to be reset. If I thought my car would survive another trip to Chicago, I would totally drive over there and unleash the fury of someone who has been trapped in town for four months

Shortly after getting the call that my car was beautiful and healthy, I started getting ready for the wedding. The outfit that I had picked out just wasn't working, and that was even before I realized that a majority of the people attending would be jean skirt sporting Pentecostal ladies. I went with a fallback respectable dress and we headed out towards the hills of Appalachia.

Three hours later, I was greeted by a woman that I have known my entire life. I've known her family, had sleepovers in her living room, and gone trick or treating with her kids. After four years of not seeing me, her first words:" So, are you datin' anybody?". I can't tell you how many times I was asked. I also got "ain't none", "done got it", "done went", "they can't be lesbians, they are too old", and "uh-oh, now I'm going to be in the blog" (sorry, you totally made it in the blog), and at one point, I found myself clarifying that I did not in fact marry a Christian rock star (nor did I know such a thing existed). I was exhausted by the time the wedding actually started.

If you grow up in a small town and then go to a Christian school, wedding season starts when you are 19 and continues, seemingly, forever. It's safe to say that I've been to an unnatural number of weddings in the past few years. I've been to some really awesome weddings, and some really sad weddings. I've been to enough weddings to know that I want to elope. Yesterday's wedding, for reasons I won't go into here, fell on the sad side. I think the couple is good for each other, and I think that's what matters here.

I found myself wishing I could show these people, who have known me for easily the majority of my life, how happy I was despite the lack of a ring. I wanted to whip out pictures of my friends! and apartment! and the cool places we hang out! But instead, the conversation ended and they moved on to see if my brother was living a more successful life. When I got home, my friends wanted to know how my day went. I told them I wanted to take a shower, which meant that it was good, and bad, and weird, and would never completely make sense to them. My two worlds do not make sense together. All of that to say that if you have a friend who seems to have good taste, but who also owns and quotes the movie Sweet Home Alabama, don't you dare judge her.

PS: I was once again reminded that I have an awesome family, and they totally make sense.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

What you need


I've spent half of this week not knowing what day it is. That's a good place to start.

I have officially survived Head Cold '09. After days of denial ("It's just allergies") ("It's just really bad allergies"), I finally caved and admitted that I did, in fact, have a cold. Days of sleep, tissues, Zicam, teas of every variety, and groggy me followed. After a couple of nights of extended, deep, ohmygoodnessamazing sleep, I am back up and running, no longer forced to breathe out of my mouth.

Speaking of mouth breathers (zing?), I'm heading back to my hometown for yet another wedding tomorrow. This one is for my younger brother's best friend growing up. The failures of both my brother and I to successfully find our own true loves will undoubtedly be brought to our attention several times. All I know now is that tomorrow involves hay bales and scarecrows. At a wedding. I'm charging my camera.

Today is the calm after one storm and before another. I finished up a rush project yesterday and am preparing to possibly start a couple of big projects soon. This is good news, as The Career has been frustrating lately. And we foolishly thought we would figure out what to do with our lives when we graduated college.

Regardless of what is going on, the leaves and weather outside will not be ignored. It's beautiful here. Walking with my friend through leaves yesterday, hearing the crunch, I couldn't help but just smile. Neither of us even cared that we ended up with shoes filled with dirt. Sometimes, you need that, too.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

I'm with the band...

I just finished up a nap that was more sleep than the past two nights combined. I lived for two days on pieces of leftover pizza, some granola, and bottles of water that were probably for the band. I've seen four performances and have been going between airports, balconies, green rooms, studios, coffee shops, and hotels. Transitioning back into real life is a little disappointing.

My dog decided to start things off traumatically by diving off my bed at 6am and acting paralyzed for a few minutes. She's fine, but it wasn't a great way to start off the crazy day. A few hours later, I was driving to the airport to pick up a band member I had never met. Let me state it here that promo pics don't look a whole lot like the person you are picking up at the airport. She was going on three hours of sleep and I was going on two, so we started off with a coffee run. Coffee chugged, we headed for the studio where I work, where we crashed on bean bags and benches before heading to the station for performance number one.

I hung out with the band for a while before their sound check. Not only were they nice people, they welcomed me right into their group. They put on a great Big Room performance and then headed out for their next sound check at the venue. I stayed at the station and caught a performance by Jemina Pearl. While I don't love the Iggy Pop collaboration, I have to hand it to this girl for putting on an amazing live show. If she's coming to your town, be sure to check her out!

Two pieces of pizza later (I hadn't eaten since 7am), I headed over to the studio to grab some last minute backstage passes and then headed to the venue. Once there, I was ushered into the VIP section of the balcony. My friends were photographing the event, so I made sure they were set. I think that was the first time I had actually rested all day. The two opening bands were local and put on great sets. They also did an amazing job of promoting the cause behind the event, which was autism awareness. The headliners put on a great show, had awesome chemistry, and had a really good crowd to play for. It was one of the most genuinely fun shows I've been to in a while. After hanging out with these people all day, it was fun to really see them in their element.

After the show, I was taken down to the green room. This was my first green room experience and it was about what you would expect. Food and drinks and couches. All of the bands were down there, along with their friends/families/a few contest winners. At some point, Petron shots were taken by all but three of us. As a DD, the very sight/smell/mention of Petron means that my car will be full. I helped with some of the final details of the tear-down and hung out with everyone until about 2am.

The girl I picked up needed to be back at the airport by 4:30am. Seeing as she was one of the three who hadn't taken a shot, I was basically the only person who could get her there. I dropped her off at the hotel and I headed home to sleep for an hour and a half before heading back to the hotel to pick her up again. It worked out that I was able to coordinate a ride for her with my friend who was already headed to that part of town, so I came home and slept for another two hours before heading out to teach my morning yoga class. From there, I went to man a booth at a local nursery's Fall Festival. Quite the opposite of my night, I sat in the sun, listened to pig races, and read.

Yes, I was painfully tired, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Great people, fun times, plenty of stories to tell. But now, my couch, blanket, and sleeping dog are the coolest things in the world.

*Actually, my parents are coolest in the world right now. While I was rock 'n rollin' around town, they winterized and burglar-proofed my whole apartment! They also left me some delicious local apple cider. Best. Parents. Ever.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

I will not be the fan-girl

In just a few hours I will drive my pimpin car to the airport, where I will pick up the lead guitarist of a band. We will hang out for a few hours. I will take her and the lead singer to lunch, avoiding any public that might recognize them. I will then drop them off at the radio station, where they will perform an acoustic set before heading to sound check at the main venue.

I will see two Big Room shows, then move right on to a big show tomorrow night. Three bands, then, a big dance after-party. A guy I work with put the whole thing together, and two of my good friends are photographing the whole event.

I will never be an event planner.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Fall

The parties are over. New music has been added to my library. The cake is still sitting in my kitchen, fork in pan, confetti sprinkles everywhere. And most importantly, a new washer and dryer are humming along beautifully in my less than beautiful basement.

I had a really good and bad weekend, all in one. I got to see my family, which was really nice. My best friend from high school also came into town. It had been years, and nothing had changed. You know you are close to someone when you have comfortable silences, I think. I baked, he sat on the couch, the skies were gray, and we were okay with not talking. Later, he fit right in with all my friends. I was surrounded by the people I was closest to, and I couldn't really ask for more.

The night of my birthday, my Grandpa and fell and hit his head. It has gone from bad, to worse, to better, to worse, all in about three days. It's amazing how so much can be lost so quickly. To add to an already bad situation, this all happened around the anniversary of my cousin's unexpected death only a few years ago. It seems like my birthday and Thanksgiving always involve tragedy. I can change my birthday, right?

I took a long walk yesterday. It was too nice outside not to. Orange leaves are piled high at the edge of yards already. Pumpkins are sitting next to high school football signs. Cats are napping in sunny spots. It even smelled like autumn. I had an impromptu meet-up with a friend at my favorite coffee shop, which was a really nice surprise. I see more walks in my immediate future. Walks, warm drinks, warm blankets, and bubble baths...
 
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