I have a pretty good and busy week. Slight downfall was the fact that I have a cold, still a little bit but luckily it's pretty gone. Thursday was the best day of last week as I got to see They Might Be Giants for the third time and it was particularly awesome. I sang and danced and had an awesome time. We even went into a used book/record store and Matt somehow talked me out of buying anything which was quite a feat. They played so many good songs, stuff that I hadn't been expecting to hear and some of my faves that I've heard in concert before. I will so definitely go to see them again next time they are in the area. I am of course listening to them nonstop, I always tend to do this after seeing an extremely awesome concert. I bought a cool science is real shirt and also a bumper sticker which I will put in one of my journals since I don't have a car and all.

I also got to see my grandparents as they came up yesterday to help my sisters out. It was a nice visit, although my grandpa was telling crazy stories as he always does. We had a nice dinner and they want to buy us a chair for our apartment. At first she asked if I had bought a washer/dryer yet and for a moment I thought she wanted to get us those as well. I told her that I had enough saved for those and then she asked if we'd gotten a chair yet. They were maybe going to spend the night but then Grandpa remembered that he hadn't put the garbage out to be picked up and need to get home.

Tonight I came over after work to do laundary and catch up on all my new shows. I watched the first two episodes of Dollhouse which were awesome. I was excited to see Jamie Bamber and Alexis Denisof. I enjoyed the first episode a little better but the second one was good too. Then I watched the new House and now I'm waiting for my laundary to finish drying and for Castle to come on.

Tomorrow I have a day off so I am going to sew. I made this really cute pear skirt but I had extra fabric left over and so now I am contemplating tearing out the zipper and turning it into a cute pear dress instead. I also have a pair of curtains that need finishing - all that's left to do is sew the casing to put the curtain rod through. Then I may work on another skirt or dress or maybe my bedskirt. Oh and I also have to finsih sewing the binding on my quilt. I need to take some pictures of all the things that I've been working on so that I can post them. I also knitted some cute stuffies - an earthworm and an anglerfish. Well, it's almost time for Castle so I'm going to go claim my spot on the couch.

Current Mood: bouncy

Long time no write as I didn't have my computer for about three months. Both the battery and the cord decided to my laptop died on me at the same time but now I have a new one of each. I was quite happy but now I am not sure how good this will be for my productivity. I feel like I've accomplished a lot with out my computer to lure me away. It's not as bad at my apartment because we still don't have the internet but I totally can start making icons again which is the exciting part.

So I had a busy concert filled with concerts and sewing. I made curtains for the apartment, the orange skirt in my new header, a couple of other pieces of clothing and a quilt for my bed. I have to still take pictures of most of the things. I also have been journaling really regularly in my physical journal which I'm really proud of because I'm notoriously bad at journaling regularly. I've also been knitting a lot - scarves, socks, little stuffed creatures. I've also been working on this afghan for my Ma for like two years and I really need to get that finished.

Other than that things are going well. I was able to catch up on a lot of my dvds that I've had in line to watch. Finished Stargate Atlantis and caught up on all the realeased seasons of The Simpsons. I was also able to catch up on House in time to start the new season which I thought was so good. I heard from a couple of people that they missed the diagnostics aspect but I really didn't. I've always loved learning about characters more than anything so I thought it was a really well done episode.

Thursday I am going to see TMBG and that's cool but I really wish that I had challenged myself this summer and pushed myself to get my license. There are so many other good bands coming to my area and it kind of saddens me because I don't have anyone to go with as they don't listen to my type of music. Oh, that's the other thing I've done this summer, listened to tons of new music. So many good bands have released albums this year and I have a lot of older new to me music to listen to as one of my coworker's husbands is getting rid of his vinyl and generously gave a whole bunch to me. I've been busy and content and for the most part doing really well. Hopefully, I will post again soon.

Current Mood: creative

Tonight I went to see Crosby, Stills and Nash with my sisters, Mom and Dad. It was a pretty awesome show. It started out with an acousic set that was really pretty. Peek really wanted them to play the song "Helplessly Hoping" as it's her fave CSN song so she was very excited when they opened the show with it. It was a very pretty version. They also played a bunch of covers songs that were written by other song writers/their friends. They played "Ruby Tuesday", "Reason to Believe", "Girl From the North Country" and "Uncle John's Band". At one point a man must have yelled out "I love you David" which prompted a very funny quote from Crosby. He was saying how the guy should have had his girlfriend or sister yell it out because "When he hears that big biker voice yell out 'I Love You Dave' it takes him right back to prison. They played a really pretty version of "Our House". Graham Nash mentioned how they had been in Cananda a few days ago and that always makes him think of Joni. He then played the really pretty version of "Our House" and it made me a little teary. Ma says she thinks she liked the acoustic version of the show best which doesn't surprise me. She quite likes her acoustic music and I enjoy acoustic stuff as well but I think the rocked out, electric portion of the show was my favorite.


They took a fifteen minute break and came out with one of my fave Buffalo Springfield songs "Rock N Roll Woman". It was an amazing version and Stephen Stills really rocked it out. His guitar playing was smoking and awesome all night. It inspired me to dance like whoa. When the song was over Graham Nash suggested "We all go to Morocco and smoke a big one" and I knew that the next song was going to be "Marrakesh Express". It's not my favorite of their songs but it was a fun song and made me dance and smile. Then they play "Long Time Gone" which is an awesome little rocker. Next was Deja Vu which Nash was kind of gushing about and then Crosby said that Nash wrote the anthems, Stills wrote awesome Rock and Roll - those guys wrote the hits and "I'm supposed to write the weird shit." I love this song and it was really sweet live just kind of rolling over itself and flowing wonderfully. There were some awesome guitar parts by Stills as well. They played "Bluebird" which is one of my favorite songs but I think I prefer the album version with the acoustic and banjo. This was cool though - all electrified and the guitar parts were super spacy and atmospheric. The song sounded huge and beautiful.

Then Nash wanted Stills to play some blues so they played "Wounded World" which I guess is a cover that went into "Rocky Mountain Way" by Joe Walsh. They played a super nice version of "For What It's Worth" the guitar parts were sick. I had brought my journal so that I could write down the setlist. That's always the worst part after the show, trying to find the setlist. So I was writing down the song titles/lyrics to the songs that I didn't know and after "For What It's Worth" I even wrote sick guitar solo. It was awesome. That was the last song proper before the encore. They came back out and played an awesome jammy version of "Wooden Ships" and then acted as if they were going to leave again but ended up playing "Teach Your Children" as well. It was a fun concert and I'm so glad that they came to my town and that I got to watch them play. That's three more of my rock loves that I have now seen live. If I made a list of all the old and new bands that I love it would be interesting to see which ones I can cross off the list. Probably not to many which is kind of my own fault for not being able to drive.

There were other things I was going to write but now I can't remember. My sister noticed and so did I that every once in a while Stills would plug his ears to hear himself better for harmonizing. I also noticed that they all had very different movement styles when it came to their singing/playing. Stills kind of swayed and grooved. Nash seemed very emotive and English which may seem to not go together but he used his hands and body alot which I've seen many English singers do. Crosby was the most still and almost seemed to be singing upwards to the heavens. It was an enjoyable evening with great music and an awesome atmosphere. The one song that I was hoping to hear and they didn't play was "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" but hearing some of the other songs completely made up for not hearing that one.

( Set List: )

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Buffalo Springfield - Rock N Roll Woman

Today was an okay day until I came over to my parents house and got online. Now it is an insanely awesome day and I feel very happy. The first thing that I saw were amazing new pics of Johnny Depp and the second thing I saw was the trailer for Beatles Rock Band and OMG I am so much more excited for it now. I simply don't know how I am going to wait for September. I know that Sept. is really not that far away but it feels like forever. The songs they showed and have listed on the site are all pretty cool, the ones that I'm most excited about so far are I Feel Fine and Taxman which are two of my favorites. I can't wait till the rest of the song list is released. I don't even really know how many songs are going to be part of the game. The other thing that I really want but will probably not get are the controllers. I was drooling over Paul's Hofner and John's Rickenbacker. I was only going to say those two and then I went back and looked again and George's Gretsch is pretty amazing too. I also want to know how I forgot that George played a Gretsch much of the time, seeing as how Gretsch has made many of my favorite sounding guitars and no wonder I love the Beatles music so much. Actually they were my first musical love and maybe that's why I love the sound of Gretsch guitars so very much. I'm so very excited for this game.

We still do not have internet at home and I am actually not missing it as much as I thought I would but that's probably because I've been coming here a couple times a week. Things are going well at the apartment. I have most of my things over there and unpacked and now I am working on decorating. I made really cute curtains for the bathroom and have some really cool pictures and things that I'm going to hang in my room. I also have material to make curtains for many of the other rooms and I am working on making myself a quilt, bedskirt and pillow shams. I am also going to recover the pillows on my bed to match my color scheme of pink, green, cream and brown. I also have super pretty fabric that is in the muted yet bright vintage colors with birds allover it to make shades for my bedroom. I'm very excited and things are coming along very well in there.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: The Beatles - Taxman

Happy Record Store day!

Unfortunately I didn't get to take part in the festivities because I forgot to ask for the day off and had to close. If I had been opening I would have been able to swing it and headed up after work. Ah, well - I definitely want to take part next year. Hopefully they will have as many cool 7" as they did this year. Luckily I did get to take part in one special part of the day, Paste was having a name your own price for 12 issues so I subscribed to it. My mom used to subscribe and now I buy it every once in a while so I figured that I should take advantage and subscribe. I'm excited as even though it is not as wonderful as it once was I still quite enjoy it.

Really loving Neko Case lately. I had been meaning to check her out for a long time. Actually, she has a song on one of Ma's paste samplers that I really loved and I just never got around to buying any of her albums and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood has been in my amazon recommendations forever. She realeased Middle Cyclone this year and I finally bought that all because of Rock Band. I had purchased the alt-country pack because even though I didn't know many of the songs I love the genre and like many of the bands that were included. I knew that I like Neko's voice, Steve Earle is really wonderful, Lucinda Williams is hit or miss but I've only heard a handful of her songs and I love the Old 97s. With such great bands I couldn't help but buy it and I'm so glad I did. I haven't purchased all of the 97s albums yet and so heard a song by them that is one of my new favorites and I finally decided to check out Neko Case's music.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You, Vengence is Sleeping

Last night I realized that Elvis Costello's Get Happy!! has become one of my favorite albums. It took a while for me to really love this album, I bought it at the same time as Imperial Bedroom. I played both and Get Happy didn't really click so I spent a lot more time with the other album. Actually I really, really fell in love with the song "Secondary Modern" and put it on a couple of playlists/mix cds but another than that Get Happy!! was pretty routinely ignored. I don't know when I started to listen to it more, if it was when I bought it on vinyl or if I just started kicking it on the ipod every once in a while but it has really grown on me so much. It's a perfect spring record for me, the lyrics aren't springlike, I couldn't actually place which season I feel that they are from but the music just makes me dance and smile and feel renewed - definitely springlike.

Today I had the urge to make a mix of my favorite songs/artists that scream. Now I'm listening through some of my music and finding that it's not going to be as easy to compile as I thought. I know some of the artists that I want to include but I have no idea which of their songs I should use because they have many good examples. This is why I find it much harder to make theme mix cds rather than just letting the songs flow and intuiting what songs should follow others.

Lost was really intense over the past two weeks. I watched them both tonight as I wasn't home last Wednesday and hadn't had a chance to watch last weeks before tonight. I don't even know what to write about them because I am still processing everything that happened. ( SPOILER )

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: The Beatles - I've Got A Feeling, Collective Soul

Happy Easter everybody!



Yesterday Maggy, Alicia, Casey and I spent the morning coloring Easter Eggs which is always so much fun. The kit we got also had some of the shrinky kind that you place in boiling water, I used to love those as a kid so I was pretty excited. This morning Mom and I made her Grandma's coffee crumb cake thing which is very tasty. Now I'm just hanging out waiting for my Grandparents to come. Pretty egg pictures are under the cut. :)

( Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail )

Current Mood: hungry
Current Music: Van Morrison - Warm Love

Just got back from a super amazing night. We picked up Alicia at the mall where she had been hanging with her friend Tiffany and the started early with dinner at this cool little Italian Restaurant by the mall called Bellini's. I had this really awesome spinach salad with these huge chunks of mozzarella and a citrus vinagrette, carbonara pasta which is basically spaghetti in a cream sauce with pancetta and peas. For dessert I had Tiramisu and it was so good. I had been craving it for a while. Everything was really good and they were playing fun italian music like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

( About an awesome record store and a kick ass concert )

Current Mood: indescribable
Current Music: Long Way Down

I'm really digging Beck a lot since I picked up Modern Guilt which I am really loving. I also finally borrowed Sea Change from Matt and I don't know why I never borrowed it before. I've only listened to it once and I really love some of Beck's other records but OMG Sea Change has great potential to become my favorite. It actually reminded me muchly of the lovely Nick Drake whom I know that Beck likes. Well at least he covered the beautiful song "Which Will" so I'm assuming he's a fan of some sort. Mmmm, but I love the blending of Beck's voice with acoustic guitar and strings it's like a perfect fit and I think he does so well with whatever genre he plays in but Sea Change is so right up my alley. I still really love Odelay though because it makes me dance so much which is such a very good thing. That may actually be one of my favorite records to dance to and it would be awesome if it was released on vinyl and i could find it because it must sound so good with the added texture. All that I can say is yum to both the man and his music.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Beck - Sea Change, Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

So tonight was a pretty ok night for not being able to go to the Dylan concert which I guess most people were saying was just ok anyway. I worked and had a pretty good night there, I pretty much got two planograms finished which made me feel very accomplished. Just have to finish putting new price tags on some of teh buttons and then that will be done.

Then went to Denny's and had some really yummy chicken strips and two types of potatoes 'cause I am a potato freak. Will was there but he wasn't having a very good night and that made me feel bad 'cause people can be shits. Not Will obviously but some of the other customers. Yeah, it's not cool to be like that and I can't understand it a lot. Oh, my favorite guitar part in "It's a Hit" just finished and it's so awesome and I can't even explain.

I've been really into Rilo Kiley lately. Seriously they're really jumping in the rank of favorites. I mean granted they were already pretty high because lots of the time I don't really like female singers. IDK why, I think it's because they just don't hit me like male singers voices and they can convey things but usually not as well. Does that make any sense? Anyway, I only have a handful of female singers that I listen to consistently but when I find a female singer that I like I tend to really connect with and love that singer. I think though that Jenny Lewis is defo my fave female singer of all times. I love her lyrics and her voice and I won't ever love her as much as say Ryan but I think she has definitely risen into my top ten muscian list. Well, she's been there for a while but I've just been listening to Rilo a lot lately. Wow, talk about rambles.

The cat and dog are chasing each other through the house. It's amusing. For once I decided to come downstairs and actually get a signal instead of just fighting the on and off signal up i n my room. If they have a problem with that then I don't care because seriously I just can't deal with my room right now. I have so many projects that I need/want to finish that I haven't even begin to deal with the mess I made in my room when I couldn't find my camera charger but it is quite draining and makes me sad.

When I got home from Denny's Peek had a fire going in the back with some of her friends as a little going away party because Russell leaves for Wake Forest tomorrow. It was nice and they were all getting kind of sad because they all will really miss each other. When all the kids from high school are splitting up and going to college it kind of seems like a super big deal at the time but then it doesn't when you're older. Anyway after Peek and her friends were gone I tried to build the fire back up but I think I kind of killed it. I would get it going for a little while and then it would just flicker back to embers. Apparently fire building is not one of my strong suits even though I enjoy fires very much.

I guess that's all for tonight. Tomorrow I have to sew some more, I have one more row of blocks for Alicia's quilt to put together. Then I have to sew all the blocks together, put the border on, put the batting and back on and quilt it. It sounds like a lot of work but it shouldn't be all that bad. Ok, I'm not doing that all tomorrow. I'll sew some and then go in for a short shift at work and then come home and hopefully sew some more but more than likely watch tv or play on the computer. I have to focus on the quilt though so that I can begin to make my Gypsy and Air Pirate costumes and to work on drafting the patterns for some pieces for my regular wardrobe which makes me nervous and excited. Oh, I also must listen some more to my new Beck and Old 97s cds. So far I like what I hear on both of them but I haven't listened to them more than once so I guess we'll see. I think I'm really going to enjoy the Beck because Danger Mouse helped produce and I seem to really like his production that I've heard.

Current Mood: excited
Current Music: Rilo Kiley - It's A Hit, Does He Love You?, Portions for Foxes, Ripchord