I can only be myself.

http://www.willowcabinstudio.com/finalhome.html

It's all I can do.  I'm the second to last on the right on this draft.  Kind of depressing, but these things need to be contemplated.

Go, Laura!

Glitter & Gold I wish I could get cash 4.

Truly horrid.

These don't get old for me.

And it's so catchy!

It's time to lose the holiday gut!

Thanks to my wonderful sister and her family, I get to get back into some hot yoga.  Two summers ago I started going to Bikram Yoga LES, and during that time I never felt more calm or less anxious.  Or flexible!  Read about it here.  I'm excited to get back to that!  

6 cakeballs, many ounces of taco dip, brownie casserole, cannoli dip, turkey sammiches with mayo, broccoli and cheese casserole, rum and cokes, more dips, chicken wings, more cheese items, bread dip, cupcakes with good frosting, cupcakes with bad frosting, deviled eggs when you don't even really like them, and the list goes on.  Free holiday food is the best thing ever.  And it was totally worth it, but now it is time to detox and get back to some holistic healing of my stomach and colon.  Let's do it up, hot yoga!  Combined with a normal helping of Zumba, of course.

Speaking of dip, you should watch this episode of a new kids' show called Fish Hooks.  It's the closest I've seen anyone get to good old fashioned Nicktoons styles similar to Rocko's Modern Life and Ren and Stimpy.  It's not as "gross" but it's definitely one of the most entertaining cartoons out there.  My favorite characters are Jocktopus and Clamantha, by far.  I'M A CLAM!

Go to 9 minutes and watch from there if you want to see my favorite parts...

Another awesome kids' show is Phineas and Ferb.  (By the way, I am very justified in watching these shows.  I have nieces!  I need to make sure they're digesting good media!)  You should watch this episode.  

The writers of this show may have been following me around to write this one. I would totally date a guy named Doofenshmirtz.  Go to 3:56 to see what I mean...

You will be bored perhaps by this.

But as I've said before, "It's my bloggy and I'll write what I want to!"

So, I tried the semi-straight hair thing and I just didn't feel like myself. At least I entertained the notion of being "acceptable." Ha!

In more interesting news, saw Diamond Doves last night. Nick Kinsey is totally the new Levon Helm. They are a very entertaining band. IN fact, they are like 3 bands in one, depending on who is singing. There are the lovey songs sung by the long haired and very endearing brunette dude, such as the one that goes: "one way / or the other / BABE / we're bound to be lovers." And the funky peppy but dark songs sung by drummer Nick Kinsey, aka my favorite musician of the moment, one of which bluntly states: "and I know / you want / to hear / from me / but I know / you're not / you see / the one that I love" (more or less, they don't have an album out yet so I'm just gong by memory here.) And then there rare the droney songs sung by the blonde guy. I'm still letting his contributions grow on me, this is only the second time Ive heard them play without Elvis Perkins. I really love how different they sound without Elvis. I love what Perkins does. Reallly reallly love it. But sometimes those poetic lyrics that make you cry and think are too much for me to handle. Diamond Doves sing some good old fashioned rock tunes about workin' and travelin' and love-makin' with a variety of different sounds and styles. Sometimes that's just what you need! Also, the Brooklyn Bowl is glorious. Half bowling alley, half concert venue with bar. What's not to love?

The headlining band, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, wasn't the greatest, but, to be honest, I wasn't really listening. One of the singers looked like a mix between Will Oldham and Ezra Pound mixed with a little surfer dude. I made a new friend and he and I spent the entire time comparing everyone we saw to other bands and people, so perhaps I didn't appreciate them as much as I should have.

You know what I did appreciate? The fact that Diamond Doves' violinists are two sisters, one who is a student at Bard and one who is 16. It's funny, their brother also plays the violin. They're like the violin Von Trapp family minus the Nazi undertones. I met the Bard one and she agreed with me that one would be hard-pressed to find any straight female who wouldn't be into my imaginary boyfriend. Who has a ladyfriend, of course. Sigh! IF you're out there, Nick, I'm completely harmless. I just know a good performer when I see one!

I don't think I've ever looked forward to or have been more excited about a band releasing an album this much before. This is saying a lot, since I spent a good month or two of my life only listening to Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky" previews over and over again until it officially came out.

It's a nice feeling, to remember how to be excited. Alive alive!

The Tallest Man on Earth - The Gardener

Okay, so maybe I'm in an "A Little Lost" + Tallest Man on Earth phase.

This song. Damn.

SENSUAL CHRISTMAS BEAR!

SENSUAL CHRISTMAS BEAR!

Amazing.

SQUIDTIVITY!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/61504199/complete-squidtivity-includes-all-3

Media Phases

I go through periods of time where I listen to the same thing over and over again.  Almost in a Rainman-like way.  As of last night I've officially began my "A Little Lost" phase.  This is a bit different than other phases I've been known to go through.  Usually they revolve around a particular artist, and not just one song.

I first heard "A Little Lost" at a dorm event when I lived on Broome Street.  It was "Freeform Music Night" hosted by Prof. Bryan Waterman in his faculty apartment.  My friend Kelly played it and we were all silent.  At least that's where I think I heard it first.  Since that night, I've been going in and out of hours that turn into days that turn into weeks where that song is all I want to hear.

This first installment from YouTube is the original song.  Given my penchant for marine life, it's like the person knew I would need a video like this to supplement my life on a regular basis.

The second version is from Jens Lekman, a Swedish singer/songwriter.  He uses a pretty cool little instrument called the kalimbo and I like what he does with the melody.  This is an instance where poor video quality "works."

I've been watching various live versions and whatnot that he does with the song.  It's calming.  He takes it so slow, like he's forfeiting his feelings.  Plucking away at the thumb piano, it's a delicate and pretty way of "giving up" and finally getting it all out there.  A musical sigh.  It's a bright, at times, like when he sings "I'm so busy, so busy/ Thinkin' aboutttttt kissin' you."  And then it goes back to contemplative and confessional and grave, as if being pulled back down to reality.

Russell's version is driven and a little hypnotic.  I think it's way more playful and sweeping than Jens' version.  I like how he delivers parenthetically: "I'm a little lost/ Without you (but that could be an understatement)."  It's funnier.  The punctuation and delivery throughout his version is funnier.  And more hopeful, like he's trying to win someone over by being a little self-deprecating and amusing.  Hmm...sounds familiar!  We have similar styles, haha.

Depending on my mood, I go back and forth between the two.  Somedays I listen to both several times, back to back.  

Help me keep my job!

Send it to everyone you know.  Please!?

Outtakes coming fairly soon!

Counterphobia

Anyone else do this?  I didn't know there was a name for it.  I thought it was called "living."

Go falling, too.

But a bitch ain't one.

I'm so damn proud of this video, it's ridiculous.  Shout out to Jon for being awesome in the video with me!  I'm glad I finally got to make a tribute to Jay-Z.  Without him, after all, my blog would have some lame title!

I love it when...

upbeat songs have dark, dark lyrics.  It's about a guy who kills everyone who he thinks might be trying to tell his gf the truth that he's a liar, and then buries them in his pretty garden.

The J&H Productions Guy Tape (1980

The J&H Productions Guy Tape (1980

So weird. Accidentally avant-garde and musical ambitions.

If anyone ever breaks up with me

They better make it this good.

I couldn't have a dream better than this.

This is a cool project.

The publicist/videographer/photographer of my improv group is awesome.  She's doing a master's thesis on body image and it's very well done.  She's been interviewing women from age 21 (me!) to age 86 about how they feel about their bodies, and how their perception of their bodies has changed throughout their lives.  Then she took really awesome portraits of all of us.  After that, she recorded our reactions to the photos.  From what I gather (and from my own experience at the shoot), no matter how pretty of a picture we take and no matter how many times someone might say "Oh, well, you're cute," most of us still feel inadequate.  And we all deal with it in different ways.

You suck, media!

Anyway, here are some of my pictures.   I kinda dig them.  There are obviously some things I wish were different but I am going to take a stand for all of us and and say... I'M ALRIGHT!

haha

Yes, that's a shout out to Moby-D in muh photos!  What whaaat!

I want to put this on a t-shirt.

This is what I do when I get bored at home or in meetings... I mean, of course I don't doodle electronically in meetings...