Monday, November 27, 2006
VFP. NYC. BFF.
This was one of the happiest Thanksgiving weekends EVER. There were some minor small unpleasantries, but for the most part I left this weekend one happy gal.The holiday started on Wednesday night when my high school friends and I got together for our annual "Bowling for Beers" tournament. I still love these guys and we still manage to have a huge amount of fun when we're together. We realized we've been getting together for almost 17 years now! (yes, I graduated in 1990) It's amazing to me how much we've all changed since then, but how goofy and silly we remain with each other despite our new adult lives.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, of course. I had a friend in from out of town and he had dinner with us at my folks house. My mother made a kick-ass dinner! Anyone who knows me most likely knows that my 100% Irish mother is not a good cook - and she'll fully admit that. But after 38 years of making turkey, she finally got it right...and it was DELICIOUS. Rock on, mom.
After that, we took a plate over to my crazy Aunt Evie (Bird and Tire Sale) who was home sick. She was happy we stopped by and happy that she had a heaping plate of food to eat.
We left there to stop over at my friend Kendra's house for some dessert (another annual tradition). Kendra and I grew up down the street from each other and we've been friends since we were 5. Count it: almost 30 years. Jesus. Anyhow, Kendra's place was hoppin' and her folks invited my folks over so we all ended up there eating pie and playing Taboo. Good times!
Friday, I had rehearsal with the boys during the day. After that, I headed out with Chuck (friend from Chicago) , Cynthia, Shah, and Kendra to Cheers on Beacon St. Chuck wanted to go there - do the touristy thing. Was fun, pics on flickr.
From there, we went to The Encore Lounge - a cabaret piano bar in downtown to sing some tunes. I met Aimee - who reads my journal, but I had never met. She showed up with her friend Sandy and they were both very cool chicks. The kind of gals you feel like you've been friends with forever even though you've never met before. (Sorry we had to leave early!) Cynthia got up and sang and wowed the crowd. I was so proud of my girl!
Saturday morning, we left for NYC. We had a gig, and the turnout was a little better than I expected for a holiday weekend. It was the first time Dan had come with us to NYC and somewhere on the ride up, he and Ben bonded and decided that they were "BFF FOREVER!" That was the joke the whole weekend, so I created this for them:
Which, of course, totally cracks my shit up.
After the gig, a big group of us (me, Dan, Ben, Shah & Brian, their friend John, my friend Monica and Eric) went out for Thai food and then decided we should go to a piano bar. I suggested Don't Tell Mama's - a place I loved when I lived in NYC.
When we got there, there was a wait to get in, but we FINALLY got a table. Dan and I both sang, and let me state for the record that I want to ALWAYS be singing at DTM. They LOVED us. People were asking for our info, hooting and hollering - we felt like mini-celebrities. There was much adoration in that room and I have to admit, we tore the walls off that place. (I know, I know -cocky! But we DID both sing really well!)
I had a teacher in college who talked about these small magical moments that happen that just about knock you over when you're in them. I had one of those. I sang New York State of Mind, and I don't think I've ever sung anything that well in my entire life. It was 3:00am and something magical happened with that song and that pianist (Bobby). I wish I could relive it over again. The best part is that when I got back to the table, Ben was standing up screaming, "That's MY friend!! I hang out with her!!" Which cracked me up and also made me feel really loved. There's always tough moments in performing that you want to forget, so it was a really great moment for me to keep in my memory as well.
Almost everone went home earlier in the evening, but I stayed until the 4:00am close with Ben and Dan. Afterwards, we went to a little diner and got some disgustingly greasy food and then I didn't get back to the hotel and in bed until 5:30am. (Note about the hotel: I LOVE Priceline! We got these hotel rooms for $75 each and it was SWANK!) At 8:00am, my phone rang and it was Ben telling me to get up and get ready to go. I don't remember anything else about the conversation.
The ride home was me, Ben, and Dan and I joked that there was much man-love between them. It makes me really happy to see how well they've hit it off as friends. As a group, we just really click both musically and personality-wise. I can't remember a single time there's been a horrible gig or a tense moment. And this is what it's about, you know? Enjoying the ride and making great music. I'm happy, lucky, and thankful to have them as friends and musical cohorts.
If you're interested in seeing pics from the weekend, they're here.
I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving...and have a great holiday season!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
SO WRONG, BUT SO, SO RIGHT.
WARNING: You probably don't want to watch/listen to this at work.
Or if you're a Republican.
Monday, November 13, 2006
SO I'M GOING A *LITTLE* OVERBOARD
I've gotta say, I really, really like this one. So much that I'm keeping it for myself. (Much like my regular holiday shopping: one for ME, one for YOU...)This was actually a print that I bought at Target that I didn't really care for anymore. Since I ran out of canvas, I decided to paint right over this. It was white with giant black polka dots, so I brought out the black and got all goth on that shit! It took THREE coats of black paint to cover up the old print!! And I am not a patient woman, and I had to sit around and wait for one coat at a time to dry. Gah!
Here's a bigger sample of it - so you can see the red dots, which I really like. This is hanging up on the brick with one of the track lights focused on it and the gold really shines - I'm so happy with it!For those of you who are reading that may not know me, PLEASE don't think I'm all full of myself here. I mean, my painting skills are SORELY lacking! I've been doing a lot of it with the hope of getting better, and I finally did one that I actually am proud to hang on my wall! Practice may not make perfect, but it makes me happy enough to hang it up without shame. Well, who am I kidding - I have no shame anyhow. That's proven by the many other paintings that I did that are also hanging up. lol
I wish that canvas' came with the frames already attached like my Target painting. Maybe I'll need to scour the Target and Walmart shelves for clearance items!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
MY NEW HAIRCUT & MY NEW, UH, ART
Well, I tried out the new salon I told you about before, and I LOVE it! Regina (the owner) is awesome and really knowledgeable about products and hair in general. She asked me lots of questions about the history of my hair, and made sure that I loved it before I left (which I did). She even called me a few days later to make sure I was still happy with it! Now THAT is customer service, and she will definitely keep my business.I decided that this year I'm going to do homemade gifts for everyone. And that means lots of new paintings (and other things)! Some of the stuff I'm doing isn't half bad - although others are quite bad - so at the very least, it will be a funny gift. Here are some of the new paintings I've done. Starts off poorly, but I have to say...I'm getting a little better each time I paint something:
I did this one with my neice Litah in mind. The brush I was using for the petals sucked, and so the painting ended up pretty lousy. Luckily, she's only 8, so I don't think she'll be too discerning.
I don't hate this one, but I also don't love it. I was experimenting with pinks and golds and ended up with a very girly-plaid picture. I can't think of anyone I know who screams "girly-pink plaid," so this may not be a future gift. lol
This I actually LOVE! I needed something for my two front walls, and this matches the color scheme perfectly. I also love that I was able to make it look rounded. It's really not anything fancy, but it looks pretty good on the wall it's on.
This is opposite the polka dotted painting, and they offset each other pretty well. Don't get me wrong - I know this isn't great art, but I made something that I'm happy with on my walls thaat looks pretty cool. And it was inexpensive. Yay!
Ok, come on. You've gotta admit, this one's not horrible! I liked this one so much that I did a second, similar one:
See? I am sucking less these days. I mean, my painting still sucks, but it sucks LESS, and that's good! By the way, all the dots are glitter. I'm still on a glitter craze, yeah.
My biggest issue is that I can't seem to keep my wrist and/or sleeve out of the paintings, and I end up getting a smudge in just about every one. So I just decided the smudge is my official signature. :)
Saturday, November 11, 2006
ARTIST INTERVIEW - WERS
If anyone's interested, the interview and a few photos from our recent on-air interview can be found here:
Of course, there's a bunch of factual errors - but press is press, baby!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO:
