8.22.2010

for today.

for today: august 22, 2010.

outside my window: it is night time.

i am thinking: about how i hate not feeling good. i left work early today because i wanted to kill over. and then i came home and slept and now i am awake. yay.

i am thankful for: sick days at work. and the ability to use them.

from the kitchen: there is nothing. couldn't force myself to go in there as i felt like puking all day. but, on a happy note, i have my own kitchen again.

i am wearing: my pajamas.

i am creating: memories. it is always about the memories.

i am going: to pray that i feel better in the morning.

i am reading: the girl with the dragon tattoo. i'm struggling with it. i can't get into it. but i'm going to muddle through.

i am hoping: that i can go to sleep in a little bit despite the fact that i slept all day.

i am hearing: a digital broadcast by a friend. and it's pretty funny. if you wanna check it out, go here. i do have to say, though, that it can be a little racy at times. be warned.

around the house: there are boxes that need to be put away or disposed of.

one of my favorite things: is that i have my own space.

a few plans for the rest of the week: work. laundry. and i'm hoping to see a friend that i haven't seen for months. more work. oh, and work.

here is a picture thought i am sharing:

random.

8.15.2010

birthday hats, cupcakes and music...oh my.

(still playing catch-up.)

as you know, i'm a sucker for a jay nash show. it doesn't matter who he is playing with or where the show is...and that is how we ended up seeing him at kilby court (our favorite dive venue) with garrison starr.
jay with garrison in the background.
now, i had never seen garrison before, but i had heard some of her music. when i was first introduced to jay nash, i was also introduced to the north la brea all star conquistadors. i don't know much about the group except that it is a group of solo artists that got together and played each other's songs. i figured that i was going to like garrison because i love jay. and generally, any musician that i have been introduced to because of jay, i've loved (i.e. tony lucca, matt duke, joey ryan, kenneth pattigale). and that generalization still stands.

oh, how i heart him.
this was, to date, the best jay nash show i'd been to...and while it wasn't just a jay nash show, it was still amazing. and i love garrison starr.

there were several reasons as to why i loved this show. let's start with the fact that i love the people that i got to share the experience with. i have the greatest friends and i love that they love to go to shows, too.

second, there was a little person at the show that was extremely drunk and/or high. she thought that our friend, bob, was jay and proceeded to yell at him until she realized he wasn't jay. she did a couple of other things that were hysterical, but you just had to be there.

just more jay and garrison.
also, it was garrison's birthday and so we got to wear party hats and have cupcakes. i mean, i don't necessarily think that the party hats were meant to be worn. i mean, maybe they were...they were just lined up in the windowsill and because we are awesome, we opted to put them on. it was funny that we were the ones that had them on. you could definitely tell who was at the show to see jay and who was there to see garrison. and it was clear that we were there to see jay, but we were the only ones that had hats on the celebrate garrison's birthday. i guess that is only really interesting if you were there. anyway, point being we celebrated a birthday...always a good time when that happens.

proof of the party hats.
bob, adriane, amy, garrison, me and jaime.
my most favorite part of the show was that, while there was a written playlist, after the first couple of songs it turned into "request hour" and we all got to hear our most favorite songs, some of which were not on the written playlist. gotta love it when you get to hear exactly what you want to hear at a show.

this is the set list.
and while most of these songs were played, many were not in lieu of other great and amazing songs.
this is a video of my request...i was reprimanded for not requesting this song...bob said he needed to learn the chords and so he wanted jay to play it so we could record it. we were able to request it later and now, hopefully bob has learned how to play it. anyway, back to my request...my second favorite jay nash song...sweet talkin' liar. (first favorite is saturday, which was also requested.)


needless to say, it was an amazing show.

the end.

or, that's all.

8.13.2010

yes, yes...he was a mouseketeer.

(this is me, playing blog catch-up. this concert was in april...i'm now posting about it in august. don't judge me.)

last august, as you may remember, jay nash visited my hometown. one of his travelling partners on that tour was tony lucca. after that lovely little show i became a little bit obsessed with tony and his music (and i also became obsessed with matt duke, who was also on that tour and even more obsessed with jay...but that's another story for another day). i purchased one of tony's albums at that show (i made him tell me which one to purchase, so i liked it even that much more) and have since purchased two more albums. i follow tony on twitter and facebook and every now and again, i feel like a creepy stalker. but, it all comes back to the music.

this is tony.
singing his little heart out.
oh how i love tony.
the reason i keep dibs on tony is because i want to know when he is touring, where he is playing and if there is a possibility that i would be able to see him live, again because he puts on an excellent live show. and because i'm a superb stalker, earlier this spring i learned that tony was going to be opening for tyrone wells. now, i had never heard of tyrone wells, but i did some research and learned that he had opened for some of my favorite artists. i also listened to some of his music via the internet and i really liked it. it was then decided that i was going to get a posse together and we were going to go see tony lucca, and subsequently, tyrone wells. (it wasn't ever really a question as to whether i was going or not and it didn't matter if i had to go by myself...i'm just trying to subdue my crazy obsessiveness. but, in reality, i don't want the be that one person standing alone at the show so i probably wouldn't have gone alone.)

i talked a few people into committing to attend this show. tickets were purchased well in advance...cause that's how i do things...over plan. i had even contemplated taking my nephew to this show because he was developing a love for music and i wanted to expose him to the good, good stuff. (soapbox alert: there is a special little place in my heart for the independent, singer/songwriter musicians of the world...and i do believe that their music really is the good stuff...plus, i love that when people ask me who i listen to and love, they have no clue who i am talking about.)

so yeah, i wanted to take my nephew. a few of the friends i rounded up to go thought it would be okay. but in discussing it with others, it was determined that maybe the venue where the show was going to be wasn't the best place for a six-almost-seven-year-old. it is a standing room only venue and i just wasn't sure how the child would have handled it. so, despite my deepest desire to share this show/experience with my nephew, i opted not to take him and i made my sister commit to going with me instead. (don't worry...i took the nephew to the daughtry show not too long after this one...he got his.)

the day of the show came and i was pretty excited. i was super excited to spend a night of music with friends/family, hanging out and loving it. but wouldn't you know, the day of the show people were bailing...left and right. i was a little disappointed, but i understood.

kristen (my sister) and i met up with jaime at the venue. we got there super early and jaime even made friends with tyrone wells' drummer (it was only determined that he was the drummer well after the show started). jaime asked him when the show was going to start and we were there an hour early, so kris, jaime and i went and ate fish tacos at rubio's. we met rebbekah back at the venue. she was with a man friend, so i didn't talk too much to her.

my sister and i.
we were probably pulling faces at the girl in front of us that had no rhythm...not even enough to save her life.  it was awesome.
we caught the last half of roy jay's set. he was the opener's opening act. tony followed roy. and while tony's set included my least favorite tony lucca songs, it did include my most favorite, pretty things. he also played a new song (his new album came out this week). it was great to see tony live again. especially since it was his own set. when i saw him last, he played with jay and matt...and while amazing, it was not just like seeing tony alone.

jaime and i.
and wanna know the best part of all of this...well, besides the great friends, company and music? i am now officially a fan of tyrone wells. he was great. i'm not quite sure how he hadn't come up on my radar before this show, but i'm glad it happened. he is proof positive that the good, good stuff is from these independent, singer/songwriters.