"I'm spinning round the room in awe" ryan adams

Saturday, April 16, 2005

I’d love to hear that story once again it’s the only part of me you still defend

Dinosaur Jr. is going back on tour. Anyone want to take me to see them in Central Park on July 14th?!?!?

i love laughing till it hurts

Oh how I love laughing! We laughed so much last night my sides still hurt! Yay for laughter!

Well, first off - Friday was full throttle at work. I adore days like that, means that stuff is getting done and things are developing. But I was followed by a storm cloud for most of the day. I accidently woke up late, so I grabbed breakfast on the way to the city. Then my iPod froze, so I had to walk to the beat of my own footsteps instead of Phantom Planet, who I was playing when my iPod froze. For the past few days, I have encountered subway issues, so why should Friday be any different. At the 23rd street stop, the subway became out of commission for abou fifteen minutes. Needless to say, I panicked slightly because I hate feeling trapped, and I was late to work.

Get to work and before I could even drop my bag and jacket down, the phone was ringing off the hook, e-mails were piling in, and many things had to be simulatenously done. Before we knew it, it was noon and I was finally able to eat breakfast. That was just the start of the day and the following seven hours were no different. At least Danielle felt our pain and made a huge pot of very strong coffee.

After work, I met up with Judy and Angela and we haded into Brooklyn. We talked nonstop about the evenings plans, as well as all the way through July. Inadvertently we got on the wrong train and ended up where Pacific meets Atlantic. Finally in Brooklyn, we decided that a stop at Domino's was in order and that three pizzas would certainly fill five girls.

We busted out the pizzas and sodas and parked ourselves in front of the TV to start our sleepover. Of course we talked nonstop because there is just too much to say and too much randomness to bring up. Music naturally was a theme. We took a break and went up onto the roof to enjoy the view of the city. I took a few pictures so I could document both the east and west sides of NYC at night. After enjoying the scenic and quiet view, we went back downstairs to change into pjs and bust out the cookie ingredients. Judy likes to stab her cookies with a fork, whereas Anna likes to see them fluff. We decided to become experimental and add coconut and peanut butter to the batch as well. I think we frightened Bonnie with our silliness. While the first batch cooked, we all grabbed our planners and wrote all of our plans down so that we wouldn't forget since too much fun was too be had. While talking about July 4th, Anna matter of factly stated that their neighborhood woulnd't be too crazy because of the Mexicans. She totally said it innocently, but it was so damn funny. We're not racist and she tried to defend herself. We understood, it just sounded really funny. Plans were made to go to Boston for July 4th and then a BBQ in Brooklyn, cookies weren't shiny, and the ice cream was busted out. All the while good tunes were playing.

Around 3 am we called it a night. I slept so well and hopefully I didn't steal too many blankets from Angela. We were looking at travel pictures before heading to bed, which I think prompted my dream that I went hiking and mountain climbing in Alaska. Dave Pittenger was also in my dream, but not in Alaska. It was a very weird sequence of dreams. I was deeply in dream land when my cell phone went off and woke me up. Who was calling me on a Saturday morning!??!?! No one who knows me would think that I would be awake and functional on a Saturday morning. It was my boss calling from home. I didn't get to my cell in time to catch it, but after hearing the message, I spent my first barely awake hour doing work related stuff. Thank god for the internet and cell phones.

We at breakfast after noon, had many cups of coffee with brown sugar, and talked about the next ten days. Too much fun to be had this coming week: Akiva on Thursday, Gran Bel Fisher on Friday, Philly and IKE on Saturday, Matt Wertz on Sunday, and Carbon Leaf on Tuesday. And you wonder why coffee with brown sugar is needed!

Friday, April 15, 2005

what am i, five?!?

After work last night, I decided to brave the dark streets of Hoboken and take a run around town. Now I fully understand that running at night isn't exactly the best idea, but it was still kinda light out and people were milling around. Plus I can run fast.

I do my usual jaunt around the residential area then head over and run along the water before heading back into town. All was going well till I hit Bumville. No worries, they're all laying down and I am coasting. Then I almost get hit by a car who didn't even stop at the stop sign. It was like a damn video game. I was a little jolted, so I turned off onto a cobblestone street where there were people, but no cars.

Then I totally bit it. I have no idea what the hell I tripped on, but I scratched my iPod, have to skinned knees and a huge bruise and slash on my palm. I'm so awesome. I'm sure people saw me, so I got up and just ran back. It hurt like hell, but after my adventure I just wanted to go home.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

a 2500 mile away pick me up

On the subway home I thought of many different things to blog about, but now I forget. Just too much to do, not enough time to do it in, and no room to breathe. I apologize for all of the texts, e-mails, IMs, and calls that I have not returned...please don't take it personally, I'll come around. Promise. :-) Trust me, I have even told my mom that she won't hear from me unless she e-mails me. Just think of it this way, if I am super busy, that just means I'll that much more interesting when you next hear from me and I'll have stories. ;-)

Needless to say, today was one of those days - just a ton of things piling up at work as well as offers and promotion stuff non work work related coming in. There's a guy I talk to several times a day over on the west coast and usually I enjoy talking to him because he's super sweet and just a cool guy. Everytime a new Pollstar, Rolling Stone, or Billboard comes out, Laura and I scour them to find the faces of the people we usually talk to on the phone. So far this guy hasn't come up and we think that there should be an assistants issue on the shelves so that we all can see what each other looks like. Its funny when we find familiar names and get to match them with faces, they end up not looking at all like how we imagined! But yeah, back to the west coast. I had to call this guy a few times within ten minutes for show info and I figured that he thought that I was being a pain in the ass. He apparently got short with me, thought I didn't notice at all. A few minutes later I get an e-mail from him apologizing to me and hoping that I had a good day. He explained that things were going crazy in the office. I wrote him back saying no harm was done and that I completely understood. But it was realy cool, to know that we were both going through similiar days. Brings some normalcy to our chaos.

you know you're from delaware if...

this was sent to me and i laughed. here ya go...some are keepers, but i think they need to divide it for new castle county and the rest of delaware...there really is a difference.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You Know You're From Delaware When... You know where, what and when the Hummers Parade is held.
"Vacation" means going to Rehoboth or Cape "Cantaloupe" Henlopen.
You know the best subs come from Capriotti's.
You used to play in the wooder in the crick, and caught fraugs.
Your school classes were canceled because of 3 snowflakes.
The whole state panics and uses all of their road salt for those 3 snowflakes.
You love the beach but hate the tourists.
You know about punkin-chunkin and you have your favorite chunker.
You know someone who went to school with one of the Capano's.
You've eaten scrapple sandwiches.
You can identify all the major types of manure by smell (especially chicken!)
If it takes more than an hour to drive to, you're not going.
You know what a "slippery" dumpling is.
You know who YouDee is.
Somebody in your family has worked for the DuPont Company.
You think the "Apple Scrapple Festival" is perfectly normal, except for all those granola types running in the 5K race.
You think, maybe, just maybe, you might get a White Christmas. Then it rains.
The highest point in the state is a rise on the golf course.
The state has one hill. You've been sledding on it.
You remember WAMS and WCAU (BARSKY in the morning!).
You know NewERK is in New Jersey, but NewARK is in Delaware.
You know how to carefully pronounce the name Foulk Road.
You talk of Northern Delaware and the entire Eastern Seaboard as "above the canal."
You know if another Delawarean is from southern, middle or northern Delaware as soon as they open their mouth.
You know the name of every street in Delaware, but have no idea what the route number is.
When you want to go out for a nice dinner, you have to switch states.
You can remember when Maryland Bank (MBNA) swallowed up Ogletown and Putt-Putt.
Everywhere you go, you always run into someone you know or went to school with.
You know what Newark Night and First Night are.
You know exactly which roads to avoid due to the CONSTANT road construction.
You love Dollie's salt water taffy and Grotto's Pizza. You know where all of the late-night 24-hour rest stops and restaurants are.
You can remember when Christiana Hospital was a field with cows.
You remember when Christiana Mall had a Galaxy arcade.
When you go out of state to shop or eat, you are always surprised about the tax
You know the differences in housing in Elsmere, Pike Creek, and Greenville.

so wounded

HAHAHAHHA I laughed my ass off reading this because it's like me every freaking day. Newspaper juggling and iPod toting while trying to balance my coffee. I just tried the napkin thing and it still doesn't work and by the time I get to 35th my hand is a sticky mess. And it's not like you can drink the damn coffee when you get it because it's too damn hot. And of course I totally relate to the CD/vinyl release. At leats when I worked at Rainbow I could have whatever I wanted on time or early. Oh wait, I can still do that now too. Thought I would share the below story with you.

Critically Wounded — East Village, Dec. 1, 2002
A speeding cab tapped its horn and pushed through a handful of people crossing the street at St. Marks and Ave. A."See that shit?""What?""That taxi. He almost ran me over completely!" Billy raised his middle finger to the back of the taxi, now drawing away. "Fuck you asshole!" "I know, these guys are nuts," said James.
Billy and James were flushed and full having just stepped out of 7A where they had brunch.
"I don't give a shit what their hurry is, that's just plain ridiculous," said Billy. "They should do something about the goddamn taxis; traffic here is fucking wounded.""I know dude," said James. "Sometimes I just want to put my boot right through the windshield."
They walked along St. Marks toward Cooper Square juggling their to-go coffees and newspapers, trying not to get entangled in the wires from their iPods that sprung from their Yak-Paks. Billy wore a mesh cap and reflective aviator glasses, but still he squinted. The volume on his iPod was too loud because he was listening to a mix he made for the bartender at Welcome To The Johnson's and he wanted to test it for walkability before giving it to her. But from one song to the next the volume varied widely.
"Goddamn!" Billy said, gripping his iPod. "Why the fuck didn't they make the iPod so the volume adjusts to the individual songs? That's so unbelievably wounded."
"I dunno," said James. "I think Apple was much cooler back in the Mac 128 days. Steve Jobs is a fucking fascist now anyway.""Yeah, Steve Jobs is like critically wounded dude," said Billy. "The guy's a megalomaniac, I mean, did you know the default date setting on all Macs is his birthday?""You've got to be kidding," said James."Swear to God," said Billy. "At least Bill Gates gives money to India for AIDS."
It was a blustery, clear day and a gale of wind whipped down the street.
"Fuck!" said James, spilling coffee down his front. "I fucking hate the wind! It's just so fucking frustrating! God, it is sooo wounded!""Yeah, why the hell do those fuckers fill up the to-go coffee cups so full?" said Billy. "Don't they understand that people get the coffee to-go so they can walk around with it?""I know, it's wounded dude," said James, sucking coffee from his fingers. "Fuck, now my hand's gunna be all sticky.""And then," said Billy. "To stop the coffee from going all over the place they put about a hundred napkins on top to soak it all up. Then you got a big handful of sticky, wet napkins. You can't even blow your nose in them; they're instantly ruined! Reeeal ecological, huh?""Christ! I thought I told him one sugar," said James wincing. "I thought that bodega was pretty good up until now.""No way dude," said Billy. "That place is totally wounded. You knew that. Remember when we got those turkey sandwiches after the Yeah Yeah Yeahs show and the bread was like totally stale?""It was that place?""Yeah, and their mayo tasted like somebody pissed in it.""Why didn't you say anything?""I didn't really think they could fuck up the coffee," said Billy. "You'd be surprised," said James. "And you can always tell the really bad bodegas because the lids to their coffee cups have these defective drinking flaps that don't stay down, they don't hook right, see?"James pushed back the plastic flap and it sprung up again. "Tell me that is not so fucking wounded?""It totally is," said Billy. "Then the coffee gets all cold before you can finish it."Billy threw his coffee into the street, then James did the same."There's always Starbucks," said James. "Yeah right. There's always ten Starbucks," said Billy. "I fucking hate Starbucks. Hey, let's hit Other Music, I wanna see if they have the new Donnas record.""Did you check Ear Wax yet?" said Billy. "I bet they have it cheaper. Plus, I personally think Other Music is wounded. It's totally commercial. I mean just look at it, it's right next to Tower Records.""Dude, you wanna talk wounded?" said James. "I already checked at Cock Wax and the guy was a total prick, he was all: 'Uhh, dude. It's not even, like, out yet. It's still on, like, order dude.' And I was like: 'Hello dude? I've got the fucking release date right here. Hello? I work at a fucking record label, dude. I think I know how this stuff works a little better than you.'""Did you really say that?""No, but I should have," said James. "Oh shit! I just remembered! I don't have any fucking money. My dad forgot to deposit the check. Man, maybe I should just go home, this day is already totally wounded.""Yeah, I think I ate too much anyway," said Billy. "I hate that, don't you? I wish they just had food pills because eating is such a pain in the ass.""Tell me about it," said James. "I think I'm gunna call my dad real quick."James pulled out his cell phone, then Billy pulled out his cell phone too."What the fuck?"James was staring off at the sky above the Cooper Union. "I'm not getting any reception! Fuck! Verizon is wounded dude. Jesus! It's so fucking frustrating!""Shut up dude!" said Billy, stopping to cover his receiver. "I'm on the phone!""Fuck you!" said James. "You're the one who's always bitching about shit! You're so fucking wounded, dude!""I'm wounded?" said Billy. "I can't believe you! You're the one who's fucking woooo —"
A speeding taxi hit James and Billy as they crossed Third Avenue.
"Talk to me! Talk to me! C'mon son!"
Billy was conscious, but wavering. The paramedic squatted over him, touching his cheek.
"So whatta we got?" asked a policeman.The paramedic stood and turned to him: "Looks like we got two: Critically Wounded."

feel my wrath

I guess you can judge how my day will go after I tell Laura, "let me yell at them - I feel fiesty," after being in the office for an hour. Since that call, I had to regulate on five more people/groups. Of course, if you know me, you know that I rarely get riled up or even raise my voice. Or if I yell, I'm usually laughing and that totally defeats the purpose. Today I was vindictive and was mean and now I kinda feell bad, but I had to be abrasive and get my point across. We'll see when the results come in. I have already tried to stab myself in the eye with my pen and hang myself with my phone cord.

Laura noticed I was on a roll and went out and bought me a vanilla soy latte because she knows that they make me happy and calm.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

last minute thoughts on a tuesday

"Consumers have musical choice? What musical choice? In or society we choose only from what we are given to choose from, and that choice is determined by 5 major media corporations who control the exposure outlets that consumers depend on for their entertainment." Christopher Knab, FourFront Media and Music

It sucks to be plain. I came across that quote today and enjoyed.

The new Perishers album came out today. As is the new Better than Ezra. I will not buy either CD until I visit Rainbow :-).

Nothing really exciting to report to you today...just another crazy hectic day. Lot's of things to look forward to, especially hanging out with the nyc girls this weekend. Surprisingly there is no show slated, but I'll make up for it by the end of the month.

Very very very sleepy. Lugging up laundry from the basement to the fifth floor sucks. I need a new laptop - mine still sounds like a jet plane. Want to donate one to me? It will go to a good cause, I swear.

Monday, April 11, 2005

big ups to my cuz

So check out Patrick in his new show. So weird being able to watch him every week, and the show is actually really good and they play some decent tunes on it. Now you know where I am every Sunday night at 10 pm.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/greysanatomy/

rambling

I like sitting here in my favorite grey hoodie eating peanut butter out of the jar. I can't fall asleep and my room is wicked hot. Tomorrow I have to be at work an hour early and will probably have to stay late. Granted, I know what I do is a 24/7 ordeal and when I am not in the office, I am on the phone, e-mail, or online researching, booking and advancing shows, promoting, and being a psychologist to those crazy bands, but still. At least I will make sure I am up early enough to go to the coffee shop before I hit Fifth Avenue.

Sunday, April 10, 2005

Grren to Think / Fake Chapter Records Party!

On Saturday, Steve and Gilligan hosted the party of the year...so far. It was so great to be in the company of people I haven't seen in a while, and of course those of who I talk to all the time. I love the GTT crowd, we always have such an awesome time together.

The guys have an awesome house, still being furnished and decorated, but awesome so far! Some furniture died on Gilligan's floor, so he had tape outlines. No, he just hasn't gotten all of his furniture yet, so he marked off where things were going with tape. The attic was turned into the makeout room, complete with a sign and five sleeping bags. I noticed that there wasn't a barrier between the ledge and stairs and said that that could be dangerous later on. Katie quickly said that I wasn't allowed up there. Oh yeah, so speaking of which, apparently I am known by the GTT crowd as "the drunk girl". How did this happen?! Granted we have had parties together...at the beach, new years, apartments...and of course shows...but has anything really crazy happen? I mean, I have drank more with the Marlon Spike crowd, and for a while we'd drink together a few times a week at shows, bars, parties, houses, apartments, in the car...and we have done some pretty crazy things...and I don't think they call me drunk girl...how did i get that moniker!?! Enlighten me!!

Anyways...I was empty handed for a while, then alleviated that with a Miller Lite. Steve is a great host and had plenty of food and drinks available. He also makes great party mixes, that included The Shins, Ryan Adams, and Phantom Planet. Katie baked a bunch of awesome foods and made sure there were plenty of vegetarian stuff on the table. Steve also had sushi for the first time - he had no idea what he was missing! While talking about my recent trip to VA, Morita informed me that I did not have a "real" forty and that a forty of beer is different than a "forty". Dareen and Dave joined in the convo, and Dareen and I were corrected by the guys that a true "forty" was malt liquor. Somehow the conversation turned from malt liquor to eggs. Egg salad gives Dareen the heebie jeebies and the rest of us agree that hard boiled eggs, or eggs in any form actually, are wonderful. Eggs are such a versatile food.

We moved into the kitchen where the conversation turned to football. I also spotted the raspberry vodka. Steve actually gave me my first taste of the sweet nectar of the raspberry vodka during one of the beach excursions, and it has kicked my ass ever since. Maryellen told me that I shouldn't drink it because I had beer first, but I claim that my two Miller Lites counted as water. Dave kept trying to trip me, and that was mean. Again, it was brought up that I kept spilling my drink at New Years 2004. Somehow it was always full and always spilling on the ground. Oh hell, I'm Italian and talk with my hands. The NYE convo also prompted the debate on whether I kissed a girl at the party. The girls of course said I didn't, but the guys claim that I did. Steve said that he heard that I did, he has no idea where he is, but he wants pictures. It didn't happen!

Maryellen's jacket blended into Steve's pink wall. Maryellen also can't handle her liquor. Literally, she spilled it. She wasn't drunk, just clumsy! Morita also had to stop drinking, which is the first time I think I have ever witnessed him say "I need to not drink for a bit." Our rides left us. Second and last vodka drink. Katie went in search for Steve's cowboy hate and Steve said that she is crazy like me. Haha - see, I told you that we were all in good company! Drummer Dan brought his puppy - poor thing was probably tramautized by all the excitement! Haha, Steve introduced me to Dan by saying, "this girl knows everything about music and also has thrown up in more states than anyone!" Great first impression!

As we called it, the guys shuffled into the music room and guitars were busted out. Steve tried to rap and Robb jammed on the triangle.

Around 2 am Morita drove Maryellen and I back to Hoboken. Apparently when Steve says to make a "left right left right and you'll be on the parkway", he clearly meant "right left right left then we'll see the parkway". We didn't even get an extra life when we hit A B A B select start! I get out of the car and said "thanks for the ride, talk to you tomorrow, gonna go throw up now". Maryellen said that she turned to Morita and said that I wasn't even drunk.

I run upstairs, change, and hop into bed...then quickly hopped out and ran to the bathroom. UGH! I was running back and forth for nearly an hour. I think it was either the stupid rhyme or the mayonnaise on the sandwiches (I can't deal with mayo - only on egg salad!). But yeah it really sucked and I haven't been like that since my going away party Raf had for me.

So I go to bed around 4 am, woke up at 10am, had some tea, watched TV, fell asleep again, woke up at 1:30 pm, cleaned, took a 45 minute run, went to the grocery store, did laundry, then went over to Maryellen's. See the entire day was not lost.

What a fabulous weekend. I dread Mondays.

Adventures in Gilbertsville

Friday was the epitome of a stressful work day! The last two hours were full throttle, and if it seemed absolutely crazy in NYC, it was even worse in LA. We all pretty much live and die by our cell phones and e-mail and without either and trying to get work done it just brought the hecticness to an all new level. I stayed late at work, then met up with Maryellen in Hoboken and we took to the highway to the Todd Martin show in PA.

I had asked Maryellen to bring me some whiskey, but she opted for a bagel and coffee instead. Maryellen shared stories about some coworkers and we pondered how some girls can sleep with just anyone. Oh yeah, Maryellen also hit a possum...not to be the last. We had on a mix CD which had on LDE's "The Story", in which Maryellen informed me that this was her favorite song of the moment. Oh how perfect - I love it. Afterwards we put in Weezer and sung really loudly as we cursed the stupid drivers in the left lane.

We turned off 78 and busted out the mapquest directions not knowing where we may end up. Again, we reaffirmed ourselves that we could never live out where we were going. Now granted, I am as most farm girl as they can get in Newark - working at the crack of dawn in the barn - but this is way different, this is where they announce engagements on fire hall marquees and still have christmas lights up in April. Surpringly, mapquest was word for word correct in getting us from point a to point b. Ah yes, we knew we were at the All Star when we arrived at the largest and most lit building in Gilbertsville.

We grabbed some Yuenglings and grabbed a table near the stage. Hung out with Brad before the show - update: he has purchsed a Treo and ditched his BlackBerry, and were introduced to the old school (high school/college) TM crowd. I really liked Todd's opening number. TM's mom was in front of me and I think she said that it was an older song of his, but I may have misheard. Sounded like ROI era Vertical Horizon. They had a long night ahead of them, so we got a to of TM originals and covers of Jack Johnson, Ryan Adams, Angie Aparo, Vertical Horizon, and DMB. Todd also said something about my indie cred on stage, but I missed it.

During the set break we took silly pictures (see below), sampled fine beer, discussed radio play, and talked nonsense. I also don't want to call anyone out, but this is a mystery. Ok, so there is this girl, I met her before, but we didn't really talk, I don't remember her name. I know she isn't from around here, somewhere out in the midwest - but she goes to faraway TM shows. Which is nothing out of the ordinary, because you all know very well that I can be in any state at any given time. But whether or not I am traveling for work or pleasure, I am usually having a great time. That is the essence of the roadtrip, not only do I go to shows to support my friends, but also because of the experience before, during, and after the show. More often than not I meet new people at the shows and will pretty much talk to anyone. Now, here we are, hanging out with Bill who just just met two weeks earlier, and other PA locals, having a fabulous time. This girl didn't socialize at all. Maybe that's not her nature, but she just downright looked like she wasn't enjoying herself and seemed miserable. And this isn't the first time she has seemed that way. I don't want to judge her, but why travels hundreds and hundreds of miles to just be alone and listen to music. CD's are cheaper and aren't interactive. Who knows, again, I am not being mean, I am just perplexed. But what do I know.

After the show we packed up the belongings and headed out. Brad pees in trees. We all said our goodbyes and Maryellen and I were off to Wawa. Oh how I love Wawa. Sandwich, chips, and coffee. And can I just tell you how much the pesto sauce rocks!? We pondered the actions of guys, why people don't make sense, and sang along to CDs. Halfway home, we switched off. Yay for stick shift cars. I can't remember much about the ride home because we were absolutely exhuasted, so regardless, whatever we did probably didn't make much sense.

We rolled in at 4 am - typical Friday night, how I miss thee. :-)


Is that a pink shirt? We're not in San Diego!


Yay for us!


Maryellen & Brad during the set break


For once I am not talking...


Miranda and Bill rocking out hardcore haha