8pm
9pm
10pm
11pm – 1am
3am
7:45am
9:30am
Home sweet beach
So I’ve gone down to my hometown to visit my parents two weekends in a row. I think the beauty is addicting, and so is the salty ocean air. I was born in Salinas and lived there (minus a stint and Boston and another in Chiapas, Mexico) until I was in 7th grade. My family bought my great aunt’s house in Carmel after she died. There is a lot of bullshit that goes on in that town. It’s called the town for “the newly wed and the nearly dead.” The population is about 95% Caucasian, old and republican. Needless to say, a lot of elements of living there do not jive with my family. However, we are incredibly lucky to be living in the house that my great-uncle built and to live in such a beautiful area. Carmel has a great history as an artist commune, and I loved hearing stories from my Grandma about everyone riding their horses to school before anybody really had cars in the area. Plus, where else can you see Doris Day in the crowd when you’re in 8th grade and playing really shitty basketball?
This is what it looks like on a typical day.
There are happy, sandy dogs all over the place.
Someone had the right idea…
This could have easily been my sister and me when we were little. These girls were shrieking and laughing so loudly, they got a dog howling.
It’s funny how much easier it is for me to appreciate it now that I’m not an alienated teenager living there, driving 2.5 hours up to San Francisco to see shows.
Cella, Julia and I drove down there together a couple of weeks ago. This meant grapes, pita chips and chocolate-covered, peanut-butter filled pretzels from Trader Joe’s, a stop at In and Out, and lots of dancing in the car.
Cella and I saw a sign of the apocalypse when we drove back up to SF. No horsemen, though, so we figured it was safe.
Last weekend, my sister and I drove down for one night since she was on her spring break from law school. My Maaaam surprised us with a birthday cake, since my sister’s birthday was a few weeks ago, my Dad’s is on the 2nd and mine is on the 4th.
In this photo, I am about to blow prematurely. I had also been drinking Pim’s Cups and red wine for a few hours beforehand. (I sang “Happy Birthday to me”)
Now I am back at home in SF, where on any given day, you might happen upon a thong on the sidewalk on your way to the pharmacy.
Final Countdown
The Arcade Fire have cancelled the rest of their tour, which means…
Lucas is coming home in 2 days instead of 2 weeks!!!!!
Things to do tomorrow:
1.) Finish organizing my surprise for him, that was by chance going to happen tomorrow anyway. Such good timing.
2.) Clean the apartment. I am a piler. My closet, drawers, bags, bookcases, magazine racks, etc, have vomitted all over the apartment.
3.) Choose an airport outfit. I get really excited when he comes home, especially when I can pick him up at the airport, and I like to get dressed up so that I at least look semi-normal once the jumping up and down, crying, sprinting towards him and tackling begins. I am generally holding an entirely inappropriate sign to welcome him home, too. I must get on that tomorrow, as well.
I never know what to expect when the boy comes home…..
An audio tour of Saturday, March 10th.
Or “Songs to Listen to in San Francisco When it’s 78 Degrees and You’ve Just Spent the Afternoon at Your Best Friends’ House.”
Or “I Love Cella, Julia and Reena”
“Breaker,” Low (new song and amazing)
“Dumb Luck,” Dntel (again, new and amazing song)
“Girl From Ipanema” – any version
“Some Other Spring,” Billie Holiday
“Come Love,” Billie Holiday
“An Island,” Devendra Banhart
“Passing Afternoon,” Iron and Wine
“They Cannot Let It Expand,” Midlake
“Underwater (You and Me),” Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
“Beautiful Sharks,” Something For Kate
“Where Do I Begin (Away Team Mix),” Shirley Bassey
“Smells Like Content,” The Books
I will figure out how to host MP3s soon enough, but for the moment, just get those songs by whatever means necessary.
Happy International Women’s Day!
That’s right, my favorite holiday.
Check out these sites for some information and history:
www.internationalwomensday.com
Bit of history and the UN’s role in the celebration
It may be nearing the centennial of this holiday, but women are in danger of being set back in many ways at the hands of the current administration. Here’s to keeping our choices our own, and maybe even to welcoming a woman into the White House for the first time!
Here are some women I love:
My MAAAAAM
My sister, Laura
My two Grandmas, Betty and Connie
My three aunts, Amy, Lisa and Barb
My step-Grandma, Georgianne
Rachel (Lucas’ sister)
Marcella
Julia
Jay
Claire
Jess
Tracy
Gia
Emma
Sarah
Becca
Tub
Nina
To name just a few. Not to mention all the woman who suffered, and continue to suffer, for our rights. I’m lucky and grateful to have been raised by a family who always taught me to respect myself and be respected, to believe in myself, to know that being a woman is an extraordinary thing, and to fight like hell for my rights and equality. I’m luckier, still, to have an amazing network of women friends surrounding me, who love and support each other and whose impudence and strength will always propel and inspire me.
PS: to the person who found my blog via the search term “Kate Moss nude,” you picked the wrong day, buddy.
ALK;SHJDF!!!!!! CELLA’S HEAD IS GOING TO EXPLODE!!!!!
THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST SUMMER EVER.
“Swedish clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz said on Friday Australian pop queen Kylie Minogue will be the face of a new beachwear campaign, adding to a list of fashion and music stars who have worked with the firm.
Kylie, known for songs such as “I Should Be So Lucky”, follows in the footsteps of “Material Girl” Madonna, who has designed an H&M clothing line, and fashion icons such as Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney.
“When we think of Australia and glamour, we think Kylie, who is such a stylish person,” H&M design head Margareta van den Bosch said in a statement.
H&M said 10 percent of the revenues from the “H&M Loves Kylie” line, available from mid-May, would be donated to the charity WaterAid which provides clean water and sanitation.
“It has been a great experience to work with H&M on creating this summer range,” Minogue said in a statement. “To me it is all about summer indulgence, effortless chic and lots of fun.”
Kylie, who shot to fame in the TV soap Neighbours, launched her “Showgirl Homecoming Tour” in November last year after treatment for breast cancer.
She has had seven number one singles in Britain and was named fashion magazine Glamour’s best-dressed woman this year, ousting model Kate Moss from the top spot.” (source)
OH MY GOD SHE LOOKS SO INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL IN THE PROMO SHOT. A.;SLKDFJ;ASDF!!!! I’m making an executive decision that I will own every single piece from this line, and if that means not eating for the next three years it will be worth it.
but that’s not all………
MAC is launching a new lipstick called Rubia, created by Paulina Rubio!!
This is what I like to call an excellent news day.
This must be……(noise) pop!
I’ve been working my ass off this week on the Noise Pop festival. I had to miss the opening party on Tuesday, due to my death flu, and that includes DJ David Cross, who I hope showed up looking a little something like this:
But, sick or not, I had some show managing to do. So on Wednesday I loaded up on homeopathic remedies that I couldn’t pronounce and headed to the Bottom of the Hill. My friend Brian’s band, Tartufi, was playing with Hella, so I obviously requested to work the show months ago. The staff at BotH was amazing (the manager handed me 10 drink tickets within 5 minutes of meeting, which I promptly handed off due to the death flu), my volunteers and merch rep were great, and the bands melted my face off. Though I had known Brian for some years and listen to Tartufi a lot, I still had never seen them play since I met Brian after I moved to New York. It was incredible. It’s unbelievable that he and Lynne make that much noise with so many textures just between the two of them. They can transition effortlessly between swoony, ethereal harmonies and shredding, chaotic crunch. I loved it.
The Macromantics and Pop Levi also played, were all very nice people, but I missed most of their sets. I saw a couple of Pop Levi songs and dug the shit out of them and missed my Claireski immensely throughout. Then Hella erupted and the crowd went insane, rightfully so. There’s nothing quite like seeing hairy, large, grown-ass men nearly weeping as they scream along with their favorite band. I’ve never seen so much sweat flying around in my life. Our Noise Pop banner was literally covered in sweat afterwards, including a PERFECT SHOULDER PRINT, despite it being about 7 feet up the wall.
Thursday was Langhorne Slim, The Trainwreck Riders, Poor Bailey and The Morning Benders (their MySpace is here) at the Rickshaw Stop. I’d met Langhorne through a friend in New York a few years ago and seen him play a bunch around town over the last few years, so I was glad to hear he was doing NP this year and requested his show. You may have heard his name because of the awful situation that happened when he was opening for Two Gallants in Houston with an asshole, Taser-happy cop. The show was incredibly fun. It’s been a great chance to learn about some more local bands. I loved the Morning Benders – wonderfully structured songs and very tight as a band (a job well done with drinking after the show, not beforehand). They are definitely worth checking out. Langhorne was fantastic as usual and it was exciting to see him play a non-hometown show to such a positive response. During the last song, he brought half the crowd onstage and there was a proper hoedown. It was such an uplifting, fun night. I didn’t even feel that shitty the next day after an estimated 3 or 4 hours of sleep. Oh yeah, I was getting home at 2:30 each night and waking up at 7:30 for work during the day each of these days, too.
Today Cellz, Tub, Julia, Charlie and I met up at the Noise Pop Expo, which was a kind of local designers and artists fair with acoustic sets from NP bands all day. I missed Ted Leo, who pushed up his set by an hour, and was wicked bummed that I didn’t get to see him. Ju, Cellz and Tub all scored some gear and then we all headed to Zeitgeist for a drink before parting ways.
My last show (and the last day of the festival) is Midlake, tomorrow at Bottom of the Hill. It will be great, but I’m feeling bittersweet that it’s already over. It’s been a blast, but I am one exhausted, run-down kitten.
