Saved for the morning after

And a great night it was.

(despite poor lighting for taking photos)

Sea Wolf

I'm going to see Sea Wolf at The Music Box, Henry Fonda Theatre tonight and I could not be more excited. If you follow my blog, you can probably understand what I'm talking about; I draw pictures of the man and listen to his album on a daily basis. I had been harrassing Karen to get me a ticket for over a month - most recently last week - but wouldn't you know it, the day of the concert arrived and I had completely forgotten about it (in true Stephanie style). Then I received an IM from Karen saying, "sorry, but I couldn't get you a ticket." I said "no worries" and sprinted down the street in my highest of heels, to the theatre box office. NOT SOLD OUT!! This made my day. He is opening for Nada Surf, who I really don't know at all - I think they have a couple songs I'd recognize. Regardless, it shall be a good night!

Yael Naim Concert Review

Karen and I went to see Yael Naim perform at the Hotel Cafe last night. I love the Hotel Cafe because it is such an intimate and warm setting. But despite it's quaint size, we did more listening than 'seeing' because there was a healthy size crowd there. Most people would recognize Yael Naim from her recently famed song "New Soul" which was used in a Macbook commercial. But I'd do yourself a favor and watch the fantastical music video, for I think it will surely bring a smile to your face.



I can't praise her performance enough. She has such an exquisite voice. Based on her range, it sounds as though she's been classically trained. At times her voice sounds sweet and melodic, at times haunting and vigorous, but always sensual and consuming. She was accompanied by a three man band: a drummer, a bass player, and a synth player who really impressed during the sole song he played on the piano. Yael jumped back and forth between guitar and piano. They kept their sound simple; the only loud, abrupt notes that the piano and drums hit were very strategically placed. All in all, it felt like I was at an intimate French jazz performance in an underground club, in what city around the world I'm not sure.

The highlight of her set, for me, was a cover song that I didn't even recognize until Karen enlightened me. She introduced the song by saying, "because we like to make music and surround ourselves with friends, I am going to play a song that isn't my own, but I am borrowing it from a friend." (in that sort of broken english) It wasn't until she started playing the song that I realized this sweet, unassuming chanteuse has a bit of a sarcastic side. She began playing the song "Toxic" by Britney Spears, and it was just amazing. I had no clue what a great song it is musically, since the original version is masked with such poppy cheesiness. Her myspace page houses her cover, but doesn't do it justice; the live performance of it had so much more gusto than the recorded version.

The concert was fantastic and I highly recommend seeing her live if you have the opportunity.

On anoother note, I "discovered" a new artist that I really like: Alice Smith. She is playing at Hotel Cafe on Staurday night, but I can't go because I will be out of town for work, so I'm a little disappointed. She'll be back here in LA in a couple weeks, playing The Wiltern, but I would have enjoyed this upcoming location more. I came across her music in a rerun of Entourage this past Friday night. Her song "Dream" came on towards the end of the show and I was so taken by it that I immediately googled the lyrics I was hearing. She's got a soulful, jazzy - and dare I say - even a little poppy sound to her music.

So there are a couple new (to me) music crushes I have. Hopefully you check them out and enjoy what you hear!

Long-winded update

What a couple of weeks it has been. I've had a lot going on, which pleases me beyond words.

First, I want to mention that I'm still feeling the creative flow these days, and that feeling of motivation alone makes everyday a little bit better than usual. I'm starting to feel a significant pull towards changing my career goals. While that might not necessarily sound proactive, I've established that, for me, change is usually all about momentum. I was really discouraged by not placing in the writing contest I recently entered, but in hindsight, the act of entering was a monumental step in a direction I'd like to head. Hopefully this snowball will gain some traction as I keep the faith in myself alive.

A few entries back I chronicled my recent run-in with the law. I refer to the incident that way so I can feel like a bad ass, since obviously, getting your car towed is nothing thrilling.

Other exciting events include a Cat Power concert on Friday night. Karen and I were supposed to go together but she came down with a flu. Because her tickets were actually press passes she couldn't simply hand them over to me, she had to give them to a coworker. But since I've been on an independence kick lately, I decided to go to the sold out show by myself. As it turns out, I'm quite pleased that everything worked out the way it did. I met some new people and I'm pretty certain I made at least one new friend. Plus, the show was fantastic. She played very few songs that I knew, mostly new material, but I really wouldn't have had it any other way. It was great.

I've been spending a lot of time with my family lately, which I love. My dad's house is coming along quite nicely. I've been enjoying the beautiful weather down at the beach, getting excited for our newly remodeled beach house! As always, you can check out pictures from my weekend on my Flickr account (link to the left). This week they're kind of boring photos of the house progress. The ones I took at Cat Power did not show up because they don't allow flash photography. Also, the ones of my nieces and nephew are all starting to all look the same and I don't want to wear my readers out on their cuteness. So peruse if you feel so inclined.

I think that's about all I've got on the update front. I'm feeling inspired by friends like Marissa, whom I've been joining out at art galleries once a week or so these days, Mike, who is always working on side projects to further his writing (and now acting) endeavors, and Katie, who has her eye the prize and recently interviewed for a much desired position at KCRW. So thanks guys, keep up the good work.

Oh, and... yay life!

Bah Humbug

I'm completely sick and on deadline. I can't concentrate for the life of me right now, but I have 3 hours to figure out how. Actually, my deadline is in 3 hours, so I better figure out how to concentrate in about 10 minutes.

I saw I Am Legend on Christmas Eve. What was I thinking? What am I ever thinking when I watch zombie-type movies? I couldn't sleep all night. It was horrible; I was terrified, alone in my apartment. And now I'm sick. I'm convinced that my lack of sleep that night caused my immune system to turn on me. I woke up yesterday with a mildly sore throat, took Zicam all day and felt fine.

Then it hit me like a freight train when I was sitting in a movie theatre watching Sweeney Todd last night. I had to get up and leave. It took an hour to go from feeling fine to a completely achy neck, the chills, tingly legs and a horribly scratchy throat. By the time I left the movie theatre I had a full blown flu. Luckily I wasn't missing much of the movie. Sweeney Todd was surprisingly boring, and I usually love Tim Burton; he's one of my favorites. The movie was over two hours long and after an hour and a half I felt like I still hadn't seen anything that I didn't already watch in the preview.

The worst part about being sick right now is that I have a Reverend Horton Heat concert to go to tonight. I've been looking forward to this for months but as luck would have it, I'm under the weather (what does that expression even mean?).

And now, back to my deadline. Wish me luck.

Oh well oh well oh well!!!

Well, tonight is my would be White Stripes concert *tear*. Gosh, now I feel silly; I'm commiserating a cancelled concert as if it's the one year anniversary of my dog's death. Anyway, what am I complaining about? I get to go see Arcade Fire tomorrow night, and Cat Power the next night! I still have so much exciting activity, in fact, that I'm worried about whether or not I'll be able to push through all of it (since I've always got to be worried about something). We have an international press junket taking place over the next two days and wouldn't you know it, I got the unfortunate job of morning media handler - meaning I have to be at the international guests' hotel in Santa Monica (and I live in Hollywood, mind you) at 7am tomorrow, and 6:30am on Friday. Yikes - that's waaay before my usual wake up time. Living 5 minutes from work allows me the luxury of rolling out of bed at 8:25, in order to make it to work by 9am (yeah, you read correctly, and that's including a shower - I'm low maintenance).

So the weekend (assuming it starts tomorrow) will be great fun, and I'll probably sleep through most of Saturday as a result. Then, Monday, I am taking the day off for my birthday. I used to do that in college so I could go enjoy the beauty of being outdoors with my less financially burdened and dually unemployed friends. Making that call this year, however, was a little more difficult since now we are ALL financially burdened and work conventional day jobs. So whereas in the past I took that day off so I could be more social (read: get more birthday greetings), this year I'm taking the day off to exist in solitude. But when the time came to turn in my "time off" request form I was quite certain that I'd be perfectly happy spending the day all by my lonesome... enjoying a massage, going on a hike, maybe hitting up The Grove for some from me, for me presents. Yes indeed, it will be a good day.

Josh and I would be doing a fancy b-day dinner on Monday, however a particular gift option has come to his mind, which conflicts with any other form of extravagant spending... instead of a fancy dinner (and since he needs to figure out a main attraction gift for me since The White Stripes fell through) he suggested that he put the money he would have spent on my b-day towards... a new... iPhone. Yep, livin' the dream, L-I-V-I-N!! Truth is, however, I haven't decided if that's what I want to do. You see, I'm the type on person who sort of despises her cell phone. Ask my friends and you'll find that I often don't answer it or even carry it on me for that matter; I treat it as a nuisance, a form of restriction and excessive obligation that I just don't need... I don't owe no one no darn explanation of my whereabouts! (unless of course there are extenuating circumstances, which there are about 65% of the time.) So this makes me wonder if the privilege of owning an iPhone would just be wasted on me. Of course, my current phone is one that I bought "refurbished", dates back to about 2000, and is so primitive in its graphics that, well, it has none - its dichromatic color scheme offers a dull green backlight and inanimate black stick figure images, suggestive of an inverted MS-DOS screen. So naturally, I'm not going to be chomping at the bit to flip it open and see what cool stuff is going on in my limited world of communication - rest assured, there's nothing cool going on. But even beyond that... well I'll go ahead and say it: nobody calls me!! Karen will take right to being my only chronic texter, but aside from her, Emily (who I live with anyway), and Josh (who I practically live with anyway), I wonder if my dazzling little iBuddy will get lonely. Eh, fuck it, I'll probably get it anyway.

And then on Tuesday my lovely and dear friend Katie will be treating me to the finest of dinners at our favorite sushi joint. I dare not say the name of my truly authentic little gem, since it's getting progressively busier and busier - god knows I want to keep it freed up for myself!

So there are my anticipated birthday festivities. Maybe I'll enlist friends for a more comprehensive dinner on Saturday night. T'would be a shame if not everyone was given the opportunity to offer me well wishes. (oh no she di'in't!!)

I've realized in writing this entry that I use a lot of dashes - and improperly at that! (I stand by my declaration that semicolons are pretentious).

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

I don't think words exist that will sufficiently express my disappointment over the fact that The White Stripes cancelled their tour for the rest of the year, which includes next week's September 19 concert that I've been looking forward to (read: thinking about multiple times a day) for months now. Not only that, but it is my birthday week and those tickets were Josh's birthday present for me (now he's probably scrambling to think of something else to give me). And I've never been to a concert of theirs before. And they're just about all I've really consistently listened to for the past two years - in fact, my car CD player has been on White Stripes disc rotation for several months now, with the occasional day long break for another CD, which I immediately get tired of and then hurriedly scurry back to the heroine that is The White Stripes music. With every song I love (almost all of them) I've been thinking to myself, "OH! I hope they play that when I see them... OH! No, wait! I want them to play that one more!" Etc.

Many, many tears.

HOWEVER!!!

(section added Thursday)
TONIGHT, Josh and I are going to a live taping of E! Network's "The Soup" - a show which I absolutely adore, so I'm truly, very excited about that!! Apparently the show doesn't have a real live audience. If you watch, you'll notice that the background laughter and feedback sounds as if it is coming from a group of about ten people. Well... it is. The "audience" consists of the show's producers, crew, and such. It just so happens that E! Entertainment is one of Josh's clients and he's tight with their HR guy, so voile! We got hooked up with the intimate experience that is being part of "The Soup" audience. Do you think Joel McHale will make eye contact with me? A girl can only dream...

Activities Worth Mentioning

Well hello there. It’s been called to my attention that I haven’t written much this month. I’ve started a few different entries but something always comes up and I don’t have time to finish them. So I’m going to see if I have enough time to squeeze one out right now.

The past week has been jam packed with activities. Be it a Dodger game, a night with grandparents, staffing a work related event, moving furniture, attending a show at the Hollywood Bowl, jet-setting to San Francisco for the weekend, or seeing THE BEASTIE BOYS (what what!) at The Greek AND The Wiltern, I just can’t seem to get a quiet night of relaxation at home. Oh woe is me!

Yes, the past eight days have consisted of all those activities, and more. Where do I start? How about I work backwards in time. So, yeah, I saw The Beastie Boys last night in concert at The Greek Theatre, ya know, no big deal. So like, they were amazing and it was probably one of the best few concerts I’ve ever been to, if not THE best, (shrug) but whatevs… in all seriousness though: WOW. I’ve been ardently listening to these B Boys since I was about eleven years old (“be true to yourself and you will never fall” was my eighth grade yearbook graduation quote), and yet I had never seen them live. Last night was exactly what I was hoping for, but so much more than I expected. They played more or less the entire Ill Communication album, which is definitely my favorite album, the one that first got me interested in their music, in fact – the one I was hoping they would play plenty of songs from. The stage was absolutely magnificent: a dozen or two rounded tyriangular, asymmetrical, different sized screens loosely hung in a wave shape over the stage, shining different lights and patterns throughout the show; the raised instrument section of the stage (including two full drum sets, other forms of percussion, and keyboards) had bright, color changing lining underneath it, which illuminated the whole stage – during funky jams they set the color to a mellow orangey-red and during high energy rhymes it alternated bright whites, yellows, blues, reds, greenss etc.; Mix Master Mike’s turntable setup had strobe lights posted on both outside table corners; they were all dressed in suh-weet getups, reminiscent of 1940s speakeasy-goers. The whole act was very classy, even when singing “No Sleep ‘til Brooklyn”. Overall, the show had a very funky, lounge-like feel, due to the new instrumental album the are promoting, called The Mix Up.

Oh, and did I mention that I’m going to see them again tonight at The Wiltern, for their all-instrumental “Gala Event” show, for which audience members are expected to dress to the nines? Oh, I did? Well anyway, I’m doing that too.

Whew, I’m already out of figurative breath, and I haven’t even started talking about the weekend. On Friday night Karen, Emily and I set out for San Francisco, for a weekend of fun in honor of Sam’s birthday. A weekend of fun indeed. I really don’t know that I could have had a better time. Naturally, after going out to dinner that night, we set out on the town. I don’t know the name of the first bar we went to, but it was nice until it got over crowded. At that point we headed to one of Sam’s favorite bars called “The Red Room”. The name says it all: everything, everywhere you look, is red. They even have wall partitions made of bottles that reflect red everywhere (perhaps the bottles themselves are red, I don’t know). I definitely liked the layout there. Of course, when you’re on vacation, no night simply ends when you hear the shouts of “last call!” and realize the lights are fading back on, making your red room appear not so red after all. So we went to an apartment that had pretty cool graffiti covering the inside walls, which made for some unique photographs.

Saturday might have been my favorite day of all. For his birthday, Sam wanted to play softball. I was pumped about it as soon as I heard. I love softball but stopped playing after eighth grade because I was never very good; despite having a decent arm, I was always pretty much a benchwarmer. Regardless, I’ve always loved to play catch and I guess I just really like games in general. Anyway, we spent the whole afternoon outside, in the sun, being merry. It was grand and I’d really like to make a habit of it… outdoor game-playing, that is. After getting cleaned up we started the evening by convening for “Happy Hour” (read: 10pm) at Sam’s. The first bar we headed out to was so interesting. It was actually an art gallery that throws themed parties every week. This weekend the theme was croquet, or garden party, or something of that nature. The entire floor was covered in plush grass – I couldn’t resist walking around barefoot. Plus, there was an upstairs loft area that we had to our group of about 15 people for a good hour, so it made for our own little private party. The second place we went to was also interesting in its own rite (I hope I remember the story correctly): back in the day, Miles Davis opened this cool little jazz bar and I guess it was quite the musical destination for awhile. It closed and remained closed for about twenty years, and only recently reopened with the new name “222”. The DJ in the back had us all getting groovy, dancing our little hearts out until, yet again, it was time for them to kick us out for closing.

Sunday consisted of lying around in Washington Park all day, from which my face incurred a nasty red sunburn unlike one I’ve had in years. But it was relaxing and totally enjoyable to just lounge around on a grassy knoll all afternoon with a handful of good friends. All in all, it was fantastic to hang out with old friends all weekend, in addition to meeting and making new ones. Great people, awesome city, what more could I ask for?

That’s all the energy I have to write about things in the past. So, there you go.

I Like Concerts

(alternate title: Concerts Are Fun)

I missed out on seeing the Shout Out Louds on Thursday night (tickets which I won online) because it was the one year anniversary of Dance Right at La Cita. The theme was Disco Prom and because the costume theme nights are usually such a spectacle, how could I resist? Surprisingly, not many people showed up for a theme night, and few were even in costume - very unusual. I suspect many of the infrequent attendees figured it would be utter chaos and decided to forgo the madness. So anyway, I gave those Shout Out Loud tickets to Wade and he was kind enough to give me an over-sized bottle of wine in return. And yes, he DID know that I got them for free.

Friday night I went to see a friend of Katie's play at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. Pretty music, but really heavy, I tell you what. Like, should-I-just-go-ahead-and-jump? type music.

Saturday (the main attraction of this blog entry) Karen took me to the Daft Punk concert downtown at the Sports Arena. Boy oh boy, what a show! I definitely have never danced that hard, which says a lot considering my stint as a faux hippie during college; I've been to an awful lot of jam band shows and done my fair share of twirling, prancing, and downright jigging. But Daft Punk put all other dance-worthy concerts to shame. Plus, their space suits were just awesome - for the encore they turned off most of the lights onstage and their suits and helmets were lined in glowing red neon lighting. I've never seen them before so it was all new to me. Thank you for that, once again, Karen.

AND, I just won MORE concert tickets. I absolutely love giveaways. The trick is you keep an eye or ear out for those underground outlets that probably won't have many people calling in/entering right away. This time the tickets are for Martin Rev at the Silverlake Lounge, from good ol' KXLU - gotta love those sometimes-staticky, low numbered radio stations.

What is up in my world

A lot of stuff, actually. I've been very busy lately.

CONCERTS:
I went to CSS this past Sunday with Ruthie, Marissa, & Ethan. It was great fun. I got a call at 5pm from Ruthie asking if I wanted to join the trio on their excursion because they had an extra ticket. I was pretty tired, but given that, I still managed to dance my socks off. CSS has great energy and put on a great show. The lead singer wore 3 layers of clothing, but I only remember 2: an elaborate sequins unitard, which she shed to then expose a more fitting, shiny unitard underneath. I felt like I was at a kids' concert for grownups. Like I said, it was great.

The White Stripes are coming to town - San Diego & Inglewood - in September, so I've got to remember to buy tickets for that. I'm not going to disclose what date the tickets go on sale, in an attempt to preserve my chances at securing a pair for myself. HA!

The Reverend Horton Heat are coming to Long Beach in July and I'm torn about the situation; I was very excited to see them in concert yet again, but then I found out they are only playing a set at an annual convention on the Queen Mary. BUT it's a TATTOO convention, which also sounds like great fun. Point is: I'm going either way (I just wish they were playing a full show).

FUN:
Lats night Josh and I bottled his second round of home brew beer, so if you're a local friend, get excited!! Thus far, the lukewarm un-carbonated product tastes great! I'm very excited for two weeks from now.

I'm going to an art exhibit with Marissa tonight. I'm actually really excited that she has (unintentionally) been motivating me to be more active in the realm of arts. I haven't actually started painting or drawing again recently, but I think frequenting exhibits definitely gives inspiration, so thank you for that, Marissa!

I'm so excited to go to Boulder next week!! Yep, the gals are having a Colorado reunion. It will be me, Emily, Karen, Kate, Megan, Kelly, Kirby, & Betsy. So so so excited. I'll be there from 6/20-6/24, if anyone is still in town and wants to meet up. It's been over a year since I went back to visit and I'm having withdrawals. But it's going to be a little different this time. See, very few of our college crew still live there, so it's not like I'll be going back to have fun reliving the college days. No, I'll be back there getting an entirely different experience than I've ever had in Boulder. We're staying at a hotel, as opposed to a familiar house. We'll be getting spa treatments, as opposed to walking around campus. We're going back as adults!! But hey, it's still Boulder - beautiful Colorado. I can't wait to be up in the mountains, breathing the fresh air, seeing those white billowing clouds, and feeling the bright sun, sans smog. Plus, we will still be frequenting the same old spots: happy hours, lunches, and dinners at The Mountain Sun, pool at the Downer (Sun Down Saloon, for those of you who aren't familiar), The Attic, or The Pub (and also for some great jukebox action), Emily and Megan's birthday dinner at The Med(iterranean), Haricovert and cocktails at the Brasserie Ten Ten, roof top cocktails at K's China. We'll have our mountain hikes and sunbathing at the usual spots high above gorgeous canyons - oh my god, I am SO EXCITED!!! (Albeit that Jon won't be there and I'm really sad I don't get to hang with him. Mad love, homey... expect a sip on the concrete.)

BUSINESS:
Emily and I are currently apartment hunting!! This will be fun eventually, but right now the process of actually finding a place - all the calls and visits and numbers - just really feels like business. I am finally moving out of my dad's place. It's been almost a year and a half since I moved back from Colorado and I really should have saved more money during this period of not paying rent. See, I'm never really in money trouble, but I just have a problem saving for the possibility of something undetermined. Basically I need a goal for which to be saving, in order to really save any substantial amount. I didn't have set date or plan for when I wanted to move out, this opportunity just sort of came up, so I could have planned a lot better I think. Either way, I'm psyched to get my own place. I feel like I haven't had a home for the past year. I feel as though I'm a guest in my father's house, so I only stay there about once every 2 weeks. Josh's house is great, but I'm starting to feel as though I've overstayed my welcome with the roommates. It'll be refreshing to move out and get my life in order. I just want to find some place great, and the hunt is really daunting.


So that's what's up with me. This weekend I have Father's Day boat rides to attend and brunches to make, yet still no gift ideas. Any suggestions?

Kids are swingin from the power lines

I saw Arcade Fire at The Greek on Wednesday night. It was phenomenal. They were fantastic. Josh and I had seats in section A, row J... which is very close. Where's J in the alphabet? About 13? I just counted - it's 10. So we were 10 rows back from the very tiny 'pit'. I think a shard of guitar wood hit me in the chaos of instrument demolition. They put on such an amazing show and give off such a great energy. (To be said with a German accent:) Zey're so passionate, no? (I don't know why, just because. Probably because it's a cheesy sounding statement.) Things that make Arcade Fire a superb live band: 1) like I said, they're energy - they are all constantly jumping and dancing around, like the devil said, "play music like you mean it or it's your life!" and thy have no choice but to rune around like madmen with their instruments. Well that's just the men in the group who do play so ferociously. The women just dance really exuberantly, with occasional thrashing. Okay, so 2) the fact that there are so many member in the band. There are 10 (I believe) and they seem more like an orchestra than the traditional rock band. That many players just adds to the energy. 3) Most of them repeatedly swap instruments. This probably should be listed as number one, as far as qualifying factors of a great band go. Violinists and brass players stay on their instruments (although I'm sure the brass players switch it up), but everyone else jumps around from guitars to organ to piano to drums to xylophone to accordion to hurdy-gurdy (yes, I looked up what that cranking instrument is called). There were at least 3 different people on the organ throughout the night. Yes, I could just go on and on about how absolutely fantastic Arcade Fire is. OH! And Win, the lead singer, ran throughout the audience during the encore break, all the way up to the back of rows. And they called him down, Price is Right style, because they had gone to a taping that day and were pumped on the show (talked about it between songs and "Richard" was still wearing his over-sized name tag).

Phew, that was long. So,Dance Right Last night. Ryan Gosling is now a regular and I feel the need to hide my face whenever I notice him. Because you know, professing my crush on him was something I did under the assumption that I'd never see him again. Not that he'd remember, but still. I'm awkward like that. Right Marissa? ;) ("Right").