Alchera

I love my reality.

When I start really writing songs (with words 'n' shit), they're going to be amazing.

I love Ani Difranco.

Emily Haines vs. Karen O.

Because, really, they're the only ones anyone cares about in their respective bands.

I mean, when the front-person of the band also happens to be a sexy alt-rock chick with a great set of...vocal chords...why would you bother directing your focus at anyone else on stage?

(An actual review/comparison of Metric's show vs. Yeah Yeah Yeah's show at Bumbershoot to follow, hopefully tomorrow. I've got a tired headache from staring at my screen too much this evening, so I'm calling it quits for right now.)

[Both photos by Sarah Bastin, taken at Bumbershoot last weekend--and a super-dee-duper thanks to Flickr, my humble amateur means of acquiring beautiful, professional photos for all my ridiculous unprofessional needs]

Recovering from Bumbershoot

After a loaded 3 full days at Bumbershoot, I spent yesterday morning/afternoon catching up on internet things and letting my feet rest before work.

I'll try to get into more reviews of the other shows in the next few days, but for the moment I'll just mention one of my favorites of the weekend, which was Raphael Saadiq's performance.

I snagged this beautiful photo from the Three Imaginary Girls blog, who got it from photographer Jason Tang.

If I'd had any misgivings Sunday night about choosing this closing show at the Fisher Green Stage over Jason Mraz at the Mainstage, they were completely vaporized as soon as Raphael walked out, in his suit and horn-rimmed glasses. The band was tight, the singers energetic and sexy, and I experienced an hour and a half of live music-induced euphoria. The crowd loved them so much that we got him to come out for 2 encores! I had just left after the first encore, assuming it was finished, when I heard the crowd start cheering again. I turned around, saw members of the band onstage again with their instruments, and ran back to join the audience, both surprised and elated.

Their set consisted of about 70% songs from their album and 30% covers/jam sessions. It flowed beautifully, and Raphael was a fantastic stage presence. I'm not sure how much of the audience were fans before the show (judging by the lack of singing along to the songs), but I don't think there was a single person who left without having thoroughly enjoyed him/herself.

And there probably wasn't a single man-lover (of the straight or gay variety) who left without silently acquiescing to Raphael's dialogue in the song "Let's Take a Walk". (Which, incidentally, begins with the lines "This place is crowded/Don't know about you/I need some sex/Some sex with you".)

It's been a while...

I have 3 major things to update:

1. I moved into a studio on First Hill at the beginning of July.
2. I cut all of my hair off on the 15th.
3. I applied to UW for re-admission two days ago.

These are all big-freakin'-deals for me.

First of all, I'm living by myself for the first time, ever. Laurel is in Spokane for the time being, and while it is nice to be the only occupant of my home, I do miss having her around to share our one-of-a-kind sense of humor and appreciation for odd details in each other's lives.

As for my hair, I knew the time would come, eventually, to shave my head and start anew. As I've told so many wide-eyed people over the last week, I have been planning it for a while. I just didn't know when I would actually do it. Turns out, it would be on a ho-hum sort of Saturday in mid-August, right after a pathetic emotional meltdown the day before. Which brings me to the last thing.

Ever since I dropped out of my classes right before the Winter '09 quarter began, I've felt like I'm in a bit of a limbo. I'm working, yes, but at a lowly pizzeria, which doesn't utilize or praise my talents and skills, other than by the fact that they haven't fired me over the last year for being a complete idiot (which, I'm sorry to say, has happened a few times in the time I've spent there). I thought I wanted to pursue music, but since I still don't have a keyboard or lyrics for potential songs, I'm feeling more and more like I'm lying to myself. I don't think that's really what I would excell at, and in any case, it's not guaranteed that I will succeed in any sense of the word. So, on something that was much more of a surprising whim than that which lead me to cut my hair off on the 15th, I reapplied for admission to UW last Saturday. It all sort of came together and the stubborn aspiring-musician part of me finally let up on the bullshit and admitted that i really need to go back to school. And while I'm still not entirely sure what I might end up doing, I need to finish what I started at UW so I can move on to bigger, better places in my life (figuratively, and hopefully, geographically). Since my GPA was so low when I left, I don't even know if they'll take me back. But I think I have a better chance there than I do anywhere else.

So we'll see what happens, I suppose. I've been humoring thoughts about becoming some in-the-know editor of a fashion magazine, but that fantasy might never amount to be more than just that.

Spring is a Teaser

It's weird that it's rainy and horrendously windy outside right now, when last Sunday (and most of last week, actually), it felt like June. But that's western Washington weather for you. Never reliable.

It is a bit warmer now, though, in general. I don't have to bundle up in 5 layers of clothing to go catch my bus, anyway. So it's a bit nicer for bike-riding. I've been going and doing a few laps around Greenlake on a semi-regular basis. It's been really fun getting to know the park and the different crowds at different times. I just wish that the parents who take their kids out on wheeled things would make them wear helmets...and wear them themselves, while they're at it. Just because it's a park doesn't mean that there won't be an idiot (or an unfortunately accident-prone) cyclist who will mow your kid over onto the pavement. Seriously. I'm just looking out for the children, here. Especially the ones who're in my way.

In other news, I'm going to see Cats at the Paramount this Thursday with my friend Rachael, and I am thouroughly excited. I remember singing and dancing to this music when we still lived in Utah, and we moved here when I was 6, so that was a really long time ago. I worry that this won't quite live up to the delicious 80s-ness of the film, with all the spandex and legwarmers...but I can dream, right? And in any case, Rum Tum Tugger's character is inherently a feline sex-god of sorts, so that's comforting.

New Univega and Lady Gaga!

I guess I'm still no good at the whole regular-updating thing. But I've been on the computer less, so I think it's forgivable.

A couple days after my last post, I went and bought myself a bike! I bussed down to Recycled Cycles (because there was no way I would have been able to afford a new one) in U-District and the nice guy there helped me find my sweet little quasi-hipster Univega.

Isn't she purty? (Don't mind the mess on the coffee table)

I've been going out and riding around the neighborhood for at least half an hour every day...with the exception of the last few days, because I've been sick. It feels great to actually spend the hours between breakfast-and-email and getting-ready-for-work actually doing something. It's an outlet for all the pent-up energy I didn't realize I have, and it puts me in a better mood for the rest of the day. So yeah, all that stuff you hear about the benefits of exercising in the morning is really true. Though I haven't been doing it long enough to tell you about whether it actually speeds up your metabolism for the day or whatever. I'm still barely fitting into my pants.

And now, for something that has nothing to do with pants or bicycles...I give you...LADY GAGA!!!

And that DJ Space Cowboy's a cutie, too

Last week, I got the chance to go see Lady Gaga with my friend who happened to have an extra ticket to the show. And man, was it a show! There were dancers and costume changes and a lit-up bubble piano! The entire performance just blew my mind, and I will forever be grateful to my friend for taking me. I'll even forgive the fact that he and his little sister got to meet her while I waited outside in the windy cold.

Awww...

But I don't think I'll ever be able to get "Poker Face" out of my head. That one's stuck in there for good.

Saw

My roommate and I just finished our Saw-watching marathon last night (which we started with some friends last weekend). We'd seen all of them but the fifth one, and we didn't realize that there would be a sixth, so we freaked out with another cliffhanger ending.

We're pretty much addicted to that music that always plays at the end of the Saw movies. It's the creepy piano riff, some industrial sounds and percussion, building up with the strings and everything, and it just gets more intense as you realize that you really had no idea what was going on for the entire movie up till now. And now that you realize just how much of a genius Jigsaw is, it just blows your mind even more and you still have no idea what's going on.

Anyway, I downloaded the song last night, and I can't get enough of it. I wish I could just prowl around at night in a rad trench-coat, sweeping dramatically around alleyway corners, and whenever someone saw me or tried to approach, the music would start, and they would know that a) I'm pretty badass, and b) I probably just helped somebody kill themselves in a cruel and twisted, yet justified, game, so they better get the hell away from me if they know what's good for them. But I would never actually do that, of course. The Jigsaw-ing or the prowling.