Put the lime in the coconut... (or don't)

My latest food passion is actually a beverage, and it is awesome!
I purchased my first box of Vita Coco on a fluke. Sometimes, while I am on my lunch break, on days when it is not so nice outdoors, I wander through the nearby QFC. I walk up and down the isles looking for new and interesting products. I generally end up purchasing some kind of beverage. Our neighborhood QFC seems to have an unusually large variety of strange beverages. They have a whole isle of chilled goodness.
On one rather dull afternoon my eyes found their way to a box of Vita Coco.
For those of you not in the know, I am a coconut freak. I love all things related to coconuts. I love the taste and the smell equally. If I am handed a box of candy, I always look for the coconut flavor first. If I am purchasing shampoo I always go for the one with the strongest coconut scent. As a child I used to eat shredded coconut as a snack.
I picked up the little juice box looking package and flipped it over to check out the label. It said it was only 60 calories. That is good, then I looked at the ingredients for the dreaded High Fructose that I try very hard not to drink. Under ingredients it reads: NATURAL COCONUT WATER.
That is it. Period.
Then I read the description on the side.
The part that caught my eye reads:

This 100% pure life enhancing beverage has also been proven
to increase vitality, ease digestion, cure hangovers, and literally save people's lives.

Damn, Gina! That is a lot of big talk for a little box of coconut juice.
I cracked it open and took a big swig. First, it isn't really sweet. If you are going into it with the mind-set you are going to get that candied coconut flavor many of us have become accustomed to, you are not going to like it. But it has a strange addictive quality. By the time the juice box was empty I was still wanting more and feeling quite refreshed and hydrated. I went back and purchased every box that they had at the local market since it is the only place I've ever seen it. (Every box was only six boxes, BTW) And went on a search for more. I mentioned it to my co-worker who has been in the know about this product for some time and she gave me the hot tip that the best place to get it is at Whole Foods because it comes in much larger boxes and is more cost effective! So I had Jon run down and load up the cupboards and I have been drinking one every day since. It is my late afternoon treat that I find myself looking forward to. I don't know if it has "Saved my life" but it sure has improved the quality of my afternoons! And it's packaging is sure way more convenient than poking a hole in a coconut every time you want a drink! (I'm guessing it is probably cheaper as well.)
I'd be curious if it actually cures hangovers. Since I don't really drink, I don't know. Any of my drinking friends want to give it a whirl and report back on how it goes? I could see the benefits of drinking it after a workout. I've done that and I do feel quite refreshed. It is GREAT over ice on a really hot day.

As I post this I am cracking open a box and raising it to you. Cheers!

This American Life

I was catching up with This American Life on Showtime. I had only seen one episode, that came as an extra on some DVD I rented ages ago, but I really enjoyed it.
One of the episodes that Jon and I watched was about a man named Michael Phillips. He was born with a medical condition that has left him immobile and dependent on machines. His mind is sharp though. He is wicked smart! Right now, he communicates with his computer.
As we watched the show, and listened to his words (Delivered by Johnny Depp, no less!) I found myself really impressed with his love of life. I found him to be very inspiring. I also felt kind of ashamed of a lot of the things we all take for granted on a regular basis.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think he has set out to be some kind of inspiration, in fact, I get the impression that all he wants is to have a life of his own. To have the same sense of independence that we all take for granted. My impression is that he does the best he can to stay positive and to make the best of his situation.
He is the best kind of hero, the reluctant hero. The person who is a fountain of inspiration just by how they live, not because they set out to be one.
I found his blog after we watched the episode, and saw very little complaining . I probably bitch more on my blog than he does on his. He is a really good writer and I love how he expresses himself and the way he finds inspiration in so many things. He is full of insight and low on BS. We could all learn a thing or two from him. I highly recommend checking out his episode of This American Life and his blog. I've added him to my links as I'm looking forward to following his adventures for many years to come...





And being caught in between all you wish for and all you seen
And trying to find anything you can feel that you can believe in
-Joseph Arthur

Amazing Gracie

This weekend I spent a good chunk of time playing with Gracie.
Gracie is my beautiful quilted maple guitar. She is a Tacoma. I hate the fact she is named after such an ugly city, but they make a damn fine guitar.
She was a gift given to me by a dear friend. The only stipulation was that I had to promise I would play her a lot. She is quite possibly the most expensive thing I own. I would have never been able to afford her, so I feel very blessed that she made her way to me.
Jon says she is one of the best sounding acoustic guitars he's ever played. He used her all over his last record. I play living room concerts for my cats with her on a regular basis.
Whenever I'm feeling down, I can pick up that guitar and play a song and I immediately feel 20xs better.



(In the photo, Gracie is peering from around the corner while Rose is on my lap. Rose is my 1969 custom SG. Another dear friend had her customized for me. He owned a guitar shop and thought that I needed a pink SG. She doesn't get played as often as she should, but she sings when she does get played! Darian has been playing guitar for about a year now. I hope to give her Rose someday, if she chooses to stick with playing. She should! She picked it up really fast and is quite good already!)



I don't think I fit into his Indie world
Guided By Voices and Velocity Girl
Eric's Trip and Rocket Ship, Rancid and Rocket from The Crypt
Bikini Kill and Built to Spill, it's plain to see that I don't fit
He says my songs are too deep and gloomy
He wishes that I could be more like Jenny Toomey
Just give me my Joni my Nick Neil and Bob
You can keep your Tsunami, your Slant 6 and Smog
-Mary Lou Lord

Truth in advertising.

I've pointed out positive and negative advertising before on this blog. Maybe it is because I work in advertising that I notice these things like I do? Personally, I blame my college advertising 101 teacher who made us sit through commercials and write about them. Once you have been forced to deconstruct a few hundred Super Bowl ads, you will never watch television the same way again.
I've seen a commercial on television several times recently that I really like. I think it's a perfect example of how advertising can send a positive message.
I looked all over the 'Net but could not find a video for this ad. I did find a screen shot, so if you have seen it, you might recognize the photo. From what I can tell, this ad came out in 2003, but I've only seen it recently. It is from Canada, and it has won quite a few awards.
I love it's simplicity. As simple as it seems, it really packs a punch! The ad focuses on mental/controlling/verbal abuse in relationships, an issue that I've always had very strong feelings about. I've seen several lovely women get caught and sadly, lost in the quicksand of domestic abuse.
So many women assume that because they are not being physically abused, it isn't as bad, when in fact, it is in many ways worse.
Verbal abuse seems to last a lot longer and seems to be easier for otherwise intelligent women to make excuses for it. For those women it seems to take years for it to finally escalate to a point of physical violence and then they are forced to do something about it, but by that point the damage is permanent. They are mentally broken, any children they have are internally scarred, and a lot of their personal and familial relationships are long gone and destroyed because they wasted so many years making excuses for their abuses and finally people had to walk away because they could not take the pain of knowing them any longer. People who live in these situations are constantly surrounded by fall out. To try to be close to a person in this situation is nearly as difficult as being in the situation, because you can't speak reason to them and if you put your foot down and make tough choices to try to help them, they inevitably think you have somehow turned on them and they lash out on you with all of their pent up fury that should be directed at their abuser, but they don't feel safe directing it that direction. It is one of the worst kinds of tragedy.
For those of you who have not seen the commercial, it goes something like this. You enter a wedding in progress. For a minute you think you are watching a David's Bridal commercial, or some kind of jewelry commercial, anything along those lines. Then you get closer and you can hear what the bride is saying. She is looking at her husband to be and vowing to make excuses for him when he treats her badly, when he isolates her from her friends and family, when their children are hurt by their constant fighting, hide the bruises when he eventually starts to physically abuse her, etc.
I think it is so powerful because it is so simple and catches you off guard. I will post it on here if I ever find an online version of it. I think it is a perfect example of a strong campaign for something like this.
I like it better than the overly obvious campaigns with the bruises and black eyes, or the secretly crying children. Not that those things are not effective, but because I've seen women in the deep throws of denial in these situations and I firmly believe they would never think that their situation is that bad. In fact, I feel those kinds of images would have the opposite effect. Those women would think, "Well at least my situation is that bad." and use it as just another way to make excuses to themselves for the abusers they think they are in love with.

Noticing a theme...

I think it is evident that I have always been an "animal person".











Maybe I should have been a veterinarian after all?

My beautiful Auntie

I was showing a friend of mine my online photo album and he came across this photo and said, "Holy cow! She is beautiful! We know who you look like in your family!"
I told him that this photo is of my beautiful Aunt Mel. I've always thought she is very striking, so this was a major compliment. I know she reads my blog, so I thought she would get a kick out of hearing that someone thought we looked so much alike. (I am the baby hamming it up for the camera, BTW.)

Then I showed him this photo of my parents and he thought I looked a lot like my mom as well. They are sisters after all. It was kind of funny hearing someone refer to my mom as a "Smokin' retro babe" But hey, that's fine by me! He also said my Dad looks like Crispin Glover. People ALWAYS tell me that.
Loves to you Mom and Aunt Mel! Thanks for the great Genes!!

*Teehee*

Who's your daddy?

The show of the summer, quite possibly, the show of the year!


It's the time of the season
When the love runs high
In this time, give it to me easy
And let me try
With pleasured hands

To take you and the sun to
Promised lands
To show you every one
It's the time of the season for loving...

Still playing with Barbies...

This weekend, I attended a Bachelorette party for a very good friend of mine. As a surprise for her, I made a Barbie bride cake. The skirt was made of yummy Devil's Food cake. I am really happy with how she turned out.

Hangin' Tough!

I'm highly amused right now!
I just purchased two tickets to the New Kids on the Block in November!!!
Why did I do this?
Well, it is a long story, but the short version is, because my best friend from Jr High and I got in touch via Myspace. She was seriously my best pal ever. I adore her. We did everything together.
I had a crush on Donnie and she had a crush on Joey. She is now married with children and living across the country.
Thanks to Myspace, we recently reunited just before the NKOTB did! We got to talking and one thing lead to another. Now she is flying to Seattle for that weekend and we are going to go see the show we wanted to see when we were 12 years old, living in Alaska.
We are pretty excited about this! Not so much about the show itself, but about the fact that we get to set aside our lives and be 12 year old girls again for just one night. I can hardly wait!

Oh, and as an extra bonus, look at this photo of my two favorite (for pretend) ex-husbands. Oh what might have been...

Just another date night. She'd rather be watching Late Night...

While Jon and I were watching Conan O'Brien we heard him mention something about a DYI video contest. Well, I gave it a shot. I wrote some lyrics and Jon turned it into a song, recorded it and had an MP3 in my hands in record time. While he was recording the song, I was working on the little 30 second spot.

Here it is. Enjoy!

Dumbing down... coffee?

I'm somewhat disturbed by this new advertising campaign McDonald's has launched trying to promote their new Lattes and otherwise fancy coffee drinks. Until today I had only ever seen the television ads where there are two attractive people sitting in a cute European looking cafe enjoying coffee, listening to music, and reading books.
Then, when one of them asks the other, "Have you heard that McDonald's is now serving Lattes?" they both get positively gleeful.
They toss their books aside and start excitedly going on about reality television and gossip magazines. They start confessing to not really liking classical music, or understanding languages, or reading poetry. You can actually see the IQ points fall away with every confession. They seem elated by the idea that they no longer have to make an effort to think for themselves and that they can finally put aside intellectual pursuits to join the ranks of TMZ watchers and OK Magazine readers!

This morning I heard the radio spot. I've only heard it once, so this isn't verbatim, but the gist is, there was a very happy woman's voice talking about how she could finally forget about her Russian Lit degree and now be free to take on the exciting task of catching up on gossip magazines and reality television! (What is it with reality television?)


So basically, what these ads are trying to say is, "McDonald's is now selling McStupid juice and they are so proud of it!"

Know when to walk away.

I like Zach Braff. He is my "friend" on Myspace and I read his blog. So when he threw down the challenge to make a music video, I decided to go for it. What is the worst that could happen? I could look silly and maybe make a few people laugh? It is a win win situation! (Laughter = good)
The contest rules are that you had to *lip-sync to this song and somehow incorporate places specific to where you are. I tried to use every music video cliche' I could come up with, with such limited time and resources. (I had two days to get it done and I only had my little point and shoot to do it on. Darian was a HUGE help. She was the button pusher for the whole thing!) So, it ended up with loads of "Music video face" :-)
I used the Lakeview cemetery in a lot of this because it is close to my apartment and has many historical Seattle people buried there. It is also one of my personal favorite places to visit in the summer, it is quite pretty and peaceful. I was sticking to the rules, that is why it is how it is. If I was just making a video for this song I would have taken it another direction. It was, however, a very fun & funny challenge.


I searched around Youtube to see what other people did. So far this one is my favorite. (I'm a sucker for adorable tots playing air guitar.)




*When I uploaded the video to youtube, the compression knocked the sync a little out of whack. The original is better.

She's a (wo)Maneater...

The look on her face says it all.


Oh-oh here she comes
Watch out boy she'll chew you up
Oh-oh here she comes
She's a maneater

Comparing scars.

Every year June 16th creeps up on me. When I start to see all of the Father's Day commercials all over the television and the newspapers, I immediately start to feel sad. I love my dad, he is one of my most favorite people. The Father's Day sadness has nothing to do with him.

In 1996 I woke up on Father's Day (Which was June 16 that year) to my phone ringing way too early in the morning. My friend, Jamie was on the line. She was crying. In between gasps of air she informed me that JD, George and Carrie were all killed in a car wreck at about 3AM. (A car wreck that I had been dreaming about over and over again every night for alomst a month before, which made it that much worst. It was the moment my nightmare literally came true. Which also brings up about 100 other issues that refuse to open to public discussion.)
I don't think I have ever really been the same person again after that phone call. When a small group of your friends get all wiped out in the same evening when you and they are that young, you really don't have the tools to comprehend what just happened. It is bad enough when you lose one person, but to lose three young people all at the same time. It just makes you look at life differently.

I was closest to JD, so it is his loss I feel the most, still, every day, but I remember them all. I talk about them all. I keep thinking that if I talk about them as often as possible, I am somehow keeping them alive. I keep thinking if I tell people their story and stop even one person from driving drunk, their deaths meant something. They died for a reason, no matter how small that reason might seem.

I loved JD very much, he was my friend, and he believed in me at a time where I really needed someone to believe in me. He supported me and was a great friend during one of the hardest years of my life. He helped bring music into my life, he backed me up the first time I stepped foot on a stage and always made sure I could see him whenever I played shows because he knew how much I hated being on stage, and now he is dead. (My desire to perform on a stage died along with him.)

Now three people will never know what it was like to be over the age of 23, or get married, or have babies, or grow old... It is all so fucking meaningless. Getting drunk at that party was not worth what it ended up costing everyone that night. (The drivers of the two cars in the accident that killed them were both drunk. They both lived.)

I remember at JD's funeral, the funeral director was trying to console me. He told me that it may not seem like it now, but every death makes sense at some point. I'm still waiting for the day for these deaths to "make sense". I'm still looking for answers to all of the questions that phone call left me with. Every day I'm still looking for signs that he is somewhere nearby no matter how silly that may sound.

When I was riding in the passanger seat of the car this weekend staring out the window, thinking of them, feeling pretty hopeless, this car passed us. I just happened to have my camera:


That's all I have right now.

Wasabi as a doodle.

I was playing with my little Wasabi Hammie today and was so taken with his cuteness I grabbed my notebook and turned him into a doodle. I hope he approves.

The cliff notes to my road trip.

When I wrote these notes, I had intended to write a long elaborate blog later, and these were just to jog my memory when I had time to do that.
Since it has been a few weeks, I have accepted that I won't be writing that long blog, and these are kind of amusing, so here are my cliff notes to my road trip with the girls/long Posies weekend... Use your imagination to fill in the gaps.

Friday- GO!
Work half day.
Pack.
Step outside to talk to Bree & Amie.
Lock myself out of my apartment and my purse with ID and money inside.
Have Carl come rescue me with spare key.
Wait with girls for Licia and Carl.
Get keys.
Get stuff.
Licia arrives.
Sit in HOT car.
Sit.
Stop.
Stop again.
Get lost.
Find hotel.
Get dressed.
Get food.
Go back to room to change sexy shoes back to comfy sensible shoes.
BEST shoe choice of the whole weekend!
Go to show.
Show too hot.
Slam drink to go to a place with AC.
Regret slamming of drink.
Go to another bar.
Take 100 cute photos.
Head back because Posies are about to go on.
Watch Posies.
Sweat.
Watch friends get REALLY intoxicated.
Funny.
Run into past stalker.
Ignore.
Show ends.
Kiss Jon goodbye.
Catch Rickshaw.
Tell him it can't carry all four of us.
Argue that we are certain it can't.
He insists several times.
We agree.
Get half way.
Bike wheels bends in half.
Rides over!
Feel bad we broke his bike.
Throw money at bike guy.
Bree falls on curb and accidentally moons group of people.
People amused.
Oops!
Get back to hotel.
Buy $20 worth of chips at mini bar.
Bree passes out in middle of the bed we are supposed to share.
Find a spot to sleep on.
Wake up sweating.
Bree is spooning me.
Hot.
Wake up in a room of hungover girls.
Rehash the parts of the night that are a blur.
Wake up.
Take Advil.
Lay back down.
Wake up.
Go to Oliver's for food.
Stop at VooDoo Donuts.
Out of bacon maple donuts.
Bummer.
Drive home.
Girl's sleep in back.
Drive faster than I have ever driven.
Get to Seattle in less than 2.5 hours.
Have 20 minutes to get to DJL show.
Whores bath.
Slap on dress.
Get to Neumos.
Remember that I am supposed to do a secret shopping trip at adult store.
DOH!
Dear John Letters goes on.
Awesome.
Realize my husband is playing the drums for my ex.
Weird.
Accept weirdness.
Decide it isn't as weird as it is amusing how fate has an interesting sense of humor.
Enjoy show.
Regret shoe choice.
Mike!
Brian!!
Joe!!
Dave!!
Arthur (Rick)!!!
Remember to call Rick, Arthur!!!!
Posies.
Convince Bree, Flyn, and Licia to go to Porn store between sets for secret shopping.
Posies.
Porn.
Hot dog.
Posies again!
Sleep on feet.
yawn.
dance.
Feel like I'm in a strange dream.
Take a million photos.
Party at D's!
Get home at 4:35AM
Sleep
Cats wake me up.
Get ready for another road trip to Bellingham.
Plug in camera.
Camera deletes all of my photos but doesn't transfer them.
ALL PHOTOS ARE LOST!
SHIT!!!
Cry.
Leave for Bellingham.
Drive.
Drive.
Drive.
Sound check.
Long walk.
Regret shoe choice for the second time this weekend.
Eat nachos.
Hang with in-laws.
Eat Salad and Nachos.
Have long talks with old friends.
Catch up with Kenny Jr.
Feel very old when realizing he is 22 now.
Le Concorde.
Le Posies.
Aftershow waiting.
Crazy women running all over the stage picking up guitars.
CRAZY woman decides she wants to get in my face because I am standing there.
Starts shouting in my face.
Try to make joke to diffuse situation.
Crazy woman doesn't think joke is funny and starts FLIPPING OUT on me.
Seriously consider slapping a stranger for the first time in my adult life.
Decide against it.
Jon breaks up fight.
She leaves.
Drop off friend of Kenny.
Drive home.
Get to bed around 5AM
get up at 7AM
go to work.
Sleep with eyes open.
The End.

FUNNEST WEEKEND EVER!

Farewell my little Milo....

Papa Gerbil (Milo) passed away last evening. He lived a VERY long life. (over a year longer than the average gerbil life exp) so I feel blessed that we had him for so long. I knew he was looking a little worse for wear. I told Jon last week that I think he is saying goodbye. I can always tell with the gerbils. They slow way down and suddenly really seem to enjoy being pet. Like they are stopping and letting you know that they appreciated you. Usually they are so busy digging and chewing that they didn't have time to be pet for too long. Last week he stood and let me scratch his head for a good long while and he was looking very elderly around the eyes.
It is sad because we are down to two, one girl and one boy, but they are in separate cages so they can't hang out. I am going to see about getting the boy fixed so we can put them together again. They would be happy together. Their cages are side by side and they are always touching noses. It is so sweet.

RIP Milo

RIP Bo Diddley

Rock pioneer Bo Diddley dies at age 79

I was so sad to hear this news today. It was a great honor to meet him and have some time to sit and talk with him. This photo was in New York, backstage at a rock festival, while I was on my honeymoon. (I am holding baby Aden.) He was pretty sick that day, but he still rocked, and he was a wonderfully sweet man, and didn't let being sick damper his spirits. He was a joy to meet and brought so much to the world with his music. He will be missed.


Here is what the news says:
By RON WORD –

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.

Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.read the full article here




Mojo come to my house, ya black cat bone,
Take my baby away from home,
Ugly ole mojo, where ya bin,
Up your house, and gone again.

Bo diddley, bo diddley have you heard?
My pretty baby said she wasn’t for it.

Dwarf Hamster Tip of the Day.

No, I'm not starting a new thing on my blog. I'm posting this info for two reasons. One, I took this REALLY cute photo of Wasabi and wanted a reason to post it.
Two, I thought this info might be helpful for someone at some point.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR HAMSTER HAS AN OVERGROWN TOOTH:

My happy little hamster celebrated his 1st birthday and not long after that started to lose a lot of his hair under his chin and getting very skinny. He is a dwarf hamster, and everything I read on the internet said he was not long for this world. Many sites told me that they lived 1.5 years max and that the balding thing was normal for a dwarf hamster of his age.
Then one day I noticed that he could not take his treat out of my hand like he always used to. He seemed to be having trouble getting his mouth around it. I then gave him a cracker, and realized there was not a crunching sound coming from him. It kind of looked like he was gumming his cracker.
I called the Vet and she said that it sounded like he had a broken or overgrown tooth. Because of his age, and how skinny he had become in such a short time, it was dangerous to give him the anesthetics, but if I didn't get his tooth fixed, that would kill him too.
I made an appointment for a week out, and I decided to get him super healthy so he would survive. I fed him three times a day.
His diet was:
A small square of Hard tofu 2 times a day (Once in the morning and once after work
A teaspoon of either carrot or green pea and brown rice high quality baby food 3 times per day (You can only keep it in the fridge for 3-4 days and then you must throw out the rest. You do end up tossing a lot, but you don't want to feed your hammie baby food that has gone bad! I thought about freezing servings in an ice cube tray to make it last longer, but he got better before I needed to do this.)
Some all natural peanut butter (no sugar added) on my finger tip as a treat when he would normally get a snack.
Sometimes I would add a little instant oats to the carrots to make them less runny and give him some added carbs.
By the time he had his appointment, he had already gained some weight and was looking a lot more active.
He had his appointment, got his tooth trimmed, and the doctor said he popped right back awake afterwards. A perfect patient. It was only $56. People always ask how much it costs. That really is not a lot compared to what most vet visits are and it was totally worth it!!
After his appointment I kept giving him the same diet, but as his tooth started to grow in, and he started going back to his regular food dish more and became less interested in the food I was putting out for him. I still supplement about once every other day with baby food, and he demands the peanut butter as his daily treat, because he LOVES it, but he seems to be back to regular food for the most part.
He has gained all of his weight back AND His hair has all grown back! Turns out his baldness was not "Old age" but a proteins deficiency. With the tofu and the peanut butter, he got all the protein he needed.
It has been a month since all of this happened, and he has never seemed happier or healthier. No longer the skinny balding hammie, but an active fluffy happy hammie. This is not an old man on his way out. I have a feeling he will be with us for a very long time to come!
If you have a hammie in the same situation and need more specifics about the diet or anything, feel free to email me. It took a lot of internetting and separating fact from fiction for me to get all of this info together, I'd be happy to share with anyone that needs to know. I'm positive my hammie would have died if I didn't do all of this when I did it.

Squirrel or Spiderman? SpiderSquirrel?!

I was wondering how the birds were going through seed so fast! I had JUST filled my feeder after work, when I turned around and I saw this sneaky little dude.
Isn't he cute? He is only hanging on with his tail and hind legs! I found it very impressive! Do you think he is trying to blend in with the feeder?

The good, the bad and the AWESOME!

The bad news, my camera died and I lost a LOT of the pics and vids from the shows this last week.

The good news, by some awesome twist of fate, the ONLY vids that I did not lose, managed to be one song of each incarnation of The Posies!! YES!!

You can see them all here.
Just finished uploading: youtube.com/dreamingviola

20 Years of The Posies

Every band member from the last 20 years.

Making amends with the Red Balloon Co.

When I first heard that a big old chain like Red Balloon Company was taking over my beloved Rainbow Grocery space, I was pretty bummed in that "There goes the neighborhood" kind of way. I LOVE my neighborhood. It is our little happy corner of a big city that still has the good parts of the small town vibe.
With more bars opening and condo developments tearing down other hipster hangouts further down the hill, it is slowly losing some of it's charm. Parking is getting harder to come by, and at Beer'O'Clock you get more and more drunken weirdos howling at the moon. But, for the most part, it is still full of friendly familiar faces and one of the coolest video stores in the city. So, not all is lost.
My tune has changed about the Red Balloon. I will admit, I spent most of the last year pretending it wasn't there. I have walked past it and not allowed myself to be tempted by the curious looking gag gifts and colorful children's toys. I just stuck my nose in the air and walked on by. In my head it was a show of solidarity for the good old Rainbow and all of the friendly faces that used to work there. I loved them, dreads, wheatgrass and all. I mean, where am I supposed to get my fresh squeezed Apple and Beet juice now?!?
About a week ago, a million things all went wrong at the same time and I found myself in a horrible position. I was hosting a birthday party and I still had not purchased anything that needed to be purchased before said party. I had no time to make the trek out to any of my next closest options, I had to make due in my own neighborhood. At first I was going store to store. I actually had completely forgotten Red Balloon was even there.
I was coming up empty and getting desperate, then I remembered the cool little shop that carries neat little Mexican imports on 15th. I thought it could not hurt to try.
On my way there, I realized I had completely overlooked the most obvious place, the big giant party store right under my nose! The Red Balloon Co!! I was desperate and I was running out of time. It was a very now or never moment.
I went through the giant glass doors with big cheery balloon bunches bookending them . I had already convinced myself that they would only have things for kid's parties or else it would all be extremely over priced. The more I looked around it became clear to me that this was not the case. The store was full of things for people of every age, and shockingly it was all very reasonably priced! I managed to get everything I needed and then some! I even spent about $20 less than I thought I was going to!
So, I am officially a Red Balloon convert. I know it is late coming, but welcome to the neighborhood. I'm glad to have you. (Now if you would just start serving freshly squeezed apple and beet juice we'd be 100% square.)

You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons
With the money we've got
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message
"Something's out there"
Floating in the summer sky
99 red balloons go by

Grandpa!

My Dad emailed these to me. They are of his father and family way back in the day. (Grandpa is the cute little boy right in the middle of the group shot and the little rascal below.)

Catch my disease.... (Or, Why I LOVE Ben Lee)

A couple of weeks ago, Ben Folds came to town and played a show at a really weird venue in Tacoma called UPS. Ben was kind enough to put me on the guestlist plus one, so Bree and I made the trek.
Much to my excitement Ben Lee was opening the show!! I have been slowly falling in love with Ben Lee's music since I first saw him in New York where he played an ASCAP showcase with Jon. Since that show, I've been buying his songs one at a time on iTunes.
I was in LA the last time he played in Seattle, which really bummed me out. So, when Jon told me that Ben had put us on the list and Ben Lee was opening, I was REALLY excited for this show! (I could wax on about my love of Ben Folds music as well, but if you read my blog, you already know this, so I won't repeat myself. Needless to say, he ROCKED the UPS!)
This was, in fact, a most perfect rock show line up as far as I am concerned. The only thing that would have made it even more exciting for me is if Jon and Lou Barlow were on the Bill as well. But, I won't be greedy.
I recorded a couple songs from the show. I will post them at the end of this. They are pretty good, but the angle is kind of strange as the concert was in a giant gym.

The thing I love so much about Ben Lee's music is his completely positive message. Now, I don't know about all of his other records, right now I am only familiarizing myself with Awake is the New Sleep. And I have to say, this is a great, feel good, pop record. I'm not super excited about the first and title song on the CD, but then every song after it are easily some of my most favorite songs right now.
The lyrics for Begin are basically an anthem for someone wanting to make a positive impact on the world around them. Gamble Everything for Love makes you want to go out and take chances. Ache For You is a sweet, longing song, but it isn't depressing at all. But No Right Angles, I wish I had written it. This song was like a dear friend to me when I was going through a rough patch late last year.
What can I say? It is hard to be eloquent when trying to explain the emotions certain records bring up when the emotions run so deep. I can say that if you know someone who loves good pop music, and they have been going through a dark time, this would be a great record to pass along to them.
From beginning to end, it is one long, warm hug from a best friend that you never knew you had.



I'm walking down Broadway
Each foot step is a new love letter
I'm trying to make eye contact
With each and every stranger that I pass
Thinking about the city
It's living proof people need to be together
I'm thinking about how I just want to open up
And give and give and give
And it's ok for you to care
Cause I can feel you in the air
And while you wonder "how's this gonna end?"
I only want it to begin...

I've listened to this CD on repeat all day...

...and I am sad that I have to go somewhere soon, because I have to stop listening to it. You should really check it out if you like the slow and pretty with really great lyrics.
Jon played a show with him last month, that is where I heard him the first time. Jon said he heard him on the radio and knew that I would love the CD, he was correct!
Here is a youtube of that show:

And here is his website:
http://www.jmorrisonmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/joshuamorrison

"One day you'll leave this town and
no one will notice,
you are gone."

The new couch arrived today!!

Isn't it pretty?! The boys are already breaking it in.

Trashy!

Photos from the Haute Trash fashion show: