Something Clever

The Paper Kites - Featherstone

2012-01-24T22:10:00.001-06:00

Once

2012-01-19T22:50:00.000-06:00

If you don't like this movie, we probably can't be friends.

[If you've never seen it, look up music from "Once (Music from the Motion Picture)"...and then you'll probably want to watch the movie]

Sarah DeGroat - Old Moscow

2012-01-17T21:11:00.000-06:00

Jay mixed this project, and it is so good. So so good.

Sarah is a student at A&M. She did this project with Jay's good friends Matthew and Lizi Bailey, and when they sent it over to mix, he kind of freaked out.

You can listen to all 5 songs on her website.

Old Moscow:

Heartbeat:

[She reminds me quite a bit of Rosie Thomas]

January is for Decluttering...again

2012-01-15T21:00:00.000-06:00

We got a dog. A really big dog.

Do you know how large of a crate you have to get for a great dane? And do you know how hard it is to find a place in your house to put that kind of crate?

I say that, because I once again feel like we have too much stuff. So I have 3 declutter goals for January:

Sell unwanted Ikea cabinets (done! $80 on Craigslist...seriously people - jump on the Craigslist train!)
Sell a couch (can't decide which one...but we have at least 1 too many...)
Empty 12 things out of my office room (which is where the crate now lives) until it is "acceptable"

#3 is the hardest. That room is where I stash all the stuff I don't want to get rid of but don't really have a use for. So I told myself yesterday if I can't come up with an immediate purpose/place for it (ex: hang on wall, put in jar with other pens...), it has to go. I told myself that our house is not a museum and has to have space for the things we have yet to do.

“If you want a golden rule that will fit everything, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” - William Morris

Balmorhea

2011-12-12T16:00:00.000-06:00

Jay just finished up audio for another SerialBox session. If you like instrumental music (Album Leaf, Explosions in the Sky...), you'll like Balmorhea.

I love bands that jump around and play a bunch of instruments - makes them very interesting to watch:

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://audio.serialboxpresents.com/album/serialbox-presents-balmorhea"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;SerialBox Presents: Balmorhea by SerialBox Presents&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

The Sing Off

2011-12-03T13:53:00.000-06:00

There are very few TV shows that Jay and I actually agree on and watch together. This is not one of them.

I don't watch "American Idol" or "X Factor" or "The Voice," but I do like "The Sing Off." I feel like part of it might be that I like who judges, particularly Ben Folds. But it has some really talented performers, too. Jay would let me show him my 1 or 2 favorite performances from each episode, and it was usually this group - they were my fave and ended up winning. This totally appeals to my pop-loving self (I listen to top 40 on the way to work every morning...).

This first song is my least favorite song off Florence & The Machine's last album, but this version is amazing:

And this one is just impressively clever how they mix the 2 songs:

They also did a Katy Perry song, and we all know how much we love Katy Perry at this house...but it wasn't one of their best.

And apparently the beatboxer is multi-talented (and studied music at Yale):

I mean - don't you kind of feel like you should learn how to beatbox now?! I told Jay he would probably be good at it being a drummer and all, but he declined.

SerialBox: Andrew Belle

2011-11-08T23:18:00.000-06:00

This guy is really really good (engineered and mixed by Jay):

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://audio.serialboxpresents.com/album/serialbox-presents-andrew-belle"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;SerialBox Presents: Andrew Belle by SerialBox Presents&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>The video is cool, too:

Math Humor

2011-11-05T22:26:00.001-05:00

Digitizing Life - COMPLETE!

2011-11-02T23:18:00.000-05:00

970 scans later, I'm done.

My first best friend, Pam:

My first time to play golf. I was playing in a Member-Guest tournament with her. We only played 1 hole:

The following year (which was the next time I played golf), we skipped the matching outfits and played 3 holes:

Um, hello buff arms (who knew it was even possible?!):

Amber!

Our Grandpa:

First time to Italy:

College roommies Leslie, Abby, and Blair (we were all in Leslie's wedding together this last weekend):

Here I am running a triathlon while Hudson was being born. My mom and I decided as needed something to do together while she did a wedding with Lauren and a baby with Kath. It ended up being a solo effort with my dad cheering:

Disney World:

Mexican horseback riding trip (Abby and I literally just rode around the Mexican dessert on horses for 4 days... though technically I'm riding a mule, which I renamed Camilo in honor of my Columbian friend):

A ton of my college pictures were related to Young Life, and I also had a lot bowling pictures, so I thought this could represent for both (bowling WITH my Young Life team):

Though most YL pictures look more like this (with my roommate Meredith):

See what I mean:

Then there's this (also YL):

Just hiking around a mountain (also YL):

Here's one of me and my mom (I know you like to see your hair progression through the years, ma):

And I think I'll stop there. This was definitely an endeavor--I scanned through several Harry Potters.

On to the next project!

Less stuff, more happiness

2011-10-14T20:59:00.000-05:00

Here's another really great TED talk, and it completely justifies all this picture scanning...

How to Start a Movement

2011-10-13T20:57:00.000-05:00

I did scan some pictures today, but I kind of feel like we need a break from that. Instead, I thought I'd post a TED talk I watched today. I love TED talks.

For those not familiar with TED:
TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design...

This one is on "How to Start a Movement" and is only about 3 minutes long.

Still Digitizing Life - Day 4

2011-10-12T23:34:00.001-05:00

I think we're about one-third of the way there...

Tonight I scanned 124, bringing us to a total of 419. We're currently in the midst of Sophomore year. There was a lot of Highstepper activity.

Highstepper Kidnapping:

Highstepper camp:

Highsteppers in football season:

Highsteppers in competition season:

My friends came over for my 16th birthday (it was a weeknight - I must have cool parents):

And one time I stuck a basketball hoop suction cup thing to my forehead - when I tried to take it off, it basically gave me a giant hickey. This is what my forehead looked like for TWO WEEKS:

Digitizing Life - Day 3

2011-10-10T22:36:00.001-05:00

Today was a bit of a light scanning day. I scanned 65, which brings us to a total of 295.

Tonight, we jumped back to Freshman Year - 1996 (15 years ago!).

Me and Abby on the first day of school (we're still friends - I helped throw her a baby shower yesterday). Everyone (really EVERYONE) should recognize the plaque behind us where the hidden key was...

McCullough Caillies - this was at Super Halftime. I'm sure I felt really cool because Lauren was a Highstepper officer.

I think this was our last ski trip before someone finally mentioned they didn't really like it, and the rest of us agreed.

Me and my best friends Pam, Abby, and Abbey - we did an ensemble together. I have dozens of pictures of the 4 of us.

And my last Boni's dance recital - I'd been doing them since I was probably 3. That's little Kathryn on the bottom right! (And again with Abby and Pam - other Abbey wasn't in ballet or else I'm sure she'd be in the picture.)

Digitizing Life - Day 2

2011-10-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

The first album had 230 pics, which have now all been scanned. Which means I was a very aggressive scanner today - 148 total today.

Here's my senior year Homecoming dress (one of my faves):

My Grandpa came to my high school graduation:

Doesn't Chris Tomlin play at everyone's high school graduation party?

When given the option, always dress in costume.

80s YL club junior year:

Girl Scouts (senior year):

70s (senior year):

Cowgirls (YL camp after senior year):

Bandits (YL camp after senior yr):

Nerd prom (UM Army after senior year - my date Dan made me a corsage out of paper napkins):

Digitizing Life

2011-10-06T22:32:00.010-05:00

My parents had given me most of my "treasures" that I had left behind in my old room when they moved out of their house 2 years ago. They recently emptied their storage unit and gave me my last 2 boxes. I had no clue what was going to be in these, but it ends up that they were full of old books, CDs, and photo albums...none of which I was particularly missing.

I started unloading and decided pretty quickly to donate most of the books to the library. And then decided to put the CDs in iTunes and donate most of those to the library as well (and in the process inspired Jay to do the same with most of his DVDs).

And then there were the photo albums...Well I just decided that October is going to be the month of photo scanning, and then I'm going to THROW THEM AWAY! That's right - in the trash.

We live in the digital age people! Jay and I never put a CD in a player - we listen to music off the computer or an iPod. We don't use DVDs - we watch movies off of the Apple TV, which comes off of the computer. We don't read books because we just don't read books. And we have never gotten out a photo album to look at pictures. They will be more useful when digital - more organized, searchable, emailable, and takes up no space! And you can always reprint if you need a physical copy.

So tonight was Night 1. I scanned 82. There are 6 albums, and I'm guessing on average they have 250 pics for a total of 1,500. At this rate, I think I can do it. 18 nights of scanning...

I decided I should post a few each time I scan. IT'S SO EASY NOW THAT THEY'RE DIGITIZED!

Here is Sophomore year Homecoming...check out those mums! I'll have to find pics of subsequent years because they just got bigger from here...

And another...I like this dress...

My last dance recital before quitting ballet. I was a doll in the party scene of the Nutcracker. I got to ride in that box with the candy canes on it onto the stage with my matching doll partner, and then we came out of the box to do our little dance.

Kath's bday in 1998. I think everything we are wearing in this is Abercrombie. And check out Lauren's overalls!

This is me and my friend Ashley at UM Army the summer before our Junior year. I just wanted to put this one on here because I lifeguarded this summer, and it's the most tan I've ever been.

And Junior year Homecoming (I've decided I should put one up from each because I like my dresses!). Once again benefiting from the lifeguard tan...

Between his hair and my socks, this picture is pretty amazing (in the mall parking lot getting ready to leave for Wilderness).

Quicksand River

2011-09-26T22:40:00.000-05:00

Jay has been playing some shows with his friend Brent Nettles, who just released his first album called "Quicksand River." Jay said it's one of the most enjoyable times he's had playing music live.

You should listen to Brent's music (you can download here). Jay's favorites are "Where We Will Go" and "Me and All My Friends" and I think mine is "A Dollar Bill":

<p>&amp;lt;a href="http://brentnettlesmusic.bandcamp.com/album/quicksand-river"&amp;gt;Quicksand River by Brent Nettles&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;</p>

90s Flashback: The Rest of It

2011-09-06T22:01:00.001-05:00

In my quest to relive awesome music of the 90s, I realized that much of it is better to forget (MMM Bop or Tubthumpers anyone?) But here are some more of the good ones that we should remember together:

Matchbox 20 - "Hang" (1996):

Third Eye Blind - "Motorcycle Drive By" (which I already mentioned here...but I love it!...and this guy's pictures are hilarious with the words) and "God of Wine" (1997):

Oasis - "Champagne Supernova" (1995):

90s Flashback: Lisa Loeb

2011-09-04T21:53:00.000-05:00

Remember Lisa Loeb?!? I guarantee you every girl between the ages of maybe 27 and 37 could still sing you every word to "Stay" off of her album "Tails" that came out in 1995 (that was 16 years ago!!).

I'm pretty sure I could sing most words to most songs off that album [update: actually not true - apparently I skipped quite a few that I didn't really like because I didn't even recognize a few], but these were my favorites:

Do You Sleep?:

Snow Day:

It's Over:

90s Flashback: Fiona Apple

2011-09-02T21:38:00.001-05:00

Remember Fiona Apple? According to Wikipedia she's still out there making music, but she's kind of been off the radar since her first album called "Tidal." She was 19 when this record came out! This is the same record that has "Criminal" and "Shadowboxer," but these are my favorites:

Never is a Promise:

Pale September:

They sound sad, but they remind me of happiness and good weather.

Project Recap: Dining and Living Rooms

2011-08-31T22:27:00.017-05:00

I talk a lot about projects we are in the middle of, but I realized that I very seldom actually show a finished product. Well with the purchase of a Craigslist coffee table last night, our front 2 rooms are nearly complete enough that I thought I'd have a little show-and-tell. Here's a recap of how we got here.

When we first moved in in 2009, we had pot lights put in, and Jay painted the walls and ceiling white. They were yellow. Yes, even the ceiling. Jay is not normally one to spearhead a painting project, but he HATES yellow. We actually spilled about half a gallon of paint on the dining room carpet but weren't too concerned knowing we had to get rid of it anyway.

You'll remember our record wall from last year we built when both of our dads gave Jay their old records, as well as the old record player from Jay's parents I painted white:

In August last year, I showed my chandelier painting project for the dining room. And I talked about painting an old lamp I took from my mom. My mom just got me this fun shade from Anthropologie for it:

In December of 2010, I showed our tree wall project for the dining room, and you can also see the new wood floors we had installed. (I never put pics of this process up and I just found a bunch, so I'll have to do a follow-up.)

Here is a pillow my mom helped me make around this time using Ikea fabric:

Back in February, I wrote about picking fabrics to recover all my Craiglist finds. Well we did it.

Couch went from this...

...to this:

And chair went from this...

[I can't find the before...I'm convinced I will though]

...to this:

My inspiration was this chair from Anthropologie that I always loved:

This shows the detail of the top of the table we bought last night (notice our wedding book, which I finally did this last Christmas 3.5 years after the fact...it's currently our only coffee table book). This table taught me perseverance with Craigslist - this was the 3rd table I contacted a seller about. I checked every day, multiple times a day once a lost the first 2.

I have learned my Craigslist lesson: upholstered furniture has to be reupholstered ($$$$) - wooden furniture just has to be wiped off.

And altogether, it looks like this!

The only thing we bought brand new besides the shade my mom got and the Ikea fabric for the pillows was the rug. Last December I was having a bad day and just decided I would feel better if I spent a good amount of money, and Jay said OK. So that's what I got.

The grey-ish chairs also came from my parents. They were pink - we had them recovered. And the table by the grey-ish chairs was also from their old house (I think it was in Kath's old room as a nightstand ????)

I have a few more ideas in here, but we've made a lot of progress over the last 2 years!

[Sidenote: New goal for self is to stop using my camera phone and actually get out our good camera!]

Unfinished Project Month - Update

2011-08-24T19:48:00.003-05:00

So an update on unfinished projects...I'm still painting kitchen cabinets. Two down, three to go. I now remember why I never finished this 2 years ago.

Today while painting, I listened to Shiny Toy Guns, who Jay and I saw open years ago for Mute Math. They had some radio songs, but I decided today I really like this less-listened-to song:

And this is Jay's favorite off this album:

And this was in a Lincoln commercial:

The Worst Feeling...

2011-08-17T00:49:00.000-05:00

...when you find something you love on Craigslist, email the person, and they never respond back.

[Sigh]

August = Unfinished Project Month

2011-08-15T15:11:00.001-05:00

I decided a few weeks ago that August should be "unfinished project month." I have lots of ideas for new projects I want to do, so I figured we should finish up a handful of projects that have been sitting 99% complete for too long. We pretty much already had all the supplies we needed. And now that we have a nail gun, these were even easier!

Project #1: Quarter round in my closet
Procrastinated for: 1 year
Time to complete: 20 mins to cut and nail (40 mins if you include my trip to Lowes)
Cost: $4.69

Project #2: Install glass in guest bathroom cabinets
Procrastinated for: 1.5 years
Time to complete: 30 mins
Cost: free (that's right...we already had the glass cut and everything thanks to my mother over a year ago)

Project #3: Touch-up paint baseboards
Procrastinated for: 1 year
Time to complete: 2 hours
Cost: free

I've left the worst for last...painting the rest of the insides of our kitchen cabinets. I wrote about the horribleness of it here. What I didn't mention is that we didn't exactly finish. We didn't paint what we knew we wouldn't use. And we, in fact, don't use any that haven't been painted.

And here's a pic of Jay with my sister's baby Jack at a brewery (blurry because Jack wasn't digging the brewery). Just because they're both cute boys:

Backyard: Planning Phase 1

2011-08-13T21:42:00.007-05:00

If there is one thing NOT lacking in our backyard, it's vision. I absolutely obsess over what COULD be because right now there is not a lot happening.

Well tonight was an exciting night, because I found 1 thing I was thinking we could use back there for free. These are now sitting in our garage:

I saw them on the side of the road (trust me, they weren't actually still in the person's yard...they were more on the road, which means you can take them). So right around 9 tonight, Jay and our neighbor Kevin loaded 3 up in the car. I knew Kevin's wife Stephanie would be totally on board with this and want a few, too. [I forgot to mention that they were REALLY heavy...Stephanie said, "They must really love us," as we stood there watching them get them in the car...]

So now the plan is to get a chain saw to cut each in half. We're thinking we'll need to strip the bark off, and I haven't decided about painting. But then they'll be nice little tables.

This is my plan for what I like to call "Phase 1" for the backyard:

We already have the lights, fire pit, stumps (!!), bench (antique store for $150), and captain's chairs (free from my mother...and apparently kind of in right now I discovered while Googling for a pic). I'm thinking about painting the chairs a funky bright color just for the heck of it.

So now we just need some tall plants and a brick patio. (As a side note, I found several palettes of bricks on Craigslist for $100, but you had to go pick them up and figure out how to get them loaded up and transported wherever you wanted them. For the sake of our marriage, I figured it was worth buying them somewhere that would deliver.)

David Ramirez - Fires

2011-08-04T23:45:00.003-05:00

Another project Jay worked on. One of my favorites. Visit the Serial Box for an interview and pics.

Everything is tracked live (hence the video), and they typically only do 1 or 2 takes of each song. Jay engineered and mixed. Here is all the audio they did from the session (that you can download for free!):

SerialBox Presents: David Ramirez by SerialBox Presents

Toothpick Sculpture

2011-07-18T22:38:00.000-05:00

San Francisco, 35 years in the making:

By Scott Weaver. This news story talks to him a bit (and as someone with toothpick "sculpture" experience, I agree with him on the choice of Elmer's glue):

Fluorescent Light Sculpture

2011-07-16T22:20:00.000-05:00

Now this is an interesting one to me because I admittedly find these a bit perplexing. But I've seen Dan Flavin installations in nearly every modern art museum I've ever been to.

They usually look something like this, and I thought I was missing something the first time I saw one in the corner of a museum:

This one is here in Houston in an old warehouse (actually an old grocery store), the design of which was completed by Flavin just 2 days before his death. There is something kind of cool about the intensity of the colors. (Jay lasted about 5 minutes when he went):

But like the paper and glass sculpture, what's impressive to me about this is the creative use of something common that we all know...Flavin "limited his materials to commercially available fluorescent tubing in standard sizes, shapes, and colors, extracting banal hardware from its utilitarian context and inserting it into the world of high art."

Glass Sculpture

2011-07-14T22:08:00.000-05:00

The graphic designer I worked with years ago loved Dale Chihuly's work. He does these crazy, glass blown chandeliers and installations.

This one is at the Bellagio:

This one was a Christmas decoration at the White House and is now at the Clinton library in Little Rock (I saw it):

Related Story: When my parents were building their house, their builder took them through some of his biggest, baddest houses. My mom talked about how this one house that was over the top in every respect had a giant chandelier that hung 2-3 stories high in the entry way of the house and looked like sea urchins. Well it ends up the largest privately owned Chuhuly chandelier is in The Woodlands. Wowser.

Paper Sculpture

2011-07-12T21:56:00.006-05:00

I write a lot about music on here, so I've decided to intentionally write about some other things for a bit. This week, I'm thinking artsy sculptural things.

First up, Peter Callesen.

I would consider myself pretty handy with an xacto blade, but this is incredible. This is the type of work that just blows my mind in terms of the creativity someone has (not to mention patience in execution).

"A large part of my work is made from A4 sheets of paper...The thin white paper gives the paper sculptures a frailty that underlines the tragic and romantic theme of my works...The paper cut sculptures explore the probable and magical transformation of the flat sheet of paper into figures that expand into the space surrounding them. The negative and absent 2 dimensional space left by the cut, points out the contrast to the 3 dimensional reality it creates, even though the figures still stick to their origin without the possibility of escaping. In that sense there is also an aspect of something tragic in many of the cuts."

The Damnwells

2011-07-10T00:09:00.000-05:00

I've said it before, but I love hearing all the projects Jay works on. Here is an amazing SerialBox session that was released not too long ago that Jay mixed. Go to the SerialBox site to read an interview and hear audio from 4 other songs.

Bon Iver, Bon Iver

2011-07-07T23:47:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, Bon Iver released a new album that we just bought called Bon Iver, Bon Iver. It's a good one.

Towers:

Though to me it's not as memorable as his first album that came out in 2008. One of our faves - I listened to it so much I should be embarrassed. Something about this song makes you feel like you should just cry:

This guy is hipster gold because not only is his music kind of this weird, indie thing, but he recorded his first album one winter in his father's cabin in Wisconsin after he left North Carolina to recuperate from his band breaking up and relationship ending. He said: "I left North Carolina and went up there because I didn't know where else to go and I knew that I wanted to be alone and I knew that I wanted to be where it was cold." Gold.

Kick Starter?

2011-07-07T15:47:00.001-05:00

Some of you may have heard of this new website called kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com). For those of you who haven't I can explain. Kickstarter is a website where creative types can raise money for new projects. This isn't limited to just music, but can be applied to many different creative endeavors. For example, documentaries, design ideas, musical records, and the list goes on. The catch to raising money is that people pledge and if the goal is met the funds are pushed through. If the goal is not met no ones pledge is collected. It's pretty crazy how much money is being pledged and raised through this site. Projects can be any amount. I've seen projects range from $1,000 to $250,000. It's pretty amazing and crazy.

When I first heard about this I was really excited. I saw how people were getting their projects funded and paid for. It was great. It was more than great it was amazing. All you had to do was offer some sort of tier based return system. If you pledge $1 you get.... $10 you get... $25 you get... and so on. The website started getting all sorts of attention from people in Houston. I only really know of bands and songwriters who used it to fund projects, but people were really talking about it.

But then I started to think about it. Yes it is an amazing way to raise funds for a creative project or design idea etc. But, at the end of the day the burden of this project no longer falls on the shoulders of the artist and or creator, but on the shoulders of it's supporters/fans/network/whatever you want to call it. I think most artists would say that's why it's so great, but I tend to disagree. Not completely, but on a couple of levels.

First, what if you are a big fan of a certain songwriter or band and you have the ability to give $10 dollars so that they can make another record? Sounds great right? What if the record isn't any good? I guess you are willing to take that chance at $10 bucks right? What about $25 bucks? $50? $100? Over $1000?! and yes people are giving thousands if not more in some cases. I think at the end of the day the burden should fall on the artist.

Second, don't we have to work for what we get? At least it used to be that way in the days of our parents. I think we have turned into a society where anything goes and most things should go your way and be free at the same time. There is a huge sense of entitlement amongst our generation. People expect to live in a nice place with nice things and have a nice job that pays a lot of $. All the while basically doing nothing for it.

I don't know. On some levels I like it and some levels I don't. Honestly it's probably just some really douchey people on there that don't need the money and are getting all of their "fans" to pay for their lazy ass self centered lack of hard work.

Last thing. I have a studio. It's a creative endeavor. I could set a goal to make my studio better, bigger, higher quality, etc. I could offer all sorts of tiers as to what you could get from my studio. The difference is that the end product is up to the pledger instead of the artist/creator. But would you REALLY give money to that cause?

J

Domestic Disturbance and Me

2011-07-06T10:26:00.002-05:00

Interesting/Crazy story.

Tonight: Left house around 11:00 to meet my friend for a late movie. On my way a young girl steps out into the street waving her arms. My first thought was that she was joking, drunk, being stupid, etc. But, as I got closer I could see there was something wrong. I pulled over and rolled down the window. As she approached a young guy/boy came up behind her and tried to block her from talking to me. She said that this guy used to be her boyfriend and that he wouldn't leave her alone. She was a little hysterical and crying. She had a bike and wanted to ride home. I didn't know how serious it was and the boy was a little standoffish to me even though he was being loud and physical with her. When I would talk to her he would back away. He started to get more physical with her - pushing and grabbing pretty forcefully - which was pissing me off. I was worried so I told her to get on her bike and that I would follow her home. Selfishly I did this to protect myself first - I needed to asess the situation.

After she was on the bike for a bout 700 or so yards - I decided to pull over so I could put her bike in the back and drive her home. As I was pulling up the tailgate when I saw the young guy approaching on his little ghetto looking bike. This time it was more serious. She had not entered my car yet and so I walked over to the passenger side to let her in. The boy was yelling at her not to get in my car. After I put her in - I began to walk back to the driver side - I assumed she locked the door when she got in but the window was still down. As I walked around to my door he had unlocked the door and pulled her out - this was the point I got angry. All I did was raise my voice. I yelled "hey" which was just enough to get him to leave the girl alone. I walked towards him quickly and thankfully it took his attention off of the girl. I approached him and he pretended to have some sort of knife behind his back. Which of course he didn't grab or take out of a bag. He threatened to stab me. I was %80 sure he didn't have anything, but I didn't want to risk it. Then for some idiotic reason he got his phone out pretending to call the cops on me. (really? you're going to call the cops on me? right after threatening to stab me?) The girl was in the car and he wasn't trying to get her out this time. I got in the car and took her home.

It's crazy the things you think about though. Honestly, I was looking for something to use as a weapon. Most likely it would have been my tire iron. I really wanted to beat the shit out of this kid. You must be a complete coward to hit women. when I backtracked from taking her home - I went looking for him. Drove around and didn't find him. Lucky for him.

I don't think my friends and I have enough tattoos to pull this off...

2011-07-05T23:40:00.002-05:00

But look at how colorful and beautiful this wedding is (and read more here):

4 Years

2011-06-14T21:23:00.004-05:00

Last week was our 4 year anniversary. Jay called me the morning of to gloat about how after 4 years, he finally knew exactly what to get me. So I spent the rest of the day telling a co-worker my guesses.

I was wrong. This is what he got me:

Six metal drawers for our lower kitchen cabinetry! This says 2 things about us. 1 - He does get me well enough now to know EXACTLY what to get me. 2 - There must be something very wrong with me.

[And I technically didn't get him anything. I just told him he could spend money on studio gear. My VP jokingly told me, "Honeymoon's over." It probably is - but I think it's much better than that now.]

Thank you Internet

2011-05-31T00:13:00.000-05:00

The internet has come along way since AOL. The most interesting thing to date has been my ability to talk/connect with musicians and other working professionals in my industry so easily.

A couple of years ago I listened to a record called "Albertine" by Brooke Fraser. The record was great, but the drumming was incredible. I found out who tracked drums on the record and then using facebook of all things I tracked down the drummer. His name is Aaron Sterling. Since then I have had the opportunity and the privilege to correspond with Aaron quite a few times over online messages and then through a series of emails. He was very insightful and willing to give me some of his time and most recently he was nice enough to call me.

We talked about drumming, the industry, changes over the years, working as a drummer, LA, Nashville, etc. etc. He is currently tracking John Mayer's new record in NYC right now. The small connection I've had with him has been a blessing. It's a small thing for him, but a big thing for me.

The internet is amazing.

J

R&B Wednesday

2011-05-25T22:32:00.003-05:00

I Don't Really Like Movies...

2011-05-20T23:24:00.000-05:00

Not like Jay does. But I do love documentaries! And I'd like to watch this one:

[Jay plays for this guy's sister and her husband. And they are wonderful.]

Belong

2011-05-18T22:44:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit particular about the art in our house. This really bothered Jay at first - he hated all the blank, empty walls. But my deal with art is that it should be meaningful in some way. I'm completely not a picture person, but I think what a lot of people do with pictures in their house is what I do with our art. So I like to either do it myself or know the person who did it, and I like for it to have a story that is significant to us in some way and represents our life at that moment in time.

Well we've just acquired a painting that fits all the criteria!

At the church we go to, there is a resident artist that paints during all the services. It's pretty incredible because he paints these in just over an hour and does it 5 times per weekend for each service (the five are usually similar with slight variations). Jay has asked him a few times if we could buy one of the pieces he's done during a service, but it never works out. Well 2 Sundays ago, I really liked his painting. So I asked him if we could buy it (he usually sells them for $250 I think), and he straight up gave it to me! It's now in our living room.

In addition to the message behind the painting and Scott's awesome artistic style, another thing I love about what he does is that he painted it on a cheap piece of 4'x3' particle board that's maybe 1/4" thick. Somehow that makes it more accessible to me. We decided to mount it to a 1x3 frame to give it some more substance. Here we are building said frame in our living room (this is the project that actually led us to buying the nail gun).

And since I'm never in a hurry and tend to have a long-term vision, I see this as having 2 friends in the future to really fill up the wall. See?

Small Laundry Room Projects

2011-05-16T22:32:00.007-05:00

Sometimes it's the small things in life...

We've just added 3 small, cheap organizational things to our small laundry room, and it makes me so happy. I just really really like for things to look nice and for everything to have a little spot to go home to.

First, a wall-mounted thingy I got at Lowe's to hold brooms, mops, etc:

Second, a screen thing to hide the water heater (these were actually already in our house from the previous owner, and it seemed like a good use for one - we've got 2 more):

And finally, a little drying rack we got at Ikea. This is my attempt at a panoramic to show where things are in relation to each other:

Jay's got some big ideas for the laundry room. We just bought a nail gun (!), and he's more open to projects when he's got new tools to try out.

SerialBox Presents: Thad Cockrell

2011-05-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned here, Jay loves this guy, recently got to play for him, and did the audio for this:

Listen to the entire set, see pics, and read the interview here. I think you can even download the audio at the very bottom of the page!

Listening To: Elliott Smith

2011-05-09T23:41:00.002-05:00

Jay recently bought an Elliott Smith song, and I'd forgotten how much I loved listening to his moody, sad music in undergrad late at night while working in the studio building models. He committed suicide in 2003, which seems fitting for his very somber and melancholy music.

This has always been my favorite:

Now I'm in a Folksy Mood

2011-05-08T23:36:00.000-05:00

Ahhhh...people being in love:

This song has one of my all-time favorite song lyrics: "I'd rather be working for a paycheck than waiting to win the lottery..."

6 Years of music

2011-05-08T15:00:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted anything in a long long time. Linz (wife) is much better than me at being current.

My sister Leanne told me the other day that one of her friends enjoyed reading the new music that Linz and I listen to and post about. Lindsay said that it was only because SHE blogged about it. I agreed but added that she typically hears the music from me and THEN blogs about it. I'm just giving her a hard time. Lindsay has great taste in music. We love everything from Cinematic Orchestra to Katy Perry. I really enjoy good pop music. Leanne says she feels bad because she listens to Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. Little does she know.... hahaha.

I have been making music and playing music for six years. It's interesting to look back on what I thought was such a difficult time and realize it was all very necessary. It would be easy to look on a lot of missed opportunities as bad luck or misfortune and let some of those things overshadow the good days, great songs, great gigs, and great people. I'm very thankful for all the good.

Everyone has to learn and grow some where right? Well... at least the people who are attempting to go, do, and be better all around seem to. I think a lot of the music scene has to do with not necessarily who you know but who you are. Is he or she a good hang or do people get quiet/make a face when that person is mentioned. It's easy to know very quickly.

As a Jesus follower and a "Bible" believer - I feel like it's very true that "no one is good, not one" - basically - everybody has flaws and is capable of being a complete ass/shit/whatever you call terrible people. But truly - I really have met some great people, and I have recently decided that I'm done trying to impress the people who "I'm supposed to impress or befriend so that..." - mainly because I've missed out on a lot of good things because I was too wrapped up in an idea of a person or a gig, or a project, or a band etc. etc. etc. Plus - we all know where the pity parties lead to.... no friends, no calls, no work. I've been there and it's not a fun place to be.

In the last two years I've produced or co-produced four EP's consisting of:
Neal Mabry
Hooray For Love
Tommy Lynch
Tim Qualls
A New Band - currently with no name that is really kick ass - I'm in this band. More to come later about this.

Each project was completely different. Different songs, players, places, seasons, and people all together.

Producing music is one of my favorite things to do. It's tricky and difficult, but the rewards can be great. Some times you can give a song or a record new direction by writing something new for it - shoving it really hard out of it's comfort zone or slightly nudging it in a different direction. Some times it's taxing and some times it's effortless. The best way to be good at something is to find someone who does it well and copy them. I'm serious. You want to know the difference between a good producer and a great producer? Look for the guy everyone talks about being such a great person. You can be great at your craft, but if you suck - nobody really cares about you. If you are a great hang- then the sky is the limit.

Andy Hunt is a producer in Nashville. He is also a very well known engineer and songwriter. I got connected with Andy through my friend Ryan Booth who interned for another producer that Andy used to share a space with in Nashville (Mitch Dane). I've worked with Andy on a few things - mainly utilizing his skills to mix some of my projects. Working on a record in Nashville with him for about three days was enough to solidify my thoughts about producing and how I would approach working on my own projects. I couldn't believe how encouraging and positive this guy was. So even keel and joyful. I felt like he was genuinely glad to see his friends and thankful he got to make music. There is definitely a nitty gritty technical detailed side to producing and music, but watching Andy work inspired me. Anyways - like I said - I feel very lucky to have had the opportunities I've had. Besides - how many bands do you absolutely love that you have NO idea as to the names of ANY of the guys who are either in the band, produced the music, or worked as engineers? I would say it's more than %90. Probably closer to %99 if you are like me.

All that says is that most of the people who work in music, who are very talented, and are really great will probably never ever be famous.

The reality is that there are thousands of people in the music biz that are extremely talented in different areas of music that we will never know about. From musicians to producers to songwriters. I think the question for people like myself is "Am I ok with not ever being famous?" I think I can say for certain that yes - I am, but I'll never say I wouldn't want that. Who wouldn't?

Anyways - enough rambling. Here is a list of music (I've) been listening to for the last few years.

Thad Cockrell - To Be Loved- Favorite record of 2010 - Linz will blog about him soon and my recent experience.
Paper Route - Absence - Favorite record of 2009

I recently started listening to the Beatles. So many songs to check out. If you aren't a beatles fan - don't beat yourself up or be afraid to say you haven't really listened to them - people can get over themselves. it's OK. If you want to start with the Beatles try listening to Revolver. I think that's a good one to start with. (quick thought - if you tell someone you haven't ever listened to beatles and they give you a condescending look or say something snide = don't fear they are probably terrible... - on the other hand - if they are really nice and say - oh man check out ______________ yadda yadda yadda = be happy. they are cool)

Landon Pigg - The Boy Who Never - Great record!!
Black Dub
The Civil Wars
Jonsi - Go live
Jonsi and Alex - Riceboy sleeps
K.S. Rhoads - Dead Language
Helios
Adele - 21
The Alternate Routes - Good and reckless and true
Ben Folds - Way To Normal
The Cinematic Orchestra

Coldplay - Viva la vida - if you have only listened to the title track - shame on you - listen to the rest of the record!! AMAZING

Death Cab - narrow stairs
Florence and The Machine - (I discovered them and told Linz BTW)

The Gabe Dixon Band - been listening to them for a long time, but they came out with a self titled record and it was really good

Glen Hansard

I own every Harry Connick Jr. Record - you should too - if you like that sort of genre

BTW I listen to the Vince Guaraldi Trio - Charlie Brown Xmas - ALL YEAR LONG

Huey Lewis and The News - one band I remember my dad listening to on road trips growing up

Miles Davis - kind of blue - if you don't like jazz - buy this record
Jonsi - Go
Katy Perry
Michael Buble
Muse
Ray LaMontagne - Trouble, Til the Sun Turns black
Ryan Adams - Love is Hell Pt. I and II
Sarah Bareilles - either of her records
Sean Carey - All we Grow
Bon Iver
Sheryl Crow - 100 Miles From memphis
Van Morrison
U2

Hopefully I'll be posting more regularly

J

Favorite Sing-Along Song

2011-05-07T23:17:00.001-05:00

I posted about sing-along songs once before, but this is my all time favorite (look how much fun they're having!):

(Here's the album version, which is awesome and has the all-popular xylophone going for it, but as you can tell from the live version, it really is meant to sing along to). I love love love Rilo Kiley. Perhaps you recognize the lead singer and guitar player?

[Jenny Lewis as Shelly Long's daughter in Troop Beverly Hills...she also sang back-up for The Postal Service]

[Blake Sennett as the bully in Boy Meets World]

Speaking of Ben Folds...

2011-05-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

Our friend BF covered a Ke$ha song called Sleazy, which I'd never heard so I previewed it in iTunes...this version is way better:

I love how he takes ridiculous, trashy songs and turns it into something brilliant and trashy. [Note: Here we can excuse the trashiness because it's to raise funds for Japan...]

And while we are on the subject of awesome trashy covers, if you've never heard his cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit" you should probably listen to it. It's a Dr. Dre song he covered back in the day, and I've never heard such horrible horrible lyrics sang so beautifully. Seriously, just look up the lyrics...I would post them here but I'm too embarrassed.

It's Not Just Me

2011-05-04T00:03:00.000-05:00

I like things organized. I made Jay take me to Target last night at 9:45 because we had run out of white hangers.

So understandably, there are many images on this website that make my heart skip a beat: Things Organized Neatly.

[After looking through too many of these, I honestly feel like people like things to be organized because we are innately attracted to patterns, beautiful design, grouping objects in themes, etc. The ones with pattern and repetition really get me.]

8in8

2011-05-01T23:49:00.001-05:00

This is one of the most insane and coolest things I've ever heard of...

A few night ago, Ben Folds, who is just one of our favorites, teamed up with 3 other folks (lead singer of OK Go, songwriter Amanda Palmer and her author husband) to write and record 8 songs in 8 hours - 4 pm to midnight, west coast time. Neil Gairman (the author) tweeted throughout, taking suggestions for lyrics, album name, etc, and they live video-streamed the whole thing. They released the songs here the following morning, and then performed them live at Boston's Berklee College of Music that night.

And though they only got to 6 songs, and they're kind of weird, I'm still blown away by the concept.

Listening To: Thad Cockrell

2011-04-29T19:46:00.002-05:00

One of Jay's absolute favorite albums last year was Thad Cockrell's "To Be Loved." It's pretty great. Here Thad is performing my favorite off the album acoustic on a radio station:

Well, apparently Thad is friends with the pastor of our church, who invited him to play on Easter. And so Jay got to play 7 songs with him this last Sunday, which was really cool for him. They didn't practice at all - they totally winged it , which I think was intimidating for Jay, but Thad was really nice and cool about the whole thing. Jay loved him.

And here is "Pride Won't Get Us Where We're Going" off the album:

Later Sunday night, Jay helped out with the audio of a video shoot for Thad. We have some friends who shoot videos of bands doing broken down sets. I'll post the final video when it gets finished, but in the meantime check out a "behind the scenes" here. You spot Jay; I'll spot all the gear we've bought over the years ($$$$).

Some of Us Were Designed for More "Academic" Pursuits

2011-04-27T19:35:00.002-05:00

We (ie I) haven't been updating the blog lately for one main reason: there just isn't enough time. And this is due to one main reason: P90X.

That's right - we're doing P90X. [Almost] every night, we have to do an hour to an hour-and-a-half of push-ups, pull-ups, abs, curls, lunges, squats, yoga, stretching... And let me tell you, P90X has taught me how unfair life is.

We're in the 2nd month, and though I can tell I'm quite a bit stronger - can pretty much do a push-up...am sooooo close to being able to do a pull-up - I don't think I look that different. Haven't lost any weight...no six-pack...no bulging biceps.

And then there's Jay.

He's got pecs.

He's got biceps.

He's got massive calf muscles.

Several people have asked him if he's working out, because he really is bulking up. And last time I checked, WE'RE DOING THE SAME WORKOUT! And not that I want to bulk up, but still... If Jay just thinks about eating better, he loses 5 pounds.

This month we finally decided we had to start eating better so that the sweat and sore muscles aren't entirely in vain. So we'll see...

The Melancholy Sessions

2011-04-13T18:28:00.005-05:00

A project that Jay produced/recorded/mixed is available for free on Noise Trade today HERE. You can also have a listen by streaming HERE. [Just fixed this link - sorry!]

A few months ago, Jay started working with a Houston-area fellow named Tim Qualls producing a jammier, slightly stripped down version of 4 of his songs. They recorded just about everything at our house, avoiding drums by using lots and lots of hand claps (I'm even in there somewhere!). I think the final product is pretty killer - a little moody, a little poetic...hence the title of the EP.

Jay worked really hard on this project and really pushed Tim to step outside his box, and I think they're both quite pleased with the finished product.

Gotta Get Down on Friday

2011-04-03T18:53:00.004-05:00

If you have somehow missed it, watch at least the first minute of this YouTube video that currently has 81 MILLION VIEWS! I'm perplexed...I think it's a joke, right??

Then you can fully appreciate:

Listening Tonight: Adele - 19

2011-03-07T23:05:00.004-06:00

This album is called "19" because she was 19 when she recorded it. Her newest album is called "21"...I don't know about you, but this is not what I was doing when I was 19.

The Table

2011-03-04T23:34:00.002-06:00

Earlier this year, Jay worked on a project with a Houston area singer-songwriter named Tommy Lynch. This last week, Tommy released "The Table" as a 5-song EP on his website for $5, with all proceeds going to an organization fighting sex trafficking. So you should visit his website to listen and support a good cause. (Note: one of the songs that plays on his website called "Eternal King" is actually from a previous record).

Other than being a good cause, this project has been one of my favorites that Jay has worked on - I can objectively say that the music is really good. Tommy is very talented as a songwriter, and I really like his voice. He's a great cook, and just a nice guy. And of course I think Jay is more talented than most, and he acted as producer, engineer, drummer, and mixer.

To record the EP, Jay and Tommy moved into my parents house for 2 weeks while they were out of town and set up a make-shift recording studio with the main tracking room in their living room and the control room in my dad's study. They'd work as late into the night as they possibly could, with a new musician showing up every couple of days to track bass, guitar, keys. They even used my mom's mother's baby grand piano on a song or two.

This is my favorite of the 5 songs set to pictures they took at the house:

And since I'm always so impressed with the talented people that work on records with Jay, the people who worked on this one were:

Bass - Paul Engelking
Guitar - Matt "Frodo" Kidd
Keys - Brian Mann
Background Vocals - Lizzie Bailey
Audio Engineer Extraordinaire - Daniel Karr

Adding a little color to our world of White and Grey

2011-02-28T17:53:00.001-06:00

You may recall my Craigslist couch that I got about a year ago:

I bought it with the intention of recovering. Well my mom, Jay, and I actually spent hours today looking at upholstery samples. These pictures are horrible because they are from my phone, but the winner is kind of yellowish while still remaining neutral.

What's even more exciting is that I also recently bought a Craigslist chair ($38!), and we also picked out samples for that. We're going bold:

So between buying rugs for Christmas and reupholstering furniture, I feel very grown up.

Goal #5: Paint Something

2011-02-26T17:28:00.009-06:00

Goal #5 was to paint something (I previously mentioned that Goal #6 was to read more).

Do I did.

I used all the paint samples left over from choosing paint for the living room, and was then of course disappointed that it was so similar in color to the walls. But that's ok because we'll (eventually) have some brighter things on some of the other walls.

On a sidenote, I also touched up our old TV console. This was actually an old '70s dresser that someone gave my younger sister. She didn't really want it, so I decided that we (me and Jay) should rip all the hardware off, lose the drawers, and spray paint it black. Everyone thought this was such a bad idea. They were wrong.

I Like Your Digs

2011-02-18T23:34:00.000-06:00

Jay: "Are 'digs' shoes or your house?"
Me: "...digs...house? Yeah house."
Jay: "OK...apparently I'm not hip with my lingo."
Me: "Yeah I don't think that sounds very hip..."
Jay: "Nope. It is. It's what the kids are saying these days."

So when should I start feeling old?

I'm going to stuff all our money under our mattress...

2011-02-16T22:58:00.004-06:00

Bernie Madoff will be sitting in jail for the rest of his life for operating the so-called largest Ponzi scheme in history. The actual amount of the fraud is estimated to be likely between $12 to $20 billion.

I was thinking about this and what a Ponzi scheme is (from Wikipedia, emphasis mine):

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going.

So hasn't our government in essence been running a much larger Ponzi scheme in Social Security? Much larger and much farther reaching than what Madoff did? And actually, I just discovered that this is not my own original idea (also on Wikipedia):

Social Security has been a pyramid scheme from the beginning. Those who paid in first received money from those who paid in second — and so on, generation after generation. This was great so long as the small generation when Social Security began was being supported by larger generations resulting from the baby boom. But, like all pyramid schemes, the whole thing is in big trouble once the pyramid stops growing. When the baby boomers retire, that will be the moment of truth — or of more artful lies. Just like Enron. — Thomas Sowell, Capitalism Magazine

Others call it a "quasi" pyramid scheme because a true Ponzi scheme proffers a mythical source of revenue-generation, while social security payments have always been openly underwritten by tax revenue. Either way, this is a big deal. Consider:

In 2004 the U.S. Social Security system paid out almost $500 billion in benefits
The U.S. Social Security program is the largest government program in the world and the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget
The program is currently estimated to keep roughly 40% of all Americans age 65 or older out of poverty

In general, I don't really have political leanings because I think I've become quite jaded to believe that few (if any politicians) have the best interest of the country in mind. I think debt is bad. I think programs like Social Security that are not sustainable and that drive us further into debt are bad. Like personal finances, the way to fix this is to spend less and/or earn more, implying that we need to tax more and spend less. But politicians fight for the opposite because that will win elections.

The things that keep me up at night...sigh...

Fire and Dynamite

2011-02-09T18:49:00.001-06:00

Craigslist Cleanout

2011-01-22T12:40:00.012-06:00

Jay cleaned out the garage some this weekend, and in there was an old Ikea dresser that he got before we were married. It's damaged and not really worth anything, and Jay just wanted to throw it out. He didn't even want to take it to Goodwill because he thought no one would want it. I convinced him that we should just put it on Craigslist for free so that we wouldn't even have to move it. He was resistant, but I insisted. And I'm not even kidding - I got 6 emails in 9 minutes! The dresser was gone within 3 hours of posting.

So then I got bold. Next, we posted this built-in thingy that was removed at some point from somewhere in our house and has been sitting in our garage since we moved into our house. We were totally going to trash it and I figured we'd throw it up there (for free) to see if we got any takers. Within 2 minutes, 2 emails. About 24 hours, gone!

After that one, Jay was ready to post all sorts of stuff and thought we should try for some $$. The thing with Craigslist, though, is people are looking for deals, especially if the deal is it's free. But good lesson learned - if you want to take something to Goodwill (or apparently to a dumpster) and it's semi difficult to get there, just put it on Craigslist!

My First Favorite Songs

2011-01-19T23:08:00.000-06:00

How awesome is his hair? I remember one time when I was probably 5, I was mad at my dad for some reason so he put this song on because he knew I liked it, and it took all that was in me to not get up and dance around.

My parents bought me this tape at Hastings in Conroe.

I can remember listening to this in the car and making my dad rewind it repeatedly.

I never knew a Beetle sang this song!

2011-01-18T23:04:00.001-06:00

(from 1987)

I can't believe this song came out 10 years ago...

2011-01-17T22:46:00.000-06:00

Now that we are done with the first decade of the 2000s, the beginning of the 2000s is much farther away than it seems like they should be. Here are some other albums that came out in 2001 that make it feel like a long time ago:

Weezer's green album
Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American
Destiny Child's Survivor
even N'Sync (the album with that Dirty Pop song)! Who knew they even made it out of the 90s?!

Google 4eva

2011-01-15T21:55:00.000-06:00

Did you know that the most visited website in 2010 was Facebook? And that "facebook" was the most searched term, followed by "facebook login."

Google came in second. This is absolutely mind-boggling to me as one of Google's most dedicated customers (and yes I know I'm not actually paying for anything...but I am loyal). Do you know how many times a day I google "excel how to..."? Today, Google taught me about indirect cell referencing in Excel, explained that honey doesn't go bad, showed me how to get to a wedding cake tasting place (more fun when you're not the bride I think), helped me find a conversion chart for yards of trash into tons... I mean, what did Facebook ever do for me?!

Goal #6: Read More

2011-01-14T21:36:00.004-06:00

Last week I sent a list of goals I have to Jay.

Sidenote: Although this is happening at the beginning of the year, I wasn't really inspired by the idea of New Year's Resolutions...I was inspired by a friend who was in town for Christmas and we met up with who is always trying out new things. For instance, this year she wanted to try some tap-dancing classes and is doing a series of paintings. Last year, her husband got her an accordion, so she learned how to play it. I figured if I didn't really think about what I would like to try out in life besides go to work everyday I might not ever do anything else.

Back to the main story. Goal #6 was "Read more." So now I'm a reader. And since I also decided that "you can't manage what you don't measure" (words of wisdom from a business school friend), I'm keeping track of what I read on Good Reads, which I actually joined probably a year ago and have never actually done anything with. So if you're on there, we can be friends.

I might try to set a goal like a book per month or something, but right now my only criteria is to not actually buy any books because of Goal #4, which was "Declutter our house and live more simply (ie buy less and buy more intentionally)." And since I don't think I've ever reread a book or see value in having most books after they are read, I with intentionally not buy any. Luckily I've already got about 5 or 6 lined up!

Pomplamoose

2011-01-04T20:03:00.003-06:00

My mom asked me the other day who these people in this commercial were - she thought they looked like we should be friends with them. They are a band called Pomplamoose, and they are another good example of a band totally made by YouTube.

Here they are in action (for Jay):

And the girl is just amazing...and I've always loved this song:

I actually ran across them totally by accident when I was reading up on Ben Folds (did anyone see him on The Sing Off? - I just love him). They did this pretty cool collaboration with an author:

I just decided...

2011-01-01T12:50:00.002-06:00

...that gift bags are cheating. Plus, you can regift them, which makes them that much less personal. And there is no challenge. For instance, I like to see if I can get 45 degree angles on all my corner folds. My brother-in-law likes to see how few pieces of tape he can use when wrapping.

Name the Worst Font on the Count of Three...

2010-12-20T00:10:00.001-06:00

I believed that unarguably the worst font of all time was Comic Sans (when googled, this is the first page to come up). But my sister and her friend both voted Papyrus. So I decided to do some extensive research (ie I googled) and found "America's Most Fonted: The 7 Worst Fonts":

1. Comic Sans MS (of course...and I will think even worse of you if it is purple and used in your email signature)
2. Bradley Hand ITC
3. Curlz MT
4. Papyrus (still not acceptable if you work at a church)
5. Vivaldi
6. Kristen ITC
7. Viner Hand ITC

So let's just all agree to look for some better fonts. My sister and I share a fondness for Gill Sans. Jay likes ITC Avant Garde. When in doubt, just go with Helvetica.

Sleigh Bells

2010-12-18T23:58:00.001-06:00

Note: This is completely not Christmas related. But there is something about this song that every time I hear it, I can't help but totally dig it. They classify themselves as a "noise pop music duo," which I think is totally fitting because they incorporate weird sounds into their music in a totally MIA-esque way. What's most awesome about Sleigh Bells is that they formed when the dude of the band was waiting tables and mentioned to a customer that he was looking for a female vocalist. Customer volunteered her daughter. And Sleigh Bells was formed.

And here's another (and an actual music video this time as opposed to a random irrelevant thing I found on You Tube):

Great Christmas Music - 8

2010-12-18T13:27:00.002-06:00

Gatlin Elms - "Jerusalem, Our Lord Has Come!"

I just love this song. Jay mixed it for them, and one of my favorite things about Jay working on other people's music is getting to hear such a wide variety of things (some things I like, some I don't...but this one is great). Plus, it's an original!

Go here to read about and stream the demo.

Great Christmas Music - 7

2010-12-17T22:49:00.001-06:00

Olivette - "See Amid The Winter's Snow"

I put this one up before, but I've gotten better at making my videos since then! Jay played drums on this album last year, and I really like it. AND Brian Mann played keys.

Great Christmas Music - 6

2010-12-16T23:19:00.002-06:00

Brian Mann - "The First Noel"

Jay played drums on a studio project with this guy, and he's pretty amazing. He recorded this piano album last year just cause why not - he's amazing. It's on iTunes (album is called "Simple Christmas"), and 10% of sales go to support efforts to bring clean water to Haiti.

Great Christmas Music - 5

2010-12-13T22:57:00.003-06:00

Sixpence None the Richer - "Silent Night" (version on City on a Hill)

Great Christmas Music - 4

2010-12-10T11:26:00.000-06:00

Sufjan Stevens - "O Come O Come Emmanuel"

Great Christmas Music - 3

2010-12-07T23:14:00.000-06:00

Vince Guaraldi Trio - "Christmastime is Here"

If you look on our iTunes, this album is one of the most played. Jay literally listens to it year-round.

Great Christmas Music - 2

2010-12-06T23:10:00.000-06:00

Relient K - "I Celebrate The Day"

Amazing Cover

2010-12-05T22:45:00.005-06:00

And she recorded it in GarageBand (ie not a good audio program)!

[This was on Perez Hilton almost a year ago and might have been how we discovered Florence + The Machine to begin with...here's the original]

And then one day at work, Jay sent me his own version:
[Note: I don't know how to post audio, so I turned it into a video myself. But I didn't try very hard.]

PS - I've decided I need to start posting more stuff Jay does because he will whip something like this up (especially after he discovered auto-tune) and I just think it's amazing.
PSS - 2nd pic is at 2 in the morning as Jay and I completed priming our new baseboards, 3rd pic is brother-in-law Jared, 4th pic is me and the moms at St. Arnold's brewery.

Great Christmas Music - 1

2010-12-03T23:04:00.002-06:00

We listen to some Christmas music year-round because it's just that good. So I'm going to periodically put up some of our favorites (and if you haven't noticed, I only know how to put up videos...not audio...so they will always be in video form even if the video is completely irrelevant).

Sufjan Stevens - "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"

(And I know it's not exactly a Christmas song, but it's on a Christmas album and it has sleigh bells at the end)

Internet Killed the Video Star

2010-12-02T21:59:00.006-06:00

Have you seen this (right now over 4 million views):

They didn't actually get their instruments stolen, but nonetheless it's pretty impressive. I'd never heard of them until I saw this video. But the other day, I heard this song on the Top 20 station sandwiched in between Nelly and Pink! It's amazing how much the music industry has changed with the internet, especially since MTV doesn't even really play music videos anymore...they're too busy with stellar programming like Jersey Shore and My Super Sweet Sixteen. You can just throw something up on YouTube and millions of people can see it!

Other notable instances of internet blow-ups:

Justin Bieber (discovered in 2008 from YouTube)
Every music video ever made by OK Go (seriously, every single one of those has MILLIONS of views)
A Filipino guy (Arnel Pineda) was asked to try out to be the lead singer of Journey after they saw him on YouTube

The Limousines - "Internet Killed The Video Star"

They Must Have Thick Skin in the North

2010-11-26T23:38:00.001-06:00

In preparation for our Thanksgiving trip to Oklahoma, I looked up the weather and then googled what to wear in different temperatures. I found this:

30s- jeans, boots, long sleeve, coat
40s-jeans, boots, long sleeve, down vest
50s-jean skirt, over knee socks or tights, boots, long sleeve, down vest
60s-jeans, hoodie, sandals
70s-tanktop, lightweight zip hoodie, skirt or jeans and a top
80s-skirt/shorts, short sleeve tee shirt or tanktop

This person must live in the frigid north! Here in Houston, we whip out the scarves and coats as soon as it dips below 70. Plus, they left out:

90s-shorts, tanktop
100s-as little clothing as possible with an icepack down the pants

Craigslist Furniture Finds

2010-11-24T22:05:00.001-06:00

I love looking on Craigslist just to see what's out there (we actually bought a couch on Craigslist a few months ago when I was just looking). Sometimes I wonder if sellers realize that people are looking on Craigslist for DEALS - so don't try to get a good price for the crap you don't even want anymore! I've been looking at wingback chairs, and there are lots for sale in the $50ish range that I would totally buy with the plan to recover if I were in the market for a good wingback chair. I ran across 2 that were just funny to me:

"Custom wingback chair in decorator golf print - original cost $1,000":
And a close up:

My first thought was that it's completely irrelevant to me that this was a custom golf print because the appeal of custom is that you can do it however you want...and I'm stuck with what the seller picked. And secondly, really $1,000? You wanted a golf chair that badly? (I looked up new wingback chairs, and $1000 actually isn't a bad price, but on principle I'm going to say it is.) This person was trying to get $275 for this chair (ie new owner would also want a golf chair that badly and not be recovering in their own, custom print).

[You know, I started thinking that it would be acceptable for someone like Jay's dad, whose career is centered around golf, to have this chair in a study or office... but then you have to wonder if the woman on there even has good form.]

"Unique Jungle print Wingback Chair - $50"
Yikes - those are some big giraffes and elephants. To this person's credit, they are only trying to get $50.

And then I was amazed at the array of colors you can find when looking for a leather couch. Craigslist has the whole rainbow!

Blue:

Green is surprisingly popular:

"Pale" Yellow:

Orange:

And my favorite, Perwinkle:

Need A New Christmas Album?

2010-11-22T13:49:00.000-06:00

At our house, we skipped right over Thanksgiving and are on to Christmas. We put lights up yesterday, and though we were early movers, we weren't even first on the street!

This includes Christmas music. I'd forgotten how much I love this album that Jay played on last year. It's nice to mix in with all the classics so you're not listening to the same songs over and over again. Here are three of my favorites:

See Amid The Winter's Snow

O Come All Ye Faithful / Glory To God On High

No Earthly King

The album is "Come and See" by Olivette, available on iTunes. Olivette is Matt and Cameron Hammon. The guy who played piano is named Brian Mann. Jay played with him last night, and I told Jay that if I had enough money I would just hire him to come play at our house every night.

I Just Find This Guy So Funny...

2010-11-21T22:28:00.000-06:00

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.19pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David, Our records indicate that your account is overdue by the amount of $233.95. If you have already made this payment please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.
Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.37pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane, I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead. I value the drawing at $233.95 so trust that this settles the matter.
Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.07am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Thankyou for contacting us. Unfortunately we are unable to accept drawings as payment and your account remains in arrears of $233.95. Please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.
Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles
From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.32am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Can I have my drawing of a spider back then please.
Regards, David.
From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.42am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear David,
You emailed the drawing to me. Do you want me to email it back to you?
Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles
From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.56am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Yes please.
Regards, David.
From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 12.14pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Attached

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 09.22am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Whose spider is that?

Dear Jane,
Are you sure this drawing of a spider is the one I sent you? This spider only has seven legs and I do not feel I would have made such an elementary mistake when I drew it.
Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.03am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David,
Yes it is the same drawing. I copied and pasted it from the email you sent me on the 8th. David your account is still overdue by the amount of $233.95.
Please make this payment as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.05am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Automated Out of Office Response

Thankyou for contacting me.
I am currently away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week.
Regards, David.

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.08am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Hello, I am back and have read through your emails and accept that despite missing a leg, that drawing of a spider may indeed be the one I sent you. I realise with hindsight that it is possible you rejected the drawing of a spider due to this obvious limb ommission but did not point it out in an effort to avoid hurting my feelings. As such, I am sending you a revised drawing with the correct number of legs as full payment for any amount outstanding. I trust this will bring the matter to a conclusion.
Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 2.51pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David,
As I have stated, we do not accept drawings in lei of money for accounts outstanding. We accept cheque, bank cheque, money order or cash. Please make a payment this week to avoid incurring any additional fees.
Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 3.17pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

I understand and will definitely make a payment this week if I remember. As you have not accepted my second drawing as payment, please return the drawing to me as soon as possible. It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large amount to it.
Regards, David.

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2008 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Attached

Missy the Cat

2010-11-20T22:25:00.000-06:00

Shannon (the secretary) has lost her cat and has asked David (the graphic designer) to help with a lost poster. This is their email correspondence.

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 9.15am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Poster

Hi
I opened the screen door yesterday and my cat got out and has been missing since then so I was wondering if you are not to busy you could make a poster for me. It has to be A4 and I will photocopy it and put it around my suburb this afternoon.

This is the only photo of her I have she answers to the name Missy and is black and white and about 8 months old. missing on Harper street and my phone number.
Thanks Shan.

From:David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 9.26am
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,
That is shocking news.
Although I have two clients expecting completed work this afternoon, I will, of course, drop everything and do whatever it takes to facilitate the speedy return of Missy.
Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 9.37am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Poster

yeah ok thanks. I know you dont like cats but I am really worried about mine. I have to leave at 1pm today.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.17am
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,
I never said I don't like cats. Attached poster as requested.
Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.24am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

yeah thats not what I was looking for at all. it looks like a movie and how come the photo of Missy is so small?

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.28am
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,
It's a design thing. The cat is lost in the negative space.
Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.33am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

Thats just stupid. Can you do it properly please? I am extremely emotional over this and was up all night in tears. you seem to think it is funny. Can you make the photo bigger please and fix the text and do it in colour please. Thanks.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.46am
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

Dear Shannon,
Having worked with designers for a few years now, I would have assumed you understood, despite our vague suggestions otherwise, we do not welcome constructive criticism. I don't come downstairs and tell you how to send text messages, log onto Facebook and look out of the window. I have amended and attached the poster as per your instructions.
Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 10.59am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

This is worse than the other one. can you make it so it shows the whole photo of Missy and delete the stupid text that says missing missy off it? I just want it to say Lost.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.14am
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.21am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Poster

yeah can you do the poster or not? I just want a photo and the word lost and the telephone number and when and where she was lost and her name. Not like a movie poster or anything stupid. I have to leave early today. If it was your cat I would help you. Thanks.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.32am
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Awww

Dear Shannon,
I don't have a cat. I once agreed to look after a friend's cat for a week but after he dropped it off at my apartment and explained the concept of kitty litter. I have attached the amended version of your poster as per your detailed instructions.
Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.47am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Awww

Thats not my cat. where did you get that picture from? That cat is orange. I gave you a photo of my cat.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 11.58am
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Awww

I know, but that one is cute. As Missy has quite possibly met any one of several violent ends, it is possible you might get a better cat out of this. If anybody calls and says "I haven't seen your orange cat but I did find a black and white one with its hind legs run over by a car, do you want it?" you can politely decline and save yourself a costly veterinarian bill.
Regards, David.

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.07pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Awww

Please just use the photo I gave you.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.22pm
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.34pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

I didnt say there was a reward. I dont have $2000 dollars. What did you even put that there for? Apart from that it is perfect can you please remove the reward bit. Thanks Shan.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.42pm
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.51pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

Can you just please take the reward bit off altogether? I have to leave in ten minutes and I still have to make photocopies of it.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 12.56pm
To: Shannon Walkley
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

From: Shannon Walkley
Date: Monday 21 June 2010 1.03pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awww

Fine. That will have to do.

House Hotting

2010-11-18T22:14:00.001-06:00

We've been in our house for over a year now, so we were a little beyond a house warming party. So instead, we threw a house hotting party. It was fun, but it was a lot of work - I think I learned that fun does not have a linear relationship with number of guests (see curve below). Here we are leaving the grocery store the night before the big party (and we even made three small runs after this!):

The fun curve:

Freelance Whales!

2010-11-17T22:32:00.003-06:00

The same night I painted my lamp, I also went to see Freelance Whales (I had a very busy night). I loved them.

They haven't been around all that long, and I think this might have been their first headlining tour (I think the whole encore thing confused them - the lead guy said it was the longest they'd ever played). So they were just so cute and humble about the whole thing. And they were amazing - I've never seen a band before where the xylophone and 5-part harmonies are integral to every song. And they rotate instruments pretty much every song.

This video is super weird, but while they were playing this song, a girl in the front passed out. So the lead singer guy put his banjo down and grabbed his water bottle and jumped off the stage to assist. And after the song, the girl in the band jumped back down to make sure she was OK.

This is how they got their start (this is my favorite song):

(This is a random video set to the actual album version)

Fun fact: The #2 guy in the band, Chuck Criss, is brother of Darren Criss, this guy:

(Gotta slip Katy Perry in where I can)

Paint Everything: Example #2

2010-11-16T21:58:00.006-06:00

Awhile back, my mom gave me a lamp with a glass and brass base. I liked the shape, but it just didn't look like it belonged with us. So I painted it. Because that's what I do.

Old lamp from my mother (free):

Lamp shade ($27 online - I had a hard time finding a cheap shade with a spider fitting and finally found one here):

Green spray paint ($5 - I was planning on going white but the shade ended up a little off-white so I changed my mind! And it's a little neon/bright, but there are only so many options of green spray paint):

Now I think he looks like he belongs with us!

Stuff

2010-11-10T11:30:00.001-06:00

I read and think a lot about waste... side effect of the job. Today I ran across this video, and thought it was a captivating explanation of electronic waste. E-waste is a growing and tricky waste stream. This video is about 8 minutes:

This is part of a bigger project on the stuff we buy and the effects called The Story of Stuff. It definitely has an agenda...but I still like it. This video is about 20 minutes:

I think I like this mainly because I've been obsessively evaluating all of our purchases lately. I've been more sensitive to my own buying behavior since taking classes like Buyer Behavior and Consumer Psychology in grad school and realizing that we are conditioned to shop by brand and not necessarily quality. For example, do you know that Kroger brand instant oatmeal tastes EXACTLY like instant Quaker oatmeal but costs $2 less? I've tried it. I've also tried a Walgreens face wash that is identical to the Clean & Clear face wash that I use and costs almost $2 less (and yes I know I'm probably too old to be using Clean & Clear) and Kroger brand shampoo that is just like the one we buy and costs almost $5 less. In some cases, it likely is the same product, just dumped in different packaging.

And this isn't about being cheap. I'm still completely willing to spend money on going to dinner with Jay or on an overpriced cupcake because I place value on the experience in some way. But I'm indifferent towards my oatmeal, so I feel manipulated that someone else convinced me to pay more than the value I actually place on the product. It's about being a better, more responsible consumer.

[If you want to see the other videos in the series, go here. The bottled water and cosmetics ones are my favorite.]

Amazing Cover by an Amazing Band

2010-11-08T12:52:00.000-06:00

"Tatooine" and "Miracles" by Jeremy Messersmith

2010-11-06T12:41:00.009-05:00

Let's Do This Thing! aka Feeling Inspired

2010-11-03T20:49:00.008-05:00

I have a sudden wave of inspiration to finish our front 2 rooms. It takes me a long time to figure out what I think a room should look like, and then I obsess over it. And I am OBSESSING over these rooms.

These rooms have been a series of projects over the last year. Have I mentioned how much Jay does not like my projects? First we painted the rooms white, and Jay switched out the light switches and face plates. Then there was a little DIY project when I fell in love with this wallpaper:

Once I saw it, no other wallpaper was good enough. Problem was, it cost $200 a roll! So I fell into wallpaper depression, trying to rationalize why I should spend $600-800 on wallpapering a single wall in our house, especially since we were eventually going to have to buy a table and chairs to go into the room. And then...THEN...I saw these panels on Ikea's website:
It was 9:30, and I made Jay drop everything to go to Ikea right that second before they closed so we could buy them. The entire project was about $100:

(Notice in that picture there is no table, just the amazing green chairs I found at Marshalls. We bought a table a few months later.) And then there was this project. And then this one. Then we followed rule #2 and hired pros to install wood floors. Love it. I have been obsessing over wood floors since we moved in. Current state:

So here's my game plan, people: we've got 2 small DIYs that I can do on my own...no Jay necessary. A few weeks tops, pending the shipment of my lampshade I ordered last night. And then there is a more ambitious (awesome!) project I will need him for (ie it involves power tools). And then a recovered couch and rug later, we're done!

How many hipsters does it take to change a light bulb?

2010-11-02T20:54:00.005-05:00

According to Wikipedia:

Hipster is a slang term that first appeared in the 1940s, and was revived in the 1990s and 2000s often to describe types of young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers with interests in non-mainstream fashion and culture, particularly alternative music, indie rock, independent film, magazines, and websites.

These days, Hipsterism has gone mainstream. Urban Outfitters is like a training ground for "all things hipster"...the vinyl, the Obama t-shirts during the last election (hipsters are into "progressive politics"), the flannel and thrift-looking stuff... You can even now be a Hipster Christian.

Another typical characteristic of a hipster is that they are employed in music, art, or fashion. In other words, all of our friends. And we all went to a hipster-lovin' concert last week:

(I posted to another video with the same song here, but I liked this live version to capture the animal animation on stage.)

Jonsi is the lead singer of an Icelandic band called Sigur Ros. I think that if Bill and Ted were to form Wyld Stallyns today (ie the music at the core of the future's Utopian society), it would be Jonsi / Sigur Ros. It's such a strange concert to go to because (besides the fact that EVERYONE is wearing skinny jeans and v-neck tees while taking pictures with their iPhones using the hipstomatic app) everyone stands silently, just holding their breath and experiencing the music. It's that amazing. I'd been to Sigur Ros several years ago and have been waiting for them to come back to Houston so that Jay could experience the awesome-ness for himself. Jay actually has Jonsi on vinyl, so consider him hipster.

[Sidenote: Unlike Sigur Ros, Jonsi does some upbeat stuff. Take for instance this song, in which he actually sings in English and to which he jumped around in an Indian headdress at the concert.]

And in regards to how many hipsters it takes to change a light bulb--it's a really obscure number. You've probably never heard of it. (that cracks me up every time!)

Sing-A-Long

2010-10-03T11:30:00.004-05:00

Jay and I and I have quite different tastes in music, and we love music for different reasons. I think he appreciates the craftsmanship where I just get drawn in by the overall aesthetic/feel.

Take, for example, what we would each pick for a sing-a-long:

Jay = Michael Jackson
Me = THIS (the pictures put to this are hilarious)

He argues that MJ has songs that everyone can easily sing along with. I think my idea of a sing-a-long is more exclusive. You have to know the song...know the words...know what's coming...know when the build is coming. And then the song becomes a shared experience. And I know that sounds ridiculous, but I think that's the sole reason success bands like Dashboard Confessional have success (just imagine all those emo kids singing along...).

In college I use to go to concerts all the time with this small group of crazy music lovers. The other girl even DJed for a local indie station. One time we went to a Rilo Kiley concert in Austin and listened to Rilo the entire way there AND back. THIS was a particularly good one for our sing-a-long group due to the group vocals and clapping (yes we did clap in the car).

And for songs like those, the sing-a-long becomes the greatness of the song.

Movie Screening Night!

2010-09-30T22:16:00.003-05:00

Tonight I went to a free movie screening for "Life As We Know It," a very predictable romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. It was actually a pretty cute movie, but that's not the point...the point is IT WAS FREE. And things like this go down all the time!

Without over explaining, we went to a screening that doesn't take any sort of special invitation, you just sign up. But they reserve the best rows for press/bloggers and have "special" screenings all the time that you can't just sign up for. We got there an hour early and got OK seats, until my cute friend asked the guy in charge if we could sit in the empty blogger seats (ie best seats in the theater). So I'm sitting next to this slightly awkward woman who smells like little girls' toys (somewhere between plastic and powder...like the fake fruity scent you would expect to find on Strawberry Shortcake), and she tells me about her blog. I just looked it up, and it's nothing special...she does post every day...and she does have some ads...but seriously...it's ugly and not interesting.

So this gets me thinking, what else are people getting for free out there and how much effort does it really take to get it? If we just blogged more would they let us come to all the free movie screenings? And then I thought...if I just stayed at work for the hour we waited in the theater, I could have paid for all three of us (plus our bottled water, string cheese, bananas, and cookies we bought at the grocery store on our way)...

...but it's still, on principle, it always feels good to get something for free!

Equal Opportunity Music Listeners: Part II

2010-09-19T22:29:00.001-05:00

Fine. You don't have it in your heart to love Katy Perry. I can take a hint. So today I give you 100% non-pop, inidie-lovin' awesome music.

First is something for you hipsters, xylophone and all:

Freelance Whales - "Hannah"
Freelance Whales - "Generator 1st Floor" live (I love these harmonies...no words...)
Freelance Whales - "Ghosting" also live

And something a bit more "mainstream" (ie had a song on Eclipse and Scott Pilgrim):

Metric - "Give Me Sympathy"
Metric - "Black Sheep" (from "Scott Pilgrim Versus The World"...loved the movie by the way)

And one last attempt to warm your cold, Katy-Perry-hating heart:

Temper Trap - "Sweet Disposition" (500 Days of Summer)
Temper Trap - "Fader"

All videos because I know how to link that :)

Equal Opportunity Music Listeners

2010-09-15T00:00:00.003-05:00

In our house, we like music. We like variety. I tell Jay (and he agrees) that he has the musical taste of a man in his mid-50s, but he's actually broadened his horizons substantially since we've been together...though he's still angry about going to see Mates of State with me FOUR YEARS AGO.

We have a recent musical obsession. I like to think of her as our new best friend...a new member of the family. We love her. The funny thing is, Jay is the one who downloaded one of her albums (we have since downloaded her latest). I'm afraid to tell you who it is because she sings dumb pop music. But then she went and did this amazing, jazzy Unplugged. And she's a really amazing singer. Who knew?!

Now don't judge...we love her...

You'll Never Guess Who Sat Behind Us...

2010-09-08T23:53:00.006-05:00

...at the Paramore concert:

And if you don't know who he is, maybe this one will help:

And if that doesn't help, than you don't really need to know [I actually recognized him from SYTYCD not DWTS]. He sat down with an Asian woman and a large black man who looked important, but they were whisked away back stage pretty quickly before we could eavesdrop enough to figure out who they were. But the real mystery is: What in the world is Louie doing at a Parmore concert in Houston?

Update: I found Louie on Twitter, and he was in Houston to practice his first dance with his dance partner for this coming season's Dancing With The Stars - Margaret Cho, the Asian woman he was sitting with. Her comedy (?) tour was in Houston. Their first dance is a waltz, FYI.

Rule #2 For Owning An Old House

2010-08-21T11:29:00.005-05:00

Know when to hire a professional.

[Pictures to follow]

Paint Everything: Example 1

2010-08-15T12:46:00.007-05:00

Step 1: Take old, awkwardly located brass chandelier down from above the front door (where anyone over 6 ft tall scrapes head walking under).

Step 2: Clean and prep; spray with white spray paint; let dry; repeat.

Step 3: Rehang in dining room, replacing light fixture that would be better suited for a Bennigan's.

Rule #1 For Owning An Old House

2010-08-01T12:10:00.003-05:00

Don't be afraid to caulk and paint everything.