lucky and stuff.
in Loved Ones, Performance, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as caps, earphones, FOUR, friday night, friday nights, girl, help, kind, lucky girl, muscles, polo shirt, pop, purse, rap, recording, snare drum, song, ukulele, weight
“This is for you,” my pop told me, handing me an adorable little purse across the table tonight.
“It’s a recording present…and it has a ukulele on it!”
And look at that–isn’t it so adorable? I am one very lucky girl.
And WE DID IT!
We recorded FOUR SONGS in just under TWO DAYS. And, I must say, I am so excited about these tracks. I keep listening to them. In fact, I went to the gym tonight (yes, I’m the girl who goes to the gym on a Friday night. Romantic, I know)–but, I was in the weight room and listening to this one part of my song that breaks down into a rap. And there’s this rolling snare drum that just makes me SO EXCITED (that’s why I used caps, guys, cause caps are EXCITING!), I cannot help but dance when I hear it. So, I am standing there with one weight in my hand while the rest of me is sort of dancing, when one of the trainers walks up to me.
“What are you listening to that’s making you dance?” he asks.
And for a second, I can’t even hear him, my music is blasting so loud through my earphones. I see that he’s not going to stop asking me whatever it is he’s asking, so I regrettably stop the music and listen to his question.
And am instantly embarrassed and evasive.
“Oh…” I say, scrambling to think of something–ANYTHING!–other than: “Myself. I am listening to myself and it’s making me dance. And, oh yeah. I don’t go on dates on Friday nights–I go to the gym. At least you’re here because you’re getting paid to be here; I cannot say the same about myself…”
Right, so I don’t want to say that, so I say, “Oh…it’s nobody you would know…” and just kind of hope he goes away.
But he keeps standing right in front of me, staring, muscles bulging through his polo shirt, looking like he’s ready to talk to me about whatever it is that’s making me dance —even if it takes all night. Or at least until ten, when the Y closes.
“What kind of answer is that?!” he says, “Come on, what are you listening to?!”
“Uh…myself? I am listening to myself…” I finally admit. “I didn’t want to tell you that I was dancing to my music. That’s kind of embarrassing to be caught doing. I mean, I never thought anyone would ever ask me what was making me dance…”
And then that led to a whole conversation about me being a musician and then another guy came over and, having talked to me at my parents’ Y last time I was in town, asked me if I’ve cut some weight. Cut some weight. Not lost it. Huge body building men have their own language, guys. So I admitted that I might have. “But not on purpose–I’ve just been so busy lately, that I keep forgetting to eat.”
Which, once these guys got over the shock and incredulity of anyone EVER forgetting to eat, of all things, led to us talking about what’s happened since youtube happened to me.
And then I came home and played the tracks for my parents and one of their dogs. Strider seemed to enjoy it. Well, he slept through it, but he seemed to enjoy whenever I scratched his ears–and my tracks were playing when I was doing it–so there’s that. My parents listened to it in a kind of reverie, smiling or moving a little or closing their eyes (but unlike Strider, I am pretty sure they didn’t fall asleep).
My nephew and brother are geniuses in the studio. Their help is immeasurable and I could not do this without them.
Like I said, I am one lucky girl.
I am not a millionaire, but I did do an interview at Z100 and that’s something, I guess.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as beater, chinese character, coffee shop, contact, elvis duran, facebook, freak, freak out, gift, love, Modell, neon sign, planet, pop, red balloon, show, undershirts, WANTS, who wants to be a millionaire, Yep, yoga teacher, z100
Here’s some irony: Today, I get a facebook message from someone, telling me that he’s glad I’m “a millionaire now.”
And so, let me tell you what this millionaire went and did. Tried to buy one of those packs of men’s undershirts at Modell’s because I forgot a shirt to wear to class tonight.
And my card was denied.
Yep, just rolling in it.
I, too, am so glad that I am finally a millionaire.
I am probably the only millionaire on the planet who cannot afford something that costs $6.99.
And before you freak out (hi, mom! hi, pop!)–don’t worry. I went to my bank and moved some money from my savings account into my regular account and so now I can once again afford men’s beater shirts. WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE NOW?!
Oh, I also did an interview and played some songs on one of Z100′s podcasts, with TJ, who co-hosts with Elvis Duran for the morning show. If you wanna hear it, you can go HERE. If you wanna see what TJ and I look like when we stand next to each other under a big, neon sign that says Z100, you can go here:
And here are some random thoughts that are all vying for my attention right now: I am in love with my friends. But not, you know, in love in love. But definitely in love. My mom just texted me four little emojis at 1:24 am. A thumbs up, a smiley face, a red balloon (one of my favorite emojis, hands down), and a chinese character that I certainly don’t understand and would also bet every one of my MILLION DOLLARS that she doesn’t understand, either. I like making eye contact with people–is that strange? When I used to work at a coffee shop, it was my goal to make eye contact with every person I waited on–you know, have a real human connection. This is probably why so many strange people end up talking to me, though, I am guessing. I am hungry almost all the time, lately. My yoga teacher went 40 minutes over in class tonight. This is a gift, unless you are starving and exhausted. Guess what I was? Yep. Starving and exhausted. I wanted to take the gift back.
And buy dinner with the money I got for it.
I am also wearing my fair share of leg warmers recently. The dream of the nineties might very well be alive in Portland (as they say in Portlandia. Which is an awesome and hilarious show. Even I know this and I hardly ever watch the television, is the thing), but the dream of the eighties is alive right here in New York City.
Just look at my legs and how warm they are lately.
I’m happy cause they’re happy that I’m happy.
in Loved Ones, Thoughts and Feelings
as artwork, atmosphere, Cause, couch, health insurance, insurance, kid, kind, laundry, many a night, moisture, occurrences, person, pop, sad times, sandwich, song, starters
Tonight, I sat on my parents’ couch and blinked back tears. I did not let on, though, that there was any kind of moisture pooling in my eyes, because I did not feel like crying. Well, okay, I felt like crying, since I kind of was crying, I guess–but I didn’t wanna commit to the Sob [...]
I recorded today (and other stuff).
in Loved Ones, Performance, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as alaskan, alaskan malamutes, crotch, favorite quote, forte, home, HUGE, Jess, kind, medium sized dogs, parents, perspective, pop, quote, real, studio, today, train station, ukulele
I am exhausted. But it’s a great kind of exhausted, because it comes from doing a lot of this: Which doesn’t look nearly as difficult as it is. Does anyone realize how hard it is to record an instrument that is not your forte? Recording a piano is much easier than recording a ukulele. For [...]
sticks and stones.
in Loved Ones, MP3, Performance, video
as chicken, christmas day, claps, clucks, computer, favorite quote, INDEED, life, luck cause, Merry Christmas, oven, ovens, People--the, pop, quote, record songs, spiritual, sticks and stones, turkeys, uke
Christmas day made me smile. People–the ones in my life, specifically–helped a lot with that. And my parents got me a microphone. One that I can plug into my computer and record songs in such a manner that they don’t sound entirely terrible. MERRY CHRISTMAS, INDEED. Favorite quote from church this morning had to be [...]
While writing on a plane.
in Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as audition, bus, car, cement truck, cement trucks, false eyelashes, golden gate bridge, knitting needles, mountain, mountain lion, plane crash, plane crashes, pop, side, side of a mountain, state, subway, Survival, time, zero temperatures
Today, I have ridden on a subway, a bus, a car, and now a plane. I woke up early, glued on some false eyelashes, and sang some songs for people sitting behind a table who do not know, nor care to know my middle name. Which is fine. There’s a big difference between the people [...]
mishmash.
in Funny Stuff, Performance, Thoughts and Feelings
as admittance, being a man, birthday, cheating men, Dann, dead soldiers, fit, girl, hardship, Harper, having a girl, human spirit, kind, lucky girl, pop, second thought, subway, time, us army, war stuff
A recent conversation between me and one of my new loves, Dann Dunn: Me: For my first anniversary after…well, you know… (Dann shakes his head, cause he knows) Me:…My parents took me to Gettysburg. … Me again: And then for my birthday this year, they took me to Harper’s Ferry. You know, more Civil War [...]
nyc and halloween and me.
in Thoughts and Feelings
as adult daughter, alligator man, benefit of the doubt, body, bridge, brooklyn bridge, cheeseburger, craziest, daughter, dental hygiene, five cents, halloween, newsies, Newsies-obsessed, NYC, NYC--that, own eyes, pop, shake shack, tutu
I did it. Let me be more specific. Halloween in NYC–that’s what I did. And it was just as crazy as one would expect. Though, maybe the craziest part was not the five or so people who made up the Brooklyn Bridge. Or the huge alligator man, complete with moving and snapping jaws and a [...]
swans and unicorns.
in I Lift My Eyes Up, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as ballerina, black, black swan, coconut, different reasons, different story, eskimo, freezing, kind, natalie portman, pop, star natalie portman, swan lake, temperature, toasting coconut, unicorn, wood, wood stove, Yep
It’s that time of year again. You know–when it’s freezing and you put on a costume and you go outside and wish to goodness that The Black Swan looked more like an eskimo than a ballerina, cause maybe then you’d be warm. Or at least, warmer. But The Black Eskimo would probably be an entirely [...]
bits and pieces of life.
in Funny Stuff, Loved Ones, there are pictures here, Thoughts and Feelings
as Alliance, bus, egg blue, falling up the stairs, good combination, hot boys, kind, moment, penny pinching, phone, pop, random table, rare moment, robin, sister, slumber party, time, way, windstorm, windstorms
So, despite my crazy vampire-ish eyes here, I still love this picture. I mean, really–how could I not? The Alliance, all together again in a rare moment last night. These are my boys. Well, not really mine mine, but we are dear friends who all lived together on tour in a wonderful, penny-pinching and hilariously [...]
