Malta!

Since my last post, I've left the USA for vacation! Ross, Maggie and I spent a few days in Catania, Sicily with Chris Rossi before heading to Malta for three days. We just returned this morning to Catania and instead of writing about it here, I'll let you read Ross' account of what we've been doing. He's even uploaded his photos and tagged them all.

The Mediterranean Sea is so blue. This was taken off the island of Gozo.

The New Art Genre: State Fair

Skip and I went to the State Fair this week. I always look forward to the State Fair... not for the American Idol runners-up playing at the arena, not for the deep-fried food, not for the rides, and definitely not for the Village of Yesteryear. I go for the arts & crafts. This year there were some really phenomenal pieces.

This one caught us by surprise. Are those supposed to be eye bags?



This vest is made from the tabs from aluminum soda cans. It looks itchy.


It took us awhile to figure out what this was. It's a "decorative" birdhouse. The attendant said that it was supposed to be a conversation piece to be displayed in someone's house.


I have to say that the deep fried banana pudding was really good. Weird, but good.

Radio Show Friday, October 12 8-10AM

The Ramones - Pet Sematary
Belle and Sebastian - Ease Your Feet Into the Sea
The Smiths - The Boy With a Thorn In His Side
Iron and Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth
Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt Kickers - Monster Mash
Crooked Fingers - Don't Say A Word
Badfinger - Baby Blue
The Bats - Empty Head
Chris Isaak - Don't Leave Me On My Own
Lefty Frizzell - Always Late (With Your Kisses)
Kay Starr - The Headless Horseman
Bobbie Gentry - Fancy

Halloween is fast approaching. Although I am not a big fan of the holiday, I do love some seasonal songs, such as the Ramones' "Pet Sematary," and Kay Starr's "Headless Horseman." Oh my gosh, this Ramone's video is really funny to watch. They must've had a blast making this:

My absolute favorite Halloween song (shucks, it's on my top ten of all-time favorite songs) is Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash." Whenever I hear it, I get this urge to dance like a dork. That song has been on continuous play at more than one point in my life. It is great.

Iron and Wine's new record, The Shepherd's Dog, is out. It is really a great record. I've been listening to it alot this week. The vocal harmonies make me melt. (Is Sam Beam just singing with himself?) And I find myself entranced by the percussion.... which is very much in the foreground, but not too overpowering. Iron and Wine make the most beautifully intimate music. This record is not as sparse as his earlier efforts, but the added instruments do not distract from its powerful subtlety. I look forward to listening to this record alot more.

So, that was my last radio show until I return from Sicily. My entire playlist can be found here.

Recommended listening while I am away from the station: Fleetwood Mac, the Smiths, Richard Hawley (duh), Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Slim Gaillard, the Shout Out Louds, and the Great Lake Swimmers.

Everything Is Better With Roller Skates

It was a real soul-sucking day at work. I haven't been this stressed out at work in a long time.

But this video made it all better. I have watched it at least 5 times since I've been home tonight. The last two minutes are absolutely mind-blowing, so don't miss it. Put Gene Kelly in a suit and on roller skates and you'll get my vote for the hottest man that ever lived. Sigh.



I've always thought about what kind of postcard would send to Post Secret. I think that my anonymous secret would be that every now and then I look on Ebay for autographed photos of the young Gene Kelly because I want to own something that he touched.

Tired and Stressed

I always get really stressed right before I leave town for any sort of trip. Once I am on the road or in the plane, I am fine... but it's the days that lead up to the departure that are the worst. And I am feeling this trip anxiety early. I leave for Sicily in a little over a week, and I am really feeling the stress.

On top of my usual trip anxiety, I am feeling stressed because I'm waaaay behind in work for my clients. I have a tax deadline on October 15th for one organization. I also have a couple clients who are on Franklin Street. I usually work for them on Sundays, but last Sunday, I didn't get any work done. I couldn't get anywhere close to Franklin Street because FestiFall took over downtown Chapel Hill. It made gettting into and/or out of the city impossible. I absolutely despise those idiotic downtown Chapel Hill street festivals. They shut down the Franklin Street area and practically kill any business for the storefronts. And do these street vendors really sell enough macramé plant holders and silverware wind chimes to warrant closing down the street? And aren't these festivals dangerous? Why not have them somewhere else besides an already congested downtown? FestiFall and Apple Chill always put me in a bad mood, because I cannot get any work done!!!

Things at my main job are absolutely nuts. Today I sat in my office and just shouted "CRAP! CRAP! CRAP!" over and over all day long. My workers are a little scared of me right now. I am so swamped that I don't even have time to make a to-do list. I could work 24 hours a day and not get caught up. It's a horrible feeling.

And on top of things, my laptop died Sunday. Died. Dead. Gone. Bye-bye laptop. I have ordered a new one, but I won't get it until after I return from Italy. I am so grateful that I got loaner from my mom, but it is still weird and I don't have my bookmarks or my files. I want my stuff!!! Fortunately, I did a backup a few weeks before the computer died, but I still lost some data.. mostly pictures, but I'll survive. Once I have my new laptop, I'll move my backed up files to it.

But for now, I really miss my Itunes! I am without all my Richard Hawley live recordings! Since I am without my computer's music, I am playing a radio station on my TV. I never knew I had this many channels. This particular one is channel #915 called Retro-Active. It's not bad... they played my favorite Morrissey song, XTC, Sisters of Mercy, and lost of music I have never heard of like Lene Lovich's "New Toy."

I want all this stress to go away. I want to sleep. I want my stomach to stop making these horribly weird stressed-out noises. I want to be caught up with work.

But mostly, I just want to be in Sicily right now. Chris has been keeping us updated on what's happening in Sicily here. I cannot wait.

Radio Show Friday, October 5 8-10AM

The Archies - Sugar, Sugar
Calvin Boze - Keep Your Nose Out of My Business
Jimmy McCracklin - The Walk
Stephin Merritt - This Little Ukulele
The Mabuses - Mirth
Feist - 1234
Richard Hawley - Tonight The Streets Are Ours
Fred Astaire - Cheek to Cheek
New Pornographers - Failsafe
The Real Tuesday Weld - It's A Wonderful Li(f)e
Great Lake Swimmers - Song for the Angels
Lee Morse - Side By Side
Robert Mitchum - Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
Glenn Mercer - Wheels In Motion

I haven't played any ukulele music on my radio show in a few weeks. I've been so busy with work and weddings that I haven't been practicing my uke either. The other night, I was over at Ted's and "This Little Ukulele" by Stephin Merritt popped up on his Itunes. That song is just great. I usually skip over the Eban and Charley soundtrack when I am needing a Stephin Merritt fix, but that song is definitely mix tape material. I've heard rumors that the Magnetic Fields will have a new record coming out soon. Thank goodness!!! I really need a distraction from Richard Hawley.

I have never really liked Feist. I dunno much about Leslie Feist... I always thought she was overrated and lame. (My assumption was not based on actually listening to her music.) Elizabeth sent me the link to this video for Feist's song "1234" as it nods to Busby Berkeley. I am not so sure if I've changed my mind about Feist, but I am willing to give her a shot. When I watch this video, it just makes me want to watch real Busby musicals. But I appreciate what she's trying to do and I like her voice. Heck, I was even thinking about getting the CD.



Bill introduced me to the music of the Great Lake Swimmers this summer. Holy cow. They are probably the one band who could actually get me over my Richard Hawley addiction. Their self-titled debut album was recorded in a silo in Ontario. Their second album, Bodies and Minds is beautifully mesmerizing. I might go put it on right now.

I really love that "Wheels In Motion" song by Glenn Mercer. He used to be the lead singer for the Feelies, a band with whom I am unfamiliar. But this song is so cute and poppy and has wonderful hooks. That is my kind of song.

My entire playlist can be found here.

Blog Etiquette

I've been keeping this blog since January and there some rules that I have discovered along the way about how and what to blog. These are merely guidelines, not necessarily hard-and-fast rules, but generally, I try to stick to these:

1. Don't write about work. I used to be an avid reader of a blog called Dooce, of which the author, Heather Armstrong, blogged about her misadventures at work and was subsequently fired. I don't read her blog anymore, but I did take to heart what happened to her. I always write as if my boss were reading. I never mention where I work or any specific events at work. It's just better not to risk it.

2. Don't write about your family. Now, I follow this rule kinda loosely. I mention little things from growing up such as my dad's bedtime songs or my sibling's childhood adoration of muppets, but I refrain from writing too much about my family as I know that they read my blog. So, stories about our goofball family of nerds (I think that all of us could agree that we are nerds) are out. Sorry, no posts about the family wedding this weekend. But golly, I would never fall short of topics if I could break this rule.

3. Don't cuss. This is another rule that I follow kinda loosely. Those of you who know me and see me on a semi-regular basis know that I have a mouth dirtier than a landfill. But for some reason, I keep the seven words you cannot say on television according to George Carlin, out of my blog. Maybe it's my attempt to be more lady-like. Ha!

4. Don't write about people that don't want to be written about. I have some anti-social, reclusive friends who I love dearly but who don't like to be blogged. I try to respect that. Even for the friends who don't mind being blogged, I only use first names. And I certainly do not blog personal information about anyone.

5. Don't write about current, past or prospective boyfriends. It's hard for me to follow this rule, as I have some jaw-dropping, side-splitting stories that I could tell that could make this the most popular blog on the internet. But alas, out of respect for these fellers, I do not mention my current or past love life at all. [Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.]

So, those are my rules for my blog. They keep me out of trouble. I don't feel that these rules need to apply to other blogs except for maybe rule #4. That's an important one.

A couple weeks ago, I discovered that someone's been blogging about me. This blogger does not have any blogging manners at all. Not only did this person blog personal information about me, but this person used my first and last name and linked to my blog. I find this irresponsible, despicable and mean. I would like to use George Carlin's seven dirty words to come up with something to say to this blogger, but I will follow rule number 3 and just say this: Blogger, please remove any mention of me from your blog and find something else to write about. Thank you.

Oh, and I just about forgot the next rule.

6. Don't pick your nose while blogging. For goodness' sake! You'll get boogers on the keyboard. And that is really grody.

Lady's Bridge Released Today

Richard Hawley's Lady's Bridge is now available stateside. Run. Don't walk. Get it today.

Hey, look! There's Renee Weaver!!!



And this acoustic version of "Tonight The Streets Are Ours" just makes me weak in the knees:



My obsession with Richard Hawley just won't go away. WXYC got a copy of Lady's Bridge. So, be sure to call and request it on the radio. I doubt that it will make rotation, but it should. It's my number one record of 2007.