Upcoming Shows!!!

I have a lot of shows coming up in March and April, all in the same vein of singer/songwriter. I'd like to say that the bulk of them are indie but their appeal is becoming more mainstream and I'm excited for their success.

3/24 - Hotel Cafe Tour: the following artists will be playing at my show, Joshua Radin, Ingrid Michaelson, Cary Brothers, Mieko, Priscilla Ahn. I haven't heard anything from the last two but I'm sure with the company they keep that they'll be fantastic. I was super bummed that Sara Bareilles was part of the tour but that she wasn't coming to the NYC show. Don't be sad for me too long! See 4/23.

4/10 - Tristan Prettyman: I saw Tristan opening for her boyfriend Jason Mraz at the 9:30 Club in DC and immediately fell in love with her sound. If you like Jason Mraz, G.Love or Jack Johnson, she's essentially the female version. I really hope her song "Guest Check" makes it onto her next album. If it doesn't, I'll just continue to listen to it on repeat on YouTube.

4/23 - Sara Bareilles: Yes! Score! My friend Nicole and I saw Sara at the Music Hall in Williamsburg, Brooklyn last Fall, but my friend Ash introduced me. I'm not going to embarrass myself by linking to the blog posting about that show. Yeah, I gushed a little. Just a bit. And Rachael Yamagata is opening for her, and she is featured on the Last Kiss soundtrack and likely to be my next big obsession. If you haven't heard Sara's song, "Love Song" by now, open your ears. Word on the street it's all over the radio now and it's been a fixture on the iTunes Top 10. Woot woot!

All Warm and Fuzzy

Congrats to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova for their Oscar win tonight! I blogged about them here. Ok, it was more him. If you'd like some MORE information about them (again, mostly him), here is nice article. Dear media - Marketa needs some press!

And a little quote from said article:

"I feel like a plumber at a flower show. The indie rocker in me wants to say it's a load of bollocks, but if you are gonna get an award in this life, why not try and get yourself an Oscar?...If you ask me what success looks like, its a bunch of lads who are happy and comfortable in their skin, touring the world and playing their music to people who want to hear it and feeling like they've got nobody to answer to. And the rest is gravy."

If you haven't done it yet, and you like indie rock...BUY ONCE!

Crafts!

Ok, don't want to turn this into a craft blog but I had to share the link my friend sent me.

This site just drives me insane that I don't have a cheap craft store nearby. I mean, I want to make 90% of the things on that site. Do I have a NEED for any of these things? Certainly not. But I just want to make them!

I finished my french memo boards (pictures to come) but now I want to make fabric covered buttons to hold the ribbons in place. Did you hear that? I'm going to craft the pieces to make a craft project.

If this trend continues its only a matter of time before I'm living on an alpaca farm.

Random Rants

Ok, here they are...sorry if they offend.

• Ladies - do not put on makeup that requires the assistance of a mirror when you're sitting at a table, bar, or on the subway. If brushes are involved, double no no. Lip gloss, yes. If you're like my friend Alicia who can line her lips without use of a mirror. Girl, you've got skills. Powder application at a bar. No. This advice is for your own benefit. It makes you look vain and high-maintenence.
• Also directed at the ladies. Look in the mirror before you go outside. If a random stranger sees you on the street, they should not think, "Oh, she must be going to a prostitute party." This happened. Purple lycra mini dress coupled with a cropped fake-fur coat, fishnets and ankle boots is not typical Monday, early-evening attire.
• Progresso - it is true that an entire can of your soups is only 180 calories. I appreciate this. However, you shouldn't need a strainer to find your vegetables. I am disappointed by the Garden Vegetable Soup but I think I might spice it up by throwing a couple cans in a pan, and adding some noodles, and some more veggies (maybe some zucchini and more tomatoes). That'd be good.
• I have a new arch nemesis...I call him, Mr. Woo (not actual name). My teacher teaches 3 spinning classes per week that I can attend. 2 on Tuesday night in Soho (6:15 and 7:15) and 1 Sunday morning near my apt. He typically attends Tuesday 7:15 and Sunday morning. How am I so hyper aware of his presence in a class of 25 you ask? Because throughout the class he will randomly shout "Woo!" in a high pitched voice. Last night I counted about 15 occurences. When you are pooling sweat under your bike, exhausted, and working hard the last thing you want to hear is "Woo!". It's not like the rest of us are making any noise or capable of it. If she turns off the music all you hear is heavy breathing (no Woos from anyone else). Oh, and he cheats. When we're all sitting down with high resistence I look over at him and he's standing (so much easier). Cheater. In case you want a visual, think 45 year old white guy with kids, wearing biking shorts and his hat on backwards (not down on this head) but perched atop it with his bangs coming out the front.

Random Happy Things

I can't have too many consecutive rant posts or my reputation as a happy, chill person will fly out the window. And since I have arant positing bouncing around in my head I thought I'd provide a random list of things that make me happy:

• Snow in New York - I don't have to shovel it, drive in it or dig my car out of it. It gives the prettiness of snow new meaning.
• The Biggest Loser on TV - my roommate and I watch at least part of it together every week. It's SUCH a feel-good show considering it's reality TV (which I'm not a fan of). This past season it's gotten a little nastier since they introduced some new elements, but all the participants are supportive of each other. It's true, it made me cry yesterday.
• The ridiculous crafting streak I've gotten into lately, In the last month I've finished a blanket, made 3 baby hats, finished two adult hats, designed some stationary that I'll be printing and will be finishing my french memo boards when I get my replacement staplegun staples from Joann.com, which leads me to the next point.
• Joann.com - all your crafting needs delivered directly to your door!
• Soup. Random, but I just really like it.
• Netflix "Watch Instantly" - I've been a member of Netflix for a long time but the "Watch Instantly" feature is relatively new. After I had watched all of "The Wire: Season 1" in one sitting this weekend I watched several movies that I haven't seen in awhile, like "The Usual Suspects" and "Sleepless in Seattle."
• My spinning teacher. She kicks my butt every class.
• Warm woolen mittens - thanks Mom!

XX NYC - Some Advice

Last night several of my girlfriends and I went out with some guys that we'd never met on a group outing. It was a fix-up of my friend's aunt with my friend's cousins' friends. Did you follow that one? Anyway, it was more of an experiment than anything and I actually had a pretty good time. Until I became a 1st grade teacher and took it upon myself to scold several of the guys in the bar regarding comments that they should not make. Interestingly, several guys in the bar (not all in our party) touched on nearly all of my sensitivity points within the span of an hour.

So for all those people out there (NYC guys in particular since these comments have come up before), I have a little advice for you...

#1: When a girl has an original name, like, say, "Roxie", do not say, "Roxie, huh? Is that your real name or a stage name?" because implying that a girl takes off her clothes for money, is never a good way to start a conversation.

#2: When someone has recently informed her roommate about the Corn Palace in the great state of South Dakota, and she asks you to explain it again, when the group is told that it's in South Dakota do not say, "Is that even a state?" Because odds are, if someone is talking about a relatively obscure tourist attraction, odds are, it's in their state. Especially don't say it if you're from another Midwestern state.

#3: Don't criticize other people's neighborhoods.

#4: When you ask a girl advice on a karaoke song to sing, and they say "something by Johnny Cash" and then they direct you to the 'J' for Johnny don't say to them, "you're a really pretty blonde girl who is probably getting a nice New York education, but Cash starts with 'C'." It's not a phonebook. If Britney Spears is listed in the B's, odds are, it's alphabetical by first name.

Alright, done ranting about my night. I'm sure it will surprise no one that each of said people got a little bit of a lecture from Ms. Karpen on the spot. Just trying to protect everyone else from making the same mistakes.

Yes We Can

I lied...I wanted to share this.

Super Bowl 42

Do I have to go to work tomorrow?