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?

As Political as I'll Get

I don't want to make this a political blog but wanted to share a new tshirt that I ordered, that I'm sad will not arrive until Super Duper Tuesday.

I've had a candidate crush on Obama since 2004 when he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. I was so excited to hear that speech and when he was done I found myself giving him a solo standing ovation from my living room. Many things about his campaign have inspired me but none so much as the humanity, natural presence and excitement that he has brought to the democratic party. Yes, he has a "rock star" persona, but he comes by it naturally. He inspires people.

A cute story I read from Bill Richardson talking about Barack that endeared him to me futher:

"I had just been asked a question -- I don't remember which one -- and Obama was sitting right next to me. Then the moderator went across the room, I think to Chris Dodd, so I thought I was home free for a while. I wasn't going to listen to the next question. I was about to say something to Obama when the moderator turned to me and said, "So, Gov. Richardson, what do you think of that?" But I wasn't paying any attention! I was about to say, "Could you repeat the question? I wasn't listening." But I wasn't about to say I wasn't listening. I looked at Obama. I was just horrified. And Obama whispered, "Katrina. Katrina." The question was on Katrina! So I said, "On Katrina, my policy ..." Obama could have just thrown me under the bus. So I said, "Obama, that was good of you to do that."

If you live in one of the green states below be sure to vote on February 5; preferrably for my pal Barack.

As a lifelong conflict avoider I've removed comments for this post. I decided I'd prefer to campaign for my candidate without potential public arguments or commentary. Feel free to email me directly if you feel strongly.

Star Spotting #8

Kelly Ripa is so nice! She was coming out of my office building today (Miramax is on the 14th floor) and she held the door open for a guy delivering printer cartridges. When the three of us were just standing there, her holding the door, him not going, I decided to go. Kelly held the door open for me. What a nice person. Additional observation: she is itty bitty.

Odyssey Years

I ran across this article a long time ago and keep going back to it. It's very insightful and explanative of my generation. I hope you enjoy.

The Odyssey Years (David Brooks) - New York Times

Tappy Tap Tap Tappy

So a couple of weeks ago I had one of the worst days I've had in a really long time, nothing seemed to go right.

Three separate people seemed to have issue with where I was standing, or how I was folding my newspaper on the subway and this all happened before work. Then the day pretty much went downhill from there. So I was telling my friend Marc "just watch, I'm going to get hit by a car on the way home." Well, I didn't get hit by a car on the way home that night, if that's what you think this post is about.

I got hit by a car the NEXT night. Ok, "hit" is my way of being dramatic. It was a little tap, tappy, tap tap. I was walking across Spring Street en route to the gym (AT the crosswalk, WITH the walk sign) and I feel something hit the back of my right leg. I turn around and lo and behold, it's a car.

Everyone within a block's distance just stopped moving to see how I'd take it. The man and woman at the crosswalk just asked if I was ok and because it felt like a large dog brushed against my leg said, yes, I was fine. The driver did pull over and the passenger asked if I was ok, and I could only muster "Yes, but watch where you're going!"

I didn't even get dirt on my pants they barely brushed me but I can now say I was hit by a car. And let me tell you, calling Marc to tell him I was hit by a car, just 24 hours later...priceless.

**This post was not as funny as I had intended. I'm really very ok, and the streets of New York are, in fact, very safe. Lighting never strikes the same place twice, right? I think this should go on my New Yorker bingo card. Tapped by car....check**

iPizzle Button Pushing

Out of curiosity, what is the first song that plays when you go directly from powering your iPod on then hitting Play/Pause?

Some background before I admit why this is on my iPod. My friend Erica and I used to regularly have dance parties to the song "Faded" which she got on an album called Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 5.

The song that plays when I hit Play from the iPod Menu..."Aaron's Party (Come Get It)". Yeah, Aaron Carter. A pre-pubescent kid rapping about a party he's going to have while his parents are at a movie.

I am THAT cool.

27 Dresses

I don't think I often discuss movies on my blog so I thought I'd have a go at it.

I was in the mood to see "P.S. I Love You" tonight but since it is now only playing in Times Square; New Yorkers typically don't venture there for any reason other than to catch a show (Broadway not AMC). So, Nicole and decided to go see "27 Dresses" instead. For a bonafide chick flick, I have to admit, it was worth the $11.35 I paid to see it.

The best part (don't worry, no spoilers here) was when a character walks into her sister's spacious, luxurious, easily $3000 a month Manhattan apartment and says "Your apartment! It's so tiny!" and the entire theater (me included) gasped indignantly. Take a moment, and visualize. The line was nothing about yo' mama, no one trash talked you favorite team or neighborhood. Someone criticized the size of an incredibly large Manhattan apartment. The nerve.

IMDB is TOO WISE!

Ok, while trolling my typical pop culture sites I ran across a familiar face. REX MANNING! For those unaware of Rex Manning, he is a very entertaining character from one my favorite movies from high school "Empire Records". Thank you to Fuse for playing it the other day, I needed a refresher for this shocking information.

I wondered, what's Maxwell Caulfield been up to? Um, for one thing being married to Juliet Mills for the past 27 years. Who is Juliet Mills you ask? Um, Tabitha from Passions!!! That's right, Michael Carrington from Grease 2, aka Rex Manning from Empire Records, aka Maxwell Caulfield is married to TABITHA from Passions.

I cannot even show you side by side pictures because it is too upsetting. You'll have to Google them yourself. This serves as a warning...don't go to IMDB for information unless you're ready for the truth.

IMDB...so wise

So I made a shocking discovery today. I'm watching a little "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (why can't I pass up a HP movie when it's on, regardless of how many times I've seen it?) and Moaning Myrtle comes on. I was thinking, "I hope that she has a good career and isn't just Moaning Myrtle". They never show her at the premieres and I'm assuming she's the same age as the other characters.

Um, or she's 42. Yeah, Moaning Myrtle is played by Shirley Henderson who some of you may remember as Jude from the two Bridget Jones' movies. Oh and she's Scottish. And anyone who is anyone knows "If it's not Scottish, it's crrrrrrahp."

Two New States!!!

This weekend I gained two states on my states to see.

I went to Killington, VT this past weekend with some girlfriends to not ski. Well, they were planning to ski while my friend Rommi and I were going to sit and kick it. The weather did not cooperate however and the girls were unable to ski/snowboard due to poor weather conditions (most of the snow was melted and there were freezing rain conditions). We had a great time nevertheless (as always) and headed out in Killington. Perks of the weekend (in no particular order)...

• An entertaining drive up to Vermont in Gertie (our white minivan)
• Stopping at the biggest liquor store I've EVER been in
• Having some DELICIOUS chili at the lodge
• Hot tub action
• Watching KU basketball game at the Lookout (Rock Chalk Jayhawk!)
• Seeing Captain Morgan at the bar and getting swag + Rommi/Roxie wardrobe switch
• Being driven home from the bar in a MINI BUS! No "short bus" jokes please
• James "Kari Kelley" Taylor tearing up the dance floor "it was like butter"
• Trip to Target near Springfield, MA (Shout out Jenn Rooke!)
• Dinner at Panera
• Crossing TWO states off my "need to see" list. Massachusetts and Vermont: check and check. Twelve to go!

A Whole Bowl!*

Hey guys! We won a WHOLE BOWL OF ORANGES! Though the game/awards pics are not up yet, I thought I'd provide a pictorial representation of what a bowl of oranges looks like**...

That's right! The University of Kansas won the WHOLE BOWL. Now, I know that many of you said, "KU? They're not deserving of a BCS bid!" Well, I want you to think about that next year when an unknown team that HAPPENED to go 6-6 last year shows up

Yeah, we may have had a marshmallow season, but we showed up to WIN tonight. I'm not saying it was pretty, but we pulled it off impressively. Not bad for a team that was not likely many of the players first choices. Coach Mangino - hats off to you.

*Note: Roxie may or may not have been completely sober when writing this post. Read at your own discretion.

**I found a picture of the bowl of oranges. I'm happy.

New Pictures

I've published some new pictures from recent events on my Picasa site. I like Flickr but Picasa is an easier upload, free, and more space. You can link to it just like Flickr - I added the link to the side.

New Obsession - Glen Hansard

I watched "Once" when home for the holidays and it deserves all of the acclaim it has gotten. Check out the soundtrack. Its been a long time since I've gotten misty listening to music. I haven't heard someone with such raw emotion in their voice in a recording in awhile. Definitely worth a listen.