LaurieWrites

When pianos try to be guitars.

"Girls you've got to know
when it's time to turn the page.
When you're only wet
because of the rain." 

If you like Tori Amos you'll like the videos I linked above. And even if you don't, it's pretty cool to watch two pretty different renditions of the same song. (I like the second link the best.) I think I noted here at one point that I'd bought her box set a few months ago, and I never do that. I'm much more a cd/album girl who reluctantly downloads because I'm essentially a sucker for that which is on my desktop, and there they put it! They just put it right there, for me to buy. How nice of those thieves nice people.

By the way, speaking of which, could the little bitches who decided to remove The Office from iTunes please stand up and be recognized? I mean, really. So much joy for so many people? The networks deserve this strike (and how awesome to see Tina Fey and Seth Myers on the front page of Washingtonpost.com a couple of days ago.)

Okay, sorry, getting the chocolate of television in my music peanut butter there...sorry. I've been having a little trouble connecting to some of my music lately. It could just be the silly busy-ness, I don't know. Everything feels like a little bit more of a chore than it should. This is what usually has me leaving Delilah on the radio on the way home (or, COUGH, Kenny Chesney, who looked like a guy from my IT department at work on the CMAs last night. And by the way, SO OVER CARRIE UNDERWOOD. Who even USES the tired construction of "If you'd told me two years ago I'd be here tonight..." GAH! Stop it. Stop. Also, I love that she called country music a "format", as in "I am so proud to be in this format. That must mean she really feels it. Can you imagine Dolly Parton saying that? Or June Carter Cash? "AHM so PROUD to be in this here FORMAYAT." Whatever. Barf. Jesus take the wheel, indeed. Just steer her and her ilk somewhere else, far far away. Get her lessons from Jennifer Nettles or someone else who has real talent and heart for the gig. Corporate tools. And I wonder if they're legally required to thank American Idol in perpetuity when they win awards? That seemed really genuine.)

Oh dear. Attack of the parenthetical statement. Got all fired up about Carrie there. What was I saying? OH YES. I've been listening to Delilah prattle on pop-psychology style about her eight children and take calls from despondent listeners and listening to Kenny instead of something a bit more...inspiring in a good way, maybe? Today this madness ends. Girlyman tonight - two shows if I can manage to stay awake. Bruce Springsteen on Monday, which I'm promised will be awesome. Also, my mom is going and we're in the general admission section, which should be entertaining regardless.

Also, my friend Dawn Avery is performing a lot this month, including shows at the National Museum of the American Indian this weekend. The Washington Post wrote a very nice piece about her today, with a big picture, even. I'm very pleased, because sometimes the Style section's focus on local music is...umm, not there. If you're in the DC area, I recommend checking this event out, because  she is truly an inspiration (not a word I throw around by any means. Real ones are rare.) Also, it's free! And the Museum's Cafe is one of the best places to eat on the Mall. I'm serious. It's broken down by region, with food from different tribal traditions. And can you say "Any excuse to eat fry bread is a good one?"

On a totally different side of a very unusual coin, this article from Popmatters about "Britney as Trainwreck" is actually quite well-written. Thanks, Josh Timmerman.

"Even with Botox and other less-than-seamless cosmetic alternatives to aging gracefully, Britney’s always had a built-in shelf-life, short of miraculous, Madonna-esque image reinvention. From “Gimme More“’s already-notorious declaration that “it‘s Britney, bitch!” (e.g., “I‘m still here!”) to probable follow-up single “Piece of Me“’s acidic self-examination (“I’m Miss Bad Media Karma / another day, another drama”), Blackout is the sound of Britney realizing that maybe she wasn’t in on the joke all these years, after all, and consequently raging against the machine.

And maybe the machine wins."

The conclusion isn't that simple, and I'm with him. I'm kind of pulling for her myself.

By the way, you can still download the new Radiohead record, "In Rainbows" for whatever price you want to pay, even if that's free dollars and no cents.  Seriously. Are you broke? Radiohead cares about you. Genius move on their part, or maybe just nice.

Elements: Water

For Shari's Elements Photo Challenge,  via the Jen Lemen in her Artful Opportunities for the Brave of Heart post on BlogHer this week. I have a soft spot for water, so hence the multiple selections.

Another one where I babble on about people whose music really has changed my life

I was late for two concerts this weekend and that really pissed me off. Time management has been an issue in general lately, just because I've got so much stuff to do and keep track of and I'm too busy trying not to drown to really do anything productive. It's awful, actually, and I'd go into it more if I didn't need to stop and hyperventilate if I allow myself to think or speak of it, so I won't.

Rosanne Cash played downtown at George Washington University on Friday. The space is terrible acoustically, and I couldn't believe the number of empty seats. She is such a good performer, though, and her band so solid, that they overcame it with no problems.

I've been a fan of hers for a long time...way before I had any solid knowledge of her father. This can be attributed to my mother's thing for country and popular music when I was growing up, and the fact that it was always on in our house and in the car, where I spent way too much time even then. "Seven Year Ache" was released when I was ten years old, and it's stayed with me for 25 years. I think it's one of the best country pop songs ever written and performed. "You act like you were just born tonight/Face down in a memory but feelin' alright" has always created such a cool image in my mind, and has resonated more since I experienced that feeling myself.

She put this show together for "Black Cadillac", which she wrote and recorded in homage to her parents - Johnny Cash, of course, and her mother, Vivian Liberto...plus her stepmother June Carter Cash. They all three died within a two-year span, and this record was her response to this experience, which was obviously life-altering. She played her older popular stuff, lots of songs from the new record, some songs she said Johnny Cash gave her on a list of the "Top 100 Country Songs" and made her learn, and other cool stuff, like a beautiful cover of a Rita Coolidge song that I think is called "A Diamond in Your Eyes". Sometimes between the songs the stage would go dark, and video and photo montages played on a screen, with recordings of her speaking, reminiscing in what sounded like prose poetry. It was quite effective, and could have been hokey in less competent, heartfelt hands, but it wasn't. She's an author and essayist as well as a musician, so it all fit together.

It seems like time has helped to heal her a little bit, because this show seemed pretty fun for her. Her husband, John Leventhal, is also her producer and guitarist, and he's really, really good. Once we finally got there (25 minutes late, and no opener. Shoot me.) I was actually able to relax enough to realize that I was happy I slogged it out on 16th Street to make it for most of the show. Some Rosanne is better than none, apparently. She's got some nice music, book and film recommendations on her homepage, and one of the most enjoyable for me was her story in her June '04 archives about how Tift Merritt approached her after a show and gave her a cd when "Tambourine" first came out. (You have to click around in the archives a bit, but her recommendations are interesting, and worth the time, I think.) 

Anyway...love Rosanne. She's an awesomely talented, very interesting person, who seems dedicated to putting out even better music now than she ever has, which seems appropriate considering her father's approach to his own work later in life.

Yesterday I saw Hem in Annapolis (Here's a nice story on them from my old pal WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio.) Late again, yes, and left in plenty of time for an oddly scheduled matinee. The Ram's Head at noon, hello. I spoke with Sally Ellison from Hem later and she said, "Never again" to the matinee concept, which apparently was a tour router's bright idea that didn't go over so well. Like I said, left in plenty of time in a normally functioning universe, but add the Maryland Renaissance Festival, the Annapolis Boat Show, and a Navy vs. Rutgers football game, and what you've got is a perfect storm of state capital traffic. It sucked. Annapolis is accessed by only a couple of roads, and if you want to take an alternate route, you have to know about a half hour out that you need it. I didn't, and once it was clear that 50.7 bajillion people were crammed into the two lanes that take you downtown, I was screwed. I made it, but had missed most of the opening act, Ollabelle, which was sad but completely unavoidable. They'd come highly recommended and I was looking forward to seeing them. I did see about six of their songs and they're definitely worth checking out. Seem like a nice bunch of folks, too...in addition to putting out some good and interesting music. Their cd was priced at 22.50, though, which seemed extreme to me, as much as I like supporting indie music. I need to check into it and see what the deal is on that.

I took away one main impression from the Hem show, although I've seen them before and listened to their cds countless times: I want to hear Sally Ellison's voice when I die. I mean, I want it to be the last thing I hear on this Earth besides the sounds of whatever lucky family members or friends still happen to be around telling me what a profound impact I've had on their lives and please don't go and oh how we love you what a tremendously wonderful person you have been! ; ) (Eek. I wonder who that'll be? I hope there's at least ONE person saying nice things while I LEAVE THE PLANET ON WHICH I HAVE TOILED AND SNARED. Blech, that thought just freaked me out. Do allow me a second to eat more cake until it passes. Thanks.)

Seriously, though...this woman's voice is from heaven. It may have even been intelligently designed. It sure as hell puts its chocolate in the peanut butter that is the rest of the people on the stage, to continue the cake metaphor, and turns it into the musical equivalent of dessert, that's for sure. Not a lame dessert, like...Oh, dear. I'm such a food freak that I honestly can't even think of a lame dessert under this kind of pressure. It's kind of an oxymoron for me. Lord...Anyway, whatever your personal lame dessert would be, it's not at all like that. It's like homemade apple crumble, or melted chocolate volcano cake, or this perfect red velvet cake I had once, even. Dan Messe is a genius of a songwriter, and gets off on assembling a true ensemble of kickass players to make these songs come to life on stage, which they really, really do. And yes, he's very cute, and occasionally I notice these things while being artistically responsible. Whatever. He based "Not California" on the fact that his wife loves crap shows like Laguna Beach and the O.C., which makes him hotter, in that very married sort of way, which is nice.

I've talked about crying a lot lately, which might make me come off as even more of a wreck in print than I am in the flesh, but this is another situation where the band starts playing and I feel like I'm going to jump out of my skin because it's just. SO. BEAUTIFUL!!!!! So of course I start to cry. This tour they have a violinist, a clarinetist and a harpist along, from the Gowanus Radio Orchestra (for whom I cannot find a link, but Claudia Chopek is the violinist and she's all over the web), plus the pedal steel that I love, the two guitars, and a drummer...and Dan on keyboards. Sally Ellison is pregnant, which makes it a total of 11 people on stage this time out. It never seems like too many, though, because they all play so well together and the songs are so beautifully arranged. (Here's a crappy cell phone photo. I get a phone trade-in in November and yes, photo quality will be an issue. What a geek.)

And now I'll shut up. Here are some streams from the new record.   It's definitely laid back music, to a point, but this is the perfect time of year to discover it - and I'd definitely go back and get "Rabbit Songs" without passing "go"...and try to get to a show, because it'll make even more sense then.

Finally.

Thank God.

Beautiful Girl, Beautiful Jewelry

If you dig cool  jewelry (particularly of the handmade, artisanal variety), check out my friend Shobha's web site. She makes beautiful sterling pieces, including semi-precious stones, photographs, prayer cards - all kinds of cool stuff. If you're headed to Austin for SXSW, give her a call. She'll be happy to show you her work.

Processing

I processed my first roll of film tonight, and I have two things to say:

1. Processing film correctly is challenging. Really.

2. Darkrooms are, indeed, dark. And being locked in one with a long-haired boy is quite a different experience at 34 than it likely would have been at 19.

The good news is that my film came out fine. Of course I shot three rolls before I did it right, and had to go get some supplemental shots this MORNING, because it turns out that I am excessively compulsive about these things as I age. It's sort of disgusting. But I ended up taking some interesting shots of a mural at my local library, and it was a kick to go back to the butterfly garden this morning, and notice the change in the experience from the afternoon I spent there this weekend. The light truly is different in the morning - and it's really cool to be able to tell the difference in how it influences your work. I'm still sort of wacked out by all the aperture and shutter speed business. It can get pretty complicated. But I'm going to take my book on the plane this week and try to store some of it at higher altitudes. ; )

Tonight, after a several-step process of developing that my professor led us through, I had exactly 24 exposures, all in the right order and looking like they were supposed to. I was so happy. One of the girls left because there were NO images on her film, and I was so worried that would happen to me. With a manual you can't even really tell when or if the film has looped all the way through the camera at first. You get a feel for it after a while but it's a little bit of guesswork.

We were paired up to do the processing, and I'm here to tell that darkrooms are DARK. I had this image of them having black lights or something, because I guess when they're shown in movies and whatnot they have to have some kind of illuminating factor. In this case, nope. I was left in the dark with this strange kid who had a nicer ponytail than mine (HATE that.) We were supposed to use a can opener to open up the little film canister, pull the film out, hook it and wind it onto a reel, and then drop it into a plastic canister and put the lid on super tight. All this, in the dark. Mind you, my hand-eye coordination is sucky in broad daylight, and my new friend's vocabulary consisted mostly of "Nah," and nervous giggles.

This is sort of what it was like:

Professor: Okay, you guys go in there.

Me, clutching my canister, film and can opener: Uh, okay.

Professor: Ah, the deer in the headlights look. I love it.

Me: Yeah, thank God I had no medical school aspirations. I would have cracked immediately.

Boy with ponytail: Haha. Yeah.

Me: (Internal sigh)

Professor: Okay, I'm shutting the door.

Me: (Internal GAH!)

The door slams, the lights go out, and there are, like, NO LIGHTS. It is COMPLETELY DARK.

Me, in denial: Jesus, how am I supposed to SEE TO DO THIS????

BWP: I don't think we are.

Me: If I'd known there'd be NO LIGHT I'd have put my finger on the reel in the place the film was supposed to go on.

BWP: Yeah.

Film reels are made of cheap plastic, and have these little ball-bearing things (I am so not a mechanical person, as my loved ones are aware, and those who are laughing reading this can suck it. ; )) that, when they click into place, carry the film magically around the reel. When you take the top off of the little canister IN THE DARK, your film drops off in a blob on your hand IN THE DARK, and you're supposed to find the leader end and get it onto the reel IN THE DARK.

Amazingly, I had my film reeled within two minutes, and had moved onto my friend's, which he couldn't manage. (It's a little tricky, yes...easier perhaps with fingernails.) The rest of the processing process involved mixing enough chemicals to choke a horse, and pouring them on and rinsing them off, occasionally shaking the canister containing said film reel - at one point for seven minutes straight. It's quite a procedure for a little roll of film - and one that I accomplished without dribbling anything on my clothes, which I think may have been my most unlikely achievement.

It was really cool to see the pictures come out on the negatives after they dried. I was like, "Ooh, there's my butterfly! OOH! There's the mural." And according to the man in charge I had done the exposures correctly (including over and under-exposing some, so we could see what the wrong thing looks like) and I don't have to do it over. Next week I learn how to make prints and enlarge, and will likely make more boring observations about that process as well. I'll try to jazz things up in here on other topics...Remember - I'm always open to suggestions.

i heart baltimore

I helped my friend Shobha work at her jewelry booth at Artscape in Baltimore, and wish I could go back today. Duty calls, however. I hate when that happens.

She makes jewelry, and it's all very cool. She's been working hard to get this business off the ground for some time now, and I'm so excited that it's all coming together for her. Here's one of her very cool "flower cuffs" that she says she can't give away in Austin, but they caused quite a stir, here.

This is a terrible shot of it - I mean, "See my hand hail traffic or maybe do The Bird while wearing a gigantic flower!" is kind of what it says to me, but blame it on me taking the picture with my other hand, and know that they are sharp bracelets, I promise. As I kept saying, unnecessarily, "They look really good ON", when people would stop by and pick 'em up, going, "Hmmm, I'm not sure...a big flower?!? But it IS cool." Shobha pointed out that Rita Rudner does a riff where she says something to the effect of, "I hate when people say, 'It looks really good ON!" Like, on WHAT? On FIRE?" So, instead I just started telling women (and men who were either - we knew this - eyeing them for themselves, OR holding the wallet. Where are these men to be found? It turns out they exist! Very odd.) that they were very edgy and they'd be SURE to be the only person they knew with a handmade leather flower cuff. And do you know what? That's not only quite true, but they believed me! And we sold them ALL. This is what happens when you believe in your product, people! And when you want your friend to sell all of her cool stuff. I'll be doing her pr from now on...She also makes beautiful rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings completely by hand out of sterling silver. I am inspired by her talent - and know she'll take this all the way!

Artscape is a huge event in Baltimore - three days of music, food, crafts and community stuff. I'm always struck by how many different kinds of people are out at these things - and not just along the usual racial and cultural divides. It's a people-watching extravaganza, which means I spend my day trying not to trip over curbs and baby strollers because I'm gawking at this person's hair or that person throwing a fit over by the cotton candy stand, or what we determined was the hottest man any of us had seen in a very long time working at the italian sausage stand. Yeah. Can't make this stuff up. ; )

It was a great day until, walking back to my car later, some woman came careening around the corner, making a left turn against the light. Baltimore's traffic patterns and street directions are bizarre, to say the least. The last show had just let out, and the streets were a nightmare, although I made it out just fine, and did not get lost in one single scary neighborhood, which I consider a major accomplishment, and another reason to say "up yours" in the nicest way possible to this demon from hell who ruined my very chill festival mood. She screamed at me that I was "going to get my ass runned over" (nice...) and I, assuming incorrectly, as usual, that friendly logic would work, said, "the sign said 'walk'". "I don't give a FUCK what the sign say," she screamed. "You STILL gonna get yo ass RUNNED OVER," and, a split second after I thought she might jump from her car and pound me into the sidewalk, screeched away. The people beside me on the sidewalk started screaming back at her and giving her the finger. Keep in mind, I've never met them before, so even though it was nice to have some solidarity, I assume alcohol had everything to do with their involvement in the situation. I was just thinking to myself, "Oh please, oh please, do not circle this block and come back to runned me over. Or shoot me. Or whatever it is that STRAIGHT BITCHES LIKE YOU do to girls like me, with a supreme knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I had also parked in a lot where you had to leave your keys IN THE CAR, because I was totally desperate to find a space. Yes, yes, I know. However. I did it, only because Baltimore parking is so incredibly difficult, and cars were so crammed in there, I don't know how anyone would have stolen one. And mine is quite conspicuous. All the same, I'll add that to the list of things I'll hopefully never do again. So, after the altercation, I was thinking, not only will the crazy lady come back around to find me, but my CAR will be gone. Turns out - all I saw as I arrived in the lot was the orange beacon of my little car, the same nice parking lot man, AND a big man taking a BIG whiz a few spaces over. Nice. I guess the crazy mean lady moved on to sprinkle her fairy dust elsewhere. But MAN it was upsetting. How is it that I am having to deal with so many people yelling and bitching lately? It had been so nice to have a great day with a wonderful old friend, and then that. Bleh. I was okay by the time I got on 95, although still shaking my head a little at the meanness that can exist. What is UP with that?

Shobha will be back with her jewelry at the Takoma Park Folk Festival on September 11, which should be lots of fun, and I get to work with her again. Cotton candy for everyone! 

I'm in love with this photo...

Seriously, as in love with a photo as I can be. Specifically, it's the last photo in the first row on top. There are several other goodies on this page, but this one struck me especially. I love offbeat shots of basic, everyday things.

Oh, Internet. How I love your beautiful pictures and your amazing and creative people. Used for good - your magic powers are limitless. I am constantly inspired.

I found her through Sabrina Ward Harrison, whose books I used to shelve at Borders. She is a multimedia artist who journals, and uses collage, photography, found objects, painting and I'm sure a number of other things I can't even explain - and combines it all into a story of sorts.

I think I'll read A Room of One's Own again when I'm on break next week.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

I found this on a photo blog and think this is the coolest idea I've heard in a while! As soon as I get my decent camera (in June, hopefully...) and maybe even before, I'm going to do this! Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! Fun! If I actually get to take the photo class this summer,  it'll be doubly/triply/quadruply fun. I wish I'd found one of these when I was taking Photoshop. This would have been rad for my final project...I love the Wizard of Oz, and Dorothy falling asleep in the poppy fields would have been very cool for the "dream" theme.

Haha. The dream theme.

Anyway - here's the challenge. I found it in a group on the Flickr photo site.

"Remember the Wizard of Oz?
You are hereby photographically challenged to interpret the following 12 words:

HOME
JOURNEY
INTELLIGENCE
DOG
FAMILY
HEART
FLYING
MINIATURE
ROAD
COURAGE
EMERALD
FOREST

Want to join us? {Please note, there are no prizes, no rules, no deadlines, this is just about creativity sparking. We are in no way associated with MGM Studios. Hopefully that covers all the potentially cornfusing legal mumbo jumbo.}

Hope you'll join in the fun!

BONUS WORDS: RUBY, SLIPPERS, BASKET, WITCH, OWL, WOODS, TOAD, VODKA 'N TONIC

Have fun!"

YAY! An A!!!!

I got an A in my Photoshop class! Yay!

I'm so excited. I worked really hard in this class, and knew NADA about this program before I started. I mean, except for what I learned from hanging out with a graphic designer...I had only fiddled with some of the commands, but didn't mentally store any of it, and had no concept of the wide variety of things you can do with this program. It turns out, it's not so easy to get the hang of all of the commands and controls and settings. I'm still not very good at sizing. Here's my final project:

We were supposed to come up with something that was "dreamlike", either in context or in imagery, so I did a little bit of both. Our other choice was to react to a news media image, and I guess I did a little of that too...I'd been having these bizarro dreams about an old boyfriend, and that poor "runaway bride" from Georgia was all over the news, so I'd been thinking about all the hype, and pressure on relationships, and what we "dream" versus what reality hands us, blahblahblah, and this sort of came out of that...I was going to put a photo of the beach in there along with the book publishing building (reflective of personal "dreams" that can get lost in the shuffle, of course...) but the beach shot just wasn't working out aesthetically so the moon went in instead.

It was very challenging to assemble and quite a lot of fun, when it came down to it. My professor has had some recommendations for further study and I hope I can get myself in gear to pursue it. Maybe this is the right time for the University of Baltimore. We'll see.