Key to M's House

As some of you know, I spent about six months living in a store display.  My house was on the market and it had to look “lived in” but not cluttered or have any personal items.  In other words I was living in a house, not a home.

Living in a house void of personal items was stressful.  I keep a clean house but I am a bit like Monk.  I am OCD about my things.  I don’t like sharing and I don’t like knowing that random strangers have been in the house possibly touching my things.

After six months and two realtors (I will spare you the details of that experience),   I was homeless, both literally and figuratively.  Did I sell my house? Nope.  It has however become a home once again.  It has a family now (more details I will spare you of since I am not ready to write about that experience).

So where was I living?  For the last two months I have been living in “my” room at M’s house. Drunk housing became my home and the majority of my belongings were in storage.  I wasn’t sure how that was going to play out.  But I was truly grateful that I had a place to call home.

It has been years since I had a roommate.  Sure, M and I live together for a week or so during SXSW, but that is different.  That is vacation (…and we are a lot like the Odd Couple.  She’s Oscar and I am Felix).  This was full-time job/commuting Jen. Jen who deals with stupid people all day and spends much of her weeknights hermitting in her workspace.  Now it was Jen, sans workspace, living with 3 roommates.  I did get a few sanity breaks here and there.  There was house-sitting for Yenta and some cat-sitting with streaming Netflix.

After a long search and a pause to round up enough money to pay rent and a deposit, I found a new place.  It’s not quite home yet.  I am still rounding up my belongings around town and there is some decorating to be done.

After a two month stint in cohabitation, I realize that it’s not the life for me.  I like knowing that the crumbs on the counter were left by me and I am the one who left one square of toilet paper on the roll.  I think adjoining houses is as close as we will get.

M this one is for you.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros “Home” from Edward Sharpe on Vimeo.

Garth Algar: Uhm, Wayne? What do you do if every time you see this one incredible woman, you think you’re gonna hurl?
Wayne Campbell : I say hurl. If you blow chunks and she comes back, she’s yours. But if you spew and she bolts, then it was never meant to be.

And so it began.  M and I decided that it was a good night for drinking and walking down to Scoot Inn.  I was feeling a little icky that afternoon (allergies) but I felt a little better after dinner.  We had a drink before we left the house (M had 2).  We had Sweet Leaf Tea and bourbon (very strong) on our walk.  After an attempt to walk slowly but we ended up at Scoot in record time.  What to do?  Leave the beverages outside the gate?  Keep drinking?  Umm, keep drinking…actually, let’s just chug these.

We were drunk at this point in time. We went inside and the evening gets a little fuzzy.  I recall running into a friend and having a drunk conversation with her (we may have actually run into her twice).  Then I remember M and I going to the restroom.  Then I remember M getting a drink and me getting water.  At some point in time 2.0 showed up (his plans were canceled).

The show was great.  I took some drunk photos (I will post them soon). M went up to the front and shot for a bit.  Then things got fuzzier. I don’t think I missed anything.  Amanda only has the one album out so the show went pretty fast.

After the show ended I needed to lean against the wall.  Unfortunately there was an overhang and pretty soon I was trapped in a pocket of cigarette smoke.  Not good.  I felt like I was going to hurl.  Then I did.  Just a little, in my mouth.  I fled the venue and found a trash can.  Then I felt better, then much worse.  I went back inside and hurled in the bathroom.  Was it the right restroom?  Not sure, I think it was.

At this point in time I needed to sit down.  I remember finding M and getting more water.  Then I sat shivering at the picnic table.  Somewhere M had procured some sunglasses (apparently there were giveaways) and a signed poster which ended up in my bag).

When we got up to leave I got about 6 steps away from Scoot and started spewing again.  Not good.  M stood there and let me wipe my face with her scarf.  That is a real friend.    We stumbled home arm in arm.  Rarely do I need M’s help,  things usually go the other way around with me looking after her.  But it’s really nice to know that she is always going to be there for me.

Ratatat at Stubbs 9/27/10 (I think the projections on the screen are from Planet of the Apes)

I saw Ratatat at Stubb’s with the crew on Monday night.  The show was sold out and we got there just before they hit the stage.  Thanks to “crowd sourcing” (If I told you what it was, I would have to kill you), the Jew and  I managed to have an awesome view by the middle of the show.  As usual I was blown away by both their musical talent and the graphics display (although a wee bit disturbing at times).

I hadn’t thought about the inner workings of LP4 until the Jew mentioned that he wasn’t digging it.  M argued for the album stating that it was more tribal than the last album.  I tend to agree.   If you are really listening it has a lot of the same ingredients as LP3.  This time with a little less synth and a gritter/primal sound.  There were drums and they actually had vocals on this one.  On top of that they used a some orchestral arrangements.

I did a little research and it turns out that LP4 is made up from a lot of material produced during LP3.  On top of that the guys added in some middle eastern percussion (which was great live) and a string quartet instead of the mellotron.  So in a way, they went “unplugged” on this one.

Pixies- Austin Music Hall 9/22/10 photo by Emily Lim

M and I saw the Pixies this Wednesday.  Once again the universe proves that social media and online credit card payments make things happen.

Sometime in May, I got an email from the Pixies mailing list saying that pre-presale tickets would be available in limited amounts for mailing list subscribers.  I checked in with M and decided to go for it.  I had never seen them live, and the last time that M saw them was at ACL several years ago.  Would it be worth $50 to see them play Doolittle in its entirety?  Hell YES!  You know M and I love the Pixies and would pay to see them inches from the house (unless it involved selling a kidney).

Three days later I can still say the show was amazing (I’ve watched loudQuietloud more times than I would like to admit and I had high levels of expectations.).  Granted, there are a few things I am a little miffed about.  But, having a decent spot just left of the stage, the Pixies’ stage presence and talent outweighed the negatives.

Now for the show… They started with B-sides from Doolittle, then they played the full album.  [Little Readers, I have a confession.  There are several songs that I skip over when I play Doolittle, but hearing them live made me feel a little guilty for doing that.]  They finished out the show with the best of Surfer Rosa.   They gave it 100+% . The crowd was mesmerized and after all these years, we still know all the words to the songs.

For those of you who missed the show (or for those of you who want to relive the end of the show, I have a little clip I found on YouTube.

Now for the complaints:

1) Dear Music Hall, why can’t we bring in descent camera’s to photograph once-ish in a lifetime experiences?  M had to leave the BAC at home and shoot on my tiny camera.  Click here to see them on Flickr.

2) Dear Hipsters, why can’t you bath once and awhile.

3) Dear dudes in front of us.  M is only 3 apples high, yet you feel the need to stand in front of her, and prevent her from seeing the show.

4) Dear Chicks with giant shoulder bags, please pack a smaller bag when you are going to shows.  You are not Mary Poppins, you will not need all of that crap.

5) Dear People responsible for the redesign of the Music Hall, the sound still sucks and the overhangs prevent air circulation.

Life has been way less organized these last few months little readers. I feel bad because M and I are growing our little ticket farm and we have neglected to remind you of the following:

• Rodrigo y Gabriela: that was last week and it was sold out (Sadly no pictures, Stubbs wouldn’t let M and 2.0 take the BAC in).
• Pixies: umm, that would be in a week and it is sold out.
• Ratatat- umm, that would be in two weeks and it is sold out
• Interpol- that is in late October and it will be sold out, so move fast.

And now it’s time to get to business…

M and I are early birds once again.  But due to an odd shift in the cosmos, we did not win the lottery to purchase said early bird tickets.  The Jew and 2.0 were some how chosen instead of us.  WTF?!   How did this happen?  We told them about the lottery. I suppose we can’t complain.  We weren’t exactly rolling in dough at the time.  I suppose we should commend ourselves for selling the festival to two dudes based on previous experiences.

Now that the full line up and schedule have been completed, it is GOOGLE SPREADSHEET TIME!  You know that M and I are huge nerds when it comes to cramming as much festival goodness in as possible.

Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the show.  My plan for the weekend is to catch up on writing and sleep.

I got a double dose of DJ’d music this week.  I don’t know  what it is with the head-bobbing dudes and their giant headphones, but I want to make them all my future ex-husband.

Thursday night, M and I went downtown to see Flosstradamus spin.  We were a bit annoyed with the fact that the show was on a Thursday and that it was at Red 7.  On top of that, there were two openers and Flossy wasn’t going to hit the stage until 12:30.  We decided to camp out at the home bar and drink for cheap until the show started.

The set got off to a good start but then it got lame.  I though things would improve when the dudes mixed in the song from the Lion King and someone on stage lifted up the fan like Simba.  No such luck.

Friday night I went to Sock Hop vs. Soul Happening.  I put on a party dress (pink gingham halter dress), fluffed up the afro and hit the Mohawk.There is something to be said about live dj-ing on actual records.  These guys went the extra mile by spinning 45′s.

SSSH  ended up winning the battle.  They had better transitions and they had the crowd dancing until they could dance no more.

THE HOOD vs ANATOMY MAGAZINE

It’s X-mas in July.  The Hood Internet has dropped not one, but two new mix tapes.  I have rocked out to both of them in my car but I have to say that the mixtape for Anatomy Magazine is the better of the two.

I suggest you download the album at Anatomy so you can skip a few tracks as needed.  Here are my favorites, with my top 3 in bold.

1. Jay-Z (feat. Pharrell) x LCD Soundsystem – Just Wanna Dance Yrself Clean
3. 50 Cent x Ratatat – Have A Billar By Me
4. Ludacris (feat. Pharrell) x Rilo Kiley – Moneymaking Money Maker That Makes Money
7. Lil’ Troy (feat. Fat Pat and Yungstar) x TV On The Radio – Wanna Be A Wolf Like Me
8. Clipse x Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clipse Your Hands Say Wamp Wamp
9. Asher Roth x The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – I Love Friction
10. Devin The Dude (feat. Andre 3000) x Les Savy Fav – What Would Devin Do?
13. DJ Assault x Deerhunter – Deer Assault

These guys rock!  The show was great, and they’re from my home town.  Woot! Woot! Go Chicago!  In addition I would like say that they are super nice, totally willing to pose with their drunk fans… (A.K.A me that night).  We had a great time, and definitely plan on trying to catch them while we’re in Chicago in August.

This was my attempt at being artistic.  I like the shot, but I won’t lie; it was just an off chance that I got it, we were busy having fun, not really taking pictures.

This is almost the same one that Jen took during SXSW this year.  We saw them at Karma Lounge on one of the last evenings.  That too was a great show.

Sometimes when you give Jen whiskey, she gets mean.

I spent the majority of the weekend camped out on the couch with unlimited streaming movies.  Why?  Because my place reeks of paint fumes and it is still on the f-ing market. Oh, and technically I was house/cat sitting.

Left to my own devices I managed to plow through 8 movies.   Most of which were total fluff.  One of them may have been considered a film, but I doubt it.  Day 1:American Pie 2, Penelope, Broken English, Carolina,  and 10 Things I Hate About You.   I OD’d on chick flicks.  I told M that I needed some scotch and an action flick or something to undo all of that.  Instead we got wine drunk and walked downtown with 2.0 to dance it off with the Hood Internet.

M <3's Hood Internet- Beauty Bar July 2007

Day 2:  I left M’s around noon-ish and was craving cheese (Note to self, do not order a vegan burger after a night of drinking.  Order the f -ing grilled cheese.  Note to late night establishments, fries should be crisp, salty, greasy and still contain soft potato insides).  I stopped at the Target on the way “home” for milk, Amy’s Organic shells with white cheddar and  managed to consume it all during  the course of three movies… Julie and Julia, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Harold and Maude.

I have to say that the concept of unlimited streaming movies sounds like a good idea.  I am not sure who is out there selecting the movies to be screened. If you know who they are, please inform them that there should be more films, and less crap.

DSC_0126, originally uploaded by Limorama.

We went last week to see Tokyo Police Club open for Passion Pit.   Jen wrote about it a bit here.  They were great! I haven’t seen TPC in years. They sounded great, I guess the sound guy likes them. However, Passion Pit had a great energy, but did not sound so good. The guys were together and all that, but, it was way bass heavy.

Let’s just say that Jen and I got to be a little fun that night. We ended up getting a ride home from a friend (we took the car-to-go to get there) and as we pulled into my driveway, Jen and I started to go through his CDs.

Suffice it to say that Jen now thinks he’s a shoe-gazer lesbian because he listens to Tegan and Sarah. Ha! (Sometimes I’m sure that my stories would be more funny if you were actually there.)