Baby, you can drive my car!

Earlier this week, I was listening to the Podcast of NPR's "All Songs Considered" on Lenny the 2nd, my wonderful new 5th Gen. iPod. I love "All Songs Considered" because I'm always introduced to at least one or two cds that are incredible. This weeks picks are two great cover albums.

The first is "This Bird Has Flown", a 40th anniversary cover cd of the Beatles' "Rubber Soul". "Rubber Soul" is by far my favorite Beatles album, and the covers on this cd do a great job of both celebrating and reinterpreting the songs. Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals have a warm, reggae-flavored version of "Michelle", and Sufjan Stevens is brilliant and ever with "What Goes On". I also really enjoyed Nellie McKay's sultry interpretation of "If I Needed Someone". The Donna's have fun with "Drive My Car", which is predictable, but catchy. Even if you've never heard the original Rubber Soul (shame! shame!) "This Bird Has Flown" is interesting and enjoyable.

The other great cd that was mentioned is Stubbs the Zombie: The Soundtrack." Another collection of covers, this album features songs from the 1950's remade by some of my favorite bands: Death Cab for Cutie sings "Earth Angel", the Flaming Lips entertain with "If I Only Had a Brain", and folks like Phantom Planet, The Dandy Warhols, the Walkmen, and Ben Kweller add their own versions of "Stragners in the Night", "There Goes My Baby," and "Lollipop". The video game, "Stubbs the Zombie" has some great art direction--it's very vintage noir with lots of Saul Bass inspired sillouettes and titles.

I will be listening to both of these albums (along with about fifty others) while I spend the rest of the afternoon interpreting my abstract black line painting into grayscale for tomorrow. Tape, exacto knife, and way too many people in the design studio: Here I come!

P.S.
Is it worth it for me to post pictures of some of my projects up here for you guys to look at? I didn't know if it'd be too boring, but I have some pictures if you'd like to see what's been occupying all of my time as of late.

How I wish that you would stay with me...

I'm so tired, and I can't figure out why. Chicken noodle soup and Anna Becker on my stereo make me ready for a nice long nap.

Except I have to go to work at 1:30. So a powernap it is, instead of curling up for a solid five hours with Max (my stuffed polar bear) and a sweater. It's so gray outside. Hurricane Wilma is on her way.

I had pumpkin nog last night for the first time. If you've never had pumpkin nog, you're missing out. I'm a big fan of nog in general. Well, ok, so the only other kind ofnog I've had is egg nog. But anything with the word "nog" in it has my stamp of approval. I also had pumpkin soup, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin seeds.

Sometimes it's good to feel melancholy.

PYT (Yes, I've been listening to Michael Jackson)

I went to a dance class today. I'm really proud of myself--I'm such a white girl. There's this awesome black woman in my class who can really shake it, she's got so much soul. I had so much fun...I think I'm going to try and go every Saturday until I have to start working mornings.

Hurricane Wilma is getting bigger. I hope that it doesn't hit Saint Augustine. It's kind of scary.

Caleb is in Missisippi right now. Helping gut houses. I'm proud of him too, he's such a trooper.

Thanksgiving isn't that far away. And tonight after work, I'm going to a Pumpkin Party! (Except I don't have a pumpkin)

Like Nectarines

Today has been fruitful. I slept in, which was not-so-productive, but considering my lack of sleep over the weekend, it was well needed. It's gorgeous outside, so I rode my bike to class. On my way home, I decided to stop by a few stores that I've passed, but never gone in, including Eco-Organic (I think that's the name anyway), a little clothing store. The owner was really nice, and even though it's out of my price range, I really like their stuff.

After that, I stopped by Art and Movement, which I didn't even realize had opened. It's a combination art gallery/dance studio, and they're in the space where this cool old used bookstore used to be. The owner, Jennifer, is really nice, and I got a schedule of their classes. I also paid ten bucks for three drop-in classes, anything from yoga or pilates to dance. I'm really excited, because I haven't been working out much lately, and I've always wanted to take a dance class. So we'll see, hopefully my schedule will clear enough to use all three classes before November 6th (that's how long I have with this pass).

I'm on my way to Target (to buy knives...kitchen knives) and then I'm heading over to the beach to swim and study for my Visual Communications midterm. And tonight, of course, is Tuesday Night dinner.

It's been a good Tuesday.

"J.C.'s Mom has got a growing son..."

(Sung to the tune of "Stacey's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne).

Subject line brought to you courtesy of the Apologetics, a CCM band that opened up for Rino a week or so ago. Eb shared with me some of their lyrical attempts to turn secular songs into family favorites! Or just a really bad representation of Christain music.. But yeah, you know, whatever. (My favorite is that apparently Justin--Rino's drumer--kept asking them to play "Heaven's Bells" or "Highay to Heaven").

------
So yes, I'm still here. My weekend was wrapped up in tape and paint and a really tedious Design I project, along with work and a brief (but really enjoyable) visit from Caleb. We saw Elizabethtown, which was incredible. For some reason, the critics didn't like it all that much, but I loved it. It was a typically interesting Cameron Crowe masterpiece, with the perfect characters and detailed sets. The 16-cd accompanied road trip was a bit impossible, but I was impressed.

Oh, I got to bed at 6am this morning. Yeah.

Holy Crap!

WOW. I am about to die of excitement. This is incredible. I mean really. Apple. You have out done yourself this time. Bigger screen. Smaller iPod. Video playback. 30GB. All for the same $299 (well, $249 for my student discount).

I am bowled over.

And so freaking excited.

Just the way you like

You know what's sad? When you meet interesting/cool people, but you know that they won't remember you or get to know you because they have "enough" friends. Their quota is full, so unless you get stuck with them in some random situation, they dismiss you as just one more person that they don't need to take the time of knowing.

This has happened to me quite a bit in the past few months. Look, I know we're in college, I know that you might be moving or graduating in the next year, but taking the time to get to know somebody is not that big of a deal. It's worth it. Who knows, you might actually like me. I might be fun to hang out with. We might have hiliarious conversations that will stick with you forever. But I guess we'll never know now, because you are obviously pretty darn important to everyone and have got your phone full of too many phone numbers.

I'm done venting.

These words are my own...

I went to the beach after class today. I didn't even go in the water, just slept and read Under the Tuscan Sun (which is incredible, and nothing like the movie--better). Then I treated myself to a Mahi sandwich and fried plantains at Mango Mango's. I love that place.

I've been feeling a bit lonely lately. I have made quite a few aquaintances here in St. Augustine, but no real friends as of yet. Liz, but she is busy with wedding planning and whatnot, so I don't see her very often. I know that it takes time to make friends, but I miss my old ones and long for someone to go get coffee with. I might go to Graceville next weekend to see Caleb. I need to take my car in to get looked at first though, the starter has been acting funny lately.

I am officially no longer working at the Holiday Inn. Now it is the Bed and Breakfast, which I am really enjoying. I have tonight off, however, and my house feels empty. I'm afraid that I will waste my night on silly internet things.

So with that, I'm going to go read, and then do some homework for Design. Maybe I'll knit some more. I finished my one scarf and it's soft and wonderful. Pictures will be up soon.

It was a beautiful letdown

So Tropical Storm Tammy is now all up onz. And I lost my umbrella last week. So I guess I will be heading to Target to get a new one later this afternoon. After I've been soaked through a couple of times. I just hope my yard doesn't flood, becuase then I'll be living in Swampland, and the number of mosquitos will multiply exponentially. Along with the number of mosquito bites.

One great thing for the day, however--I got an 82 on my first Design project!!! I am so happy. I actually would have had an 87, but I got 5 points off for being late. Either way, I have a "B", which is incredible. He's a tough grader, and I was hoping just to get a "C", so this is really pretty wonderful. One downer: I have to spend another hundred bucks on art supplies for our last half of projects. I am not a fan.

Balcony seats for The Wall?

Roger Waters (from Pink Floyd) just finished writing an opera. Now I think I really have seen everything.

I miss my hippie friends.

I mean, I'm sure there are plenty of hippies here in St. Augustine, but not the same. I miss jumping off bridges and climbing up mountains and makeshift climbing walls in basements. I also wish that I had spent more time hanging out with them, becuase they were all such cool people and I was way too busy. As Usual. I am definitely going to road trip to Virginia this summer to enjoy a little mountain living for a few days. Granted, most of my friends will probably either be home for the summer or graduated, but the Virginia mountains are fun with or without lots of people.

++Go read Cameron's blog for an interesting concept on how movie theaters can do a better job at, well, their job.

Today Florida weather decided it was going to completely outdo itself and present: "The Worst Fall Weather Ever." I got to experience a showing while walking the four blocks from my car to class.

I was:
lugging my portfolio, bag, and art supply box.
Wearing jeans.

The weather was:
Roasting hot.
Humid.
Raining.
Aaaaand (special effects, maybe?) the sun was shining. Brightly. Directly in my eyes.

I think I almost walked into a car twice. Or maybe it was a tree. Boo.

++No matter how many times I see those Burger King commercials telling me to "wake up with the king", I still get creeped out.

++AIGA has podcasts from some of the main speakers at its design conference. I know what I'll be listening to next time I'm using up half a dozen sharpies on a Design I project.

It's what you're doing with no sunlight

So my new job basically rocks. It's at this beautiful Bed and Breakfast right on the Bayfront in downtown St. Augustine. I pretty much work the front desk, and the work is quite minimal. I check in the two or three people that come each night, do a load or so of laundry, make a dessert (cake or brownies or something) to put out at six, and answer the phone. I trained with Liz last night, and it was so much fun. We just sat around and talked, did what little work there was, and made brownies. Best of all, I get to sit down! In a chair! No more standing behind a counter for eight hours (or at least, not after next Sunday, which is when I work for the last time at the Holiday Inn). Also, the other girls that work there (I've met Erin and Jessamin [sp?] so far) are my age and lots of fun.

So work = awesome. And that makes me happy.

I also got to go to a great show at Cafe Eleven last night. Head of Femur was the headlining band(some of the members played with Cake and Sea), and Bernard was the opener. I am in love with Bernard, they were beautiful. A bit of The Velvet Teen mixed with Anathallo (but a three piece). They had sooo much build in their songs.

Head of Femur was a lot of fun as well. They're kinda like MeWithoutYou's sillier, funkier younger brothers, but with tamborine fights and lots of hip shaking. Bee-yoo-ti-ful.

I bought some crafty stuff at Michael's today, so I'm going to go make things and finish my Design project.

She rose and winked like the owner of a candy store

Tonight was completely enjoyable, complete with ice cube fights, wonderful music, drunken dancing Norweigens and phoone calls from friends people I miss.

Also, new job started today. More on that tomorrow.

But for now--sleep. How I missed you...