More of the artsy and the craftsy

Posted on September 30, 2007
Filed Under Blather, art | 1 Comment

This past week has been sadly a bit low on the artsy/craftsy/inspirational and pretty high on the work, work, and more work. I guess when you have a week here and there of near-complete fun in which you travel around, see new things, get creative, and generally enjoy yourself, you’re going to have a few zillion weeks of work, work, and more work to offset… I did finally get to meet up with some of my knitting buddies again this week. Hopefully now that it almost feels like Fall (some days, anyway) we’ll get together more often.

But I’ve promised more of the artsy and the craftsy!

So, I’ve mentioned our studio more than once. It’s a totally self-indulgent thing from my perspective, and I’m not complaining. Here’s a peek at what I’ve done with my corner so far.
stu-stu-studio

It’s mostly inspiration and collage with some sketches and photos thrown in. It’s a zero-pressure space for me.

We’ve done a little here and there to put the place together most weekends, and on good weeks we get in there in the evenings. It’s slowly coming together. (Yes, I am such a stud and put together my bookshelf and chair all by myself–ha!) Here’s Ezra putting together a sort of storagey workstation:


It’s evolving.

One of the perks of going over to the studio is that it puts us in the Union Square area. Lots of times we stop by the Independent for a drink or food after spending time in the studio, and sometimes, like last weekend, there’s some Somerville Arts Council thing going on. Last weekend we hit the Urban Country Fair as it was winding down.

I was telling Ezra that something about a lot of the Somerville Arts Council sponsored events reminds me of the circuses that you would try to put together as a kid (you know you did it). It’s like an innocent creative impulse with this faith in community and unquestioning confidence in one’s place in it… or something. But then, it’s sort of pretentiously un-pretentious, too. From whatever angle, it’s good that they do it.

Artsy and Craftsy

Posted on September 24, 2007
Filed Under Blather, art, knitting | 1 Comment

When I’m not working, traveling, sleeping, reading, eating, exercising, or following Interpol, there’s a good chance that I am either watching an old movie or Frasier reruns or that I am engaged in some artsy-craftsy endeavor.

I mentioned in an earlier post that I took a bookbinding workshop a couple weekends ago. Here are the little journals I made:

Our choices for decorative papers were somewhat limited. I like these, but it will be fun to be able to select papers on my own from a greater array of choices. I’ll need to buy a number of tools to make more books on my own, but it’s not too complex.

As if I didn’t already have enough knitting projects in the works… I started a scarf a while ago for a friend of mine, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever finish it. It’s kind of a long story. It was a good project in that I learned a new technique–double knitting. But I’ve set that aside indefinitely. And of course when I saw the vegetable-dyed yarns in New York and remembered that I’ve been wanting to make myself a scarf for a while now (I only ever made a scarf for myself when I was just learning to knit and it’s not that fabulous). So… here’s the beginning of what may turn out to be a scarf, just for me!

scarf in progress

The veggie dye comes off all over my hands. I’ll have to rinse the scarf pretty thoroughly before I wear it. The yarn has a squishy, fuzzy quality–almost as though it’s lightly felted.

More art and craft coming soon…

Our Sixth Anniversary

Posted on September 24, 2007
Filed Under Blather, Pennsylvania, art, dining, knitting, wide world of vacation | 4 Comments

Saturday morning I woke up pretty late, and I admit that it took me a while to get moving. Our hotel was comfy and I was still in recovery. But it was a very nice day, and Ez and I set off for brunch at the Galaxy Global Eatery near Union Square. I’d been there once before with a friend, and we didn’t have too much trouble finding it. The waitstaff were as cute and pleasant as I remembered, and I happily ordered a healthy vegan breakfast of scrambled tofu with tempeh bacon (which, incidentally, was deeelicious). We were seated in a booth by the window. They opened the windows and the front doors and we got a pretty hefty breeze blowing through. After the yucky heat and humidity of July and August, that breeze was bliss. The TV above the bar was playing TV Land.

Ezra at the Galaxy Global Eatery, being cosmic.

…and speaking of re-runs… Not too long after we arrived, Woody Harrelson came in with a group of people and sat in the booth right next to ours.

After our rejuvenating brunch we walked through Union Square a bit and stumbled upon the Union Square Farmer’s Market. It was such a pretty day… all of the fruits and vegetables and flowers looked so gorgeous and enticing! We wandered through a bit and found a woman selling vegetable dyed yarns (and lamb sausages, legs of lamb, etc.). The yarns were just calling my name… I spent probably too long gazing at them and mulling over which colors to get (I need a new scarf or two!). As I was perusing the bins of yarn, a woman came into the booth and mentioned something about a new yarn shop her friend was opening in… State College! I couldn’t help myself–I had to ask her about it. She couldn’t remember the name of it and said they were just getting started, but I was really excited! State College hasn’t, to my knowledge, had a good dedicated local yarn shop up until now. I’m anxious to check it out the next time I’m there!

Me checking out yarn in Union Square.

So… after buying a shade of mauvey pink and another of sort of teal-blue, we hopped on the train and headed uptown to the northernmost part of Central Park. We walked along the jogging road for a while, just taking it all in. At around 89th Street we stepped out of the park in search of something to drink. We walked past the Guggenheim, which is apparently undergoing some sort of exterior restoration, and ended up stopping at Cafe Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie, both of which I love. We shared a bit of Apple Strudel and just gawked at the loveliness. Before leaving, we had to duck into the gift shop, and Ezra picked up a really great book on the Wiener Werkstatte, which might easily have been something I would have purchased myself if he hadn’t done so first.

We had then hoped to go to the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum down the street, but as we’d had a late start it was closed. We did, however, take in the building itself.

We were both in need of a little recharge at that point, so we headed back to the hotel to gather ourselves before dinner. We ended up dining at a rather good Italian restaurant not that far from our hotel, Da Ciro on Lexington. After that feast, we returned to our hotel and headed to the roof bar that Ezra had enjoyed the night before. Unfortunately, we found it empty. We went downstairs to ask why it was closed and the man we asked told us it was too cold (!). I thought it was really nice–maybe a bit chilly, but in a good way. Anyway, the door wasn’t locked, so Ez and I raided our mini-bar, went out on the roof, and mixed our own drinks. It was really lovely up there. Even from that height (about 11 stories up), the view was something.

Me in Herald Square.

Sunday we managed to get up at a more reasonable hour. I’d noticed a great big newstand just down the street from our hotel, so that was our first stop. (As some of you know, I’ve lately been buying up a lot of foreign fashion magazines. This time I picked up a British magazine I’d never seen before called Wig. ) After that, it was back to The Strand bookstore via Herald Square and the Shake Shack, both of which Ezra really discovered on this particular New York trip. I do love The Strand (I’m a book-lady, so it’s only natural). Unfortunately, it seems like I’m in a big hurry every time I’m there. Next time, I vow to allot at least an hour to the Strand. This time we had to get back to Penn Station to catch our train home, where we found our two furry felines and a very comfy bed waiting for us.

Cool tree sculpture in Madison Square Park.

Thursday and Friday (9/13 and 9/14)

Posted on September 23, 2007
Filed Under Blather, friends, music | Leave a Comment

I spent much of Thursday working, packing, and trying to stay awake. It was one of those days that when you get to the end of it, you’re not sure how you made it… all a blur. I do remember sitting doing work at South Station in Boston. Apparently there’s a Boston Globe sponsored website where people post complaints about the lack of free Internet at South Station. I love taking the Acela. On the way down I got my seat in the quiet car, where I was able to do more work. My computer freaked out a little bit on the train and I decided maybe the time to order a new one (which I did a few days ago) had finally come.

I arrived at Penn Station at about 8:00 and Ez came to collect me. Lux was putting him up at the Club Quarters, so we dropped off my things there and then went to get food at a pub down the street. We sat upstairs and experienced the after work crowd and the Yankees network, YES (which, truth be told, is not all that unlike the Red Sox network, NESN).

Friday morning we scurried to get our things together for the switch to the Hotel Metro. I had heard of the Hotel Metro before, but Ez made all the arrangements, and he picked this place partly because it seemed perfect for our anniversary. He was right. The bellman was really charming… he kind of reminded me a little of Timothy Spall (the guy who plays Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter movies). After he stowed our things and Ez took off for the office, I sat in the lobby and did some work. I felt right at home, surrounded by pictures of Greta Garbo and Lillian Gish, with some of my favorite old songs being piped in, like Ella Fitzgerald’s version of “Blue Skies.”

My work didn’t take as long as I’d anticipated, so around 10:00 or 10:30 I set off toward Madison Square Garden. I should mention here that I was on the guestlist for this show, which meant that I didn’t know what kind of tickets I was going to end up with. For some reason I thought that just maybe being on the guestlist would be a special thing. I could have purchased a general admission ticket (the front of the floor at MSG is usually general admission, though I didn’t know that when tickets originally went on sale), but I took my chances with the guestlist. Anyway, figuring that it was possible that my guestlist ticket would be general admission, I scoped out MSG to see if anyone had formed a line. The place is ginormous, and I wandered around just trying to figure out what was what for about 15 minutes. I located the box office, and wandering outside I saw the band’s trucks and tour buses. Curving around to the other side of the building, I did finally see a woman I recognized from other shows standing at a series of unmarked doors. I figured that must be the line (she’s from New York and I’m sure she’s been to MSG many times). Since there was no one else there and it was early, I opted to wander for a bit. I found a Borders nearby where I bought a copy of some Poe stories–I had a feeling I’d need some reading material for the line. I was so wiped out from the week’s exploits and travel that I was in a sort of a daze, so Poe’s somewhat fantastic tales felt just right.

It was a long day of sitting in line. Again, it was impossible to hear the soundcheck given the size and location of the venue. Some of my friends did arrive, including Sandra, and I met some people as well. It’s weird being recognized from the Internet… just kind of funny. In the afternoon I started making trips back and forth from the line to the box office to see if my guestlist tickets had been delivered yet. They kept telling me to come back.

At one point I realized I’d had hardly anything to eat, so I went to a Duane Reade to get a snack. On my way back, as I was crossing the street, I passed a dark haired guy who looked familiar. Then I realized that a bunch of people in the line were calling and waving. I’d walked right past Daniel and Farmer Dave (the dark haired guy) and hadn’t even realized. Not too long after that Paul arrived, wearing sunglasses and with this lackey hauling his luggage for him. Before I even had time to notice, a couple of girls from the line had descended on him.

A short while later I decided to just hang out in the box office until my tickets arrived. They were pumping in the band’s latest album over their sound system. I noticed an older couple picking up tickets at the box office. The woman had a very familiar look on her face, and I think it must have been Carlos’s mother. She had the exact same mouth and expression that he has. Finally, I got my tickets and knew the mistake I’d made. They were pretty terrible–basically nosebleed seats. Now, I’d been in the front row the last six times I’d seem them, and I’d just been in line all day with people who would be in the front row again. It was a pretty big disappointment, even if I didn’t pay for the tickets. The good news was that my friends Couirey and Charissa were joining me, and they had similar guestlist seats, so I wasn’t alone.

I went up to my seats very early and scoped out the place. I hadn’t been in an arena as big as Madison Square Garden in a VERY long time–maybe never. The closest for me would be the Spectrum in Philadelphia, and I haven’t been there since I was in high school. It’s definitely the biggest place Interpol has ever headlined, and it wasn’t nearly sold out. I decided if I was going to be up high like that, I’d better get a drink. I’d discovered when I went to pick up my tickets at the box office that I had left my ID in my pants pocket (you need to show your ID on Amtrak now). They accepted my alternate ID so I could pick up my tickets, but buying a drink might be another story. I told the bartenders my tale of woe, showed them my wedding ring and pleaded, “Look, I’m getting wrinkles!” They smiled and said that they guessed they believed me. They asked me if I wanted a double. I’ve never been asked that at a bar–I guess I don’t go out much! Either that, or there are more hard drinkers in New York. Foolishly, I said yes. Now, I am NOT a heavy drinker. That was the strongest drink I think I’ve ever had. I could barely sip it. And it cost $13!! Oi.

Little merch stalls were set up all around the arena, and I noticed that they were selling this special poster, created just for this gig.

Naturally, I grabbed one.

Liars somehow weren’t as good this night as they had been in Albany and Boston. I think maybe the venue was simply too big for them. Next up was Cat Power. I’m not that familiar with her, so her set was interesting for me. She seemed to do a lot of covers. She has a good voice… kind of jazzy and bluesy, with a sort of thick and thin thing going on. I got a touch of Janis Joplin from her performance, but sort of an insecure Janis Joplin. Again, the venue was probably too big for her. Someone threw her a bundle of white flowers and at the end of her set she gave a flower back to someone in the audience.

Couirey and Charissa arrived in time for Cat Power. Couirey was playing Tetris during her set (bad Couirey!)…

Then Interpol took the stage and I realized just how hard sitting up in the nosebleeds was going to be. I eventually got over it, but it is a VERY different experience compared with being in the front row. Setlist went as follows:

Pioneer
Obstacle 1
C’mere
NARC
Say Hello to the Angels Pace is the Trick
Mammoth
Hands Away
No I in Threesome
Slow Hands
Rest my Chemistry
The Heinrich Maneuver
Evil
Not Even Jail
—–
NYC
Stella
PDA
—–
Untitled

So, the same as Boston except they played Untitled.

They started off with a skrim in front of the stage onto which they were shining some lights. I’m guessing that it was supposed to come down sometime during Pioneer to the Falls, but it didn’t. It was still there all through Obstacle 1, which was just weird. After that, Paul said they were going to take a little break so they could get rid of the screen. Everyone cheered after the crew slowly got the thing down. Some girl crowd-surfed during NARC, which I thought was hysterical. It was right around that time that I moved down a bit into some seats that were a wee bit closer. A big cheer went up when they started to play Evil, and I couldn’t help feeling proud of them. At the beginning of PDA (I think that’s when it was) Sam was sort of directing the crowd in front with his drums. It’s hard to explain, but it was like he was conducting a little pit symphony. Toward the end, Carlos came to the front of the stage and threw up his hands, dramatically blowing kisses to everyone. (Quite a contrast to his seeming utter boredom in Boston.)


‘cept it looks different at night.

Afterwards Couirey and Charissa and I went downtown to a bar called The Library on Avenue A. As soon as we were inside I realized that I’d been there before. Ez and I had gone there one rainy day a couple of years ago. Couirey and Charissa and I had a great time. We just had some drinks and chatted, but it was really fun. I love those guys. Ez was going to come out with us, but he’d already had a long day and night and by the time we got out of the show it was late and he went to bed. C, C, and myself didn’t leave The Library until last call, so it was another exhausting night for me. I got up late the next day, but then another fun chapter began…

Just in case you missed it…

Posted on September 21, 2007
Filed Under Blather, music | Leave a Comment

Brad Searles of the fabulous Bradley’s Almanac has posted his audience recording of the Interpol show last week in Boston.  Get it while it’s hot.  To me, the recording of the encore sounds particularly good.

And I know… I am way behind with reporting on all of my adventures.  Work, you know…

Tuesday and Wednesday

Posted on September 17, 2007
Filed Under Blather, friends, me and my brain, music | 3 Comments

After Monday’s adventure, Tuesday was not a super active day. It was pouring, which I guess was appropriate as we were both pretty sleepy and hungover (at least, I think we both were). We had seen a Starbucks by the hotel bar, so we drove over there in the morning seeking caffeine. We cut through the hotel lobby, and who did we see in the bar but Elaine! That woman never sleeps. We stopped in to say hi and to thank her for being so awesome.

Once we got our caffeine we got in the car and I somehow managed to drive back to Boston safely (I am a safe driver, I think, and I would have stopped somewhere if I was in truly bad shape, but I was pretty tired). The rest of the day was a blurry daze for me. I was too wiped out to do too much work, although I did try. Sarah did a bit of reading and we ended up watching Frasier re-runs.

On Wednesday I did actually get some work done in the morning. It was a beautiful day, so Sarah sat on the porch and read (she may have even finished her book). Then I had to figure out what the heck to wear to the Interpol show at Agganis Arena that night. Sarah talked me into wearing my old green velvet dress, which I bought at a vintage shop when I was in high school. Needless to say, it is pretty snug, and due to its apparent vintage, very short. I found some leggings and braved it for the color and the occasion. Poor Sarah had to watch me go through about 6 different unsatisfactory outfits before I settled on the green.

We set off for Agganis early, hoping to hear soundcheck, but several factors meant that was not in the cards. First, after getting gas at a station near the house, my car wouldn’t start. A mechanic at the station got it going again, but fearing that we’d get stuck in Boston with it, we went back to the house to get Sarah’s car. When we did finally get over to the arena, we got the rock star parking, but we were probably too late for soundcheck. We also found that Agganis Arena is like a big fortress of a complex. Even if we’d been there all day we probably wouldn’t have heard anything… it’s just too big and soundproof. It was a beautiful day, so we hung around outside and saw Sam and a drum tech (not his drum tech, but maybe the Liars have one?) chatting by the buses. Then we went to get a couple of drinks.

Our seats were supposed to be in about the 10th row, and that’s where we sat for Liars. They were really fun again, with the singer taking off his jacket at one point to reveal a big Celtics jersey that fit him like a mini-dress. I think a number of Interpol fans who’ve been seeing them open the shows haven’t liked them–they’re not for everyone, but I’ve enjoyed their sets.

Note the green jersey peeking out. Full credit to Pitchfork, which was the only place where I could find decent pictures from the show.

In between sets we went looking for a friend in the first row and, low and behold, once again there were two empty seats right next to her. Well, we took them. So it was front row for us again.

The show was really good. Here’s the setlist:

Pioneer to the Falls
Obstacle 1
C’Mere
Narc
SHTTA
Pace Is the Trick (YES!)
Mammoth
Hands Away (!)
No I in Threesome
Slow Hands
Rest My Chemistry
The Heinrich Maneuver
Evil
Not Even Jail
—-

NYC
Stella
PDA

The setlist included a fourth song for the encore… Untitled! But they didn’t play it.

I think I’ve read a few people talk about Interpol’s pre-show rituals, and the way that Agganis Arena is set up, we could see a little bit of those rituals from the front row. Right before they took the stage they stopped and I could see Daniel literally jumping up and down.

I forgot to mention in my Albany tale that Sam has a bird (a pigeon? a dove?) attached to his drum kit. The stuffed sleeping cat still tours with them, too. At one point I found myself singing “Doin’ the Pigeon” (yes, as you may know, I am that dorky sometimes). I think Paul might have heard me because he made a little face and kind of laughed.

It felt right to have Obstacle 1 back in the set. Narc sounded great, and Evil was really good again, too. I think we were all just totally enraptured when they played Pace Is the Trick. Not having heard it live before, I was just kind of sucking the whole thing in.

They jammed again before PDA. Sam sort of took the lead and then Carlos and Paul and finally Dan added their bits. Sam has a new Ludwig drum kit which I guess he “premiered” at this show.


This was pretty much my view. Again, full credit to Pitchfork for this one.

I was more to Carlos’s side, which is kind of weird for me because I’m used to being more toward Daniel. I did miss being able to feed off Daniel’s energy, but he made his way over to our side a few times and gave me a little look of recognition, which was cool. I gave Sam the thumbs up at the end of the show and he waved and smiled.

Sarah had to drive home that night, and then I had to try to get some work done and pack for New York the next day…

…to be continued.

Interpol-Hands Away

Posted on September 17, 2007
Filed Under Song of the Day, music | Leave a Comment

homespun desperation’s knowing                                                                                                                                              inside your cover’s always blown

This might be edging out Leif Erikson as my favorite Interpol song. It’s amazing live.

It’s been a long, long week: Sunday and Monday

Posted on September 16, 2007
Filed Under Blather, art, friends, me and my brain, music | 4 Comments

So much has happened in the last seven or eight days that it’s hard to know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with last Sunday, when I took a two-needle coptic bookbinding class at Paper Source in Cambridge. I went down a little early so I could gaze at the socks in Vintage Etc. down the street, and of course I couldn’t leave without a little something… (two pairs of tights and some stripey socks).

The workshop was in the Paper Source basement (I had no idea that room existed!), and Kelly McMahon of May Day Studio, who we met a few months ago at the printing fair in North Andover, was the instructor. Ezra had hoped that I’d be able to take pictures during the workshop, but that turned out to be impossible. It was very fast-paced so that we could make two books in three hours (well, it ended up being more like 3 and a half). As it turns out, I am pretty good with the stitching, but not so hot with the gluing. The final products are really pretty nice, though.

That evening my friend Sarah drove down from Portland, and that was the beginning of my latest Interpol adventure. I went to three Interpol shows in the last week (I know, I know–it’s an addiction, I know!), the first of which was Monday night in Albany. I wrote up a big description of that night… I don’t know that anyone but the biggest Interpol fans will be interested in reading it, but if you just like a good story read on.

EXTENDED INTERPOL STORY BEGINS HERE:

Part I: Pre-show

The part of Albany where the Palace Theater is located is really cute. There are lots of old brick buildings, and the theater itself is very beautiful. We passed a duck tour (they have them in Albany, too!), and overheard the tour guide saying that the marquee has something like 500 individual lightbulbs. It’s an old RKO movie theater that’s being restored, and they’re attending to all the details. Inside, several intricately beaded chandeliers glittered impressively overhead. It was sort of like a cross between the Orpheum in Boston (a very similar layout, but in about a million times better shape and in tones of red and gold instead of blue) and a little bit of Radio City. Mom, if you’re reading this, I’m pretty sure that I saw something about this theater in one of your preservation magazines a while back.

Since there didn’t appear to be any fans around when we arrived at the theater, we found a bench across the street to sit and scope out the scene. Somehow being the only people there made us feel very conspicuous and we were very aware of not wanting to harass the band. As soon as we heard the sound of instruments, we rushed over. We saw Carlos and Gaius (Carlos’s dog) emerge from the bus, Gaius in a little plaid (I think) doggie jacket and Carlos carrying a big bowl of dog food. Gaius trotted right to the stage door and jogged in. He’s amazing–he knew just where to go and what to do. A super friendly security guy told us to move down to an open set of doors that led directly to the back of the stage so we could hear better (and see a tiny bit). Not long after that another security person (I think someone connected with the band rather than the venue) told us we had to move and said something about the songs being copyrighted (which was a bit baffling–we definitely didn’t want to do anything bothersome, so we were completely fine with moving, but the copyright excuse made no sense). Anyway, it was still great to hear Pace Is the Trick (twice), Who Do You Think? (twice), and Untitled (twice). Afterwards they each came out to the bus, one at a time as they always seem to. Carlos and Gaius crossed the street, presumably to take a little walk.

While we were standing listening to soundcheck, super friendly security guy (SFSG?) totally chatted us up. He was really funny… a local, but a Red Sox fan. He told us that Houdini performed his last complete show at the Palace Theater back in the early 30’s before dying in New York City the next day–which, according to Wikipedia, is a tall tale and a half… but a fun one. We had a really nice talk with a thin guy with an accent who came out to have a smoke, and we discovered that he was doing the mixing for the opening band, the Liars.

After considerable primping at the hotel, we got a quick drink and headed over to the theater, where we got more drinks.

Inside the theater we said hi to SFSG and our new mixer friend and took a self-guided tour of the place.

Part II: The Show

Liars took the stage around 8:20. The lead singer was long and angular, and he danced like a spastic funked-out marionette. His all-white three piece suit and tie made him look possibly even longer and skinnier. I kinda loved him, and I enjoyed their set. Pretty much everyone sat for them, which felt a little awkward to me. It didn’t seem to affect the band at all, though. Sam watched their set from the shadows at the side of the stage. I cheered for mixer guy when they thanked him at the end of their set.

Toward the end of the Liars set I saw my friend Sandra and her husband being seated a couple of rows in front of us. During the changeover between Liars and Interpol we all talked at the front of the stage. Standing up there, we noticed that the seats at the back of the house were still empty, and at least 2/3 of the balcony was vacant. I couldn’t help thinking during the first few songs that it seemed like Paul was eying the empty seats in the balcony. There were two empty seats in the middle section at the front, and Sandra urged us to take them. I couldn’t disagree, and a nice guy sitting next to her moved down one seat so that we could stand together. Not long after that, with the boys taking the stage, Sandra’s husband (that sweet man) offered his seat to Sarah and the blissful fangirl triumvirate was set.

The setlist was as follows.

Pioneer to the Falls
Say Hello to the Angels
C’Mere
Narc
Slow Hands
Rest My Chemistry
Mammoth
Hands Away (Yay!)
No I in Threesome
Evil
The Heinrich Maneuver
Not Even Jail
___

Untitled (FINALLY I GOT TO HEAR THIS ONE LIVE)
Stella
PDA

My friends and I are right up front in this photo from the show, which I found on flickr.

Daniel did all of his usual dances and did a lot of hopping up on Sam’s drum riser and onto the big speaker on his side of the stage. Carlos seemed very casual through most of it. He seemed most into it to me when jamming with Sam in between songs. I was really happy that they played SHTTA, and it was good to have it that early in the set, because I think it’s the kind of song that can immediately inject energy into the crowd and the band. I was so so so happy that they played Hands Away (I love that song). It seemed to me that their versions of Mammoth and THM were really good… they really tried to play the heck out of them, I think. Evil sounded particularly good, too. It was my first time hearing No I in Threesome live, but that totally paled in comparison for me to another first…

When I heard them playing the first few notes of Not Even Jail, I have to admit that I checked my watch. I knew they’d been playing NEJ at the end of their main set, and it felt way too early. It might be that I’m spoiled because I’ve been able to see them a number of times now, but I think I have to join the ranks of those who really wish they’d play longer sets. Even just a couple more songs would make a difference. It’s not what they’re playing that’s a problem–I was pretty happy with last night’s setlist–it’s just that a longer set would be that much better. No doubt even if they played 30 songs I’d want more, but still… Yet, I feel like I can’t complain after what happened next.

After a short break, Daniel was the first to come back on stage, on his own. This was a good sign, which Sarah correctly interpreted, telling me that she felt “Untitled” coming. When Daniel started playing, I have to admit that I sort of had to pinch myself.

Stella and PDA rounded out the set nicely, and then the guys waved goodnight. Some girls tried to run backstage, but were promptly physically thrown back into the audience (and probably escorted outside). I couldn’t help thinking–what did they expect to happen? There’s just no way that would have ended well.

Part III: In Which The Triumvirate Gets (More) Drunk, Sarah Gets Recognized, Sandra Really Needs to Fix her Hair, and I Says the Things You Say When You’re Definitely Gonna Have a Hangover in the AM

So, we three fangirlies said good night to Sandra’s husband and headed over to a nearby bar to get a drink. After one drink we decided to move on and maybe find a place that was still serving food. Most restaurants were closed, but we came upon a hotel bar that still seemed to be serving. When I saw a pool table immediately inside the hotel bar, I couldn’t help thinking that stopping there might have been a very good decision.

We sat at the bar and met the totally fabulous bartender, Elaine. Oh, and we ordered drinks, of course. Before long, who should walk in but Paul himself. Farmer Dave (their touring keyboardist) and another guy who seemed to be traveling with the band (Crew? Tour Manager?) also came in, and Paul and the unknown guy played pool. We asked Elaine what the guy in the white shirt (Paul) was drinking, and she asked us who the heck he was, anyway. We told her, and she said she knew there must be something going on, but that she’d never heard of them. She urged us to go “put a quarter down” and play pool with him, but none of us is very good at pool. Sandra suggested that we buy him a drink… just to thank him for the show. Elaine was more than happy to help us out. She called over to Paul and when she gave him the drink he looked over at us, smiled, nodded and waved, “Thanks.”

Elaine came over and told us that she’d told him he really needed to come over and talk to us. She was totally looking out for us! She told us that he said he’d come over when he finished up his game. Now, I was pretty drunk by this point… It’s a good thing their bar stools were so sturdy, or I’m sure I would have laughed a little bit too hard and ended up on the floor. Elaine came back again and told us that Paul was “about to sink the eight ball” and then she looked at Sandra and told her that Paul was coming and she better fix her hair. Sandra reached back to adjust her locks and Elaine chuckled as she was totally kidding.

Paul did not immediately come over, and Elaine wasn’t having it, so she went back to his side of the bar and called to him again. Whatever she said to him, it worked.

He walked around the bar to face us, thanked us again, introduced himself, and offered Sarah his hand. She shook his hand and introduced herself, and he said something like “You were in the front row.” I said, “Yeah, we all were.” Then Sandra shook his hand and introduced herself, and then he got to me. I shook his hand and told him that we’d actually already met, although he probably didn’t remember as it was a while ago and he meets a lot of people. He said that he was probably really drunk when we met. I forget how it came up, but we thanked him for a good show and I mentioned how happy I was to hear Untitled, as I’ve seen them many times but had never heard it live before. He kind of nodded and said that they hadn’t played it in a few years. I wish I could remember more of the details of our conversation. There was a little tiny bit more to it. He thanked us, told us to have a good night, and bid us farewell. I think he left the bar shortly after that (I hope we didn’t scare him off… that just occurred to me).

I don’t usually drink that much, and I had a pretty fantastic hangover the next day, but it was sort of a cozy thing, as I have such good memories of how I got it.

That brings us up to Tuesday morning…

I’ve been tagged! The Name Game

Posted on September 7, 2007
Filed Under Blather, christmas, family, friends, me and my brain | 4 Comments

Kimby tagged me! OK, I’ll play.

The rules: Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My middle name is Nicole (I guess my folks had a thing for French middle names).

N: Nora. Most of you reading this already know about Nora. We’ve been friends since 6th grade and I can’t underestimate the effect our friendship has had on my life. Nora, if you’re reading this, I know we don’t keep in touch as much as we should, but I think about you all the time.

I: Imagination. When I was a kid people were always telling me what an active imagination I had. I hope I still do. Imagination is where pretty much all creativity comes from. It’s how I solve problems, dream, act, and make a life for myself. For people who don’t understand the part of me that feels the need to plan–for me, planning is linked up with imagining. It’s one of the ways that I try to make what I imagine real. I’ve just realized something, too. When I graduated from college, my parents gave me a framed quote–”Go confidently in the direction of your dreams… Live the life you have imagined.”* I now see how appropriate that was.

C: Christmas. I love Christmas! The year basically revolves around Christmas for me. I swear to you, the best thing for me about July is that when it hits we’ve turned the corner–we’re more than half way to Christmas. I’ve been like this forever. I love the pictures of me and Kim as little kids with these looks of total innocent magic on our faces at Christmastime.

O: Overload. There are too many words that start with O, too many places I want to go, too many books I want to read, too many people I want to visit. There are too many classes I want to take, too many restaurants I like and cannot choose from when we want to go out. The Sugarcubes’ first album is called Life’s Too Good, and I think I subscribe to that philosophy. The thing to figure out is that it’s a wonderful thing. I hope that I drink up as much of it as I can. Even doing nothing is one of the tasty options to choose from.

L: Language… well, the English language. I write, I read, I love pens, I love books. I am a word person and play Boggle all the time for fun. I make up words. I’m an editor.

E: Ezra. Do I need to explain this one?

I normally feel kind of funny tagging people, but this is actually an interesting thing to do once you get into it, soo… I taggeth Ezra and Nora (well, they were already name-checked in this post, so!). If anyone else reading this is moved to do it, I’d love to read your results.

*Henry David Thoreau

Nora asks and I deliver! More NY stories…

Posted on September 3, 2007
Filed Under daytripping | Leave a Comment

So… Most of my quick jaunt down to NY was spent working. The hotel room was pretty small, and when you’re in another city you can’t spend all day in the hotel room, so I worked from coffee shops, cafeterias, and assorted office building atriums.

On Thursday I decided to seek out a Barnes and Noble coffee shop. Yeah, there are Barnes and Nobles everywhere, but I couldn’t spend TOO much time trying to find my workspace. The walk to the B&N would have to serve as my NY adventure. Mission accomplished, as I found a really cool Japanese bookstore right around Rockefeller Plaza. It’s a big shop and probably not exactly a “find” for people who live in NY, but the shop has way more goodies than I can find even at the Japanese mall here in Cambridge (at least, it seemed like it). They have rows of Japanese magazines, children’s and adult books in Japanese, Japanese titles in translation, a bit of clothing and toys, stationery, dictionaries, art books, maps, etc. etc. etc.! I’ve been collecting international fashion magazines, which I pluck through and post clippings from on my wall in the studio for inspiration. I snagged two magazines, Spur and High Fashion, and set off.

I couldn’t find the first B&N on my list, so I headed for the second, which I think is on 54th street. It was in an office building (near a Tealuxe! I didn’t know they had Tealuxe in NY). When I stepped into the building, security scanned my bag. By the time I got into the B&N cafe, it was absolutely packed to the rafters. I wasn’t sure what to do. On my way out of the B&N, security asked to scan my bag again. I asked the security guy to point me to the loo, and on my way there I saw that there was a big atrium downstairs with cafes and a few shops. There were loads of tables and seats there, so I got myself a drink, sat down, and got to work.

Ez and I had read about a free Camera Obscura show in Brooklyn, so that night we hopped the train over. Much as I’d suspected, the back room was jammed and steaming by the time we got there. We opted to just listen from the front of the store. It was nice to spend a little time in Williamsburg. I’ve been to Brooklyn a couple of times before, but that was a long time ago. This part of Brooklyn felt a little like Somerville, actually. I guess there are fewer trees there. We had dinner at a little Italian place with a grape arbor.

On Friday I decided that I’d work pretty much wherever. New York is well saturated with Starbucks, so I settled in at the first one I found (near the Helmsley building) and worked for a few hours.

Then I wanted to go back to the Japanese bookstore. I’m not sure what I thought I’d find that I hadn’t found the previous day, but I had to go! As I approached Rockefeller Plaza, I noticed that there were a lot of police officers and firefighters in dress attire milling around. A few blocks around Saint Patrick’s were closed off, and when I saw a large flower arrangement with the letters FDNY, I knew it was a funeral.

My bag was quite heavy and I decided that I wouldn’t be able to actually get anything at the Japanese bookstore if I didn’t buy another bag (I guess this is not the most economical way to think, but there you have it!). I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so I opted to duck into the H&M, where I got an inexpensive but spiffy red shoulder bag.

By this time the crowds around Saint Patrick’s were massive, and there were speakers on the street pumping out the sounds of singing from inside. I later found out that it was a service for these men.

Back at the Japanese bookstore I picked up two t-shirts, a book called I Am A Cat, a compact album for storing my Christmas postcards (my first album is full!), a set of piggie stickers (on which the piggies say “Happy!”, “Happy?”, and “Simple Is Best”) , and a little pencil case for my purse (which I probably should have bought about, oh, 25 years ago!).

My next stop was a little cafeteria/lunch place called Digby’s. They had cute little fake grass at eye-level all around the edge of the eating area.

After that I found another atrium in an office building on 52nd Street, where I worked for a few hours. Then I met Ez at Macchiato Espresso, downstairs from his office. After we chatted briefly he had to go, but I stayed for a while and did more work. After he left I couldn’t help listening in on an interview that was going on at the table next to me–something about selling fake Rolex’s online. I don’t have the details straight and probably should avoid scooping the reporter (if she was a reporter). That’s the kind of thing I really enjoyed about my time out in New York. I just found myself in so many situations, overhearing and seeing such a variety of characters.

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The Knitting Turnip

On My Needles

Rhapsody in Tweed cabled pullover for Ezra! using Tahki Donegal Tweed in Forest, from Fall 2004 Interweave Knits. I've just picked this one up again, so it's moving up in the queue!

Sweater with Cable Patterns pullover using Araucania Nature Wool Chunky in Mauve, from Rebecca Magazine Number 28

Heather Pullover using Classic Elite Wings in Larkspur, from Rowan’s A Season’s Tale... This needs the knit doctor. I'm going to have to frog back a little bit and redo the shoulder area. Long story.

Hush Pullover using Jo Sharp DK wool in Wine, from Rowan’s Calmer Collection

Recently Finished Projects

In the Groove boatneck pullover using Manos del Uruguay in Black and Cheek (pale pink), from Fall 2006 issue of knitscene. SWEATER IS DONE!

Stash Stealer Scarf for me, using delicious yarn that darling Amy let me raid from her stash. I made up the pattern--a couple of wide ribs rimmed in moss stitch. It's soft and fuzzy and DONE!

Moss Stitch Jacket with Collar for Hope using Classic Elite Wool Bam Boo in Ivy, from Quick Baby Knits by Debbie Bliss. JACKET IS DONE!

Next in line

Brompton cardigan using Noro Cash Iroha in Jewel Green (my name for shade #100)

Eyelet Yoke Pullover using Debbie Bliss Merino Aran

Under consideration

Loads!

More scoop on my knitting endeavors can be found at my home on Ravelry (clicky here).

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