Quintessential Travis and I

Here's another cute, but goofy pic:


Can you tell I get a new camera? If not, look at the thing balanced on my head in the first pic.

Here it is, the finished pendant for my momma!

diamond and ruby set in 14k gold. Pictured with an 18k rope chain. I'll probably change it to a 14k box chain:



The jeweler loved my sketch so much, she asked me to sign it and let her have it. I'm flattered. Here is the original drawing:



For some reason I didn't expect the diamond to look so big!

Food Blog!

I love to eat, so it's no wonder that this blog my friend Lisa pointed out to me is now one of my favorites. It is entitled Orangette and has fantastic recipes. Better yet, the food descriptions are to die for. Here's a snippet from the Lemon Yogurt Fritters one:

Tangy with yogurt and laced with a tinge of lemon, these fritters fry up to the size of a small child’s fist and go down in a half-dozen bites. The crust of each little orb is uncannily crisp, meeting the tooth with a good, satisfying crack. Beneath, the crumb is moist, dense, and deceptively light, somewhere between cake doughnut and sponge cake. Even with a snowy cap of sugar, they’re only subtly sweet—the sort of thing that goads you, ever so slyly, into a second helping. I ate two and a half and only sort of wanted to die—until, of course, I ate another. Consider yourself warned, if you want to.


Fantastic writing! Makes your mouth water and not care about how many calories are probably laden in such an item. Yuuummmmy! Check out her recipe page as well.

I ain't a spring chicken and ballet ramblings

I'm turning 29 on the 6th. I ought to celebrate because:
-It's a prime number
-It's only 3 digits away from being a Mersenne prime number (N=(2^n)-1) eg. 31=(2^5)-1
-It's the last time I can say I'm in my 20's (not that I really care)

Problem is, I plain forgot so I didn't schedule a party or anything. Grandma turns 80 on the 15th of July so I'll be heading up to Plano then.

In a related note, both my knees and ankles hurt. This is what I get for taking ballet every freaking day and doing technique class on pointe. The biggest issue has to do with my hyper-extended legs which look nice when you point your feet (knee cap disappears in the line) but causes to knee cap to grind if I'm not pulling up enough.

People often ask me if there is wood in pointe shoes. Nope. The shoe is constructed out of layers of canvas hardened with glue. A layer of satin finishes it off. Why satin, I'm not sure but Baryshnikov used to make all-canvas pointe shoe with cushy toe pads. Those have been discontinued unfortunately.

These are my shoes (a bit worn)


I wear shoes made by Grishko model Maya1 in size 3x. This is what they look like new:


Second thing people often ask me is: does pointe work hurt? Well no, not really because if your shoe is fitted properly you won't feel pressure in your toes. You feel it in your arch and maybe sides of your feet more. You can wear padding to prevent blisters, but if the tops of your toes feel like they're getting mashed. Chances are your shoes are too wide.

Can adults take pointe? Yep. I started doing pointe work seriously when I was an old geezer. I was in the 20's by then. You just have to make sure you've got proper training. I say if you are an adult, have had several years of solid training and good instruction and want to try pointe work, go for it. Just make sure you ask your teacher first and also get professionally fitted for the shoes. It may take a while. I took me about 2 years to find the right brand and style that best fit my feet. Most importantly though--don't over do it. Or else you'll be sore and creaky like me.

Bend it Like Beckham

Okey Dokey. It looks like EZArchive is alive again. Phew.

I'm not a huge sports fan, but I do appreciate soccer. It's way more interesting than American football in my opinion. My husband's a soccer player. I tried playing soccer and boy was my husband enthused. He took me out and bought me a new pair of boots/cleats, shin guards, shorts and then had me pose to take a pic like you would with your trophy child (I'm not kidding), but Jesus, I sucked. Where was I going with this? Oh yes, unless you've been living in a cave the World Cup is going on right now.

Now, I don't exactly have a World Cup music theme going, but related to it is one of my favorite movies of all time (sans mushy ending) Bend it Like Beckham which came out in 2002. I swear the lead character's family are all dopplegangers of my own family. The soundtrack is fantastic and one of those CDs that constantly is playing at home. Great workout music. Below is a sampling from Scottish pop group Texas and Bangra singer Bina Mistry.

Listen to:
"Inner Smile" (by Texas)
"Hot Hot Hot" (by Bina Mistry)

Visit:
Texas official Website
Bina Mistry profile on Life Matters
Buy soundtrack at Amazon.com

Poop! EZarchive is down...again

poop! Ya know, I paid for my membership to EZarchive. You'd think they'd have a stable server or a reliable DBA or something. Bleh...So, none of my music links are working for the time being. Sigh.

Anyhow, that does not mean you will be deprived of music. Head on over to Contrast Podcast and listen to

Contrast Podcast #13: "Dinner for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals"

Someone please shoot her

What key is she trying to sing in??? I know it's meant to be a joke, but Christ I was about ready to tear my ears out.

Outspent

As I mentioned before, my sister-in-law is married to a musician. Her husband is Justin Ray, lead singer of the group Outspent. I regret not profiling these guys sooner because they played their last show in their hometown of Eugene, Oregon at Luckey's club on June 16th. Gah!

This is what happens when you've got a group of young folk who are all growing up in all different directions. People move, lives become more complicated, friendships drift apart. Rumor has it that another band is already forming. Although I'm excited at the prospect of Justin moving down to Austin, TX (not only because the adorable niece and cool sister-in-law come with the package) perhaps setting up a new band and gathering new fans in a different part of the country, I know too well the daunting task of finding a new ensemble of people to work with. Fortunately, Justin's also got a solo career in the works (I prefer the mellow acoustics of Justin Ray the soloist opposed to Justin Ray lead singer of Outspent) which showcases as different aspect of his musical talents. Multidimensionality is a good trait to have. I'll profile that project at a later date.

Their sound is home grown indie rock with a touch of punk. Completely self taught on guitar, Justin's voice boarders on grungy and could stand few more beers and cigarettes to push it over the edge. Every now and then a brilliant guitar solo grabs your attention and the lyrics aren't vapid. I think it is unfortunate the group had to break up so soon because even though they were solid to begin with, they definitely had room for expansion. It would have been nice to see how big they would have ultimately become given the loyal fanbase.

Weird factoid: Justin bears an uncanny resemblance to Jerome Dillon of Nine Inch Nails.

Listen to:
"Death and Taxes"
"Wreckless"

Visit:
Outspent's Myspace


(photo from the baker's ball)

Crocheted Sun Dress

I inhereted a bunch of yarn from a friend of mine. "Too military" she said. Well, yeah, but now I can hide in the bushes. LOL. This is a short overdress/warm up dress I can wear to ballet. It's done now, but here is a pic from an in-between stage:



I don't do well with patterns so I'm sorta just eyeballed the shape. It came out okay, actually:

Visit with Kate and Adaline

Whaaa. I already miss my niece. She's so cute. She's so pretty and so FUCKING SMART!!!!
Ya know how some people just can't abstract--especially with artwork? I dunno, for instance a macrame' belt that looks like a woman's vulva or something. LOL. Some people get it some don't...Anyhow, we were Trudy's and my niece Adeline, points to a metal sculpture on the wall and says in her adorable breathy voice: "Lady Bug."

She was exactly right. It was a lady bug, albeit a smooshed industrial looking one made out of old car parts, but yeah, it was a lady bug. She could point out the other animals too. A space age armadillo made out of tin cans. An emaciated lion made our of an air filter. However, what most impressed me was her ability to read letters. She had her Trudy's cup at the resturant and was reading the text. When she stopped at D, she went "D...dada."

Yeah. Yeah. What's the big deal, you ask?

Well, the big deal is that she's only 18 months old. I don't think it is typical for an 18 month old to be able to do that. Is it? The fact that she recognized Travis and I from photographs is just amazing to me. The last time we saw her, she was a newborn. She was a pink lump bundled in blankets and affixed to her momma's boob. Anyhow, she's a doll and just chock full of recessive genes. Both her mother and father have dark hair. Adaline, on the other hand, came out with red hair and blue eyes:



This whole week, I marveled at her cuteness. She's like an interactive toy, but better. I made a red dress for her that she willingly wore. Doesn't she look like a big tomato?


We had lunch at East Side Cafe and took pics around the magnificent garden. Those big green things in the background are basil. Wow! I want my basil to look like that. HUGE basil. Every time the wind blew you'd get that pungent sweet spicy smell and one would salivate. Mmmm pesto. Oh, where were we?

So in this pic, we've got my sister-in-law, my hubby (her brother) and little Adaline, the genius niece who also doesn't cry all that often.



Gross notions of incest aside, don't they look like a couple? We went to San Antonio on Father's DAy and people would tell Travis "Awww. Happy Father's Day!" while googling and cooing to Adaline. It was funny, but I definitely felt like people thought I was the live in nanny smuggled overseas from Malaysia.

Speaking of San Antonio, we had the WORST Mexican food there. It was a restaurant on the riverwalk called Los Posados and I can't begin to tell you how bland and gross it was. The chips were stale. The salsa tasted like something from taco bell. The rice was obviously from a box. Bleh. Kate was not impressed. I was annoyed. Travis has no tastebuds so he thought his meal was fine.

Here I am, acting the role of the illegal immigrant nanny trying to feed Adaline some eggs. The girl is like my baby cousin Eric who doesn't mind eating but has issues with swallowing. Maybe she's part chipmunk:



We went to the Austin Children's Museum which I probably enjoyed as much as the kids. They had all sort of activites strewn around the premises. This picture is funny and unfunny at the same time. I don't know how Trav caught this, but Adeline accidentally flung a block backwards and it whacked Kate square in the head:



Here she is peering down one of the slides. I love this pic. She looks like she's in
a big watermelon:



Ya know, I couldn't help but notice that there are a lot of butt-ugly babies at the Austin Children's Museum. What the hell is up with that? I saw bunches of severly fat, obese rolly-polly kids who have gone past the "chubby" phase. I can easily say my niece was the best looking kid there.

To punctuate the fact that I'll probably end up being the mom from hell, I made it a point to be the aunt from hell by showing off Adaline's congnitive abilities every chance I could get especially if there happened to be a dumb snotty fugly kid trying to take away her toys from her. Don't parent's teach kids how to share anymore? I'd nonchalantly traipse on over to the other kid's parent, sit down next to him/her and whip out whatever reading material happened to be near by.

Me (pointing to a sigh): Adaline. Spell this word.
Adaline: C-H-I-C-K-E-N
Me: What does a chicken say?
Adaline: Bock-Bock
Me: Whose name starts with C?
Adaline: Cindy!

During the entire exchange I'd make it a note to make small talk with the other parent as I established the superiority of my niece by blatantly announcing how little she is. Ha. It was great.

On a related note, if she's eating chicken at the dinner table, she also goes "Bock -bock" That's cute and disturbing all at the same time. I love my niece. :)

Elliott Smith "Sweet Adeline"

Well, the darling niece and my sister-in-law, Kate are back in Eugene, Oregon now. *sigh* It was a wonderful visit and I've got me fingers crossed that my husband and I have conviced her and her family to move to Austin, Texas soon. For the record, her husband is also a musician and is hoping to find more opportunity down here.

It is good to be back and blogging. I figured I'd dedicate this post to my sweet little red-headed niece who I am already missing.



Isn't she a doll? I love this poppet oodles especially since she's freaking smart. Honestly, how many 18 month olds can recognize and sound off all the letters of the alphabet as well as read simple words? I've run into college freshman who can barely do so.

She's a bit sleepy in the pic as long plane rides aren't exactly all fun and games for babies. I also think the Texas heat did a number on the poor thing. Either way, life is good with a stuffed cat under each arm. She was named after this Elliott Smith song.

Listen to:
"Sweet Adeline"

Visit:
Elliott Smith's Official Website
Buy the album XO from Amazon.com

out for the week

No, that's not a band name...

I'll be out for the next week due to family coming in from out of town as well as an office move. Yes, I finally have a window office. Whoo hoo! Till then, check out all the links on the right hand side bar for great music. Better yet, why not send Tim a podcast theme suggestion?

Or, maybe you can video tape yourself shaking your booty and send it in to Victor Scott for his next music video?

*boom* chicka chicka chicka *boom* chicka chicka chicka *boom* chicka *boom* chicka *boom* chicka chicka chicka

ev-er-yeee dayeeee is exaaaact-ly the sayyyy-muh
ev-er-yeee dayeeee is exaaaact-ly the sayyyy-muh
der izzz no lub here
and der izzz no paaaaay-nuh
ev-er-yeee dayeeee is exaaaact-ly the sayyyy-muh....

At least I think he's singing that song here.
Makes me want to get up and dance dance dance! Ya know. It takes a lot of balls to wear shiny pants, but it takes a lot more balls to whip out a tambourine during a rock concert.

What's with the Ligon T? I never read "Safe in Heaven, Dead," so I have no explaination to offer, but I'm sure the peeps over at ETS do.

Salim Nourallah unplugged

Here he is playing my favorite song "The World is Full of People (who want to hurt you)" in acoustic fashion. This was recorded at Pleasantry Lane. Here is it plain, simple, stripped down and fantastic:



Thanks Lisa for the link!

Visit:
Salim Nourallah's Official Website

Stomach Ache Again!

Last night I felt like I was kicked in the gut. There was also radiating pain on both sides of my rib cage. I ended up splitting a bottle of Pepto with the darling husband. I don't know which aspect is the worst in all this:

-The volatile and voluminous farts that came out of my husband
-The fact that I'm jealous that I wasn't farting but in incredible amounts of pain
-The residual pain my poop shoot has now. Ouch.
-The grogginess and soreness I'm feeling today. I swear I feels like I ran a marathon or something.

I'm thinking it isn't dairy. Was it the Chef Boyardee? The Indian food? Mom's "special" tea she brought back from China?

I honestly believe the tea is the culprit. Last week when I had my immense stomach cramps, I thought it was the dairy. Thing is, I tried drinking some herbal tea to settle my stomach and it actually made things worse when I think about it. Last night I drank that same tea again and literally 10 mintues later I was doubled over in pain. It was scary. You could see my stomach contract. Who knows, maybe there are foreign parasites living in it? Is it even possible?

When I was home, I sampled a lot of the tea my mom brought back except for one and that's the type I drank last night. Bah. I don't care how rare and special it is...I'm throwing it out.

Adzuki Bean Pod #3 is up!

Oh my! Yes, I figured there just are't enough podcast featuring predmoniantly classical music, let alone those featuring mainly males with high voices, so I decided to make my contribution. :)

Adzuki Bean Pod #3: "C is for Countertenor, Castrati and Choirboys (oh my!)"

If you don't know what I'm talking about, head on over to the sister site for tracklistings and artist information. You can also subscribe to an RSS feed from there:
Adzuki Bean Stash Pod Cast

If you're still doubtful, think of it this way...How can you say no to guys who look so happy?


So flamboyant?


So cute?


Other links worth checking out:
Interview with Gerard Corbiau (about the movie Farinelli and technical challenges on creating his voice)
Videos of Ewa Mallas Goldewska
The Counter Tenor Pages (awesome site)

I talk about the term coloratura briefly in the podcast because it is related to the theme. If you can only take your baroque singing in really small doses or if you don't believe despite my freakishly deep speaking voice that I'm actually a soprano, here's a clip of me performing Vivaldi with my ensemble, the Musical Chairs (yeah we all sound a little hungover...).

Listen to:

"Nulla in Mundo" (Rehearsal June 2000)

Via Satellite: Cities are Temples

My friend Shawn has the best taste in music, so when he tells me to check out a band, I know it'll be good. I was suprised to learn that 2 of the members are from The Album Leaf another band I recently learned of that I really dig (I first heard of them when I watched the Moog Documentary...and congrats to Tim Reese on his recent marriage to longtime girlfriend Jennifer, BTW.)

Be sure to read their profile on the CD Baby page. They're very frank about the growing pains this group experienced when they first started up and I think this has a lot to do with why the words "intelligent" and "poignant" are often associated with them. There's a quote from the Tim Reece, the drummer:

"The hype was never what brought people to this band, it was the music."

I have to agree because up until my friend Shawn mentioned Via Satellite, I had never heard of them and yet, I purchased the album Cities are Temples immedately after hearing their 30 second song clips on CD Baby.

Here's Shawn's review:
I think this is a really great band. They've got a really cool, laid back, "intellectual"
electronica sound - it reminds me somewhat of David Bowie's Heathen album. According to their biography, they're a trio: an ex-minister, a lit major, and an artist/psychologist. Sounds like an interesting combination of folks to me.

Listen to:
"Almost In Love (Album Leaf Remix)"
"Glory"

Visit:
Via Satellite's Official Web Page
Buy Album from CD Baby

Codec and Flexor...and Contrast Podcast #11

Holy shit, these guys are cool. I was just doing some research on Flexor for Tim's next podcast theme ("Numbers") and discovered Codec and Flexor. They're a digital synthpop duo from Germany. Other than that, I don't know much about them.


Listen to:
"Do What You Want"

Visit:
Codec and Flexor's Myspace
Official Web Site
Kitty-Yo Profile



Don't you love these banners he comes up with? Tim has updated his Contrast Podcast site once again:

Contrast Podcast #11: I'm the Only One Who Likes This

Give it a listen. You might be suprised how much in common you have with these podcasters from around the world. While you're at it, why not submit a song for Tim's next theme?

Spaghetti and Meatball

If I see the words "spaghetti and meatballs" on my food source there better damn well be at least 2 meatballs swimming in this orange globby stuff that is supposedly tomato sauce. Shame on you Chef Boyardee for lying! I only found one stinking meatball in my lunch and it is questionable whether or not it is even meat. Hmph.

I suspect this meatball is made out of the same stuff as the noodles.

here is it again...retailed at $8,780.00

For the love of God, quit re-listing this item!!!! No one wants a semi mount that looks like a diamond studded tooth. Sell it for scrap. The price of gold is at an all time high right now. Arrrgh!

The Poem Adept: Songs for the Long Lonely Drive

I'm a relative newcomer to Found Magazine having only discovered the website a few monts ago. I have, however, been a huge fan of Post Secret for some time though, so you can imagine my excitement when I realized the two fellows who started their respective projects, Davy Rothbart and Frank Warren, were coming through my town for a lecture. I had a blast at the event, but what was unexpected was a performance by Davy Rothbart's brother, Peter Rothbart of The Poem Adept.

Peter, who has a gentle vox similar to Paul Taylor and performed on acoustic guitar, writes a lot of songs inspired by found objects. Sometimes he even incorporates the written text on the various notes in these finds into his lyrics. The finished product is often poignant and sensitive. Somethimes they're rip roaringly funny. For instance, one of the songs he performed was a "cover" of "The Booty Don't Stop" (you can hear the original song and even purchase a CD version off of the Found website). This was adapted from a cassette tape found in Ypsilanti, Michigan that belonged to an aspiring rapper named Tim Schreiber. Whether Tim is flattered or mortified, I'm not sure... Let me tell you, people were rolling on the floor laughing their heads off with this one.


Listen to:
"The Booty Don't Stop (Live 10-16-05)"
"Able Glass Note (Live 9-28-05)"
"Draw You In"

Visit:
The Poem Adept Official Website
Poem Adept Myspace
Found Magazine
Post Secret

14k Chain Mail and Freshwater Pearl Parure

I just finished a matching freshwater pearl necklace and bracelet set featuring chain mail assembled from 14k jump rings and swarovsky crystals. The style of the links are identical to the bracelet I made for myself in the earlier post (basically mine was the practice ring). Unfortunately, the gaugue of the wire is a little flimsier than I would have liked, but I wasn't able to afford the heavier weight since all the components are solid 14k gold. This was made to go with a ring and brooch she already has finishing out the parure.



Brooch is very similar to this one, but not as ornate:

Chain Mail and Pearl Bracelet

This is one I made for myself a while back. It is faux pearl and chain mail done with sterling silver jump rings. At one point I entertained the notion of making a chain mail vest for my husband, but given the fact that the links took close to 2 hours to assemble, I'm reconsidering:



Better picture of the color of the pearls (excuse the hairy arm):

Peter Murphy and Trent Reznor

You know how some girls play with each other's hair? This is sorta the same, but with rock stars. The boys are jamming together and if you're lucky enough to be in one of these cities you can catch the sessions live on the radio from 5-5:30pm:

June 6 Washington DC on DC101
June 23 Boston,MA on WBCN
July 1 Chicago, IL on Q101
July 28 Moutain View, CA on KITS

Course seeing them in concert would be better. Bauhaus and NIN are touring together by the way in case you were wondering. You can find more info at NIN.com

I've gotten comments ranging from "hot" to "wacky." I personally think this is fantastic. These songs came off of a show that aired on 99X on Wednesday.

Listen to (right click and save as...EZshare is acting up):
"Head Like a Hole"
"Sanity Assassin"

Love goes out to the NIN Hotline and Echoing the Sound for these.

Random Thoughts of the Day

-I find it odd that the university's Socialist Student Organization charges 25 cents for their newsletter while the Objectivist groups' newletter is free

-"Humbucker" "Whammy" and "Yngwie" would be really cute names for cats and would serve as a secret handshake of sorts

-To the guy who accidentally lost his "The Booty Don't Stop" cassette tape in Ypsilanti, Michigan...Tim are you flattered that Peter Rothbart is covering your songs or are you wishing you were touring with your, uh, booty rapping?

-My cat butted her head up against my ass this morning. Either she got my butt mixed up with my head or she was too lazy to walk up the bed to nuzzle with me in the usual manner

-Is anthropomorphize an actual verb or is there only the adverb version of anthropomorphism?

Tomatoes

A cowoker of mine just handed me a bag of home grown tomatoes from his garden. Yum yum. I had two of the smaller ones (although technically they're gigantic cherry tomatoes) for breakfast. Good thing my indigestion went awy. Amongst the group is a massive 2 pounder that I'm sure will make fantastic gazpacho. This collection is fabulous given that all of it came free!

This reminds me of the time my hubby and I went to Whole Foods and ended up spending close to $35 on a mere handful of groceries. The main culprit was this magnigicent stunner of an organic Heirloom tomato. They look like this on the inside:



As you can imagine my mouth was salivating when I imagined the lovely tomato, basil and fresh mozerella salad I was gonna make. I didn't notice the thing was $4.99 a pound. When the sales lady run up this one tomato, the thing came out to close to $8! Surely there had to be a mistake since the tomato wasn't that big, but apparently it was super juicy. Well then. Add to that the organic basil, mozerella, rustic bread from the bakery...anyhow, the meal ended up tasting devine, but good grief....definitely a reason to start a garden.

The problem is lack green thumbs of any sort. Just keeping my fig plant alive is difficult and these things can grow in deserts supposedly. I stuck some basil in a jar of water to get some roots started and the thing had mildew growing all over it within a week. Hmph. It just isn't meant to be, so getting a bunch of free tomatoes this morning really made my day.

Claire

(logo designed by mess of Taipei, Taiwan)

Claire is another talented group from the lovely island of Taiwan worth checking out. To my knowledge, they're unsigned at the moment but are regular performers in various clubs in Taipei. Notably, the group was approached by director Wi Ding Ho to help create the soundtrack for the French indie film "Respire (Breathe)" in 2005. These guys take their influences from Radiohead, Jamiroquai and Pink Floyd but lead singer Luke croons with a much gentler, almost breathy, voice. The group displays a nice blend of digital and soft rock sounds.

Listen to:
"Claire"
"DoDo Cat"

Visit:
Acid Planet Profile (lots of music samples)
Claire's Blog
Island of Sound


(photo from artist's blog)

Contrast Podcast #10 and SAS #10

I've been busy at work, so not that many music updates on my end (for the 3 of you who actually read this blog. LOL). However, that does not mean you need to be devoid of music! Tim Young has posted a new podcast which is chock full of great music for the road. This is also where I learned that there is someone else out there who is as terrified of driving as I am! To find out who, you'll just have to listen:

Contrast Podcast #10: Road Trip

The man over at Short Attention Span Radio has also recently updated with a new podcast featuring music that causes one to spontanously get up and shake one's booty while headbanging simultaneously:

SAS Radio #8

In other news, Adzuki Bean Pod #3 is coming up real soon. Wanna guess the theme?

Raagapella: From Raags to Riches

Ever since Adzuki Bean Pod #1: A is for Acapella came into existence, I've received numerous requests to post the full version of the song by Stanford University's Raagapella. I briefly mentioned them midway into the show. Indeed, "Yun Hi Chala" is very catchy and really, the entire CD is quite good. The arrangements aren't sappy, there's solid talent and the production quality of the CD itself is polished. This is definitely an album worth owning.

Besides, how many college acapella groups featuring South Asian music do you know of? Exactly.

Listen to:
"Yun Hi Chala/ Stay"
"Oh Carol"

Visit:
Raagapella's Official Website
Purchase CD from Stanford EGroups


(photo from acappellanews.com)

Side note... how the hell does one spell Acapella? Here's a nice breakdown: www.singers.com/a-cappella.html I spell it in the Latin manner, BTW, but I think the Italian way is supposed to be more correct.

Extreme Stomach Ache

I've had indigestion for close to 2 days now (and it isn't because of this rediculous ring on Ebay that just won't go away. I swear...check out the starting bid.)

Anyhow, it's the sharp pain right underneath my rib cage in the middle of my stomach: Crampy, sorta gasy (but with no gas...er yeah, TMI), always there. I've had this feeling before back when I was in 10th grade right after halloween when I got in a fight with my boyfriend. He called me immature because I cried after an asshole ripped up one of the banners I painted for the school so he could extract the school logo.

Now, if someone ripped up your artwork wouldn't you be pissed? These days I'll attribute it to the fact that my X couldn't draw or paint worth shit (and that he was destined to marry a minor), so he couldn't possibly understand. But, I digress. For those stomach pains my doctor gave me anti-ulcer medication. Seems like over kill, but damn, I felt great.

I'm yearning for those pills now especially since the admin. associate in my department joked that I probably was getting an ulcer from my boss after she saw me doubled over at my desk. It's an ulcer. I read it on Web MD.... Maybe you should ask him to fire you. That's probably meant to be a joke, but with her, you just never know. She seems to hate everyone. LOL. Besides, I doubt there is severance for a state job and I also don't want any of my vacation hours to go to waste. I'm eyeing my 118 hours of accumulated sick leave, 210 hours of vacation, 16 hours of "floating holiday" and keep asking myself why the hell am I at work today? I think it is because I'm worried the flu or bronchitis is going to hit me eventually and I won't have enough hours.

Anyway, I'm rambling and stomach still freaking hurts. Ugh. Stupid cheesecake. That's when this all started. I know. I know. Asian people are supposed to be lactose intolerant, but I haven't had that many problems in the past. Maybe I had too many milk products at one time? That could very well be it. Let me share with you the devine pasta I cooked up yesterday for lunch. Measurements are approximate since I don't really measure:

1/4 cup of butter
1 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup of grated parmesean
1 tbs of fresh parsley chopped
2 tbs of fresh basil julianned
1/4 cup of sliced sun dried tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of cooked chicken cut into bite sized pieces(I shreaded the boobs off of a HEB rotisserie chicken)
Enough pasta for 4 (I used spaghetti)

Boil water for pasta. When the pasta is almost done cooking, combine butter and heavy cream in a sauce pan. Cook on low heat until butter melts whisking constantly. When completely melted, add grated parmesean and continue to stir until cheese is melted. Add chicken and sundried tomates and mix gently. Turn off heat and add fresh herbs, salt and pepper. Serve on top of cooked pasta.

It was devine, let me tell ya. Two hours later, I ate a slice of cheese cake and all hell broke loose.

Type O Negative: The Least Worst Of

Have you ever wandered around a music store and purchased a CD/Album based off of the title alone? How often do you actually hit gold?

For me, Type O Negative is one of those instances. I figured with the album title they'd at least have a sense of humor and indeed, the first track entitled "The Misinterpretation of Silence and Its Disastrous Consequences" is a great example... The second track is really loud, so there you go. Undeniably this is a good album especially for a curious listener wanting a cross section of their cataloge.

The sound is big and dark with a style veering towards death metal. Goth rock. Yep, it sure is. Lead singer Peter Steele has a booming bass voice that blends nicely with the group, but unlike death metal, you can understand his lyrics. Unfortunately, I've never seen them live (my buddy Chad swears they're terrible in concert, but that's just one skinny goth's opinion).

An amusing Type O Negative nugget (taken from Wikkipedia):

In 1995, Steele posed nude for Playgirl magazine. He later claimed regret for doing so after discovering that only 23% of Playgirl subscribers are female.

Well, I'm sure plenty of men were happy especially since Mr. Steele stands 6'6'' in height.

Listen to:
"Everyone I Love is Dead"
"Cinnamon Girl (Depressed Mode Remix)" (Neil Young cover)

Visit:
Type O Negative's Official Website
Myspace Profile


(image from wikkipedia)