26 June 2010

Episode 460: Shhh....there's a sleeping baby!

I'm in the living room right now. Not of my apartment, but of the giant house I live in. And I'm watching a sleeping baby. Today is the first day I'm meeting this baby. His mother is out taking a walk. He is so big! And very sweet.

Had to monitor the two of them overnight last night, since it was the first night he was here. He's a good baby! He'll fuss for a minute, and then as soon as mom goes over to him, he'll quiet down.

I got into bed last night around 2am, with the baby monitor. I had to turn the volume all the way up because it was harder to hear with the AC on. I guess last summer there were no babies in the house, so it wasn't a problem. Baby was quiet, but I didn't fall asleep until around quarter to 4.

Baby woke me up at 4:26am. Fussy. I was awake until around 5 or so, because, after 40 minutes of sleep, I was wide awake.

Woke up again around 8 when the baby started fussing. But at 8am I'm off shift - so I got to turn off the monitor, unplug the phone and go back to sleep!!

And I slept until 11:20am. My alarm went off. I needed to go to the post office before it closed so I could get my Netflix.

Got dressed. Went to the post office. I hadn't been there in a while. They were happy to see me!!! It wasn't the Ruggedly Handsome Postman working, but it was the other guy who's really nice.

NICE POSTMAN: Movie time for Miss Julie!
JULIE: Yep!
NICE POSTMAN: I think there's three back there...
JULIE: There should be! It's going to be a good weekend...
NICE POSTMAN: It's supposed to rain, so staying inside and watching movies should be no problem!!

Yep. They love me in there. I love them too. It's arguably the best post office in the country.

Then I came home, made some coffee, had an english muffin and then got ready for work. Which is where I am now! It's just me and the baby. We all just watched 13 Going on 30. Baby stayed awake for that. DUH - because it's awesome.

Ohhhhh Mark Ruffalo you steal my heart.

My dad is coming up tonight! This is weird, I think it might be the first weekend in like, 3 months that I haven't gone somewhere. Haven't gone home to Maine. Haven't gone on a crazy adventure.

Kind of a bummer that I have such limited time off again. I was REALLY getting used to leaving whenever I wanted. Going out past 10pm!!!! CRAZY!!!! Back to the grind.

Although, I kind of think it was all justified. I mean, ever since I've started working here I've had to plan my time off so wisely. 2 nights off a month doesn't go very far when there are such things as Crash Kings roadtrips to take.

I'm already planning out my nights off for July, because I'll need a lot of them. Same with August. I think August will be trickier.

ANYWAYS. my shift is over. it's 3:30pm. working again tonight starting at 10pm! until 4pm sunday. GREAT. i'm going to bring some movies to work. today when i got there, Kangaroo Jack was playing. and i don't want any more of that.

also - i talked to my mom yesterday and she was like,

MOM: Yeah, I think I might be interested in going to the Crash Kings show in Portsmouth with you.

UM, AWESOME. SO AWESOME. it's so hard to get my family excited about the things i love. so, i was very excited when she:

1. was excited to find out they were playing Portsmouth before i knew
2. wants to come along!!

it'll be great. i hope Jo can come! and Kara! OKAY!

my dad is coming tonight. i think i told you that already. well, he should be here fairly soon.

have a great saturday night!!!! tell me what fun plans you have!!


<3

24 June 2010

"blush wine and a good time, elephant"

GUESS WHAT?!!?!?!

i was so productive today! i accomplished everything i set out to do!!!! i'll recap...

i worked from 8am until 11:30am. after i stopped blogging i did some serious website work. got a lot done, actually. despite the fact i uploaded a whole lot of pictures and then realized you couldn't link to them. (that doesn't really make sense. but, i know what i'm talking about.)

after work, i KNEW i shouldn't go to sleep because if i did, then i would never get things done.

SO, i charged through the sleepiness and went to the post office! saw the Ruggedly Handsome Postal Worker, who i haven't seen in a long time. ohhhh the sound of his Ruggedly Handsome voice. yeah it was nice.

then! it started downpouring. while i was on my way to the grocery store. like, downpouring.

and then it was still downpouring when i had to walk into the grocery store. and i got soaked! for realz. like, my hair was soaked. which made me mad because i woke up a little early so i could straighten it.

but, it was okay. i don't mind rain.

the grocery store was fine. i got everything i needed to get.

still downpouring when i had to walk back out to my car. got re-soaked.

i felt bad for the construction worker directing traffic on Glen Road.

drove past the unfortunate movie theater that either never has enough letters to complete the movie titles, OR, never has enough room on the sign to fit all the movies on.

LET'S TAKE TODAY AS AN EXAMPLE. and it really makes me wonder who puts up these titles.

so they don't have a big enough sign to fit all the titles on, so they have to start doubling up two movies on one line. which, is fine with me. great job using space. but,

SHREK KILLERS

really? REALLY? you had to put 'Shrek' and 'Killers' on the same line?!?!?! come on, person who puts up the lettering, did you not realize what you were doing? think of the children.

heck, i was saddened by this. why not,

MARMADUKE SHREK

or,

SPLICE KILLERS

but,

SHREK KILLERS.

really. you had to do it. maybe the person who does the lettering is a fan of this blog and likes reading about when i talk about all the mistakes they make. i don't know. but, it's really too bad that had to happen. does everyone agree, or am i just being crazy?

anyways.

then i got home and it had stopped raining.

unpacked the groceries. it was around 1:45. got ready for bed. went to sleep!! ohhh it was lovely.

i thought i did pretty well though. i lasted from 7am until 2pm on 2 hours of sleep. i set my alarm for 5:30pm.

woke up at 7pm. got right to work on other things. seriously, i did not waste any time.

FIRST, i started soaking the rice noodles to make pad thai.

in the meantime, i made chocolate covered frozen bananas. why? because i wanted to. i don't know what made me feel like chocolate covered frozen bananas. but, i did. so, i made them. and they are freezing right now in my freezer! i think it's partly because now that i have freezer room i want to freeze everything!!!

and then i made pad thai!! i made a lot of it so it will last a few days. really probably only until tomorrow night. because i love it so much i'll probably have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow. and tonight. i actually don't think i made that much. it probably won't last as long as i think it will. but, i feel i'm being productive anyways.

so, that's in the fridge right now. i'll heat some up in a bit and have dinner.

yay! i just felt great today. great day. i think i had to make this day great because i didn't like yesterday. yesterday wasn't so great. but today! YES.

i don't know what will happen tomorrow. i don't have any plans. and since i don't have any money, my options are limited.

so, i just read an article about how leggings are about to go out of style. and they're like, "say goodbye to your leggings!!! death of leggings is coming!!!!"

but, why? who decides these things? i like wearing leggings to bed. or under dresses. and i can't imagine being someone who's like, "okay, i can't wear this anymore, it's not in style." especially if i like it. does that make sense? who cares? if it's comfortable and you feel comfortable in it, why does it matter if it's in style or not?

yep.

aannnnddddd, i just read another article called, "5 Things You Don't Know About Robert Pattinson."

yep. read that one. and now i know 5 more useless things about Robert Pattinson.

alright. it's 10pm. i'm going to go eat my pad thai and watch Friday Night Lights!!!!

last night on Friday Night Lights, there was this huge debate over racism on the team! it was tense! and Matt and Julie broke up, but then i think they might get back together because he made her quarterback on the girl's football team.

i really love watching Coach Taylor and his wife together. i think they make a really convincing married couple.

it's just hard to find a place to watch it in my apartment, because my air conditioners are so loud that it's hard to hear the show on my laptop speakers. i had that problem last night.

alright! have a great night everyone. and a great day tomorrow. is it friday? umm...... i think so. today is thursday, yes. yes. so, tomorrow's friday!

have a great friday!

be well!


<3

feels like rain

ohhhhhh hi. i didn't see you there!

it's so freaking early. geeze. why does this time even exist? 8:41am. everything between 6am and 10am should be illegal. YEP. you heard it here first. ABOLISH 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 am. just go straight from 5am to 11am.

it would be a mandatory sleeping time. NationwideNap. that's what i would call it when i am president. and there would be a lullaby station on the radio!! yeah, i like this idea.

i think the Nationwide Nap mixed with the Birthday Holiday will be my greatest selling points on my presidential campaign. aanndd....possibly the drive-thru post offices. because i think that's totally brillz.

that link takes you to an article about a drive-thru post office opening in New Jersey! New Jersey has TWO drive-thru post offices!!!! any readers in New Jersey ever experience this? does it work? does it not work?

i guess i should experience one before i go putting it on my presidential campaign. there's one in Chicago too. ARLINGTON HEIGHTS. on Euclid Ave! CRAP. i should have gone when i was there!

but, YEAH, for NJ! i don't understand why people are sometimes mean to New Jersey. they have lots of things that people like:

1. drive thru post offices
2. river city extension
3. cakeboss
4. jersey shore?
5. bon jovi
6. bruce
7. the starland ballroom
8. jonas brothers
9. "New Jersey is home to more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere else in the world."
10. there are more diners in NJ than any other place in the world!
11. birthplace of these inventions: FM radio, lightbulb, drive-in movie, cranberry sauce, ice cream cone, postcard, the zipper, the seedless watermelon.
12. NJ was voted 'least annoying state!'
13. NJ is the only state without a state song!

WOW. look at that please. um, why doesn't everyone live in New Jersey?! it's awesome! actually, lots of people DO live in New Jersey because it's the most densely populated state in the country!! true story! i just learned that!!

wow, it's only 9am and we've already learned so much!!! how great is today!? today is great.

i'm pretty impressed with New Jersey right now. no wonder it costs so much to drive there!! (yes i'm talking about you, Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike.)

i actually don't really remember how much it costs. i just remember it felt like we were always paying money. the two recent times i was in New Jersey:

1. march
2. april

hm. april. that was a long time ago. it does not feel like that long ago. for realz. when Ryan and I drove to West Chester, PA to see Crash Kings. and then we stayed in NYC for the night. yeah, that was in April.

although, i must admit, it's kind of depressing driving through NJ in the part right before NYC. especially at nighttime. it's like...factories? all kinds of yellow lights everywhere. but other than that - it's great.

and WHY is there no state song when there are so many great musicians from there?!!

i want to see a COLLAB between Bruce Springsteen and the Jonas Brothers. right now please. kthanks.

WAIT!!!!! our friend Zach Braff is from New Jersey!! duh, he wrote Garden State! one of my favorite movies which i DO NOT own on DVD.

hmmmmm okay. currently it's 9:17am. thursday morning.

i last updated at 3 (or so) am. told you i was going to bed. i THOUGHT i was supertired. my eyes were burning and itchy, which it usually a telltale sign. also, i was yawning. so i thought, "great! i'll get some good sleep before work."

but that sleepiness didn't last long. and i couldn't get into bed. i just couldn't. so i stayed up until 4:15. then went to bed. and then wasn't tired anymore. also, it was getting light out very quickly. and then it was 5am and i still wasn't asleep.

and then i did some mind trickery and forced myself to sleep. it was awful, actually.

i decided i need to wash my eye mask and start wearing it again. i stopped wearing it because every morning when i woke up, my eyes would really hurt to open them. i thought it was my eye allergy drops for a while, but then discovered it was because i was wearing the eye mask. how does that make sense? i don't know. it wasn't too tight, because it would always fall off.

anyways.

and tonight will probably be another late night. cause i don't think i'll be able to stay awake all day on only 2 hours of sleep. i'll have to nap. and most likely the nap will go 2 hours over what i planned. and then i won't be tired again to sleep until...5am again.

well, i think today is going to be a good day. i just decided that. i'm having fun so far. i'm on another Twitter Fake Vaca. it makes me really excited and i kind of feel lame for getting so excited. but then i get happy that i am excited by so little. it's a good way to be.

also, i was thinking about those three Crash Kings shows in august and how much THEY WILL ROCK. 3 shows in 3 days!!!!! mmmmm it sounds so good.

actually, that's the real reason why i couldn't sleep last night. because i was so excited for the Crash Kings show over a month away. yep. not only am i easily excited, but i am pathetic.

so, it's 9:44am. i've only seen one other person here. and i've only taken one phone call. easy breezy.

what else can i tell you??

it looks like it's going to rain. it's pretty dark outside. LAST NIGHT we had thunder! but no rain! it was creepy!

i guess i could actually go do something productive and work on the website. i worked on it for a few hours the other night and then got frustrated and stopped.

alright. i think i'll go try and tackle the site.

have a great day!!! on this great day!!!!!

i'm going to do these things today:

1. go to the post office (because i didn't yesterday)
2. go to the grocery store
3. make pad thai

awesome!!!!

talk to you later!!!



<3

23 June 2010

OH, ALSO:



THIS:::




yep, that's Tony playing the clav whilst standing on his piano.


AND IT'S FROM THIS VIDEO. really cute interview. lots of great smiles. all the guys look pretty smokin'. and also great footage of their roadie, Josh!!! wearing his signature fedora. and him and Mike are both wearing green t-shirts. totally bet they planned that. themed dress days all the time.

alright, i just had to share that with you all because i think it's pretty fantastic.

it's currently 3:12am on the east coast....


HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!

trendy it up!

hi friends.

as you may notice, i have trendied-up the blog. at least, i think it's trendier.

thoughts?

i can't decide if i like the dark grey font. should it be lighter? should the the text on the side be darker, and the main text be lighter? that's what i'm trying to figure out. but, overall i like it.

THERE'S A NEW BLOG EMAIL ADDRESS: captainjulie225@gmail.com

so you can email me there :) anything, really. comments. suggestions. inspiring messages. recipes. dreams. pictures. ANYTHING. and i will love it. that's a blog promise.

so - new blog. i like it. also, i like the new twitter thing. i believe it's called a 'widget.' but, for some reason, i couldn't get the old one to show up. was it showing up on your computer? it wasn't on mine, and i was getting annoyed. so, hopefully this one is newer, fresher and will work.

anyways. not much else to say, i guess.

i'm working today 8am until 11:30am. that's in...5.5 hours! i won't be getting much sleep before work, i'm sure.

and then not working again until sunday.

Ruby Tuesday has been especially cute today. she's been very sleepy from all the moth-catching she does at night. it gets pretty crazy in here. last night it was very funny... she was almost asleep on my bed, and then she wakes up all excited, runs out of the bedroom and then a minute later comes running back in with one of her toy mice in her mouth. and she just drops it on the ground and sits next to it.

she's so cute! that was the pink mouse. and then tonight, i had the fridge open, and she RUNS over, stretches out in front of the fridge, reaches her paw under and pulls out the orange mouse!!! now, i can't tell you the last time i saw the orange mouse. like, months ago. she's the best thing ever.

well. it's 2:45am. i might wash my hair so that i don't have to do it before work.

hopefully my toilet will get fixed today. i've been flushing it with a bucket of water! hooray!

alright! i hope everyone has a great thursday. anything exciting happening? let me know where the parties are at! eh, i'm just kidding. don't do that. there probably aren't any parties around here anyways.

take care! be well. drive safe. drink water!



<3

"my dreams are like movie stars...they just don't look the same in real life."

i'm not sure what kind of an update this will be. it could go many ways. i'm in a strange mood today.


so, work was fine last night. i blogged a lot. both in here, and on Facebook. the Facebook blogging takes some time, because, when i copy the entries from here, it doesn't copy the pictures. so i have to go into facebook and upload each picture individually.

YEP, that's how much i am committed to the blogging cause. and how much i am dissatisfied with the 'facebook will automatically upload your entries' function.

got home last night around 10pm. (but i was still on shift until 8am.) made some corn bread. i was a bit nervous because all i had was soy milk and no normal milk. but, it came out delish.

then i made an english muffin pizza and that was my dinner! corn bread and english muffin pizza. i was excited about it.

i watched Pirate Radio. which i loved. yep, 5 stars. it made me want to become a Pirate Rock DJ. which would mean that i could listen to music all day AND fulfill my lifelong dream of being a ship captain. brillz.

yeah, i just loved it. it was really funny. great music. GREAT costumes. it's just so much better when people fight back and don't follow the rules.

then i got a really bad headache which was confusing because i hardly ever get headaches. ever. so, at the early hour of 1:30am, i went to bed!!!! yep. i took initiative and went to bed early.

slept from 2am until 7:50am. woke up. still had a headache. gave Ruby some food. took some ibuprofen.

slept from 8am until 10am. woke up. still had a headache.

slept from 10:15 to noon. woke up. still had a headache. still really tired, so,

i slept from noon until 3pm. woke up. headache gone! so i got up.

3pm!! yeah. that was a long sleep. i think it was because i had such bad sleeps the three previous nights. it really felt like i hadn't slept at all.

so, i was glad i had a nice, long sleep last night. but, i wonder why i had a headache for such a long time?

also, one of the times i was falling asleep, i was listening to my lullabies and i thought i heard 'It's Only Wednesday' playing. and i thought, "holy crap did they release a lullaby cd of Crash Kings songs that i downloaded in my sleep!!??" and i seriously got pretty excited. and then i listened closer and realized it was 'Across the Universe' by The Beatles.

great story, eh?

so, i'm pretty annoyed because Paper Tongues announced that they are playing a FREE show in Boston TOMORROW (thursday) NIGHT. did i mention FREE??!? and guess who can't go? ME. i'm working! unreal, right? i'm mad.

because i was thinking that it was so good that i was finally going to start working again, because i have no money and no concerts planned for a little while. AND THEN THIS!!!! and it's even more painful because it's FREE. so, it would have been something i TOTALLY could have done if i wasn't working.

i need a job where i make lots of money and can take unlimited time off. any suggestions? (i'm serious. anybody have a job suggestion for me??)

anyways.

so, i turned on the 'twitter locations' which lets people know where you're tweeting from if you're on a computer. i turned it on before i went to Chicago, because i thought it'd be fun to see all the different places i was.

and then i got home and it said Lebanon, NH, which is right.

but then yesterday, it started doing some amusing where it thinks i am in Ann Arbor, Michigan. i have no idea why it thinks this. and then last night, it said i was in White River Junction, VT, which is a lot closer to where i actually am.

and then today! i'm back in Ann Arbor. so i thought, 'what the heck, i'll make it a fake vaca!' so, i changed it so i was at a sushi place in Ann Arbor. and then i went to an Urban Outfitters in Ann Arbor, which is where i am now.




Ann Arbor is beautiful this time of year!

eh, i think it's funny.

also, this is my horoscope for today:

Your feelings about work and service deepen, and you might find yourself either recommitting to your current situation or looking around for something more in line with your passions.


hmmm. okay. i don't know what i'm going to do this evening.

also, remember when i was driving through Buffalo and the song 'Mexico' came on? and i was really excited? well, now, every time 'Mexico' comes on, i have a little laugh to myself, thinking about that. and then i realized that i have an inside joke with myself. is that pathetic? i can't decide.

i'm thinking about that because 'Mexico' is playing right now.

ALSO: Crash Kings released more New England tour dates!!!!!

- 3 August in Boston, MA
- 4 August in Providence, RI (at Club Hell, where they filmed the movie 27 Dresses!)
- 5 August in Burlington, VT

AND River City Extension released a date:

- 31 July in Sayreville, NJ (at Starland Ballroom, where Ryan and I went to see CK and JET.)

soooo....i really want to go to all those dates.

PLUS:

- River City Extension, 8 August in Boston, MA

PLUS:

- Rooney and Hanson, 23 July in Cape Cod, MA


hmm. what i need to do is this: figure out how i can get paid to go to all of these shows. OR, go to the shows for free.


ok. i have to go. i don't know what i'm going to do now. which seems to be the current theme of my life. great!

hope everyone is having a great day. it's wednesday!


take care.




"sometimes all i want is a job and a god and a wife,
lately i've been thinking some stability would probably be nice."

22 June 2010

"and then i end up making music"

FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANTLY::: Tom Hanks has a twitter. a real twitter. the real tom hanks. i just discovered this when one of my Crash Queen sisters retweeted something that he had posted. this is very exciting. do we all know that i have an enormously huge crush on him?! yeah cause i do.

anyways, if you are on twitter and want to start following Mr. Tom Hanks, you can do so here.

yep. that was the most important thing i have to say today. it's all downhill from here.

no, just kidding. this is a photo post. i have lots of great photos to show you!!! i know how people love looking at pictures. at least, i do.

but first, to give you a bit of an update:

i'm at work! that's right. my real work. we have gotten a new resident! after 3 months of zero residents.

Sunday night i had a feeling it would be the last time i'm in the house alone for a while, so i savored it and turned my music up really loud. i'm a wild one.

i've been having a really hard time sleeping and it's driving me crazy. the past three nights it has taken me like, an hour to fall asleep. i'm just not tired enough. and i haven't gone to bed until like, 4:30.

and then this morning! i went to bed at 4:30. didn't fall asleep until around 5. had to get up at 7:25 because there was an electrician that needed to fix a light in my apartment. i got back into bed at around 8:30, and again didn't fall asleep until around 9:30. dislike.

and then i set my alarm for 11:40 to get up for staff meeting, which was at 1.

alarm goes off at 11:40, i hit snooze, alarm never goes off again. thanks phone! you are awesome.

so i wake up at 12:29. YIKES. and in 30 minutes i manage to:

- wash my hair
- get dressed and ready
- straighten my hair

i was pretty impressed with myself.

anyways. the point is, i'm having trouble sleeping. i'm pretty tired right now, so here's hoping that tonight i will be able to fall asleep at a somewhat normal time.

IN OTHER NEWS:

guess what last night was?!!? opening night of Les Miserables in London! starring...who? oh yeah, NICK JONAS. as Marius! i'm still upset about this. i read that this morning and thought, "i couldn't believe society actually let this happen."




yep. there it is. from L to R: Joe, Nick, Kevin. ohhhh kevin why aren't you married to me!?

so, i decided i needed to youtube this because i was pretty sure that someone would have gotten either video or audio from last night. so i youtube'd 'nick jonas les mis,' and yes, someone had gotten audio.

and it was 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables.' and i cringed at the thought of a Jonas singing this song. and then i listened.

ummm. okay. i'm not saying that Nick Jonas has a good voice...but.........

he has a pretty good voice. i was kind of in shock
. expecting whiny sounding Nick. at first i was like, "oh, that's not him they just took another recording." but then i listened closer...and you can kind of hear his speaking voice come through at parts. so, i think it really must be him.

i actually still can't believe it. thinking about it. why can't he sing that like in the band?!

OK, JONAS BROTHERS, HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:

switch your entire focus and become a Broadway Cover Band!!!!! omg why has no one thought of this before?!! IT'S BRILLZ!!!!! wow. um, who's managing them now? because it needs to be me immediately.

so, click on that link and listen. the whole thing is like 10 minutes, but the first part is 'Empty Chairs' and that's the part you should listen to.

so maybe Nick Jonas as Marius won't be as bad as i thought. although, i know for sure he's no Josh Young. the best Marius i've ever seen.

IN OTHER JONAS NEWS:

Season 2 of JONAS premiered on Disney over the weekend!!! did i watch it?? no because i don't have cable. :( so far, it's been the worst thing that i've experienced all week. yeah, i'm pretty lucky.

hmmm..what else? nothing, i think.

OH, in case you're interested (and you should be), Kara bought the first River City Extension record thinking it was the second one. this turned out to be a good thing. i got the songs from her AND I LOVE THEM.

i went in to the listening process with the mindset, "nothing could be as good as their second album."

um, but it is. it's a little more creepy than the second record. sometimes a bit dark. i REALLY like, 'It's no Ha-ha-ha.' that's where the subject for this entry comes from. i also really love 'Nautical Sabbatical' and 'Elephant.' 'Elephant' kind of scares me at the end, but i love it.

it's kind of like Pirate music. not like Somali pirates. but like, fictionalized pirates. nice and funny ones. that wear red striped shirts and cut-offs. is that what pirates wear? that's what i think they wear.

ANYWAYS, the point is, i think River City Extension is good pirate music. it's kind of a wild celebration with oceanic images. i don't know. i guess it seemed like a better idea in my head. they just sound like the kind of band that would be playing on the deck of a ship. during a storm.

River City Extension would go down with the ship. that's what i think, to bring in a Titanic reference. they would keep playing. and it would be good music right to the end.

and that's the RCE part of the blog.

CRASH KINGS PART OF THE BLOG:

my mom called me yesterday evening....

MOM: Ok, I wanted to call because I've been trying to track down something for you....
JULIE: Umm....yeah...?
MOM: I can't confirm this yet, but I've tried to find out as much information as I could....
JULIE: Okay......
MOM: I think Crash Kings are playing in Portsmouth on 24 July.
JULIE: What?! Why do you think that?!
MOM: Well, I was driving home and heard a radio advertisement and they said, "featuring Crash Kings," so I listened closer and it was an advertisement for this event called Hook Fest, at the Red Hook Brewery, and they said Crash Kings are playing...
JULIE: Really?!?
MOM: Yeah. So, I got home and had Kara go onto their website....
JULIE: Who's website?
MOM: Crash Kings and the Hook Fest site, but there's no information, the only band listed is Blues Traveler.
JULIE: Whoa, they're pretty big....
MOM: So, I called the Brewery, but they're closed today. I'm sure I heard them say Crash Kings.
JULIE: WOW!! I can't believe you did all that!!! You're so excited about this!!!!
MOM: Well, I knew you'd be excited!! And, wasn't I just saying, 'I wonder why Crash Kings don't play in Portsmouth?'
JULIE: Yep, you were just saying that.
MOM: And now look!!
JULIE: Wow, that would be so amazing.
MOM: I know!

YEP. that happened. you should have heard my mom on the phone. it was amazing. she was so stealth sounding!!!!! it was so funny. AND GREAT. how cool would that be? um, so cool.

so, i sent a tweet to the guys asking them if it was true. i don't really expect response because they never responded to me asking what time they were playing in Chicago. ah well.

BUT! i went onto the website for WHEB, which is the radio station sponsoring the event, and THEY have Crash Kings listed.

UM, AWESOME. yep. a lot.

so, i'm going to force my mom to come with me. and kara too. and ANYONE READING THIS THAT LIVES IN THE SEACOAST AREA!!!!! for realz, you gotta come.

IF ALL GOES PERFECT THIS SUMMER (and i mean really, really perfect) I WILL SEE CRASH KINGS:

- 21 July in Colorado Springs
- 24 July in Portsmouth
- 3 August in Boston

DEAR UNIVERSE, PLEASE BE PERFECT!!!!!!! kthanks.

alright. now i guess we can move onto the photo portion of the entry. ar you excited?!!?! YOU SHOULD BE!!!


the first pictures are from a night when Kara and i went into the bakery and worked together. I am a self-named honorary bakery assistant. we would go in at like, midnight and stay until 5am or so. yummmmm there'ssomuchgoodfood.....




These are the cupcakes we made in honor of Flag Day!!!! Really, Kara made the cupcakes and frosting and I just sprinkled on the blue jimmies.




Kara and me!! it's a bad picture of both of us, so that's why i'm posting it. amazing that we have TWO BAKERS in the family, right? i mean, what are the odds?! and yep, i wore my glasses that night :)




BAKERY CASE!!!!!! every single thing in that case was made FROM SCRATCH by my sister, Kara. and see on the middle shelf to the left of the cakes, there are cups of tiramisu? and see how there's a red sign in front of them? that's the sign that says, 'AWARD WINNING.' because remember a few months ago when Kara's tiramisu won BEST TIRAMISU in Wells, Maine (but really in the whole northeast.) YEP! my sister is a famous baker. :) and i'm her honorary bakery assistant.




mmm....look at those blueberry muffins. don't they look great? don't they look like they could be award winning some day?? um, guess who made those? ME!!!! that's right, ME. your truly. i made those muffins from scratch. i also made coffee cake muffins and chocolate chip muffins.

and kara couldn't believe how much better mine looked than the ones she makes. it's true. she says i take more time on mine so they look nicer. TRUE STORY. i know you don't believe me, but it's true. i made those muffins.




CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY PIE!!!!! kara loves baking pies! who knew?! and at first she was just making blueberry and apple pies. i told her that was boring and so ON-THE-SPOT i came up with this pie:

- melted chocolate spread on the crust (supposed to be chocolate crust, but kara already had normal crust made up)
- raspberry filling
- chocolate drizzled on top!

YUM, right?! best pie ever!




AND I MADE THE FILLING!!! the raspberry filling! i put raspberries on the stove with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and some other stuff and then mixed it with a cornstarch-water mixture. brillz. i was really proud of it.




AND THEN!!! i made these cinnamon twists!!!!!!! don't they look great?! i know, i know they do.


i couldn't believe kara let me make all this stuff. she said i did a really good job. i love going into work with her. it's so fun. in between baking we have dance parties.


AWESOME, right?!!?!?


and now! comes a special section where i photo document my efforts to defrost my horrible freezer.

this is the WORST-SITUATION FREEZER. it's a tiny box at the top of my fridge. no, it's not a separate part like normal fridges. and there's only one temperature thing that controls both the fridge and the freezer. WORST. so, if the dial isn't turned up high enough, nothing stays frozen. and if it's turned up too high, the whole thing will frost over.

and i let it go waayyyy toooo loonnnggg. the whole thing was frosted over. you could barely fit anything in there. for realz. and so i decided it was time to take on the job. and i figured you guys would just love to come along for the adventure.

(also, it was totally boring and took a total of 3 HOURS and so i felt like you all were there with me because i was taking these pictures and thinking, 'i can't wait to tell my blog friends!')


JULIE DEFROSTS HER FREEZER:





these were the tools i used.

- plastic container to hold the already removed frost. (it's blue because this was the same container i used to bail out some of the overflowing teal water from when i dyed my jacket teal.)
- bamboo spatula (didn't really work that well. and it looks pink because i also used it as a dying tool when i dyed some t-shirts pink last summer.)
- metal ladle, used to scrape up the frost and also act as a chipping device
- sharp knife, used as a replacement ice pick.




THIS WAS THE SITUATION. such a big fail. the frost on the sides had to be at least 5 inches thick.

and, there was a huge ice pack that i had put on the little tray under the freezer, which then froze to the tray, and the frost grew around it. i was also on a mission to retrieve the ice pack.





this was my method. boil a pot of water. stick it in the freezer. shut the door. wait a bit. come back. chip away.

so, that's the smallest size saucepan i have. and look how it barely fits in the freezer!! guys, it was bad.




starting to make some progress.....




becoming more square-shaped.




yep. it was like the deck of Titanic.





then i came up with the 'bathmat/towel method.' this kept the floor from getting too wet.




ice pack finally came out!!!!!! success!!!! that took A WHILE.




and this was the final product. yep. freezer won. i never actually reached any of the original freezer sides. but, after three hours i got tired. my hand was numb from chipping. my feet were numb from standing on ice.

it's definitely an improvement.

eh, i guess there's not much else to say. FREEZER WON. kind of a let down at the end, i guess.

well it was a good adventure.


HM. ok. i think that might be all for now.


oh! i watched The Blind Side. loved it. laughed. cried. 5 stars.

last night i watched Monster's Ball. i had seen it when it first came out, and then saw a trailer for it on something recently and decided i wanted to see it again, because i really didn't remember it.

so i watched it! yeah, great movie. i had forgotten kind of everything that happens. but, as i was watching it the plot slowly came back. i totally didn't remember that Heath Ledger kills himself. (spoiler!) that was surprising and really sad.

tonight i have Pirate Radio to watch. unless i'm too tired....in which case i might just watch an episode of Friday Night Lights.

i have to go to the post office tomorrow. other than that, that's pretty much it.

i'm working tonight, and then again thursday 8-11am, and then possibly a double shift on sunday, which would be 8am until 10pm. but actually, 10pm saturday night until 8am monday morning.

now that i haven't been getting a paycheck for like, two months, I NEED ONE. badly.


oh! also, i decided that i'm getting the tattoo i want as soon as i can afford it. yep. it's decided. i'm going to do it. i want it. and every time i see someone with a tattoo, i am envious. so - it's happening.

also - my toilet is broken. hopefully getting fixed either tomorrow afternoon or thursday sometime. it's still usable, it's just annoying.

at first, it was normal working, except it would never stop running. so, you'd have to shut off the water valve. and then turn it back on so the back could fill up, and so forth.

but now, the flushing has broken, so you have to do it manually, by sticking your hand in the back. and also, once the back fills up with water, it immediately drains again.

so, i have resorted to the ol' standby method of pouring water down the toilet in order for it to flush. it's annoying. but at least it still works. it just makes things more interesting.

AND! i told you the electrician came this morning! he fixed a lamp! in the 'cave room.' which is the front room as soon as you walk into my apartment. it has slanted walls and no windows. and there had been this light fixture hanging from the ceiling that didn't work. and there was no working light switch.

so, this electrician came over. fixed the hanging light socket. REPLACED the bad switch. AND NOW - there's a working light (with a switch) in the cave room!!!! it's pretty cool. it's now the second switch-operated light in my apartment! the other one is in the bathroom. nice!

hm. i have a feeling that now i'm just telling you random things to waste time.

ok, i'll stop.

i hope everybody is having a great week! i'm hungry right now. i might make cornbread tonight.

maybe i'll talk to you later, but, maybe not. probably not.

ENJOY the rest of your day!!!! talk to you soon.



<3

20 June 2010

"i am vulnerable, but i am strong and i am wrong sometimes."

FIRST OF ALL: i just had to kill a spider and it was horrible.
SECOND OF ALL: i can't stop listening to River City Extension. especially this one song, 'South for the Winter.' (well, and every other song.)

but that one song. the first many times i heard it, i only kind of liked it. it wasn't one of my favorites. compared to POWERHOUSES like 'Friends and Family,' 'Something Salty, Something Sweet,' 'Our New Intelligence,' 'Adrianne,' 'Letter to Lainie.'

but i realized recently that i have 'South for the Winter' stuck in my head like, all the time. and it's weird, because i don't usually listen to it that much.

so then like, yesterday, i started really listening to it. AND NOW I CAN'T STOP. i turn it up really loud in my car. in my house. on my laptop. and it make me want to cry. yes it does.

today in the car i was on my way home from the grocery store and i was listening to it. listening to the lyrics. and yep, almost started crying.

mainly the part where Joe sings:

"The sun's gone down on every hope and dream
I'm yet to figure out just what's been eating at me."

it's one of those lyrics that makes me realize, "HOLY CRAP I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE MY LIFE IS GOING."

but, i can't stay that way for too long, because 'Our New Intelligence' comes after that song. and that song makes me want to clap. and dance.

but, 'South for the Winter,' man.

ALSO, 'The Ballad of Oregon,' which is the song that Joe emailed me. OH MAN do i love it. i posted the link to the band playing that song and you should go back right now and watch that video.

BECAUSE THEN, you'll want to come with me to their next show. it's a sure thing.

also, i have gotten 'apology tweets' from both Joe and James in the band (James is the rockin' bass player) for having to cancel the Portland show last weekend. and that's really awesome.

SPEAKING OF BASS PLAYERS::::

my sister, Kara BOUGHT A BASS!!!! a bass guitar. it has been her lifelong dream to learn how to play the bass. and then one day last week i forced her to watch a bunch of random Crash Kings videos with me.

AND THEN she was newly inspired to learn the bass! because Mike is such a hottie! so, we started looking online and it turned out that one of her friends wanted to sell one!

SO, we drove over to the music store in Dover, NH, bought an instrument cord to connect the bass to the amp and also bought a 'LEARN TO PLAY BASS' book. and then we drove over to her friend's house and got the bass.

it's very beautiful. dark sparkly purple with silver. yeah, it's totally hott. and she started learning immediately.

aannddd.....she's a natural! for realz. by the second day she was rocking some scales.

I, HOWEVER, can rock Beethoven's 9th Symphony. which i am proud of say, i can now play on

1. recorder
2. clarinet
3. piano
4. guitar
5. bass

yep! it's a universal song. i taught Kara a little. she'll figure out the rest in no time.

it took us a looonnggg time to tune the bass. it came with a tuner, which was helpful, except it was kind of confusing. so, we also tuned it with the CD the book came with, and again with an online tuner.

Bass sounds great! came with an amp! Amp looks great. and now Kara will be the coolest person. i asked her,

JULIE: So, when you go out in public now, do you feel just a little bit superior to everyone else, now that you own a bass?
KARA: OH YEAH, definitely. A LOT superior.

she's pretty cool. we decided we're going to form a band. the next step is for me to buy a drum set and fulfill MY lifelong goal of becoming a drummer.

the other people in our band will be:

- Kara's friend Liz
- my friend Maria

it's gonna rock. a lot.

SO TODAY, was Father's Day! happy father's day to all those dad's who read my blog :) LIKE MINE. who i love so much.



HA. that's, Me, Kara, and my dad at Lake Louise! back many years ago. i love this picture. that was on our epic adventure back to the homeland. Canada. funnest trip ever.

i'm glad we got to spend Father's Day together before my dad goes back to Canada. :)


hm. what else.


last week i had this weird Crash Kings dream. i tend to have those. like my two dreams where Tony and I are doing tequila shots. that was weird. WELL THIS ONE, took place at an actual Crash Kings show. i was seeing them live. and Tony was onstage playing the violin and Mike was playing bass, but he was like 'the leader' of the band. and they were trying to end this one song for a big finish, and Tony couldn't get the time right. like, the time signature. and the two had this exchange:

MIKE: Tony, we're in 3/4 time!!!
TONY: ...Oh, I thought we were in Family Time.
MIKE: NO! It's 3/4 time.

family time?? i don't know what that's about. and then they were able to do the big finish. it was strange.

DID EVERYONE WATCH THEM PERFORM ON GEORGE LOPEZ?!?!!?

IF YOU MISSED THE SHOW, you can watch their performance right here. it was amazing, as always. and there are great shots of Mike playing the bass, which Kara was very excited about. i think they definitely seem more relaxed than on Jimmy Kimmel.

anyways!

soooo, last week Kara and i went to Claire's. my guilty pleasure store. A LOT. oh man, i love going into Claire's. and we tried on glasses for like, ten minutes.

and i ended up with a new pair of FAKE GLASSES!!!!!

so, to get you all up to speed: i wore a pair of fake glasses every single freaking day of my senior year of high school. this pair had no lenses in them.

yep. i totally started the trend A LONG TIME AGO. so, you're welcome.

AND! i bought a new pair.

and i had a photoshoot.

so, deal with it: i have lots of pictures.





AWESOME, right?!?!




i realized just before it took the picture that i could see Mike's reflection (from my desktop) in my lenses...



so then i did some crafty positioning.....and you can see all three Crash Kings in the lens! sooo cool.



ALSO, i got a haircut! goodbye FOUR INCHES. hello lots of layers!! i was kind of sad because it meant i was losing teal. but, i was gaining volume. trade off.




yep. kind of a hottie.




THESE were the ones i wore in high school!!!! EVERY DAY. my physics teacher called me '20/20' because, clearly, i had perfect vision. especially with no lenses.





(that piece of paper behind me is the Crash Kings signed set list from the Boston show 1/31/2010.)





AND THEN, i decided to test out the special effects....




i think these should qualify as a screen test for the next James Cameron film.








yep! that feature was called, "pop art." i think it came out pretty awesome. one of those last three is totally going to be my solo album cover. probs the middle one.


ANYWAYS! that's me being bored and living alone. :)

sooo. what to do now... hm.

i might watch some Friday Night Lights.

i have some business items to attend to while i watch. these include:

- repainting my nails
- repainting the plastic ring that kara won for me. it used to be bright blue. but then all the color rubbed off on my finger. and i just happen to have bright blue nailpolish. so, i'm going to repaint it.

ALSO, I HAVE MADE A BIG DECISION.

i have STOPPED importing my notes into Facebook. that means THIS BLOG.

i was so unhappy with the slowness that Facebook took to import these awesome, somewhat time-sensitive entries. SO, i have stopped the automatic import and will be manually importing them myself.

so, nothing will change for you, dear Facebook readers. i will promise to import them directly after publishing them here, on Blogger.

ALRIGHT! i'm going to get going. i hope you all are having a lovely day. had a lovely weekend. and are excited about the upcoming week.

WE MIGHT be getting a new resident today! monday! i don't exactly know when i am going to find out... but, hopefully soon.

OKAY! have a great day! a great week! a great moment! a great time doing whatever you are doing after this. :)

take care be well drive safe.


love,
julie