Posts tagged ‘music’

March 26th, 2011

Scattered Saturday

I know, I know – I haven’t posted in forever.
Life is really good. So good, that I’m taking the time to live it, instead of write about it.

Here’s an assortment of random things:

Yesterday I made the most beautiful cookies of my life:
Best chocolate chip cookies

This song & the sunshine help me relax & keep moving forward:

I listen to this song so much [props to my boss for telling me about the album]:

I had a 3 hour tattoo appointment today – the half sleeve I started 17 months ago is officially finished. Frank, who’s done all of it, is leaving next month and I’m bummed to see him go, but I’m glad I was able to get him to wrap it all up. Pardon the language, but it looks bad ass.

I started reading Zeitoun by Dave Eggers this week. The only other Eggers I’ve read was A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius about 3 years ago and really, really didn’t like it. However, McSweeny’s is great & I love 826, so I’m giving him another shot. Plus, we’re trying to get the main character of the book [it's a narrative nonfiction account of a Syrian American during Hurricane Katrina] to visit the museum. So far, it’s good.

That’s enough random for now. Our bellies are full of Indian food & a new disc of Six Feet Under arrived, so I’m off for cuddling & relaxing.

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January 4th, 2011

High Five for the Mitten

Sunday I went to the movies for the first time since seeing The Darjeeling Limited at the Michigan Theatre in 2007. After reading all the books this summer & catching up on the movies over the semester, we saw the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I’ll tell you that my initial motivation for this is the beautiful Emma Watson, but I’ve really come to enjoy the books and the depth & creatively they hold. I’m definitely excited for the last movie.

Yesterday was my first day at the new job & it went swimmingly. It felt great to get in & to get going – I’m really looking forward to being there. Joel & I had dinner at Sidetrack when I got home, the perfect ending to most any day.

This past weekend was an annual event worth highlighting – MITTENFEST.

This 4-day music fest is a fundraiser for 826 Michigan, a nonprofit writing & tutoring center with ties to Dave Egger’s original 826 Valencia. This year they raised about $15,000 for the organization, which is really incredible. This was our second year attending [Fields of Industry played last year, too].

Mittenfest V was held at the new [& lovely] Woodruff’s after the untimely demise of Savoy. Even though there wasn’t space for two stages as planned, Woodruff’s is a lot more cozy, classy & I think it was a much better venue overall.

We went two nights this year – Thursday when Joel played in Fields of Industry & Saturday when good friends Natural Monuments & Secret Twins played. Unfortunately we had to miss our buds Long Whisker on Friday because we were setting up for the party [but they came over later on].

Fields of Industry at Mittenfest V

Natural Monuments at Mittenfest V

I think that for both Joel & I, the best part of the festival wasn’t seeing so many of our friends on stage, but that the entire bar was filled with friends. We’ve been in Ypsilanti just over 2 years now, but we’ve gotten to know so many different people in different social circles through different ways. Saturday we could wander around & we were guaranteed to run into someone we know. This was especially meaningful now that we own a house here – it further solidifies our love for the community & our investment in it.

This is my last free day before work & the new semester start up in full swing, so I need to go tackle a giant to-do list.

Cheers to a beautiful 2010!

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June 30th, 2010

Three things before Thursday

Three things today.

1 – I brought my camera to work yesterday & took pictures of the archive. You can see them all at the RBSCL Facebook page [become a fan while you're at it!]. I’ll be taking pictures of the library & reading room soon.
Processed collections

Expandable shelving

Not posted is an ultra nerdy picture of me in the archive, wearing my UM archives shirt. #irule [hash tag revolution!]

2 – The band that Joel has been playing with for a few years now is releasing their new album this weekend, but you can listen to the entire thing online for free right here!

3 – I’m debating if I should read the Harry Potter series this summer. In 2003, I read book 5, but nothing since & I really don’t remember what happened in them. And I think I maybe saw the first 2 movies? Everyone seems pretty into them & it’d give me a boost in my 50 books in 2010 challenge. Thoughts??

This forth thing is a bonus, since I don’t want to un-alliterate the title of this post.

Book shelf porn! The archive view is best, for full screen action:

Now I’m going to go take a bath & continue reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

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June 1st, 2010

Libaries & archives = awesome & fun

Today has been full of fun & inspriational things from libraries & archives.

First is the “Librarians Do Gaga” video.
A clever take on Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface”, some students at the University of Washington iSchool created a parody called “Catalog.”

Secondly, I was listening to an episode of Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me on the bus ride home today [it's amazing how those familiar NPR voices can make me feel better] & their Bluff the Listener section was about libraries. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, each of the three panelists tells a story relating to the topic, but only is true & a contestant who has called in has to guess the right answer.

This is the introduction to the March 15 show: “These are tough times for libraries, what with the e-readers, the video games and our brains turning to soft, gray pudding. But some libraries are not going to go quietly. This week, we read about a library that decided to do what it must do to stick around.”

You can listen to the episode or read the transcript here – see if you can guess the true story [I did!].

Lastly, Rebecca, over at Derangement & Description, has sent out the call for a response. She already has lyrics for an archivist  ‘Pokerface’ and is looking for volunteers to create the video. She’s already created a wonderful parody of “Gangster’s Paradise” called “Archives Paradise.” Check out the clever lyrics & the wonderful rapping at her blog.

So many reasons to be excited about the profession I’m going into!!

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May 18th, 2010

The zoo, books, bands & new tattoos!!

On Sunday I took myself to the zoo & spend a lovely afternoon wandering around, looking at animals & feeling relaxed. The zoo was surprisingly large & pretty crowded, but I enjoyed watching all the families there. I didn’t see any other foreigners & I don’t think I attracted too much attention, so it was nice to feel inconspicuous for a while.

As always, many more pictures on my Flickr page.

My friends’ band, Natural Monuments, just came out with a few digital singles. Their first album, For Sanity’s Sake, quickly became one of my favorites & got a lot of play. It now brings back vivid memories of driving around Jackson, MI in the summer, windows down, singly loudly.

You can download the new songs for free from this website & check out some of their older stuff on their Myspace.

Here’s the press release they’ve written up:

On their first release since 2007′s For Sanity’s Sake EP, Natural Monuments have added a slight punk edge to their summery pop hooks. The drumming is still precise and quirky, but their guitars have upped the amount of chime and jangle ala R.E.M., The Feelies and The Byrds, creating a sound somewhere between classic Kinks and Slumberland Records bands

I’m lucky to have such talented friends!

Back in January, I made a challenge to myself – read 50 books in 2010. Excited, I made a Twitter account for reviews, complied a long “to read” list, began winter semester & promptly stopped reading.

Well, now that I’m here all alone in Egypt, I’ve started reading quite a bit – 5 books in the two & a half weeks I’ve been here so far! My total is up to 7, which is a long ways off track, but I’m hoping to have 25 books read by the end of July. It’s a lot, but I have a significant amount of time on my hands, so it shouldn’t be too hard.

Lastly, I’m not sure I ever put up pictures of my newest tattoos. A lovely birthday present from my husband, my half-sleeve is nearly complete. I added a skull, another book & some flowers. It truly has become an “information sleeve” – a card catalog representing libraries, a skull & book representing archives & birds from a book representing dissemination of information.

more ink

more ink

All of it’s been done by Frank at Depot Town Tattoo – I high recommend you check out the shop if you’re ever interested in getting tattooed, they’re all amazing artists & wonderful people!

Break time’s over – back to work!

xoxoxo

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