What's On Your Mind?

What follows is a brief insight into the inner-workings of my brain this evening. Prepare yourself and know that I try hard to reign in the crazy.

Colors

My skin is kind of sort of brownish
Pinkish yellowish white.
My eyes are grayish blueish green,
But I'm told they look orange in the night.
My hair is reddish blondish brown,
But it's silver when it's wet.
And all the colors I am inside
Have not been invented yet.

-Shel Silverstein

I read a bunch of Shel Silverstein to the kids today and really liked this one. Probably because it reminded me of Nickel Creek lyrics . . . (You dream of colors that have never been made, you imagine in songs that have never been played ).

When I think about Nickel Creek, I think of how I have to see Chris Thile play this year to complete my trend of seeing a different member of the band perform each year (Sean in 2009, Sara in 2010, there's really no other option for 2011). Then I start thinking about how I really, really, really want to see him at Rockwood in NYC. Then my brain starts conjuring up all sorts of things related to the World's Capital and that can go on for hours . . . This thought process reminds me of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie but it is 100% true!

Then there's this:



I've been mulling over the "compare where you are to where you want to be and you'll get nowhere" part all day. This is a current battle in several aspects of my life.

Since the lyric comes from a certain Sara Bareilles, I'm going to take the opportunity to explain my feelings about her . . . I did not like Sara Bareilles, nor did I want to. After the extreme over-play of 'Love Song' a few years back I had had my fill of her music to the point of extreme disdain. When Kaleidoscope Heart was released last September it went straight to #1 on Billboard and several of the musicians whose opinions and taste I respect were raving about it. I was sure no one knew what they were talking about, even after Sara B. was nominated for another Grammy. I ended up seeing her live in October when Greg Laswell was opening. If that man is playing within a 100 mile radius of my home I have no other choice but to go - he's that good! I also hoped to catch a glimpse of why people love this woman, and let me tell you, they love her.

The show was sold out but a friend and I got in by volunteering to pass out download cards for Greg after his set. It was great, he sang, wore an awesome orange sweater, and proved yet again that How the Day Sounds is a perfect song. Then we pushed our way (gently) through the crowd and interrupted (politely) people's conversations. We were giving out free music, so they were cool with it. The place was packed and there was no way to get back to our original spots before Sara came on. Pushing through the crowd to get closer to the stage is the quickest, surest way to get make enemies at a concert. It's also among the douchiest things you can do at a show, so we just hung out in back near the merch table.

I walked away baffled at the intensity with which people love Sara Bareilles. Men and women! I enjoyed seeing their passion for an artist, that's something I can relate to, but I left the venue less impressed with that woman than I was when I walked in. Let me explain. Not a whole lot phases me, but with Sara it honestly felt like she was getting paid to drop the f-bomb repeatedly every 3-5 minutes and there wasn't near enough charm smooth things over. I'm sure it didn't help any that 48 hours earlier I was at an Ingrid Michaelson concert. I've never seen anyone win over an audience as quickly and completely as she does. I've seriously thought about making a shirt that says "I'd rather be at an Ingrid Michaelson concert."

Fast-forward to the week after Thanksgiving. Amazon was offering several albums for $1.99, one of them being Kaleidoscope Heart. For 2 bucks I decided to get it, do a little analysis, and find out what it was I did not like about this woman's music. A week or so later this song came up on random on my ipod. It was beautiful and unfamiliar so I looked to see who the artist was . . . Not long after I fully understood what all the Sara Bareilles hype was about. This lady is good at what she does. If you want to hear the best pop album of 2010, look no further.

P.S. I came on here for the sole purpose of posting the poem and then being done. This is why I need a music blog . . .

This is The New Year: 2010 in review

2010 was an incredible year! I made new friends, hung out with old ones, went crazy fun adventures, learned some lessons, and attended a handful of concerts. Here are a few fun facts from the year.

Books I started and completed:
-Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne
-Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
-The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker
-Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (re-read)
-Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (re-read)
-Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
I feel like I'm missing some . . . regardless, this is pathetic! I need to read (and finish) more books this year!!

Cities visited:
-New York City, NY (5 times)
-Salt Lake City, UT (3 times)
-Nashville, TN (twice)
-Charlottesville, VA (twice)
-Baltimore, MD (twice)
-Paris, FRA
-Nantucket, MA
-Los Angeles, CA
-San Diego, CA
-Albany, NY
-Annapolis, MD
-Hoboken, NJ
-Asbury Park, NJ
-Philadelphia, PA
-Spokane, WA
-Hershey, PA
-Outter Banks, NC

Number of days it would take me to listen to all the music I purchased: 1.77

Best decision made: Going to Albany to see Ian Axel, Chad Vaccarino, and Mike Campbell play at Bread and Jam Cafe

Concert stats:
Number of shows attended: 56

States those shows were seen in: VA (40) MD (5) NY (4) NJ (2) CA (2) PA (1) UT (1) MA (1)

Most seen artist: Ian Axel (7)

Favorite venues:
-Rockwood Music Hall Stage 1 (NYC)
-Bread and Jam Cafe (Albany)
-Lestat's (San Diego)
-Sixth and I Synagogue (DC)
-Jammin' Java (Vienna)
-The Southern (Charlottesville)

Number of movies seen in the theater: 23
The 10 favorites (no order):
-Inception
-Despicable Me
-Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows
-Waiting For Superman
-Toy Story 3
-How To Train Your Dragon
-Babies
-Leap Year
-The Social Network
-Hereafter

Top 25 most played songs:
A miracle has occurred folks, Joshua Radin does not sit atop this list for the first time since I started making it. It's bittersweet, but when you consider who took over it's not as surprising. Unfortunately my ipod has a glitch and the play counts are waaay off! With the help of itunes and common sense here are the songs that made the list.

The entire This is the New Year album-Ian Axel*
Afterglow-Ian Axel
Home-Ian Axel
Here We Go-Joshua Radin
Sympathetic Vibrations-The Paper Raincoat
Take Everything-Greg Laswell
Streetlight-Joshua Radin
The Ladder-Andrew Belle
We Go Together-Luke Brindley
Right Angles-The Paper Raincoat
Odds of Being Alone-Trent Dabbs
Dig with Me-Allie Moss
I Knew Prufrock Before He Was Famous-Frank Turner

*According to my ipod/itunes I listened to the title track 2,656 times. That may be slightly off seeing as it equals over six full days of listening to nothing but This is the New Year. Despite an obvious over-estimate it is definitely my most listened to song of the year . . . and life. :)

2011 sure has a lot to live up to!!