nerd alert: hands-free!

i will be the first to say that i have always hated on the wireless phone ear-piece and that i thought i'd be the last person ever to convert... well, halleleuja, my brothers and sisters because a convert i have become...

at the risk of out-dorking even myself, i hesitate to expand on my new-found love, but i feel inclined to give the readers what they want... or something like that... anyway, when i opened the iPhone box and saw the headphones i made the assumption that they were just straight-up apple ear buds. boy, was i wrong! there's a little "thing" [for lack of a better term] on the cord that acts as not only a microphone, but also a mini-remote! click the little "thing" once and it starts the track over, click said "thing" twice and it will advance to the next song, click it a third time and it does something else i have yet to discover but i'm sure is on-par with being cool... so yeah, i'm a big fan of this and mainly because i can switch-it-up with gloves on. what i love the most about going hands-free, however, is that when i'm iPod-ding with the iPhone and i get an incoming call, the music slowly fades-out and fades-back-in... it makes my conversations much more enjoyable which in-turn must make me more enjoyable to conversate with [am i right, mom?].

side note: at least the iPhone hands-free is nothing similar to blue-tooth hands-free. i could elaborate, but i'm not going to. apple=cool, blue-tooth=ghey.

sweet video

"lets turn this mother out!" ... this rules:

sweet cover

i came across this cover of the arcade fire's "my body is a cage" ... now we all know how i feel about the arcade fire, but this version by sara lov is brilliant:

we came; we saw; we LENKA'd

this is lenka:


this is lenka's stage at the kilby court:


this is mel, me, and jaime [respectively] at the lenka show called "the show":


and this is mel, jaime, lenka, and me in the merch room:


lenka is lovely. if you haven't heard her, you probably should... and if you haven't met jaime or mel, you should probably do that as well... they wrote the book on being rad! and also, they had a girl crush on me when we were 19... and it still makes me smile when i think about it!

research & development

i got an email from emilee yesterday asking about a coat of mine and inquiring the details of said coat so that she could purchase one for herself. she also said "i hope you don't mind," to which my response was something along the lines of "of course i don't mind!" ...and i really don't mind, but i took this as an opportunity to, once again, congratulate myself on my fantastic taste. humble much?! meh. humility can be overrated - plus this is my blog so i feel justified in saying whatever i want. neiner neiner neiner...

i digress, her inquiry led me to the world wide website where i purchased the garment [you know, as to provide her with a convenient link], which in-turn sent me on a downward spiral deep into the funnel of unproductivity and online "window" shopping. you see, the spring lines have hit and although i stick by my rule of never paying full price for anything [including macbooks - booya] it was utterly difficult for me to nay-say the temptation... the temptation is what irritates me the most about this and i'll tell you why... if you have ever had the chance, or get the chance, to peer into my closet you will find what i like to refer to as my "utopia-of-wardrobia" consisting of items ranging across all sorts of spectrums [seasons, materials, colors, sizes, etc.]. you will also find a mess, but that's not the point here... the point here is this ---------> i do not need anything new - want, yes; need, no...

so not to toot my own horn [see, i can be humble] or anything, but i think of myself as a stylish person; meaning with a personal sense of style and also the "in the know" kind of style... so here's where the "development" comes into play from all this "research" ... i have a sewing machine [thanks, santa] and a closet full of clothes i don't wear... botta bing, botta boom! those two things combined with my creative eye have inspired me to get to modifying and manufacturing... think of it as a renaissance of my closet, if you will, or you can think of it like vicki prefers: "you're one crafty betch!" either way, i find the possibilities of it all quite exciting [with the exception of the cleaning the closet part]!

alright, elko!

this is going to be short and sweet as my creative juices seem to have abandoned me, and also because there's only so much you can do in elko, nevada... such as take-up perma-residence on your best friend's couch... and since they're your best friend, they find this endearing... and then they tell you you're pretty sans any effort into getting ready at all... and they take you to walmart in the same t-shirt you slept in, which they totally endorse since they're doing the exact same thing... and they steam you veggies for dinner and allow you to help yourself to the kiddo's candy bowl... and "hey, josh, beer me another diet coke!" ... ah, best friends rule! especially my best friends.

i love TORY!
i love JOSH!
i love RAMSEY!
i love RUGER [the dog]!

the night "the worm" came to town

this is kris and they call him "the worm" ... i have no idea where that moniker came from, but it might have something to do with the time he jumped-ship in the mormon temple right before he was to be married for time and all eternity... regardless, kris is one of the most intelligent, creative, funny people i have ever known. we met through my old roommate [his x-fiance] in our utah state days, and although we kinda lost contact when he moved to new york to pursue his master's degree from n.y.u. [yeah, like i said - intelligent] we picked-up right where we left off... i love friends like that. especially when they can make you laugh the way "the worm" can make you laugh.



now that's johnny and the worm showing us their best moves... i wish i had a sequence shot of this because a .gif would really make this awesome, but i don't so whatever. trust me on the awesomeness of these two dancing. anyway, we did some gallery-strolling earlier in the evening and then went back to lindsey's gallery to get in some proper hang-time... turns out gallery strolling when you know people who know people is a lot of fun. it also turns out that having two x-boyfriends in the same small room at the same time can be handled like a champ - trust me, i know from experience... which is a whole other story in and of itself... but anyway, thanks to "the worm" and his lovely new wife for coming to visit and for showing me how to have the best time in my own town!

dancing & diddling

fear not, my sweets... i'll post about my elko weekend soon, but until then, enjoy this little gem:

elko or bust!

there's a high high high probability that i won't be able to sleep tonight. why, you might find yourself asking?! because i get to spend the weekend in elko, nv [not the exciting part] with some of my favorite people in the whole universe [totally the exciting part]! spontaneity and capricorns don't typically mesh well ... tory is the exception to all the rules.

here's the most recent photo we have of the two of us, so look forward to a serious fotolog come tuesday...

this was taken in 2002 - time for an update.

for the WIN!

if the fact that it would've hurt me more than it would've hurt the machine hadn't been a factor this morning, i totally would've punched the treadmill.

it was just one of those cardio jams where you're watching the clock the whole time and no matter what is streaming through the pod, all you can think is "am i done yet?!" ... it turns into a continual battle with the self over giving-up or just keep going... and it's totally not fun. i really like fun. also, i forgot to take a hit off my inhaler beforehand so i think the lack of breathing-ease may have had something to do with my attitude... well that, and my bed was just OH SO COMFY today [and since i rarely type in caps i hope you see the serious emphasis i just made].

regardless, i saw it through and it ended not a moment too soon. sometimes these types of runs actually make you think, "wow, i'm so glad i did that." but not necessarily today. i'm glad i did it, yes, but mainly because i won't have to think about the fact i didn't do it all day long... make sense?!

so in other news... i won the war over cheese fries last night! yesss! this is honestly something i should get an award or some kind of recognition for... delicious training table cheese fries stared me in the face and i managed to politely look but not touch. i'd like to think that my sweet dinner partner was doing this in my best interest, you know, to see just how strong i was... i'd like to think he thought something along the lines of "wow, she's so strong! look at that will power! i didn't think it was possible but she looks even sexier with that fork of lettuce near her mouth!" alas, i'm sure those thoughts never even came close to entering his head [with the exception of the sexy part]. needless to say, his meal looked much more appetizing than mine... how could it not, really? hawaiian burger and cheese fries vs. wilted-iceberg-lettuce "salad"?!?! ... whatever. i still won this time! and had he ordered the dipping sauce it just might have changed the entire outcome of my decision not to partake in the gooey-deliciousness-that-are-the-training-table-cheese-fries... but thankfully for me, he's a simple ketchup-only kinda guy... so thanks, barowdwngs, thanks...

in living color [part two]

a word of caution: if you're going to voice your unsolicited opinion in which i might find a little curious [and also annoying], don't be suprised when i do the exact same thing the next day... not necessarily to irritate - ok - yeah to irritate you, but also because i can.

i really should consider the source of all this and just let it go... its not her fault she's pushing sixty, a temporary employee, and bat-shit crazy. she also doesn't help her case by being bat-shit crazy.

"know first who you are; and then adorn yourself accordingly." -epictetus


yes, i learned that pose from modeling school and hillary duff endorsed my dress... ok that first part isn't true, but the second part is...

au revoire simone - sad song

i want to attend this party, preferably in the grey dress [with the bow]...

in living color

at lunch today i was told i was wearing too many colors... what?! well yeah, that can happen and i've seen it happen... but not to me. also, i was quite pleased with my color combination today so this comment caught me a bit off-guard and was completely unwarranted. if trying to be nicer and talking less crap weren't two of my new years resolutions, you would see a much longer rant here... alas, i have resolved... for now at least.

here's a picture to prove that my color choices were, indeed, kosher and not excessive by any means:


cream dress, orange coat, blue gloves, grey tights, brown boots...

how to lose 7.5 pounds in one week

week one: weigh self on your mom's scale - get off said scale thinking "wtf??". go to gym.

week two: weigh self on own scale. realize it reads -7.5 from previous week. think, "wtf!" then realize your mom's scale has always weighed heavy. re-think, "WTF!" and go to gym.

now how to gain it all back in one meal, two words: grandma's house. go to gym.

i can't actually back that last part up, but it seemed like a nice way to end this blog... and i did indulge a bit at grandma's last night...

THE END

update: oh eight was so great

due to circumstances beyond my control [ok, that's not necessarily true... i'm just being lazy] i will not be distributing hard-copies of my tribute-to-shows-i-attended-in-2008 mix disc... you see, when my old computer went jerk-tastic it postponed everything... and now i'm on to bigger and better things so i do apologize if you have lost any sleep in anticipation of my ode to '08... since i highly doubt that is the case, lets get on with this, shall we?! i've decided to just list the track order for you and you can all rush to itunes or emusic or whatever you kids are using these days and create the playlist yourselves! being self-sufficient is so hot right now...

so here it is! and as a sidenote, i ran to this today and i gotta admit, it has a great flow... which is somewhat impressive considering the genres don't necessarily mesh all that well... but whatever, it seems to work... so knock yourselves out!

oh eight was so great
one: broken social scene - stars and sons
two: andrew bird - fake palindroms
three: clap your hands say yeah - skin of my yellow country teeth
four: the faint - worked up so sexual
five: css - music is my hot hot sex
six: chromeo - needy girl
seven: m.i.a. - paper airplanes
eight: ladytron - playgirl
nine: of montreal - wraith pinned to the mist and other games
ten: feist - mushaboom
eleven: tapes n' tapes - say back something
twelve: nada surf - blizzard of '77
thirteen: fleet foxes - white winter hymnal
fourteen: the swell season - falling slowly

look what i can do!

yes, my new pet slept right next to me - mainly because i was watching a movie on instant-netflix before i fell asleep, but i probably would've had it next to me regardless because i'm just that awesome...

so after checking the morning's stats [email, facebook, justin timberlake, etc.] i played with the photo booth application [which is rad, by the way] for a bit... then i got up, got some water, and when i came back to my room i had every intention of putting on my running gear but instead...

... my bed just looked so lonely!
and so do those running shoes...

a lovely evening this doth make

[i'm fairly certain this is the first time i've ever used the word "doth"...]

lounge wear
cafe niche take-out
the prettiest/shiniest/sexiest purchase i've ever made
streaming andrew bird's not-yet-released noble beast

now if only i could have wrapped tonight up in one giant satin bow!

someone was wrong

money bought me a macbook and, in turn, money bought me happiness!

thug life

occasionally a certain mood will strike me and i'll get a craving for some ear-candy that can only be described in one way: a serious guilty treasure.

enter the thug life playlist.

now before i delve into this, you should know that i make absolutely no claim to being any sort of expert in the hip-hop/rap genre... nope, not even close! these are just songs i've come across that satiate the craving all while i'm gettin my run on...

one: timbaland - the way i are
two: ciera - one, two step
three: jay-z - dirt on your shoulder
four: missy elliot - work it
five: q-tip - vivrant thing
six: usher - yeah!
seven: nelly furtado - maneater
eight: method man and fred durst - n2gether
nine: kelis - milkshake

hey mother nature!

why you gotta be such a tease?! you've given me a serious case of spring-fever this morning... not cool!

moving on

sometimes in life it is necessary to close chapters in order to open new ones... i've found that although this can be painful, it can also be incredibly freeing... like sometimes you're so stuck in the world as you know it, and comfortable, that its scary to think of what lies beyond all this... you don't really know what you're missing out on, though, because you've been comfortable for, like, four-and-half-years... what i'm getting at is this: for whatever reasons, sometimes its just best to not ask questions... not to think too much into the mechanics of it all and what you could've done differently... to just realize, that although the ride has been a good one, every new beginning must come from some other beginning's end.

with that said, please click here.

yes, folks, that beautiful gem of computery will soon be mine... technically, it is mine, i mean i've paid for it... but now i'm just "patiently" awaiting it's arrival [keep your fingers crossed for friday]... so if you see me completely beaming around town, you'll know why...

may my whitey [ibook g4] rest in peace... he and i have been through a lot, both good and [until recently] bad... i have cared for him to the best of my ability [he's lasted four.five years - so that's some serious protection in my opinion]... i thought the loss of such a dear friend would be more difficult, but the beauty of the unibody macbook quickly did away with all feelings of melancholy and grief...

so with that, i say "audios amigo!" and "mister fedex man, can you please hurry it up?!"

oh, mirah

this song meant a lot to me a few years ago... and by "a lot," i mean A LOT... "the dude" knows who he is and i'm sure he'd be OK about me mentioning him here if he ever stumbled across this blog...

anyway, this is not the official video but it's lovely nonetheless:


also, mirah will be at kilby court on march 17th - i know that's a bit out, but it gives us all something to look forward to... along with others including mr. bird and b.spears...

hot damn!

after the new computer
and after the bills are paid for the month [of february? yeah, it'll probably be february]
i think i'll treat myself to:

oh, bless you ray ban - for your stylish take on the iconic wayfarer...

iDork: you are never alone...

... i find this quite amusing... but then again, its an iDork thing, so you might not understand:

examined: thom yorke, adam levine, doo bee doo bee doo, and the like...

i have often come across deeply heart-felt love songs that make me stop and wonder about just whom the song was written for/about... specifically, i like to try to imagine the kind of man/woman that could hurt someone to the extent that such a beautiful song was written... see radiohead's "all i need" for the specific inspiration for this post... i've been thinking like this for years now, in regard to various artists and songs and whatnot... it's fascinating to me and i'm not exactly sure why... other than music has always been much, much more than just sounds for me. i think there are two kinds of people in this world - the ones that will understand exactly what i'm saying here and the one's that don't think of music+emotion on the same level... regardless, i remember listening to songs about jane [maroon 5] for the first time and thinking, "i'd sure like to meet the girl who ripped his heart out." ... i could elaborate and think of hundreds and thousands of other examples when i've paused in wonderment, but i'm feeling more blahg today than blog - so i'll just leave it at that...

does anyone else ever think of these things? [<--- that's an honest question and not just a solicitation for blog comments.]

short and sweet

i can't really make the claims of "best birthday ever!" or "i really couldn't have asked for more!" without following-up with a blog post... i'm not going to go into much detail, but needless to say, i stand by the aforementioned statements... i guess low-expectations going into it definitely helped, but even then, the few expectations i had were met times thirteen [seems like a reasonable number - and not as common as, oh say, ten]!

so thanks to all my family and friends for making me feel special... and not in the unfortunate-special way.

wowza

for someone who rides the trax enough to consider herself an "experienced rider," i sure had fiasco with it yesterday...

it all started with a call from my grandma:
grandma: can you do lunch at chuck-a-rama by fashion place at 2:00?
me: yeah, sure! i'll have dad pick me up... see you then! [or something like that]

[sidenote: it's important to note that chuck-a-rama has always intrigued me... i have been known to longingly stare at it as i am driven past the establishment on fouth south, but that is a story for another day... needless to say i probably won't be going back... and we can leave it at this: it's a good thing there was a restroom within ten feet of our table, but not a good thing that the toliet was broken. oops i did it again.]

so my dad picks me up and we meet up with the fam at the restaurant. i'm not going to go into detail on this because i feel like what was mentioned above is adequate... lets get to the point: my dad decides to go to the b.basketball game thus leaving me sans ride home. grandma offers to take me, but only after they decide to go bowling. i'm not a bowler. and also, i had plans in which i had to get ready for so i knew this would just totally throw me off schedule... so i decide to take the trax...

my aunt drops me off at the stop and as i'm looking in my wallet i discover i only have a ten dollar bill... said aunt asks if i need cash... "no, it's cool. it's saturday! they never check anyway" ... my aunt looks at me suspiciously [being the good 10%-giving-church-goer that she is], tells me she loves me, and yak yak yak...

so i get on the train, sit down and start playing on my wireless telephone device... i hear the words "tickets please" and see a u.t.a. policeman standing about five feet from me... fear ensues...

he starts hassling some guy who is thumbing through various pockets and whatnot, leaving me to an interal freak-out session... you see, the ticket/citation for not having proper fare is $133.00... $133.00!! that's money that i'd have to dip into my computer fund for IF i would've gotten caught... and for such a stupid reason...

the wanna-be-real-cop gets to me and i tell him, "i switched-out my wallet earlier and i dont have my pass... i'll get off at the next stop and buy a ticket" ... "OK," he says and proceeds down the aisle [that is not true at all, by the way - i was totally going off the sheet on that - good thing i'm a quick thinker!]. so i jump off [not literally, i dont want to hurt my non-cankles] and insert the $10 bill... while i'm waiting for my change, sackagewea dollars, the trax leaves... UGH! it was cold outside! but whatever, i'll deal with $8.00 in dollar-coins to not have to pay $133.00 - and let's be honest, i was really lucky... of course that was the only trax cop i saw, and the ride to the gallivan center plaza was quite uneventful... as i'm waiting to make the transfer, i decide to walk across the street and get a cup of coffee... wouldn't you know it?! the university train is running early... so i totally miss it... i'm kinda ok with that, as i did wash my hair earlier that day so my "getting ready time" won't be nearly as long, but at the same time i'm quite irritated - early?! come on u.t.a.! it's called a schedule for a reason!

so i purchase a back-issue of the believer and wait, in the cold, for fifteen minutes... the train comes, i get on, but being so consumed in the article i was reading, i realize that i've missed my stop when i get to the stadium... SONUVA!!! ...more waiting...

i eventually made it home, but the lesson here is this: pay attention. pay your fare. and just go bowling with the fam... grandma's van is way more warm that the train.

new romantic

laura marling:

in one word: stunning
this song makes me want to fall in love and then get quickly out of love - just so i can use this as "the song" ... but that seems like a lot of effort so i'll just keep listening to it without the emotional attachment.

nerd alert: online forums

before i purchased my bicycle, i did a lot of research on bikeforums.net.

i will be buying a new apple laptop [because its like i always say: once you go mac you never go back*] sometime in the near future, and although i have a sufficient idea of just what will suffice, i decided to do some research on the subject... enter the macrumors.com forums.

and sometimes when i'm bored, i peruse the craiglist's discussion boards. i'm not even buying anything when i do this - unless of course you look at it as "buying" entertainment - but even then it's a stretch.

--------------------------> forums=good / uninformed=bad

*i've actually never said this... until now.