Some Great Granola

Laura’s Blog Entry

Who’s had enough psychobabble? I hear ya. Time to get back to some photos of food and craft projects. Today was homemade granola day.

I use Alton Brown’s recipe. But with two substitutions: sliced almonds instead of slivered and walnuts instead of the cashews. It is totally delicious and if you make your own you’ll never buy it in the store again.

Here it is all toasted and stored in a canister.

And on to the scrapbook. I mentioned my “Some Great Live Shows” scrapbooks a few entries ago.

Here’s the title page:

It is up to two volumes and growing. It was so fun putting this one together. I organized it into sections by band, and then by tour.

These pages are from DM’s Music for the Masses Tour in 1987/1988. My first DM show was in Chicago. On these pages, I put in an entry from my journal from that time. Here what the text says:

“Journal Entry: Friday November 8, 1987
Yesterday I found out Depeche Mode will be in Chicago December 12. Today I got tickets on the floor. Will I make it to the performance?!! This is really a dream come true!”

What a complete geek I was. OK, still am. That show was one of the coolest events of my life.

The photo was taken in front of DM’s bus. No DM in sight, though. I am pictured with my friends Dan and Tony. That cobalt blue coat was something, huh? Tony is now a newscaster in Indianapolis. If anyone knows where Dan is these days, I’d love to know!

These pages show some memorabilia: A flyer from an “after party” at a local club following the concert. Yes, at one point in time DM did come to Cincinnati. Three times, to be exact. Also a ticket stub. For Music for the Masses, the tickets were going for $16.50 face value for the best seats. Those days are gone! The last tour in 2006 tickets were $75 each. And worth every cent, I tell you!

It’s amazing how much I remembered about all these shows when I put this together last year. This makes me very excited for the next tour. It will be such a different experience, now that we know so many cool fans.

I am pretty sure that I am going to open an Etsy store in the near future to pay for all this DM tour foolishness. I hope to have some hand-knitted items as well as some tote/handbags. The handbags are only in the research and development stage, but I started on the knitting project today.

Final thoughts – I haven’t forgotten about my plan to do creative stuff on Wednesdays. That’s why I drafted this post tonight. Tomorrow morning after my workout I am will be working on lyrics. It feels great to be back in action!

Forgiveness

Laura’s Blog Entry

As I look back over the psycho-ramblings I like to call my last two blog entries, I realize that they were a reflection of a insight about to happen. The insight came over the weekend. On Sunday when I finally started to feel better.

I have been in a bit of a funk about my lack of energy and motivation. Honestly it turns out it was yet another instance of FEAR rearing his ugly head and looking in my direction.

The last few winters I have had a bit of a draggy period in February March. I’m pretty sure now, after two years, that it is simply the effect of the cold, dark winter. Just when I think I can’t take it anymore, March hits, it warms up slightly, and the days get longer. And boom. I feel better.

Well, when I got this last bout of the plague, all I wanted to do was sleep. And then sleep some more. And that, my friends, equals huge amounts of GUILT.

GUILT that I should be getting something done, because I don’t have to go to a job and earn money so I better have something to show for my time each day.

GUILT that I should be so gratefully to be able to stay at home that I should bound out of bed each morning with a song in my heart and enough cheer to choke a horse. (How could cheer actually choke a horse, you may ask. I have no idea but I like that metaphor so I am not editing it out.)

GUILT that if I am not happy 24/7 I am somehow letting down all those people who wish they didn’t have to work and could also stay home. I don’t understand this one in the least. But I feel guilty about it. Really.

But that wasn’t the problem. It turns out the real issue was that along with that side of GUILT there was this huge entrée of FEAR. Here’s the bottom line:

I was really afraid that I was slipping into that low-energy-void again. And I wouldn’t be able to get out of it this time.

Yet again, I chose not to allow myself the care that I needed without paying the price of GUILT. I did what any self-respecting recovering-over-achiever-perfectionist does: I beat myself up.

Today I ran across this blog at the 43 Folders website. And it was written for me, I swear.

I didn’t know that I was pulling the hood of an old Ford truck off the pile, crawling under, and dying with my bootstraps on. But I was. That’s all. No big deal. The world didn’t end.

Thanks, Joel Johnson. And BTW, your Ford truck metaphor is much better than my choking-a-horse one. Totally.

Agenda

Laura’s Blog Entry

So here’s my strategy for next week:

Back off the Psycho-Suzy-Homemaker Crap.

What do you think? Kinda brilliant in its simplicity. Should be easy.

Except I do want to have a nice fresh batch of homemade granola to go with my yogurt. And Venus did that really helpful tutorial on her blog about how to make homemade bagels. And if I don’t get the shower curtain rod spray painted silver right away I won’t be able to sleep at night.

See what I am dealing with? I am starting to see where my time has been going.

What I really, really need to do is finish up getting the financial stuff together for the accountant who is doing our taxes. It’s good to know that if we actually finish Neil’s album, and put it up for sale, we have someone who can help us manage the tens of dollars that will no doubt be pouring in from sales.

At least today can be a day of rest. There’s always that…

*Runs off to find more crock pot recipes to share with Sue from “Down Under.” Plans meals for the week. Finishes up the podcast script. Empties dishwasher 24 times.*

This is going well!

(Note: photo above is from emflem on DeviantART. Maybe if I looked this cool I wouldn’t care if I got anything done or not.)

The Bold and the Beautiful and the Creatively Frustrated

Laura’s Blog Entry

Rethinking some processes and systems. Follow me on this.

Usually I structure my day like this:

1- Get child up and ready for school.

2- Check the web for podcast stats, check the show e-mail, check Myspace and Facebook, check all the blogs I read for updates.

3- Exercise or get going on housework.

4- Reward myself with some time to work on music or the blog or other creative projects.

But I think I need to make a change. I’ve been taking to heart some things lately from Todd at accidentalcreative.com. He recommends that to really develop some creative muscle you have to build in a creative discipline, not just do creative things when you have time, or when you have a project due.

I am really experiencing some frustration lately. I have some things I have wanted to work on for some time. I need to build them into my day, instead of using them as a reward. Because lately I’m either too busy to ever get to the reward, or when I do get there I’m just too tired.

Case in point, I was going to scrapbook over the holidays while Mari was out of school. She could work on hers and I could do mine for our trip to LA in 2004. Not sure what I did instead; I wasn’t sitting around doing nothing. But I sure as heck wasn’t scrapbooking. Scrapbooking for me is another form of writing. My scrapbooks look quite a bit like our blog. I include lots of journaling along with the photos and memorabilia. I think I’ll photograph the “Some Great Live Shows” series of scrapbooks and post them so you can see what it looks like.

Another example – two weeks ago I wanted to start on the lyrics for “Song 4.” Haven’t even cracked the notebook.

So I am going to try to schedule in some time during the day. Starting with one day a week. I’m thinking Wednesday. I can run myself ragged on Monday and Tuesday and then have something fun to look forward to. See, there I go with the reward thing again. It shouldn’t be a reward!

Now to be fair, I lost time being sick recently. I spent three days this week either in bed or on the couch in serious sinus pain. So much pain, in fact that by Tuesday I actually resorted to checking out what was going on in Soap Opera-land. No kidding. Must have been delirious. Seriously.

I watched soaps as a child/teen – I inherited the CBS lineup from my grandmother. But after college I lost interest, what with my job and all. Making a living sure interferes with daytime TV watching.

So the other day to keep from stabbing a fork in my face I thought I’d check out  “The Young and the Restless.” I watch it sometimes when Neil’s mom is visiting. It’s like all high drama and shiny lip gloss. Well, I missed Y&R, but I was just in time for my soap opera nemesis: “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Can I tell you how much this show has always annoyed the snot out of me? Even as a kid it drove me nuts.

But I digress. Just as I hit the channel, the opening credits began… and they were a thing a beauty! It is a star-studded romp these days on B&B! Along with all the original actors that are still around, there is now Jack Wagner! And Lesley-Anne Down! You can’t mean it!

My cold meds had kicked in, and the next thing I knew it was 30 minutes later and I was on to “As the World Turns.” This is a classic in my family. I must be pretty smart, because I hadn’t seen it in years, yet I could follow the storyline right away. Even heavily medicated. Boy was that fun!

I am so tempted to head back today. There is a creepy ventriloquist guy on there, people! And his dummy is up to no good! Heads are gonna roll! Someone will be kidnapped! I can feel it! So this is what we used to do before the internets…

OK, so have I accomplished something here? I’m not sure. But I did sit down and blog before doing laundry. Maybe that’s at least a start.

Long Time No Blog

Laura’s Blog Entry

Warning: The following blog post is sad and pitiful… and contains nary a Depeche Mode mention. (And a stolen title from Venus!)

Been hit here with another virus from the depths of hell. I’ve not felt like knitting or blogging; I must be sick! I hope to rally by the end of the week to get our February podcast episode recorded. I am left with very little voice right now, so it might be interesting.

I am so bummed not to be working on music. And I very much appreciate all the lovely supportive comments left on the last entry about Gothy Musicland.

I even wish I could get back to work on my year-end financial stuff. I am bored silly. The good news is I’ve completed the mocking stack of receipts. Take that, you paper monster!

Not been taking many photos, but here’s one from over the holidays. I found Mari in this position reading a book.

Ouch! It hurts just to look at her!

Did this blog post have a point? Not sure…OK, back to the sofa. Let’s hope tomorrow brings with it a little less exhaustion.

Mari-isms

Me: Mari, you can’t read a book and make your bed at the same time.

Mari: Uh-huh! It’s called multi-tasking!

Welcome to Gothy-Music-Land (Part 4): Adventures of a Vocalist Wannabe

Laura’s Blog Entry

As I fake my way through singing on Neil’s new record, I thought I’d blog some of my thoughts and experiences. I have always wanted to write songs and sing. OK, really all I wanted to do was sing backup harmonies, but since there’s no other lead vocalist involved I’ve been nominated for lead vocals.

It’s been an interesting experience. We started out last year by doing a couple cover songs, just to see how it would go. Neil had fun recreating songs that we love. We chose Depeche Mode’s “Blue Dress” and “Something in the Way” by Nirvana. Once Neil worked out an interesting version of each song, we adjusted them into the proper vocal range. Then I worked for about 3 months on just discovering how to best sing them. Since both songs were by male vocalists originally, I couldn’t fall into my normal trap of mimicking the vocalist – because I really couldn’t. I had to find my own way to sing the songs.

I really love how we came up with different arrangements that had the spirit of the original, but became our own. I enjoyed working to see what my voice could do, and trying to match what I hear inside my head.

Once we had those two songs together, we started working on Neil’s original songs. He writes his stuff in a very instrumentally focused manner – meaning he doesn’t come up with a melody line first and then make a song around it. He makes everything else first – a drum track, multiple synth lines – until he gets an atmosphere together. Then he lays a melody line over the top of it.

Neil wanted me to work on lyrics because I have tons and tons of notebooks full of writing. I always thought that I was writing lyrics, not poems, even though there were no songs around at the time. Once we had the melody for what we were calling “Song 7,” I sat down and got to work on fitting words to it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to write something on the spot, or use something from the archive. My writing rarely rhymes, so I was a little concerned about that.

Well, I was flipping through my notebook and stopped at something I wrote in 1994. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. It’s a very, very personal lyric, and so I thought, “Yes, let’s do that one!” Why not just put it all out there, right?

So I started working with the rhythm of the words and added a few lines here and there. It ended up working quite well. It tells a story – at least to me.

I’ve been working the past couple weeks on the vocal performance. It is about three quarters of the way there. I just want to take it a bit farther and I’ll be satisfied. As long as it is the best I can do, I feel OK about it.

Neil and I worked this weekend on what we are calling a “pre-mix” vocal. The guitarist who is working on the project has done some amazing work, but hasn’t even heard what my vocal sounds like. We want to give him an idea of what the whole is going to be.

Last night we had a little 5.1 surround sound demo for a friend. He works in the music industry and like, knows stuff. It was so interesting to listen to his analysis of the Depeche Mode remastered albums. We played him a selection of things and he gave them his seal of approval. I am learning so much from him. He talks about frequency and plug-ins and mastering and mixing; it’s all fascinating. We played him our little “pre-mix” last night to get some feedback and pointers on the mixing. What I found really helpful is how he explained to me that it is not cheating to really work a vocal track in the mixing stage.

Here’s my twisted philosophy. I feel like I should at least be able to sing an entire verse or a chorus at a time and give a good performance. I don’t want to have to record the song line-by-line, or phrase-by-phrase so that someone can patch together the very best pieces and make it sound like I am perfect. I don’t feel I can give a performance that is “there” emotionally if I do it in tiny pieces. I think that if I can’t sing at least a verse straight through and make it sound good then I am not a good enough singer and shouldn’t be trying to record a song.

But apparently that is the way it is done. EVERYONE does it. On the one hand, I feel better that people I greatly admire don’t sing everything perfectly the first time through. Although I’m sure Martin Gore does and no one can convince me otherwise.

Now I can have a different attitude going forward with this. If I can get lines and phrases the way I want them, I should be satisfied for now. I still have the goal of getting out a verse at a time, but maybe not just yet.

I am really excited to start working on lyrics for “Song 4” this week. This is so fun! I am slightly nervous when I think that the goal is for other people to actually hear this, but for now it is just my little project. I am just going to focus on doing something I like the sound of. I’ll freak out about the rest of you all later!

I Might Like You Better…

Neil’s Blog Entry

I got a bunch of iTunes gift cards for Christmas and one night last week I decided to go on a little shopping spree. So I grabbed my laptop, parked my butt on the big leather chair and plugged in my headphones.

First up was getting my Cocteau Twins catalog updated. I’ve been wanting to replace these albums for some time now as most of them were low quality mp3s made from cassettes and albums fifteen years ago. To my delight, there were remastered versions which sound absolutely delicious. Finally! “Oomingmak” without the scratches!

Next up was looking for some new music. Every now and then, I’ll go to the Top Albums section of the electronic music genre on iTunes and listen to a track or two. If I like what I hear then I’ll buy the album. This is the way I found Imogen Heap, who – as most fans will know – has been on the Top Albums list for about a hundred years now. Anyway, I found a band called Faunts who I really like. They’re kinda Radiohead-ish. They have two albums up on iTunes and both are worth checking out.

Next up was Still by Nine Inch Nails. This is a collection of softer acoustic-like versions of music by Mr. Reznor. Very nice indeed.

Finally, I was feeling a bit nostalgic for some of the songs I grew up with. These are some of the songs that I remember from my dreamy dance club days… This was dance music before it all started to sound like the same track played over and over again… Do I hear a rant coming on? Nah. I’ll save that for later. Anyway, after a bit of head scratching (what WAS the name of that one band?) I put together a pretty cool playlist – if I do say so myself.

Here’s the list:

1. Never Say Never – Romeo Void
2. Mirror In the Bathroom – The English Beat
3. Smalltown Boy – Bronski Beat
4. Original Sin – INXS
5. Gone Daddy Gone – Violent Femmes
6. I Predict – Sparks
7. Place In the Country – Adam Ant
8. Do You Wanna Hold Me? – Bow Wow Wow
9. It’s My Life – Talk Talk
10. I Know What Boys Like – The Waitresses
11. Our House – Madness
12. I Beg Your Pardon – Kon Kan
13. Love U More – Sunscreem
14. Only You – Yaz
15. Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies
16. Jane Says – Jane’s Addiction
17. Space Age Love Song – A Flock of Seagulls
18. Here Comes the Rain Again – Eurythmics
19. Miss Me Blind – Culture Club
20. Love My Way – The Psychedlic Furs
21. Man Called Marco – Adam Ant

PS – I also made an iMix on iTunes so that you too can enjoy my little trip down memory lane. Have at it!

Still with no pithy catchphrase,
Neil

A Delicious, Blogilicious Morning

Laura’s Blog Entry

What fun! Most of the blogs I read had updates this morning. Not sure why that makes me happy, but it does. I am still humming the song “Electric Dreams” thanks to Digital Meatloaf. Thanks, boys. I dutifully then started entering receipts into the computer so I can do our year-end financial stuff. I do not relish this task, so I am rewarding myself with a little blog-writing break. Yipee!

Since Neil hasn’t had time to blog about the new playlist he created (It’s awesome, dude!) I’ll have to fill the space with a knitting update *giggles with glee at any reason to blog about knitting*.

First of all, I want to backtrack and show the mystery knitting I had tried to photograph while still keeping it obscured on an earlier entry:

These are coaster that I knit for my sister for Christmas. I got the pattern here, but I worked out the colors and sizes of the rings. I love colored pencils! Here are my sketches:

It was a challenge to knit these in the round, but they felted up great and are very cost effective to make using Patons Classic Wool. I plan to make some for myself with the left-over yarn.

If you are interested, I used the following colors:

Gold: Old Gold
Brown: Chestnut Brown
Blue: New Denim
Green: Leaf Green
Red: Burgundy

Next, I finished up my practice socks. These were knitted on two circular needles with the help of a great website.

I just increased the length of the foot from the pattern so that they would fit Mari. She can wear them as slipper socks around the house. Although the fact that they don’t match might push her over the edge. Knitting on two circular needles is confusing at first, so I used two different yarns to keep myself from making mistakes.

Guess I absorbed the technique, because here is what I am working on now:

Two socks (for me!) using what I call the “crazy yarn” sent to me by Nicole in my prize package. The yarn is from Italy and distributed by Coats GmbH and called “Regia” from what I can tell from the non-English label. The colorway is actually called “Crazy Color.” I had to figure out how to cast on and knit from the toe up on these because I don’t want to run out of yarn before I finish. They can just be footies if it works out that way.

Now that I’ve gotten to play for a bit, I have to get back to the precarious pile of receipts. If a stiff breeze (or a curious cat) blows through here I am toast!

December Gift Bonanza

Laura’s Blog Entry

While the holiday season is still fresh in mind I thought I’d show off some of my SWAG – except it’s not Stuff-We-All-Get… because it is Stuff-That-I-Got. So make that STIG.

But first, a little aside. We have a cool little scrapbook given to us by Neil’s Grandmother as a wedding present.

In it you can record what you did over the holiday, insert photos of your Christmas tree that year, the Christmas card you sent, and any other memories you want to preserve. I have been filling it in every year faithfully since 1990.

Well last year I blew it. I didn’t write anything down. Guess I was tired. I didn’t even scratch down any notes or anything. I have pulled together some cards and photos, but I am having a hard time remembering what we all got for Christmas. In a way that is really lame. It makes me feel like I was ungrateful. But in another way it is good. It means the holidays are not just only about the gifts. I really do appreciate everything I get, but I don’t spend the year dreaming and waiting and wanting. OK, except for the 5.1 surround system. I dreamed about that.

Anyway, this year I am blogging this stuff so I can look back on it fondly. (And remember what I got when I get around to filling in the book in July or something.) For my birthday I got some wonderful Tasty Jewelry. Diane sent me a gift from her other jewelry line. It is a cocktail ring I have been lusting after for awhile. Now I simply must go out for cocktails so I can show it off.

I also used birthday money to get a skull ring and a pretty floral necklace.

 

So I now have punk/goth, cocktail fabulous along with pretty and sweet all covered!

Then there are the gothy boots.

These go well with the skull ring, I must say. Bless you DSW Shoe Warehouse. You and your clearance section never let me down. Must now find a short skirt so as to show off the buckles in they way they were intended. The wanting never seems to end… I think I have just contradicted my previous statement about not wanting all year long. It was a nice sentiment while it lasted…

I am also ultra excited to spend my gift cards at Target, Lowes and iTunes. Dining room curtains are in my future. It’s only been 13 years in this house; what’s the rush?

Finally, my sister and her family got me a really pretty wine chiller. It is hip and mod and looks great on the bar.

It is a bit overwhelming to get so much new stuff, all in December, but that’s what it’s like to be a December baby. Here’s to enjoying the stuff we’ve got to the fullest degree possible. Now where is that corkscrew?