I fucks wit that.

Appropriate title if you ask me.  Because as of right now a whole hand full of people seem to read my recent ranting of snow I've decided to write some things near and dear to me. The things I enjoy in life overtake what I do not like by a long shot. So please let me share some of both with you since I have an excessive amount of cabin fever thanks to this January snowstorm of 15+ ".

First I'd like to mention the obvious to anyone who knows me I like cameras. New and old of course. I currently own about 10 + cameras although maybe about half are in working condition. Some are more collectors than others but still.  I mean photography in general could be summarized into this also. I have my degree in photography despite actually using it Ill still always LOVE photography and cameras. I may be too poor to afford a fancy Nikon or Cannon digital SLR with tons of lens and built in filters but I'll continue to shoot and collect as best I can. Yes I own this exact old Polaroid camera as you see to our left but no i did not take this picture. I picked up this gem at an old thift store. Yes I shot the swing ride picture. It was a few years back but still a favorite. Photoshopped to get those colors to really pop. I like contrast.


Let us continue. Im a very big fan of Crafts. Maybe this goes along with the whole photography artsy type attitude but I love them. I love knitting with a nice size 15 needle and some basic thickness skein of yarn. (im not picky on the color). I can make some killer scarves and shawls!  I may know how to knit but hell if I can make anything worth while.  I enjoy coming up with ideas for new designs of clothes and trying to one day figure out my sewing machine(ONE DAY). I have a laminator machine in which I use scrap booking paper clearly for what its meant to be used for(JEWELRY!) cut out shapes and designs.. laminate them and viola! Of course you'll need other supplies as well but lets not go into that much detail. Im not the worlds best painter or so but hell if that will stop me. In a nutshell... Im a fan of any and all crafts. Except scrapbooks... they can shut up.

Im very hugely into the whole idea of Canoes. I love them. I want them on jewelry, I want them in photographs and your damn right I want to be in one right now!! (weather being about 50+ please thanks) I'll summarize I do enjoy all boats as a whole but row boats paddle boats and canoes. Oh how I adore thee.  Kayaks?... Lets just say we did not have the best experience Kayaking the rivers in pittsburgh so maybe kayaks can be left out. I guess I really shouldn't hold that happening against the Kayaks themselves.. I should blame the smart ass hipster boy who wouldn't tell us what to do in the event someone tipped their kayak over.  Oh and smart ass hipster boy who laughed at our misfortune... wawa is based out of wawa PA... aka middletown... aka pretty much media. ALL of which are no where near Washington DC. I hope he reads that at one point in his life so he doesn't embarass himself any further.   Anyways we decided to Kayak Pittsburgh PA for Lisa's Birthday. It was supposed to be a surprise but of course I had to tell her. It was during our Girls weekend this past July which was incredible. Yes we even made shirts to commemorate the weekend. Most of them involved pictures of kayaks tipping also.  So we decide to Kayak... Lisa and JV go first... then myself Lauren and Tina. Lisa being the smartest one asks "Sunshine" we will call him... "what do we do in the event that someone tips?"  his reply..."you wont". We proceeded to tell him how he does not understand and this will happen to which he laughed.
So Tina or Laur ended up getting stuck right where we kicked off... it took about 10 minutes to get away from that damn landing strip!We all decided  Lisa and JV were trying to win a race we clearly didn't know about so Tina Laur and I would stick together as the caboose.  We were not secured in but more just sitting on this floating plastic kayak! In a no wake zone there were people water skiing past us due to some concert in Pittsburgh that night. The "no wake zone" turned into a "please wake as much as you can" zone. Bridge after Bridge we went under laughing and taking pictures with a cheap digital water proof camera that clearly didn't work from target and wasted our lives taking 12312+ pictures to show some amazing things that happened.  So I guess this was dragonfly mating season and our kayaks were their steamy silky water beds that they had been waiting for. These damn things clearly attacked Lauren... Thus making her scream, wobble, and yes tip her kayak. Tina and I panic while the other two are on their way from hearing a scream and splash. She swims over to my kayak asking me to help her and me(being the amazing friend that I am of course) tell her to back up because Im not trying to tip. We managed to get all of her items out of her kayak into mine and somehow miraculously not have her kayak sink to the bottom. She kept trying to get in the kayak which would make the kayak be standing straight up in the water. At this point she cannot touch the ground and the kayak is now slowly sinking because its filling with water.  To make this amazingly long story short after  4 girls laughing at their friends, 3 kind strangers also on kayaks and 3 kind young boys hanging out on rocks and 2 other failed attempts to get the water out of the kayak and get Laur back INTO the kayak she was finally in (and not tipping like the other 2 times!)  We all finally stopped laughing enough to get our asses back to land and remember to Canoe more, Kayak less.

Yes I realize I just went WAY off topic to explain the amazing story of my Kayak experience but when I couldn't stop laughing after remembering that story I decided this was way more interesting than things that I like.

Stop me before I've said too much. My music recommendations are shortly explained BUT largely encouraged.
The first is two sisters with AMAZING voices covering the late Johnny Cash with Jack White. They are called The Secret Sisters. Their voices are nothing short of incredible. Although their style more country twang and very christian good girl their style and sass lead me to believe they may be anything but! The song is Big River again a Johnny Cash cover. Listen to it and tell me you don't love this song and yes this version of it as well.





My second one is a group called Family Of the Year. Their song Chugjug made famous thanks to an Advil commercial and I wont lie this is where I first heard this song. I love the upbeat attitude and gang sing along style of the song. Its something you want to go ride you bike, fly a kite or seriously just be laying on a blanket in the park to. I may have to do all of these while listening to this come spring time!  They do however have ALOT of incredible songs Im going to recommend you listen to Chugjug AND Lets be Honest because well... lets me honest(plug) they are both worthy of bikes kites and blankets. Enjoy!


xo.

Plowed In.

Although I usually have something interesting to say, as of right now I'm spent. My whole day has been thrown off due my boat of a car not being able to go over snow. So although I did not make it to work I've been sitting inside going stir crazy since I'm the only 26 year old who wants to go play in the snow. I had someone early this morning laughing at me when I Was cleaning off my car asking if I came out only to clean the snow off because I'm not going anywhere. Maybe I should have listened. Then on my way to wawa to get double hash browns I had some other neighbors laugh at me as I trudged on by. I thought it was extremely rude so as of right now I'm going to do this until I fall down. I bet it will help all of my self esteem issues for this snow day. (ha ha!)

Katy Perry Firework Dance moves for wii

ciao
xo

snow away please.

* ACCUMULATIONS: 5 TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW... WITH A COATING OF ICE POSSIBLE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE EVENT.

* TIMING: MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL START WEDNESDAY MORNING BETWEEN 4 AM AND THE END OF THE MORNING COMMUTE. THE MOST INTENSE PERIOD OF SNOW AND WIDESPREAD HAZARDS IS EXPECTED BETWEEN 6 PM AND MIDNIGHT. SNOWFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR ARE POSSIBLE.

Oh snow why do you find it necessary to interrupt my life at the most inopportune moments? Now although I will happily say and very quietly state it hasn't been as bad as it could be really. I'm a fan of snow when I have no where to go and nothing to do but once I figure out I'm out of essencial orange orange vitamin water , popcorn and cat food all hell will break loose. The snow however beautiful it may be(not including this wintry snow rain hail mix) causes nothing but anxiety and cabin fever. Anxiety that "maybe I forgot to pick up something, or do something, or visit somewhere as this exact moment that the roads are filled with ice and our cars iced over."  And of course the Cabin Fever for obvious reasons.  I remember being young and you couldn't stop everyone from going outside even if you told them it was raining blood! Now as we all get older our knees become weak with the change in weather and sinus pressure builds with each storm that blows through and we just aren't able to fight off the bitter cold like we used to. The disappointing part is that I may be growing older physically but mentally I want to slide down that hill on a trash can lid in hopes I may break something.  We haven't had   a really GOOD snow fall this year but I can say last year we had a killer one. Here are some pictures.

yes this was the grill in the back porch area...

lets say this is i-95 by the airport exit

some neighborhood kids in south philly burying Gary

its like a damn xmas card isn't it?

 imagine all that snow/ice weight crashing down.  too dramatic?

Well snow storm, You've already cancelled my bar night even without being here yet. I hate so much about you and yet we have not met yet. Lets all keep our fingers crossed that I don't slip and fall.. again.

If your already experiencing overly dramatic Cabin Fever you can listen to this song here. It will get you off the couch and dropping down low more than your knees can handle.  Its by Mark Ronson and the Business Intl. featuring Q-tip  and MNDR. Please research all of these people further. They are all musical genius's in their own unique and crazy way. We're listening to Bang Bang Bang tonight which is seriously an ackward combination of Santogold, Ting Tings style music and lyrics plus Q tips soulful type rapping and MR mixing it all together just seriously listen and be prepared to shake your ass and kick yours shoes off. How could anyone ever be so cold with such a hot beat to warm up to.  This song and others make me wish I knew french a lot better. But for now lets not get ahead of ourselves.

jusqu'à la prochaine fois, l'amant de revoirs

Multiple-Choice Correspondence

Formally the Multiple Choice Correspondence is a book (activity book if you will) that has prewritten (although not decided!) letters to people. You've got your love letters, your apology letters, your I miss you letters and so on and so forth.  The point of it is almost a Mad libs style only instead of being 100% creative in thinking of some naughty word to add into "verb" it gives you 4 options that you can safely(and at a PG rating) choose which best describes your mood.  The best part about this multiple choice letter is when its all said and done you'll still get an A for effort although your friend/enemy may be extremely confused at your letter it will most definitely be worth it my friends.  I was given this book for christmas or my birthday one year a while back and am extremely entertained with it. If you find yourself absolutely LOST without having one for yourself check it out here... Multiple-Choice Correspondence.

I'd like to take a few minutes to advise of my very productive night (despite my current lack of shower, it was worth it!) I made a fabulous dinner, got in 30 minutes of mindless T.V. face time, found two new bands Im in love with, filed away my tax forms since they are filed(yeah and its only January 21st), packed a few boxes which then lead to throwing things away (don't get too excited it was like 2 things out of 20), organized, deleted some pictures that had been kept way too long, figured out my external hard drive and how to trick my computer into thinking it has more free space than it does, blew up some phones for people I enjoy talking to and ate mint Oreo's that my fabulous friend Jenny bought for me a few weeks ago. Thanks Jenny!
This is Jenny.


Onto better things but I first must touch on the fact that yes I am moving out of my single alone living life to move in with a good friend.  This will be happening in March. I have decided its a great decision to start packing now due to the fact of not having to carry so many boxes out of this place later. The more I move now the less I have to panic about moving later! A lot of people do not seem to understand my reasoning behind this so please read the above statement before referring me back to the date that I am moving and pointing out that it is not for 3 months. Thanks dick.


I've been doing nothing but singing  Best Coast  songs all day! They are coming to Phiadelphia February 1st to the Starlight Ballroom.  It may be a Tuesday but this weekend I plan on getting my tickets even if I have to go alone! Although I've been singing nothing but Crazy for You AND Bratty B I think my recommendation for the song to listen to is one I actually just recently heard called When Im With You.  Although my songs may have A lot of happy lovely lyrics don't think I've done the same or you'll sadly be mistaken.



My 2nd recommendation for the night would be a new one I heard tonight on Y-Rock on XPN. Its actually a nice routine since I do not have an HD radio. Xpn all day(throw in some Katy Pery and Wokka Flaka haha!) and Yrock at night. I mean it only makes sense. I would post a link but I feel like I possible post way too many links on here already for you lazy folk who dont want to type in a google search.  Anyways, the band I heard are called Grandchildren. This song will have you tapping your feet so much your downstairs neighbors will start to complain (which you may benefit from if your like me and have been waiting for an opportune moment to mention the stank weed smell coming from their apartment up into yours).  Grandchildren are from Philadelphia on Green Owl Records.  They'll also be playing the First Unitarian Church on February 11th. This song is called Everlasting and the video is pretty sweet too. Plus look how excited they look about candy and cakes! I think we would be friends personally...

Now off to fall asleep to some Yrock like a good little fake hipster does and continue reading Auto Corrects. 

xo.

Music recommendations

This was important that I posted 3 songs for todays recommendation.
I will however dedicate this to a dear friend miss Lisa.

So Lisa, please take notes. 

First Im going to talk about a band Cheers Elephant.   Although Jenny MAY have hated this band when we saw them at World Cafe Live this past week or two, I found them to be quite the dance party. The first time seeing them over at Johnny Brendas months and months earlier. I cannot seem to shake out of my head the image of an astronaut dancing around stage along with lets say 30 other people including the band. This looked like a giant surprise party to me on stage... with an astronaut.  The important part is I did hear a new song(new album of course) on WXPN earlier today which is why they are my first recommendation.   Did I happen to Mention this was produced by Todd Mecaughey release January 8th 2011? He was the astronaut and an old friend of mine. 

Second lets talk about a song and band I just happen to hear tonight. My timing was beyond perfect for this little gem.  Yes I know I'm probably VERY late in hearing/liking them but this is too good to pass. Carrisa's Wierd. The song I cant stop listening to is Die. It looks like they disbanded in about 2003 although as most of us Get up Kids and Kid Dynamite fans know miracles DO happen and bands DO get back together(even if sometimes they shouldn't make new albums).  I still think the best era for music had to have been about 1998-2001. Ill stand by that statement to this day. Check these guys out and if you feel so inclined to download some songs, just google them and you'll find some free sites.

Last but hardly least right before I heard my second recommendation I happen to hear a screamy little number by Boyfriends.  I don't know much about them since it seems their "blog" however hardly updated does not explain much as a profile. I did however hear on the video that I stalked that they are from Lancaster, Pa which makes me VERY happy. Now if only I could get them to play closer to me or provide a couch to sleep on in the land of amish, cows, and hardcore.  Check out the song and video  "Those Dude Boys".  Oh how I love a good scream sometimes. 

I hope this is enough for you ackward music fans.  Till next time.

taxed to be taxed

Have you ever woken up with a stamp/marker that from the night before was previously located on your hand/fingers now located on everywhere else? Im talking your cheek, neck, somehow located on your pupil as well as on pillows and sheets(maybe even partially on your cat... dont ask). Well, 2011 feels like its going to be one of those years.

"your smart your kind your easy on my eyes...I know it feels good but thats why we shouldn't tonight"- band Owen song Good Deads. 

There's a lot of bad in this world that should help remind us all to be good or what we perceive to be "good". If you all haven't heard (or care which you should) Camden, Nj is firing half of its police staff and 1/3 of the firemen in the city.  Now If your not familiar with Camden let me enlighten you with some facts about this fair city in a "fair" at best State. 

The population total as of 2009 was aprpox 78,790. The land was officially settled in 1626.  Two out of every 5 individuals are below the poverty line. in 2009, Camden had the highest crime rate in the U.S. with 2,333 violent crimes per 100,000 people while the national average was 455 per 100,000. Camden is located directly across the Delaware river from Philadelphia, Pa.  They play host to the Camden River Sharks baseball team. They do have a pretty sweet Aquarium(my words not wiki's) and seem to have alot of larger bands that play at their Arena.  I should however mention they do have a fair amount of colleges seems how small the city itself is. Camden County College, Rowan University(Cooper Medical School of Rowan), Rutgers School of Law, Business, and Arts and Science, and University of Medicine and Dentistry. Based on statistics reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Camden was the third-most dangerous city in the U.S. during 2002, and has been ranked the nation's most dangerous city in 2004, 2005 and 2009."Most dangerous city" is based on crime statistics in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft.

Are you bored yet?  Im not. Im downright Terrified. State of NJ for shame on you for taking away some well needed blue strobe lights that are VERY much needed in a city in which most have lost hope. Yes your thinking " don't worry the Gaurdian Angels a non violent volunteer group will help aid in this!" But my friends... the common civilian can only go so far. In the interest in not ruffling feathers. I'll end this on Camden, Nj... I have hope for you and hope you have the same for me one day if I ever get to this point.

technology revolution

Its the start of a New Year 2011. The year which socialized medicine will commence, zombies will rise from the dead AND as a whole nation we cannot seem to leave 5 minutes from our homes without our precious cell phones.  ( and yes I tried to find the article of the man who proclaimed the dead will rise in 2011 but no I cannot seem to find it. Yes I realize this makes ME look like the crazy one).

about 12 years ago cell phones were a futuristic thing that no one could afford nor REALLY wanted. We all had sweet pagers that the boys kept to look tough and the girls put glitter and sparkles all over. These things worked fine. We would get secret messages with phone numbers we did not know but were curious to call later on to find out who "143's" us.  My whole point of this is that we used to live our lives normally without these damned things!  Now people don't have sense of direction without checking their phones for directions! We cant remember the lyrics to songs so instead of the normal reaction to sing whatever the hell YOU think it sounds like you check your phone to see what the next line is.  Its made us all lazy and crazy in the process.

MY personal issue with these is that I find myself addicted. Addicted to talking to people at all hours of the night. Addicted to sending unnecessary pictures of myself, my cat, random people and objects. I want pictures back. I mean if I think about it, who the hell gave me permission to be able to spill my guts out through a mindless worthless piece of technology. You may know what I'm siked about something, Or excited, or excitable; Possibly bored or going out and even sometimes my location but who gave you the right?  I mean logically these are normal things that people may share face to face, via phone or email, maybe even through a hand written letter but this kid makes it very conveniently ackward when your emotions are expressed but not responded too.

You may think this is a silly rant about being ignored via cell phone which shouldn't matter what so ever and if you guessed that you are correct. For these reasons and more I think I truly hate cellphones. This rant would have meant more to me if I happened to write it on my cell phone. I'll leave you with my recommendation of song to listen to for the day.

band warpaint -song Billie Holiday