Hella Stella

I feel like my life is in a holding pattern at the moment, which is probably why I'm not blogging as much as usual. I'm going through the motions, doing my everyday stuff, but it's all overshadowed by the looming album prep.

Here's the funny thing: it's not like I'm working around the clock on the CD. Quite the opposite. The only "work" I'm doing right now is helping develop the new web site, planning finances, sorting out my promo ideas, and waiting for my next studio session. It's just that this big goal is weighing on my brain, and it will continue to do so until it's finished. I like the weight - it reminds me of what I'm good at.

The challenge is to think of other things to talk about while my thoughts are stuck on a hamster wheel.

I know... How about French verbs? Do you know how spectacularly bad I am at French verbs, even though I can understand and speak the language without much issue? It's embarrassing, frankly, but I'm too stubborn to give up this easily. Here's my problem: I look at a French verb conjugation question, my brain says "THIS IS LIKE MATH! AAAAH!" and then I freeze. No matter how many tricks I memorize, how many times I go over verb charts, my brain has a seizure and runs away.

However, because I need to improve, I also need to find a way to understand something that insists on remaining abstract and distant. My coworker suggested I start reading in French, more than just work e-mails, to normalize how all these exercises are used in regular conversation. I think that's a great idea. Here's hoping I don't crash and burn. I think I'll start with Harry Potter in French, so I like the story enough to continue.

I could also talk about my dogs, which would be strange and unusual for me.

If you've been reading here a while, you may remember that when we got Frida last year, the transition to a two-dog household was anything but smooth. Both dogs were freaked out, they didn't get along, and Morty was sad. It was the worst.

It's been almost a year since that shitty time, and dudes, it's like night and day. Not only do they love each other, but they nap together (imagine limbs all entwined, porky bulldog dreams, and nuzzling), and they occasionally share toys.

THEY SHARE TOYS.

For about 8 months, whenever Frida would show interest in a toy, Morty would stroll over, knock her out of the way, and remove the plushie in question. Now, astoundingly, they can both chew on either end of a toy and be quite comfortable. It's a delightful transition.

And that concludes today's rambling post about French verbs, porky bulldogs, and heavy brains. Holy shit, I need to get out more.

Now that the album prep is in full swing, I'm being asked a lot of questions about my plans. Titles, song arrangements, design ideas, etc.

It's been tough deciding how much info to divulge before I start to censor... And this is for a few reasons. Mainly this: I question my judgement when I get too much input.

Last time I released an album, I let others guide me through the process. I got a lot of advice, weighed my options, and tried to make the best choices given what I had been told.

The thing is, after it was all done, I realized that I would have been much happier with my original ideas. I didn't like some of the things I tried; I didn't like how I had let myself be swayed by people's comments and suggestions.

So I think I'm done. Unless I deem it completely harmless, I'm not going to share too many album details until the work is finished. When it comes to creative projects, my gut seems to know what it's doing.... And I'm thankful for that.

Some things that are moving forward:

- The new website should be up by April! Squeee!

- I'm rehearsing this week with my drummer, and we record together next weekend.

- I have another new song, and I like it.


In unrelated news, look at my adorable dogs:

I'm not much of an app buyer. I don't even really buy music off iTunes - still strictly a CD type of gal. But I read a few reviews of Hipstamatic, and thought it sounded like fun.

Verdict: It IS fun! I've started actually taking pictures with my iPhone.

This is Morty, relaxing on our rumply bed. He's not much of a morning doggie.... It takes coaxing (read: chicken) to get him up and about.




This is my favourite lamp. You can see the corner of our new couch, which I'm hoping won't fall apart when people sit on it. So far so good.

Sweet little Frida. Doesn't she look cute? I think she's up to something.

I was unsuccessful in getting Morty out of bed. Poor dude has a tough life. All that sleeping is exhausting, right?

In other news, I need to do something about my Facebook account. I get about 20 event invites a day. I'm "friends" with too many people I don't really know. But it's really the invites that get me.

Should I block invites from people who are the worst offenders? Should I cull my friend list and change my name? I know that when I have a gig, I only invite people I think might actually want to come. I don't invite people who live in other cities, and I don't invite people who I know hate live shows. I do this out of common courtesy, and also because that's how I hope to be invited to events... But I think I'll have to change tactics.

Facebook was looking like a real help as far as music promotion goes, but now I'm wondering if people are just overwhelmed by all the information. Myspace is totally antiquated, and I'm waiting until the joyful day I can finally delete my page. So what does that leave? I guess I'll have to plug along with my plans to re-vamp my web site, and go from there.

My BH and I leave for Toronto tomorrow morning. We have plans to spoil Shawna, hang with my ex, buy amazing chocolate, look at some sexy shoes, and have a grand old time. Oh, and play music, of course.

Onwards and upwards!

I'm officially excited for Christmas. I'm already listening to my favourite Christmas music, planning what cookies to bake, and buying gifts. Do you think that's weird? Given that I'm mostly Jewish?

Anyway.

My choir is also going to be doing carolling (at my insistence, hehe) and that's got me excited too.

My BH, an avid fruitcake fan, is already steeping candied fruit in booze. I don't like fruitcake, but I've learned to stop questioning his devotion. Once, at a wedding, I saw him go from table to table scooping up people's discarded fruitcake favours. He looked like a kid in a candy store, except that the candy was strong-tasting cake that could break your teeth.

Gotta love that that guy.

My studio is all tiled, so now we have to hang a couple of shelves and we're done. I can't wait to start recording - oh man oh man.

You know what else? Thanks to our awesome vet, Frida has a functioning ear canal and is... Get this..... RARELY ITCHY. Can you believe it? When we got her, if she wasn't sleeping, she was scratching until she bled. We are overjoyed that she's feeling better.

Her happiness has also translated into her being more playful with Morty, which for Frida means that she lovingly bats him in the face. Repeatedly. Until he plays with her. Bulldogs!

More soon...

A few things:

I'm selling some household items for the first time on Craigslist and Kijiji. It's been... Interesting. Somebody who wanted to buy my used stove called himself "Grandmaster Sexy." I'm cutting my losses and not responding. Not looking to bag myself an internet psycho, thanks.

Frida's itching didn't improve so we took her to a new vet. The new vet was horrified that her old vet didn't do more, and sooner. Now I'm angry. Poor little Frida.

I've pulled something funny in my neck, and it's affecting my shoulders, back, right leg and ankle. WTF? I'm all hurty!

Lastly.... I've started Christmas shopping. Don't freak out, I know I'm crazy, but DUDES. It's just so much easier to get it done early. I'm telling ya.

Have a great weekend! We're doing a million things. Approximately.

As I have mentioned before, Frida, the littlest bulldog, has a lot of allergies. When we adopted her in April, she came with a bag of hypo-allergenic food and the warning that "she itches a lot."

C'est tout.

It seems to me that if your dog is on hypo-allergenic food and she's still red and itchy, maybe the food isn't doing the trick. But what do I know?

We changed her food several times, theorized about what she was reacting to, and gave her nightly anti-histamines. Some improvement, but not enough. A few weeks ago, we took her to the vet and got an allergy test done. Her blood samples had to be sent away for testing, and we got the full results in the mail today. Wanna hear?

Frida is allergic to the following:

pork
beef
fish
dairy
carrots
yeast
oats
dust
a variety of trees (including maple!)
grass
several weeds
feathers
CATS

... Seriously.

My BH and I are going to spend the evening looking into different types of dog food until we find something that works for her. Then we're going to switch our down duvet for something less.... Allergic. And THANK GOODNESS we decided to stick it out with EcoLawn instead of grass seed. It would have been sad to have a nice yard that only one dog could enjoy.

It's funny, but before we got Frida, I could not have imagined living with a dog who was so sensitive. Now that she's ours, I wouldn't have it any other way.

___________________________________


In other news, tonight I'll be trading in my old classical Washburn guitar for a newer classical cutaway with a pickup. I'm so excited I could pee. I'll post pictures when the deal is done.... It's on hold for me right now!

For you guitar folks out there, lately I've been craving the warm sound of nylon strings over the familiar twang of my steel string Cort. After the disaster that was my Steve's Music experience, I headed down to Spaceman Music and found a sweet little guitar with my name on it. I also put in an order for Pro Tools, which should arrive in a couple of weeks. Suck on that, Steve's.

This is what Frida does when she wants to play with Morty.

He hasn't quite figured that out yet.

Thanks to Milan for the shot (although I suspect I might have taken this one). Thanks to Milan for letting me hold his camera long enough to take pictures of my dogs.

In other news...

Our EcoLawn is growing! We planted it in mushroom compost this time around and it seems to be working.

I'll update the house blog with pictures soon.

Tah for now...

Cat: Meet bulldogs.

Oh hai.

I'm just sitting here with my two gassy bulldogs, waiting for my asshole landlord to come by.

You know what's funny about that? I'm a landlord too, now. And I know what not to do because of this guy. I'm not going to thank him for it, but there you have it.



I go back to work tomorrow, which is both good and bad. It's good because it will give me a break from the renos so I can organize my lists and receipts. The rest will be nice.

It also means I'll miss the majority of the garage demolition, which is a bit depressing. How many times am I going to be able to watch a team of shirtless, sweaty men tear down a building in my backyard? I mean, really.

Morty can't wait to have a yard. I can see it in his eyes. Actually, it will happen really quickly.... The garage should be down in about a day and a half.

I'm alive!

I've done more painting and demolition in the past two weeks than I've ever attempted.... Ever. I also know the layout of Home Depot pretty much by heart, which is not a skill I hoped to master. But there you have it.

The next week will be spent putting down a wood floor. Then we actually start moving in. I honestly can't wait to see it come together.

But enough about the house! Surely other things have been going on... Right? Here's a rundown of my activities as of late:

- I played the Tulip Fest, but because they didn't have a CD tent, I missed out on the chance to actually sell anything. Thank goodness it was a paying gig.

- I don't think I'm going to play any gigs for the rest of the summer. My rationalization is that I want to give my brain some time to enjoy the new house, and maybe even have some quiet writing time. Also.... I'm just burned out.

- It's become clear to me in the past couple of weeks that I'm good at being bossy. Maybe I could make a career out of that...

- My little sister is graduating! I'll head up to Peterborough next week for the ceremony. My enjoyment of Peterborough is always tied to two things: how much I can drink while I'm there, and how many antique stores I can hit up. If I do neither of these things, I tend to dislike my visit. Sorry, town.

- The neighbours on my new street are lovely. This is good, because they have some tough competition from my current beloved street.

- Despite extensive planning, we've been eating like crap since the renos started. I don't really have a good excuse - I just need to make time to cook. No more take out. Say it with me now.

- My dogs? They are adorable. The other day, Frida got into a tube of toothpaste and was covered by the time we got home. Minty fresh puppy. Also.... Terribly mischievous.

Thanks for sticking with me, folks!

EDIT: Ooooh, I almost forgot.... There is a distinct possibility that we will have a swap box at the new house. More soon.

Hey! Remember when my BH took my inseam while I was brushing my teeth? And then I figured he was getting me pants for my birthday?

Guess what.



He did it to throw me off. He was actually ordering a fancy-pants tool belt.



Dang, it's nice. Morty is scared shitless of it, but Frida's cool with just about everything. I'll bet I could fit her in one of the pockets.

I'm also modeling a birthday gift from Shawna, who sends me excellent things every year. Thanks sugar! I love the shirt!

We get the house in three days. I'll be getting some use out of this belt, especially since we'll be tearing up carpets and installing floors mighty fast. I'm toying with the idea of not removing the baseboards completely, but we'll see if there's enough clearance. More talk about baseboards will pop up here.

I've got one more gig on May 23 at the Tulip Festival (7pm! Major's Hill!), and then I'm going to try and take the next few months off gigging. I'd like to recharge a bit before I book more shows.

I'm off to kiss a newborn. See y'all soon!

So today's a bit odd.

It's my birthday, but it's also Matt's funeral. Maybe a little more sombre a day than I expected, but I'm looking forward to seeing my old school friends at the wake. Tonight I'm going to a play my dad directed, and then I curling up on the couch with my BH.

I'm sure it will all be fine. There is a lot to look forward to this month, after all.

Last night I saw Iron Man II and it gave me the most insane migraine, I actually got a nosebleed. Weird, no? I'm not sure that speaks very highly of the film. I spent the last hour of it holding my head in my hands, grumbling to myself.

Frida's stitches are healing up nicely, and she's back to her old feisty self. Morty's not sure if that's a good thing or not - he was getting used to being top dog again. Oh, they are deliciously cute together.

My choir is performing our spring concert this Saturday! I'm looking forward to it..... And come to think of it, it will be the last time I sing with the choir for a while. The house will officially take over my schedule next week.

Bye for now, puppies!

So! The gig went very well! Let me tell you my secret!

Take a few long swigs of Buckley's before you hop on stage. Your head will be clear *just* long enough to sing. Then take three days off work to recover, because your cold will knock your ass down for staying up late to sing.

I should be in good vocal form for Saturday's gig at the Cajun Attic, or at least, that's the hope.

Other fun things happened at the show....

That famous dude I linked to earlier really liked my songs and told me so repeatedly in front of the audience. It took all my strength not to yell SQUEEEEEE right then and there.

I taped an interview with Ottawa Tonite that will go up at some point, featuring one of my favourite guys, Bob LeDrew.

Brandon, the charming cameradude, recorded one on my songs and will put it up on the Youtube soonish.

Excitement!

In other news, we ordered all our flooring for the house, which may be the final nail in the coffin for my credit card. Mostly because we are pretty much flooring the entire house, nearly every room, which is a lot of square footage. The flooring itself was a great deal.

Frida got fixed yesterday, which means her adoption is finalized! Can you believe it? Two bulldogs? I am a lucky girl. Morty is very worried about her and keeps sniffing her stitches. Then he licks her ears.

I think my BH is planning a strange gift for me, because this morning, as I was brushing my teeth, he measured my inseam and my waist. Pants, perhaps? He's a funny guy.

Perhaps the only downside to having two bulldogs is the sheer amount of gas those two emit. We're opening the windows like crazy around here, and our incense supply is dwindling. For real. It's starting to get funny.

Our final visit at the house takes place this afternoon. I'm extremely nervous about it. We're taking a contractor with us for some quotes and I'm scared about how much everything will cost me. Luckily, the contractor is a great guy... So hopefully he won't judge me if I cry after he gives me the amount.

There are repairs I can choose not to do, or choose to do myself, so that's what I'll decide after the visit.

We've also signed the lease with the new tenants, so the race is on!

In non-house news, I have two gigs next week, and then I'm playing at the Tulip Festival! I don't think I've ever had a paying gig there. Should be fun. I'll be covered in paint and drywall dust, but so be it.

To end this post on a cheerful note, we just got work that my workplace is cutting jobs. I'm pretty confident that my position is safe, but it sure put a downer on the day. I think my work qualifies as "essential" there, but I guess you never know. Oh well. Can't think about that now. I've got a house to fix.

Frieda is doing well.


Sometimes she falls asleep on Morty's balls.

Sometimes Morty grooms her for hours.

She's also learning to play, bit by bit.

Bulldogs. Is there anything better?

I mean it.

The countdown is on: less than four weeks until we take possession of the house. CRAZINESS.

I'll be talking about the house casually on this blog, but if you want more details, I've started a new blog that will focus only on the renos, being a landlord, messing up repairs, etc.

To clarify:

This blog: life, music, food, home stuff, bulldogs.
That blog: HOUSE

Now, onto music. I mentioned that I had a couple of gigs in May, and you kind readers expressed interest in them. Here are the sexy details, if you wish to attend. Consider this an open invite - I love it when bloggy friends come out to shows!

May 4
NAC Fourth Stage, maybe 8pm?
Playing with Ian Tamblyn and Lief Vollebekk. This is part of the Bluebird North tour that I love so much.
Tickets are $15, which might be steep if it wasn't at the fabulous NAC. Lord, I love playing here.
You can get tickets at the NAC box office, and come to think of it, I think you can order them somewhere online too....
This gig will pamper you. Cushy seats and cafe-style setup.


May 8
Cajun Attic, new location at 349 Dalhousie in the Market
9pm... cover.... I don't know the cover. Not a lot.
I'm playing with my buddies East of Gatineau. They are loads of fun. Bluegrassy.
I'll be playing my set with my dearest cousin Brian.
This is a good gig to get drunk at (but aren't they all?).

Anyways, you're all invited. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

Update on the girl dog:

We are going to formally adopt her.
We are renaming her Frieda.
She is allergic to a variety of things, possibly including grass.
She snores louder than Morty and my BH combined.

Other than the dogs, gigs and house, my BH is turning 30 this weekend.

30.

I've dated this charming man for ten years now, and I can say that he's only gotten more awesome. More birthday details coming up.... I can't give you too many in case he decides to read this post before the big day.

That's all for now, folks!

Even though I had that disastrous gig not long ago, things have actually been going pretty well on the music front. For one thing, my music web site ran out of CDs!

(Granted, it took three years of pretty infrequent sales, those are details I'll gloss over for the moment. It's still exciting.)

Right now, I'm putting together a little package of albums for my distribution company so they can keep mailing them out to the kind folks who order. I still don't know what my iTunes sales were like following the radio broadcast, but eventually I'll get to take a peek. I'm hoping it will be enough to let me take my BH out on a hot date, which is my motivation for a surprising number of things. I'm also squirreling away funds to cover Christmas expenses, which isn't really a hot date, but still worthy.

My gig at the Elmdale is coming up soon too: October 29. Mark it down, folks! I'm playing first, which is good for you (early night, should you choose) and good for me (post-set drinking). Maybe I'll take the next day off work. That would be wise, no?

There are so many holidays coming up. Thanksgiving totally caught me off guard, but it will be fun because (I'm hoping) there will be pumpkin pie at one or all the meals. Halloween is always fun, but this year will be especially good... My Venus Envy gals are throwing together another Certain Sort that night! And Christmas / Hannukah.... Well.... I know it's too early to plan it in detail, but I do love those holidays.

Something should really be done about the vast expanse that happens after Christmas. It's like a fun vacuum. Valentine's Day is hardly enough to bridge the gap. Maybe a national Bulldog Appreciation Day is in order? Who am I kidding. I do that ALL THE TIME.

Okay, I've got some stellar Morty pics coming your way soon... Happy long weekend to the lot of ya.

We came home last night to a very happy bulldog. Morty had a great time with his sitter while we were gone, but my goodness, is he ever a snuggle sponge today. He's all, "Rub my bum! Now kiss my ears! Hug me! Throw my toy! And then rub my bum!"

We are happy to oblige.

This little trip was exactly what the doctor ordered. Not literally, of course. The crap I've done to my legs from all the walking is certainly NOT what my doctor would have wanted.

But it felt good to be away. The kind of away that lets you book a hotel for a couple of nights, visit some friends, and have date after date with your partner. The kind of away that helps you remember why you're plodding along doing occasionally mundane stuff. Why, it's so that you can enjoy your holiday time, of course!

Oddly, sometimes it takes being out of town with my BH to remember what a good team we are. My sense of direction paired with his ability to find cool shops. My organizing and highlighted lists with his relaxed temperament (This paid off especially well when we missed our train on Friday and had to take a bus up instead. Apparently I had accidentally bought tickets for a 5:45 AM train, not a 5:45 PM train. Having a laid-back partner is a must for situations like this - otherwise I would have had a meltdown.)

Some highlights from the trip:

- having a hotel that was a few blocks away from our dear friend Shawna
- being upgraded to a nicer room when we checked in, seemingly because we were friendly
- watching Shawna play a set in the middle of a giant art festival
- discovering a wonderful Japanese grocery store, and buying a bottle of brown liquid there just because it had a bulldog on it (I was assured the liquid tasted like caramelized onions)
- finding a bottle of clear liquid in the same store that was listed as a beverage but was called "sweat"
- meeting no less than four English bulldogs and two French bulldogs in ONE DAY
- having Wendell the English bulldog cuddle me and then snot in my eye (it felt like I was home!)
- buying some cute dresses and tops
- catching up with our dear friend Rachel, who is one of the more charming people I know
- randomly finding a farmer's market in downtown east, thus scoring some creamed honey and maple syrup!
- eating a lunch Shawna packed for us on the train ride home

I'm sure there are more things to report, but I'll probably remember them when I am uploading the photos for a later post. Either way, we're happy to be home, and excited to go back whenever we can. I'll actually be in Toronto this November for a gig, so we'll see if I can sneak out for some Japanese groceries and some bulldog lovin'.