Andrea Coller's Blog
so i guess it's been awhile since my last post- i humbly apologize. did you ever think you've just been SOOO busy you can't stand it? but then you look back and you haven't really done that much? yeah, that's what it feels like for me right now. and i'm sorry if y'all are caps lock haters, but i've been thinking a while about what my next blog post would be like, and this is it--
GO SEE
FARENHEIT 9/11!!!!!!!!!!this is, by far, the best movie that i have ever seen. by saying that, i do not say that it is my favorite movie of all time, but it is the MOST IMPORTANT movie that I've ever seen, and that i believe exists today. it was EXTREMELY educational, yet at the same time funny and extremely touching. i haven't seen any of his other films, but i've been told that it is his best because he takes himself out of a lot of it, and tells the story more as a documentary filmmaker, not as the star. but please see it and decide for yourself.
NICOLE KIDMAN'S HAIRSTYLIST IS STEALING MY CLIENTS!!!!!!!!
isn't that weird? but it's true. okay, she stole one client. but still. my friend Kati has moved to the big city and gotten a job at John Frieda with the woman who colors Nicole Kidman's hair. so this woman told her that she'd love to color her hair one day after work. hey, hello? i know that salons usually want to color the hair of the people that work there, so that they all have the same "look," but honestly, does Nicole Kidman's stylist really need more clients? damn it... i'm just a regular person trying to pay the bills, but WHAT-ever...
100 DAYS ARE ALMOST HERE!!!!!!
that's right folks, you will no longer be reading about my massive salad/popcorn/nut/fresh fruit cravings, because i will be able to eat them on friday!! i've been cheating here and there, but i can go all out on friday. hooray!!! i think my buddy joe and i will be going to vermont to see our friend
Jennifer perform some fabulous comedy as a celebration. i will have the big wig-ridding festivity at a later date, but this will be a good night out to celebrate the 100 days.
FUNK AND DISCO NIGHTS RULE!!!!!!!
yes,
PACE is reviving its FABULOUS tribute night series, and this time it's disco-funk-soul! there will be local and boston-area talent, your old favorites and some new faces that ALL ROCK! this may be your only chance to see me perform a stevie wonder song. don't miss it!!!!
so that's about all i have to say about that. hope y'all are enjoying the summer so far!
e-mail me
so we're almost at the finish line! 89 days now, next friday i'll be able to have a big freaking salad and then, and then fruit salad, and and popcorn, and sushi!!!!! yes, i am unbelievably thrilled to get back to my dysfunctional salad habit.
so, here's a PSA for the women of the pioneer valley: if you are not a very small person, DO NOT attend the june dress sale at Faces! your self-esteem will only plummet. it appears as though they have a few large-er sizes, but you must remember that these are juniors sizes, so they are 2-4 sizes smaller than normal. so i shouldn't feel so bad about the size 11 not fitting, but still, what the hell... what is up with women's sizes anyways? men's clothing is all done in inches. this makes sense. why am i a size 10 at Old Navy, but an XL in their shirts? in juniors sizes, i'm easily a 14. but a size 14 underwear i can wrap myself twice in. it's all very traumatic. i don't remember the plus size clothing being quite so confusing, when i was a plus size. maybe this is why i'm just now learning the rules.
speaking of trying on clothing, i bought seven items for seven bucks at second chance on union street in easthampton today. yes, it's used clothing, but man, i made a killing. the kind of shopping experience one can be proud of. it's sad that she's going out of business and all, but go out and support the owner. everything in the store, including jackets and shoes, is one dollar. i got a vintage raincoat, a turquoise jean jacket, an unused purse, an antique pink business jacket, and two grunge-era plaid shirts. ah, bargain-hunting. it soothes my soul.
so i'm glad that i have the day off, and i'm here at pace, doing my part watching the place for the day, but it is soooooo gorgeous outside... it would be an excellent day to be working on my book in the park. but i got work done yesterday, and plenty more hours here until someone else gets here. so now i'm avoiding the mess in the sink, and avoiding practicing my guitar, cause i'm just a loser like that.
i am now officially over my bitterness at not being selected for the falcon ridge showcase, so i now am just looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful friends that i only get to see once a year, and having a great, great, great, great time.
email me and stuff...
well, i do believe we have reached day 83... i haven't blogged in a while, i guess. when i've been writing lately, it's been my book. i've gotten some good work done on it, though, so much so that it should only be a few weeks until the first chapter/section is finished. i'm feeling pretty darn good, i'm almost at the end of my 100 days, and i'm back at work and open mic. ah, it's good to be back.
it was so nice outside today in northampton that no one wanted to go inside to get their hair cut. well, two guys did, but those were short and sweet. it was a really slow day, so my co-worker and i got a lot of talking done, and then i read about new hair color techniques while she did her (college) homework. one of the head stylists at farouk had some great advice in one of the articles. he said, "hard work and education are the keys to all things, and you must believe in yourself without fail." good stuff. i wrote that down on a post-it and stuck it on the fridge. what a nerd i am.
i love living here. and i really have never thought of moving anywhere else, besides maybe easthampton or something. until today, that is. i get grand ideas off of little things that people say all of the time. i was talking to the woman from the shop next door, whose hair i've cut before, about working, and how i need more hours at my job but can't get them, etc. and then she said something like, "you should be doing hair in boston or new york." and why not? why is that something that has never, ever occurred to me? probably partly because boston will probably always leave a bad taste in my mouth because of my treatment there. and i have a friend who's having a lot of trouble trying to find a decent job in new york. it's tough. but still i wonder... if i moved, would i do anything but pine for here? i've left before, for college in pennsylvania for a couple of years, and i was miserable. i've never fallen in love with anywhere else. it almost happened in vegas, but that was just the weather and my beautiful niece. i've never really been anywhere else, besides the east coast and vegas. i want to try austin or seattle, but i don't know how i'd do that. i'm a homebody, i guess, and somehow this has become home. i think someday, something will push me out of here. i think i'm destined to leave the valley at some point. i guess not now, though i do feel that i'm in serious need of an adventure.
wanna go skydiving?
yeah, so i really do consider myself a good sport. but right now, i'm kinda, well, no- i'm really really disappointed. i didn't get into the showcase at falcon ridge, yet again. now, i admit to sending in some pretty bad stuff in the past, and i'm fully aware of the volume of talent, but goddamnit, i really wanted it this year. i found out from a third party, yet again, that i didn't get in, and that some people that are in the showcase have been in it in previous years. come on, now... all right, i'm through whining. i think it's just that i really need something good to happen to me, and that would have been a nice thing.
i have been exceptionally good on the bone marrow transplant diet lately, not even a tomato slice in at least a week or so. i think my cold may have scared me a little bit. when i think about the fact that i'm not really supposed to be out of the house for about another month, it floors me. relatively, i feel great, almost normal. i'm at about 95%, i think. mostly, it's confidence. i'll be at 100% when i actually have some hair and am able to again live on salad and sushi. if it weren't so expensive (the wig), i'd totally have a wig-burning party. i'm thinking of having a party, actually... maybe the weekend of july 8th- if i have enough hair by then. to celebrate having hair and being alive and stuff.
i'm writing a new song, and i'm concerned about cliches. please
e-mail me if you feel strongly that "can't you see me falling? i'm running out of time," is a really bad way to begin a chorus. one of my new songs was very well-received at open mic, so i shall put it up on the website soon, along with the one that wasn't so very well-received. :)
please console me...
day 76 was garbage. i know there's still about 4 and a half hours left in it, but i'm all kinds of ready to wipe the slate clean and start fresh tomorrow. and above all, i have a cold. (thanks,
josh, for transporting those germs to me all the way from syracuse, new york!) this word, "cold," strikes fear into the hearts of every loved one of a cancer patient, but, trust me, it's all right. i plan on finally getting some sleep and taking vitamin c, and it will all go away. my white count is fine, the immune system will work on it. everything's fine on that end .
but, yes, today was garbage. the heat beneath my wig makes me very, very cranky, for one. it probably reached the low 90s in temperature today. and as i described to a co-worker, wearing a wig is kind of like wearing a wool hat. ALL THE TIME. so that made me cranky, and i just couldn't concentrate. i stayed at work late to do my boss's hair (corrective color), and that was just stressful. she is a great boss, but bleaching a dark red out and putting in a cool blond is not an easy task- ask any hairdresser. but i did it fairly well, and learned a lot. so it's good, i guess.
well, enough whining. i went back to my open mic last night, at
pace, and i hosted and did two new songs! after a 2-3 month absence, i returned, nervous, but i was back to singing and making my bad jokes in no time. (i even may have a series of "you might be a musician" jokes, if i can figure more out than just "if you've ever taken the battery out of your smoke detector to use in your guitar, you might be a musician.") it was well-attended and well-received, and that's all i can ask.
it's funny, i've been in a funk today, and was kind of brought out of it by one of the characters in my book. she just wouldn't shut up, and i had to do all sorts of research about italian folktales and i even had to research how to say, "don't eat me!" in italian. so by the time i was done with that, i was feeling better, and more resolved to pull myself out of the bad mood i've been in.
i think there's something up with the moon that's causing the moodiness- i know there was something funky goingg on the other day with venus's alignment with the sun. that must be it, not that i'm a headcase.
tonight, bravo unveils its new reality show about a hair salon, called "blow out." i will most definitely be watching. (i said long ago that the most entertaining reality show would be to follow a bunch of students through hairdressing school.) the problem is, it's a 200-dollar a cut salon, nothing i can really relate to, so we'll see if it's still entertaining. i want to compare a slice of life there to the real thing. perhaps after seeing it i will blog about it tomorrow.
speaking of tomorrow, i wish it were here right now. or maybe i wish it was thursday, when the awful heat is supposed to let up. but what i wish the most for is for right now to be all right. a fan and a glass of pink lemonade and a red sox game will have to be enough.
e-mail me
day 76 was garbage. i know there's still about 4 and a half hours left in it, but i'm all kinds of ready to wipe the slate clean and start fresh tomorrow. and above all, i have a cold. (thanks,
josh, for transporting those germs to me all the way from syracuse, new york!) this word, "cold," strikes fear into the hearts of every loved one of a cancer patient, but, trust me, it's all right. i plan on finally getting some sleep and taking vitamin c, and it will all go away. my white count is fine, the immune system will work on it. everything's fine on that end .
but, yes, today was garbage. the heat beneath my wig makes me very, very cranky, for one. it probably reached the low 90s in temperature today. and as i described to a co-worker, wearing a wig is kind of like wearing a wool hat. ALL THE TIME. so that made me cranky, and i just couldn't concentrate. i stayed at work late to do my boss's hair (corrective color), and that was just stressful. she is a great boss, but bleaching a dark red out and putting in a cool blond is not an easy task- ask any hairdresser. but i did it fairly well, and learned a lot. so it's good, i guess.
well, enough whining. i went back to my open mic last night, at
pace, and i hosted and did two new songs! after a 2-3 month absence, i returned, nervous, but i was back to singing and making my bad jokes in no time. (i even may have a series of "you might be a musician" jokes, if i can figure more out than just "if you've ever taken the battery out of your smoke detector to use in your guitar, you might be a musician.") it was well-attended and well-received, and that's all i can ask.
it's funny, i've been in a funk today, and was kind of brought out of it by one of the characters in my book. she just wouldn't shut up, and i had to do all sorts of research about italian folktales and i even had to research how to say, "don't eat me!" in italian. so by the time i was done with that, i was feeling better, and more resolved to pull myself out of the bad mood i've been in.
i think there's something up with the moon that's causing the moodiness- i know there was something funky goingg on the other day with venus's alignment with the sun. that must be it, not that i'm a headcase.
tonight, bravo unveils its new reality show about a hair salon, called "blow out." i will most definitely be watching. (i said long ago that the most entertaining reality show would be to follow a bunch of students through hairdressing school.) the problem is, it's a 200-dollar a cut salon, nothing i can really relate to, so we'll see if it's still entertaining. i want to compare a slice of life there to the real thing. perhaps after seeing it i will blog about it tomorrow.
speaking of tomorrow, i wish it were here right now. or maybe i wish it was thursday, when the awful heat is supposed to let up. but what i wish the most for is for right now to be all right. a fan and a glass of pink lemonade and a red sox game will have to be enough.
e-mail me
we are eleven minutes into day 72 and i am night-blogging because i can't sleep. i have way too much stress for someone who works so little as i've been working lately. but that's part of the stress... having to get a second job will totally suck, but i know i won't be able to get many more hours from my boss unless someone else quits, and that wouldn't be good either...
so i'm stressed a little about work, and a little about my health, and a little about music stuff, and that adds up to kind of a lot. i thought that i would relieve this tension by trying a yoga class tomorrow morning. but then i started thinking- what will i do about my wig? i can't really wear it, so i'll have to go without. now, my fuzzy head has not yet made a public appearance, and i don't know if i can handle that on top of going to something i know nothing about by myself tomorrow at a place i'm not sure i can find. so that started stressing me out too. yes, i may be the only person you'll ever meet who could stress out about a yoga class she's never even been to.
i think my loved ones are beginning to despise me. it's just a vibe i get. a paranoid, untrue vibe, yet a vibe all the same. more stress... but i have the day off tomorrow, you'd think i could figure things out, somehow. just make up my mind to actually make a plan and shit like that. i know i'll at least go for a walk and buy new guitar strings and see harry potter and go out to dinner. maybe yoga, maybe not.
i officially took time off of work for falcon ridge today. that was definitely a good thing. it's my favorite time of year, the thing i look forward to the most. still no word on the showcase, for those interested. either way, i love falcon ridge. when i'm there, all of my worries just evaporate. all i have to do all day is listen to music and goof around with friends that i only see once a year. one of these years i'll take some sort of exotic vacation in addition, but for now, the thought of falcon ridge is beginning to soothe me.
time to attempt sleep. take this rambly thing (if you've made it through) as a reminder to take a deep breath, don't stress like me, RELAX!
so it's day 69 (snickers from the back of the class), and things are going well. i went in for my cat scan and some bloodwork today, and i actually learned something at the hospital. Well, not from any person there, but from a procrit ad in 'woman's day' while i was waiting. all of my symptoms that were making me so tired and miserable a few weeks ago were because of my anemia, and after i got my levels all right, it got fixed. or at least that's what i surmised. hooray for that.
so if you've never had the pleasure, a cat scan involves several things. For three hours before the scan, you can't eat, or drink anything that isn't clear. and then when you arrive, you get to drink a barium solution that is thick and milky and now comes in flavors. (they announced this to me today- i tried the berry flavor, and don't recommend it.) the procedure is eight ounces every fifteen minutes, and you usually end up drinking 3-5 glasses full of it. and then you wait a while, and are called into the cat scan room. you then get an intravenous injection of contrast, which is like a dye that helps them see your insides. then you get up on the little platform and lie down, and they pass you through what looks like a big doughnut a couple of times. a computer voice says, "breathe in. hold your breath.... breathe." and after a couple times through, they take you out, unhook you, and you're allowed to leave. sounds like a blast, huh?
today, the routine was broken up when after the first round of "breathe in. hold your breath.... breathe," they pulled me out of the machine and the radiologist said, "sorry about this, but i forgot to ask you to take off your bra." i had forgotten, too, that metal messes up the scan, and i had an underwire bra on. (which is why i had to take down my pants too... not humiliating at all.) so i moved to take it off, but she didn't want me to have to move too much, my i.v. being in the left side of my chest. "hook in the back?" she asked, and i said, "yeah," so i sat up a little and she got it unhooked after a little bit and i said, "this is like a bad date or something." she and the nurse managed to get it off without disturbing the iv and the scan continued as usual. i have no idea why i'm telling this story, except that i thought it was damn funny, and still do. yes, it took three of us to get my bra off.
yes, this is my weird-ass yet hilarious life. i'm sooo looking forward to going to see harry potter on friday night, and i hear tell that we'll go to chili's beforehand. this is all in celebration of someone else's birthday, but happy birthday to me too, for getting to go out to the movies and dinner. it will be a celebration for everyone.... it's incredibly cold and overcast today here in western mass. still, i got a frosty at wendy's today, and am a genius for doing so. it was just that good.
holla!
