Andrea Coller's Blog
Monday, November 29, 2004
YOU ARE CATNIP
What herb are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
yes, kids. i am catnip. it sounds so dirty, it must be true.
so did everyone have a happy thanksgiving?
mine was all right.
that about sums things up.
so the big stepkiddian plan was to learn up a bunch of xmas carols and busk in northampton center on black friday. and we tried, ever-so-valiantly. alas, it did not come to pass. you see, in order to play on the streets of northampton, you must acquire a special permit. first, you must do as i did, and call every city office until the nice man (finally) at the arts council tells you that you need to call the DPW. once you call the DPW, the nice lady will tell you the rules, and that you must come down before 4:30, with everyone you wish to play with. you will then make your bandmate leave work early in order to go to the DPW. you will be there for a long time while the nice lady asks you all sorts of dumb questions that she's required to ask you. you then sign a few things, and she tells you to go to the police station to have it officially signed by them. you figure, well, the police station is always open, so we can wait on getting it signed. you will be WRONG.
you will arrive at the police station at the asscrack of dawn on black friday with your bandmate, who is not yet properly caffeinated and therefore quite snippy. she will tell the annoyed officer at the desk that she wishes please to have our permit signed. the officer will scoff and say, "not today." why? you ask? well, they will tell you that the captain must sign it, not just any police officer. and he's not there. you will want to cry. your bandmate, again, not properly caffeinated, will not process this information. you will stand on the steps of the police station for fifteen minutes deciding what the hell to do now that it is black friday, early in the morning, and you have been DENIED your busking permit, and therefore denied money.
at writing group last tuesday, our fearless leader read a piece of her book where the character is meditating in some special karmic way that i can't really understand. he breathes in the bad things, and out good things. so meredith and i decided, of course, to breathe out complaining. so we walked across the street to acme surplus and complained to britta. she was sympathetic but working, so she couldn't really console us. and here comes the part where we actuallly breathed out a good thing.
while we were there, we gathered up things to send to a female soldier in iraq. turns out that the government does not provide them with the necessary feminine supplies, or with things that make them feel, actually human. so meredith and britta and i ae sending a soldier some of those things, pklus fun personal touches. it's my job to send girlie things, like a copy of dirty dancing and nail polish and a cosmo, just so that they can have a girly night if they want. i'll post the link to the website where you can get the soldiers' names, once i find it myself. so, yes, we shall get that out there for xmas. i'm going to burn them some cds too.
just chillin at the gypsy rose cafe today, practicing with meredith later, and then going out for sonia from pace's birthday!! yay for her!!
more later, folks...
mine was all right.
that about sums things up.
so the big stepkiddian plan was to learn up a bunch of xmas carols and busk in northampton center on black friday. and we tried, ever-so-valiantly. alas, it did not come to pass. you see, in order to play on the streets of northampton, you must acquire a special permit. first, you must do as i did, and call every city office until the nice man (finally) at the arts council tells you that you need to call the DPW. once you call the DPW, the nice lady will tell you the rules, and that you must come down before 4:30, with everyone you wish to play with. you will then make your bandmate leave work early in order to go to the DPW. you will be there for a long time while the nice lady asks you all sorts of dumb questions that she's required to ask you. you then sign a few things, and she tells you to go to the police station to have it officially signed by them. you figure, well, the police station is always open, so we can wait on getting it signed. you will be WRONG.
you will arrive at the police station at the asscrack of dawn on black friday with your bandmate, who is not yet properly caffeinated and therefore quite snippy. she will tell the annoyed officer at the desk that she wishes please to have our permit signed. the officer will scoff and say, "not today." why? you ask? well, they will tell you that the captain must sign it, not just any police officer. and he's not there. you will want to cry. your bandmate, again, not properly caffeinated, will not process this information. you will stand on the steps of the police station for fifteen minutes deciding what the hell to do now that it is black friday, early in the morning, and you have been DENIED your busking permit, and therefore denied money.
at writing group last tuesday, our fearless leader read a piece of her book where the character is meditating in some special karmic way that i can't really understand. he breathes in the bad things, and out good things. so meredith and i decided, of course, to breathe out complaining. so we walked across the street to acme surplus and complained to britta. she was sympathetic but working, so she couldn't really console us. and here comes the part where we actuallly breathed out a good thing.
while we were there, we gathered up things to send to a female soldier in iraq. turns out that the government does not provide them with the necessary feminine supplies, or with things that make them feel, actually human. so meredith and britta and i ae sending a soldier some of those things, pklus fun personal touches. it's my job to send girlie things, like a copy of dirty dancing and nail polish and a cosmo, just so that they can have a girly night if they want. i'll post the link to the website where you can get the soldiers' names, once i find it myself. so, yes, we shall get that out there for xmas. i'm going to burn them some cds too.
just chillin at the gypsy rose cafe today, practicing with meredith later, and then going out for sonia from pace's birthday!! yay for her!!
more later, folks...
Friday, November 19, 2004
hi there kiddies... so the gig at starbucks went very, very well. meredith and i each did a couple songs separately, and then a bunch together. we got to share the stage with lots of cool people, including members of bathtub mary and running with karma. we also got free coffee. yay. the crowd really seemed to respond to "window" and "every now and then." hooray for us stepkids.
i have gotten lots of positive feedback on the novel which is WAY encouraging. the DIScouraging part of all of this is that i have no time to do any writing... which is why i'm applying for a bunch of grants, and hopefully getting some money so i can cut down on one of my jobs and make a little but i am actually starting nerissa's tuesday night writing group this week, so that will hopefully help.
too tired to blog more.... more soon...
i have gotten lots of positive feedback on the novel which is WAY encouraging. the DIScouraging part of all of this is that i have no time to do any writing... which is why i'm applying for a bunch of grants, and hopefully getting some money so i can cut down on one of my jobs and make a little but i am actually starting nerissa's tuesday night writing group this week, so that will hopefully help.
too tired to blog more.... more soon...
Monday, November 15, 2004
meredith made me real southern food last night. beans and cornbread and collard greens. and she's really from texas (unlike some idiot president who shall remain nameless) so it was authentic. yum city. i didn't even care about going off the no-sugar no-fat diet for the night. i had a beer too. we were "practing," which has meant these days that we sit in her kitchen and play our guitars and sing, in between giving each other advice and making each other laugh, while she cooks something and i watch like a little kid. we're both leo rising, which means that we have good hair and are fairly forceful, so that we are often labeled "pushy." we commiserate about these facts in between playing bits and pieces of new songs. i like practicing. i like meredith. hooray for the stepkids.
in other news, i found out i could apply for a grant for music comp from the mass cultural council. which is awesome, and the odds are much better than most "contests." although i don't know how many singer-songwriter types they'll get, i'll send mine in anyways. it couldn't hurt. and i'm also gonna send out pieces of the book to the NEA, which has a literature category for fiscal year 2006. and i also must write a short-short story for the writer's digest contest, which nerissa sent out the link for. cool.
so yes, come to my gig at starbucks! we have been unable to confirm the time with the booking lady, but i hear through meredith that i have a gig, and she does too, as well as one more person at least. so i'm thinking it'll be close to half an hour sets, maybe a little shorter or longer. but this is wednesday, starbucks in northampton. BE THERE.
last week, i was inspired by teresa's amazing knitting skills to take up knitting again. and i also found "heathers" and "american beauty" on sale for 10 bucks. so what you can find me doing, in all of my "free time," is watching heathers and knitting. it is quite amusing. "f--- me gently with a chainsaw." i never get tired of that.
so, in closing, come to my gig. say hi. gimme a hug. buy a cd. i'll post it here as soon as i know the exact-ish time.
in other news, i found out i could apply for a grant for music comp from the mass cultural council. which is awesome, and the odds are much better than most "contests." although i don't know how many singer-songwriter types they'll get, i'll send mine in anyways. it couldn't hurt. and i'm also gonna send out pieces of the book to the NEA, which has a literature category for fiscal year 2006. and i also must write a short-short story for the writer's digest contest, which nerissa sent out the link for. cool.
so yes, come to my gig at starbucks! we have been unable to confirm the time with the booking lady, but i hear through meredith that i have a gig, and she does too, as well as one more person at least. so i'm thinking it'll be close to half an hour sets, maybe a little shorter or longer. but this is wednesday, starbucks in northampton. BE THERE.
last week, i was inspired by teresa's amazing knitting skills to take up knitting again. and i also found "heathers" and "american beauty" on sale for 10 bucks. so what you can find me doing, in all of my "free time," is watching heathers and knitting. it is quite amusing. "f--- me gently with a chainsaw." i never get tired of that.
so, in closing, come to my gig. say hi. gimme a hug. buy a cd. i'll post it here as soon as i know the exact-ish time.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
i know. i am a terribly craptacular blogmistress. but here's the thing.
last week, i was in a major funk regarding the re-election of a certain ignoramus to the presidency of these fine "united" states.
then, my lovely friends teresa and nichole came from great distances to visit me, and we all attended nerissa nields' PHENOMENAL writing workshop.
so those are my excuses for being too busy to blog. and i promise to write more later. cause it's WAY late. but guess what?
i have a gig. and it's not at PACE. yes, friends, it is at Starbucks. yes, i do hear the groans from the peanut gallery, but you know what? i don't care. it's a new venue. their coffee may suck but the nonfat sugar free vanilla latte is now a staple in my diet, because it is fortified with crack cocaine, and i must have one ALL THE TIME. plus, they treat their employees well.
but, yes, the point is: my gig. WEDNESDAY. NOT SURE WHAT TIME. but BE THERE. STARBUCKS IN NOHO. i'll keep y'all posted on details as i learn them.
trying to sleep now.
last week, i was in a major funk regarding the re-election of a certain ignoramus to the presidency of these fine "united" states.
then, my lovely friends teresa and nichole came from great distances to visit me, and we all attended nerissa nields' PHENOMENAL writing workshop.
so those are my excuses for being too busy to blog. and i promise to write more later. cause it's WAY late. but guess what?
i have a gig. and it's not at PACE. yes, friends, it is at Starbucks. yes, i do hear the groans from the peanut gallery, but you know what? i don't care. it's a new venue. their coffee may suck but the nonfat sugar free vanilla latte is now a staple in my diet, because it is fortified with crack cocaine, and i must have one ALL THE TIME. plus, they treat their employees well.
but, yes, the point is: my gig. WEDNESDAY. NOT SURE WHAT TIME. but BE THERE. STARBUCKS IN NOHO. i'll keep y'all posted on details as i learn them.
trying to sleep now.
Monday, November 01, 2004
it is morningtime. i am already up, showered, dressed, and at the haymarket blogging. i heart turning the clocks back. i know, it stinks that it gets dark so very early, but it just makes me seem SO on the ball. it's like i woke up this morning at 7:30 on purpose or something. i still have a good forty five minutes before i even have to get on my way to work. yes, this will make the day at work seem longer, but perhaps i can actually get a few useful things done while i'm sitting there in the cafe. maybe i'll be so on the ball that i'll actually be able to clean my house from work. wouldn't that rule?
my reasons for cleaning my house (yes, i need reasons, because my normal squalor is not as revolting to me as it is to others) are twofold: one is that my landlady is coming on wednesday to check the caulking around my bathtub, cause the neighbor's been getting water in his roof; the other, is that i have guests coming on thursday. "guests?" you ask, "since when do you, andrea, take in guests?" "well," i say, "since two of my good friends are coming into town for nerissa nields' writing workshop, and i am happily obliged to show them hospitality."
i am very much loooking forward to taking friday and saturday off of work in order to make a nice dent in the writing that is required to keep going with my novel. it is coming out SO slow. but i am hoping the quality is there. anyways, teresa and nichole of the GFP at falcon ridge, are coming in to town, and i am super-excited to see them! possible plans include, but are not limited to: poker night with my boyz, '80s night at diva's, hanging with my rock band, soniA at PACE, and, oh yeah, a little writing workshop too. :)
i am all kinds of jazzed to be taking two days off from work. i do love my job like nobody's business, but i suppose if your job was tasting chocolate, you'd want the day off at some point too.
so what are we going to do tomorrow, fellow american citizens? HM?? that's right, we are VOTING. FOR JOHN KERRY. i'm not about to spout all that bullshit that it doesn't matter who you vote for, as long as you use your right. it's gotten too bad. it's too critical. ROCK THIS VOTE. FOR JOHN KERRY. david of PACE and i were talking to cliff eberhardt, who just got back from touring italy, before his show on friday night, and he said all he heard about when he was there was "Boosh." upon telling them that he didn't vote for Bush, one italian told him, "then you should kill him." man, the rest of the world has it right. so VOTE. and get this ignoramus out of the white house, and out of power.
so in other news: touch me, people: i got a flu shot. yes, way. it turns out that i am special enough to get a flu shot. wow. my medical problems still amaze me sometimes. i expressed to my doctor that i felt good, and could give mine up to someone who was more sick. he rolled his eyes and said, "you should get a flu shot." turns out, upon further questioning, that my oncologists' office had "a stash for our special friends," because the very smart nurse ordered very early. nurses rule. they are so smart. but yes, i can probably sell my used bandage to some seniors for decent cash. no, i don't think it's right, but that brings me back to my point. it is NOT profitable for drug companies to make flu vaccines, so they don't do it so much. so when some gets thrown out, there are no reserves. hm, i wonder how we can fix this??
VOTE for JOHN KERRY. otherwise, big business will triumph, and get real busy making drugs so that Bob Dole can get it up, not so that people can actually LIVE.
and if anyone gives you trouble when you go to vote, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
my reasons for cleaning my house (yes, i need reasons, because my normal squalor is not as revolting to me as it is to others) are twofold: one is that my landlady is coming on wednesday to check the caulking around my bathtub, cause the neighbor's been getting water in his roof; the other, is that i have guests coming on thursday. "guests?" you ask, "since when do you, andrea, take in guests?" "well," i say, "since two of my good friends are coming into town for nerissa nields' writing workshop, and i am happily obliged to show them hospitality."
i am very much loooking forward to taking friday and saturday off of work in order to make a nice dent in the writing that is required to keep going with my novel. it is coming out SO slow. but i am hoping the quality is there. anyways, teresa and nichole of the GFP at falcon ridge, are coming in to town, and i am super-excited to see them! possible plans include, but are not limited to: poker night with my boyz, '80s night at diva's, hanging with my rock band, soniA at PACE, and, oh yeah, a little writing workshop too. :)
i am all kinds of jazzed to be taking two days off from work. i do love my job like nobody's business, but i suppose if your job was tasting chocolate, you'd want the day off at some point too.
so what are we going to do tomorrow, fellow american citizens? HM?? that's right, we are VOTING. FOR JOHN KERRY. i'm not about to spout all that bullshit that it doesn't matter who you vote for, as long as you use your right. it's gotten too bad. it's too critical. ROCK THIS VOTE. FOR JOHN KERRY. david of PACE and i were talking to cliff eberhardt, who just got back from touring italy, before his show on friday night, and he said all he heard about when he was there was "Boosh." upon telling them that he didn't vote for Bush, one italian told him, "then you should kill him." man, the rest of the world has it right. so VOTE. and get this ignoramus out of the white house, and out of power.
so in other news: touch me, people: i got a flu shot. yes, way. it turns out that i am special enough to get a flu shot. wow. my medical problems still amaze me sometimes. i expressed to my doctor that i felt good, and could give mine up to someone who was more sick. he rolled his eyes and said, "you should get a flu shot." turns out, upon further questioning, that my oncologists' office had "a stash for our special friends," because the very smart nurse ordered very early. nurses rule. they are so smart. but yes, i can probably sell my used bandage to some seniors for decent cash. no, i don't think it's right, but that brings me back to my point. it is NOT profitable for drug companies to make flu vaccines, so they don't do it so much. so when some gets thrown out, there are no reserves. hm, i wonder how we can fix this??
VOTE for JOHN KERRY. otherwise, big business will triumph, and get real busy making drugs so that Bob Dole can get it up, not so that people can actually LIVE.
and if anyone gives you trouble when you go to vote, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.
