DO I DAZZLE YOU?

Excuse me as I lol my face off:

If this is anything like the book, then I will totally see it when it comes out, just to marvel at how awful it is.

trips to Winslow.

I really really need to stop opening the emails that Ticketmaster sends me. They just depress me. First it was Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds in September, and today it's Stars. August 21st, which is the day after I see Radiohead, and also the day Chris goes back to WSU, I think. Curse you, world!! (This should be my motivation for getting my driver's license. If I can drive myself, then I can go to as many concerts as I like without having to drag someone else around. WHOA, dream big!)

So today I compiled a new playlist, entitled "Awesome Walking Songs" -

- and set off for Winslow for tea, as I am wont to do. There is something incredibly comforting about my simple 15-minute walk down to the teahouse and back. It's become a bit of a ritual this year. It's centering, somehow, especially with my music and the trees to keep me company. (One of the things I love most about Bainbridge is that you're pretty much always within sight of a tree.)

I got a giftcard to Oil & Water from the Hunts for my birthday, so I went down there today as well.

24 paintbrushes (and the case!) for only $18. I was powerless to resist. I am the happiest geek evar in this store. And now I want to do some painting tonight, although I'm not sure what of, and even though I have a metric ton of math and semester project-ing to do. Knowing me I will put them both off and paint anyway...

the sky looks like a road

I just got my final evaluation for my art contract with Linda, and it considerably brightened my day. Excerpts:

Attitude and independent learning skills

Annie has a positive attitude and tremendous self-motivation. She knows what she needs to work on, and follows through.

Creativity and analytical thinking

Annie is great at organizing her art process and analyzing what she could do to improve the next piece. It takes maturity to be that self-critical. In doing so, she is growing by leaps and bounds.

Accomplishments and comprehension of content

...I was pleased by the initiative to learn how to draw feet and hands. The studies showed much more confidence and strength than last semester.

Demonstration of growth or improvement

I have seen huge strides in growth from the start of fall term to the end of the year. She is much more confident and trusting in her own abilities.

It's incredibly heartening to read this from someone other than myself (someone who would know better than I would, in fact.) I really feel like I've been growing a lot artistically this year and I feel rather validated on that now.

"It takes maturity to be that self-critical"...I think I'm finally getting to a place where I can be self-critical without being negative.

bunnehhhhh

Look at what I found in Seattle today!

My old Daiso bunny cup!! And also, obviously, the inspiration for my blog header. I was so sad when my old one broke (and I still have it), but amazingly enough they're still carrying the same design over a year later. So that's pretty much made the rest of my week already.

I had a nice day in Seattle with Caro and Elise today; bought some summer clothes, went to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, went to Barnes & Noble and lusted over a mythology book and a hardcover edition of The Mists of Avalon but couldn't afford either, woe. Also, I got to actually listen to Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea IN a city, and felt like a happy dork. I've been on a bit of a Stories kick all this month, actually.

Oh, the bonus Flavors of Entanglement tracks have leaked. I like them all. I'm especially partial to Orchid and The Guy Who Leaves, and fuck you all I love On the Tequila too. Here is my tentative extended tracklisting -

1. Citizen of the Planet

2. Underneath

3. Orchid

4. The Guy Who Leaves

5. Straitjacket

6. Versions of Violence

7. Not As We

8. In Praise of the Vulnerable Man

9. Madness

10. Moratorium

11. Torch

12. 20/20

13. Giggling Again for No Reason

14. Limbo No More

15. Incomplete

I'm not entirely sure that I like the placing of In Praise of the Vulnerable Man inbetween Not As We and Madness, but I don't really know where else to put it. But I really want to keep it. So I shall be puzzling over that. I didn't include Tapes or On the Tequila because A) I still hate Tapes and B) On the Tequila just does not fit anywhere no matter how full of win it is. I'll try to include It's A Bitch To Grow Up whenever that shows up on the internets.

I mentioned Stories earlier and I want to share this -

PJ Harvey - Good Fortune (this video is how I feel on the inside whenever I hear this song)

fucking blue shells

I said in my Flavors entry that I was going to add Giggling Again For No Reason to my Mario Kart playlist. And then I remembered that I didn't actually have a Mario Kart playlist.

Now I do!

I feel like suuuuuuuuuch a dork for some of these choices. At least I am a happy one. (Voyager + Rainbow Road = EPIC!)

My ongoing battle with hands

...and to a lesser extent, feet. All of these are reproduced from Drawing Hands and Feet by Giovanni Civardi. (click to enlarge)

I've always had a LOT of trouble with drawing hands. I've been doing a lot of work on it these past couple weeks. I need to do more from-life sketches, rather than just working out of the Civardi book, but I'm feeling slightly more comfortable with it. I can contemplate the nuances of a hand and not be completely overwhelmed by its complexity. That's something. (I've never had much trouble with feet, but it is nice to get some practice in.)

Flavors of Entanglement

Well, goddamn! It finally leaked!

"...I thought I'd take a break from snowboarding in hell to write up a crappy review of this album that I just now listened to for the absolute very first time ever. Because that's the way to properly review a CD: listen to it one time and then act like you know it inside out and insist everyone should respect your opinion like it's printed in the Bible with red ink." *

In my defense, I've listened to the album several times by now. Onward.

Citizen of the Planet: Heard the 30-second Verizon clip last night and was FLOORED, especially because I had absolutely no expectations for this song. And the full-length does not disappoint. The strings are particularly brilliant (the bridge = omg!)

Underneath: I've heard this a million times already and so don't have much to say about it. I like it and I can understand why it was chosen as a single, but my first choice for a single would've been...

Straitjacket: YES. This is the sound I was hoping for. So hot. My favorite song on the album at present. My only criticism is that the distorted vocals at the end are annoying.

Versions of Violence: Leaked earlier, so I've heard it a bunch of times already. I really hate the lyrics for some reason - like, seriously, I have no idea why I dislike them so much, but I do. Thankfully the music and vocals are awesome enough to make up for it. I love how Lani uses her voice here, and the bells.

Not as We: Not drastically different from the House clip that's been around for ages, which is a good thing. I really love this song. Sometimes simple is best! I just wish the chorus weren't too high for me to sing along to.

In Praise of the Vulnerable Man: I am a huge dork, but I just LOVE this, in all its shamelessly poppy glory. It fills me with sugary glee. Thematically it's a lot like A Man, which is bar-none my favorite Lani song, so that's also good. And I love the strings (I think they're strings, they could possibly be synths, I'm a musical retard.)

Moratorium: Also leaked a while ago. More lovely strings. Just loving the strings on this album!! This has also become one of my favorite singalong songs.

Torch: God, this song is depressing. Depressing in that good, beautifully sad way. "I miss your warmth and the thought of bringing up our kids/And the part of you that walks with your stick-tied handkerchief" absolutely kills me. But I kind of wish that this were more string-based and didn't have such an electronic undercurrent.

Giggling Again for No Reason: This is the most Imogen Heap-like song on the album, in my opinion. I could see this being on Speak For Yourself. I really like it. It's nice to hear Alanis do a fun song like this. Also, it's going on my Mario Kart playlist.

Tapes: Only song on the album that I actively dislike. And I must be missing something, because it feels like 95% of people are praising it to Jeebus. I was expecting something more fast-paced. The rest of the album is such lovely, crystalline electro-pop, but Tapes just feels like a murky yellow dirge. (says the synesthete.)

Incomplete: I was really disappointed with both acoustic incarnations of this song, partly because one of the first reviewers hyped it to ridiculous proportions. The studio version is much better, and it works much better in context with the rest of the album as well, which is more than I can say for Tapes. I think this one will grow on me. I do love that some of the guitar bits have the same strummy rainbow quality that I sometimes get from harps.

The Verdict: This is a damn good album. A huge departure for Alanis, but definitely a welcome one! This sound really works for her. And, of course, with Guy Sigsworth at the helm, you've pretty much got it made. If it were up to me, I would replace Tapes with 20/20 (which I LOVE), and I say this knowing that there are still several bonus tracks that have yet to leak that I will probably end up adding to my hypothetical tracklist.

*meathead!

Godrevy Point

This blog will hopefully be -

-A place for me to post my artwork and write about projects/ideas
-A place to write about whatever music I'm listening to
-A place to write about whatever's on my mind
-More successful than previous LiveJournals/GreatestJournals/what have you
-An exercise in writing without feeling like I have to cater to an invisible audience, even if someone does end up reading this thing

-not too pretentious?

-Updated fairly regularly

...and I laid down at the top of the cliff

confessed my sins into the wind

and the sky lay a feather in my mouth

good lord what a beautiful day

for traveling, unraveling this heavy heart away

to forgive and forget myself

my enemies and my bruises washed away

today was the day I first said 'I belong'

here in the ghost region all alone upon the shore

on this changing line between land and sea

between a cease-fire and a war...