Thursday Is Party Day

I happen to really j'adore Asobi Seksu. They remind me of summer romances, long nights up with best friends, drunken skinny-dipping at the beach, accidentally letting go of a balloon and then watching it float up into the air, impromptu picnics, spending time with the one person in the world who gets you, sheer dresses, bare feet, and wet earth, and getting caught in the rain.

That being said, "Thursday" is probably my favorite Asobi Seksu song, aside from "Walk on the Moon," "Mizu Asobi," and "Nefi+Girly" which is the song they used for all those Skins trailers. It's so ethereally, heavily, softly gorgeous. And makes me long for summer. I mean, what the fuck LA? It's been cold and rainy for the past week. Let's get back to normal soon, shall we?

Anyways, here's the video for "Thursday." Also, if you're looking for someone to spend the night with on Valentine's day, just show up at my house with this song playing out of your boombox, a six pack of Sweetwater 420 ale, and a pizza and I'm yours.



E

If You Wanna Date A Rockstar, You Better Get Used To Falling Off The Stage

Hey internet. Long time no see. Oh what's that? I know, I've missed you too. Yeah, I know. I'll try to be a better friend. You wanna come over and watch American Idol with me next week? Yeah, you can bring some wine. Sure, you can sit in the LaZboy this time. No, I don't mind the floor. Honest.

I wish I could say I say I've been up to some crazy and wiiillld antics and adventures since I last talked to y'all. But I haven't. I started school again and I have a wicked Music In Film class wherein we watch assorted scenes from movies and then discuss the uses of music in them. It's pretty awesome.

Speaking of movies, since I have Showtime, I have been watching some amazing ones, like 10 Items or Less with Paz Vega (luff her) which was spectacular, and Love and Other Disasters with Catherine Tate and Brittany Murphy (in which she tries to be an American with a slight British accent - that's sorta weird), which is totally adorable and cheerful.

I also got my oven/stove fixed. It wasn't turning on or working and I couldn't make brownies! (ohhh noooess) The maintenance man came and looked at it and I expected him to say something dire like it needed to be replaced, but it turns out the pilot wasn't on. So then I felt stupid. But once he left I popped those brownies in there!

And since I have my entire afternoons free after 1pm, I've been trekking over to Silverlake and thrift shopping for homewares. Last time I got a jar for my paintbrushes and some old French fashion mags from the 60s for only 2.00 each! And tomorrow I'm going to look for some furniture! Because I can't sleep in the livingroom forever. Eventually, I'll need a sofa or something. I guess.

I'm also being awesome in my spare time and plotting a hostile world takeover, planning a giant ska/punk warehouse party, trying to get a cat named Fred, and looking to get some acid. (Sarah and I are going to get some, paint our faces, and go trip at Venice Beach. One day...) Did I mention that part about the warehouse party? Really would love to make that happen.

I'll try to be back here as much as possible and in the mean time, my Tumblr is still totally available. As am I.

I'm not really sure what to do this Valentine's day since last year I was in a relationship and it was totally awesome and this year I'm single allz over again. Will someone come over so we can drink ourselves stupid and watch Bridget Jones' Diary?

E

What's Going On Jemina?

Apparently Jemina Pearl is still going post byoP. And now she's got Karen O hair. I'm eternally jelz only because I always wanted to have Karen O hair. But I'm not sure what to say about Jemina. I'm mostly sad because I loved byoP and I want her hair and I'm not sure this whole thing is such a good idea.

Discuss.



O, J.

E

Love? Better. Something Like A Dream.

So Lillian has this goal of trying 12 new vegetarian recipes. I think that's awesome. To kick it off, we're having a bi-coastal bake-off (Atlanta v LA, East v West) and we're making Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcakes. Divine, right?

Well, I'm not exactly a vegetarian, although I do happen to think tofu is delicious, but I think a goal to learn and try new recipes is fantastic. So I'm going to try to absorb as many recipes as possible this year. I've already got a few (tomato stew and Mexican chicken tortilla soup) under my belt, but I want to really build a repertoire. You know those ladies who need to make dinner and they pull out a recipe BOX? That's what I'm shooting for.

And then I thought, why don't I share them with y'all? That way everyone can get in on the fun, plus Lillian won't have to look too far for recipes! It'll be kinda like 100 days of recipes, but like, 336 days of recipes since we're already 19 days into the new year and I'm going to start tomorrow.

So, uh, get excited people! We're all going to be goddesses of the kitchen in no time!

E

Do You Really Want To Hold My Dirty Hands?

World. I am so happy. I couldn't be happier. Well, maybe if I was rich and had a nicer car and lived in a sweet ass apt over in Echo Park. THEN I could be happier. But as things stand, I'm more than satisfied with this.

The day started with me running over to Kroger to buy cupcakes per my promise to Lillian and everyone who would attend the Los Campesinos! in-store today. I said I would get 100 cupcakes...but sadly got 91 (yeah, did not properly multiply 14 x 7), but that was still more than enough. And people loved them. You know what I'm always saying, the way to a person's heart is through a cupcake!

Oh and the LC! show was awesomesauce. V, my pictures leave a certain something to be desired (this is the reason pro concert photog is not listed anywhere on my resume) so I'm borrowing some from the Criminal Records' Flickr set. I think you will feel like you were there? Hopefully?


The setlist was:
"Don't Tell Me To Do The Maths"
"My Year In Lists"
"Miserabilia" (I'm pretty sure)
One other song whose title escapes me

And then at the end of the set Lillian held up a sign and the lead singer said, "And thanks Erika for bringing the cupcakes." OMG. I practically died on the floor from sheer awesomeness, but I managed to just eeek out a "whoo!"

After that Sam and I went to the park and then IT SNOWED! It was amazing and fantastic! It was famazing and amatastic! Some snow got in my eye and then it wasn't so cool anymore. Then we went to Noni's, where I had the most ridiculously good meal. And it was someone's bday - again. I swurr, everytime I go there someone is having a birthday!

Then Sam and I talked and agreed that we were better off with other people and that we would remain friends and it was so awesome that I cried. Yeah. Yeeeaahhhh. And then I listened to "Brooklyn (Go Hard)" on the train home and tried to pretend I was in BK. For a split second, I so was! Then the train stopped and said, "North Avenue Station" and I remembered where I was.

Allz in allz, it had to be one of the best days of my life, and one of the most memorable, not to mention one of the most fun! But I have more than overstayed my welcome here, and I'm glad to be going back to LA...ahhh, fun in the sun.

E

You Can't Just Walk Into A Pageant And Expect To Win

So. Tomorrow is my last day in Atlanta. I have been here for almost an entire month, doing what I would like to call ineffectively attempting to pretend I never left. You can deny the change inside you, but it doesn't do you any good. So I can't keep denying I haven't been changing since I left Atlanta almost six months ago. I can't deny it especially because all this change is making me more into the person I really want to be.

BUT on a much lighter note, tomorrow is another installment in Criminal's Beer Thirty, their weekly midday show during which you can drink and listen to music. Ummm, awesome combo. And tomorrow is my favorite show to date: Los Campesinos!

Not only am I excited to see LC! live, but I'm excited to see them indoors, since Criminal Records used to be a lot smaller and in-store shows were outside...even in the dead of winter.

Oh also there will be cupcakes! I hope. I asked Lillian if I could bring some and hopefully I can! (ps: lillian if you read this before your mail, pls check your mail, gracias)

Basically, as this trip winds down, so does my old life. I want to close the door on it once and for all. It's like I was telling my friend, "I have a lot of things to take care of before I can really start this year." And I will. And it'll be HARD, but worth it? I hope? Say yes?

And so that's that. Well, tomorrow that will be that. Officially. And then I'll be back to LA, the land before time, where the rest of the country is at least an hour ahead of us.

Then again, I would take hearing about who won an Oscar later than everyone else over the 30 degree weather that is ravaging my beautiful body at the moment. Anyone read the forecast? It's fucking 70 degrees over in my hood.

Huh. I so did have somewhere I was going with this post right now, but I have no idea what it was. Perhaps that is a mental hint that I should go eat some of the doughnuts my mom brought home.

E

Hey Internet, Still Here

Recently, for reasons that are both here and there, I've been thinking about how to really start 2009 off in a great way. Things don't seem official yet. I know we're halfway through the first month, but I don't feel like I can start the year until I take care of things that were bothering me in 2008. Looking through my diary from late last year, I've realized that problems can get swept under the rug, but they never truly go away until you DEAL with them.

The sweeping bit is not the issue, obviously, it's the dealing with it part that presents a problem within itself.

Also funny (in that funny way that isn't really funny at all), I've learned that trying to plan too far ahead into the future is not practical. And only ends up frustrating you, especially when you make plans with someone else, because at that point, if you seem committed enough, even "maybes" start to sound like promises.

I do have a lot to look forward to this year. Rooming with Sarah and Olivia for a while, then probably again a little later, getting Brooklyn Prom Queen off the ground, cementing some friendships and breaking others...and, of course, blogging my eyes out. That sounds gross but it'll probably be fun. Kinda like those pedicures when fish nibble on your feet.

Other people have inspired me so much lately and at this point, I'm straddling that fine line between inspiration and replication. I'm trying to land in the former end of this spectrum, although my creative juices, like the delicious cranberry/pomegranate juice in the fridge, are gone and thus making it harder for me to step outside the box like I so normally can.

So, I'm not making any plans as of yet except to be happy and healthy (and guh, finally finally finally lose fifteen pounds?) and to take care of myself. I've kinda realized lately that I need to grow up already; that you can't just pick and choose when and where you feel like being and acting like an adult.

But like I said, no plans.

E

Gawd

Is anyone else watching the Golden Globes right now? Do you have a Tumblr? Then please come to the dark side. We are livetumblr-ing this shit and things are getting better and better.

Also, I just wanted everyone to know I wasn't dead. You can tell the search dogs to go home and take a nap.

E

"They're Going To Pan The Camera Back To Him, But He's Already Gonna Be Gone."

Whoa. I sorta internet died for a second guyz. I know I'm usually over hurr on the daily, popping in and talking about life and love and television and clothes and stickers and ponies and myspace.com, but lately I've been occupado (how the hell does THAT get by spellcheck?) at my mom's house. She's decided to sell the house I lived in in my precious, memory laden high school years. Like I care.

The real important part lies in the fact that I have to clean out everything and make piles of what stays with her when she jetsets to LA (yep, that's what I wanted, to live in the same state as mi madre un tiempo mas - that's one more time, right?) and what goes to Goodwill and what she sells at her garage sale. This is all sorts of crucial 'cos I'm sort of a packrat and I'm always terrified of throwing away some chunk of my childhood that I'll want in twenty years when my children are old enough to care about "vintage" and "retro."

Obvi this is an emotionally and time consuming process; I've been here for two weeks and all I've managed to clear up is one wall...well, it's a corner, mas o menos.

Anyways, if you guys are ever all like, "We need some Erika up in hurr," which I doubt ever happens, feel free to head over to my Tumblr, which I update like two hundred times a day, or you can totally SKYPE me. Not really.

So we'll let this just be my away message, in case I don't talk to ya'll for a minute. Oh, and of course I had to go out with a video. I love this song. It would play at the end of my personal life movie, as I walked into the sunset and the screen faded to black. I mean, obvi I have an active and well exercised imagination.



E

Happy Birthday Lillian!

Yesterday was Lillian's birthday! In case you don't know Lillian (lame), she is awesome. She's super sweet, super dedicated (she pens Criminal Records weekly newsletter), and a super asset to the environment. You keep trying to fandangle that can crusher, girl! Since she loves music and she's probably the only person in the universe who actually cares about my end-of-the-year album lists, AND because she gave me those MIA bandannas at Record Store Day (I have them hanging on my mantle!), I'm dedicating this song to her.



Happy Birthday Lillian! Keep being totally eggpants!

E

Happy Women's Self-Empowerment Week!

Apparently, in between socially oppressing us, limiting our choices when it comes to things that should completely be in our control (y'know, like our bodies and our hormones), telling us what we should look like, and then feeding us one contradiction after another, they gave us a Self-Empowerment Week.

Awww thanks guys. We'll totally sleep with you now that you're really starting to warm up to the struggle. Thanks for seeing our side. And oops, there went my panties!

Personally, I'd like to think I empower myself, regardless of whether society or men or other women (for that matter) are aiding in it or not. I mean, not to say I'm a fucking one woman army or anything, but I do what I want and I'm not so easily going to let someone stand in my way of it. I'm also pretty sure that despite the damsel-in-distress image society constantly pushes on us, we can handle ourselves and be independent. Then again, I forgot that "empowered" means not crying when you break a nail.

Which is stupid, because that shit hurts reeeallly bad! Just thinking about it makes me cringe.

But since the rest of the world decided to acknowledge us poor women we might as well put down the sewing needle and let the cookies burn in the oven right? I think I'm going to take this week to do whatever the fuck I want. And that includes fucking. I'm gonna have a motherfucking ovary party! Hey BOY, get the fuck out of my way! It's my week! Go shave or something. Or maybe make me a martini!

The girls at Jezebel, of course, being twenty million times more witty and smart than I, have way better ideas for how their spending this ONE WEEK.

In addition to bossing around the boy parts in my life, I think I'll also just fuck tampons and pads and bleed my woman juices all over the place! Deal with it!

Omigod just kidding. I'm not a savage. Although it does seem like a funny thing to do when you hate your roommate.

What about you bitches?

E

Is That Hummus? No, It's Guacamole. No, it's GuacaHummus.

So my NYE was spent uneventfully eventfully. Around 8 I hung out with Sam, April, and her friend. We sat around eating potato wedges and doing face paint while April's friend made confetti bombs. My face paint was super cool and totally wood nymph.Everyone else looked equally dopity dope dope. April killed it, like always.
We sat around Pal's Lounge and had drinks. I had water because I'm lame. Oh, in case anyone is wondering, I went to F21 and couldn't find any of the dresses I had in mine, so I improvised because I was in a hurry. I picked out the entire outfit in 40 min and found a cute pair of leggings. I totally need to be on one of those makeovers in a hurry type shows. I wore this adorable dress that was black at the top and plaid on the bottom, with a black and white button underneath.

After Pal's we went to some huge house in Sandy Springs. That's really far, so you know. But the house was ginourmous. Like, I got lost in it it was so big. It was also super duper cold in there so I posted up next to the space heater with my pom & vodka and hung there most of the night. That's right. I'm wearing mittens. It was cold as fuck.
I was also the NYE pimp.There were a shit ton of fireworks so everyone decided to light bunches of sparklers out of a Korbels bottle all night. At 11:45 everyone crowded into the living room with their noisemakers and streamers in hand and we counted down to midnight and then we all screamed and everyone kissed everybody.

Then people proceeded to get mad drunk for the rest of the night (I just sipped my vodka and watched the antics) and this dude that was totally sweating me took a picture with me before I fell asleep on the couch. After that, we all went home and I got in around 3:30 am, went upstairs, and just managed to wash my face before collapsing in my bed.
Peace up, A town dooooowwwn.

E

When It Rains, It Pours.

No one likes rainy days. Well, I do. In the spring. When they're calm little rainstorms that make you feel cute and feminine when you use your umbrella, or make you feel cozy and peaceful when you're sitting inside. Since it's raining today, I thought I would compile a playlist for a day like this.

April March: "Cet Air La" - April March is awesome. She's kinda important when it comes to the world of 90's chick rock. This is one of her calmer, sweeter songs. And it's in French, which is j'adorable.

The Velvet Underground: "After Hours" - I love this song. And I love this album. This song is just so sweet and earnest. I always want to be looking out a window over the city at night when I listen to it.

The Spinto Band: "Oh Mandy" - You might recognize this song, actually. It's mildly popular, and so sweet. It's about this guy who wants something that's always out of reach, and he knows it, but he tries and fails to get it anyway. Sadcute.

No Saving Grace: "Sandbox" - I actually don't know that much about No Saving Grace...I picked up this song sort of randomly, but it has a nostalgic feel about it. It's sort of sad, and the words are muddled, but I like it nonetheless.

Vivian Girls: "Where Do You Run To?" - Um, love the Vivian Girls. And this song is so perfect for a day inside and a cup of tea.

The Postmarks: "Winter Spring Summer Fall" - This song is awesome because it feels so 70s and Charlie Brown-esque. But then again, the whole album is magical like that.

Prints: "Blue Jay" - Not too sure if it's completely appropriate for a rainy day playlist, but this song will definitely brighten up your day and make you feel a million times more happy and hopeful if you're down.

Marcy Playground: "Sex and Candy" - I gotta represent the 90s here. This is a totally perfect song for rain. Totally perfect. Like disco lemondade.

Broken Social Scene: "7/4 Shoreline" - With all the BS(S) those guys have been coming out with as of late, I think it's time to take a step back to the basics. Did anyone see what I did there? With the initials of Broken Social Scene? Clever, right?

The National: "Green Gloves" - Did I ever mention that Boxer was one of fave albums of '07. It really was. It's such a fucking good album. Oh plus I always try to close my playlists with The National if I can help it.

That's it. It's probably dry wherever you guys are, so I suggest saving this playlist for a rainy day. See how I did that there? That pun I used? Yeah. I can see it already. I'm gonna be so clever in '09.

E