Winter Spring Summer

I’m gonna be on the radio, like now

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007 | Music, Philly, Poetry | 4 Comments

Last week, I went out to Manayunk to the Skin Radio studios to record “Brotherly Love” for inclusion in the funky little format they’ve got going over there at 1340AM and skinradio.com.

So, according to the Program Director, they’ll be playing the poem in three parts today @ 12.45p, 2.45p, and 4.45p. You should listen — really, what else are you doing that’s so important? After today, I’m pretty sure they’ll be throwing into their regular rotation of poetry that they play around :40 to :50 after every hour.

And if my world-(or City)renowned poem isn’t enough to get your attention (for shame!), you should listen because Skin Radio is good. They have a really engaging format that throws in a little comedy, a little poetry, local bands, and very few commercials (a surprisingly unintrusive amount). And the music is a mix of old and new alternative — Radiohead, The Decemberists, Pearl Jam, The Killers, Better than Ezra, Arrested Development — it’s pretty good stuff that you don’t hear that much on the FM side of the dial.

Friday Random Ten, the full moon edition

Friday, February 23rd, 2007 | Music | 10 Comments

1. Le Moulin, Amélie Soundtrack
2. I’m afraid of Americans, David Bowie
3. Falling for You, Weezer
4. Scentless Apprentice, Nirvana
5. Everyday, Yo La Tengo
6. What people are made of, Modest Mouse
7. Someday I Suppose, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
8. Nowhere Fast, The Smiths
9. Pasties & A G-String, Tom Waits
10. Mimi Merlot [Beatnik Outtake], Of Montreal

Bonus Track: Livin’ It Up, Ja Rule (awww yeah!)

Yay!!: 1, 3, 7
Best Lyric:“I want to drop my trousers to the Queen” (#8)
Seen Live: 2, 3, 7, 8 (well, Morrissey, more than a few times), 10

Who else is doin’ this FRT thang, you ask:
howard (I know lots of the artists, but none of the songs)
ben (sufjan stevens was my #12)
marisa (wagon wheel = one of the best songs ever!)
brian (the FRT is fine, but I’m diggin the Oscar Picks way more)
fred(with a little more Tom Waits)

Daniel Powter is stalking me

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 | Music, Whatnot | 4 Comments

Despite (or perhaps because of?) it’s inane lyrics and contrived catchiness, Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” lives comfortably atop my guilty pleasures list. (Admit it, you can’t help from singing along: You had a bad day, the cameras don’t lie….) But, although that song seemed to be all the Top 40 rage last summer, it had kind of fallen out of my life… until recently.

You see, I’ve taken to listening to the XM radio that comes through my Direct TV… and it seems like everytime I turn it on I hear “Bad Day.” And I’m not even exaggerating, it’s every time, almost every day, sometimes twice in the span of a few hours. And really, that’s been fine by me, because every time I stop whatever I’m doing to flail around my living room, sing at the top of my lungs, and scare the crap out of my cats.

But today things have gone too far. After hearing “Bad Day” at least once last night, I got in the car this afternoon and it was playing on the station I was tuned to. And just now, I got to the Bucks Co. Coffee in Manayunk, to do some focused work (see how well that’s working out), and what’s pumping through Bux’s sound system? My man, Daniel Powter. It’s un-freakin’ canny? I mean, seriously, I really think he’s following me. And right now it’s *just* following, but if I hear him one more time today, he’ll have crossed the line into stalking. And I wish he wouldn’t, because the infatuation and fun are fading the more I’m overwhelmed with the song and how bad it really is.

Knitting Project #2: Fluffy Scarf

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 | Domestic Prowess | 1 Comment

I’m only now getting the chance to post this picture, that’s my Moms wearing the soft & fluffy purple scarf that I knitted for her birthday (which was actually in January… so yeah, I’m a little behind). It was very simple, done all in purl stitch, with big guage (#17) needles, and finished all in one day.

Actually, this scarf was done long before January, but I was keeping it under wraps on the off chance that Moms started poking around the blogosphere. And, although I really wanted to make one for myself, I swore off scarves after finishing it because I really wanted to try something more challenging. Unfortunately, the patterns I have are too challenging for me to figure out, so I need to pick up a good knitting book from the library — something with some illustrations and dumbed down instructions.

Inaugural Quiche

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007 | Domestic Prowess | No Comments

I’ve been dabbling in the pie arts for, geesh, about 5 or so years now, I guess, but I only recently realized that I’d never made a quiche. This is a terrible terrible oversight on my part, considering quiche really is the perfect pie, when you consider it’s good for a meal any time of the day, without fear of facing scorn from the “healthy eating” police. So, tonight, in an attempt to correct this mistake, I produced the glowing peice of eggy goodness over there on the right. Yum! A delicious broccoli, onion, and cheese concoction, in a savory tart crust.

But as with any baking venture, it was not without it’s lessons:

#1) Any recipe that calls for 1 tsp of nutmeg & 2 tsp of salt is to be questioned. This quiche was way to salty & tangy.
#2) A quiche recipe calling for only 1 cup of cheese is just dead wrong. I’m not sure whether it was the lack of cheese or the excess of nutmeg, but this wasn’t nearly as cheesy as I would have liked. Of course, I’m a cheese-a-holic, but still… this wasn’t quite right.
#3) Carefully read and evaluate any recipe in the book, I *heart* Pies & Tarts. Despite some of its most excellent sounding combinations, author Nancy Kershner tends to leave out critical information, like when to add the cheese, the temperature at which to bake, or how to tell if your quiche is done. Luckily, my trusty How to Cook Everything helped fill in the gaps.

But other than these few hiccups, the quiche was darned tasty… as you can see, the Little Mister & I ate half of it!

i have a new hat!

Monday, February 19th, 2007 | Accessorization | No Comments

isn’t it cute?!?!

and it only cost $10 — $10!!!! — on sale at Hats in the Belfry. It’s a very good day.

Sunday, Geeky Sunday

Sunday, February 18th, 2007 | Whatnot | No Comments

After a my-t-fun evening with the geeks and bloggers (many thanks to Scott for an excellent party!), I find myself enjoying a full day of geekery. Let me preface this by saying that my level of geekery is far more rudimentary than most, so it doesn’t take much for me to impress myself with my technical prowess. Minor tweaks to html code, for instance, set my wee heart aflutter. In real geek circles, it’s kind of pathetic; but, for a writer, and especially a poet, I’m pretty darned handy with the technamalogicalisms.

So, I’m pretty darned proud of how deftly I installed and applied the Joomla Flickr badge plugin on the Mad Poets Society’s website, which I “manage.” Oh yeah, and let’s not forget that I also (finally) signed up for Twitter (although I still can’t quite figure out how to make it work with AOL IM). And now I’m trying to get a Mad Poets’ blog up and running, which mean, ya know, tweaking the template design and other high level technologicalish type activities. I’m so awesome at the internets I can barely handle it!

I think next I’m going to try to add the Little Mister’s Whoomp! button to my site.

Friday Random Ten, “staying afloat” edition

Friday, February 16th, 2007 | Music | 4 Comments

Yeah, I took a week off. For no real reason other than laziness. But I’m back with a bang – and a big ole, surfin’ cow bang, at that.

1. “Surfin’ Cow,” The Dead Milkmen

2. “Eventually Rock,” Marah

3. “Good Morning Girl,” Journey

4. “Beachball,” REM

5. “Boat of Car,” They Might Be Giants

6. “Down Slow,” Moby

7. “She Lives in My Lap,” Outkast

8. “The Memory of Trees,” Enya

9. “The Infamous Date Rape,” A Tribe Called Quest

10. “No more tears,” The KLF

Yay!!: 1, 5

Blech: 8

Huh?: 7

And now, without further ado:

howard (I must admit that I really loved that first Matchbox 20 album…what was it called? I later threw it away in a fit of embarrassment, and I still regret it.)

ben (with titles like “Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage” I feel like I should know these songs… alas, I’m completely in the dark. I’ll be rhapsodying this list.)

ellen (with s’more Marah for all you Philly kids.)

lauren (um, I dunno what that toothy, leaping worm thing is all about, but it scares me… and I kinda like it.)

Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?

Friday, February 2nd, 2007 | Fanaticism, Philly, Poetry | 2 Comments

Oh yes — that’s me there on the cover of this week’s Center City Weekly Press.

My good pal, Kerry O’Connor, Sports Editor for the Weekly Press, wrote a feature on my Eagles poem (and my general fanaticism) and then printed the poem in the paper, on page five. Check it out!

Maybe now the Eagles organization will finally recognize my deep and abiding love. Please. Please. Love me back. Just a little bit. Please.

Friday Random Ten, “still blind after all these years” edition

Friday, February 2nd, 2007 | Music | 4 Comments

I’ve been slow with the blogging lately, for a few reasons — not the least of which is that I broke my glasses last week and still don’t have new ones. Although I’m using the Little Mister’s giant monitor and increasing my text sizes to something like 200%-300%, everything’s still a little fuzzy around the edges. Fear not — I refuse to let another Friday go by without an FRT. So, here you have it, in all it’s timely glory.

1. Vanilla Sky, Paul McCartney
2. Birthday, The Beatles
3. Instant Club Hit (You’ll Dance to Anything), The Dead Milkmen
4. The Revolution Starts Now, Steve Earle
5. Cast in the Haze (Been There 4 Days), Of Montreal
6. Assassin (Chocolate Hills of Bohol Mix), The Orb
7. Another Travelin’ Song, Bright Eyes
8. Waiting in Vain, Annie Lenox
9. Ghost Train, Counting Crows
10. United States of Russia, Red Elvises

Yay!: #2, 3, 4, 10
Blech!: #7
One of the best lyrics of all time, ever:
“I met Andy Warhol at a really chic party”
Blow it out your hair-do cuz you work at Hardees
~the Dead Milkmen, “Instant Club Hit”

Come on ride the FRT train:
howard, yay! REM
ellen, yay! more REM
ben, i’m at a loss
lauren, i *heart* devo
freakapotimus, including metallica’ gorgeous, epic “one”