Songs

Here are some songs I have been playing around with on my ukulele. Thanks McMu for the nickname.

Uke there it is

So I got a Ukulele. It has made me sad for a very long time that I couldn't simultaneously sing and play an instrument. During my youth I took lessons in piano and violin, but you know how it can be when you're little. In May one of my students brought in a Ukulele and I fell in love with it! For months I pestered the pbf about it. Then on our 4th anniversary he presented me with a borrowed soprano Uke from our friend Stacey. He gave me a month. By the end of week three I had my own. I now have callouses all over my left hand fingers and I spend at least an hour each day playing, there have been a few 4 or more hours days. I'm having the best time. Also, I have started to enjoy singing some more because it just makes it that much more fun. Do not be surprised if I start posting more songs just for kicks. Also, I am open to requests, it just may take me awhile. Here's me and my Mitchell MU-100 Concert Ukulele. It's pretty and has some neato mother-of-pearl trim. Do you like my hat? It's some fur bob from the 40's that I got from my Nana. Wheeee...

doooowntoooown

The newest video from wife and man for you...



Dang my wife's voice is hot.

Hitchin'

So my bestest friend got married yesterday. It was an amazing wedding! It was especially beautiful and looked like a million bucks. The bride wore a bright blue, bejewled sari. Our bridesmaid dresses were custom made, very whimsical in big bold colors. I'll put pics up online when I get a chance. The ceremony was extremely theatrical and beautiful incorporating many different wedding traditions that were just perfect. The bride has patienly waited for 27 years--do you hear me people--for the man God had for her. 27 years!! You are blessed brand new Gonzalez family! Much love from the orange fairy.

Nups

So I'm in Ohio at the moment helping out with the prep and festivities of my best friend's impending nuptials. It's always very strange coming back to the town I grew up in. It gets less and less comfortable. Also, my pbf is in LA for work so I feel a bit unanchored. Good old growing up. Yes, I'm almost 30 (eeeeeee!) but I still feel like I am growing up. I woonder if that feeling of growing will ever go away? Probably not. A few months before my Mimi died, she relayed to me that she still felt young. That's how I feel. All the time. I suppose that's a good thing. The pbf will be joining me in Columbus on Friday and I can't wait because I miss him terribly. We will drive home Saturday and Sunday and then I have a couple weeks off before work gets back into full swing.

Sez You

A friend of mine from college recently became the newest cast member of Sesame Street--yeah, you heard right! Sesame Street---ho-ly-crap! It's literally the coolest thing ever. Anyway, let me say she's the nicest, most talented gal and she totally deserves this. Anyway, enjoy the awesomeness in this clip of Season 39 highlights. She closes and opens the video. She's the one with the video camera. Pretty cool.

Going to LA next week...

I'm going to LA for work next week. Sunday through Thursday. I'll be busy with work stuff most of the time and I'm meeting up with an old friend one day, but if you were going, what would you do?

got art?

I threw out a big ugly bookshelf from my office at work... now I'm staring at a big empty wall. I need something to hang on it... Anybody want to give me art?!!!

Went to the dentist today... they had to fix a filling they screwed up years ago. The novocaine didn't work so she had to shoot me with a bunch of little shots of something else around my gum after drilling for a while. Once she got the old filling out, she realized it had gotten worse than she thought... might have to have a root canal eventually. I HATE dentists.

Movies!

I was very excited for he new X-Files movie and the pbf graciously took me to see it last night. First off it was in one of the tiny theatres at the Pavillion, always a bad sign. It wasn't terrible beyond belief, but I don't think it was as good as the first film. It just seemed like a long and not that good episode. But it was really fun to see Mulder and Scully doing their thing. If you do see it, stay for the credits there is a moment that was kind of fun to see. The movie was preceded with a trailer for a new horror movie called..."Midnight Meat Train"--wtf??! As soon as the title for the movie came on the entire audience erupted in laughter. Not so scary. 

My life...sort of

This is kind of how I spend my time. Minus the just repeating it and repeating it and repeating it...

Getting Cheddar from the Grill

So I have officially just booked my first paid coaching gig for a show. It's a company I have worked with before, and it's a pretty straightforward accent. I don't have the script yet, but the produced told me it's "West Virginia" but that a twangy southern will do just fine. Oh silly producer, there is very little twang in the WV sound, in my experience. But it's my job to give them what they want not necessarily what I want. So it goes. At the moment I am coaching three other shows, one in Vermont and the rest here. Good times! 

I'm the villain

So I'm reading my Sherlock Holmes book on the train this morning... it's a story about the KKK... they send envelopes to people with 5 orange seeds in them to let them know that they are going to kill them. Since the story was written in Britain in the late 1800's, I imagine the KKK was still novel... Watson didn't know about them in the story. SO they kill (SPOILER ALERT) Sherlock's client, and that makes this case even more personal for him. After a long day away, Sherlock comes back to Baker Street and Watson asks him if he knows who in the KKK did the killings... does he have a clue? Sherlock replies that they are going to repay the villains with their own game, and he grabs and orange and starts digging for its pips. He tells Watson to grab an envelope and address it to Captain J@m3s C@--oun. (In my attempt to remain anonymous online, i'm holding back, but suffice it to say, it was my name!). Then the train pulled into 23rd street and I had to quickly put my book in my bag and go. I hope he doesn't kill me... I'm living with anxiety until I can finish reading it on my ride home!

I DO love it...

I've spent the last two days trying to decide if I should make fun of this video or be jealous of children today. I came to the conclusion that I love it.




Some of the reasons I love it:

First, Jim Henson is in my top 10 list of artists. That would be a whole post unto itself, but if you don't know much about Henson, you should check him out... not just his muppet work, but all of it. And I think that many of the things that Henson created or worked on in his life have continued to be top quality artistic productions. That would include Sesame Street.

Next, it's really fun and clever. "Chickens back from the shore"... tell me that's not ingenious. you can't.

And the last thing I'll touch on... Feist took the ability to make fun of this video away from me. She's taken her original decent song and saved it from the pop culture disaster it had become by, in a sense, making fun of it herself. She's taking a song about teenage love (perhaps the song itself was already speaking to the silliness that teenage love is) and making it about counting... a grown woman saying she loves counting to 4. She's repurposed this song that was in everyones head, including the 3 year olds that watch Sesame Street, and made it educational fun for the whole family.

Yes. This is what I do on my lunch break.

My head hurts. I feel like throwing up. This isn't good. I went to the doctor today because I've had a cold for over a week... but indeed, it's just a cold and there's nothing they could do. However, my usual doctor wasn't there, so I saw someone different. I liked her... perhaps more than my usual doc. Super friendly and nice... maybe overly friendly. I think the wife would say she flirted. She'd probably say I flirted back. But she says I flirt a lot and I don't think I've flirted a day in my life. I think this is the sort of thing that leads to lots of the problems between guys and girls... when us guys are just being our suave selves with no intent, but it's seen as flirting.

I've been watching old episodes of ZeFrank and I watch the Vlogbrothers regularly. I wish I could be internet famous, but anonymous at the same time... I used to have a blog on another site... I wasn't anonymous on there just because I wasn't thinking... then some girl that liked me googled me and found the blog and read why i didn't want to date her... there was also trouble with family on there once... random stuff. Also, after stopping that blog, a new friend found out about it and read the whole 4 years worth of entries... I felt half naked, but also appreciated... odd stuff. It's hard to look back at your old self and not think how dumb you were or something like that. My college self was so much smarter and harder working than my teenaged self. My mid-twenties self was so much smarter and harder worker than my early twenties self. Tomorrow I'll officially be in my late twenties. I'm expecting some intelligence and perseverance to be awarded me over night.

The wife got me a book of short Sherlock Holmes stories for my b-day. What fun! They're quick reads, so it's like little snacks of literary goodness. Maybe I'll be ready for a full meal soon and return to my Chabon book I stopped reading. If someone wanted, they could get me a meerschaum pipe to hold while I'm reading my Holmes stories. (though he never actually uses one in Conan Doyle's text!)

And oh yeah... go see Wall-E. One of the best films of all time. (we're not talking just in the animation genre).

blow up dolls

Here's more about that inflatable street art I mentioned on here before. (kid goes to the school i work at and puts this stuff up on the block our building is on... fun thing to walk past on the way to the office)

Cut and paste the link below

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/07/video_street_artist_joshua_all.html

INDEPENDENCE!!!!

Happy 4th of July from all the flags within 100 yards of our front door.

Tight faced

I just saw the preview for the new Baz Lurhmann film, "Australia." Nicole Kidman has had so much work done on her face it's terrible! Yikes! Please stop getting adjusted Nic. The movie looks good, can't wait for it to come out. 

Homies

We are now both home for at least 5 weeks! In August the pbf goes to LA for work for a week, tough life huh. Simultaneous to that I will be going to Ohio to help wedding wrangle for my dearest friend Chloe. I start back to work on the 7th for a five week intensive that should be really fun. Then NYU and Conservatories start back after Labor Day. Can't wait!! It should be an awesome year, I'm looking forward to it. 

Dibs?

Jen,

You can't call dibs on naming our babies... You just... you just can't.  

I really wasn't expecting that blog to turn into baby comment central.  

Back to work.  Vacation was fun as you can see from some of the pics the wife posted.  

Home At Last!

We had an amazing time on our 2218 mile road trip!! Thank you for everyone who let us stay with them, took us out to eat, and spent quality time with us! Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy. Go to this link. Here's a teaser.