Small Bands, Big Hearts

For about 5 years, I lived in Austin, which is fondly known as the Live Music Capital of the World.  No really, it's muraled on a wall on 6th St. (and yes I did just use the word "mural" as a verb).  And it's true, there are hundreds of awesome venues for live music in Austin.  Not only that, but they have some pretty kick ass music festivals every year.  I never went to Austin City Limits (or ACL as it's more commonly known), because a. tickets are HELLA expensive, and b. I'm not really a fan of huge smelly crowds all sweating together in the hot sun. But I did get to take part in South by Southwest (or SXSW, or South by) several years in a row, mainly because I worked at a restaurant that was a venue. Because of that, I got to hear lots of awesome bands, some that have made it somewhat, and some that I've heard of once, loved, and haven't heard of since.  For example:

Thriving Ivory

This was my first no-name band I heard of, and I was a fan from the beginning.  Mostly because the bassist came and kept me from being bored out of my skull checking ids at the front door, but then because they're actually really really awesome!  They have a couple of albums out, and according to Facebook, they have a major announcement coming up on May 20th!

Thriving Ivory -Where We Belong

Gin Riots

These guys are a faint memory in my head.  They were pretty cool when I saw them, but they never really stuck with me.  The only reason I remember them is because I got an awesome pin from them.

Gin Riots - Johnny Cash

I Hate Kate

Oh I Hate Kate.  Y'all were so awesome.  These guys actually opened for Thriving Ivory at one of the shows I went to in Austin, and they were awesome.  So awesome, I in fact went out the next day and bought their CD, which I listen to all the time.  I think they've broken up, which makes me really sad because like I said, they were super awesome.

 I Hate Kate - It's Always Better When I'm with You

The Fishermen

These guys are a little different, because I actually know a couple of guys in the band.  It's my friend Lindsay and his brother Phil and their band.  They have a total laid back mellow sound and it was always so much fun to go to their gigs.  They moved back to DC a while ago, and they're playing a lot there, at Nationals games and stuff like that!  I'm really proud of them, and I wish I lived closer so I could see them more often.

The Fishermen Band - Honey

What small bands or not very well known bands do you love?

Immediately if not sooner.

My sister and I were chatting today about how tired she is and how she wishes someone would go get her a vanilla latte so she could perk up.  A little background: my sister teaches 1st grade in Alaska.  I work in an office in Texas.  Our comings and goings (not to mention timing) are a little different.  So I told her she should send someone out to get her fancy coffee, and she volunteered me.  When asked how I would get it to her, she replied "Super speedy shippers.  It's a company.  That I just made up."  That got me thinking.  There are cities around the country where you can get anything from pizza to clothes delivered (NYC I'm looking at you).  Then there are places where you can only get the normal things delivered (pizza, chinese food, etc.).  Why on earth hasn't someone (or some company) decided that it would be a good idea to deliver things like coffee drinks to people?  There is a Starbucks across the street from my office, but sometimes it is way too cold or rainy to make my way over there.  Wouldn't it be amazing if you could have Starbucks delivered?  There are companies that deliver hot fresh cookies and ice cold milk, why can't there be a Starbucks delivery service?  Think about it.  It could be big.

What do you wish could be delivered right to your door?

Traditions!!/Happy Birthday!

Today is my second oldest sister's 30th birthday.  It's awesome and amazing, and she is the second sibling to turn 30 (my oldest sister turned 30 last year).  But there seems to be a slightly alarming trend happening with my siblings' 30th birthdays.  Last June, when my sister turned 30, she was pregnant with my nephew Mason.  A few weeks, but pregnant nonetheless.  Today, being my other sister's 30th birthday, she is pregnant with my niece Carrie Anne.  And we're talking due in August pregnant.  Now I've got about 2 and a half years before I turn 30, so I've got time.  But it does make me a bit nervous to think that this could be a tradition begun by my sisters.  Being pregnant on your 30th birthday?  I don't know about you, but I don't think I want to deal with that nonsense on my birthday.  Either way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE!! I hope you have a magnificent day, and a stellar year!  I love you!!!!

Ill

So the dentist gave me antibiotics and painkillers for my tooth.  The antibiotics makes me nauseous and vomit, and the painkillers wipe me out so bad that I took one at 11 last night and I'm still exhausted 9 hours later.  And that was after going to bed at 8:45.  It's a little ridiculous how not good medicine makes me feel, mainly because I've never had any trouble with medication in the past.  Granted I haven't been on medication since my senior year of college (for a sinus infection), but that was only three or four years ago.  I just want my mouth to not hurt anymore and I want my body not to react poorly to antibiotics.  Seriously.  I've got shit to do this week/weekend.  I don't have time to be feeling crappy.

OWIE

Recently, I've been having some major tooth trouble.  It started with little twinges of pain, mainly when I ate or drank something extremely cold, hot or sweet.  But then it worsened, and worsened, and worsened until it came to a head last night with an extreme amount of pain that radiated through my entire face.  Like it made the back of my eyes hurt, that's how bad the pain was.  I couldn't sleep until I had a hot wet washcloth on my face, and even then when it cooled down, I'd wake up and have to go microwave it again.  So needless to say, I went to the dentist today.  Now let me preface this by saying that I hate the dentist.   I absolutely completely am not a fan of a person digging around in my mouth. So I don't have a dentist here.  Luckily, there is a dentist office across the street from my office and they were able to fit me in this morning.  So I went, sat down, they took an x-ray and the filling of my tooth was pressing on the nerve, which caused an infection to start and an abscess to happen.  So yeah, super awesome.  I'm sitting there listening to this (ridiculously attractive, I mean really.  Bearded, blue eyes, humana-humana) dentist tell me that I need a root canal, and that he doesn't do them, but he can send me some place, and he can prescribe some meds for me so I am not in pain anymore.  So now I have an appointment to (voluntarily) let a doctor DRILL INTO MY TOOTH, kill it, fill it with crap and cover it back up temporarily. Can you tell I'm a wee bit nervous about this?  And of course, it's in the middle of the day, so I will have to go back to work.  UGH.  The lesson learned here is ALWAYS BRUSH YOUR TEETH.  And floss.  And use mouthwash.  I hate dental work.

Sleeping Preferences

People are PICKY about their sleeping circumstances.  I should say SOME people are picky.  Others don't care where they sleep because they can sleep anywhere, or they're not going be sleeping much anyways.  But there are those who HAVE to have a certain type of blanket or pillow, who FREAK OUT if the bed is too soft or too hard.  Me, I'm pretty easy going when it comes to sleeping.  I have to have a blanket of some sort, but it doesn't have to be particularly fluffy or whatever, just as long as it covers all of me except my head.  I can usually sleep on hard or soft surfaces, though I'm sure like everyone else, I like a little bit of padding beneath me.  But the one thing I am picky about is pillows.  I HATE soft pillows.  It's like not even having anything under your head!  I don't like flat pillows either.  I like a firm fluffy pillow, which is nothing something that is easy to find.  So I create my own.  I take two firm, flat pillows and I stuff them into the same pillowcase, thus creating the perfect mix of firm and fluffy.  This is why I take my own pillow everywhere I might be sleeping.  I don't want to have to makeshift a pillow out of way too soft pillows, which leaves you with a tower of pillows and a neck ache.

Comfort

Comfort is this month's theme for BlogHer's NaBloPoMo.  Oh comfort.  Everybody talks about getting OUT of the comfort zone, and pushing yourself to get away from the comforts.  But there's something to be said for being comfortable.  Sure it's good to push yourself and to take risks, but it's also good to know that there are things that are perfect comforts. One of those things is stuffed animals, every kid's perfect comfort. When I was little, I didn't have a ton of stuffed animals, because I shared a room with my little sister, and she has crazy asthma.  But I did have a couple of very special animals who were so comforting to me.  One was a tiny little tiger named Rusty who I got when I had my appendix out when I was six.  He was small, but such a great comfort to me in a time of crisis!  Then I got a huge teddy bear for Christmas one year.  I must have been eleven or twelve, right at the age when I didn't really NEED a stuffed animal, but I wanted one.  And I named him Nicholas Gene Carter Mouton, because I was madly in love with Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys.  I kept Nicky for quite some time, until my goddaughter was born.  Then I passed him down to her.  When I was fifteen, my family and I went to New York City, and each of us kids got a little stuffed animal from FAO Schwartz, and I got a tiger fondly named Brooklyn.  Since I've had him, he has been my constant companion in slumber.  He's gotten a little matted, a little mangled, and he's missing an eye, but he is a fantastic comfort who comes with me everywhere, a little piece of home wherever I go!