TV on the Radio. Just a few more weeks and I'm there, front and center, for the second time around in just four months.
After three years here, I can comfortably say that I'll never grow to like Montreal, but the concerts keep me going from one month to the next, as do the $5 grilled chicken lemongrass soup bowls from down the street and the two monster-cats at the foot of my bed. And, the boyfriend in his earplugs beside me.
The winter's long. Words to live by: Life is hard but art is fun.
Hello internet. Hello people. I have been working on setting up a couple of new blogs, but my love-hate relationship with them has reduced the process to a snail's pace. I have so many ideas and so little patience. There are loose pieces of me all over this web.
Nevertheless, I am here with some small sense of purpose. My time, as of late--as of the past few years, really--has been somewhat occupied by a growing obsession with home design. And by that, I mean mostly a lust for pretty things I cannot afford. Recently though, my favourite design site kicked off an international home colours contest and I actually found the courage to enter and be publicly judged. I've had a surprisingly great response, given that both my budget and personal aesthetic are somewhat at odds with the sleek and painfully unattainable modern design promoted by the site. If I can get enough votes to make it to the semi-finals, I'd have a decent shot at one of the delicious prizes of gift certificates at very cool furniture store. If anyone is interested in voting for me, may I humbly guide you to my contest page where you can click for me to be an "insta-finalist". Thanks to anyone who bothers to indulge me in this.
In other news... Well, there are no news really. Still in Montreal, still at school (got my Master's, now working towards that whole doctorate thing... if you ever want a taste of what eternity feels like, I suggest you give grad school a shot). Got another cat. His name is Mikey and he likes to eat mushrooms. Cici, my other fancy feline, has developed all sorts of new wrestling moves in attempt to show Mikey her unbridled love for his constant presence. Going to Chicago soon, going to New York. Most immediately, going to see TV on the Radio next weekend. Turning 26 this month. Trying to be a better citizen and probably failing.
The AC show was awesome! Here are some vids, though the quality's not great. I was at the very front, and I think the sound would've probably been better further back, but I couldn't tear myself from the stage. At one point, a predictably annoying indie boy, in a pair of thick-rimmed frames, old-man trousers and a strategically bad haircut, elbowed his way beside me and before I knew it, I was almost squished out of my spot. He pulled the old excuse-me-while-I-put-my-beer-bottle-on-the-stage-and-remain-in-your-personal-space-hoping-you-won't-notice. In any case, I can't speak enough of AC's originality and technical prowess. My only complaint is that my fave songs didn't get played, but such is life.
Banshee beat.
Oooueeeyah! In 48 hours, I will be riding the metro deep in the belly of an icy Montreal, on my way to see the ever-so-ridiculously-amazing Animal Collective. I have been waiting for a live show for-freakin-ever! A few months back, this urge surmounted to my spastically ordering an old concert tee online and rubbing it all over myself while listening to their music. Ok, no on the rubbing part, but I was probably only spared from it by a well-timed tour announcement.
Animal Collective live:
Other upcoming shows that I need to scrounge money for: Destroyer, Eisley, Neko Case, Ladytron, Final Fantasy, Wolf Parade, The Books. I saw Eisley, Neko, and Final Fantasy last year, and all were fantastic. Sadly, my all-time favourite band, TV on the Radio, remains mum about a new album and tour, and it appears that visiting their site a thousand times a day to psychically move them to action has done little to advance my cause.
I have about 45 African land snails. Free to a good home.
They eat just about all vegetables - they're voracious in fact, but don't require much care. A aquarium or plastic container is suitable, along with some moist moss or cedar chippings (obtainable at any pet store).
Behold Cicely! A tortoiseshell kit-kat with hot pink lips and a penchant for meowing to hysterics whilst destroying my apartment as I [try to] sleep. The first week was hell, but we've begun to adjust to each other. I've purchased ear plugs and she's learned to appreciate the reach of my spray water bottle. And, we both love our afternoon naps. I got her here, a local no-kill shelter. If you have a few bucks, they could use your donation.
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And then there's Jeff Goldblum. Jeff was a day short of being sacrificed to my lab snake, Dr. Dre, when my boyfriend saw him doing flips in his tupperware container and convinced me that he was special. Spared from his fate, Jeff now resides in a luxury 3-gallon bowl, decked out with only the finest plastic foliage. He spends his time fervently blowing bubbles on the water's surface and trying to discriminate between his food and my fingers. Cicely, at present, is oblivious to him. Perhaps each of his bubbles is a sigh of relief.
