Rather cloudy with showers.

Cuddlefish

2009-10-30T00:12:18Z

One of my new songs!

My Life According to Regina Spektor

2009-08-03T01:48:18Z

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 15 (or more) people you like, include me. You can't, however, use the band that I used. Try not to repeat a song title. It's a lot harder than you think! Repost as "my life according to (band name)".

Pick Your Artist
Regina Spektor

Male or Female?:
Poor Little Rich Boy

How Do You Feel?:
Blue Lips

Describe Where You Currently Live:
Small Town Moon

If You Could Go Anywhere, Where Would You Go?:
Another Town

Favorite Form of Transportation?:
Chemo Limo

Your Best Friend is:
Mermaid

You and Your Best Friends Are:
Kids

What's the Weather Like?:
Raindrops

Favorite Time of Day?:
That Time

If Your Life Was a TV Show, It Would Be Called:
Down the Road & Up the Hill

What is Life to You?:
Music Box

Your Last Relationship:
Dust to Dust

Your Fear:
The Noise

What is the Best Advice You Have to Give?:
Be Like a Cloud

Thought For the Day:
Love, You’re a Whore

How I Would Like to Die:
Laughing With

My Soul's Present Condition:
Aching to Pupate

My Most Faithful Companion:
Two Birds

My Motto:
BYOS (Bring Your Own Shovel)

Resurrection, or Why We Need the Rain

2009-05-15T23:12:20Z

"There was no wind; a soft warm rain had begun falling in the morning, and hung in drops on leaves, twigs, and grass. Besides the smell of the fresh vegetation, the smell of damp earth, asking for more rain, entered in at the window."
-Leo Tolstoy, Resurrection

Brake! Ready, set, goals.

2009-03-23T14:14:01Z

1. Clean room.
2. Keep doing various exercise things (riding bike, stretching, yoga, push-ups, crunches, jumping rope, stretching, stretching).
3. Finish writing one of these stupid freaking songs.
4. Practice music.
5. Read some things from the pile.
6. Watch some movies from the pile.
7. Study Russian.

That's probably enough.

Hit and Run

2008-12-14T07:39:17Z

Fall

2008-11-28T07:36:38Z

The latest song... a couple little mistakes but I think it's still listen-able.

Comments on the video's page on YouTube are loverly. :)

Fog

2008-11-20T22:31:22Z

Last night, walking home

2008-11-06T23:15:45Z

I keep going away from the many songs I'm actually working on to quickly whip out other songs... This one isn't fantastic but I figured I may as well post it.

Soon to come, though, is a song that I'm really excited about and think will be really great.

I could be wrong

2008-11-02T00:50:34Z

How It Ended

2008-10-26T04:57:58Z

To date I have 12 completed songs...
Then there are at least 12 more that I'm working on. At least.
But I'm only really working actively on 2 or 3 of those.

Anyway, enjoy.

Blood Cider

2008-10-22T20:26:49Z

I cut my thumb again today, but in a different place and it bled much more. I was cutting an apple at the cider-making table by the amphitheater. I definitely avoided spreading my numerous bloodborne pathogens (tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and C, etc.) this time though, because there was no beet juice to complicate matters.

It seriously bled a lot, and for a very long time. I felt guilty, because it wasn't a big deal at all but it looked like it was. Oh, it was also really strange because I was sucking on it for a little bit and I was really aware of the cycle of blood leaving my body and immediately reentering orally. Kind of like a fountain.

Which makes me picture some kind of crazy movie scene where someone would have had a breakdown, and they are found all bloody and wild-eyed, and one character would say, "Oh, my God! What happened? Get help, somebody!" and the bloody character would say in a faraway voice, "I wanted to be like a fountain..."

Aaaanyway. C'est tout.

Beets, Cabbage, and Blood

2008-10-21T23:50:54Z

I just made more borsch. But this time there may have been the added ingredient of human blood. I'm not sure? At some point I evidently cut my thumb (and thumbnail) -- not badly, but I'm guessing I bled. It was probably around the time in my beet-cutting when I thought to myself about how it looked like my hands were covered in blood. (Don't worry, if there was blood it wouldn't have been that much.) Anyway. Rambling...

I put all the borsch in containers and put the containers in either the fridge or the freezer. Now I'm making spirally pasta for tonight's dinner. (I'm letting the borsch do its own thing till tomorrow.) On the spirally pasta I will put this hearty artichoke tomato sauce that comes from a very different-looking jar.

In other, inedible news, I just got back a box containing the rest of my old journals... Reading over them was making me uncomfortable and I had to stop.

On the bright side, I got some more CDs back. And my Gavroche vest.

Song for Losers

2008-10-09T23:42:50Z

Photo? Shoot!

2008-09-23T01:20:57Z

Many an amazing photo was taken today through the collective efforts of Becca and Angelica. Beyond the cut you will find my press photos.

(Photo by Angelica)

(Photo by Angelica)

(Photo by Becca)

(Photo by Becca)

(Photo by Becca)

(Photo by Becca)

(Photo by Becca)

Bonus photos soon to come...

Voilà!

2008-09-21T12:03:53Z

The very fine artwork was done by Angelica! Woo hoo! Doesn't it make you want to buy at least five copies?

In the Studio

2008-09-20T17:03:19Z

The 1926 Steinway grand piano I got to play was so amazing... This is me trying it out and warming up.

If you're interested in buying the CD, go to the entry before this one and click on one of those PayPal buttons, or talk to me if you live close.

Tricky to See

2008-09-18T20:37:56Z

NEWS!!

Tricky to See, my first EP, will soon be available! It will feature studio-quality recordings of the songs "Immunodeficiency," "I am not a stranger here," "Try to Try Again," "Atrophy," "Song for Losers" (as yet unheard), and "The Penny Song". The CD labels and sleeves will be made from 100% recycled fibers.

Pre-order your copy now! CDs will most likely be shipped sometime next week.

Buy 1 copy for $6...

...or 2 copies for $10!

Note: If you live near me, you should just contact me and then you won't have to pay shipping.

Guts

2008-09-10T23:50:02Z

10, and 21

2008-07-23T07:23:59Z

I made a list of ten graduate schools where I could pursue a Master's in Slavic Languages and Literature. The list takes into consideration the presence of the program, climate, and in many cases whether or not it is rated as a good cycling city and where it ranks on a list of healthiest cities to live in. Cleveland is the exception to all of those standards except the program one.

I'm putting stars next to the ones that I think could possibly accept me.

1. Case Western University - Cleveland, OH
2. University of Toronto - Toronto, Ontario
3. UCLA - Los Angeles, CA
4. University of Southern California - Los Angeles, CA
5. Georgetown University - Washington D.C.
6. University of Chicago - Chicago, IL
*7. University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ
8. Boston College - Boston, MA
*9. University of Denver - Denver, CO
*10. University of Oregon - Eugene, OR

You will notice that I don't think I could actually get into most of these schools. But I wouldn't even be applying for over a year, assuming life indeed takes me in that direction, so I figured I might as well keep it on the long side for now.

Another option could be going to culinary school and becoming a pastry chef. Or doing that thing where you teach English a third-world country, like France. Or holding orphan babies in Russia (possibly but not necessarily with the intent of stealing them).

PS Today I am 21 years old. :-/

Meme?

2008-07-15T02:55:53Z

I have until now abstained from such activities as this, not wanting to corrupt my LiveJournal... but I'm giving in.

Step 1: Put your iPod [or whatever] on random.
Step 2: Post the 1st line from the first 31 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song (lol). And it doesn't have to be perfect if you can't understand the lyrics word for word(n00b). If the title line is the first line, take the next one.
Step 3: Let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Bold the songs when someone guesses correctly.
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING! (cheaterzdie)

1. No lack of alibis... your knack for the spectacular is still intact.
2. Nellie, I want you to meet Ngana and Jerome.
3. Sometimes we feel like we got nothing to say anymore.
4. Je sème les souvenirs que j'aime... toute seule ou en tandem...
5. Y en a 1 de trop... C'est pas toi, c'est l'autre.
6. Before the phone hits the receiver, you're halfway to the door. (Running Man by Al Stewart - Angelica)
7. Your timing's really strange...
8. I don't know what it is that makes me love you so. (I Only Wanna Be With You by Dusty Springfield - Angelica)
9. Threw some chords together, the combination D-E-F.
10. My mother, she told me to stay away from boys...
11. They say there was a fire on the night I died... (On the Other Side by Janis Ian - Angelica)
12. I must go on standing... (Après Moi by Regina Spektor - Angelica)
13. J'veux pas finir mes jours à Tombouctou...
14. You're such a wonder that I think I'll stay in bed...
15. Riding through the city on my bike all day 'cause the filth took away my license...
16. There's not a morning that I open up my eyes... (With Every Breath I Take from City of Angels - Angelica)
17. Don't try to patch it up. Tear it up! Tear it up! (I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair from South Pacific - Angelica)
18. Sometimes I wonder where I've been...
19. Hide me in your hollows, taste the salt that clings to me...
20. Wrote you this, I hope you got it safe.
21. The count has an eye on his ankle... (Scream and Run Away by The Magnetic Fields - Angelica)
22. To look at me, you may not think that I'm a femme fatale. (Don't Ever Call Your Sweetheart By His Name by Christine Lavin - Angelica)
23. Pourquoi tu m'appelles un chat alors que j' m'appelle un chat?
24. We speak in the store, I'm a sensitive bore... (Peach Plum Pair by Joanna Newsom - Angelica)
25. It's late, I think I'm gonna stay...
26. You wanted to buy me for a hundred euro...
27. No one waits for her inside the house, she spots a stranger in the mirror... (8th Floor by Regina Spektor - Allison)
28. To all the boys and girls outside, you know I didn't cry...
29. My friend the communist holds meetings in his RV...
30. Most of the better bred woolen toys have gone to bed... (Samuel, Oh How You've Changed by Al Stewart - Angelica)
31. Would you like to learn to sing? Would you like to sing my song?

Hello, Can You Hear Me There? (cover)

2008-07-05T17:24:05Z

Immunodeficiency

2008-06-18T23:10:59Z

I am not a stranger here

2008-05-02T23:33:40Z

Carolyn

2008-04-20T07:18:41Z

In the near future:
- A song about being alone
- A song about being alone (oh, CRAP, I thought I wrote down the first couple lines of this but I have NO clue where they are, and I don't remember anything about it other than it's like Spring but less hopeful sounding)
- A song about jumping out a window
- A song about how I hate everyone
- POSSIBLY a kind of weird song in French... I may throw this one out

I'm really unhappy about having forgotten what I had of that song... it's really, really frustrating. If I did indeed write down those lines, I have no idea where the piece of paper is now. This is going to drive me insane...

[Edit: I remembered! Haha.]

Trying to Try

2008-04-08T00:32:44Z