show friday at the MIddle East DOWNSTAIRS

Tomorrow (Friday) night, ARmy of BRoken TOys is playing our first ever show at the Middle East DOWNSTAIRS. This is a huge show for us. In theory, if we do well (read as: if you and all of your friends come out to support us), this will be the first of many shows at the downstairs.

WHEN: Tomorrow, Friday, December 18. Doors are at 8. We are the FIRST BAND so we'll go on as close to 9 as possible.

WHERE: The Middle East Downstairs, 472 - 480 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

HOW MUCH: $12, I know, it's a little pricy. But for the bands that are playing and given the venue, it's totally worth it!

WHO'S IN THE BAND TONIGHT: Walter Sickert (guitar, vocal, piano), Edrie Broken Toy (assorted magical toy instruments), Me (viola), TJ the Bear (Drums), Jojo the Burlesque Poetess (ukulele, comedy, poetry on demand), Mike from What Time is it, Mr. Fox (upright bass), possible Kevin Corzett (or Corset..on the Clarinet), possibly a few of the Grindhouse Marionettes, plus all of the Bunnies we can round up.

WHO ELSE IS PLAYING: Count Zero, The Bon Savants, and The Elevator Drops (this is their one time reunion show. It's your last chance to see them!)

WHY SHOULD I COME TO THIS ONE: The ARmy will be full force! As many bunnies as possible. You can expect a maximum dose of  your favorite carnie doom-folk steamcrunk band! The BRoken TOys dont have many shows in town over the next couple months, so come out to support us!


Check out Walter's poster!

measa: piece of sheet music

yesterday i knew my outfit looked familiar but i couldn't figure out what it was.

Then i realized...yes, i have spent A LOT of time looking at this particular inanimate object...

Behold! it's me as a Peters edition!

measa: french cigarette ad

This is poster for Job Cigarettes drawn by Jane Atche in 1896. The original print lives at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

I think is one of the most extraordinary uses of the color green that exist, especially when paired with the vermilion/rust color of the word "JOB"

So i thought i'd try it

day job/night job

i was tired.
when i got home last night, i was tired.
more tired than i thought i should be, despite the fact that i got home a quarter to one in the morning.

i worked at the shoe store yesterday. this means my day didn't actually start until 11am. it was a nice day filled with nice customers who bought nice shoes. i like my coworkers. i left early to drive all the way out to the high school where i teach. it took more than twice as long to get there as it usually does.
i was still early.
last night was my first orchestra concert. my students. my piece. it's kind of surreal. i did it. i became a music teacher. and here i am. teaching music. i think maybe i'll email the video to my high school music director, let him know that my plan worked out.

after the concert, i had a rehearsal for the Broken Toys. We got permission to have a private practice at the Lilypad. I like that place a lot. It's also hard to fit the whole band in the space where we usually practice, though i like that place a lot, too.

Still, when i got home i was exhausted. I think maybe it takes more energy to switch gears than i originally assumed. Something tells me that if my day had been the same length but only doing one or two related things, i wouldn't have felt so spent.


day job

here i am conducting the orchestra.


night job

here i am bouncing around in a skirt i made out of wrapping paper.



here i am in 6" heels* rocking out to a song about anorexia.

*funny story: actually, the last time jaggery was all together in NYC, i put a hole in the stage with those shoes. i was pretty hyped about something and was stomping hard enough that all of the sudden half of the heel was in the stage. i pulled it out, managed to sneak a picture with my phone inbetween songs, then kicked some cables over it. i dont think anyone noticed.

~~~

in two hours i'm driving to new york to play a show with the Broken Toys and Jaggery at Tommy's Tavern in Brooklyn. I'm particularly excited because this is only the second time that all five members  of Jaggery (piano/drums/bass/harp/viola) will be playing all together. We've performed in just about every combination...it's just hard to get all of us in the same place.

We'll drive back to boston after the show. I'll probably be home by 6am.
At 8:30am i'll be starting the first of four, hour-long, back to back, piano lessons
At 12:30 i'll go straight to the shoe store to work
At 6pm i'll leave work early and head to cloud club for another show
and by 1am sunday, i'll be able to go to sleep.
what a life!

measa: wallet

i know what you're thinking...

what kind of asshole starts a blog, then doesn't post in it for over a week, then posts twice in one day?
answer: this guy.
such is life...


anyways, sometimes i dress as inanimate objects.
i'm often told that i look like things
i think this is probably not a common compliment
it's cool, though. i've got nothing against things.
i like things. i dont mind looking like them.

so i think, maybe i'll take some pictures of it...

here i am as my wallet

relax

i never thought i'd have to work so hard to not do anything.
but it doesn't come easy to me, so i guess i do.

last weekend, on tour, i "relaxed" for the longest single period of time in as long as i can remember, about 2.5 hours.
don't get me wrong, my life is in no way without pleasure
i do lots of things "for fun"
they just all happen to be productive. all of them. at all times.
if i'm watching tv, i'm checking my e-mail
if i'm crafting something, it's because i need it
if i'm listening to music, i'm probably going from one place to another (driving, biking)

but relaxing, true relaxing (to me, anyways), is the art of sitting still.

usually, the way i know i'm relaxing is that i'm reading a book. Reading is my one true leisure activity. I say this becuase i can't do it while doing anything else. I have to sit still. I have to pay atention. I dont read with music on. I dont read on commutes. unfortunately, this means i dont read often. But when I do, i fucking love it.

still, reading is productive...
~~~

tony (the bass player for jaggery) lives in a small house on a lake near Jamestown, NY. it's where we slept while touring. After getting in from a show around 5:30am, everyone else slept till 12:30. i woke up at 9.
I tried to go back to sleep.
failed.
Listened to an unheard album through my bitchin' new headphones.
finished it.
and by 10am had nothing to do but sit.
so i decided to try and relax.
i put my ipod on shuffle and went downstairs. the only source of heat at tony's is a small gas/electric fireplace against the wall. though i spent a lot of time being pretty cold over the last few days, there is a distinct and great pleasure that comes from fire heat.

real heat
heat from something on fire
not that canned shit that comes out of central air vents
i sat in front of it and stared at the flames
nothing is natural in the fire except the flame
i sat so close i thought my eyelashes might burn
the wood and the embers are some sort of futuristic inflammable plastic
i sat with my hands pressed against the iron sides until i cant stand it
then i press harder
it's both plugged in and hooked up to something that resembles a propane tank
then i press my scalding hands against other, less fortunate, parts of me
it's funny to call this thing real when i cant even figure out what is producing the fire
still, it's the most real thing i've done all morning.

then i stare out the window.
then i stare at the wall
then i stare at the fire again.

just me and some songs and some thoughts
alone in jamestown
and it was good

...but it was also really fucking hard


~~~

as a side note: when i finished "relaxing" i had several frantic/angry/concerned voicemails from a slew of people in boston. Apparently one of my piano students had forgotten that i was going to be out of town this week and had driven all the way into the city for a lesson which was not happening. This makes me sad and stressed and angry, and ruins my relaxing.