2 Days...

Only 2 days left before we leave, but we have 3 whole work days to go first. I just feel like that’s way too long. Too many people to encounter who can make me sicker than I am. Because, yes, I am sick. But I’m not so bad. But it would be very easy for me to get worse and that can’t happen. So, I’ll keep taking that zicam and drinking that tea and avoiding people as much as possible. That’s hard to do at work, though.

But, enough about that.

No matter what, I will be in London very very soon. I will be walking along the Thames with my husband. It’s not supposed to rain while we’re there. The sun is supposed to shine the whole time.

I’ll be seeing this in person that first day there:

And this:

It’s really quite unreal to me.

I just can’t wait to step into that first pub and request that first pint and pay for it with my that quid or pound or whathaveyou and just sit and soak it all in. The Cricket World Cup is happening and although England isn’t playing while we are there, I imagine it will still be on a lot of TVs in a lot of pubs. So that will be fun.

Fun, like this song:

3 Days...

Wow. 3 Days left. Kind of crazy. Of course, I'm sick. Worst I've felt so far since I became "under the weather", but I will not let it get me down. I still feel like I could wander the streets of London and Paris, so I'll be good.

Speaking of Paris, we will only be there for a short period of time, so sightseeing will be very limited. But one stop I really want to make is to the Moulin Rouge. I love the movie so much and I just think it would be most excellent to be there in person.

Sad to keep this post short, but I need to return to the couch and rest up. I'll leave you with a song by the group Air. They're from France and it's time I give a French artist some love. And I just really dig this song. And it's also from one of my favorite movies and since it's Oscar night, I thought a movie theme makes sense.

4 Days...

My husband loves soccer (futbol)....really loves it. One of the main reasons we are heading over to England - besides the fact that we just really want to go - is to see his favorite soccer team, Arsenal, play.

We'll be going to Emirates stadium to see a real professional soccer game and, even though I'm not a huge soccer follower, I'm still pretty excited about it. It's a pretty cool thing to do in England. And I should probably start calling it Football.

And what's more Football than The Cure? Of course, I'm joking. But I do love this band. Below is my favorite song of theirs and one that I just cannot help singing along to with a full British accent.

5 Days...

Tonight is the last big stress filled event to get through before we leave. Last night I played at Acadia*, and not that playing is stressful or something to “get through”, but it was an event to mark off the calendar that will take me one step closer to London. Tonight is the Employee Cabaret/Annual Office Party that I help coordinate. I’m also performing in the Cabaret. I’m completely exhausted from last night. Bloodshot eyes…Hungover. But it’s cool. I have all weekend to sleep.

5 days from now I will be in London. It’s so hard to imagine. Around this time next week I will most likely be back at the hotel after a long day of walking around, getting ready to head out for the evening. Plans for the evening are to see a local rock show at the Dublin Castle.

This is supposedly a really trendy "hipster" local rock venue. Madness got their start there. Allegedly the likes of Kelly Osbourne and Kate Moss hang out there. Goal for the night: Obtain a show poster for the night.

Below is the song “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths. First of all, I know they are actually from Manchester, but whatever. Same country. Second, I am super late to The Smiths party. I just couldn’t get into them during the time of my life that I was supposed to get into them. But now, LOVE them – and this is my favorite song of theirs. And I hope to get what I want, which is a fantastic vacation filled with good health.

*Setlist for last night's Acadia show: "The Paul Simon Song", "Good to Know", "Cast a Spell", "The Party", "Can't Even Tell", "Adore" (first time played live with drums)

6 Days...

By this time next week, I will be in London. It will be around 3pm. I will be exhausted. But I will be in London.

One of the many things we are planning to do in our short time there is visit Abbey Road. Not the studios, but the actual road/crosswalk from The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover. I have no plans of recreating this picture. But I will cross the road.

It seems silly for an intersection to be a major tourist attraction. Even sillier that just crossing a road can be so appealing and thrilling. But it is. And I will do it.

They also have a webcam set up at the intersection so you can check it out at anytime. So watch for me around 6am CST next Friday. You can see that here.

The weather is supposed to be sunny with highs in the upper 40s. Not as warm as I’d hoped, but still not bad. It’s not supposed to rain, either, which is shocking and a relief.

Below is a video of the song “The Universal” by Blur, one of my favorite songs of all time. I’m so excited to be surrounded by the scenery that inspired so many of my favorite songs/bands.

7 Days...

Just one more week to go before the husband and I head off to London and Paris for 5 days. It’s pretty much the trip of our lifetime and with it comes a ridiculous amount of pressure and stress. Most of the time when I have something major approaching, I start to concern myself with thoughts of getting sick or something horrible going wrong. And that hasn’t changed. And things have happened. Our sewer pipe busted and cost us a very large amount of money to fix and I am sick. Right now. Sick. I think it’s only a minor cold and seems to be dissipating (knock on wood) and hopefully I don’t spread it to the husband (knock on wood).

But I am not going to dwell on the negative, I am going to only look forward to 7 days from now when I will be boarding a flight to Heathrow Airport and London. And in honor of this trip, I am going to be posting every day something London/Paris related, like something I am excited about for this trip/and something about British music.

1. My husband sent me this picture yesterday of what the first thing we will see will be when we emerge from the tube from the airport and step out into the London streets:

Isn’t that ridiculously London? It looks like a movie set. It’s really going to hit me that we are in London. I can’t wait to see those signs for the tube and the big red double-decker buses.

2. I’m also super excited to just fly over there. I love going to the airport. I love airport bars. I’m not a big fan of flying, but I’m still intrigued by the thought of being in a plane for 8 hours and what that will do to me. I have albums lined up to bring along (including PJ Harvey’s new one, Let England Shake, which I love and will review at some point), I plan to purchase some movies to watch on my phone and hopefully I will sleep. That is the most important thing. Airplane drinks, pretzels, in flight movies, peanut M&Ms…And I love new airports. All airports are the same yet just a little different. They all run the same and the signs all work the same, but it’s always a little different. The air feels different. You can tell you are somewhere else. I look forward to that.

3. And lastly, I am almost certain I am going to meet Noel Gallagher when I’m there. I’m not going to stalk him, but I just have this feeling I will see him walking down the street. Which is completely ridiculous because really, what are the chances? Either way, the musical dessert today is "Don't Look Back in Anger" and this is a live version that completely blows me away (and it just happens to take place in Argentina, which is where we are planning to take our next big trip).

Interviewed

I just did an interview for the New York Planet blog about the little musical adventure I'm on.

You can read it here: New York Planet

I'm pretty excited about it.

The Weekend

My weekend feels like it barely happened. I'm exhausted. Here's the rundown:

• Went to happy hour on Friday night at the 331 Club and won the Music & Movies trivia with my wonderful teammates.
• Spent Saturday night house warming with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend, their friends, and my husband. Night consisted of hilarious trivia of its own – namely TV and movie quotes.Enjoyed the glorious spring-like weather on both Saturday and SundayBought a new pair of boots (picture below) and ordered another pair online. First time online shoe purchase. Hope they fit.Got a fabulous new haircut. Very Karen O. (Also pictured below)

New Boots

Karen O.

Then the bad stuff…

• Spent hours in the mall trying to find a pair of knee high boots to fit over what, are apparently, my monsterous calves and extra-wide feet. Failed. Which is why I had to buy them online.
• Picked up dog poo in the backyard, only to have another layer of snow melt away revealing another layer of dog poo. How many layers could there be under there?
• And the worst part of the weekend: our sewage line backed up. One inch of standing water in the basement. Wet-vacuumed up by my wonderful husband. We had to get the main sewage line snaked out. Luckily, it was just tree roots and not a broken pipe. Still added a lot of stress to the weekend and I really needed a stress-free weekend after the insanity that was my previous work week. It was incredibly difficult to get myself to work this morning.

This is the last full work week before London! Next Monday the office is closed for President’s Day. Then we leave the following week. Counting down the days and staying away from sick people.

To Sleep

if i dreamed of you, then it would be unnecessary
as i would be enjoying your presence
eyes closed
adrift in slumber
a place of unknowing and vulnerability
chest rising and falling
in rhythm with the feeling of peace

Supa Dupa Fly

The title of this post has absolutely nothing to do with what is being written. I was just listening to that song (by Missy Elliot) here at work this morning. It’s good stuff.

What is not good stuff is that this is another sick at work post. I’m feeling like crap, but the timing is almost perfect. Almost because I have band practice tonight – the first in a while and I was looking forward to it – and I have a hectic day at work tomorrow and plans tomorrow night. But after that I have nothing. Nothing until the end of February when I have everything. A show, a big work event, and, oh, yeah, I’m leaving the country. So it’s good to get this sickness here and over with now, but I just hope the really bad stuff holds off until Saturday. I want my Thursday and Friday night.

But, in honor of feeling like crap, I think it’s time for another 25 Songs That Play on my iPod (upgraded now to iPhone) While I’m Sick At Work. You’ve already seen Missy Elliot. Here are the rest:

1. “Ulysses” – Mason Jennings
2. “Margaret Vs. Pauline” – Neko Case
3. “Walk Off” – The National
4. “Old Fashioned Hat” – Anais Mitchell
5. “Talkin’ Alien Abduction Blues” – Dan Bern
6. “The Highs and Lows of Being #1” – Jenny and Johnny
7. “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” – The Beatles
8. “Ursa Minor” – Rogue Valley
9. “About Today” – The National
10. “You Know I’m No Good” – Amy Winehouse
11. “Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John” – Belle and Sebastian
12. “Leave Your Boyfriend Behind” – Leona Naess
13. “Can’t Hardly Wait” – The Replacements
14. “Nugget” – Cake
15. “Broke” – Modest Mouse
16. “Get Real, Get Right” – Sufjan Stevens
17. “Bad Communication” – Sufjan Stevens
18. “Castles Made of Sand” – Jimi Hendrix
19. “Glass” – Ingrid Michaelson
20. “Something About Your Love” – Mason Jennings
21. “Song to Bobby” – Cat Power
22. “Committed” – Jenny and Johnny
23. “(Put the Fun Back in the) Funeral” – Erin McKeown
24. “Pot Kettle Black” – Wilco
25. “Readabout!” – Grickle Grass

February Begins

It’s always nice to close the door on January. It’s a long month. It feels like a long month. Almost as long as March feels, but much colder.

Normally I feel a sense of relief when February hits. Spring is officially 6 weeks away. I can do 6 weeks. But it had to snow last night and instead I woke to more snow piled on top of the snow that has been sitting there since early December with no place to go and no chance to leave. The mounds of snow at the end of the driveway are now taller than the car. It’s dangerous to back out of the driveway. You can’t see and no one can see you.

But February is short and it HAS to get warmer. It just has to. We had an early spring last year. March was gorgeous, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately I know we are in for an ugly spring this year as all of this snow slowly melts away creating piles of mud for my dog to walk through.

With the turn of a new month, I get to turn the page on my Yes and Yes calendar. My list for this month is People I Love. I could list people individually, but then I would inevitably forget someone and feel bad. So I cheated and just grouped everyone. My Family, My Friends, etc.

Also, according to this calendar, Feb. 1^st is Working Naked Day. Obviously I can’t do that in the office. I should have called in.

Other notable things happening this month:

1. I have a show at Acadia on the 24^th.
2. The Employee Cabaret here at work is happening on the 25^th. I’m performing. Should be fun.
3. PJ Harvey has a new album coming out that I am oddly excited for. I mean, I love PJ, but for whatever reason I’m really excited for this album. I just have a feeling it’s going to be awesome.

And, last, but most certainly not least, it is my husband’s birthday this month. And, since he is a leap year baby and therefore doesn’t get an actual birthday this month, I would like to wish him a Happy Birthday Month. So, Happy Birthday Month, baby!