The Financial Lives Of The Poets

The Financial Lives of the Poets is about the financial, emotional, and personal downturn of a Matt Prior. Matt used to work for a newspaper. He left after many years to pursue a personal endeavor to create a website mixing financial news with poetry. When that idea didn’t quite work, he went back to the paper only to be laid off a few months later.

With his house payments piling up, his kids private school tuition and his wife’s part-time non-benefit eligible position, and the job market not promising, he must find a way – any way – to get money quick.

Though the premise may sound depressing, this book is actually quite funny. I rarely laugh out loud while reading a book, but I did with this one. Often. The author, Jess Walter, gives Matt Prior a very dry sense of humor and the way his quest for money plays out presents the opportunity for many hilarious situations to ensue.

But, still, underneath all the humor, there is a very real situation happening that, I think, most people are going through or have gone through in their lives. Layoffs, upside down mortgages, financial desperation, the desire to live life the way you want to but never quite having the financial means to do so…it’s all very relatable. It may also be what makes this book so funny; you laugh because you understand and we’ve all been there and we’ve all had those thoughts.

Go read it. It’s a good book.

Ultimate Mix CD #1

I’ve decided to begin a new feature on this blog. Once a month (if I remember – you know how good I am at this stuff), I’m going to feature another volume of the Ultimate Mix CD. Now, you may ask, how can you have multiple volumes of something that is Ultimate? Well, because it’s my blog and I can.

I was really trying to put together a mix that themelessly flows. No “Ladies Only” or “Dance Party” or “Sunday Drive”. Just a group of songs that I think compliment each other as they go.

And since I’m so nice and love to make mixes for people, I would be happy to send you this mix.

Ultimate Mix CD #1

1. "Kiss" - Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Now

2. "Apartment Story" - The National - Boxer

3. "Special Party Time For Everybody" - Lucy Michelle And The Velvet Lapelles - Special Party Time For Everybody

4. "Satellite" - Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs

5. "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" - The Smiths
- The Sound of the Smiths

6. "Civilian" - Wye Oak - Civilian

7. "Sister" - Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

8. "New Kanada" - Solid Gold - Bodies of Water

9. "Sea Lion Woman" - Feist - The Reminder

10. "Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie"
- Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender

11. "Safety Pin Stuck In My Heart"
- Rank Strangers - Red Square

12. "Transistor Radio" - Cloud Cult - Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus

13. "Just Like Zeus" - Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

14. "Off With My Hat" - Zoo Animal - Young Blood

15. "Rainbows in the Dark" - Tilly and the Wall - Bottoms of Barrels

16. "Punchlines" - Mates of State - Bring It Back

17. "I Know Places" - Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

18. "Evil vs. Good" - Clem Snide - The Ghost of Fashion

19. "Re: Stacks" - Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

20. "A Piano" - Haley Bonar - Golder

Amy Winehouse

I recently added Amy Winehouse's song "Back to Black" to my karaoke repertoire. I love to sing along to her. I'd like to thank her for the songs she sung and wrote. My heart goes out to her family. It must be crushing to watch someone wilt away with no way of changing in the inevitable outcome.

September 14, 1983 - July 23, 2011

Thanks for the music.

Yes, It's Hot

Minnesotans love to be the center of attention – though we’d never admit it. Yet every time we end up on some list of Gayest, Bike Friendliest, Hipster-est, or even St. Paul ending up as the 24^th worst dressed city, we cannot stop talking about it. Ever. It comes up all the time. People make really lame jokes about it. “Look at that guy riding that total hipster bicycle…yeah, he’s probably gay, too. Ha Ha Ha! You, know…because of all those polls we’re on”

Hipster bicycle.

Bands come to town and throw in the obligatory Prince cover in their set - and the crowd goes nuts because Prince is from here and we love that all these famous people recognize that. Like it gives us some worth that Prince is from here and - that unlike most of the other celebrities born in this state – he continues to stay here.

This is what a real Minnesotan looks like. Don't you believe that Fargo movie.

But if there is one thing that rises above all things when it comes to what Minnesotans love to talk about, it’s the weather. My goodness. It’s either too cold, too hot, too snowy, too cloudy, too rainy, too humid, too dry…we never have perfect days here. It is never 75 and sunny for more than an hour on some random afternoon in June. Well, not too random. It will most definitely be a work day. We don’t get nice weather on the weekends.

And if there is one thing that I hate talking about more than anything, it’s the weather. “Cold enough for ya?” “Hot enough for ya?” Ugh. God. That is why I do whatever I can to not talk to strangers. I go outside to catch my bus, the headphones go on, a book comes out. Do.Not.Talk.To.Me.

So, lately it has been very hot here. And if you bring it up to anyone, they will gladly tell you about how our dew point is higher than the Amazon. And for one moment over the last couple of days, we were the hottest place in the world. THE WORLD!!! Did you know it’s warmer here than it is in Arizona right now? Isn’t that crazy? People think it’s so cold here all the time, well they should come here now. That would show ‘em.

Our sun is hotter than yours.

Us poor Minnesotans, though. It’s just too hot. I mean, you can’t do anything in this weather. We’re a hearty folk. We like it hovering around 65 – as long as the sun is shining. Of course, you got to get a good rain in every now and then. Good for the grass.

But 108 degrees!!!! That’s almost a 140 degree temperature change from the coldest day in January!!!! And, yeah, that’s pretty crazy. Most places don’t get that kind of range. Which is why we should be enjoying this heat. We should be baking in it. We should thank Mother Nature for treating us to this warmth. Because it does get cold here. It gets ridiculously cold here. And soon enough, sooner than you like to think about it, it’s going to be cold again. And everyone will be taking to their Facebook pages to remember the days last summer when we had a stretch of 100+ degree weather and we could stand outside in nothing and still be hot, but now we are bundled from head to toe and are still freezing and isn’t it just so crazy to live in Minnesota?

Ah, geez, look at me talking about the weather.

New Kids In The Target Center

I wrote a long review of the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys show at the Target Center on Friday night. But a slip of a keystroke and it all disappeared.

So here’s a brief, bulleted recap:

• NKOTBSB is not a concert so much as it is a PG-13 strip show. They took any opportunity to rip off their shirts and thrust their groins at the crowd.
• Joe has won me over. Natural born crooner. (sorry Donnie)
• There are grown women who follow these guys around. It’s depressing.
• My voice was near gone by the end from all of my screaming and cheering. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment.
• At one point I was near deafness from the surrounding screaming. I went to order a drink and could not hear the bartender.
• Getting a suite was totally worth it. Private bathrooms are always worth it.
• I managed not to drink too much. I think age/maturity might be taking over and I finally know it’s okay to have a water now and then.
• As far as Boy Bands go, The Backstreet Boys aren’t so bad.
• Always finish a crazy night out with a plate full of calamari. It’s the only way to go.

Like

I’ve forgotten how to show appreciation for things with the written word. I blame Facebook.

I’ve noticed this happening more frequently. I was sent an email from someone with very happy news. I opened it up and was very happy for her. I reached for my mouse and found myself lost looking for that one button application to say how happy I am for her:

But, of course, it wasn’t there. This is email.

I looked around some more, certain that there must be some function in my email that will tell this person how happy I am for them without having to actually say “I’m so happy for you.”

But there was none to be found.

I clumsily started typing out, what I hope came to be, full sentences showing my acknowledgement of her excitement and my delight for her – all the while wishing that I could have just gone for a simple “Like”. Not because I don’t actually care or that I only “liked” the news. But because that little “like” button has grown to mean more than just the dictionary definition of “like”:

Like: verb (used with object)

1. to take pleasure in; find agreeable or congenial
2. to regard with favor; have a kindly or friendly feeling for (a person, group, etc.)

It’s really become a much grander idea. I click “like” when people have babies, win awards, get new jobs, fix broken appliances, and are just plain happy with something they’ve accomplished. Not that all of those things are comparable with each other, but “like” is versatile and I feel that when I click it, it encompasses the correct amount of pleasure one should feel with such an announcement as the one posted.

I don’t always just click “like”. I will sometimes extend my liking to the comments and add a word or two if I have something additional to add that would be of use to the poster. I know that if someone just clicks the “like” button on a particularly jovial posting of mine that I don’t take offense.

And now after all this posting of the word “like” it has lost all meaning to me.

Like Like Like Like Like Like Like Like

That doesn’t even look like English anymore.

Oh, Hello!

I’m not going to write a post about how I haven’t been posting much lately. I’m not. Really. I promise.

It’s just that I keep coming up with fun ideas and then when I sit down to write them, I can’t quite get them out. Writer’s block perhaps? I suppose that would seem accurate.

There really hasn’t been a whole lot going on lately either. Beyond the Eddie Vedder show, life has been pretty mellow and filled with the usual going ons. Daily doses of work life, the occasional stressful home repair, lack of sleep due to dog wanderings, local rock shows…

I did schedule my first recording session for the new album. I had planned to wait until the winter, to give me something to do those cold, dark January days. But, why wait? I’ll still be recording during that time frame anyway as I really want to take my time with this album and recording is so fun. I’m ready to get back at it.

So that’s exciting.

I'm trying to keep up with the 30 Days of Music stuff, but I'm stuck on Song I Want Played At My Funeral. I pretty much destroyed the song "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen when I decided, at the age of 15, that this would be my funeral song. (You can stop laughing now). I'm so superstitious that I haven't been able to really listen to it ever again. I feel like I cursed it. I'd hate to do that to another song. So I'm trying to think of a new category for that day. Any suggestions?

I’m attending the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys show at the Target Center on Friday. This will be the second time seeing them in my adult life (third overall). Not sure how I feel about that. When they came through a couple of years ago it was a real event as they hadn’t toured since my grade school days. It was thousands of screaming 30 somethings rattling the walls of the Xcel Energy Center and I had great seats on the main floor. It was exciting and fun and brought me back to childhood.

But this tour seems a little cheap. You know like the last time they weren’t just out for the quick money grab (yeah, right). Teaming up with the Backstreet Boys to make sure to cover all of the age groups of boy band fans – they should have added the Monkees and the Bay City Rollers as opening acts and they could have sold out the Metrodome (which got its roof back yesterday).

I’m sure it will be a good time. I went in on a suite with a bunch of other girls. Girl’s nights are fun. Even though I’ll be forced to watch Nick Carter dance around. He’s gross.

Either way, it is bound to provide blogging inspiration.

P.S. I made a new website for my music stuff: www.nikibecker.com

30 Days Of Music. Day 23: A Song You Want Played At Your Wedding

Moving along...

I'm already married. I've had the wedding. I had music there.

But, my wedding day did not go as planned. It was to be an outdoor affair at my sister's house. August 3rd was the date. All weather folks said that was a generally dry time of year, so I planned for it to be. We picked up some tents/canopies to put up just in case, but I honestly thought that the bad luck that follows me throughout most things in my life would spare me on my wedding day.

It didn't.

It rained. Not only did it rain, it poured. Not only did it pour, it came down in sheets. The ceremony was due to start at 6pm on an August evening. The sun was supposed to be shining. Instead it was pitch black out and tornado sirens were going off in the surrounding towns. We held off the ceremony for a while in hopes that it would pass.

It didn't.

We ended up getting married in my sister's garage next to where the bar had been set up.We had a tent extending from the garage that the guests (who managed to make it out in the storm) huddled under.

The first storm ended as soon as the ceremony did. The sun came shooting back out and everyone cheered and it was truly a beautiful moment.

But the next wave of bad weather made it's way in shortly after and it ended up being a very wet night.

But, we're still married and everyone says our wedding will go down as one of the best and most memorable. Our families, who had never really met, really pulled together to keep everything together and the whole event became a joyous celebration.


But, the one thing about the non-beautiful weather outdoor wedding I had wanted that I didn't get that I was really looking forward to, was to have a mix CD of Greg Brown songs playing as guests arrived and mingled outside before the ceremony. I love Greg Brown and the man can write a love song like no one else.

So this is a song that I wanted played at my wedding:

Happy 5th Of July!

Yes, it’s the 5^th of July, which means that stupid “holiday” where people light explosives off in their backyards all day and night has come and gone.

I hate the 4^th of July. I know I’m supposed to be all patriotic and loving America and showing my love of America off by making as much noise as possible, but we all know that’s not what this holiday is about. No one shooting fireworks off at 1am is thinking about the founding fathers and our independence. They’re thinking “Look, pa, I made it go boom!”

And, when designating the 4^th of July as a holiday – knowing full well that the festivities really don’t begin until the sun goes down – why did they not give the next day off, as well? I mean, you don’t get New Year’s Eve off, you get the next day. You get two days for Thanksgiving for reasons I don’t understand, but just one for Independence Day – and sometimes it’s some random Wednesday. What are you supposed to do with that?

My head feels like I’m under water today, thanks to the serious lack of sleep last night. We’re talking maybe 2 hours tops – and not consecutively. That’s total. That’s 20 minutes here and there.

I suppose I can’t blame it entirely on the fireworks. My old dog wasn’t sleeping last night, either. His pacing and crying kept me up, as well.

I also suppose I can stop whining now.

I just hope the neighborhood used up it’s arsenal last night and tonight the evening will go back to normal.

An Evening With Eddie Vedder

I scored last minute tickets to see Eddie Vedder at the Orpheum Theater last night. I had wanted to go, but the tickets were $80 and the only seats I could get were way in the back and I just couldn't justify it. Of course, seeing what I saw last night, I would have paid hundreds of dollars for those tickets.

But, awesomely, I didn't have to and I was just 5 rows back on the main floor.

Eddie Vedder was my second rock star crush. First being Axel Rose. I loved Eddie and all of his angry sensitivity. The long hair. The cargo shorts. The flannel. I was 14. I wore the t-shirts. My walls were adorned with massive Pearl Jam posters.

But I never saw them live.

I was too young living in too rural an area to get to them in their prime. And as I got older and started attending shows, they got older and started playing stadiums and I lost touch.

I would still hear a song here and there and enjoy it and then run to my Pearl Jam collection to revisit them.

And Eddie Vedder always held a place in my heart.

He's on a solo tour for the release of his album Ukulele Songs. When I first heard about this album, I was so excited. I love the ukulele and I could only imagine how awesome Eddie's baritone vocals would sound over the happy little instrument. And it does sound awesome. Yet, I didn't buy the album. I don't know what was stopping me.

Back to last night.

Glen Hansard opened. You may know him from such Oscar winning songs like "Falling Slowly" and his movie Once. He is also in The Swell Season and The Frames. I like Glen Hansard. He has nice songs. Now, I love Glen Hansard - and so it seems does Minnesota.

He played a 35 minute set, belting into the mic and beating up the guitar. He rocked way more than I thought he could. But it wasn't until his cover of Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" that I was completely blown away. The crowd gave him a standing ovation, to which the very humble Glen Hansard blushingly apologized for getting "carried away on that one". He then played one more number before leaving the stage to another standing ovation and the crowd chanting for more.

But, being the opening act, he didn't come back out.

Eddie Vedder started playing from behind the curtain. As the curtain pulled away, there he sat, surrounded by suitcases and reel to reels, a reading lamp, and a plain black backdrop. And my 14 year old self squealed with happiness. Okay, so did my 31 year old self.

The first part part of the set was entirely on the uke. I was only familiar with one of the songs, but it didn't matter. His voice, accompanied only by the uke, soaring through the amazingly attentive audience was enough to grab anyone's attention. He talked, he joked about making mistakes on songs - and the performer in me felt relief that even Eddie Vedder forgets lyrics and chord progressions - and he sang. And it was beautiful.

He switched from uke to electric to acoustic guitar. When he played "Just Breathe" and "Off He Goes", you realized what an amazing lyricist he and what an emotive vocalist he is. The meaning to the songs really came back through. And no more than on "Better Man", a song that went the way of 90's grunge rock big band stadium sing alongs. It almost made me cry last night.

The first set closed with Eddie looping just his voice in almost a native american chant. I found myself closing my eyes and just taking it in. It was very moving. The curtains started to close and he stepped out in front and shook hands and waved and walked off stage.

The first encore (or second set considering he played a ton more songs) opened with the song "Long Road" which he dedicated to a crew member's grandmother who had just died, then went right into "Wishlist" - changing the opening line to "I wish I was a neutron bomb for once I wouldn't go off". Glen Hansard came out to join him on a few songs (with the crowd welcoming him back with massive applause) and they dueted on Hansard's Oscar song "Falling Slowly". I would call it the highlight of the show, except the whole show was a highlight. These two guys can sing. I was on the edge of my seat and woohooing and hollering throughout the performance. Also, Eddie did not play an instrument on this song and watching him grab the mic stand the way I've always seen him do in all of those videos...it was so cool.

He closed out this second set with a solo singalong of Pearl Jam's "Porch". "Porch" has always been my favorite Pearl Jam song and I was thrilled to sing along. When he got to the chorus, I just swelled.

Encore #2 kicked off with his song from the Into the Wild soundtrack, "Hard Sun". Hansard joined him once again and Eddie left the stool behind and stood up and Rocked. Out. Jumping up and down going full on "Eddie Vedder". The houselights were up and everyone was singing and clapping along and it was just one of those completely joyous musical moments. Both Eddie and Glen appeared to be just as glowingly happy as the crowd. When the song was over, Glen walked off stage and Eddie just stood there soaking it all in. He was about to leave and then he picked up his beer and gave the crowd a cheer, plopped down on his stool and said "I got to do one more" and closed with "Dream a Little Dream" on the uke.

He said in the earlier set that next time they should just "do three weeks in Minnesota". It was certainly one of those concert experiences where you could tell the connection was happening between the audience and performer. Eddie Vedder, a musician/rock star, seemed truly humbled by the love he was receiving. He really seemed to be having a good time. It made me so proud to be a part of such a great crowd. That doesn't happen too often at concerts.

And, tip of the hat to you, Glen Hansard. You don't see too many opening acts winning over a crowd like that. And not that he's a typical opening act, but wow. You were just as amazing as the headliner.

These two together just seemed like two of the most likeable musicians I've ever witnessed on stage.

What a truly amazing night.

There's going to be a lot of Pearl Jam/Eddie Vedder in this house for a while now.

They were strict on picture taking, so I snapped these two quickly when the houselights were up for "Hard Sun". The backdrops changed throughout the night from just plain black to a back alley setting, a warehouse, a tent, and then the ocean.