Craziness

There's a lot going on right now. I know I keep saying that, but there is. And I'm not just saying that to be all, hey look at me and how busy my life is. It's just been a crazy month with one thing after the other. It's becoming difficult to keep up.

My album is at the printers. I'm ridiculously excited to hold the whole finished product in my hands. I have a CD release party planned for October 2nd and the preparation for that has taken over my brain. It is all I think about. From wondering if anyone will actually show up to making sure every cupboard and closet is cleaned out. Because, for whatever insane reason, we've decided to hold it at our home. 3 bands and me and my tiny living room and 200 people invited. Should be an interesting time (sorry, neighborhood. But, it's just one night).

I have a wisdom tooth coming in. This was discovered over the last couple of days. I'm going to try to get in with my dentist tomorrow and hope that he tells me it will all be okay until after the party. I can't deal with a gaping bloody hole in my mouth when I have so many other things to do between now and the 2nd.

I'm going to make it a priority to post on this blog again. It's really slipped this month (but like I said, I'm busy!). So expect more posts.

I'm also going to redirect you to other internet things I do.

I've got a website now! The domain name was a birthday gift from my husband and I've got it up and running. I need to learn how to make it fancier, but it's out there.

www.nikibecker.com

I've also uploaded some new songs from the new album to my MySpace page. I hope you like them!

www.myspace.com/nikibecker

Yay, internet!

It's Cold

And windy. And grey. And September. And summer is quickly coming to an end. And I already have that feeling of despair usually reserved for mid January after sunlight has been limited to just 8 hours of the day and never the 8 hours you are able to see it. Always just during office hours. It’s dark on the way into work and dark on the way home. Not that you can go outside anyway because it’s minus 28 degrees outside with a windchill of -40 and there is 18 inches of snow on the ground and a sheet of ice just waiting for you to slip.

And how does the weather know what month it is? I know summer doesn’t officially end until September 21st, but don’t we all think of September 1st as the end of summer? Mother Nature sure does. August 31st, it’s almost 90 degrees outside. September 1st, it’s 70. Friday, September 3rd: I think it might be 60 degrees. Might.

I used to like winter. Or, at least, I liked wearing sweaters and mittens and scarves and warm, oversized clothing. But I just can’t do it anymore. I already miss the sun. I noticed when I woke up at my usual time this morning it was still a little dark out. It’s just too soon. Then I began to think about that weekend in October when Daylight Savings happens and, sure, you get an extra hour that first day, but then the next morning you wake up and it’s pitch black out and it’s so depressing.

Ugh.

Summer just seems so short these days. It feels like you have to cram so much enjoyment into such a short timeframe before winter shows up and holds you hostage in your home – a home that no longer has cable television.

But, I will try to cheer up. I can’t get the winter blues this early. Tomorrow it is supposed to be 70 and sunny and beautiful and I will be making my final trip to the State Fair. This time, I will not be working at all. It will be pure enjoyment.

And summer will live another day.

It's 9.02.10 Day!

It’s always fun when the actual date lines up to become something else. Well, maybe fun is a little strong of a word. Either way, today is 9.02.10. Beverly Hills, 90210 (the original) was, is, and always will be one of my favorite shows. I loved it when it first aired and I love it still. A couple of years ago, back when I still had a cable, I caught the first episode on SoapNet and ended up watching the entire series over the course of a summer. It was wonderful. Every season is great. Oddly, I found myself enjoying the post-college years the most. Kelly was so fun to hate then. It’s hard to hate her as a teen. You can almost feel bad for her. Her mom is an ex-junkie, her dad is non-existent, everyone in school thinks she’s a slut. It’s tough. But as an adult she becomes so self-righteous with no reason to be. She’s the one who sleeps with her friend’s boyfriend, she’s the one who cheats on her boyfriend with the same guy, she’s the one who starts using meth. Ugh. I hate Kelly.

I also liked Valerie, Brenda’s replacement. I thought she had a lot more depth. And, she was truly evil and she owned it.

David Silver grew on me over the years, too. He started out as such a little doofus and ended up becoming the only normal person on the show. He just kind of floated along in the background living his little DJ life, having some girlfriends, pining over Donna, trying to be the next Babyface. Out of all of them, he’s probably the only one who had any real reason to whine, but he never did. His dad was a cheater, his mom was crazy, and he watched his best friend accidentally kill himself. That’s a lot to deal with, but he rarely complained. Sure, he got mixed up in drugs, but he got over it.

But, the all time greatest character on 90210 is Steve Sanders.

My goodness that is a fabulous haircut.

What was his purpose? He did nothing the entire series. Sure, he stole the key to the school. But that’s really the only thing I remember him doing. Yet, he is memorable. He was always there, ready to make a wisecrack.

So, happy 90210 Day, Sanders!

In the Hot August Sun

I have been seriously lacking in my posts this month. It's too bad because it’s been a really great month. That’s part of the problem, though. I didn’t get around to writing about a couple of awesome things and then the fact that I was behind in posting overwhelmed me, so I just stayed away all together.
Some things I have mentioned. We got rid of our old living room furniture and bought some new stuff and it’s all so much better and amazing in there and I just want to hang out there all the time.

We saw The National twice at the beginning of the month and they blew me away each time.

As for the rest, how about a quick, bulleted list of everything else that has happened. Starting with:

*I finished my album!!!! It’s done! And I love it! I’m more proud of it than I ever could imagine myself being. I think it turned out really well. I have 11 tracks and only one which I would even consider being “filler”. Next up: Packaging. My friend is working on the design for me, then I have to get it printed and then the big CD release party on October 2nd. That is the goal date. Then? Who knows? Do I send it to radio stations, record labels, music critics? What do I want to accomplish with this? I need to decide. But I feel like I can’t put so much of myself, my time, and my money into something just to have it sit there. I should do something with it.

*My husband and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We had a delicious dinner at the 112 Eatery (if you go there, get the scallops) and followed that with night 2 of The National. He also bought me a really cool pottery bowl.

*I turned 31 on the 21st. It’s amazing how old I don’t feel. Really? I’m 31? How did that happen? I’m pretty sure I’m still 28. Yep. 28. The city of Minneapolis had 3 musical festivals on my birthday, so we hit those up. We also had an amazing dinner at the Signature Café, one of my favorite places to eat.

*The MN State Fair started last week. I’ve worked 2 shifts at the MPR booth and spent Saturday night wandering the grounds post shift. We’re going back this weekend to really do it up right. I love the fair.

*I had another show at The Coffee Grounds last Friday. It was a nice turn out. I played with Leonard James of Birds of Virginia, a great alt-country band. It was fun. But, after making the album and hearing a lot of these songs with drums and bass, they just feel empty to me playing them alone. I need to find myself a band. But that goes back into the whole what do I want to do with this thing. Starting a band is a big commitment.

*And, finally, today I cancelled our cable. As of Wednesday, we will no longer have cable television. I’m strangely scared.

And that was August. I know other things happened. I wish I would have documented the recording process better. Maybe I’ll sum that up in another post.

Onto September!

St. Paul

I work in downtown St. Paul. It's a very strange place. St. Paul is the place where everything is just a little off. It has all the same restaurants/stores as everywhere else, but it's just a little off. Subway, Macy's, Fujiya...it's all just a little different here in St. Paul.

St. Paul also has a strange population of people. The only people who actually live here are the elderly, the handicapped, the homeless, and the gangsters and they all come out during the day and congregate outside of our workplace lunchroom. It makes for a very entertaining lunch.

My co-worker made this video explaning all of the wonderful things you can find in downtown St. Paul. It's probably only funny to those people who experience downtown St. Paul every day and know the sites. So, to me, it's hilarious.

If You're Going to Ride the Bus, Lay Off the Perfume

My morning bus ride is usually quite enjoyable. I get on early enough where I have my choice of seats. The bus never gets all that full, and if it does, it’s usually toward the end of the ride.

I don’t know what has happened, but that has changed.

For the last week, my bus has become swamped. This morning when I got on, there were no empty window seats left. This just never happens. Even in the fall when the college kids ride, there are always seats available. So, I had to sit next to someone on the aisle. I chose a woman reading her book. She seemed normal enough. What I didn’t realize at the time was that she was doused in perfume. It took a couple more stops for it to hit me, but when it did, I thought I was going to be sick. Since the bus was so packed, I couldn’t move. I was stuck, sucking in all of her floral stink.

To make matters worse, I’m still recovering from my cold. The last part of me still wallowing in sickness is my sinuses. Smelling her rotting flower perfume for 45 minutes did not help my situation. My nose and eyes are burning and it gave me a headache on top of everything else.

I don’t know why my bus is suddenly so crowded. It’s not like a bunch of people who used to take the bus are taking it again. I’ve been riding that bus for 3 years. These are all new people. Where do they come from? Why are they riding my bus now? I swear it seems like the world has doubled in population since Saturday. Yesterday, I had to drive into downtown St. Paul to do some work in the office and traffic was crazy. 9:45am on a Sunday and traffic was a mess. What’s going on? Where did all these people come from?

I know I’m very complainy right now. I’m just frustrated because I am trying to finish my album and I have 4 songs that need vocals and that is all that is left to do and I can’t sing with my nose all stuffed and that is the on thing on me that is still sick and all I want to do is finish the album and I have another scheduled recording session for Wednesday and it’s really hard to believe that my nose will be clear by then. I don’t want to cancel again.

It’s also my birthday week. So, being sick sucks.

Another 25 Songs

I’ve been sick this week. But last night, I was feeling better. I went to bed happy with the thought that I might be fully recovered by Saturday.

And then it stormed.

Around 1:45am, the first rumble of thunder happened and then it never stopped. Thunder rumbled for the next 4 and a half hours. Constantly. There were no breaks. Lightening flashed non-stop. I’ve never witnessed a storm stay so constant for so long.

Of course, this upset the dog. So, I got up around 2am to sleep in the den (he calms down when the TV is on). I crammed myself onto the tiny Ikea couch and tried to sleep, but could not get comfortable. I moved to the floor. But the hard wood was no better. I tossed and turned until sometime after 4am when I thought the storm had passed and I decided to crawl back into bed. As soon as I did, it started up again. This time it was louder and there was a lot of rain. So I got up again and squeezed back onto the couch, determined to sleep. Eventually I did fall asleep. When I woke up, my ear was in terrible pain. I had been holding the pillow over my head so tight, that I was basically punching myself in the ear all night.

The alarm went off at 6:30 and the storm miraculously quit. How does it know to do that? How can it last all through the sleeping hours and quit as soon as the alarm goes off? It’s crazy.

So now I am super tired and not feeling very well again. I just want to go home and sleep. But since I am at work, here’s another installment of 25 Songs That Play on My iPod While I Am Sick At Work. It’s been a while.

“Postcard” – Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles
“Potion” – Morphine
“All the Wine” – The National
“Badlands” – Bruce Springsteen
“Lifeboat” – Ani Difranco (new - unreleased song)
“To Ramona” – Bob Dylan’
“Trickle Down” – Brenda Weiler
“Face Down in the Right Town” – Earlimart
“Open” – The Cure
“Brandy Alexander” – Feist
“Lit Up” – The National
“Love and Communication” – Cat Power
“Daisies” – Jentri Collelo
“6/8 Ballad” – Grickle Grass
“Hail to Whatever You Found in the Sunlight That Surrounds You” – Rilo Kiley
“Both Hands” – Ani Difranco
“Vitamin C” – Big Audio Dynamite
“A Certain Pleasure” – Erin McKeown
“Juicebox” – The Strokes
“Tonight, Tonight” – Smashing Pumpkins
“Desire” – Ryan Adams
“Field Below” – Regina Spektor
“For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti” – Sufjan Stevens
“Miss Independent” – Kelly Clarkson
“Float On” – Modest Mouse