Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

It’s 3:15am late Sunday night. I’m supposed to be sleeping. Although as I tell everyone, I don’t sleep. It’s sort of true. Sort of. Lots going on, and blogging and being a good correspondent have fallen by the wayside. Hopefully, things will change soon, but in the meantime, I’m really trying to take care of business.

First, the crazy good news: I’m licensed! Yes, I FINALLY got that done. I received my test results from the state exam on Saturday on my way out to the Durham Flickr Shoot. Now I’m allowed to actually apply for jobs again, and tomorrow, it all re-begins. Lots of letters to write and contacts to make.

My birthday is in 4 (well, 3 now) days. What I’ve been wanting more than anything is a camera, but of course, I’m not exactly feeling great asking for anything given the fact that my parents have been supporting me. I’m VERY pleased to report that I have remembered something VERY convenient, and that’s that my ex-husband owed me a little money and is very willing to send me some when he has it, so I’ve contacted him, and between his payment to me and my parents’ kindness, there is a good change I will have a better camera by the end of the year. I have finally settled on the Canon PowerShot G9. Everyone around me is shocked I’m not going straight to a DSLR, but the thing is, I’m a gearhead. If I get a DSLR, then I’ll want the lenses, the tripod, the flash accessories, a bag, etc. This is a habit I don’t want to tiptoe into. I only want to start at the point where I can participate properly. In the meantime, the G9 shoots raw, 12 megapixels, 6x optical lens, and even at ISO 1600, there is very little noise. The images are crisp and lovely. I finally got my hands on one in Circuit City today. The nice man said he could give me a line of credit with no interest until 2009. My response? “Get away from me, Devil Man!” Luckily, he laughed. I was glad I had Shannon (voice of reason) with me, because on this topic, I’m a weak, weak woman!

I’m REALLY loving this picture Oliver took of me the other day at Helios when I was taking pictures with my current camera (A Canon PowerShot A540 with 3 broken pixels and a flash that only works sometimes!). He titled it “But she really wishes she had a G9.” Yeah, that’s exactly right. Good call!

There’s a great play going on in Durham right now called Holding Pattern at Manbites Dog theater. There are four more performances. Answering the question of what it’s about is hard, but in short, it’s about telling your own story, getting stuck, life speeding past, getting unstuck. Check out the link to learn more.

One sharpened pencil, 100 tiny troll men, and a whole sack of nuts conspire to stop The Girl Who Blows Bubbles in her tracks: a fantastical tale of the astonishingly difficult endeavor to tell one’s own story.

Go see Darjeeling Limited, too. So extraordinary and perfect in every way! Lalitree went with me, and I pretty much agree with everything she said in her review/photo description.

Click the picture for a good time.

Just spotted this on The Mountain Goats blog. It’s “Coffee” by Aesop Rock, and make sure you watch the whole thing. The last minute features John Darnielle (Mountain Goat extraordinaire). It’s a different sort of use of his voice, but it’s perfect. Just perfect!

It’s a big classical music weekend in Abby’s world. Forget Stars and Annuals, how about Carmina Burana and the WCPE Pledge Drive?!

Last night, Carmina Burana opened at Memorial Auditorium at the Progress Energy Center downtown. If you don’t know this piece, then you’re confused. I first heard it in the movie Excalibur, and it’s remained a popular piece for movies ever since. The North Carolina Master Chorale (including Yours Truly) is singing, and the Carolina Ballet are dancing. I am really enjoying the clever choreography, although truth be told, that guy dancing the role of the devil wandering around without a shirt has caused the soprano section to be a little fuzzy on some of our entrances. It’s REALLY distracting! The man is a machine. Muscles on top of muscles, as the kids say. Overall, the dancing is really good, and I’m so excited I get to see it so many times this weekend. It seems far from selling out. If you’re looking for something perfect to do on a rainy day or night, there are still performances Friday and Saturday nights and Saturday and Sunday matinees. Tickets.

More photos

This morning, I drove up to WCPE in Wake Forest and spent 2.5 hours answering phones for their annual pledge drive. My friend Tara is a DJ there, and I have been promising to come help for weeks. I FINALLY got around to it this morning. Very exciting stuff. If you ever listen to WCPE, do please call in and make a donation. It’s how they broadcast 24 hours a day. Even $10 is good. Online pledge form.

Listen to WCPE online.

Last night, I went to Cat’s Cradle to see Okkervil River. I intentionally left my camera at home. I have so many pictures left from the weekend to process, and I have so much else to do that I thought my photography habit could use a night off. Okkervil River were amazing, but I was expecting that. They sound excellent live, and I was going to say that the sound quality at the Cradle last night was better than I’ve ever heard. However, this is probably more a product of the fact that instead of standing near the stage where I can get the best pictures, I stood in the back. The sound is just better back there. The engineers are aiming to make the sounds they hear best, not the sounds just in front of the speakers. Only insane people stand there, right?!

The really nice surprise was Jonathan Meiberg. He is the keyboard player for Okkervil River, but he is also the front man for Shearwater. While the whole Shearwater band didn’t play, Jonathan Meiberg did a solo set with backing by Scott Bracket, the O.R. trumpet player. When we first walked in, I was struck that he was singing in this falsetto. It seems ballsy to use such an intimate voice in a place like Cat’s Cradle. It seemed so earnest, much like many of the crooners and even the activists of the late 50s and early 60s (or maybe Richard Thompson, if you’re looking for something a bit more contemporary). My first thought was “Either this is so cheesy and earnest that I will hate it and will be rolling my eyes soon, OR I love it.” It took about a minute to realize that this intimate, intense performance was actually very much in the second category: a truly amazing and gutsy performance. Even in the Cradle, a place generally dominated by cocktail lounge volume conversation (especially back by the sound board), the audience seemed to be listening carefully and attending to every note. The addition of the sustained trumpet over the wash of sound coming from his voice and guitar reminded me a lot of the band James’ incredible album Seven. Jonathan Meiberg moved from the first voice I heard (the intimate falsetto) to positively anthemic, passionate vocals and back again. So much emotion. It was more evocative than I’m used to when out at a local gig. This is (dare I use this word) special. It’s something to seek out and listen to over and over. It’s more than just a “Yeah, that was really good”.

JMthunking.jpg
Originally uploaded by howrad

While I was there I picked up a Shearwater CD and have been listening to it ever since. It’s really something. I’d listened to a few of their songs a while back because I saw they had some of the same members as Okkervil River and my friend Lalitree seemed to listen to them a lot on Last.FM. She was right. This is worth spending your last $12. It’s that good. Who needs groceries when you can listen to something like this:

I am posting this song so you will hear it and love it and want to buy more. I won’t leave it up long – maybe a week or so. This is a band worth supporting with dollars!