long overdue update and geekery

Posted on August 10, 2012 by jaq

Hey all! I think I haven’t posted on here since I moved back in January. I am now living in a tiny but very nice apartment in Somerville. The new view from my bedroom window:

But the move was back in January. What the hell have I been up to since then, you may be asking? I mean, you’re probably not, but I’m going to assume you are. I moved a week into a school semester so things got really crazy really quickly. I somehow made it through the semester mostly unscathed, only to start a full time (unpaid) 6 week internship, which only ended the second week of July. Since then, I’ve been looking for a job but also finally, actually recording songs! My good friend James has been kind enough to help me record a bunch of songs in his little studio type thing (it’s in the creepy back room of his bizarre/awesome apartment) and generally listen to me whine about being nervous and help me get better at playing in front of other humans. So yay! I’m hoping to have all the recording done by the end of August and have an actual album worth of songs done and released somewhere on the internet this fall. I’ve spent the last several years writing a ton of songs that had nowhere to go – I never had the equipment or patience to record much of it, and I don’t really perform in front of people because it terrifies me (trying to work on this, see below). SO ANYWAY that is the thing I’m currently geeking out about. In the meantime, have a video of me being a dork and singing in front of a camera:

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there’s a drumming noise inside my head that starts whenever you’re around…

Posted on January 17, 2012 by jaq

So I have been suckered into getting a tumblr, and in trying to figure out what to do with it, I did some thinking about what this blog is for exactly. Originally, it was supposed to be for writing about my baking/crafting/knitting/whatever endeavors, which has been true for the most part. But I’ve also posted a lot of random photos on here that I wasn’t sure what else to do with, with no real connection to the rest of whatever post they ended up in. This seems like a great use for said tumblr account. So in the future, photos of Miso being adorable and of clouds and other things I like will end up on there. I’ll still post photos on here that are relevant to whatever I’m writing about (baking, etc). Yay organization!

But right now: PACKING AND LOUD MUSIC. Just discovering how awesome Florence + The Machine is – a little late to the party there. Loud and confident and oddly upbeat mostly. Good packing music.

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cookies and kitties and knitting, oh my!

Posted on January 13, 2012 by jaq

So the boy and I (and Misoface) are moving to Somerville at the end of the month! After a 6 month or so battle with the bullshit that is renting in Boston, we have found an apartment that is in a really nifty, convenient location, and we think we can fit our stuff in. The kitchen is much less epically wonderful than the one we have in Gloucester, but being able to walk to the red line makes up for that, I think.

I will really miss this view, though….

In other news, I have started some crafty things up on my break from school. I recently finished a pair of cabled fingerless mittens in a forest green, which unfortunately I have deemed odd and ill-fitting… so I got more yarn, in a lovely pale purple this time, to try again. I think I’m going to alter the pattern a bit (which I have never attempted before…) to make them fit better/lay flat. They curl a lot on both ends, which bugs me. I’d take a photo of the finished gloves, but I’m lazy. And they’re weird looking. But I do have a photo of them in progress…

Also, I baked a bunch of gingerbread cookies for New Year’s, which Stace was kind enough to take a few photos of.

Clearly, there was beer involved.

Ooooo macro photography of sugary cookie dough!

And the finished cookies, plus a glimpse into just how much of my old ceramics I still have floating around/don’t know what the hell to do with.

Oh oh and some photos of Miso. Because I can’t resist.

Other people are occasionally in our apartment, and when they are, Miso will sometimes sit on them. Sarah and Scott are not allowed to move, apparently.

So I couldn’t title this post with lyrics, because the music I’m listening to is completely instrumental. I’m rediscovering Dropsonde by Biosphere after letting it get lost in my insane music collection for a year or so. It’s perfect music to let fade into the background without completely disappearing. Warm tones and jazzy drums and crickets. Organic and lovely and wonderful.

More soon hopefully! <3

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boards of canada – the campfire headphase

Posted on September 15, 2011 by jaq

Following is my impressions of The Campfire Headphase by Boards of Canada, written around 1:00 am while I was crazy with sleep deprivation. I’ve been listening to a lot of new (to me) music lately, what with all the driving and homeworking, and I figure if I’m too tired or busy to do much else I should at least write about that. Also, I’ve been reading a lot of Headphone Commute, which is really nifty if you’re into this sort of music. Enjoy my crazy.

Warbly, sparkly, tape-decayed guitar and synth; solid, syncopated rhythms clicking and popping and etching their way across my tired skull; field recordings of ocean waves and chatter and traffic; tiny, repeated melodies that stick to the insides of my head like warm soup on a chilly fall day, nourishing me, softening my hard edges. I can’t believe how late I’m discovering this music. I’ve had the EP In a Beautiful Place Out In the Country for a couple of years now, and I’ve enjoyed it, but it’s only four tracks and not nearly as large in scope as The Campfire Headphase. Apparently, this is the Boards of Canada album that fans of Boards of Canada dislike, I guess because it’s a huge departure from their earlier albums. Not knowing much of their other music, I can’t comment on this, but as a newcomer to BoC and appreciator/collector of IDM/glitch/ambient/whatever generally, I think this album is totally fantastic. I guess maybe it’s like Tusk was to Fleetwood Mac fans when it came out: totally out of left field, a complete departure from the “signature sound” of Rumours, and not what people were expecting or hoping for. But with time, this irritation tends to smooth itself out, I think, if the music is actually good. Despite not being in line with people’s expectations, Tusk is a great album, maybe even better than Rumours in some ways. Maybe this is true of The Campfire Headphase also? I intend to get the other albums BoC has out to answer this question for myself. At any rate, to quote Editors, “I’m so glad I found this, I’m so glad I did.” Even if I’m six years late.

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only my dreams can describe the way i feel about the way things used to be

Posted on June 20, 2011 by jaq

So… lemon muffins! They just happened. I’m going to actually post about something the night I make it, instead of a month later! (All photos by the lovely and talented Stacey.)

They were super easy, as the recipe promised. I do need to get a lemon zester or some other more appropriate zesting device, however. This was a little awkward.

Batter!

Wielding two spoons. Fancy.

Fast forward 22 minutes…

…muffins!

There are holes in the top that you can’t really see that are filled with delicious lemon sugar goo. Mmmm.

Next time, more lemon sugar goo. Possibly involving Limoncello. I almost got some today, but it’s expensive…

So today’s musical selection… pretty sure I’m the only person that kept listening to Happy2bHardcore after graduating from high school. But Chapter 3 was always the best one. (Don’t be afraid, take all you need from me, and we’ll be strong together…) It’s just so damn chipper. I have a hard time being miserable when listening to this. It’s also my go-to “I got two hours of sleep and I need to drive to school RIGHT NOW” remedy. Better than coffee!

Stay tuned for a post with photos from around Gloucester. Hooray summer!

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standing tall up here, my face against the window…

Posted on May 3, 2011 by jaq

Kitty photo time.

Stace and Miso are so cute. SERIOUSLY.

View from my porch.

When it’s really foggy, seagulls congregate on the field across the street. I don’t get it…

So I may not be cooking or knitting or painting, but I’m taking photos! That’s something, right? I haven’t been home enough lately to do much else…

Also, Guster concert on Saturday! I finally got their most recent album, Easy Wonderful, and it’s nifty. Catchy as all hell, and really cheerful without being annoying. There’s always been a special place in my heart for Guster. They remind me of the good parts of high school – meeting people in Boston to see them for free in Government Center, cheap concerts in college gyms. That and a whole lot of driving around central MA. “We were young, 21, all those years ago…”

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remember a promise you couldn’t hold on to

Posted on February 6, 2011 by jaq

So winter. I kind of hate New England right now, which I’m sure I’ll take back come late May when it’s 60 degrees and lovely outside. But for now, ick. There is SO MUCH SNOW. The first storm was kind of amusing, and then there was another. And another. And another. I’ve been back in school for two weeks and we’ve missed four days. : P But today! The snow is melting, the sun is shining, and my car was all nice and warm when I got in it earlier. When that happens, I like to pretend it’s actually spring. I’m good at ignoring six foot snowbanks when I feel like it.

Anyway, this is my excuse for not having posted since… September? I actually wrote most of an entry in December but didn’t finish or post it, about dying my hair purple. That was fun while it lasted, but I got sick of the fading weirdness after about a month and dyed it over mostly-normal-person red.

As for what crafty things I’ve been doing lately… not a whole lot. I’ve taken some photos, and picked up a knitting project from two years ago, a cowl that probably won’t be done until spring anyway. I’ve been meaning to paint and collage and cook, but cold weather and a lack of sunlight tends to sap my motivation.

Also, I’ve been going back through old Birthday Massacre albums and listening to them all again, since I’ve played the new one so many times now.

Lame entry, I know. I should at least start cooking nice things again. Perhaps tonight! We shall see.

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drifting into my solitude…

Posted on September 15, 2010 by jaq

Just a quick update to say I’m alive and still doing crafty things. Some knitting is in the works (finished one of two arm warmers!), and I have a batch of finished ceramics from a class I took over the summer that just need a photo shoot. I moved and started school recently, which equals not finding stuff I need and not having enough time to actually unpack.

Been listening to SomaFM again recently, the lyric appears to be from a song called Sound and Vision by a band called Sea and Cake. I don’t know a lot of what Soma plays, but it all sounds nice…

ea And Cake Sound & Vision
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I remember you and me used to spend the whole goddamn day in bed

Posted on July 22, 2010 by jaq

A lot of ridiculous crap is going on right now, but eh. This blog is meant to exist outside of my drama spewing. I made brownies from scratch like a month ago, and Stacey took a lot of great photos, but I never got around to posting about it. So I will now. For the record, the brownies were pretty good. I didn’t mix them as well as I should have early on, so there were chunks of buttery sugar in the bottom of the pan (Oscar called them “flavor crystals”), but they tasted pretty good regardless. They were actually zucchini brownies, with shredded zucchini serving the textural purposes of an egg. The frosting was definitely the best part (also from scratch!). It was classic fudge frosting like you’d put on cupcakes or something and it was DANGEROUSLY tasty. The main taste issue with the brownies was a slightly too large pinch of Kosher salt, which was totally my own fault. Either way, Stace and Oscar seemed to like them well enough, so I did succeed in making my first batch of from-scratch brownies. Hooray!

So now, PHOTOS:

70's kitchen

Kind of a yellow picture but it makes my kitchen feel all 70’s.

mebaking

I’m a hippie.

mixin

Ingredients!

browniemix

Progress!

misochair

Miso looks on.

hazyfrosting

Mixing frosting in an enchanted forest.

oscar

Oscar prepares for his role as Official Brownie Tester.

facecat

Miso looks on disapprovingly.

BROWNIES23

LOOK GUYS, BROWNIES.

In other news, I heard Jumper by Third Eye Blind on the radio a few days ago and decided I should own that album again. I got the CD in something like 1997, but somewhere along the way I lost the case and then stopped listening to it entirely because I developed a bad association with it (this happens to me an unfortunate amount). Anyway, I was about to break down and spend the $8.99 to download it when I thought to check around my room just in case it had survived the 10 moves (I seriously just counted) that have taken place since I bought the damn CD, and… I FOUND IT! This was pretty miraculous. It felt like the universe said, “You’re having a shitty time. Here’s a CD you thought you lost under your bed 10 years ago!” It’s still a pretty good album; it’s aged surprisingly well. (Edit: except for the use of the term “cyberspace.” That does rather date this.) And I’m 25 now instead of 13, so it makes a lot more sense. I had this same epiphany about Jagged Little Pill a while back – turns out music written by 20-somethings is far more relevant when you’re 20-something. I was the wrong age in the mid to late 90’s to appreciate most of the music I was listening to at the time.

So beer? I think so. Right now we have some Southern Tier IPA, which is fantastic. If you like super-hoppy IPAs, please try this. It’s delicious. On a related note, I might be brewing beer in the near future (with help from Stacey). If it happens, I will blog about it!

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I am a vessel between two places I’ve never been

Posted on May 30, 2010 by jaq

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon – time for music nerdery and kitty photos!

A couple of weeks ago, Stacey and I were really bored one night and  decided to check who was playing at Great Scott in Allston – turned out it was Eluvium, an ambient band I had heard of before. We ended up going, and it was a really great show. I need to go to more ambient shows in the future. I wasn’t sure what to expect, really, as ambient music is by nature pretty quiet, but it’s also really beautiful turned up super loud on nice speakers, I found out. I also wasn’t sure how much of the show would be live instruments, but there was a lot of live piano and guitar mixed with samples/loops from a computer. And a Wii remote being used to trigger some samples. That was pretty nifty.

After the show we lurked at the merch table and ended up with some vinyl of both Eluvium and the opening act, Julianna Barwick. I also picked up the newest Eluvium release, Similes, at Newbie’s the other day. Both albums I ended up with are really nice, although I’m partial to Similes, which includes a lot of quiet vocals that decidedly add to everything else going on. The album I got on vinyl, Miniatures, seems to be somewhat less cohesive.  On both releases there’s tons of lovely piano, in particular on the song The Motion Makes Me Last, off Similes. I could listen that over and over, and have been…

I’m having a hard time describing this – it’s perfect music to think by. Unobtrusive, but beautiful and affecting. Like most really good ambient, it’s effective either as background or for intent listening, quiet or loud, speakers or headphones.

I also mentioned kitty photos:

sleepy

lazy

keyboard pillow

There are more of these, but I’ll save them for another post.

(I’ve been at home a lot lately, so Miso and I have been hanging out. He’s just so photogenic, I can’t help myself…)

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