On Friday night, my friend Nicole surprised me and Stephanie with some beautiful yellow flowers; the antithesis of winter, they've been making me feel happier all weekend.
After a wretchedly cold and snowy Saturday, Sunday brought coffee, the New York Times, and an astounding bright sunlight (which I almost forgot existed).
People were about in Union Square Park, near where Shannon and I had brunch before apartment hunting.
And that night, I saw the Magnetic Fields at Town Hall. I missed the Oscars, but it was worth it for the Fields' tight playing and perfect acoustics.
Ah me. February sludges along, soon to wash away into March.
Okay, so I lied. I decided to post something today because last night I went to an awesome concert, and if this blog isn't mostly about live shows I don't know what it is.
For Christmas, Dustin got me tickets to the Foo Fighters. I've been a fan of theirs since I was 16. Way back then, I had never listened to alternative music and when I saw the video for "Monkey Wrench", I fell in love. I've been to a few of their shows in the past, and knew they were amazing live.
However, in light of recent circumstances, I wasn't sure if I was going to go to this show. I couldn't find anyone to go with me, and haven't listened to their last two albums, so by yesterday morning I was ready to post an ad on Craigslist to sell the tickets. However, my friend from work, Momo, said she was willing to go with me. We met up with Shannon & Mike, who were also going to the show but sitting in a different section, for drinks beforehand and then we all headed over to Madison Square Garden.
It ended up being an incredible show, as the concert was to be telecast on FuseTV. They played for two hours and there were only about five songs I didn't know by heart. I really got to rock out.
It was a sold-out show, and there were tons of people there, but, surprisingly, The Garden was a more intimate venue than I had anticipated (I've had worse times at America West Arena). Also, we had pretty damn good seats (thanks, Dustin).
They ROCKED.
They played stellar versions of all of the songs I love, including "Breakout."
There was a runway leading to what would later become a mini-stage, and Dave Grohl played a lot on that platform. Even though I loved my seats, I did wish I could have been right up against that little strip.
There was a little girl, maybe two years old, seated on the actual runway strip, and I think it may have been Dave Grohl's daughter. I don't know who else would bring their toddler to a rock show.
Midway through the show, the Fighters gathered on the aforementioned mini-stage, which was awesome because then we were even closer.
They played a fabulously rockin' version of "My Hero" and the crowd went nuts over it.
Dave Grohl finished that section of the show with an almost entirely solo version of one of my favorite songs of all time, "Everlong," wrapping it up by rejoining the rest of the band on the regular stage.
Please forgive the charmingly annoying screaming in those videos; the screams are courtesy of the two fans seated next to me. Also, I'm not sure why I chose this entry to start using video so much, considering that you could just see the whole darn thing on Fuse. Anyway, I had a really awesome time at the show and I'm glad I got to go (and that I DID go). I got my much-needed and much-missed fill of the Foo!
Hey everyone. Just wanted to say I may not be blogging for a week (or two) (or three) since most of the stuff going on in my life at the moment is either: a) depressing b) boring or c) depressing and boring.
Surely if something interesting and/or happy comes up I will get back on, but otherwise it may not be until after I go to Italy (thereby escaping my current life). Of course, if you're in New York, give me a call. I promise to hang out with you (and not be depressing). If you're elsewhere, still call me. I'll catch you up on all the wonderful goings-on of the New York lifestyle, including all of the exciting things to do when one is single (like going to Arizona). Until then, have yourself a giggle with this funny list from Radar. While you're there, peruse the site. They're hilarious.
Well, if you know me well enough to read this blog you probably already know what my weekend was like. Dustin and I broke up. And even though I know it's for the best and that it was inevitable, it still always hurts to be rejected. Especially five days before Valentine's Day.
After I spent an hour crying on the phone to my mom, I called Shannon, who, luckily, happened to be in the city. She came over right away bearing cupcakes. A true girlfriend. After commiserating for awhile, she insisted that I come to Long Island and hang out with her for the weekend. I promptly accepted.
Before we left my place, I showed her a couple of my recent paintings and she liked this one so I gave it to her, happily. It's called "Cameo."
The next day she made me waffles and took me out around the small towns of Long Island while we listened to a CD of Led Zeppelin's blues songs I had made for her years ago.
It's just like Old Gilbert out there. It was nice to feel like I had gotten out of my town for a bit.
We went shopping at Target, by far the best thing to do in Long Island since it's impossible in the city. I bought a whole bunch of things that I don't really need.
And tried really hard to avoid this.
Anyway, breakups suck. A lot. Luckily, I have some fabulous girlfriends to talk to (even if they all live far away) and a close-listening mom. And I'm making a lot of mix CDs for myself.
Last Saturday D. and I went to the Mika concert. Mika is a super-flaming Lebanese singer whose almost exclusively falsetto voice and super-poppy style make it difficult to believe he wrote his first song after listening to Nirvana at the age of nine. (I just read about him on Wikipedia.) The unabashedly joyful sound of his album "Life In Cartoon Motion" nearly guaranteed a rockin' good time at Terminal 5. We went with Mitch, from work, and her husband Rhys, who's been growing a strike beard since SNL ceased production and he has nothing else to do.
When we got there, Dustin (naturally) saw someone he knew, and I got a picture with the fellow's girlfriend, as we both had on pearl necklaces.
We showed up right as Mika came on, and therefore could not get all the way up near the stage, which is where I usually prefer to be, otherwise I'm left on the sidelines or behind some 7-foot tall dude, as was the case that night.
Mitch has the same problem, because she's even shorter than I. We ended up going to the only place where we could really see, which was behind the bar all the way in the back of the house. We could see, but I felt rather separated from the crowd. Luckily, the show had enough spectacle to satisfy even those who weren't a part of the dancing throngs.
Mika has a song called "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" and it's all about, well, big girls. He had an apt prop for this performance.
He brought out four Big Girls to help him celebrate the beauty of the corpulent woman. Hilariously enough, the four ladies were members of the Glamazons, a group that made it through the first round of last season's O. Snapp-recapped "America's Got Talent."
Yeah, they shook it. Mika sounded good throughout the show, but I wished he had played more of his upbeat songs.
Still, the spectacle was enough for me. This chick came out and I suddenly longed for a parade to be in.
I started formulating ideas for the next Mermaid Parade.
I wonder where I can get a headdress.
One beautiful section was when Mika, in an all-white suit, held an ivory umbrella beneath a pseudo-snowstorm.
And who doesn't like some good gigantic calavedas?
During an elaborate costume change, a scrim was lowered and some crazy shadows emerged.
And by the end Mika really lived up to his "cartoon motion" philosophy and brought out the gigantic balloons, bright colors and Alice-in-Wonderland themes.
Oh, and confetti. He brought out the confetti as any good spectacler should.
