keep me in mind.

one thing that is a constant in my pretty little world - is my love and appreciation for music. up tonight will be one of my new favorites LITTLE JOY. was introduced to their music a few months ago, and luckily im not that far behind since this collaboration was recently born. i'm also excited, this will be my first time @ the troubadour! if you haven't heard of little joy, then you need to take a listen. forget the fact that it is fabrizio moretti's other band - and he didn't even take the opportunity to play lead here. this band is brilliant, melodic, happy and i am super excited to see them perform tonight.

quick bio on this band - fabrizio hooked up with rodrigo amarante and then binki shapiro. they spent their time musing over exactly what they could produce, while at a local bar in echo park -aptly named little joy... and the rest, well you know. i suppose i will mention that this band and some songs remind me of something, but even if endings arent happy the memories sure as hell can be.

"frankly dear i'm forced to give it up
tried my hand and now i've had enough
even though we have to say goodbye
keep me in mind…"

little joy – keep me in mind

i love LA.

off to spend time with my three of my favorite people. i love life... i love LA. lets go lakers. life is good. i cant wait for summer. there is so much to experience, to feel, to live for. i hope everyone who finds my blog can have even half the appreciation for all things bright and beautiful, just like i do.

"tip the world over on its side

and everything loose will land in los angeles."

-frank lloyd wright

put japan on the list.

after a group viewing of peter bjorn and john's nothing to worry about, i think the consensus was that a trip to japan will one day be in order. do yourself a favor and check out my santisister's blog for the amazing video, or as she refers to it - best. video. ever. agreed!

in the meantime i will leave you with one of my favorite bands right now - the bird and the bee. something about inara george always makes me feel light and happy! i have come all this way, to be close to be here with you. enough said. there are absolutely no shortcuts to ANY place worth going. speaking of which, time to head south... although this time my partner in crime will be making the drive with me. can't wait. bring on the weekend!

addicted.

super addicted to the silversun pickups right now. specifically, catch and release which just passed up panic switch as my favorite... i sware this song has been on REPEAT since getting the cd friday. i am really loving it. there is something mesmerizing about it. i know youtube is supposed to be for videos, but deal with me and enjoy the song. here is some more fabulous darren waterson to accompany it.

"follow me

down the streams of

sweat on your body

can't believe

the lure was enough

do you see?

how the wind in your

hair now feels differently

catch and release

the lure above..."

silversun pickups - catch and release

and for the record - im really digging nikki monninger's teal dress/pink tutu.

i love you more.

one of my favorite remixes at the moment has to be diplo's take on feist's i feel it all. i love me some diplo. this might be my favorite remix right now from him. absolutely amazing song. the original is lovely... but this version just gets me.... more specifically 1:25 in is where the beat matching begins. [ill be the one to hold the gun].

reminds me of everything im feeling lately. and how awesome is leslie feist? i love her. honey honey was my favorite song....... but i think it just might have been replaced. i was feeling generous and wanted to post honey honey also, but it has been disabled. do yourself a favor and check it out on youtube - all i will say is anthony seck + puppets. happy monday!

+ i love you more. i dont know what i did before. now i know i wanna win the war +

[i most definitely feel it all......... is it friday yet?]

im swooning.

what a lovely day. not only did i just pick up my new favorite cd - silversun pickups swoon, but i also fell in love with an artist. i just had to know who is responsible for their cd cover art. darren waterson is absolutely breathtaking. i just want to swim in his work and listen to sp all day long. unfortunately that cant happen, but at least its nice to be surprised twice in one day and with such visually and auditorially stimulating pieces.

darren waterstein is a california native, but has trained in germany and italy. he currently resides in san fransisco. i cant believe i didnt discover him before my trip to the museum of contemporary art san diego - although i am not finished making to all the fabulous museums in san diego. im just barely getting started. i cant wait to find his art that is on permanent collection there.


another museum where i can find his work is at the fine arts museums of san fransisco. i will be in san fransisco in june and i think that is going to be on my list of one of the places we just have to visit. unfortunately we will miss the warhol exhibit by a month.

i really can't remember the last time that watercolors have caused me to drool. or a song like catch and release truly reminded me of why im swooning lately... i will leave you with my second favorite off the album. reminds me of getting lost in certain places but always finding my way back to home. and home always is where you have left your heart.

if i could take you away.

hold up... wait a minute. its monday? how did this happen so quickly, i paid little attention and its already here!? (yay). that means tonight i will be in the presence of the lovely rachael yamagata and greg laswell. i dont think i can explain how excited i am. for many reasons. happy monday... [thank you for opening a window... the sky is clear as my mind is now, i was a long, long way off].

"if i could take you away
pretend I was queen
what would you say
would you think I'm unreal
'cause everybody's got their way I should feel

everybody's talking how I, can't, can't be your love
but I want, want, want to be your love
want to be your love, for real

everybody's talking how I, can't, can't be your love
but I want, want, want to be your love
want to be your love for real
want to be your everything
everything..."
rachael yamagata - be be your love

very likely.

i knew that this voice had me captured from the first time i heard "little bit." throw in some remixes ive come across and im hooked. lykke li is only 23 years old and already she's lived a life way cooler than mine. her mom was a painter, her dad a musician... she was born in sweden, but has lived in portugal, india, nepal and new york. artistic opportunities aside, the travelling alone has me quite envious.

i know she has a bit of pop feel to her music, but im not a snob when it comes to appreciating music - i can dig just about any type, genre or style. if there is a beat in there that interest me thats all that matters. i look forward to hearing more from this girl... but so far i am not disappointed. i will tell you right now - someone is doing something right here. and i will give credit to ms. zachrisson herself, because with her style she is way above anything pop that is being put out there right now - although i would have to say that "pop" is tending to re-define itself... simply because there are just way too many trends out there right now not to do so.

one more reason to love her... she is featured on N.A.S.A.'s "gifted" (along with some of my other favorites - santigold & kanye) and she has already covered the kings of leon and a tribe called quest.

speaking of N.A.S.A. i am a little behind on my posts - caught them a few weeks ago at the casbah in san diego. they did not disappoint. although when you combine alcohol, friends and two 45 minute sets it is easily to get distracted. i have to say dj squeaky clean (aka sam spiegel) couldnt have been friendlier to us. hope to see those boys more in 2009.

thats about it for music today. back to greg laswell. i think he is just on my permanent playlist in my head.... but i will come full circle back to where i started here. i constantly have musical A.D.D.

"hands down

i'm too proud, for love

but with eyes shut

it's you i'm thinking of

but how we move from A to B

it can't be up to me

cause I don't know

eye to eye

thigh to thigh

i let go

i think i'm a little bit, little bit

A little bit in love with you

but only if you're a little bit

little bit, little bit

in lalalala love with me..."

lykke li - little bit

getting lost.

one of my favorite places to get lost in lately, has been san diego. it truly is such a charming place. aside from the near head on collision i had with four cars, its been a very lovely place to visit. i hope the one-way streets will just become natural to me. in my head, im already planning for the weekend. turns out i will have some alone time on saturday morning, and i couldnt be more excited! the first word that came to mind was "art."

so of course i will be going to check out the museum of contemporary art san diego. ive been wanting to visit there for quite some time... and with the way everything in my life works out, there is no time like the present. i think i will check out the museum in la jolla and if time permits, maybe i will even end up at the one downtown. this sculpture is what initially caught my attention and it is from nancy rubins. i am so smitten with anything that is born from mixed media and keeps a kitch feel in the process. i cant wait to see this in person. and the funny thing, is im not even big on boats.

there are over 4000 works of art on the permanent collection here. i absolutely cannot wait. i am so excited to be in san diego in the first place, but my trip just got this much more exciting. not to mention, ive never seen one of my favorites - lichtenstein, in person.

let the countdown begin...

i need a distraction.

with health and family and life swirling around me, i am just trying to keep my #$*% together the best way possible. that is with extra cups of coffee, reading and music. so for curiosity sake i decided to find out when one of my favorite artists at the moment would be coming back to play. and i just got the best surprise this morning. greg laswell is opening up for rachael yamagata in april!! unbelievable. back to the whole everything happens for a reason philosophy... i am so excited. now my excitement will be placed on hold, because until i know that the most important man in my life is OK... i will not make any plans that have to do with my social life.



but i am a complete and utter optimist. i believe that happy endings do exist and even though every day we are closer to dying, i think that the ride is the most important part. so even if my dad is facing some scary stuff in the hospital right now, i have decided to focus on the present and what we can do to get him through to the future. (that and i am placing complete confidence in the staff at the hospital).

if i do make it to the city i cant seem to stop thinking about... to see two performers who have changed my soul, then i will know that today is definitely happening for a reason i understand. i wrote rachael yamagata a letter once explaining how her music got me through a break-up. and she said with a smile as pretty as mine, she didn't know how anyone could break up with me. her words helped to soften the blow because they were sweet and as charming as she is. now i think the idea of happiness, or even happenstance is going to help get me through this day.

shame on me.

first of all, i am constantly behind on movies.... how its possible that i have had definitely, maybe sitting in my room and have neglected watching it this far- is beyond me. its quite possible, that when i purchased it, along came the idea of what it would be. one of those typical, romantic comedies, something i've seen before... really though. this movie hit the romantic in me, in a million ways. i laughed, i cried, i related. i would have to say it did everything that (almost all) movies should do.

second... how could i possibly forget about my crush on ryan reynolds? i have been smitten ever since the day, about ten years ago when i went to a taping of his show two guys, a girl and a pizza place. (still upset how they tempted the audience with actual pizza... but never shared). anyway, how i have let this fabulous grown up "man-boy" fly under the radar is beyond me.

back to this movie though... honestly, from the moment i heard otis redding, i knew that april was the one. this movie wasn't completely about finding out who maya's mother was... it was also about will figuring out who he ultimately was in love with... and what you let happen when you don't share that love exactly the way you think you are capable of.

and i knew that everything they had to say to each other is exactly something i feel in my own heart. not magnified over a span of twelve years or so as theirs was... but just the quote "its not who, but when" falls right into my own belief system. i suppose everything, everything in life falls prey to timing. and when its off its off, but when its right - its unbelievable.

"Here - I wanna marry you because you're the first person
I wanna look at when I wake up in the morning,
and the only one I wanna kiss goodnight.
Because the first time that I saw these hands,
I couldn't imagine not being able to hold them.
But mainly, when you love someone as much as I love you,
getting married is the only thing left to do.
So, will you, um, marry me?"

sigh.

adoration.

i have been a long time fan of autumn de wilde... now im moving on to a stylist that has done some super impressive work along side of her. shirley karuta is amazing. combine that with ms. de wilde and the fantastic subjects being photographed... instant adoration.

keeping with the theme for the day, how amazing is beck?

illusions never fake their lies

trick cards fool the eye

carry zeros over till they add up

bury tears in the chapters you shut

sometimes the jail can't chain the cell

and the rain's too plain to tell

all alone by a barren well

the scarecrow's only scarin himself ...

here is something very interesting, for the past three weeks all i can think about is how i want to take piano and ballet lessons again... because the inner child in me is looking for ways to re-capture the beauty and innocence related with the two. and oddly enough, i believe the stylist, artist, photographer and extras have perfectly captured what is been in my mind.

*oh and the greg laswell photo below is also a product of karuta + de wilde...

i dare you.

to tell me one thing you don't like about beck's new album modern guilt. actually, say anything negative about beck hansen - in general. bet you can't do it. my obsession this week is going to shift back to beck, i think i need to lay off the greg laswell... otherwise friday won't be as exciting. the rumors swirling around that cat power has contributed to this album only makes it that much more precious.

"...to be loved or destroyed from a void.

to a grain of sand in your hand."

- beck orphans

thank you for opening a window.

i don't think i can contain the excitement that is inside of me. im seriously counting down the days until i see greg laswell. among other things... six days. six days. thats all thats on the brain. i truly believe that my life comes and goes in waves. the love, the excitement, the ups and downs... i get it all. i love it and i appreciate it. i have written so much on greg laswell lately and how he truly just is expressing the thoughts swirling around in my brain. so maybe i will just pause....

i think i like how the day sounds through this new song....

i just want your kiss.

trying to recessitate some life into my lovely blog here... for whatever reason i cannot add this video to my kate nash post. but in the spirit of lovers everywhere [and no i do not celebrate february 14th] ...here is one of my favorite songs and video to accompany it. still, there is some comfort in red lollipops and hearts made out of construction paper.

i will always be the girl chasing boys around the playground.

kismet.

you've got to be kidding me. not so much visual noise this time... as it is beautiful, melodic noise. i have been smitten with greg laswell for quite some time. and recently i have had moments where he has come into my life.. i don't mean smitten in the "i want to meet and make babies" sense.. i mean when he plays the piano and sings, he is translating my soul. now i come across a performance by him and the lovely ingrid michaelson (one of my other favorites)... just on the day where i realize i might be going to one of his shows, then to find out jesca hoop's cd is titled kismet. have you ever had a moment where things come full circle in life, only to realize that its just the beginning?

welcome to my life.



and of all songs they are covering... one of my favorite elvis songs. i dont want to submerge myself in butterflies right now, because i do have my tendencies. instead, i am just going to enjoy the ride on this open road and anticipate wherever i land is truly where i have been headed all along.

mesmerized.

i just came across a video that has captured more than i ever could put into words. i love those lazy mornings where you wake up next to someone who means something. just the touch of their skin and the act of kicking the sheet off my right leg... i love those moments. here is a brilliant video by oren lavie :: her morning elegance. i think it is amazing and i sat here completely mesmerized. makes me want to be in someone's bed at this very moment. makes me think about possibilities and if i will again. my mind is captivated....... maybe that is because it is open to different possibilites now.

im back.

did you miss me? well, when you fall far away it usually takes something to pull you back. or in my world, something to inspire me. and today, i found just what i've been missing.....

rachael yamagata's new album - elephants... seeking teeth into heart. i have no excuse as to why its taken me three months to finally take a listen (let's use the excuse "i've been super busy") which is partially true and i have also just been distracted.

as i am sitting here listening to my soul being translated via ms. yamagata, i recognize a styling that is way too familiar to me. the track is "duet" and i wasn't even sure if there was going to be someone singing with her... and what do you know? none other than ray lamontagne is right there beside her. i knew it. i knew it reminded me of "can i stay" and i have heard this all before. well, my heart knew it.

this album reminds me of what it is to feel again. its been a long time coming but im happy to finally be back.

not to mention... how hot are her bangs and dark hair? i havent found my nerve yet to go to the dark side.. but she sure is inspiring. im just wondering about happenstance and life and love and finally i feel that things are heading in the right direction. i spin around a lot and get confused, but maybe what im truly missing is down the road.

beautiful disaster.

oddly enough, i must say its been quite the whirlwind of events for me lately - dare i use the term trainwreck? only because, as i was laying my pretty little head down to sleep tonight, that was the image i couldnt get out of my mind. although it was a lovely wreck of sorts. i suppose that not all disasters are completely just that - and sometimes in the wreckage you find something else, a new creation. maybe its just the way my mind works. always looking for the beautiful, even in disasters. and i must say, when all around me [or should i say most everyone around me] is dealing with their own stressors, i was down for about 2.8 days and as always bounced right back. i realize that the last thing i wanted to do was start this blog, my own visual noise and just stop.


so im laying in bed, listening to kate nash and having fantasies about dancing on a piano in london. strange, since ive only ever danced on top of a piano once - and ive never been to london. fantasies on the other hand, that is something that happens quite often. i knew that i was in love with kate nash's voice, even before i just checked out her very recently updated my spy but to see that her second influence is now london - and she even is rocking klimt as one of her photos, just reaffirmed what i already knew. kate nash rocks.

and as always, my brain has jumped the track. what was the point? oh that i have been busy. i have been sad. i have been living life. i have been loving the hell out of everyone around me. and yes, i still have been playing guitar hero worse than a 3 year old (how sad they have got it in the bag...) but thats just it. im still here, still breathing, loving and if you give me some time and patience - i will make something out of this blog. the same way i typically make things out of my life. throughout all of the mini-disasters to fall in and out of my life, i still find the beauty. i suppose if you decide to only hold your breath for so long, you will end up with a bigger understanding and appreciation for all that you have. i just want your kiss boy................... sing it kate.

and the fact that she is totally channeling jenny lewis circa troop beverly hills is just a BONUS.

lets add this to the list.

...of wonderful things to do and fabulous places to visit. i think its about that time to take the trip to san fransisco. or at least talk about one day possibly taking a trip in the near future if everyone's schedules permits us to do so. right. so, i vaguely remember the idea being brought to life, but was probably put out as quickly as the next marborlo light. well here we go, when it happens - ive got the spot that i would love to stay at.

for once i might have found the perfect concept for rooms that would actually keep me in them - oh, i don't know maybe an hour longer than usual. the :: hotel des arts :: in san fransisco is unreal. basically the management handed over keys to local contemporary artists and let them have their way with the rooms. if only, have i stumbled upon what might be a new trend in the making? (wait, no. scratch that. reverse it. we don't want it to become trendy).

i know who i would like to stay with here, the only trouble i might have is deciding which room to pick.

the fact that there is free wireless internet is just a perk. a lovely one, nonetheless. im trying to pretend that i didnt just miss a rock-n-roll show on the roof for an art gallery opening.

so the more i am reading about this hotel, the more excitement i feel inside. i like to do that to myself from time to time, like a little lost girl with art addicted attention deficit disorder. aaadd. right. regardless, it is definitely my style and until i am proven otherwise - a place that i would love to see.

and can you honestly say after a night out on the town, how awesome would that be to return to your room only to read something as romantic as that?


make mine a queen, non-smoking. extended check-out if you please.

simply suzanne.

let me just start off by saying this picture has two of my favorite people ever. my lovely suzanne who has been a friend since we were barely old enough to hold our own paintbrushes... and her husband robert, even though we haven't known each other that long, he is a post-high school package deal. i adore them both.



let me give some love to suzanne's blog - :: simply magic :: well, of course because its deserved and also due to the fact that she is a complete inspiration to me. somewhere along the way of us being circus ballerinas, to song captains, to partners in crime... from losing each other only to find a friendship renewed a million times over... i have realized how much we truly have in common. this is my girl. we are alike in so many ways, our love for beautiful + ecclectic things such as art, design, music, love, people, places, moments and memories.


her blog is delightful and if you have the pleasure of knowing her or not, make sure you look her up. you might recognize her from somewhere........... if not, be on the look out. the only place my suzi is going, is definitely up.

train.

i believe things are way overdue, so lets go ahead and get it started. as with every new idea to float into my pretty little brain, this one was born earlier this evening. watching the sunset, listening to goldfrapp... thinking that it was time to shift from love to just about everything else.

so here we go.

[ i know exactly how she feels ]

sometimes it seems as if there are just too many thoughts swimming around my head.. is that a bad thing? not necessarily. but id like to think that allison goldfrapp is channeling little miss sunshine in her best french clown get up. works for me.

driving along, a little unsure about how i feel once i heard goldfrapp on the local radio station in los angeles... of course, happy for her, but at the same time a little sad to know that this part of my musical being is now being shared with the same target audience requesting artists from american idol. taking into consideration - its not as though they are playing new material, no they dug deep - so i suppose that really is a testament to the dj, playing what they want... because i know that this song was not on grey's anatomy this week.

regardless, good for her and good for los angeles listeners, because if you know electronic music then of course you know goldfrapp. or guaranteed, through the process of marketing (and i wont say selling out... but...) she has already been featured in verizon ads and episodes of the l word. yet, i own a phone from that service and love that show, so maybe i should just be happy for her. i suppose we should want our artists to succeed in this business, right?

so this is not an intended review.. but more along the lines of listening to train, and thinking about my own train of thought... where its headed, where its been. trains are a definite symbol of this year for me so far. anticipation, anxiety, and most importantly just passing by. something in her, the voice, the sun, that moment, my weekend.. whatever it just snapped at that moment and i ran with my urge to attack my keyboard when i got home.

[ if given the opportunity id love to rock the peacock ]

i guess here is the part where i say hello to my lovely readers. welcome to my new home on the internet... visual noise, that is what its all about. think deeply about what that means... to me, to you. we make noise every second of the day. whether it is outloud, in our heads, in our bedrooms, on our treadmills, in our hearts, over the phone, simultaneously, individually or periodically. we live in a world full of people who always have something to say. we are creative, visual beings... more often than others, somewhere along the way i went right while maybe you went left... so this is all that i am. its what i see through my eyes, feel in my heart, hear, speak...

i am definitely beat matching more than i realize in my every day life, but ultimately id like to picture myself with a cocktail in hand, stilettos on my feet and a thought in my heart. im a lover, a dreamer but ultimately i can be a realist. do i have to take myself seriously? yes. all the time? no. what would goldfrapp do?




and while i'm here - can i just say please go and download felt mountain, black cherry, supernature, we are glitter or seventh tree. its not for everyone, and every album isnt even the same. id get presumptuous and say do it all, but really no one every really goes for it any more... seriously though, no one makes me want to ride a white horse like ms. allison goldfrapp.

oh, and enough about the animal references... the white owl is purely a photo op.