As promised...

Here's a token photo of my new jazzy colors. Thanks to Julie at Fresche (in Oakhurst) for playing with my hair and making it look super fun.


Now I'm off to bed. 6am comes mighty early...but it means I'll be in my hometown by nightfall. Can't wait to get a bit of snow action!

Sick (but trying not to be)

So that sore throat I was talking about earlier hit home and has left me with a full blown cold. :( Luckily, the trip to Savannah and Variety performance took place beforehand, but there have been a few things I've had to attend in my less than jolly state. Speaking of jolly, look at what Travis and I stumbled across on our way home from Variety this Saturday:



Guess L5P decided to have a Critical Mass-esque Santa walk..funny, I'm not surprised.

Anyways, after finishing up Christmas shopping on Sunday, we went to a really splendid holiday party hosted by our friend, Susan, who's also a photo grad here at SCAD. She had brewed up some spices beforehand and her house smelled AMAZING. There were many great people milling about, and on top of that she had those crunchy sesame snacks wrapped in nori-I was in heaven. Monday was a work blur...and yesterday consisted of driving back & forth across Atlanta running errands, more sickness, Papi's (I love that place), a big nap, and then off to the Thrashers game for our impromptu department Christmas party. In the midst of everything, I somehow managed to get my hair chopped again AND had my first hair coloring experience. Julie, the super fun girl at Fresche who's been cutting my hair, was amazed to find out that at age 24 I still held my hair color 'virginity', so she kept it basic this time-but of course there is already talk of copper and chocolate brown in the future! Alright, that's enough girly talk, but be on the look-out for some cheesy photos to come.

Slow day at work...but tomorrow I'll be hopping in the truck to mosey on back to Indiana. The Appel family Christmas party is taking place on Saturday, and I wouldn't miss it for the world! I've lost track in recent years, but there's gotta be around 23 cousins, 12 uncles/aunts, 2 grandparents, and various boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. It all equals out to one FULL house! (This will be Travis's first time meeting most of them so keep him in your thoughts!)

Anyways, that's it for now...still hoping to get around to posting those Savannah photos tonight.

Reflection.

I know it sounds corny, but sometimes even the most un-corny people can get caught up in thoughts of the past... Lately I've been feeling a bit antsy about the progression of events on my 'accomplishments timeline' as I always do when I'm forced to rest (aka recovery from wisdom teeth pulling), and in order to counteract those feelings, I've been rewinding through my time here to justify said rest. It's always been hard for me to pull away from the moment and see things clearly when the subject is myself (and have always been one to support the 'I am my own harshest critic" theory), but comments from those around me have eased my worries during the past few months...

It's been:

-1 year and 2 months since I arrived in Atlanta.
-9 months and 6 days since my first musical performance in Atlanta (thank you Aurora/Atlanta Songwriters series)

Since then I've:

-Played 22 shows at 14 different venues
-Played at 3 festivals (Johns Creek, Moonshine Fest, and Echo Project w/ the Spencer Durham Band)
-Participated in 2 charity events (500 Songs for Kids, Winter Soulstice)
-Advanced to the semifinal night during Open Mic Madness
-Booked my 1st show in Athens (January 25th at Flicker Theatre!)

I guess it all came clear when I was on stage at Variety Playhouse last night as part of the Winter Soulstice event...the sound was crystal clear, I was standing where so many amazing musicians had stood (and will stand in the future), and I all I could think was wow, I can't believe I'm here.

Now I don't want to reduce it all to numbers, but after reviewing the figures I'd have to genuinely say that I'm happy where I'm at. Atlanta has been very kind to this girl, and I can only imagine that more is just around the bend...

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On a side note, I travelled to Savannah this Thursday for a 2 day stint back in my old stomping grounds and had such a great time! Sometimes I forget how much fun I had there during my college years, but it's all brought back after a bike adventure across town, the drive out to Tybee, silly antics on the beach, and basically just bumping into old friends everywhere-even after 2 years of being away! It's just such a beautiful town, and I daresay that I do miss living in a smaller place. If only Atlanta had spanish moss and an ocean.

I plan on posting some of the photos soon, but for now I'm off to nurse a sore throat which is progressing into a lost voice (and I still have some damn Christmas shopping to do!). Seriously, can the human body handle a 40 degree shift of temperature within a few hours? Good thing I made it through my first Variety experience last night!

Film is good.

What the BLEEP Do We Know?! I just watched this documentary and was definitely impressed. Never before have I felt that people understood what was going on inside this crazy head o' mine, but now I know that I'll always have quantum physics professors to lean on during those hard moments. Seriously though, wow. The mind is such an insane thing...half the time I can't believe that our bodies even work correctly-there's just so much going on in such a tiny amount of space! I wish I could go have coffee with each and every one of the folks they interviewed...especially the blonde eyeliner woman. She put a smile on my face everytime that crazy inner energy of hers made those eyeballs wiggle.

And what about those watercrystal experiments by Masura Emoto?! Such a beautiful thing.

On a side note:
Yesterday I decided that I needed to bake a cake to make up for my lack of cake baking since moving to Atlanta. Chocolate with buttercream frosting! It actually ended up being one small cake and 6 cupcakes due to my lack of cake pans.


And I took some random photos around the apartment on Sunday. Here's what it looks like outside my bedroom window:

My work was shown at Art Basel!

Check it out!



Just found out this morning that my entry for the 'Word of Mouth' show hosted by Gallery Diet was chosen to be on display at the Bridge Art Fair in Miami! This was all part of Art Basel. Here's a blurb about it for those who are unfamiliar:


Art Basel Miami Beach is the most important art show in the United States, a cultural and social highlight for the Americas. As the sister event of Switzerland's Art Basel, the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 38 years, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of top galleries with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's beautiful Art Deco District, within walking distance of the beach and many hotels.

An exclusive selection of more than 200 leading art galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa will exhibit 20th and 21st century artworks by over 2,000 artists. The exhibiting galleries are among the world's most respected art dealers, offering exceptional pieces by both renowned artists and cutting-edge newcomers. Special exhibition sections feature young galleries, perhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifformance art, public art projects and video art. The show will be a vital source for art lovers, allowing them to both discover new developments in contemporary art and experience rare museum-calibre artworks.

Top-quality exhibitions in the museums of South Florida and special programs for art collectors and curators also help make the event a special time for encountering art. And every year, a greater number of art collectors, artists, dealers, curators, critics and art enthusiasts from around the world participate in Art Basel Miami Beach - the favorite winter meeting place for the international art world.

75 degrees in December!

Who would've thought?! But I have to say this weather's growing on me after a few days of it... Yesterday the partner in crime and I went down to Eyedrum to scout out the front gallery for his solo show in January. I think we both had that giggly, excited feeling and the whole moment felt like it was foreshadowing good things to come in 2008. Then bloody marys were had on the rooftop balcony of 6 feet Under...and the afternoon felt beautiful and reminiscent of leisurely travels in foreign countries (hopefully soon!). The night also found us at East Side Lounge for my friend, Linda Costa's, display of work in the Urban 30 show. Luckily we somehow escaped the cover charge (thanks in part to my naivety), had a drink while a random girl surprised us with a dance show (some people are STILL unaware of personal space), thankfully bumped into Linda and talked about her lovely work before hustling out the door bound for other places.
You really must check out her work: http://www.lindacosta.com

This morning I had brunch at Ria's Bluebird, one of my dearly loved places in this crazy town. It's blue and bustling and makes me very happy. Oh and their food is really, really good! (If only they would put that goat cheese omlette on the permanent menu!) And now it's 75 degrees in December...what else can I say? It's weird and lovely and I'm on my way to write music.

6 Teeth Shy of a Mouth Full.

The past week has been one long blurrrrrrrrrrr. Unbeknownst to most, I had wisdom teeth surgery last Thursday (the 29th) and they decided to pull out a few more while they were at it. Seems my mouth just didn't have the room for 'em no more, and *poof* there they went. I'm usually not one for sitting at home being lazy so this was quite a change...I felt alright, except for the wooziness from the pain killers, but had been advised to rest-and rest I did. This consisted of mainly lounging around in my Pjs, watching films, and realizing how much I dearly missed crunchy food.

After the weekend, I have attempted to pull off the 'work' thing (and have been there physically), but my brain feels like it's floating 6 feet above my head-1 foot for every tooth they yanked. Not sure what it is, probably just my inner longing to be away from work materializing into an elongated dizzy spell, it's definitely knocked me off track. I spent most of the day pondering how I'll ever be able to sort through the amount of information at my fingertips to find the 'pearls' I seek, or rather, that my inner compass needs, to find my way through the mess of media and material society. I always drift back to memories of the time I spent in upstate New York and yearn for the clarity I experienced during my days within the mountains. I still worked a ridiculous schedule (sometimes even 13 hours a day), but had the space and solitude I require just to breathe..and express myself creatively. And honestly. I yearn for that quality of life like I've never yearned for anything, anyone, or any place. Funny thing about finding yourself, you never really know it's happening-all movements seemingly make sense and therefore pass by unnoticed. What you notice is when things change again, in my case, back to a way that works, but not the kind that I truly want to live for.

Now this may sound melancholy, but it's not meant to be. Just some thoughts about thinking that I've strung together on my fifth of December necklace.

A photo from my Indiana trip: My brother's pup, Rascal, all curled up with his corn cob.

Headin' home to Indiana!

I'm officially heading home for Thanksgiving tomorrow at 8 a.m. Having not returned to my great home state of Indiana for T-day since 2001, I figured it was time to remedy that and shortly after booked a flight out of Atlanta. Can't wait to see the fam, my dog, possibly some snowflakes and drive a manual truck again! Gotta love the midwest.

That said, anyone around during Nov. 21-26 should definitely e-mail (stranglehorse@gmail.com) and/or call because I know I'll have a bit of free time during the evening hours. Oh and I'm making pumpkin bisque...probably one of the most delicious things on earth-leftovers are highly sought after.

Happy holidays to all!

Show tonight broad casted live @ 8pm EST

Just a quick note to let you all know that my show tonight in Hiram, GA will be broad casted LIVE via the internet! So this is the perfect opportunity for those of you who never see me to get a bird's eye view into my world. Talk about voyeurism! Anyways, here's the link:

http://ustream.tv/channel/cylindrian-grace-live

Grace Buford, the lovely lady (and singer songwriter) who is playing alongside me tonight, is using her little piece of the internet for broad casting purposes. Anderson & The Would Be Thieves, another local Atlanta band, will also be sharing in the fun, so please have a look-see if you can't make it to the show. The live feed should be in place around 7:30pm EST...

Well, I'm here.

The ending of my latest journal has served as my vehicle into the electronic realm. I've always been curious about the 'blog' and am now here to give it a go. So in celebration of all things new I'm going to provide links to:

a) Matter (the super hip company whose 'new location' party I attended last night)
b) Jim Combs (local electronic musician, and favorite person of mine who works at Matter) and
c) Luke Chandresinghe, an amazing draftsman who I discovered today via Pingmag.


Matter --> http://www.matterco.com/

Jim --> http://www.sensitivechaos.com/

Luke Chandresinghe article: http://www.pingmag.jp/2006/04/14/luke-chandresinghe-successfully-dreaming-architecture/



Alright, it's a beautiful day outside-time to take some photographs!