Music Festivities

Okay, I will accept that I am a terrible blogger but I've finally acquired the time, motivation and purpose for a post!  This past weekend I took off from work so I could enjoy a series of music festivities and friends around my region of New York!
On Thursday I went to Trumansburg near Cayuga Lake (one of the longest in the Finger Lakes) for the Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance.  It's a four-day long gathering of people of all ages, local artists, musicians, vendors and good vibes camping on the grounds.  I was volunteering with the festival in the kids tent so I received free admission.  I only stayed for the first two days with my friends Tucker and Eamon (who camped in the woods, rigging hammocks to trees under tarps) but I fell in love with the kindness and happiness of everyone there. 
Working in the kids tent was really low-key, we were right next to one of the stages at the Infield and the kids were adorable!  I'm not sure if it's just the nature of the type of attendees at GrassRoots, but these children were polite and actually knew how to share.  I manifested my inner hippy and wore long skirts, had my face painted, went bare foot in the mud, frisbee'd with random 12-year old boys, hula-hooped, twirled and danced and gave away bracelets made from the twisted bark of a basswood tree.  No doubt, I will be attending this festival every summer as long as I am home.  If anyone's interested in going, check it out, especially through volunteer opportunities!

 

I was really at peace there and having a good time, but alas, I had to leave because Saturday harked for another musical opportunity.  I spent the afternoon down at Keuka Lake and went swimming and boating, then met up with more of my housemates and friends from college.  We went to the South Wedge district of Rochester (it's a trendier area catered for those under 30) for Boulder Festival!  It was a Friday through Sunday event sponsored by Boulder Coffee Company, right in their back parking lots.  It was filled with craft makers, vendors, wood-fired pizza, pink liqueur, fancy coffee drinks, smoking hipsters from around the area and two petite stages.  So I skipped out on the rest of GrassRoots to see Saturday's headliner, my faaavorite band, Rubblebucket!!!  Their music is quite fantastic to listen to, but their concerts are a whole new experience.  Yes, I have total groupie status and I was shamelessly singing and dancing so hard in the front row their entire show.  We were literally a foot from the lead singer, Anakalmia, whom I also have a girl crush on-- she's amazing!  

 My goodness, it was one of the best shows I've been to.  I was electrified with joy to be right there with my friends and Rubblebucket on a spectacular night, and it only cost $5!  This was my fourth concert and they just blow me away every time.  The band even came into the crowd and danced with us, and we talked to the trumpeter Alex for a while when we were on our way out.  They are hard-working, quirky people who are truly dedicated to their fans and craft.  Alex described how they've been touring strenuously since January (which I also saw them then in Rochester!) but they are almost finished with a new EP.  After they take a break at the end of August they'll be back throughout the Northeast this fall... I can't wait!  And the hype is well deserved, they played on Jimmy Kimmel last Wednesday (they're part of Artists against Fracking)!!!!  Haha, I hope you can feel my excitement burning through these webpage pixels because I am absolutely thrilled for Rubblebucket and the credit they are receiving. 

I noticed that the keyboard/synthesizer is really pronounced and Kal has a lot of makeup on (must be a tv thing, she usually is natural), BUT otherwise this performance is pretty accurate to the type of show Rubblebucket plays!  The streamers, dancing, crowd surfing and all!  No giant robots, unfortunately.  They also played their single, "Silly Fathers."  

Afterwards, we drove alllllllllll the way back to the Finger Lakes to a beautiful cottage on Keuka Lake.  More star gazing, bonding, and bluebuerry-eating ensued.  The next morning we went tubing and boat riding before a very reluctant departure.  Nonetheless, I spent the evening with some of my favorite friends from high school at a long-overdue dinner party together.

I basically had the best Thursday through Sunday in a while.  I should post about San Francisco, though, that was a pretty fantastic trip from June.  I hope you're taking care, this summer is whirling by!

Listening:  Rubblebucket, duh.
Oh, and the new Ed Sharpe CD that I mentioned a few posts ago is amazing!  Amazon offers the mp3 download for cheaper than iTunes.  I definitely recommend it.

Indoor Oasis

When I'm working and start to deposit paychecks, I acquire these inflated notions of my wealth, contrary to what my bank account actually says.
When I am in my room, I am at the height of my generally debilitating scatterbrain habit.  I'll start working on something, see something else or have a flash of realization, literally drop what I'm doing and move to that.  Then I'll work on that intensively and then have another idea, move on and pull that out.  Before I know it, my room is a disaster of unfinished projects and loose ideas.
How does this all tie together?  Well, I'm using this summer to unleash the environmental caretaker within me.  I started a compost pile next to my barn and this past week I went to a local farmer's market and bought an array of herb sproutlings.  They are now planted in a nice box on the other side of the barn-- painting that box will be the next step!  Then I went to Lowe's because I've had these illustrous visions of house plants enveloping my room with their gentle rustling from an open window and fresh O2 via photosynthesis and charming accents of color on my shelves, and before I knew it... I spent $50 on my new plants.  At least I had a Wal Mart gift card for the additional $20...  Oh well, these things are definitely worth it.

Meet the family:

 Pre-potting.  I bought 3 cacti, 4 succulents, a baby Jade (which may count as a succulent, I have no idea) and 2 'exotic' house plants!

 The qquarium section outfitted me with pretty stones for the bottom of the pots (which you actually can't see though because of the soil haha), while glass dinner ware bowls became the new habitats!

 

 

 

 Hahaha there's a sparkle setting on my camera-- perfect for making daily life look a bit more fabulous. 

Who knew that succulents and cacti were so damn photogenic?

I'm crossing my fingers that I can help these plants thrive where they reside in my room.  Unfortunately, the cloudy conditions of Western New York are definitely working against these sun-thirsty gardens.  We shall see..!

I'm going to San Francisco this Wednesday with my parents-- I am stoked and ready to take several hundreds of photos if necessary!!  I hope you have an excellent week, and you'll be hearing from my soon.

Listening: "Up From Below" by Ed Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

p.s. Any thoughts on my new blog layout?  I felt like it was time to change it up :) I especially like the new page tabs at the top, although does anyone know if you can create multiple posts within those pages??

May's Last Stand

Hey, marvelous news: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros released a new album on the 29th called Here!  With it having nine songs, it costs $9.99 on iTunes but Amazon is selling the mp3 for $5.00.  Now, I'm a general advocate of tangible items, but I am also unabashedly frugal; perhaps digital purpose will be the way to go.  If you're unfamiliar with this 11-piece troubadour, then I suggest you check out their arguably most well-known hit, "Home" that expresses love and nostalgia through folk-driven, instrumental-thumpin' chords and chants.  I cannot wait to have my hands (ears?) on their new music!!

With May on its last leg, I guess this means that we are tumbling into summer.  I like blogging about what's happened to me from the school semester because if you've been following this blog you should know by now that basically all I do is work.  As usual, I ended up greasy and with tired feet, though yesterday I had time to go out to dinner and a movie (The Avengers, which was actually pretty good) with my friends.  I also bought a few herb plants and I can't wait to see how my planting box progresses!

 

 

Here are a few photos from the gorgeous last weeks of school.  I took higher quality photos with my camera because I had no choice but to shrug off studying and lie beneath the trees to capture the temporary blossoms.  And hey, even though I go through cycles of panic and self-doubt with school work, I had my best semester yet academically (and otherwise)!  So it seems you can take time to stop and smell the flowers and finish what you need to do successfully :D.
Regarding the last photo, I never found out why, but the knitting club went on a guerrilla knitting spree (at least that's how I like to think of it) and they created public knitting installations all over campus!  On bike racks, railings and that tree, which happened to be fantastic because it made the tree favorable to look at and hug.  Random as it was, I hope they do more of that next year!

Listening: "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon