Raoul and I invited our friend Gary to go see Of Montreal at the Georgia Theatre. This was the album release party for the band's latest album called Paralytic Stalks. I have been a long time fan of Of Montreal, so it was a real treat to see them doing some new songs, most of which were being performed for the first time that night. Needless to say, Of Montreal "brought it" and if you got bored during the slower songs, you could always watch the lights and cartoons they projected throughout the show. Of Montreal are one of the most creative bands out there, so I suggest you check them out on their current tour.
A package and a Valentine from my pen pal in Seattle. I had no idea what could be inside...
And then it was opened to reveal Simply Vanilla Blythe! WOW! I am thrilled and Vanilla is so pretty! Nilla loves Vanilla, too.
What a surprise!
Our flowers are blooming already. This is the earliest I ever remember our flowers blooming. I guess it is because we have had such a warm-ish winter lately.
Do you ever try and draw from your memory? I like to do this all the time. I tested myself to see how good I could remember how to draw some of my favorite cartoon characters. Can you guess who some of these are?
Here is one of my favorite characters - I love Garfield! I used to read Garfield each week in the Sunday paper, and I had many of those chunky books filled with comics. I loved to see the evolution of Garfield; remember when Garfield was drawn with very small eyes or when he was drawn with very round eyes? Remember when Garfield flicked Odie's nose off and it looked like a jellybean? Or the time Garfield was sleeping? Or when he hated Mondays? Or when he ate all the lasagna?
Here is my version of Gumby and Pokey. What can I say? Who does not love Gumby and Pokey?
I also love Snoopy and Woodstock. I love them so much I had a toy Snoopy and Woodstock when I was little. They went everywhere with me, and if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up when I was little, I would say "Woodstock."
Last is my drawing of Ren and Stimpy! My brothers and I watched Ren and Stimpy like crazy. We watched it so much we would quote it. My parents even watched and quoted it, too!
A few weeks ago we went to see Jeff Mangum play a solo show at the 40 Watt. We did not think we would be able to get tickets, but lo and behold, our friends April and Kimberly had an extra pair of tickets, so we got to see at least one of the Athens shows. As usual, the show was brilliant, and it felt like 1998 all over again (almost). I was happy to see Jeff play again, especially after such a long time of not playing shows. I had seen Neutral Milk Hotel open for Superchunk the year I graduated college. It was great, but there was something very special about seeing the songs without the full band. Well, sometimes other Elephant 6 players came to play horns and cello, but most of the show was just Jeff. "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" was one of my favorites of the night, and I think this is what he opened the show with. It was easy to get a little misty during some of the songs, but then the sing alongs made it difficult to stay that way for long. Everyone seemed to have a good time and were genuinely excited to see Jeff perform, and Raoul really liked my dance I had made up to "Song Against Sex" that I forgot about since 1998, but it all came back to me at the show!
Andrew, Scott, and Laura were the show openers. They were so much fun; I especially liked hearing the Gerbils songs that Scott sung that night. They also backed up Jeff on some songs, too, so that was super. I drew them here and I think it came out okay, but I am not too happy with Andrew. Sorry, Andrew. I will work on your illustration in the future! You are hard to draw.
You were not allowed photos or recording of Jeff Mangum, but here is the marquee from the fabulous 40 Watt club.
I only took a few pictures of Andrew, Scott, and Laura.
Here are some of my favorite Neutral Milk Hotel songs.
Here are some pictures of Nilla that I took this morning. She always wants a taste of what I am eating - this morning she wanted cream cheese and strawberry jam.
I made some new Tissue Pals. They really come in handy when traveling. I use mine all the time! And I also keep one in the car, too. Some of my friends gave them to their children so they can put them in their school backpacks! You can find them at my Etsy, Shoppe Sugar Cookie.
So even if you do not like Valentine's Day, it is a very special day for me. It is the day we found our bunny, Oreo. We found our baby bun! She was abandoned on Valentine's Day in the parking lot at Cafe Sunflower in Atlanta. We thought it was a set up, but her cage had a paper sign that said "free." We could not imagine why someone would drop off a rabbit in front of the fitness center on Valentine's Day - and that was three years ago. So on February 14 we not only celebrate it as Valentine's Day, but also as Oreo Day! We like to think of Oreo as a special gift that Raoul and I found. We are so happy to have Oreo at our home, and I love Oreo to pieces. I never thought that I would be a bunny owner, but now we have you, Oreo! Happy year three!
Today marks the 35th anniversary of one of my all time favorite bands, the B-52's! They played their very first show at a house party here in Athens, Georgia, so I thought it would be a good idea to post about them on this very day. Raoul and I went to see their celebration show last week, and it was sure a party out of bounds for sure!
I have loved the B-52's since the first time I saw the video for Love Shack on MTV. Yeah, remember when MTV played videos? I thought they were so different than anything I had ever seen before! I loved their clothes and that they were all having a party with all their friends. I was fifteen years old. They were colorful, futuristic, and vintage - all at the same time! I did some research into the band and I was hooked. I bought their entire back catalog at Camelot Music on cassette.
I was obsessed! I watched the MTV Rocumentary about them, I put up posters, I wrote to Sue 52 at the fan club. I drew pictures. I clipped magazines - anything B-52's related I soaked up like a sponge!
The B's did many of my favorites from long ago, like "Mesopotamia," "Lava," and "Private Idaho." I also really liked their new songs, too. It was a great show all around.
Our seats were in the balcony section. I am short, and I wanted to be able to see, so we were up high for this show. I think we got stuck with people who really were not familiar with the B-52's music, and they thought the opener band, Tunabunny, was a little strange. I am not sure what sort of show they expected, especially when the B-52's sing about rock lobsters, outer space, and green poodles, but right after Love Shack they were outta there!
We were thrilled to have seen the B-52's show for their anniversary! Lots of lava love flowing! You can read a good article about the show here.
Though I have not always been a fan of this holiday, I feel there are lots of things to love. I love Raoul because he is the best in the world! I love my family because they sent us popcorn and Valentines! I love Raoul's family for making birthday cakes and having us visit! I love my pets because they are adorable! Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone finds a little love today.
The word of the week for Illustration Friday is popularity. I had a tough time with this word! I was not sure what to draw, but I wanted to draw some koalas. In my illustration, they are cheering for the littlest koala. The littlest koala is the most popular now because he baked eucalyptus pie for the entire town on a day when the koalas were particularly hungry and down in the dumps. They were a little sad because they lost their favorite kitten who fell down a well. The kitten was found, though - a little later on that day. Their favorite kitten was just hiding in the bucket in the well!
