andicandy's Xanga

The DNC

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:07:59 GMT

The Democratic National Convention has been in town for some time now. It's been fun seeing our streets get cleaned up, people walking and biking around extensively, and solar panels being put up. I love that the DNC has been deemed a "green event." Now more than ever, we need to start looking toward clean, renewable energy for a sustainable future for our country - not dirty, finite fossil fuels. I'm glad this is a big focus of Obama's campaign. I wish McCain were more on board with these values.

Watching all of the speeches given at Invesco field on TV was quite inspiring - especially Obama's big speech tonight - and I wish I would have tried harder to get tickets to see the big event live. Tickets were gone pretty darn quick. My housemates and I tried looking out our windows when the fireworks were going off (we're just a couple miles away from the action) but alas could not see past the neighborhood trees.

I hope I can someday say that I was at one point just a few blocks away from the President of the USA...

Wah Wah

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:33:35 GMT

Last night my Cry Baby came. I'm not talking about a person or even a real baby. No, I'm referring to the incredible guitar effects (wah) pedal that Jimi Hendrix made famous in the '60s. It alters the tone of a (guitar) signal to create a distinctive effect, intended to mimic the human voice... and it's just plain amazing.

So experimentation with adding a little "wah wah" to some of my songs has begun. It's a lot of fun but kind of tricky, because you have to be coordinated enough to play your guitar and move the pedal up and down at the same time - kind of like a drum set. I like this new challenge, though. The effect of your efforts makes such a ridiculously fun noise it is incredibly gratifying to do.

Tour de Cure

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:22:59 GMT

I have officially formed a team to ride in the Tour de Cure for diabetes on August 23 in Boulder/Longmont, CO. We are always open to having more people join us, though, so if you are interested let me know. There are four distances you can choose from to ride: 100 mile, 100K, 50K, and 20K. I am planning on doing the 50K (31 mile) ride and some of the people on my team are doing the big 100 mile century ride!! Right now my donations goal is $300 and I am 87% there. If you would like to help support me please click on this link: http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/TDC510018030?pg=personal&fr_id=5190&fr_id=5190&px=4247288

To learn more about the Tour de Cure Colorado you can click here: http://www.tourdecurecolorado.com/

Hope some of you can join our team or support us!

Watch this!

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:23:41 GMT

I got to see a sneak preview of this and loved it. It airs April 15.

Clean air

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:48:27 GMT

Plants are amazing! Ever since my last office plant died I have been sneezing at least once a day (but usually more like 3x/day). So I got a new plant last week and now I only sneeze about once a week! I am in awe about this. I love my little green guy.

Blogging Tips

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:42:41 GMT

I learned some blogging tips this week. I wonder how well I am doing at these. In any case, I thought who better to share these with than my fellow Xanga-ers? Here are a few tips that the best (most read) bloggers give for having a "good" blog...

1. Appeal to everyone
2. Treat your visitors like they're your best friend
3. Write about things you're passionate about
4. Tell about your traumatic experiences (misery loves company...)
5. Have useful, unique, and scannable content

Well, I hope those are helpful to someone out there. I guess one of the things I am passionate about is becoming better at stuff, so maybe I got a point for this blog. Thank you for reading...

Do you speak my language?

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 05:46:41 GMT

Aaron Espe gave a magical concert tonight at Swallow Hill. I'm looking forward to playing in their cozy cafe in June. http://www.swallowhillmusic.org/cafe06/cafemain.htm

I bought my Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (at Red Rocks) concert ticket today. I'm ashamed to say that I did not know that Robert Plant is the lead singer from Led Zeppelin. He and Alison make quite a musical pair! T Bone Burnett did a fantastic job of producing their latest CD, Raising Sand. I'm wearing it out like crazy.

I've also been listening to Pimsleur Indonesian on my CD players, trying to learn the language for my big trip in May. So far I can pretty much say the following (but not necessarily spell correctly):

Ma off. Selamat pagi. Apacabur? Bike, teremacasi. Bat bat orang America? Yeah, boo. Minerte bahasa Indonesia? Sedikid sedikid saja.

(Translation: Excuse me. Good morning. How are you? Fine, thanks. Man, are you from America? Yeah, woman. Do you understand Indonesian? Just a little.)

It's coming along...

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:21:34 GMT

Music on my iPod these days that I love:

-Aaron Espe
-The Little Willies (Norah Jones' band)
-Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

The exciting thing is that two of these groups/artists are playing shows in Denver this year. Aaron Espe is playing at Swallow Hill Cafe on Thursday and Alison Krauss is at Red Rocks this summer.

I especially love this song by Aaron and am looking forward to hearing it soon!

I fell on my face again

I swear it never ends

I guess I am your replica

Just someone who pretends

I fell on my face again

So I tried to make amends

But it only put me on the floor

Beggin’ a forgotten friend

Grace what a lovely thing

You got me on my feet again

Live at Leela music video

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:03:30 GMT

A few thoughts

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:50:26 GMT

On my lunch break.

I love Honeycrisp apples. They could easily be the best apples in the world. Sweet, but not too sweet, with succulent apple juices that can satisfy the most parched person's thirst. They were selling them at the store this week so I bought three and have been savoring every bite.

I have been seeing some pretty incredible movies these past few weeks with the subscription to Netflix I got for Christmas from my family. Last night we watched "Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey" which I first saw in an IMAX theater, and which is one of my favorite movies of all time. The Stomp group goes around the world to discover the many traditions and universal language that rhythm truly is. It is very entertaining and well done - and not one word is uttered! Another well done movie I recently saw is Michael Moore's "Sicko." Yes, it is biased, but I like how he really puts a challenge out there for the U.S. to do better at healthcare, and to recognize it as something everyone should have a right to and be able to get. The fact that some people cannot get healthcare or food or shelter when so many people have more than enough and aren't willing to share is very disturbing. No matter how wealthy I become, I hope I never forget how to share.

I am also reading a very entertaining book series called the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency.

On the iPod is KT Tunstall and Romantica - great stuff. I am playing my first show of 2008 at Leela (15th and Champa) this Saturday at 8pm with a full band. I'm pumped.