Rockefeller Center

Got to take a picture of the Christmas tree last weekend before attending the Drowsy Chaperone holiday party. :)

I am so there (part 2... or the prequel I guess!)

Josh Groban
Awake Tour
February 24, 2007
United Center

:)

Some things you can't explain

I have developed a craving for cornbread and honey over the last five minutes. But this craving will go unsatisfied because I don't have ingredients to make cornbread nor would I know how to make it if I did. Oh, and my dinner will consist of tomato soup because I don't have anything else to eat and it's too cold to make a run to the grocery. Such is life.

Cornbread and honey... mmmmm. I can almost taste it now. Almost.

Ay ay ay, it's cold outside

High of 33 today. Last night, as my roommate and I were walking to the subway station from Studio 54 -- where The Apple Tree starring Kristin Chenoweth plays -- the cold winds were brutal. Today is the arctic blast the weather people kept talking about on TV earlier this week. Yikes!

Didn't have my performance review yesterday. But I had a nice lunch meeting!!

...

I think I'm sick. My stomach's been bothering me all day, and I get an itchy cough sometimes. I tried to take off as early as possible after Alexa finished her concert tonight. And now I'm home, and really I just want to rest and rest and not go to work tomorrow. But alas, I have to go to work tomorrow. Performance review rescheduled.

Anyway, Alexa was amazing. She even gave a shout out to the Cabellon girls who moved to New York. :)

OK, I'm going to bed.

14,782

That's how many steps I walked Saturday when I was wearing my new pedometer. :) Went to Target and downtown twice.

Yay, laundry, yay!

So doing laundry has become a weekly routine for me. I do my best to get as many quarters as I can in change over the week. Ha ha.

I'm blogging about laundry because my apartment building finally got new washers and dryers! We used to have two washers, but one was broken before I even moved in. So with one working washer, things were a little crazy. Now we have THREE washers! YAY! The price has increased by a quarter. However, on the dryers (up to three now as well!), you can put one quarter in at a time instead of giving up 5 in one fell swoop.

I'm pretty happy about it all. Ooh, gotta go put my clothes in the dryer now.

I am so there

Josh Groban
Awake Tour
March 12, 2007
Madison Square Garden

:)

My New Wallpaper!

The downside of DVR

I wasn't particularly busy Wednesday night, but for some reason I didn't watch "Lost" when it was on. I just let DVR do its thing.

Didn't watch it Thursday night because I was at the opening-night party of Grey Gardens.

Didn't watch it Friday night because I helped volunteer for Broadway Cares, collecting money at Mamma Mia.

Friday evening, though, everything was ruined when I started to flip through the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, which unfortunately spoiled the episode. Surprise ruined.

Oh well. I'm sure I'll watch it eventually.

Another recap

Got home from watching the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra play at the Church of St. Ann & the Holy Trinity. They sounded good! My co-worker Meghan joined BSO last month.

It rained heavily this morning, so I slept in and watched TAR1 discs 1 and 2 from Netflix. Also finished reading Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony. I am way behind on my goal of reading 25 books this year. Hmmm... oh well. At least I'm trying.

Watched RENT live for the sixth time yesterday. :) It was a great performance. Not perfect by any means, but it sure doesn't need to be. I loved it, and it made me want to work even harder than I already do for the show. And it made me want to go back and see it again. I have my reasons. :) Hehehe.

Attended opening night of The Times They Are A-Changin'. It was fun. Meghan and I sat in the first row, thanks to Anne's extra tickets. I saw David Blaine, Kathleen Turner and Bebe Neuwirth. But the highlight of the day took place while I was running an errand during work. I got to meet Thom Sesma, my first Engineer in Miss Saigon. He plays the father, Captain Ahrab, in Times. Such a nice guy!

It's been a great week. What will the next one hold in store?

Sometimes the best things in life ARE free

Just a recap:

I saw the Actors' Fund benefit concert of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas on Monday night for free. Courtesy of Keith.

I saw the 5th anniversary performance of Mamma Mia! on Wednesday for free. Courtesy of Sara.

I will be seeing the opening night performance of The Times They Are A-Changin' next Thursday for free. Courtesy of Meghan.

I will be seeing RENT next Friday for free. Courtesy of me. (Just kidding.) Courtesy of Laura and Nick.

I got Mom and Dad in to see Company at The 5th Avenue Theatre yesterday for free. Courtesy of Jennifer.

Vacation

Oops! I took the wrong two days off work. But it would have been weird to request November 8th and November 10th off. I will be taking off November 9 and 10, mainly because of Josh Groban.

However, I just read on FOJG that he will be doing a CD signing at the Lincoln Center B&N at 7 p.m. on November 8th. D'oh! I work until 6 p.m. Won't make it in time -- I mean, I imagine that line will be super long hours in advance. But I'll still check it out anyway. After all, I won't be working on the 9th.

Heh heh.

The little things

I mended my pants today! Mom taught me right before I moved to New York. I got to practice on my pajama pants, and it was soooo frustrating. I wasn't sure when that first-time practice would come in handy.

Instead of throwing away my dress pants, I was able to fix it! No frustration whatsoever! Yay!

Thanks, Mom. You taught me well.

An update

I bought a bed! It's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow, so this is the last night of the air mattress that deflates through the night! YAY! I need to buy bedsheets, so I'm going to Bed, Bath & Beyond later on.

I live less than a mile away from Target. YAY again!! This could be a good thing, but it also could be very bad. I love Target. Hehehe. I bought a few things there yesterday. After buying my bed today, I went to Target again and bought a pair of pants, a second laundry hamper, a small sewing kit, The Office season 2 on DVD and these mini Coke cans. They are cute and make for good serving sizes. Yup, you read correctly. A sewing kit. I am going to attempt to mend my pants. Mom, I hope I remember what you taught me!

It's official. The church to the south of my apartment is Catholic. So I have found my new church. Very convenient. It takes less than 5 minutes to walk there. It's big and majestic, but the speaker system could use improvements. Kinda like the church in Vinzons. They had good songs to sing, and I've missed that.

Saw Hairspray last night with Keith. He won the lottery! YAY for the third time in this blog! Diana DeGarmo was fantastic. She wasn't my favorite on American Idol, but she totally nailed her role in Hairspray, so major props to her.

Just a tad bit addicted to the small screen

I'm watching Lost right now. Could be devoting more attention it, that's for sure, but I thought I'd post here and pretend to multi-task. :)

I bought a TV on Sunday so I wouldn't miss any of my shows! However, Ugly Betty and The Office air at the same time. My solution is to get DVR! Ha ha. I know I should watch my spending habits, but this can be budgeted in. I've been dying to get DVR for a while now. Now that I'm living independently (OK, with a roommate), it's time!

I am here

Here = Manhattan. Work is great. Life is sweet. Yay!

Just adding DVDs to my newly created Netflix queue. Yay again!

Was never too fond of packing for a move

Perhaps it's because I never moved as a child. And I'm glad that I didn't. But now I'm just not used to it, and my goal in life is to move as little as possible. I like some sort of "permanence." Stability. Comfort.

Not much new to report

Just kidding! Well, if you are reading this blog, then you probably know all there is to know about this weekend already. Audra concert tomorrow and moving Sunday. Two biggies.

I'm going to sleep after I finish packing my clothes. See ya on the flip side!

Busy weekend

Saw [title of show] and The Times They Are A-Changin' on Saturday.

Volunteered for Broadway Cares at their annual Flea Market on Sunday (today). Got to sell cool stuff alongside Spelling Bee cast members, Circle in the Square students and fellow BC volunteers. All for a good cause. And it was fun working next to the Avenue Q table. I bought Princeton's Mixed Tape and an "Everything in life is only for now" button!!

Time to go to sleep now.

Oh, Seattle

Two hours till The Amazing Race 10 starts! YAY! And living on the East Coast can only be a good thing in matters of TV watching! Hehehe.

TAR10 starts in Seattle. That'll be fun to watch. I miss that city!

23

Being 22 was amazing. This time last year I was wrapping up my internship at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Then I finished my last quarter of college. Became a fan of Anna Nalick and her incredible music. Went to the Philippines for the first time. Wrote a few songs. Worked at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Moved to New York. Started working at TMG - The Marketing Group.

Lots of highlights. Most of the past 365 days have been great. Some not so great.

I hope my 23rd year of living on this planet will be just as great -- if not better.

Oh, and my actual birthday was fun. Went to the mall. Had dinner with Veron, Jay, Alexa and Keith. Then we went to Karaoke 17. Good times. :)

To all who've wished me happy birthday today and celebrated with me, thank you!

Why, thank you

I received this e-mail today:

Hi there,

Happy birthday from the gang at E! Online. Hope it's a great one!

You also share your birthday with the following celebrities:
Alexis Bledel 1981 Houston, Texas
Allen Funt 1914 Brooklyn, NY
Amy Poehler 1971 Burlington, Massachusetts
B.B. King 1925 Itta Bena, Mississippi
David Copperfield 1956 Metuchen, NJ
Ed Begley Jr. 1949 Los Angeles, California
Jennifer Tilly 1958 Harbor City, CA
Lauren Bacall 1924 New York, NY
Marc Anthony 1969 New York, New York
Molly Shannon 1965 Shaker Heights, Ohio
Peter Falk 1927 New York, New York
Richard Marx 1963 Chicago, Illinois

I like the island Manhattan

Smoke on your pipe, and put that in!

I was just thinking: If I hadn't gotten my job at TMG, I would have been moving to New York next week.

But I'm 100% glad that things worked out the way they did. And to top it all off, I know where I will be living as of October 1st, and it's going to be great!

Manhattan, I'm on my way!

Now you can visit me!

X-Press? I don't think so.

Oh my holy freakin' goodness. That's New York for you. Today was a half day at work, so I headed to the DMV office in Manhattan where you can exchange your out-of-state license for a New York one. Wow, you know it's bad when you see people milling about outside the doors. I walked into the tiny space, and the lines were snaking around the tiny place, and people were sitting in chairs with forms and numbers in hand. I didn't know where to find a number, and I certainly didn't want to wait in a very long line. The office was closing at 4. Without a guarantee of being seen, I left.

Will probably have to try one day before work next week. Wish me luck.

Not enough time in the day

Perhaps it will be a lifelong recurring theme, but there never seems to be enough time to do all the things I want to do. Work and commuting take up most of my weekdays. I don't mind so much. In fact, I love my job, so I'm glad it takes up as much time as it does.

But then again, I haven't written a song since I moved. I want to do that.

Mom has pointed out that I don't blog as much.

Oh! But I took out a trial subscription to Blockbuster (similar to Netflix), so I will MAKE time to watch the DVDs that arrived: She's the Man, Walk the Line and season one of "The Office." Yay!

Summer Friday!

Can I just say that I love summer Fridays?! This is my second and last one for 2006. It's so nice getting the day off and getting paid for it.

Well, I happen to enjoy doing "nothing." That is, I like to kick back, go online, relax and watch movies. Also did my laundry this afternoon.

A nice day. Could always use more like them.

Another day

No, it's not just any other day! I'm seeing an apartment tonight, and I hope to catch a Broadway matinee beforehand. Must run no longer than 2 hours and 15 minutes. That narrows it down to three musicals, I think. (RENT's not one of them.) I'll let you know if I see one.

Anna Nalick's performing in Seattle tonight. Boo that I'm not there, but oh well. I'm still waiting for a headlining concert in NYC.

Anyway, I just wanted to write something here because I noticed I needed to change my location on the sidebar.

No day but today!

The wonders of digital zoom

I love me my Canon Powershot SD450! It arrived yesterday, and I was able to use it today at Bryant Park!

Eeep, I am giddy!

Somebody pinch me. I only mean that figuratively speaking.

I'm really here in New York! Have been keeping in touch with my former supervisors at the Seattle arts orgs I used to intern/work for. I get nostalgic sometimes. I miss them, and they miss me. It's all good, but wow.

It makes me giddy that I'm actually here in New York.

I told Brittany in an e-mail that I have to remind myself I'm not on vacation. I'm here for the long haul.

And I get tomorrow off! And tomorrow's pay day! Woo to the hoo!

EDT

I imagine I'll be making adjustments to my move for quite some time.

Speaking of time, I need to stop thinking so often about what time it is on the West Coast. But I can't help it.

I have to think before I call anybody on the other side of the country. This goes for when I'm at work as well. For example, I needed to call up a company in San Francisco, but I waited a couple hours before doing so. Otherwise, nobody would have picked up the phone!

I have to wait until 1 p.m. on Saturdays to play HSX commission-free.

Yikes, I don't know where this blog entry is going. I'm not really complaining. I'm just talkin' about the things that have changed. But I look forward to when I get to see TV shows three hours before the West Coasters. Hehehe.

F-U-N!

I saw The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Phew! That's the full title, but people just call it Spelling Bee. What a great show!

I was planning to try the lottery for this show, but when I arrived in Manhattan, I decided to check out The Booth (aka TKTS). It was there for 50% off. Since I wasn't in the mood for losing another lottery, I just took care of my purchase right away.

It was so hot and humid at that point that I went to Jamba Juice. Mmmmm. :) Collected some magazines from the Times Square Visitor Center to give me ideas for future weekend outings.
Headed over to Circle in the Square Theatre at one o'clock for the 2 p.m. matinee. When I went inside the theater, I saw actors going inside the same front entrance as everyone else. Yes, I saw Jose Llana walk into the theater! I was going to try to say hi, but someone else beat me to it, and then Jose went backstage. Oh well. Maybe another time. I do plan to go back to see the show sometime!

The participating audience members were fun to watch. I didn't sign up, but the recruiters were very good at getting people to volunteer. One guy impressed the cast when he spelled two words that I guess many people misspell. The cast would turn around to look at him, and he shrugged his shoulder and looked just as surprised that he got them right! Finally, they had to give him the ultra-hard back-up word before carrying on with the show.

Kudos to the entire cast for being such great performers and singers! All of them had shining moments. Understduy Lisa Yuen went on as Rona Lisa Peretti, and she was wonderful. Always good to see Miss Saigon alumni. :)

Like Avenue Q, Spelling Bee stays politically and pop culturally up-to-date! At the end, one of the spellers, Logainne, made a reference to working for President Lance Bass.

Had Gray's Papaya for dinner. Mmmmm. Cheap and filling. :)

Shopped a bit at Macy's. I swear, there's always something new to discover in that store. I have yet to memorize where everything is... Or is that even possible?

It's been a long day, but I'm happy. And I'm going to make a list of shows I want to see. Hehehe.

There are other events I want to go to, but the timing may be off... I'll wait it out and see.

Yay Broadway!

Just finished my first full week of work, and today was pay day!

I forgot my Metro Card this morning, so I ended up buying my 30-day unlimited card. Today at work, they distributed the discounted cards (we have a transportation benefit, so that you pay the card with pre-taxed earnings). I wanted one! Well, that will happen eventually.

I got to fulfill one of my life goals today! Went backstage in a Broadway theater. Actually, I don't know how much it counts because I didn't see the stage. No, it counts. YAY!

And, of course, I'm fulfilling some of my other life goals, including living in New York. :)

Yesterda, while riding the subway to Queens, I thought of all these things I wanted to blog about:

It's. So. Humid!

What's up with low-waist and ultra-low-waist pants and shorts? I'm not wasting money on them. Whatever happened to pants that actually fit you properly?

I finally played my guitar last night! It survived the cross-country trip. Many thanks to Janice for bringing it to me. A couple of bumper stickers fell off my case. Oh well. I can replace one of them the next time I go to Washington, but the other one was from the University of the Philippines. Not so easy to replace.

I'm soooo seeing a show tomorrow! Have been looking forward to this all week. :)

I'm here!

In New York, that is. Got to see Anna Nalick perform at Planet Hollywood today! Hehehe. It never hurts to ask for tickets. I asked her a question that aired on the radio. LOL. And the tie for the best parts were that I requested/suggested "More Than Melody" as the last song, and Anna recognized me during the meet & greet.

Man, it is HOT and HUMID here.

We did it!

Alexa and I wrote a song for Lolo Bill! I don't think either of us could have done it on our own. Alexa wrote the amazing music and will be playing the guitar. We co-wrote the lyrics today. I had originally offered to be her backup singer, but we'll be sharing the singing duties. I still get to do backup on the chorus with the harmony. Good stuff. :)

So get ready for a fun program at the party on the 15th. Can't wait to see everyone! It'll be my chance to say good-bye before my move, but make no mistake, this is totally Lolo's party!

Cloud 8 3/4

I've been floating on cloud 9 for quite some time. Lots of exciting news lately!

Well, I visited the Anna Nalick board a few minutes ago, and one of the posters, burnedoutchevrolets (whom I met at Anna's concert in April), told us that Anna's returning to Seattle next month. ACK! I'm going to be gone! So I made a small plea on the board for her to go to New York. Heh heh. What timing. Oh well.

Anyway, I'm still really excited about New York. Like that could change. Ha!

Heard back from the people I'm going to work with. This is going to be so great!!!

Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's new musical is scheduled to open on Broadway next season. I'll give you one guess as to who is going to help market that show. ;) Back on cloud 9 again.

Fer cryin' out loud, what is going on here?

I went shopping at Southcenter today. Was relatively successful finding three tops and a skirt. Yes, a skirt! These are all for work, mind you.

Well, I bought bubble tea afterward to celebrate and was worried that I'd spilled some of the drink in the bag. I didn't. Just on the outside.

I inspected all my clothes when I came home, and then I saw that the cashier didn't take off the ink tag on one of the shirts! Jeez. Now I have to go back. What a hassle.

Today simply isn't my day. I have a headache now.

By the way, I went into one store and saw the price of a formal business suit. Yikes. Mom? Dad? Help? Please?

The return of the iPod

Beloved iPod, you came back! Oh myPod, I hate when you die on me, but I'm glad you're back.

All is right with the world again.

For the record, my iPod froze on Anna Nalick's "Catalyst."

You'll be the vein, you'll be the pain, you'll be the scar
You'll be the road rolling below the wheels of a car
And all of your thoughts on God...
Don't know if I'm strong enough... No
You'll be the vein, you'll be the pain, you'll be the catalyst

In mourning

My iPod has frozen on me again. This happened to me last November when I visited my brother in Texas. I thought I would have to buy a new iPod. I was devastated for having to shell out so much money for a piece o' crap.

But then, I was able to revive my good ol' iPod. We got along fine. In fact, I fell in love with it all over again. It died on me again earlier this year but recovered rather quickly.

Is my iPod like a cat? Will it have nine lives? Only time can tell. Right now, it's stuck in the on position, paused, claiming to have full battery. I can't turn it off. I can't get it to play. I even tried iPod CPR, which is what revived it last November. No such luck. What happened???

My poor iPod. Don't make me take my portable CD player and CD collection to New York.

*sigh* I have got to get out of the house. I really don't want to listen to the radio. Boo.

Come back to me, my beloved...

Ewwww... Independence Day is tomorrow, people

My window is open 'cause it's hot. I think I'm still in denial that it's summer. Let's face it, it's going to be whole lot hotter with humidity in New York.

Still, I was hoping to enjoy the Pacific Northwest's fresh air for the remainder of my time here. Not so. People have been lighting firecrackers all weekend, and now I can smell the smoke in my room. Gross.

Hehehe. I'm venting, I know.

What can I rave about? Um, I'm going to live in New York!!! I doubt I'll get tired of saying that! YAY!!!

Every little cent counts

Hmmm... I wonder if I should buy that extra Wreck of the Day after all. If I don't, I hope my order from fye.com arrives before I head to New York!!!

Now I hafta think about things like changing my address and closing bank accounts. So much to do. There will ALways be something to do. This month's going to be crazy but fun!!

I've been waiting a LONG time to say this!!!

START SPREADING THE NEWS!

I'm going to live and work in New York, baby!

I'm fulfilling my dreams!

I'm working for Broadway!

Good-bye, e-mails from Monster.com!

In the trash, job listing bookmarks!

New York City, here I come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wondering "aloud"... don't mind me

I wonder how much of my stuff I will actually take to New York. I bet it's going to be a very small percentage. Very, very small. And that's OK. Though I never liked moving stuff in college, it made me realize how much stuff I don't need or really value. I guess that's one good thing about moving.

And then, of course, there's the whole getting to live and working New York bit. OH YEAH! :) If you're reading this, keep those positive thoughts flowing for me!

Can I go back to work?

Oh my holy-freakin' gosh! It's too HOT naman! I just got home from work 20 minutes ago. From the nice, air-conditioned office.

Whew, I can't stay in my room any longer! I'm burnin' up in here.

And that concludes my heat complaint for the day.

OMG

I'm cleaning out my room, and I literally just came across an assignment I completed in sixth grade. My initial reaction, "Oh my gawd."

I haven't read the entire piece, but it starts off with:

Allison Cabellon
1-16-96
Autobiography

I am twenty-two years old, and my name is Allison Cabellon. I can't believe it is already 2006, but it is, and right now I am currently attending the University of Washingon. When I graduate, I will start writing right away. I really want to try and find a job at a magazine or a local newspaper.

OMG, OMG. This is so bizarre! Ten years ago I dreamed of becoming a professional writer.

Funny how dreams change over time. I mean, I still love to write, and I incorporated that into my career goals, but it's not the same as being a journalist. Ha ha! My 12-year-old self couldn't have predicted the path I want to take now.

I think I'd fail if I took Professor Trelawney's class at Hogwarts. ;)

In the trash!

Yay! I got to apply Janice's cleaning mantra earlier! It was fun. I can't believe all the crappola (excuse me, the JUNK!) I kept in boxes in the garage. Yikes.

Give it away, give it away, give it away now! That includes a bunch of books, a couple stuffed animals and a flashlight thing that seemed much cooler when I was younger. Not so much now.

I also had a bunch of school papers that I tossed into the recycling bin. No need to track the progress of my penmanship. No need to keep simple math worksheets. No need to keep the valentines from elementary school. Sure, some of them are cute, but I don't need 'em!

Before discarding some of the contents, I had fun reading some items. For example, I read through the student council suggestion slips from 6th grade one last time. Sure, the usual request such as hat day showed up. Here's my favorite request (no, I am not about to make a typo, this is what was written): "We should have bending machines."

Woohoo!

It's been a weird day, so any good news is doubly exciting. Well, I just checked my YouTube stats, and I have seven fans for "Grow Old With You"!!! On top of that, my video rating went up to three and a half stars. YAY! :)

2461 views. That's crazy, y'all. Sure, it's nowhere near the amount of views that some viral videos get, but it's amazing in my book. :)

*sighing the good sigh*

I know they're just proofs, but...

... I look like a goober in my commencement photos! I got an e-mail from the company that took our photos. They took two of me when I shook President Emmert's hand. I had this weird, no-teeth smile on my face. I had no idea! LOL. Goober, indeed.

One last splurge

Seriously, that's it, people. Nobody could stop me from pre-ordering Anna Nalick's Wreck of the Day (06)!!!

Fye.com is offering a free autographed photo and T-shirt with a purchase of the re-released CD. How could I resist? Soooo excited for the three new songs. They put up the new version of "Wreck" on MySpace. I'll also be happy to have that on a CD (and eventually on my iPod), so I don't have to keep one browser open just to listen to it. :)

I imagine that I'll have to buy the CD again if I want to listen to it exactly on July 11th. That's OK. That'll be the final splurge.

Save, save, save time! (Unless I win the lottery... but I don't even play, so...) Save, save, save time!

You could put it that way...

Well, in case I want to remember the name of my commencement speaker, it's right here in my blog. I visited my UW commencement bookmark one last time before deleting it, and this is what I saw. This, my friends, is called spin:

"A memorable commencement address was delivered by William D. Ruckelshaus, and was greeted with a standing ovation."

Gee, what about the boo-and-cheer portion of the speech? Hmmm... I guess that's what made it memorable. And he did not live up to the quote by George Bernard Shaw. The speech was lonnnng.

Again, I maintain it would have been cool to hear an address by Jodie Foster. She quoted Eminem, according to Time Magazine.

Caught in the Act

Took me a while, but I finally watched Josh Groban's special appearance on Michael Buble's DVD, Caught in the Act. That was good stuff! I don't exactly want to purchase the CD/DVD combo, but I wonder if it's posted on YouTube... or if it will be. Gotta love YouTube.

I think EW was right

Twenty minutes into NBC's "Treasure Hunters," and I am bo-o-o-o-ored. But I've also been surfing online, so my attention has been divided. Still, I agree with Entertainment Weekly's review of the show: This is a rip-off of "The Amazing Race." Nothing can beat TAR!

Although I do admit to entering the contest for $10,000. Couldn't hurt, right? Except for a bunch of junk mail from NBC. Oh well. :) If I win ten grand, then it'll be worth it.

Wouldn't it be nice...

... if banks and post offices were open for "regular" business hours on Saturdays? Is that asking too much? Perhaps. But still, I always feel like I can take care of mail and bank stuff on Saturdays, but then I forget they close at 1 p.m. and are closed on Sundays. D'oh! So much for feeling accomplished.

Somebody stop me

If I get the urge to splurge, stop me! I really, really do need to save my money now more than ever, so no more purchases.

But d'oh! I really should buy new clothes for work.

What I really mean is I shouldn't spend my money on things that I want but don't need. Unless you count needing your own digital camera. No, that can wait.

Well, the thing that will stop me from buying stuff I don't need is this: I don't have any more room for it and probably will have less room when I move to the Big Apple.

Booyah!

Check it out! Mark this day! Who's number one, baby? ;) Janice, now you'll need to delete all those bad StarBonds and purchase new MovieStocks to keep up with me. :)

Desperate times call for desperate measures, but I ain't that desperate!

Blech! Gimme a regular Coke -- stat!!!

Nestor and Janice got free Coca-Cola Blak samples in downtown Seattle on Thursday. We weren't able to try them together. Well, I'm very tired. I've been to Seattle eight days in a row now, and the record will be 12 before I get a break from all the driving/riding in cars to the Emerald City. I need a pick-me-up before heading out this evening.

So I decided to try the new drink, even though I had my doubts about it. Coke plus coffee extract? Eww. I can officially say that I don't like Coke Blak. I took a second sip just to be sure.

Gimme my Coke back! That's what I have to say.

Think I'll just make some nice Lipton tea with milk and honey. Need to get this taste outta my mouth.

Latest stats

Since I posted "Grow Old With You" online May 11, my video has been viewed 1206 times on YouTube and 122 times on MySpace. Holy cow. That's pretty amazing. Thanks, everyone.

I have two fans on YouTube. I'm flattered! Hehehe. (This means they added my video to their favorites list. Who are these guys and where do they live? LOL! I'm kidding. It's best that I don't know.) EDIT: I revisited the two profiles and only one identifies himself as a male. Ha ha. Yes, it's definitely best that I don't know these people.

If you're reading this blog, then I take it you know me somehow. If you have a YouTube account, could you please rate my video? I know, I know. I should develop much thicker skin, but I wish I had disbanded the ratings feature before anyone could be so cruel. I'm not a filmmaker here. I just wanted to share my vocals and thought pictures and quotes would be fun to see rather than just hearing me sing while a black screen filled the background.

Capo happy

I bought a capo for my guitar when I was in New York. I wasn't planning on it, but somehow I ended up walking along W. 48th Street and noticed all these music shops! So I stopped in a couple. The first one was busy and I didn't know where to find the capos, but the second one was great. A guy behind the counter asked if he could help me, and he was very nice. He explained the different capos and recommended the one that I ended up buying (it wasn't the most expensive, so that was also nice).

So yay! From this one instrumental addition, I have found new musical inspiration. I think a key change has done me good!!!

I originally posted this on MySpace

MySpace blog entry entitled: "I heard the people sing!"

Raise your hand if you got the reference right away! Anybody? Anybody? Well, I don't expect you to, really... unless you're Katherine or Leanna, in which case, you had a head's up.

That's right, I saw Les Miserables today! Last night, I asked Katherine, Leanna and Cindi if I should. (I just needed some convincing. It turns out that purchasing a ticket to Les Miz in Seattle cost me more than I spent on any one Broadway show last week.) They all said yes, like it was a no-brainer. I couldn't have asked three better people to tell me what I wanted to hear, when I wanted to hear it. LOL.

The matinee performance was great. One of the best -- if not the best -- performances of Les Miz I've seen. Leanna told me to watch for how well the cast worked together, so I did and I was very impressed. Jason Kraack went on as Jean Valjean instead of Randal Keith. No matter! My first JVJ was an understudy... Hehehe. Gregory Calvin Stone, if you're reading this, hi! (To everyone else, Greg's the one who left the cool comment about pimping out my profile.)

I'm so glad I got to see Daniel Bogart as Marius. I was rather curious to hear him after seeing his older brother Matt play Chris in Miss Saigon and the "Tell My Father" soldier in The Civil War.

Rant and raves:

A rave for Jason Kraack's performance. He rocked!

A rant for some of my fellow audience members. Too many coughed during "On My Own" and "A Little Fall of Rain." Seriously, people. I know some of you can't help it, but at least try to keep it down. Muffle it if you have to. There's nothing like a good hack to ruin a tender moment.

A rave for the entire cast. I really did enjoy this performance. Thanks for waving after your final bow.

A rave for the ending to "A Little Fall of Rain." Actually, I don't know if I should call it a rave. It was just a heartwrenching moment when Melissa Lyons' Eponine closes her eyes and puckers her lips for a kiss while Daniel Bogart's Marius looks down and holds Eponine but doesn't kiss her. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Poor Ep. And then she dies. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

A rave for Claude-Michel Schonberg's gorgeous music. I hadn't heard it in a while.

The fascination with bobbleheads continues...

This video is hilarious. "Do we look the same?" Watch it, watch it now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47yzhI_3xI4

Can't. Stop. Blogging.

Oh, Blogger. You are my original blog. Sorry to neglect you at times.

I can't help it. I'm addicted to MySpace, and that's where I write now mostly. Some entries are public, but the majority of my entries are viewable only to my friends. Hehehe. If nothing else, that's why you should join MySpace. You know you want to!

Unless you are Mom and Dad, in which case, that would be too weird if you were on MySpace. :) I suppose you could, but again, that would be too weird.

Just My Luck

Ooh, I love double meanings.

(Hellooooooo from New York Cit-tay!)

I tried the RENT lottery for the very first time this evening. No dice. There were so many people who didn't get tickets, but at least we could share in our loser disappointment. I didn't stick around to buy $45 tickets (yes, they were discount tickets, but no thanks).

I stopped by TKTS, but I wasn't interested in seeing Festen (a play, which I just read is closing May 20, the producers announced it today) and Chicago. Mondays are dark for most Broadway shows. (Man, I wish Miss Saigon were still around; it played on Mondays).

Before I entered the lottery, I created a Plan B. After eating dinner, I executed the plan. I went to the AMC Theater on 42nd Street. There's a Loews across the street, but the AMC had better choices. In fact, I would have picked Akeelah and the Bee, but the movie wasn't going to start for another hour.

My choice? Just My Luck. Starring Lindsay Lohan and... hold on, I'll remember... Chris Pine. Easy on the eyes, that one. :) The movie was cheesy and predictable but just the right amount of cheese and the kind of predictability that goes down smoothly. I liked it well enough. It rains on the main characters throughout the movie, and I felt really happy I decided to take one of Anna's umbrellas with me because it rained when I got out of the theater!

Oh, I enjoyed watching the movie with a New York audience. They laughed hard at things that were outrageously cheesy, and I was laughing right along with them. Oh, and it was fun because the movie takes place in New York and even features the new Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square, which I happened to walk by earlier today. :)

On another note, wish me luck for the next three days! Not luck in the sense of winning the RENT lottery or having things magically work out Hollywood-style. Wish me luck in the sense of sending positive vibes that my informational interviews are mutually beneficial and productive for me and the companies I'm visiting. Thanks!

(No time to edit any and all mistakes!)

There are officially too many shows I want to see

So many shows, so little time. Notice I said shows. That word encompasses Broadway musicals, Broadway plays (yes, plays!!), and Off-Broadway musicals.

I'm having a hard time deciding what I want to see, given my budget and the primary focus of my trip (informational interviews). Really, I will not have this problem when I actually live in New York. :))

The narrowed list (which is still quite long):
Avenue Q
Hairspray
Lestat
Tarzan
The Drowsy Chaperone
The Wedding Singer
Wicked
Awake and Sing!
Barefoot in the Park
Doubt
The History Boys
Three Days of Rain
Forbidden Broadway: SVU
Altar Boyz

Avenue Q and Wicked are my staples. If I can see one of the two, then great. *sigh* No more student discounts for me. That's a bummer. I'm going to try the Avenue Q lottery, which doesn't have a student restriction.

I just read on Playbill.com that Tarzan will be on Good Morning America on Monday. I wonder if I should wander down there at 8 in the morning. Yikes, that sounds really early (5 a.m. Pacific).

Would be cool to see Sutton Foster in The Drowsy Chaperone. I keep thinking that this is another Thoroughly Modern Millie. I want to see it and I want to be proven wrong. I really do on both counts. This show has a lottery too, but the drawing doesn't take place until an hour before the show starts. That's cutting it close. Althooooough, the TKTS booth has temporarily moved near the Marquis because Duffy Square is undergoing renovation.

OK. The Wedding Singer is a must. :) If I can, I will go.

Anna said she want to see Wicked. Would be fun to go together! We don't have tickets in hand, so that may be a long shot, but I'd love to see it again.

Surprisingly, I am interested in several plays (i.e., the talkies that do not break into song [I just made that up]). I can't remember when I've ever been interested in so many plays in one season. Barefoot in the Park has a discount. I may use that, but musicals are always number one in my book. Then there's Three Days of Rain with Julia Roberts, but -- more importantly -- Bradley Cooper (lol, I was about to type Will Tippin) and Paul Rudd!!! I wonder if tickets are even available. And by tickets, I mean inexpensive ones.

Then there are the Off-Broadway shows. I didn't list it, but I would love to see I Love You Because... It's playing down in Greenwich Village, I think. I have no idea how to find my way around there (too bad Alexa's not around!), so I'll have to pass. But Forbidden Broadway would be great. I love the hilarious parodies, and you get a Broadway-musical sampler all in one show. :) Then there's Altar Boyz, which Mom and Dad saw.

Ah, I'm so excited for New York. I leave in a little over 24 hours. OOOOOPS. I better go! Need to pack and continue preparing for the interviews.

If you're reading this, then wow. Wish me luck!!!

EDIT: D'oh! Well, I should be too upset. Strike Forbidden Broadway off the list. Really, it is forbidden. It's not playing on Broadway right now 'cause it's visiting San Diego. Oh well. Okay, what else can I eliminate?

"I've seen your face before."

For all you non-musical folks, that's a line from Les Miz. And it's playing on repeat in my head.

I went to dinner at Blue C Sushi with my friend Jennifer. Good food, good company, good time to catch up! We had a class together during my last quarter in college.

Before we entered the restaurant, I saw this man walking with what appeared to be his family (you can never tell, but that's what I assumed). And for the life of me, I cannot place his name and why or from where I know him. It's driving me crazy! Think, Allison, think!

He looked so familiar. This is going to bug me. I hope that it will just click when I least expect it. For now, I'm just annoyed that I can't connect a name to his face.

The drive down Mercer St. was horrendous. I waited forever and ever to get on I-5. At least I got to spend some time on the Ave. before picking up Jen at her apartment. I bought a few items at University Bookstore and couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a drink at Yunnie's. Not a bubble tea this time. Peach and mango milkshake. Yum.

OK, still can't figure out who the man is. Dagnabbit! Not a teacher. Not an actor. Not a tech support guy. Maybe a tech support guy? No, I don't think so. ARGH. OK, I'm going to post this and move on. SOOOO many things to do in preparation for my trip, and I have to work tomorrow. YIKES.

EDIT: It's 11:12 p.m. I think I just figured out who the man was. Of course, I can't be certain. Interesting. Yeah, I think I know who it was. :) Phew!

Oops

I was going to come out of the American Idol woodwork and vote last night, but I completely forgot about it!

Elliot is da man! He is the underdog, and he does NOT deserve to go home after last night's performances. Based on last night, it was Katharine. Or Taylor. But NOT Elliot. Do not let me down, AI voters.

I still miss Mandisa.

Random thoughts... some new, some old

I just have to type this all out:

• I'm addicted to MySpace.
• I posted 4 blog entries on MySpace in two days, and Katherine pointed it out. LOL!
• I'm excited for New York!
• I need to do a lot more preparation for the trip!
• Work is going well.
• I will be sad if What About Brian doesn't return to ABC's fall lineup.
• Yes, there were only five episodes of What About Brian.
• I'm dying to write another song, but I haven't been able to find the time.
• I think I did something to my iPod. The << (rewind) sign is stuck on my screen. Everything else still works, but still!
• It's my third-grade teacher's birthday today, and I will never be able to forget it for some reason! That's my memory doin' it's thang.
• I'm still mad at M:I3 for letting me down. I'm not mad at J.J. Abrams or anything. Just mad at the movie for making my HSX port take a major dip.
• I think I should change my blog layout again because -- despite my love for the color gray -- the words on the right column are hurting my eyes.
• I'm typing myself to sleep. Hope y'all didn't think this was boring.

Good night.

LOST lottery numbers

Hurley's winning numbers: 4 8 15 16 23 47

The May 6, 2006 Washington lottery numbers: 4 8 23 24 42 47

Four for six. Not bad! If you played the numbers from LOST for yesterday's drawing, you could have won $30. :)

I, on the other hand, gambled $15 on Jackpot Party and more than tripled it. Woohoo!

Boo Who!

When I was at Seattle Center yesterday, I picked up a Theater Puget Sound brochure and looked at it. I came across the entry for The Who's Tommy. Oh NO! I freakin' missed it! April 9-30 at UW. UW doesn't put a musical on every year, and I loved when they did She Loves Me--a musical written by the same team that did Fiddler on the Roof. I had planned on seeing The Who's Tommy and was excited to learn about it last year. That's what you get for not staying connected to your alma mater's music and drama programs. ARGH.

Interesante

I'm getting ready to order graduation apparel, commencemement tickets and parking permits. Yay! Well, I figure I should get excited about it. Mom and Dad, can you pay for all this? Yes? Sweet. After all, these things -- first and foremost -- are for parents. :)

ANYway, Brittany and I were discussing renting and buying graduation apparel. She's renting hers, and I freaked her out: Make sure everything's clean! LOL!

Undergrads and masters students at UW must purchase their apparel, and doctoral students must rent theirs. I think the doctoral students have the coolest outfits. Perhaps a little poofy but definitely distinguished.

But here's the interesting part. Though I have to purchase my robe and mortar board, I'm actually paying less than those who earned their doctoral degrees. I never noticed that until today.

Apparel prices: Bachelor apparel (purchase only) - $26.95, Master's apparel (purchase only) - $42.95, and Doctoral apparel (rental) - $49.95. See website for Doctoral purchase information. Additional Bachelor & Master's tassels (purchase) - $5.00 each. Additional Master's hoods (purchase) -$20.00 each.

Man, you probably think this is boring and mundane. I DON'T CARE! It's interesting to me. LOL!

Mr. Brantley, you know too much

I had to consult dictionary.com more than once to read Ben Brantley's review of The Wedding Singer in The New York Times. That's NYT, for ya. Sui generis. SOMEbody finally talked about Felicia Finley's performance as Linda, which is hilarious. Finally finally.

Good review. Wait, I mean, I liked the review, but the review didn't necessarily give the show two thumbs up or four stars or anything like that. Read it for yourself. :)

I can't wait to see the musical again on Broadway. I'd like to see and hear the changes for myself. I've seen one change in a picture: Laura Benanti now wears a blonde wig. If I were in charge, I would scrap the wig.

Like the new look?

I felt it was time to change the look of my blog. There aren't too many choices, but I like this one. Don't get me wrong, I liked the old one, but, well, read my first line again. :)

My first description could be attributed to my COM 201 professor: Make media.

Second description was from "Elaborate Lives" in Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida.

Current description is from "La Vie Boheme." It ties into time, of course, but also it's perfect. I can't get "the need to express -- to communicate" out of my head.

One more quote from the great Jonathan Larson and then I'm on my way:
"The opposite of war isn't peace... it's creation."

Oh, that's good!

Just saw a plug for it while watching The Office.

The main page has animation. At least it does right now.

Once a Grobanite, always a Grobanite

Finally! News about Josh's upcoming album. Upcoming but still months away from the release. The video is the same segment that aired on Good Morning America. I was able to watch it before heading to work. :)

Ah, Josh Groban. *sigh* In my eyes you do no wrong. :)

I didn't create 'em, I didn't post 'em, but I sure do love 'em

People send 'em to me, people talk about 'em, people blog about 'em and Time Magazine writes about 'em.

Here are some of my current favorite viral Internet videos:

George Lucas in Love

Titanic 2: Jack's Back

Lazy Sunday

Brokeback to the Future

11 years ago

Mom, Dad, Janice and I saw Miss Saigon for the first time. And like today, that day was a Saturday. :) The matinee with Cristina Paras and Matt Bogart. Paramount Theatre. The major start of my love for musical theater. (The minor start was Jesus Christ Superstar when I was in 1st grade. I still thank God that we haven't found my 6-year-old self singing "What's the buzz? Tell me what's a-happenin?" on a cassette tape.)

I feel good

Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh!

I'm making my debut in the real world on Monday! Last weekend of freedom. So many things to do, so little time:

Finish reading Dad's copy of Angels and Demons
Pay credit card bills (boo)
Write a song
Go to Mariners game on Sunday
Clean room (yeah right)
Watch a movie
Prep materials for two more NYC organizations
Call Brittany (that better happen! heh heh)

I was going to post this on MySpace, but then it hit me...

... here's the result of yesterday's horoscope:

Original title from MySpace: Past, present and future

I've spent the past few hours collecting addresses for my graduation announcements. Oh, I have right-index-finger arthritis from clicking on my mouse so much. What is it called? Repetitive something or other?

ANYway, I've been looking at my graduation cards from high school (yes, I kept them). Some are really, really meaningful, and I'm glad to see the messages in them again. It's kind of funny to think that -- fast forward four years to the present -- I'm still thinking about The Future. Maybe funny isn't the right word. I'll take all the luck and best wishes I can get. Looking back, college was nice and comfortable and SAFE... and did I mention comfortable?

Sorry this blog isn't funny. I just have to keep getting this out of my system. One day at a time, Allison. One day at a time.

*deep breath* Ooh, that helped. I remember one time I attended Mass at Blessed Sacrament, which is about a 15-minute walk from UW. During his homily, the priest emphasized a specific part of our prayer, which hit home with me that day. It does right now as well. I think I'll say it because I need to:

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil, and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Daily Virgo Forecast

So I have an astrology forecast on my homepage. Sometimes I think they're completely off, but today, they're completely ON. So I'll post this for blog posterity:

Quickie: Don't sacrifice your goals for anyone. Pressure being put on you may be a bad sign.

Soooo nice to read that. My confidence has been shaken up a bit, but I'm not giving up. I won't let anyone have the satisfaction of telling me that I didn't make it. I WILL make it. Just give me time. And please don't ask me constantly when I'll get there. When it happens I'll spread the word faster than you can say "I like the island Manhattan." (Smoke on your pipe, and put that in!)

Overview: Remember that an initial pass at a project is simply that: an initial pass. No one requires that it be perfect (except, possibly, you). Be confident enough to listen to the criticism and do what helps the overall outcome.

Abso-freakin'-lutely. Again, just what I needed to read.

Daily extended (by Astrology.com) You don't just think deeply, you feel deeply. You consider deeply. You imagine how things could be different on a deep level. You process deeply. You feel strongly about the world in both its spiritual and physical dimensions, and you aren't content if you haven't been able to penetrate to a deep level of understanding of your milieu. So get started.

That says it all. OK, so I don't feel eloquent at the moment, but maybe I'm posting this here for me. (Yeah, I like to visit my own blog, I'll admit it!) Keep on dreaming. "Let's go tear this mother DOWN!" (Oh, I'm not talking about you, Mom, it's just a funny Freaks & Geeks reference!)

Then and now ... the final PIP installment

Janice and me: I wonder if I was pretending to be a catcher. Hey, batta batta! (Told ya we took digitals pictures of photos in albums.)

Jason and me: Hangin' 'round A. Guinto St.

Finally got to take a picture of the Philippine flag at Intramuros in Manila.

That's all, folks! There are lots of shots of Manila, but the best ones are on Jason's Fotki site anyway. :)

A moment to pause...

I sat down in the kitchen to eat dinner and turned on our mini black-and-white TV. A news reporter was summarizing and quoting the passengers, flight crew and terrorists from the United flight 93 recording. I couldn't turn away from the screen as I listened and read the words on the screen. By the end, I got all choked up as I thought about the passengers on the plane and all that they did on 9/11 to stop another American landmark from destruction. They and their families are in my thoughts and prayers tonight.

More PIP

Friday day-trip to Naga and Legaspi/Legazpi (plus one pic from Saturday)

We took a few digi's of photographs in albums. My two favorites are one of Janice and me and one of Janice socializing when she was a toddler! :)

Mom's high school in Naga

It was the pinning ceremony for Maya and Macel. Congratulations!

The "shy" Mayon Volcano (which boasts a beautiful perfect cone) and Cagsawa ruins

At the souvenir stand: When I took this picture, the vendor selling ice cream to my right started to play Josh Groban in Concert on DVD. "Qui c'e il buio fuori di me..." Yay! I got to hear Alla Luce, You're Still You and part of Gira.

At the top of a hill is this grand, majestic church. Dad took a picture of these school kids, and then...

... they quickly gathered around Mr. Popular to see their picture!

Another view of Our Lady of the Gate (I hope I remembered the name correctly!)

At the Albay Wildlife Park. Albay is the name of the province. Vinzons is in Camarines Norte, Naga in Camarines Sur and Legaspi/Legazpi in Albay.

Napping on a sunny Saturday afternoon: The two cats are the cat's pajamas!

PIP... um, continued!

Thursday, March 16, 2006

A fishing village relatively near the town-proper (it was Mom's first time there)

Auntie Ginie attempts to catch a fish.

Success!

My prize catch. Not! Throw it back, Jason!

The pili-nut tree! Mmmm.... pili tarts.

The beach in the Del Carmen area (we went to this beach three times).

There's an island in the distance. See it?

Da bro and me


Dad wrote in the sand "We are Magjjc." I also wrote with my right foot (does that make me right-footed?) the titles of my most recently written songs in the sand and watched the water wash them away. It was very cool.

MySpace

I just joined the MySpace mania. I keep hearing about it all the time, so I finally gave in. Maaike invited me a couple weeks ago. (Even Eliot Morris said to the crowd, "I'm on MySpace. We can be buddies.")

There are so many ways to keep in touch with people these days. I may or may not get hooked to MySpace. Well, join me there, too, if you want to! At least I can finally read some of those blogs that I couldn't access before. And I like the MySpace Music pages.

http://www.myspace.com/musicallispeaking

This will continue to be my main blog though.

In the presence of musical greatness

It was Spotlight Night at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Ah, I haven't been there since the penultimate performance of The Wedding Singer in February. It's always good returning to that theater, especially since I was an intern there.

I unsuccessfully parallel parked in downtown Seattle, but that's because someone honked at me, so I felt WAY too much pressure. Boo! Oh well, I was eventually able to get into the space and park for free.

When I made my way into the lobby of the theater, I went all the way to the right side and lined up behind an elderly couple. The man noticed my notebook and asked if I was going to take notes. Yup! I told him that Stephen Schwartz is an incredible composer, and if he had any good advice to offer, I was going to write it down. :) We got to talking about school, subscriptions, sports, The 5th, previous Spotlight Nights (for them [for me this was my first]) and traveling around the world. They showed me how to get the best seats in the house for Spotlight Night. We sat in the front row! From there, I was able to smack an unsuspecting Jen Rice with my notebook to get her attention and say hi. Ha ha!

Producing artistic director David Armstrong introduced members of the upcoming production of Pippin. Now I want to see the show! Then he introduced Stephen Schwartz, and they talked about his career and played some songs from his shows. I got to hear some of musical theater's finest songs by really great local and/or Broadway talents. Mr. Schwartz himself performed "Corner of the Sky" and "For Good." I did, indeed, take a page of notes.

After Kim Huber performed "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas, Stephen Schwartz told us a hilarious story about the original lyrics that ended the song. Alan Menken said he didn't like the ending, so Stephen listened to his collaborator and changed them. I laughed so hard when I heard the original lyrics. They involved the words "hull" and "skull" in an attempt to rhyme with "color."

One thing I realized about successful composers/songwriters/musicians/singers/peeps in the music business is that they knew early on what they wanted to do. And they went out and did it. Well, when I was younger, I wanted to be a writer. Hmmm. That kind of morphed into wanting to be a songwriter. I have to admit I feel torn between dreams and the reality of life. (Hmmm... I probably could turn that idea into a song.) For now, writing songs is "just" a hobby. If I could ever pursue it full-time, that would be a dream come true -- well, one of my dreams come true. I'm still trying to figure out how to write a musical. That would be awesome. Really, I just want to do something I can be passionate about. That's what it all comes down to. And New York is where I want to be.

"Peanut butter on toast!"

A review/recap of Anna Nalick's headlining concert at Tractor Tavern

April 6, 2006

Special late show with Eliot Morris, 10:30 p.m.

Performing "Wreck of the Day"

A little background
I’d heard “Breathe (2 AM)” on the radio a lot, but you know how DJs are. They never tell you who’s singing the song! Or they say it so fast when you’re concentrating on driving. Or you’re listening to your iPod with iTrip, so you don’t listen to the radio at all. So for a long time, I didn’t know the singer of “Breathe.” (Sidenote: I found it funny that people compared Anna Nalick to Michelle Branch, who also has a song called “Breathe.” Two very different but equally great songs.) I loved hearing it on the radio, especially the lines “But, my God, it’s so beautiful when the boy smiles / Wanna hold him. Maybe I’ll just sing about it.” Then I started to hear “In the Rough” on the radio, and the DJs were kind enough to mention Anna’s name. I was hooked. I had to listen to the entire album, so I placed it on hold at the library. Finally, I got impatient, so I bought the CD online in January. (Don’t hate me for being late to the party!)

As I’ve mentioned before, I found out from annanalick.com that she’d be in Ballard on April 6. Hmmm… I’ve only been to Ballard twice in my life (for the salmon locks and bowling with the cousins), and I had never driven there myself. I was so worried, for some reason, that I wouldn’t know where to go and that I’d get lost. I missed out on buying tickets to the 8 p.m. show, and thank heavens that they added a second show. I bought a ticket immediately.

I’ve listened to Wreck of the Day constantly and voraciously ever since it arrived in the mail. When I was in the Philippines for two and a half weeks without my iPod, I brought along my trusty CD player and listened to Wreck of the Day on repeat. While in Vinzons, I sang along one afternoon when my allergies finally subsided. My brother Jason said his friend saw Anna perform in Austin the day he (Jason) drove to Texas to move there. He would have gone had he not been driving. Too bad for the missed opportunity, Bro. We can go next time. :)

Before the show
Thank you to MapQuest for getting me to Ballard in a straightforward manner. Actually, I chose to drive to the U-District, drove west on 45th and followed the directions to Ballard. Piece o’ cake. Tractor Tavern doesn’t have a parking lot, but the Web site said that there was plenty of street parking. Yes! That was another concern of mine. And get this: I successfully parallel parked! Booyah! But then, get THIS: I got lost on foot! I walked around Ballard Ave., but I walked around the wrong part! It was already 10:05, and I said to myself, “Oh, great. I’m so close, but this one last leg is going to make me late!” I returned to the car to consult the map, and then I walked south. Still unsure of myself, I asked a woman walking her dog about the location of Tractor Tavern. Thank you, ma’am! You were in the right place at the right time, and you have a cute dog.

I stood in line behind a nice couple who asked a woman in front of them what the previous show was like (she said it was great and that it ended with “Breathe”). As the line inched forward, I grew antsy. Finally, I made it inside and got my left wrist stamped with “Ballard!” and immediately staked out a spot about five rows back from the stage. Well, there were no chairs, so we all stood. It was a sold-out show, after all. Of all the places I chose to stand, I picked a spot with a tall man in front of me. But it worked out. I had fairly good sightlines for the opening act.

Opening Act
Ooh, Eliot Morris. He’s married but definitely easy on the eyes. Plus, he has a great voice and played an amplified acoustic guitar. Lovely. I enjoyed his set. I didn’t buy his CD, but I think I should have. As we waited for Anna, people shifted where they were standing, so I had a harder time seeing the stage, but I made do.

Anna!!!
Tim the bass player announced to us that Anna was in the bathroom. Shortly thereafter, she made her way onstage and started singing “Citadel” right away. Normally, when I write concert reviews, I go all out with details. This is different, and I’ll tell you what. It’s kind of a blur. I mean, I remember some details, but I couldn’t tell you the exact set list from memory. Let me just say that the concert ROCKED. I loved every moment. Every song, every story, everything about it. Even having to stand. It felt intimate and overwhelming (in a good way) all at once.

"Citadel"

Here are the details I remember:

After a song or two, Anna called out Tim for making the bathroom announcement. Then she said something along the lines of, “Do you want to know how big of a bad-ass I am? I went to the bathroom ... and I didn’t wash my hands! That’s rock star for ya.” LOL!

Forever Love (Digame): Right before they started the song, Anna said she had the giggles. When the chorus came around, she started to laugh instead of sing and said, “Luis f***ed up!” Then they started the chorus over again, and everything was peachy keen after that. (Hmmm… I didn’t think I ever used the words “peachy keen,” but I’ll keep that there.)

In My Head: She introduced this song as the one she wrote about falling in love with someone onstage. (Note: I hope remembered this right. And knowing the lyrics, it makes sense. Wow.)

In the Rough: She wrote this song about an ex, and she was able to pick out a guy who looked just like him for the music video. Ha!

I can’t remember when this came up, but she brought up the fact that she learned saying two things to an audience will get them to cheer wildly. One being the F-word and the other being “Smoking weed!” So she asked us why can’t other phrases make an audience go wild. She tried a few on us: “Peanut butter on toast!” “Slippers after a long day!” “Cute shoes!” (For the last one, I’m not sure if she said cute shoes. Or good shoes. Well, it was something about shoes, and she held one up for us to see. It was cute.) Later in the show she tried “Someone giving you breakfast in bed!” WOO! That was my response to all those new cheer-inducing phrases.

At one point, she said she revealed a secret to the 8 o’clock crowd, so she decided to let us in on the secret too: Prior to our show, they did some shows in Canada, which has no Starbucks apparently. And the first place they came to upon returning to the U.S.? Seattle, baby! She said she went to all the Starbuckses here. (And I thought to myself, “You’re going to need a lot more time to visit them all!”) "Green tea Frappuccinos," she said. I’ve never tried them. Anyway, I digress.

Throughout the show, I got to stand next to people who knew the words to her songs. We all were either singing along or mouthing the words. And also moving to the music. We could all be her back-up singers. Although Luis already does a great job. He really rocks at playing the guitar, too. I loved the over-the-shoulder move I read about on the message board.

Breathe: She invited us to sing, so we did. Afterward, she said that she was thrilled to hear us singing her song. It was pretty cool getting to sing with everyone in the crowd.

After “Breathe,” she sang “Bleed.” She introduced Tim, Ronny (on drums, I couldn’t see him play) and Luis. Each took a solo run. After Luis’ amazing solo, Anna said, “Well I f***in’ quit!” LOL! And then she and Luis did an incredible vocal vs. guitar duel. Oh man, I got chills. That’s when Luis did his over-the-shoulder move. Woohoo!

Encore
Some people started to leave, so I moved up and kept cheering for the encore. We were loud and fantastic. Anna returned to the stage. I realized I hadn’t taken pictures of Tim and Ronny, so I started to do that, and then a girl in the front row, noticed me with my camera and moved aside to let me take a picture of the band. (I tried my best to get everybody, but then I was too close to pan out!)

Then, the same girl moved to the right and let me stand in the front row! THANK YOU! That was such a nice gesture, and I won’t forget her kindness. I was able to get some close-ups. Really close. I mean, Anna was. Right. There.

I was able to take a picture of the set list, so that's why I don't have to remember the order. Here it is, flipped for easy viewing! The last song is "Bleed" -- not "Bleep"! The sixth song, "Dreams," was a cover of Fleetwood Mac. A lot of people sang along.

A guy in the audience kept shouting for Anna to sing “Catalyst.” She said she’d think about it. Someone else shouted, "Make one up!" Anna then sang a song I didn't recognize. Well the guy in the audience got his wish. She sang “Catalyst.” Yay! At the end, instead of singing “They don’t shine quite as bright as back in Frisco,” she sang “They don’t shine quite as bright as back in Seattle.” Yay! I have a picture of her singing the last syllable of “Seattle.” (See picture below.)

After the show
After “Catalyst,” she left the stage, and I stood there to soak it all in. The concert ended around 12:15. I took a picture of the drum set, which I didn’t get to see until I moved to the very front. I thanked the girl to my right for making room for me again. Turns out I was standing next to burnedchevrolets (to my left) from the message board. Then I asked if he thought Anna would come out again. I had hoped so. Some girls waiting by the roped-off area screamed, and she came out! I stood off to the side, still by the stage though, and waited. And waited. And waited. Then, finally she moved over a little bit to clear the stairs and said she’d better hurry because they were closing. So I thanked her and wished her happy birthday, and I gave her a present: a CD and a card. Yes, I prepared a note for the gift, so that in case I got tongue-tied, she could read the note. I told her – both in the note and aloud – that I wanted to give her something that she couldn’t buy in a store. I gave her a copy of my song “Will I Ever?”. (I actually had just recorded it the night before. I had envisioned giving the CD to her, and well, dreams do come true sometimes! This is proof! This is where all the luck went!) She smiled and gave me a hug! Yup! She extended her arm out and leaned in, so I hugged her back! I hugged one of my musical inspirations! How COOL is that? Then I asked her to sign my copy of Wreck of the Day and handed it over along with my silver permanent marker. She confirmed that my name was Allison. Then I realized she was personalizing my CD cover. That’s so cool she took the time to look at my present, which did have my name on it. Then she handed Wreck back to me, and I thanked her again. Throughout the experience, I got to see firsthand just how gracious and thoughtful she is. She held onto my pen, and I didn’t have the guts to ask for it back. :)

I walked away, so she could spend time with other fans waiting for her, and I bought a T-shirt at the souvenir stand. The drive home was a breeze. I found myself driving 75 when I reached downtown Seattle, where you’re supposed to slow down to 55 or so. Oops. Ballard is awesome!

From the dog-walking lady to the girl who made room for me to Anna herself, thank you all!!!

Tractor Tavern, here I come!

I'm so excited for Anna Nalick's concert! I turned on the radio around 11:30 a.m. and the DJ interviewed her. Very cool. They had one last contest for tickets to the 8 o'clock show, but I missed out. Some things aren't meant to be. But some things are if you pay $12 plus an insane amount of fees and "convenience" charges. It's all going to be worth it though. YAY!!! Will review the show here, for sure.

(Speaking of things that weren't meant to be, I guess I shouldn't grow too attached to reality show contestants. Dave and Lori were eliminated from The Amazing Race, and Mandisa received the lowest number of votes on American Idol. Mandisa, you still rock!)

Halo-halo time!

Dad said he could eat halo-halo everyday! While that didn't happen, we did eat it often! :) Mmmm... halo-halo...
Our first halo-halo of the trip was in Vinzons. Turned out to be the best halo-halo of the trip too. Edit: Oh, I said in my travel journal that it was the best halo-halo ever. Yes, that is correct.

This is Chow King's ridiculously gigantic -- giganticulous -- halo-halo. Oh my gosh, I'm smiling then, but...

After eating lunch, mixing the giganticulous bowl made me full.

It looks good now though. They didn't have ube ice cream that day. We later had Chow King's halo-halo (the petit version!) and that had ube ice cream. Dee-lish.

After Jason finished his giganticulous bowl, I asked if he wanted some of mine. LOL!

Vinzons halo-halo again! We had it delivered on our last day. YAY! (Oh, we also had homemade halo-halo when visiting relatives. Yum.)

Dad cools off with very purple halo-halo at Intramuros after we visited Fort Santiago.

PIP3: March 14, 2006

This was the first full day in Vinzons. We woke up early to celebrate Mass and remember Lolo Ven.

The post-Mass celebration with some townspeople: We had sotanghon, empanada, potato salad and a delicious dessert made of cassava. ("Real cassava" as Mom put it.) Everything was delicious actually. It was nice to see so many people attend the reception.

This is Mom's old house, the one in which she was born and grew up. :)

Continuing our tour of Vinzons, we passed by the market.

St. Peter's. It's really close to the house!