I Just Want to Play on My Pan Pipes

"What are you writing?"

"Um. A novel."

"Really? Cool!"

"No. I have a blog."

She shrinks away with a look. The look that says NERD ALERT! "Oh."

A Special Holiday Only for Me

This is first in a series of posts. Get ready for more!

Casey turned thirty last weekend. Instead of a big party, Casey decided he wanted to go to Kansas City. Of course I invited myself.

We headed out a little past schedule on Saturday. We first stopped at the Prairie Band Casino. They had some money they wanted to give Casey and Sarah and I wanted buffet.

The buffet wasn't as good as I remember and people were scary. They would stand so close while I was serving myself that I could feel their clothes brushing my arm. Casey went out to try his hand at the slots while Raw and I escaped the crowd by putting our feet in the hot tub.

Casey didn't play long. We were eager to get to Kansas City. So we headed out and made our way downtown. We were staying at Hotel Phillips, which is smack dab in the heart of downtown.

Once there, we headed up to our room. Our plan was to hang out in Westport for the night. Since we had time to kill, we threw our stuff down, jumped on the beds and then decided to walk around to see what was going on. We passed the Power and Light District and caught a glimpse of Maker's Mark Bourbon House and Lounge.

"I want to go there this weekend!" Casey is a fan of Maker's Mark bourbon.

We continued to walk and went so far as to cross over the Interstate. After awhile, we saw a man sitting on the ground.

When he spotted us, he started laughing and clapping. He came up to us and gave Casey a notepad. "Can you read this?"

The way he said it was less "Will you read this and take the message to heart?" than "No, really. Can you read? Is it decipherable?"

I took a look over Casey's shoulder and decided maybe I was suffering from heatstroke because I couldn't find one word on that page. Casey gave it back to the guy without saying one word. The guy just laughed. "Yeah! I'll be in church tomorrow!"

We walked on and eventually circled back and went to the P&L District. With it being Saturday, we were carded on our way in. Raw went through with no problem. Then it was Casey's turn.

"Hey! Happy birthday tomorrow!" Of all the people who would card us that weekend, he was the only one who noticed.

Then it was my turn. I had my camera strap wrapped up and was getting ready to put the camera in my bag. It's difficult because it's a tight fit, so I usually wait until I have a table to put my bag on.

"Does that have a detachable flash?" I showed him it didn't, but he wasn't satisfied. "Let me ask my supervisor."

Raw and Casey watched nervously from a distance while this giant guy came over. The first guy kept saying "It's not a detachable flash! It's not detachable!"

The giant guy started shaking his head no. I told him I was just getting ready to put it away anyway. "Put it away before you go in."

So I had to squat down to use the floor to hold my bag while I shoved my camera in. The big dude started telling me something about how this is private property and you have to have special permission to take pictures there with that kind of camera. I wanted to let him know that my camera only looks badass, but really you could take better photos with a pocket-sized camera. What was so top-secret anyway?

I was finally allowed in and we took in the scene. We walked into what looked like some rich dude's courtyard. There were large outdoor couches and fountains and people running around serving drinks. Unlike a courtyard, there was a stage with a Jumbo-Tron. Surrounding all of this were restaurants and clubs.

"Let's just hang out here tonight!" Casey requested. It would sure save on cab fare!

Continue reading this series.

Voices: The End

Oh c'mon. You knew this was going to happen.

There's a ton of brilliant voices I've missed. There were only thirty-one days and these were the voices that came to mind. And I had to include the voices of Benny, Bjorn, Frida and Agnetha. ABBA makes me happy!

Voices: Day Thirty

I've seen CAKE live a few times. I think John McCrea's voice is very unique. Much like CAKE's music.

At one show, they were playing Sheep Go to Heaven, a song I always interpreted as being about how much cooler it is to not be a sheep. How you're being mislead and boxed-in by following everyone else.

And yet, as they played the song, they repeated the chorus about six billion times and made everyone sing along.

"SHEEP GO TO HEAVEN! GOATS GO TO HELL!" Everyone chanted over and over.

I stood there a bit perplexed, and annoyed. I was ready for the song to be over, and yet it continued. Did that make everyone a bunch of sheep, since most everyone was chanting? Were they making fun of us?

I'm going to bet they were playing a good joke. It's not like the crowd was that cool. They had to stop in the middle of "I Will Survive" to tell the crowd to quit moshing.

I Have a Tale to Tell

And that's just page one!

I Want to Ride It Where I Like

Dear Bicycle Riders of Wichita,

Yes, I understand that gas is very expensive right now and there will be even more of you on the streets. I would be riding a bicycle to work if I didn't live eight hundred miles from work. Yes, this is another issue . . . but I'm off topic.

I understand that you are operating a vehicle and have all rights to the road. I do understand. And I support that and always give you a ton of room.

But wouldn't it be easier to either avoid the really busy streets or just hop up on the sidewalk? There's nobody walking on the sidewalk anyway.

But, you know, if you want the street. That's cool. But you should really probably go ahead and follow the rules. If we have a red light, you have a red light.

Unless you want to end up like Michael. Or worse!

Oh and that picture up there? That doesn't have anything to do with you bicycle riders. That's my old boss. I heard she was dropping by today.

She is an angel and would always follow the rules!

Heart,
Aunt Bee

Voices: Day Twenty Nine

Everyone uses the phrase quirky. But I think Zooey Deschanel is adorable and witty and I want her to be my friend. And her voice is cool. And this next song is on my latest Paste CD.

Voices: Day Twenty Eight

I always thought Carly Simon was beautiful when I was wee. And as I've grown up, I've read more about her and find her fascinating. I also dislike James more.

Voices: Day Twenty Seven

Isaac Green and the Skalars aren't around anymore and I haven't heard what she's doing now, but Jessica Butler's voice is the primary reason I love Skoolin' with the Skalars.

Voices: Day Twenty Six

Like you don't have an Elton John "best of" album!

"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" was my favorite song when I was little. I still get incredibly excited and want to use my hairbrush as a microphone when I hear it.

Special Holiday Only for Me

As I've mentioned before, I didn't like Casey when I first met him.

Sometimes, I wonder what would have happened if I had expressed my dislike to Sarah. What if I had managed to talk Sarah into getting rid of him.

I wouldn't have long text message conversations late at night. I would have missed out on a ton of good times and laughter. I wouldn't have two beautiful goddaughters. I'd be short one old best friend.

Luckily, I changed my mind about Casey and we have been great friends for a third of my life. I love him like family.

Today, Casey turns thirty. Where has the time gone? It really feels like we should be laughing, having a drink and toasting his twenty-first.

I guess all our elders were right, your thirtieth really isn't any different than any other birthday!

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Voices: Day Twenty Five

Yeah I know everyone loves him now that he's Iron Man. I've always loved Robert Downey, Jr. Even when he's singing.

Testing

I'm going to Kansas! Doing some testing to see Blogging-By-Phone will work.

Voices: Day Twenty Four

Being young when songs like "Uptown Girl" and "For the Longest Time" were released, I fell in love withBilly Joel. After that, I always loved Billy for his older music.

Then I heard "Lullabye" and he grabbed my heart again.

I know a lot of you are skipping these videos. But you should watch the video above. A New York boy singing this song so soon after the events of September 11th had to be difficult.

Voices: Day Twenty Three

Oh c'mon. Who doesn't love a little Ray Charles?

Had to Get Away

I had tried to schedule today as a vacation day back in January. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea and my vacation was not approved. I was put on th waitlist.

Yesterday, about a half hour before it was time to go home, I received a message: "Tomorrow just opened up. Do you want the day off?"

It was all I could do to manage a reply that wasn't "HELL YES!!!"

I have never been so excited to have a day off. I've been pretty frustrated about work lately and to have a surprise vacation is something I really needed.

It was also supposed to help me get some things done around here before my trip to Kansas City for Casey's birthday. But I just keep procrastinating. There's just so much going on with the soap operas!

Voices: Day Twenty Two

It's really too bad that she can't seem to remember the words to her songs. And that she seems to be such a mess. And that it was really hard to find any videos of her singing among all the "Amy doing coke!" titles. Because Amy Winehouse really does have a lovely singing voice.

Voices: Day Twenty One

I saw a picture of Rufus Wainwright wearing this cool metal armband thing. That sealed the deal for me. I would like him to serenade me at my wedding dance. Fat chance of either of those things happening!

Oh You Are Awful but I Love It

I had a tarot card reading at work last week.

Yes. At work. Don't ask questions.

What's important is that the reader told me that in a former life I was an African princess.

That's right. You always knew it was true. I'm totally princess material.

"You were also an African-American male."

"Awesome!" And here is where I embarrass myself. "I had a big weenie!"

Everyone laughed. A lot. When the reader finally caught her breath, she asked "Is that true? I've never heard that!"

I wasn't sure what to say. Who hadn't heard that stereotype? Really?

I think she realized everyone in the room thought she had grown up in a monastery (which I lived in during a former life. I was a priest or a monk). "Did I say African? I meant Native American!"

I didn't have much to say to that. I didn't know any dirty-minded stereotypes.

Voices: Day Twenty

I saw Ben Folds Five at The Granada in 1998.

Back then, I was using a disposable camera. I snapped some pictures and danced and sang all night four people away from Ben Folds.

Then I left the camera on the seventh floor of McCollum Hall. I try to make myself feel better with the fact that those pictures were probably really horrible anyway.

My Mind Is the Energy

"Today is going slowly."

"Not for me. But that could be because I'm traveling in different dimensions today."

Voices: Day Nineteen

I love love love Tim Curry. I love him whether he's prancing around in womens' undergarments, sporting some hot horns or making an appearance on Lexx.

Voices: Day Eighteen

Queens of the Stone Age is known to work with a bunch of different artists. But nothing would be awesome without Josh Homme.

Voices: Day Seventeen

I may have mentioned a time or two that I'm a fan of the band Travis. He's not the only reason I listen, but I love Fran Healy.

Voices: Day Sixteenth

You wish, Taylor Hicks.

Voices: Day Fifteen

I have to admit, my first Bernadette Peters experience was in The Jerk with Steve Martin. But I have since discovered that she has a powerful voice to match her sense of humor.

Voices: Day Fourteen

Look at how clean she was!

These days, I'm more compelled to give Fiona Apple a bath and a hug, but I still love her music.

American Gods

Neil Gaiman

Read More

Take a Look Around, Look What I Found

I know there's some video overload with the whole "voices" thing this month. But these don't have anything to do with that. These are just treats to ruin your happy childhood memories!

Smurf Along with Me

When I was telling you about our photography class, I wasn't trying to say I had not learned anything.

I took notes on the things I felt were most important:

1. Men's faces flush red when drinking. Do not use vibrant color mode or drunk faces will look like apples.
2. Using "incandescent bulb" setting with flash will make people look like Smurfs.

I had to try that one right away. I set my camera, turned to Raw and snapped a picture. "That didn't work. You're not blue."

Raw then took a picture of me with the same settings. "Did it work?"

"No. You still look tall."

Voices: Day Thirteen

If I could marry a voice, I would marry the voice of Eddie Vedder.

I'm Gonna Play This Part

It's RiverFest again. Usually, I love living right on the river, but this time of year can be a real pain in the booty.

On Friday, my friend Jill gave me a cupcake on my way out of the office. We then walked out and bid each other good weekend.

And then, because my brain never works correctly, I called her up to tell her about a few things I had forgotten. I was still talking to her as I drove through downtown on Douglas.

I suddenly noticed there were a bunch of people lining the streets. They had lawnchairs and were wearing visors and holding giant turkey legs.

"Oh man! I'm driving right through Riverfest! They must be getting ready for the parade! I'm going to start waving!"

"Do you have any candy you can throw?"

"I have my cupcake!"

And oh man did I cackle at the thought of heaving that treat right at someone. There was so much frosting, there would be a ton of splatter and stick.

Happy Riverfest!

Voices: Day Twelve

I always think it's funny when people say they don't like Bette Midler and then it turns out they know all the words to the song.

For Casey

You Pay for What You Get

Raw and I signed up for a photography class at City Arts. We had our first class on Thursday and I don't think it's really living up to Raw's expectations.

Our teacher seems a bit uncomfortable; like maybe this is his first class. But it's not his first class. He tends to take forever going from person to person to show them the Macro button. But he never actually explains what the Macro setting is. He'll show us twenty pictures he has manipulated with Photoshop when everyone is still confused by aperture.

While he was across the table, trying to help one of our fellow classmates with her camera, he told her that she could find a lot of information online. "You can learn just about everything on YouTube."

Raw and I looked at each other. I was a little speechless. She was not.

"So why are we paying for this class?"

Iron Man

I wanted to give this one a five, but something kept bothering me. I'm not sure what exactly.

I loved Robert Downey, Jr. But that's no surprise. I've always been in love with him.

The Dude was awesome as a bald dude with a beard. And I didn't even totally hate Gwyneth Paltrow like I normally do.

Maybe it was the predictability. I knew who the mastermind bad guy was going to be as soon as that person's face hit the screen. I knew pretty much nothing about Iron Man going into it, so I would think it should have been a little more difficult to figure out.

There was also Terrence Howard. Ugh. And okay so there were a few parts where I was really annoyed with Paltrow. Most of the dialogue was witty and quick. But there's some parts where she really drags. There's a scene on a balcony that I just kept praying would end soon.

And then there's the big climactic fight. It just didn't feel all that big and great to me. There were other parts of the film that had me more nervous and excited.

And then there's the part at the end of the credits. Really? That guy? Does he have to be in everything?

I know, I'm making it sound like I didn't like this movie. I did. I really did. It was funny and it was breathtaking.

And Downey is not only brilliant, he's way hot!

Voices: Day Eleven

Marianne Faithfull's voice has gotten better "with age."

Voices: Day Ten

When I went to see The Killers, we sat with a girl who promised me she would take me to see David Bowie. I'm still waiting for her to call and make my dreams come true.

Voices: Day Nine

If only I could have a voice as strong as Annie Lennox . . .

The Phantom Tollbooth

Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer

Still awesome. I want to live like the Lethargians!

Read More

American Nomad

Steve Erickson

This kinda broke my heart. I love Steve, but I just didn't like this.

Maybe We Done Did the Impossible

"I totally sliced my finger open last night with my santoku knife."

"That was smart."

"Yeah."

"What were you making?"

"Rice."

Voices: Day Eight

Oh come on. Like your heart doesn't melt when you hear that song. You know Peter Gabriel rocks your world!

Voices: Day Seven

And with this one, Jackson gets another mention.

I'm pretty sure I hadn't heard much from Kate Bush, which isn't surprising. Kate Bush isn't exactly mainstream.

Voices: Day Six

Many a year ago, my friend Jackson had an extra ticket (and needed a ride) to the Tori Amos concert. Of course I said yes, but I didn't realize it would be so awesome.

The show was at Starlight Theatre. The theatre looks like a castle, and what better place to see Tori play? Other than a real castle, I guess.

Voices: Day Cinco de Mayo!

So I'm pretty sure you know I love Tool and assumed Maynard would be part of this month's lineup. And you'd be correct.

I always thought I wanted Maynard to be my friend. I found out years later that my cousin Allison felt the same way.

Then we went to see Tool in Kansas City and for the first time, I wanted him to be my boyfriend. Strangely enough, Allison again felt the same way.

Must have been the cowboy hat.

Voices: Day Four

You may think Bjork is a bit kooky, but it would be very difficult for you to deny her voice is powerful.

Voices: Day Three

Enough with the girls! Let's move on to my favorite: boys (with whiny voices).

I first discovered Thom Yorke like most everyone else; with the release of Radiohead's "Creep." It wasn't until OK Computer that I really fell in love.

I think this is the CD I have listened to more than any other CD I own. I will never tire of it. It still grabs at me like no other music.

Thom could sing the "Hokey Pokey" and I would buy it and fall in love with him all over again. I don't think I've heard anything of his that I didn't like.

I know. I gush. But I do love him.

Voices: Day Two

I should probably not list Teyana Taylor as one of my favorite voices since she hasn't even released an album yet. I might be jumping the gun on this one.

I remember seeing her MTV's Sweet Sixteen birthday party. It was seriously amazing. Her entrance was brilliant!

All of the songs I've heard that are rumored to be on her upcoming album have made me shake my bootay. Her voice is cool. It's up, it's down. She raps, she sings.

I figure, at sixteen, if I'm wrong and I end up not liking the album and her voice on it, she has some time to work on it.

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Voices: Day One

Okay. So I changed my mind.

Tuesday was a very exciting day for me. Both Portishead and Madonna came out with new albums. I'd been looking forward to the day for a long time.

As I was listening to the albums, I thought "I could totally torture myself for another thirty-one days."

I thought that for this month, the voices I would share with you would be the ones I love most.

I know you're going to think I'm insane with a lot of these. But they're mostly distinctive and always grab an emotion or two from me.

So here, in no particular order, are some of my favorite voices.

We start with the ladies who had my interest on Tuesday, Beth Gibbons and Madonna.