Mieka Pauley is this super cool singer - songwriter that Casey and I first saw performing in Harvard Square at the May Day festival 2 or 3 years ago. Since then, she has been doing really well and we have seen her a few times at the Paradise Lounge.

She has a few songs you can download from her site:

Secret
Run
Fate Day by Day
The Way It Is

If you like her (and I know you will), you can see her at the Paradise on October 23rd.

She also has shows outside Boston and there is a calendar on her site with more information.

She is awesome. Go see her! Go!!

I am pretty sure that I am because Dogs with Jobs on the National Geographic Channel continually makes me cry.

What a dork I am!

Sunday is over so quickly… especially when it is busy.

The weather was gorgeous here yesterday, around 70 degrees and sunny, so Casey and I decided to get out of the house for the afternoon. The morning was spent waiting around for a plumber to come fix the waterfall in our toilet (thank goodness, in our toilet, not like the last time…) and going to Matt Murphy’s for brunch, which I already talked about.

Central Square in Cambridge was having an international festival of some sort and there was a New Orleans brass band that Casey wanted to check out. We rode our bikes down because Memorial Drive is closed on Sundays and car traffic was a mess.

We walked around a bit and munched on watermelon. I look some pictures with our new camera but forgot to upload the darn things. I guess I will update this entry with them later! We never did find the brass band that Casey wanted to see, even though we walked around a while and were at the correct stage when they were supposed to be on… oh well.

There were tons of John Kerry supporters around with signs and stickers. I liked the alternative vendors the best- the ones who were selling t-shirts and stickers with, “Dykes for Kerry” and “BUCK FUSH.” I didn’t see any available there yesterday but what I really want is a pin with, “Kerry- he sucks less.” My brother has one and I am jealous.

Then on the way home, disaster struck. Casey’s bike got very cranky. The brake decided to lock up when we were a couple blocks from home and he had to carry it the rest of the way, poor guy! Now we have to figure out how to get that fixed before we leave for our Canada vacation on Saturday morning- gah!

Anyway, last night a bunch of us went to the Middle East last night to see the Slackers, a ska band, play. My brother, Kyle, his girlfriend, my friend Julie and her fiance Adam, Casey, and one of the fabulous French guys, Cyril all came. (Those commas are screwed up but I am too tired to figure out how it should be written!)

Here is a funny shot I took of my brother (tall one in blue), Casey (collared shirt in front of Kyle), and Cyril (black shirt, right of Kyle):

Casey was really cute throughout the whole show- he organized the whole night and I am glad that he had a good time. He is usually too shy to dance but he told me, “The ‘Casey dance’ works really well with Ska music.” So, he danced. We all danced actually. It was a good show- you should check out the Slackers if they come to a town near you!

Well, except it was Friday and not the 4th of July!
(come on, someone has to know Chicago!! hahaha… I grew up on them and they always pop in my head…)

Ahem. Anyhoo.

Last night was super fun. I have another thing to add to my favorite things to do in Boston list! We went to see Much Ado About Nothing yesterday on Boston Common.

The weather was perfect. The sky was blue. The food and company was good. Sigh.

Erica was super sweet and picked up these awesome sandwiches- I gotta ask her where she got them.

We went with Kyle and Erica and large group of French guys. Kyle is living in the same house as one of them. They are all sweet guys and listened to me murder their language.

After the play, we went to Central Square and went to People’s Republik and had some beers, where I talked with Nicolas (Kyle’s roommate) in French. It was hard but fun. I haven’t spoken French in such a long time!! Kyle and Casey were funny- they kept telling the guys to just talk to me in French so I would use it. ( I was a bit shy…) They were all really nice though and it felt good to use the language again.

Well, it is about 3:30 and about time that Casey and I get out of the house and enjoy this beautiful day!!

(haha- I just realized that I used “super” a bunch in this post- can you tell I was hanging out with French people?)

We had a really nice day/ night yesterday! I am insanely exhausted this morning. I probably had 3/4 hours sleep and am not a happy camper.

It was worth it though, I think.

We got back from New York around 3pm and then we rode our bikes into Harvard Square to get something to eat. It was so beautiful outside yesterday and we rode on Memorial Drive (beautiful tree-lined road that runs next to the Charles River). It is awesome because they close that road to car traffic on Sundays so that people can walk/ bike/ rollerblade, etc. This is the first time we have actually taken advantage of it- normally, we are just annoyed because it makes it a bit inconvenient when driving around. It was loverly. There were kids selling Gatorade at the side of the road and people all over were enjoying the beautiful Sunday. eee! Casey looked adorable with his helmet on and his backpack- haha.

Here are some pictures that Casey took on his camera-phone… bit grainy but you get the idea.

Then, we took a nap (mmmmm…) and went to meet Amy at Phoenix Landing in Central Square, Cambridge. I have been there before but never on Sunday night- they have techno night every Sunday evening.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect because, although Case and I go to a lot of shows, we have never been to a techno (house?) show before. I was a bit intimidated because I have the impression that this kind of music gets a pretty intense following. I shouldn’t have been worried at all- DJ Colette was awesome! She has this amazing diva voice and you could not sit still while she was performing. I thought that I would be exhausted after the nutty weekend we had but I was totally energized. The crowd was really into it and there were some awesome dancers there!

Amy and her friend Annmarie and Annmarie’s friend Thomas (from Aix-en-Provence, cool!) were all really nice. It was fun to hang out with them, although difficult to chat because the music was loud, of course. I was so glad that Amy invited us. It is also really funny because Ann-Marie is from the next town over from where I grew up- such a coincidence! I have never met anyone from where I live up here- cool!

Casey posted some pictures of Colette that we took… (look at the people in the crowd- some of them are making some awesome faces!! haha)

So that was it! Annmarie graciously gave us a ride back home so we didn’t have to take a cab. (the subway stops running at 12:30 in Boston- so dumb)

I better get some work done today….grr.

Whew. We had a crazy, crazy weekend.

As I mentioned, my parents were up visiting and that is always an adventure. We had the Eric Clapton concert at the Tweeter Center (Great Woods for you New England folks who remember the “real name”) on Saturday night. It was a ton of fun- we had a great time singing and dancing along. He puts on an awesome show- it is always fun to go see people when you know most of their songs… he did do some new stuff too. My brother was on cloud nine because he is a huge E.C. fan and has never gotten to see him before. It was so nice of my parents to get us all tickets- $$$ eek! My mom went nuts dancing with everyone- it was great to see her enjoying herself. She even made Casey dance! go mom!

The only thing that pissed me off was that this lady next to me told me to shush when I was asking Casey a question. Gah! I didn’t complain when she was smoking a joint 5 minutes before that. Whatever. (You can see her in the picture with Casey and his mom below…)

We got to the Tweeter Center a bit early so we could eat and relax a little while before the show. Lots of other people had the same idea. I have never seen tailgating like that before! People had full-size grills that they pulled out of their cars, tables, chairs, etc.. It was unreal. We felt like sissies with our subs and chips.. heh.

Here is my mom, dad, Kyle, Casey and I just after we scarfed down our subs:

We found our seats and settled in and we heard a screeching behind us- Casey’s mom was at the show also and had somehow managed to spot us in the crowd! She had been um… celebrating quite a bit on the way down from NH because it was her birthday and they hired a limo to drive them down. (good idea!) She came over to say hello a few times and was hugging Casey. The couple behind us was making weird faces so I turned around after she had left and told them that it was her birthday… etc. They laughed and said that they were wondering to themselves why I let that lady come and hang all over my man. They had no idea she was his mom. hah

Here is a cute shot of Casey and Paula: (You can see the bitch in the blue shirt next to Paula- grrr.)

and one of Casey and I: (What is he looking at?! I dunno…)

and my Dad gets restless sitting down for a long time so he kept fetching us beers! Wee!! $8 a pop! What?! (ahh… but they had Red Hook- not just crap beer. yay!)

I mentioned the pot smoking briefly before, but it was so out of control! I know it shouldn’t have been such a surprise to me, it being an Clapton show, but I couldn’t believe how many people were lighting up. At one point, there were the mean ladies next to us smoking, the guys behind us and a guy in front of us too. I can’t believe we didn’t get high just sitting there. And the Tweeter Ctr. folks didn’t do anything! They were more concerned about people’s cameras… It was odd. Didn’t really bother me at all but it was just a bit strange seeing all these older folks smoking the doobies. hehe

Then (as if this is not the longest post ever already…) on Sunday, we went up to visit Casey’s family for the 4th. Lots of food was eaten and Red Hook was drunk. (Casey’s cousin, Jed, works there.) It was cool for my family to hang out with his for a little while- the last time they were together was for our college graduation in 2000.

After that, we drove back to the Boston area and went into the city to see the fireworks. It was insane! I always forget how many people pack into the city until I actually get in there. We got in there sorta late so we couldn’t even get near the Hatch Shell, where the Boston Pops perform, etc. We had a pretty crappy view of the fireworks but we made the best of it.

The real excitement started when we were trying to make our way home. My mom took one look at the mob of people in front of the Charles T station and freaked out. (She has been having some claustrophobia issues all of a sudden.) So we decided to walk across the bridge into Cambridge to see if it was less crowded at the Kendall station. That turned out to be a beautiful walk across the Charles River, with all of the lights from the city and the boat in the harbor. It was lovely. Too bad my father was struggling by the time we made it into Cambridge… he has a problem with his foot and can’t walk too far. My brother ended up walking to Central Square to get a cab with my mom and Erica (T stations still crowded) and my dad, Casey and I got on the T at Kendall. What a mess. Sigh. We did our best anyway and everyone ended up home safely.

Well, I am exhausted and am going to tuck into bed with my boy and a book before it gets too late! Hope this post wasn’t too long! Short and sweet tomorrow, I promise.

Night!

Everyone had an awesome time at the Clapton concert but I have to go to the fireworks now and have no time to tell you about it!!

gah!

here is a quick picture:

Yes, Casey and I went to see the Suicide Girls Burlesque Show. (Careful, link not really work-friendly!)

Keep in mind, I was basically going to the show to be a good sport for the boy and didn’t have very high expectations. I’ve seen one other Burlesque show and was not very impressed; it was just sorta silly. In fact, I think that most nudie shows are ridiculous- especially ones featuring men in all their banana- hammocked glory. I will admit, though, the Suicide Girls put on a sweet show!

They were performing in Central Square in Cambridge, the Middle East, which is known for its varied edgy acts and belly dancing. (We have seen Rancid, The Weakerthans, Dick Dale, and Kid Koala there. I like it because it is small enough that you can actually see the act you came for…)

Here’s a pic of the outside of the club: (click to make it bigger)

(side note- that is actually a man with the legs standing outside the club… women could be so lucky to be blessed with legs like that!)

There is also a pretty decent middle eastern restaurant upstairs, where they also have belly dancing shows on Wednesday nights. We got some yummy falafel, grape leaves, and a chicken shawarma sammich. It was cool because it was Monday night and not too crowded… we took our time eating and then got in line to get into the show.

Just when we were getting in line, I noticed that my favorite savior, Carolyn, from my local yarn store, Woolcott. She is awesome and helps me constantly when I don’t know what I am doing with a knitting project. She introduced Casey and I to her husband, Chris, and their friend. It is so funny sometimes when you run into people, even in a city like Boston. Casey and I had a fun time hanging out with them- really nice and fun people! (It wasn’t even awkward with the naked girls- haha)

I could have done without the opening bands… I was pretty impatient for the actual show to start. The girls came on stage a little before 11pm. (Yes, that is right, it was 11pm before it even started! I did have to get a big coffee because I am a loser and get tired quickly on week-nights.)

It was totally worth the wait. I will not spoil it for people who are lucky enough to go but there were goth chicks in hooded capes, lotsa garters, a ton of electrical tape, one hell of a hula hoop dance, and a finale involving lots of chocolate syrup and whipped cream. The music was awesome for all of the acts and the girls were so enthusiastic. Bottom line: they are a really nice-looking group of young girls who looked like they were having a fabulous time.

It was also fun to see the reaction of the audience throughout the show. The audience actually behaved themselves… there was no grabbing or heckling, just honest appreciation.

I was worried that I would be the only girl there, with a bunch of horny, red-faced Boston guys but it wasn’t like that at all. I would say about half the audience were women. It probably has a lot to do with the quality of the show- it was not skanky or sleazy… just good clean (except for the chocolate) fun.

Here are some pictures of the girls… that are work safe!

You can check out their website to see some more but I would recommend waiting until you get home (booby alert!)

There is also a list of the shows- go check out them out if you dare!