Today was wonderful. Andy woke me up with flowers (roses and an orchid!) and a gift he had been stashing for a week. Funny timing because last night I walked by Harrison Brother’s Hardware and saw these adorable white rabbits (of course) made from sheep wool. This is the same artist that created the little sheep “Helen” we have and adore! Anyway, there I was last night, squealing (with delight) like a pig at these adorable bunnies in the window display and Andy was trying not to laugh at the fact he had one hidden under our stairs. It’s pretty great that he knows me so well!
We had a fun morning (hubba hubba) before getting ready and going to a few thrift stores. Around 1pm our stomachs were both talking and agreed on Sitar’s lunch buffet. After eating so much deliciousness there wasn’t much else to do but go back home. We tidied the house (Andy cleaned the entire bathroom and kitchen – whoa nelly!). Before we knew it dinner was upon us, so we had another small feast…this time, heart shaped pasta! Today has been relaxing, and much needed. Now we get to prepare ourselves to move an entire store this week. Here goes nothin’! Happy Valentine’s Day!
This is it! The lease to the new Vertical House Records space. We are expanding to a 1571 square foot area, not quite double what we have now, but a significant amount more. I’m also stoked that we will be on the ground floor, only one step away from the outside…versus the two staircases and at least two doors you have to go through to get to us now. The Flying Monkey has been a wonderful place to watch our business grow, and to see how much Huntsville needed a record store. We are thrilled to still be on the Lowe Mill property. It’s a wonderful community to call home to Vertical House Records and we can’t thank them enough for granting us this opportunity to spread our wings even more.
This summer will be jam-packed with BBQs, shows, movie nights, friends, potlucks, fun, and more! I can’t wait to be in the new space. No lie, it’s going to be a bitch to move over 20,000 records, but hopefully it won’t take more than a week to move everything and start “decorating” (I can’t wait for that part)! We hopefully get the key on the 15th of this month…so until then we’re going to try to be very diligent about yoga so our bodies stay stretched and as relaxed as possible. Here’s to 2012!
I took a photo every day in January, according to her challenge. It was fun! Here’s the past month in phonetographs! I can’t wait to start the February challenge tomorrow!
self portrait, breakfast, something I adore, letterbox
something I wore, makes me smile (good music), favorite, sky
daily routine, childhood, where I sleep, close-up (kitchen window)
in my bag, something I’m reading, happiness, morning
water, something I bought (Porcharitas test pressing!), sweet (Marcell the Shell), someone I love
reflection, my shoes, something old, guilty pleasure (anything Alice!)
something I made (kitchen curtains), color (WRS studio!), lunch, light
inside my fridge, nature (first of our crocuses!), and finally – a self portrait again!
I always seem to open the tea bag with the most opportune message when I need it most. Sometimes I need to remember to forget about the complicated feelings, and just focus on the simple pleasures of life. When I was younger and in situations that were painful (physically, emotionally, mentally) I would just tell myself “tomorrow is another day”* until I fell asleep. I think that’s how meditation became so easy for me. Even though lately has been challenging me, it’s a good practice for me to put my skills to use.
*I’m not sure where this sentence originated from, but I remember it being something my dad told me after a particularly rough night I was having (when I was 5ish)…talk about it sticking with me. My dad now prefers “just keep swimming” after we all saw Finding Nemo as a family. So between those two mantras, the difficult days are easier to get through. I must add, I think it’s adorable when my dad does tell me to “just keep swimming” cause he’ll even say it in Dori’s sing-song voice.
There it is. A summer’s joke turned into a tangible possession. If you are unaware, a Porcharita is a delicious alcoholic beverage comprised of 8 beers, 2 lime aids, a bag of ice, and a handle (or more) of TEQUILA! Mix it all together in a (clean, unused) mop bucket and you’ve got yourself one helluva afternoon. This was how we would spend our Sundays in the Summer. Fun times led to us saying “why not?! Let’s fucking start a band”
Martin didn’t know how to play guitar, but learned enough to write killer punk riffs. Helen usually drums in bands, but wanted to be the bass master this go ’round. I have never “officially” been in anything other than marching/concert band (playing the flute, and then the cymbals…occasionally the xylophone) so I opted for the only instrument I could begin to figure out: keyboard. While we wanted our friend Nichole to be our drummer, she has an awful case of stage fright so that didn’t work out. Our other friend Cassie played with us for a while, but is super busy with her other bands (and is primarily a bass player). Enter Ben who is our current (and mega bad ass) drummer…which is also fitting because years ago he first introduced our group to the yella drank we dubbed our band after.
Mix all of that together with some fast paced songs about boys, bitches, and pillow fights and you’ve got The Porcharitas, the band. We got together recently with our friend Dustin to record 4 songs to go on a 7″. It’s been a while since Vertical House Records has released anything, so it was a given that Get Wasted With the Porcharitas would become VHR-002.
We approved the test pressing so it will take a few weeks to press all 500 records, and a couple of weeks to get the sleeves printed, but maybe by my birthday I’ll have my very first vinyl in my hand! Huzzah! Here’s the first spin of the test pressing:
This past week has been draining. Every morning it feels as if I was up all night living out whatever intense dream that took over my mind. Dreaming has always been an issue for me. Occasionally, I have a blast with it and enjoy controlling them to work in my favor (I can jump over mountains! Travel the world in a blink! Swim to the bottom of the sea! FLY!!). Sometimes I will dream of things before they happen, exactly to a tee. Every now and again I have epiphanies which will lead to new ideas, projects, concepts, and ventures.
However, this week I’ve been stuck with the worst “kind” of dreams. Every single one has left me exhausted the next day. The dreams are so vivid, so bizarre, and sometimes extremely awkward. One night I was transported to a Porcharitas tour which was SO fun, but between playing shows every night, drinking, and sleeping in less than ideal situations, my mind woke up still racing. It felt as if an entire week of partying all happened in 8 hours. This week I also had foot races downtown, sailed a river in a refrigerator, fought with friends (this was sad), visited family on another planet (that wasn’t my family at all), ate clouds, survived a car accident, moved an island (LOST wha wha?!), and met some INSANE people.
I’m hoping this dreaming spell will break soon and I’ll be able to have fun dreams or wake up not remembering what the fuck happened in my head when my eyes closed. Happy Friday the 13th!
A couple of night ago (on the 5th) The Porcharitas played our first out of town show at The Black Owl, in Florence, Alabama. Our friends Katie and Jamie (of The Pine Hill Haints and loads of other bands) own the screen print shop. They are SUPER talented in everything they do (music, design, printing, drawing, etc). Anyway, we were thrilled to play with some super fun bands (The Vignettes, William Stull, and Nightmare Boyzzz)…and to an audience that wasn’t made up of 75% of our close friends.
I brought my instax to the show and Andy was kind enough to snap some shots when we played. He also filmed three videos from his phone. I had a ton of fun, but it made me really itch to go on a tour. We haven’t been on a trip like that since the Year of the Gun tour. Luckily, all the band mates are into the idea of touring, so perhaps something will work out. If there’s a will, there’s a way right?!
Last night we went to Partners to watch Really Loud Hamburgers and Nightmare Boyzzz play a show. It was rad because our friends David and TT were DJing before, in-between, and after the bands. So it was great music and fun times all night.
We woke up this morning, had our morning tea and kitty snuggles before embraced the day. Last night we walked home, and left our car at Franklin and William’s house. Thankfully today was a beautiful day and we took the long way back to their house to get our car. It was a lovely stroll through one of my favorite neighborhoods! I’m hoping for more mild winter days which allow for us to get outside!
