joujou papillon

I’ve been feeling pretty unorganized lately. At work, with my business, Matt’s business, at home. Everything seems like it’s jumbled up in a crazy pile and I can’t see through to the bottom. I’m trying to get things a bit more organized, one at a time. I finished my sales taxes in time (barely) then made the appointment for the big taxes. I have a month to get all of that organized. Those are two important starts!

At work I have a lot of self-inflicted goals that I’m hoping to accomplish early this year. I have it all written down, but my day-to-day to do list is overwhelming, leaving barely any time to really prioritize everything else. Which means none of my goals will be accomplished. Until I do that first vital one.

You know how I’ve been avoiding the fact that it’s a new year and I need to set goals in every aspect of my life then work hard to achieve them? Well, it’s February. And I finally just printed a calendar to put at my desk at work. It’s not a huge thing, I have a weekly calender I print to write my daily to do list on. I have my Outlook calendar. I have my pretty yellow spiral bound personal calender safely in my purse. But I needed something printed. On my desk. At work. I don’t even know what I’ll need to write on it. But being able to glance at it when I need to know a date real fast will just make me feel better.

And it’s pretty.

via designlovefest

I snagged that free download from designlovefest. I suggest you do the same! In fact, I printed one for the other two girls at work. It’s a blank slate, and you can cut cool stuff out that inspires you each month and paste (or washi tape) it on the calendar. It’s pretty just how it is, if you’re not feeling crafty. It’s already making me feel more organized. And organized=calm in my world.

Download Here

This past rainy Saturday we drove from San Diego up to Santa Anita Park in Arcadia to see a sort of last minute Shiny Toy Guns show. If you know anything about me you know I’ve been following this band since before their first album, We Are Pilots (2006) came out. We saw them perform right before their second album, Season of Poison (2008), was released. That was when Sisely Treasure was the female vocalist. She did a great job…but she was no Carah Faye.

Shiny Toy Guns is Carah Faye (vocals), Chad Petree (vocals, guitar), Jeremy Dawson (synth, bass) and Mikey Martin (drums).

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The band started touring heavily even before their first self-released album came out in 2005 (We Are Pilots). It was later picked up by Universal (2006) and became a Grammy nominee that same year. They were touring like crazy, nonstop. That can wear on your relationships. Jeremy describes it here:

“We had been playing 300 shows a year, sometimes two a day, sometimes not even in the same city. When you’re living in a bus or airplane, you don’t have the ability to deal with real-life trauma. Things started to fester as we were robotically going through the motions. Nobody stopped us, nobody told us to take a break — we never dealt with our issues and the band broke down.”

Carah moved to Sweden, they snatched up Sisely Treasure, and made their second album, Season of Poison. I remember when the first two notes of Ricochet came on the radio, I immediately knew it was Shiny Toy Guns. I had been waiting so long! Then when Sisely started singing I knew it wasn’t Carah. But I was okay…I had my fix. A new STG album coming out soon. And it was a great one.

We Are Pilots will always be in my heart, those songs and I have been through a lot. But now Carah Faye is back. I’m not going to lie…when I first saw their little video of them announcing Carah’s return to the group…a tear snuck out. I felt like the world was okay again. And now they released their third album, |||.

It’s epic. It’s what should’ve been. It’s deep in my soul already. You can listen to it here and buy it here. I suggest you do both.

So now that we have a little background on this here little band…let me tell you how their show was on Saturday. They played between the races in the infield. There was a food truck festival, beer garden and KROQ was there entertaining us before STG came on stage. There were a number of people already waiting up by the stage a good hour or so before they were scheduled to go on. We could see Mikey, Chad, Jeremy and Carah back there, talking to people, laughing, Carah doing handstands, just hanging out. Race 6 happened, we all watched the horses barreling around the corner to the finish line. We made up funny names for the horses and acted like we were the announcers.

Then the band came out.

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They played three sets of three songs each, all between races. A great mix of what’s on all three of their albums. They even played Major Tom, their cover of the 80′s song. Carah totally rocked it out, of course. Afterwards she tells us “That song is not hard to sing at all” Clearly it’s a tough song! But she nailed it.

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Seeing her sing live was pretty amazing. She really knows how to get the crowd going, and flips her head around like nobody’s business! Chad singing and playing the guitar effortlessly was also pretty darn moving to watch. He really has an amazing talent, and I was so happy we got a chance to see this small, last minute show.  Jeremy was crazy fun to watch, I was closest to him. I really heart that guy! Mikey was playing up front, too. I loved that…the entire band was front and center, no shoving the drummer in the back, no sir. This bands dynamic is clear. They belong together. And they are here to entertain. We are no longer waiting alone.

After their last song, Carah came out to hug the three little girls that were in the front row. Of course she did, she’s Carah Faye! She paid attention to them the entire show, and those girls were so happy. She started taking pictures with more people that were up front. This is when I made my move. Do you remember Mr Robot? I wore it on Saturday, in hopes to give it to Ms. Carah Faye Charnow. She (and the band) has been such a huge inspiration to me, and I felt she needed to know that. I made my way up there, gave her the necklace, told her nice things, and guess what? She loved it. And she genuinely thanked me and hugged me. She was exactly how I thought she would be. She happily stayed there and took pictures with and talked to every single person that wanted to. That’s how these guys are. They’re real.

Their tour starts in a mere week. Check out dates here. For those of you in Southern California, here’s a little hint…their home base is LA. Last minute shows come up often, so follow them on Facebook, Twitter (@shinytoyguns) Instagram and check their tour dates often! Sometimes it’s a full show. Other times a DJ set with Jeremy and Carah. In any case, you won’t want to miss them. Ever.

What are you guys up to this weekend? Perhaps a martini and cigar whilst wearing red velvet bow ties? Why not, I say.

I’m going to have the most amazing day tomorrow. I’ll be sure to tell you all about it next week, complete with pictures, hopefully. We’ll see how it goes.

I’ll be making a business trip in a couple months to Vegas (for my day job) and just booked a room at the ghetto-swanky hotel The Riviera. Us classy folk call it “The Riv”. That handsome picture up there was on their  website, promoting the hotel. Come on…you know you’re dying to go hang out with those two. I just told them a real funny joke and they thought it was so hilarious that they can’t stop laughing and felt the need to cheers me. Hey look…there I am laughing and cheersing them right back over there! ———->

We’re a bunch of fools.

This weekend I dressed up like a disco ball in the middle of the day and went to a soiree with a fancy mirror that I have a mad crush on. And sipped champagne. Because that’s what disco balls do in the middle of the day.

The next morning we were out of the house early. Our morning plans changed abruptly, so Matt said “We’re going to the swap meet”. We grabbed some coffee and headed to the old drive-in theatre in Oceanside, where the swap meet is. I was very happy I decided to wear my Uggs that morning! Turns out it’s freezing at 7am, even on days when it gets up to 80.

We went straight to the your-trash-is-my-treasure section, as Matt called it. I called it Little Mexico. Good thing I know enough Spanish to haggle. There was some good stuff there! I haven’t been to a swap meet in years. It’s possible I’d now like to go every week. Matt was checking out tools, I was looking for some crazy joujou stuff. We didn’t come away with any of that. But we did come away with this beauty.

I looked down at this beauty glistening in the sun and had to have it. How much? $10. Yeah. Ten. Dollars. I couldn’t get that 10 dollar bill out of my wallet fast enough! You know what the best part is? There’s film in it. Half a roll already taken. How long do you suppose that’s been in there? Who took them? What are they of? I took a picture already, it totally works. We’re going to take the rest then try to get it developed. I wonder what treasure map awaits us with those pictures?

Matt honed in on this shiny snare and stand shoved in a case. Drummers just know how to sniff out amazing snares.

That thing is sweet. The stand is a crazy good one. Matt’s has been falling apart for years, he needed a new one bad. He’s stoked to have a second snare, too.

At the same little spot he picked that snare up, I saw this black and white beauty.

Oh dear. Be still my beating heart. I wish I would’ve gotten the antlers in the shot that were next to those plastic grapes. The weirdest swap meet booth-thingie ever. She had the most random things. It’s possible the snare and bass were hot, she knew nothing about music and they were both super good. I picked this sucker up, tuned it and started playing. Oh. Dear. Do I really need a second bass? No. YES. I do need a second bass! Just look at it! I asked the lady with the mustache how much it was. “$40″. Yes please! Matt and I pulled out our wallets and started pooling our money. We only had $36. Would she take $36? “No.” What?! Come on, Mustache Lady, take it for $4 less than you’re asking! It’s all we have, clearly! We just bought a snare from you full price, we didn’t even try to haggle that. She said someone wants both the bass and the (crappy) practice amp and said he was coming back for it. I looked at her, “Really? He’s coming back? He’s not going to come back. $36. Cash. Right here. Take it.” She didn’t take it. So like a good wheeler and dealer, we walked away. She didn’t call after us. Dang. A half hour later we swing back around, it’s still sitting there, calling my name. I bet she’ll take it now! Someone’s buying something off her, so I wait respectfully until that transaction is done, then I start walking up to her, and…what?! What are you doing? PUT MY BASS DOWN! That guy was giving her money for the bass and amp! NOOOO! He did come back. That dirty man came back and ripped that gorgeous bass out of my fingers and broke my heart. I bet he didn’t even know how to play. I hung my head (and heart) in sadness and walked away. Left the darn swap meet. Then went home to soothe my soul by playing my own bass that I adore.

That’s better. Everything’s right in the world now.

I had a dream I lost you. We were at your friends house late one night, watching a weird cartoon movie they made. When it was time to go, at 3:00 am, we packed up all our random things and left. But you left first. You didn’t wait for me. I kept trying to follow you, but you were too far ahead, kept turning the corner before I could catch up.

I followed you to an old monastery where B’omarr Monks roamed. Only we called them Thursday. “Good evening, Thursday.” I looked all over for you. I went down the long hallway, and looked into the fifth door on the right. You were just there. But you were now gone. I was forbidden by the cook and his wife to look in the fifth door on the left. That door was closed.

A line of Thursday’s passed by me as I walked outside. It was now daylight. The Bird Man came up to me, and asked if I’d checked the building next door. I look up. It was an old brick apartment building, the white paint peeling off. It was about five stories high with old dusty lace covering the windows from the inside. “It’s been empty for years” said Bird Man, “Just go to the top and turn on the light, we’ll know you’ve made it,” he points to the top apartment that has a lookout, toward the front of the building. I look at Bird Man, thinking to myself, There is no way I’m going into an abandoned building that’s sitting on monastery property, even if it is during the day. “Come on, Bird Man, you must know where she is. You know everything.”

You see…Bird Man did know everything. About everyone. He didn’t reveal most things, but he knew where everyone was at whatever time, in whatever timeline. Bird Man was tall, thin. He had facial hair and his beak was loud and bright and colorful and quite long, like a Toucan.  When he talked to you, he looked deep in your eyes and tilted his head to the side slightly. He knew.

Finally Bird Man led me to a marketplace. He pointed to a woman and a man standing there on the cobblestone. “Bird Man,” I said “that’s not her.” “No. But it is her daughter. She is also looking for her.” Then he slinked away, getting lost in the crowded marketplace. I walk over to your daughter. She’s beautiful. We already know each other. She had long wavy ashy blond hair, almost to her waist. She was thin, wore tight jeans and a fitted jacket with combat boots. She smiled at me and gave me a hug. They were led here in the marketplace by another way. I told her I haven’t found you yet, but I have found her father. Actually, he found me. And told her how much her father misses her and loves her. He wishes he could’ve been there for her, been more for her. I’m crying as I tell her, she doesn’t shed a tear. He’s been gone since she was a baby and could never come back.

I never found you last night. I know you’re safe. I just don’t know what you’re up to. And that’s what scares me.