Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

I need more structure in my life.  Or maybe I need a personal assistant to keep me on track.  Could I interest anyone in that position?  It would require the following:


Making sure I get up before 7:00 - I have to be at work at 8:00, so you can see how the timing gets a little tricky on the days I can't find my keys (or fall asleep in the shower, or sleep walk over to my alarm & turn it off without realizing it).


Managing my finances - This shouldn't be a particulary hard job seeing as how I spend it as quickly as I make it, but it could probably be alloted out a little more appropriately.  Sometimes, the satellite bill should be paid before new shoes are bought, but my mind doesn't always comprehend that thought.


Motivating me to exercise - I'd prefer you to be like that drill seargent guy from Celebrity Fit Club that screams at the fatties.  If you could dangle a cupcake in front of my face (like that trick with a carrot in front of a donkey in the cartoons), I'm pretty sure that could get me interested in moving.


Making me practice singing & guitar - Alright, so singing isn't so much of an issue as the guitar.  The ability to give me guitar lessons is a plus.  Must be able to tolerate my constant whining about hurting fingers & exuberent gushing of pride when my fingers bleed (which will be followed by relentless quoting of one line of Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69").  I will feel badass - you should acknowledge my badassness.


Making me ride my horse - Not so much in practice, but making sure I actually GET to the barrel race.  Drill seargent Harvey attitude would probably be effective in this capacity as well.


The benefits to being my personal manager include, but are not limited to, continual witty commentary provided by yours truly, room & board (how do you feel about an air mattress?), and transportation as I will find you entirely too valuable to ever leave my side so I will take you everywhere.  No monitary compensation, 401K or health insurance is offered (because, well hey - you'll see my finances) but I'm sure my company will be reward enough.


I love comments like a fat kid loves cake (ok - so I love them like I love cake!) - so make sure to leave 'em!

Up On The Ridge

Bear with me as I let my inner music nerd lose for a few moments.  Last night I went to the church of country and bluegrass music: Ryman Auditorium.  I almost felt like I should take my shoes off for entering hallowed ground as I walked up the steps covered in thick carpet colored cranberry red.  The staircase looked like something that belongs in Gone With the Wind and once inside I passed glass cases filled with treasures.  Porter Wagoner's rhinestone suit, Dolly Parton's dress, outfits worn by Johnny and June and a Martin guitar played by a bluegrass legend were just a small selection of this country music time capsule.  I searched for the ghost of Minnie Pearl but only found her hat with the trademark price tag (Minnie held me once when I was a baby, I'm proud to say!).  The stained glass windows let in a rainbow of light and the entire building seemed to pulsate with history.  When I think of all the legends that have walked those steps, maybe even sat in the seat where I was, I couldn't help but get emotional.

I'd been dying to go to Ryman Auditorium for a while, but I wanted to find just the right person to see my first time there.  Call me biased, but I couldn't go see Hole at The Ryman.  It's just not right.  So, I was excited to actually win tickets to Dierks Bentley (from a Twitter contest no less).  With all due respect to Dierks, I'd never seen him live before and wondered if it would be any good... but then I saw that this was actually a bluegrass tour and part of the Del McCoury band was going to be with him.  Well, anything that Del McCoury's band plays is phenomenal so I was getting pretty excited.  When we saw Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton in February at the Grand Ole Opry, Del's band was playing and I nearly peed myself I was so excited!

A couple of the perks of winning the Ryman contest on Twitter was a hatch show print AND a meet and greet.  The entire experience was amazing!  I am beyond happy that my first concert at the Ryman was this show.  Hayes Carll opened the show and he wasn't really bluegrass; more like rockabilly.  I looked him up online and saw he was from Austin, Texas, which explains the red dirt sound he had.  Dierks was accompanied by the Travelin' McCourys and as I said before, they are mind-blowing (even Kristen who is not what you'd call a fan of bluegrass music was impressed at these guy's skills).  I was happy to see the great songwriter John Randall there too and learn that he'd been instrumental in this album.  As the show progressed, Chris Thile (formerly of Nickle Creek) and his new band, Punch Brothers, came out and rocked a few songs.  Chris reminds me a little of John Mayer in that when he's playing, it's like the entire room just fades away and he is alone with his mandolin.  It's intimate and you almost feel like you're intruding to watch.  But watch I did, as well as hoot and holler like a seasoned concert goer who was thoroughly enjoying herself.  Then, when I didn't think it could get any better, Del McCoury came out on stage and did a duet with Dierks.  I'm not lying, they did a bluegrass version of the U2 song "Pride (In the Name of Love)".  Never has a U2 song sounded so good.

In my own little way, I unleash my sentimental musical self on you as an inadequate way to say thank you to everyone involved with the Up On the Ridge tour and to every musical genius that has walked the halls of Ryman Auditorium.  Also, thanks to Lisaann at the Ryman for being so great at keeping in touch and giving me such an amazing opportunity.  I'm off to find a thesaurus as the word "amazing" has lost it's power due to my over-use in the last 24 hours.

She's A Big Star

You may have noticed that a lot of my blog titles are actually song titles that I ganked because they seemed to fit whatever mood I'm in, or whatever I'm inclined to blog about at any given time.  Today's title is no different.  Saturday I'll be heading to Portsmouth, Ohio for my first singing gig in, oh, I don't know how long.  It's been literally four years as best as I recall.  Not that I haven't been known to get my karaoke on after a few drinks (Who am I kidding?  I'm a microphone whore; I'll karaoke stone sober...).  Also thanks to some awesome friends who play (Lee Harvey & the Ministers of Death) I'll occasionally rock a mic if I'm out while they're playing.


Which brings me to Saturday... this will be an "opry" style show, with the house band doing a few songs & I'm the featured guest.  I'll sing five to seven songs with a fun wardrobe change during intermission.  Am I nervous?  Nah.  I know I can sing, I know I can perform (although I have been known to forget the words once or twice) & I know when I'm on the stage, I'll feel like I'm the queen of the world.  I'll even be all professional, not eating any dairy products the day of the show & refrain from doing that "ahem" thing to clear my throat.  So, nervous?  Nope.  Excited?  HELL YEAH!  Getting ready for this show has made me realize how much I've missed singing.


There are a few things I still need to do to be spot-on Saturday night:
Practice, practice, practice
Get a second outfit together
Find one of the largest bags I own & stuff it full with every tube of make-up, styling product, accessories, etc that I own
Charge the video camera so I can prove I was there


Lots to do, but it'll get done.  Fingers are crossed for a safe trip, a good show & hopefully a return spot on the Southern Ohio Opry.