The Lights and Buzz

I'm finally done editing my photos from the Jack's Mannequin show!

Okay so for reference, music is my football . . . and seeing Jack's Mannequin in concert is like the Super Bowl! I had SO much fun rocking out with a bunch of JM fans :D

Also, I got to meet Andrew McMahon and I got to talk to him about music and inspiration and his passion for writing and it was just sooooo cool! He is one of my all-time favorite song writers. He truly has a gift for song writing and I glean from his stuff all the time! He also encouraged me as a writer and gave me some words of wisdom to keep me focused and grounded so that I could keep pursuing my passion. Needless to say, (but I'll say it anyway) getting to meet one of my musical heroes was just soooo amazing!

It was great to go to a show and support this music I love and dance and shout and sing along with all the songs that have helped me get from various Point A's to various Point B's in my life. Andrew said this during his little talk during La La Lie, but truly, music connects us—at least it does for me.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the show and 2 videos I recorded. After that are 2 other videos taken by other people, but they were just too great not to share! He has so much passion and energy and his showmanship and charisma are just so wonderful to me! I love to see when artists really get into what they're doing and don't care how crazy they look or may seem. :D

That's right folks, I was THAT close!! :D

I love when he dances on his piano!

I also love when he jumps off his piano! so fun!

Not only is Andrew tons of fun, his BAND is tons of fun. This is Dr. J's (his bass player) amp. He brings the figurines with him to EVERY show and they get to 'join him' on stage, just chillin' on his amp. So fun!

Me and Andrew McMahon!

VIDEOS FROM THE SHOW:

(disclaimer: some of these are obnoxiously loud. consider yourself warned)

DARK BLUE


LA LA LIE


BLOODSHOT


INTO THE AIRWAVES

Bittersweet Symphony

I just realized that I'm about to lose one of my best friends to one of the most amazing endeavors ever. And by lose I don't mean they're dying or anything, I just mean that contact will be slim to none—and that's hard for someone like me who enjoys the convenience of constant contact with friends (it's my sole purpose of having facebook/tumblr/twitter, etc.)

But soon my friend Joshua will be leaving the United States to travel to Kenya, Africa to serve the people there. I've know Joshua for about 10 years and I've gotten to watch him grow in character, talent, and I've also gotten to see his heart for people grow as well. It's going to be bittersweet when he leaves, but I know it's the right thing and I know that what he's doing matters.

I consider myself blessed to know people who are unafraid to do daring things. I went to lunch with Joshua when I was home for the holidays and I got to 'hear his heart' for the people in Kenya and I am so excited for all that he is going to do.

One thing he is doing to raise funds before he heads out is to sell some of his beautiful artwork. These are the prints he is selling:




(you can see larger versions HERE)
I'm going to buy one later this week after payday. I think I'm going to buy this one:



I'm 100% sure it will be the BEST $20 I've ever spent. Supporting friends warms my heart. Supporting friends who are living their dreams and making a real difference warms it even more!

If you have a spare $20 and would like to give it to a worthy cause, please e-mail Joshua at joshua77177@gmail.com and let him know which one you'd like and he will let you know where to send the dinero. I know it may seem like a ton of money in our current economy, but if you can, you should. His photography is beautiful and the work he is doing is meaningful.

I'm On A Boat

This past Saturday, I got to go with Kayleigh to the Seattle Boat Show! Now, for the record, I've never actually been to a Boat Show, so I had no clue what I was doing or planning to see, but I knew I'd have tons of fun hanging with Kayleigh. :D

Here are some pics from our day:

WE'RE ON A BOAT!


You goin' my way?

Kayleigh in the restroom on the boat

Me in the restroom on the boat

You know, just in case someone thinks about stealing Kayleigh's coffee ;p

That's what they call me

My pirate ship

The Ferrari of boats . . .

The hot dog stand man who offered us weed. We settled for hot dogs instead ;)

GUEST BLOG: I'm With COCO

Hi everyone! Today is a crazy busy day—I'm going to see Jack's Mannequin at the Showbox tonight! Since I've got so many things to get done today and I didn't bring my computer along with me today, I've asked my amazing friend Kelley to do a guest blog. I always enjoy reading things that she writes and I'm sure that you'll enjoy her guest blog here today! So without further adieu, cue the Indian . . .

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Unless you live in a cave (no, not that cave) I'm going to assume you're at least peripherally aware of the recent Tonight Show shake-up over at NBC.

Fig. 1: COCO, The Face of a Generation
Since tonight is the two-week anniversary of Conan's very last night hosting The Tonight Show, it would have been nice to spend some time reviewing a few of the reasons Conan O'Brien is the classiest, funniest guy on Late Night. (And the tallest. Just sayin'.) Unfortunately, the not-so-classy folks at NBC have chosen today to remove as much evidence of Conan's run on The Tonight Show from the internet as possible. (No, really; see for yourself.)

So instead, here are a few clips I had lying around, plus Conan's last Tonight Show. (Yeah, the full episode; take that, NBC.)

The Bugatti Veyron Mouse


I have to say, the giant ground sloth, spraying beluga caviar on a Picasso was pretty "epic" - as the young'uns like to say - but the Veyron Mouse is O. G. Classic, as both the first of the expensive segment series, and the only one that NBC censored from online episodes (well, until they censored all the episodes, but that's another animal.)

The String Dance


I don't need to tell you, but if Jay Leno ever attached imaginary strings to his hips and swayed them back and forth (his hips, not the imaginary strings - well, maybe those too) it wouldn't be hilarious, or awesome, or disturbingly sexy (only a little bit, a tiny bit; go with me here, I'm not a freak) it would just be disturbing. Seriously.

But what's that you say? You wish you could see a rad graphical representation of Conan's opening routine? No prob, Bob:

Fig. 2: COCO Trips the Light Fantastic
Jimmy Kimmel on Ten at 10 With Jay Leno


It may not be Conan himself, but seeing Jimmy Kimmel rip Jay Leno on his own show is strangely satisfying. Oh, and it's funny too.

COCO's Last Tonight Show


Conan's final Tonight Show was a lesson in class and humor, and only makes me more excited to see him back on TV. ...In seven months. Freakin' contracts.

Fig. 3: COCO Stays Classy
P.S. Yes, the title is a song:


P.P.S. Check out this Gawker article for more info on NBC's revisionist Tonight Show history.

P.P.P.S. On the off chance that something in this post tickled your fancy, you should join the readers' list for my blog, and we can totally do this again some time.† Just shoot me an email at kelleyarowe[at]gmail[dot]com. (Eh? Shameless plug? You like?)

† Okay, so this might not be true. School is kicking my arse* right now, and since, generally speaking, my time is divided into three categories: school, wasting time and blogging, when school starts impinging on my ability to waste time, I don't necessarily waste less time, I just stop blogging. Sorry about that.

* Feel free to pronounce that word with a British accent, for full effect.**

** Yeah, I'm edgy. What?!

Lisztomania

It's a Lisztomania!

People Awake This Morning At 5 a.m. Seattle Time:
1.
2.
3.
4. The driver of Metro Transit bus #41 (barely)
5. Me

Songs I Can't Wait To Hear Tomorrow Night At The Jack's Mannequin Concert:
1. Into The Airwaves
2. Swim
3. Spinning
4. Dark Blue
5. Only Ashes (cover of Something Corporate) . . . i HOPE they play it!

Thoughts Running Through My Mind Today:
1. I'm glad I'm not God because I'd give up being everyone's miracle worker way too easy.
2. No more Twizzlers. Okay one more. Okay just ONE more. Gah. Is that seriously the whole bag? Jeeze.
3. I need coffee. Coffee. Coff coff cah coffeeeeeeeee.
4. I love the manacle musings of artists
5. What am I forgetting to do today?

Places I Visited In My Head Today:
1 Madrid
2. New York
3. my bed
4. Charlie's Chocolate Factory
5. a hot tub

Thoughts Running Through My Mind When Confronted With Rude, Snarky Barista This Morning:
1. I wish I hadn't already PAID for my coffee.
2. I wish I could form a full sentence to tell you how barely awake I am.
3. Is that really necessary?
4. Please never work for Hallmark
5. Thanks for the snark, I was running out

American Love

3 more days until I see Jack's Mannequin live!!! I'm sooooo excited!!!

As a songwriter, Andrew McMahon's style and his ability to write clever songs that speak deep into your heart and mind, and challenge the way you think about life and the things around you really inspire me to make the things that I write follow suit. Our words and experiences are obviously different, but the way he uses language to its fullest to convey a deeper meaning is just very inspirational to me. One of my favorite songs that he sings is called American Love and the funny thing is that the way the song came about was pretty different from his typical approach to songwriting—but he tried something new and it came to be this great song that challenges the way we see love. And it starts out like this:

You see I got this American Love
A brand new planet in my solar system
I kiss her neck but I just can't look her in the eye

And THAT challenges me because it's so true. As people, we crave intimacy, but a lot of times we're not willing to go through every situation that leads to true intimacy. We want to have love and touch and feel so amazing, but not if it causes us to face our own demons or our own issues. I've seen a lot of relationships fail. I've seen a lot of them succeed. The thing that separates them is the ability of the people in them to give and take equally, and readily face each situation with truth, honor, and unconditional love.

When I think of relationships and dating, I think one of the best things is the ability to learn more about yourself through the life that you take time to invest in, to love unconditionally, to grow with. It's a challenge. It's a blessing and a curse. But the best blessing and the best curse. I must admit, part of what frightens me about being in a relationship with someone else is having to step outside of myself and on a consistent basis put someone else's needs before mine. I'm pretty selfish. Most wouldn't see this right away. I value my close friends because they've spent quality time with me and have seen me get bratty because I didn't get my way or because I felt inconvenienced—and it wasn't pretty. But what I love about them is that they challenge me to get over myself. They walk through situations with me and they're not afraid to tell me I'm wrong or that I need to try to see things from a different perspective. And because of them, I learn all the time what my triggers are and what I can do to avoid a meltdown or a shutdown. And every time I learn, I get better and the next time isn't as bad. I haven't completely tamed the dragon of selfishness in my life, but I've gotten closer and I get burned less and less the closer I get to it.

All week I've been listening to Jack's Mannequin, and getting more and more excited. The words to American Love really do challenge me.

In my non-romantic relationships—do I let people see the real me? Or do I put up a front just to look like I've got my life all figured out? Do I offer them a friendship with stipulations or am I truly able to keep them close without strings attached? And when I come close to veering towards the negative side of things in the relationships, do I trust God and do I trust them to point me in the right direction?

In my romantic relationship(s)—will I be able to see past their flaws and meet them halfway in arguments? Will I value their mind as much as their looks and talents? Will I let them help me get over myself? Will I trust them fully with my heart? Will it just be about physical intimacy or will there be meaning and purpose behind the things we endeavor to do as a team?

It's a challenge. One I'm willing to take on. One step at a time and I will reach my goal—to live and love on purpose, with purpose, endeavoring to have meaningful relationships with people.

We Are The Champions

The GRAMMY AWARDS are tonight!!

Who loves award shows? I DO! And who's excited that the Grammys are on tonight??? I AM!!

I love watching the Grammys and seeing all the outfits, hearing all the amazing performances and laughing at some of the speeches too! I generally list each category and who I think will win, but there are seriously a MILLION categories! So I'm just going to pick some of the main ones. Here are my choices (highlighted in pink) and the winners (highlited in bold green) for the Grammys:

RECORD OF THE YEAR:
Halo — Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling — The Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody — Kings of Leon (my pick!)
Poker Face — Lady Gaga
You Belong With Me — Taylor Swift

ALBUM OF THE YEAR:
I Am . . . Sasha Fierce — Beyonce
The E.N.D. — The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame — Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey And the Groogrux King — Dave Matthews Band
Fearless — Taylor Swift (my pick!)

SONG OF THE YEAR:
Poker Face — Lady Gaga
Pretty Wings — Maxwell
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) —Beyonce (my pick!)
Use Somebody — Kings of Leon
You Belong With Me — Taylor Swift

BEST NEW ARTIST:
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silverspun Pickups
The Ting Tings

BEST FEMALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE:
Hometown Glory — Adele
Halo — Beyonce
Hot N Cold — Katy Perry
Sober — Pink
You Belong With Me — Taylor Swift

BEST MALE POP VOCAL PERFORMANCE:
This Time — John Legend
Love You — Maxwell
Make It Mine — Jason Mraz
If You Don't Know Me By Now — Seal
All About the Love Again — Stevie Wonder

BEST POP PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCALS:
I Gotta Feeling — The Black Eyed Peas
We Weren't Born To Follow — Bon Jovi
Never Say Never — The Fray
Sara Smile — Daryls Hall & John Oates
Kids — MGMT

BEST POP COLLABORATION WITH VOCALS:
Sea of Heartbreak — Rosanne Cash & Bruce Springsteen
Love Sex Magic — Ciara & Justin Timberlake
Lucky — Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat (my pick!)
Baby , It's Cold Outside — Willie Nelson & Norah Jones
Breathe — Taylor Swift & Colbie Caillat

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM:
The E.N.D. — The Black Eyed Peas
Breakthrough — Colbie Caillat
All I Ever Wanted — Kelly Clarkson
The Fray — The Fray
Funhouse — Pink

BEST DANCE RECORDING:
Boom Boom Pow — The Black Eyed Peas
When Love Takes Over — David Guetta & Kelly Rowland
Poker Face — Lady Gaga (my pick!)
Celebration — Madonna
Womanizer — Britney Spears

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP:
Can't Find My Way Home — Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
Life In Technicolor II — Coldplay
21 Guns — Green Day
Use Somebody — Kings Of Leon (my pick!)
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight — U2

BEST HARD ROCK PERFORMANCE:
War Machine — AC/DC
Check My Brain — Alice In Chains
What I've Done — Linkin Park
The Unforgiven III — Metallica
Burn It to The Ground — Nickelback

BEST ROCK SONG:
The Fixer — Pearl Jam
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight — U2
21 Guns — Green Day
Use Somebody — Kings Of Leon (my pick!)
Working On A Dream — Bruce Springsteen

BEST ROCK ALBUM:
Black Ice — AC/DC
Live From Madison Square Garden — Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
21st Century Breakdown — Green Day
Big Whiskey And The Groogrux King — Dave Matthew Band
No Line On The Horizon — U2

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM:
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today — David Byrne & Brian Eno
The Open Door — Death Cab For Cutie
Sounds Of The Universe — Depeche Mode
Wolgang Amadeus Pheonix — Phoenix (my pick!)
It's Blitz! — Yeah Yeah Yeahs

BEST R&B SONG:
Blame It — Jamie Foxx
Lions, Tigers & Bears — Jazmine Sullivan
Pretty Wings — Maxwell
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) — Beyonce (my pick!)
Under — Pleasure P

BEST RAP SOLO PERFORMANCE:
Best I Ever Had — Drake
Beautiful — Eminem
D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune) — Jay-Z (my pick!)
Day 'N' Nite — Kid Cudi
Casa Bey —Mos Def

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION:
Ego — Beyonce & Kanye West
Know You Down — Keri Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo
Run This Town — Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West
I'm On A Boat — The Lonely Island & T-Pain
Dead And Gone — T.I. & Justin Timberlake

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM:
The Foundation — Zac Brown Band
Twang — George Strait
Fearless — Taylor Swift (my pick!)
Defying Gravity — Keith Urban
Call Me Crazy — Lee Ann Womack

BEST GOSPEL PERFORMANCE:
Wait On The Lord — Donnie McClurkin Featuring Karen Clark Sheard
Free To Be Me — Francesca Battistelli
Jesus Is Love — Heather Headley Featuring Smokie Norful
I Believe — Johnny Lang With Fisk Jubilee Singers
Born Again — Third Day, Featuring Lacey Moseley

BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK ALBUM FOR MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION, OR OTHER VISUAL MEDIA:
Slumdog Millionaire — Various Artists
Cadillac Records — Various Artists
Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds —Various Artists
True Blood — Various Artists
Twilight — Various Artists

BEST SCORE SOUNDTRACK ALBUM FOR MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION, OR OTHER VISUAL MEDIA:
Up
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Disc 1)
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
Milk
Star Trek

BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURE, TELEVISION, OR OTHER VISUAL MEDIA:
Jai Ho — Slumdog Millionaire
All Is Love — Where The Wild Things Are
Decode — Twilight
Once In A Lifetime — Cadillac Records
The Wrestler — The Wrestler