Meet Murray

Sorry for being MIA lately. I've been a tad busy because three weeks ago, my boyfriend and I welcomed a furry little bundle of joy into our life. Meet Murray, our 12-week-old corgi puppy!

For those of you who are dog lovers, please feel free to follow his Instagram account: @furrymrmurray. (This way, I avoid spamming friends on my personal account).

And to everyone else, I apologize for the lack of posts. Once things calm down a little, I'll be back with more music writing.

Boston

Yesterday was a rough day.

Boston has always been my city. I grew up just a short drive away in New Hampshire, so I constantly traveled to Massachusetts for concerts, field trips and special events. Eventually, I moved there for college and continued working there for a couple years after graduation. Even though I moved to New York just over a year ago, I’ve always considered Boston my home (second only to my beloved NH, of course).

On top of that, my family has quite a history with the Boston Marathon. My sister ran last year, and almost ran again this year. And for as long as I can remember, my parents have volunteered at one of the first aid stations by Heartbreak Hill. Thankfully, all three of them were far away from the blasts at the finish line yesterday. The majority of my friends also live in the city, and many of them were at the race yesterday. I am so, so grateful that all of my loved ones are safe. I can’t begin to express the concern and panic I felt yesterday, refreshing Facebook constantly to see who else had checked in. I am blessed—my love goes out to those who were not so lucky.

I’m always horrified by these violent events, but this one makes my heart ache. Looking at all the photographs, I see the streets I used to walk multiple times a day, now covered in blood. Seven journalism students covering the finish line for my alma mater were hospitalized with minor injuries. I’m not sure how to process yesterday, especially from here in New York.

But as President Obama said yesterday: “Boston is a tough and resilient town; so are its people.” We will pull together and move forward. I hope when the Boston Marathon returns, there are more runners than ever before. We get knocked down, but we get up again.

The finish line has always been a symbol of accomplishment and inspiration. While I certainly won’t forget what happened yesterday, I choose to focus on my sister’s triumphant finish last year instead. She looked so happy and proud. I look forward to seeing her finish again next time. Maybe I'll even join her.

Giving "Ridiculously Photogenic Guy" a run for his money.

All my love, Boston.

Autumn Adventures

This Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for all the fun and adventure that has been thrown my way since I moved to New York. Life has been exceptionally eventful lately, so here are some of my favorite reasons why I've been way too busy to update this blog.

1. Earlier this month, I traveled to Greece with a few family members. While there, we ate obscene amounts of food, explored ancient temples and monasteries, and even stumbled upon long lost distant relatives we never knew existed. The above picture is of a monastery in Meteora, near the village where my mom’s family came from. I’ve never had any interest in being a nun before, but the scenery almost made me consider it.

2. Before my travels, I met JK Rowling, my writing idol and the queen of my childhood. Somehow, I managed to score a ticket to her only promotional event in North America for her new book, The Casual Vacancy. I really only had about ten seconds with her during the signing, but I blurted out something about how much she has inspired my writing, and she thanked me graciously. The picture is blurry, because I was too busy focusing on not peeing my pants in excitement to worry about a good photo. (But hey, I did better than the girl sobbing with joy in the lobby afterward).

3. Apparently the Gods of Fangirl-dom were smiling down upon me this month, because just days after the Rowling event, I also met Jake Gyllenhaal after a performance of his off-Broadway play, "If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet." For those of you who don’t know, I once wrote an embarrassing (but totally accurate) post about my love for Mr. Gyllenhaal. I’d had the honor of being in his presence once before, but this time we actually spoke. While he may have looked like a hairy hobo with that ridiculous beard, he was quite the gentleman, and even took a picture for me since I was juggling too many items. Sigh. Oh, and the play was good too.

4. And can we talk about all the great albums that have come out lately? I’m especially loving Green Day’s latest, Dos. Other notable albums include The Chevin’s Borderland and Pines by A Fine Frenzy. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Concrete jungle where dreams are made

I have now been a resident of New York for half a year. Seriously, where does the time go?

While I still miss my beloved New Hampshire desperately, I've tried to take advantage of the opportunities here that I never would have had at home. I've joined a book club, started training for a half-marathon in the fall, and I volunteer a few hours a week at the Bideawee animal shelter in Manhattan. I've become obsessed with New York bagels (so cliché, I know) and I've learned to avoid Times Square like my life depended upon it. No, I don't feel like a New Yorker, and I'm sure I won't for a very long time. While these six months have certainly not been easy, I know I won't regret pushing myself out of my comfort zone in the long run.

Here are a few highlights of my time in New York so far. Thank you to everyone who helped make leaving home a little easier, whether it be sending me baked goods, calling me for a long phone chat, or even just overwhelming me with tons of book recommendations. I'd be lost without you guys. (I'd also be lost without HopStop. How did anyone move to NYC without a smartphone?)

A scene from my morning runs. Thanks Instagram for making it look so artsy.

Bonding with strange cats in record stores

Of Monsters and Men at Webster Hall, 4/6/12

You have no idea how hard it was not to dognap these little guys at the shelter.

The Lumineers at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 4/21/12

I have also become obsessed with the ice cream sandwiches from Coolhaus.

The view from Governor's Island

Here's hoping that when it comes time for my "one year" post, I'll be able to brag about Ryan Gosling—New York's real life superhero—saving me from being hit by a taxi. Or something.

We'll be singing when we're winning

A few weeks ago, I was laid off from my primary job. I was writing for a start-up website, and they're still struggling to figure out the financial side of the business. Thankfully, I'd already been freelancing for TheFix.com, and they offered me some part-time work writing about addiction recovery. Everyone there has been so welcoming, and I'm learning a lot, so I am extremely grateful for that opportunity.

But while I have been enjoying this unintentional semi-summer vacation, I will eventually need more work. I had hoped I wouldn't have to open CoverLetter.doc again so soon, but here we go. To be honest, there are quite a few days when the job search makes me feel something like this:

I will use any excuse to work Jason Segel into a post because he is THE BEST.

Despite that, I am doing my best to stay positive. I've thrown myself into networking, and through that, I've connected with some truly great people. Whether or not they end up being any help professionally, just talking with like-minded individuals has given me inspiration and reawakened my excitement to be pursuing a journalism career. Moving to New York was always a gamble, and I'm determined to make it work one way or another.

Besides, if worse comes to worse, maybe I'll just copy the girl who accidentally attached a picture of Nic Cage to her application instead of her resume.

Hire me. OR ELSE.

Fool proof, right? In the words of the immortal Chumbawamba, I get knocked down, but I get up again.

First Miley, now this. You guys love my music taste.

Yup, "Tubthumping" is my song of the day (or the month, or however long it takes me to find a job!) Sadly Chumbawamba just broke up yesterday (who even knew they were still around?), so this feels especially appropriate. RIP to the band that wrote the favorite song of my entire fourth grade class. Thanks for the motivation to get through another round of job applications.

Writing, writing, writing

Please excuse the lack of posts lately, but I've been busy. I started a new job (hurrah!) writing about music, and I'm still freelancing for several different websites, so needless to say, when I had some spare time, I wasn't exactly dying to write more. But, if you'd like to see the writing I've been doing in other places, feel free to check out my interview with Justin Sane of Anti-Flag and my interview with Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers. Both of them were lovely to talk to.

I truly feel blessed to be writing professionally about what I love at last. Moving to New York without a job was a gigantic, scary risk but I went for it, and now it is finally paying off. I still have lots of goals for myself, but at least I've made some progress now. I wish I could say that it feels great, but honestly, it doesn't even feel real yet. I guess the moral of this story is that hard work pays off, so stick with it.

Now, I leave you with a new song by a band that I really, really love. Enjoy!

A love letter to Incubus

I remember standing in the record store with my precious babysitting money clasped tightly in one hand, and a copy of Morning View in the other. I was pretty sure I would like the album, but at 14 years old, I was just barely starting to develop a taste in music other than the Backstreet Boys, and to be honest, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t like the album enough to justify spending the only cash in my possession. Little did I know that almost ten years later, I would still consider the album one of my top five favorites of all-time. That’s more than I can say for Millenium, anyway.

I was lucky enough to attend two Incubus concerts recently – September 3rd at Jones Beach in NY, and September 9th in Mansfield, MA. These shows were incredible. Both were outdoors on comfortably cool evenings. The wind was weaving through my hair, as I sang along with hundreds and hundreds of other fans. One of my favorite parts was in Mansfield, during “Drive,” when Brandon stepped back from the mic and the band stopped playing to listen to the crowd shout back the lyrics. I never get tired of those moments, when everyone is connected by a single song. That’s my kind of religious experience. These were the type of shows that reminded me not just why I love Incubus, but why I love music in general.

Someone else's surprisingly good quality video of "Drive" from the Mansfield show

When I first started writing this post, it was just supposed to be a review of those shows. But as I put words onto paper (yes, I handwrote a rough draft because I’m old school like that), I quickly realized that a brief summary was not enough to describe how emotional of an experience seeing Incubus is for me. In fact, there are a lot of artists that I love dearly, but none have changed my life the way Incubus has. I actually realized I’d like to go into journalism after reading an article about the band many years ago. I was so jealous of the reporter who got to talk with the band, and then it dawned on me that I could interview brilliant and fascinating people some day too.

It was actually this issue of YM, which wasn’t exactly the high standard of journalism I’m shooting for, but hey, at least it gave me the idea.

Aside from setting me on my actual career path, Incubus is entwined throughout hundreds of my memories from the last decade. Important memories, like the second concert I ever went to. It was at the Worcester Centrum, and I went with my friend Sammi. To this day, when I hear the opening riff to “A Certain Shade of Green,” I am instantly 15 again, shuddering and thinking “OH MY GOD I’M GOING TO DIE” as a bunch of bros break out moshing all around us. For the record, we did get crushed, the crowd broke down the barricade a few minutes into the set, and as I recall, Sammi lost her shoe for a while, but we ultimately had the time of our lives.

Then there are the less vital memories that make up my every day life, like the high school German exchange student presenting me with her Incubus poster because it wouldn’t fit in her suitcase home. She promised me if I didn’t take care of Brandon’s picture, she’d “come back and kick my ass.” (Don’t worry Minh, it still hangs on my wall even now, and it is in great condition. Although I have occasionally considered taping a picture of Ben Kenney over Dirk Lance). I remember sitting in my friend Veronika's basement, not caring about the dude in Final Destination 2 trapped in his burning apartment because “Vitamin” was playing in the background. (If you have to die like that, at least be glad you’re dying while good music is playing, amirite?) I remember listening to Light Grenades over and over during my first year of college. The list goes on for pages. And now I can look back on the past couple nights spent with my pal Ali, obsessing over the music and eventually suffering through the inevitable post-show depression together. These songs are my souvenirs of amazing times with friends and hours spent screaming myself hoarse at concerts. I realize now that I grew up with Incubus, and as a result, when I look back on my life thus far, I see the band at every step.

"Wish You Were Here" live is just perfection.

I don’t know that I will ever be able to fully express how much this one band means to me in words. I hope some day I can thank the members in person. Until that day, this little love letter will have to do. Thanks for some great shows, guys. Now hurry up and come back soon before I waste away from withdrawal.

Brandon Boyd's Wild Trapeze

What's up, Blogspot? I haven't posted in ages, but I do have a good reason this time. Exactly one month ago from today, I graduated from Emerson College. Woot woot. Since then, I started a full-time job at Oldways, the non-profit where I've interned since my junior year. We do lots of healthy eating promotion and education. My job there is fun but it has nothing to do with music, so all the more reason for me to start posting here more often. But seriously, Oldways does some great stuff so check out the site (and you can read my super cool bio on the staff page now. Hell yeah!)

So I'm working 40 hours a week, commuting on the bus, and I even have a smartphone now. Yup, I'm officially an adult.

Anyway, on to the important things. The word on the street is that Brandon Boyd is releasing a solo album called "The Wild Trapeze" sometime soon. I am PSYCHED. For those of you that don't know, Brandon is the extremely talented and beautiful lead singer from the rock band Incubus. They've only been around for about a million years, so you might have heard of them before.

All that's been released right now is the song "Runaway Train." I really love it, actually. Listen to the song here:





Sorry the audio isn't the best quality, but it's the best I've found so far.

Normally, I would be very concerned about this "solo" business, even though this song sounds great. Incubus is one of my favorite bands and I would be distraught if they broke up. But they recently put out a pretty amusing video updating fans on what the guys are up to, and that quelled my fears. You can watch that here:



That's all I know right now, but I'll be sure to update when I hear more about The Wild Trapeze, Incubus or Brandon.