Things I haven't posted about

Life has been exciting and hectic and even a bit rollercoastery over the past few weeks. Here are a few things from this exhilarating time period - I will post about them... uhhh, soon...

-ERTB's trip to Morin Heights. Sarah couldn't come. However it was a magical experience... starting with packing the van.
-fan video from one of our practices (thanks Andrew!)
-more clips from the Ashton open mic (Wagon Wheel and Helpless)

...in fact, we are going to set up a wiki for Elizabeth Riley's Travelling Band, so that the multimedia can all be deposited in one place, in a collaborative fashion, rather than being randomly situated throughout the youtube continuum.

What else can I say? Heather and Ric got married. Yes they did, in a beautiful ceremony with lots of music. I enjoyed the fact that they saluted the four directions as part of the church wedding. I missed the part where they become officially married because I had to escort my 4 year old escort to the washroom. The reception was fun, but I was a bit cast down because I could not wear my silver sandals. Despite being purchased in the one of the most exciting fashion venues in the city (Value Village, natch), they indisputably are too big for me. I can only wear them on occasions that don't require movement, since I have to walk like a robot when I wear them. Maybe I should shoot some video of that, too. hmmmmmm

PS: You MUST go to the Black Sheep this Wednesday to hear Dave Norris and his cronies. Don't forget!
PS2: I found an apartment. Yes I did. Thanks for the leads and the morale-boosting!

Dave Norris and no apartment news

At Nostalgica last week, I enjoyed the performance of Dave Norris, who played towards the end of the evening on a Washburn with a big, bright sound. He really gave every song everything he had, both in terms of playing and singing. It was totally awesome. He will be playing at the The Black Sheep next Wednesday, July 30. It would be well worth the trip.

AND...

The other news is no news on the apartment hunting front. Feel free to send me leads!

I need:
2 br
centretown, or a similarly central location
kid friendly
1000 or less/month

Nostalgica report

Last night at about 7pm I was feeling a bit nervous and damning the fact that I knew for sure a few people were coming to hear us - because our AMAZING lead guitarist, Patricia Reynolds, came home from work yesterday sick sick sick!

I started playing guitar about seven years ago, entirely because of Patricia, and we've been making music ever since. I have some insecurity about my guitar skills (which I need to address with proper lessons and scales and drills, I think), and I always feel like I'm missing about half or more of my brain when I play without Patricia.

BUT - we did it! And it went really well, actually. We got good feedback from the crowd (not only our friends, also people who didn't know us from Adam). One of our most stalwart fans, Eliora, who has come to every single performance of ERTB ever, told me that the transitions went smoother than the Ashton open mics. (Because we all sing lead for different songs, we always have to do a switch instruments/switch place thing between each song.)

What else? Thanks to Eliora, Hasana, Nathaniel, Susan L., Karen and her sister Jane, Andrew (belatedly), David P. from Wakefield - thanks for coming out.

And - one more thing - a link to a posting on one of my favourite blogs. In this one, Zoom writes about learning to play the guitar as an adult: "It's okay to suck at stuff".

Nostalgica. Tonight!

Hey, I am sooooo disorganized this week, so I'm just sticking this up now - we are planning on playing a few songs at the Nostalgica open mic tonight. Also two weeks from tonight, the 31st. I understand that the thing doesn't get started til 8, and we probably won't be going up before 9.

Nostalgica is on the campus of Ottawa U. We haven't played there before. I'm looking forward to it, hope to see a friendly face or two in the crowd!

...I really need music this week...

argh. looking for housing

I know everyone lives complicated and busy lives, but can I just rant for a moment? I'm looking for somewhere to live. It has to be in central Ottawa, preferably in a good school catchment area, kid-friendly neighbourhood, clean and well-maintained, large enough for me and a well-behaved, non-hyperactive kid, affordable (1000 or under) and - that's it. That's what I need. If it could also just drop into my lap through magic, that would be good, because I am feeling so discouraged at the thought of re-embarking on the search. I thought I found a place in Ottawa South, but the landlord isn't sure about renting to me because I have a kid. He's concerned about noise in the store below.

argh.

Short and Sweet, with video

Okay, that last post was long and self-indulgent, and probably pretty boring! Here's something short and sweet. Video shot by Sarah's boyfriend, Rocque, at the Ashton open mic June 15, 2008.

"My Mama Always Told Me" by Jen Gilbert
"Young Women To Old" by Carmel Whittle