Bronze Radio Return

I've turned a number of my friends onto a band called Bronze Radio Return, and if you haven't heard of them yet, you are going to now. Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

BRR hails from Connecticut, and they have a brilliant style of music that is incredibly easy to start dancing to. Classified as indie rock, they are quite reminiscent of Mumford & Sons. The lyrics are crafty and sapient, and the melodies are simply delightful. They have a great span of really happy songs to some with more sentimental messages and serious tones.

This is the first song of theirs I heard was "Shake, Shake, Shake". I absolutely adore this song and the music video as well. Listen right now.

"Shake, shake, shake, the only mistake is if you stand still…"

A few of my other favorites (click them!): "Down There", "Everything Moves", "Sell It to You", "Melting in My Icebox", "Worth Wondering", and "World Spin, Home Spun". I won't lie to you though, every album of theirs that I've listened to I've loved, I could've just written the track listings in their entirety.

After I became thoroughly hooked, I did a search to see if they were touring. Knowing they were based on the east coast I was ecstatic to find that they had a tour going and would be hitting the west coast (best coast!) in October. Not only this, but they were going to be playing a small venue in Eugene, Oregon of all places! 

Last night, they rocked one of the best small venues I've been to, Cozmic Pizza, with their opening band Graham Colton. I am always a little worried that a band I love will end up only sounding good recorded, but honey, this is not the case with BRR. I had such a blast at the concert. The energy they put into their craft is remarkable and it is one of the best shows I've been to. They were energized and they looked like they had so much fun; it was impossible to listen without, at the very least, tapping your feet. 

I collect LPs and was thrilled to see that their new album, Up, On & Over, was available on vinyl. After the show I got this and their 2011 CD Shake! Shake! Shake! Being the slightest bit starstruck, my friend had to prod me to stop being a wuss and go meet them. I got to talk with them, tell them to stop messing around in Eugene and get to Corvallis, and their autographs now adorn one of my most prized LPs. 

 

Trust me folks, if these guys come to a town near you, go see them! 

Naked Face

When I was in middle school, I was into drama.

Not like, "Oh my god, did you see Linda with Adam? They were *gasp* talking to each other. He's mine! I'm gonna go cry for the rest of the year."

No, not like that. Like musical theater.

Pinocchio, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast... Godspell... *shudders*

Participating in these dramatic productions taught me a lot, although the self-confidence lesson I think they were designed for never really took root until college. For all of you non-thespians, you can't always tell from the seats in the theater, but stage makeup is horrifying. It's a full two shades darker than your actual skin, full bright cheeks are encouraged, and there's enough hairspray on you to light a small boat on fire.

While this is all fine and dandy when the only people looking at you are on stage wearing the same thing or are at a distance in a very dark room (a very dark room) it is not, by any means, a good introduction to makeup for a young girl.

Big pile of nope right there. 

I was always sort of a tomboy growing up. Partially because I lived in the woods and had the most boss play fort and obstacle course ever (tightropes, trapeze, zip line, fireman pole, five-story-tall swings from trees, etc...), but also because whenever my parents doted some kind of girly toy to me, namely Barbies, I would massacre them. It is a little disturbing, but I can't hide it anymore. I was a Barbie-murder. There. I said it!

I like to think it was me trying to break the paradigm of the female gender role, but I can't be sure if those were my intentions at six years old. Don't worry, I'm not displaying antisocial behavior, it was just Barbies. Other dolls were safe, and I always loved stuffed animals and actually cut all their tags off because I thought the tags hurt them.

Anyway, being more interested in making roads for my hotwheels in the sandbox didn't leave a lot of time to be experimenting with makeup. Especially because these huge floods kept washing all the bridges out. Rebuilding was quite time consuming. I only found out recently that this sandbox was full of rough sand designed for mixing with concrete. Whatevs dad, it's cool.

This, in tandem with the drama, could've made for the perfect marriage of poor artistic skills displayed on the canvas that was my face. This would've been very bad indeed, because looking back on my pictures from these years, the ones I haven't destroyed, I'm surprised anyone talked to me at all. But that, my children, is for another post... you might have to take me out to dinner first…

Ultimately, my lack of interest in makeup and other beauty products extended all the way through high school and now into college. I did eventually learn some of the ways of this subtle feminine mystique for school dances and formal functions, but I have never been one to be an every day applier. This video by my favorite truth-teller, Jenna Marbles, pretty aptly describes what can be inferred from my makeup about me.

Once I was talking with one of my male roommates. I mentioned that I am far too lazy to apply makeup every day. And do you know what he said? He said he couldn't tell.

What the what!?

More surprisingly, for how much of a visual society we are (the makeup industry is 50 billion dollar industry in the US) I have not felt any hinderance in my social life because I don't wear makeup. I don't think a lot of people can tell one way or the other, they only notice if you go from wearing it every day to suddenly not, and vice versa.

Like I said, I'm never focused enough for that business in the morning. I don't really do much with my hair either. If it's washed, it's good. If it's brushed, then some real adult shit is going on. I refuse to wake up two hours early to apply mystery chemical pigments to my face, it's just not that important to me in the long run. I have to use that time to tend to my garden and feed all of my animals.

Also, I don't want to display too many false pretenses; I'm already wearing contacts and have had my teeth ratcheted into a more appealing conformation. I don't want to be dating someone, wearing makeup the whole time, and then skip a day and scare the bajeebers out of him with my naked face. That would be unpleasant for everyone involved.

Every once in a while, I do apply some mascara (a very tame shade of brown). This is just a mental confidence boost I need on some rainy days here in Oregon. Like, what up, I've got lashes today; I'm ready to take on the world.

I understand why a lot of people apply makeup and it can certainly be fun to experiment with. But, honestly, when it comes down to it, it's just one less thing for me to worry about every day.
Is my eye-liner too heavy? Nah.
Did I smear my mascara? Nope.
Do I have lipstick on my teeth? Never.

It's liberating.

The Hot Mess 21st Birthday Cake

My best friend, and roommate, just turned 21.

This is a big birthday for any young adult. Mostly due arbitrary age-restrictions about the consumption of our little friend alcohol.

Now, my roommate was a little bit in denial, and kept trying to tell me that her birthday was in June, or was it November? It's definitely like eight months away... I only questioned myself long enough to fail to order her present on time, but I finally reassured myself it was the 6th. So when she was leaving to visit with her mom on her birthday morning, I got one of these faces...

As soon as she walked out the door, I got my coffee and then got to work. I really enjoy birthdays, especially making things for people when they don't really expect it. However, she did sort of expect something because I baked the cake the night before so it would be cool the next morning; nothing is more frustrating than trying to put frosting on a hot cake.

Now, I didn't come up with this idea completely on my own, but this one is my design. It really is an incredibly fun cake to make.

Materials, in the weird morning light

What I actually used from the picture:
Baked and frosted cake (I used Devil's food with vanilla icing)
Assorted sprinkles (if you get funfetti icing it comes with sprinkles!)
Decorating goo for writing
Some slutty Barbie (which is basically any Barbie...)
Package re-lighting candles (19 candles)
Numbers 2 and 1 candles
Tiny bottle of Advil
Tiny bottles of alcohol (tequila)
Saran wrap

(I was going to put some of those tiny toothbrushes on there (part of the hangover kit), but they weren't very aesthetically pleasing and were a little further off topic than I wanted. I also thought about having a few red hots near the Advil, like they spilled, but decided against it.)

On another note, it was weird to be 20 years old out shopping for a Barbie, I not gonna lie. I felt like a little kid.

This Barbie was our lucky winner.

She was bound for better things than her peers. 

Okay, maybe not better... but different... much different.

So, have your cake baked and frosted evenly. I recommend using a larger cake pan (around 9x13). I assume you can bake a boxed cake and put pre-made frosting on it.

Boom. Like a boss.

Get a piece of plastic wrap that will cover about 1/2 of the cake and put it on the side you want the Barbie on. Sanitation is key, because no one wants to eat Barbie-flavored cake with pieces of plastic hair on it. I took the time to do a sloppy French braid with mine's hair; I was worried about the re-lighting candles sparking and setting the whole thing on fire. The candles did end up smoking a lot we had to open some windows, and only three of the re-lighting ones actually did anything, but whatevs.

All the decorating is up to you and is as simple as you want it to be. Here's what I did...

Arrange the Barbie on the cake in a fall-down-drunk manner. It's your art piece, so have fun with arranging the bottles around her. I had her snuggling with one of the bottles, with her leg propped up on another and her other arm around the bottle of Advil. Note, her glasses are askew as well. Lots of thought went into this, what can I say?

Then place the "2" and "1" candles in the opposite upper corner. Write your message on the cake with the goo of your choice, I went for a girly theme and chose pink.

Poke the candles into the cake, keep the re-lighting ones further away from the Barbie. I used a mix of re-lighting and regular candles, with a total candle count of 21.

Finally toss the sprinkles on around the cake. It doesn't have to look perfect, it's supposed to be kinda ugly, it is a hot mess after all. I also frosted one of her hands and her feet and threw on some sprinkles as well.

It says something to the effect of: "Happy birthday you hot mess! Woooo!"

Yes, I'm aware it does look like she's waiting for GI Joe. 

She's Barbie; she's not modest...

Sprinkles everywhere, on her feet and in her hair.

It is very difficult to write legibly for me at all, let alone with goo. 

One of my roommates partnered in crime and hid the cake in his room. The only piece of evidence I failed to destroy properly was the frosting container that she saw in the trash, but she had no idea that there was any Barbies or tequila involved. Overall, I think the cake was fairly successful.

It helps that she was already buzzin'. The birthday girl's drink of choice?
Champagne and strawberries, because she's classy.

*Ooh pretty...*