.::february is for *favorites*!::.

so who watched the grammys last night?? that must be my favorite awards show of the season. well, i usually love all of the ones that have to do with music… but for today, we’ll call last night a *favorite.* not only was my boy dave matthews nominated for two big awards, he also performed his latest single “you & me” with an orchestra of kids in “grammy camp” (yeah i dunno). he calls the single a “tiny little song” that he came up with while he and his wife and kids were floating around a lake in upstate new york. so perfect, right? and last night, he made this “tiny little song” huge on stage. it was a pretty awesome performance (complete with dave’s awesome, strange, sporadic, crazy dancing…i love to watch him dance!!). i was so proud, even though green day and taylor swift won the grammys in his two categories. ah well! next time! phoenix won best alternative album… that was huge! their album is just so great and i’ve got mad love for them in general, so it was nice to see them get recognized… even though theirs wasn’t announced on live TV. all of the performances were pretty word-up… i enjoyed pink’s trapeze water-sprinkler madness, and really thought green day’s broadway stuff was cool… who knew they were getting their own musical?! sheesh… i really enjoyed the last performance with drake, travis barker, eminem, & wayne. they were all awesome.unfortunately i was up late watching that and i’d slept in anyway so i wasn’t really tired… so what happened this morning? i turned my bitch of an alarm off and overslept. yayyyyy me!

in other news, i’ve been easing back into workout world. and by easing back, i mean i’ve actually started working out again it’s been a while since i’ve been on a regular schedule (given the holidays and all) and i finally gave in and freed myself from my waaaaay-too-expensive (but really freakin awesome) gym, so i’ve been doing other things, like walking by the river or going up kennesaw mountain. i started doing yoga again after the new year (oh how i’ve missed it!!!) and just this past week (as part of a review for eff&music, actually) i did a couple of pilates classes at a studio in the highlands. it’s been fun! i can reaaallllly feel my abs and back muscles today, which can only mean one thing… i’ve got work to do! i’m pretty sure i’ll never have love for pilates like i do for yoga, but it’s a really great workout. if you’re looking for a cheap, small class, the girls who teach at seminole studio are very good & patient teachers. i’ve done a little pilates before but it’s still kind of hard and they were super helpful. check them out if you dare! only $10! seminole studio (located at 675 Seminole Ave, NE, Atlanta, GA 30307; phone 678-576-9553) also has a number of other classes including yoga, zumba, & other types of conditioning & cardio things. they have a “passport” package where you can get discounted classes, or you can pay individually. the pilates schedule can be found here and you can actually read shaniah’s review on eff&music today. check’em out!

as for me, i’m looking forward to getting out of work and doing something outside, finally. it’s always effing raining. but yeah… embarking on my first ski trip EVER this weekend (to aspen!) and yes, i’m actually going to attempt to ski, so i’m excited about getting ready for that. except for the packing. packing is always the worst. i’ll do my best at updating during the trip so you can see my klutzy self trying to stay alive in the snow… can’t wait to entertain ya! have a great day, my loves… happy (early) groundbug day, i hope spring comes soon… and for those of you who are even half as excited as i am about LOST, enjoy watching tomorrow!!! w00t!!

peace,
james

jamesly’s back…!

well that was a nice little break from life for a while… 2 months! but i promised myself i’d write more FOR myself this year than i’ve been doing, although i loooooove writing my Eff&Music stuff, that seems to be about all i’ve had time for lately (aside from work & my random travels). so! i wanted to tell you about one of the great abenteuers i have planned for this year…

.::coachella :: april 16-18, 2010 :: indio, california::.

have you ever heard of this awesome, awesome event? coachella is an annual massive music fest, comparable to (what those of us on the east coast know more about) bonnaroo. coachella was first held in 1999, skipped a year in 2000, and has been going continuously every april since 2001. i’ve heard lots more about festivals like bonnaroo over the years (being closer to where i live), and never thought i’d get the urge or the opportunity to go across the country to something like coachella.

.::finally, eb&j are back!::.

so I decided, very last minute, to come see New Moon tonight, since we’re going to augusta tomorrow right after I leave work… I’d originally decided to wait til the weekend so I wouldn’t sleep-deprive myself any more than necessary, buy quickly realized that i didn’t care & that the mild competitive streak in me reallllllly wanted to see it when everyone else was. *sigh*

so here I sit, in theatre 9 at AMC’s Parkway Pointe (thankfully only 5 minutes from my house), after a nice (& needed) 4 hour nap right after work. got up about 10:15, showered, packed a bit for the *augusta abenteuer,* then headed out. filled the gas tank, got a red bull for the road (& of course my signature movie pkg of diet coke & m&ms) and came to the theatre. it wasn’t that crowded, ppl jus starting to trickle in, so I’m camped out & waiting.

time to read for a bit & wait 40 more minutes to goodness. yay!

peace,
james

.::Throwback: Garden State Soundtrack, iron & wine::.

i hope everyone’s seen this movie by now…. crazy good film, and an awesome soundtrack full of indie goodies. you know what i’m talking about?? i was looking into iron & wine for my band of the week and remembered their cover of postal service’s “such great heights” on garden state and wanted to make sure you’d all heard it. those that have, you know what i’m talking about. zach braff (that cutie from scrubs that i absolutely love) wrote, directed, and starred in this independent film alongside the beautiful natalie portman back in 2004. he has a great ear for the music that i love and decided that his soundtrack should reflect that… he picked all the music. and it! is! awesome! about the music, braff said: “essentially, I made a mix cd with all of the music that I felt was scoring my life at the time I was writing the screenplay.” sounds like my life. i make a different playlist for any occasion, any emotion. he’s stated that, when he wrote the screenplay, he was “homesick for a place that didn’t even exist,” depressed, lonely, and waiting tables, much like the character he plays in the movie. the music is perfect for that mindset, and something that i love, if you remember my penchant for the *random depressing* songs in life. hey, he won a grammy for it… that counts for something!!

.::e&m: little james gets crafty, tries bone marrow::.

my friend MK and i happen to have a slightly more expensive taste than our other friends, sometimes… which may explain why, last year when we were in hawaii, we ate the most ridiculously expensive meal we’d ever paid for, EVER, at la mer, a restaurant in the halekulani hotel (which, coincidentally, also had a number of high-end boutique shops inside… including chanel…!). i think we got this, like….. RIDICULOUS ten course “tasting menu” which cost [a number i'd rather not say] a person. and then there was wine… let’s just say i spent more at that place than i ever thought i’d spend on *food.* but, don’t get me wrong. it’s was amazing.

MK & I decided to have dinner the other night and catch up after my trip to spain, and decided to go to Craft Bar. I’ve always wanted to go there, but it wasn’t until it was suggested by someone at work that we considered it (since our first choice got shot down). we were told that Craft Bar was so much better than Craft, the restaurant upstairs. so, we decided to try it… and it was definitely an interesting experience!! the Craft complex is located on Peachtree, near the Maggiano’s across from lenox, and right in front of The Mansion on Peachtree. a little valet parking, checked in with the hostess, and we were sitting down almost immediately.

.::it’s fall!! time for another *random depressing* playlist::.

welcome to the world, little november. we greet you with chilly fingers and toes & lots of hot chocolate. wait, what am i saying? EFF hot chocolate. i need a soy latte! ahhhh november. that month of months, where everything changes. november, to me, is a time when you get ready, get set & GO fast forward to holiday season. which, by the way, happens to be my absolute most FAVORITE time of the year. FAVORITE FAVORITE FAVORITE! starting with halloween. too bad that’s just one day. but after that (i.e. NOW) it’s full speed ahead to thanksgiving, christmas, and new year’s. so excited!! i’m sure i’ll be going crazy with holiday stuff soon enough, but for now, let’s enjoy, while we can, *fall things.*

fall, to me, is this mystical, magical time of the year that sometimes doesn’t exist in beautiful GA… there’s this very tiny window of time when the leaves change and the weather gets cool (but not freezing cold) and you can go hiking and camping and silly stuff like that. unfortunately for us here, it usually doesn’t show up til late october and early november, and only lasts a couple of weeks before the wintery BLAHS set in. that’s what i hate. so i’m gonna enjoy *fall-ness* while i can.

E&M: FunFoodThursday: Tapas!!!

wouldn’t ya know it… little james went to spain and now she wants to talk about ¡¡~TAPAS~!! [note: i've included pictures of my random tapa experience throughout. don't mind me.]i knew tapas were big over there, especially in the town of sevilla, where i spent my first week. what i didn’t realize was just how awesome the culture of tapas was. one of the great things about doing a language school over there was the optional ‘culture classes’ we had every day. these were classes we had the hour before our actually language classes where we did something culturally related; for instance, worked on pronunciation or read poems or something like that. well, the last day of culture class we learned all about the glory of TAPAS. there’s actually quite a history to it. those of us who live in the states know what tapas are, know which restaurants have them, know how tiny they can be, and know that they go reallllly well with a mojito or caipiriñha. which, at this point, i must stop and say: dearest cachaça, i forgot how much i loved you. i have rekindled my love with caipiriñhas and will be seeing you again very, very soon.

E&M: TakeOnlyWhatYouNeed: New Moon & Paramore!

i decided, until i have another trip, i’ll just post my Eff&Music posts on here along with other random stuff… you know, treat it like a real blog. here’s my TOWYN from last week… will be followed by my tapas review from last week’s FunFoodThursday… and i’ll put my post tomorrow up here as well. enjoy! EVERYONE SHOULD BE LISTENING TO THE NEW MOON SOUNDTRACK!! IT’S AMAZING!!

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

james is back from spain!! that means you get something new this week. how’d ya like the rewinds? yes? no? maybe so?

this week, i wanted to give you a treat (not a trick), just in time for halloween, peeps… New Moon is coming out soon, and i can’t WAIT to see it. the soundtrack is already out, and you are gonna love it…! i’m really excited about the artists featured on this one. a lot of my little indie chickens make an appearance, as well as some artists from the previous soundtrack. apparently, Muse is one of Stephenie Meyer’s (the author) favorite bands, and she listened to them a lot while writing the Twilight Saga. they had a couple songs on the first soundtrack and have a song on this one as well. here’s the track listing:

.::parc güell..and goodbye::.

at last! today was Parc Güell Day. and i promise to write all about it as soon as i can. for right now, it’s almost 11:30 and i need to get up at 5:15 to check out and get myself to the airport, so i’m gonna go to bed. *sigh* so long, barcelona. and, spain. it’s been a lovely two weeks. and i’m sure i’ll be seeing you again in this lifetime.

.::today (in a nutshell)::.
i got up a little early so i could go ahead and pack and get my stuff ready to leave, since i figured i wouldn’t wanna do it tonight and tomorrow would be to early for all that madness. so i think i’m ready. once that was done, i took off (finally) for parc guell. sunny, clear skies, and kind of warm-ish… the perfect day for a hike. and a hike it kinda was!! i stopped to take pictures a few places, but all in all i think it was about an hour-fifteen from my hostel, so i’m guessing somewhere around 4 miles. dunno, gotta look it up. anyway, i spent a long while there, taking all kinds of pictures, listening to musicians, and doing a little rendition of the long mosaic park bench with my watercolor pencils and pastels. that was fun! some elementary school kids came up and were eating lunch next to me, and a couple of them came behind me to watch me color. awkward… but i got a ¡que bonita! for my picture and it made me smile. i’m so on their level. after my time at the park i walked home… a bit faster this time, because mostly downhill and i knew my destination. i spent the rest of the afternoon window shopping and picture-making. then, dinner at a restaurant near the boqueria market before coming home.

.::the rain in spain::.

well, there’s that. rain, that is. and a LOT of it.

rain, rain, go away...

i might be a little drunk…. i’m pretty sure i drank the entirety of a bottle of wine today. a half-bottle at lunch with sushi and then another at dinner just now. a day in the life, i suppose… hopefully not forever more though… i want *people* back!! we all know i’m not a big talker, but, GOD, i miss having company. i love it here, but i’m itching to be around people i know again. (that’s me saying, i miss you! all of you… wish you could see this place!)