GuideSpot!

I’m now doing some freelance writing for a pretty awesome site called GuideSpot. You can check out my first article on GuideSpot – the top fake Twitter feeds!

Lily Allen @ the Showbox

I went to the Showbox SoDo last night to see Lily Allen. Local quirky electro-bubble pop group Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head opened for Lily, and they were decent.  Not like Chester French, who opened for Lady Gaga at the Showbox last month and were awful. No, NPSH delivered on bright, side-ponytail synth jams, just as promised.

Lily came on around 10. She has an awesome voice.  From a singer’s perspective, you can tell that she is a soprano and sounds best in the high, twee range. The bottom part of her voice gave out halfway through from tour fatigue, I think, but it didn’t really matter. She did mostly new songs from 2009’s The Fear, including excellent versions of “Fuck You” and “Everyone’s At It,” and she threw in “Smile” and “LDN” from her 2006 Album Alright, Still.

She is a great live singer, and her onstage banter was fun and didn’t seem forced. She drank and she smoked onstage, which is definitely illegal. And yes, ended the encore with this cover of Womanizer (video not mine).

Chiang’s Gourmet – I guess I’d try again

Friday night, T and I headed up to Chiang’s Gourmet in Lake City to celebrate my finishing a really intense period at work.

When I got there, I was pretty sure I would be in for a treat; the restaurant had that no-class atmosphere with plastic tablecloths that you just rip off for the next customer. I care about food that tastes great, not really decor, and my experience with Chinese food (including eating actual Chinese food in actual China) teaches me that the crappier the decor, the more real the food. So I was psyched for Chiang’s.

The first two courses were pretty phenomenal. I have extremely high standards for hot and sour soup, and theirs exceeded them all. More hot than sour, with an abundance of tofu and scallions. Speaking of scallions, we also ordered the green onion pancakes, which were at least 75% actual scallions. No joke. They were tight.

But the main courses (General Tso’s Chicken and Homemade Panfried Noodles with Vegetables) were only eh. I was expecting the really thin, crispy chow mein noodles (hey, the menu said cai chao mian – vegetable chow mein) but got thick, doughy, soft handcut noodles instead. These were pretty okay, but they weren’t what I was expecting, so I was a bit disappointed. The chicken didn’t have enough sauce to go around, but what there was was super spicy.

All in all, I would go back to try other dishes. Now I know to be really explicit with them when asking about things that come in a variety of forms.

philanthropissed

Those of you who know me know I am a nonprofit sector kinda gal. I’ve been itching to write about my experiences in the nonprofit world in a structured way, so I’ve started a new blog for my professional world called philanthropissed. Head on over, check it  out, argue with me in the comments, add me to your RSS reader, whatever. Come one, come all.

You can also catch me tweeting at twitter.com/philanthropissd (yup, no E, it wouldn’t fit) and personal tweets at twitter.com/aeglassman. Yo.

Deep thought from the shower

When someone says they believe in “outcome-based thinking” and “don’t believe in process,” what they are telling you is that they will do whatever the fuck they want, however and whenever the fuck they want to.

Don’t buy it.

A 2009 Resolution I Hope I Can Keep

Get more sleep.

Happymerry BirthdayMaKuh to me!

I just arrived home from a week spent on the east coast for the holidays (including Christmas, Chanukah, and my birthday) and found the following jewel among the pile of mail in our mailbox.

Got any creative suggestions for a response? I mean, they wrote their home address, for christ’s sake! Although the name is completely illegible, but I suspect that’s on purpose. Out of shame.

Things I Can Cook

I am domestically…differently abled. Translation: I cannot cook. But I am trying. T can’t be the hausfrau forever. I list below all the items I currently can make, from scratch, and well. The list is…short. I am going to make a new post for every recipe I learn.

• Cucumber salad with homemade lemon olive oil dressing
• Split pea & barley soup 
• Quesadillas 
• Pesto sauce
• Mashed potatoes
• Vegetable stirfry

Finit.

Top 10 Albums of 2008

I like top 10 lists. I think I want to do a top 10 albums of 2008 list. Now, this won’t be your typical top 10 list, because I’m not writing about my top 10 albums that came out this year. No, I’m going to list the top 10 albums I listened to this year. Some of them are 2008, some of them are from a long time ago. But they defined my year.

In no particular order: 

M.I.A. – Kala (2007)
I would probably put this as my #1 for the whole year if I were ranking. Some of my picks are totally guilty pleasures (see: Britney), but I would defend this album anywhere, anyhow, anytime, anyplace!

Lady GaGa – The Fame (2008)
I just love her, she’s a hot bitch. If I ever kill anyone it will be her fault because this record makes me dance in my car while driving. She does fun ultra-vibratos with her voice too. 

Britney Spears – Circus (2008)
If 16-year-old me had the ability to know that 27-year-old me  ”bought” a Britney Spears CD (actually, two) and would root for her to make a big comeback, 16YOM would have found a way to make time travel a reality just so she could travel to the future to punch 27YOM in the  face, really hard. But I just gotta own it, as a dear friend says. This record is just pure fun and helped me get through some super-shitty times at work.Truthfully, Blackout did too, just…different job.  I <3 you, Britney, no matter how 16YOM would cringe. 

Black Sabbath – Master of Reality (1971)
Early Sabbath is so good. Ozzy has a unique voice, one of my favorites of all time, actually. There’s something about it. Plus this album achieves total heavyosity, so it rules. Obvs great stoner album. I mean, it’s Sabbath. 

George Harrison – All Things Must Pass (1970)
Most underappreeshed Beatle. Sorry Ringo. Also, I vote for this as best post-Beatles solo album by a Beatle. Yup, I said it. T and I listened to this nonstop for about a month straight. It’s a triple album (the first ever released) with so many stellar tracks. I’m considering walking down the aisle to the lead track, I’d Have You Anytime.

Jay-Z & Dangermouse – the Grey Album (2004)
I tend to love mashups, so I thought this might rule when I downloaded it. The concept is genius (The Beatles’ White Album mashed with Jay-Z’s Black Album). Turns out it does rule, and it totally turned me on to Jay-Z in general. Before that I tended to stick to female rappers (see below) and Kanye West (rap fag extraordinaire). 

Steely Dan – Aja (1977)
I have tried to get T to like Steely Dan for fucking ever. 2008 was the year he finally caved, and it’s because this album is fucking tight as hell. 

Jean Grae – Jeanius (2008)
How could I not love a rapper  named after an X-Man? She has a ton of range. There’s some really gangsta stuff on here, and then some really poignant, emotional tracks too. I get the sense she hasn’t lived an easy life.

Madonna – Hard Candy (2008)
I had to buy the album, because I could tell by the cover that Madonna would personally beat the shit out of me if I downloaded it. Totally worth it, except for how low-volume the iTunes mp3s are. I like to crank my shit up.  

Tufts Beelzebubs – Pandaemonium
I’m an a cappella snob, what with my judging the a cappella awards for the last gazillion years, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a collegiate a cappella album this luminous and enjoyable.

Starting over

Yeah hi. I’m just going to write about whatever I want. Soon.