karaoke dreams

I love a good night of karaoke with friends. Neighborhood bars filled with characters and booze almost always make for lots of fun. I can't sing... but I sure love to anyway. I have some safe songs I stick to... mostly some simple rap songs and 90's hits that don't require a great voice. But I have a list of songs that I hope to do someday... songs that require some planning, study, confidence and skill. Here are some of my dream karaoke songs... in my mind these could be EPIC if I ever manage to pull them off the way I imagine.

1. 99 Luft Balloons, Nena

Yes, the GERMAN version. How fun would it be to just get up and do this 80's hit in flawless German?! It would be amazing. I would also dance like Zach Braff:

2. Informer, Snow

Speaking of other languages... okay, this was is in English (allegedly), but does anyone know what he's saying? It's fast and in a strange accent with lots of nonsense slang. And you can't not dance to it, so the audience would eat it up. Plus you get to say "A licky boom boom now."

3. Making Love Out of Nothing At All, Air Supply

I have practiced this one in the car DOZENS of times, but I have to have it down perfectly before I dare attempt it in public. The song is an epic rock ballad... it requires choreography, good timing, air guitar and passion. And perhaps pyrotechnics. I'm working on it. I wouldn't dare shame Air Supply, you guys. It's gotta be done right.

4. Wig In A Box, from Hedwig And The Angry Inch

From one of the best rock operas ever, Wig In A Box is a song packed with so much attitude and power... one really needs to be in character to do it justice. It's a theatrical song with a story. You gotta get into a fabulous frame of mind, and really WORK IT, gurl. I would really need to tap into my inner Diva. Someday...

Do you have karaoke dream songs? What are they?

4 Reel - Memory Loss movies

No, I didn't forget about my 4 Reel feature, in which I pick 4 movies that fit a certain theme and describe them in 4 words. Here is another installment! These are all movies that revolve around memory loss.



Momento - what's real? mind fuck.







The Hangover - Hilarious, redonk, couch pizza







diminished capacity - family, sweet, fish poetry







Overboard - the 80's were terrible





Past 4 Reels
Drag Queens
Winter Weather
Afterlife
Horror
Zomedies
Samurai

forest park in early autumn

Over the weekend I took a beginner's photography class, thanks to my friend Kali (check out her blog!) who invited me along. Photography is one of those things you can never stop learning about, so I take every opportunity I can to improve my skills (See this post about the food photography class I recently took).

While this class did teach me a few valuable things about taking photos, the lesson that I was most struck by was what a treasure Forest Park is to St. Louis! It was a walking photography class, you see, through this historic park. I have been to the park hundreds of times... it is, of course, where our awesome zoo, art museum, history museum and other various attractions and events are.

So imagine my delight when I found myself walking through glorious gardens and paths and parts of the park I had never explored before! My awe was heightened by the gorgeous fall colors of the trees and foliage. Vivid reds and warm, bright yellows against still green grasses and bushes. Wow. I need to make walking through this large, historic, interesting park a habit. What a lift to my spirits!

Related posts from the archives:

New Orleans in photos

Flower photos

Signs of Mid-Fall

Photo theme: leaves

Photo theme: fire hydrants

Photo theme: orange

Photo theme: reflections

Photo theme: butterflies

Photo theme: winter

Photo theme: yellow

From Iron Stef: my best food photos

bizarre stock images

As a designer, I am often scouring the web for stock images. There are hundred of sites with billions of images... very useful ... but sometimes... oh sometimes.

I'm not the only one who comes across these bizarre images. There is a whole website dedicated to Awkward Stock Photos, as well as amazing posts such as Women Alone Laughing with Salads. Hilarious.

Here are some images I've come across in various innocent searches that made me look twice... and laugh... or shiver.


Are you serious enough about breakfast? ARE YOU?


Fat stoner chirstmas beaver.


Well, Santa is human... I guess?


Bran muffins? More like BRAIN muffins!!!



I don't know. but I don't want.


Carrot in a baby show. duh.


It's called the Fright Diet. Food so scary, you'll never eat again.


She's on the Fright Diet, too.


She looks nice in that apron. But she totally roofied her puppy!


Kitty with pepperoni. Cats love cured meats.


Not to be paranoid, but I wouldn't eat any of that pie if I were you.


I... got nuthin.


Ew.


This is... kinda cute, actually. Twisted, but cute.


I'm scarred for life.


GO AWAY!!!!


Cuss-tard.


I hope nobody got paid for this.


They must be European.


BABY HEAD!!!

Good day to you, fine people!

New Orleans in photos

Went to this legendary city this weekend for the first time. It is full of charm and good food and friendly people. I will be back. It was a short trip. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the visit.


Couldn't get enough photos of this building. The teal shutters draw me in.


Applied the Orton effect to this 'un.






View from a hotel window. taken with a disposable camera. I like the gamble of using disposable. Sometimes you get just the right effect.


Another disposable shot. The little baby was the subject of a photo shoot.


We got these cheesy but awesome (and useful in the heat!) souvenir silk fans. My best friend Julie looks gorgeous, no?


Rabbit Livers at Cochon. We had such a great meal there. Yummm.


Boucherie platter at Cochon.


Met some interesting characters. This groom-to-be was still drunk and up at 7am when we went to the pool. I liked him until he crushed my head.


Swamps!


The menu outside the Coffee Pot.

The Wedgewood Friends

My friend Stacey gave me these fabulous vintage wood dolls. I fell in love with them instantly and named them. I decided they are all from a town called Wedgewood. Want to meet my new friends?



Eugene and Betty Hammerstone.




Paul Anderson




Dr. Pete Pointer, MD, and Nurse Lily Gray




Olivia Frub and Shanks the lamb

I think these new friends of mine will have some adventures.... stay tuned!

stewed logo

Stewed STL is a new podcast in St. Louis about food. It's the creation of 4 of my favorite foochebags, Andrew Mark Veety (Andrew Mark Veety .com), Kelli Best Oliver (South City Confidential, Food Blog Mafia), Bill Burge (STL Bites) and Mike Sweeney (STL Hops). It's basically these 4 opinionated and interesting people drinking and talking about what's going on in the local and national food scenes. They also have guests... local chef's, food writers, etc.

When they first asked me to design a logo for them, I really wasn't sure what Stewed STL was all about... up until then there had only been some teaser tweets. So in e-mail exchanges I got some more info from them... here are some of my favorite descriptions from them that I used when designing:

"Talkin' truth to food. Hardcore knowledge. Bitch slappin' idiots. Drinking beer. Hanging out with cooks and other food people. Lots of bullshittery. Epic shitstorm."

"For better or worse I kind of think of Stewed as a retarded cross between Charlie Rose and "Sports Shouting" from 30 Rock"

"fun, yet serious. Not "kiddie" but still maybe not taking itself totally serious."

These people are hilarious. But serious about food. When coming up with logo design options, I tried to convey a revolutionary, guerrilla kind of feel, but still keep it fun and new. The clenched fist is iconic... a great way to instantly make people think "revolution." It ended up in 2 of my final designs. Kitchen utensils were an obvious choice, too, though I used a beer mug in one because one of the big components of the show is booze. Here are the 3 options I ended up with for them to choose from:


They picked #2 unanimously. Is that what you would have gone with? I think it suits Stewed the best. Yes, the "grunge" is overplayed in design, but it is appropriate in this case... think graffiti artists... people with talent who have a message to get out there... that's Stewed STL in a nutshell! However they wanted to change out the beer mug to something more food related. I gave them 4 utensils to choose from.



Do you think they made the right choice with the fork? I think so. You use forks for both cooking AND eating... Stewed is not just a cooking show and not just a show about restaurants... they talk about it all. Boom. Fork.



This was a fun project with some very smart and talented friends. I'm glad they chose me to do the design. Enough about me... go listen to Stewed STL!

Previous design posts:
Gubenthal CD
Yellowtree Farm logo
So Much Closer CD

My design portfolio