How Can I NOT Love This?!

Ok, I know I have TONS to catch up on but when I got word form Ingrid's Facebook last week that she did a cover of my obsessive song, I HAD to share it with all of you!

Yes, even though it's been almost 2 months since I shared the original (see previous post), the song "Somebody That I Used To Know" is still in my head!  And btw, it's a really good song to workout to!

So without further ado, here is my favorite female artist singing my current obsessive song!

Enjoy!

One Word: Muse.

(Anticipation!)

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a Muse concert with one of my besties, Danielle.  She texted me back in April asking if I wanted to attend.  There was nothing I could say but, absolutely.  The last time I saw Muse performed was back in 207, the night before I moved to Hawaii.  They were awesome three years ago so I had high hopes this time around.

And they succeeded.

When their performance first began, there were these three pillars set up on stage.  Danielle and I were a little confused because behind the stage (they performed at The honda Center, which is where The Ducks play hockey) there were rows of people sitting, awaiting the concert as well.  How are they going to see when there is no way they can get a glimpse behind the pillars?  Well Danielle being the smartie that she is pointed out that the pillars probably drop somehow.

Well she was mostly right.  The music began and the pillars were lit up with random images until those images became white silhouettes of men walking up several flights of stairs.  Then suddenly, slowly, those med began to fall off the stairs.  That's when the the middle of the pillars dropped and the three band members appeared on what seemed to be platforms.

It was a brilliant show!  They played almost all of my favorite songs, including "Black Holes and Revelations" and "Undisclosed  Desires."  The reason why I love this band live is because they don't just play the new songs off the most recent album, but they bring back some of their older stuff.  They even busted out Michael Buble's "Feeling Good."  Loved it!

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a Muse concert with one of my besties, Danielle.  She texted me back in April asking if I wanted to attend.  There was nothing I could say but, absolutely.  The last time I saw Muse performed was back in 207, the night before I moved to Hawaii.  they were awesome three years ago so I had high hopes this time around.

And they succeeded.  

When their performance first began, there were these three pillars set up on stage.  Danielle and I were a little confused because behind the stage (they performed at The honda Center, which is where The Ducks play hockey) there were rows of people sitting, awaiting the concert as well.  How are they going to see when there is no way they can get a glimpse behind the pillars?  Well Danielle being the smartie that she is pointed out that the pillars probably drop somehow.

Well she was mostly right.  The music began and the pillars were lit up with random images until those images became white silhouettes of men walking up several flights of stairs.  Then suddenly, slowly, those med began to fall off the stairs.  That's when the the middle of the pillars dropped and the three band members appeared on what seemed to be platforms.

It was a brilliant show!  They played almost all of my favorite songs, including "Black Holes and Revelations" and "Undisclosed  Desires."  The reason why I love this band live is because they don't just play the new songs off the most recent album, but they bring back some of their older stuff.  They even busted out Michael Buble's "Feeling Good."  Loved it!

Non-Stop.

This is the song that I've been listening to on repeat all day long today.  Does it ever bother you to hear someone singing the same song over and over and over again?  Not me.  In fact, it makes me happy.  Unless I don't know the song, then it's just plain annoying.


Barenaked Ladies - Call and Answer

I Dreamed A Dream...

Last night I watched one of my favorite shows, Glee.  I am amazed at the talent on that show.  I would love to have a voice like that!

For a couple of episodes, Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba in the Broadway show Wicked, guest starred but never sang.  I couldn't understand why.  She has an amazing voice!  Even her counterpart, Kristen Chenowith, who played Glenda in Wicked sang a handful of songs.

Well, on the latest episode, Ms. Menzel finally proved her talent, once again, as she sang a duet with Lea Michele (Rachel).  They sang the song "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables and did such a beautiful job!  Their voices blended wonderfully and I couldn't have been more impressed.

This song has been in my head all day today.  I think it fits into my life quite perfectly right now...

Song of the Day.

Girl Crush.

I'm sure that if you've been reading my (randomness) blog, you can tell I have a girl crush on Ingrid Michaelson.  I can't help but love her music.  Like I've said before, it is what I turn to when I need to escape or express myself. Well, last Thursday on May 6, the most amazing thing happened to me...

(Everyone keeps calling me her twin.  I'm ok with that!)

Rewind about a week or two prior...

I had heard Ingrid was playing a secret show in L.A.  I spoke with my sister about it briefly and wanted to go SO bad!  I looked up tickets on the venue's website to buy them.  The words that stared back at me almost made me cry: SOLD OUT.  I was really bummed.  I've never had the opportunity to see Miss Michaelson play live and I had lost my chance, once again.

Thursday came and I'd grown a jealous feeling since I'd found out a couple of my friends had tickets.  I decided I was going to have a good day regardless.  I helped coworkers out more than usual and also gave them compliments.  I drove without my usual road rage and just put positive vibes out into the universe. After work, I stopped at Target to buy the new Charlaine Harris book, which I've been waiting for, and went home.  I went online, as I usually do, and checked my email.  While I was reading an email, a new message popped up -- from Ingrid Michaelson.  I quickly checked it out and read something very exciting: "We have just released 8 tickets for tonight's secret show.  Click here for details."

And so I did.  As I filled out the desired information, I thought to myself, "There's no way.  8 tickets??  I'm sure they're already gone."

 That's when I saw the most exciting sentence yet: "Your transaction has been completed.  You may pick up your tickets at Will Call." YESSS!!!!  Totally serendipitous!

(You and I.)

Gina and I got ready as quickly as possible and made it to see Ingrid Michaelson's secret, solo performance!  We met up with five of our friends and had such a wonderful evening.  I will never forget how much fun it was!  Who knew Ingrid Michaelson was so comical?!  I knew she was funny but some of the things she said just cracked me up!  She even mentioned something about the Target Stabber (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=7424975) stabbing some girl in the back, haha!!

One of my favorite parts was when she said, "I heard someone request the song 'Charlie.'  You know I actually ripped that song off.  Remember that song from TLC called 'Scrub?'  Check this out...."  She then proceeded to play the song 'Charlie' but then sang the lyrics to the TLC song!  We could not stop laughing!  And she sang almost the whole song!  It was fantastic.

(Ingrid kept showing everyone the best way to pose for pix, lol!)

She sang almost all of my favorite songs and even a new song she had written 2 days prior.  It was beautiful and we're hoping she releases it soon!  She then asked us what we thought of her hair because she had just dyed it.  One person replied that it was too dark and should be more orange.  Ingrid then decided to play a song based on the color orange.  She's so funny and amazingly talented!  It was so amazing to listen to her play live!

After Ingrid was done, we hung out a little bit and and just talked about how amazing the performance was.  Our friend Emily disappeared for a little bit and then came in with her camera.  She had just gotten a picture taken with my favorite artist!  So we all moseyed to the entrance of Hotel Cafe and hung out with Ingrid!  She was so gracious and so much fun.  We each took a picture with her, as well as a group shot.  She talked to us for a while and we had such a blast!  You know, just hanging out with Ingrid Michaelson.  Chatting.  Even talking about her love life!  (We promised we wouldn't say a word about the details though.  Sorry.)

(Suzette, April, Me, Ingrid, Jeni, Gina, Christi and Emily.)

Our friend April said the greatest thing to her.  She said, "We would just like to thank whoever the guy was that broke your heart so bad because your last album was just incredible!"  Ingrid took it as a huge compliment and said, "Thank you so much!  It was actually more than one guy."

What an amazing night it was!  She has been my favorite female artist ever since I heard her song on an episode of Grey's Anatomy in 2006.  I had to immediately see who sang it and download it right then and there!

 I am not afraid to say that I have a girl crush on Ingrid Michaelson.

(This one is one of my heartbreak songs)


(This is one of the covers she did, although it's not my video. I LOVE the way she did it though!)

IDK, my BFF Music?

I know I've said it before, but Music plays a vital role in my life.  It is my best friend.  Always there for me.  It speaks to my very soul.  Everyday.



As a lot of you know I have a very difficult time conveying my emotions.  (Well, at least any negative ones.)  I go around with a smile on my face even if I am screaming inside.  I push all of my pain, my hurt and anger deep down and ignore it.  I am always in a seemingly good mood.  I crack jokes and laugh at yours.  But on the inside, I may not be feeling the same as how I portray myself.

I choose to hide it.  I choose not to burden anyone with my negative feelings so as not to burden you.  Plus, they say laughter heals.  Smiles take less muscles than frowns (supposedly).  So I keep it to myself and be "happy."

Queue Music.

Music is my way of expressing how I feel.  It is my release.  It is how I relate to the world how I am truly feeling at one time.  (Only it's usually in private if tears are involved.  This is because I HATE to cry.  It is second only to the feeling of vomiting.)  I choose not to share my negative feelings with others because I don't want to cry.  I don't want to give my negative energy to you and I don't want to cry.  I would rather you be happy and not worry about me.

This is why I release all of my pain through Music.

One of my favorite female artists is Ingrid Michaelson.  She has truly been my savior thus far.  Her Music touches me and declares the feelings and emotions that I cannot.  It helps me express my joy through the songs "Everybody" and "You and I."  It helps me divulge my sadness with a handful of songs off of this same album like "All Love," "Maybe," "The Chain," and "Sort Of."  This Music is my comfort.  My solace.  It is my hug when I am feeling blue.  Because it knows exactly how to speak the words that I cannot.  It knows exactly how to put those feelings I am struggling with  into sound.  It envelopes me with its warm rhythms and melodies and holds me there until I fall asleep.

And it works.  For me.

So please forgive me if I don't open up completely when I am feeling blue.  I just need a moment with my music...

LOST with Ingrid Michaelson...

I love the show LOST and have watched it since the beginning air date. I also love Ingrid Michaelson. Put them together and it's a joyous occasion.

fun.

As you know...err.. maybe you don't.. I wake up at 4:30am every weekday to make to it to work by 6am.  Yeah, I know.  It DOES suck!

  

So anyway, I usually don't stay out too late during the work week.  Monday night was a different story.

(The first single from Aim and Ignite.  I think it's amazing when a singer can get the whole crowd to sing their own songs back to them -- sorry, it's live, but I just love this song!)

It was a last minute invite from my little sister Ashley to go to L.A. to see a band called fun. play for free.  Now fun. is fronted by Nate Ruess, formerly from one of my all time favorite bands, The Format.  The Format went on indefinite hiatus this past February and that is when fun. (yes, it is spelled lower case with a period) was created.  I never had the chance to go to The Format and I was not about to pass up fun. did I mention it was free??

I knew I wouldn't regret it.  Absolutely brilliant.  I immediately signed on to iTunes and bought the whole album.  There is a song on there named "The Gambler" that Nate Ruess wrote about his parents.  It's something I want in life.  It's a beautiful song and I suggest you find it and listen to it.

After leaving Spaceland in L.A. (and yes, seeing the fires along the hillsides), we drove to Long Beach to see the band Limbeck at The Prospector (which I HATE -- not Limbeck, but the bar).  It was fantastic!  Such a fabulous night spent well!!  And just think, I could have stayed home and slept??  Meh, I'll sleep when I'm old.

(This one is so catchy, I just love it!)

I Heart My Friend Kat...

She dances. She sings. She acts. She's a fantastic photographer. And a beautiful person. Kathleen Hennessey (http://bybubble.blogspot.com/) is an amazing, talented girl that everyone ought to know.

I first met my favorite Kat at church in Huntington Beach, CA. That's right, she's Mormon. Who knew Mormons could have such talent and amazing personalities to go along with their outer and inner beauty??

Kat recently played Elphaba in my favorite broadway show of all time, Wicked, in Japan! I really wish I could have gone to see her perform, but I was able to be there in spirit through her blog. She is currently in Montreal where she is prepping for the upcoming Cirque du Soleil Vaudeville style! This time, I plan on visiting Chicago to see the performance and cannot wait!!

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite clips of my friend Kat in her various adventures! Enjoy!!

Here is their rendition of Lady Gaga's "Just Dance." (Kat is the second from the left.)

This next one is an En Vogue Tribute and it's just so much fun! So many flashbacks, ha ha! I love this one.

And FINALLY!! Kat in her performance of Elphaba in Wicked Japan.

The second part of the clip is my uttermost favorite song from the soundtrack Wicked...

I Want to Live in Effington...

It's amazing to me the way music can have an effect on my emotions.  Music has always been a big part of my life.  While I was growing up, my mom and dad ALWAYS had a record playing, or were singing a tune of some sort.  Even to this day when I go out with them in the car the radio is playing.  This has helped me develop a relationship with music in my life.  A strong one that always plays a part in my memories.

The past couple of months or so have been pretty difficult for me.  Many changes and events have scrambled up my daily routines.  It is through family, friends and music that I have been able to overcome such events.

While I was living in Hawaii I missed out on a lot of live concerts that I would have liked to attend.  (That's one reason I am so stoked to be back in Orange County!  With Los Angeles and San Diego nearby, I have more opportunities to see the bands I love.)  Last week, I turned to one of my favorite artists, Ben Folds.  As I went through the curveballs in my life, I couldn't help but smile as butterflies filled my basket (thanks for the line Zoolander) as I bought two tickets.  I knew it would have to be my sister Traci who accompanied me!

When we got to House of Blues in San Diego every minute that got closer to the performance got more and more exciting!  Finally it was time!  We first headed toward the merchandise.  If you know my sister, shopping is priority.  I was more than happy to go along.  Then we found our places to stand in the general admission concert hall.  Now as you all know, Traci and I are not the tallest Benincosas in the family.  At all.  I don't even reach 5'4" and Traci is about an inch shorter than myself.  This is the only problem when we face a concert crowd.  We decided to position ourselves where we might get a glimpse of Mr. Folds as well as next to a tv so we could see the whole thing when heads, shoulders and backs got in the way of Ben Folds.

Then Ben Folds came onto the stage.  It was amazing how all of the sadness, anxiety, anger, etc washed away as the harmonies of the song "Effington" began.  My cousin put up a quote on her Facebook page from the movie "Say Anything" that fits perfectly for this moment with the substitution of one word:  "The (music) is like a baptism..."  I couldn't help but beam a smile the whole entire two hours of the performance!

Ben Folds is amazing in his performance because he never forgets his audience.  There is a song he sang with Ben Folds Five called "Army."  This song originally had horns throughout it.  Well, in his more recent shows, he has given the audience the role of being the brass.  It's amazing how he does it.  He splits the audience in half and designates specific parts, teaching his fans the correct notes to sing and gives us some practice runs.  When it comes time, we get to be part of the song!  It sounds amazing and I can't help but get goosebumps!  He has one of these recordings on one of his cds and it's just awesome.  But actually being part of it, is phenomenal! I absolutely LOVE the participation!  It's incredible to me that people can love someone's music so much that the performer can actually stop singing and the audience can continue on for them!

I was introduced to Ben Folds' music through my dear friend Greg Garite.  I even remember hearing it for the first time in his truck on our way home from a friend's house after swimming! The self entitled album of Ben Folds Five (before he went solo) has many, many great memories for me.  Every time he busted out an old-school Ben Folds Five song, these memories and friends all flashed through my mind.  Smile after smile for me!

I have been to many of Ben Folds' shows, including an intimate (as in small people, come on) night of bowling with Ben Folds.  This was my favorite performance of his because this is where I was able to meet him, one on one.  He asked me to sit down next to him while my friend Jeremy Long took a picture of us.  Ben Folds even put his arm around me as I felt the butterflies beat against my tummy.  I gave Jeremy Long one of my autographed pictures for being such a fantastic photographer :)  It's also always fun to see Weird Al Yankovick there!  He even performed with him at the bowling alley!  I've also seen fans of his like Bob Saget and Uncle Joey from Full House!  Bob Saget was wearing leather pants -- I will never forget that...

Ever since that night, I have been playing his music again and again.  I think this is how it goes though.  It's like watching a Broadway Musical for me.  I play the music to relive the feelings I had while the performance went on.  I relate music to everything.  I can make a song out of anything.  I can sing a song with any feeling that I have.  With any memory, there is a song correlated.  I can't help it.  Just like I said in one of the preceding posts, I wake up to a new song in my head every morning!

So in the words of Abba, to my parents, friends and family, I say "Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing.  Thanks for all the joy they're bringing.  Who can live without it, I ask in all  honestly?  What would life be?"  (I know, I talk about Ben Folds but then end with Abba?  It's the way I roll.  I'm a strange one!, Hahaha!)

Ode to Gramma ♥

(That's my brother V.J., me (yes long sleeves because I'm always cold, even at the beach), Gina, Traci and Gramma)

The following tune is a song my gramma used to sing all the time.  All of us quickly learned the words since she could only remember 2 lines.  I sang it with her many, many times.  Every time I did, she would laugh and laugh and laugh!  I knew it would always put a smile on her face.  Our last song together was this past Sunday, Mother's Day.  This song will always be in my heart.

I love you Girlfriend! Frikka licka shaw nellick thaw!  Xoxo!

I get the blues when it rains the blues I can't lose when it rains
Each little drop that falls on my window pane
Always reminds me of tears I've shed in vain
I sit and wait for the sun to shine down on me once again
It rained when I found you rained when I lost you
That's why I get the blues when it rains
I get the blues when it rains...

The following video was when we visited her for her 95th birthday this past January...

From the moment I wake up...

You know the rest of the song!  I hope?  Come on...  From the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding??"  Seriously?

So, I know that I should REALLY be telling you about my amaaaazing 2 dives off Big Island (Hawaii, for those of you unsure of which big island I am speaking of) swimming and getting head-butted by Manta Rays, but I just had a thought.  Well, I guess I've been having this thought for years and years.  My sister Traci can attest to this...

Every morning I wake up with a song in my head.

Why is this??  Does anyone else have this happen?

This morning it was John Mayer's "Comfortable." 

So, I've decided to keep a list in this very blog of the songs I have in my head.  It may sound lame to you, but it's more for me.  I guess it also gives you the chance to see how eclectic my taste in music is... Although sometimes I wake up with terrible, terrible songs in my head.  Poke as much fun as you like!

4/2/09:  "Sleep" My Chemical Romance

3/31/09:  "Who Let You Go" The Killers AND "Friday I'm In Love" The Cure" (yes, today was 2 songs... sometimes that happens...)

3/30/09:  "Don't Trust Me" 3Oh!3

3/29/09:  "Be Ok" Ingrid Michaelson

3/28/09: "Tire Swing" Kimya Dawson (Juno)

3/27/09: "You Don't Know Me" Ben Folds ft. Regina Spektor

3/26/09: "Comfortable" John Mayer