Good People

This past summer, I searched for a big floppy straw hat to wear to the beach. My fashion inspiration was Carly Simon on the cover of "No Secrets." I found my hat at some store, bought it with much excitement, but wore it once because the wind kept trying to blow it off my head. Yet it remains on the top shelf of my closest, and I know I'll have the perfect opportunity to wear it someday. I must say, it is a very cool hat.

Girls like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon-and the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller is due to hit bookstores in April 2008, which is in three days!

According to Barnes and Noble, it is"A groundbreaking and irresistible biography of three of America's most important musical artists -- Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon -- charts their lives as women at a magical moment in time."



I'm pretty excited to read it, since all of these women are pretty fascinating. Through each of their individual styles musically and fashionably, they shaped the late 60's and 70's especially for women. They opened their souls and emptied them in song during an explosive time in American history.

If you're interested, you can read an excerpt from the book here.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/04/musicgirls200804

I hope everyone finds this as fasinating as I do

In Vanity Fair's web exclusive Hollywood Portfolio, Julian Broad, Art Streiber, Norman Jean Roy, and Mark Seliger photographed Kiera Knightly, Charlize Theron, Seth Rogen and more stars in poses from various Alfred Hitchcock films. The photos are gorgeous, and the actors did a fantastic job of recreating the classic scenes. I could describe them in extreme detail, but let the pictures speak for themselves....
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/03/hitchcock_stills200803?slide=1#globalNav



A picture says a thousand words...so this blog entry is actually 11 thousand words long.

attention everyone

Tonight Lemon Juice, Marble Creek, and the Dave Pittenger Band will be performing at the Stone Pony at 9. It should be a great show!

coolest interview

What is it about the Muppet's that makes me so happy?
I have known for the past four years that The Shins make me happy, since they are one of my favorite bands. How could you not enjoy"Kissing the Lipless" on a sunny May morning? Even my dog likes that song, and she knows her music.
The Shins were nominated for Best Alternative Album at the Grammys this year. I know that is old news, but I just found this video of the Muppet's interviewing the band, and it brightened up my gloomy Wednesday afternoon.
Since The Shins website is all funky, there is no direct link to the video. But if you really want to, you can go to www.theshins.com, then click on media, then muppet interview.

Environmental Art

Environmental art emerged in the 1960's in response to the environ- mental movement.

Environ...mental...ah ha, i never actually thought of it that way, even though i have had my Environmental Art 2008 Calendar hanging on my wall for the past three months.

A few minutes ago I went outside to try and be Environmental; I sat in the grass, felt the chilly wind, felt the sun on my face, and thought of just my surroundings and this blog.

Environmental can also refer to being aware of how important the environment is, and recycling and such.

Many a time I have swung in my hammock and tried to find designs in the tree branches above, or photographed a close up of a misshapen leaf. But that is just the beginning, and environmental artists take their form of art very seriously. The pictures in my calendar, as well as those i found online, are rather incredible.

Books and Van Gogh

Books are art...Book of art... Book or art?

The other day I organized my bookshelf into 4 sections
1. Books I hope never to read (The Killer Angels...sorry history class)
2. Books I have read and love (Snow Falling on Cedars, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn...)
3. Books I want to read/finish reading ASAP (The Tao of Pooh...)
4. Books that have pretty bindings and made my shelf look colorful (Book of Zodiac...)

Then I tried to squeeze one more section for the 24 Vincent Van Gogh calendar prints that I have yet to frame and hang. Two years in a row I asked my sister for a Van Gogh Calendar for Christmas, and I'm proud of my collection. Someday I'll frame them all and hang them up. For now, I have "Olive Picking" tacked my closet door so I can admire it as I dress.

This past January, a Greek woman claimed to have found one of Van Gogh's sketchbooks. It was examined by foreign art experts for authenticity, and was declared indeed authentic. The incredible piece is worth an estimated four million euros, but the woman who found it isn't planning on selling. I don't blame her.

I wish my book shelf had an original Van Gogh sketchbook section. I'd trade Killer Angels for that any day. Until then I'll settle for my calendar prints.

why?

Interveiw with Kristen Isaksen, Associate Director of Financial Aid at Monmouth University.


Q: What factors are eligibility for financial aid based on?
A: If the financial aid is considered “need based,” then it is based on financial information. This would include, but not be limited to, student and parent wages, money in the bank, and investments.

If the financial aid is considered “merit based,” then it is based on some type of academic achievement like grades or test scores.

Q:What is the difference between student loans and financial aid? Or is a student loan a type of financial aid?

A:A student loan is a type of financial aid. A loan is different from a grant or scholarship since it has to be repaid (usually with interest). Grants and scholarships do not have to be repaid.

Q:Does having more than one child in college increase the change of being eligible for financial aid?

A:Having more than one child in college can reduce the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and possibly result in more aid for each student.

When a student completes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the information provided is put through a calculation created by Congress called the Federal Methodology. The result of the Federal Methodology is the EFC. The EFC is used to determine eligibility for certain types of aid as well as help determine how much financial need a student has.

Q:What is the average cost of privet colleges such as Monmouth University ?

A:According to the College Board (http://www.collegeboard.com/press/releases/189547.html), the average tuition and fees at private four-year nonprofit institutions for 2007-08 is $23,712. Average total charges (including room and board and tuition and fees), are $32,307 in 2007-08.

Q: I noticed that on the FAFSA, there is a question asking about the educational back round of the college applicants parents. What does that question determine?

A: This question is generally used for demographic purposes. It can help determine how many students are the first to attend college in their family. It doesn’t factor into the EFC formula.


Q:How long does it take to be approved?

A:If you file the FAFSA on the web, it only takes about 3-5 business days for the application to be processed and sent to the colleges the student listed on it. An actual financial aid package is created by individual colleges and universities-not the federal government. Each college and university has their own timeline for processing aid, so the best advice is for students to contact the institution for an estimate on processing time.

pondering art

Hmm, art. All the many types. Photography, sculptures, paintings, sketches, and collages, and more. All of those things you can hold in your hand. I feel that writing is an art, and poetry certainly is. Can you hold poetry? You can hold a piece of paper with poetry on it, but I don't think you can hold poetry. Can you even see poetry? Hmm, that's a tough one. You can see the words that make up the poem, but you can't see the sounds that make up the art of poetry. Dance is an art. You can see dancers dancing, and you can feel dance while dancing yourself. You can't hold dance though. So what is the definition of art? I'm going to look it up right now.

art1 –noun. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance

Beautiful, appealing, more than ordinary significance. That sounds so nice.

Art can also be someones name. Like "Hey Art, wanna come help me set the table?" Art is short for Arthur, I'm pretty sure. I wonder if people named Art feel a strange pressure to be beautiful, appealing, and more than ordinary significance. In response to the table setting question, Art would probably answer "I would darling, but I am far too busy at the moment reciting Shakespeare!"

This blog has been an effort to narrow my beat, rather than report on it. But I feel that if I narrowed my beat to one type of art I wouldn't enjoy this as much. I suppose I just like to keep my options open.

funky

Last night I went to the Stone Pony for a show that included Arson, Lemon Juice, Splintered Sunlight, and Karma Wash and the Cosmic Dryer. I finally understand that my mother is right in warning me to "watch out for weirdo’s," every time I go, because last night for the first time I felt that the weirdo’s were abundant. But with funky music comes funky people, most of them were there to see the main act Splintered Sunlight, which is a Grateful Dead tribute band. I enjoy the Stone Pony more when it’s full of Wall students and people I know, rather than ladies in those tie die wolf shirts and guys with dread locks.

Anyway, I felt that the funkiest band of last night’s array had to have been Karma Wash and the Cosmic Dryer. The name alone is rather self explanatory, and they are definately the most psychedelic band I have ever heard. So I was casually chatting with some LJ faithful's, and suddenly my ears were filled with the sounds of some intense bongo-ing, only to be joined by the guitar half way through, as well as some whispering sounds into the microphone. All of those wolf shirted women and dread lock men were right at the front by the stage, getting their groove on. But they weren't the only ones moved. The percussion was over powering, and I felt like from the moment one song started to the moment it ended they had me in a trance. It was a very interesting experience.

Unfortunately, the incredible sounds I heard last night are not on their MySpace, or anywhere else, so I assume they are just one of those bands to see live. If you do want to get a tiny taste of what they offer, go to http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=292581439 and listen to the first song listed. I think it is the best representation of what i heard last night. Or listen to Om On Drums, but the sound quality makes it difficult to enjoy.

They are playing on March 15 at the Twisted Tree Cafe in Asbury Park, and I'm very tempted to go see them again. Maybe I'll go to the thrift store and buy myself one of those wolf T-shirts so I fit in with the Karma Wash faithful's. But on second thought, I probably wont.

Listen to Nada Surf in March

I started listening to them around this time last year, and now, as spring approaches again, I can't help but associate their music with warm breezes and open windows.

But I do that with all music; a bit like seasonal fashion, I have seasonal music.
So I got home today, overwhelmed with how many papers I have to write in the next couple of days, and decided that instead of watching Scrubs to procrastinate, I would go for a run, since it's a beauteous day. I did so, with the iPod on shuffle, and the first song was Blankest Year; an appropriately timed reminder that I really like this band.

Upon my return home, sweating and out of breath, I looked at their website and to my surprise they had recently released their fifth album "Lucky." Yeah I know, I'm not really a hard core fan of anything, I just associate different bands with the time of year.

I'm listening to each of the new songs on the Nada Surf MySpace right now, and so far so good. With a new March comes a new Nada Surf album to listen to. It's going to be a good month.