Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

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What I Tweeted, 2012-09-09 Edition

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[Read more…] about What I Tweeted, 2012-09-09 Edition

Crushing On: Hip City Veg

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Myth: Vegan food is always a stuck-up meat imitation or utter rabbit food, and of no interest to people who don’t mind a bit of animal in their meals.

Fact: HipCityVeg is vegan fast food your entire office will merrily devour without question.

I am so utterly addicted to this vegan lunch joint at 18th and Sansom that our relationship has become deadly serious. After heading there experimentally with my wall-sharing colleague MK I have vowed to try every delectable item on their chalkboard menu.

I’m not sure what the next step is for us – usually once things get this serious I write a song about the person and/or food establishment I am crushing on.

I started with a Buffalo Bella – a huge portabella mushroom breaded and spiced up in the buffalo fashion. As a pescetarian, one of the few world-of-meat things I ever crave are buffalo ANYTHINGS – because, really, there aren’t many fish-y or veggie things that work well with the classic breading and sauce treatment. Well, this sandwich fits the bill perfectly – it isn’t trying to be chicken at all, it’s huge and luscious and spicy and will gradually explode all over your desk as you eat it as any good buffalo meal ought to.

Also, the best sweet potato fries in creation, paired with ridiculously incredible cilantro-black bean dip.

Fast forward to my next visit. I ordered the same thing (how can you turn that down) when a random woman in line started enthusing to me about the Udon Noodle Salad.

(This is the sort of thing that happens at HipCityVeg. While you are there everyone likes everyone else, but not in a creepy tie-dyed hippy way. People are just friendly in a way that isn’t brought out by a trip to Wendy’s. Did I mention vegan milkshakes? They are so good.)

Based on the recommendation, I picked up the Udon Noodle Salad on my next visit – and it was AMAZING. As utterly addictive as the Bella. I almost shamelessly drank the dressing out of the bottom of the container once I was through.

Almost!

That is when I made my vow to eat my way through the entire menu.

So far everything has been excellent. I would amend the Arugula Taco Salad onto the greatest hits list with my first two selections, as well as their irresistible Groothie. A few items have included fake “Chik’n,” but I don’t feel like it’s trying too hard to be chicken so much as it’s a convenient protein delivery system, happily accepted.

If you work within a few block radius of 18th and Sansom I highly recommend a pilgrammage.

smash in the studio

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I haven’t recorded much new music for you since we moved into our house in 2010, which is downright odd, since now I have an entire music studio to produce in instead of an itty little 12’x12′ home office slash studio slash dressing room slash equipment shed.

The space is a plus and a minus. It’s a plus to not have all of my guitars piled up on top of each other in my walk in closet so I can never play any of them. The minus is, I’m only really working in the studio if I’m working in the studio. Do you catch my drift? It’s not like I’m trying to choose a shirt to wear to a party and taking a quick listen to a mix, or EQing vocals between blog posts.

Just after agreeing to try being a band, as shot by @SuzyMags. Yes, I am wielding a neon green yoga mat, like the fucking rock star I am.

I spent yesterday locked in the studio, building an acoustic track from scratch for my new covers side project, Smash Fantastic.

I know, I know – another project? Am I ever going to make a freaking blog post, let alone focus on a band?

My excuse is that Smash Fantastic really plugged a hole in what I want to be doing. I love cover songs, and I love big-voiced woman. I tend to err in those directions for my own solo sets, but there’s only a pretty specific audience for my covering Kelly Clarkson and Lady Gaga.

Plus, let’s be honest, when am I every playing solo anymore?

Enter my friend and colleague Ashley. She has the pipes for those sorts of songs, but not an outlet for the sound. After a few months of messing around progressed to having a serious repertoire and a pair of performances, it seemed like time to have a demo.

Thus my day in the studio – first alone, and later with Ashley, covering one of our favorite songs line by line.

It felt really good. Not just the recording of it, but the knowing what I was doing, and the having the space to execute my vision without clearing a pile of clothes from where it was hanging over a microphone stand.

Now I just have to spend enough more time in the studio to turn the sum of 28 multi-track recordings from Arcati Crisis, Filmstar, and Smash Fantastic into actual, listenable songs.

I guess what I’m saying is: new music, coming soon!

place complaints in the circular file

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I am conducting an experiment in post-Vermont tranquility: no more complaining.

I don’t think it will be very hard, as I’m not really a complainer by nature.

Wait, let me phrase that a little more carefully so it’s not used against me in the future.

Complaining about complainers who complain about complaints.

I’m not an idle complainer. I don’t see much point in deriding what I don’t have the will or want to change, unless of course I’m doing it under the guise of writing  scathing critique for our collective entertainment. Otherwise, I’m usually much more focused on what I can do and improve on my own than concentrating on what the people around me or doing wrong.

Yet, lately I find I have plenty of idle complaints about the world around me. People not trying hard enough, not working as a team, complaining too much. Complaining about others complaining too much! What if they complain about my complaining too? It’s like an Ouroboros on Scully’s back, swallowing itself again and again.

That’s not me. It makes me unhappy, and I feel unlike myself.

So here is my proposal for myself and all of you. We stop making complaints. Period. I don’t care if its about waiting in line, or that annoying thing your partner does in the kitchen, or the one thing that drives you the craziest in the entire world. Complaining connotes something having power over us, like telling it our true name.

Inside, I’m going to issue improvements. Corrections. Fixes. Every time I want to idly bitch about something that’s wrong, instead I am going to turn it into something that’s right.

Either that, or write a very scathing critique of it.

What I Tweeted, 2012-09-02 Edition

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