J.T.

The subjects in this blog have naturally fallen outside of music, but I really like what I have seen/heard of Jan Terri. I first discovered her about one year ago. Rollin showed me a variety of her music videos on youtube. She is a bit of a cult figure from what i gather, so maybe it's your thing, maybe it's not, and maybe you're already aware of her. She seems to have an earnest sense of "putting herself out there", which i admire greatly. She's also a Chicago lady, and I like that too. No irony here for me ither, just really into it.

hope you enjoy, or pass it along to someone who will if you don't.



love
anni
p.s. i love the limo so much

BETTY'S HOUSE

I think I have been asserting my home and craft desires lately. It started off with cooking a year ago and then gradually progressed into a full fledged love affair with decorating, baking, and making homemade soap and stuff. You can imagine the holidays bring ample opportunity to almost go over the edge for a newcomer to homekaing like me, but i don't mind. I feel like it upsets some people how other people enjoy christmas, thanksgiving, birthdays or whatever, but for me it's always a pleasure. I also feel like there are some folks who deny themselves the joys of a holiday and confuse themselves into having disdain for it because there is so much pressure to be unfufilled by such simple pleasures as food, family, cookies, nostalgia and stuff. However, i also think there are situations where it is impossible to enjoy holidays with such a declared expectation for "treasured moments" and stuff.

the past few weeks have been a blur, filled with explorations in homemade candy, cookies, making my own tree ornaments from printer paper, making bath salts and lip balm from scratch to give as presents to all of my girlfriends and even hosting an "open house" with mulled cider, and my very own cheese spreads. It's worth something to know i can do these things on my own, but I will admit i haven't found anyone who i can share my zest for homaking with quite yet.

if you know someone in your life right now who is genuinely interested in these types of activities, please don't write them off immediately, they are most likely going out on a limb to try new things and share the tasty/nice stuff they are making.

here are my new "famous" chocolate covered pretzel rods. i find this picture funny because i hate cats, but my sweatshirt says otherwise. i wore it that day because i was hanging out with my x-roommate/best friend and we have an ongoing joke about how i hate cats. she has 2.

happy holidays!
love,

Yoga dude

When I was sitting on my ass driving from city to city everyday on my tour these past couple months, i decided i would take a yoga class when i got back to Chicago. The only time I had ever really done yoga was when I took a modern dance class my first year of college, which I should blog about sometime because all of that business was pretty funny.

I found a really cheap and easy evening class through my friend who had been pushing for me to come along for a while. I was out all day without a chance to eat, so when I came home to change my clothes, I ate a huge bowl of "kale, white bean, potato and carrot" soup. As I was eating it my friend who was visiting me said

"I would go to the class with you, but i am afraid i would get diarrhea from releasing all of the toxins or something."

I rushed out the door thinking he was out of his mind. When I got there, a few people were milling outside the locked studio, one of which I recognized as the guy who lives right above me in my building. I hear him playing piano sometimes, but we've never really talked or anything. We had a discussion about our heating units in our building. When he described his heater I just assumed we had the same kind and i was like

"yeah. we have that one too"

and he was like
"you do? are you sure?

and i said
"yes. we definitely have the same heater"

then the class started.
rollin later told me that we definitely have different heaters because all he has is a gas fireplace because his whole system broke down a couple of weeks before i got home.

so my neighbor and i had set our mats up next to each other, because that's what neighbors do. we started stretching, and breathing at the instructors request.

by mid class, i was feeling pretty good. the class was attempting the hardest pose yet.
it was really crazy. your neck is like hanging backwards over your back and your legs are like crossed and one arm is pointing up to the ceiling and the other is holding all of your weight.

i felt an awful and sudden pain in my right shoulder and neck. omg. it hurt so bad. so i just stopped for a little while. and the instructor was like

"come on annie. stay with the group."

and i just rambled. something, i don't even remember. i was in a lot of pain, but then it started to get better. and then she stopped the class once she figured out i was hurt and i was like

"there is like a "cracking" pain in my neck."

"cracking?" can you believe i said that?

she advised i take it easy, which i did. a little too easy.
as we were doing our wind down stretches i farted super loud into my neighbors face.

first time is always akward i guess. i am still going next week.

yours truly
arxx

All I want for Christmas

I am in the middle of my US tour. I just got done with a string of shows in the uk last week. I have had very few days off, but when i have managed to get some time to relax, I happen to be hosted by people who own HIGH DEFINITION FLAT SCREEN TV's!

I am hooked.

I watched Carlito's Way in Belfast on a huge HDFSTV. Aside from the movie being awesome, it felt like Al Pucino was right in my face, the screen "becomes an extension of the room". (This is how poetic HDFSTV makes me feel.)

I am staying with my brother in Washington D.C. right now. He also has a huge HDFSTV. I watched game 4 of the world series and then the Departed. It was awesome.

This guy told me about his small business endeavor about a year ago. He bought 10 HDFSTV's from a wholesaler with an american express card and put a hold on their shipments (which are free). Then he auctioned them off on ebay got them shipped to the proper addresses fo' free and made a profit of $1000 on each tv unit on the difference of sale price. Maybe I will do this and keep one for myself. Or somebody will give one to me for Christmas. Either way, I really hope it happens.



cool, Huh?
arx

NIGHT OF MYSTERY

I've been spending the past few months in New York. You can imagine all the great people and events you cross paths with in a city like this. I've been working on an album here, which i just completely finished this past tuesday. One of my new friends, Luke Stettner, invited rollin and I to a performance he was holding for 20 people only. We had no idea what to expect and showed up promptly at 8 as we were instructed. I had just come from the mastering house with the ONLY existing copies/audio files of the new album. We were waiting in a stairwell with the other 18 people waiting to be instructed about what to do.

"EVERYONE PLEASE HAND US YOUR BAGS and PUT THESE BLINDFOLDS ON"
said 2 women who looked like psychic twin sisters

most people cooperated and passed each bag one by one until it reached the two women.

"DON'T EAT THAT PASTRY IN MY BAG. I WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE UPPER WEST SIDE TO GET THAT FOR MY WIFE"
said some guy in a puffy jacket.

I rolled my eyes at him and kept my mouth shut, even though I had 3 months of work in my bag, I knew it would be ok.
Like your friend is gonna invite you to his performance just so he can steal your shit and rummage through your bags.

So the two women guided groups of 4 people into a completely dark room. We all had to hold hands and form a single line. Once everyone was in the room, we took the blindfolds off. The only thing we could see was a circle of glow in the dark X's. We all wrapped around in a circle and were instructed to sit on an X. We had no idea who we were sitting next to.

"PASS THIS AROUND"
said someone who emerged from the center of the circle, speaking to someone a few spots down from where i was sitting.

I was trying to anticipate which direction the object was coming from. The person to my left whispered
"I'M GONNA PASS YOU THIS THING NOW. IT"S REALLY HEAVY"

I did pretty much the same thing for the person to my right. An operatic vocalist started to sing from out of no where. It sounded like he was improvising and focusing on small embelishments over and over. Occasionally a drum would be heard. The vocalist and the drummer were also slowly exchanging positions in the room. It's crazy how much your other senses kick in when one is disabled. Not only was I sensing what the musicians were doing, but I was taking in a lot of INTENSE SMELLS. I smelled CHINESE FOOD, GREASY HAIR SMELL, SOMEBODY'S BURP, BUBBLE GUM and GARLIC to list off a few.

After I accepted it was going to be a smelly time, I started to imagine how everyone was working together to keep this 20 lb object moving around the circle. The person to my left and myself had a good thing going. i could practically guess right when she was going to pass it to me based on the prior experience of her handing it to me each time. We had a rhythm, it was magic. NOW, the person to my RIGHT was a completely different story. They took no interest in finding a groove, i practically had to smack he/she on the shoulder every time it came around. In fact, I almost sprained my wrist passing it along to them because they weren't paying attention.

so i finally whispered in their ear
"CAN YOU GET WITH IT HERE. I ALMOST SPRAINED MY WRIST"

The situation with my right side friend did not improve. It was weird. Anyways, after about 25 minutes of trying to anticipate what was going to happen, the music stopped and the ladies took everyone out of the room one by one. I didn't mind that there wasn't an explosive ending to the suspense. In fact, i appreciated being tricked into waiting that long for something to happen only to realize my focus had completely shifted to the mystery of everyone's cooperation in the dark. I did get a peak at who was sitting next to me when i got back out into the hallway.

After most everyone had left, those of us remaining went out for chinese food. I explained my experience regarding the person to my left and the person to my right to my friend in charge of the night. I gave him a description of the person who wasn't pulling their weight (sitting to the right of me). He smiled sheepishly, laughed and said :

"OH. THATS DANELLE. SHE"S DEAF"

G. Ramsay

I only recently discovered celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey (of Kitchen Nightmares). Oddly enough I first found him in the states right before I left for the UK this last week and when I arrived in London, I saw him on every other billboard and tv commercial.

I have been told he used to be a professional soccer player and after a horrible injury he decided to become a celebrity chef. I think it appears as a strange career shift, but somehow inspiring. He also manages to tie his 2 careers together by taking his shirt off in every episode of Kitchen Nightmares so people don't forget about his athletic achievements as a soccer player while forging ahead as a chef.

He is living the American dream even though he is british. He proves that if you put your mind to something "YOU CAN DO IT".






TO




good luck!
arx

Cobra Time

I was watching cable television on my jet blue flight to NYC yesterday. I was really groggy from virtually no sleep the night before and slept from take off to mid flight.

I started flipping through some channels on the complimentary in flight cable when I woke up and watched some show on Bravo where this woman with an australian accent comes into a small town hair salon and shares her critiques with the staff and forcefully shows them how to improve the salon. It was ok for a little bit, but then I found myself watching animal planet.

For a brief moment it captured my complete attention, which never happens because I dislike animals and have a hard time empathizing with them. (i am just being honest.) I caught a highly riveting segment of Steve Irwin searching for the perfect cobra snake to photograph. He was wearing rustic safari clothes in the desert running around passionately in search for "the one". I won't say much because I want you to experience the same thing I felt when I watched it.

It was scary becasue we were experiencing great turbulence in the peaks of the man vs. snake drama and towards the end of the shot I felt a tap on my shoulder which scared the shit out of me. I jerked in my seat and turned around to a flight attendant who had been watching over my shoulder, just as enraptured as I saying

"Oh my god, did the snake just bite that guy?".

He apologized for scaring me and i said

"it's cool"

which is a completely ridiculous response considering i hadn't felt that scared since this random gang banger drove up to my house the other day and yelled to me

"DOES DEAD EYES STILL LIVE HERE?"

Now that i have searched and found the scene again on youtube I am on the snakes side. Leave the snake alone. At first it was a bit romantic, seeing someone putting themselves in such danger for a distinct and untouchable photograph of such a powerful creature, but it just seems kind of stupid. I have been googling images of cobras and there are so many. Steve Irwin should just cool it for a little while.


arx

JUST CAN'T WAIT

I am so excited for thanksgiving. Even though it's like 2 years away, I am extra excited this year. First off, I mean can you beat the food?

Secondly, I will be having a peculiar mixture of people gathering at my house for the holiday. My parents will be coming down from MN, which should be fun for them to visit me for a change and of course my mom will cook the bird because i will mess it up if she doesn't. Also attending will be my dear group of friends in chicago who are all British for some reason and won't fully apreciate the meal or the idea of thanksgiving, Rollin's mom and his new honorary grandma who is an author of very intense books, suggesting humans are born too soon. She is very non religious and tends to talk about her theories and beliefs very much. IN FACT, I think she will make this conversation the theme throughout the dinner....... so anyways..... and i think Rollin's biological grandma will make it too. She is very flexible and adaptable. She is a great singer too. She used to be a singer on the radio. For instance when you hear a little jingle that dates back to the 50's era like
"Double ULOL. CHICAGO", chances are you are hearing her voice.

Also thanksgiving will mark the other side of the time warp I am about to enter. I leave for tour on Friday and will return about one week before thanksgiving. It will feel like thanksgiving is next week practically, hence the timing of this post.

I bet you are counting the days now aren't you?

arx




p.s. this is neither of rollin's grandma's

Really Had me Going. (very entertainin')

Today I started smelling a really strong gas smell in my kitchen. I called Rollin and he was like:

"call the gas company and open the windows" .

A man from the company quickly showed up after I called and he gave me a speech before entering my house, but i couldn't really understand him. i would later find out that he was telling me it would be in my best interest for him to leave at that point. i was opening a whole can of worms.
He went straight to the furnace with this electronic sensor device and found all this stuff that needs to be changed before he can turn the gas back on. Most items in my kitchen were not up to code.

awesome.

The man from the gas company was friendly and gave me good advice. He looked down into my basement as he was leaving and said "this world is falling apart". i thought that was kind of weird, but it didn't bother me.
After the man left, I called the landlord, feeling a bit intimidated.
He says:
"ya know. sometimes apartments smell like gas. it's really a minor thing. i wish you would have called me."

what if my house blew up though. i mean i guess i did the right thing.
my dad said :
"you did exactly the right thing. what were you supposed to do? it smelled like gas!"

i realized today that my landlord and my dad probably would disagree on a lot of things.
i should have them both over for dinner. that would be very entertaining.






arx

Good Times Start Now

I am sure the title of my blog initially reads as "anni rossi is good times" but upon closer looking it is actually "anni rossis good times". so either way really. i like both.

My summer break is coming to an end. I am wrapping up my part time job up in Skokie, IL.
I have been caring for an elderly woman by the name of Grace which has occupied all of my time on the weekends. Even so, the past couple of months have been relaxing. I even started taking an interest in decorating my new house. I do the laundry regularly too.

I am headed out of town in 2 weeks time with rollin. We are embarking on a month long tour together in the uk. Should be fun, although i dislike being there in general.

When i return to the states, i will tour the east coast down through georgia and back up to chicago via Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. I am setting up some shows in towns i have never heard of, or never been too and this excites me very much! be on the lookout for me if you have any interest, if not, that's fine too. I will be traveling with Emily Lacy. She is a friend I met back in California and recently got back in touch with. She's on the go as often as I am. We have an understanding.

You will see photos, drawings, fake letters, and genuine posts of my every day experiences over here if and when you check back.


arx