Sunday, February 26, 2017

Epigram of the Day: "Never too late to make a U-turn"















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Song of the Day: "All of Me" by Tanlines















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"All of Me" by Tanlines is song of the day on Battlestar Eclectica. It is so cool and galvanizing

Wikipedia tells me Tanlines is an electronic music and indie rock duo from Brooklyn, New York. Dig!

—Sarah Torribio



Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Epigram of the Day: "She's a (cat) lady"




















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Song of the Day: "Scar Tissue" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers














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There are, arguably, rock songs as fine but there is no rock song better than The Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Scar Tissue" by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It hails from their epiphanic Californication album, which is amazing through and through.

—Sarah Torribio

Song of the Day: "Love" by Lana Del Rey














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"Love," the new joint by Lana Del Rey off her new album Honeymoon, is song of the day on Battlestar Eclectica. This lady consistently creates hypnotically good music with a melancholy streak as wide as the Rio Grande. I love the subtle Beach Boys reference—"Don't Worry, Baby."

—Sarah Torribio

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Monday, February 13, 2017

Song of the Day: "Lucky Girl" by Fazerdaze














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I'm really loving a new song called "Lucky Girl" by Fazerdaze. It's a lovely miasmic, shoe-gazey, dream-poppy and timeless piece of indy alt rock.

Fazerdaze is actually Amelia Murray and she's from New Zealand. Her debut album on the Flying Nun record label is called Morningside. She's way cute, which has never really harmed a musical career.

I'm going to have to steal a description of the song from an article by Chris on the Gorilla vs. Bear site, because it's better than anything I can come up with for this sweet tune: "Here's a perfect burst of swooning, happy-sad bedroom guitar-pop sunshine. . ."

—Sarah Torribio


Monday, February 6, 2017

Song of the Day: "Perth" by Bon Iver














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"Perth" by Bon Iver is song of the day on Battlestar Eclectica. So lovely and so much awesome drama.

There's so much great music out there in all genres that I'm often late to the sonic party. I just learned from Professor Google that Bon Iver is an American indie folk band founded in 2007 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. That guy's got an amazing song-scape in his mind.



—Sarah Torribio

Song of the Day: "Is It Me" by The Kooks















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If you like The Strokes, you will totally like indie pop band The Kooks. Their "Is It Me?" is song of the day on Battlestar Eclectica.

—Sarah Torribio


Song of the Day: "Ghost" by Jay Som















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I'm really liking almost every song I hear from Jay Som, which is all produced by a talented Oakland-based songwriter Melina Duterte. It's such a cool mix of shoegaze and psychedelia.

My song of the day is Jay Som's "Ghost."

—Sarah Torribio

                         





Sunday, February 5, 2017

Random Musings: Buddha and his brood

For some reason this china statue of a jolly pastel Buddha, aswarm with children, has become one of my favorite possessions.
















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You might be crafty if. . .

You might be crafty if this box looks like a treasure chest.

I know all of my crafting bitches see this trove and be like, "In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree."

Deep thought of the day. . .

"If you keep yourself open to abundance, the universe will tap you on the shoulder and say, 'Guess what?' And I guarantee you, the answer will be more profound than, 'Chicken butt.'"

                                                                                                     —Sarah Torribio

Friday, February 3, 2017

Song of the Day: "Can You Deal?" by Bleached













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The pop punk band Bleached—featuring by sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin and Micayla Grace—have scored a home run with "Can You Deal?"

Music has become so awesome lately and the ladies are rocking it, bringing me back to my youth in the '90s when she-roes like HoleBabes in ToylandL77 Year Bitch and Mia Zapata of the Gits were tearing it up.

Just a few cool newer lady acts that come to mind are Cherry GlazerrJenny Lewis and her band Nice as FuckBest Coast and Angel Olsen, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

A lot of the new stuff is a bit sweeter and dreamier than grunge, but it's still femin-awesome.

—Sarah Torribio



Song of the Day: "1 Billion Dogs" by Jay Som














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"1 Billion Dogs' is some tasty dream pop by Jay Som and song of the day on Battlestar Eclectica.

—Sarah Torribio

Song of the Day: 'Modern Woman" by Tennis















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Meet the song "Modern Woman" by Tennis. It's really nice lo-fi indie pop rock with a retro flair and a soupçon of western influence. It could have been recorded at Sun Records.

If you like Angel Olsen and Best Coast as well as Mazzy Star—and Mazzy Star frontwoman Hope Sandoval—you're gonna dig this.

—Sarah Torribio





Epigram of the Day: "Unfriend-ly"















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Writing post of the day: "On the healing power of epigrams"

I started writing epigrams immediately after my separation from my first husband and immediately before our divorce. It was all very autobiographical.

I don't know why, but the sharp, biting, morse-code like blurbs just felt right to me at that time.

I still recall some of them. "He says he loves a Russian girl. He dropped the Kremlin on my world."

And, written while holed up alone in a sleazy hotel, "Three hot days in a motor lodge, on a street called Fucked in a town called Dodge."

Yes, it was angry. I'll even accept accusations that it was. . .emo. Although my divorce came when I was 32 or so and I am now 42, which makes me kind of too old for that word. We called it goth.

I had another I wrote later—not autobiographical but indicative that I had become more direct, more angry, less acquiescent. I accompany it with a picture of a frontier woman who's packing a mean shotgun.


Hell's Bells
I'm an alt-country nightmare.
I've got a cowbell and a scythe. 
I don't want to have to hurt you,
but this homestead is my life.  

Revisiting these early epigrams, it becomes quite clear that I found them to be small, relatively palatable ways to express my feelings. 

Since then I have gone on to write hundreds of epigrams. One of my favorite speaks to my psychological makeup which if you, like me, are obsessed with labels will understand: OCD, ADHD, HSP, INFP, ambivert, empath and Cancer with Leo rising and Lilith in Aquarius. In other words, I want to be on stage with a bass guitar, where everybody can see me,  then moonwalk away at the first spatter of applause. 

Here's that epigram I promised

Self-portrait
I'm an introverted extrovert,
a jumpy jack-in-the box. 
I'm a parrot who you think is dead
until it begins to squawk. 

Yes, it's still pretty tart, but there's also a touch of humor. It makes light of the discomfort caused by contradictions. 

And then there are a few sweet ones, like this  little rhyme. 

"Once I got a little bird
 and put him in a cage,
and then I got another bird
and then they got engaged."

It's such a dear, pastel-colored fairy tale. It makes me want to be a part of it!

So epigrams found me, not the other way around. And I rhyme all the time. Sometimes, I've got so much flow, I think I'm poised to conquer the rap world. 

Keep writing and stick around. A new strength will show up. And if you show it off, you'll have more ideas. Because ideas like to take the stage, and stay there and take a bow when you are trying to moonwalk away.


—Sarah Torribio

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Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Please RSVP

Hi friends,
I am planning an elephant-sweater knitting party. I have downloaded a pattern from the Internet. All I need for my guests to bring is 200 skeins of yarn, a potluck dish, a couple grams of cocaine—we're going to be up all night—and $50 to go toward shipping the giant jumpers. 

I'll set a date when I have enough interest. I know which of my friends will RSVP and which could care less about the planetary treasure and wisdom-keeper that is the majestic elephant. 




People Are Knitting Enormous Sweaters To Keep Rescued Elephants Warm

Baubles, bangles and beads. . .

My magpie phase continues apace. I am making garden jewelry out of baubles, bangles and beads.


Speaking of bangles, my 3-year-old daughter loves The Bangles, especially their "Walk Like An Egyptian." Clearly, she has good taste and, as I listen to them anew, I begin to suspect they are underrated.



Winona forever. . .

I found this on Facebook, posted by Funny or Die. Apparently, Wynona Ryder was very expressive during a speech at the SAG awards.

I love Winona Ryder. I miss when she was in a movie every year—maybe two. And there is no other actress in the world that could play a role Kathryn Hepburn rocked and make it her own. (For the dudes, I'll explain I'm talking about Jo in "Little Women.")



A punk prayer. . .

Please God, I hope every friend of mine with kids watches this powerful documentary.




I remember the day I realized I was turning my kids punk. #WakeUpCall