back at work today; i'm still sick. i've been sick with a nasty cold since friday. bleck. christmas was good despite the nasty cold. we (nate & i) spent christmas eve at my parents house with my sister, ben & my cute lil' nephew dylan. he's about 1.5 now and boy is he super cute (that's me & him).

he is completely obsessed with cars... so he got really excited whenever he opened a gift and it was a car... he'd go.. "ca... ca... ca... ca..r....".
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had a good christmas, but more on that later.

i went to buy my ted leo ticket through virtuous and tickets were sold out, so i rushed over to the tickets.com site to see if they had any available, and luckily they did. so i bought two in case teshia/jocelyn or whoever else didn't get tickets yet.

ok. just a short post for today... more once i upload my photos.

Labels: christmas, dylan, ted leo

i know you aren't supposed to buy gifts for yourself so close to christmas, but i'm going to break the rule. after reading over stereogum's top 30 albums of the year, its damn fucking time i pick up the new hold steady record. i honestly don't know why i hadnt already... apart from i'm lazy & forgetful. i loved their last record (not to mention lifter puller) so it really only makes sense to get it. doi nicole. lame-ass.

so before heading off to lulu's to play santa (give her xmas gift), i'm gonna stop by streetlight for the album.

side note: i was happy to discover that i was actually able to stream the mp3's from the stereogum blog from work... normally i get the white screen of death: ACCESS DENIED. they seem to be streaming through a site called "the hype machine" which i know nothing about, but now i'm their biggest fan ever. i heart hype machine. it seems to be some sort of music blog search engine... that focus on finding mp3's and videos (it has several links to videos from you tube).

i think i want to make love to the hype machine. i am seriously obsessed now.

Labels: hype machine, stereogum, the hold steady

its the last day at work before the holiday and boy is it boring. no one is here, which has it's benefits, but also makes it so i have no one really to talk with. i was checking out the noise pop festival lineup. not too many shows i'll be hitting up this year, though count me in for teddie leo! i checked ticket prices and they are twenty bucks! seems a little expensive to me, especially for a great american music hall show, but i do not miss ted when he's here. i think i've probably seen him at least 7 times. he also has a new album coming out early next year on touch & go records. too bad the album lands post-show... i hate that.

Labels: disneyland, guns n roses, mel brooks, noise pop, ted leo

it is really fucking cold in my house. i think it's below 60 degrees. my hands are like frozen french fries. i got the pilot light lit but that damned thermostat choses to be a bastard, so i called my rent company and they are sending someone tomorrow.

other than that... things are going well. i have only one gift left to buy & i just have to wait until tomorrow (when i get paid). this season its all about the baked goods for me... i am going to make our family famous sherry-wine cakes for my peeps, and i'm also going to make pumpkin cookies & me and nathan are gonna make gingerbread houses... (hopefully).

i could really go for a fatty mug of hot chocolate right now. some hot chocolate and a little mario party action would be ultra sweet.

speaking of mario, me & nate were shit outta luck on the wii-target situation on sunday. we got there and about fifty people were in line ahead of us... and target had about 10-15 wiis. damn them. BUT amazon did a raffle to allow people to purchase some and BEN my savior (and brother in-law), won! it'll get here a few days past christmas but nevertheless, we'll have a wii-filled new years. that game console is seriously A-MA-ZING! i want to make love to it. it's that amazing.

ok. it's tamale-time for me... nate's work had a tamale-fest (w/ mariachi's!) and i'm reeping the leftover benefits.

wish me luck in not freezing to death.

over the past couple weeks i have had to say goodbye to my grandpa & a friend of mine from high school... it's been a tough month.

in memory of my grandpa (charles mcewan) i post this picture:

don quixote. as my sister put it, my grandpa was never the type of person to say "i don't know". if he didn't know... he made it up. he was a man of many stories (some of them true, some of them tall-tales). he had a big heart and i love him & miss him very much.

this picture is for my high school journalism buddy nancy nguyen:

nancy always loved piggys...she never parted with one in high school (a stuffed animal one that is). nancy was my friend senior year of high school--where we battled out ms. williams, our mean journalism teacher together. nancy was quietly quirky then--i saw myself that way too. she had a big heart and she will be missed.

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it might be cliche to say, but at times like these you really start thinking about your life & how you want to leave your mark on the world & about doing everything you want to do in life & getting everything you want out of your life... and just loving life. which i do.

love, nicole.

i know, i know. i am flakin' out on my blog that i was so dedicated to for a few weeks. things have been pretty crazy busy and intense this past month.

there's been: trips out of town (to and from palm spings twice), day after thanksgiving thanksgiving, canceled concerts-at least my attendance at (wolfmother & not so silent night), tons of holiday shopping, lots of work projects & tasks, family drama, sadness, dog-sitting & house-sitting, neglected netflix and ironweed film club dvds, wii playing, decorating x-mas tree, present wrapping, holiday parties, trip planning, fillin' up my itunes, movie night get togethers (nachooooooo)... and that about sums it up.

coming up: g'n'r friday night (egad!), christmas in the park & vasona lake lights, the nutcracker, more shopping (attempting to get a wii from target on sunday), vegas-beatles "love" performance, christmas w/ three families, scary work budget cuts, hanging out with friends... ??

and now, time to watch outfoxed because i think netflix shipped it to me over 2 weeks ago. yup, they are definitely making money off me these past couple of months. oh well.

i just discovered 360 degrees pictures. they are way rad. the above photo is a link to check out a 360 degree version of the mural of a farting girl... that's on display at the boston contemporary arts museum. i think it's awesomely rad. check it out.

mood: tired.
music: cannibal ox- the cold vein

these are two new things i hope to tackle next year:
1. learn how to knit & sew a tad better ... & ... 2. learn how to make sushi (at least make it once).


current mood: inspired & creative, but quietly contained and contemplative (because of the whole work-cubicle situation)
music: my sad bastard iTunes mix, currently playing: magnetic fields- "all my little words".