This Yellow Taxi Cab In Which I Ride

Okay. It's a dog. Good. Now, I can go back to being upset at other people instead of myself. It all started when I opened my windows about a month and a half ago. It was warmish out in March for a few days and I opened some of the windows in my house to let some cool/fresh air in. I closed them shortly after that and then opened them again and closed them again and... you get the picture. Now that it's been consistently warm out, the windows have remained in some state of open-ness for a good week and a half. When you open your windows in the spring time, two things come into your home. The first thing is spring-time air. Sometimes, it's air that is still on the chilly side, but you let it in because you want some fresh air to replace what has been sitting in your house since last Fall. Sometimes, it's because it really is too warm in your house to survive, even with the heat off, that you require some cooler spring-time air to bring the temperature down to something yo...

I came home from work today with the intention of mowing my lawn... I was sidetracked when as soon as I walked in the back door, the front doorbell rang. I answered the door (despite my having-to-go-to-the-bathroom) because I didn't think there was going to be anyone there. I didn't see anyone on the street when I pulled in my driveway and the doorbell that I own operates on frequencies and has been known to randomly go off without anyone around to push the button. To my dismay there were two dick-ish looking men standing there with shark-esque smiles on their faces. The taller of the two was wearing a full-on, ill-fitting suit. My mind instantly went to "these are guys are going to try to sell me something... probably a gas provider." "I don't have time right now," was my introduction. The shorter guy with fierce eyes (I wasn't listening to what he said. Instead, I simply noted his pushy salesman-ness and general jerk-face-ery for laughs later on. I...

I'm confused. A "bachelor" is a single man. Correct? Yet, a "bachelor party" is for the dude that is getting married. Simply put: WTF? I just snagged this from merriam-webster.com: Definition of BACHELOR 1: a young knight who follows the banner of another 2: a person who has received what is usually the lowest degree conferred by a 4-year college, university, or professional school ; also : the degree itself 3a : an unmarried man b : a male animal (as a fur seal) without a mate during breeding time There is no definition for "bachelor party." (And that's probably a good thing.) Webster's 3a definition soothed my confusion. However, from now on I'm going to tell people that I am an animal without a mate at breeding time. It's Sunday around 7:00pm and I'm chilling outside on a soft cushioned bench/swing. It's a perfect temperature, though, I imagine it will start to get cold soon when the sun starts t go down. It has been a prett...

Today has been the type of day in which taking multiple deep breaths does not seem to result in anything other than hyperventilation. I wrote this song lyric a few months ago and haven't been able to do anything with it, but it pretty much reiterates what I just wrote: It's been another one of those long days the kind that break you take your breath away I've been sprawled out on my bed since work trying to decide if I'm hungry enough to bother making food, thirsty (?) enough to go get a beer, desiring enough to watch hockey at a bar, or in need of socializing with drunks enough to get food/beer/hockey at Partner's Pub. I may just type out this blog, hit submit, and just roll over and go to sleep. I could get into the specifics of my work day, but that won't really make me feel any better about it. The bottom line is that I have gone a couple of years at my current position without having a conflict of interest between my job duties and bureaucracy. That ended v...

Eleven o'clock. Friday. I'm still in bed, but I'll be getting up shortly. I'm starving and I've rested enough. Big night coming up! It's the Garage to Glory Finals. Truth be told, I'm nervous/anxious/etc. Actually, I'm not sure if it's an anxious feeling or an excited feeling... maybe it's both with some nervousness added in. Tonight is going to be wild... the event itself is going to be full of much more than just songs. There is a host who will be chatting with people on stage. There is a person doing interviews after performances. A TV crew. Multiple cameras. It's going to be wild. Part of my nervousness is coming from all of the production. I've been telling myself that I just have to focus on me and doing what I do, which is playing my songs. If I can convince my body to stop freaking out about everything else, I'll have no problem. I've played for big crowds before. And I've played in new/unfamiliar places. I've play...

Catchy title, eh? It all makes sense in my mind... I can't sleep. It's only just about my bed time, but I'm logging on now to blog because we all know that I'm going to end up here eventually anyway. (Insomnia) I have trouble sleeping in general. I have extra trouble sleeping when my mind is running in circles about one particular thing or another. I have extra, extra trouble sleeping when I'm excited about being voted into the Finals of a songwriter contest that I entered. Not to mention it's rather stormy out at the moment. (Storminess) It's the first thunderstorm of the season (not exactly sure which season since -- technically -- it's spring, but today was so warm it felt like summer) and the wind is whipping and wind chimes are... chimming (leave it to my neighbors to have wind chimes out already). During the last storm (a winter storm) that we had, many tree limbs fell and littered my yard. One particularly large limb fell in my front yard and acro...

It's late ... early ... dark out on Sunday night. I just got threw watching a movie called Monsters . I had seen a preview for it months ago and then read reviews that it was poorly made. The premise of the film is that there are alien beings tromping around in an area in northern Mexico near the United States border. According to the poor reviews, all of the scenes that actually had the aliens in them were shown in the preview and there were only pieces of the aliens shown. In other words, everything is happening off screen. This was pretty much true of the movie. The aliens were often "off screen," but this didn't take away from the movie at all. It was quite similar to Cloverfield , which I absolutely loved because it focused on the characters and their plight rather than the monster. Similarly, Monsters wasn't at all about the, er... monsters. The aliens were in the background throughout the film and really just provided a reason for the two main characters t...

Do you ever wonder what happens to the people who disappear from the face of the planet? Not the missing person, FBI is involved, people. The people who you text and talk to on the phone and hang out with on some regular basis, who suddenly stop texting, talking to, and hanging out with you. I have quite a few people in mind, who -- over the past year or so -- came in to my life for one reason or another, communicated with me regularly for a period of time, and then disappeared... I like to think that they are all in some purgatory-esque land together where they spend all of their time talking about me... Girl A: "Whoa... wait a sec. Where am I?" Girl B: "Hi there. You must be a former of acquaintance, friend, lover, etc. of James Frederick. Welcome to 'James Who? Land.'" Girl A: "How did I get here?" Girl B: "Simple. You either stopped returning James' calls or stopped responding when he texted you. There is even one girl here who pretend...

I really should be going to sleep (had to get up early for work today and didn't want to get out bed, and was zombie all day), but -- meh -- I'll sleep when I'm dead. I have important things to blog about. I spent this past weekend with my brother, his wife, and their lovely 3-month-old, Liliana. She is the cutest thing EVER. This picture is all the evidence necessary to support such a claim: Okay. Here is another one for good measure. Lily is a pretty unbelievable 3-month-old. She is incredibly active (when she is awake), moving her arms and legs, wiggling around in her parents' arms or in her bassinet. She is making little cooing noises and when she does it, she stops fussing or moving, looks you directly in the eyes, and "talks" to you. She is the most adorable little person I have ever seen. (*Note: there is a part of me -- the logical part -- that tries to tell the other part of me that I'm only saying such things because she is my niece and if she w...

What I really hate about this time of year is the fact that it warms up really nice for a couple of days or a day here and a day there and then goes back to being freezing cold again. The brief warm up does a plethora of strange things to my body including giving it the false sense of knowing that it will continue to get warm ER . Now that it's back to being cold again, I'm freezing. The house is the same temperature it was when it was 50 out a week ago, but I'm freezing. It doesn't make sense. And for that, I hate it. But that is not what this blog is about. This blog is about deciding to make changes to yourself. I'm going to start with my favorite piece of dating advice EVER : Just Be Yourself. Be Yourself is my favorite piece of dating advice because it is the worst piece of dating advice that I can possible think of. True, I have used this phrase at times... but over time, I have realized the pointlessness of it and have begun telling friends who are freaking ...

I'm in Albany at Uncommon Grounds. It is insanely busy. The line has been out the door since I got here about an hour and a half ago. I'm lucky to have a seat that is near an outlet or else I'd be somewhere else. But, I like Uncommon Grounds, even if it is pretty common for it to be busy. I had a chocolate mocha (the don't do white chocolate mochas here?!?!) and a bagel and I am stricken with the coffee jitters... yes, the coffee jitters after just one coffee! Last night I had hung out with a friend who was literally shaking like a leaf and talking non-stop a million miles an hour. As she paced back and forth like a rocket on a leash, she explained that a friend of hers -- who works at a Starbucks -- had given her a triple shot of espresso on top of regular coffee. The sheer amount of caffeine that she in jested is illegal in most states and is the typical dose to energize a sleepy elephant. My friend did not eventually erupt, or spontaneously explode as expected, but t...

9:45 on a Tuesday Night. In Bed. I'm in bed this early for a few reasons. 1) there is currently nothing to do in any other area of the house 2) the only things that I should be doing at this time of night can be done on my lap top, which -- of course -- is portable 3) my bed is the warmest place in the house and I'm cold. I'd really love to be out doing something right now... but it's late-ish and I work in the morning, so I can't really be out and about. I wouldn't mind being out and about, mind you, but there really isn't anyone to be out and about with at this hour and so... it's quite the conundrum, you see. What I want right now is a tropical island (or just a beach or ocean). I want a plane ride and a hotel room. I want warm sand and cool water. I want some waves. I want fire pits and acoustic music. I want a beach party with or' devours (nachos). I want to feel that humid breeze off the ocean late at night. I want to hold her in my arms and ki...

I am lying on my bed in a heap of exhaustion after cleaning out the six plus inches from my driveway. It is still snowing... I'm tired and angry that mother nature is out to destroy me and my personal life. True, I kicked her ass and defied her many a time before. And while I won the battle of my driveway for now, I have resolved myself to give up on my plans for tonight. All this week, I have been looking forward to today. Railbird and Sean Rowe dual CD release show in Albany. Not only was I totally looking forward to this show (Railbird has a pretty engaging sound and Sean Rowe recently reached a huge musician milestone by getting signed by a pretty big label), but I was also meeting up with someone who I had also met up with the week before. Are you happy mother nature? You got me. Now, you owe me big time. How about a little sunshine sooner than expected? I am so tired of winter and so desperately in need of some sunshine that I bought a car air freshener that smells like sun t...

Be Mine. Be. Mine. Two words. Two. Simple. Words. One heavy statement, with only one meaning, but several different implications. Be Mine. When ended with a period is not a question. "Be Mine?" as a question seems innocent and somewhat shy. It can easily be turned down and/or ignored. "Be Mine." on the other hand is direct and commanding. As a command -- it's not something that can be turned down with a simple "no thanks." It's not being asked; it's being told. But what about "be mineee" (note: there are several extra 'e's and no punctuation)? The extra 'e's indicate an urgent need, a plea, if you will. "I need you to be mine." Be Mine = Belong to Me. But what does it mean to belong to someone? Is it different with different people? Is belonging to one person a totally different situation than belonging to someone else? Of course it is. And therein lies the trouble with it. Belonging to one person may requ...

I have been speaking my mind a lot lately about American Idol. Since the new season started a few weeks ago (*note: I wouldn't even know it had started if it weren't for the cornucopia of facebook comments that my friends post about it) I have been making comments via facebook and face to face conversations. Because I've been so vocal about it, I have been getting a lot of crap about my thoughts and opinions on the show from friends. In response to that, I've decided to write a detailed blog entry as a sort of one-stop shop of everything I've said about American Idol and also to respond to comments that friends have made about what I've said in order to sum everything up in a clear and somewhat concise matter. It's kind of like an essay... Firstly, I hate American Idol. Let's just get that out there. I hate reality television with a passion, really. I used to enjoy Road Rules and some Real World back when the people on the show were actually acting somew...

I updated some of my website. It's mostly just aesthetics, but it gives it a whole new feel. Who am I kidding? It just looks a little different. I changed some fonts, made a couple new graphics. And now I'm heading to open mic...

It's almost the end of January (2011) and I am just now getting around to blogging about last year. (See last year's end of year post) . I'm in bed on a cold night. I have the heating pad under my sheets turned up and I'm quite warm. I did some chores before ending up here... there are many more chores to be done, but blogging feels like the right thing to do... or am I just procrastinating? I re-read last year's end of the year post and found it to be rather blase. I was in a blah sort of mood, I guess. In 2009, I didn't accomplish a lot... things ended... life goes on... 2010 was really sort of the same... there wasn't anything super exciting that stands out... except for right at the end when I found out that my baby niece, Liliana was born! 2010 was mostly filled with little moments. The road trip to DC and back was pretty fun. I played a LOT on the streets of Saratoga (and in the cities between here and DC). I made a LOT of new friends. I went out a lot...

One, one, one-one. It's just about 11:11 (PM) on 1/1/11. Which is throwing my tired mind into a complete numerological tail spin... Should I make a wish? Should I send an annoying twitter post about it, so my friends can ridicule me later? Should I just forget about it all together? Last night, of course, was New Year's Eve. And it was a freaking blast. I have to say it was one of the better parties that I've ever attended. A few of us made and brought food (I did this cream cheese and olive roll-thing, which took about an hour to make). Some brought champagne. Everyone was in a pretty super mood. Oh yeah... and we all dressed up -- which was absolutely excellent! It was a great end to 2010, but was not the greatest of great things that occurred at the end of the year. On 12/30/2010, while on lunch break with co-workers, I received the most exciting news ever via text message from my brother, Josh: "Liliana James. 5lbs 5ounces. Born 12/30 1pm." Thus, I became an u...

It's 12:30am and it's officially December 24th. Thus, it's the night before the night before Christmas. In about seven hours, I have to wake up, wrap presents, pack, and drive my butt to New Hampshire for Christmas. And, as such, I should be sleeping. However, I just came from the Christmas edition of Open Mic Night at Caffe Lena and it was quite possibly the best Open Mic of my life. First off, all five current open mic hosts were present and all performed. This is a rare occurrence! Luckily, we documented the occasion with a photograph at the end of the night. I really admire the songwriting capabilities of the other hosts: Gary Moon, Kate Blain, Ray "Rainman" Pashoukos, and Willie the Moak. It's really an honor to be among them. Sharing the stage with them all for the photo was really excellent! At one point during the night, I was smiling warmly while listening to a Christmas song performed by an open miker. I turned around to see who was coming in the doo...

I am home sick from work today. I woke up at the usual time, felt like I had been hit by a truck, and made the easy decision to call my supervisor. I forced myself out of bed to make the call, which prompted the cat to remind me that it's her breakfast time; so, I went down stairs, fed her, and started looking for my humidifier. I found it and got it going as quickly as possible. Then, I passed out in my bed again for about three and a half hours. I awoke feeling MUCH better than I had. The dryness of the air must have done a number to my sinuses. That combined with the somewhat busy weekend I had being on call for work really beat me up. Now that I'm feeling among the living, I thought I'd blog. Before logging in to write, I usually glance at my website's homepage and scan the most recent twitter messages and my previous blog. The top two "tweets" and the blog this time around were pretty negative in nature. Some might even say they are "scathing." ...