Home Stretch

Only 9 hours until I will be removing my boots and walking through security only to sit another hour because you really don't need to be there 2 hours prior to your flight. That means home! Home to the wonderfully clean streets of Brookline and a fully stocked Trader Joe's just steps from my apartment. And walking! Oh glorious foot to sidewalk!

This is slightly old news, but I got a new Last.Fm account cause my computer vomited up and spit out the last one. So check out my new profile BETHANY2000.

I got a text from Nate at 5am this morning informing me that the building where Claymonkey Studio is located had caught fire a few hours earlier. Overall everyone got out safely (minus smoke inhalation and some minor burns), thank god.

Claymonkey Studio is the apartment/artspace of friends Andy, Damian and Thom.. They regularly host drawing classes, shows and parties at the space and have opened it up to friends and strangers over the last few months. It shares a building with Pan 9 and several other art spaces that are well loved in the community. At this point it looks like the fire was electrical.

What a terrible way to end 2006 and go into 2007. I know how hard those three worked on literally building that apartment space.

I am sure there will be many benefits etc. set up for these guys in the next few months to help them get back on their feet..

here's an article about the fire on Boston.com

Favorite Photos from the Last Few Weeks

Pirate Christmas party in NYC.. Chris from Park the Van, me and Brian, Dr. Dog's manager. We sorta geeked out that night and Chris started calling me mom.


Karaoke after the Christmas party.. I feel it really captures the energy of Emma and Brooke's performance of "I Want It That Way"


I took this on the way to Montreal. Steve looks like a creepy serial killer, which I find hilarious


What parents say when they aren't actually listening to what you're talking about


Our bathroom at the W in Montreal. Faaaancy.


Montreal had the best Christmas lights displays


Amazing zoom on camera + creepy mascot= best first hockey game ever


Reuniting with Murray. ahhhhh.


Just being super duper magically SEXY at the fancy hotel bar. ummm.


Basilique Notre-Dame.. I nearly died. Jonathan Visger said "holy sweet mother of god that photo is not of this world."


Omar (my son) as a reindeer...


McMc & Mcbreezy (and bodyguard) before their performance at the Great Scott Christmas Party


His theory is that people think we're crazy cause we run around all insanely giddy. Whatever!


Puget Sound from the ferry


The one and only Gary Barbo


Stabbing things at Cafe Flora. Zach approves.


My other brother Eric Christensen


Mel and some hobos


Sean Nelson WILL pick you up at 2am in the pouring rain. Prime hang out time!


Ella hates me. Look at the disdain in those eyes.


So cute that she makes me want to vom


We got good genes, my brother and I


Cutest grandparents ever.



Thank you new camera. I am obsessed. Arg.

8AM Musings

I'm chaining myself to the house today for fear of spending more money I don't have. My trip to the Kitsap Mall was frightening, if only for running into my junior high friend's mom and her happen to be talking to said junior high friend on the phone and shoving the phone into my hand. So now I have her phone number, which I will likely never use. Hmmm.

The Wherehouse was having a buy-three-get-one free sale on used cds and I managed to track down the much lusted-after Lush album Lovelife. The funny thing is that I used to own Lovelife in my youth but probably hawked it to some used bin once I lost interest.. but Carl's been playing it at The Plan lately and it reminded me of how much I loved the damn thing. Also purchased: Lisa Loeb, Supergrass, The Rosebuds (I never bought their last record for some reason??) and the new Silversun Pickups which I had also failed to get a copy of. Last week in Seattle I also finally got the new King Khan and BBQ Show record that came out last month. Yesss.. I suppose that working in music completely spoils me in that I forget the art of shopping for records. Luckily I still found joy in ripping open my new purchases just as I used to. Unfortunately my mom only has a tape player, so I didn't have the pleasure of listening to them all the way home.

Last night I went to The Manette with Andrea and Heather, where we "gabbed" (really, there's no other way to put it.. it was a totally great 35-year-old-women-out-on-the-town evening) and laughed our heads off. Looks like Andrea will be joining us on the East Coast next year, which proves my theory that Boston is a big black-hole magnet for the NW.

Talked to Nate yesterday and it looks like it might be NYE at the Cave.. Honestly, I don't give a shit what I do, as long as I can wear a foofy dress and drink champagne and be around some close friends. So that's what it'll be then! Hooray!

The Wild Holidays Continue

Last night I went to bed at 10pm. I tried to watch Capote, but I made the mistake of watching it in the dark, so there my mom and I were, zonked out on the couch in true Pickard women form. The only thing that makes up for the early bedtime is the early rise at 7am to drive my mom to work. See this way I have her car to attend to such things as Spending Macy's Gift Card at Kitsap Mall and Drive Around Aimlessly Wasting Time.

So far I have done neither of those things. I've watched Fast Food Nation, comtemplated never eating any food again in fear of dying a horrible death filled with heart disease and obesity, consumed a breakfast eggs and toast and tracked down my friend Calley who I haven't seen in a few years. She's married now with a daughter. When making plans we have to consider things like car seats. This makes me feel both incredibly irresponsible and incredibly thankful at the same time.

My time in Kent was well-saturated with family. Everyone asked me about my job, no one really asked me about my vegetarianism (!!!) and relationships were only brought up twice (and boy-oh-boy did they laugh with my clever zing!) My cousin Pete bought me two 12-packs of beer, only one of which I managed to drag back on the ferry, and I received praise from my Aunt Cathy for how "great" I was with baby Ella. Ella actually wasn't that impressed with me, she just has extremely ticklish feet.

Much food was eaten and I had the pleasure of watching my 50-something year old relatives begin chanting "Naughty Nog" at the Christmas dinner table so that Nancy would bring over some of her homemade, high-alcohol content nog.

An excellent Christmas I'd say. Excellent Christmas indeed.

It's 7am Christmas Eve and I'm sitting in the Seattle ferry terminal surrounded by various bags (laptop? check. suitcase? check. bag of gifts? check. purse? check.) I don't know who came up with the name, but Seattle's Best Coffee is anything but. It is much needed though. 1am bedtime and 5:37am wake up alarm? Oh yes.

The last few days have been spent running around the streets of Seattle seeing old (and newer) friends. This vacation seems like it's moving at the speed of molasses but I know I should be grateful for the time to clear my head. My fall-time insanity was in full swing by the time I boarded that airplane a few days ago.

So this is how today will go. Go to church, watch Dad preach. Go to Kent, watch aunts and uncles get hammered. Take pictures of cute baby cousins. Avoid questions about my job/love life/vegetarianism (it's been ten years, please stop asking.) The "adults" in the family decided we should do a gift exchange this year, but in true Wagner fashion, we'll be exchanging booze, not gift certificates or matching gloves and scarf sets. I failed to mention to my mom that my friends and I used to do something similar in college. Happy Fifthmas everyone.

I bought my dad the Page France record for Christmas. Last year he got Sufjan's Seven Swans and the year before it was the Polyphonic Spree. He's a long way from being Indie Rock Dad, but I'm trying slowly but surely. Nothing with cussing, nothing too crazy... My mom still hasn't latched onto Neko Case like I would like her to.

Boat time. Not the band.

Bonjour!

I am currently sitting in the W Hotel in downtown Montreal, Quebec. Directly in front of me is five squares of various sizes cut from one big square of clouds. They're spaced evenly and oh so modern.

Everything in the room is square. And white. Or black. Or sky blue. There's faux fur throws on each bed. And mirrors. Hoards of mirrors.

I feel oh so modern.

The trip up lasted from 10am to 5:30pm (including stops.)

I bought a diary from an antique shop in Lydonville. It's from 1891. Its reads like this:

April 3, 1891
Chopped 2 loads of wood

April 4, 1891
Chopped

April 5, 1891
went to the mill

April 6, 1891
chopped.

I also scooped up several necklaces for a dollar each.

New camera is holding up wonderfully.

Au revoir!

Freestyled Vegetarian Meatloaf

I made an "Amercian Dinner" on Saturday night, which included baked potatoes and roasted asparagus w/pinenuts and umm.. vegetarian meatloaf. While the idea of a meatless meatloaf may cause you to gag, it's actually really great! I stole (most of) the recipe from my mom and just replaced the hamburger meat.. I don't have exact measurements/temps needed, so freestyle it. It's more fun that way anyway.

2 tubes of fake/imitation/meatless hamburger (looks sorta like Jimmy Dean)..find it next to the fake ham, fake bologna and tofu
3/4 rolled oats (errr give or take)
1 egg
1 clove of garlic, minced (optional)
mustard (less)
ketschup (more)
bbq sauce (I like straight up Bulls-Eye)


sauce:
bbq sauce
brown sugar

Mix the first group of ingredients together in a bowl. You'll probably have to use your hands, which is sorta nasty, but it's the only way to do it. After it's nice and mixed, put it into a square pan (no one wants round meatloaf) and cover it. I'd keep the oven between 350 and 400 degrees. It sorta takes a while to cook (especially if you're impatient).. start checking it around 45 minutes.. put a knife in it, stick yr finger in it.. just make sure it has a nice fake-meat consistancy.

Mix BBQ sauce and brown sugar together until it's sweet but not overwhelming. Pour over the top and stick it back in the oven uncovered until it's nice a bubbly.

Let it cool a bit (don't burn your mouth!) and enjoy.

Finally, thank my mom for making the sort of meatloaf that I wanna recreate 11 years later.

Thanks for freestyle cooking wit Bethany!

Next up: Marilyn's Chicken

New Harvey Danger Video!

Moral Centralia!!! Directed by Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton

Moral Centralia

Add to My Profile | More Videos