Oh the places you can go!

With just a few complicated steps, Jeff can turn this hideous picture of me....

Into this.....

And this....

Sorry ladies, he's taken :)

Technology is pretty amazing. And deceiving.

My Husband is an Artist!

It's been almost five years since Jeff and I met, and ever since then I've been telling him he needs to market his art because it's great. It's not "mainstream" so his market is specific, but that doesn't mean he's not incredibly talented. Because he is :)

Our friend Dan told Jeff about an art show that took place in March, and it finally gave Jeff the push he needed to get the ball rolling and start selling his stuff. I felt like such a proud mom watching him sell his stuff and seeing how exciting it was for him. Another great outcome about this art show is the recent inspiration it's given him to start painting again. It's been a while since he painted something new, so I'm excited to see what new ideas get painted onto the canvasses we have laying around.

Hopefully this art show will only be the first of many more to come...stay tuned! Until then, here's a preview of what he's done so far:

I have my theory about this girl, who she is and why she is the way she is.

This is my absolute favorite. It's the only original I forbid him to sell.

But you can buy a print :)

This one I love not only because of the color scheme, but also the sheer size of the original.

This is another one of my favorites. It's so different from anything I've seen him paint before: just splashes of color and chaos. Love it.

You can check out the rest of his stuff on Etsy, and definitely check back for new stuff in the next few months :)

Jeff's Corner. Episode 2 Return of the Rant

And I’m back! Time for another Jeff’s corner! Hard to contain the excitement I know.

This time I will be talking about music. And more specifically how amazing the new Menudo album is! And you thought the comeback tour would never happen!! See you in TJ bitches! Ok well I can dream. But alas this will be about music. Or what has happened to the quality of music. I will be the first to admit that I, on occasion, watch American Idol. And I find myself saying things like: “wow she was really good,” or “that was a great performance,” or “she has a really great voice,” all of which is true, but it’s always said with an obvious asterisk after. That being, that it’s good “for what it is.” It’s good for a reality TV show. The voice is good, the song is good, the singer has a unique style and sad life story so I can feel like they deserve their shot at the big time. But it just doesn’t have the “thing.” That thing that makes me want to EVER hear it again. It’s just a little too clean and tidy. There’s no soul. And then they get to record an album and there’s even less soul. With all the pitch perfect and auto tuning it sounds great. But it ends up sounding like everything else. And people love it!

Why is that? How can so many people be excited and talk about something that’s so, well, mediocre? What has happened to our standards of music? Not saying that American Idol is the end all of music. But it is the main stream. And beyond that it doesn’t get much better. Lady Gaga. I get it. It’s poppy, catchy, and sometimes she wears a wacky hat. Great. But I can pretty much guarantee that not even a super fan of hers will be telling their kids “ you want to hear real music, listen to 'poker face,' thats talent!” I feel like musicians are more like commercials of themselves rather than talented artists. It’s no longer about being talented. Its about being just talented enough to be marketable. You’ve got a great voice, but can you sell a smart car to a nine year old? And speaking of nine year olds, The F@*%ING Jonas Brothers playing live with Stevie Wonder. Are you kidding me!? I understand they sell millions of records to twelve year old girls, but that was the biggest tragedy in music history. Worse than Hendrix dying, the Beatles breaking up, and Mylie Cyrus becoming more than a sheet stain combined. Stevie Wonder’s manager should be sent to Guantanamo for setting up that musical terrorist attack. You just don’t pair up a living legend with a couple kids that spend more time spritzing their mini fros than they do learning the lyrics to the amazingly famous song they are about to perform. And I refuse to post the video of it here. If you’re a glutton for punishment youtube it yourself. Sorry in advance.

I just don’t see pop music today standing the test of time. We won’t be listening to K-Earth in 50 years and Justin Bieber will come on. It’s just not gonna happen. There is a reason Rolling Stones are still touring and kids are newly getting into bands like Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd. And why I’m into music that was made 30 years before I was born. It was music made to be music. Not to be rich and famous, or the next Sony spokesperson. Just talented people making great music. Playing real instruments and actually singing at live shows. And if you weren’t good you didn’t go anywhere. End of story. You suck, move on, and get a day job. Now it’s, you suck, but you’ve got the look and you can dance so we can mold you into a pop star! These “artists” shouldn’t get gold records and grammys. They should get employee of the month plaques from their sponsors.

Well I could rant for days about this but I’ll just add this little bit. Feel free to enjoy all the crap music you want. I know I do. I actually DIDN”T change the station when that Kesha song came on the other day. “Wake up in the morning feelin like P Diddy” what does that even mean? Wake up feeling like a rich black guy? Any-who. My suggestion to maybe weed out the weak of the music industry, is to use the technology of today. PIRATE all the crap songs you want guilt free! Why should we pay for mediocrity? And purchase only the quality music you really want to own. Clearchannel keeps all the really trash music on a constant loop anyways. And for qualities sake, if you have a friend that sings, but they aren’t that good and have high hopes of being the next American Idol: It’s your job to tell them they suck! They should never be on national TV acting surprised when the rest of the world is laughing at them. Imagine if these people put that much energy into something they were actually good at! So I’ll leave you with some music that in terms of quality, soul and talent is the polar opposite of pop music today. Enjoy and thanks Alex for letting me banter for a bit!

This^ is singing with soul

You can't tell me that doesn't sound good. 1:20 into the song. come on thats singing.

Editor's note/legal disclaimer: the owner of this site does not endorse pirating music ;) (love, Alex)

INTRODUCING: Jeff's Corner!!

Hello all. As most of you know I am Alex’s husband Jeff. After weeks of seeing Alex writing her blog it made me want to start my own. But knowing me, I would probably only write on it once a month. So Alex had the idea that I just do a kind of, ‘Jeff’s corner’ in her blog. Perfect! So here we go. Hopefully the network picks me up and this show doesn’t get cancelled after one episode ;)

Beer. The world’s oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage

(thanks wikipedia). Some hate it, some love it, and some weep at the realization that a local seven eleven is supplying a night of unexpected quality (thank you seven eleven for steering away from your affordable yet flavorless beers of past). I am obviously the latter. A self proclaimed “beer snob.” Of course I realize that tastes differ so I try not to be too hard on the average American beer drinker. But the days of Coors, Miller, and Budweiser ruling as the mainstays of beer are drawing to a close. Now I see beer drinking going the way of fine wine. With thousands of breweries across the nation, people will start shopping for types of beer instead of brands, giving large bottles of hard-to-get and well renowned beer as gifts. A walk down a well stocked beer aisle can be just as culturally stimulating and wallet draining as most

wine aisles (almost). We don’t have a four story beer tower holding almost 10,000 bottles. Yet. But there are options. Hundreds of options. Even local grocery stores are branching into micro brew territory. It pains me to watch

people debate a beer decision while only looking at the far end of the aisle. Branch out! At first it might seem too bitter, or too strong. But with the amount of choices, you’re sure to find at least one NEW beer to drink. And that usually leads to another, and then in no time you’re in a whole new world of flavors and choices.

So here's a short(ish) list of beers that I can personally recommend. Some light, some dark, some just plain mean. And a hint for sampling beer. Drink more than one sip. A lot of times I try a beer with one sip and its always different after two or three. Especially if you’re in the middle of drinking something else.

For branching out from fizzy yellow beers-

• Sierra pale ale. It’s my go-to light beer. Not too expensive, not too strong. But a great amount of hoppy flavor

• Fat Tire Amber Ale. A great amber beer. Again, its not gonna knock you out with taste but it’s really good. This was my kick start into the world of good beer.

• Blue moon. Not one of my personal favorites but it seems a lot of light beer drinkers go to this for a change. Its a Belgian white so don’t be alarmed by the cloudy appearance. And try a slice of orange in it.
• Pyramid Hefeweizen. I may get bashed by fellow snobs. But I think this is one of the better Hefeweizens out. Inexpensive and available at local grocery stores. A slice of lemon and its a great fresh beer. Good with fish, like grilled salmon.
• Newcastle. I know I know. I think 90% of the US population hates this beer but I like it. Especially after a few days. Personally I like to buy it and let it skunk up a bit in the fridge before drinking. It’s just TOO smooth when it’s fresh. But that’s just me.

And on to the slightly stronger beers (aka The STONE section).

And I don’t mean stronger in any real way except light beer drinkers tend to not like them right away.

• STONE PALE ALE (my absolute favorite) Its a pale, light beer, with an amazing amount of hoppy flavor. HOPS is a flower used in beer as a bittering agent. And the bitterness in beer is measured in IBU scale. International Bittering Units. So a normal bud light kind of beer is maybe 8-12 IBUs. Stone Pale is 41 IBUs.
• Mirror Pond from Deschutes Brewery. 40 IBUs. So tasty.
• Black Butte Porter, another deschutes beer. This one is dark and smokey and delicious.
• STONE Levitation. This one is a bit friendlier on the alcohol level. 4.4% so more drinkable than the rest Stone has to offer.
• STONE IPA. Well color me delicious. It’s got more hops than needed and its just scratching the surface. FYI Drink this AFTER drinking pale. Or a pale just won’t have enough kick.
• Guinness. MMMmmmm. I seem to go through a Guinness phase about once a year. Try a black and tan. Pour a little more than half a pale beer like Harp into a glass. Average speed don’t worry about head. It will help separate the two. Then over an upside down spoon SLOWLY pour Guinness on top.
• Ale Smith IPA- My favorite IPA that I don’t drink nearly enough of. Time for a trip to BEVMO!

And lastly, Mean beers. Well, it depends on your standards.

• STONE Ruination. This is the mother of Hoppy beers while retaining a really drinkable quality. It is 7.7% so quite strong. And 100+ IBUs. I think anything beyond 100 IBUs is not really important because at that point its just freakin HOPPY. Your wife will not appreciate this beer. Or your bowels. Just FYI. Ask Alex.
• Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout. This is Naked and crying in the shower beer. There’s a reason it only comes in four packs. At 9% Its black like Pat Robertson’s soul. And thicker than Snookies layer of spray tan. But at the same time very good.
• STONE “OAKED”Arrogant Bastard. Its strong and really really good. 7.2% so not an all nighter. Well unless you’re a fan of Adventures en el cuarto de bano.
• The Abyss, Its just a mean imperial stout. Comin in at 11%. Its smokey as hell but a fine beer to sip on and share with friends.

Well there are WAAAAY more beers that I could list but these are just a few to get you started. Hopefully you’ll wonder down to the unknown area in the beer aisle next time.