A new design for a new year, plus a new resolution: blog at least once a week. If the snow stays intent on keeping my driveway buried, this should not be hard.

2009 was a dreadful year all round for myself, my family, and most of my friends. Family sentiment especially was “Thank God it’s over.” However, when it wasn’t bashing us over the head with large, spiky sticks, ‘09 did try, every once in a while, to redeem itself.

the life and times of a YA writer

Began Violet my current work in progress (WIP), and finished & revised Kit, my second novel. No, these are not titles. They’re characters.

Lost the ability to attend my Wednesday morning group (regained it later) and so joined a couple night critique groups. I love them, especially the one that meets at IHOP. Not only do I get excellent feedback and advice, I can get my monthly dose of egg nog pancakes.

(Speaking of egg nog, Shatto’s is all kinds of wonderful. The best on the market.)

I’ve discovered the joys of reading on my iPhone – Stanza’s my favorite, but Kindle’s good too. Never thought I’d be an ebook person, but it’s wonderful to curl up anywhere and read. My books are always with me–including some as yet unpublished goodies by friends.

(More: what 2009 got right)

I had five downloads left over for April, out of fifty. However on the plus side, I discovered a new love – Metric. Their sound is perfect, or maybe perfect for my mood. But then, I’m partial to rock bands with female vocals.

EDIT: Apparently Metric is huge in Canada, seriously big. I found them through emusic, thinking they were a good but unknown indie band and they turn out to be the top dogs of rock. So, does that mean I have excellent taste? Or am just utterly clueless? I’ll go with the former.

Metric – Grow Up And Blow Away, and Fantasies. I love Fantasies, especially “Gimme Sympathy,” “Blindness,” and…well, the entire album. It’s the new staple on my playlists.

Stars – Set Yourself On Fire. Very interesting band. I’ve very attracted to some of their songs, and as truly cannot stand others. Overall, the good outweighs the bad, and the good is very good.

Solo – “Songs ‘N Sounds.” A good song, but didn’t find much else on the album I wanted to keep.

Julianna Barwick – Florine. No lyrics, few instruments. She layers her voice, deeper and higher, in an ethereal mix of voice and light. Very different.

DJ Keri – “Ocean Blue.” A great, soothing electronic piece.

Years – “Kids Toy Love Affair.” Another different, instrumental number. Sounds like the soundtrack to an off-beat/fantasy indie film.

Cut Copy – “Midnight Runner,” “Out There on the Ice,” and “Feel the Love.” Emusic totes Cut Copy as “Killer dance punk from Down Under.” I don’t entirely agree. The songs I chose are more poppy, airy, with a semi-electronic, sometimes almost old school feel. I really enjoy these songs, though didn’t find enough in the album to burn my last five downloads on.

I shot a show for the Main Street Cafe, as they raise funds for building renovations. Denise said they could be open again in the summer, I hope so.
This show was hosted at a church in midtown, and featured one of the members of Sailor Sequence and the Bradley Hathaway group.

See more show photos

The best and worst part of shooting a show is lighting. If the stage is well lit, all those multicolored bulbs offer up interesting effects. If there’s no stage at all, things get tricky. As I try not to use flash too often at shows (it’s somewhat disruptive), it becomes a game of how low can you go on the shutter.

Meet the Mikey Needleman Band. Their lead guitarist, Vince Kirk is my guitar teacher. (Yes, I am learning to play – somewhat.) They gave a great performance and were fun to shoot.
They are currently in the Mix 93.3 Battle for Red White and Boom. Their first round is May 9th, 9pm at Aftershock. Go give them your vote!

And now for more photos » »

Firstly: sorry about the 404s. They are fixed now. Forgot to update my permalink structure.

March was heavy on the sythpop, thanks to Pandora and my Iris radio. It’s been my constant writing and driving (via the iphone) companion. I’m in love with having internet radio with me everywhere I have a signal. However, Pandora does have it’s drawbacks, including little international support. A friend recently suggested Grooveshark, which boasts the ability to listen to any song anywhere, and to create your own playlists. Very cool. Better yet, I hear a Grooveshark iphone app is in the works.

But now for music.
(Read more…)