To ink or not to ink?

So I already have one tattoo (gasp!) on the second toe of my right foot. It's a lovely little treble clef, and I love it. I seriously haven't regretted it once since I got it almost five years ago.

I went to a conference with some friends a few weeks ago, and one of the speakers mentioned that he'd just gotten a tattoo, and held up his arm to show a cute design involving his kids' names.

And I got the itch to get a new one.

Now I'm not crazy about the whole arm-sleeve tattoo look. I don't want to look like my name is Bertha and I drive a Harley and play lots of hard-core softball. I'm pretty girly. I want one the inside of my right wrist.

A small one.

The two things I love most in the world are music and writing. I've got the music tattoo covered.

I'd like to get something in tribute of my other favorite hobby, so here's what I'm thinking - this, this word:

Write.

Very small. Very easily covered up by a bracelet or a watch.

What do you guys think?

Song I'm digging today: "2-1 (Instrumental)" by Imogen Heap

I really can't convey how obsessed I am with this CD. Well, with anything by Imogen Heap. She really is my very favorite singer, hands-down. And I'm so, so excited because Ashleigh and I are going to see her next month in Nashville!

I've had this CD in my car since it came out, and I still haven't gotten remotely tired of it. It's just that good.

I bought the special edition album, and it came with a bonus CD of instrumental tracks. While I love, love, love the original song "2-1" with vocals, this version is just as impressive. When the violin starts soaring over the piano, I get chills.

Every time.

A Good Coffee Fix

Well, the coffee shop "gig" went just fabulously. Fantastically fabulously.

Joe and I sang Michael Jackson and Run DMC songs all the way up, and then when we got there, Zach, the owner, gave us some yummy cheesy biscuits to eat while we set up our equipment. My mom, Holly Jo, and Ashleigh were already there, and they helped me make sure my music was in order and set up a camcorder to capture the event on film. I had to pretend it wasn't there while I was singing - I get weirded out by cameras, which is not good when your sister is a photographer (the camera is always, always out).

We started out with "Chocolate," and all was well until we started playing "Fix You" and realized that for some reason, my microphone was causing Joe's guitar to not pick up. It took us a little bit of time to fix that (no pun intended), but everyone was really cool about it.

I even got to sing some songs with Holly Jo, and I loved that.

My friends Aaron, Sara, Floyd, Linda, and Ben came, and some friends of Joe's that I'd never met before traveled up, too. It made us both feel pretty special that our friends showed up to support us like that.

I definitely can't wait to do it again.

Song I'm digging today: "Sleep Spent" by Death Cab for Cutie

I really dig Ben Gibbard's poetry and electronic meets soulful singer/songwriter vibe with the music he writes for Death Cab for Cutie.

I love the slowness of this song and how it allows the lyrics to shine.

Best line: "I can't expel the truth/It's much more than I thought I could do/And with time, my worth will stain/And split your heart from my name..."

Mochas and Music

In a little quaint town in Tennessee, there's the cutest little coffee shop that serves the best mochas I've ever had. Every Friday they invite singer/songwriters to come play cover songs along with some original songs, and they've asked me to play tomorrow!

I'm pretty excited. My friend Joe has been nice enough to offer to play guitar with me, and I'll be singing and playing piano. My little sister Holly Jo is also coming to sing some backup with me. Last night at practice, Joe said "You know...you're not a depressing person at all...but your musical choices sure are!"

And I started looking at our set list, and sure enough - they are slightly depressing songs. Lots of Ingrid Michaelson, some Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, KT Tunstall...my favorite sort of songs. But they are a little gloomy.

So we decided to throw some fun songs into the mix - we're doing "The Whole Wide World" by Wreckless Eric (for those of you who loved "Stranger Than Fiction" as much as I did, you'll know that one!), and "Chocolate" by Snow Patrol. We might even break out some "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

So - here's our set list - you guys tell me what you think!

"Chocolate" - Snow Patrol
"Dream" - Priscilla Ahn
"Speeding Cars" - Imogen Heap
"Fix You" - Coldplay
"You Just Forgot" - Mindy Smith
"Better" - Regina Spektor
"Burgundy Shoes" - Patty Griffin
"Daydream Believer" - The Monkees
"Waste" - Phish
"The Whole Wide World" - Wreckless Eric (Joe's taking the lead on this one)
"Maybe" - Ingrid Michaelson
"Oh, What a Day" - Ingrid Michaelson
"Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
"The Chain" - Ingrid Michaelson
"Under My Bed" - Meiko
"Keep Breathing" - Ingrid Michaelson
"Closer" - Jars of Clay
"Colorblind" - Counting Crows
"Falling Slowly" - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
"The Promise" - When in Rome
"1234" - Feist
"With or Without You" - U2
"Bicycle Tricycle" - Rosie Thomas
"If You Could Read My Mind" - Gordon Lightfoot
"Other Side of the World" - KT Tunstall
"Under the Weather" - KT Tunstall
"Boys with Girlfriends" - Meiko
"Boats and Birds" - Gregory and the Hawk
"Hummingbird" - Kris Delmhorst
"Take It Down" - The Wailin' Jennys
"Cannonball" - Damien Rice
"One" - U2

I know. It's a lot. However, I have to sing from 6:30 to 9 (with one 15 minute break), so it takes a lot of songs to fill up two hours. I'm also going to throw in some originals.

I'll let you know how it goes!

I eats me spinach.

So I'm feeling better this afternoon.

I had a good pep talk from my little sister, Holly Jo, last night after I blogged. I left the conversation feeling like maybe it hadn't been such a bad interaction after all, and I'd probably over-analyzed everything (I'm sooo good at that). She's so great with pep talks. I'm lucky to have her around.

And then Ashleigh gave me a good sound "stop this stupidness!" slap through email this morning, which I definitely needed.

So. I've come to this conclusion - as Popeye would say, I yam what I yam. When I get nervous, I'm awkward. I make stupid jokes. I stutter a little. I blush. And if NPG can't deal with that, well...his loss.

Someday, some guy is going to be very awkwardly happy with me. There will be lots of courtesy laughs.

And he won't. Mind. One. Bit.

Song I'm digging today: "Cornflake Girl" by Tori Amos

This song pretty much sums up how I'm feeling today - sometimes I'm clumsy and I don't always say exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.

But I'm ok with that.

Today.

Best line: "Never was a cornflake girl/Thought that was a good solution/Hangin' with the raisin girls..."

3rd Person Rant

You know what stinks? Having to be around someone that you really, really like - I mean, really like -

and who you're pretty sure is not that into you.

And you want to stop liking this person, because that would be much easier. But you can't. Because he's charming. And cute, with little wire-rimmed glasses and a crooked smile. And funny.

And you want to stop being awkward. But you can't. Because you're you (although inside, you know that you're absolutely, positively NOT this weird). And the more you try to stop being Awkward You, the more awkward you become.

And then you drive home and replay in your mind all the awkwardly weird things you said. And then you tell yourself "NEXT time I see him, I will be totally cool and laid back." But you never are.

It's bad when you are annoyed at yourself because you're being yourself.

P.S. Yep. New Piano Guy is giving me some "not so much" signals lately. I'm sure I'll feel better tomorrow, but right now - I just want to crawl under my covers and mope. So that's what I'm going to do.