And my sisters say I can't cook...

Last night I made myself dinner. I documented all of it, so I'll post pictures later. It was the most delicious meal ever. Here's the recipe:

2 hot dog buns
Nutella
Creamy Peanut Butter

Broil the hot dog buns in the oven. Put creamy peanut butter on one side and Nutella on the other. Eat it. It's soooo freaking good.

See, I told you I was a good cook! And also, I made lunch today. Turkey salad with grapes and apples and walnuts (I imagined them, because I couldn't actually find them) in a pita pocket.

...so with my skills, I'm really not too worried about feeding myself. :)

Weally Wierd

So this is one of the weirdest things I've seen in a while. I feel really bad for this interviewer. It's pretty long, so listen to the beginning, then skip to around 5:10. It's weird in the middle there, but it gets really strange around 5:10. There is a little bit of colorful language to watch out for, but not too bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJWS6qyy7bw

Listening to Music

The UAF Jazz Festival was last weekend. It was my fifth (and last...) time going. It was so much fun, as usual. I learned a lot, mostly I just remembered how much I really like jazz. I've been focusing a lot on classical voice and piano lately, so this was very refreshing. It also made me want to focus on music a lot more. Not necessarily on playing music- I devote a lot of my time to that- but to listening to it.

My brother Calvin does this all th time, and I always think he has the worst taste ever. But I'm not very proud of my iPod selection either- most of it is just catchy crap on the radio. And to be honest, there are a lot of songs that I listen to on Calv's iPod that I think are so bad, and then later end up liking them (Tom Waits and Zooey Deschanel from She and Him, for instance). So I've decided to start listening and trying to find some good music. I bought a ton today, Laura Caviani (a jazz pianist at the festival this year), some older Michael Buble stuff (I think his older stuff is more jazz and less pop influence), Diana Krall, and some country. I heard a song on the radio today called "Til the Last Shot's Fired" by Trace Adkins. At first listen it's a hokey soldier song, but it has a really neat full classical chorus at the very end that really changes the piece. It's very surprising and refreshing.

Anyways, while I was at Jazz Festival, I bought a CD called "Family" by Kelly Rossum, so here's my review:

First of all, if you aren't really into jazz, give this album some time to grow on you. I love jazz, and still, some of the more modern tracks are a little drawn out.
My instant favorite is Track 3, Mr. Blueberry. I don't know what kind of jazz you would call this tune (almost bop, but not really...?) but it's really catchy. It has a more defined tune than the others, and the muted sound of the trumpet is really clear. The piano also stands out- it's simple but it's really hip.
Track 4, Pure Imagination, is a really fun chart too. It's really abstract, so don't get too distracted if you can't always find the melody. Again, this piano player is really great. Underscores the trumpet well, but still isn't boring.
Generally, the album gets better as it goes along. Just don't get discouraged by the first two charts. I'll write more about it when I've listened more to it.

Check him out at www.krossum.com

Peace,
Rachel