More Vitamin N!

Hey everybody. Sorry I haven't been contributing in a while, but we've been busy with the RPM project. Very recently, and quite last minute, we've made a new addition to our group. He's Trevor Barker, an old work friend of Terry's. He's an amazing pianist and he also plays a little bass, so we're looking forward to having him on board. Of course we left it until the last minute, but that's just how we work. Sometimes I wonder how we ever get anything done but we always manage to somehow.
Anyway, we'll be busily strumming and singing away this weekend to finish up the album, because the deadline is the end of the month. So wish us luck and we'll post it all as soon as we can.

We're Baaaack

Hey everyone! It's the new sensation sweeping the internet nation! It's a new podcast from Paul and Sandi! We can promise more random topics of conversation, like who we would take to the Oscars if we were nominated, cats driving stock cars, and Battlestar Galactica.

Paul seems to have tried a new idea in this one: a music track running underneath the chatting. Weigh in. Music or no music?

Also, we do appreciate comments, whether it's "You guys are awesome. You're revolutionizing the way I get information on the internet." or "You guys suck worse than Two and a Half Men." We can take it.

Click here for all the hilarity and useless factoids.

Returning to school?

Not 100% sure about it yet, but I may be going back to school over the summer, and I am looking at this program as a possibility.

So far my career has been stalled, as there are not a whole lot of writing jobs here in NL. So I figure return to MUN over the summer to complete these courses and see what happens. I think more education will mean more opportunities.

The novel and hopefully some freelance work with Water Werks will continue.

I've got until March 30th to think it over.

Album Progress!

Hey there Vitamin N fans! I just wanted to update everyone on the progress we've been making on the album. So far we have about 7 new songs written and about 3 and 1/2 recorded. I also have a pile of "backup" songs I can polish up if we don't make the quota. You can check out the new blog post as well as two new tracks over at the RPM website. We've also created an album cover using a pic I took in Toronto's Union Station a lifetime ago which is also posted there.

Only 5 days left, pressure's on!

Keep rockin'

-T

Let the novel begin!

Well today I took the bull by the horns. (A cliche! Kathleen Winter is going to kill me!) I've been saying that I want to get started on writing a fictional account of Mom's family growing up on St. Brendan's. Recently I started a very rough draft of the opening of the book. Today I actually sat down (with pen and my leather-bound notebook, what with me being a professional writer & all) and started asking Mom about some of her memories.

There are a lot of directions this book can go. But what I think I want to emphasize is strong character development and good physical descriptions of the landscape. I have a lot of this mapped out in my head. Now it's just a matter of putting it to paper (and to Microsoft Word).

As its a snowy day here in good old St. John's, and I have no work pressing, now is as good a time as any to do just that.

Wish me luck!

And The Oscar Goes To.....

Hi,

So today is 'podcast day', it would seem. We recorded a second, impromptu session last night with special guest Susanne to discuss today's Oscar ceremony. We discuss what movies we loved from 2008, and who we think will take home an award later tonight.

Check it out!

We're heeeeeere!

Here it is! The wait is over! Here's the inaugural podcast by Paul and Sandi. We don't really have an awesome name for it yet, but we're working on it. It's literally Paul and I gabbing for a little while, but I can promise some insight and some laughs. Just click on the title of the post, and it will give you the link. Please leave some comments and let us know how we did!!

The Music Years

As a follow on to the day the music died post, I have also been recently delving into music lists and finding likes and dislikes. The list i have is growing as Declan can attest to, and i would say he is slightly frightened at the amount of music I actually enjoy.

Well i can say that my taste has not really changed and knowing all of you, you will snicker at that statement as you may think my taste is shite! But I'm now going through a very huge nostalgic phase, I've always been that way i suppose. I am actually going through a list of music year by year from 1970 onwards . Its a very large list as my taste in the 70's is broad from Zepplin to Dr.Hook to Seals and Crofts. Yes i know that last one is Seals and Crofts but now I'm all about music reminding me of something, and i guess that last one reminds me of an album Mom and Dad had years ago so. Its an interesting process going through songs year by year and who knows when i will stop, but the 70's are patching up to be the banner years so far!

Sandi & Paul CAST!!

So, if you've been reading along, you've now heard from all of the Noseworthy kids, as well as the honourary members. In the beginning, when I first thought about this blog, I envisioned a place where we Noseworthys and our friends could come together and share our talents for writing, drawing, photography, and all points in between. To that end, I'm introuducing a new contributor to the blog, my friend Paul!! Yay!!

Paul had a great idea recently. Well, he's had some good ideas in the past, too, I'm sure, but this one was pure gold! He suggested that he and I do a podcast. I was instantly excited about that. I thought, we both like to gab, we make each other laugh; surely other people would love to hear us ramble on about movies or tv.

To that end, we're going to record a podcast every week, and post it here. That's right! This blog is going all multimedia, people! Stay tuned for the very first podcast. You'll hear all about the Magic Awards, musical Nazis, and the Riggs mullet. I really am not kidding about any of that.

MOM!!

So, I'm second in with my Happy Birthday to Mom. She is going to be mad that we're discussing her online, and she'll be even madder that I'm posting pics, but she does deserve a nice birthday tribute!

We're not allowed to discuss just which birthday this is for Mom, in fact, we're not even supposed to know which birthday this is. Still, a birthday is a reason to celebrate and reflect. Have a great day, Mom. I hope you're not snowed in too badly.

Let's see if you can figure out who the babies are in these pictures.

Happy Birthday Mom

Now is the time to become a blogger, and never having done it before is no excuse :)

Keeping on top of things

While I'm not disagreeing with keeping on top of the blog, I will say that it's not easy to 'force' yourself to write (or do anything creative for that matter). Sometimes you have to stay away from the process altogether, and when you come back to it you are refreshed and ready to write again.

This post is an excellent example of that. I started writing it yesterday and am still working on it. I realize that for some my writing style may seem unorganized and confusing, but somehow it works for me. Of course I have to rely on my editing skills this way, and it forces me to go back through things to make sure I am at least a little coherent.

But I do agree with our youngest sibling contributing more. And don't use the excuse that you have nothing to say!

"Not This Time, Dammit!!" Chapter 2

I thought I'd add this as a comment to Sandi's post about the tapering off of the blog, but then figured it might be too long.

As you all know, I lost my job just before the new year. Before that, I'd been working flat out for approximately the last 7 years, in more than one country and in more than a few jobs. Along the way, I got married, and therefore, in a sense, started a family (sans kids). For most of that time, my writing activity either dropped off dramatically or even disappeared, and I convinced myself that I had a permanent case of writer's block. Creatively speaking, most of the last 7 or so years were a dead end.

I can't remember when this was, perhaps 2 summers ago when I was home, but I bought a copy of Corel Painter. Honestly, I had never drawn in my life before, and never thought I had any talent in that direction. A half-assed stick man was about all I could muster. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found I COULD produce something...not high art, by any means, but something.

Not to make this sound like a religious conversion or anything, but I tried to figure out why and how this drawing thing happened. Where did the ability come from? Why did it happen so "late"? Was Corel Painter responsible? In short, it was like a revelation to me...here is some ability I have, that I never knew existed, and it opened up a whole new door of creativity for me. That was about a year and a half ago, and I've been drawing ever since...it seems like the ideas I would before have expressed in writing now make their way into pictures. That's not to say the writing is completely dead, however; it just has a new outlet.

Nobody likes to lose their job, I know, but for me, the conjunction of this happening and the blog starting was a happy conjunction. I just turned 37, and quite frankly don't want to keep all of my creativity inside anymore, which I had done for most of the past 37 years. I'm not sure how it is for anyone else, but I HAVE to be a creative person...its physically and mentally painful for me not to be creative. "Burning desire", I suppose you could call it. Anyone could argue that work, family, etc. are important, and they are, but your "music" is just as important. I remember a quotation from one of the Sherlock Holmes stories: "When a man has a hobby, he follows it up no matter what his other interests might be."

So, I'm with Sandi on this one. We need to keep this thing going strong all the time.

Ain't We Cute

I have an over-abundance of pictures of us stored on my hard drive, so I thought I'd post a few here. I really don't have many updated ones. People who haven't seen us in a while will just have to deduce what we look like. Hopefully, they'll deduce that I am a lot thinner than I actually am.

But, in any case, here are some gems from our childhood. And don't think that you cousins will be spared. You're here with us too, in all of our bad 90s hair glory! Nanny looks great, though, as does Mitzi. RIP.

Not This Time, Dammit!!

The blog's been up for a little while now, and I think that the honeymoon's over, in a way. After an initial flurry of posts, we've sort of tapered off. My worry, because I'm programmed to worry, is that this will be like my guitar-playing, or Bob and Geoff's guitar-playing, or Lauren's foray into ballet or soccer refereeing. That is to say, that we will be gung-ho about the blog to begin with, but will slowly let it die. I couldn't think of an Allyson reference here. Maybe she's better about sticking with things than the rest of us. But, again, I do worry that we will not follow through and make this what it could be.

So, Noseworthys (and Terry and Declan), keep the posts coming. Let us know what's going on with you. Post some short stories or photos or illustrations. We have a good number of people on the Facebook group, and people do actually read this stuff from time to time, so let's keep up with it.

The day the music died

Thanks Don McLean for the lyric, but your over-played anthem is not one of my favorites, despite it coming from an era of music that will never be matched again.

When exactly was the day the music died? If I had to pick a day, while not specifically a day, it would be sometime in the 1990s. Seems like once grunge hit the scene, a lot of music started to sound the same. Since the 90s, music has gone on a huge downward spiral. And there is no hope in sight.

So with no good, new music to listen to, I've turned to a band that I already know. With the availability of free downloads (torrents and other file sharing programs) it is easy to get the entire discography of a band. So you can sit back, and in a few hours have the entire Deep Purple discography.

I can hear the questions now, though. "Why would you WANT the Deep Purple discography?" Well, I like Deep Purple. I like the songs I have hard by them and figure that at the very least the rest of their music can't be that bad. The good thing about downloading music is that if you don't like it, you can delete it. Not quite the same if you plunked down $20 on a CD. But this is not really about CDs vs. downloads. That's an argument for another time.

I mention Deep Purple because most of their music has a distinct sound, and because it was Deep Purple I was listening to when I started to think about some of the crap that is being played today.

Thanks to Ian Gillan's awesome voice, it's not that hard to pick out a Deep Purple song (unless it's not Ian Gillan, but instead it's David Coverdale, Joe Lynn Turner or Rod Evans)the average person might not recognize Deep Purple from Shallow Pink.

But that works both ways. If I was to turn on the radio or Much Music right now, I'd say there is well over a 50% chance that I would not recognize the artist. I'll check that by saying that MM might give me a bit of an advantage as obviously I can see who is singing/playing. But that's not much of an advantage.

My dislike for the direction that the music business is not limited to new/newer artists. Oh no. It applies to most, if not all of the older bands that I like. One of the best examples of that is Aerosmith. While not one of the first bands I started listening to,(that would be KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, among others; Bob will remember those days), I did eventually become a huge Aerosmith fan.

I love the 70s Aerosmith output. Hardly a bad song. Even the overplayed songs like "Sweet Emotion", "Walk This Way", and "Dream On". But its the less popular album tracks, like "Bone to Bone (Coney Island Whitefish Boy)", "Three Mile Smile", and "Get the Lead Out" that I prefer. Awesome guitar. Steve Tyler's insane opening ramblings. One of the most solid, but not overly spectacular rhythm sections out there.

Then the 80s and 90s came.

Somewhere, somehow, Aerosmith's guitar-driven rock changed. It changed drastically. And it most certainly changed for the worst.

"Cryin'". "Angel". "Don't Want to Miss a Thing".

Are you serious?

That's only a few of the disasters they've recorded since 1987. The answer as to why their sound changed so much is simple enough.

No more drugs.

As we all know, drugs have taken many young performers, athletes, and everyday people way before their time. The same thing was going to happen to Steven Tyler and Jo Perry if they kept it up. But they didn't. They cleaned up their act. The sad thing is, they lost their sound. Suddenly they were cranking out power ballads that any crappy group was capable of matching.

The day the music died.

When I was talking initially with my boss at Water Werks, she said, "there are no new ideas." I had been asking her about the danger of ripping off another company's ad. As an aspiring writer, that was a little disheartening. On one hand it makes it sound like no matter how good someone is, your ideas are going to sound old and tired. But I know what she means.

She was referring to influences. And as an artist, more specifically, an author, I have my own influences. They range from other authors, to songwriters, to comedians, to my friends and family. It's like a professor of mine once said, "you write what you know".

So how does all this rambling, referencing, and ranting tie in with 'the day the music died'?

When you think about it, it's been 35 years since Aerosmith released their first album. In that time, thousands of groups have come and gone, many I'm sure influenced in one way or another by Aerosmith. (Guns 'N Roses are one notable band that claim Aerosmith as an influence). So, if Aerosmith were one of the reasons you got into the music business, it probably wouldn't be a stretch if your music sounded a bit like Aerosmith would it?

And that's sort of the point of all this, and really is why I find newer music to be bland and boring. It all sounds the same. Maybe if I put in a bit more effort I would be able to tell who is who. But I just don't care enough to try and figure it all out.

I'm content to fire all my songs into a Winamp playlist and take a nap. I've discovered some great songs that way.

Most people would furrow their brows and the sound (and sight) of the songs I listen to. Not only the artists. But the names, lengths and dates of the music I listen to. We've already been through Mr. Zappa's creative song titles. But who else wants to hear a 14 minute version of "Yours Is No Disgrace" by Yes? Bob maybe.

All in all, today's music scene, while probably full of decent artists, holds little interest for me.

If I really want to listen to a band that sounds like Led Zeppelin, I'll just go and listen to the real thing.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day from Dublin. In case you didn't know Dublin is actually the home of St Valentines relics. The relics were donated to the Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836, so I suppose you could say that Dublin not crappy cities like Paris or Venice is truly the center of romance.

Sandi's Dating Adventures

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I have resumed my foray into the hellish nightmare...I mean, wonderful adventure that is online dating. I think I have also mentioned that I have great reservations about the whole thing, but the friends keep telling me that it's the 'thing to do', so I am back on. I am actually on 2 sites; one free one, and one where you can pay to send messages, if you choose to. The paid site is pretty well-organized; it has a Dating section, one for Relationships, and one for Intimate Encounters. I would never in a million years post something in the Intimate section, but it is an entertaining read. This site has rules about the types of pictures you can post, and also approves or denies your profile after reviewing the content, which is nice. Essentially, you get some pretty PG profiles. On the free site, people can write what they like and can post whatever pictures they like. Want to post Jake Gyllenhaal's picture instead of your own? Anything goes! As a result, many guys post pictures of their abs or their chest or biceps. I don't know what the girls post...I am not sure I want to look.

So, I have gotten a few instant messages and 'smiles' and such on both sites. On both of my profiles, I listed an age preference, as I don't really see myself dating a 53-year-old. But, most of the contact has been with men well outside the age range. I don't know why I stress so much over what I write in the damn profiles, because no one seems to read them. I think that some men sit around, and wait for new people to sign up, or wait to see who's online, and then they unleash a barrage of smiles and messages without even checking to see what the person is like. That is creeptacular, people. I wonder if they ever do get anywhere.

One guy instant messaged me, and I replied because he had a cool soccer-related nickname. Nobody who likes soccer can be bad, right? It started to go south when he asked me for advice on what to do with a girl he had dated a couple of times. Um, you are asking random girls on a dating site for advice about other girls? That's classic. I turned off the Instant Message feature after that.

I got another Instant Message from the paid site. The guy looked nice enough, and I didn't get a 'serial killer' vibe from him, and his profile was coherent and sensible, so I messaged back. We ended up giving each other our MSN addresses and we started messaging there. Within 3 sentences, he asked if I had a problem dating guys from other races, since he was 'brown'. I told him I didn't have a "No Brown Guys" policy as such. Maybe 2 sentences later, he asked me what sorts of things I liked to do in bed. "Uh, I don't know, stranger? Read? Sleep? Make a blanket fort?" Now, relative to other people, I am a bit of a prude when it comes to talking about sex, but I ESPECIALLY don't want to talk about it to some strange guy I met online about 10 minutes beforehand. Call me crazy, but I don't advertise my bedroom likes and dislikes to everyone I meet. I explained this to him, that I really didn't feel like talking about that with him at this stage. Then, he asked me if I wanted to go out. Now, here's where I furrow my brow as well. Maybe every other girl besides me rushes right out the day that they make contact with guys for dates, but I just don't believe it. My usual routine is to chat for a bit, on Messenger and maybe with a couple of emails, then make a date. Sure, it might move slower than some people wish, but it leaves me well within my comfort zone. I know every single guy isn't some knife-wielding lunatic, but it really only takes one time to learn that lesson, doesn't it? So, again, I explained that, perhaps I am the exception, but I like to get to know someone before rushing out to meet them. He seemed understanding enough, but brought it up again. And again. I told him that I was sorry, but I wasn't interested in dating him right now. He is now deleted and blocked.

When I first signed up for this, I told myself to just go on dates. I know now that I won't be doing that again. Sure, I had some less-than-desirable dates and some good ones, but I don't see the point in going out with some guy that doesn't fit what I am looking for. There are times when, if asked what I looked for in a man, I would say "A heartbeat!", but for the most part, I have a certain set of things that I am looking for. Some of them may seem silly, but why should I settle? Why should I go out with someone that I have little in common with, just because he asks me? No, I am done with that attitude. I am not looking for anything specific, looks-wise, but I would like people to have some common interests and values, and they should be able to write a sentence without saying 'ur' instead of 'your' or adding 'lol' to everything they say.

Anyway, the search continues. I have been told that he is out there somewhere, so I am keeping the faith. If you would cross your fingers too, it would be greatly appreciated.

Not sure if I mentioned this to all of you before or not...

I may have told most of you that I am thinking of writing a fictional account of the life of the Ryan family on St. Brendan's, with the focus being on It would be loosely based on the memories and stories that I can gather from Mom, Uncle Mike and Aunt Cathy. I've had this idea in my head for a while, but I think I am finally ready to start putting things in motion.

If anyone has any thoughts, ideas, suggestions or memories, let me know. Right now I have a rough idea of how the story will take shape, but I am open to anything.

Mr. Poo-poo Goes to the Lavatory (Geoff will know what this means)

Yes, I know this is rather unpleasant for a family-oriented, presumably G-rated blog, but I had to show this to Glenn (see Geoff's post on working out and associated comments).

Irish Snow

The view from our apartment this week. It may not be home snow but by Irish standards the people here seem to be building snow arks and planning for The Day After Tomorrow.

Friday free-for-all

Another weekend is upon us. Since oh, around 1990, weekends for me have been no different than weekdays. Thanks to Dominion, I usually worked Friday, Saturday, and, long before Sunday shopping was legal, I would do price changes on Sunday afternoons. While everyone else was out drinking and carousing, I was working until 10pm, or most times 12am. Thus missing out on most of the fun. Note I say most. I did my share of the usual weekend partying and drinking. But for the most part I missed out.

These days I don't look at weekends any differently. So it's Friday? So what? It's another day, no different than Tuesday.When I was working regularly, or in school, I was much more conscious of the day of the week, and of time. When I am not working or in school, I measure what day it is by what's on TV. Okay, so that's not entirely true, but I don't worry nearly as much about time when I have no real reason to worry about it.

So with another weekend here, what are my plans? Well, today I will write a little. Check out my various fantasy sports teams. Listen to some music. Get on the treadmill. Drive and pick up Mom and Dad from work. Watch TV. Maybe take a nap. I do know what I won't be doing.

I won't be going out and getting drunk. I seem to have lost my tolerance for that a long time ago. I find as I have gotten older, and stopped drinking on the weekends, I can't handle boozing it up in great excess any more. If I do get tanked for some reason (these days it seems to happen only for a stag party), it takes me two full days to get over it. I am useless as, well, you know the saying.

Is it because I am only working freelance, and not a 9-5 grind like most? No. Definitely not. When I went back to school in 2006, I found myself studying and writing papers on weekends, sometimes using one night to work and the other to relax. At home. Not in a loud, crowded bar. And I was sober.

I'm not knocking people who booze it up on the weekends, because it is the weekend and they have had a long, hard week. To each their own. But I have no interest in getting totally blitzed and spending my entire Saturday recovering just enough to go at it again Saturday night.

I'd much rather watch a movie. Hang out with friends. Hell, if you're lucky enough you might get to see another team besides the Leafs on HNIC on Saturday nights. All that is far more interesting to me than going drinking.

That being said, next Friday (Friday the 13th no less!), there is a book launch at Anchorage Coffee (on the east end of Water Street, between Breakwater Books and Turner's Tavern.) This book launch contains an essay I wrote for English 4913 (one of the courses in my program) entitled "A Friendly Game of Hockey". The essay is part of a collection called "Telling Truth", and is issued by MUN's Paragon Press.

So I will be attending that event to celebrate with my classmates. No plans to get drunk though :)

Girl, You Know It's True.....

I was not an avid watcher of the Superbowl on Sunday; rather it was on in the background while I was doing other things. I did stop for a second, though, to watch Jennifer Hudson sing the national anthem at the start of the game. She's not really my cup of tea, music-wise, although the girl has some amazing pipes. I actually thought she did a really good job. It was stirring, emotional, intense; in other words, everything a national anthem should be.

The only problem is: she was lip-synching.

Normally, when this happens, it's a huge scandal. There are press conferences and headlines, apologies and heads hung low. Not so, in this case, my friends. Apparently, the producer, who is also on American Idol, announced to the world that she had mimed, and gave several reasons for it. Firstly, the acoustics in stadiums are bad, and it would not have sounded good on tv. Secondly, she was nervous, and he didn't want any wrong notes or any breaks in the song. I can almost buy the first reason, as you get that annoying delay when you're in a venue of that size, but we all saw her, in a football stadium. I don't think we would have been too surprised had there been an echo or a delay. The second reason though? This girl is supposed to be a trained, professional, award-winning singer. SINGER! If she's too nervous to perform in such a situation, fine, get someone else.

I am not picking on Jennifer Hudson, as such, because I'm sure she was just doing what was asked of her. But the fact that everyone is so matter-of-fact about the situation saddens me a bit. It's just accepted that 'singers' lip-synch at events like these, or awards shows, or other such 'live' performances. Why even have someone singing live? Why even have her stand there, pretending, when you're only going to reveal what a sham it was anyway?

I really don't mean to get so hot under the collar about it, but music is just getting worse and worse for this. The most famous recording artists in the world today, in the main, are people whose records are over-produced, Auto-Tune-enhanced, computer-generated fakes. If Britney Spears really sounds like that when she sings, I'll eat my hat. But who knows what the girl sounds like, because she lip-sychs! People dish out hundreds of dollars to go to a stadium to watch karaoke. And it's not even really karaoke, because those people actually sing! Britney's excuse is that it's hard to sing and dance at the same time. Well, are you a singer or a dancer? If you're a dancer, market yourself that way, and leave the singing to the people who actually have some talent!

I have friends and relatives who would give their left legs to get to perform their music in front of people, but no, the Britneys of the world are the ones who get the most attention. I'm no singer, by any means, but given adequate studio time, a talented producer, and some clever software, I, too could be a pop sensation. Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm not a hot blond train wreck.

It sounds a little like jealousy, but I just know that getting to that level of fame should take some hard work and perseverance, not just looking good in a school girl outfit. And, like I said, I do believe Jennifer Hudson has some talent, it's just a shame she had to put people's minds in doubt as to whether or not she's really singing as she moves forward in her career.

Any thoughts? Are we just supposed to say, "Well, that's how it's done now" and move on? Should we be more outraged? Milli Vanilli had to give back their Grammy Awards for this. Shouldn't there be more disdain for the fakery?

I keep forgetting about the title?

February marks the 5th month of my quit smoking/weight loss plan. Since late September I have been off the cigarettes and since sometime in October I have been going to BG's Gyme (for you Simpson's fans out there!)three times a week. BG = Baby Gibbs = Jason Morris.

At last weigh-in (sometime last week)I had dropped 20 pounds. I was originally not going to weigh myself at all, as I am not only doing cardio,(lately I have been a bit slack, but that's going to change.)but also doing full-body circuit training.

It's been a hard few months eating-wise, as I am a huge fan of food. But Jason has been great in guiding me through the workouts and allowing me to use his gym (free of charge no less!) Thanks very kindly for that BG :)

But there is a long ways to go. As I say my cardio workouts have slipped, and my eating habits have to change a bit too. But this isn't going to happen overnight, so I will keep plodding along.

Tomorrow, I have a 30-minute battle with the treadmill.

Wish me luck.

Family, Laughter, Talents and Some Good Ol' Vitamin N

Ok, so my last blog post was a bit of a mish-mash of confusing thoughts and footnotes. I assure you I'll try to behave and refrain from making these posts too silly. I must however maintain a small level of silliness. You see, comedy seems to be in the beating heart of the Noseworthy clan. When totally enveloped in Noseworthys during special holiday events when the whole group is together you have to be quick on the comedic references/simpsonicana/pop trivia/picking on Lauren (sorry!)

I think Sandi has done a wonderful thing here bringing the family (w/extensions) together to share not only in conversation but also in ideas, expressions of identity and fragments of creativity. We can all pick up the phone or email but we can't draw a picture, write a story, release our feeling and reflections, or sing a song for each other in those media.

So keeping with the trend of presenting artistic creations I'll elaborate on what is happening with the whole album idea. Allyson and I have entered what is known as the (RPM Challenge). It is a world-wide event that asks you to write, record and produce an entire album during the month of February. It is not a contest, as such, but more of a swift kick in the pants to get you to do that thing that you've been "meaning to get around to". At the end of the month there are listening parties held in various cities (St. John's is one) where all the participants that have completed the challenge get together and listen to each others music. The website then uploads all the entries into their online jubox so the general public can bask in indie music goodness.

We have a blog set up over there which will contain various clips, photos and demos during the progression of the project. You can check that out here. We hope you drop by and check out our efforts.

Keep on rockin'

The House On The Hill (AKA I'm Bad At Titles)

As many of you who don’t know us well have guessed, there are five Noseworthy children. That’s five children, with a mere six years between the oldest and the youngest. We’ve basically lived in the same house for most of our lives, save for a house on Raleigh Street, I believe. It started out as a three-bedroom house, and as the family grew, well, the house didn’t. At first, it didn’t, anyway. For a while there, Bob and Geoff shared a room, and so did the three girls. We had an unfinished basement, which was the style at the time, not unlike wearing an onion on your belt. You can imagine the arguments, I suppose, regarding space, clothes, toys, etc.

After a while, Dad corralled the relatives (read: free labour) and they worked on building up the basement. They added two bedrooms down there, as well as a family room. Downstairs was to be Bob and Geoff’s domain, whereas Lauren, Allyson and I got to stay upstairs. Being the oldest girl, I got my own room. Coming first does have its privileges sometimes. We were more spread out, which may or may not have led to fewer arguments. I think that question is best answered by Mom, as I seem to have blocked all arguments from that time from my memory.

Oh, and the most important fact about the Noseworthy house? There was, and still is, ONE BATHROOM. Seven people, all trying to get ready for school and work in the morning...I’ll just let you imagine the chaos that ensued. I think ours is the only house where you have to make the rounds asking if anyone has to use the bathroom before you can get a shower.

There is a point to all of this, I swear.

When I moved to Ottawa, I moved into a house downtown, owned by the House Nazi. Bob will chuckle at that. It was a shared house, so there were usually three strangers living with me at any given time. It was mostly students here for co-op or work terms, so they were in and out every few months. But, I was still in a full house where you had to alert the roomies if you wanted to take a shower, do laundry, have friends over. From there, I went to another house, close to the university, to live with friends from back home. I believe the highest total of roommates I had there was four. That’s four plus me. That place was another one where you had to fight for space in the fridge, on the couch, in the bathroom. It wasn’t all bad, in fact there were some really good times in that house, but I just could not get away from the “full house” syndrome.

After that, though, I got my own place, and have lived on my own ever since. Just imagine the freedom. I could watch what I wanted, use the bathroom when I actually had to, instead of waiting with crossed knees in the hallway. I could sing at the top of my lungs, which I often did. My neighbours may not have appreciated that, but what the heck. I could watch Star Wars every night if I wanted to! Sometimes, I did.

You would not believe the marathon showers I take. It’s heaven. Pruny hands be damned!

While living on one’s own does have its advantages, like walking around in less than a full outfit, eating out of containers rather than using dishes, again with the singing and strumming my guitar, it does also lend itself to loneliness sometimes. I must say, I do enjoy stretching out on the couch and watching Heroes twice in a row (as I’m doing now), it is nice to have people around to chat to, someone to cook dinner with or for, as I always make way too much food. The dog is great to have around, and I talk to her plenty, but she doesn’t really talk back. If she does, I suppose that means dementia’s finally set in, and it’s off to the Royal Ottawa with me. But I am missing that interaction with people.

Now, before you start the “Aww Sandi” comments, this is actually my way of saying maybe it wasn’t so bad being cramped into a room with my two sisters, or being forced to watch Coronation Street instead of The Simpsons. Lauren and Allyson will still complain about having to watch the World Junior Hockey tournament over Christmas, but I actually don’t mind arguing with them about it now. It’s a short argument anyway, because Dad wants to watch it, and Dad rules. Thankfully.

When we go home now, it’s still a bit cramped, especially since we’re not kids anymore and we take up more room, but it’s nice to have a full house again. Mom and Dad may disagree after a few days with all of us there, but I actually like going to bed knowing that everyone is close by.

There’s still no cure for only having one bathroom, however.

It's Blog! It's Blog! It's big, it's heavy, it's wood!

Ok, nobody panic. I'm here now.

Even though I am not fortunate to be considered an "Honorary Noseworthy*", like some people around here, even though I've gone through such lengths as to marry one, I am still glad to share in your experiences via lés blögétté**. For the moment I have nothing artistic, or scientific to share with the classroom nor does this post contain any results from the Laboratory of the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen**** that I'm sure you were anticipating.

But I will leave you with this tasty treat:

[Movie-guy voice]: There will be a creative endeavor that will rock the very foundations of creation. Atlas himself will drop the earth into the void as his ears are blown clean off by the epic magnitude of rock power. February 28 there will be an album created that will define a generation.

"They're combining the smooth accousto-rhythms of a street corner busker with the beautiful sonic qualities of the beating heart of our land: the Canadian Kitchen."
-Flavor Flav

"Allyson and Terry are east-coast-acousto-alt-folk-jazz-rock. Their album will re-define what is possible."
-That guy who played Officer Doug Penhall on 21 Jump Street

"Spread your tiny wings and fly away, and take the snow back with you where it came from on that day."
-Anne Murray

[Movie-guy voice again]: One Album! 28 Days! Don't miss it! February 28, coming to a CD player near you.*****


*see original post.
** extra accents for coolnessity***
*** coolnessity is not actually a word.
**** A++ for Zappa/Beefheart reference.
***** Some conditions apply. Allyson and Terry are not liable if album doesn't actually get finished. Some assembly required. See in store for details.