Tag Archives: cleveland

Nov10

Tri-C Fall Semester Update

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Tri-C Fall Semester Update

Helloooo everyone and happy Tuesday! Good news: I’m feeling much better after this past weekend’s concussion catastrophe and now everything is smooth sailing as usual. My fall semester at Tri-C will be done in about a month or so and let me tell you, I am SO ready for it! I have officially hit the end of semester slump so hard to the point that I had to motivate myself with buying a Starbucks drink yesterday before class to get myself to go, haha it’s that bad! 😉

I’m currently taking French I, Comparative World Religions, and History of Civilization this semester and have already completed a half semester Ethics course. My classes are alright for the most part aside from History. It’s a half a semester course as well and I have such an ungodly amount of homework to do each week for it…It sucks. I do like history, but the only reason I decided to take the class was because it was a prerequisite for a course specifically about WWII, which is my favorite thing to learn about. But unfortunately, when I went to schedule my spring classes I found out that the course was not offered online and it can only be taken on a campus that’s even farther than the forty minute drive I already make to my campus. I was SO PISSED! Had I known that, I would have never signed up for the history class to begin with and stuck with something that I really enjoy like Psychology or Theater.

Speaking of the spring semester, I am very excited for the classes that I registered for last week. I’ll be taking French II, Abnormal Psychology, and Introduction to Criminology. I’m looking forward to continuing my work in French and I’m lucky because my current French professor is teaching French II and I just love her! It will definitely be nice to be able to pick up where we left off in the fall. As I mentioned earlier, I love Psychology so I was so excited to see that Tri-C offers a course on all of the strange and unusual that goes on in the brain with Abnormal Psychology. I also was pretty pumped to see that an Introduction to Criminology course was offered from a sociological stand point so it was a no brainer to sign up for that too!

Other than my semi-boring history course, my fall semester has treated me very well. I’ve been repping straight A’s for days and made myself an awesome spring schedule to look forward to next semester! Then by the end of next fall, I’ll be officially graduated with my Associate of Arts degree! Yippy!

giphy

You know how I said my history course has an ungodly amount of homework? Yeah, this post may or may not be a procrastination tactic on that so I guess I should probably get to it! I hope all of you are having a fantastic week so far! Where are all of my college kids at? How is your fall semester going? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct26

Nelson Morris: For The Sake Of Art

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Nelson Morris: For The Sake Of Art

Hello everyone and welcome to a very special article on lifewithlilred. I had the absolute pleasure of getting to know Nelson Morris, a teacher, an artist, and now a new friend. Nelson recently had a part of his work entitled the “1000 Faces Project” featured at the Cleveland Ingenuity Festival and it is currently being displayed at the Waterloo Sculpture Garden and let me tell you, those who can make it out are in for a treat. Learning the intricacies of Nelson’s artwork was such a joy and I know I shouldn’t be saying this but I’m going to anyways…I have never been so excited to work with someone. Take a look at the interview conducted by yours truly as well as some photos of Nelson’s creations:

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  • Lil Red: So the first thing everyone is obviously going to want to know about is your latest creative endeavor, the “1000 Faces Project”, so tell me more.
  • Nelson: Of course. It started when I was a student teacher in Middlefield, Ohio. My art students never wanted to do portraits, which I think comes from the social anxiety a student can often feel from the fear of making a mistake. I fought tooth and nail with them about it and one day I set up a still life of a plaster cast and the kids drew it. Something in them clicked, similar to the light bulb moment that I had during a trip to New York City to help a fellow artist. I saw so many people and all I wanted to do was draw all of their faces. This project is about diversity and the subtle facial differences that make us unique. What makes us the same? What makes us different? I wanted to find out, so I began making casts.
  • LR: Approximately how many faces have you cast?
  • N: So far I have 165.
  • LR: And you think you’re going to get to 1000?
  • N: Yes, I really do. At the Ingenuity exhibit I was set up on stage casting audience members. I casted thirty faces there and got a great response so hopefully I can keep that momentum going.
  • LR: Has it been difficult finding people willing to sit for you to get their faces cast?
  • N: Yes! The casting part is easy, it’s finding people that’s the hardest. I can transport an 1800 pound statue on my own and it’s horrible but finding people is much harder.
  • LR: How have you been finding people to plaster?
  • N: First I started by reaching out to my friends on Facebook but then I quickly ran out. I then started adding all of the people on the “people you may know” section – I sent a friend request to anyone who looked sane! That’s how I got in touch with you!
  • LR: I’m glad I look sane to you! But I do the exact same thing when I want more views on my site – a friend on Facebook is a potential viewer.
  • N: I’ve met some great people from it, too. One time I got to cast a group of fifteen people in the basement of the Fastlane bowling alley in Barberton after it closed thanks to finding the owner on Facebook.
  • LR: I didn’t even know bowling alleys had basements! What are some of the most memorable moments from all of the people you’ve casted?
  • N: I’ve had some creepy ones, that’s for sure – but I’ve also had a lot of really fun ones too…Except for the first cast that I ever did, which was on my own face. As an artist, you always experiment on yourself first, so I was home alone at my parent’s house and I stood in front of a mirror and started to cover my face in plaster. I had straws in my nose, walrus-style, so I could breathe and after about three layers of plaster I covered my eyes and did the rest by touch. This was in June and I had hay fever at the time and the straws stuck up my nose kept on bumping and tickling me and before I knew it, I felt a huge sneeze coming on. I tried to pry the cast off but it was stuck on there pretty good and for a split second I thought to myself, “great, this is how I’m going to die – with a plaster face mask on”. But I got the cast off and I survived! However, the plaster that I used originally was very rough and gritty and when I pulled the mask off some chunks of plaster got into my eyes…I spent forty-five minutes in the shower trying to wash it all out.
  • LR: The things people do for their craft. Can you tell me more about the process of creating a plaster face cast?
  • N: Well, the process was a bit messy to start because I’ve only plastered bodies, never a face. I used to use about six layers of gauze impregnated with plaster but now I’ve got it down to only one to two layers. Like I said, making the casts is the easiest part now. All you do is dip the gauze in water, squeegee it off, and slap it on the face. I’ve got the process down from a half hour to ten or fifteen minutes flat.
  • LR: What do you think the finished product is going to be like once you’ve finally cast 1000 faces?
  • N: It changes all the time. I think very architecturally though so the idea right now is to have the faces lined up next to each other, kind of like in the old underground catacombs. When they’re lined up next to each other is when you can truly compare and contrast them. I also want to incorporate audio into the project. I take recordings of the voices of everyone who I’ve plastered and I would like to make it so if you touch one of the faces you can hear the voice of the model.
  • LR: Wait what? How do you plan on doing that?
  • N: I know it sounds crazy but stay with me! I’ve played with this idea before with a life sized terracotta statue. The sound chip was solar powered so when the sun lined up just right the statue of the woman would begin to sing. But that was just for one statue – I had no idea how I would do it with hundreds of face casts. I started to ask around for help and the head engineer of 107.9 (a Cleveland radio station) told me about a processing board that might make the idea possible. I happened to find a hobby group dedicated to working on the processing boards in Akron and I emailed a member with the subject “For The Sake Of Art”. He replied and has been helping me with creating the codes and wiring to give the plaster masks voices.
  • LR: I’m so excited to see the “1000 Faces Project” in all of its concrete and audio glory. So, if you could say one thing to a young Nelson before he had a beard, what would it be?
  • N: Everything’s gonna turn out alright.

Pretty cool, huh? Not only is Nelson an artist extraordinaire, but he also teaches pre-k through 8th grade. How he has time to breathe is beyond me! He told me a great story about how on the first day of one of his classes he presented the students with a basket of one hundred pencils and a pair of bolt cutters. He cut off the eraser to every pencil because his students don’t use erasers in his classes so that they can learn how to fix their problems on their own. This goes along hand in hand with the mantra he tells his students daily: “Making a mistake isn’t a problem when you’re creating art work. You have to learn from your mistakes and adapt from them”.

Nelson is a self funded artist who creates customized pieces and will be selling replicas of the tiles seen in the pictures featured on this post. If you are interested in any of his art work old and new or have ideas for a custom piece, you can contact him at:

If you live in the Akron/Cleveland, Ohio area and are interested in having Nelson cast your face he now offers free house casting parties. If you can get five people to attend, he will come to you. But if you get ten or more people to come to the party, all of the guests will receive a free record of their face which will look something like this:

record

I want to thank Nelson so much for sitting down with me for a chat because it was seriously an  honor. If you have any questions for my new friend you can reach him through any of the mediums I posted above or leave me a comment to relay to him. Would you get your face plastered for the 1000 Faces Project? What do you think Nelson’s finished product is going to end up looking like? We wanna hear from all of you, so leave us a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct1

Lil Red Reminder

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Lil Red Reminder

Hi everyone and happy Thursday! I was going to save this friendly reminder post until Saturday but I have quite a bit to do today so I figured I’d keep my daily post short and sweet. What am I so busy with? Well I’m glad you asked! I have the pleasure of penning a new article for an incredibly talented artist fresh out of Ohio, Nelson Morris. His work on the “1000 Faces Project” will be on display at the Cleveland Ingenuity Festival this weekend as well as at the Waterloo Sculpture Garden. Yesterday I got to sit down over coffee with Nelson and chat away about his creative endeavors. I’d like to get a rough draft of the article done today while everything is fresh in my noggin so I don’t completely jack up describing all of the technicalities that Nelson told me about. This guy is the real deal so you’re all in for a real treat once the interview is published!

I’m not going to post Nelson’s contact info just yet but I do encourage you to show some love to the Facebook pages of yours truly, Recipe of Life, Millstone, and Daffodil Blue Photography! Please, please, please? 🙂

I don’t ask for much on the ol’ blog but I really would appreciate it if you guys took the time to give a quick “like” to any and all of these pages. Supporting local artists who use their talents to not only express themselves but relate to others is so important and I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I didn’t showcase all of their amazing work on lifewithlilred. Thanks again!!

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Alright everyone, it’s almost the weekend so hang tight for just a few more days! Does anyone have any big plans coming up? Who is one of your favorite local artists in your neck of the woods? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep24

I Can’t Even – A White Girl Memoir

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I Can’t Even – A White Girl Memoir

Helloooo everyone and happy Thursday! So as you guys know, my car AKA the Little Red Love Machine AKA LRLM is my pride and joy. I love my 2012 Mazda 2 hatchback more than I’ve ever loved anything in my life, so when it’s in a dangerous situation I turn into a fierce mother bear. With this disclaimer in mind, you’ll see why I just couldn’t even while driving to school yesterday – ESPECIALLY in regards to senior citizen drivers. Do I sound bitchy yet? Don’t care, so get ready for the rant of a lifetime in “I Can’t Even – A White Girl Memoir”.

First things first, I am ALL for old people driving for as long as they can but there comes a point when they are a straight up danger to themselves and everyone else on the road. During my drive to Cleveland for class on Wednesday I encountered two problematic situations – one that was uber annoying and one that was one hundred and three percent dangerous. Let’s discuss:

Annoyed & Angsty: I started my drive on Wednesday feeling really good. I had a nice full tank of gas, a fresh coffee, and I had plenty of time to get to school with at least twenty minutes to spare to study for my French test. Everything was smooth sailing until I got on the road I take to get on the highway. For a long stretch of the street, the speed limit is 45, so other drivers and myself included are usually going a solid five to seven MPH over. Unfortunately, this common vehicular courtesy did not apply to the old timer in front of me who was going at least fifteen MPH under the speed limit, traveling at roughly thirty MPH. I. Was. LIVID.

So I’m driving along, still trying to put the pedal to the metal to get this geezer moving and he literally wouldn’t budge. Thanks to my bad luck of getting stuck behind this guy, a road that usually takes me ten minutes to drive on took me an extra five to seven minutes, dwindling my study refresher session time lower and lower. Now some of you guys are probably thinking “big deal” and in the long run, it isn’t that huge of a deal. But what if it was you who was potentially going to run late for work, class, or a date? Wouldn’t you be pissed too? I can see someone driving at the speed limit exactly but fifteen under?? Jesus.

Irritated & Endangered: Finally, I lost my senior citizen friend once he turned down the street and I was back in business. I made it to the traffic light before the highway and would be the first to drive off to the Tri-C sunset as soon as it turned green. “Yes!” I thought to myself, “what could possibly go wrong now?” ….Apparently a lot.

The light changed to green and I fired up the LRLM engine for a highway adventure. I got onto the entrance ramp and began to pick up speed when all of a sudden BAM, I slammed on my breaks hard. Everything in my passenger seat went flying to the floor and my heart was racing a gazillion miles a minute…I was stuck behind another old timer. This is no exaggeration when I say that this driver was going at approximately twenty MPH on a highway entrance ramp.

I am SO thankful that I have extremely fast reflexes and could hit my breaks in time because there was no way I could have seen this vehicle from farther away. The car was beyond the curve of the ramp, so it was out of my line of vision – but when I  made the curve coming in hot at close to fifty MPH the car was right fucking there. Not only am I thankful that my breaks were functional and efficient enough to bring my car to a full stop from such a high speed but I’m so lucky that there was no one behind me either. If there was another traveler behind me, there is a very good chance he would have rear ended me, slamming me into the slow poke, and totaling my car completely.

At first I was shaken up…I could have been in a potentially life threatening accident. But then, I was infuriated. I was enraged that this senior citizen who clearly couldn’t use the entrance ramp properly was even there. Everyone knows that those ramps are there to get you close to highway speed before getting on one so how can that happen if someone is going at twenty MPH??

Everyone thinks that it’s the fast drivers that cause the most damage and that’s probably true but slow drivers are just as dangerous. I’m not writing this post to be mean or say that all old people can’t drive, but my god, there should come a point when they shouldn’t be on the road anymore. I am a firm believer that everyone beyond a certain age should have to take some sort of driving test to keep their license to prevent the situations that I encountered yesterday. I’m so happy I got to school safe and sound but I’m still so fired up about the whole thing and I really just CAN’T EVEN.

even

So there you have it, I Can’t Even – A White Girl Memoir. This rant was something I really needed to get off of my chest, so thanks for letting me ramble! Has anyone had a situation similar to mine while driving? How do you feel about mandatory driving tests after a certain age? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep17

Wednesday Fun!

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Wednesday Fun!

Howdy everyone and happy Thursday! I had such a fun filled busy day yesterday and I just had to tell you guys all about it! The day started out rocky but ended strong, so check out this track that will make sense to you by the end of the post and let’s discuss:

All of Tuesday, yesterday, and today I’ve had the unfortunate health issue of conjunctivitis in both of my eyes. It’s been a pain in the ass and it hurts like the dickens. On Tuesday night when I was with my boyfriend I finally decided to take my contacts out, which should have been done at the first signs of redness. I guess better late than never though, considering both of my eyes were blood red and I looked like the spawn of Satan once I realized it was time for the contacts to go. I was hesitant to take them out though because my plan was to drive from his home in Canton to school in Cleveland the following morning and my eyesight isn’t the best. #dangertomyself #andothers

I woke up Wednesday morning with my eyes crusted shut completely, which was a lot of fun! After getting myself ready for school, I deemed my vision safe enough to drive as long as I took it nice and slow. I left my man’s house early so I would have time for a leisurely drive as well as stop home to grab my back up glasses before school. I made my pit stop home, grabbed the dorkiest glasses ever, and headed to Tri-C for my French class. The worst part about wearing my glasses aside from how much I hate them is the fact that I wasn’t able to wear sunglasses during my drive. My face was crumpled into a permanent squinting position which I’m pretty sure gave me premature wrinkling. #SHAMEFUL

I rolled into my French class looking nerdy chic (I hope) but was then struck with the fear of “oh shit, I hope people don’t think I’m stoned”, compliments of my blood shot eyes. Throughout my class I was SO paranoid that I might as well have indulged in a pre-lecture hit of cannabis. “Does she think I’m high? Does he think I’m blitzed? DOES MY BELOVED PROFESSOR THINK I’M STONED?!” A gazillion thoughts of my classmate’s possible judgement were swarming through my head at a rapid speed BUT I still managed to kick major derriere in my class! #OUI 😉

After a semi stressful but nothing that I can’t handle afternoon, it was time for Sister Date Night!! Kristen and I had a sexy evening of dinner and a movie planned and it was so much fun!! I picked her up in the Little Red Love Machine for some fine dining at Taco Bell and a showing of Sinister 2. My sister and I were starving and were so happy to be in the comforting atmosphere of TBell for some binge eating. We shoveled burritos, chalupas, and tacos down our gullets until we fell into the “too full to move” food coma. It. Was. WONDERFUL!

We slowly made our way back to my whip and collapsed into the seats. We unbuttoned our pants to ease the bloating, got ourselves together, and headed to the theater for some scary movie shenanigans. We arrived at the Regal Cinemas and purchased our tickets only to find out that we were eligible for a free popcorn thanks to my Regal Crown Club rewards card. “More food!!!” We got our popcorn from the concession stand and answered with an enthusiastic “YES” when we were asked if we wanted butter on our popcorn. Who doesn’t want butter on their popcorn? Seriously. If it were up to me, I would be able to go behind the concessions counter to pump my own butter just to make sure that each individual piece of popcorn was drenched in sweet, caloric, buttery goodness. #delish

Kristen and I entered our designated theater with our hands full of popcorn and purses full of pop brought from home. As we walked further into the room we saw that we were the only people there! It was so great! Throughout our showing of Sinister 2 we were able to swear, scream, and make off color comments to our hearts content. My personal favorite was when I dared my sister to go pee in a corner…I promise you she didn’t! #pinkieswear

ANYWAYS, the Sinister sequel was scary as fuckkk. I’m a big fan of the first movie, despite how scary I find it and the second one was just as good/terrifying! Kristen and I spent a significant amount of time with our hands covering our eyes and screaming “OH SHIT” at a hefty portion of the film. We had such a blast even though we were so scared! Kristen kept pestering me to spend the night at her apartment and I kept begging her to stay the night at home. We’re basically the two biggest twenty-something babies ever. #noshame #adultbabies

During our drive home, when we weren’t trying to bribe each other into staying the night, Kristen played DJ with my iPod. We jammed to TLC and Britney Spears but the most memorable song she played was “Epiphany” from Sweeney Todd, hence why I posted it at the beginning of the post. Kristen and I love that movie so much and “Epiphany” is our all time favorite song from it. We played it at full volume with our windows down all while singing very poorly. I couldn’t stop laughing for the duration of the song and was almost in tears by the time we were stopped at a red light with good ol’ Sweeney Todd blasting through my speakers. #howaboutashave?

We couldn’t decide where to stay the night at so we went our separate ways to sleep all by our lonesome. All night I was petrified about the evil Bagul lurking in my room or dreams, but I promised myself that if he made an appearance that I would deliver a swift punch right in his suck hole. KA POW! Lucky for me, Bagul must have heard my threats, so I was okay for the night – however, I woke up halfway through my slumber because I had to go to the bathroom and I REFUSED to leave the safety of my blanket fort. I am so thankful that I didn’t wet the bed once I fell back asleep and I woke up refreshed and ready to take on a day of homework! #blessed

meeeee

^^^ I feel like I haven’t posted a pic of myself in a while, so there you go!

So there you have it, a long post about some Wednesday Fun! I had a fabulous Hump Day and I hope all of you are having a great week! What is everyone up to this upcoming weekend? Any big plans? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Sep10

One Of Those Days

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One Of Those Days

Helloooo everyone and happy Thursday! I, for one, am so glad for a fresh start today, because my Wednesday was stressful as all get out!! Enjoy this terrific song by The Raconteurs to sum up my feelings about yesterday and then let’s discuss:

SO, on Tuesday night, I discovered that the battery to the Little Red Love Machine was completely shot. Thankfully, my dad was able to call AAA to give my baby a jump and got her to the nearest repair shop in time to fix her up. However, this meant that I had literally no gas in my tank to make my drive to Cleveland for school possible. My dear old dad notified me that a gas station that was close to the highway had a decent price, so I decided to go there to fill up. My breath was held the entire time because I was literally running on fumes. I had the LRLM ready to turn left into the station and breathed a big ol’ sigh of relief that I had made it. But, unfortunately, I should have held my breath just a little bit longer.

Halfway through turning into the station, I saw that there was a sign prohibiting left hand turns. “Well shit,” I thought, “good thing there’s no cops around!” But lo and behold, a minute later, a cop pulled in behind the LRLM to tell me what I already knew…That I suck at driving and made an illegal left hand turn. LUCKILY, this cop was AWESOME! The first thing out of my mouth when he approached me was that I knew what I did wrong as soon as I made the turn. I then explained to him my situation of almost being completely out of gas and how I needed to be in Cleveland for school very shortly. I also made sure to call him “sir” a lot! The kind officer checked my license and record and told me that because it was almost flawless (only one speeding ticket, baby!), that he would let me off with a warning and that he hopes I make it to class on time. I was so incredibly thankful to him for being so understanding…But I didn’t make it to school on time. -___-

My French class at Tri-C began at one today and I made it to campus at about 12:45. I hurried into the building that I assumed the class was in and figured that I had enough time to refund a book at the campus bookstore before class started. WRONG! With the influx of students making their purchases and returns, things took longer than anticipated – but I was just too damn far in the process to leave and come back!! By the time I got my refund, I realized that I was in the complete wrong building, a whopping two minutes before class started. Lord have mercy on me…

I power walked my sweet tookus to the right building in the heat, in my all black ensemble, and with a handful of supplies and a full cup of coffee to juggle. I had never been in the building that my French class was in before and I felt like I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. EVERY HALLWAY LOOKED THE SAME! At this point, I was shweatzing my ass off, my coffee had spilled at least three different times, and my frustration levels were through the roof – the roof, I tell you! I finally made it to class fifteen minutes late looking a hot and sweaty mess. BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!!!

billyy

As I mentioned in previous posts this week, I have completely lost my voice and it refuses to come back. Because of this unfortunate medical malfunction I sounded like a boy who is trapped in the evil clutches of the puberty monster. I was hoarse, squeaky, sweaty, miserable, coughy, shameful, and annoyed – those are the names of the seven dwarfs, right? Anyways, the entire class I felt like a total goon and my throat hurt like the dickens. Can my voice come back now, or? #PLEASE

So obviously, my Wednesday can only be described as One Of Those Days! Lol, it’s whatever! Has anyone had a rough day similar to mine? How is everyone’s week going so far? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul6

Man Crush Monday: Aaron Bruno Edition

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Man Crush Monday: Aaron Bruno Edition

Hellooooo everyone and welcome to the newest edition of Man Crush Monday – Aaron Bruno style! I had the absolute pleasure of seeing AWOLNATION’s beyond talented front man interpretive dance in all of his tall, lanky glory last Tuesday at their show, so it only seems appropriate that I make Aaron my #MCM!

Dear Aaron Bruno,

Where do I begin? Well, my brother and I always thought you seemed kind of douchey after watching all of your music videos – but I like to think that’s something we can all have a nice, hearty laugh about now considering my opinion on you did a complete one-eighty after seeing you perform live. I was lucky enough to see AWOLNATION in concert when you came to the House Of Blues in Cleveland on June thirtieth and it was one of the best nights of my life. Saying that I had a blast is the biggest understatement of the century. And guess what? You’re not a douche! I’ve heard from countless reviews and friends that you’re an amazing performer live, and I couldn’t agree more. I loved watching you dance around on stage, scream randomly, and interact with the audience. You’re ability to make everyone feel welcome was just incredible. My sister went with me to your show even though she knew none of your songs and by the end of the night she was dancing and jumping around with the rest of us – and that’s what makes a great performer. Not only is your musical talent astounding BUT you’re also a total babe! Hubba hubba. Thank you for gracing Cleveland with AWOLNATION’s presence. I LOVE YOU!!!

awolawolnation_2015

^^^ Damn!

So there you have it, my Man Crush Monday: Aaron Bruno Edition. I hope that all of you are having a great day so far! Who is your #MCM? How was your Fourth Of July? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul1

AWOLNATION Concert!!!!

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AWOLNATION Concert!!!!

Heyyy everyone and happy Hump Day! So last night was the AWOLNATION concert at the House Of Blues in Cleveland and it was seriously the best night of my life. I was accompanied by my beloved big sis, Kristen, thanks to the two tickets that my oldest brother bought me for my birthday!! From beginning to end my night was perfect…Allow me to explain. 😉

So the doors for the show opened at seven and Kristen and I arrived at the venue around twenty after six. The line was already pretty long when we got there, but we were still fairly close to the door. I’m just happy that we got there when we did because literally five minutes after we showed up the line started to stretch all the way down the street – talk about lucky! The doors finally opened and after we had our bags checked and tickets scanned, I rushed into the venue to get the best standing spot humanly possible…and I did! I was about three feet away from the stage and had an INCREDIBLE view of the entire show! As I mentioned yesterday in my post, Family Of The Year was one of the openers for the show, but I had no clue who the other opener was – and I still don’t!

The first opener started promptly at eight which was nice because by the time we got situated we only had to wait about a half hour or so for the show to start. I didn’t care for the first opener at all, whomever they were. Their lyrics were so completely stupid and I’m pretty confident that they were playing on pre-recorded tracks because there was sure a lot of music heard when none of the band mates were playing their instruments. Either way, I didn’t like them and thankfully they were only on for like a half hour. But for that entire time, I definitely had Resting Bitch Face Syndrome.

Family Of The Year came on at nine and I was very excited to hear them play because I enjoy their music. It’s not like I know all of the lyrics to their songs or anything, but I’m glad I got to see them perform. I heard many people complain about how Family Of The Year’s beachy vibe didn’t really fit in with AWOLNATION’s style and I actually have to agree. They put on a lovely, chill performance however it really did nothing to amp people up for the headlining act. If I had to choose an opening act for the Run tour, I think I would have gone with someone like Everything Everything or Miike Snow because of their vaguely techno sound as well as the fact that they’re much more upbeat. Does this critique take away from Family Of The Year giving a great performance last night? No, I still really liked it. Would I have preferred to hear a different band before seeing AWOLNATION perform? Yes.

IMG_4140[1]

Family Of The Year crooned until about nine forty-five and AWOLNATION’s set started right at ten. Needless to say, I was freaking the fuck out. They began their hour and fifteen minute long performance with “Run” and before I get hella into detail about the show, check out the lighting that kicked off the night:

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^^^ So rad!!!

So yes, AWOLNATION blasted off their dance party production with “Run” and the rest of the night was all a mesmerizing blur of terrific music, lighting, and a whole lot of dancing and jumping around from there. I’ve heard from friends who have seen AWOLNATION live and from different reviews that the front man, Aaron Bruno, is an amazing performer – and I one hundred times agree. His showmanship was an honor to witness. I’ve heard many times that Aaron is a fan of random screaming and dancing maniacally on stage and he provided us with nothing less last night. He had this insanely brilliant ability to make everyone in the audience feel welcome – even my sister who had never heard one of their songs before. By the end of the night she was in the crowd dancing and screaming along with the rest of us. And that, boys and girls, is what makes an incredible lead singer.

The set list contained basically everything that I hoped would be performed, which included: Run, Not Your Fault, Windows, KOOKSEVERYWHERE!!!, Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf), Sail, Jump On My Shoulders, Kill Your Heroes, I Am, Burn It Down, All I Need, Dreamers, Like People, Like Plastic, and a special full length performance of Knights of Shame. The songs listed was what my night consisted of in it’s entirety but not in that order. How lucky am I? Very. What I liked the most about this set was that it contained only upbeat songs. I mean none of AWOLNATION’s music by any means is low key, even their slower songs, but because those weren’t included in the set the night was filled with constant energy and a whole lot of fun. I couldn’t have picked a better line up of songs if I tried, however, I am slightly disappointed that “Wake Up”, “Jailbreak”, and “Soul Wars” wasn’t included. Honestly, I just wish they would have performed both of their albums back to back! I think one of my favorite songs of the night was hearing “Knights Of Shame” in its entirety – I especially loved hearing Aaron performing the rapped part of the song!

Another major highlight of the night was when AWOLNATION did “Not Your Fault”. Aside from “Sail”, that was the first song my brother introduced me to by them and it still remains one of my all time favorites to this day. Everyone in the band performed incredibly well and they were all so fun to watch. Kristen and I were discussing after the show about the athlete quality stamina that the AWOLNATION guys must have – I mean I know I was exhausted after dancing for an hour and fifteen minutes straight, but I couldn’t imagine how they feel after a show! I seriously don’t think I stopped moving at one point during the concert…This bitch was dancing, jumping, head banging, singing, and screaming up a storm. I just couldn’t help it though! There’s something so magical about being able to sing along with one of your favorite bands and I was just overjoyed. This childlike euphoria kept myself going for the duration of the show, but by the time it was over I was literally drenched in sweat and the only thing that kept me going on the three block walk back to the parking garage was the promise of Taco Bell and water shortly after!

Seeing AWOLNATION live was absolutely everything that I hoped it would be. They sounded simply incredible live, I daresay even better than on their albums. It was also so fun to hear Aaron pepper all of the songs with his random screaming. I’ve been imagining last night for a very long time and it exceeded my expectations by a long shot. For the one hour and fifteen minute concert I felt unashamed to scream out my frustrations during “Windows” and dance like a crazy person during “Burn It Down”. It was like I was in this safe haven where no judgement was being passed because everyone was cutting loose and allowing the amazing music and positive messages to take control. It was one of the best nights of my life. Seriously. I got to spend an evening listening to my favorite band with my favorite person AND I got to eat my favorite food after the concert! What more could a girl ask for? (And BTW, the TBell was magnificent!)

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^^^ As you can see from the pics, the lighting during the show was awesome! And Aaron Bruno and the rest of the guys are all a bunch of babes. Hubba hubba.

After an amazing night at the show, eating in the Taco Bell parking lot, and a forty-five minute drive home Kristen and I ended our festivities with some sweet, sweet cuddling. Best. Night. Ever! I hope all of you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it and if you have the opportunity to see AWOLNATION live, then I would jump on that immediately! What was the last concert you went to? Are you going to any shows or festivals this summer? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun30

AWOLNATION Concert Excitement!!!!

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AWOLNATION Concert Excitement!!!!

Heyyy everyone and happy Tuesday! I hope you’re all having a great day so far! So after an entire month of waiting, tonight is finally the night of the AWOLNATION concert at the House Of Blues in Cleveland!!! I’m seriously SO excited I could cry! After notifying my older brother that one of my favorite bands was going to be in Cleveland, he bought me two tickets for my birthday…What a guy. Family Of The Year and some other band is opening and I’m actually really looking forward to that too because I like Family Of The Year a lot. I’m definitely curious about who the other opener is going to be! My sister is such a champ because she’s coming with me to the show even though she doesn’t know one song by AWOLNATION. I’m so happy that she’s coming with me because she’s the only one who I feel comfortable going super hard with – and I plan on it! Hella screaming, hella jumping around, and hella dancing my ass off. If I were to bring a friend with me, I would probably end up feeling pretty self conscious about my fan girling and end up just standing there looking like a goon. -_-

This will be my third night out at the House Of Blues in a month and a half since I recently saw The Used and Glass Animals performing there. I’m a big fan of HOB because it’s such an intimate venue so I’m really hoping that if my sister and I show up early enough that we’ll be able to get pretty close to the stage. The doors open at seven and I plan on leaving around five fifteen or so to make the forty-five minute drive up there. I have no problem waiting in line for an hour if that means that I’ll get a good standing area…Now I just have to convince sissy to be down with that plan! #SAIL

I can’t wait for tonight. I’m already counting down the hours! I’ll be looking forward to telling you guys all about it tomorrow! Until then, have you been to any concerts recently? Who did you see? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jun29

Monday Update: Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Edition

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Monday Update: Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Edition

Hey there everyone and happy Monday! I hope that all of you had a fabulous weekend, I know I did! My Uncle Martin and Aunt Eileen who live in Pittsburgh came to visit my family so on Saturday we spent the afternoon in Cleveland at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame & Museum. I haven’t been to the Rock Hall in years so needless to say, I was pretty excited! I have a deep love and appreciation for all things music so it was so amazing to be able to spend an afternoon honoring all of the greats. I hate to brag, but I have a pretty incredible collection of music and my tastes are vast but I never realized how educated I was about different musicians and genres until I perused through the Rock Hall. My parents and older brother really did teach me well about all of the legends and classics and I was so proud to know that I was aware of musicians in genres that I don’t particularly care for, like Gospel and Country. There was so much to see and do in the six floors that the Rock Hall boasts, so let me post some pictures and then we can discuss!

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^^^ I took so many pictures that the only way to condense all of them was through PicStitch. The pictures in the collages include costumes from David Bowie, Elvis, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Michael Jackson. We got to see Johnny Cash’s tour bus, Janis Joplin’s car, the set from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, and so much more!!! If you have any questions on what specific pictures are, then please let me know in the comment section!

Once we met up with my aunt and uncle at the Rock Hall we decided to start from the top at floor five and six to view the two floor exhibit of the amazing late Herb Ritts’ Rock Portraits. The photography exhibition will only be up for a month or so and it was absolutely incredible – it was like walking through an art gallery. The portraits were mostly in black and white or sepia and they were taken of too many stars to name. There were photographs of David Bowie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Cher, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Mick Jagger just to name a few. Throughout the exhibit there were music videos that Herb Ritts directed playing and interesting information about the artist scattered along the walls. The Rock Portraits gallery was one of my favorite parts of my rock n’ roll filled afternoon.

^^^ Compliments of Mr. Ritts!

On the fourth floor there was a huge section of the set from Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” which I remember from my last visit there but was so cool to see again! That display is neat because you can see it if you look down or up from any other floor. It definitely made me feel small standing next to the display! There was also a theater on level four which we stayed in for awhile. They were playing a video from what I’m assuming was an induction to the Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame. We watched lots of different artists perform and it was especially fun seeing Jeff Beck on stage with his daughter who couldn’t have been more than sixteen at the time playing the guitar like nobodies business!

We headed down to the third floor afterwards which has a cafe and another beautiful theater. In that theater they were playing highlights of different induction ceremonies from years ago until present day which included interviews, photographs, and animation to tell the stories of the artists. As we exited the theater there was a long hallway that we followed and on the walls were panels of signatures from the inductees. As you can see in my PicStitches, I snapped a pic of U2’s signatures which is probably the closest I’ll ever get to having their autographs!

Level two of the Rock Hall was all about the masterminds of rock n’ roll like Les Paul and Alan Freed. There were displays upon displays of original record players, guitars, and recording studios. Old school televisions in the display cases played footage of black and white variety shows which was a fun touch. Level two was jam packed with amazing information and artifacts. As we exited the Architects of Rock and Roll section we walked into a multimedia production called Video Killed the Radio Star which had a television tower made up of at least thirty or more TV’s and all of them were playing a different music video fresh off of the early days of MTV. Another very cool exhibit on level two was all about Rolling Stone magazine. There were three walls completely filled with famous covers of Rolling Stone with artists such as Marilyn Manson, Kurt Cobain, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Britney Spears. (I love her fabulous cover where she’s lounging on the phone while cuddling a Teletubbie so much! SO CUTE!)

We ended our trip to the Rock Hall at the lower level which is where you’re supposed to start, but that’s okay! The lower level is the bread and butter of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame – it’s a wonderland full of costumes, instruments, jewelry, and set pieces all belonging to the legends. There were specific sections dedicated to artists like Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles. What I loved about this level was that it took you through each genre of music from a historical point. It started with the early days of the Blues and ended with music from the present day. My favorite genre to explore was the Punk section that had memorabilia from The New York Dolls, The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and The Ramones to name a few. In the Punk display case they had a Joan Jett fashion doll which was so adorable! There was a case dedicated to U2 in the lower level as well which I was pretty thrilled about!

After we explored through the outer rings of the bottom level we ended up at the epicenter which is a dark room filled with well lit costumes and instruments from all of the greats – there was James Brown, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, ZZ Top, The Who, The Beach Boys, and Metallica. That list is not even a quarter of the artists that the gigantic room had memorabilia from. It was seriously unbelievable. There were countless exhibits to end up in on the bottom floor and all of them were equally awesome. A few that I particularly enjoyed was a section on the origins of hip hop and a multimedia display called Don’t Knock the Rock. In this display there were different interviews playing of early day televangelists and political figures bashing rock n’ roll music and then it would cut to a reaction of rock musicians. Before we left the lower level we watched one more video compilation in a theater of very sweet reactions of inductees being entered into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. I could have stayed on this floor for forever!

Our trip to the Rock Hall was so much fun and this post doesn’t even cover half of all of the amazing displays that we got to see. If you ever are in Cleveland, Ohio then you definitely don’t want to let the opportunity to spend some time at the Rock Hall pass by! I hope that all of you enjoyed reading this post just as much as I did writing it! What musician would you like to see memorabilia from? Do you have any questions about any specific displays or pictures? I wanna hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah