Here is where I write stuff

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric is THE reason that I like music. If I hadn't stumbled upon Joy Electric's album "Robot Rock", I probably would not have fallen in love with music the way I have. Music went from a cool thing to have in the background to something worth really listening to and enjoying, and my CD collection started to explode from that point. I've not looked back since. I can't imagine like without music, good music.

So Ronnie Martin is kind of my hero. I will fully admit that I am something of a fangirl. How many years in a row have I been to Ohio to go to his music festival? Six?

Even though I fangirl, I realize that Joy Electric's sound really isn't for everyone. Some people simply don't like it. There's not really much I can do about that. People just have different tastes. People are different and that's what makes the world interesting.

BUT. You guys. Ronnie has a new project (yes, another one) that is very un-JoyE-ish. It is amazing, guys, and I love it and I think you will, too. It's called Ronald of Orange (what a very Ronnie Martin-esque name) and ohh man. It makes my heart happy. If this is what 2009 is bringing, then 2009 is going to be amazing.

Tesla was sitting here at my feet, looking up at me, contemplating jumping up on my lap. Then I sneezed, and she bolted to the bathroom. She peeked out at me, then walked back over like nothing had happened, tail primly in the air. Now she is sitting on my desk giving me the "pet me now" eye. My cat provides me with endless amusement.

THINGS TO DO:
Clean kitchen
Clean off junk table
Clean litter box
Take out trash
Cook something for lunches this week (fried rice + pineapple + meat?)

I am not allowed to play the Sims until I get stuff done. That Free Time expansion pack is evil in it's time-warping abilities.

Also at some point I need to sit down and figure out Drupal and how to make it work for JoyToyKid.org. I want to have it all switched over by May 27, for the release of the new JE album (which looks completely awesome). It is scary, though. I know I can do it, but it's a big task. Yeep!

Also also, I need to listen to the rest of Hell and Earth so I can start WASTELAND. Apparently all the episodes of Wasteland are up now! Podiobooks says it's complete, anyways, and it's 11 episodes which is about right. OMG. ALSO. JESS. LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU GET TO EPISODE NINE OF HELL. IT IS AMAZING AND FULL OF OMG. Don't listen to that one at work. TRUST ME.

Right. Now for lunch. Or breakfast. Whatever.

So I'm working on item 87 on my 101 Things List, and it is making me so happy. I am listening to all of the Joy Electric albums in order of release.

First was Melody. Oh, Melody, I love you. So sad, but hopeful at the same time! And so... magical. And long! 18 whole songs! And the liner notes are the best thing ever. "To Melissa, I love you I love you I love you." How can the world be a bad place when it includes an album like this? 18 magical wonderful songs dedicated to a new wife. Drum Machine Joy! The Girl From Rosewood Lane! The Electric Joy Toy Company! ♥♥♥

Then Five Stars For Failure. Because Melody wasn't sad enough, Ronnie did an EP just to show people what sadness was. But oh! Courage! Keep Him In Your Thoughts! That remix of Girl From Rosewood Lane! Mmmm, yes please.

Oh hello, We Are The Music Makers. I will admit that I'm not wild about this album. I never have been. But you know what? It's STILL got some fantastic songs. If I could dedicate one song to my friends, it would be Hansel. Through the lonely years I will hold you/ I will, I will. Also, Burgundy Years and I Beam You Beam are fantastic songs.

Oh, the Old Wives Tales EP. If any single CD will make a person want to go back in time to the "old days", this one is it. The Cobbler is love love love. Marigoldeness is love. That dorky wonderful picture of Ronnie on the back cover is lolarious love.

Have I ever told you guys about how much I love Robot Rock? This album is the reason I love music. Specifically, Monosynth. Here, go watch the video. It is ridiculous* and wonderful. You get to see Jeff Cloud be a ceiling fan! Anyways, it was a while before I saw the video, it was really the song that made me go "OMG you mean that music exists that doesn't suck?" I listened to that album obsessively for about... I don't know a couple months. It still makes my heart happy. Every single song, when the beginning notes play, my heart just swells with joy. I love this album so, so, so much.

Tomorrow is CHRISTIANsongs and The White Songbook. Tune in to watch my head explode from the juxtaposition of those two albums!





*as a rule, all Joy Electric videos are terrible. Burgundy Years in 1994, then Monosynth in 1997, then Children of the Lord (featuring the Ronnie Dance(tm)) in 1999, and then Song For All Time in 2004, and finally Quite Quieter Than Spiders which is, quite frankly, the worst video EVAR. I refuse to watch it again. Someday, someday, we will get a good Joy Electric video. We hope and pray for one, anyways.

EDIT: I just rewatched the Children of the Lord video, because I had to upload it to youtube and I wanted to make sure it wasn't completely broken, and OH MAN. It is so cheesy but so WONDERFUL. First there is the wonderful RONNIE DANCE, where he looks like he really really has to pee. Guys, he STILL dances like that, it is amazing. Then there are the token "HARDCORE" kids, there to totally date the video as a product of the 90s. My favorites are the blue mohawk girl, who is totally BLUE (ha ha ha get it?) and the girl in the yellow room who is all ditzy, and the Jeff-Cloud-Clone who looks like he is talking to a small child. And did I mention that this video features the Ronnie Dance? Because that is awesome.

"Monosynth" still makes me incredibly happy deep down in my heart. I listen to it, and my heart feels like it is going to explode with sheer glee. I love this song so much.

YESSSSSSSSSSSS. He opened up with the first verse and chorus of "Girl From Rosewood Lane", and then proceeded to ROCK THE HOUSE. Lots of new stuff from Otherly Opus, but also ROBOT BEAT and MONOSYNTH and then the last song he played was SUGAR RUSH which made me go EEEEEEEEALKJSDKJBNDAKLSJDHFLJKLSDJLKJLDS!!!! and yeah. Sugar Rush! It was some really awesome remix version, too, all sped up and awesomified. I CANNOT TELL YOU how much I LOOOOOVE the Robot Rock album, guys. That was the album that made me realize that good music existed in the world, not just the crap on the radio. I pretty much didn't care for music before Robot Rock. It is like my musical "gateway drug", it got me hooked on MUSIC. and AWESOME.

Anyways, yeah, the show was great, and I met a lot of really cool people from the Internet, all of whom now know for a fact that I cannot dance. I think I talked two of them into going to Autobahn next year... muahahahaha. With any luck, I can recruit an army of minions a hoard of people to road-trip to Autobahn with next year. Though the one guy is married with a kid, so he probably wouldn't be up for road-trippery. But the other guy is in a band, so he'd probably be all for going to promote his band. And if those gals from Alaska really do move down here then maybe I could talk them into going, too! We could have, like, a whole Texas POSSE going.

ANYWAYS. Autobahn is still... 8 months away. For right NOW, I am not in Austin! I ended up not going because a) I slept like a rock until 1pm, then took a nap from about 2:30 to 5, and b) when I tried to contact the venue to find out exactly what time Things Were Happening, I couldn't. On their myspace calendar, they listed 4 band and showed the time as 10pm-11pm. Ummmm, yeah, probably not accurate. I asked Ronnie if he knew for sure what time he was playing, so I could be there, and he said he didn't even know. So today I tried to look and see if there was any way of maybe calling them, but I didn't find a number anywhere. And then I took my accidental nap, and then it was 5pm, and I said BAH. So I went and rented Marie Antoinette and got some WingStop goodness and that was my evening.

Man, I cannot believe how much I slept today. I mean, I was really freaking tired and everything, but dang. I feel a lot better for it, though. All day today my stomach has been just fine. I feel really relaxed. It is good. I guess the show made me happy enough to ditch the stress enough to sleep. I like that.

Okay, maybe I'm just too tired, but this is hilarious and I'm linking it ANYWAYS.

I took me three tries to type "anyways"!

ANYWAYS. For those of you who don't read Questionable Content (the webcomic, not actually a bunch of questionable content), today's guest strip links to a myspace page for a fake band called QC In Tha Middle East and that song is the best thing ever. JESS CLICK ON THAT LINK EVEN THOUGH IT IS THAT SITE YOU HATE, YOU WILL LIKE IT.

Or maybe I'm just that far gone! WOO!

So I bailed out of work at 3:30 because I was crashing so hardcore. Between just not falling asleep at night and going in to work early because I'm trying to get caught up, I'm pretty dang tired! But of course, once I laid down in bed, my brain started going "LA LA LA LA NO SLEEP FOR YOU!" and I said "I HATE YOU BRAIN" and it laughed at me. So I got up and made dinner and then started poking at the internets. My plan for this weekend include a Joy Electric show tonight and tomorrow night. Tonight JE goes on stage at 11 in Dallas... tomorrow he goes on at an unspecified time in Austin. I will probably die on the way home from Austin tomorrow night, by crashing into a tree when I fall asleep at the wheel. But that's okay, because now I know how Harry Potter ends!


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

SO.

JOY ELECTRIC.

Will be in DALLAS on July 27! That is NEXT FRIDAY. I am SO THERE.

JE will also be in Austin on July 28. I am very tempted to be that fan and follow them down there. I looked up the place they will be playing, and it's right off 35. I can do that! It will really depend on if I'm working and if I have extra gas monies. I think I will!

LOCAL PEEPS: Who wants to go?

I should probably find out how much tickets are. And make sure I have money for tickets. Especially with Harry Potter this weekend.

Man, July has been pretty good for me! Julys are historically not so great for me. This one is going pretty well! New couch, two new albums, three paychecks, Harry Potter 7, and at least one JE concert, possibly two! Niiiice.

Also, last night I dreamt about my recent poor sleep. I was in my apartment and someone else was there (I don't know who it was) and I took four Tylenol PMs instead of two. The other person started freaking out about how that was too much, so I read the side of the bottle. It said to take two, and that "four is just suicidal". I guess my brain is so tired it wants to kill itself? BUT NO. I will keep my brain alive long enough to read Book 7 and go see JE. Then we'll talk.

PS: FREE CDS.

Check it out. I finally got everything all prettified and moved over to my new space. Let me know if anything is broken.

JoyToyKid.org

My video idea thingummy? Ronnie said he loved it. I feel very special right now. He usually is pretty ambivalent of things fans do, and he loved my thing.

*squees off into the night*

( My brain made it )

What do y'all think? I personally would love to see this video.