#285 - Borders 2/21/2009.

Being that it was a cold, wintry Saturday night two months after the holiday season, there weren't that many people in the cafe. In addition, I was just told when I arrived that Borders had cut its operation hours - they now close at 10pm instead of 11pm, which meant that I had to spontaneously cut down my planned three sets to one-and-a-half-sets. As such, I didn't make too much in tips - $7.25 this time around. Still, that's some good money for lunch.

In terms of how I felt during the performance, it was better than my December appearance - I was a lot more relaxed, perhaps primarily due to having hung around with Lauren and Melissa earlier today, and having them - along with mia_noire - come see me perform. And I didn't have to strain my voice to have it carry to the mike because I had a shiny new boom mic stand that my dad bought for me two weeks ago. I still fumbled a lot of notes in my songs, but my hands weren't as frozen by the window draft as I expected them to be. This is probably because Melissa lent me her own black fingerless gloves, which were a lot thicker than mine. The problem with those gloves, though, was that they were fitted at the wider end, so that even when I scrunched them down close to my wrists, they were still fairly snug on me. This probably explains why, in the middle of playing "Almost", my left hand started spontaneously going numb and tingly. That was definitely a minor panic moment.

Setlist #1

1. Bacchanalia
2. Triskaidekaphobia
3. Whatever You Want (Vienna Teng cover)
4. Cold
5. Cynthia's Lullaby
6. Sphinx (played using a layered electronic piano tone)
7. Between the Lines
8. Almost

Setlist #2

1. Bacchanalia
2. Triskaidekaphobia
3. Cold
4. Sphinx (again, played with a layered tone)
5. Cynthia's Lullaby
6. Daughter Mine

...okay, so maybe this isn't "one-and-a-half" sets so much as "one-and-three-fourths" sets, I think. Haha.

Also, in the middle of talking about the backstory from "Almost", I heard some lady near me go: "Aww, she's so cute!"

***

Earlier in the day, I headed out to see Coraline with Lauren and Melissa. I personally found it a well-done film - the story has a definite classic fairytale feel that's enhanced by the visceral materiality (...a redundant phrase?) of the brilliant stop-motion animation. (How the hell did they manage to animate Coraline's hair blowing in the wind?!) It's a film that is geared towards a younger audience, but it doesn't condescend to them, so anyone of any age can enjoy it.

***

Am ridonkulously tired. Have not yet re-setup my keyboard and stand after coming back home because I am too tired. It is probably for the best that I leave things un-setup, though, because I'm going to have a bunch of schoolwork to do tomorrow and I don't need the (faux) ivories to distract me.

THINGS THAT THE REILEEN MUST NEEDS DO TOMORROW/TODAY

ART200
*Art historical family tree write-up
*Catching up on journal entries for the readings
*Reading an essay

JPN105
*Study for the grammar quiz on Monday somehow

HON300
*Start BSing possible shit to BS about in the 6-9 page paper due this Thursday

OTHER STUFF
*FAFSA
*Shower
*Reorganize the music on my iPod
*Clean up this damn room!

-Reileen
makin' love in the afternoon with Cecilia