erasing pink.

i erased the pink in my hair and am now an unaturally expensive brunette. i don't know how super models constantly dye, perm, straighten, whatever their hair. it's often times a long uncomfortable process and the chemicals usually leave me with lingering headaches. however, i am now back to the simple look which is not as fun. why can't people grow pink hair?

anyway...besides spending the day erasing pink, i've been recovering from an evil stomach bug, i can't tell whether it's from my diet, the alcohol, the pesticide, or the sweltering heat. either way, i spent all of last night puking and had a series of terrifying dreams followed by one amazing one. it involved amazing people i love from spain.

all in all, i'm quite hazy today. even though i had a wonderful weekend in the studio, i still feel lazy and in need of a paying job. i'm scared about the next few weeks, lingering in the residue of post-school-love-music-sex. i'm swelling up with memories that seem like dreams now. heading towards the unknown, alone, and on my way to a strange new land.

my soul took a vacation.

I spent the weekend recording my best friend's songs and then went to Vegas for a day and a half. I had a wonderful time with really amazing people. We hiked on the Calico Tank trail, meditated with the earth, hung out with a crane, and skipped stones. It was a long needed vacation for my mindbody. The Vegas nite scene was disappointing, over exaggerated boobs and being bombarded with neon lights and billboards, yuck. The drive home was quite spectacular though. We stopped in at the Grand Canyon, hung out in Flagstaff for an amazing vegan lunch, and drove through Sedona to complete the spiritual cleansing. I feel so unbelievably centered and calmed by life right now and inspired to step into the next phase of excitement. I've recently completed the first round of challenges and on to the next ones!
Namaste.

it's late or early

i should be sleeping, or studying the ssl. i can't help but think restlessly about the future and how blank it looks right now. blank in the sense that i'm not really to sure where all this is taking me. it's hard for me to focus when i feel like i have very little time. things seemed to have transformed greatly within the past few months. i've broken out some metaphoric cocoon. i've been thinking a lot about living more simply, but the contradiction is that i involve myself more and more with electronics and technology. go figure.
i better get some sleep before i regret it in the morning.

tape op con 2006

I think I'm still recovering from one of the greatest weekends ever. Tape Op held a convention in Tucson, strangly it was at the Hilton. I don't know how to describe what happened, but it was like disneyland for audio engineers. I got to hear new microphones and listen to gear I probably won't touch again for years to come. The clinics were informational, but I unfortunately I had to choose between some really rad clinics. I went to ATR alignment, Studio Maintenace, Build Your Own EQ, Circuit Bending, and Analog Synthesis. The circuit bending and the synth clinic were the highlight of Tape Op I think. I also got to check out Pot Luck Studios, and there were so many female engineers helping out, that was so refreshing. Women's Audio Mission definately was a major force there. I met a few woman there that made it all worth while to go there. I really needed to connect with other woman and not feel condescended by the male populas of "would made more gold records than you." I think I learned a lot about myself this past weekend. Meeting engineers and producers who have accomplished so much of what I love was inspiring. I hung out with Adam Lasus, who is a really awesome indie rock producer, and I enjoyed hearing someone who wasn't concerned with selling to the Majors in order to get by. I also learned a lot from David Wright who is a circuit bender, and synth builder. He gave me a lot of ideas about starting out as a circuit bender, and he was in it for love not money. Not to mention his amazing collection of handmade synthesizers! Here I am back to school. Knowledge is fun!
peace.

the post war dream...

Yesterday morning B.Rad and I played a show at 3am at Counter Culture cafe as "Hidden Autism." It was an ambient synth/noise experiment for those insomniacs who are open to having their psyches meddled with. It went really well. Bransin even got on the microphone and told stories! Our set up was:
Kimbel Organ,
XP-50
sid- station
micro korg
ibanez delay pedal
electro harmonix sub octave
2 behringer mixers
orange amp
peavy amp
303
sm57
and a couple of room mics

Justin was there recording it straight into his pro tools. There was a handful of people who stayed to heard the sounds we created, and they appreciated it. We definately got into very trance like states of mind. Stay tuned for future 3am shows!
Peace.

why'd you have to be so cute...

I flyered at the Imogen Heap show, which was rad. I enjoy shows and all the beautiful people who are conscious about music. I missed the opening act to eat at a really great vegan restaurant. I had to just devour mouthfuls of deliciousness. What can I say, I'm a glutton. I got back in time for Imogen and was just stunned when I walked into a perfectly sized and spaced venue, and a stellar visual layout. Pretty lights, silken cloth, hanging circles to represent polka dot style lushness, sexy light decor around her equipment, and of course, lovely mermaid like Imogen mumbling and singing and dancing like the magical being she is. The sound guy was great, the lighting guy was better! The sound was drenched with effect: reverb and delay. It was appropriate. She had a harmonizer, vocoder, a keytar! This was definately a great show, the best non-local/indie show I've seen for a long time. She amazed and inspired me. She played Hide and Seek last and the lights slowly faded, slowly fading her out too, into a silhouette. It was brilliant, the whole thing.

unwinding...

documentation is extremely important, that is why i am trying to keep up with my life events through these non sensical posts.
i finished my fifth cycle project! it was a wonderful experience, better than i could have imagined. i recorded kier's song "city folk," and i called the band "the subdominant machines." i rocked the o.r.t.f technique on the overheads, sub-kick on bass drum and bass cabinet, re-20 on inner kick and on bass cabinet, beta 57 on toms, sm57 on bottom snare, m88tg on hi-hat, tlm103's for room mics, and mc012 for drummers perspective. i encouraged hippie dancing and skipping, it was wonderful. everything went well except for the shitty headphone boxes, which i worked around. all in all, i feel relaxed now that it's over. i was feeling a lot of stress building up to that moment, but it was unnecessary stress, because once i got into the studio everything felt natural and in it's right place.
luckily after the session b-rad stressed going to counter culture. our vegan tamale friends were there benefiting the counter culture, and lot's of rad people just enjoying sunday into monday.
now i must continue into the eternal sunshine of sound travel.
joy and unicorns,
knee-naah!

strange lights, pretty things?

I spent the weekend in Las Vegas. I had to visit my best friend and I needed to prepare my mind for this move. This time around I got to experience "Vintage Vegas" where all the casions, lights, and gambler came to be. It was disgusting in this surreal way. The beauty of that whole strange circus was that there was live sound all around. However the real beauty was not anywhere near the epicenter of lust and greed, but in the Red Rocks. There are really amazing earth structures, water, trees, green green green. I needed to humble myself within nature. It was a wonderful escape from the glitz and glam of Vegas. Leaving Las Vegas and going over the Hoover Dam, my friend shouted at the tourists" The American Dream isn't real, Progress is a lie, Take your pictures now because in twenty years this will be blown up." That pretty much sums up leaving Vegas. I'm leaving out a lot of words, but I have music to make!
peace.

systems...

i believe that in order to "break" any system you must work with it. working inside the fabrication in order to make sense of any future revolution. but in my mind, revolution is not complete anarchy, it still requires system and works on imperfections, however the goals are for progress instead of keeping with tradition.
this is just something i've been thinking about hard as i try to make sense of the next stages in my life. the more i think, the more i realize that action is incredibly more necessary. i'm just frustrated by the idea of everyone waiting for shit to change. it just won't if we don't let it. so viva la revolution !
"Open your windows
Open your doors
Open your minds
To a freedom of thought
Raise our voices, raise our flag
Smash the symbols of the life never had
Long live the symbols
Long live the scheme
Long live our hopes
Long live the dream
Dance in the streets at the carnival
Celebrate the victory now
Drink the wine from the rich man's cask
This revolution won't be the last"

it's friday!

thank goodness, it's over, this week, well yeah, maybe, not yet. i woke up extra early this morning to prepare for an overdubbing session. it went great i think, considering... there is nothing i love more than waking up to a sexy studio. putting the reel on the tape machine turns me on, literally. there is still so much i have to learn though. i have to master my premature skills before i can move on to the next level. i definately don't think as quickly as i'd like to, but hopefully that will change with time. well i have a wedding to go to. party time!

"go ahead and flunk my ass"

everyday is a test. trial and error, i am learning. too much coffee, too much ignorance. i want to do everything efficiently. life is sticky. when my heart feels heavy i think about my past a lot. i'm trying to focus on the moment, but every thing revolves around every other moment. i would feel super lonely if it wasn't for technology or music. sleater kinney's "all hands on the bad one" is the story of my life right now.
"When you're in a room
it's all that i can feel
Get so used to loving
what's not real
There's nothing I can hold,
No real tears to cry
You can't breath life back into lie"

great love...

my best friend in the entire universe came to visit me this weekend. it was lovely <3.>
love,
nina
ps- red fairy dusters rock my world.

It's rained a few times in Arizona the last two weeks, it makes me happy. Hopefully my best friend will be visiting me this weekend. I have a lot of school work I need to catch up on, but I've been procrastinating. I really want to change things in my life drastically, but I keep with the same old routine. I drink way to much coffee, I really need to stop that. I want to eventually cut down on all substances, but then there's beer, and you know...
The last two songs I hear sounded like Jerry Garcia/Dead but they weren't, they were both current artists. Strange how music has a way to filtrate to through culture even subliminaly.
I have to type up a paper, and eat breakfast now. I'll save this conversation for another time.

birthday celebration.

today was beautiful. cards and wishes are warming to the heart. love is based on friends and family. i missed my family today. today, i kept them close. i treated myself to ethiopian food. i ate spicy red lentils with my fingers. then i bought a good amount of beer. my kitchen counter has a nice bottle display; unicorns, blondes, and fairies. the neighbors asked us to "keep it down," and i almost lost a kitty. i painted a picture of a butterfly giving birth to a cloud.
thank you and good nite,
nina

change has come.

holy cow, it's been forever since i've posted on line. i guess i have a lot of updating to do. my other blog is being a shit so i've changed platforms.

random scoop:

i've never seen a landscape in my life, like i have in arizona. i love mountains. deserts are gorgeous. i try to go hiking atleast once a week. i've met the most amazing people, musicians, engineers, artists, classmates, teachers, and everyone else. i miss my friends in all parts of the country, where ever you all are... i've recently discovered the greatness of independent internet radio. i'm absolutely in love with dada swing. i'm currently writing new material, completely different from the electronic bus i was on last year. i am re-discovering the art of playing with other musicians. i stepped down my recordings from pro tools to a tascam four track. i've been in a wierd head space for obvious reasons and for reasons i don't quite grasp yet. i have a lot of things i'm working through within my self, revolving around feelings of intimidation of being unsure of things. i still haven't quite established the line of feeling comfortable in my own skin. i have trouble falling asleep at night even when i don't get enough sleep during the day, but sage tea rules. i told you this would be random. there is so much that's going through my mind and i feel very incoherent now. i went to a really cool show last night at the trunk space. got to see "they shoot horses don't they," and "dada swing." it inspired me even more to merge into the underground and also rise above the corporate horror that the music industry is right now. i decided that compression is the scariest dynamics processor. it's scary for the obvious reasons. i need to recap again tomorrow. tonight i am tired. maybe sleep will do me good.