someone cut up my credit card plz.

soooo while taking a break at work today, i was browsing through etsy.

and i bought this:

i don't NEED a necklace made out of gorgeous, silk, vintage neck ties. i don't NEED to buy said necklace, especially since this would look ideal with vnecks [aka half my wardrobe] and men's undershirts [aka the other half.]

i will need, however, a fantastic accessory or few that packs a punch and will pack easy when i whip out the passport and cross the pond next month.

seriously. just cut up my credit card now. i'll love you forever and so will my savings account.

happy halloween! i was riveting (i hope.)

so, there you have it: i was rosie the riveter for halloween after i opted to scrap being a flapper for the second year in a row. [i do love my purple fringe-all-over dapper flapper dress, though.] i spent the night dancing around like a maniac with dear friends and the only casualty of the evening was my blackberry which went swimming around 3am but luckily my pal justin fished it out of the NASTY puddle it had landed in and it miraculously survived the submersion. dear blackberry: thank you for making waterproof phones, even if they're supposedly not waterproof. that thing rang COMPLETELY UNDERWATER and it lit up so we could find it. for that, i am grateful.

november's kicking off to a ridiculously busy start: in addition to the piles of transcripts/interviews i have to sift through, my mom's putting the finishing touches on building her dream house up in maine and we just took on a HUMONGOUS account at work so i'll be here 8-6 all week, pretty much. i'm taking a break to post these photos/muse for a bit to give my brain time to energize and look at stuff that isn't drafts/articles/google analytics/research research research. i promise i miss and love all of you and i'm sorry for being so absent lately. october was insanity; november will be better by default, i'm sure, but dressing up as a feminist icon was a nice way to end my month.

so is anyone else counting down to thanksgiving? because stuffing, mashed potatoes and apple pie would make me ridiculously happy right now...

xx h

ps: i've got some major reviews coming up. judy jetson hair, i'm comin' for you.

"no one wants to hug a firecracker, hilary."

fact.

CMJ // it's cold // new boots!

what i wouldn't GIVE for a pumpkin muffin and a cappuccino from the biscuit right about now...

anyways, good morning! a few baby updates:

1) along with my cohorts jessie and gab, i'll be heading to new york city next week to cover the tail end of the CMJ Music Marathon. we're going to cover the Boston acts of the festival lineup [The Mieka Canon, Drug Rug, The New Collisions, Aloud, HO-AG to name a few] complete with photo timeline, concert shots, videos [hopefully!] and various critiques/musings. you can find our unscripted indie rock adventure [complete with copious amounts of red velvet cupcakes from buttercup and a run in at the waverley] over at TeaParty Boston.

2) interviews i've done recently for TPB: one with local favorites/Cantab frequenters St. Helena, one with Boston mainstays The Beatings, and one with the latest indie darlings to hit the charts, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. read up on some good listens here, friends.

3) after a particularly stressful day at work yesterday, i took a detour before driving home and stopped at the mall... and walked out with a quarter of my monthly wages gone. yeeeeah i'm gonna eat pasta for two weeks to make up for it. but my new party dress and blouse from anthropologie are gorgeous and these new frye boots are purrrrty:

seriously. i needed them. i keep telling myself this.

anyways. it's 9:02am. that means dayjob work time. tonight: the dodos are playing at the middle east, and i'll be watching from the ramp. if you're going, get there soon as i feel like everyone and their mother wants to snag last minute tickets to this show.

p.s.: dear fall: i thought you were going to stick around for a leeeeeeeeeettle longer to make up for the fact that summer was rainy 99% of the time. do i REALLY have to break out my winter coat two weeks before halloween? seriously? gyahhh. oh well. at least it's hot cider season.

aaaaaaaaand sleep.

well hey there, somerville.

it's sunday. luckily, my body knew i needed some rest, big time, after a most ridiculous two weeks, and i rolled over when i woke up and realized that it was 1:50. pm. i had slept half the day away, and that was exactly what i needed.

why so tired/why the oversleeping? yesterday, teaparty boston helped out with the throwing of harvest fest over at somerville's center for the arts at the armory. we were the official media partner for the event, but our tweeting/live blogging responsibilities were merely tasks compared to the other feats we accomplished that day! i had volunteered myself to joe, the wonderful man in charge and most adorable of local do-gooders, and i wound up emceeing the majority of the event and throwing together the script for the haphazard fashion show that occurred. the event was packed, everyone was happy, the endless supply of artisan beer kept festival-goers happy and the music on hand was pretty swell. it was exhausting, but it was a lovely day.

i actually made it out to tt's for the sidewalk driver cd release which was epiccccccc and i spent the majority of the evening in the pool room with the tpb/motion sick/aloud/future everybody kids. now, i'm scarfing shalimar, getting some writing done and then heading over to river gods for a video premiere party with aloud. and then it's precinct time, some old same old.

aiiiii ai ai. that's an update, though a lame one at that. tomorrow i'm either going to the advanced screening of "where the wild things are" complete with dave eggers q&a or i'm going to see wild light for a tpb feature. not a bad start to the week, huh?

The Savage Detectives: Current Book Hil Can't/Won't Put Down.

my time on the commuter rail every morning tends to get soaked up by transcribing interviews for TPB, but i'm going to a hip hop show [big digits at harper's ferry, to be precise] post "real" work tonight and didn't feel like lugging my macbook from back bay to allston and on to cambridge, ugh. on the days where pressing play on the tape recorder makes me want to gauge my eyes out, or on mornings such as this one, i read. it's not that exciting. the books i've been picking up lately have been, though. i finally devoured crime and punishment not too long ago and after that i started roberto bolano's 2666, but i used it as a pillow one especially sleep-deprived morning on the train and sadly left it on my seat :/ i was really heartbroken about the loss of 2666 - it was a hardcover, as the paperback version of bolano's opus came in three volumes prior to its release as a single softcover on september 1st, and the book itself isn't exactly flying off the shelves at barnes & noble given that oprah hasn't put her stamp of approval on it [yet] and bolano rarely tends to be a favorite amongst anyone but latin american lit majors and intellectually masturbating poets/vagabonds.

i love bolano. [i don't consider myself an intellectually masturbating poet, though i did study latin american lit pretty extensively.] i had to read una novelita lumpen in eduardo lago's Orillas Atlanticas ["Atlantic Shores"] my sophomore year at Sarah Lawrence and bolano's simple, poignant prose was easy to meander through at a point where i was conversationally proficient in spanish at best and had a waaaays to go when it came to spanish reading comprehension. i can't remember if it was eduardo or one of my other tutors/professors, in new york, buenos aires or elsewhere, who encouraged 2666, but the recommendation stuck with me and i finally found it on amazon for a decent price back when i was bored and looking for things to keep me busy during my bout of funemployment early this year. i bought it and i kept putting off starting it until i got the new gig, found myself loathing my 1.5 hour commute every morning, and needed an escape from an interview or two every once in awhile.

aaaaaaaaanyways. i love, love the savage detectives so far. i'm going to reread it in spanish when i'm through with it in english, as i fear i'm getting rusty. this particular line really struck me today, but i'm not going to give you the context for it because i feel like the sentiment stands on its own:

"You can woo a girl with a poem, but you can't hold on to her with a poem. Not even with a poetry movement."

given a few recent epiphanies, i just thought this was the right sentence for me to stumble across at the right time, and it made me think. i'm horrifically distracted by just that one sentence even still and i'm strangely okay with it, even if i have a never-ending list of things to do today. if i'm gonna be distracted, it might as well be by a genius piece o' lit that gets me thinking, right?

my friends may keep me out too late on a school night, but they keep me sane.

chief, smitty and ace at great scott, 9/12

so the lovely and talented ryan rose weaver (who's not only an established, dedicated foodie but now also our Tastes guru over at TeaParty Boston) wrote this on her blog last night and it makes me feel all kinds of wonderful:

What this means is that instead of working on service pieces, guides, features, etc. in a strictly technical sense, my hope is that this fall, me and my people are going to make some art together. We are going to riff. We are going to ad lib. We are going to graffiti our words across the Internet and hope that someone wanders along and likes what they see. We will do it because we are compelled to point out the genius of the people who are creating things in this city in the same way that bees are compelled to make honey, that birds are compelled to sing, that Jessica Simpson is compelled to soldier on doing whatever it is that she does despite all those "mom jeans" comments. We do it because we must create -- not because we must create something we can "monetize."

ryan, you're not in the picture above, which is silly, but you're so great. and everyone involved with TPB is so great. and everything that ryan just wrote is the complete and articulate and better-phrased summary of everything i love about my friends and what i do.

thanks, ryan. you just made a gloomy morning severely lacking in the caffeine department so much better.

KINGS OF LEON: The TeaParty Boston Interview. [aka: lil ol' me, jared of KoL and a tape recorder.]

i'm on my couch with some vino and a homemade oreo from city feed and i'm watching the VMAs, and i'm actually super stoked about that. the MJ tribute was pretty great, i love russell brand, and the mood seems to be particularly festive. great start, VMAs, great start.

three words on the tips of everyone's tongues tonight, regarding the VMAs? Kings. Of. Leon. the band is unbelievably huge right now. everyone can sing the chorus to "sex on fire", let's be honest. with a few shots of tequila in me i do a STELLARRR impression of caleb followill's "USE SOMEBODAAAY-AH" hook. rolling stone and spin have featured them on the covers of their magazines and nearly every music critic in the country has touted them as the biggest band in the world right now. am i the biggest fan? not necessarily, but i give credit where credit is due and after seeing caleb, jared, nathan and matthew DECIMATE the gloom that had settled in over the rain-soaked comcast center friday night with their absolutely electrifying set, i can say with absolutely no doubt that they're very, very real and worth a listen.

...also i was there because gab, jessie and i were interviewing them for TeaParty Boston. (slight ZOMG ZOMG ZOMG moment of my life.) gab was the only photographer who was granted access to shoot the show friday night. i somehow wound up backstage in a warm up room with jared, the bass player, and we hung out for something like fifteen minutes. the dude is surprisingly down to earth and humble and excited about the amazing things that he's got going for him. anyways, read the interview in full here, but check out some of gab's pics below:

(also, i gotta say, i really do work with some of the most incredibly talented and lovely women on the planet. gab and jessie, i'm so proud of the both of you and i don't think i tell you that enough.)

quick update: TeaParty Boston, Interviewz, Major FreakOuts and Other Adventures.

HI!

real quick:

1) the weekend preview is up at TeaParty Boston. if you're looking for something to do this weekend in boston, you have EIGHT GAZILLION OPTIONS available including concerts in cambridge, somerville, allston and boston proper, of course. there's also a booze-soaked LEGALIZE CACHACA! march plowing through the south end/back bay and design hive kicks off for the season on sunday. long story short: GET YOUR BUTT OFF THE COUCH AND OUT INTO THE AUTUMN AIR, AMIGOS!

2) i am interviewing the biggest f#%#$%@ band on the planet tonight before their concert at the comcast center. if you've got any pressing questions for the followill brothers, drop me a line and i'll include it in my interview.

3) have i told you lately that i'm lucky? i'm lucky.

long time no see! also: boston phoenix, WTF. regards, hil.

hey guys.

my my my, i've been a busy girl. between day job work, TPB work, enjoying the brief heat wave here in boston and riding my bike all over this city to catch up with friends new and old, i'm getting very little sleep and i'm spending very little time at home. this past weekend consisted of running around like a crazy person trying to cover Boston Band Crush's ONE NIGHT BAND [which was an incredible success], the McAlister Drive show over at the 'Dise and Jeremy's last night drumming it up with the Sea Monsters on Sunday. I'm back at my desk. I have iced coffee in my system, even if it's getting a little brisk out. life is good.

fast-forward to today, when little miss jessietron sent me the link for the Phoenix's new lifestyle piece: "A Girl's Guide to Boston Boys." this post royally pissed me off on many levels and as much as i've respected the phoenix in the past for its music coverage and photojournalism and other stuff [and hey, i have some friends over at phoenix media, ok?], nina maclaughlin's article in the Welcome Back '09 issue made me want to write to her directly and ask her to never ever write an op/ed ever again. my issues with it:

1) The Boston Phoenix is one of the OLDEST alternative weeklies in the country [second only to the village voice, i believe, or hell, it may even be older], it has an established readership and it still gets picked up even though it's a free paper with midweek circulation. what's the most important part of that last sentence? ALTERNATIVE. WEEKLY. The Boston Phoenix is NOT the Improper Bostonian [aka the glossy which boasts quips on cavity-inducing $15 cocktails and socialite photo spreads to keep the beacon hill set happy] and it's NOT the Boston Herald [aka the daily owned by Rupert Murdoch known for its blue collar/conservative slant.] it's picked up, predominantly, by readers in cambridge, somerville, allston, jamaica plain and charlestown, which host some of the most well-known [and liberal] academic institutions in the metro-Boston area as well as the most creative and innovative nightlife/restaurants/venues/museums/etc etc. i think it's incredibly short-sighted of maclaughlin, and the lifestyles editor at the phoenix who allowed this to even hit the web, to make sarcastic [and, um, entirely unoriginal] cracks at THE PAPER'S KEY DEMOGRAPHIC. Boston Phoenix, these "arrogant, competitive, and highly self-centered" men of cambridge/"members of the famed creative class" of JP who are most likely to be seen at the cemetery [wtf?]/"(aspiring) rock stars" of allston are THE ONES PICKING UP YOUR PAPERS. the yah brahs/frat boys/finance dudes of downtown/beacon hill/kenmore are hardly the gentlemen who'll be picking up the latest issue by the T on a wednesday morning. in fact, it's these assholes who are most likely to use your classified pages to wipe puke off their face after a particularly rowdy night at the liquor store/on lansdowne street. i think that this article had the potential to poke fun and crack jokes in a good-natured way: i mean, come on, we're all capable of making fun of our idiosyncracies as bostonians and we're all very aware of how we tend to distinguish ourselves by neighborhood. with that said, maclaughlin's angle on this puff piece was poorly written [line edits, anyone?] and dripping with disdain from someone clearly suffering from a case of hipster/harvard envy.

2) at the risk of sounding repetitive, this piece was COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNORIGINAL. oh my god! hipsters in allston with ...tattoos?! girls wearing lily pulitzer in back bay?! backwards red sox hats in... WAIT DON'T TELL ME... kenmore square?! OHMYGAHDTHATISSOHILARIOUS. you write for The Boston Phoenix. i'm sure you had ample time to pitch an idea and see it through to fruition. that should've given you PUH-LENTY of time to think of a new spin to put on this idea. also: ashmont. dorchester. SOMERVILLE. even southie [which tends to host these frat boys who're just like "the pals of your best friend's older bro."]. how about you do your research, learn how to use the subway beyond the red and green line, and get to know the city you're covering? if you're going to write off half your audience, you may as well include the neighborhoods where yes, the Phoenix is distributed and where you can find exceptions to every single "type" you defined in your piece. maybe it'll even give your story a little color and keep it from looking like the half-assed column of some Carrie Bradshaw wannabe majoring in Communications at BU.

aaaaand i'm spent. rant done. editorial staff of the boston phoenix: i expect more from you as the supposed authorities on arts & entertainment coverage in my fair city, and i never thought an alternative weekly would be so snottily exclusive. and, frankly, a little more uneducated about the city in which it resides than it should be.

in other news, teaparty boston? yeah, we won't tell you who to date based on what neighborhood you're scouring for boyfriends in, but we WILL tell you how arts & entertainment actually is in Boston and with direct quotes from the people who are making exciting things happen here. we won't be poking fun at them. OR their tattoos.