Splash Friday
I ventured out to Splash last night and it was the usual Friday night fare. The music was better than normal and I had a good time overall, though I can never understand why the bar is not as crowded on Friday nights. I’m going to head back out there tonight for its been a couple of weeks since I last went there on a Saturday. I’ll be looking forward to it all day. I need some dance therapy!
Kylie’s Coming in 3 Days…
One thing I’m really looking forward to is my next concert. This week, Kylie Minogue will be performing three shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC. I had been planning to go all along, hoping to get my ticket the same way I got the Lady Gaga tickets last week, but just last night I was invited to go by my new friend, Ivan. He’s got seats in the balcony, which gives a much better view of the stage. The last time I saw her there, my friend and I had to stand on the main floor and we spent the whole time on our tippy toes trying to get a view of the show.
As many of you can tell from past posts, I love Kylie! She last came to NY in the fall of 09 and of course I had to see her. It was her first foray into the US in many years and she was promoting an album, “X,” that wasn’t even released in stores here. The show was absolutely awesome and “X” is one of my favorite Kylie albums, with plenty of great mid to up tempo beats, the kind I like most. Check out one of my favorite tracks from “X,” “2 Hearts”:
My Week
It always seems that short weeks are just as long, if not longer, than normal ones, and this past week was no exception. It feels like last Monday, my last day off, was forever and a day ago. Earlier this week I pinched a nerve in my upper leg and was hobbling around on it all week, so maybe that had something to do with the drudgery of my work week, but thankfully I’m feeling back to normal once again (or I wouldn’t have been able to go dancing last night or tonight).
For anyone who thinks that school needs to be run all year long, they should try being a teacher at this time of the year. As soon as the weather starts turning nice, the kids are done. Lately it’s been so hard to get them to do anything in class and I can’t wait until summer just to be done with it. Yesterday I lost my temper in the worst way I ever have and I actually startled my students. It worked because they were quiet from then on out, so I’ve got to remember that for the future even though I hate yelling.
As for my poor attitude these past couple of days, well you can see from what I’ve said how it all started, but there’s more that I just can’t point my finger at. Maybe it’s just a combination of things in my life at the moment. My move is stagnant and I don’t have any choice but to wait it out, which is kind of depressing. Going into the city for fun is good, but when you meet people they usually live in the city and when I live an hour away, well… So I guess my love life sucks, too, and that’s getting me down a bit. He still pops in and out of my head often enough and the whole thing just makes me sad. I miss him terribly, and I’ve got to realize he’s probably gone forever and so I need distractions to occupy my mind more. I often wonder if he misses me, too, which I think is probably so, but I guess it doesn’t matter. Hopefully once Memorial Day gets here I’ll be spending more time out here on Fire Island and juicing it up a bit. I don’t know.
Writing
Earlier this week I joined a new writing site which I’m kind of excited about. The site is called Gather and they accepted me into their entertainment division with a special emphasis on music. Their pay scale is way better than Y!CN’s and I just may start moving some of my pieces from there, like my monthly “New Music” segment and my weekly “Pop Music News” over to Gather.
I’ve been having bad experiences with Y!CN ever since I got rejected for that Featured Music Writer job last month. My page views have dropped significantly. I’m actually getting more hits to this blog than I am over there, which is not a good thing since this makes me no money.
Last weekend I wrote a piece on new music for May and submitted it for upfront payment. I’d done 12 of these to date, all under the heading of the old Featured Contributor program and was paid $10 for each of them, so I figured it was a safe bet to do it that way. I was wrong! After four days, they finally reviewed it and rejected to offer me any money for it, saying that I used too many italicized words and something I didn’t understand about my links. I looked back at my past pieces and saw that I did this one the same exact way I had done the others, so I am totally confused about the rejection.
I wrote them a complaint about it and as of now I am still waiting for a response. Meanwhile my piece is still unpublished, still in limbo and tomorrow is May 1st. WTF??? I will keep you updated on this one.
In the meantime, here are some pieces I’ve published since my last set of links:
Y!CN
Outrageous British Sitcom “Absolutely Fabulous” Set to Return
As I reported here last week, ABFab, one of my all time favorite shows, will be returning sometime soon. This is the whole scoop.
Lady Gaga’s “Monster Ball” at Nassau Coliseum: Great Entertainment and a Whole Lot of Fun
My complete review of last Saturday’s Gaga concert.
Pop Music News Weekly, April 26th
An update on this year’s Lollapalooza lineup, a remembrance of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes on the 9th anniversary of her death, and an obituary for legendary jazz-pop singer Phoebe Snow, plus the weekly charts.
Memorial Day Events on Long Island
This was an assignment at Y!CN. Fun stuff, too!
Examiner
I published a couple of pieces on Examiner this week…I’m not sure how much longer I’ll continue there as it hasn’t been doing well ever since Google changed their search algorithm. Anyway, here’s what I posted there:
Cherry’s on the Bay opens for the summer May 6th
Yes, summer’s coming and Fire Island will soon be my summer playground. Getting excited!
Fairs and craft sales on LI this weekend
Gather
Here are two of my first pieces on Gather:
Remembering Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes on TLC’s 20th Anniversary
The 2011 Billboard Music Awards is Back in a Big Way
Well I think I’ve gotten it all out, lol. I apologize for such a long post and not to wait so long in between. In the meantime, here’s some visual candy for you, just a couple of cool photos I found around the Internet. As always, thanks for reading!
Fire Island, NY
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Image Source:
Fire Island photo DCP Images
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