Featured on a Podcast Near You!

Exciting news! Some friends of mine have a rad film podcast called Film101 and the latest episode features a few of my songs, including my latest!

The Film101 podcast is worth checking out in general-- the hosts are hilarious and insightful and they choose great topics to discuss. You can listen to the first five episodes on the Dane101 website or by searching for "Film101" in the iTunes store.

New Demo: Paper Weight

I recorded a new demo tonight for Paper Weight. Rough vocals!

Original (30-second) demo is HERE. Read feedback HERE.

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paper weight
you're my paper weight
without you
i might just float away

i'm a red balloon
floating high above the clouds
can't touch the ground
but you reach up through
and you pull me down

you're my paper weight
without you
i might just float away

i'm a tornado
grabbing up all my dreams
and pulling them into the sea
but you calm me

you're my paper weight
without you
i might just float away

New Song: Paper Weight

Dudes, my last post was two months ago. That is not OK.

I guess I haven't had much to say, musically-speaking. I've been so focused on writing that I've barely touched my piano. But here's what's been up in Mixtapes Land since last we spoke:

• Found out I earned a grand total of 28 cents in royalties last year. DRINKS ON ME, Y'ALL. In other news, I won't be quitting my day job anytime soon.
  
  
  
• My song "Come Around" hit the T61 homepage for the... third time? Fourth time? It happened out of nowhere and I was pretty psyched.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• February Album Writing Month (FAWM) is back!
  
  I'm not sure how active I'll be this year, given my busy writing schedule and the fact that I share a house with very thin walls with four other people, but I did start my first song today.
  
  Here's a thirty-second clip:
  
  
  
  
  
  paper weight
  
  you're my paper weight
  without you
  i might just float away
  
  
  This is the first time I've really sat down and played in a long time and my voice sounds a little rough. But progress!
  
  Speaking of progress, you can follow mine HERE.
  
  
  
• My friend LK is learning embroidery and she made a sweet tea towel for me for Christmas. I'm basically obsessed.
  
  
  
  Can we just talk about how cool that is?
  
  
  
• I've been listening to the new Bon Iver album non-stop for the past few weeks. I definitely recommend it!
  

And that's all the news that's fit to print.

Stay warm, peeps. Spring's just a few months away...

Give Me the Bad News First

I've been away for far too long. It seems I can only devote myself to one creative outlet at a time and lately it's been prose.  But the keyboard is there, looming.

This past week has been a blur of family, friends, and sunshine-- the best kind of blur. I was in Florida for purposes of pumpkin-pie-consumption and partying down at LK's film premiere.  The premiere was a smashing success and the after party was the stuff that dreams are made of.

Pretty people and good music make for easy video, even on a four-year-old Canon Powershot. This video was made by yours truly:

[music: "postcards from italy" by beirut]

And after a week of flip flops and suntans, I came home... to this:

[music: "tangled in threads" by ben & petie]

Oh, Wisconsin. How you sadden me sometimes.

On a brighter note, I was surprised and thrilled to learn that "Something to Humble Me" hit thesixtyone homepage again this week!

How lovely!

In Which I Am At Last Recognized for My Many Varied Achievements

Happy Thanksgiving, fellow dudes and ladies!

While you were all stuffing your faces with mashed potatoes and watching disturbingly large likenesses of cartoon characters meander down a city street, I was engaging in one of my all-time favorite activities.

That's right. Air travel.

Rest assured that good times were had by all, including-- but not limited to-- the gentleman from Minneapolis who had many, many questions about the book I was reading and who also apparently thought "Seat 27E" was secret code for "Seat 27E and also half of Seat 27F". It's cool, I enjoy scrunching against the window like this.

But hey, good news! I just found out that I won an award! And if there's one thing I like? It's awards.

It's the Artists' Choice award from MaxBumps.net and I couldn't be more excited if it was a national holiday and I had leftover pumpkin pie in the fridge.

Oh, wait. It is... and I do.

BEST. DAY. EVER.

comic courtesy hartboy

Muddy Boots and Snow Angels

Solstice be damned... winter is here, y'all.

I haven't touched a piano in over a week, though I'm in the midst of an exciting song experiment with a local musician and I'm itching to get back to the keys. It's been a crazy week, what with the election (yay) and Halloween (boo) and a million birthdays and visitors and home improvement projects in between.

But the dust is settling. Or at least it's thinking about it.

Anyway, I just wanted to touch base with you today and let you know that my song Smoke Signals just hit the sixtyone homepage for the third time! The first time was six months ago, on the morning of my 26th birthday.





What was a sweet surprise for this cold November morning.

Vlog and You: A Musical Journey

Dudes and dudettes,

Well, it's snowing outside. It's not even Halloween and it's already snowing. I love Wisconsin, but I feel like we need to sit down and have a chat about this.

One advantage of the foul weather: more time for indoor projects! I've been working on a bunch of sweet projects lately and I want to share one of them with you today.

As back story, I'm part of a blog ring called Twenty-Something Bloggers. It's a great place to meet other bloggers, get ideas, and discover new addictions subscriptions for my RSS reader. The site regularly posts events and challenges like blog carnivals, essay contests, and Blog Swap Day. I always half-heartedly intend to participate, but life and procrastination thwart me at every turn.

The most recent of these events was Vlog Day. The word 'vlog' sounds like something you'd catch on Spring Break in Cancun, but it's actually just short for 'video log'. In other words, it's a blog post... on video! So twenty-first century! Next stop: personal jet packs and birthday cards that play Livin' la Vida Loca.

Vlog Day was last Wednesday, but as part of my ongoing theme of Personal Tardiness, I didn't finish mine until last night. It has nothing to do with music, but there is some great music in it. Andrew Bird, Le Tigre, and more!

And so, with limited further ado, I present to you...

Crafts & Cooking: An Ill-Advised Vlog

The New York Times calls Crafts & Cooking: An Ill-Advised Vlog "... an engaging, heartfelt romp through one woman's neighborhood and home. A triumph of the human spirit."

The Chicago Tribune says, "Two emphatic thumbs up! The best [curtain-related] vlog we've seen this year."

Michael Cera writes (probably), "I deeply regret not responding to Laurie's repeated requests to star in her vlog. It's so much better than Juno. Also, I love her."

My mother: "What's a vlog?"

Included within: wacky scene transitions, awkward camera angles, and approximately 900 instances of me nervously fiddling with my bangs. Also? Somewhere in the fourth quarter, I become convinced that I am Michel Gondry and/or stoned out of my mind. SO ARTSY.


PART I




PART II




Watch and discover for yourself why I have neither a home decorating show, a cooking show, nor a boyfriend.

Until next time,
MM