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Hello all! I have left my Blogger account and can now be found HERE over on Wordpress.

All of my posts on here have been sent to there, so no worries.

See ya there!

Tuesday Tunage: Big Yellow Taxi

        I'm currently reading a pretty cool book about Joni Mitchell.  Will You Take Me As I Am not only talks about Mitchell's life, but it also talks about what and how different things influenced her music.  I really like where this book is going, and it just might replace Fifty Shades of Grey on my Summer Reading List (I just don't think I can read that one).
        Since starting the book, I have been listening to a lot more Joni Mitchell.  I have always listened to her stuff, but now I'm really listening.  I'll tell you what; it's good stuff.

     I chose her song "Big Yellow Taxi" for today.  If you are not familiar with her version of it (and by "her version" I mean she wrote it), then you have probably heard Counting Crow's (my favorite band, by the way) version, or another one of the 319 artists who have since recorded it.  I like her voice and her words are great.  I have posted the lyrics below because I'm a lyrics freak and these are some good ones.

Big Yellow Taxi Lyrics

Tuesday Tunage: Phish

     
         So, it is technically Wednesday (again), but thanks to my friend Bryan, we finally have internet at the apartment!
         As I mentioned before, Thursday night was my first ever Phish show.  It was amazing!  The lights were clear and beautiful.  We had balcony seats and I thought I was going to be bummed that I wasn't on the floor, but it ended up being better than anything I could have imagined.  Being so high up, we were able to see all of the DCU center dancing and going with the music.
        The whole way down, my boyfriend and his friend kept discussing how awesome Phish is and how incredible the shows are.  They kept convincing me that I had to go to a show to get it.  I thought I was just going down to see a band that I listened to on occasion and could probably enjoy dancing along to for a couple of hours. I was wrong.
     
         Let's just say that I get it now.
   
        I have come the conclusion that you have to be freakishly talented to put on a super awesome show.  Phish is freakishly talented.

        This video is of Phish performing Buried Alive/ Runaway Jim.  Youtube really is a beautiful thing.

         Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Post-Phish Weekend

        On Thursday, I left Maine for Worcester, MA to go see my first ever Phish show.  It was unreal!  Hands down, it was the best show I have ever been to. I get Phish now, but anyway...that is not what this post is about.
        After making the trip back from Mass Friday morning, I went straight into work for an eight hour shift. Yeah, not fun at all.  Let's just say I was definitely struggling.  Once I got work out of the way, I was ready to spend the rest of my weekend relaxing.
     
        And of course, my idea of relaxing includes delicious food.

        Saturday morning started off with a Verve burrito. If you are ever in the Orono area, you have to go to Verve.  Their burritos are outrageously good.  I'm also a huge fan of their smoothies.

Verve's fajita veggie burrito with all of the fixings

        The best thing about burritos is that they're easy to eat on the go.  We headed right from Downtown Orono to Brooklin so that I could go pick up my car.  The weather was gorgeous, so we ended up taking quite a bit of a detour to Bar Harbor.  We were going to go to Sand Beach, but it's already teeming with tourists.  Instead, we hung out on the Otter Cliffs just taking in the beautiful view.

                               
                                 

         We had dinner in Bar Harbor at Geddy's.  I had always heard people talk about it, but this was my first time going.  It was alright.  I wasn't impressed with the calamari that we ordered.  The breading was too thick (it tasted like Bisquick) and the dipping sauce was canned salsa.  Besides the calamari, everything else was really good.  I ordered fish and chips.  The piece of haddock I got barely fit on the plate it was so huge! The breading was perfect and it didn't taste too fishy.  The fries were really good, too.  Overall, I would give the place a 7 out of 10.
 
        On the drive through and from Bar Harbor, I pursued my love of sun-roof pictures.  These are some of the better ones:

        That night (and well into this morning), I finally caught up on some sleep.  Upon waking up, I was whisked away to Ellsworth where I finally got to try Martha's Diner.  It is a cute little place that I have been dying to try for a while now.  What attracted me to it is that it is adorned in I Love Lucy memorabilia.  The little diner looks like a classic 50's joint and the sparkly, red, vinyl bench seats were very comfy.  The waitresses were all so friendly that, despite it being our first time there, they made us feel like regulars.
        I liked the vibe of Martha's Diner, but I liked the food even better.  I ordered one chocolate chip pancake and am I glad I ordered just one. The thing was huge! Its taste certainly lived up to its size because it was delicious.  I also ordered a side of home-fries.  Nothing is worse than an under-cooked, plain plate of home-fries, so I could really appreciate how crisp and well seasoned Martha's Diner's were.
        The coffee was bottomless, the food was great, and the service was kind and warm.  It really was a great way to start my day.  And the best part is that I can now cross one more thing off of my 20 before 20 list.

16. Find a random diner to try

Tuesday Tunage: "Flower in the Sun"

So, here is some tunage for your Tuesday. Please just ignore the fact that it's Wednesday.  You see, I just moved into a new apartment on Friday and we still don't have internet.  For some odd reason, Blogspot is blocked on the campus WiFi, so I wasn't even able to make any updates in the library. Lame sauce, I know.  I am currently using my phone's WiFi hotspot, or whatever it is called, and hoping that it doesn't jack up my bill again.

Ever since I put up my Janis poster yesterday, "Flower in the Sun" has been stuck in my head.  Hope you enjoy it!

Until next time my little flowers.

Where Brooklin at? Where Brooklin at?

        Brooklin, Maine is a small coastal town near Blue Hill.  It's the home of Wooden Boat Magazine, E.B. White, boat builders and artists.  My boyfriend is currently living at his family's home there to work at the Brooklin Boat Yard.  It is a gorgeous little town that I have pretty much fallen in love with.  

         I went and visited this past, beautiful weekend. Once the fog lifted on Saturday, it was perfect coastal weather.  It was hot, but there was a cool sea breeze that kept you from noticing.  Thanks to the combination of a storybook town and an amazing boyfriend, I was spoiled with another amazing weekend.

Driveway at High Head

A boat that Matt is helping to get summer-ready

View from the launch at Wooden Boat

My most favorite driveway in history

A view from the top of a hill

Caterpillar Hill in (I believe) Brooksville, ME

Matt and Me

The Cockatoo Portuguese Restaurant

Best mussels I've ever had!

Deer Isle Bridge

Me after I found a shrink gun

        I got out to Brooklin later than I anticipated on Friday.  It was a rainy night, so we didn't do anything except eat delicious food (thanks to Matt's mom) and watch the Devils make it to the Stanley Cup.  It's a good thing we rested up that night, because Saturday was packed full of things to do.
        On Saturday, we must have biked around Brooklin for nearly four hours.  The weather started out alright and got better and better as our ride went on.  We went all over the place and stopped at some beautiful places.  First, we went down to the Brooklin Boat Yard so that Matt could show me where he works.  I can tell her loves it there.
        Next, we biked to an awesome little place called The Cave.  There, we enjoyed  macchiatos whipped up by a barista named David.  He roasts his own coffee which he calls Bucklyn Coffee. He was very humble and kind and his macchiatos provided some delicious fuel for our bike ride.
        After that, we biked to a dozen other place. We saw Wooden Boat, the yacht club, some cool little un-named places, the cemetery and a wicked cool farm.  All we're enjoyable, but nothing compares to my favorite part of the bike ride.
        There is a private driveway in Brooklin that I had been dying to see the other end of.  It is a well maintained, dirt driveway that has a bunch of old trees lining it on both sides.  There's always the perfect amount of sunlight peaking in, and the lawns on either side are always lush and green.  It is simply beautiful.
         Well, I don't really condone trespassing, but sometimes you've just got to do what you've got to do.  While biking by, we noticed that the gate was up... We took that as a sign that no one was there and that if we were discreet, we could just take a peak at what the end of the driveway looked like.  So, we biked around the gate and headed down the long, fairy tale looking driveway.  It was gorgeous.  There was a huge, stone covered water tower in a clearing on the property.  It looked like a tower that was taken off of a mid-evil, Irish castle.  At the end of the driveway, I saw what I expected; huge houses (not just one) on a hill with a view of the ocean.  I'm just glad that I was finally able to satisfy my curiosity.
     
        That night, we headed out early for our dinner reservation at The Cockatoo Portuguese Restaurant.  On our way, we stopped in what I am pretty sure was Brooksville, at a lookout spot called Caterpillar Hill.  There, we had a gorgeous view of the hills and ocean.  Then, we jumped back in the good 'ol Volvo and headed to Deer Isle for The Cockatoo.
       After driving on a couple of dirt roads, we finally came to a clearing and saw the restaurant.  It is a cute, lodge-like building with an incredible view. It was the day after their season opening, and besides us, there were only two other tables in the restaurant.  It was a comfortable environment and the whole staff was wicked friendly.  We think the maitre 'd might have been a retired, James Bond-esq spy. He was cool.
       There wasn't anything there that wasn't extraordinary. We shared the most delicious fried calamari I have ever had.  It was garnished with banana peppers and rather than marinara, it was over a runnier sauce that had a sweet, slightly spicy kick to it.  I loved it.
        I ordered mussels, my favorite dish anywhere.  They were hands down the best mussels I have ever had. They were fresh and oh so delicious.  They didn't need any extra flavoring except for the perfect amount of garlic they were cooked with.  Every time someone came over to ask us how everything was going we had to be sure to keep from geeking out at how much we were obsessing over the food.  "Everything is really good," was repeated over and over again.  I didn't think it was appropriate to tell everyone there that I was having a foodgasm with every bite.
       After dinner we forced ourselves to share a piece of chocolate cake.  I'm glad we did, because it was incredible.  Then, we hopped back in the car and enjoyed the beautiful sunset on our drive back.  I don't know why I have been getting so spoiled with luxurious weekends of relaxing and eating (first Portland, now Brooklin!), but I sure could get used to it.

        Until next time my little ocean creatures.

Tuesday Tunage: Andrew Bird

         Every few months I get re-obsessed with Andrew Bird.  I always like him, but I will excessively listen to him for weeks at a time.  I am back on my kick, clearly.  Currently, I am loving Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire.  Here, I have posted his song "Fake Palindromes".  It is the first song I ever heard by Andrew Bird, and it has remained one of my favorites.
        On a side note, if you are ever having trouble focusing when you are trying to study, I highly recommend listening to Andrew Bird's album, Useless Creatures.  It is hands down one of my favorite albums.  The instrumental songs get you completely lost in anything that you are doing.  I wouldn't skip around the CD because the songs work together in order to make it feel like you are running through a field on a sunny day.  That probably makes it sound like I am stoned out of my mind when I listen to it, but I kid you not; you will feel so relaxed and productive.  I'm sorry to gush over it, but it really is the greatest.  It's summer now, but give it a try once next semester starts back up.  Here is a little preview:

        "Hot Math" is the second to last song on the album.  Plus, the cover art is adorable and fantastic and makes me love it even more! Listen to Andrew Bird! You will love him!

        Okay, sorry about that. I am done ranting now.  Until next time you little creatures!