alisamlibby

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nothing is safer than the sound of you reading out loud to me

-the perfect date

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I love that we are all still Harry Potter - ing. It's not a fad but a way of life.

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New year, new planner. New books to read and coffee to drink.

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I used to read when I could find nothing else to do

Now I pretend I have nothing else to do so I can read.

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period moodboards: Medieval Period (requested by @lyannawinterfell)

svmer is icumen in lhude sing cuccu groweþ sed and bloweþ med and springþ þe wde nu

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This isn't me but it is accurate down to the Hoodie and Jammie pants.

This is me doing what I do …. “best”. It is not pretty. 😃😭🍷👍

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Need book recs - help me booklrs!

Recommend books about secret societies, sororities with dark hidden agenda or a town with secrets...

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With this spellbinding project, insanely talented artist @littlechmura​ wanted to create a self-contained moment for each of these beloved Harry Potter characters—a single scene that gives a glimpse into their own magical worlds. She’s calling the series “One Breath Each”, and we’re calling it GORGEOUS AF.

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Dear Amanda and Brian

Amanda, you are amazing and talented and gorgeous and all of the things that approximately 200 people had already told you that night. I was tired and you were more tired and I am a Mom and felt bad keeping another Mom away from her rest. I didn't have the time or mental capacity to say all that I wanted to say. I gave you postcards and told you that my current novel-in-progress was “fueled by your music.” You asked me a question right when I was blurting out “clockwork ballerinas!” And I said, “what?” And you asked me again and it was loud and I think you asked me if my books were fiction and I said yes, Young Adult fiction. And then we took a picture and said goodbye.

Here is what I wanted to tell you both:

When I was suffering clinical depression and anxiety, your music woke me up to life in a way that few things could. Your music moved through my bones and blood. I remember the first time I listened to your songs at full volume on my stereo at home, and how it changed me. I took long walks through the cemetery every day after work, listening to your music and sometimes singing along with you, aloud, to the stones. And I remember crying once, because it made me feel like something inside of me was waking up and realizing that I was living within a permanent fog. And part of me—full of rage and fear—was trying to tear through it.

When I suffered writer's block during my depression, I turned to your music as an outlet, a release of pent up creative energy. And somewhere in that deranged music box of your albums I found the perfect songs for my emotional state. And in that jagged beauty I found inspiration. And clockwork ballerinas.

Even on the other side of depression, your songs offered comfort and escape. When I was pregnant, I listened to your albums (along with David Bowie), during my daily commute, with eyes closed and in a meditative state, to calm the all-day nausea that I suffered for nearly my entire pregnancy.

Amanda, I’ve heard you talk about the challenge of being an artist and a mother. I feel this keenly. I have had people assume that I would take a break, or not write anymore, now that I have a child. And though time is tight and I feel guilty choosing to take time away from her in order to create, I also want to show her that this is how you pursue something that you love.

My daughter is not yet three years old, dances with me to Bowie but “loves Everly Brothers” (a quote). When I saw her play her miniature piano and bang on a tub with a drumstick at the same time, I saw an opportunity. I played her your music, and she has since requested it as “Piano and Drums.” I want to teach her to be fearless in whatever she does, be it music, art, science, clown college—anything. Find your passion and do it with passion. Pour yourself into it. Don't be afraid to reinvent yourself. I am still learning these things. I hope that if I instill this in her early, she may have an easier time trusting her creative gut. Also, we both dance to your music like maniacs, and giggle, and it feels wonderful.

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That Moment

During “Sex Changes,” when I realized that I was singing along with Amanda Palmer to these songs that I've been singing to myself for years, and that FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE WERE SINGING EVERY SINGLE WORD ALONG WITH ME. The entire crowd. Every song—even the crazy fast ones. We had studied these lyrics, we were scholars. I wasn't the only one—I was part of the tribe.

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Let’s Talk About Brian Viglione

Because he is amazing.

Black jacket, short pants, bowler hat, and the famously painted face: mime-white, a black tear dripping from one eye. They launched into “Good Day,” and he lorded over the drum kit with mastery, energy, and some measure of theatrics. He really is a mime—the expressions he makes while drumming are intense, morphing from one emotion to the next, all of them seeming fresh and surprising, even to him. The paint wore off as the show wore on, and Brian transformed from drumming-mime-demon to kick ass Rock star: shirtless, with the bowler hat and dark smudged eyes, playing guitar and belting out “Fight for Your Right to Party.” Magical. 

Add to this that I just want to support Brian in all that he does because he is THE SWEETEST PERSON ON THIS EARTH. Seriously. He must have been tired and hungry at the after party, but still made a mime-based joke about his own hunger, counting down five seconds so that he could take a single bite of pizza before waving the next fans forward. He thanked me for coming to the show as if I had done him a personal favor.

Brian has another band, Scarlet Sails, with his gorgeous and talented wife, Olya (who looks like a supermodel/fairy tale princess, and the dress she wore at the show was ga-ga-gorgeous). Olya has a smokey, crooney voice that I am eager to hear more of—I think they could create something really special.

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I saw the Dresden Dolls

I was the girl in the front row wearing the David Bowie LOW t-shirt. Right across from Brian's drum kit. I saw every expression he made (it was riveting). I had glitter sprinkled on me by a beautiful painted woman. Yes, FRONT ROW - and a ticket to the VIP after party.

I had jumped on to The Dresden Dolls fan wagon very late (thanks to recommendations on Pandora.com a few years ago). I don't know how I missed it the first time around – I wasn't well-informed music-wise, or any-wise. I fell in love with them just as they were taking their hiatus, and I could only hope and pray that they would tour again someday.  

I bought my ticket the second it was available. This was not a time for haggling, for weighing my options. Best available, one please. I was going to this show.