Overrated New Year EP

The Overrated New Year EP is shiny and decorated with the fanciest Target stickers I could find! Four tracks encased in kitty glitter goodness are available for a limited time. $5 gets you the tracks:

1. Overrated New Year

2. Angels We Have Heard on High (I pulled out the rusty ol' violin skillz on this track)

3. We Three Kings

4. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

Message me at sarah(AT)sarahdonner.com if you'd like to paypal me your smackers. Mr. Postman would be happy to bring you my tidings of good cheer. Otherwise come to a show this month and get it yourself baby! www.sarahdonner.com for listings.

Happy Christmas and Hanukah to you! May 2010 bring more of what you love the most.

Marmellow Fights and Taxidermied Penguin

I enjoyed a cultural tradition on July 4th at Ocean Beach in San Diego. After the fireworks are over, hundreds of kids poised with their bags of confectionery goodness take ruthless aim and pelt each other for about 10 minutes. It can even be a little dangerous when the marshmellows fly through bonfires and hit targets on the other side. I engaged in the pelting myself, and it was good times. Let's not worry about cleanup and bring this tradition back to the east coast!

The show at Lestat's was the best. Dave Booda is one of the most entertaining songwriters I've ever seen- a real showman. Impressions, costumes, and Kermit the Frog- an impressive Kermit the Frog at that. Lou is a great soundman, and his shy dog Toby roams the venue all night long.
I hope to return as soon.

We went to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla, but I must admit it was not as impressive as some other spots. A taxidermied penguin doth not a penguin exhibit make. This tour has made me an aquatic snob. However, San Diego redeemed itself when I found a seal sanctuary, baby seagulls, beach squirrels, and crab tide pools all right there on the beach. And bonus, the beach is free!

Now it's onto St. Louis for a show at Cranky Yellow on Friday night. Pictured above is Utah and kids being kids.

PT 3 Acrocats of Chicago!

So I think one of my first posts on this blog had this same chicken. Similar pose.

Anyways, it is well worth your $12 to see the Acrocats. Who doesn't want to see a gopher with a cowboy hat on driving a truck or raising a flag? How can you resist three cats in a band? THUMBS? Who needs thumbs? I finally know how the best hoop for cats to jump through too. I was on the lookout for Puma Bean's next trick. The embroidery hoop is the way to go apparently. I'm not sure how well it would take to flame though...

I love me some Chicago though. It's a fine city, probably because I'm only here when it's above 70 degrees. We had some fine beer at The Map Room. I recommend the St. Bernardhaus, a dark sweet belgian. Rain sort of sped up our little picnic in Grant Park, but it was lovely to be outside and enjoying some fine cheese and gluten free crackers.

Oh and the show at Reggie's Music Joint was lovely. The bill was a little odd having me be the 'easy listening' act to open up for rock/metal bands Curbside Beauty and Munger. You still can't beat the supportive crowds though or $5 all you can eat sloppy joe's.

To Madison, WI we go...

Blacklit kittens and a Safeplace

So Chattanooga Aquarium is top notch. I especially loved the banjo player who sang mountain songs inside the Tennessee River exhibit. That must be a sweet gig. Sing songs, watch fish, watch the crazies, and get paid! The Butterfly Garden was gorgeous and slightly magical; I couldn't help but feel like Snow White or something with all these fluttering animals uninhibited and free... well you know sorta free. The touch tank offered sting rays swimming in circles- only touch with two fingers though. This way they don't get stressed out. I stood in line to touch the shark, but the stupid 5 year olds kept cutting! I was aggravated and wanted to push them out of the way, but Michael made me suck it up and move on. I'm also still angry at the toddler who got in front of me in the 'See Like a Seahorse' line.

Rock City (www.seerockcity.com) is a spectacle to behold and well worth your $18. Rock City is this um, 'city' of rocks on top of Lookout Mountain in Knoxville. It's like a fairyland of paths and bridges and flora and fauna in and about giant rock formations. The SPECTACLE comes when you enter Fairyland Cavern- a cave of blacklight dreams. In the 1940s I suppose it was schmancy new technology, and people would pay to walk through and see dozens of fairy tale dioramas. The climax is the giant diorama of every mother goose rhyme you can remember complete with castles and running water, which you can walk around, 'ooo', and 'ahh'!

Finally, I played a sweet show at WDVX's Blue Plate Special. I wish we had one of these in our town. Every weekday there's a lunchtime live show in a coffeeshop/vistor's center which airs on the radio. The locals all congregate and eat their lunch while listening. The bill was split between me and The Honeydew Drops, a sweet bluegrassy couple on tour and recently featured on Praire Home Companion.

Now's it's off to Lexington KY and then Chicago for the weekend.

Honeymoon Tour Pt. 1 'Pittsburgh & One Armed Monkeys'

So despite what you may think about Pittsburgh, I say you can get a lot of bang for your $12 if you head to the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, especially if it's on the day when the Renaissance Faire comes to market their festival. Have you ever seen ancient sword combat and deep sea bass side by side?

The posted signs offer a fun education when all the wild cats are napping and offering no entertainment for the passersby. The highlight of the day had to be One Arm the one armed monkey. The need to hire some more creative staff when it comes to the naming of these guys.
We also saw homosexual giraffes, which the zoo keeper said was no surprise since they were from LA.

If you love religion and beer you'll want to check out the Church Brew Works. www.churchbrewworks.com It's a tasty refreshing treat after you've sweated dodging the swarms
of children. It was a little bizarre seeing a house of God with fermenters and griste mills at the altar, but all is forgiven when you try the sauted pierogies.

And today it's off to Chattanooga for the next leg of Sarah & Michael's Aquatic Rockstar Tour. Thanks dad for that charming acronym.

PS. Just saw a billboard that said 'Become an organ donor. Give Jesus Your Heart.'

Honeymoon Aquarium National Tour!

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It's been some time since previous posts, but it was well deserved I think. With my wonderful wedding over, now a national tour is kicking off. Stops include Boston, Knoxville, Lexington KY, Chicago, Madison WI, San Diego, and St. Louis. It's fish by day, rock by night. If anybody knows aquariums that do rock shows, please share. I'd love to open for fish. wow. If you are in any of those areas, please come out and support my gas tank! www.sarahdonner.com for exact dates and locations.

We got Wii fit for a wedding gift, and I broke that puppy out today. My Wii age is 24, but I know come back from my slovenly tour ways there will be work to do. Roy Rogers can really break a girl, ya know? There are still many cahoots about which routes to take, air mattress or motel, and how many bags of Twizzlers does one need. Saturday it's off to Pittsburgh for leg one of the journey. Be back soon with good stories and pictures!

The photos above are by Justin Mifkovich. You can check out more of his stuff at www.flickr.com/jmifkovich. The man rocks it with his camera and all the gadgets that go with it.

Roll Over and Shine

Well Puma Bean is now working on 'roll over'. He's already been to Princeton University so that's no surprise. Granted he hid in the filing cabinet the whole day, but still he's pretty smart.
I'm not like Angela in The Office. We wanted to see if he'd be into catching a mouse that was lurking in our workspace. Really.

This rainy month of May is a very slippery slope into the madness of June. Kerrville Folk Fest is May 23rd, Club Passim is May 24th, and oh, there's this whole wedding in June. Until then I have some time off for cleaning, painting, shopping, working out, and praying. Sort of like the anti-vacation. I'm quite excited for it all, and naturally, being a girl, anxious, emotional, and completely red alert (for those of you who subscribe to the official colour coded Uptightness Alert System which happens to correspond to some terror alert thing the goverment instituted)
I'm pretty sure a sliver of sunshine would heal a lot of these worries, but there is none to be found.

Some uplifting things pictured here:
Hands by Rachel Donner (a piece from my sister's senior show at UMass Dartmouth)
Kitties by my crafty wonder Liz Hargreaves (she has an Etsy store called Martine Paper)
Punkass Hector by his mom

Soulja Boy, Knits, and Purls

I am proud to say Puma Bean has learned the commands 'sit' and 'give me your paw'. I was elated when my patience and hard work came to fruition. I also recognize the how insane I must appear so that is all I will say about cats in this post. If anyone is handy with Photoshop, I'd love to get this pic with the wire removed from in front of his face.

I've been working on some music with middle school students in a songwriting class. My tendencies towards bright clothes and pink hair has earned me the nickname Ms. Skittle. These inner city kids prefer the R&B, hip hop, and rap so there is a lot of learning to do on both ends.
I do struggle to find music that they will enjoy, but that is also edifying. There's only so many remixes of Soulja Boy Crank Dat you can analyze.

Above is a picture of my hat that I knitted over the winter. Thanks to Stacey Wong for teaching me to knit and purl. It's come in handy at boring shows and long car rides. I've gone a little overboard with the knitting and find myself the owner of large bags of yarn that I will probably never use. I have grand plans for a sweater someday, but until that I'll keep at the cathats and scarves.

"Get you to a gym" and Puma is spayed!

Monkey Organ 'arcade' game
dunkin and momo
Puma Bean got the ol' snip snip, and here is a poster from the wonderful establishment Animal Welfare Association. I thought it was a joke... I mean I say that all the time when I'm trying to find homes for my kittens. Apparently I need to start saying "get 2nd best friend" instead of just "2nd pooping furball". Puma recovered nicely with minimal grief and embarassment. Luckily he's black we never really could see his balls to begin with.

This weekend was a little adventure at the Milllenium Music Conference held in Harrisburg, PA.
Aside from the seminars and mentoring sessions, I met some wonderful new and old friends including Alex Voegele, The Thrives, Flatbed Ford, Mycenae Worley, and Joel Dobbins. And most important FINALLY I met a major label scout- and can I tell you what he said? "Maybe you could get yourself to the gym a couple times a week, start eatin' right. You should take a few voice lessons. They aren't that expensive, $20 or so." Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I think I am not the Rihanna he is looking for.

The highlight was Sunday morning, waking up cat-free! What a restful sleep one can have when you aren't being kneaded and nuzzled and prodded and jumped on. We went to The Sledworks, half antiques flea market, half retro antique arcade! Here you can revisit the past and play the Monkey Organ (pictured above) for only 5cents! You can see a real nickelodeon peep show!! Very racy. I also shot numerous mechanical squirrels with my hunting skillz.

Finally, I'm in the process of booking the coast to coast Aquarium Honeymoon Tour of Wonder. If you know a good aquarium or want a concert in your town, let me know!

Happy Year

Here are some cool pics to end 2008. Yoga kitty has found a good home with singer/songwriter Chuck Schaeffer. Thanks Chuck! The other pics are me at my Seedy Release and SANTA who CAME TO MY SEEDY RELEASE. Not too many artists get the big guy himself. Good thing I behaved that night.

I recently learned to knit from my friend, genius, and bass player Stacey Wong. She patiently waited and fixed my knits and purls and knots and messes. Someone will be getting an awesome lumpy orange hat very soon.

New Years Eve was brought in with Tetris, wine, and knitting. I finally beat the ball, and didn't rely on cable to bring in my 2009. In years past I'm usually doing an activity that has to be interrupted to watch ye old shiny ball, but this year we dove on in SANS BALL.

I already did Pilates so I'm on my way to fulfilling everyone else's resolutions. Mine is to deflea the cats once and for all. Very very bold and ambitious I know.

May your 2009 be full of who and what you love.