superhuman happiness

I haven't much felt like posting lately.  Stress baking, yes, but posting and reading 

and commenting blogs, no.

You see, there's some stuff my family is dealing with and as much as I'm trying not to let it, 

it's pretty much consuming my thoughts right now.

  (Apologies for the vague-ness.  I've always hated vague posts and swore I'd never write them, 

but the story isn't fully mine to share.)

Today I had to post.  

In the middle of all the craziness there is happiness - Superhuman Happiness.

My brother's band is in The Wall Street Journal.

via The Wall Street Journal

That's my brother, second from the left. The article is about one of his bands, Superhuman Happiness. Read it here.  

A few months ago, they were also featured on the homepage of Rolling Stone's website.  

My favorite part from The Wall Street Journal article: 

"When I started making demos, I played them for all the major producers. They all passed," he recalled. "They said: 'You need a front man with a charismatic voice.'" But the members of Superhuman Happiness were convinced they have something special as they are.

"It's wonderful to feel creative rewards for being patient," Mr. Bogie said. "When you mean what you play, you're sending something out to the universe."

I am so extremely proud of my brother.  There are not many people in this world who have the courage to do what they truly love.  He is so talented and so patient and so determined.  

A few weeks ago, this review was written about my brother:

"most guitarists plug into amplifiers. but after settling down at our table in the soft luminescence of club b10 at MASS MOCA, i slowly awakened to the reality that this electric guitar was plugged directly into the space-time continuum. had the concert begun already? were the gently swelling chords part of the show, or had they always been there from the beginning of time?

 

whatever their origin, these notes were not played; they were invoked. the soloist didn’t take the stage; he merely existed alongside the audience. he was a musician without ego, a sonic force without presence, a true rarity in the universe. i was experiencing the first stage of superhuman happiness; serenity." by christopher brownfield

In reference to this review, my brother said "finally someone who gets it". ;)

LMF

*check out more at http://www.ryanferreira.com/

Autumn in New York

We just barely made it back from New York last night.  Apparently JFK closed about an hour after we took off (which was 3 hours later than scheduled), due to the storm coming.  

The Giants won the "World" Series while we were in flight.  Big win for San Francisco {yay!} not so big win for those of us trying to sleep on the plane.

We had an amazing time.  I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. I'd never been to New York in October and it was the perfect autumn.  

{central park}

It was like something out of a movie scene.  The trees were filled with leaves of gorgeous fall colors that just showered down on us while we walked. 

New York is absolutely one of the best cities in the world.  I realize many people may have different opinions than than mine, but it's definitely one of my favorites.  

I love all the little neighborhoods and all the loads of people on the streets.  I love walking everywhere! Something that I definitely miss now that I've moved back to Northern California.

We stayed with friends in Williamsburg and took the ferry into the city, which made for a great view of the city.

  

We visited the Met {my first time!} and strolled around central park; saw my brother perform in a club in Williamsburg {amazing!} and then pretty much just hung out shopping and eating in the city with friends and family.  My perfect kind of weekend!

 

{interesting art}

As always, we had some amazing food in the city.  I'll post this week with some of my favorites.

Stay safe East Coasters!

LMF

New York

We're headed to New York tonight on the red-eye. 

Visiting some really good friends and hopefully seeing my brother play one night.

I don't think I've been shy about my love for the airport, but there's something even more exciting for me when the plane's headed to NYC. 

It's one of my favorite cities in the world.  And I feel very spoiled getting to see these friends twice in one month!  

She's the kind of friend that no matter how long we go without talking we pick right back up where we left off.  There never seems enough time during our visits to say everything that needs to be said.  I hope everyone is lucky enough to have a friend like that.

Aside from the guys playing golf a few times, our long weekend is completely open - my favorite kind of vacation!

We'll definitely spend one afternoon in central park.

And I'm hoping one day will be a bit grey out so that we can head to the Guggenheim or the MOMA.  It's so hard to spend a sunny day in a museum and even after all my trips to New York, I've never been to either.

In so many of my favorite cities I have a favorite food I have to get.  

In New York it's the black and white cookie.

"The key to eating a black and white cookie, Elaine, is you want to get some black and some white in each bite. Nothing mixes better than vanilla and chocolate. And yet, still, somehow racial harmony eludes us. If people would only look to the cookie. All our problems would be solved." ~Jerry

Amen Jerry!

What are some of your favorite shops / restaurants / sites in New York?

I'm always looking for new places to try!

Have a fabulous week and weekend!

LMF

NYC Subway Station - dekalb {Music Giveaway}

This a photo of my brother standing next to a photo of himself in a New York subway station.  

He was walking through the subway station and glanced over and saw a photo of himself on the wall.  Shocking, right?!

Apparently a photographer took a photo of him while on the train a while back and his work is being featured in the station.  There's no way to really tell when the photo was taken since he frequently wears a black tee-shirt with black pants, as you can see.

My brother is an amazing musician in New York.  Check out his websites here and here.  He plays the guitar and the piano but he can pretty much pick up any stringed instrument and play it.  He's really quite extraordinary.  

{Actually what's really extraordinary is how he completely took all the artistic genes and I got all the analytical ones. lol}

My brother's offering free music downloads to anyone who shares the photo on facebook or takes a picture with it in the subway station and posts it.  See more details here.  Click here to for some of his work.

LMF

**Please excuse this shameless plug of my brother, but he's amazing and I love him and he doesn't know I'm posting this.  I think it would be kind of cool to surprise him with a whole bunch of facebook "sharing" from some cute blogging ladies {I'm assuming most readers are women - sorry guys, if you're out there! - I'm sure he'd love your fb shares too!}