Thanks – “to express gratitude, appreciation or acknowledgment.” Giving – “to present voluntarily and without expectation of compensation.” Put these two words together and you get a holiday that affords the perfect opportunity to reflect on the good things, large and small, that make life worth living — something I try to do every day of the year. I’m not a religious man, and I’m not exactly sure what God it is that I pray to when I do pray, but I usually start my day something like this … [...]

I would drink (the) Umbrella Cult’s kool-aid — by the gallon. This genre-defying outfit became a steadfast darling of the music scene seemingly overnight (which, in music scene years, equals about four months). Their secret? My best guess is: Make a band, lock yourself in a house, drink firewater, write songs and don’t come out until you’re damn well good and ready. I’ve had the stompin’ opening hook to their song “Blue and Green” stuck in my head all morning, but that does y’all no good if you can’t hear [...]

Ah, the music video — that coveted hallmark of legitimacy within the music biz. Hats off to The Wallies for last week’s debut of “What I Like About You Is You’re Rock Bottom.” I do not deign (or should I say, I do not qualify) to comment on the video itself, but as for the song — me likey. It’s hard to choose a favorite from The Wallies’ usual set list, because each one sounds like a slightly shaken (not stirred)-up version of the last. I don’t think it’s necessarily [...]

I know what some of you are thinking. Oh, great. Another amateur writer thinks her music taste is totally the greatest and feels compelled to enlighten the rest of us culturally-starved chumps. I also thought the last thing Sarasotans needed was another “Song of the Week” column. Then I asked the almighty Facebook what it thought, and it turns out you guys actually want this crap. (You also want more band photos, but I am even worse at photography than I am at thought-vomitus, so that’s that.) There’s one thing I [...]

My entire closet consists of items that make me happy. They look good on my body, express my own sense of style and feel outrageously comfortable. Now it strikes me as odd that I couldn’t have said that two days ago. What was wrong with you, silly? my renewed self-image blusters. Well, that’s simple, says the old me from her retirement home, I hadn’t been to a clothing swap before. Now quit talking to yourself and tell the nice people what we did on Tuesday. I had the great fortune [...]

Kirsten and Blonde Out of Water drop in at MarkAngel Salon to show a peek of the royal treatment they received there on Valentine’s Day, then Kirsten shows us the sights and sounds of Saturday’s show at the Cock & Bull Pub with Room Full of Strangers, Villanova Junction, Physical Plant and Buffalo Wizards. Finally she takes us to a lush luau at Blue Que Island Grill. Where will she go next? Check in Friday to find out.