Grey Moggie Press

Music and laughter

I've lived in the greater DC area for over 6 years now. In that time I've been lucky to develop the kinds of friendships that make being far from family tolerable.  The hardest part about DC, however, is that very few people stay here forever. I could not be more grateful for the relationships I've built here; at the same time, I am sad about all the wonderful people I've met and loved who inevitably, when the time was right, found another city, coast, or continent to call home. When I have to say goodbye to friends I alway wish, perhaps selfishly, not that I'll find something or someone to replace them, but that I will always remember the joy in the city I still call home. This bon voyage card captures my hope that I will always hold on to the music and the laughter that make life feel like home, and that my friends will find the same music and laughter wherever they go.

I've put a few in the shop.

One Liners

I've talked about it before. Here are the pages from my mini-book, One Liners. It's where I keep lines from songs that I hear and love. 

1. The "One Liners" cover
2. "serve me the sky with a big slice of lemon" the geese of beverly road, the national
3. "let's trade this tired home for all it's weight in paper...revolutionary minds never know to draw the line" running out, mates of state
4. "you are my sweetest downfall" samson, regina spektor
5. "maybe i would have been something you'd be good at" call it off, tegan & sara
6. "the butterflies are passive aggressive and put their problems on the shelf but they're beautiful" in other words, ben kweller

December book pages

Finally. Photos of the pages from my December book. Interspersed with some of my current favorite things.

Arrested Development, the movie? It might actually happen!

Mark your calendars. A craft fair at Rock and Roll Hotel. If you're crafty and want a table, they might still be available.

Deb from Smitten Kitchen shares her tips for cooking large in a space that's small.

Tell a Lie: Cool photos from an artist who "decided to flip this lie on its head and use a camera to mimic common Photoshop effects." Very neat.

Handmade Hellos: what Grey Moggie (the blogger, not the feline) wants for Christmas.

Cast your vote again! This time for your favorite Etsy holiday greeting card.

I've been listening to a lot of Girl Talk lately. Name your own price and download his latest "album" here.

Awesome tunes will help you through it

Mr. Moggie and I had a spectacular summer! We got to visit NYC (our favorite place) three times. Two close friends had incredible weddings in beautiful Vermont. I got to show Mr. Moggie around another of my favorite cities: Burlington. Then we spent a weekend in Chicago for my first time in the Windy City. I spent several fun days with girlfriends in Baltimore, DC, and New York. We got back to our favorite lobster shack and spent some time with my family in Maine and Mr. Moggie's family in Virginia Beach. We celebrated wedding anniversary number two. I learned how to use the letterpress. I had a summer job I liked.

And then, all of a sudden, I was back in school. I had to leave the job because there was no time left for it. And we had to devise the New! Improved! Tighter! budget to make up for all the summer fun. At least I never got around to getting sun-kissed during the summer months, so I don't have mourn the fading tan. One thing that I can hold on to from the summer, however, is all the great music I played, downloaded (legally), danced to, and shared.

And I'm still sharing it. A couple weeks ago, I made several copies of this year's Fall in DC mix.* It is alternately titled: Summer's Over and I have to go Back to School, but it's ok because I have these Awesome Tunes. I think it might be my favorite ever mix cd. My friend, Catherine, the original recipient of Fall in DC (back in 2002) convinced the staff at her climbing gym to play the mix for everyone to hear during their Saturday night climb. The cover art is a collage I made using tidbits (still can't bring myself to say "ephemera") from the summer's adventures. I made a color copy of the 8'' x 8" collage, shrinking it down to cd case size using my awesome new printer (thanks DailyCandy!).

If you need to find me anytime between now and the end of July, I'll be in a coffee shop or the library, reading casebooks and studying for the bar, with my headphones securely in place, tapping my foot to Fall in DC 2008.

* Each September since 2002, I've been gathering up my best music finds from the previous few months, and compiling them in a mix called Fall in DC [year]. I started off sharing this annual mix with my friend, Catherine, every year and it's been a great way of keeping in touch with her as she bounces around the globe. This year I expanded the reach and shared it with a few more friends. If you use iTunes and want your own copy, most of the songs are available here. Or find them elsewhere...the playlist is below:

Death to Los Campesinos!.....Los Campesinos!
Keep Your Head...The Ting Tings
School Uniforms...The Wombats
Love Always Remains...MGMT
For the Actor...Mates of State
My Revenge...Julie Ocean
Shake It...Metro Station
Spinning Compass...Longhorne Slim
After Hours...We Are Scientists
Parentheses...The Blow
Don't Know Why (You Stay)...The Essex Green
Lady Lawyers...Oxford Collapse
You, Me and the Bourgeoisie...The Submarines
Ca Plane pour Moi...Plastic Bertrand
Hit the Heartbrakes...Black Kids
Paper Planes...M.I.A.
Lines to Follow...Secret Pop
Tales of Girls, Boys and Marsupials...The Wombats

6 of one; a 1/2 dozen of the other

It's that time again...I'm making another mix cd! This time the mix is called Six of One, A Half Dozen of the Other. I used 12 little punched out eggs and pasted them onto dark blue cardstock. Mr. Moggie thinks the gift tag in the corner looks like a tombstone, but you can tell that its a gift tag, right? Maybe it's because of the way the text is placed...he may have a point.

The playlist includes songs that have the same or similar names, but are not the same song. For example, Bloc Party and The Essex Green both have excellent songs titled Uniform.  Making this mix involved some interesting leaps backwards into my music collection as it features U2 and Howie Day. Bono and Howie were staples in my headphones 6 or 7 years ago, but they hardly get any play on my iTunes now. And I also had to do some creative interpretation of a few song titles. I think Vampire Weekend's Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa is close enough to Hallelujah the Hills' Wave Backwards to Massachusetts. You're all with me, right?

Here's the Playlist...
Six of One; A Half Dozen of the Other
1. The Comeback...Shout Out Louds
2. The Comeback...Stars
3. Cigarettes, Wedding Bands...Band of Horses
4. Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk...Rufus Wainwright
5. Hold On, Hold On...Neko Case
6. Hold On to Yourself...Nick Cave
7. Ghost...Howie Day
8. Ghost...Neutral Milk Hotel
9. Miracle Drug...U2
10. Miracle Drug...AC Newman
11. Wave Backwards to Massachusetts...Hallelujah the Hills
12. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa...Vampire Weekend
13. Uniform...Bloc Party
14. Uniform...The Essex Green
15. Soil, Soil...Tegan and Sara
16. Dirty Eyes...The Raveonettes

CD Liner: St. Louis Family Reunion

I just finished designing another CD liner! This one was so fun to do. A friend of mine is attending a weekend getaway with her brothers and all of their cousins. They have decided that they will all make a mix CD for everyone and I was honored when she asked if I could design the liner for her mix.  Here it is:

For my funny Valentines

When I make a mix CD, I like to make a pretty liner.  Here is my latest, For My Funny Valentines: I used some paper left over from the scrapbook I made for my husband--anything that had pink or red in it--to make those cutout hearts. Then I slapped on a kraft paper label and stamped some hearts in red ink.

For My Funny Valentines, Winter 2008
1. Time Left for Love, Shout Out Louds
2. A Sunday Kind of Love, Etta James
3. I'm Sticking With You, The Velvet Underground
4. O Valencia!, The Decemberists
5. God Only Knows, The Beach Boys
6. Sunday, Bloc Party
7. To Be Alone With You, Sufjan Stevens
8. This Year (If We Fall in Love), Test Your Reflex
9. Gospel, The National
10. I'm Into Something Good, Herman's Hermits
11. Baby On My Arm, The Broken West
12. It Must Be Love, Madness
13. On Peak Hill, Stars
14. I Was Married, Tegan and Sara
15. Here, There, and Everywhere, The Beatles
16. Still in Love, The Stills
17. Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games, Of Montreal
18. Anyone Else But You, Michael Cera & Ellen Page

Making a mix CD for someone special? Need a flashy liner? Email me about creating one for you.