the good, the bad, and the music

I came home from vacation excited to sort through and edit the thousands of photos and videos I took...after every vacation I have the best intentions of organizing/sharing/printing my pics and creating a photo book...and after every vacation I get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of photos and never finish any of my projects.

I have a good excuse this time.

I was busy working away on making a vacation video when I got an e-mail with some very unexpected and very good news.

Funnelcloud Studio has been invited to participate in Art Market 316 - an indie art market at The Soundry in Vienna, Virginia! I was contacted by the curator of The Soundry, I filled out an application, and was accepted as a vendor!

Holy crap! Selling my art at an art market is something I've always wanted to do - but I thought I would have a little more than ten days to prepare! So I'm frantically trying to create some more art pieces, beef up my inventory, and create some marketing materials like business cards - things that I just hadn't gotten around to yet since my shop is still in its infancy! Now I've got to do it all under pressure - nothing like a tight deadline to force me to get things done!

Anyway, regardless of whether you're a blog reader or a friend, I hope you'll come out to Art Market 316 on Saturday, September 25. It's from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm and is supposed to be located near the Vienna Farmers' Market - so you can pick up some late summer farmers' market treats and then check out the art! I have no idea what to expect, but please stop by my table and say hi - this is my first art market and I need all the encouragement I can get - plus I'd love to meet you!

That was the good news. The bad news is that my credit card number was stolen and some a-hole went on a shopping spree in New York City courtesy of me last week. And I have carpal tunnel in my left hand. The credit card has been cancelled and my wrist is in a brace, but it's rather hard to buy supplies and create new art with no access to my money and only one arm!

Since I'll be busy over the next week preparing for the art market, and since I probably should lay off the typing over the next few weeks, I thought I'd make up for the lack of writing by sharing some music. Larry introduced me to a series called Undercover on the AV Club website - 25 bands covered 25 different songs and the videos were posted once a week starting in March. I've become obsessed with watching the videos - here are my favorites:

Fruit Bats cover Hall and Oates "One on One"
I didn't think greasy musicians were my type, but I'm totally obsessed with Eric D. Johnson (he's also the guitarist for The Shins). Just listen to him sing:

Fruit Bats cover Hall & Oates

Ted Leo and The Pharmacists cover Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
Love this guy, too, and who doesn't love this song?

Ted Leo And The Pharmacists cover Tears For Fears

The Clientele covers M.I.A. "Paper Planes"
Love the fiddles and the accents!

The Clientele covers M.I.A.