Yep. Right. Uh Huh. Uh Huh Her.

Alright, so I know that Leisha Hailey is really known for her role as Alice Pieszecki in the L-Word…

…but Jesus Christ she is an amazing musician. Tonight, I saw Leisha play with her band, Uh Huh Her at Walter’s on Washington. The floor was packed, parking was terrible, and the line out the door took half an hour. All proved to be worth it.

Leisha actually was a founding member of The Murmurs (check out this awesome video of her with pink hair)… which had a large cult following in the 90’s. The Murmurs put out a few of their own albums but can also be found on the sound tracks to the movie All Over Me and L tunes (the L Word soundtrack).

The whole band was excited to be playing together! Although the vocals were difficult to decipher, the sound of the band is fresh, upbeat, and rockin. The drummer was even bouncing with excitement. They were all genuinely happy to receive applause… rather than the average jaded rockstar. And, you guys know that Leisha isn’t touring for the money… this band really is playing for the sake of the music.

My only complaints about the show:

• Lesbian fans screeming Leisha’s character name, “Alice.”
• Uh Huh Her only signing purchased merchandise (to keep all the L Word freaks out)
• Rude thick armed women pushing me out of my spot in line (all I wanted was a photo for my site!)

Check out Uh Huh Her @ http://www.uhhuhher.com

Diedrich’in a Cup O’ Coffee

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz likes to tell his new trainees about the concept of a “third place.” Generally speaking, the first place is home, the second place is work, and the all powerful THIRD place is where we actually want to be. You know… that other place you can find me.

Diedrich’s is my third place.

Of course, since the Westheimer location closed, I rarely do more than drop in for a double espresso over ice… but here it is folks… the best coffee in town.
Yeah, so it is small, a little dirty, and if you want WiFi you have to try to steal it from another local business…
but all of that is a small price to pay for the killer blends of beans served by Diedrich.

But, speaking of Howard, guess who owns Diedrich’s as of last year? That’s right. Our favorite Seattle based company.

Don’t let it differ you too much though, Diedrich proper was bought out by Starbucks last year… but our local version is a franchise. The owner of the local franchise pays a small percentage to Starbucks in order to use the name. All of the Diedrichs in California (the only other state it existed in) were remodeled into generica purple chair venti two spenda stores… but ours remains. We are lucky.

Plus, Diedrich still exists as a roasting company.
If you don’t want your money going to Howard, buy beans online!

Watch out Rice University… a new branch will be hitting you in the next month!

Inversion Coffee and the Coffee Shop Conspiracy

Below is an extremely biased review of Inversion Coffee,

1953 Montrose Blvd
Houston, TX 77006
(713) 523-4866

Listen,
I think it is important for the public to understand the reality of this “independent” coffee shop.
I loved Inversion. Since its opening, I have often ventured into their gallery atmosphere to study, read, and drink killer Katz’s coffee. The atmosphere was exciting and playful with a Cheers type we know your name quality. I mean, they have free WiFi! That in itself is amazing and hard to come by. The staff always seemed hip, young, and knowledgeable with an Onion Creek/ Spider house type flair.
However,
The thing about Inversion is, it is modeled after Starbucks. The guys that founded this place came over from S-bucks… and were encouraged to use their Howard Schultz bred training to create a setup/business model of the same caliber.
I mean, people come to indie coffee shops to get away from the corporate conglomerate. Now that Diedrich’s is owned by our favorite Seattle based enterprise, where’s a kid supposed to go for a good cup of anti-globalization?
Not Inversion.
These guys (the owners… not management…) know nothing about and have no passion for coffee as coffee. Coffee is merely a commodity to them. As are the employees. Staff is treated as expendable.
One early morning in April, the owners came in and fired the completely qualified manager in the middle of a busy shift. This manager was NOT let-go because of inadequacies in managerial duties. Her fault was in standing up for the employees.
The “partners” who own Inversion let loyal workers go for frivolous mistakes. The store is not generating profit fast enough for them, so the obvious solution is to cut the hours of the already understaffed store.
And this, my friends is why this week when you walk into Inversion Coffee, you will see an all new staff. Your favorite coffee rebels have left the building, and left the partners to figure out how to make the first lattes of their lives.
Perhaps these capitalists have learned their lesson. Perhaps they will respect their new employees. Perhaps after being temporarily forced into the blue collar eight hour shifts of a barista for a few days these white collars now understand the value of a happy staff.
Perhaps. Maybe.
But as for me, I’m a barista. I don’t make enough money to put it in the pockets of guys like that.

The Blogsites are Killing Me.

The contacts dried to my eyes hours ago. Two blue irises surrounded by screenburned pink stare at this glowing idiot box hot with use.

However, it seems that I have made progress tonight. It is 1:42AM on a Thursday night in Texas-land, and I have taken a few more steps toward the six-figure income the interweb keeps promising me. The allusive beginnings of a freelance writing career are difficult to navigate. Someone could make a buck off of some sort of Freelancing for Dummies class in my neighborhood… off of me anyway. I have spent hours surfing, reading, and finding others’ misguided attempts at teaching newbies like myself the ins and outs of freelancing.

They are all terrible at it.

No, really. They are. Each site gives the same advice repeatedly, which is all well and good, BUT they keep forgetting the First Step. Admitting you are powerless? No. The first step is acquiring writing samples to fill these writers websites and to send to potential pay-check-givers. Hello kids! Experienced Freelance Writers! How in this ungrateful world do you get these first samples? It is like the chicken or the egg. I need samples to get jobs and I need jobs to get samples.

At least I am figuring out your language, Freelancers. Quickly I have learned to decode your Queries. I will be a competitive adversary soon, so you better watch your back.

Jen Bryan is a big ballin’ freelance writer. Burn.