Upcoming Album Name Change

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Yeah, I decided that I prefer Milk and Cookies to Milk and Cookies Room--even though the reason I picked that in the first place is it was this big, kind of creepy room in the basement of the synagogue I grew up going to, with big white pillars and a white tile floor, and the kindergarten rooms were off of it, and long before I was a kindergartner they used to serve milk and cookies in there. I was always struck by what a cheerful name had such a cheerless room. I especially remember it with the lights out. It echoed and I wouldn't go in there alone.

Anyway, tags have been duly altered.

Friend v1 Video

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This was made with a couple videos I had lying around from over the summer. With a new version of the song will come a new, cleaner, more professional video, in which I'll be megaphoning in my buddy's ear some.

Milk and Cookies Room Beta

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Hi folks, these are the tracks I'm so far considering for Milk and Cookies Room. They will all probably go through numerous other versions before the release of the album in mid-May.

RIGHT (OR CTRL) CLICK SAVE AS, PLZ!

Again v2.5
Box v1
Child v2
Dog v2.5
Fox v1
Friend v1
Stranger v1
Stupid v1

I think some of these are labeled, but if not I'd label Artist: The Sneaky Mister and Album: Milk and Cookies Room BETA.

(A little more about donations: while I'm in Scotland, I won't have a work visa and will be making most of my income through music sales on the Internet. To pay my rent without draining my savings I'd have to make five pounds a day, which is, depending on when you ask, somewhere between $7.50-$10. Which is really very little, when you think about it, so small donations will truly be a big help.)

New Laptop = New-Sounding Music

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Sneaky Studios Inc. is a-changing! I just ordered myself an Asus EeePC 901 (the littler one, look how cute and tiny it is! It isn't even the smallest EeePC, that one's only 7") because my four-year-old hand-me-down Gateway fried a few weeks ago. I saved the hard drive so wasn't too sad about it and figured it would be nice to go traveling without the Internet to burden me down, and then I remembered that without a cell phone, I won't be able to call my parents (or friends or anybody, but my parents would be worried). And I've heard wonderful things about the EeePC, and was especially impressed that it comes with a GNU/Linux option since I've been an Ubuntu user for almost two years and can't stand Windows (not that I couldn't replace Windows with my favorite operating system, but it's nice to think they did it for me). I'm excited to try out a new Linux OS.

Of course, this means recording will be a little different, since I've been using Garage Band on the iMac at school. I'm a great DIY advocate and don't demand much by way of a recording studio. The 901 comes with a built-in microphone which I'm anxious to test out but I won't be able to play software instruments anymore--I tried out LMMS for awhile and didn't like it. I'll have my melodica and mini-megaphone with me and plan on picking up a handsaw, so, looks like that's what The Sneaky Mister will become. If I can get my hands on an acoustic guitar that would help me out some on the busking circuit so maybe it'll sneak into the recordings as well.

SNEAK SNEAK SNEAK...

Some other relevant facts about the Asus EeePC 901 (since I love making lists, and using parentheses):

• 1GB of RAM, which is twice as much as my dead laptop so I can't complain


• a webcam! Never had a webcam before


• 20GB storage, all memory, no hard drive, which means it should be quieter and more resistant to bumps than a normal laptop (I have a little 20GB external to supplement and will probably get a much bigger one eventually, nobody can believe I only own 8GB of music)


• weighs less than 2.5 pounds, or approximately one bunch of bananas


• measures 7" x 9" making it officially small enough to fit in the top pouch of my hiking pack, with my toothbrush and sketchbook and stuff


• Skype!! Obviously if it didn't come with Skype I could install it, but this is important to me because it's the main reason I'm getting it now in the first place.

I was intensely tempted by a range of $13 sticker decals on Amazon.com that fit on the back and palm rest of the EeePC 901, but resisted. I can make my own goddamn decals, and they will probably own those other decals's asses.

"Fox" (version 2.5)

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Hi guys, here is a download for your enjoyment, off the upcoming Milk and Cookies Room:

Fox (version 2.5)

Please right-click (or ctrl+click for Mac) and Save As, instead of listening online. Bandwidth!

Oh yeah, and although all the downloads from this blog are and will always be free, here's a little Donate button in case you really like it and are feeling generous.

(Because some people like to know, I will likely use donations to press an album, pay my rent, get drunk, or feed myself--much the same way most people spend their income.)

Who Wants a Piano? EDIT: SOLD!

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I'm going to Scotland for awhile and must unload my trusty Yamaha P80, whom I love very much (her name is Guinevere Digita Westinhouse) but I need to upgrade to a lightweight MIDI keyboard soon anyway so, it's time to say goodbye.

Anyone in the greater Boston area want her? I'm asking $300.

She's got:

• 88 fully-weighted keys


• MIDI output


• 1/4" stereo output


• 1/4" stereo headphone jacks (so if you have standard 1/8" headphones you'd need an adapter, but those are like three bucks)


• a ton of extra sounds, pipe organ, harpsichord, electric piano, strings, which you can layer (like piano + double-harpsichord which I use for "Station Waggin")


• a nice sustain pedal (not those flat plastic ones)


• external speakers, though you'd probably want to use a keyboard amp

On the downside, she also has:

• a ton of stickers on her


• a slightly sticky middle-d#. I used to get keys replaced regularly from banging her around on tour and it was usually $20-50 for a handful of keys


• some duct tape. Somewhere in the frequent maintenance I lost the screws to the little piece of plastic on the end over where the cables go, so I taped it on

So yeah, she's showing signs of love, but still plays like a pro. I got her for a grand in 2004.

If you're interested, email me at judith @ prettybalanced . com and we'll talk about it. I can't ship and I don't have a car so you'd have to be close enough to pick her up.

Welcome to My Audible Lair

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The Sneaky Mister facts and figures:

• The Sneaky Mister is my musical side project.


• From 2007 to 2008, I did a couple little things, it was just sort of silly really.


• From fall 2008 to May 2009, it was strictly Garage Band pop songs made on an iMac in the Senior Studios building at my college, usually while people were trying to paint.


• Starting on 16 May 2009, it became a one-song-a-day project using Audacity on Thorpe, my Asus EeePC 901 running Eeebuntu, basically intended to keep me occupied and generate material for my band, The Alphabet, which later dissolved.


• This is a blog because the project is a continuous work in progress and I'd rather let people in on the various song versions and videos and stories and lyrics changes as they happen than release an album all of a sudden and say nothing about it and get no feedback.


• The name is purposefully misleading because I'm a woman but I am also a master.


• Deep down, we are all women.

And some stuff about me, in paragraph format: I just graduated from art school near Boston, come from Ohio, run around Scotland when I can, and love adding to my extensive list of inane hobbies.