About

I never know what to say about myself,
Here is a list of things about me from A to Z...

a is for Ashley. my first name. I was named after Ashley Wilkes from "gone with the wind" I remember discovering this information when I was a little girl, god forbid I was named after "a boy!!!" so I changed my name every week. The names ranged from Strawberry Shortcake to Becky.

b is for bubbles. I love washing the dishes when there's tons of soap suds. But my guiltiest pleasure is bubble baths. I take at least two bubble baths a week. 

c is for critters. all kinds. my favorite animal is a ringed-tailed lemur, my favorite reptile is a chameleon, my favorite insect is a boll weevil and my favorite spider is a jumping spider. I was a really weird child. I collected bugs, even made little environments for them in jars. My dream job at six was to be an entomologist, either that or a mermaid. 

d is for drums. I play in two bands. In Dulce de Leche I started out by playing a full drum kit. Over time I took it apart and now I play pieces of it (a tom, a bass drum, and a symbol) and loads of store bought and handmade percussion. In Killsonic I play a tom, a tamborine and sambago bells.

e is for excuse me while I skip this letter...

f is for forests. One day, I would love to live some where up the coast of california where unexplored forests lead to a sandy trail to the ocean.

g is for guitar. I'm not very good, but I can sig some old songs and play along, on a guitar, a uke, or a mandolin. It's been my dream for a long time to buy a goldtone banjo. the little one. If you want to see a little clip of me singing "crow jane" click here.

h is for Hi Fructose, My favorite magazine in the entire world. I own all but three. The only think I collect besides frames. 

J is for José. My bandmate, my best friend, my boyfriend. We met in High School and bonded through our love of punk music. I wore a tattered pink tulle skirt, ripped nylons and  bright green boots. He wore tight black pants and a studded belt. We didn't start dating until after high school. It's been 7 years now...

k is for Killsonic. duh. 

l is for listening library. I love love love audiobooks. It's hard to find time to sit down and read a book. With audiobooks, I can paint and listen at the same time! a revolutionary discovery. My favorite voice artist is by far Jim Dale. I've listened to the entire "Harry Potter" series several times. I also love Nathaniel Parker. He has the most lovely Irish accent. He narrates the Artemis Fowl series. I'm currently listening to "at the mountains of madness" by H.P. Lovecraft.

m is for music. my all time favorites are the White Stripes (anything and everything Jack White), Leadbelly, Django Reinhardt, Charly Patton, The Carter Family, Caetano Veloso, Rev. Gary Davis, Blind Willie McTell, Charles Mingus (especially the black saint and the sinner lady), Son House, Taraf de Haidouks, Gal Costa, Jorge Ben, Joao Gilberto, Victor Jara, Miles davis, Os Novos Bianos, Jelly Roll Morton, Fleet Foxes, Radiohead, Frank Stokes, Polar Bear, Buddy Holly, Lydia Mendoza, and Devendra Banhart. Currently, I've been listening to James Blake, Micachu, Artie Shaw, Dan Mangan, Best Coast, Broken Bells, Oh my, I have to stop. there's just too many... 

n is for nocturnal. some nights I find myself painting from 8 pm to 7 am. give or take a few hours. 

o is for oil paint. I sometimes paint with watercolor, but my preferred medium is oil paint, I just love it. The smell, the way colors blend together, and the slow drying time. I am an oil painter. 

p is for pets. I had an array of pets throughout my life. a dumpy tree frog named Jellybean, salamanders, mice, hampsters, a cat named Gypsy, and a class scorpion over the summer. Now I have two dogs. Coco (known as bean) and Boo. 

q is for quote. my favorite quote from a movie is "i'm gonna eat your brains and gain your knowledge" by the little boy from planet terror. My second favorite quote is from Cold Mountain "They call this war a cloud over the land. But they made the weather and then they stand in the rain and say 'Shit, it's raining!" by miss Ruby Thewes. 

r is for robots. because robots need love too.

s is for siblings. I have one younger brother, Jordan, and two step-sisters, Brooke and Lindsey.

t is for thrifting. It's one of my favorite pastimes. My Nana would prefer I call it "junking".

u is for urban meadows wasteland ghettos, Which was an event I started with José and our friend Luis two years ago. It was an acoustic evening filled with great art, music, elephant curry, and princess peach martinis. 

v is for vimeo. José has some great videos on there. you should check it out. long live Brother Science ©

w is for west coast. I was born and raised in Southern California. So were my parents. 

x is for xenophilius lovegood, because I just saw HP7 p2 and I cant think of anything else for this letter. 

y is for yazoo records. They put out the best country blues music around. period. Plus, R. Crumb does most of the artwork. 

z is for zissou. I love Wes Anderson and all of his movies.