Ingrid Michaelson checked in with fans on her blog at MySpace on Friday (March 13), talking about her participation in a R.E.M. tribute show in New York City. The singer songwriter tells readers:

I had the good fortune to be one of 20 artists asked to be part of the R.E.M. tribute show at Carnegie Hall two nights ago. I did “Nightswimming” armed with only a looping pedal and my friend Chris on upright bass. I love that song. It seasoned my summer of ‘93. I listened to ‘Automatic for the People’ on constant rotation that summer. So when I was asked which song I wanted to do, I knew immediately.

R.E.M. was there, in the audience. I have never been so nervous in all of my life. I was trembling a good 20 minutes after I walked off stage.

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Ingrid Michaelson offered a Valentine’s Day story for fans on her blog at MySpace on Saturday (February 14). The New York based indie pop singer songwriter tells readers:

My favorite Valentine that I ever got was from a boy named Jay. We were in high school. We were not even dating. He came over on Valentine’s Day, after school, and gave me a potato with a toothpick stuck in it. Glued carefully to the toothpick was a cardboard cut out of a heart. And that was it. We never kissed. I think that was in part due to the fact that I had the beginnings of strep throat and I proudly showed him the white puss pockets in the back corner of my throat. We did homework. We watched TV. He showed me how many pens he could fit in his hair (he had a huge fro) and that was about it. The potato stayed in my fridge for months. Maybe over a year. It grew little green arms that curled around themselves, praying almost. It stayed plump and healthy for a surprisingly long time. But one day, when all the moisture was gone, it shriveled up. The shriveling process was a very quick one. I still did not throw it away. Luckily, I grew up in a house where aunt Diane’s home made Marion berry jam from 1998 still proudly sits this day wedged between an empty bottle of salad dressing and left overs of some unknown origin covered in a fine downy white fuzz. Finally, when the brown freckles that dotted the once proud potato grew into huge, gaping black caverns, I knew it was time to part with my treasured gift.

Jay is now married. His wife may have a nice ring on her finger, but I still have the toothpick with the heart. I think we all know who came out on top here.

She did.

Ingrid Michaelson updated fans on her blog at MySpace on Saturday (January 10), with word on progress on her apparent quick follow-up to her 2008 album ‘Be OK’. The New York-based indie-pop singer-songwriter tells readers:

My days have consisted of being in the bed and being in the studio. The record has been coming along wonderfully. I already had all the songs written before. And now, we have written all the drum, bass and piano, uke and vocal parts. Next some guitars, strings, horns and other fun instruments. I am enjoying this process very much. It is the first time I have had a full album where every song is a chunk from directly inside me (totally autobiographical). This album is going to be scary to release, and also cathartic. We all write about love don’t we. But love is the thing. It is the thing that will always need the most nurturing and attention. It is the thing that we can taste when it is gone. It is the thing that makes a smile that can not be unsmiled. It is the thing that the world beats to.

So this album will be about love. And the pain of knowing, in Don Henly’s words, that sometimes love just ain’t enough. And I know that you know how that goes and goes.

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Ingrid Michaelson checked in with fans on her Twitter account last night, talking about progress on new music. “In the studio,” Ingrid writes. “These songs are yummy, but I fear I have listened and played them too much. My perspective is clouded.”