My goodness I suck at updating this thing. I do notice a pattern that as soon as Daylight Savings Time hits I'm more apt to dig into the sections that take a little more time to work on. So...what have I been listening to between then and now...
Damien Rice is highhighhigh on my list. Even seeing his show down in LA that was riddled with technical problems, I left hours later that much more enthralled with the man's music. It just sets a mood. Past few months it has been a toss up between "O" and eastmountainsouth's cd for my choice of falling to sleep music. I had the opportunity to see them play up in Oakland over Labor Day this year and was impressed with how well the sound comes off live. Having such an amazing percussionist helped I'm sure.
A trip to the bowels of New Jersey, Princeton to be more specific, reintroduced me to one of The Bens' music. At the urging of a friend, I bought Ben Lee's album "Hey You. Yes You." and thouroughly immersed my head in it while at work. Actually, I came away from that trip with a plethora of new music that included Albuquerque's The Shins and the retro stylings of Josh Rouse on "1972". Damn you Viv and Reebs for encouraging me to fly across the country just so I could ride in the back of the Jeep and listen to mix cds.
I've also been enjoying some new music by The Decemberists. A moment of mental laughter came when I read that the lead singer from the band was in this band Tarkio that played and I believe won some Battle of the Bands my senior year of college. Of course the year after I leave they have Howie Day come play as well as Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers touring through.
More more more...I could probably keep going on as I've been buying cds like they were my heroin addiction. Too much good stuff to pass up on. There was Matt Nathanson's major label debut, the new Travis, the new Jayhawks' album "Rainy Day Music" is one that most likely you won't regret passing up. I'm sure I'm missing some cd that I played repeatedly on the commute to and from and to and from work in the last few months.
Working in the land of Dilbert and the open space office is oh so fun. Often there will be an email that pops into my inbox that just makes my whole week and to think it's only Tuesday (damn...it's only Tuesday). Today in an update on what sort of changes were coming up from the "building management" group included the use of smart cards to log into your computer. Basically if you forget this fancy id badge at home you are out of luck to log into your computer. Great news for me considering I pseudo lose it a couple times a week (meaning I end up finding it after a few minutes but there's always that feeling of "shit I lost it again").
That's not the kicker though. The email also informed us that they will no longer be stocking Kleenex in an effort to cut costs. Excuse me? The moment they discontinue stocking toilet paper I'm out of there. I'm just waiting to see what is cut next. Replace the coffee grounds with instant coffee? Run a system of tin cups and string in place of telephones? I'm just waiting for them, in an effort to maximize office space, to stack cubicles on top of each other. But you said you missed your door and ceiling...
Oh, and I bought an iPod this weekend. The packaging alone makes me want to be a Mac user. Plus, it probably wouldn't have taken me as long as it did to get it installed and running.
Inevitably, when you buy a new home, people will feel obligated to give you gifts. A sort of congratulations for undergoing the large purchase that adds over $100M to your debt level. It's their way of saying 'ha ha ha you are stuck with coming to work day in and day out now too....i'm not the only one....no slipping off to baja for months on end for you..." Leave it to Gina though, to embrace this tradition to flip it for all it's worth. That would be why about two weeks ago a fairly large box showed up on my doorstep. Excitedly I opened it - not knowing if i should be anticipating or dreading the item it contained. Now, I'm not exactly sure what decade this fine piece of plastic furniture originated, but the fake plastic roses and astroturf alone must be worth a small fortune of monopoly money. I did find the most perfect location to show off this antique.
What's the saying? Oh yea - paybacks are a bitch. (:
You reap what you sow. Something like that. Despite having a case of the blehs most of the day at work and having to fight off ants and the silhouette of a giant spider in the kitchen lighting, the day turned out to be good overall. I sit here listening/watching the homemade DVD of Guster's free Boston show (free as in to the public, not as in they support the succession of Boston from the state of Massachusetts). Also, earlier in the evening, immediately after assaulting the mystery spider with 409 hoping that it would either be squished or burned by the heat of the lights...yea, not sure why I was squirting 409 up there while standing on a ladder...anyway, after the battled was waged, the DJ announced he was giving away tickets to see Howie Day in the KLLY lounge next week. I never seem to have much luck when it comes to winning these sorts of contests so I've supposedly secured a ticket another way (cough cough). My friend "Kelli" though, was able to get through and be caller #2. Damn the luck...had to be caller #9...which "Kelli" was when she tried again. Hopefully Kelli isn't upset that "Kelli" sounded like a goober not making a connection between the name of the radio station and her own name...KeLLY...Kelli... And if any of this makes sense, I owe you some banana bread (cough cough).
The best outcome of this all could be the fact that I don't feel the need to listen to the radion station for a while now. My biggest rant is that the same songs are played over and over again. I know the name of the song. I know who it's by. Hell, I might have even sat across the table from the guy after selling his merch. After googling their playlist, I calculated out that 68 spins per week works out to the song playing every 2.5 hours and a majority of the "Top 40" songs for the week are spun multiple times a day. It's to the point that you start to hate the songs and it's not just me being a music snob as other friends have voiced their disdain for certain songs that bring a lurch to their stomach rather than a tear to their eye. Please, KLLY, just stop playing that Uncle Kracker song...let it drift away.
Found out today that a friend of mine went to high school with the Cubs fan that interfered in the game last night. And yesterday a coworker emailed that her cousin had helped write the episode of Angel that was on tonight. It's all about the Six Degrees of Seperation...
While I was very apprehensive when I sat down in the chair I knew there was no turning back. For the past few months I've had to deal with the length of my hair, which had nearly grown a life of it's own. There were the times when I'd throw my bag or backpack over my shoulder and I would have to yank the hair out from underneath the strap. There were the nights I would wake up being attacked by the unruly mane. Straight but deceivingly thick - it was just time to cut the shit off. It probably didn't help that when I was back home recently I realized my hair was the exact same as it was in high school. Long and just there.
Ever since volunteering at Camp Mak-A-Dream I was hoping to have more than enough to donate to Wigs for Kids, but most of it probably isn't of the optimal length. I'll still donate it - they can sell it off if that helps. I'm just happy to be rid of it. Less time in the morning wringing out the water! Conservation of shampoo! Conditioner! There goes being Heide for Halloween though....
When buying a fuzzy item, such as a sweatshirt jacket, it's advisable to wash before wearing especially before wearing over a white shirt. Often there's a chill in our offices, which becomes ironic when the temperature is in the triple digits outside and you are wearing a sweater while sitting at your computer. Because of this, I like to keep some sort of jacket in my cubicle. Tired of the old one, I bought a new black one from Old Navy this past weekend and brought it in without washing - which is something I typically don't do seeing as I have issues about washing new clothes before wearing them. Long story short, when I went to donate outside I took the jacket off and was left with the black fuzzies (not to be confused with the warm fuzzies). Three sheets of sticky lint remover paper later and I was defuzzed again and cold again.
Once, when I was in the 2nd grade, we took a tour of the blood drive that was pumping away in the Multi-purpose room. Multi indeed – as this was the room where we ate lunch, put on plays or performances, had band practice, and any other event they could think of to put in there. So there we were, being escorted around to see how the medical vampires extracted the blood from the veins of these adults. It wasn’t long until the blood drained my head and I became faint. As far as I can remember, I’ve had “issues” with blood and injuries. It just takes someone describing how they got the cut that is hidden underneath a bandaid for me to start to feel queasy. In college we were having to do community service to join an honor society (Tau Beta Pi), so with limited choices of activities I would be able to complete due to time and scheduling issues I talked my roommate into going to donate blood with me for the first time. Let’s just say that it was a very interesting experience that left Belk laughing afterwards.
With time I have been trying to get over this fear and reaction so I try to donate blood when I can remember. Problem is often I remember when I’m driving by Houchin (the local blood bank) and I’m either not feeling a-okay or haven’t eaten a protein laced meal that day. Today though, the blood mobile came to the office so I signed up yesterday to give the gift of live. You’d think I’d learn though…we were almost out of milk this morning so I skipped out on my normal breakfast and opted for some coffee and a couple of nutragrain bars. I had full intention of eating a protein bar when I got to work…but once the computer is fired up, emails are popping into your inbox, and caffeine is coursing through your veins, it’s hard to remember the little things thought about on the morning commute.
And there I was, sitting in the small room in the bus answering the questions and explaining where exactly I traveled in South America last year. Offering up my left hand for the quick prick, the woman took a sample to test my iron levels. With a beep the digits read 12.3. “Have you ever had low iron before?” she asked. The cut-off to donate is 12.5 and I’m barely under the limit. Being that I haven’t ever had the problem before, she tested my other hand. Damn if that poke didn’t hurt more this time. And on my right hand…a mouse clicking finger even. At least the second results beeped out 13.2 and I would be allowed to donate. All I know is I better be loading up on the good karma with all that I will be doing today…. Yea, there’s another self-less act to follow tonight. Stay tuned for more details…
Here I sit in my cubicle amongst the sound of circulating air, eating a few carrots (from Bakersfield no doubt) after finishing off the leftovers from dinner that Kathy made and dubbed "chicken fiesta!" I noticed I've not been writing much. Been too busy with living life I suppose.
Last weekend was filled to the brim with activity. Saw the movie Whale Rider on Friday at a packed Fox Theatre. Not that I've been going to FLICs that long, but this was the first time there was a line wrapping around the corner to get in. Maybe it was part of a school assignment, which would explain the high number of kids and parents in attendance. I'm sure it also made for some interesting reactions when some of the other previews where playing...let's just say that the play a wide variety of foreign and independant films there and are uncensored.
With Saturday came the long awaited Damien Rice concert in LA that Kathy reluctantly yet graciously conceded to attending with me. We headed down early to check out some of the shopping on Melrose. Interested to see the places that hipsters go to buy the vintage tshirts for $20 so they can be cool and an individual. While I admit to owning more than my fair share of tshirts - many of them came from my youth (basketball camps, tournaments and such) and the ones I did buy were for mere dollars at a goodwill store. Anyway - another LA experience I can cross off my list.
The concert itself was a unique experience. The show was sold out and fairly high profile considering all the press that has been flowing Damien Rice's way. I had warned that the reviews I'd read mentioned the length of the recent concerts have gone well beyond the expected 90 minutes. Even with that idea of what to expect we were in for something bigger. Things started off with technical difficulties in the way of Damien's mic not working. He managed at first using the distortion mic to his left and also Lisa's mic which also ended up failing. By the second and third songs he was standing on the edge of the stage belting out the lyrics into the darkened crowd without amplification. Ghosts in the machine all night long - but in the end it was still an amazing show - all three hours of it.
