Deuteronomy 8-27

Today's reading included one of my favourite passages in the whole Bible. A sign of Hesed and a foreshadowing of salvation by grace, God instructs the Israelites that every seven years all debts will be forgiven and all slaves set free.

I was reminded of the beautiful song "Jubilee" by Michael Card.

Click here to listen to it.

Defrosting the Minibar

Look to your left. No, not my left, your left. Do you see those lists in the sidebar? Have you noticed that they have new titles? Well, that is in honour of Minibar's 10 years in Los Angeles.

Minibar is my favourite band - you see them right there at or near the top of my list of bands that I have seen this year (LPs I Scratched Over Time is the heading). I first met Simon Petty and Sid Jordan who are one-half of the 'bar in Finn McCool's in Santa Monica. My friends were regulars there on Thursday nights and had been trying to get me to go for about a year, but I had another commitment. Finally, it was one friend's birthday and she was having her party there so I went. I was hooked. That was about 6 years ago and since then I have been to as many gigs as possible.

I have seen Minibar play all over the US - either alone or as Pete Yorn's backing band, and sometimes as both.

I've been thinking a lot about the time I've spent seeing Minibar lately. They had their "10 years in LA" show last night at Largo. It was phenomenal. I videotaped it so I hope we can all enjoy it for years to come. A week from this Thursday, Sid & Simon will play their last regular gig at Finn McCool's. I am hoping to make it one last time.

In the time since I have known them, they have gone from being four bachelors sharing an apartment to three out of four being married (and no longer sharing one apartment - in case you were wondering). Oddly, everyone but Malcolm seems to have more hair.

I just wanted to say "Cheers" to the four of them.

The Russians Are Coming!

For some reason, I am gaga for Russian art in many forms. I love the music, the poetry, the plays, the operas, the literature. It can't be genetic since, despite the name of this blog, I'm not Russian. I do love melancholy things though so maybe that's the connection.

This musing was brought on by my trip to hear the Philharmonic perform selected works of Sergei Prokofiev. So I thought I might mention a few other Russian artists that I truly love.

Modest Mussorgsky wrote my favourite piece of classical music by a Russian composer: Pictures At An Exhibition. He also wrote Night on Bald Mountain which is featured in Walt Disney's Fantasia and the opera Boris Godunov.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is probably the most famous Russian composer, especially if you are a ballet lover. I was lucky enough to be selected for District Honours Orchestra the year that the entire Nutcracker (not just the Suite) was on the performance schedule. I also love Swan Lake & Sleeping Beauty. And who doesn't love the 1812 Overture performed with live cannons & fireworks! He also wrote operas based on stories by Alexander Pushkin - my favourite opera of all time "The Queen Of Spades" and "Evgeny Onyegin".

Anton Chekov is a favourite playwright. I especially love "The Three Sisters". And though some may scoff at Leo Tolstoy and avoid his books, I really did love "Anna Karenina". It was sort-of Jane Austenesque, except that it was Russian. Anna Akmahtova and Alexander Pushkin are favourite poets.

In school, I made a film set to Igor Stravinsky's "Firebird". Hmm. I wonder if I gave Disney the idea to use it for "Fantasia 2000". Probably not.

The strangest connection I have with Russian art, though, is with the Rimsy-Korsakov piece "Scheherazade". As if my name wasn't odd enough, my pet name at home was Scheherazade. Go figure. At least it's a nice piece of music.

So, even if Shostakovich Tone Poems aren't your thing, maybe there's a Russian artist out there that you would enjoy.

One if by Air, Two if by Sea

Our last full day in Barcelona. We decide to take advantage of the free Harbor Cruise that came with our Barcelona Cards and head to the Harbor. Dos Cafes Con Leche para llevar and a quick trip to La Baguetina and we are ready to set off. A short walk down Las Ramblas, but we take the Metro to reduce the chances of getting lost.

This not being tourist season, the first boat doesn't leave until noon so we turn around and look behind us at El Mirador del Colom - The Christopher Columbus monument. The steel column contains an ascensor and our Barcelona Card offers a discount so up we go. It is so tiny that only four people can fit in at once, and that is if you are friendly enough to be quite close. T being slightly claustrophobic had a smidge of anxiety, but she was fine. At the top, there is less room to maneuver than in the Crown of the Statue Of Liberty and it moves a lot more!

We walked completely around and then had to wait a bit for the ascensor so we could go back down. Then we headed off to the boat.

The Harbor cruise was nice enough, but it was not narrated and it was FREEZING cold. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have the Barcelona Card. But it was nice to see the Olympic Village.

After that we took the Metro to the Mont Juic Funicular. Emerging halfway up Mont Juic, we opted for the Teleferic up to Castell Mont Juic. We walked around the ancient fortress, had great views of the city and harbor, and had our first paella at the restaurant.

We tooke the Teleferic back down and walked a bit through the Parc. A bus came along so we hopped on it, not really know where it was going. An adventure!! As soon as I figured out where we were on the map, we got off at the next stop that was near the Metro and headed back to our hotel.

Another siesta, then we headed to the Placa del Pi for dinner at Taller Tapas. I highly recommend this place if you are ever in Barcelona. The tapas choices were excellent, they have great daily specials, great cocktails, and menus in English! We saw a lot of folks ordering things we hadn't ordered and were especially glad we opted out of the paella as it came with a whole prawn (head and legs included) smack on top. We had grilled bread with tomatoes & garlic (a sort of Catalan bruschetta), jamon croquette (just one so T could try it), grilled asparagus, sizzling prawns (no heads here), patates bravas (vlamse frites mit saus), mojito, capirinha and dos aguas sin gas. We were stuffed!

After dinner, we headed over to Santa Maria del Pi for a concert by Barcelona Duo Guitarra. A man and a woman who met as music students, they have arranged "Carmen" for two guitars and they play flamenco music while making the percussive sounds of the dancers with their hands. Really wonderful and amazing! The perfect end to our time in Barcelona.

Could Be? Who Knows?

I don't know if I have mentioned this, but I have been extraordinarily happy lately. I was mentioning to a friend a few weekends ago (while canvassing for Obama - but that's another story) that I feel kind of weird about it because so many of my friends seem to be going through pretty difficult times right now.

I can't really explain it. Maybe I am anticipating my vacation, maybe it's all the new people I am meeting lately, maybe it's a sense that change is definitely coming to this great country of ours. I honestly don't know.

It all started the night I saw The Swell Season at the Greek Theatre. That was, without a doubt, the best concert experience of my life. It was spiritual. I have never felt that way at a concert before. It was like being in a Dali film because strange things were definitely going on.

But ever since that night, I have had this feeling that something really good is coming (that's the musical theatre cue folks).

Tsarina's Club Rules

Just a silly little note. I went out last night with some friends from church to see another church member's band at a club. Everything was going swimmingly until the second band took the stage. They were quite loud and I reached into the small pocket of my purse and pulled out my earplugs. Apparently, I was the only one so prepared as evidenced by the comments after the show.

This came after having breakfast with my co-workers earlier the same day when we were discussing boys (as you do when you are all single women!). I mentioned my 'No Musicians' rule and they were kind of stunned. After all, they said, you have a lot of friends who are musicians. Trust me, I said, the more musicians you know, the less you will want to date one of them.

Or maybe it's just those trust issues rearing their ugly head again...

The world may never know...

But one thing's for sure, I spend enough time in clubs/pubs/bars seeing my friends' bands to never leave home without my earplugs.

ACL - The Party Never Ends.

Day two begins with coffee and blueberry muffins made by my niece. Figuring outour schedule for the day, re-packing our bags, everything just seems to take a bit longer than we had thought. K offers to drive us to the bus stop. We had a bit of a wait so we must have just missed one. Everything going well, we get off at our stop and head over to Jack in the Box to use a real bathroom. We also got some food and then headed down to the entrance.

T still had her food when we went through and security made her stand outside to eat it! Crazy!

Our first stop was the Sweet Leaf Tea booth to show our text message coupons for a free tea. Then over to Old 97s. We sat near the back so we could make an easy retreat in time for Jose Gonzalez. That was another good show, but we keep wondering how come we sit down and then every pot smoker and cigarette smoker in Austin comes and sits near us. It's some kind of strange attraction!

After Jose Gonzalez, we stopped in the Digital Oasis for some AC, a free portable fan, and a free photo. You could also watch concerts on tvs, play Guitar Hero, charge your cell phone, or surf the Internet. We just enjoyed the Air Conditioning until Drive-by Truckers started.

After Drive-by truckers, we went back to the Sister Mister Tent and then re-filled out water bottles at the water taps. By then, we were mighty peckish. We walked down the line of food booths. T was in search of a particular item, I was just trying to figure out what I wanted. Then, I smelled it. Barbecue! We split up and obtained our sustenance.

After that, we made a beeline back to AMD to stake out our spot for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Our plan was to get there in time for Robert Earl Keen, stay put and keeping moving up if we could.

Robert Earl Keen was everything I ever expected. I had seen him last year as well and he never fails to disappoint. He's also a hometown favourite so most of the crowd knew most of the lyrics to most of the songs and we sang along at the top of our lungs.

John Fogerty was next. He played all the CCR songs you would want to hear, plus a few new ones. When it was over, the guy behind us said "I can't believe he didn't play Centerfield - that's his hit". What an idiot!

Two nice guys asked to share our blanket while we waited for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. One just moved to Austin from the same town in Ohio that my family is from. Isn't that funny? The other was a student at UT. We discussed music, concerts, festival etiquette. It was cool! I told UT guy that knowing a young person like himself was so into GOOD music gave me hope for the future. Two older ladies had the blanket in front of us. They proclaimed "Robert Plant is the sexiest man in Rock." A young guy sitting next to them said "Maybe he used to be." One of the ladies said "Honey, he still is" then she ripped off her bra so she could throw it on stage. Ohio guy asked if we had seen Robert Plant and Alison Krauss live before. When we said we had not, he was very excited for us.

I was very impressed by the set list. They did songs from their album, Led Zeppelin, Union Station, and traditional bluegrass. The highlights included Robert Plant talking about how much he was influenced by bluegrass and how that was real music, T. Bone Burnett's solo turn at the mike, Alison Krauss on fiddle for a good portion of the show, Robert Plant on maracas for "I'm In The Mood". The most memorable moment was Alison Kraus, Robert Plant and T. Bone Burnett a capella on "Down To The River To Pray" with the ENTIRE audience singing along IN HARMONY. That was an ACL moment!

After the show, we headed out to the bus with 10,000 of our closest friends. When we got to the stop, we learned that people had been waiting for 20 minutes and no bus had come by. 20 minutes later, one bus went past but did not stop. We spoke with two guys who were going to a stop near ours and were going to suggest sharing a cab when they ran across the street to catch one going the other way. I phoned K and she offered to pick us up at the Starbucks at the top of the hill, about a half-mile away. That worked out so well we plan to do it again after Foo Fighters.

Back at the house, we had dinner (farm-fresh pork roast - nothing better than eating food you grew yourself!) while we warmed up the hot tub. We washed it down with some Texas brew. AFter a good soak in the hot tub, we had some Blue Bell Ice cream and went to bed.

Sunday - Last day. Taking my niece, seeing Joe Bonamassa, sad to be going home, but really happy for such a good trip.

Swell Day at ACL

Today was the first day of ACLFest 2008. My second year at the Festival and this year only B & L are coming from the family, but I did convince T to come along (yeah, that was SO hard - come see 150 bands in 3 days!).

Got in on time. The Bell-Marrs taxi service was ready and waiting. T flew in on a different flight but met up at baggage claim. All well and good.

Got to the house, changed, noshed and heading off again. The taxi was offered so we took it! Dropped us off right where the bus would have and we headed down Barton Springs Rd to Zilker Park.

Through security and wristbanding with no problems, we made a beeline for the food court for some sustenance (fried avocado with mango slaw from Hudsons!) and then off to the AMD stage to catch Asleep At The Wheel. AMD is at the southern far end of the park. There are eight stages and it is a bit of a hike from one end to the other.

Asleep At The Wheel is a fine dance hall band. We had our blanket out near a group of young people that I could have sworn were friends of my "nephew". In fact, they were! He walked right past us, only stopping when I called out to him.

After Asleep At The Wheel, we got some iced tea (I forgot to tell T that we are in the South and it would be sweet-Sorry!) and sat down at the Blue Room stage for What Made Milwaukee Famous. They are a local band, but I know them from Bob Boilen's show on NPR. Once again, Bob has totally made my choices easier at ACL.

After a brief respite in the Sister Mister tent (four huge fans blowing water!), we nabbed front row house left for Jakob Dylan. Same stage as Bob Dylan last year. He totally rocked - well, as much as a Dylan can. Sang nearly every song from his new album.

Next stop was M. Ward at the WAMU stage. Yes - with all their financial woes, WAMU is still a major sponsor. We got some shave ice and sat down to see the previous set by The Freddy Jones Band. I had never heard them before but they were pretty good. A huge crowd left when they were done and we were able to get seats under the tent on actual seats. M. Ward was great. We noticed the paparazzi taking photos of the VIP area. There was a girl that looked like Zoey Deschanel (his bandmate in She and Him) but when we got a good look, it wasn't her.

Debated whether to stay put for Jenny Lewis or head over to Austin Ventures for Mates Of State and Eli Young. Mates of State won since Jenny Lewis is based in LA and we will have a good chance to see her at any number of venues at home, but I have never heard of Mates Of State playing nearby.

Eli Young was great, but they were having major sound issues. T still doesn't know if she likes them. They are this year's Broken West for me. I told K that I want their new cd for Christmas (it's on my Amazon Wish List) because they wrote a song for me! Well, not really, but they used my name. T is now referring to them as The Boy Band since we were the oldest women in the audience. "When It Rains" got me through some tough moments in the past year so who cares how young they are?

This year's Pete Yorn for me is The Swell Season. If you haven't heard of them, you may know them from the movie "Once" or their Oscar-winning song "Falling Slowly". Marketa was having problems with the keys sticking on the grand piano (they don't like humidity) but other than that, they were fantastic. Glenn rocked out solo on a Van Morrison tune while they tweaked the piano. He is still playing the guitar with the giant hole - in case you were wondering. T said "Hasn't he made enough money to buy a new one?" Marketa played guitar for one song too so she had a chance to stand up front and sing facing the crowd.

Stopped by Alejandro Escevedo on our way to the Merch Tent and caught their last two songs. Mars Volta was on so we listened to them while we shopped. T got the organic bamboo/cotton tees for herself & J but they were sold out of my size so I went with the regular cotton.

Caught the #3 down Manchaca. Got off at the right stop, but couldn't remember how to walk home (in all fairness, I have never had to before). So I called my niece from the Chevron and she said "Mom's coming to get you".

Warmed up the hot tub, had something to eat, and headed off to bed.

Gotta go get ready for today's adventure. First up is Old 97s!

ACL - Here we come!

Wow! Two posts in one day! Don't get used to it.

I am heading off to Austin City Limits at the end of the week. This year I will be joined by a friend and my "niece" who is 14.

I am interested in seeing the music festival through the eyes of someone younger. My friend is also up for the challenge of introducing an eager young person to bands both new and old. Maybe we will also learn something about a band we have never seen. (IS there a band we haven't seen?)

I am especially intrigued to take her to see Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. So look for show reports as often as I can post. Or maybe tweets would be better. I will have to think about that.

One more thing about the designation "niece". She is actually the daughter of a first cousin. But things being how they are, this particular cousin and I are more like sisters. We have no sisters of our own and are the exact same age (so were often thrown together as children). Plus my brother doesn't have any children of his own and a girl has gotta have at least one niece!

Stay tuned....

Sugar, Sugar

Growing up in LA post-Summer Of Love, it's not surprising that many of my childhood friends were the children of hippies. My mother was more of a hippie-wanna-be. She was really too high-class for the clothes and drugs, but we definitely were in the earth-friendly, semi-vegetarian circle.

Anyway, my mother only bought two kinds of cereal on a regular basis: granola & shredded wheat. Once in a while, if she wanted it and we had been very good, we might get Rice Krispies or Frosted Flakes. Even Cheerios was considered a splurge.

So, imagine my distress when the 45 of The Archies singing "Sugar, Sugar" was only available on the Honeycomb box!

I had to buy that box of cereal with my meager allowance, and keep my brother from eating it all. Not easy for a little girl to do when her brother is much older and taller!

This brief trip down Memory Lane is thanks to the commissary playing "Sugar, Sugar" during lunch today.

Songworms

What is it about songworms? Why can just the slightest mention of certain lyrics cause a person to have a song stuck in their head for a LONG time?

Example: This morning I logged on to Facebook and near the top of my feed an FB friend had a status update that made me think of an Elvis Costello song. This happens to be a song that I know and like and I don't need the iPod to sing in my head. WHAMMO! I got the songworm.
Two hours later, I am still singing the song in my head.

Nothing works. Practiced my Spanish. Read the paper on the bus. Listened to the news. NOTHING.

It could be worse. My cousin (who has three small children) has reported singing the theme song to "Caillou" all day long. At least I like Elvis Costello....

Nostalgia

Today - after about three long years - I finally uploaded some photos for a friend who lost a lot of mementos to Hurricane Katrina.

We have spent the afternoon online reminiscing about a fun summer of following bands all over SoCal.

As we each looked over the photos from our computers hundreds of miles apart, we chatted online about the memories, the people, the moments, the songs. It was really nice.

So I think this technology thing is pretty good.

I'm happy & nostalgic now.

July 22-August 8, 2008

July 22-24 - I have forgotten, but hopefully it wasn't too important.

July 25 - The last Friday of the month so it has to be Minibar at O'Brien's on Main! Minibar is ALWAYS the best thing, but it was especially nice to see T & J after they had been in a scary motorbike accident while on vacation. Also nice to hear about M's upcoming trip to England.

July 26 - Dinner at Locanda del Lago with G. Finally using the GC I gave him for Christmas or was it birthday? Highly recommend this place if you are ever on the 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica. We plan to go back so we can try more of the menu!

July 27 - A surprise Dodger game. I had asked for tickets for Monday and got today instead. But the Dodgers won as did the Heat! We celebrated with our annual pizza dinner and I had a nice visit with M & S.

July 28 - A formal job offer for a job I really want was made to me today! I have til Wednesday to think about it. (Since I am writing this after the fact, I can say that I accepted.)

July 29 - The Chino Hills quake was today. I think the best thing was that when I got home from work, I could not even tell. Nothing had moved! If you ever lived in a quake Zone you would appreciate that being the best thing!

July 30 - Publicity Screening for "Swing Vote". This is a great movie. It was not at all what I had been expecting from the trailer. It was a lot smarter. The audience all seemed to enjoy it. And the guy sitting in front of us gave us tickets to...

July 31 - ...The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor! Which we got into at the last possible moment and had to sit in J's favourite seat (front row). I really missed Rachel Weisz but overall it was pretty good!

August 1 - Eric Idle at the Bowl! Box Seats! Good food! Good company! Very good!

August 2 - Attended the Fiesta to raise money for my church's upcoming Mexico Mission Trip. Four people asked me to come back to the choir. It's really nice to be wanted. Lutherans really know how to make margaritas!!

August 3 - Last game of the season and The Heat won! The team gave me roses too which was very nice.

August 4 - Told all the staffers that I am leaving next week for a new job. They were all sad to hear it but happy for me. It's nice to be wanted. I think I said that already.

August 5 - Planned a wine tasting jaunt to visit the author of GollyBlogHowdy or maybe we will have tea? Anyway, we will have a nice visit next week on one of my free days.

August 6 - Discovered I am a winner in the monthly Health Pool!

August 7 - Finished my last close at the old job on time with no ot! YAY!

August 8 - Thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympic Opening Ceremonies on tv.

July 18-20, 2008

July 18 - JULIE SANG! It is true that Julie Andrews is no longer a soprano, but she can still sing and her voice still sounds good in the lower register. I was amazed. Definitely a best thing!

July 19 - Another AFM trip. This time we went to Chino Hills to see them at Roscoe's which had the best apple cobbler I have ever had in my life. And that is really saying something!

July 20 - My softball team won today 19-3 on the mercy rule. I stole third! YAY!

July 15-17, 2008

July 15 - Heard from G that he didn't get the box seats for Friday night at the Bowl to see Julie Andrews (she's not singing but she is hosting a Rodgers & Hammerstein night). I was SO disappointed!! I went to the Bowl website, saw that tickets were still available and a few clicks later we had two tickets to the bench seats next to the last section of boxes. Basically, we are right behind his company's box! Excellent!

July 16 - Finally found a hotel in Barcelona that is the right combo of price, location, and amenities. The exchange rate is killing me on this vacation!! T still has to buy her plane ticket too!

July 17 - Finally got my new timeshare points added to my account and am now only missing the bonus international week. Called Handicap Girl and told her to plan on spending her birthday in Cabo!! Told the Thursday Night girls that we should combine the next Brother show with a stay in Dana Point too.

June 29-July 14, 2008

Wow! Having an eye infection has made emailing so difficult that I have really been neglecting my blog. So here we go:

June 29th - Even though my softball team lost today, we had some really great plays. Special congrats go to L for making that base hit down the right field line!

June 30th-July 2nd - are a total blur. Who knows?

July 3rd - No work tomorrow so we headed to Finn's and stayed til last call. I haven't done that in over a year! It was great to see everyone!

July 4th - No real plans for the holiday. I slept, caught up on Wimbledon, and caught up on Tivo. I think that is a pretty good day!

July 5th - PJ's last gig at O'Brien's before heading permamently to Nashville. He promised he come back some time but we know how musicians are. Their time is their own. So we enjoyed it while it lasted. Great to see all the bandmates old and new and all the fans.

July 6th - Not only did I get to meet our new Pastor, but I also finally got to see Prince Caspian!

July 7th - Went to the Dodger game and witnessed a fantastic one-hit shut out of the Braves. I'm talking BASEBALL!

July 8th - Had to work late, but didn't miss out on dinner with T&J. Always nice to meet your friend's new beau. Especially when he has a single best friend! ;-)

July 9th - The first day since my eye infection that my eye actually started to feel normal.

July 10th - PJ's last night at Finns. So we had to go again. Even got the final photo of PJ with the Thursday Night Girls.

July 11th - Nothing much today, called in sick and slept pretty much the whole day.

July 12th - The annual Hillsides Picnic. I just love this event and this year I got to give out prizes!

July 13th - I went to the Dodger game with cousins P&A. Teh Dodgers blasted the Marlins out of the water. Then went to my softball game and the other team blasted us out of the water. Oh well!

July 14th - Today's thing was totally random. Bumped in to S on my way home from work. She was meeting friends for dinner and the restaurant was closed. So that was fun!

June 18-27, 2008

June 18 - Wedding shower for a co-worker at lunch today. Lucky girl is getting married in Trinidad!

June 19th - An evening free at home to catch up on laundry and all the chores I know I won't get to this weekend cuz I have big plans. Normally chores wouldn't be a best thing but it's good to get them done!

June 20th - A fine evening to celebrate S's birthday with The British Empire and Sprinkles cupcakes!

June 21st - A Wonderful day at the Irish Fair. Great to see the guys from Brother, friends from the 2006 Ireland trip, the GAT 5, and everyone else.

June 22nd - Suite day at Dodger Stadium!! Not only did the Dodgers win, but I made it to batting practice for softball and we won too! Finished Round 1 3-2. Go Heat!

June 23rd - Another great walk at GP with MAD - D a no show again. Plus it was roomie's first day at her new job!! Not the one she REALLY wanted, but it sounds like it might be fun.

June 24th - Managed to wait until afternoon to tear my contact lens. So at least I could work the rest of the day without much difficulty.

June 25th - Saw George Michael in concert. Even though it was really hot, and i had to wear my glasses because my eyelid was swollen, the show was REALLY good. And it was George's birthday too. We saw Lisa Rinna & Dr. Phil.

June 26th - home sick with sore eye. I guess the best thing about that is that I could watch Wimbledon.

June 27th - saw Dr today. I am not contagious. I do not have conjunctivitis. I do have blepharitis. I now also have drugs. Unfortunately, I can't wear contacts or makeup for two weeks. And I probably shouldn't think about staying out too late anytime soon.

May 30 - June 8, 2008

Another catch up posting today...

May 30 - Today's best thing was seeing Minibar again. I hadn't seen them since New Year's Eve and I had such a great time catching up with M & J as well as hearing all my faves again. Thanks for letting the Thursday Night girls help with the set lists!

May 31 - Finally got to see "Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"! Yay!

June 1st - My softball team lost, but I had a very good game with two walks and one run scored!

June 2nd - I am drawing a complete blank. Guess I really do need to do this every day.

June 3rd - I was the first person to vote today in my precinct. I don't think that has ever happened to me before. Hopefully, I wasn't the last, though voter turnout was a disappointing 27% of eligible voters. I would just like to say "Shame on You" if you are registered to vote and couldn't be bothered. My pet peeve is people who don't think their vote makes any difference so they just don't bother. I have never missed an election in my entire life! I am very proud of that.

June 4th - Finally managed to connect with M & D to work out after work. Of course, M forgot to bring shoes so she bailed, but D & I had a nice chat and it was good to catch up!

June 5th - Another chance to see Minibar. This time at the Buffalo Club. I highly recommend this eatery if you are ever in Santa Monica. It is VERY pricey (dinner for two was $125) but well worth it! I just hope Minibar doesn't play there more than once every couple of months.

June 6th - Even though I only got three hours of sleep, I made it to work on time and got all of my work done!!

June 7th - My first time seeing Another Fine Mess which is a side project of most of the band members of The Fenians. We had a great meal at Gallagher's and I want to know where I can get the T shirt some of the servers were wearing that had the Guinness label re-worked for Gallagher's. That was cool!

June 8th - Softball team won!!! 10-4. I only had one at bat and I fouled out. Oh well...

May 28, 2008

Last night was The Police concert at the Bowl. Normally that would be a pretty darn good thing in and of itself, but there was a particularly memorable moment.

We stopped to get our seat cushions. I said to the young man "Two, please", and then I apologised for not having anything smaller than a $20. He said "That's Ok. Your change will be $18.50, unless you can guess which state is on this quarter, and then you can have them for free. Your hint is that it is an East Coast State."

Well, I guessed New York, as you do. I was RIGHT!!! He said that was the first time anyone had ever guessed the correct state.

Definitely the best thing!

New Year's Eve

I finally made it to New Year's Eve at the Daily Pint with Minibar. What have I been doing all those other years? This was the most fun I have had on New Year's Eve in quite some time.

Thank you to the 'Bar, to their families and friends, and especially to the Thursday Night Girls & Mr. Palmer for dragging me out of my house!

Blueberry Martinis for everyone!