Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Or in this case, HELL yeah!

My new band spent Saturday and Sunday at my friend's house recording six original songs! We got all the music tracks, overdubs, and lead vocals done in one long day on Saturday, then came back Sunday for some quickie backing tracks, handclaps, what have you.

Hopefully we'll get the rough mixes in a week or so, then we'll be ready to set up our silly MySpace band page. We've also got a photo shoot coming up in a few weeks so we can get rolling on our webpage. Oh! AND we have a logo now.

I am ridiculously happy about all of this. I can't believe how smoothly recording went and how much fun we had through all of it.

I realize this post probably isn't very exciting for anyone but Paula, Shelly, Kirsten, and I, but you will be when you hear us. Or not. Whatever, dude, it's cool.

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Go here and type in my name. Last name first, then my first initial.
I wonder if there will ever come a day when this doesn't thrill me?

This Credit Card Goes to 11

I was watching TV the other night when this commercial for a credit card came on. As I hummed along with the song, I thought to myself, 'self? Why do I know this song?'

Oh Christ.

Roll Call

The Gobi put out a call for top ten albums of all time, and who am I to ignore instructions and turn down a list-making opportunity? After days of thought, this is what I've come up with:

1. Guided by Voices--Bee Thousand
2. The Fall--The Complete Peel Sessions Box Set
3. The Buzzcocks--A Different Kind of Tension
4. Pixies--Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim
5. Sugar--Copper Blue
6. The Replacements--Let It Be
7. The Dirtbombs--If You Don't Already Have a Look
8. The Flying Burrito Brothers--Hot Burritos! The Flying Burrito Bros. Anthology (Discs 1 and 2)
9. The John Spencer Blues Explosion--Orange
10. Rocket From the Crypt--Circa Now!

Lots of oldies but goodies, but these are all albums that I can put on pretty much anytime and I am always in the mood for them. Also? I sing along loudly and badly with all of them.

It was a bit of a toss-up between Let It Be and Hootenanny, I love the song "Red Light, Red Light, RUN IT!" among others on Hootenanny. In the end it was one of my favorite songs of all time, "I Will Dare" that swayed me. I'm a little disappointed with myself that Copper Blue won out over Bob's previous work with Husker Du (how does one add umlauts?), particularly Flip Your Wig, but that's the way the cookie crumbles, my friends.

OK, tag. You're all it!

Conspiracy Hygienist

For some dumb reason I've decided that it's a good idea to go to the dentist at 7 AM for my cleanings. Or at least that's what I've decided on my last 3 visits. I figure that way I'll be all done bright and early and still make it to work on time like the good, industrious employee that I am.

In reality, I go to bed the night before deeply fearful of how I'll feel when my alarm goes off. When 6 AM arrived this morning, I stumbled out of bed completely pissed at myself for booking this early appointment again, took a shower, and then tried to dress in the dark so as to not wake Dokken. I think my crashing into things and quiet cursing at not being able to find my pants was worse than my closet light would have been. Oops. Sorry, dear.

In any case, I made it to the dentist just before 7 and was even looking forward to it a little. I love my dentist. He's very nice, he's mostly bald except for a few wisps of hair that stick straight up and sway gently with whatever heat/cold is being piped into the room (and which give me something to look at while I'm in the chair), and the last time I came in for a cleaning, he actually did it. Not a hygienist, my dentist. And let me tell you it was by far the nicest, gentlest cleaning I've ever had.

This morning I had no such luck. I got a hygienist who the receptionist previously referred to as 'very...thorough' as if to apologize. Things were going fine until she mentioned that she'd watched the State of the Union address last night and I asked for her thoughts on it.

Suddenly, we took a left turn at Albuquerque. It started innocently enough, with us both questioning who's really in charge--Bush or Cheney--and moved on to a pop culture reference before she excitedly told me that she's learned from listening to a popular radio show who is truly in charge.

From there we moved on to airports built under the Denver airport which will eventually be used to control the world, disturbing artwork contained within the terminal of the Denver airport (the one above ground, that is), a conspiracy to kill scientists following 9/11, and we finally finished up with herbal supplements.

I have officially learned my lesson; don't talk religion or politics in polite conversation. This is especially true when the other person has sharp metal objects in your mouth.

Blah, blah, blah and other things

The Gobi got me started on this thing years ago where instead of making one New Year's resolution that you know you'll break by February anyway you make a list of 25 things that you want to accomplish in the New Year. As he will remind me, it was actually a list of 50 things, but since I could never come up with 50 things I really wanted to do let alone actually get them done I've shaved it done to 25. And by "shaved" I mean indelicately chopped in half.

Anyway, that is neither here nor there. I've faithfully done this exercise every year since he told me about it, and on average I'd say I get 5-7 of them done. The beauty of the list is that some of the items are things that I know I will probably never actually do, but just writing them down makes me feel hopeful. As if I just might do it this year. For example, I had 'play drums live' on my list for YEARS. And lo, one year it actually happened. I've had 'be more Zen' on my list for the last couple of years. Now, as my company will tell you that is not a smart goal because it is not measurable. But it's a good reminder to me nonetheless to calm down and try to achieve some sort of balance (incidentally, it is not one of the 5-7 things I manage to get done).

I have completed my list for this year, and although I won't share it with you I figure as I actually get something done on the list I'll post it here. I'm getting close to having 2 of the items done (woo hoo!) so there should be a progress report any day now.

Moving on and apropos of nothing, I wondered today if future generations forget how to walk?

My children and grandchildren will look like boneless chicken, I just know it.

The Nose Knows

There's a strange smell at my desk. Not bad, not good, just...strange.

The odd thing about that is there really isn't much that could go wrong here. It's a little U-shaped desk in a cube with 3 drawers so I'll be damned if I know what's causing it. Did I step in something? No. Do I have any funky food item thrown in my trash? No. Maybe it's me? Do I smell weird and musty and slightly papery?

So, so confused right now.

Ice Ice Baby

I know compared to most of you in Colorado, Toronto, Eastern Washington, and Idaho 5 inches of snow and freezing temperatures is nothing to brag about, but over here it can shut the city down. Check out our backyard this morning!



We woke up at seven this morning, heard absolutely no traffic on our otherwise busy street, and decided that it might be a good idea to hang out around the house for a bit. After some French toast and coffee it looked like it had actually hit 33 degrees so we both went to work for the afternoon. It was sunny the rest of the day, but sweet Jeebus it's freezing out there!

It actually makes me miss Eastern Washington, it was so great hanging out on the couch and watching it snow last night.

Better Late Than Never

Dear Mookie,
Happy birthday.
Love,
Your big sister

*mwah*

Weekend Update

As previously mentioned, we went to Portland this weekend. The main reason for the trip was so Erik could visit a junk yard in Vancouver to look for car parts, but since Dave's bday was coming up I wanted to see him too.

The junk yard was a bust for the most part, although I did capture this sweet picture of a Pontiac hood with my cell phone:



and Erik did find a repro part for the Goat.

One of the best things about Portland is the sidewalk ponies. We didn't actually see any ponies this time around, but there was a giraffe in a turtleneck and one leg warmer right by our hotel which was almost more exciting.



We finished off the trip by taking Dave out to breakfast for his birthday. Can you tell he's a little cranky about turning 31?



Then we picked up a credenza we'd bought the day before, loaded it into the car and headed out of town. Unfortunately the sucker was about 6 inches too long for our station wagon, so we both had to pull our seats up ALL THE WAY to the dashboard to get it in the car. It was a joyous 2.5 hours in pouring rain, let me tell you.

OK, now it's time for me to read a little and wait for this crazy winter storm that's supposedly headed our way.
WINTER STORM, 2007!!! Woo hoo!

Oh! P.S.! You can now add comments without signing up for blogger. Yay!

Behold the Power of Cheese

I'm eating my lunch right now and just realized I am eating cheese. With cheese.
Seriously, I got a cup of Guiness Cheddar Soup and then without thinking also ordered a grilled cheese sandwich.

No osteoporosis here, but I might have a heart attack before the day is out. Jeez!

In other news, we went to Portland this weekend, and I will post a picture or two from that later on. If only there were a biotech company down there, I would be move in a second. I love that city!

The Best News You'll Hear All Day

Thank goodness it's Friday indeed. Check this out!

Happy weekend, everyone!

All Things Considered

I listen to NPR every morning on my way in to work, and I'm afraid I need to stop.

Every day by the time I arrive I'm either mad as hell, or depressed out of my mind. Luckily my friend Kelly listens every morning too, so I can march straight to her desk for a quick 'Oh my GAWD, were you listening to NPR this morning?' which is somewhat of a comfort to me.

Take this morning, for example. There was a segment called "Route 50 Conversations" during which they talk to Joe and Jane American about current issues and the installation of the newest Congress.

Does the average American REALLY think we should drill domestically for oil? Do they really see so much fault with conservation of resources? I almost fell over when one gentleman said that he would 'hate to see FOOD used for fuel' when asked about ethanol in place of gas. And one admitted outright that he never votes, never has, and things seem to be going just dandy in spite of it.

At this point, I was ready to stomp my own head off. Are these people that self-centered? That thoughtless? That...that not paying attention? Gah!

Welcome to the 21st Century, step right this way....

Dear friend/relative,

If you are receiving this link, it is because I love you all very, very much. And because I love you all I am also admitting defeat. I am a very, very bad corresponder. I know this and admitting it is the first step. Perhaps this makes me a bad ___________ [insert my relation to you here]. But here is where I change my sinful ways by starting a blog.

Think of this as one of those long update letters you get in your Christmas card every year, only this will probably be more boring and drawn out. Or, if you prefer, save up all the blogs of the year and read them on Christmas Eve. I'll try to include spoiler alerts where necessary.

I figure this will be a great way to let you know how mundane my life truly is, and that way you will understand exactly why I fail to email/call/write you. I have very little of interest to say.

In any case, I will try to update you on what's going on around here, post pictures, any bon mots or funny links I can dig up, etc. And if things get boring, may I suggest you send me a copy of this.

OK, yay. This is going to be awesome.
Love,
Me