Tales from NW

Earlier this week (like so many times) I circled my car around the neighborhood for twenty minutes, only to find a parking space in a two hour zone. Gave up, parked the car there anyway. Got up before the crack of dawn to move the car to a legal space, but it took ten minutes to find one. Cussed. A lot.

Just now I circled the block around my building three times. No parking. Found a spot four blocks away. Walked to my building only to find an empty parking place right in front. Now, if I go back to my car by the time I get to this new open space in front of my building it will surely be taken. Then I will drive back to the old spot cussing that I wasted my time, and then that one will have been taken too. So, I leave my car where it is (and p.s. it's a spot only open on the weekends, so I'll have to move it later anyway) and think about how nice it will be to have a driveway again someday.

Safety never takes a vacation

I heard that from someone.

I was just unpacking from last weekend (and the only reason I'm getting around to it now is because I have people coming over tomorrow night, otherwise I'm sure it would be even longer before I got around to it - don't judge me) and I found a bottle of hairspray left in my backpack by accident. Not like a travel-size bottle, like a full-on bottle. And not a peep out of TSA. Seriously, what's the point?

Ash Wednesday

"You come from dust, and to dust you will return."

Oh Boy

Last Saturday I went to Flag and saw Stampead do their thang.  There is more to write about my little jaunt to Arizona, but for now...

A little history. If I were still on MySpace I'd be really dumb and link to a blog I wrote there about the first time Andrea and I stumbled onto this band.  Our band, as we like to say.  Thankfully, it no longer exists and I can pretend I didn't really write that story.  Ever since, we have had fun stalking these boys like it's our job.  I think the music is brilliant, but seriously, the icing on the cake is the audio/visual experience of watching them perform right in front of you.  This weekend we got to see them in action once again, and it was just as good as I remembered.

They played all of our favorites, which if you asked the other girls there with us they would tell you our favorite is every song they play, but I digress.  I still think Commotion is one of the greatest, Bang Our Glasses Again has the hottest guitar you'll ever hear, you can't help but smile when they play Milk & Honey, and Calm Me Down is the saddest song ever.  I love everything on their new album, but Don't Tease The Lion is definitely a fave.  My Widow and Funeral Train are sad, but beautifully written.  Oh Boy has the greatest first line to start the album and between that song and Alabama, it just captures my happiness, and Rain On Your Rooftop is a totally sweet love song...  I could go on and on.

[Side note: Isn't it fantastic to watch people do what they love?  No matter what it may be.  I have no musical aspirations, but seeing these guys do what they are meant to do is totally inspiring.]

[Side note to Katie June: Don't read any further.  It's for the best.] 

They had a new kid with them this time, David, playing keys.  He was a total kick in the pants!

Can I just say that Ivan is possibly the most adorable human being on the planet? I want to put his joyful self right in my pocket.  I can never understand what he is saying, but he's just so damn happy!

And Sean is just one of those people that you feel instantly comfortable around, like you've known him forever. And he is an uber talented drummer. I think they hide him in the back because they know he's really the coolest.

But those Jewish boys, I tell you what: I just can't get enough of 'em. I stand firm in the belief that if everyone just watched Eric do his thing on the harmonica it could bring world peace. He's also quite possibly the most amazing guitar player ever. And that hair... good god.

I kind of had an Andrea-head-tilt-"huh" moment watching Judd perform. I absolutely love the lyrics he writes, love to watch him belt out songs with that voice, oh boy - that voice (lol!), and I like that he seems a bit shy in person. (Because I totally make up their lives in my head, of course.)  Anyway, he caught me watching him a couple of times and held my eyes while he sang. Man, those boys know how to work it. I guarantee there isn't a girl in the world who has watched them put on a show and not wanted to fuck everything in sight afterwards. I'm just sayin'.