Monthly Archives: April 2005

Rock rock rock rock rock rock rock rock rock rock rock rock band

By on

I sarificed a good night’s sleep, partial hearing, and having to spend two hours commuting to work (instead of my ususal 5 minutes) all to see “Other Jason” perform with the band Velva at Schubas last night. They played with the High Strung and Capitol Years.

I can tell you, it was totally and completely worth it. O.Jason had been telling me about this show, how they sing a song about Swedish Fish and he plays a laser, it’s wacked out — and it was all that and more.

The High Strung were the best part though. I never go to rock shows, and I usually don’t like them much. Watching the High Strung was amazing, and I didn’t feel my usual “Ehhh, I should get going” impatience. They could have been Muppets. They all wore white cowboy shirts and white Levis with palm-sized stars running down the arms and legs. The bassist smiled when he sang. The drummer looked as if he had cerebral palsy. (That sounds awful. I know. I know. It’s just that he was playing so GD hard, he looked like he had a congenital defect.)

Their music was like the Beatles, only harder. I know that sounds hackneyed and eye rolling, but that’s it. They were like audio Paxil. I came in neutral, but after watching the show, I felt a little happier.

(My “i hate rock shows” thing kicked in, about 11:30, and I left after hearing just two songs of Capitol Years, but they seemed to rock just as hard, and I plan on finding some of their music.)

Off to catch the effing train.

Health Update

By on

Being a company that cares about peoples’ health, Abbott has a blood pressure-taker machine. My blood pressure is 104/62. Just in case you were wondering that today.

Vanilla Oatmeal with Dried Cherries and Walnuts

By on

That’s what I’ll be eating on Sunday when I meet up with Kandy and Emma for brunch at 0, 229000.venue”> Milk & Honey. I’m already thinking about it.

Speaking of food, I may have had a little bit of food poisoning this week. I slept in again today, not getting to work until 1 p.m. Last night I laid around watching 35 different CSI location shows. Everything I watched was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. It didn’t help my stomach, but it was still better than stupid sitcoms, which make me nauseous all the time.

I did scan a bunch of photos, including the rest of Fourth of July 2004, the boudoir series with Al and Meghan, the Our Friends Electric show at Lillys, and the series I did with a very pregnant Amber (Emily had a cameo as a fetus).

I hope to have enough time this weekend between a birthday soiree, a Cubs game, a Clucker thingie, a brunch, a fake purse party, and a Velva show to maybe get these photographs up in the gallery for your peepers.

You have to remember, I scanned fast and hard – not thoroughly, so if there’s dust and poor contrast, I’m sorry. I have three years worth of prints to make.

Yessssssssssssssssssssss

By on

I just scored a new music listening list from C-ris (Chris Weber). He had made me a double-disc comp back in fall of ’03, and I became a fan of each and every one of the songs. Some have become Top 50 Best Songs of All Time material. The opening track, Canyon Ride by the Beachwood Sparks, is a killer of a first song. I’m not even kidding when I say I my friend Lia now only listens to that song, and no other songs. She told me so.

I continue to listen to what has become known as “Chrisss Mixxx”, and realized about a month ago that I would do just about anything to get a new hit list. I mean, Chris is human, and maybe his tastes have changed, or maybe mine have, and maybe it won’t be as magical as the last, but I wanted a new Chrisss Mixxx anyway.

Also, Chris is nowhere in sight. He’s not in IC anymore, and I can’t just tug on his shirtsleeve. In fact, I bet he’s busy a lot of the time in grad school. I didn’t even care. I emailed him today, and now I have a play list!

If you think I’m sharing it yet, you’re wrong. I’m going to download all the songs first, and dance a little jig. Then we’ll see.

If you’re lucky, I’ll post the Chrisss Mixxx Vol. 1. Yeah, stop sniffing that muffin.

Saltines are good.

By on

Much like the way Sprite tastes like “staying home from school with the flu”, Saltines are a psychosomatic/really good way to feel better when you’re feeling sick. They make you want to drink water, which is good, and they have an accumulated taste of Mom and feeling better.

Which is to say, I’m not feeling so hot today. I woke up feeling weird. Wait – I slept weird. Jason – will you post what it was I said to you in my sleep last night? I think it’s really funny, but that’s probably because I said it.

I’m calling in sick to the library. I’m going to go home and watch crap tv with my cat on my lap. Yeah. That will be good.

Sesame Street: 25 Of [Someone’s] Favorite Memories

By on

Sesame Street: 25 Of My Favorite Memories – Progressive Boink

I found this on BoingBoing, and it made my heart sing with joy. Especially since I had a conversation about the “loaf of bread, container of milk, & stick of butter” skit with a certain friend.

For those who don’t know, my old dream job was working for Sesame Street. Somehow it got derailed after AmeriCorps when my 3/4″ Umatic TV skills were totally useless after missing the tipping point of digital editing. (Not that I wouldn’t rock at it now – I’ve played with an Avid, and I know what’s up.)

The point is that for a long time, working for Sesame Street was my dream job, and even though I have a new dream job‡, I’ll always love that freaking show.

My all-time favorite bit was the Pinball Song. I was nonplussed by Oscar the Grouch. I loved Grover, and therefore resented Elmo. There was a bit called "Teeny Little Super Guy", which was a, well, little guy painted on a glass, and he lived in a kitchen. My brother would put the hoop to our foam basketball pole on his head, and dance around as we sang "teeny little super guy, pops right up before your eye". Oh, what? I shouldn’t hav divulged that? Oh. I’m sorry.

 

‡My new dream job is to work as a librarian for Celebrity Cruises.

Dancing in plastic shake-up snow

By on

Once upon a time, I was in AmeriCorps*NCCC. I was based out of Washington, D.C. During my stint, I went to a Jimmy Eat World show at the 9:30 club. My whole team had begun listening to their albums, and a bunch of us went together.

There were camera crews everywhere, and as it turns out, they were filming the Jimmy Eat World DVD that night. That was in 2001, and just a few months ago I realized that I could Netflix the DVD.

Last night Jason and I watched it, and I spent a good deal of time four inches away from the screen, peering at the crowd shots for my grille. I noticed myself once, and made Jason laugh by exclaiming “Oh, look! There’s my tiny little head!”

We fast forwarded through most of it, but it reminded me that I used to listen to that music all the time. Especially running. We had physical training five days a week, so I did a lot of running.

I also scanned a lot of photographs, but will have to wait till this weekend to upload them to this here outsidcat because whoever was providing me with free wireless seems to have moved out or smashed their gizmo to bits.

Giant Shoebox

By on

There’s something about a giant building that makes it more silent when it rains. Maybe it’s because the noise is constant, so it smooths out the other noises. I don’t know. It’s kind of eerie. I’m used to rat-a-tat-tat against glass at the very least. My favorite place to be during a strong rain was always the machine shed. It’s a giant two-story cavernous tin building and even a light rain became a cacophony. Then again, I like exaggeration.

Best lunch hour ever.

By on

I came in to work early this morning, because my superstar co-worker/friend has a slow leak flat tire. I’m leaving late because I’ll go straight to pilates, so I have a full hour of luscious lunch time.

Are you ready for this?

I’m eating cheese ravioli drowned in Parmesan, which cost me $1.90; while knitting the Anton sweater; while listening to a knitting podcast.

I don’t know if life is really this good, or if it’s just my mood, but I’m feeling on top of the world.

Yesterday was the same. I won third place in the NCAA pool; I found the perfect apartment in Champaign, found out that they accept cats, and can show it on next Friday when I (and Jason) will be down there; I called up my friend Loran who graciously rearranged his schedule so he’ll be home on said Friday so Jason and I don’t have to get a hotel; I went to the new improved gigantic Salvation Army and scored major sweet purchases, including a $3 iPod car adaptor; I bought groceries for the first time in three weeks, including all sorts of fresh veggies and whatnot, and only spent $80; and while there, I found on sale, a jar of pure horseradish puree. Jason’s been looking for that crap for weeks. Now I have it, and it cost a dollar.

Oh, also, when I got to work, I had an email from my one remaining friend in Germany, and an email from Ali, who sent me a transcript of the New Yorker article about a knit shop. I’m going to post the article as a comment.