The Dauntless Muse

Summer plans

2008-07-25T09:53:00.000-07:00

It's July 25th. Which means it's almost August. I was startled when I noticed the date this morning, and was struck once again by the realization that the warmer, sunnier months really do just fly past while you're looking the other way.

I always have a double handful of grandiose plans for summer (visit Prague), and three times as many simple plans (visit the beach once a week). Usually by the time I've realized that I haven't done any of the things I wanted to do, it's midway through September and it's nowhere near as warm and beautiful as it was a month or two ago. So I shrug, and I say to myself "I'll do it next year."

Well, suddenly next year has rolled around. Want to know how many times I've been to the beach this summer?

Zero.

As I get older it's becoming more and more important for me to make sure I do more than go to work, put my nose to the grindstone for eight hours or more, then come home, play some video games or watch a movie, and go to bed. I want to be doing so much more than that, but generally by the time 6:30 rolls around, I've finished work, I've gone to the gym or my yoga class, and I've finally gotten home. I think about taking off to the beach or riding my bike down to the store for strawberries, and I just can't make myself get off the couch. I'm tired.

I'm also tired of sitting around the house doing nothing.

Before it's over, this summer:

I'm going to Bumbershoot for sure, and maybe Warped Tour. Both are summer music/arts festivals that I have a blast at. It's been years since I've been to either one.

I'm going camping for at least one night.

I'm going to the beach, damnit!

I'm visiting Fort Flagler.

I'm going to Seattle to wander around and hang out.

I'm going to ride my bike more.

I'm going hiking at least once.

And so end my summer ambitions for this year.

Maybe next year I can go to Prague...

Judas Priest Photos

2008-07-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Nils ^_^

Judas Priest

2008-07-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

I slept really well last night and have regained my power to speak in complete sentences. Which means it's time to write about the Judas Priest show.

WaMu Theater was a pretty neat place. My only complaint about the venue was that it was all seated. When I go to a metal show I like to be right down in the middle of the crowd, moshing and shrieking and pounding my fist in the air. It's euphoric, being close to the stage, battered and bruised, high off the music that pounds right through you....

So yeah, chairs? Not my favorite thing.

Since I didn't find out about the show until a few days before they played, our tickets weren't the best. Nils, Ian, and I were only a couple rows from the very back. But what seemed like bad luck at first actually ended up working out really well. WaMu Theater isn't that big, and although I couldn't make out the expressions on the musician's faces, we did have center seats and a full, unobstructed view of the stage. There's definitely something to be said for that.

Testament opened. Now, when I first started listening to metal all those years ago, there were three bands that got me hooked. Metallica, Queensryche, and Testament. These guys have been around for a while, I think somewhere between '85 and '87, and although I hadn't listened to them in a long time I was really excited to see them.

I ended up being pretty disappointed. The music was fine, very fast, simplistic, and thrashy, though I didn't particularly enjoy the tracks they played from their new album, Formation of Damnation. The band simply has little to no stage presence. I found myself leaning back in my chair thinking about things I needed to buy on my next grocery store run, and trying to decide whether or not I was going to go to my yoga class the next day. And it might be just me, but Chuck Billy sounded like he was trying really hard to do his best James Hetfield impersonation.

Ultimately I remembered why I don't listen to Testament any more.

After waiting through Testament's allotted hour of time we sat on the edges of our seats waiting impatiently for Judas Priest's stage set up to be completed.

Now I'm going to take a moment here and say I have seen a lot of live music. Especially a lot of metal. I've seen Cradle f Filth, Children of Bodom, Dimmu Borgir, Nile, Hammerfall, Edguy, Into Eternity, Nevermore, Opeth, Amon Amarth, Stratovarius, Gwar, Dragonforce.... the list goes on. The only reason I mention this is because when I say Judas Priest put on one of the BEST shows I have EVER seen I want you to appreciate that I have seen my fair share of bands.

So.

Judas Priest put on one of the BEST shows I have EVER seen.

Wow.

They started with a track from their new album, Nostradamus. Rob Halford appeared clad in a floor length, metallic silver robe, holding a staff taller than he was, banging it into the ground as he hunched over and shuffled around like an old man, screaming the lyrics "I am Nostradamus!"

Over the top? Yes. AMAZINGLY AWESOME? Yes.

From there he switched to a more conservative long silver trench coat and proceeded to deliver one of the best shows I've ever seen (yeah, yeah, I know I'm repeating myself). The entire band was dynamic and energetic, really catching and holding your attention. I can promise I wasn't composing a grocery list while they were playing, that's for sure.

I was glad that they only played two tracks from Nostradamus. It was nice that they recognized that the crowd (a wonderfully diverse group of people ranging from my parents' age to young adults to kids) in all probability wasn't there to hear their new stuff, they're looking for the old classics. They played 'Between the Hammer and the Anvil', one of my all time favorites. 'Painkiller' and 'Breaking the Law', of course. They played one track from Angel of Retribution and I was sad that it was 'Angel' and not 'Judas Rising', but it's still a fantastic song. Additional highlights included 'Electric Eye' and 'Hellbent for Leather'. Rob Halford drove his Harley out onto the stage and sang 'Hellbent for Leather' from the back of his bike - over the top and awesome.

The only thing that could have made the show better would be if they had played my all time favorite Priest song, 'Ram it Down'. But I'll give them a break. After all, they've been around for a good long while, it's not like they have a shortage of material to choose a set list from.

I had a couple people say to me before I went that Priest wasn't going to sound decent or put on a good show. "They've been around since the '70s, Becca. They're old guys. Why go? They don't sound good any more." All I can do is laugh at those poor, foolish souls. Of course I didn't get to see Judas Priest when they were in their prime so I don't exactly have much to compare my experience to, but I don't care how old those guys are, they still sound amazing.

Anyway, if you're a Priest fan, don't hesitate to check them out as they make their way across the states. Ignore the people who say that since they're older they can't blow your mind with their massive power of Awesome, because they can and will.

This is what happens

2008-07-23T11:45:00.001-07:00

This is what Becca looks like after she spends all night watching Judas Priest rock Seattle and hanging out with her friends. Then goes to bed at 6:30AM. When she has to be at work at 8:30AM.

Becca is not enjoying work today.

**Edit**

Just in case you were wondering, Becca is still not enjoying work.

Somehow Becca has managed to sound reasonably intelligent when speaking with clients, but she's tripped (several times), walked into a wall (once), and knocked her phone into the garbage can (twice. unfortunately no, I'm not kidding).

And now that she's writing this, she's realizing that this isn't all that different from a normal day. Except on a normal day she doesn't have anything to blame the clumsiness on...

Conversations: A plague of...?

2008-07-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

The Scene: Pat and I are sitting outside about to water plants. Pat appears in a contemplative mood. I am contemplative as well. I am contemplating very seriously how to bypass the spider webs without actually touching any of them so I can get to my hose.

Pat: I wonder what it takes to reach 'plague' status.

Me: Huh?

Pat: You know. A plague. I wonder when it becomes a plague, and not 'that nasty bug that's going around'.

Me: Oooh. (I'm thinking about something that logically should come before plague. I'm searching for the word, and I can't for the life of me remember the what it is. Of course, NOW I remember. EPIDEMIC. But I didn't remember at the time, so the silence stretches on as I wrack my brain which apparently retains information about as well as a colander retains water. )

Silence.

Me: I don't know.

Pat: But plague doesn't just apply to illness. Like 'a plague of locusts'. How many locusts does there need to be to have a plague of them? And can that apply to anything bad that there are a bunch of?

Me: Definitely. Like on my back deck there's a plague of bees.

Pat: (laughs) I think that any more than one bee is definitely a plague. And you definitely have a plague of bees on your back deck.

Me: And in my kitchen there are a plague of dirty dishes. And in my hallway a plague of disorganized CDs. And in my bedroom a plague of laundry...

And at work today I've been harassed by a plague of phone calls while simultaneously trying to handle a plague of faxes and help a plague of clients....

Concert time

2008-07-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

One of my all time favorite thing to do is go to concerts. Give me a metal band in a small venue and I'll be happy for weeks. Somehow I have been to exactly zero concerts this year.

So, kicking off my new concert calendar for the summer and fall is........

JUDAS PRIEST. Playing with TESTAMENT.

Small venue? Well, no. But how does one pass up the opportunity to see Judas PRIEST? I certainly haven't figured it out.

I'm going to have Ram it Down stuck in my head all day now.

Ouch...

2008-07-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

The worst part of a bad sunburn isn't the day or two after the initial burn when it feels like someone tarred your back and set it on fire. You're expecting it to hurt, you're prepared for it. It sucks, but you suck it up and deal with it.

No, the worst part of a bad sunburn is when it's been almost a week. You've been religiously keeping the burn moisturized with aloe lotions and it's finally starting to not hurt that much any more. You're even able to go to your yoga class and stretch without crying.

THEN.

Suddenly, without warning, huge sheets of skin peel off. The skin underneath HURTS LIKE HELL and the aloe lotion that was the soothing balm you relied on so heavily a week ago just makes this new skin STING (and when I say sting, I mean STING). So you're back at square one, with the tar and the fire feeling, except you weren't ready for it this time and it really really hurts AND it's still not done peeling so it itches....

Damnit.

This sucks.

Wanted Movie Review

2008-07-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Wanted
R
2008
*** out of ****

I wasn't expecting anything out of this movie. I mean seriously, I'd heard some pretty awful reviews. It's always great when you go into a theater expecting to see the worst thing to ever hit the big screen, and end up with something ten times better. Besides, how could I not go see a movie about a bunch of assassins led by Morgan Freeman?

Premise: The Fraternity. A deadly brotherhood of assassins (plus one woman) formed a thousand years ago, graced with near supernatural abilities, taking the names of their targets directly from fate. Enter inconsequential cubicle dweller whose life gets completely turned around when he is recruited by The Fraternity to hunt down the traitor who killed his father.

Okay, I'm going to come out and say it now before I go any further.

Why does Angelina Jolie look like a holocaust victim? And furthermore, why does she think that she can be an action hero with arms that look like toothpicks?

I spent every scene where she did something that would have required any kind of strength or stamina laughing behind my hand. Oh, and the scene where she's beating up McAvoy? I wasn't even bothering to laugh behind my hand. I'm assuming her character was meant to by alluringly dangerous, and Jolie fails utterly and completely to provide that kind of magnetism. Why is this stick-thin ideal still perpetrated? Who thinks that sunken cheeks and frail limbs are attractive? If Jolie ever wants to act in an action movie again, I would suggest she gain some freaking weight. MUSCLE, Jolie, MUSCLE. It is your friend.

You know who would have been BAD ASS as Fox?

Rhona-Fucking-Mitra.

There's an action heroine.

It's too bad, really. Fox was a wickedly cool character who was beautifully illustrated and fleshed out through the film, and held true to her motives until the end.

Anyway. I'm done ranting now, promise.

The movie was surprisingly well done. I wasn't so sure when it started - it has a pretty shaky beginning - but if you can get through the silliness of the first third you can start to appreciate the character development and killer action scenes, especially the ones that start popping up towards the end of the film.

James McAvoy (Wesley Gibson, main character) did a fine job. His character's transitions from Disinterested Slacker to Eager Wannabe to Determined Warrior to Wrathful Son were very black and white and didn't allow for a whole lot of room for easing into each phase of the character, but McAvoy did very well.

The storyline was entertaining and fun to follow, and though it throws in the usual quota of predictable twists here and there, it leaves you satisfied. This movie also features my new very favorite 'go in guns blazing' scene ever.

(Keep in mind before you watch this that this flick is rated R for a reason, and this is a violent clip)

Anyway, surprisingly good movie, I'd recommend seeing it if you enjoy action films. Aside from my aforementioned problems with Jolie, I enjoyed this move quite a bit. Don't take it too seriously - it certainly doesn't take itself too seriously. And the very last scene in the film is worth the price of admission all by itself.

"This is me, taking back control of my life. What the fuck have you done lately?"

What every cat needs

2008-07-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

Ahh, Engadget, it's been too long since I've visited you...

My cat, and many (if not all) of the numerous other cats I have encountered, would go bananas for this. But I can't help but feel it seems a tad unnecessary...

"Cat Faucet solves elusive cat drinking from sink issue, we sigh in relief

Cats like to drink from everywhere but the places they're supposed to drink from, and for that they offer no excuses, reasons, and just walk away, tails in the air. This independent spirit, though, means that we're often stuck turning faucets on and off for thirsty felines because heaven forbid they drink from a dish. One crafty soul has solved this gripping conundrum with an IR detector, valves, some plastic tubing, and a whole lot of moxie. The detector can even suss out if the subject is human or feline in order to keep the faucet from triggering every time someone walks by. Our test subjects won't comment on the new tech, but they've stopped complaining and have become extremely athletic and hydrated super-cats of doom. Still reading? Peep the video after the break of hot kitty drinking action.

"

Okay. Come on. My cat loves the bathroom faucet, but I'm not going to go rig up or purchase some special contraption to attach to my plumbing just so she can spend all day wasting water. She has a bowl of fresh water changed multiple times a day, for crying out loud.

I love my cat as much as the next person. Although Stella is still a little too bite-happy for my nerves, she's the 'person' who greets me every day when I come home from work, sits and watches movies with me, always wants to be in the same room with me, lends me her moral support when I have to clean the bathroom or kitchen, makes me laugh when she decides she wants to play fetch.....

...........

...............

So, uh..........

How do I get one of those things....?

For Michael Turner

2008-07-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

So this afternoon my mom texted me at work with this:

"Hi. I just saw that Michael Turner died. Wasn't he one of your favorite comic book guys?"

My first reaction? NO WAY. Impossible!

Unfortunately I was wrong. It's true.

Mr. Turner lost his battle with bone cancer at the age of 37.

Michael Turner has been one of my favorite comic book artists since I realized that other companies existed beyond Marvel and DC. I was first captured by his art in Top Cow's Witchblade. His stunning attention to detail captivated me. When I looked at his comics, I thought this is what I want my art to look like. Top Cow swiftly became my favorite publisher and I was quick to pursue series that featured Mr. Turner's art, and from there anything that Mr. Turner happened to have illustrated a cover for. At comic book conventions, the first thing I did was go searching for anything Turner related.

It wasn't only his artistic ability that was hugely inspirational to me; in 2002 Mr. Turner left Top Cow, and by January of 2003 he had founded his own publishing company, Aspen Comics MLT, which featured offshoots of the Fathom series and urban fantasy story Soulfire.

My most heartfelt condolences to Mr. Turner's family and friends. I never personally met Mr. Turner, but no artist has ever inspired me more. No artist has ever made me so excited to pick up a comic book. His journey through the comic art world, from Top Cow background artist to creating his own company, is... aw, hell, I know I've used this word too much already, but it's inspirational. His art and his comics will always have a special place in my heart.

"Dating for the Rich & Gorgeous"

2008-07-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

Myspace is not my favorite thing ever but I still keep in contact with several friends through the site, so I log on every now and then. I logged in today to check mail, and on the sidebar where they keep the big obnoxious advertisements I saw THIS:

(*crossing fingers* Please don't get sued for snaking that image...)

I got a good laugh out of it. I admit, I'm not familiar at all with dating sites, but this just seemed silly. And shallow. And wrong.

So of course I clicked on it.

Apparently this is "where the classy, attractive, and affluent meet". The front page told me I could start interacting with the most attractive, wealthy, and desirable people in online dating, should I so choose. Still, I was hesitant. Even though they proclaimed they had been delivering a superior dating service since 2002 I was wary, so I decided to check out their testimonials.

Well! High praise from a lot of rich men who hooked up with beautiful women. And hey! Even a few recommendations from some satisfied ladies!

I was impressed. I was convinced. I was ready to meet attractive, wealthy, desirable people.

I went back to the home page and selected "I am a woman looking for a Sugar Daddie (male)" from the drop down menu. I left the country set at "All Countries". After all, who would turn down a foreign Sugar Daddie? Age, lets see... well, I'm not going to be too picky if they're affluent and pretty. Between the ages of 21 - 45? Sure, why not.

Goodness. There's certainly more than a few decent looking guys, and several showing off perfect steroid sculpted bodies. Hey, check it out! A 40something man introduces himself with the quote "WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME!" Dream come true! Ooh, here's another one that sounds promising: "Cadillac on the loose seeks brakes". I'll give him points for being creative.

Unfortunately one can't view full profiles without registering, and though I clearly could see that the site would definitely be able to hook me up with the Sugar Daddie I had been waiting for all my life (as long as I put on something slutty that showed off my breasts for the profile picture, of course) I didn't feel that I was quite ready to take that next step.

So what did I do next? I wrote a blog post.

In all seriousness, although I do feel a little bit bad for making fun of this dating site..... HOW SHALLOW IS IT? I mean, honestly!

Gone Baby Gone Movie Review

2008-07-10T12:18:00.001-07:00

Gone Baby Gone

2007
***1/2 out of ****

This was a film that I wanted to see back when it was first released in theaters, never got around to it, and then forgot about. Then one day it appeared as if by magic in my mailbox from Netflix (greatest service ever, btw). I was excited, and had an 'oh yeah I really want to watch that' moment. Then I forgot about it again and it sat on top of my DVD player for three months. I finally took it over to a friend's place and watched it earlier this week.

Premise: A child is abducted. The police are getting nowhere. The child's desperate aunt goes out and hires two young private detectives who specialize in missing persons to assist in the investigation. Embarking on the investigation leads them through twist after twist after twist, eventually culminating in a deep, thought-provoking conclusion.

The only bad thing I can come up with to say about this movie is that I think it went on a little long. The writing was amazing, the acting was amazing, and the filming was amazing. It's a very, very, very intense movie, definitely not something to watch if you're looking for a little light entertainment.

All of the acting was perfect, but most noteworth was Casey Affleck. He was truly amazing. His performance was beautifully nuanced, gone from mild mannered everyone's friend to menacing and dangerous with barely an eyeblink. His reactions to the traumatizing situations he finds himself in are believeable and moving. Amy Ryan was also definitely worth noting for her portrayal of a drug addict bereft mother, going from seemingly uncaring to sudden terror after finding the corpse of a man they believe took her daughter when suddenly the situation becomes real.

It's difficult to talk about this movie without giving away key plot lines, so I'm going to stop here. Although I probably never need to see this movie again, it was incredible in its unblinking, unflinching stare at difficult moral dilemmas and the consequences of choices made. The end is great food for thought, and makes for an interesting debate topic.

"He lied to me. Now I can't think of one reason big enough for him to lie that's small enough not to matter."

Random photo

2008-07-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

L to R: Pat, Nils, and me.

I love my friends. They take silly pictures with me. ^_^

Raccoons: The Hidden Agenda

2008-07-09T09:21:00.000-07:00

It's really not that much of a story, but I thought I'd tell it anyway. ^_^

They look innocent enough, maybe even cute, but they're also not an animal to take lightly. Raccoons can be pretty vicious, and with the food shortage in Washington the raccoons are getting bolder and bolder, even going to far as to waltz uninvited into houses.

Usually I'm fairly wary of raccoons. I dislike the idea of getting mauled by any kind of animal, and after watching a certain episode of House, I have an irrational fear of getting rabies. Are the raccoons around my house rabid? Probably not. But you never know!

I got home from work one day stressed out and tired. My boss and office manager were both out of town and the office assistant was on vacation, which left me to man the office solo. This is tiring and stressful enough as it is, but a couple of things had happened that day to push me over the edge from stressed to really stressed. So when I got home I got changed. Returned a couple of phone calls. Sat down on the sofa. And I thought to myself, you know, I could use a shot of vodka. Just to chill out.

I never drink by myself. I think it's pretty sad and a little pathetic. That's not to say I've never done it - it happens to the best of us. Anyway, that one shot of vodka turned into more shots of vodka, and then Amp and vodka. And let me tell you, when you're watching Supernatural intoxicated, every single episode is the greatest episode you have ever seen.

So I wander outside because the interior of my duplex is approximately 3,000 degrees after the sun has been shining on it all day. I sit down on the porch steps watching Supernatural and drinking my Amp and vodka. After a while I catch a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye. I look up and see a raccoon standing about three to four feet away from me.

Generally this is where I would stand up slowly and back towards the door. Instead, thoughts of maulings and rabies never even entering my head, I grinned like an idiot and said, "hi raccoon!" The raccoon just stood where it was, looking at me. I went back to watching Supernatural, but I started wondering what the raccoon was looking at.

Then I suddenly understood. Slowly I looked back up at the raccoon, who was still standing in the same place. "You're going to try to steal my alcohol!" I accused angrily. Hastily I snatched up my glass. "No alcohol for you!" I stood up and stormed inside, slamming the door behind me.

It took a second of replaying what had just happened, but as soon as what I had done sunk in, I started laughing and couldn't stop.

So next time you're enjoying some mild summer weather and having a drink, watch out for those raccoons. They're after your booze.

Other things that are after your booze include big brothers. I recently learned that too.

And I'm back... again!

2008-07-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

I can never consistently post on this blog. There will be weeks where I post every single day, and weeks were I don't post anything at all. I'm very easily distracted.

So, because I'm suffering from a bad case of writer's block, here are some of the things I've been distracted by this time around:

1. GORGEOUS WEATHER! It's finally summer here in good old western Washington. Not that I've really been doing anything outside, but man, that sun sure does look pretty coming in through the windows! Of course, it is awfully bright, and it does make my computer monitor hard to see. And it's soooo hot... I can't do anything but lie comatose on the sofa when it's this hot.

Where the hell did the rain go??? I live in Washington because it RAINS, it's not allowed to be 90 degrees! Erm, hey, autumn? You coming our way any time soon?

2. Hellgate: London. It's a fantastic game, and has made for a nice break from the World of Warcraft grind to 70.

3. I discovered that Dean Winchester from Supernatural (a.k.a. Jensen Ackles) is the most divinely beautiful man alive. Plus, his character is perfect. Just the right combination of tortured angst, arrogance, and silliness. And did I mention that he was divinely beautiful? Look!

Oh, and the rest of the show is awesome too. Very fun, and surprisingly good. Can't wait for the fourth season to start airing. I just plowed through all three seasons, and I'll be writing a review eventually.

4. Guitar Hero. Yep, it's pretty sad. Do I care? No.

(I just beat it on medium. I rock!)

5. Booze stealing raccoons. In this story I get drunk, think the raccoon hanging around my porch is trying to steal my alcohol, and.... well, anyway... that's a story for another time. Yeah.

And that's about it.

Conversations: Revenge Movies

2008-06-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

The Scene: Standing on my front porch with my friend Pat discussing various vigilante/revenge movies. We're talking about 'The Crow', a movie which (shamefully) Pat had never seen.

Me: You know, something that always kinda bugged me about that movie. Why was it that Brandon Lee's character that got to come back from the dead? It was his fiance who was raped and beaten to death, she had a lot more reason to be pissed. It's this whole, 'Man Avenge Woman' thing.

Pat: (nods decisively) As it should be.

Me: PFFT.

Pat: (teasingly) What? That's how it should be. Man protect woman. Hey, come here. (he pulls me away from the porch railing) See? I just protected you from that bee.

Me: BEE? WHERE?! Wait, don't change the subject! Are you saying women can't wreak havoc and take revenge as well as men can?

(pause)

Me: Revenge is an equal opportunity employer, Pat.

Pat: (bursts out laughing) Becca's quote of the day...

Note: Pat really isn't sexist. He just likes to tease me. ^_^

Introducing Andrew

2008-06-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

I don't have much time this afternoon, but I thought I would take a moment and plug my friend Andrew's new blog.

Andrew and I have been friends for a few years now. He is an extremely talented musician (fiddler) who plays with local Seattle folk-rock band Handful of Luvin' (also definitely worth checking out, especially this time of year - fantastic summer music!).

Andrew has just recently begun blogging. He writes "Music Musings", which, as the name implies, centers around intelligent, researched, well written and well thought out reviews of bands and albums, old and new.

An excerpt from "The Inconvenient Truths of Ben Gibbard - Death Cab for Cuties "Narrow Stairs"

"From Bixby Canyon Bridge (with Gibbard opening the album with his personal reflections on Jack Kerouac and his stay at Big Sur, CA); the album almost moves like a dark stream of consciousness in the style of a Kerouac beat poem as Gibbard recalls and expounds on topics such as loss of innocence and disillusionment (No Sunlight, Your New Twin Sized Bed, The Ice is Getting Thinner); the inevitability of death and how we cope with it(Cath..., Grapevine Fires, You Can Do Better Than Me), and other topics ranging from love and obsession(I will Possess Your Heart, Long Division, Pity & Fear), to feelings of inadequacy (Talking Bird.) Gibbard tackles a wide array of issues and delivers to his audience a clear thoughtful, yet always somber voice."

Andrew's love and vast knowledge of music is apparent in his reviews, and makes them very enjoyable to read. He doesn't seem to post very often, but each review is worth waiting for.

So check him out. ^_^

Of bees and power windows

2008-06-12T15:54:00.001-07:00

I was reflecting on my car today. My car, a little 2001 Suzuki Esteem, does not have power windows. I'm very glad of this. Why? Because I can roll up my window ten times faster than the power motor can roll it up when I spy an incoming bee headed straight for me, intent on destruction and pain. I demonstrated this just a half hour ago. It's amazing what adrenaline can do.

I live in mortal terror of bees getting into my car. Not for any good, logical reason - I'm not allergic to them, and it's not like being stung is that big of a deal, but I am reduced to a quivering bundle of nerves when I happen to spot one a football field away, much less one that's sharing a ten foot radius with me. And God FORBID one get into my car.

Which reminds me...

Last summer I was driving my buddy Pat home. We were going through the downtown area of the small city that we live in. It's a lovely little area, good to visit on a weekend and peer through the windows of the quaint little shops and even more appealing because adjacent to the shopping area is a quiet bay waterfront park. Fortunately the speed limit is 15mph, and you're often going slower through the area because of the abundance of pedestrians choosing to cross the street wherever they happen to decide they want to instead of using the crosswalks.

As Pat and I crawled along through town, I felt something bump my leg - wearing shorts made the feeling that much more acute. I instantly got a very bad feeling and reflexively reached down without taking my eyes off the road and swatted at my leg, biting my lip. Pat gave me a quizzical look, but I was too focused on what was going on around my unprotected bare flesh to pay him any mind.

About two seconds later I happened to glance down and nearly choked. Sitting calmly as you please on my seat right between my legs was the biggest freaking bee I had ever seen. I shrieked something along the lines of, "OH MY GOD OH SHIT THERE'S A BEE!" Pat instantly came to attention, and responded intelligently with, "where is it? Oh FUCK, that's a big bee!"

Yes, thank you. I am definitely aware of this.

I'm still not sure how I managed to slowly pull into a mostly empty parking lot and park my car without hitting anyone or anything, but I did. After the car was motionless I sat still as a statue, whimpering and staring down that the biggest bee ever. I didn't know what to do, and I was convinced that if I moved, the bee was rouse itself and attack me with a vengeance for swatting at it.

Pat was my hero that day. "Don't. Move. A. Muscle." He spoke slowly and carefully, apparently afraid I would bolt like a startled deer right into oncoming traffic. He fumbled around for a moment and came up with a CD case, and slammed it down, trapping and probably killing the bee. He moved as though he was going to lift his hand up.

"WAIT!" I screamed. "I'M GETTING OUT!" I flung my door open and squirmed my way out of the car around Pat's hand and arm. "Okay," I said breathlessly. "Get rid of it." Pat raised the CD case and deftly flipped the now dead bee out of the car.

And from then on that be was referred to as the Anti Christ Bee. Epic tales would be told of the battle. I have no idea how far they've spread, but if you've heard tales of The Epic Battle with the Anti Christ Bee, now you know the real story. ^_^

I apologize if I've told this story before - I don't recall ever blogging about it before, but you never know, my memory isn't all that wonderful. ^_^

Things I've learned

2008-06-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

I learned that when trying to grow plants in rainy Washington, one should always make sure that one's pots have some method of draining. Because as soon as you think it's safe, June willl turn into Juneuary and it will rain for two weeks. Thanks for the rocks suggestion, Anne - and I SUDDENLY realized that you have a blog, and feel very stupid for just now realizing it!!!
I learned that my friend Anne has a blog!
I learned that when one has to be at work by nine in the morning, one should not stay up until 3AM playing World of Warcraft. Even if you really really really want to finish running Maraudon. I promise you're going to regret it the next day. Even if you did get that really pretty mace you wanted.*
I learned from SleepyJane that on average twelve newborns will be given to the wrong parents every day!
I learned that I should pay closer attention to the phone numbers I dial while at work. It might be amusing to accidentally dial your friend when you're trying to call a client, but it probably shouldn't happen more than once.*
I learned about BlogHer! How I've been blogging since '05 and didn't know about this I'll never figure out, but I think it's pretty cool. I also think going to the conference would be really neat - not that I would do anything except hide in a corner the whole time.

Life is a learning experience. It's still early, I'll probably have more to add to the list by the end of the day.

*Okay I lied, I don't really regret it. I'll be posting about it over at Power Word: Totem later.

**I need to especially take note of this having just completed my second misdial.

The Master Gardener at work

2008-06-09T17:08:00.000-07:00

So, remember when I mentioned a planted a bunch of seeds?

I had high hopes of eventually having flowers whose beauty would rival that of all those lovely stock photos I hijacked, but it seems I've already failed.

It's been raining non stop in good ol' WA. For days. And something I neglected to notice when I was filling all those pots up with dirt was that about half of them have no way of draining. I'm pretty sure that the seeds in about half of my pots have drowned in the little mini lakes instantly formed during the first day.

Good job, self. Good job.

So, erm... learning experience, right?

I AM a Guitar Hero!

2008-06-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd do it.

But I did.

I bought Guitar Hero III.

I had played it a few times at various friends' houses, after work yesterday I finally broke down and decided to go get my own copy. I brought it home, stuck the batteries into my gleaming new guitar - I mean the controller - and proceeded to blast my way through the game rocking out to Foghat's 'Slow Ride', Rolling Stone's 'Paint it Black', Tenacious D's 'The Metal', and many other rock songs, new and old. After a few shaky moments I quickly got the hang of the game again, skillfully mastering each song, then forced the game into submission to become a ROCK LEGEND.

And by "skillfully mastering each song" I mean I did okay in the beginning, and by the end I was barely scraping by. Slayer's 'Raining Blood' nearly destroyed me.

And by "forced the game into submission" I mean I managed to beat it. On easy.

And by "rock legend" I mean that after I fumbled my way through the last song the game flashed a congratulatory "you're a rock legend" message at me. I know it what it was really saying: "Wow... you suck a LOT, so here's a conciliatory 'you beat the game' message... don't even TRY this on medium."

The game is way more fun that I had ever guessed it would be. Guitar Hero III was the first of the series I played. I was borderline scornful of the first game, ignoring the great reviews it got, and I completely ignored the release of the second game. I figured it wouldn't be something I would enjoy (give my penchant for RPGs and third person action), and I'm very glad that I gave the it a try.

It's simplistic enough at first - Push the color coded buttons and flick the clicker thingie (enjoying my technical terms?) on the guitar shaped controller. Playing it on easy is great for beginners, and it has a very gradual difficulty increase as you progress through the seven tiers of songs. It also has a fantastic track list.

When you bump the difficulty level up to medium, it becomes a whole new challenge, and I haven't even pretended to try on hard or expert yet. Once you get the hang of it though (I'm still working on that part) it's much more rewarding.

Bottom line? I love this game. I take back every mean thing I ever said about this series.

It's been a while....

2008-06-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

....but I'm posting again!

I decided this last weekend that I wanted to grow things. Nothing useful things and/or edible things like vegetables or jack-o-lantern pumpkins, but flowers. Since I rent one side of a duplex I didn't exactly have the freedom to dig around in the tiny yard, but I did get some pots from my parents and I picked up a few more at Home Depot. Along with bags of dirt. And can I just say how weird it feels to buy dirt? Yeah. Weird.

I now have 17 (I think) pots along my trellis fence and around my patio filled with MiracleGro dirt and little tiny flower seeds. And the exciting part is, I have absolutely no recollection of which seeds I put in which pots! It'll be interesting to see if anything actually grows - I manage to kill all houseplants that come through my door, and I've speculated that my touch is poison to vegetation. Plus I think the last time I actually put a seed in the dirt was when I was around 12. Yep, master gardener, right here.

Here's some of the stuff I planted (because I like looking at pictures of flowers ^_^):

Morning Glory. And I actually do know where I planted this, because I want it to climb my trellis that fences in my patio. If it actually works, it's going to be really pretty. ^_^

Snapdragons. Because honestly, who doesn't like snapdragons? I realized when I got home that I had picked up the dwarf version, so they'll be wee snapdragons, but (assuming they grow) they will still be very pretty. ^_^

Moss roses, also known as "portulaca" which I didn't know until I tried to search for them to find a picture and nothing appeared under "moss rose". See, I'm already learning things!

African daisies. I don't usually like daisies that much, but I loved the colors on the front of the seed packet.

Zinnias. Because my mom told me to. ^_^

Asters. Because I saw them and said to myself, "I actually know what these are!".

There was more, but that's all I can remember right now. This is going to be even more exciting than I thought - I can't even recall what I planted, much less where! O_o

OH!

I also planted my very favorite flower, bachelor buttons. ^_^

I mentioned to my mom that if I ever end up getting married, my bouquet will simply be a bunch of those flowers.

Which will be kind of ironic...

Dreams

2008-05-20T09:58:00.001-07:00

Last night for some reason I fell asleep as soon as I got home at 6:10PM and didn't wake up again for more than five minutes until 7:45 this morning. I must have needed the sleep, but it still felt absolutely bizarre to waste an entire evening sleeping. I didn't even go to the gym or clean up my living room like I had planned, just got home, sat down on the sofa to play with my kitty for a few minutes before I headed out again, and BAM. Consciousness lost.

As unproductive as this was, it did result in an extremely vivid, extremely odd dream in which I found myself on a quest to find two large (and very tacky) pendants, a blue one and an orange one. I had been sent on this quest by Liam Neeson. I don't really remember too much detail now, but I discovered when I got the two pendants that if I held the blue one over my right eye I could see what Liam Neeson was seeing, and if I held the orange one over my left eye I could see what some other random person was seeing. Sneaky Neeson decided to betray me and take the pendants for himself (although why he wanted them I'm not too sure, they didn't seem to have much practical purpose), and I was forced to hide in an alley in some sci-fi city that literally had a carpet of garbage. My brilliant idea was to burrow under the garbage and wait for Neeson to go away. I was found, Neeson tried to take the pendants, and we ended up in an epic hand-to-hand battle. Which I won, naturally.

I realize that I'm probably the only one who cares about this, but it still cracks me up. ^_^

In other news, this is the second day my home computer has been in the shop - I'm really hoping I get it back this afternoon. >_<

Things I've Learned

2008-05-16T11:17:00.001-07:00

Driving to the beach on a sunny day with all your windows open and Dire Straits blaring from the speakers is perfection.

Spring is here!

2008-05-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

In my little part of Western Washington, the weather has been a little... off... for spring. The temperature has rarely risen above 50 degrees, and if we happen to get a day of partial sun, by evening it'll be raining and we won't see the sun again for the next five days. Oh, and it snowed in April. Unusual? Yes.

Still, even with all that in mind, I didn't really think that this Severe Weather Alert on Weather.com was necessary:

"AFTER A COOL AND CLOUDY SPRING IN WESTERN WASHINGTON...A DRAMATIC SHIFT TO HOT AND SUNNY WEATHER WILL GET UNDERWAY TODAY. WIDESPREAD RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED ON FRIDAY.

TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO CLIMB TODAY...AS A MASSIVE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE BUILDS OVER THE REGION. WEAK NORTHERLY ONSHORE FLOW WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES FROM GETTING REALLY HOT. STILL...HIGH TEMPERATURES ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN WASHINGTON WILL BE IN THE 70S AND LOWER 80S."

blah blah blah...

"AFTER SUCH COOL WEATHER THIS SPRING... PEOPLE SHOULD REFRESH THEMSELVES ON BASIC HOT WEATHER TIPS. WHEN THE WEATHER WARMS UP...BE SURE TO SLOW DOWN...DRINK PLENTY OF WATER...WEAR LIGHTWEIGHT AND LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING...AND BE SURE TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM SUNBURN BY WEARING SUNSCREEN AND A HAT. BY SATURDAY...THE HUMIDITY WILL RISE A BIT AND MAKE THE AIR FEEL MUGGY. THE ELDERLY AND THE VERY YOUNG ARE THE MOST LIKELY GROUPS TO EXPERIENCE ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS FROM THE HEAT."

Okay, guys. I know it's been a while since we've had a nice day. But it hasn't been that long.

This is the first severe weather alert I've ever seen warning people about temperatures rising all the way to possibly the low 80s.

Good lord.