Wednesday, August 29, 2007

This is why I pay people to do things

So we have finally officially moved into to our new house (I'll post pictures soon). It is wonderful to be sleeping on my "new" bed, despite that I don't have any sheets yet. Though it is just as short as my old one, I don't know how my 6ft+ tall friend ever slept comfortably on it.

After doing an assessment on the amount of clothes that I own (though it is much less than before, go me for donating lots) and the amount of closet space I have, I came to the conclusion that I needed a shelf/drawer type action for my clothing. Insert one trip to Target and a cabinet/shelf sale later and you get solution to my problem right? Wrong.

This was a shelf that is supposed to have doors that close in the front, however after nailing the back into the shelf I realized that yes, indeed I had nailed it to the wrong side of the shelf. It still serves its purpose of housing my clothes, there are just not any doors. And I had been doing so well too. I had been able to distinguish which pieces were doors/shelves/support, etc. I had even found use for my drill, that never gets to see the light of day because of my lack of building things. Though I guess case in point is why I never build things. I was going to be so super cool for having to put together a shelf, but alas I am just super lame for not being able to figure out what goes where. But in my defense there were only vague picture directions and my roommate who bought the same shelf had made a similar mistake (though she was able to fix it, so she gets doors).

And in same vain, moving helped rediscover my love for packing. For finding the right size objects to going in the right size box or bag. To make everything fit so perfectly in the car/truck that it maximizes space and saves on trips driving back and forth. I really should have whored my packing self out during college. I could have made bank helping all those who hated packing, didn't have time, were worried about finals. It would have been perfect. Too bad I was having to do two out of the three myself. Maybe at the end of this year....


And on a completely different side note I have been reading this blog for work lately and I really like it. It is so hilarious, though it doesn't pertain to my life at all (thank god)

Monday, August 27, 2007

Beer, fries and good tunes

In the past few weeks I have been frequenting Fremont, more and more. I don't know why I never went out that way before. Except for the occasional trip to the Troll or to visit my good friend Lenin, I never had ventured out that way. Perhaps it was my laziness of having to take two buses over there, or the fear of the taking an unknown bus for the first time and ending up somewhere completely different.

My first recent trip was to the Ballroom, for an acquaintance's birthday. While going on a Tuesday night helped keep the atmosphere nice and chill. The well drinks were over-priced. $5 for a rum and coke? Give me a break. But since I didn't end up having to pay for it, I can't complain too much. But that definitely turned me off from coming back, plus I heard that it turns into a dance club on the weekends, where all the yuppie Fremont-ites go to let loose. Though despite all this seemingly negativity surrounding it, I did have a good time. It was probably because of the company.

My latest voyage to Fremont was the other night to see my roommate's co-worker's band Hey Marseilles perform. They were performing at the High Dive, which is an upscale place pretending to be a dive bar (but I guess that is most of Fremont). But their drinks weren't too bad, food was reasonably priced, though apparently the mini chicken n' cheese tacos are a hot commodity because as of 7:45pm, they were sold out. But their jalapeno tarter sauce for the fries is magnificent.

Okay, back to why I was there in the first place, Hey Marseilles. Man, were they good. I mean, not "hey I sorta know someone in the band so I am going to say they are good" good. But actually really good. Though they do not want to be classified as "emo" they do sound an awful lot like all the upbeat Bright Eyes songs (the few that there are). But that is not a bad thing in my book. In fact that is what I liked about their sound. They seemed to also be channeling a little bit of my new favorite Canadian band Stars (who will be in Seattle on Nov. 16). They had everything from an accordion to a stand up bass to a ukulele. All the instruments flowed well and they were fun to watch.

However, the night was spoiled a bit by the invasion of "Tuna Breath." TB, as he will be called, swooped and quickly invaded my personal space, which wasn't a lot considering I was in a crowded bar. As the story always goes with skeevy guys, I was relentless hit-on. He did not catch on to my subtle and not-so-subtle hints that I was not going to talk/go outside/give him my number. And his, who despite being way more sober than TB, sat and watched as his friend continued to bother me and he did nothing about it (this could also be said for one of my friends who decided he didn't want to help me out....ass). Needless to say not the greatest experience of my life, but not the worse either. They eventually left and I got to enjoy the last few songs in TB-free space.

However, the crazy thing did not occur until walking back from work yesterday. I realize I know TB. To protect myself from him EVER finding me again, I will not say how, but if you want to know, ask I and I'll find a different medium to tell the tale. But all I am saying is that I hope I never run into him again and that he doesn't ruin another Hey Marseilles show for me.

Friday, August 24, 2007

All the news that is fit to print, and then some

Being at work has given me some time to be able to read some interesting newspaper articles (see entry about eggplant). Yesterday brought me another gem of an article. Perhaps since I have such a sick sense of humor that I really get a kick out of the article, especially the part when it comes to limiting the amount of psychics o Or perhaps the history lover in me enjoys the fact that there could potentially be another "Salem witch trial" (I am well aware of my cool factor right now, don't worry).

But I also get to read fun articles about the last tsar of Russia. I think that it is really amazing that they were able to find the bodies. Well, obviously we'll have to wait and see if those are the actual ones. But I keep the faith, I am think that it very well could be. Plus wasn't the whole hemophilia thing the reason the wife was so close to Rasputin?

And that is why he and his little bat friend went off in the search for Anastasia? But she was just a lost girl, who was falling in love with the cutest cartoon love interest that there has ever been. Who wouldn't fall in love with someone who was voiced by John Cusack?

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

I'll be forever yours love always, Mandy

It is official, I can cross something off of my grand life "To-Do List." Last night I was able to see Mandy Moore in concert. It was something that I did not think would ever happen in my lifetime. She had been concentrating on her film career, the last album that she released was a covers album that was four years ago. Who would have thought that she would have felt like writing a whole album and then go on tour with it? Not I that's for sure.

I had been anticipating this concert for over a month now, listening to her album Wild Hope on repeat for the past week, falling in love all over again with her music. But seeing her live was just amazing.

Getting to The Showbox (soon-to-be The Showbox Market) I was reminded of the last time I had been to a show there, back in February to see Ben Kweller. Not only was I mistaken in thinking the artist I was there to see would be the headliner, but also the crowd was very similar. There were many older people there, especially older couples. Then there were the 20-somethings like myself, a lone kid running around and of course the token black couple. It as an interesting mix, and most of whom were there to see Mandy.

Upon taking the stage you saw that Mandy really is as beautiful in person as she is on the screen. She is also down to earth and is like any other 23 year old girl. She is someone who is dorky, fun, the type of person you would want to be friends with. All of which added to the great atmosphere at her show.

She played a majority of her new album, a few songs off of "Coverage," but perhaps my favorite (as well as the crowd's) was her slowed down, soul, version of not only Rhianna's "Umbrella," but of her very first hit from almost a decade ago "Candy."

Though all know by now Mandy has renounced all albums before "Coverage" time and time again, but was nice to see her embrace her past. No one is happy with all the choices that they made when they were 14. But luckily for us our names are not synonymous with those choices, but rather we can keep them hidden, buried in a diary in a box, stuffed in the back of a closet. So for Mandy to own the songs that she sang all those years ago and make them something, new and different for herself, well that is just pretty cool.

But the show did not end there, no my friend, the headliner of the night was none other than Paula Cole, who to answer the question of the night: yes she does have a new album. And she does have a powerful voice. But she was INTENSE. A little too intense for my taste, but her fans sure do love her. And she did sing "I Don't Wanna Wait" as an encore, so that was pretty awesome.

Monday, August 20, 2007

"Its not that hard to spell 'God' in an eggplant"

This story was brought to my attention by a co-worker. It reminds me of the one of the only episodes of Donahue I ever remember watching. A woman in New Mexico was cooking a tortilla and the shape of the Virgin Mary appeared in a burn mark.
But I think my favorite part is that it is being sold on eBay. Nothing says religion like trying to make a profit off of anything. Pope on a lollipop anyone?

She works hard for the money

It is official (well it has been for about a week now) but I am now employed. I am doing temp work for Amazon, which at the moment consists of not doing a whole lot. But I like it. I like having a purpose in the morning, I like being up in the morning. Who would have thought? I am working on training myself to get up early and not need a nap or go to bed early. This might take a lot of caffeine and discipline, but I am up for the challenge. This should also result in me becoming more knowledgeable in what is going on in the world and per chance taking up a new hobby. Who needs a new year to make life resolutions?

Monday, August 13, 2007

When in Rome...

I am back stateside from a 12 day whirlwind adventure in France and Italy. And it was a wonderful trip, a little sad to be back but that is only because I still don't have a house as of Sept. But I at least I am not jobless (for the next couple months at least). I think I could do this travel thing more often, but I don't think I could be one of those people who do it for months on end, but definitely again.





Nice
My first stop was Nice, France and that was wonderful. Swimming every day in the Mediterranean, being "so French" at the beach. Though the highlight I must say was being able to go scuba diving. It was so cool swimming among the fish. I also decided that I could be French, I have the attitude down for sure.

Siena

This is the cutest town ever. It was small and Italian. Plus it had Phoebolicious, which would make any place extra wonderful. We got to on a bike ride to the countryside and it was so beautiful. The best 8 Euro spent had to have been using a hotel's pool and just relaxing a lot.



Rome

The last stop of trip. I can appreciate that it was a historical city. But it was dirty. Too dirty for my taste. But it was still a lot of fun. Plus meeting my real world equivalent of Adrian Brody was fun.