wicked good times in Boston

First day back to work after a nice vacation and BLAH! there is so much to do! And here i thought I'd be able to slack all day and type a bunch of myspace posts and fiddle with my photos on Imagestation. whatevs. I got my work done and just finished fiddlin' (not diddlin', you pervs) with the pics (see link at bottom for fun photos!).

Here's a Boston recap, for those that care ....

Thursday: After a stressful rush to the Cleveland airport (we flew out of CLE to save on money) we made it just in time to see that our flight was DELAYED by three hours! balls! We ended up getting into Boston around 11pm and after figuring out the train system (the T) and catching a cab to Angi's, it was around 1am. (see previous post)

Friday: Happy Birthday Marcus! Today was "all about Mark" day! We slept in a bit, lounged around and ate hard-boiled eggs, raga muffins (blueberry), drank tea & coffee and leisurely got ready and headed down to Fenway Park to catch some Red Sox action. Since we couldn't be AT the game, we did the next best thing and parked our asses in a comfy booth in a bar across the street! We ate, drank and got very merry as we watched the Red Sox beat the Yankees (Yanks beat Sox next night though). We even thought we saw Tara Reid. No dice. But she did look a bit like her. (However, Ben Affleck & Jen Garner WERE at the game the next day, um.. but we weren't). After the bar we strolled through the city, stopped and picked up booze & snacks and eventually made our way back home. While eating an "emergency pizza" and doritos, we got to see the rerun of BWE and saw my darling Trent grace the show with his presence - no matter how quickly it went by! YAY!

Saturday: Today we spent the day in Salem, visiting the historic sites of the Salem Witch Trials, dungeons, burial grounds, old homes and churches and some of the glorious stores that hold anything a little Pagan heart desires. FUN! Mark finally got to eat some chowda and I bought myself a new triple-moon moonstone ring (same as Angi's - we're ring buddies!). There was so much about Salem that I loved; even though it's hard to comprehend the awful things that were done in that town, it's something that should be remembered and the people of Salem do a fantastic job. Even the cheese-ball ones. I really want to go back. There is not enough money or time in one day for me to take it all entirely in. I need to go back there again.

After our day in Salem, we stopped at home to gussy up a bit and down a few drinks before heading out to dinner at yummy Finians' Restaurant and on to Boston to Wally's Jazz Cafe (recommended by Ben) to see some good jazz with NO cover. There was a group of Berklee College of Music students playing that night and from what we heard while waiting outside to get in, they kicked ass. Unfortunately when we got in they took their break and continued on a break for well over an hour. The bar itself was righteous - very small and cramped and full of cool looking people of all ages, races & agendas. It was even voted Best Bar to Go When Horny. niiiiiiiiice. I tell you what, I was horny for some of that Berklee jazz action we were teased with, but no luck. They didn't get back on stage before it was time for us to turn in. We left and headed back to get some sleep for another full day on Sunday.

Sunday: Headed off to Harvard today to see how the smaht kids live. We weren't able to get into the library (had to have ID) so we made our way through courtyards and into what seemed to be a Student Union of sorts. We snooped around a bit and eventually found ourselves at Harvard Square where a giant street fair was taking place. I guess it was Welcome Week, or something, and there were all sorts of vendors and food and fun people. And we finally got our jazz! This uber-smooth group of kids (they looked young ... early college) were tearing the shit up! Keys, jazz drums, upright bass, a sax and a horn. Man, they were tight. The highlight for me was when they played Thelonious Monk's Well You Needn't. Dig.

We then hiked back to the apartment to get the car and headed out to Cape Cod! It was a nice 2.5 hour drive and when we got to the ocean, it was magickal. Too dark to take really decent shots, but I did what I could (see link). We spent some time soaking in the smells and sounds and stars and the whole spirit of the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. Then we headed into town ... Provincetown, that is. SO FUN. It's so quaint, with old homes and very well manicured and cozy landscapes. The streets wind and curve and harken back to an older time ... although the town's people are far from old-fashioned. There are a few drag queen cabaret's and the residents and visitors are largely homosexual. Even one of the restaurants - a Thai place we were going to eat at - turns into an after-hours joint once it's closed. We found that out when we stopped there to pee, realizing it was closed, and saw that the nights event was a Master & Slave Auction. Full of leather chaps, chains, whips and bondage outfits. Totally ruled. Ang & I didn't go in for fear of "Vag Alert!" being yelled upon entering. har har. Mark & Tony did though and they said it was really cool and chill in there, the Cranberries were playing. (whaaaa?)

We left P-town and drove back home singing Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin at the top of our lungs and then stopped for some Chinese take-out. What more could you ask for?

Monday: Not wanting to leave, we dawdled around the house getting ready, cleaning up and packing. We didn't want to be stressed with rushing to make it to the airport on time, so instead we just visited the local Quincy library (beautiful!) and then Angi & Tony took us right to the airport, parked and came in with us. We sat around and drank and ate at one of the fun restaurants inside. Reluctantly we headed to the security gates where we said our goodbyes and waited for another delayed flight. This time only by an hour.

Sigh. Boston was so much fun and Angi & Tony were such gracious hosts. There is so much to do there! We didn't get to fit in a few things we really wanted: Faneuil Hall & Quincy Mkt. and going to see Walden Pond! SOOO, you know what that means ... we have to go BACK! :)

See pictures here.

this would be good for me

Fast food that is only all-organic and healthy? That you can drive thru? Or they'll deliver? COME TO MOMMA!

Organic To Go needs to come to Michigan soon.

VIP for a minute

This weekend was so fun. Not only did I get to sit around with my gal-pals on Friday night (this includes Trent...), watching Sex In the City and Golden Girls while eating cheesecake and doritos, I also got to meet and sort of hang out with Hilary Duff! (so what if I'm almost 30!?)

Thanks to my darling Trent and his ever-popular blogging, he was INVITED to go to Hilary's show at DTE and got backstage passes. Luckily, he loves me (also Erik was out of town), so I got to go with him! :) You can read the whole story at his site and also see all the pictures. She was so kind to us and so happy to meet Trent. It was great! She even had us in her prayer huddle the MINUTE before she went on stage. We got to watch from "the pit" where the bodyguards and the camera dudes all stand (which meant we had to walk on the stage a little to get there!). Her bodyguards, band, best friend Taylor ... they all were so nice and seemed like a ton of fun. And she's really down-to-earth and doesn't come across like a "superstar" at all ... good times.

And yes, she's very petite and I look like an Amazon woman next to her. Let me just point out that my shirt, though cute in person, was a poor choice for photographs. My gut is not really hanging like that. And I think her thigh is about the size of my calf, so.... put this all in perspective when you look at these. hah.

Let's hope we have as much success trying to meet Tori this Sunday! Though, a personal invite from Tori (a la Hilary) would be so much nicer than elbowing our way to the front at the meet-n-greet. Oh well - I'll take what we can get!

!!!

How exciting! Yet not too surprising what with all his good press and popularity, but one of my favorite catty gossip shows declared their love for my favorite catty gossip site.

That's m'boy....

poop is so useful!

Besides using it for fuel, to build homes, compost into an organic fertilizer, you can also get it in paper form for all your stationary needs! I seriously want to buy this stuff.

Not only is it environmentally-friendly, it's economically-friendly as well, helping to generate a living for Sri Lankans. And the greeting card designs are cuuute!

fruits of my labor

The following images are all t-shirts I found on the internet today.
I will own these all one day:

(my favorite! birthday present? size med, thanks)

(!!!)

(seriously peed when I saw this)

(over-the-top)

this fall....

I am planning to take these classes via the Dearborn Adult & Community Ed program:

Zone Toning - "Workout combines Pilates, Isometrics, resistance and weight training techniques." - 16 sessions (twice a week) for $64.

Managing Your 401K and IRA - 1 session

Understanding Stocks, Bonds & Mutual Funds - 1 session

rock and roll never forgets

With all the birthday's happening around me and knowing my own is coming in just over two short weeks, I'm finding myself more tired and less eager to party these days. However, hearing this song today was good. After i listened to it (and rocked out with the windows down), i realized i am a fool. I'm constantly on the go. I do a ton of things and it's only natural to feel tired and want to stay home and rest once in a while. i'm not old ... and music -- espeically rockers like bob seger -- will always keep me young. (as will tailgating at Pine Knob at the Allman Bros. concert and hiding your liquor from the cops).

So you're a little bit older and a lot less bolder
Than you used to be
So you used to shake 'em down
But now you stop and think about your dignity
So now sweet sixteens turned thirty-one (<--- ahem, i'll only be 29)
You get to feelin' weary when the work days done
Well all you got to do is get up and into your kicks
If you're in a fixCome back baby
Rock and roll never forgets
You better get yourself a partner
Go down to the concert or the local bar
Check the local newspapers
Chances are you won't have to go too far
Yeah the rafters will be ringing cause the beat's so strong
The crowd will be swaying and singing along
And all you got to do is get in into the mix
If you need a fix
Come back babyRock and roll never forgets
Oh the bands still playing it loud and lean
Listen to the guitar player making it scream
All you got to do is just make that scene tonight
Heh tonight

Well now sweet sixteens turned thirty-one
Feel a little tired feeling under the gun
Well all Chuck's children are out there playing his licks
Get into your kicks
Come back baby
Rock 'n Roll never forgets
Said you can come back baby
Rock 'n Roll never forgets

my darling Cotain is another year older

Today is Erik's birthday! There will be drinking, oh yes. There will most likely be snapping. There will be picture-taking. Could be a board game or two involved. Maybe even some ass-slapping, erik-sandwich-making, spontaneous dance partying. We'll see.....

the idiocy continues...

AND i realized today that i left my favorite sunglasses in the bathroom at work yesterday and - big surprise - they're gone. i've checked with the Lost & Found area here and no one has turned them in.

is it just me, or does keeping an item you found in the work bathroom seem a little gross (nevermind creepy)? ew.

dammit! dammit!

i'm the biggest idiot

for the second time now i will miss Kasey Chambers at The Ark. this is not something i'm proud of .... the Ark is the BEST place to see music, especially folk stuff. and Kasey lives frickin' down under! she's from Australia and rarely tours here. the last time she came, i waited too long to buy a ticket and then it was sold out and, lo and behold, i've done it AGAIN.

grrr. what is WRONG with me? why don't i just buy the damn ticket the second i see it in my Ark e-newsletter? dude. i'm really pissed off at me right now.

anyone have a kasey ticket they want give up to me? ugh.

if i do say so myself

i made THE most kick-ass "goodbye" cd(s), EVER. well, moreso "goodbye/moving out of town" cd -- not "goodbye/breakup" cd. some of the songs are more personalized for the person i was saying goodbye to, but still..... they rock for anybody. here are the tracks:

CD1
1. Waiting for My Real Life To Being -- Colin Hay
2. Traveling Again - Dar Williams
3. She's Leaving Home -- Beatles
4. Thunder Road -- Bruce Springsteen
5. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road -- Lucinda Williams
6. On the Road to Find Out -- Cat Stevens
7. Farewell Angelina -- Bob Dylan
8. Get Out the Map -- Indigo Girls
9. The Scientist -- Coldplay
10. My Friend -- Blessed Union of Souls
11. Passenger Seat -- Death Cab for Cutie
12. Florida -- Patty Griffin
13. You've Got A Friend In Me -- Randy Newman & Lyle Lovett (Toy Story)
14. Miles Apart -- Yellowcard
15. Farewell To the Old Me -- Dar Williams
16. My Best Friend -- Weezer
17. I'll Stand By You -- The Pretenders
18. Homeward Bound -- Simon & Garfunkel
19. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) -- Green Day
20. I'll Be There For You -- The Rembrandts

CD2
1. So Far Away -- Carole King
2. Hanginaround -- Counting Crows
3. My Hometown -- Bruce Springsteen
4. Here's To the Night -- Eve 6
5. We Are Gonna Be Friends -- White Stripes
6. Wild World -- Cat Stevens
7. Wide Open Space -- Dixie Chicks
8. Brokedown Palace -- Grateful Dead
9. Don't Come Easy -- Patty Griffin
10. Shirts & Gloves -- Dashboard Confessional
11. Dream Big -- Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband
12. Black Muddy River -- Bruce Hornsby & Bonnie Raitt (G.Dead cover)
13. You've Got A Friend -- James Taylor
14. Long & Winding Road -- Beatles
15. Float On -- Modest Mouse
16. Yellow Brick Road -- Kris Delmhorst
17. America -- Simon & Garfunkel
18. I Will Remember You -- Sarah McLachlan
19. Goodbye To You -- Michelle Branch
20. In My Life -- Dave Matthews (Live from Lennon Tribute concert)

stuff on cats is cute

My new favorite place on the web (sorry Trent):

http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

"fare you well, i love you more than words can tell..."

That line gets me every time. Having listened to a lot of "goodbye" songs lately and going through old photos that span the last 10 years ... well, you tend to get a little emotional.
Tomorrow is the going away party for Angi & Tony and then I'll see her three more times next week before she takes off on Saturday. One week is not enough time to capture 10 years of memories and to say all the things you want to say.

But I think throughout the years somewhere between the partying, the crying, the non-stop giggling, the driving, the laying for 16 hours straight 'cuz we were SO depressed, the stalking, the bitching, the families, the farting, the solstices and the blessings, the graduations, the true loves and the not-so-true loves ... and coming soon: the marrying, we'll have said all we need to say to each other to get our point across.

i don't care, i LIKE the trouser-dress combo

Even if I don't agree with them about dresses over jeans, here's another great one:

http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourself/2005/07/von_fug.html

i'm aging too fast

I've never really been one of those girls who worries about aging. My mom has always looked young and I usually come off younger than I really am. I've never really gone to the lengths of some girls who make sure to constantly mosturize and pluck and sunscreen and hair dye. But maybe I've been neglectful. Lately I've been all ABOUT mosturizing and checking out my skin all over. So far I've found a few spider veins on my legs (behind my knees), a gray hair (er, several... which i promptly plucked) and a brown (age) spot on the side of my face! This makes me nervous. I haven't even finished my 20's yet (though I'm close) so why are all these examples of 'old ladyism' popping up already?

sigh. I suppose I'll now become "one of those" ... i.e. I'm seriously considering buying those anti-aging/age-spot/wrinkle cremes that cost $ridiculous per bottle. I've been so content with my simple Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil Facial Soap. I think those days are fading along with my early twenties. Good thing Desert Essence offers an Age Reversal line.
Is anyone feelin' my pain? Or am I just nutty and over-analyzing?
Either way, facial product suggestions are welcomed.

highlight of my day

The lovely ladies over at Go Fug Yourself are often the reason I get through the last few hours of my workday. But today, they've simply outdone themselves. Or, at least Heather has. I dare you not to pee yourself when you read this:

http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/go_fug_yourself/2005/07/fug_the_cover_e.html

It's girls like these that reassure me that I'm not a mean person just because I mentally assault people who have foul taste in clothing (even if that means criticizing some pictures of myself that I've seen!). I think the Fug girls and I should hang out and become BFFs ...

top ten

Besides the two songs in my previous post, there are many others that I get into the groove of and can't stop listening to. Here is a top ten list of songs I've recently been hitting the repeat button on:

Romeo & Juliet -- Indigo Girls (Dire Straits cover)

The Darkest Season -- Deb Talan

American Girl -- Tom Petty

Little Plastic Castle -- Ani Difranco

Waiting for My Real Life To Begin AND Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You
-- Colin Hay (it's a tie for these)

Both Sides Now -- Joni Mitchell

Moon's Gonna Follow Me Home -- Patty Griffin

Age Six Racer -- Dashboard Confessional

The Pretender -- Jackson Browne

The Scientist AND In My Place -- Coldplay

soul-searching

So I'm putting a cd together for one of my best friends who is moving out of state and will be travelling every three months for the next few years and in the midst of all that I've rediscovered a gem of a song: Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road". I can't get over how Bruce magically takes you to the place he's singing about and how he can tell such wonderful stories in his songs. His songwriting doesn't have to follow the normal Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge format ... he just sings and sings until his story is done. And with this song, in particular, I get chills every time I hear it. So, of course, I keep listening to it over and over. It's not particularly sad, it's just moving.

Another song - on a completely different level - that I've been addicted to listening to is Darius Rucker's (yes, him of all people ... but he's got a brilliant, soulful voice!) cover of Bill Withers' "Use Me Up". I love the sassy, sexiness of that song. When I hear the line: I wanna spread the news that if it feels this good getting used, oh you just keep on using me until you use me up..., I just wanna put on some sexy lingerie and dance around a candlelit living room for Mark. ooh. Have I said too much? Well, I can't help it.... the music gets in my soul...

The screen door slams
Mary' dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside
Darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinkingThat maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me

You can hide 'neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a saviour to rise from these streets
Well now I'm no hero
That's understood
All the redemption I can offer girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now?
Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow
Back your hair
Well the night's busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in backHeaven's waiting on down the tracks
Oh-oh come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh-oh Thunder Road oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road sit tight take hold
Thunder Road

Well I got this guitar
And I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back
If you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
And I know you're lonely
For words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free
All the promises'll be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes
Of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach roadIn the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind so Mary climb in
It's town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win

LB can never be dunzo

I watched the Laguna Beach Season 2 Preview Launch last night and I peed a little with excitement. July 25, bitches!