just laura

Let’s see… what have I been up to while not blogging much? Not a whole lot really. Still working late at the office most nights. Get home, eat, car search for a little bit, then go to bed exhausted. I’m really liking the Honda Civic, both for price and quality, but sadly, they don’t seem to be offering any real rebates on Civics (guess they don’t need to entice people much when it’s a car with pretty high ratings). Hmm… maybe a Nissian Sentra? Toyota’s Echo is cute and cheap, but has less powerful engine, worse emissions, overall lacks many of the Civic’s features. Such a debate.

On a more pleasing note, I did get to talk to Suzan, Beal, and Andy all this week! Yeah Texans! My retail coworkers also invited me out for the first time this week – that was pretty cool! Sadly, I’ve been working late and swamped with other stuff so I didn’t get to go. For now, I’m trying to get by doing just the essentials. I need to do taxes and look into vacation options, but that’s all just added to the To Do list that keeps growing longer and longer.

Hmmm… and in the only other news pressing on my mind, I’ve been having crazy Thai food craving all week long!! My body seems to be needing Tom Kah in a really bad way!! Guess I’ll try to go sometime soon! How’s everyone else doing out there?? Do share…

Oh yeah! I forgot to post the reason I actually turned on the laptop to blog today! I was riding home on the bus last night and the woman across from me was carrying cat food. It was Science Diet and had the best slogan/promise I ever saw on a bag of kitty chow… it kept me laughing the whole ride home!! Get this… “Science Diet: Naturally Controls Hairballs!” Now, I’m not a cat owner, and I may be out of touch with pet foods nowadays, but can they really control hairballs with kitty food? I’ll be quite impressed if so… not to mention amused!! :)

Beautiful Bread!!

Today I made the second batch of bread in bread maker from Dieter’s mom and this time it turned out fabulously!! The first time I used the newly released Bob’s Red Mill gluten free bread mix and it grew huge, flooded over the sides and into the heating element, burning like crazy and smoking up the apartment for about three long days!! After that little experiment (we don’t have the instruction book), I decided we must have a 1 lb loaf size, not 1.5 lb. This time I did half a batch and it worked so much better… and thank goodness it did! I had no desire to scrap and scrub any more burnt bread batter off the inside of the bread maker, nor did I have any desire to live in a smoky apartment anytime soon. Yeah good gluten free bread!!! Well, I’ve gotta run! I heard Nutella and grilled cheese calling my name!

I just found out my friend’s little brother is selling himself on ebay.com. His ad is the “For Sale: Jesus look-a-like” one. He’s currently in San Diego, so shipping wouldn’t be too bad. If anyone has a few bucks to spare, do check him out. :)

Bored? Check out www.engrish.com. Too funny!

Interesting…

Guernica Reproduction Covered at UN

NEW YORK.- The “Guernica” work by Pablo Picasso at the entrance of the Security Council of the United Nations has been covered with a curtain. The reason for covering this work is that this is the place where diplomats make statements to the press and have this work as the background. The Picasso work features the horrors of war. On January 27 a large blue curtain was placed to cover the work.

Fred Eckhard, press secretary of the U.N. said: “It is an appropriate background for the cameras.” He was questioned as to why the work had been covered.

A diplomat stated that it would not be an appropriate background if the ambassador of the United States at the U.N. John Negroponte, or Powell, talk about war surrounded with women, children and animals shouting with horror and showing the suffering of the bombings.

This work is a reproduction of the Guernica that was donated by Nelson A. Rockefeller to the U.N. in 1985.

Cara’s officially gone and it’s sad and exicitng all at the same time (not to mention stressful because of the increased work load)! Sad to see Cara go and sad to work alone. Exciting to have the opportunity in the new promotion and exciting to have a new pay rate. Last night’s go away shindigs were pretty fun and I only broke down in tears a few times. :)

In other news less life changing news, I decided this morning to quit my retail job. I like my friends there and the work itself, but with my travels and my crazy schedule of random meetings, guitar lessons, etc it’s just getting to be too much to coordinate! Oh, if it wasn’t already clear, yep – I just started guitar lessons! Wohoo! I’ve been meaning to learn since about 6th grade, but never had the time. I sure as heck don’t have the time now, but I figured I just needed to go ahead and make the time. I signed up through the Experience Music Project and the instructor seems cool after just one session. I’ve got seven more weeks to go and I’m sure to be a rock star in no time at all! :)

And speaking of rock stars, the Asylum Street Spankers are playing two shows in Seattle tonight at the Tractor Tavern! I’ll be hitting the 7pm show with Niki and the 10pm show with Joseph, Moses, Laura, et. al. Should be good to see them again and good to see Moses again! (It’s been a loooong time!) Okay, that’s all for me. I’ve got errands to run and laundry to finish. Take care!

Guess what I bought yesterday?? Hint:

“Veterans Administration Latest Agency to Seek Rule Change Allowing Hiring Discrimination by Faith-Based Service Providers” [read article here]

Anyone have thoughts on the matter? I work for a faith based service provider and I’m not sure I like the idea of allowing discrimination… Sure, the article said they can’t make religion a “condition” of employment, but it went on to say they could discriminate against hiring the applicant if they weren’t the right religion. (???) Seems to be slightly screwed up logic if you ask me… Anyone else have some thoughts on the matter?

As a little pre-VD celebration, Dieter and I saw Chicago last night (it was great!) and had a lovely dinner before the show (new Thai place in Wallingford!). This morning I’m heading out of town to DC for a business trip with my team. :) Hope everyone has a great weekend! Take care!

Just got back from DC tonight after a snowy, crazy trip! It was the 5th(?) largest snowstorm in history and we were stranded at the conference site with very little in the ways of entertainment. (Cards, mafia, and trivial pursuit… you know the routine). Anyway, airports closed, Metro and trains closed, food, bars, museums… all closed. Luckily, we made it to the airport (an hour late), got our flight (it was also running late), missed our connection, but ended up getting it since it too was running late, and finally arrived in Seattle tonight after a long and crazy journey. The conference was good… I love connecting with other sites and meeting other members/directors, but I’ve got to say I’m glad to be home!

In the Snow in DC

We tried to get out the first morning before the big snow storm to march in the peace rally on DC. Sadly, it was canceled because the event organizer slept in “hard core.” Hmp. Ah well. Apparently the Feb 15th marches in NY, Seattle, Paris, Praha, Rome, etc were all pretty massive. Since the rally was canceled, we had about two hours to wander the mall on our own, get some lunch, and then head back to the conference center for the opening events.

More pics of DC will come later on… for now, I’ve got to call the Post Office since my SECOND digital camera was stolen in ONE YEAR! Argh! This time, it was stolen somewhere in the USPS mail delivery process, not by folks at a free community carnival for underserved youth. Both are pretty horrible places to steal from, in my opinion. Ah well. I’m off to call the post office. Wish me luck!

Tonight is another Seattle Blogger Meetup for folks on meetup.com. I plan to be there, but may be a little late as Jay Inslee is speaking at 5:30pm at UW about the new Apollo project. I probably won’t be the first one at B&N, but you’ll be able to spot me quick when I arrive in a pink and red sweater. :) Hope to make in time to see folks and say hi! Take care!

The meetup was fun and I got to see Anita and TYD again, as well as a slew of new faces. :) Tonight I’m off to the Sir Mix a Lot concert at the Showbox. Should be quite ridiculous and lots of fun! For now, I need grab a bite to eat and change clothes… need to dress my skankiest best since he’s filming for a new DVD tonight! :)

All Worked Up at Sir Mix-a-Lot

Last night the Sir Mix-a-lot show rocked, even if the crowd sucked. I’m about to rant here, but you can skip down over it if you want to go straight to the concert review. :) So, my rant: I got really bummed out and that kind of sucked. The crowd, like the crowd at most Seattle shows I go to, was drunk and obnoxious and seemed to care little about the music and more about continuing to get drunk. I don’t mind people drinking or occasionally bumping into me while they’re drunk. I don’t mind the fluid flow of the audience at crowded shows that pretty much guarantees you’ll be in close proximity with the people around you. However, I don’t like when people feel the need to get into a huge all-out fistfight at a show, hurting bystanders and interrupting the music. I also don’t like when the crowd is so drunk the many heavy women around you keep toppling over onto you and their drunk boyfriends can barely collect them and set them upright again – it can distract you from enjoying a perfectly good show. When the drunk “dogs” in the house feel so intent on pounding their fists into the air, and in the process continually elbow the heck out of your shoulder muscles, despite your attempt to keep them at arms distance or to move away to a “safer” part of the crowd – that too can be distracting (not to mention freaking painful!!) If it was just one drunk person, you can move away. But when the whole dang crowd seemed to be so drunk, or fighting, or falling over, or oblivious to the pain they are inflicting to your shoulder, there wasn’t much of an option. A) Give up and leave the show – not my first choice since I’d bought a ticket and felt entitled to enjoy the show. B) Stay and try to enjoy the music on stage, and hope the drunks eventually mellow the heck out.

I know people have the right to drink and enjoy the music as they see fit, and I know there will always be obnoxious drunks and that’s a part of life. However, the thing that upset me more is that last night wasn’t an isolated incident. I think the majority of the live shows I’ve been to in Seattle have all had crowd issues with drunks. I used to go see 1-3 live shows every week for a while when I was living in Austin and somehow this was rarely an issue. I can still name the few shows where I had issues with the crowd.

1. Offspring back in 94 had inappropriate guys in the crowd who’d inappropriately grope female crowd surfers.

2. No Doubt told the 100,000+ person crowd to “get crazy” one show in Dallas in the late 90s and people started throwing chairs and coolers and glass bottels and there were many injuries (including my bloodied up head).

3. Aerosmith back in early 90s had an odd crowd dynamic (probably because the age range varied from about 12 yrs old to 72 years old). However, the dynamic didn’t keep anyone from enjoying the show or the experience.

Thing is, that’s only three shows over 10 years and only one show (No Doubt) made the experience unfriendly/unsafe for the general audience. If you didn’t like crowd surfing, don’t do it. If you don’t like old folks and wanted to dance around more, move elsewhere. I really can’t remember many other shows with really disturbing crowd experiences, and I went to tons of shows back in the day.

I enjoy live music. I used to work in live music. I learned to play musical instruments and even harbored dreams of opening a live music venue someday. I don’t rant because of the drunks, but because of the environment that keeps people from enjoying the live music that can be so powerful and meaningful and fun for so many people. In Seattle, my live music budget is limited but I still probably average a show a month. Sadly, a majority of the shows here I’ve had problems with the crowd. The Bob Schneider show at the Croc a few months ago had a loud, drunk guy talking through the whole set. People couldn’t hear and got so fed up they asked him to talk quietly if he wanted to talk through the show. He got louder in drunken protest. Lovely. Even at quiet sit down affairs in nicer jazz clubs, the drunks in the crowd keep people from enjoying a night out. At Tula’s a few weeks ago, a drunk women kept making calls on her cell and kept talking loudly to her date. People got fed up. Shot her dirty looks. People walked over and politely asked her to quiet down. The band themselves stopped multiple songs and asked her to quit talking so loudly. The staff asked her to quiet down. People threw stuff at her when she kept going and eventually her date decided it was time for them to leave. (Finally!)

I know I’m rambling, but here’s the point. I’m not saying people shouldn’t drink. Or should be allowed to talk. Or shouldn’t dance or any of that. I’m just saying if you want to get trashed, do it in your own home. If you want to talk loudly on your cell phone, do it out on the sidewalk and not inside a music club where you’re distracting the audience and even pissing off the band. I find it crazy these folks feel the need to pay money for live music when they totally ignore the music and their behavior diminishes the experience for others there. It’s totally inconsiderate and I’d honestly expect more out of Seattle crowds… especially for a town that’s known as “polite” and pro-music.

That said, the performances themselves were great! The opening band, As-Is, was pretty fabulous, and I’d recommend them to anyone if you get the chance to see them perform. Sir Mix-a-lot himself put on a fun performance for his hometown crowd! 206 in the house!! They were filming the show for a new DVD and if will be anywhere near as entertaining as the live show, it should be lots of fun. He hammed it up in fur coats, big hats, gold chains, and did the whole pimp daddy act throughout the show. Girls were waving their bras around. He got the camera guy to do a little filming for “Girls Gone Wild” with bare-chested women in the front row. His posse on stage had about 5-8 people at all times… one guy on the turn table, one women occasionally doing back up, but mostly lots of fun guys singing and dancing around. His music included the classics as well as a few new tunes (probably off his upcoming record that will be released this spring). The theme seemed to be sex and the crowd ate it up! The local tune “Posse on Broadway” got an enormous reaction, as did “My Hooptie,” and the finale of “Baby got back,” where he brought tons of skanky women from the crowd onto the stage to dance around and fawn all over him. It was exactly what I was expecting and it was thoroughly entertaining!

“We did not change as we grew older; we just became more clearly ourselves”

                       ~Lynn Hall

I think this is my favorite new quote!

This evening I’ve volunteering at a “formal” event down at the Westin for a friend who’s hosting the shindig. I’m kind of out of the loop on what consists of formal attire for volunteers… any suggestions? I can’t easily thorw on heels and a formal gown and still serve meals or do whatever. Guess if I knew what I’d be doing I’d be better able to decide on gown/slacks/skirt/etc. Ack.

Yesterday was an amazingly beautiful blue sky, sunny, flowers blooming day in Seattle… and it’s still only February! (Sometimes this whole global warming thing doesn’t seem as bad as I know it really is). To celebrate, I laid in bed in a puddle of sun for a while, then Dieter, Andrew, and I went to brunch at the amazing Cafe Flora vegetarian restaurant. It’s pretty fancy and it was only my second time there (the first was with Laura Crow back almost 2 years ago!). I was in heaven sitting in the courtyard enjoying the amazing black-eyed pea fritters, corn salsa, and spicy mustard greens with mushrooms, and cheesy grits. Wow! Afterwards, I drove my new car (second time since I bought it a few weeks ago!) We drove down to Lake Washington, enjoyed the blue skies and snowcapped mountains and then headed to a gardening shop before making our way home. (I bought Kale, Salad Greens, and Chard organic seeds to plant in my P-Patch!).

Last night the auction was really nice. :) (more later… I’ve got to get to work!!) Take care!

Yesterday I finally got around to hemming a pair of slacks I bought back in October! Wohoo… let’s hear it for new pants! :) (Both of my pairs of jeans have gotten so worn out that each pair has multiple holes in them. As I no longer consider these acceptable work attire, I decided to get off my bum and start hemming. I repeat, yeah pants!

Tonight I got home from work around 10pm and decided to continue my productive streak by starting my taxes. Take care!

I went to Sam’s Club last night to buy some supplies for work (we’re putting on a conference this week and needed bulk soda, plates, etc). I picked up “just a few things” for me, but my personal bill came up to $187!! How does this always seem to happen? I only buy things there that are “such a good deal” and “so much less than you’d pay at a retail store,” but somehow I never leave those retail stores with $187 of cashews, floor mats for my car, a pair of jeans, and some notebooks for Dieter. Crazy world. Ah well. I already put the floor mats in the Honda and I’m content! Perfect color and perfect fit… who knew life could be so easy?

Tonight after work I head directly to my 4th week of guitar class. Yet again, I’m unprepared and haven’t had time to practice (or a guitar to practice on, for that matter). Geez I suck. I feel sorry for my instructor… how lame to be stuck with a student who hasn’t lifted a finger outside the lesson… Ah well. I’m just impressed that I finally signed up after all these years, and despite working 12 hour days, I’ve still been able to get out of work early every Thursday to go down to my lessons. Guess maybe I only half suck…