just laura

PS I’m still sick.
PPS I’m going to Pearl Jam tonight.

Seems this is going to be a music weekend through and through!

• Thursday: Pearl Jam
  Saw them Thursday at the Gorge. One of only 5 stops in the US tour. Fantastic. Pearl Jam opened for themselves, did one quieter set all sitting down, then a second more rocking set that lasted forever. All in all they ended up playing for over three and a half hours! Great mix of older and more recent songs. Great Tom Petty cover. Great show!
• Friday: Black Crows & Tom Petty
  Apparently he was playing Friday at the Gorge, so we camped out and decided to spend one more day there. As long as you’re going to make the drive, might as well make the most out of the opportunity. Black Crows were good… Chris Robinson dances really funny/cute and looks way young. Tom Petty rocked out like the rock star that he is. Hard to believe Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers released their first single back in 1976! Pretty impressive run of hits over a 28+ year period. Lots of fun! Opening band: Radio Nationals.
• Saturday:
  Heading to Bumbershoot.
• Sunday: The Carolines at the EMP
  Caroline wants to check out local indie band “The Carolines” tomorrow night, so I’ll probably head there with her. :)
• Monday:
  Heading to Bumbershoot.

My buddy Alan did a road trip from San Francisco to Seattle this weekend and it was great to see him! I think the last time I saw him was when we joined forces with the Dutch kids and did a road trip from Seattle to Tijuana. All six of us crashed at his place in SF and a good time was had by all. :)

Yesterday I spent some time at Bumbershoot with Samantha. We saw Visqueen rock out during one show… they were really great. Yay local bands! I also saw two of Vamola’s samba sets and danced and danced and danced. And of course the finale of the evening was amazing. Really. The 826 Seattle benefit was fantastic beyond words. Imagine if you will…

Lemony Snickett on accordion, accompanying Death Cab for Cutie (known for the night as the Transatlantic Orchestra), joined by Mike Doughty (from Soul Coughing) on guitar for a killer cover of Duran Duran’s Hungry Like a Wolf. Fantastic. Beyond. Words. Imagine also Sarah Vowell (NPR’s This American Life) with a history lesson on the Battle Hymn of the Republic with musical accompaniment by Death Cab. Imagine Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snickett, author of an Unfortunate Series of Events) as a tuxedo clad game show host totally and completely making fun of a 9 year kid on stage. Imagine Dave Eggars (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) howling and reading a letter written by Steve the dog, while accompanied by the guitar stylings and background howlings of Ben Gibbard.

Yes folks, if you weren’t there, you missed out on the potentially most entertaining night of show biz Seattle will see this year. But for those of you there (Jeff, Samantha, and 2997 other people), it was freaking fantastic! And even better, it was all to raise money for 826 Seattle, the new youth center Dave Eggars is opening this year. Total count for the night: $13,000. Impressive!!

Tonight, in Seattle, I saw a very cute boy at a show at the EMP. I think he even kind of smiled at me when I headed to the restrooms. I thought he was the cutest boy in the crowd. (Samantha thought the cute boy at the merch table was a hottie, but we rarely find the same men attractive. Very different tastes on an ongoing basis). So, anyway, the cute boy. I think he smiled at me during the first set (The Carolines) and I admit to Caroline and Samantha that I thought he was a cutie. They encourage me to go talk to him, but really y’all, it’s no secret that cute boys make me nervous. Being forward with boys in general makes me nervous. I can be bold and confident in many things, and boys are not one of them.

Anyway, the first band ends (thankfully) and a newer, much better local band called (Key Note Speaker) begins their set. Who should leave his good seat at the bar near the stage and head all the way back to our last table in the venue? Yep, afore mentioned cute boy. He smiles, I smile, he says Hi, I say Hello. And that’s how it began. We proceed chat and smile and talk music and trade travel stories. He was cute, which generally makes me nervous. He likes live music. He travels lots. (8 weeks in SE Asia to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia; 4 upcoming weeks in Costa Rica). He smelled fantastic. And he kissed me. In front of Caroline and Samantha. On the cheek, but oh what a nice move. It wasn’t a peck, it was a nuzzle, and you know how much I like shaggy boys.

So that’s where it began. But where does it end? Where is all of this leading? No where! A few skeptics out there have posed the assertion that I might be afraid of commitment… hence getting involved with multiple boys that were long distance in the past two years. I’ve always disagreed with the afraid of commitment idea. I’d be happy to commit to a nice boy were one to fall into my lap. I’d love to date a local boy. Someone who could hold my hand, cook dinner with me, go see shows together, or take care of me when I’m sick. It’s not like I go to Minnesota looking for love, or head to Guatemala hoping to hook up. No, I just meet nice boys and they’re not from here. I met the last one after Samer through a mutual friend four miles from my apartment in the U-District, but it turns out he’s from LA. And the cute boy from tonight who approached me at the show and gave me a good bye kiss… where’s he from? I shouldn’t even have to tell you since if you know my luck in the past two years you’d know automatically that a nice guy, cool, talented, likes to travel must only be from out of state. Yep, he’s from Arizona. And Arizona doesn’t help me. So anyway, for the skeptics in the crowd who say I find LD boys because I’m afraid of commitment, for the skeptics who think I might choose LD boys because they’re unavailable, I rest my case. It’s not that I pick them, they pick me.

Today was the last day of Bumbershoot, which is probably for the best. Caroline, Samantha, and I went and we were all tired for much of the day. Our itinerary included…

• The Decemberists: A+

  

  

  Best show of the day! They put on quite a production and you know they’re having tons of fun onstage. The second guitar guy was my favorite… he played anything from a guitar, to a slide guitar, banjo, xylophone, and more. The indie rock band also featured an upright bass (happy birthday, Nate!), lead singer/guitar player, violin girl, keyboard/accordion girl, and a three piece horns section. Very cool indeed!

• Los Amigos Invisibles: A-

  

  Venezuelan band that played fun dance music. I went on Duff’s recommendation, but apparently the rest of the crowd already knew them. Tons of dancing, lots of singing along. Entertaining the whole way through. Almost a little campy, but quite fun. Added bonus: Weather was gorgeous and sunny and life was good.

• Earlimart: B-

  Indoors. Long line. Show was okay, but we were tired and left early for refreshments.

• Snack break!

  Can you believe we actually spent money on a Fried Snickers Bar?! Caroline and I had never had one, so we figured this was our chance to partake in this cultural experience. Props go out to the nice vendor guy who let me take pictures, answered my questions, and ended up giving me a free fried Twinkie to try. (I promptly turned it over to the group and we tried our best). Conclusion?
  Fried Twinkie: C. Didn’t taste too different, just so-so.
  Fried Snickers: A. It was yummy melted gooey goodness.

• Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: B

  I’m intrigued and want to listen to a CD now, but sadly the mixing at the show was awful. Lots of feedback and screeching from the mics. Loud bass blocked out the too quiet vocals. Ted – very cool. Other two guys – way distracting b/c of their awful hair. Sad, but true.

And with that, I’m at work trying to get ready for the first week of school. :) Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Mine was not relaxing, but was full of music and full of friends which makes for a good weekend! Best of luck to Suzan as she begins her new grad school program tomorrow!

Btw, did everyone notice how fantastically cute her new haircut is? It’s great!

PS Tonight was another evening of celebrating Samanta’s further ascent into old age. It’s kinda fun to see a crowd full of friends and know that 80-90% started as friends from the internet (photo, blogger, meetup)… let’s hear it for the digital frontier! And let’s hear it for Manuel for introducing us to our first games of dirty digital trivia… what better way is there to say happy birthday to a dear friend? :)

Have I mentioned the incredible amount of pain I’ve been waking up to for the past two days? I feel like one of those people in a movie that throws out their back and feels like they can barely move… I’ve had sore muscles before, but have never known back pain that was even remotely near what I’ve been experiencing randomly for the last two nights. Not sure why… no heavy lifting, no new work out schedule, no different bed or anything. I hope to get a massage Saturday as soon as I have an hour of free time that won’t be spent sleeping.

In other news, I’m tired and work is busy. This weekend I hope to SLEEP as much as possible, hope to see exactly ONE concert, and hope to fix my problem-filled website. Hope y’all are well.

Today’s the last day of new hire orientation for our 21 new employees! They’re neat people, but I’m exhausted. :)

Week one is done and I’m done too. A new employee lost my digital camera (not a good first impression). Everything is coming out and coming undone. Heaven help me maintain my sanity for just a little bit longer. Please.

I don’t always need a ton of sleep, but I definitely need more than I’ve been getting lately. Happily, today I didn’t need to be anywhere until 6pm so I went to bed last night at 2am and didn’t set my alarm. The freedom was great, and I was only kind of surprised when I woke up this morning and discovered it was almost noon. I also took a nap this afternoon closer to 4pm. It was great. I’m still tired, but happily my cold or virus or whatever is pretty much gone now after 3+ weeks. YAY! I spent my waking hours this afternoon folding laundry, doing dishes, unpacking from recent trips, and trying unsuccessfully to pry the back panel of my phone off so I can switch my SIM card to a new phone that works.

Tonight I went to KEXP’s John In The Morning at Night benefit show at the Crocodile and was quite pleased with the line up!

• 50 Foot Wave – Kristin Hersh’s new band, lots of screaming. bassist was in a Seven Cycles t-shirt.
• Tom Brosseau – folky music. Funny, funny man. great Johnny Cash sing-a-long.
• The Pale Pacific – my favorite of the night. fun indie rock. great
• Ian Knapp – Brittish singer/songwriter played solo. I really liked his songs. not much stage presence tonight.
• The Saturday Knights – maybe my favorite of the night! high energy hip-hop DJs! kinda reminded me of the Beastie Boys.

And can I just say how nice and refreshing it is to come home from a show at a bar and not smell like smoke? My clothes don’t reek, my hair doesn’t reek, my eyes aren’t itchy and bloodshot from the smoke, I’m not coughing and my throat doesn’t hurt. I’m not sure if the Croc is generally smoke free, or if it was a KEXP or a John decision, but either way… thank you, thank you, thank you! Let’s hope all of Seattle’s venues are like this after the Nov 20th election!

And speaking of elections… all you absentee folks out there should have gotten your ballots a week or so ago for the September primary. After last year’s crazy vote counting fiasco with last minute counting and bad signatures, I’ve reread my instructions and already filled it out and mailed it back early. If you already know how you’re voting in the primary, I’d encourage you to do the same and send it in early. :)

How lucky am I to get calls today from three of my favorite men? It was great to catch up with everyone! Ajit is in Seattle visiting from Texas, Sameer is back in Texas from visiting SE Asia, and Samer is starting classes again up in Montreal. Yay favorite boys!

Oh yes… after many months of broken style sheets, required log in for comments, lame trackback spam, and all kinds of other problems, I’ve finally taken the time to re-install WP! Yay! Of course, none of this could have happened without Jeff (a friend and local bookseller) generously spending his Sunday afternoon helping me out.

Okay everyone… now’s your chance to test out the site. Try to comment and see how easy it is now!

Despite the leaves changing colors and falling as though it were already autumn… good things are happening in abundance today after a crazy last week!

• My lost camera was located and returned to me… you can imagine how happy that makes me! :)
• A certain scared someone is content once again.
• My Honda hit the 25,000 mile marker.
• I finally got to meet Erin’s (cute!) new-ish boyfriend.
• Samantha was a great listener this weekend when I was feeling a wee bit manic.
• The girls sweetly provided me with a gift to make it through the week!
• I got a lovely foot massage yesterday.
• There are two free movies this Thursday if I can get enough shopping done early.
• And above all that… Sameer has offered me his extra ticket to ACL Fest AND Continental still has cheap flights. I could go Thurs-Mon on the frequent flyer ticket I found and not pay a penny. It’d be fun, sunny, and full of friends. :)

So, what do we think? Despite my plan to stay home and not travel for a while, should I go back to Austin for ACL Fest?

Okay… I have Sameer’s ACL Fest ticket and I have frequent flyer miles begging to be used, so I’ve booked my flight and am coming to Austin. I’ll be getting into town on Thurs 9/22 at 9am, and leaving Mon 9/26 at 7pm. If anyone wants to hang out, at or away from the concerts, let me know. Last year I spent the better part of three days at ACL Fest and saw lots of great bands. Hoping to do the same this year, with a day of rest on either side to hang with family and friends.

Hmmm… last year we also did a BBQ at Laura’s place so I could see everyone and hang out. No immeadiate plans for a repeat of that… but I wonder if a Thursday night happy hour would work for anyone? If you’re free or interested, let me know your availability. Take care!

I’ve gotten a couple of dinner invites, and now a wedding announcement too, from someone I’m sure is a very nice person. Only problem is I don’t know who they are. If it was sent to a list serve, I’d just assume it meant the invite was for the people who know her, not me. But as it is, I’ve gotten emails to a few folks, and a wedding reception and halloween party invite via evite to many folks. And none of the other invitees look familiar. Anyone know a Benni or Jole Sack? If so, do share!

Happy Birthday Savi! Celebrations tonight at the War Room were dotted with the usual suspects and many other new faces. Good times, good times.

Photo meetup tonight had a good turn out with 14 or 15 people coming out for the Sept challenge: Self Portrait. (Not a bad crowd considering only 5 actually RSVP’d). :) I think next month we’ll end up doing a road trip to Leavenworth to photograph the leaves changes colors. Anyone interested?

Also hung with Fester, Zombie, Charlie, and Sam tonight at the swank Belltown bar near Fester’s place. I’ll get to see her again tomorrow as I have passes for Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride!” Yay!

And with that, I’m off to bed. No caffeine for me today. I wouldn’t do very well with another night where I only get 3 hours. I’m exhausted. G’night…

Today I’m thankful for a fantastic new team. We just had our two day retreat out in the woods and things went better than I could have hoped for. I’m continually impressed by the talented, insightful, fun, and compassionate people that we have and I feel lucky to have them all in one place. I’m also very proud that as a group they’re willing to be challenged and willing to push themselves, with the support of the team, for both individual growth and group bonding. They’re also supportive of me, and open, which I greatly appreciate. And they have a sweet tooth, and they like kayaking, and they travel, and they’re hip with campfires… all good in my book. The End.

Did y’all know that The Funhouse has Naked Kareoke on the calendar for tonight?! Don’t believe me? Check their website: www.thefunhouseseattle.com

Somehow in the last two weeks the leaves are turning colors and the winds are picking up. Sadly, that means not only are the rains approaching, but it also means it’s no longer tank top weather in Seattle. Tonight I’m doing my annual project called “Go through the closet and see what shorts/tanks I can get rid of, and which I want to save for another season.” I’m not particularly trendy, so it’s not like a) they’re going out of style anytime soon or b) they were even in style in the first place. Most are just your wardrobe basics… khaki shorts, solid colored tanks and halters, etc. I realize some of my favorite shorts and tanks are actually from sophomore year of college… and could probably be donated (or destroyed). The favorites are hard to get rid of… even when they have a million holes and are super frail I still get a little sentimental. I even have one favorite pair of jean shorts (my only pair of jean shorts) that were a pair of jeans I stole from my dad’s closet back around age 14 and cut into shorts. At that point, his Levi’s were already probably 10-15 years old, and so at this point these shorts are probably about my age… maybe 25-30 years old. They’re the softest cotton shorts you could imagine and they still fit great. The only problem is that they ravel more and more with each passing year, to the point they’re possibly the trashiest Daisy Duke style shorts this side of the movie set.

Anyway, that’s what I’m up to tonight. Many thanks to Caroline for braving my dusty closet with me, and for the fantastic gifts! Gotta love it when your friends show up with gifts in tow for no reason other than they’re fantastic friends! Thanks Caroline!!

Oh, and don’t you forget to vote tomorrow! I already sent in my absentee ballot a week or two ago… hope everyone else remembers their photo ID and gets out to the polls ASAP. Take care!

UPDATE: I’ve succeeded in getting rid of five bags of clothing, one bag of shoes, one box of kitchen stuff, one box of Xmas stuff, and one bag of knitting stuff left over from the motherload Anita give me a few years ago. Not bad, eh?

Well, turns out 93% of people have plans on Thursday or will be out of town, so no social hour this week (which is probably a good thing). This happily means I’ll be able to do dinner with my family… perhaps the only time all week since I know my brother, sister-in-law, and I are all planning to be at ACL Fest on our three-day passes.

So, if you want to hang out while I’m in town this Thurs-Mon, it’ll require you to be a bit old fashioned and actually call me to make plans. :) Hope to see y’all soon!

I’ve been on the Red Cross website for the past few days trying to figure out where I will volunteer with evacuees while I’m in Austin this weekend. Now I’m on the weather and news websites instead… trying to read up on Hurricane Rita to see if it is going to cause a change of plans. They’re forcing a mandatory evacuation of Galveston’s 27,000 residents and moving folks further inland. In Cuba, 58,000 people were evacuated from the northern coast in preparation for Rita. Several thousand Louisiana residents, who were moved to Texas after Katrina, are now being moved a second time (to Arkansas and Tennessee). I agree with Bill and Alyssa… I think the storm could put my weekend on a slightly different path. From ABC.com:

Hurricane Rita is expected to remain a Category 4 storm until it makes landfall, meteorologist Chris Landsea of the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. That’s now predicted for Saturday somewhere between northern Mexico and western Louisiana, most likely in Texas.

“But our ability to forecast wind speed is limited,” Landsea said. He said the storm could strengthen to Category 5 with wind in excess of 155 mph or ease to Category 3, with wind less than 130 mph.

Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Director R. David Paulison said the agency has aircraft and buses available to evacuate residents of areas the hurricane might hit. Rescue teams and truckloads of ice, water and prepared meals were being sent to Texas.

Okay… for you non-ACL Fest folks, or for ACL-Fest folks who want to hang out 24/7, I’m going to see if Saturday evening works better than Thurs. New plan: For anyone interested, let’s hang out Sat night from 9pm till ??. Where? Dunno. I don’t have the energy or the head to decide, so please give suggestions or someone pick a place. Hope to see y’all then!

Update at 8pm: “The U.S. National Hurricane Centre said Rita had become “an extremely dangerous” Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (265 kph) as it moved over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A Category 5 storm can cause catastrophic damage.”

Well, I was in evacuee mode all morning as I was stuck in the Houston airport for a number of hours with the thousands of people fleeing their homes. When I lived in Houston and did consulting, I spent a lot of time at the airport, but nothing like this morning. Most families today had nothing more than a duffel bag of family history and papers, the family pet in a carrier, and a backpack of food supplies for their kids. It was a very, very sad morning. Roads are backed up for hours. Highway exits are blocked so people can head straight up to Dallas. Reports are coming in that the drive is taking over 12 hours to get to Austin, despite the fact it’s normally only 3 hours. At the airport, there were a lots of tears. Sick children. Worried talk about how to get grandparents who were receiving treatment at local hospitals and can’t miss appointments. After missing two flights because of delays (over 200 TSA employees didn’t show up this morning), I eventually got home to Austin, which is more or less functioning like normal. There are canceled football games all over the radio, and our local high school is now the latest evac center since the rest are all full.

My sister in law’s family in Louisiana is heading up to Austin today and will stay here till the storm passes. Sameer plans to fly to Chicago to escape the storm. Laura and Ajit said they were going to drive from Houston last night for Austin… haven’t heard yet if they’ve made it or if the 3 hour drive turned into 15 like the horror stories. John and Erin are from New Orleans, living in Houston, and apparently can’t make it out of town. John says “Short of some kind of miracle, we won’t be able to leave. Too many people on the roads. Many people are sitting on the road for hours, running out of gas, or giving up and turning back.” Evacuating Galveston’s 27 thousand people is one thing and is (ideally) manageable. Trying to evacuate Houston’s 4 million people is an entirely different matter. Please think warm wishes for those needing to get to a safer place…

• The clouds above Austin are Rita’s western side.
• ACL Fest is current a go. I’m meeting up with Bill then heading down there.
• Stef’s mom and grandparents are at a shelter in Alexandria. Stef’s dad is staying in Jennings against all warnings and we’re praying for his safety.
• Did dinner with family last night, followed by a late night coffee with Beal.
• Friends are invited out Sat night to meet at Trudy’s around 9pm near campus.

Hope everyone is well… especially friends and family and all those affected by the storm.

Many thanks to Sameer who sold me his pass for ACL Fest! Today’s 100 degree heat put my body into shock… in Seattle I’ve already been wearing my wool sweaters and hoodies. But other than the oppressive heat, everything was quite lovely. Bill and I saw lots of bands (mostly Texas music and indie rock), we hung with the fantastic Chris & Alyssa for a few hours, and we also saw Crow & Ajit (they evacuated Houston, drove an awful 17 hours, and decided they might as well see the festival as long as they were here). After the show we met up with Scott & Zoe, Tisen, Joey, Norm, and my first ever Seattle friend Ross. Ross was additionally my first roomie in Seattle, and he was also the first boy I had a crush on in Seattle. Was great to see Ross, and great to see the whole crowd of folks. Hopefully I’ll get to see them again tomorrow… I haven’t seen Ross is forever, and haven’t seen Scott, Crow, and Ajit since their wedding in February.

I tend to forget these things, so I’m writing them down now. This year they put in huge video screens and kept the volumes high… so even if you weren’t directly in front of the stage you could see double the bands playing. So, today’s bands were:

• Kasabian

• Steve Earl

• Mates of Sate

• Robert Earl Keen

• Thievery Corporation

• Spoon

• John Prine

• Keane

• Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

To be brief, I saw lots of people, lots of bands, got covered in lots of dust, and sweated lots of sweat. I’m now home after the Coldplay concert and am ready for bed. More later, very soon. Take care!

The heat this weekend was miserable and oppressive… especially coming from Seattle where weather has been in the 60s. Yesterday had the best line up of bands from the weekend, but I felt so awful after just the first band (M83) that I left the festival and convinced Bill to join me for a dip in Barton Springs. I felt human again after a few minutes of immersing myself in the chilly natural springs, but eventually braved the heat and went back to see more shows. The shows were great. The dust from the park was not great. The dust filled my lungs and I haven’t stopped coughing since last night.

From the Austin American Statesman:

Sunday was the hottest day of the year so far, at 108 degrees. The National Weather Service recorded the blistering temperature, a new high for the date in Austin, Sunday afternoon at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The previous high for that date was 97 in 1956.

It was the fifth consecutive day of triple-digit temperatures. Dry and warm winds on the western edge of Hurricane Rita, plus a strong area of pressure over Texas that helped push the storm eastward, also stuffed hot air into the atmosphere, compressing it, said Frank Strait, a meteorologist with Accu- Weather.com. All this, combined with soil parched from below-normal rainfall, made for record-breaking temperatures.

Usually, Strait said, Austin has about 10 inches of rain from June 1 through late September. This year, there have been just more than 4 inches.

A concert review with a good description of the heat by Lynne Margolis:

When Jason Mraz introduced his drummer, Adam King, during their ACL Fest performance Sunday, Mraz said, “He hasn’t seen this many naked people since Glastonbury.”

I have news for him: Maybe being naked helped at that U.K. festival, but it sure wouldn’t have made a difference in the afternoon heat at Zilker Park — unless those naked people were skinny-dipping. If this weekend’s weather proved anything, it’s that Austin’s festival needs to move back even further. October would have to be cooler. Otherwise, it needs to go back to two days. As it is now, the event is just too much of an endurance test. Mraz wound up playing to an audience that might have been far more enthusiastic — screaming girls notwithstanding — if they’d been able to do much more than try to keep from sweating to death.

Another heat review from Ray In Austin:

The heat and the dust were awful. By sundown Zilker Park looked like lower Manhattan on 9/11. A thick cloud of dust over everything, crowds of people with bandanas over their faces, coughing and spitting and pretending to have a good time. The record heat and the dust made this more of a death march than previous years. Honestly, if they keep having it in September, I’m not completely sure I’m going to keep going back. I understand that they don’t want to have it in October because the weather is so unpredictable. But in mid-September, the weather is all too predictable, and it’s guaranteed to suck. New Orleans manages to hold Jazz Fest in April, and tell me April in New Orleans isn’t a volatile weather season. I say move it or lose it. The festival should be a weekend of fun, not a test of human endurance.

Coldplay makes it all worthwhile
By Jeff McCrary

Despite the three days of heat, and despite the settling fog of headache-inducing dust (I suspect we’ll be bleeding dirt for weeks), a majority of festers still dragged themselves to Coldplay’s flashy event-ending set. Of course, being the final hour-and-a-half-long act gave Chris Martin’s quartet the right to be as theatrical as Cher and as self-righteous as U2’s Bono. The big-screen camera shots and negative-exposure effects didn’t help their music, but it sure didn’t hurt the experience.

“Politik,” “Yellow” and “The Scientist” were more than just crowd pleasers — their inspired singer, Martin, immersed himself in each song with a passion matching what his studio albums have captured. With the subtle addition of guitarist Jon Buckland and quaking bassist Guy Berryman, the songs adopted Coldplay’s most anthemlike sound yet.

Perhaps they were trying to prove themselves as ACL’s last act. Intimidated by an earlier headliner, the Arcade Fire, Martin gracefully admitted that bands like Fire, “should make you try all the more hard.” Another inspiration was Johnny Cash, to whom they paid homage with an English-accented “Ring of Fire.” (Does this mean that Trent Reznor is going to start to cover Coldplay?)

After encore songs “Clocks” and “Fix You,” the show came to an end. The soft piano melody on “Clocks” was as hauntingly loud as ever, and “Fix You” vibrated with an acoustic flutter. Gritty figures sifted out of the concert grounds with one thought in mind: If this kind of show keeps up, Martin’s crew could easily leave Dave Matthews and his cronies in the dust.

I flew back tonight and only arrived an hour late from Houston. It was great to arrive after midnight and see Abbey and Martha’s smiling faces greet me at the airport! What saints for picking me up even when my flight was delayed! Totally unnecessary, and very much appreciated. :) It was also great to arrive and feel the cool night air greet me when I stepped out of baggage claim. Yesterday at midnight in Austin it was still 95 degrees. What a relief to be back in Seattle! Who knew five years ago that the Northwest would ever become my home?

Saturday Sept 24: Day Two of ACL Fest

My lineup for the day was full of easy choices:

• The Asylum Street Spankers (one of my longtime Austin favorites)
• Aqualung (mellow, and included a great Queen cover)
• Built to Spill (not as wild as I was expecting)
• The Frames (I saw a little bit of this show, but can’t remember much of it)
• Death Cab for Cutie (great to see them twice in a month!)
• The Fiery Furnaces (I was tired from the heat by this point and listened from my chair)
• Jet (these Australian boys rocked the house! Loved them, and not just because they reminded me of AC/DC)
• Bloc Party (one of my favorites from the whole festival… what a fun, positive show! “Edgy” Brit pop/rock.)

Sunday Sept 25: Day Three of ACL Fest

Sunday had the best line up yet, and was full of hard choices. Sadly, my motives on Sunday were partially based on temperature and ease of venue, not just allure of the bands. Here’s the great lineup I saw…

• M83 (too mellow for 105 heat. I needed more songs with lyrics to focus on instead of the heat)
• Took a swim break in Barton Springs – was fantastic!
• The Bravery (Saw the last portion of their rockin set! Loved it when the lead singer took a stage dive into the crowd!)
• The Arcade Fire (All of the hype is true! This was one of the most entertaining, high energy shows of the festival, despite it’s 4pm time frame at the hottest part of the 108 degree day! They switched instruments every song and were rocking! The lead singer was funny and great, as was his crazy red-headed younger brother. Loved their attention to audience involvement, and audience state of being. They even threw lots of water and wet towels to the crowd… What a nice family and friends! Samer – they’re from Montreal and you should totally check them out!).
• The Decemberists (Saw part of their set, which was great, but then left for another quick dip in Barton Springs. “Don’t you wish rock bands would quit telling you to stay hydrated?”)
• Franz Ferdinand (He was more entertaining than I was expecting. Enjoyed hearing more new songs and older ones I already knew).
• The Black Keys (I didn’t know them, but did end up enjoying them. Great two piece band that does it all. I guess they’re considered rock/blues? They did a Beatles cover – “She Said, She Said.”)
• Coldplay (One of the other highlights of the weekend! I didn’t know I was a Coldplay fan… guess I was in closet or in denial? Turns out I DO know a bunch of their songs, and turns out they’re quite the showmen on stage. Coldplay did a cover and tribute to Johnny Cash – “Ring of Fire.” The flashy camera stuff was distracting, but otherwise it was a great set and a great finale to this year’s festival).

I remembered to update my other site. :)

Samantha knows all the cool websites…

Me:
will i go far in life?
God:
The oracle says: Might happen.
Me:
will my parents freak out if i go to kenya?
God:
I think so.
Me:
why must they freak out about kenya?
God:
Do you go to Church? You can find the answers in God.
Me:
but i like to travel
God:
Tell me where you have been.
Me:
here, there. africa. europe. latin america. texas.
God:
Oh there. I’ve been waiting for you. Have you ever been to America? Who are you talking about? Tell me a little about your life in TEXAS.
Me:
scary. i left 5 years ago.
God:
Don’t be afraid.
Me:
what do i do next?
God:
What would your friends say if you asked them?
Me:
go.
God:
Go where?
Me:
kenya
God:
What were we talking about again?

Cat’s goodbye party in Seattle is on Thursday November 10th from 6pm – ??

I expect you and all of your friends to come. I mean it. (It’d mean a lot to me)

I guess before I post my goodbye party info, I should really make the official announcement. I quit my job and plan to move to Africa on January 2nd!

There’s lots to tell, but for now let me start with the basics and add more when I have time.

• I accepted a position to do social services work in Kenya.
• I’ll be placed in a small village near the Uganda border. It’s about 7 hours northwest of Nairobi.
• I will work with youth and set up a volunteer program.
• The contract is for one year with the option to renew up to two additional years.
• Neither my home, nor the village, have electricity or running water.

LP says “Revered by anthropologists as the ‘cradle of humanity’, Kenya is wild. If you’re adventurous – and sensible – it promises the globe’s most magnificent wildlife parks, unsullied beaches, thriving coral reefs, memorable mountainscapes and ancient Swahili cities.

The Swahili word safari (literally, journey) wouldn’t mean much to most people if it wasn’t for this East African adventure land. No matter how many Tarzan movies you’ve seen, nothing will prepare you for the annual mass migration of wildebeests in the Maasai Mara.”

And on that note, I’d be extremely happy to host visitors! I’ll even have a guest bedroom with a bed and mosquito netting for anyone who want to come see me and tour around in Kenya! Want to do a photo safari? Want to tour the great rift in a hot air balloon? Want to hit Mombasa and chill on the coast? Me too! The job is a Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm job with vacation time, and I definitely want to visit “the globe’s most magnificent wildlife parks, unsullied beaches, thriving coral reefs, memorable mountainscapes and ancient Swahili cities” on my vacations!

* I think that’s Swahili for “I feel happy.”

Tomorrow night I’m going to see more live music at the second KEXP John In The Morning Benefit. :) Tonight I’m going to go to bed early since I’ve been embarrassedly yawning at a bar for the last hour or two.

• M83
• The National
• Athlete
• Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah
• John Vanderslice (solo)
• Math and Physics Club