Hello Out There

Its been ten years since I last posted. I was locked out, and I just now happened upon the key. Are any of my friends still around?

old news and other things

I finally sat down and wrote a belated report about the Bridge concert, tho most of it is old news by now. It was a mixed bag, but totally worth it. It was raining off and on, and tho we were as prepared as we thought we could be, we still ended up with wet butts as where do you think the water pools when you're sitting on a tarp? We brought one chair which we shared back and forth, my old bod not finding any comfortable seated position on the hard ground these days, and Shoreline ran out of rental chairs before the show even started. Highlights for me were: Jeff Bridges who was energetic and wonderful, but only did two songs. More Jeff, damn it! Pearl Jam, Ralph Stanley, and of course Buffalo Springfield which made the whole thing worthwhile. They opened with On The Way Home which seriously brought tears to my eyes. Richey Furay looked like he was having the time of his life, and in great voice. It tickled me to watch Neil and Stills sing the "woo woo woo" backing vocals. Their harmonies couldn't have been better. Bluebird was the high point, with lots of cool guitar play between Neil and Stills. BTW look for BuffaloSpringgal on youtube, who posted the best vids. Also has one of Neil and Eddie Vedder doing Walk With Me off LeNoise. Oh hell, heres a link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0abSUguUJPk&feature=BF&list=ULWzRaPzM_gcQ&index=2
Modest Mouse was interesting, as was Grizzly Bear which I'd never heard of. A few songs from each were enough. I would have liked to see more of Nico Case and Jeff Bridges, and far less of Elvis Costello, who dominated the so-called Speaking Clock review. I was disappointed T-bone Burnett did not perform any songs. As far as Leon Russell and Elton John went, I think they're a good match, but I none of the songs really stood out to me.

The Shoreline is very strict, but they do allow you to bring food and bottled water as long as its sealed. We managed to make it through the 6+ hours with only one $12 beer and a glass of wine. At my ripe old age, I prefer more civilized venues these days. They do have seats there, but were sold out immediately. Parking is a nightmare, and be prepared to walk a mile or more to get there from the lot. In spite of the rain, stiff joints, expensive beer (and seemingly interminable Elvis C. set) I enjoyed myself and I wouldn't have missed this show for the world. That said, we're sworn off AGAIN going to the Shoreline.

Now I'm trying to figure out the logistics of getting to the next Church concert. It just so happens I'll be north of SF on a retreat, ending Friday the 4th, the night they're playing in the city. I'll be driving right through there. Problem is, I'll have a car full of all my sewing stuff, which I don't trust to park anywhere, and I'll be there several hours early. And I'm not sure how Bruce is going to get there to meet me. You see, we have no public transit from here to SF. Anyway, we'll figure it out.

I've got a pot of marmalade on the stove I better go attend to. Xmas gifts and all.....

reality check

Dennis Quaid is on the cover of AARP this month. Super straight looking, dyed hair.... you might as well just kill me now.

blessings

Everything is relative.

No matter where you are, if you look around you you'll see people that have more and people who have less. Where I'm at is pretty much exactly where I want to be.

Sounding a little bit cliche here, I know.

The good news is, after ten months of unemployment my husband got a job. Its with a local company, so he doesn't have to commute. Its less stress than his last job. He likes the company. After three months, we will both have medical insurance. The bad news is, crummy pay. He just got his first paycheck. Its barely above what he got on unemployment. No matter, as we paid off our house a few years ago and we don't have a lot of bills.

What I did today: Walked the neighborhood on a gorgeous morning; watered and weeded while it was still cool out; spent a good portion of the rest of the day sewing while listening to birds singing and wind chimes chiming through the window; made and consumed a glorious dinner.

What we had for dinner tonight:

Fritatta made from eggs from my friend's chicken ranch, broccoli I grew in my flower bed, a couple slices of bacon from our local smokehouse, Gouda cheese from Amsterdam - a gift from our friends who were visiting from Germany a couple weeks ago.

Salad: Watsonville organic greens, fresh basil I grew, lemon cucumbers I grew, tomato from the farmers market - dressed with basil infused olive oil and pomegranate balsamic, a splurge from the Temecula Olive Oil Company (we were down there last weekend for our niece's wedding).

A glass on nice Chardonnay.

We are so blessed to live where we live.

Spinning as we speak: The Ghost In You, Psychedelic Firs.

Later tonight we'll plug in another episode of The Sopranos ~

Friday my best friend is coming to visit.

Can it get any better than this?

I love you all ~

Sandy

the latest

My husband's unemployment ran out already. We thought it was good until August. The good news is an extension was automatically filed. That was nice of them. I'm beginning to freak out tho, because time is flying by way too fast with him without a job.

Meanwhile, our TV croaked. It was a 27" tube style, around 15 yrs old. We were limited by space and $$ so settled for a 32" flat screen, but splurged the extra $100 for an energy efficient set. I was sort of excited, looking forward to a larger screen and better picture. Well, the picture is better, but its not bigger, just stretched out to fit the new wide shape. So the people look fatter. Weird. And when we play a DVD, it shows in a normal shaped box within the wide screen, SMALLER than our old TV! What's up with that? Luckily for me, I don't really care that much because I don't watch it much anyway. But this is what a friend of mine would call an "unprovement" . So much for progress.

I'm still all groggy from this stupid-ass time change. Grrr ~ !

Geez

Its been so long since I've posted, I have, once again, forgotten how to get into my own blog. I hate all this username/password shit. I can never remember any of them for more than five minutes.

Anyway.... I got my tickets to see The Church next month in San Francisco. This will be the first time in what, eight years, I haven't traveled anywhere further away to see them. This concert seems like strange timing, don't you think? No new album, no big build-up, just sort of a random tour. And less than a year since they were here last. I like the concept of it, taking a song from each album. I hope they mix it up a little, and skip some of the usual stand-by's. Like, wouldn't it be nice if they skipped UTMW altogether and chose something like Antenna? And wouldn't it be cool if they played Belair? or.. Sisters? (By the way, check out Fipster's discography if you haven't been there lately. He's added links to the videos of a bunch of the songs. Although I have to admit some of them are pretty silly.) Anyway, its kinda fun thinking about which songs they might pick (but probably won't ~)

Cool. My link works!

Avatar 3-D

Visually stunning. But I walked out thinking I'd just watched Dances With Wolves on another planet.

We're finally getting winter here. Its hailing!