Last night Aimee and I saw Ani Difranco on Mountain Stage. She played a short set (it's a radio show), but it was neat. There were four other groups/artists there too, and that was pretty neat to see. One was the The Ben Taylor Band. Ben Taylor is the son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, but he was an excellent artist in his own right (and pretty easy on the eyes, as well). The first act to play was The Jim Kweskin Band, with Somoa Wilson. WOW. She has one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard. She looks about my age, skinny, no makeup, and then she opened her mouth and it was like butter melting. It was kind of folksy/Tin Pan Alley kinda stuff, a neat contrast to Hamell on Trial, who played later. We saw Hamell on Trial open for Ani Difranco last November. He played punk acoustic solo guitar. He really gets some speed going, and he's hilarious. It was rather amusing watching him censor himself for radio. Xavier Rudd is the remaining artist to be mentioned. He's Australian, and played a couple of didgeridoos, a slide guitar, regular guitar, a stomp box, and some other percussion instruments. He was amazing to watch, since he played two or three of these instruments at once. He had sort of a Dave Matthewsesque sound, but I liked him overall. I think Aimee wanted to put him in a box and take him home. Overall, it was a great show, and I'm glad we went. I've never seen such a high ratio of women to men in one place, though... the audience was, at most, 5% male. Most Ani concerts are more balanced than that. The audience also seemed predominantly lesbian (most Ani shows are pretty lesbian, but there's a fair number of straight folk thrown in, I think.) Then again, there seemed to be some swooning over Ben Taylor, so maybe it was more sexually diverse than I thought. hehe.

Tomorrow: King's Island!

I really need to start unpacking stuff soon. I need to find the big stack of cds that used to live on my stereo. Also, I really want a stereo kind of like this. The "executive" or "designer" stereos. I think they're neat. The problem is is that most of them have single disc players, and I prefer a multi-disc. This one might suffice, though. Sharper Image has some really neat ones, too. My old cd player is dying a slow, painful death. It's been very picky about what discs it reads anymore. Eh, it was crap anyhow.

Today is a day that I miss being in band.

I don't know why, particularly. A girl I was in band with died in a plane crash a few weeks ago. I hadn't spoken to her in years, but she was in my section during concert band season, and she was pretty cool person. I think she's the first band person I've known that's died. And for some reason, all that has made me miss band. I saw my old band director when I was home in October. He was like a second dad to me; when he found out my mom had kidney disease, he offered one of his kidneys, and I don't doubt he'd go through with it. Sure, band was geeky and a lot of work, but I loved it. I love competing on a team and winning, and we won alot. The closest thing I've had since that was when the Univ. of KY Advertising Competition Team one the regionals, and got to go to nationals. We placed tenth in the country, which was pretty good. Anyhow, I digress. I always say I'm going to get out my clarinet/saxaphone/flute/piccolo and play, but I never do it. Right now, I just don't have the time. There's a community band I could audition for, and I really should do it. I'll just have to practice alot to get my chops back into shape. Weak lips sink ships. Or something like that.

I think today is national "Your head is stuck up your ass" day.

Crude, but true.

A few remarks:
- I can't complete requests in emails that are never sent to me.

- When I ask you for additional information (such as links to websites you want posted), and you don't give it to me, don't act like it's my fault that your request wasn't finished.

- If you get so much spam that you're losing work emails in the clutter, start a new email address.

- For Pete's sake, use complete sentences and something approximating proper grammar and punctuation. Otherwise, I have no freakin' clue what you're saying.

- If you want all of your pictures to be in color, you can't send us black and white pictures. We are not Ted Turner.

*sigh* Faith in humanity... dwindling.

The numbered list format, yet again.

1) You know, when you're reading a decorating book, and they tell you to do all these things that just seem unnecessary, so you go ahead and leave out some stuff, because surely that's only for worrywarts? When the book says if you're using more than one gallon of the same color to mix them together, and then separate them again, it means it.

Jay and I had decided to paint the living room a color called "laurel". Picture a warmish earthy green, not too dark. We realize we'll need two gallons, and they mix two gallons for us at Lowe's. We open the first gallon and paint the borders of the room; up near the ceiling, around the outlets, near the baseboards. We use up that whole gallon somewhere around the middle of the first coat. We pop open the second gallon, finish the first coat, and add a second coat. We go away, and let it dry. We come back, and there are marks and streaks all over the room. It looked uneven and patchy. We gaze at it. We think. Scratch our chins, etc. Finally, I have an idea. "This is a wonderful time to try some of those faux paint techniques I've been dying to try out. Ragging off sounds simple and easy. We buy a slightly darker color to use, mix it with a glaze, and go to work. Now time for Mistake #2 of the day. Glaze was expensive; about $10 a pint for the cheapest stuff. It says to mix four parts glaze to one part paint. But we had a gallon of paint, and only a quarter amount of the glaze, so we do it backwards. At this point, I'm not realizing that the point of the paint is to tint the glaze, not to make the paint look glazy. Jay rolls on the glaze mixture, and I start rolling a cloth down the wall taking some of it off. It looks ok, but the paint starts to clump and make bumps on the wall. Instead, I take the wet rag and throw it at the wall. It makes some neat patterns. We continue on. The first section starts to dry. Guess what? You can't see where I've thrown the rag at the wall. Instead, it just looks like a horribly uneven paintjob. GAH! After all that, we gave up. We're just going to paint the living room the darker color, now. We had to tape again, I'll have to buy more paint, etc. What a pain in the butt. Which teaches us a Valuable Lesson: Follow the book. You are not Martha Stewart. And apparently, neither am I.

2) I got into work today to find my impatiens sad and wilted. Usually, impatiens shoots are about 6 inches long. Mine were about two feet. I hadn't watered it enough, so I watered it, and decided it was time for a haircut. I gave it the houseplant equivalent of the buzz cut. It just has a few very short shoots left now. The plant has to be about 20 years old or so. It was time for a bit of a change for it. It should bounce back with vigor, and hopefully actually bloom some (mine was "leggy", and evidently leggy impatiens don't bloom much.) It just awes me the way that you brutalize plants to get them to grow for you. Tear off their buds, cut them to pieces, etc. Gardening is a cruel hobby.

3) When we did our inspection of the house, we noticed a bird's nest up where the gutter pulls away from the house a bit. We left it there, of course, and now we are the proud companions to a mommmy robin and about four or five baby birds. They're adorable. They sit in the next with their mouths open, and when mommy flies up tweet urgently at her. I will try to get the digital camera from work to take some pictures. I just hope the cats don't give them little birdy heart attacks, staring at them drooling out the window all day.

4) And what about the cats? They're still fighting like cats.. and... err... cats. Last night Sophie and Eleanor teamed up on Anastasia. Hopefully they'll love each other soon. I'm scared to leave them together while we're at work, for fear we'll come back to piles of bloody cat or something.

That's all for now. As of today I have a phone yet again! whoo hoo!

The cats are still fighting. Whenever Eleanor's allowed upstairs, Anastasia cowers in one of my closets. Jay checked the upstairs litterbox last night, and it hadn't been used, so she'd been holding it all day. We also surmised that she probably wasn't going to the kitchen to eat or drink (everytime she went near the bowl Eleanor hissed and threatened), so I put her some food and water in my closet. Poor kitty. I hope they start getting along soon. When Jay first got Sophie, Eleanor didn't like her, but they didn't fight. Just hissed. Eleanor's been chasing Anastasia with a vengeance, and much MROOOoeeeWWRRRING has ensued. Poor Sophie just stays downstairs. I don't think she's particularly frightened of Anastasia, but I think all the screeching upsets her. She's a delicate little Siamese-mix.

The weird thing about this is this is playing out opposite of how we thought it would. We thought Anastasia would be the aggressor, with Sophie and Eleanor hanging on for dear life. Instead, it's the other way around. Eleanor's normally a very nice, even-tempered cat, and Anastasia can be a hellion. I guess they're too close to one another in status (and looks... it takes a minute to realize who you're seeing when you see one of them.. they're both torties.) Anyhow, wish us luck. I might use some more vanilla on them tonight. It can't hurt. If nothing else, they'll smell good to me. hehe.

1) After a long weekend of moving crap, most of my stuff is moved to the house (including the cat.) We separated them entirely Saturday, but on Sunday Eleanor escaped from the basement and saw Anastasia. Much hissing ensued. I tried rubbing them both in vanilla like Liz suggested, but that didn't seem to do anything. We eventually got them to stand close to each other by feeding them tuna. Later, we let Anastasia meet Sophie. Once again, more hissing. However, there have been no fights, for which I'm thankful. We have them separated while we're at work today.

2) Moving sucked. We planned on moving stuff at about one, but a huge thunderstorm came and it rained for the next two and a half hours. Water pooled at the bottom of the stairs at the apartment, so my feet were soaked.

3) I really want to get settled in, but it'll be awhile. We have to paint the living room yet. It'd be nice to be able to hang around and cook dinner and relax, but there's too much to be done. We took last night off and saw Finding Nemo. That was really cute. I thought Ellen DeGeneres did an excellent job voice acting. Anyhow.. tonight Jay's sister Lizzy and I are seeing Dar Williams here in Lexington, so once again it will be a night off. Tuesday I have to get the living room taped so we can paint it. I've been wanting to see Dar Williams for a few years now, so I'm happy I'm finally getting the chance. (Wow, I'm all over the place here. Coherant paragraph? No thank you.)

4) I'm sleeping in Jay's old bed until I get my new one in (another three weeks, I guess.) I have my room set up exactly the same as I did in the apartment, for now. I just need the familiarity. I don't adjust well to change. I'm going to refinish my desk and dresser, so they're sitting in the basement with a ton of other crap waiting to be sorted. It's ok, I have so much space now that everything will have a place.

5) I've not had much to do today, so I've been reading over this site. It's about homeless kids who are either homeless by choice, necessity, or addiction. I guess "kids" is a misnomer... young adults might be a better word. It's so far out of the sphere of what I know. It's interesting to see life from a completely different viewpoint. I think it's necessary to be able to take a departure from your life in some small form every now and then, and to try to understand not only how the other half lives, but why. On the same note, this article really made me think. I looked up the "online group" they're talking about, and read her posts. It was so disheartening. I think part of what got me was in those pictures she really reminds me of Erika. Not that Erika has anything else in common with her, but it was still freaky.

6) I will have cable (well, satellite) again on Wednesday. No phone until next week, however. Bleah.

7) My niece is going to come visit next month. I can't wait! I'm going to do fun kid things with her and spoil her rotten. Gattitown, here we come! I think maybe the Cincinnati Zoo, too, or the aquarium. And a swimming pool somewhere. hehe.

8) I got my first cool mail at the house the other day.. Beth and Nathan sent me a belated birthday present of Ani Difranco's Up Up Up Up Up Up. I love it!

Comments?

My apartment looks like it threw up.

Stuff is scattered everywhere. We're trying to get everything out that we possibly can carry in the car, but those little odds and ends are left, like thumbtacks and random pieces of paper. It creates one gigantic dusty mess. (And I just found out that I'm allergic to dust and pine pollen, in addition to mold).

We finally have my new room painted. It's very purple. I think I want to do something neat and designerly with one of the walls. We have to get the living room painted next week. My friend Shawn is taking the booth in our kitchen; I'm glad it's going to a good home. Jay hates it, and Aimee can't get it back to WV.

Ok, I must go get ready for sleepytime. bleargh.

Here's a neat interview with Ani Difranco.

The irony? If you're not a Salon Premium subscriber, you have to watch a brief commercial to read the article. (The irony being that Ani Difranco is fairly anti-commercial in and of herself.)

Some of you might want to read the third verse of this in particular

Stuff, in a numbered list:

1) I've been painting all weekend. I smell latex paint even when there is none. That's ok. One of the guest rooms is a very pleasant blue (about this color. It's very pleasing.) Today hopefully I'll get to start painting my room (this color). All colors approximate.

2) Sophie, Jay's little Siamese mix, got out on Saturday. First, you must understand that this cat is not an intelligent cat (but one of the cutest, as well.) She's never been outdoors. I think all of her survival instincts have been bred out of her (she takes naps exposing her belly. hehe. it's cute, though.) However, on Saturday, her and Eleanor (Jay's other cat, who although declawed, was an excellent huntress) found a hole in the deck screen. Out they went. Eleanor didn't go off of the deck, but we couldn't find Sophie. She has on Softpaws, which cover the claw with a plastic shell so she can't scratch. She doesn't seem to notice they're on, but they prevent her from adequately defending herself. Combine that with her natural lack of intelligence, and we were very frightened for her. My friend Ben had just stopped by when she escaped, so he and I drove around the neighborhood looking for her, while Jay and his sister Lizzy concentrated on their yard. Eventually, they realized she was under the storage shed in the back yard (which maybe has four inches of clearance.) We tried to lure her out, poke her out, etc. Eventually, she made a break for it, and ran out the back yard, through the open fence, into the bushes out front. She then decided to dart out back again, and attempted to jump onto the deck, about six feet high. She came damned close, and wouldn't have made it if she'd had claws to use. I've never seen a cat jump like that. It was most humorous. During the chase, I decided instead of running around the woodpile, I'd jump over it. I knocked off a log in the process and came close to hurting myself. Lizzy jumped off the deck at one point, and the rail she was holding onto about came off (we're really going to have to replace the deck eventually. hehe.) Eventually Jay caught her, and we took her back inside. The final chase scene would have been worth money on American's Funniest Home Videos, if only someone would have taped it. Sophie had a broken leg as a kitten that was never treated, so she kind of has a funny gait, but evidently it doesn't effect her jumping ability. It was amazing.

3) Today we will pick up our living room furniture. Unfortunately, our table won't be in until July (we have another we can use for now). I bought a bed yesterday, but it won't be in for about a month (I wish I had known that about a month ago.)

That's all for now. My mom is still in the hospital, but should be out soon (today or tomorrow), which is good.

1) One big sneeze makes me feel like I'm in the middle of a full-blown allergy attack. Ow.

2) My mom's still in the hospital. She's taken so many antibiotics she's become resistant to a lot of them, and now they think she has another paralytic ileus, which can be caused by peritonitis. Now they have another NG tube down her throat, which I'm sure is pleasant. *sigh*

3) I think we're going to go purchase furniture today. We won't have it delivered yet, though. I just want to get one of the pillows from the couch so we can match paint to it. We're not actually going to keep the pillows on the couch (they're butt ugly), but they at least have the fabric on them.

4) As I was packing stuff yesterday, I found a bunch of old cards. One was a Valentine's Day card from the soulless one, and another was a New Year's card from Ilya, who I met when I was with Nicole and the aforementioned one without a soul. I also found some neat letters Aimee sent me that was a collage put together from magazines, from her days at Penn State (before she transferred to the Univ. of KY). I missed her then; it's kinda hard to think about the fact we'll be separated again. She's been my best friend for about 10 years, and we've lived together for seven. I guess that's just life; we all move on eventually. As much as I love my new house with my adoring boyfriend, I'll miss my best friend.

A great article on chivalry

Some guys just don't get the point. If they read the article, they might.