Tuesday, April 29, 2008

media update: april

this, of course, is more for my own remembrance than anything else. asterisks denote something i particularly enjoyed. follow this advice at your own risk.

MOVIES:
My Kid Could Paint That
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Jungle Fever
Adrift in Manhattan
The Memory Thief
Lars and the Real Girl
Dan in Real Life
The World According to Sesame Street
Starting Out in the Evening


BOOKS:
"The Secrets of a Fire King" Kim Edwards
"Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules"* edited by David Sedaris

MUSIC DOWNLOADS:
The Pierces "Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge" *
Tony Dize "Bien Sudao" (free iTunes download)
Wyclef Jean "Sweetest Girl"
Flight of the Conchords "Hiphopopotamus Vs. Rhymenoceros" *
Tristan Prettyman "Madly" (iTunes free download)
Rilo Kiley "The Execution of All Things" *
Santogold "L.E.S. Artistes" (iTunes free download)

new era


finally. it doesn't take a genius to figure out this is the right move at this juncture.

what's more depressing than realizing that we plunked down *gulp* $126 million for this guy? realizing just how bad the discrepancy in his income versus your own. check it.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

six word sunday: don't wait, operators are standing by


from my volunteer stint at KTEH studios







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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

majestic backdrop

seattle and vancouver were great. definitely not long enough, and there are so many things still left to see in vancouver. we wasted the better part of an hour in the wrong section of town trying to find the way to the hotel. matt was stoked that we ran into some store that carried his beloved kinder bueno bars, so all was not lost.

we ran into a minor snafu at the border heading north, as the guard saw a large box in the backseat and questioned its contents. when he found out there was nothing in it, he seemed even more suspicious. when matt told him we'd be there about 24 hours, i saw the guard raise his eyebrows. there was nothing in the box, of course, but it formerly contained a bunch of gag gifts matt brought me from his trip to spain. it was pretty hysterical thinking that we'd have to show the sex-toy looking objects (and related chocolates) to the guard.

once we found the hotel, we walked around for several hours and shopped and saw some sights. we even found a photobooth, and he humored me by posing for a couple of strips with me. we had big plans to do dinner and go out, but after our unintended FIVE HOUR nap, it was 11:30p and denny's was the only thing open. we shrugged it off and decided to stay in and just hang out.





we stayed less than 24 hours in vancouver, and this got us another eyebrow raise from a border guard as we were heading south. the guy peeked in the car, walked all the way around, then sent us on our way. i guess people don't just drive 4 hours to stay for a few hours, then do the same drive back down? (sarcasm) i made matt do several illegal turns once we spotted a drive-through tim horton's off the road. he wasn't impressed with the donuts as much as he was with the breakfast sandwich, but by the time we got to the border we were both sick of smelling the sugary fried dough in the car.





we stayed at the westin in seattle, which is located right where we wanted to be. and because it's where his conference was, those Heavenly Beds (which, by the way, really are heavenly) didn't cost us a dime. i walked to all of our usual hangouts while he was in seminars all day and we met up in the evenings for drinks and dinner with his coworkers. i'd never been to todai, which he raves about, so we went the first night we were there. it was good, and there was a large assortment of sushi, but something was "eh" about the place. it definitely wasn't lacking in the the made-to-order crepes or chocolate fountain departments, though.

i do love walking through and around pike's place market. there's a fabulous piroshky place up the block from the first starbucks (ick) that is to die for. they have a cheese, green onion and garlic one that makes me drool just thinking of it.







each conference attendee got several coupons for local attractions, and since we'd both been up in the space needle before, we skipped it in favor of the pacific science center. the ulterior motive for this may or may not have been that there were three (!) photobooths in the center. but what thrilled me the most, surprisingly, was the butterfly exhibit. i'm not normally a freak for stuff like that, but it was pretty darn neat.






in between the photoboothing, the eating and his conference, we did a bit of shopping. i finally found just the right green purse for me, and bought it, only to be tempted by a black one calling my name. i'm happy to say i resisted. i went to a couple fun antique shops, mostly for window shopping, but came away with a vintage cocktail shaker that i've been after.

too soon it was time to pack and head our separate ways, but not before we had one last meal.




the crab pot became our destination spot several years ago. here's the spread before the carnage:




now i'm thinking about where my next trip should take me...

Sunday, April 20, 2008

dreamworld

i love going to concerts. i also love that when i go to them i always end up appreciating certain songs, perhaps ones i never gave a chance to before the show.



case in point, the rilo kiley show i went to thursday night. i hadn't given their latest album ("under the blacklight") much of a listen since its release in august, and definitely not beyond the cursory "new music!" listen, preferring to stick to the older albums that i know much better.

as this tour is to promote their newest release, most of the songs were from it, and i only vaguely recognized some of them but i definitely had my favorites. now? i cannot get enough of "close call." or "breakin' up." or "the moneymaker." usually, i'll hear a song several times and pretty much be done with it. it's unheard of for me to listen to the same song over and over again, but with "close call?" i truly cannot get enough of it. even having it stuck in my head all day yesterday wasn't enough to make me sick of it.



and tonight i'm going to the jay-z/mary j. blige show. rilo kiley, jay-z and a new camera all in one week? how did i get so lucky to have three things that make me absolutely giddy happen in such quick succession?

pinch me. life is good.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

hello, gorgeous

ya gotta see the baby!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

strict protocol

I had a good week last week. Not only did I work just three days, but I also got a bonus. A big one, greater than my monthly salary. And since I wasn't expecting it, it was all the better.

Of course, since I wasn't expecting it, when I opened the envelope the check was in, I said aloud, "What the hell is this?!" Yes, that'd be me, staring, not just looking, the proverbial gift horse in the mouth.

Because I'm a responsible adult (har) I'm going to invest about 70 percent of it. And the rest? I dunno yet. But I guarantee it'll be good.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

karma chameleon

I read an article on consumerist that amazon was refunding $50 in amazon credit to people who purchased an HD DVD player before February. I never received an email from amazon, even though I fit into that category. So I sent them a witty email saying I wasn't trying to be (too) greedy, but hey, where's my credit? I got an email back less than an hour after I sent it saying I now had $50 to spend on amazon.

There are a couple of things that thrill me about this.

The first is, of course, that it brings the total cost of the HD DVD player and 10 HD DVDs down by $50. And for "dead" technology, that's doable. Especially since I sold all but 1 of the 10 DVDs on eBay and thus brought the cost down even further.

The second is that now I have an extra $50 to spend. It's like free money, even though it's not. But the trouble now is what to spend it on.

Y'know when you get a gift certificate you don't just want to buy any old thing? You have to make sure it's something you realllly realllly want so you don't waste it.

Do I get all the books on my amazon wishlist? Probably not. How about towards the new camera? Maybe. I'm just glad the credit is good 'til 2009 so I don't have to worry about making the decision now.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

six word sunday: her two favorites, together at last








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Friday, April 11, 2008

photobooth friday: fools in the booth (theme)

this was taken this past saturday in vancouver, bc, the first of many photobooth stops on the trip. (international boothing, what what!)
fools in the booth, indeed. underarm in my face is a new booth experience for me, the laugh the snap captured is definitely real.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Live blogging! From Seattle

I'm in Seattle, enjoying a warm, lovely, green onion, garlic and cheese piroshky from Piroshky Piroshky, one of the best treats I've found in the Pike Place area. It probably won't surprise you that I seek out this spot each time I'm in Seattle, although I'm not sure I've had one for breakfast before.

It's not raining (yet) but some rain is predicted later in the day. I'm going to get my walking and photography in today, that's for sure! I didn't take as many photos in Vancouver as I'd have liked, but had a great time and would love to go back and visit sometime. That's the best part about not fitting everything in -- having a reason to come back and finish (or start!) seeing all the sights.

There's a great antique shops just up the road that has junk, er, antiques right up my alley. I skipped it last time I was here but I peeked in the windows as I was making my way down to Pike Place and I'm definitely going to stop in.

And I think they're open now, so...


Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

Friday, April 04, 2008

this time tomorrow...

time is just flying by. it's already friday, and i leave early tomorrow morning for seattle and vancouver. i'll only be gone through tuesday but the whole back pain thing still has me down and packing a suitcase is pretty much the last thing i want to do. i'm definitely better, and i started physical therapy thursday morning and will continue with it for about three weeks. it seems so dramatic, having to go to physical therapy, but if it will provide results then i'm all for it.

my friend nicole's husband is staying with me tonight. he's in town for a conference and she asked if he could stay here a couple of nights. i'll be here for one of 'em but he'll be on his own saturday night. she was kind enough to volunteer him to take me to the airport at the crack of dawn tomorrow (aka 5a). yay for good friends and their generous husbands!

i've had the kinks' "this time tomorrow" stuck in my head all day. i guess if you're going to get something stuck in your head, it's at least a decent song to do so.