Sunday, February 28, 2010

"I wish I had two hours to spend on that!"



Yes, this statement makes one feel really great about their life, or lack there of. In fact, it is pretty much a twist of the "oh yeah, you don't have a husband, or kids, or any serious commitment in your life" knife that's already sticking awkwardly ('cause really, how else could that knife stick?) out of your chest. The same chest that houses that big heart which encouraged you to do whatever cool thing no one else had time to do. Case in point: Happy Birthday friends at work!
It isn't like this was even very hard, or that I did a really spectacular job. I mean, I was proud of them, and they turned out really nicely, but seriously. A simply, "wow, great work!" is sufficient. Save the "You must have a lot of time on your hands..." comments for when I accomplish world peace, or cure cancer, or actually write a lesson plan. Then I will not be disheartened by those comments.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

When's your mom picking you up?

I have a friend at work who goes to concerts all the time. Some of the staff (myself included) like to tease her that she's too old to go to rock concerts. Her response usually contains a curse word, so I'll leave that up to your imagination.

This last Friday we had a teacher in-service day. Beautiful, student free day. So, I'm sitting in meetings and I get a text from my friend Katrina. She invited me to go to a concert that very night with her. Now, I'm not big on "going out" or "hitting the town" or "having a good time" so I was hesitant at first. Then I remembered that my friend who was supposed to come down to spend the night totally backed out to "do homework" and be home taught. Fine, said I. I will find other entertainment.

So, we're sitting in a meeting and Amy (concert going work friend) says
"Hey, let's listen to some music! I'm going to the jack's Mannequin concert tonight, so I'll put him on."
"Oh," I reply, "My friend just texted to see if I wanted to go to that concert, she has an extra ticket."
"Text her back YES right now!" Amy shouted excitedly. And so, I went to the concert.



Now, this is my first real live stand around being excited rock concert. I've been to a couple Country concerts at the fair, and of course, Elton John at the Colosseum in Vegas. None of those prepared me for the hoard of obsessed teenagers who fought and pushed and shoved and made snotty faces while whining about not being able to see.

Seriously, 80% of the room was either shorter or younger than myself, and I tend to think most likely both. My Katrina friend mentioned to me that she felt like and old lady amongst the teeming teen crowd. Indeed.
True to our super oldness, we were totally not cool with the girls who shoved their way into a tiny crack of space in front of us and refused to move. I did my best to annoy them by coughing and blowing hot breath on their necks, "bumping" them with shoulders and elbows, and taking awesome flash pictures aimed at their faces. The one advantage to being so old and lame was that we got to go through the bar, which greatly expedited our coming and going.

The music was good. Do a Youtube search for:
"Bruised, Jack's Mannequin, Seattle" and select the video posted by issaquahwa. That's the best example of the incredible fan sing alongs.
"Satisfy, Vedera, Seattle" and select the issaquahwa video. If you watch the "Vedera, Goodbye My Love" video, you get a glimpse of Amy's fingers!
"The Gambler, fun. Seattle, WA" and again select the issaquahwa video. This was a beautiful song about his parents. I almost cried a little.
Check out Amy's Youtube channel for the whole concert.
http:www.youtube.com/user/issaquahwa&rclk=cti
Click on the Uploads tab and scroll down the right hand side to the Jack's Mannequin, fun., and Vedera videos from February 5th.