vanessa and i headed out to the wiltern last night to see snow patrol. i have been on and off obsessed with "final straw" since i got it a couple years ago, so i was very excited. i don't, however, know any of their new music, though, because since i got my ipod hook-up i just don't listen to the radio.
so we stay outside and talk through the opening band, and have a good time. we go to the bathroom, and when we get back, they are already playing. so we grab some more beer and head in. i don't recognize what they are playing, so i assume it's off the new album. the new stuff is very different from the old album and i'm surprised by it. they also look a lot younger and skinnier than i imagined. and his voice sounds different. and they go through several new songs without playing anything from their old album, which i think is weird. i'm sort of buzzing and disoriented, and wondering why they're doing their concert this way, and then abruptly they thank the crowd and start taking their stuff offstage. i'm like, what?! they must be coming out for an encore -- but wait, the lights go on and music starts playing. what?! vanessa and i are confused. i insist that we wait, because, as weird as this is, they HAVE to come back out and play SOMETHING off their old album, right? we wait. and wait. and wait. so does pretty much everyone else.
FINALLY, someone comes out onstage. she's a deejay from kroq, she apologizes for the wait, she says she knows we know it's worth it, and then... she presents snow patrol. OH. THAT's why that band didn't look or sound like snow patrol to me. because THEY WERE NOT SNOW PATROL. we just didn't expect two opening bands and we'd missed the intro and i had already acknowledged to myself that they would play a bunch of new stuff that i didn't recognize and please please please remember that we were drinking.
this is like, one of the most embarassing things i've experienced in a while.
snow patrol was fucking amazing. i love them. gary lightbody is fucking hot. their new music was great. their old music sounded fantastic. i had a fan-freaking-tastic time. once we figured out what was going on.
i'm all obsessed with rufus wainwright right now. the cd has been out for a while so it's kind of random timing, but "poses" has been in my cd player pretty much non-stop. "cigarettes and chocolate milk" remains my favorite song, though there are a few others and his rendition of "across the universe" is just so damn pretty. anyway.
well, last week was just about the worst week i've had in as long as i can remember. i had slid into a denial routine and hadn't thought for a long time about things likely to happen and the short timeframe we're looking at, and then we got some really bad news and i had a complete breakdown at work. i canceled my interview lunch and went to lunch with a friend, did no work the rest of the day, went home early, canceled my group dinner plans, and split two bottles of wine with another friend at home. ugh. i've stabilized but overall am just a lot more fucking emotional than i've been in a long time. (i then had a breakdown friday night, too.) i hate all of this. and i really, really love my mom.
um, on the brighter side of things, i continue making dehydrated foods. my sister says i remind her of eddie from friends. that's not such a favorable comparison. but i made banana chips, despite the fact that i don't like banana chips. and i fucking love the homemade banana chips. the problem with store-bought banana chips is that they are deep-fried, and don't really taste like banana. these are like little explosions of banana flavor -- like banana laffy taffy, almost. :) yum. i am trying to figure out when i'll have time in the next week to make beef jerky, because i want to take some meat out to barbara when i see her in miami next weekend. it just seems appropriate to come bearing meat when one sees barbara.
that's all. i'm tired. this weekend we have our company picnic at disneyland. i'm pretty excited about that. and also my friend is having a huge party at a crazy nice house she and her husband and inlaws built in santa barbara -- they built it as an investment ($3.6 million!!!) and are living in it until they sell. so i'm going to drive up for the party (they are catering and fucking have a shuttle to take people up from the parking lot they want everyone to park in) and spend the night. i'm pretty excited about that, too. it will be a little mini-vacation. yay!
okay. goodnight.
after a year and a half long hiatus, i busted out the food dehydrator again! i had stopped because i only had 4 trays and it was starting to feel not worth it to do all this preparation for, like, 1 baggie of stuff -- i meant to buy more and then... just never did. SO, last week i finally ordered 6 more (now i have 10!) and i brought them home today. ayumi came over, we made vietnamese barbecue and cut up a shitload of fruit, and i now have pears, apples and strawberries drying on my table. my apartment smells awesome. i'm excited!
(i should really note that part of what made this all so much more doable is that ayumi helped me wash my 4 existing trays and the flexible sheet thingies that came with them. i'd, uh, left them unwashed all this time -- after making beef jerky. i mean, it was all dehydrated, so no mold or anything grew, but washing those things is a HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS. so i am now FOREVER INDEBTED TO AYUMI. SO AWESOME!)
i don't really have other things gay to talk about. but it seemed incomplete to just say golfing and drag queens, and really i don't even have much to say about those, it's just that i noticed that there's nothing on my blog anymore so i had to say something so it wouldn't be empty. so i'm just going to babble now.
i went to a driving range on wednesday. this was my second time (first time was up in davis with //k last... october?). it was SO FUN!!! v was able to add on tips that i'd gotten from //k, and i felt like it was a clear improvement from the first time. only one was a sad sorry hit into the ground right in front of me, most went at least 50 yards, and a handful went high up into the air and straight in front of me about 100 yards. i don't really know what any of that means, but it's very satisfying to thwack things. i'm going to take some lessons and see if i can actually learn how to golf. this is good because the last few times i went to batting cages with //k i just got worse and worse, so it's important for me to find another lesbian sport to attach myself to. :)
i'm going to go to drag queen bingo again. that's really the only thing i have to say about that. last time i went the grand prize was a snowboard, and we got to see 3-4 people get paddled. excellent.
hey i'm arguing my first motion on monday! i mean, i've shown up for ex partes before, but those were pretty whatevers. so i'm excited. and i'm going to fly to miami to take a deposition, and then will hang out with babs for a weekend. that's exciting, too. work is pretty good right now. they are still laying off me whenever i need to do stuff to take care of my mom, and then when i'm there i'm getting lots of fun stuff to do.
oh, and i bought 6 more dehydrator trays. i stopped last year because i meant to buy more because i didn't want to go through the trouble of making a batch of apple or pear chips or something and have it all be eaten within a day. so now i have 10 trays. i meant to make some stuff this weekend but then i accidently left the new trays at work. oops.
anyway. that's all the news in hollywood. bye!
some of you already know about my insanely OCD building manager. last night i got home late and left my rent check in his mailbox. the amount went up and i didn't remember exactly how much it was, so i accidentally left a check for twenty cents too much. then i went home, poured myself some water, and slowly started to pass out while i was watching tv. my doorbell rang at fucking 3 am. i opened the door, "uh, yeah, uh, you left your rent check for the wrong amount, you need to-" "irwin, please don't ring my doorbell after 11 pm. it's very late." "oh- but you probably just got home a little bit ago." (like that fucking has anything to do with how appropriate it is to come by someone's home in the middle of the night? it's fucking 3 am! maybe i'm asleep already. maybe someone's over. maybe i'm naked. whatever. you don't fucking come by at 3 am.) "i got home a while ago. i will leave you a new check in the morning. please don't come by so late." i start to close the door. "wait! can i leave this check with you?"
stupid fucking idiot. i left him a new check with a note that he shouldn't ring my bell past 10:30 pm, and that it is inappropriate for him to come by at 3 am even if the light is on. should i really need to tell him this?
i got back from seattle tonight. i flew up last night for a strategy session meeting today. we met ALL day, with no breaks, and worked through lunch. then i went straight to the airport, and was under a mandate to fill all possible time with work, so i had to work straight through the flight and got back to LA ex-hausted. drove straight to the snake pit to meet some people and have some much deserved and needed drinks. mmm... drinks. i love the snake pit -- i believe it's a jukebox, but whenever i'm there they play good music. fun fun. now i'm just winding down a little and then am going to pass out. mmm... passing out.