When the weather is a little blustery...

Today is gray. I woke up, did my chores, applied to lots of jobs, then found this song:

Tomorrow, I will be training for a job. It is one day a week. Hopefully, filling up the other days won't be too hard. God willing and the creek don't rise, whatever that means. I applied with a nanny agency as well.

My dad gave me a guitar while I was up in Seattle. Well, he didn't give it to me. He said, "I can't give it to you, because someone gave it to me, but use it as long as you want." So if I want it forever, I think that's alright with him. We're dealing with technicalities here, people. Anyway, I need an amp. A task for when I have a job.

I'm going to save you all from reading any more of this, I thought I had something to say, but it turns out I don't.

As I bid adieu, here is another song by the same artist. I like it better than the first, actually. I don't get the Jon Cusack thing, but okay. Fan videos are always fun to watch. 

Where's Waldo?

Hey, boos. Guess what. I'm back in San Jose. To answer any questions you may have:

I wasn't homesick.

I liked Seattle just fine.

I was quickly running out of money, and decided to come home and get a real job. 

I'm happy with my decision.

Now I'm in the process of filling out applications. I do have a job one day a week as of yesterday, but something tells me I won't make my millions that way. I'd love to teach, I'd love to make some sort of difference somewhere. I'd love to finally take some piano lessons. See? Lots of stuff to do. 

Who's that tripping over my bridge?!

I went to see the troll under the Fremont Bridge with my friend today....

I had to climb up there and say hi.

That was rad. Commisioned by the city to encourage art in the community. What a beautiful thing. San Jose just has that big poop snake in Plaza de Cesar Chavez......

Now that I've been here for a week, I'm kind of wondering.....what am I doing in Seattle? I miss home, I miss my dogs, I miss my mom. My plan was to be here for a month. If I don't have time to get a job, and I've already seen the troll, what do I spend my time doing?

Why do I never think of these things before I pack up and leave for somewhere?

Suggestions? Thoughts?

Let's talk about Washington

And let's start here:

This is the motel we were staying in. At first, it seemed rustic. I liked the way it looked from the outside. Nobody needs too much luxury in Moses Lake, WA. We checked in at 2am, so we were pretty tired. As we walked in the room, it smelled old. Of course it did. Look at it. Then we started noticing some weird things. Nails and screws on the floor, no screens on the windows. That's still okay.

The bathroom seemed fairly clean, which was, in my mind, a good indication of the overall cleanliness. We pulled back the covers to check the beds. My bed was fine, but the blanket was pretty tattered. Damien's bed had a dead spider in it. Oh well, that happens. We pulled down the blankets to the sheets. Again, mine was fine, but then I heard Damien say, "Why is there glitter in my bed?" That's kind of weird. As he pulled THAT sheet off, there was a nasty stain at the foot of the bed. A pee stain. We hightailed it out of there to the motel across the street. Motel 6 never seemed so high end.

 Night 2 of the weekend was awesome. We had seats in the 21st row, dead center. No waiting in a pit, no fighting with anyone to keep our spots. It was divine. Our view of everything was phenomenal.

The setlist was amazing. I got a little choked up during certain parts. Granny was played for a fan who lost his life, and all over the crowd, little "LoVE" signs went up, replicas of the one this particular fan brought to every show. It was a touching sight.

A couple lines got me that night- "Out of my head and into the room/So when my ghost takes me from you/you can remember the fool that I am/Don't cry baby, don't cry." Maybe it hit me because I'm so looking for my legacy. What am I going to leave behind? Do I have anything to offer? Might as well give what I'm good at, and hope it means something to someone.

"And as you go, I will spread my wings...." I wasn't taking it in the context of the song, but that line made me smile. Sad, but smiley.

Also, there was a pretty, sparkly firedancer being held up.

See the love signs?

My favorite part about having actual seats instead of being in the pit on night 2 was the time I got to spend with friends. To ask a group of people to wait for hours in a pit is a bit much for me. I think I was resentful by the time the band got onstage the next night. I am happy for the fans who got to see the band from close up for the first time, I just wish that there had been an even number of pit vs. no pit shows. Here are some pictures of friends.

Jim from Philly

Damien, Jodi, Me, Kim, Cory (Kim's hubby).

Night 3 was.....a concert. I think I could have gone home after night 2 and been fine. I always feel like I'm going to miss something, though, so I go to too many. My fault. Maybe it was a combination of being so tired, plus being in the pit (or a line for the pit) from 3 o'clock until 11:30, or maybe it was hearing Dave Matthews say HE'S having a good time, so he doesn't give a $*#@ if the rest of us are. I'm paraphrasing, but still. Maybe I'm not being fair about it? Or cool about it? Maybe Shoreline was a big fat fluke. Maybe? I might change my mind on this.

I sat down to wait. My feet hurt. It was about 8 pm at this point. I had been waiting for 5 hours. 5. Hours. Again, they are fine with asking their fans to pay money to wait around for 5 hours.

The end.

My stomach hates me

Oooohhhh my gosh. It's a little late to tell you all about the Gorge nights 2 and 3, but suffice it to say a MAJOR part of my weekend has been eating. The junk food in my body has given me GorgeBrain. Sentences are harder to form, making my body move has become a chore I can't seem to get into. I will fix this TOMORROW. Seriously. Brocolli and water. Bring it on.

P.S. I love Washington so far =)

Gorge, Night 1

I have like, 9 minutes to type this blog. Let's get cracking!

Gorge night 1 was good. I was in the pit, which was way more crowded that it was in California. I think a lot of that had to do with people saving their wristbands from previous shows and waltzing down to the front last night. And who can blame them?

A huge, tall girl muscled her way in front of the people that had been waiting for hours, then proceeded to cuss everyone out, saying they didn't know what these shows were all about. Hah. Another girl almost passed out next to me. I've personally seen about 6 people pass out this year. When sticks start flying, I try to get AWAY from where they're thrown. My advice is to stay hydrated and be sure you're prepared to get into a fistfight over a drumstick.

Sorry, I'm tired and grouchy.

Last Stop opener just like Shoreline. It did not disappoint. Everyone around me loved it. Right into Dreaming Tree after that. Awesome. Great song. Maybe I'm a little crazy, but I could do with more songs off of BTCS. 

Highlight of the night was Sleep To Dream Her, for SURE. I was surprised that all of these pushy die hards in the pit weren't more vocal about it. Maybe no one else flipped out because  it was a fairly slow paced night. Maybe everyone was tired from travel. I hope the band doesn't give up on bringing awesome songs back because of the lack of noise when the song started.

Dave also (again) mentioned Kayla and her Write A Song sign. Sweet.

We're heading to the venue soon. I'm wearing my sneakers. Dancing in my flippies gives me feet that are paining. I'm hoping for a great show, no pushing (I'm not in the pit anyway), and a bunch of rad songs that I haven't heard before. Spoon, Good Good Time, etc...

I wish I could explain more about how things made me feel, and what I liked, and what I loved, but I'm so tired right now that I'll have to finish later. The idea was to nap, but then Damien started his snoring, and I can't sleep. I kind of want to throw a fit about it. We didn't get to bed until 4am because we had to switch hotels in the middle of the night. We checked into our first one, and it was filthy. Damien had glitter and pee stains in his bed, so we left. Anyway, I'll be back later.

I'm here

I arrived safe and sound and tired about an hour and a half ago. The house is gorgeous, the area is beautiful. I was a girl born to be surrounded by trees....

I can't wait to make some yummies in here...

And I felt right at home when I saw this:

She's leaving home

So, I have embarked on my journey. I'm halfway between Seattle and San Jose right now, snuggled (not sure if that's the word) in my sheets at the motel. The night is winding down, and I'm getting tired, which is a good thing. When I first rolled in, I wasn't very sleepy at all. Now the sitting, driving, singing, sunflower seed spitting is catching up with me, and I'm kind of wishing I had brought the pillow case that smelled like my dogs. Yeah, they stink, but I love it. They didn't even know I was leaving =(

The drive hasn't been bad at all. I spent a portion of it listening to the Barbara Boxer/Carly Fiorina debate. Entertaining no matter which side you're on (I'm on the good guys' side). The sunflower seeds I snacked on to stay wide eyed were good, but my lips are chapped now. Guess no kissing lips with anyone tomorrow.

...whoa. Started falling asleep and slipped into a dream for a second. Wonder what I'll look like when I'm old? What if there's a cream you can use that will temporarily show you? Would you buy it? That's what I was dream-creating.

I'll write more tomorrow.

Here's what I'm thinking about

It's 2:36, and I intended to leave for Seattle at 10 am. I have $82 to my name. Less than that, actually, because I have a phone bill to pay. I'm not complaining; I'm feeling the pinch. Can I eat on the way up? Better make a pb&j. Another setback. Let's hope 2 tanks of gas get me to Wayne's house.

When I arrive, it's off to a weekend at the Gorge. Dave, if you're reading this (ha) I need help with tickets. Like, real bad. 

Wish me luck!