Halloween Eve

Just what in the hell is going on here?









I am not a she-gangsta' for Halloween, if that's what you're thinking.

More pics to come!

Me and the Boys

My buddy Danny (a.k.a. "D-Love", a.k.a "cityfence") is in town ya'll.


I've known Danny for about 13 years. I met him the same night I met my husband. I ended up living in the apartment next door to his for a while. He was a good neighbor...always letting me borrow his phone. I was pretty broke when I first started out on my own and could not afford the deposit for phone service. He is one funny guy and is on my list of favorite people.

Any-hoo, Danny rolled in yesterday afternoon. That evening, Juan came over and we all retired to the garage for darts, music (Tribe Called Quest was on heavy rotation), scotch (Talisker), and cigars. I opted for a glass of wine and no cigar but enjoyed the music and the company.

A few photos:




I didn't have my witch hat so Juan let me borrow his...



That dude cracks me up.

Mission "Work Cosutme"

Your challenge: Invent a costume before work out of nothing but what is already in your closet, and make it awesome. After waking up late.



Mission accomplished.

Oooooooh, Spooooky!

Tuesday Morning has the best Halloween decorations.

That is all....for now. I am watching the Halloween episode of Cougar Town. Good show, bub. Good show.

I'm Cured....Temporarily!

Cheers to me! My back pain is alleviated, for the moment. On Friday, I went to my spine doctor for an EMG and a Nerve Conduction Study. Basically, he tortured me by shocking me and then sticking a needle into different muscles, moving the needle around, and then making me flex the muscle the needle was in. Yes, it sucked. Actually, the shocking part was not that bad. It was the needle in the muscle bit that hurt.

Any-hoo, they found that my nerve is not damaged but most likely irritated. Damaged nerves lead to dying tissue, so I am happy to not have that. I was confused as to what I should do next. Well, he reminded me that a Selective Nerve Block Injection was the next test in my diagnostic protocol. The purpose of a selective nerve root block is to block one or more spinal nerves to decrease pain. This is done by injecting an anesthetic and anti-inflammatory steroids into the space around the nerve.

Oh yeah. Well, we somehow finagled it to where they would let me undergo this procedure that day. I had to go to another hospital in a different town, but they did it.

Two days later, after the pain from the injection and procedure wore off, I am feeling good! It's weird because I can still feel the knots in my muscles, and I can still feel the strange popping sensation in the tissue, but I can't really feel the pain.

This has lead to great celebration and a sense of false security. See, I'm not better. The pain will come back as soon as the steroid wears off. I'm not cured, but they now know what nerve root is giving me the trouble.

But, I sure am acting like I am better. I will probably pay for this greatly, but it sure was fun. I give you, Hula Hooping with Wine: A Story in Pictures! and some words...hahaha


Right off the bat, I attempt a move that I have not done in a long time due to neck pain


That pesky wine needs to travel through the hoop to reach my lips.


it's all in the timing


SHAZAM!!!


Steeeeeeeeaaaaady...


Salute!

Deer Tick @ Emo's 10-13-10

The thirteenth of October was a Wednesday. Wednesday is a work day, and so is Thursday. I am far from the age of being able to go out, drink a bunch of beer, and be in the front row while watching a band that kicks your favorite band's ass...but I did it anyway. Well, minus the drinking. I'm not delusional.


I'll talk about the two bands that opened for Deer Tick (J-Roddy Walston and The Business and Austin's own Crooks)in a later post. They were both great.

But now, let's just talk about Deer Tick.

This is John McCauley's(guitar, vocals, shenanigans) finger slide. I found it amusing. I wonder if there is a story behind this? Was it Joe Perry's actual guitar slide? Wait...let me google this bitch.....mmmmkay, we can all purchase this Dunlop Joe Perry Boneyard Signature Guitar Slide that was designed in conjunction with Aerosmith's guitarist for $15.oo. Thank you, internets.


First, let's meet the band:
This is John J. McCauley III



Ian P. O'Neil (guitar, vocals) and Dennis M. Ryan (drums, vocals)


Rob B. Crowell (keys, organ, saxophone, vocals)


John with Christopher D. Ryan (bass, vocals).

All together now:

This photo was taken towards the end of the set. Ok, so I only stayed up front for half the show. Sue me. #1.I had to pee (which meant I had to leave my post up front) and I did not want to push my way through a sea of 19 year olds to get back to the front. This show was open to all ages and the young'uns had taken up residency up front so that they might get a chance to touch a band member (or a band's member hey-ooooo!). #2. Dale and a few friends had camped out in the perfect little nook by the sound mixer's booth and I wanted to join them. #3. Although the energy is better up front, the sound is better in the middle center, which is where I ended up.

Any-hoo, the show was awesome. I really do believe that any one of you could walk into a Deer Tick show and find yourself thoroughly impressed and undeniably entertained.


You may also find yourself smelling of cigarette smoke...even if you were, like me, attending a show at Emo's OUTDOORS.
I mean, we were outside people! Normally, you come home reeking of smoke if you were at some bar in Pflugerville (where they still allow smoking inside of their bars and clubs). At this Deertick show, the band smoked an so did almost everybody in the frontmost section of the audience.

Speaking of the Audience:

DO you see John in the middle? He lit that smoke and then made his way into the crowd so quickly that I did not have time to change my camera's settings, so this is what you get. You can see the little ones all around. I have never seen some many hands with X marks, the stamp that declares a person to be a minor. Again, the elderly folk (those that were 28+) were a little further back, with the wheelchair ramps and handicap porta potties.

Here are a few more shots:





By the time John John McCauley had climbed a wooden support beam to the rafters where he hooked his legs around a beam and threw his body into an upside down position so that he could sway back and forth above the crowd, I had already packed my camera away. DAMN!

However, the image was captured by many people. I found it at g Covert Curiosity's blog, scroll down, and check out the shot he (she?) captured.

Lastly, would you like to know what I wore to the show? I am asking to be polite. No matter how you answer (yes or no) am going to show you either way because that's how I roll.

note to self: stop using the phrase "that's how I roll."

3D and Sleepy

I was looking through some old photos and I came upon this one of Dan Auerbach (of The Black Keys)taken at MOG's SXSW2010 party. I don't know why I didn't post this to the blog back in March when I wrote about this show. I mean, looking at it now I would say it is probably the best photo of the bunch.

It almost looks 3D.



I also came across this photo:

I take too many photos of our dogs, of me with our dogs, and of Dale with our dogs. I can't help it.

Here are two more:


Those were taken right before we went to see Deer Tick at Emo's this past Wed. I will write about that show and share some of the pics soon. I need to catch up on some sleep first so that my thoughts and memories of the event are clear and coherent. I have barely had any sleep for the last two nights.
I am so tirrredsjpl;/...ddddddd zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Being All Ghey With My New Boots

Even though the temperature is still in the upper 80's here in Austin, it is officially fall which means we are in boot season.

I looooove me some boots, fella. L-O-V-E me some mutha-truckin' boots!

I saved and saved for my new olive green boots. I went without lattes, new clothing, and fancy make-up so that I could purchase these and bring them home to live in my closet.

The first time the temp droped below 90 degrees, I put the new boots on and made Dale take my photo.

Oooooooof coarse I did, right?

Here are the boots:






I think I will wear these to the Deer Tick concert I will be attending tonight.

In Other News:
It looks like I will be having surgery on my spine to finally get rid of this pain. Listen, I have tried just about everything under the sun to help my back and if anything, things have gotten worse. They want to do a foraminotomy but need to run an EMG to make sure they know which cervical disc is causing me problems. The EMG is scheduled for Oct 22nd. If that does not give them the results they want, I have to undergo another test that is more invasive. Eeeek !

I need a long white wig. No bangs...preferably with some soft curl.

I am watching a re-run of SNL and Ricky Martin is performing Livin' La Vida Loca. He moves his hips around like they built on a swivel. Crazy.

How old are the Jack Ass dudes? They are doing another movie. I swear, Knoxville is pushing 40 and is still taking crotch shots like a 25 year old. Hahaha! Ouch!

That is all.
Review of the Deer Tick show in the near future.

Halloween Crap Makes Me Happy

I love Halloween. I love everything about it. I love the costumes, candy corn, pumpkins, pumpkin spice candles, jack-o-lanterns, the option to show costume cleavage without being judged too harshly, the yard decorations, and the merch. Two days ago, I came home with these:



Creepy and cute, a nice blend.

Today, I purchased this:

Check out my sock dachshund ,bizarro Charlie, mad doggin' the globe in the background.

When you shake it, glitter and bat confetti float about.


And when you wind it up, it plays a creepy tune

a view from the top



Last year, I got this awesome night light:

It has remained in that socket all year. I love it. I wish Halloween Season lasted 2 months.

Smells Like the 90's part II

These songs are the ones that brought back the most memories for me as Dale and I watched VH1's best songs of the 90's. THis is part II so I am picking songs from the list that came out between 1994-1999. Remember, I did not like all of theses songs...they are just the ones that pulled forth memories or strong feelings. In this part of the 90's, I really was into The Black Crowes, STP, Nine Inch Nails, and White Zombie. I was also really starting to appreciate older stuff like Janis Joplin, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Three dog night, The Band, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Chicago, and Fleetwood Mac., I worked at a classic rock radiio station from 18 to 22 (as a DJ and as a promotions girl) so I soaked it all up. Here is what I looked like during this era:

Cripes! I obviously was not afraid of skin cancer. I was tan enough to be a cast member on The Jersey Shore!

Anyway, let's move on shall we?

Here we go!


Beck - "Loser" (1994, #10 US) I did not know you could do what Beck did to music. I had no Idea. I bought this single but not the full album. Then, Odelay came out and I had to buy that. Fun stuff for a teen.


Beastie Boys - "Sabotage" (1994) This was probably my favorite music video of the time. I still like the song. I had tickets for the Beastie Boys/Rage Against the Machine tour titled "Ryhme and Reason." Before they made it to Texas, Rage broke up. I was sooooooooo upset.

Lisa Loeb - "Stay (I Missed You)" (1994, #1 US)
Every girl sang along to this song, including me. I would pretend that I didn’t, but I did. Heck, I still do.

Collective Soul - "Shine" (1994, #11 US) I met the dudes in Collective soul some time in the late 90s. They came to town to play a medium sized venue and the radio station I worked for sent me to the sound check. I didn’t return for their full set. Just not my bag, baby. I did take a picture with one of the guys and I remember he dug his fingers into my waist really hard right when the photographer said “three!” You know, how they say ooooooone, twwwwwwwo, three! Anyway, it made me turn my head and look at him all surprised like. He thought it was really funny. I thought he was a creep.


Blues Traveler - "Run-around" (1995, #8 US) This song had harmony. I started practicing harmonies again (after a hiatus) right around this time. This song helped.



Oasis - "Wonderwall" (1995, #8 US) You loved Oasis. I loved Oasis. Liam and Noel did not love Oasis. No more Oasis.


Fiona Apple - "Criminal" (1996, #21 US) I loved everything about this song. I wanted to sing like Fiona. I wanted to look like Fiona. I wanted to write like Fiona. I also wanted to eat, so the looking like her bit was not going to happen. Notice Fiona and I are in similar poses in our photos. You can tell who is who as I look like I might have just eaten Fiona and she looks like she just purged her nightly meal of brown rice and laxatives..

The Fugees - "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (1996) When this clip came on last night, as Dale and I lay in bed, I threw my hands up in the air and yelled “that’s my jam.” Hahahaha! One Time!

BLACKstreet - "No Diggity" (1996, #1 US) I remember being at the roller skating rink watching little kids dirty dance to this song. I mean, they were little kids! It was gross. I still liked the song. It was not the songs fault that those kids didn’t have a good upbringing.




Missy Elliott - "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" (1997)
This was one of the first hip-hop songs that I actually appreciated (well, except for some stuff the Beastie Boys). Before this, I would often turn my nose up to anybody that tried to make me like pop, or hip-hop. I would yell ”WHERE ARE THE INSTRUMENTS?” And then I would turn up Lemmy and make you listen to Ace Of Spades until your eyes bled. Missy sort of opened the door for me into really understanding that making a hip hop record is actually quite a creative ordeal. She made things all right. I ended up starting to like some Wu-Tang Clan (they ain't nothing to fuck with ya'll), some NWA, De La Soul, and the Fugees. My good friends Jeff and Danny also had a lot of influence on me allowing hip-hop into my musical realm.

Third Eye Blind - "Semi-Charmed Life" (1997, #4 US) Ugh. My boyfriend bought me this CD because he thought I liked Third Eye Blind. He could not have been more wrong. I broke up with him a year later. It was about a year too late.



Spice Girls - "Wannabe" (1997, #1 US) Mutherfucking Spice Girls! AAAAAAAAAARG! Haaaaaaaaated those broads!


Meredith Brooks - "Bitch" (1997, #2 US)
Gawd. I fucking hated this song so much! I didn’t know how much I could hate music until this piece of shit played on the radio.


Matchbox Twenty - "3 A.M." (1997) AAAAAAAAAAAAH! I HATED THIS SONG AND THIS BAND! The radio stations in Lubbock could not play this shit enough. I’m looking at you, z102.


Marcy Playground - "Sex and Candy" (1998, #5 US)
This song takes me back to Crickets in Lubbock, Tx. Where I would hang out with all of the other college kids, sucking down beer and cigarettes, talking about bullshit. Good times. I don’t think Lubbock actually played Marcy Playground until 1999 or 2000, but whatever. Things take longer to get going in West Texas.

Shania Twain - "You're Still the One" (1998, #2 US) My boyfriend and I broke up around the time this song came out. It would make me cry when It came on the radio. What a puss


Goo Goo Dolls - "Iris" (1998) What’s wrong with the lead singer of the Goo Goo Dolls? He looked like he had plastic surgery back when this song came out. And that hair! Ugh. Never the less, I remember late nights when I would be driving around all alone and this song would come on the radio. I would sing along and then hate myself for singing along. To redeem myself, to myself, I would quickly throw some Queen on belt out Somebody to Love.

We done, ya'll!