Cool, calm, smooth. That's James Taylor, right?
According to the guards at the gate, who didn't bother doing a serious check of our companions' carry-in items, "This is a pretty low-key crowd. We're not too worried."
Jess and I didn't receive a pat-down at all. They didn't search our stuff. I think it's safe to say they weren't worried about riots at the James Taylor concert. Would you be? I wouldn't. In fact, I wasn't.
Well!
If you've never been to the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, it's important to point out that it's fundamentally different from run-of-the-mill Amphitheaters in terms of seating: assigned seats are on big stone steps, as opposed to those stadium-style flip-open seats. So when you sit down, the person behind you has their feet right next to your back.
The people behind us were evidently getting sloshed early on. Sometime at the end of the concert -- I believe it was either the last song (before encores) or the first encore -- the woman sitting next to me (my mom's friend) suddenly jerked forward, as though she was supporting a huge weight. Sure enough, a person had toppled onto her, and a split second later, I was also being pushed forward.
In a setting like this, that's probably the only thing you worry about: "I hope no one loses their balance, cuz this could get ugly!" (it's just a giant set of stairs)
I thought someone had passed out, or was trying to pass in front of people and lost their balance. Nope. Just as I'm turning around to see if everyone was ok, people around us started yelling "STOP! STOP IT! GET OFF OF HIM! STOP!"
Seriously, folks, it was a James Taylor concert.
Jess and I jumped to our feet and stood in the aisle, trying to get away from flying fists. The fight would go on for another minute or so before two cops came down toward us. Of course, remembering that we're on a giant set of stairs, and this guy is drunk and throwing punches, it was hard for the cops to approach him. So they didn't. They just let him continue to fight as they called for back-up.
They got a third cop involved, and they all still stood far away from him until he calmed down (stopped punching and swearing at people). Then he sat down and started examining his leg, which was apparently bleeding.
Eventually, the whole group decided to get up and leave (including the fighty guy), and things calmed back down. My mom said someone stepped on her hand in the mayhem (the tip of her thumb was black with trapped blood -- it's amazing more people didn't get hurt, in the cramped conditions).
Seriously, folks, it was a James Taylor concert.
Other than the fight and minor injuries, it was an excellent concert. A beautiful night to be outside, listening to a soothing singer-songwriter. Sorry you missed it, everyone who wasn't there.
Thursday, August 25
Tuesday, August 23
I try to like butterflies.
It's still Summer. Jess and I live in a somewhat foggy area (it's no San Francisco, but it's cool and moist many evenings/mornings), so it doesn't always feel like Summer at home. But I'm reminded that it's Summer when I think of my schedule...
Seriously, I'm an introvert. I like to stay home and do quiet things (read, sit, think) to recharge/refuel. But ever since someone turned the sun on back in May/June, I've been busy trying to act like a social butterfly. Two of my friends are taking the marriage plunge this year (one already did in June, the other will in September) and because they're female, that means three party dates each: bridal shower, bachelorette party, wedding ceremony and/or reception. In addition, my mom is renovating two houses. Jesse and I moved, we did some renovation in our new place, and August brings both Jesse's and my birthday.
So, my quiet time has been cut back, due to everyone's need to take advantage of the Summer sun. Jesse and I tried to get away from our hectic pace last weekend by driving up to Yosemite and picnicking by a lake. It was really nice. Unfortunately, we did have to come back home. And now I'm at work, accepting and denying meetings, answering questions, and planning parties and gifts for other people's parties.
In fact, our intern had his last day yesterday (it's the end of Summer), so we took him out to lunch. My team at work is raucus and upbeat, so it was fun. Because of my recent trip to Yosemite, I was reminded of something I told my mom a few months ago: In the Summer, when you drive across Central California, you kill multiple specimens of California's bug species with your car's front end. I mentioned to her that she might not ever drive to her vacation home in eastern California if, before she left, she was given a tray of bugs and butterflies and a baseball bat, and told she had to beat them all to a pulp before she would be allowed to leave for vacation.
Is that mean? The lunch crowd recoiled and laughed uncomfortably at the story. Oh well. Sometimes it's hard for me to know if I'm funny or just inappropriate.
Seriously, I'm an introvert. I like to stay home and do quiet things (read, sit, think) to recharge/refuel. But ever since someone turned the sun on back in May/June, I've been busy trying to act like a social butterfly. Two of my friends are taking the marriage plunge this year (one already did in June, the other will in September) and because they're female, that means three party dates each: bridal shower, bachelorette party, wedding ceremony and/or reception. In addition, my mom is renovating two houses. Jesse and I moved, we did some renovation in our new place, and August brings both Jesse's and my birthday.
So, my quiet time has been cut back, due to everyone's need to take advantage of the Summer sun. Jesse and I tried to get away from our hectic pace last weekend by driving up to Yosemite and picnicking by a lake. It was really nice. Unfortunately, we did have to come back home. And now I'm at work, accepting and denying meetings, answering questions, and planning parties and gifts for other people's parties.
In fact, our intern had his last day yesterday (it's the end of Summer), so we took him out to lunch. My team at work is raucus and upbeat, so it was fun. Because of my recent trip to Yosemite, I was reminded of something I told my mom a few months ago: In the Summer, when you drive across Central California, you kill multiple specimens of California's bug species with your car's front end. I mentioned to her that she might not ever drive to her vacation home in eastern California if, before she left, she was given a tray of bugs and butterflies and a baseball bat, and told she had to beat them all to a pulp before she would be allowed to leave for vacation.
Is that mean? The lunch crowd recoiled and laughed uncomfortably at the story. Oh well. Sometimes it's hard for me to know if I'm funny or just inappropriate.
Friday, August 19
My book
Well, it's not really my book, because he wrote it, but it is for me, which sort of makes it mine. My book!
Jesse's writing me a novel. It's called The Amber Lantern, a bedtime story by Jesse Harlin. For those of you who don't already know, Jesse has made a habit of reading to me before bed. It's so relaxing, and it's so sweet -- I recommend that all boyfriends do this for their girlfriends. Yes, ladies, I read to him, too, but he's so much better at it, and he has the patience for it -- it's so great!
So, of course he's incredibly creative. Visual artist, musician (duh) and writer. He tells one great bedtime story after another -- but he's writing this one down! And it's chock full of inside jokes and references to us (you'll have to get these out of me one-by-one.. I don't want to post a list of inside jokes, because, you know.. then they'd be outside jokes).
So the copy I got for my birthday is an official, bound version, containing the first three chapters. So far, Jess has read the first chapter to me -- I wish I could tell you what the whole book's about, but he won't let me read the back cover, and the whole book's not done yet anyway. ;) I can tell you that the first chapter sets the story on Kipiki Luni Island, with a dragon who's learning to fly, and a decorative tin monkey with a colorful past, who've just met a shipwrecked duck. It's all very exciting to me -- I'll tell you how it turns out. ;)
Thank you, Bug! I know it's not my birthday yet, but I love my present, and I think you're the sweetest and the best! Tippit, Bug!!
Jesse's writing me a novel. It's called The Amber Lantern, a bedtime story by Jesse Harlin. For those of you who don't already know, Jesse has made a habit of reading to me before bed. It's so relaxing, and it's so sweet -- I recommend that all boyfriends do this for their girlfriends. Yes, ladies, I read to him, too, but he's so much better at it, and he has the patience for it -- it's so great!
So, of course he's incredibly creative. Visual artist, musician (duh) and writer. He tells one great bedtime story after another -- but he's writing this one down! And it's chock full of inside jokes and references to us (you'll have to get these out of me one-by-one.. I don't want to post a list of inside jokes, because, you know.. then they'd be outside jokes).
So the copy I got for my birthday is an official, bound version, containing the first three chapters. So far, Jess has read the first chapter to me -- I wish I could tell you what the whole book's about, but he won't let me read the back cover, and the whole book's not done yet anyway. ;) I can tell you that the first chapter sets the story on Kipiki Luni Island, with a dragon who's learning to fly, and a decorative tin monkey with a colorful past, who've just met a shipwrecked duck. It's all very exciting to me -- I'll tell you how it turns out. ;)
Thank you, Bug! I know it's not my birthday yet, but I love my present, and I think you're the sweetest and the best! Tippit, Bug!!
Monday, August 15
This is how I pulled it off...
Jesse said he'd let me tell you all how I pulled it off. I was super busy, and this is the first chance I've had to write. So, here goes...
I figured out what I wanted to do, then I told Ry (Jesse's brother) that I was thinking about it. He showed me some other Chicago-style pizzeria that shipped complete pizzas. I called Italian Delite. Anthony said, "Uh, not sure.. but I know it would be a bad idea to ship the complete pizza. The sauce would ruin the dough." Anthony also said to "Call back tomorrow. Frank will be here. Joe's here today, and I can tell you right now, Joe would say 'no.'"
Okay, so I called Frank. Sweet, helpful Frank. He said Italian Delite was thinking about doing this as part of their normal business, but it hadn't been fully explored yet. Long story short, he really wanted to help. He offered to freeze the pizza dough, sauce and cheese for me. He wanted to ship it himself, but his suppliers weren't calling him back, so we resolved that Jesse's mom (Karen) would have to do the legwork. Luckily, she was willing and available!
I called dry ice retailers (for obvious reasons), shipping companies (price estimates, ability to ship dry ice), Acme and Wawa and hardware stores (trying to find a styrofoam cooler). I also needed to get directions to all of these places, in the correct order, because Karen's internet connection was on the fritz.
SO! That's the prep. Lots of phone calls, taking notes, organization. Then I called Karen mom and explained the whole plan -- she was game! Sweet. Frank, at Italian Delite, said he didn't want me to pay for the pizza until he heard whether it worked out for us. I'd say it did!
Poor Karen got lost once or twice, because places weren't where they said they'd be, and the whole thing took a few hours, all told. But with the cooler, the pizza ingredients, and the dry ice, packaged up, she made it to FedEx by the Overnight-shipping cut-off time, and it made it to California without a scratch!
I needed a lot of time, after work, to get the pizza ready. The sauce was still frozen, and the dough was way too cold to rise. So I asked Jesse to go to Radio Shack to buy a memory card for my digital camera, because I needed to take pictures. It worked perfectly! He bought the excuse, and it bought me more time.
It's really, really hard to press pizza dough super thin. Really hard. I gave up on using my fingers (my arms were hurting), and I can't spin dough, so I used my rolling pin to finish it(Sorry to all the pizza snob foodies reading this).
I set the oven to 450F a good 45 minutes before I put the pizza in, so it was really hot. I put the dough on a thin metal pizza pan with holes in it, dressed it with a healthy amount of sauce and cheese, then put it in on the bottom rack.
It wasn't but 2 minutes later that Jesse got home. Then I started panicking -- I didn't know what else to say to him to keep him from knowing what was going on. I was hiding it the best I could. (Cook, dammit, cook!) Then it was done (I hoped), and I showed it to him -- the rest is history.
Happy Birthday (last thursday), Bug!
I figured out what I wanted to do, then I told Ry (Jesse's brother) that I was thinking about it. He showed me some other Chicago-style pizzeria that shipped complete pizzas. I called Italian Delite. Anthony said, "Uh, not sure.. but I know it would be a bad idea to ship the complete pizza. The sauce would ruin the dough." Anthony also said to "Call back tomorrow. Frank will be here. Joe's here today, and I can tell you right now, Joe would say 'no.'"
Okay, so I called Frank. Sweet, helpful Frank. He said Italian Delite was thinking about doing this as part of their normal business, but it hadn't been fully explored yet. Long story short, he really wanted to help. He offered to freeze the pizza dough, sauce and cheese for me. He wanted to ship it himself, but his suppliers weren't calling him back, so we resolved that Jesse's mom (Karen) would have to do the legwork. Luckily, she was willing and available!
I called dry ice retailers (for obvious reasons), shipping companies (price estimates, ability to ship dry ice), Acme and Wawa and hardware stores (trying to find a styrofoam cooler). I also needed to get directions to all of these places, in the correct order, because Karen's internet connection was on the fritz.
SO! That's the prep. Lots of phone calls, taking notes, organization. Then I called Karen mom and explained the whole plan -- she was game! Sweet. Frank, at Italian Delite, said he didn't want me to pay for the pizza until he heard whether it worked out for us. I'd say it did!
Poor Karen got lost once or twice, because places weren't where they said they'd be, and the whole thing took a few hours, all told. But with the cooler, the pizza ingredients, and the dry ice, packaged up, she made it to FedEx by the Overnight-shipping cut-off time, and it made it to California without a scratch!
I needed a lot of time, after work, to get the pizza ready. The sauce was still frozen, and the dough was way too cold to rise. So I asked Jesse to go to Radio Shack to buy a memory card for my digital camera, because I needed to take pictures. It worked perfectly! He bought the excuse, and it bought me more time.
It's really, really hard to press pizza dough super thin. Really hard. I gave up on using my fingers (my arms were hurting), and I can't spin dough, so I used my rolling pin to finish it(Sorry to all the pizza snob foodies reading this).
I set the oven to 450F a good 45 minutes before I put the pizza in, so it was really hot. I put the dough on a thin metal pizza pan with holes in it, dressed it with a healthy amount of sauce and cheese, then put it in on the bottom rack.
It wasn't but 2 minutes later that Jesse got home. Then I started panicking -- I didn't know what else to say to him to keep him from knowing what was going on. I was hiding it the best I could. (Cook, dammit, cook!) Then it was done (I hoped), and I showed it to him -- the rest is history.
Happy Birthday (last thursday), Bug!
Thursday, August 11
After all this anticipation...
...I won't even get to fill my readers in on what the "big deal" is about my plan(s) for Jesse's birthday! I'm going to have to let him fill everyone in...
Doh.
I've been waiting so long to be able to tell everyone.. =D
Oh wait, no I haven't.. Everyone I come into contact with on a daily basis pretty much knows. (Except Jesse--heehee!)
Anyway, it IS his birthday, but if you know the plan(s), please still keep mum! HE doesn't know yet.
...at least, I don't think he does...
Doh.
I've been waiting so long to be able to tell everyone.. =D
Oh wait, no I haven't.. Everyone I come into contact with on a daily basis pretty much knows. (Except Jesse--heehee!)
Anyway, it IS his birthday, but if you know the plan(s), please still keep mum! HE doesn't know yet.
...at least, I don't think he does...
Wednesday, August 10
Tomorrow, tomorrow.. I love ya!
I WISH I COULD TELL YOU ABOUT JESSE'S BIRTHDAY.
I'm starting to think I can't wait.. I have a lot of nervous anticipation. I hope he likes it.
I know he'll like it.
And I'm doing a lot of baking tonight.. I'm making cupcakes and banana bread. And I also have some coffee cake mix I might throw together for a birthday breakfast... we'll see if I have enough time or energy.
I'm babbling.
I'm excited! I wish I could tell everyone BUT Jesse, but he's probably my blog's most consistent reader. =P (Hi Jesse -- it's only a day away!)
I'm starting to think I can't wait.. I have a lot of nervous anticipation. I hope he likes it.
I know he'll like it.
And I'm doing a lot of baking tonight.. I'm making cupcakes and banana bread. And I also have some coffee cake mix I might throw together for a birthday breakfast... we'll see if I have enough time or energy.
I'm babbling.
I'm excited! I wish I could tell everyone BUT Jesse, but he's probably my blog's most consistent reader. =P (Hi Jesse -- it's only a day away!)
Monday, August 8
I don't bring you flowers anymore...
Yeah, so I hardly ever write. While some may not appreciate my neglect, I'm sure that Jesse will, eventually.
His birthday is Thursday. Thursday! It's Monday already. I'm obsessed with preparation. We'll see if he enjoys the effort I'm putting into it.. If so, he'll tell you all about it. If not, he'll probably tell you all about it. =)
Unfortunately, since that's all I think about (other than Jesse and tiling), and I can't talk about it -- because you-know-who reads this blog -- I don't have much to say here for the time being.
His birthday is Thursday. Thursday! It's Monday already. I'm obsessed with preparation. We'll see if he enjoys the effort I'm putting into it.. If so, he'll tell you all about it. If not, he'll probably tell you all about it. =)
Unfortunately, since that's all I think about (other than Jesse and tiling), and I can't talk about it -- because you-know-who reads this blog -- I don't have much to say here for the time being.
Thursday, August 4
T-shirts galore!
You should check out Threadless.com .. they have quite the unique t-shirt collection for sale.
All are different.
Some are...tasteless and funny, cute in a disturbing way, sweet, creepy yet artistic, blasphemous, disaffected, attempting to make a point, or otherwise awesome in general.
I know some of you will enjoy poking through these new t-shirt options. I know that I will definitely enjoy seeing them around. Have fun! =)
All are different.
Some are...tasteless and funny, cute in a disturbing way, sweet, creepy yet artistic, blasphemous, disaffected, attempting to make a point, or otherwise awesome in general.
I know some of you will enjoy poking through these new t-shirt options. I know that I will definitely enjoy seeing them around. Have fun! =)
YAY! I figured it out!
So it's still early, technically, but I have decided on what to do for Jesse's birthday. Watch for more details in his blog, as I'm sure he'll update people as more is revealed to him.. =D =D
Wednesday, August 3
keep livin' your vidas loca
Phew, this is a good little afternoon laugh... do read up, enjoy, and comment away.
"Sometimes it feels like nobody understands your rebellious, genre-defying crew of goth-rocker pals—am I right?"
Look no further.
"Sometimes it feels like nobody understands your rebellious, genre-defying crew of goth-rocker pals—am I right?"
Look no further.
It's Birthday Month again...
...and as always, Jesse's up first.
All you people in relationships where your birthdays are far apart from each other: rejoice. Jesse and I both have August birthdays, two weeks apart. And they're fast approaching.
I almost always wish my birthday would come first (in fact, we swapped birthdays last year, but it didn't work out so well). He's so creative, and I feel pressured to make his birthday great. Not that I don't *want* to anyway, but the fact that my birthday is looming shortly after his makes it intimidating -- "What's he going to do for mine? Will he think his birthday is lame in comparison with his plan for mine?"
Doh.
Oh well.. I have eight days left, and counting. I hope it goes well -- wish me luck! I have lots of ideas, but as a procrastinator, I'm not allowed to decide on a final plan yet.
All you people in relationships where your birthdays are far apart from each other: rejoice. Jesse and I both have August birthdays, two weeks apart. And they're fast approaching.
I almost always wish my birthday would come first (in fact, we swapped birthdays last year, but it didn't work out so well). He's so creative, and I feel pressured to make his birthday great. Not that I don't *want* to anyway, but the fact that my birthday is looming shortly after his makes it intimidating -- "What's he going to do for mine? Will he think his birthday is lame in comparison with his plan for mine?"
Doh.
Oh well.. I have eight days left, and counting. I hope it goes well -- wish me luck! I have lots of ideas, but as a procrastinator, I'm not allowed to decide on a final plan yet.
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