It is a Muscle, After All

Sometimes I like to play little mind games to keep myself amused. In the past, this has included adding up the numbers in telephone numbers, addresses or whatever to see what the sum would be (I always hoped for a multiple of five), or I would add, subtract or multiply the numbers to get a multiple of five. Also, when I was younger, I was strongly encouraged not to read at the breakfast (or lunch or dinner) table, so I was reduced to rearranging the letters of the words on the cereal box (or anything that mercifully had words on it) to make new words. I got in the habit of doing this quite often throughout the day, and eventually it lead to me winning (by an embarrassingly huge amount—apparently this is not a popular activity) a little competition held around Christmas time in my Home Ec. class my freshman year of high school.

Anyway, last night in my anatomy and physiology class, we were talking about the special senses (hearing, seeing smelling, etc.). Our teacher was talking about how when you're smelling something, your brain is reacting to molecules that actually get inside your nose. We all had a hearty laugh when he said that was something we could think about the next time someone, ahem, passed gas. Well, I seem to still be running this through my head today. I was thinking about how people generally do not like the scent of others' body odors, and then I got to thinking about adaptation. So what I concluded is that there must have been people thousands of years ago who, due to genetics, actually liked the smell of other people's gasses. And then I begin to think about exactly how this trait would be an evolutional disadvantage.

Except when I'm thinking about the day when we do run out of fossil fuels and looking around to inventory everything in sight that requires petroleum in its manufacture (which especially includes the wonderful contacts that allow me to see all kinds of distances without the librarian look), it's fun to be inside my brain.

Three Years

As you may have noticed, I tend to shy away from writing too much about Chester than can be categorized under lovey-dovey. While you all know I am a huge fan of sugar, I personally do not like large doses of it in the form of other peoples’ relationships, and do my part to try and spare you all (though I will not be held responsible if we were sickening in the first few months of our relationship…isn’t everybody?). However, in honor of the fact that we’ve been together a mind-blowing three years today, I have some things I want to share with the people who are interested enough in me to read my blogs.

When I met Chester, I liked him right away. His personality and usually delightful sense of humor is obviously what ultimately hooked me, but make no mistake: he’s attractive, too. I like that he has the sort of features that make it possible for him to pass for 21 or under (with his hat on, of course) even though he’s 27. I like his teeth and the character they give his face. Heck, I even like his lack of hair—I wouldn’t poke fun so much if I didn’t. If you are the sort of person that buys into vibes, know that his is friendly and comfortable, and this is a big part of his charm.

When we first met and were getting to know each other, I was seeing someone else. Besides that, Chester lived in the Twin Cities and I still lived in Fargo. So what made up my mind that Chester was who I wanted to be with, you are all on the edge of your seats wondering? Believe it or not, a Trivial Pursuit game sealed the deal. We were playing a game with friends, and we were on a team together. He pretty much let me answer all of the questions, and when my answers were wrong, it wasn’t a big deal—he was busy having fun with me. Although we’ve definitely had our not-so-fun times and this does not always apply, I think it’s safe to say that game of Trivial Pursuit is a good metaphor for how things are.

Chester himself is a big, important and welcome part of my life, but he’s brought other things into my life that I’m grateful for: his friends and family (Mikey especially comes to mind), the dog he got me for my birthday (and the pets that followed—he’s contributed to all of them), the support he gives me that makes it easier to go to school while working full time, his generosity when it comes to all of his resources, his willingness to go along with whatever I want to do, the fun he contributes and the relationship he has with my family.

What can I say, I’m a lucky girl.

April vs. Cavity Creeps: Part Deux

Oh that's right, I went there with the fancy French words. Although I cannot provide a convincing argument for this at the moment, I think my visit to the dentist yesterday warrants the fanciness (and do look back around the middle of June for the first installment of this epic).

Is it strange if one is looking forward to their February 19th appointment of getting a crown? If so, let me explain. Once I have that pleasant little visit taken care of, I will have effectively eradicated the remnants of the trials and tribulations I have exacted on my poor little teeth. I learned yesterday exactly what a crown is (I understand that it is a fake tooth that goes over part of the tooth that has not been wiped out due to an unfortunate increase in sugary foods and a decrease in nightly brushings a mere few months after I began college). I can't help but wonder if getting a gold crown would be a good investment. Think of it before you laugh--I'd have mysterious sparkle that would cause people to wonder if it was merely a bit of dental work, or a glimpse of the gleam that is my soul.

One thing I sincerely hope comes to an end is my strange teeth dreams. I've had dreams where my jaw gets irreversibly stuck in an underbite, or where I'm afraid to move my mouth because all my teeth are on the verge of falling out. I wake up more relieved than I thought possible, and wholeheartedly thank my little gomphoses for doing their jobs with aplomb. (I recently discovered what gomphoses are--teeth joints--in my anatomy class and I have yet to lose my delight at the name.)

All I can say is this has been my most pleasant dental venture over the past year and I'm pleased as pie (of which I hope I shall be consuming lots, very soon).

Happy Thanksgiving, and don't forget to floss!

Musings

Why am I blogging now after not having done so for so long, you ask? Well, because I am trying to convince myself to work out and sometimes I have the bad habit of finding all kinds of other things that I need to do first (homework is never included here...that usually gets done after the exercise). I realized I hadn't blogged in a while, and what better time than now.

Exactly two weeks ago to the day, Chester and I went and saw Lady Sovereign at the Varsity Theater in Dinkytown. He had picked up a City Pages and found an interesting article about her, so we decided to check out some of her music online. The video we saw was for "Love Me or Hate Me", which I was intrigued by (in part because she is a white, 20-year old female British authentic-as-they-come rapper who has a bit of an odd, honky, yet agreeable voice) and proceeded to watch over and over. After discovering that we could score some tickets for $13 (even managing to avoid the outrageous Ticketmaster charges!), we decided to see the advertised concert.

The problem? Neither of us had ever been to a rap show. I spent some time worrying about what to wear and if we would stick out like sore thumbs. It turned out that this time could have been spent working out (see above), as the crowd appeared to be mostly college kids checking out the cheap show.

In short, the show was great. We arrived just after the first artist, in time to soak up the energy of the crowd and hear her DJ warm up for about 10 minutes. I'm normally no rap fan by any means, but even he was talented. In her songs and in the talking she did between the songs, she was clever, funny and sharp without being vulgar and annoying (I can't help but say here that Borat comes to mind). The combination of the sound quality of the Varsity Theater and her apparent talent for live performance did not disappoint.

Sometimes it pays to step out of your normal box and do something different. Check out her video on my myspace profile if you're interested.

My Name is Tim, I'm a Lesser Known Character

If you don't know that lyric, too bad so sad...that means you haven't been listening to nearly enough Rancid. In case you have all forgotten (and I'm assuming most of you have), tonight is the much-anticipated Rancid concert. I am very excited, but am refraining from using too many exclamation points because I've begun to suspect it makes me look foolish. Do you think it is blaspemous that I am planning on working on my Anatomy flash cards on the way to the concert? Can I still pretend to be hip and with it (or as hip and with it as I can ever manage to be) after that?

In some sad news, the last surviving fish in my tank bit the bullet last night. We tested all aspects of my water last night, and everything checked out. I suspect a disease called ich is what did them in. Unfortunately, I have a live rock in my tank, and the medicine for ich can't be used with live rock. The thing to do in that case (which I did not do at all) is get a small tank set up for medicating fish. Also, if it was ich, the reading I've done has lead me to believe I should wait 8 weeks again before putting any more fish in the tank. Oy.

I just started reading a book called "Animals in Translation", written by an autistic woman and recommended to me by the guy who maintains the plants in our office (who hadn't read it, actually). It's a very interesting insight into the minds of animals. Perhaps I will write more about it later.

Back to the grindstone...

Kind of Like a Pirate

Me and Melvin, hanging out.

Tuesday Thoughts

It's funny how when you have more things going on in your life, the blogging seems to decrease substantially. I've noticed the lack of blogging/internet activity since school has started for most people I know. The same can be said for myself: I'm juggling a full time job, 7 credits worth of classes, a boyfriend, a dog who requires frequent walking, cat/rat/fish maintenance, trying to get/stay in shape, new and old friends both and family. Whew!

This weekend was a good example of my juggling act. My brother zoomed into town from Fargo on Friday, so we spent the evening hanging out at my mom's. She made stew and bread, which was wonderful, and we countered the good food with the last week 2 workout in Couch-to-5k. Saturday Chester and I got up early in anticipation of the Dog Whisperer (Cesar Millan) seminar, which we were going to with my mom. It seemed wrong to go and learn about being a good pack leader and the importance of walks without walking our own dog, so we made sure to accomplish that first. It was a very cool thing to be a part of--Cesar is very funny and intelligent. The icing on the cake: they placed 100 nametags under seats, and if you were lucky enough to get one, you got to stay after the seminar and meet Cesar/get an autograph. Alas, I was not lucky in this respect--but I was fortunate enough to have a lucky boyfriend who is quite fond of me. We waited in line and got to chat with Cesar for a few seconds before he signed a book for me and took a picture with us (I believe they'll post it on Cesar's website, so I'll post it when I get my paws on it).

We headed home after the show and got ready to have some new friends over for a barbecue. It was nice--people talked, and more importantly, listened. We barbecued, hung out around our new fire pit and roasted marshmallows for s'mores, and then headed in to warm up with a few rousing songs of DDR. It was a kind of fun I haven't had in a while, and I was glad for it.

Sunday, Jack and I braved the dreary, rainy weather to walk around Lake Harriet with another new friend and her dog. Despite my sogginess, I enjoyed the scenery and the company.

We headed over to my mom's again in the evening for my little brother's 16th birthday. More good food was had, and the company was delightful. I suppose it didn't hurt that Casey had gotten Guitar Hero for his birthday and we happily took turns playing that.

Despite the juggling, it was a fantastic weekend!

Red River Weekend

After spending the day recuperating (read: cleaning), I decided to go ahead and post some pictures from my Fargo weekend while telling the exciting things that we did--click on the pictures to get a closer look.

This is the very beginning of our trip. This picture is misleading because while we were in bad traffic for a short time, it only took us about 4 hours to make the trip instead of the normal 3 1/2. Still, it makes for drama.



As you can see, we were both quite excited to be heading westerly.





I do think our esteemed host was excited for our visit as well.

I asked Chester and Garrett, David's roommate, to smile nicely for this picture. They seem to have tried.

I told David I wanted to take a picture of his bedroom.

He told me that he would make his bed and then I could take a picture of it too.

Nice, right? It's a 3/4 full-size, custom made to fit in the little niche in his room.

This is the sole decoration hanging on the wall in David's room. It was a kindly gift from his previous roommates, which I assume must have originally been filled with candy to elicit such sentimentality from David.

David's tiny new amp, which has a deceivingly large sound.

The apartment they live in is "garden level", which means it's about half underground. This five-legged and rather large neighbor was right outside the window.

Chester and David tried on some spiffy hats in the brand new Hot Topic in the West Acres Mall.

Later that night, we went to Johnny Carino's for some chocolate cake. There were 11 people there, but somehow this was the only picture that ended up on my camera. I wonder if I should be concerned that this wasn't a posed picture, but my natural reaction to being surprised with my own camera?

We finally did make it to the skatepark on Sunday afternoon (it was raining all weekend), but there were too many people there for me to want to skateboard. People tend to watch you when you're the only girl there, and my legs tend to get wobbly when I know I'm being watched.

There were some cool painted buffalo near downtown Fargo. I saw one that was painted with Van Gogh's Starry Night, but I couldn't find it again to take a picture of. This one was neat too, though.

The trip home: I got some new shoes while in Fargo and wanted to show them off.

Exciting Things

I know, you're probably thinking that another happy blog from me is one happy blog too many. But I was thinking of exciting things and wanted to share them.

1. Today we are leaving for Fargo. I love Fargo this time of year, when college students abound. It makes me feel young again. I also love the skatepark, my brother, and my friends that are there. Not necessarily in that order.

2. Next weekend Cesar Millan, aka The Dog Whisperer, is going to be in the Twin Cities and I have tickets for me, Chester and my mom. Cesar is one of my favorite people, from what I have seen. If you have taken any psychology courses, you probably know what a self-actualized person is. If you haven't, Google it. I think that Cesar is self-actualized. It never ceases to amaze me at the levels of patience he keeps with both people and animals.

3. It is the birthday of my brother Casey on Sept. 10. It will be a day of celebrating his 16th year, cake, presents and good times!

4. Rancid, one of my very favorite bands, is going to be in the Cities on Sept. 13. I have not seen them in concert yet, unless you count a few minutes when I caught the trail end of a show at Warped Tour 2001.

5. On Oct. 21, I will be putting my Couch-to-5k training to use and running the Big Woods 5k in Faribault, MN. Anyone that reads this blog is duly invited to attend (see what words you can learn working in a law firm?).

6. I just learned that I can get a bus pass through my school that costs $80.00 and is valid until 12/31. To put this in perspective, I spend $80/month on bus passes. Yeehaw!

7. My mom and I went to a lake not too far from my house and walked around, and then ventured to some trails we had never been on before. They were gorgeous...it's hard to believe that places like that can exist in a bustling city.

Tragedy on a Thursday Morning

My little hawkfish, as yet unnamed, commited suicide sometime last night. I fed the fish when I got home last night, and they seemed to be in good spirits (assuming fish have spirits). I didn't suspect a thing. This morning, I turned on the tank light, still unsuspecting, to wake the fish up a bit before I fed them. When I sprinkled the flakes of fish food at the top of the tank, I noticed that my hawkfish (definitely a fan of food) was nowhere to be seen. I crouched down and checked out the top of the tank to see if he was floating. No fish. I looked under all of the rocks and fake coral in the tank...still nothing. My heart sank as I realized what probably (actually) happened and started looking on the floor around the tank. I found my shriveled little fish next to the couch and deposited him as lovingly as I could into the garbage can. He will be missed.

Life is Good

It never ceases to amaze me how just a little coffee in the morning can brighten my spirits. I think it's the jangling nerves that send my brain into over-activity, and luckily I tend to think about things that are going well. I've been intending to do a blog for a while, but wanted to have some pictures to put on with it. They'll just have to wait.

I finally got my hawkfish on Friday. He is a falco hawkfish and really a cool little guy. I thought about naming him, but the only thing that came to mind is the luck dragon from The Neverending Story, Falcor. And I am NOT naming my fish after a giant dog with psoriasis, no matter how much I like that movie. I'm waiting until next weekend (incidentally, Casey's birthday weekend) and then getting a chocolate chip starfish (even the name is pleasant!), which will be the last addition to my tank. I've really enjoyed this as a hobby and hope to learn more about it.

My classes have been going splendidly. I'm loving both classes; how lucky for me to have two extremely interesting and challenging classes this semester! We started learning about epithelial cells last night and I've been thinking about them on and off this morning (perhaps a bit geeky). We do a rat dissection tomorrow night, which I have mixed feelings about: I'm excited, but have to wonder about the ethical implications of cutting into a rat as a rat owner.

We're heading to Fargo this weekend to visit some friends and my brother, and hopefully to take some time for some wonderful chocolate cake at Johnny Carino's (which they do not have in the Cities) and some early morning skateboarding at the skate park.

With a little caffeine and some positive happenings, life is sure good.

New Blog

Please go check out my new running/weight loss/workout blog, Swiftly April. I know at least two people who semi-regularly read my blog (Dad and P.B.) are runners, so I especially welcome your input and advice, as well as those who might read my blog that I'm unaware of. Even though a fitness blog may not the the most nail-biting of reads, I will try to keep it interesting.

And So It Begins

Today is the first day of my Anatomy and Physiology class, and while I have confidence in my cognitive abilities (after all, they enabled me to use the word "cognitive" in a normal sentence), I'm feeling a bit unnerved. You see, my book is ginormous. It also comes with a lab notebook, and two atlases (which I am not yet able to differentiate between). Add to that my Child Psych book and I am feeling downright skeered. Ok, not really, but I am a teensy nervous.

Not to mention, my preparation last night for my class today consisted of packing a lunch, a dinner, my eight gazillion things for anatomy and a change of clothes (because I do not want to go to class looking and feeling like I just got off of work, silly as that may sound).

Plus I have the beginnings of a cold.

But...I'm in school! I will be getting homework! I'll be that much closer to being a veterinarian once I finish these classes. All of these thoughts are enough to keep me going, even in spite of the $10 I pay to park below my building so that I might drive to class after work.

My Bleeding Heart

Two blogs in one day may seem a bit excessive, but when it rains, it pours. Plus I have good reason. About 8 pm, I embarked on what seemed like would be a pleasant walk with my mom. We made it not two blocks away when we had to witness the nastiest thing I've seen in a long time.

A young girl was helping a crow across the street using a stick--she didn't seem like she wanted to pick it up. She was having some trouble and cars started to pile up in front of her, so she abandoned the crow and went back to the other side of the street. One pickup pulled over and two SUVs went slowly by. I handed Jack's leash to my mom, as I'm not afraid of picking up a bird (that's what soap's for, right?) and headed over to at least rescue the crow to the other side of the road.

As I was nearing the crow, one of the SUVs backed right over it (not without a nasty splat noise) and then ran over it again. I suppose I could see "putting it out of its misery" if the bird was obviously suffering, but it wasn't. Plus both I and the people in the pickup were going through rescuing actions. I couldn't believe it.

You may think I'm just a bleeding heart, but you have to realize that I once carried my beloved (well, at least beliked) pet chickens to their death by beheading.

She's Ba-ack!

Now that my clothes are tumbling happily (I hope) in the dryer, my house is tidy, my dog walked, I have no company and no plans in general, I can finally address the fact that a blog is long overdue. In all fairness, I’ve been on vacation. I meant to do exciting things and document them with my camera, but unfortunately that only barely happened. Here’s what I got.

The first weekend, we headed up to Grand Rapids to visit Mikey, his family (who we didn’t even get to see) and Sheenah, plus a few of Chester’s friends.

Here is a picture some cotton candy that fermented in my car for a couple of weeks, which I discovered on this trip.



Chester and I were smoking outside of a movie rental joint. I wonder what the surgeon general has to say about stale candy cigarettes.





I also bought this 3D horse puzzle when we were walking around Tall Timber Days in Grand Rapids (I don’t think anyone tired of saying that name) for $0.60. It was more complicated than it looks.



My weekend away also involved seeing a beautiful aquamarine mine pit lake and helping Mikey do a mountain of dishes (Chester said they made him think of the huge mountain of dishes in “The Sword and the Stone”).

When we got back from Rapids, I decided to set up a saltwater tank. I have three damselfish, a live rock and some snails and hermit crabs right now to build up the good bacteria, then I’m getting a hawkfish.







My dad, Mikey and Sheenah came up to visit this past weekend. We did a lot of eating out and hanging out. It was an excellent vacation, and my prediction of it being over too soon came true.

My next installment: the Kurt Vonnegut book I just read and changes happening at work. Stay tuned!

The Mundane

When one is busy with a class, trying to incorporate the things she’s learned from reading Cesar’s Way (daily hour and a half walks with her dog among them), trying to keep up with her reading habit and trying to rid her mind of the lyrics of an insistent song from Dance Dance Revolution (which she frequently plays), not to mention her full-time job and keeping up with seemingly mundane activities as folding laundry, one has not much room in her head to think of blogs that are both interesting and informative.

How's that for a run-on sentence?

My vacation is quickly approaching, which is definitely something to look forward to. That is, if I didn’t have the bad habit of looking forward so far that I’m already feeling disappointed that my vacation is nearly over. The kickoff to this delightful week includes a trip to Grand Rapids, which is Chester’s old stomping ground. We’re mainly going to visit Chester’s cousin Mikey and his family, who I’ve grown quite fond of and consider (however presumptuously) to be like my own family.

Another not-so-delightful inclusion (or intrusion) into my vacation will be making major headway in the cleaning of our garage. I have bags and bags of clothes that I have hoarded with garage sales in mind. I am doubtful a garage sale will actually happen since it involves giving up two days of my time (at least) to watch strangers to root through my things. This cleaning will also include going through some things of Chester’s and putting them into plastic bins....with lids! That match! I suppose it’s good to keep in mind the little things that make us happy.

And that’s about all I’ve got swimming around in the old noggin for bloggin'.

The Unusual

It's funny how your mood can change so quickly. A short twelve hours ago I was sure the world was coming to an end when Chester spilled dirty (and when I say dirty, I'm not kidding around) aquarium water on the carpet. Six hours of sleep, one highly caffeinated beverage and one rice krispy treat delightfully dipped diagonally in decadent chocolate later, I'm feeling quite content indeed. I almost never make a coffee stop in the morning, but I was on my way to deposit my paycheck (I suppose it never hurts one's mood when it's payday, either...at least in the brief period before the bill export) and thought to myself, "why not?" Although there are probably plenty of good reasons why not, $1.60 coffee among them, sometimes it's nice to do things out of the ordinary, even if they're as small as that.

Ponderings...

As some of you may know (especially if you've been reading my blogs), my goal is to be back in school full-time by next fall. Before I figure out where I'm going, I need to pick a veterinary school so I can choose a 4-year that will help me out with that. As I was looking at the vet school application process, I discovered that, aside from the obvious GPA and GRE score considerations, one thing schools look at is your interest and involvement with animals, not including pet ownership (which is unfortunate, seeing as pet ownership has been quite a hobby of mine lately).

I got excited about this, since I'm volunteering at the Como Zoo and have already started this area of my future application. However, I thought why not step it up a notch? I checked out the website for the Humane Society near where I live, and they have a ton of positions open, including dog walkers and working in the surrender area, both of which would give me a good opportunity to work with and care for animals directly. There is a meeting on the 26th about this, so I'll have to wait until then to find out more, but I'm pretty excited! I'm going to pick up a copy of Cesar's Way (written by the Dog Whisperer himself) and read it before then to help with that AND seeing if there's something to be done about the levels of pestiness in my own dog (although aside from his fondness of brushing his drooly jowls on people and his general pestiness when company first arrives, he's a very good dog).

I was reading in my Psychology (of Adulthood and Aging) book today about a study that was done that found that people are more satisfied when they accomplish something without being promised a reward or being otherwise influenced by an outside party. Even though I had several setbacks throughout my college career so far, I feel ahead of the game for once and it feels good.

Gaming

Before Chester left for work this morning (at the ungodly hour of I-dont-know-when-but-probably-before-6), he announced that I am cut off from playing Final Fantasy VIII, which I have been doing lately more than I should be. He said I was talking in my sleep about the monsters in my dream ("Its a Level 3!"). I found this amusing, as I recalled the intensity of the dream. I was fighting monsters and had retreated into a treehouse where none could get in, that is, except for the Aarons (Alexis will find this amusing, I am sure). These were creepy flying monsters that looked like Jack White. Also, I told Chester about my dream-gun--an Xbox controller (wildly absurd, as FFVIII is a PS2 game)--which he kindly reminded me, in a note, not to forget on my way to work today. Just in case.

Car-azy

Here're a couple of pictures Chester took this weekend. Every year he likes to go to the Back to the 50s car show, and I decided early on in our relationship that car shows with Chester are not in my list of favorite things to do. Don't get me wrong--I can hold my own when it comes to knowledge of cars, and I genuinely enjoy them (and car shows, for that matter)...just not car shows with Chester. But I was looking through his pics for fish ones (a couple of the ones I posted yesterday--the up-closes of Loki, Bartleby and Phil--Chester took) and came across some other cool ones he took. Definitely click on them to get the details.

Chester and his friend John almost got rained out of the fairgrounds, but Chester took advantage of the rain for artistic purposes.



I was delighted by this lovely Jag.



Normally I strongly dislike flames on cars, but I did a double take when I saw this one. Flash-y!



And the car they're on? Gorgeous.

Another Weekend, Another Dollar (Spent, That Is)

We added to our hopefully-done-growing pet collection this weekend. Chester recently acquired a reasonably-priced fish tank, which we eagerly waited to fill with fish. After surprisingly little deliberation, we decided on a couple of oscars. Before we could add said fish to the tank, obviously it needed to be filled with water. Chester began the arduous process...



...and David was more than happy to help.



We did discover some contaminants that needed to be removed before the fish arrived. No word on how they got in there.



The next logical step was to purchase the fish and their accoutrements, of which I had no idea fish had so many. We selected these two oscars: Loki (the orange one) and Bartleby (the tiger one). I took the task of selecting their names very seriously--Loki and Bartleby are the angels in the movie Dogma.



We also need a plecostomus for cleaning purposes. I named him Philthy Phil Plecostomus after NOFX's song "Philthy Phil Philanthropist". It seemed fitting...I am of the opinion that cleaning up after the oscars is a philanthropic activity.



Jack is quite taken with his new pets and their setup (which, as an afterthought, includes goldfish that will no doubt end up as an oscar snack).

...and the Mohawk-Induced Excitement Continues

You see, the "...and" is an homage to Rancid's (aka the subject of this post) album "...and Out Come the Wolves"...and I didn't even mean for it to be! In any case, one of my most favorite bands in the world is going to be in the Cities 9/13. I actually first discovered this from a flyer handed out at Warped Tour, but was skeptical and only today had the information confirmed by Ticketmaster.

In fact, my excitement is such that I've already invested $0.20 on text messaging so that Ticketmaster will remind me one hour before the tickets go on sale. You see, I am working on the assumption that everyone is as excited as I am--not entirely an unfounded assumption. When I saw NOFX in Winnipeg in '02, they were doing a show in the Cities, and the day after, a show in Winnipeg. Well, both shows were sold out but Ticketmaster suggested checking back in case they opened a sale of more tickets, or even more unlikely, a new date. Well, I did check back and as luck would have it, they DID open another date in Winnipeg and I happened to check a hour before tickets went on sale. It was meant to be.

I could probably be more excited about this, but not by much. I have already seen my favorite bands (NOFX, Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger, AFI etc.) multiple times, but have only caught the tail end of Rancid at the 2001 Warped Tour. Rancid! In the Cities! Yee-haw!

The Ectomy of My Wisdoms

Census is, getting your wisdom teeth removed stinks. Not just figuratively either; you actually have some serious halitosis (as your loved ones will fondly inform you). Aside from the olfactory side effects, it hurts and your face swells up to epic proportions, stealing any dignity you may have had. Getting the stitches removed (if you were lucky enough to have impacted teeth, that is) is also no fun. I'm glad I don't even have the option of doing it again.

Luckily, there were plenty of positives this weekend to make up for the negative. My dad came to the Cities on Friday to look at and ultimately purchase a bike (as in sweet motorcycle), which you can view in his blog. Chester's cousin Mikey and his girlfriend were also down for Warped Tour on Sunday, as was my friend Barry.

We rode the light rail to the Metrodome for Warped Tour, which was fun even though we were only there for about half of it (due to my painful phantom teeth). We got to see Anti-Flag (see pictures below, we got to meet them, too!), Saves the Day (acoustic as well as non-), I Voted for Kodos, which was a ska band I'd never heard of and only went to because they boasted pink unicorn t-shirts at their merch booth, Zox and Against Me. I wanted to see NOFX, but they weren't playing until two hours after we left, and I've already seen them four times. All in all, the day was a success.

Chris #2, Anti-Flag's bassist who so graciously signed my Warped ticket, even though you can see how too-cool-for-school-with-his-fancy-mohawk he is. Anti-Flag has an exceptional bass sound--I give him credit.



This is Justin Sane (so clever), the lead singer, with Mikey. I couldn't believe how tiny he was. I always wish I was brave enough to get my picture with the band members, but I'm usually too star struck.



Here is a picture of Mikey and Sheena, a bit sun-scalded, on the light rail after the show.



Me and Barry. I look chubby here, but it's actually my swollen chipmunk face.



And that's all.

Running, Running!

So I continued my 5k training today (for the 5k I plan to run in precisely 10 days). After the first 3 uphill minutes of huffing and puffing, I felt wonderful. There's nothing like trucking along in your severely mismatched outfit with a loud-breathing dog as your companion for 2.5 miles.

I always like seeing familiar locations on foot--it gives you a whole new perspective on your surroundings--makes you actually take a look at them, for one.

Some Pitchers

Running an unprecedented 2.25 miles straight in 24 minutes + seeing Cars with good people + meeting Drystan, the French student staying with my mom and little brother for a month + playing some wicked tennis (wicked meaning us rusty tennis players did a lot of running after the errant ball and standing around while we waited for someone to retreive the ball) + seeing Les Claypool in concert = a more exciting weekend than average.

Here are some pictures as well, though not necessarily of this weekend. More like, it was this weekend that I remembered the pictures of Chester were on the camera, and it was for this weekend that I cleaned the bathroom.

This one is of Chester playing DDR as David. When David plays, he tends to hunch a bit (though, admittedly, Chester is exaggerating) and positions his hands as though he is holding a controller. We find this utterly charming (some of us enough to imitate it), and it never affects David's gameplay, as he is second only to me.



Perhaps not Chester at his loveliest, but still...



Next: one of my favorite hobbies is decorating, especially when I've just moved and have a blank canvas to work with. One of my proudest rooms is actually my bathroom, even though it's probably nothing too special. Sometimes I'm a bit lax in cleaning it (keep your judgments to yourself)...so since it was clean and I bought a new curtain liner, I thought, what better time to show the blogging public my loverly bathroom?

I bought the blue outer curtain when I moved into my first no-roommate apartment. Then, when I moved to the Cities and was in need of a new liner, my mom gave me a green vinyl one. I didn't have faith in how the two would look together, but beggars can't be choosers--and I was more than pleasantly surprised.



I found that cool blue oil lamp at Goodwill, and was going to put some flowers in it, but was having trouble finding just the right thing...until I found the peacock feathers, that is.



And my Shelf of Serenity. Heh.



And now for a completely unrelated picture in which I showcase my jewelry making skills when I'm feeling particularly fidgety.

Melvin's Relocation

I have been feeling guilty, of late, about my role as a pet owner. My dog and cat are fine, albeit Jack’s itchy ears (yet another trip to the vet this weekend, it’s looking like). However, when I got my rat Melvin, I mistakenly thought the spare room would be a great place for him to go. The problem was that we almost never use that room, so he spent a lot of the time alone. I have been meaning for a couple of weeks at least, to move Melvin down to the living room so he can be a part of the goings on, and finally did so tonight.

Here we are, chilling and watching some Scrubs.



Someone’s feeling left out and taking a short respite from his pestiness.



Here, Jack is trying to get in on the love and excitement of Melvin being out and about, but I’m not having it!



Getting along great.



We’re all friends!



I know what some of you are probably thinking about pet rats, but he’s a cool little fellow and I’ve grown quite fond of him.

Fun fact: Melvin is named after Eric Melvin, the guitarist and sometimes singer of NOFX.

In other news, I sent in my registration today for the Back in Shape 5k June 24th!