This is a picture I took of myself at my birthday a few weeks ago:
And that’s Pedro in the background. I realized, when I saw this picture, that this is what the rest of my life is going to be like. He’s always going to be there, making crazy faces. For forever.
What have I gotten myself into? Seriously. I invited this madness into my life.
Who am I kidding? I love this shit!
I saw The Soul Captives on Monday night. During one song, our friends joined the band on stage to sing back ups. I shot a little video. This is my first YouTube video, too.
The sound is a little rough and distorted, ’cause I took it with my little Kodak EasyShare piece ‘o crap camera, but it’s not too too bad.
I took a bunch pictures, too.
K4-713 wrote in a MySpace bulletin:
First one that tells me to google it earns a punch in the ovaries.
I don’t know why I find that so funny. Possibly, quite possibly, it’s the skewing of the gender norm, by threatening to inflict pain on the ovaries, as opposed to the standard testicle threat.
I heart K4. I have a hetero girl crush on her.
My friends in The Phenomenauts camp had a Jell-O shot cook off last night. Everyone brought different flavors of shots. I made Fuzzy navel flavored.
I want everyone to like me all the time, and so by extension I wanted everyone to like my shots. It never occurred to me to make something unpleasant. Of course, my friends are different. There were Spam and Pineapple, Clam, and Lemon Chicken shots. I didn’t try them.
It was a good party, and it ended with me being one of the last to leave. I was hanging out with the girls giggling about all the goofiest stuff. The gerbil laugh happened quite a bit.
I didn’t get too drunk, just a little buzzed. It was cool to hang out and be a little silly. It wasn’t a wild and crazy night. Just hanging out. I met a few new people, and got to know some other people a lot better.
And the girls and I had a morning after brunch.
Now I’m just being sluglike.
I think that to say that I overdid it a little this weekend would be an exceptional under statement. I’ve been nursing a serious yucky feeling and a headache all day. I needed to drop off the face of the planet, and the planet obliged. I’ve been in extreme hermit mode all day.
This all started on Friday. I had my birthday get together at Albatross Pub. Things got off to an hectic beginning, and I was pretty late. Once we settled in, everything was pretty cool. The turnout was much better than I had expected. I have a history of terrible birthdays, and usually there’s only one or two people who show up. It was cool to have so many of my worlds collide. My oldest friend in the world, with my some of my newest, bandmates and friends in bands, theater folk, college friends, and former roommate. Many rounds of beer and cocktails were shared. I got some really cool gifts that weren’t expected at all. I even got a chance to show off just how poorly I play pool.
So after all that, I got up early the next morning, feeling like crap, and got myself dressed and over to the Command Center. The Phenomenauts were playing at Live 105’s BFD, which is one of those day long, multiple bands on multiple stages, radio festival concerts. It was a very long day. A long, sunny day. I managed by to avoid getting burnt. I reapplied the sunblock at least six times. Oh, and we were drinking from the moment we got there at around 10:30 in the morning. Drinking beer in the sun. And not eating enough, because the food was ridiculously priced. But The ‘Nauts put on a helluva show on the Local Band Stage, and I got to see something I never thought I would – Cypress Hill live.
So, yeah, I needed to do nothing today, and today I did nothing. I watched a lot of crap on TV. A lot. I also watched the Giants’ game. I napped. Oh, and I watched the last 20 minutes of “Coyote Ugly”.
And my head still hurts. I should probably drink another gallon of water before I go to bed. I should probably go to bed.
Maybe it was too much fun, but I doubt it. It was just a whole lotta fun, and a whole lotta beer.
Just sayin’.
Last night, after my last day at Huge Corporation, I went to band practice. We’re still in the process of trying out singers. So, it was a fun practice, but I didn’t really feel like I got to nail anything down. It’s still just so much fun to go and play. I wish we could practice more.
Afterwards, I was giving Ruckus a ride home. That guy is super cool, and can always make me laugh. Like, gerbil laugh. He got me twice during practice last night. We were talking about family, and about my uncle’s memorial.
Since he lives near the lake, I decided to drop in on some friends afterwards. Wednesday nights, some folks from the musical theatre crowd hang out at The Alley, a dive-a-licious piano bar in the Grand Lake neighborhood. I used to hang out there every so often when I lived in that neighborhood, and I’ve always been quite fond of the spot.
I’ve dropped in a few other times, but never found any of my friends, but last night that was not a problem. I walked in, and found many familiar faces around the piano. I also got the chance to make a lot of new friends. It was a good time.
And they got me laughing, too. In fact, I now have a new friend who is completely enamored of me for that laugh alone. I laughed so hard and so long that I actually lost my squeak. My throat was raw.
In the end, it was two in the morning before I got home. That was actually the second night in a row that I was out until the wee hours. I’ve really been enjoying myself lately.
And no, I didn’t sing anything at the piano.
Right now, it seems like my life is moving at twice the speed of what it should. The last three months have been an insane kind of roller coaster.
In February, I lost my sister, and I felt like my life was derailed as my relationship was falling apart in front of me. I was feeling low and lonely, facing a life I didn’t even recognize. It all sort of came to a head in March.
When my ex lowered the gate on our relationship, I was lost. I felt like the relationship had been the backbone to my life, and it was just gone. Looking back, I should have known, and it wasn’t like things were perfect, but I needed it to work, so I thought it would. Just if we could hang in there, everything would be good again. I was like a junkie who kept going back to try to recapture that original high, but just like heroine, that relationship was never going to give me what it had in the beginning, and it was only going to drag me down.
While I was going through the break up, trying to figure out what the heck to do with my life, I decided to jump off of a ledge that I had been teetering on for such a long time. I went for it, as it were, and ended up with my band. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever had or done, and I can’t wait to see what we’re going to do. I geek out on it at least once per day.
My job has been a source of stress for some time, since we got bought out by the Huge Corporation. A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting here in my living room, and one of my friends pinged me, saying he knew of an opening that I might be interested in. I interviewed, and was offered the job. I’m really excited to be starting that job.
I’ve come to embrace my singleness. Crazy single girl lifestyle is feeling more natural and comfortable as every day passes. I go out with my friends, and we do what we do how we do it. It’s nice to not feel obligated or guilty for doing only what I like, and it’s equally nice to know that I alone am calling the shots here. And with all of that comes the joy of flirting and that anticipation of new beginnings.
Then this morning, I got one of those horrible phone calls that you never want to get. My uncle was diagnosed with multiple myeloma last summer. He also had a massive heart attack and pneumonia twice. He’s been in and out of the hospital, having chemotherapy and what not. This morning, my cousin called to say that the doctors said that he has at most a few more days. I spent a good part of the day trying to help my mom get an airline ticket so that she could get to Iowa to see him. I hope she makes it in time.
I just can’t help thinking, though, that this can’t be normal. Who else loses a sister, loses a partner, joins a band, gets a new job, and then loses the head of her family all within three months? Can the cosmos ease up on the accelerator?
These ups and downs are a bit much.
Just sayin’.
Here are the few photos I took on Friday night.
What I wore.
Had the Bowser’s Pizza with Rippor and ‘Elle before the show.
Deal’s Gone Bad
Commando!
Baby Bro.
Rippor, ‘Elle, and Baby Bro
I didn’t get a single decent shot of The Slackers, but you know, I have a million of those already.
I always tried to avoid Facebook. Those applications – so tricky and tempting. I decided to join because almost everyone involved in Cinderella is on there, and after five weeks of quality time, I felt like I had to keep track of these folks.
So, I signed up, put the basic info into my profile, and then started adding people from Cinderella. And then they started adding me. Then I thought, well how about some of my other friends. Next thing I know, I’m getting application requests.
This is how I get sucked into playing Knighthood, building marketplaces and recruiting vassals. This is just another excuse to be up until one in the morning, and I don’t really need excuses. What I need is beauty sleep. Geesh. What was I thinking?
This weekend is the last for CCMT’s Cinderella. Closing night is tomorrow. I have some real mixed feelings about this.
On the one hand, it will be nice to have weekend evenings to myself again. (Well, myself and Monkey, Muckruckers, Slackers, Deal’s Gone Bad, Chris Murray, Phenomenauts, Maldroid, and all the other bands I plan on seeing in May.) My schedule has been almost grueling. I haven’t had a complete day off where I didn’t have to go anywhere or do anything for over a month. I had no idea it would take so much out of me.
On the other hand, I like seeing the cast and crew. I’m going to miss the social aspect, and the backstage antics. I enjoy being around creative, funny, and talented people, and they certainly are that. We’re all also very silly, which may be caused by the extreme indulgence in cookies and candy at the theater. I have met a lot of cool new people through this experience, and I hope to stay in touch with them.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m going to miss it, but not that much.
Peggy Lu Who's Just Sayin' 