Just Wanna Cruise

I want this day to fly by as quickly as possible, because I’ve spent my next to last $15 on a ticket to see The Aggrolites and Struts tonight.  As the day is going by, I’m getting more and more anxious.  It’s been a while since I saw The Aggrolites, and going to see The Struts is always a good time.    I just want this day to go by a little faster.

It’s kind of slow around here.  The scary thing is, we’ve hired another person in my sub-department.  I am glad that the company is looking to grow and staff aggressively, but I wonder if there’s going to be enough trafficking to go around.   I shouldn’t worry about that, though, as it’s someone else’s problem, really.

Anyway, so I really wish I was a little more busy so that the day would be over.  Then I could go home, eat some bean stew, maybe blow on my sax a bit, and then put together an outfit for tonight, do my hair and make-up, and be on my happy little way to the show.   A lot of my friends and bandmates are going to be there, too, so it’ll be double the fun.

What’s better then Reggae and R&B on a Tuesday?  Absolutely nothing!

Just sayin’.

What’s that Smell?

It’s the enchanting scent of three days until payday and I’ve overshot my budget. A.K.A. a big slow cooker full of beans simmering in the kitchenette. It’s simple economics. If I eat at home for a few nights, and don’t buy any lunch, then it’ll really help me out going into this next weekend. Also, it’s probably better for me, too; it’s vegan and not really full of fat and empty carbs.  It’s not chili, more like a stew with beans.

I went to TJ, and I put a lot of my big Washington road trip on my credit card, so, you know, I’m not destitute, but I could stand to cut a few corners.

So, here’s my recipe for 3 Bean Broke Ass Stew –

  • Saute 2 diced medium yellow onions, 4-6 cloves of garlic minced, and a handful of chopped fresh cilantro in about a table spoon of olive oil with a dash of salt and pepper.
  • While that is going, dice up 2 red bell peppers and 5 Roma tomatoes into the slow cooker.
  • When your onions and garlic are about halfway done, add in a few cups of sliced crimini mushrooms. I used a whole package that I got at Trader Joe’s. Continue to saute until the mushrooms are softened, then add to the slow cooker.
  • Add 1 can each of garbanzo, kidney, and black beans alone with 1/2 of a package of frozen corn.
  • Finally, add a few cups of vegetable stock
  • Then just let the slow cooker do it’s thing.

So, it’s going in the kitchen. I think I’m going to leave it on low over night. Then I’ll have dinner and some lunches for the next few days. By the way, all the ingredients are from Trader Joe’s, too.

I’m gonna get some sleep now, or try.

Pissing My Life Away

I’ve been doing a whole lot of nothing today.  I watched some of the Olympics, and some bits of movies, all in between napping, and goofing off on the internet.  Right now I’m just watching a little bit of the Giants game.   I’m not really planning on leaving my apartment any time tonight, either.   I’m just gonna keep being a lazy hermit.   It’s pretty likely that I’ll spend the rest of my evening looking up stuff like this on YouTube –

(YouTube is shutting me down, but go to this link – Phenomenauts Interview

 

I went and saw The Phenomenauts in the Sacramento area last night.  it was a pretty late night, and I crashed at a friend’s after, so maybe that’s why I am feeling so lazy today.  It was totally worth it, as The Phenomenauts are badass.  I hope some day to be half as bad ass as those guys.  They’re joined on their current tour by Vic Ruggiero performing solo and Kepi Ghoulie and his band.    

I actually did one useful thing today, which was order the dress I will be wearing as the maid of honor in a  wedding.  Yeah, you heard that right.   I’m sure I’ll have pictures of me in this dress.  So I’m not going to say much about that.

Pleasing People

There’s not a whole lot of people in this world that I concern myself with pleasing.   I would love for my parents to be proud of me, but I don’t live for it.   If they are, great, but for the most part, I have to make my own way.   I know I do a lot of things that they’re not happy about.  I’m sure they’d rather I’d still never been to Tijuana.   My dad would like for me to spend far less time in bars.   My mom would prefer if I would listen to her dating advice.   (How does she always know that they’re bums long before I do?)

There’s a short list of people who I’d like to see at a show I’m playing, as I look out into the crowd, beaming at me the way I’ve beamed at them so many times.  And if everyone else says we suck, well, I can live with that just fine.  In fact, I’m looking forward to people hating my band.  That’s just another part of being in a band, from what I can tell.

But for the most part, this life of mine is not about what’s going to make anyone else happy.  I hope you’ll understand, and you won’t take it personally.   Sometimes I’ve just got to do what I’ve got to do, and sometimes that means going my own way or doing it alone.    I just can’t always be around people.   That’s just not who I am.  I can’t be that woman.    I have to breath, and I have to feel like I can cut and run at any time.  I probably never will, but when I’m tied down, I start to get nervous.   I have to have an exit strategy and a contingency plan at all times.   

Like I said, none of this is personal.   It’s not like I’m running away from someone in a particular.  I just have to know that I could.  I have to check my bank balance three times per day and calculate how far and how long it will take me.  I just have to .   

I know this could come as a shock to those have been reading about my non-stop escapades, constantly going out and needing to not be alone.   I did, however, say that the day would come when I would swing in the opposite direction, and it seems that that day has come.

And this doesn’t mean I’m depressed, or that something is wrong.  I hate it when people jump to that conclusion.   Just because I want some time to myself does not mean that anything is wrong with me.  If anything, this is a sign that I’m one step closer to my own version of normal.   I need to be independent.

And if you don’t like it, well, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it, and even if there was, I probably wouldn’t do it anyway.   It’s not that I don’t care, but if I have to chose between making myself happy and someone else, I just have to chose myself.  

Just sayin’.

Rarities and B-Sides

Life’s had some pleasant and unexpected moments and plot twists lately.   

 

  • Today, I met a no shit, real deal Olympian, Women’s table tennis team member Jackie Lee!!
  • Sunday, I had some barbecue with a no shit New York musician/poet/genius.
Life can’t be bad, can it?  Hanging out with athletes and poets.  Who would have ever thunk it.   Other fun stuff from the weekend included Joebot Twopointoh’s farewell show with The Phenomenauts.   He will be missed, but sometimes we all just have to move along.  Also went to Mama Bear’s baby shower, which I helped to plan.  
All in all, over the last few days, there’s been a lot of stuff going on that’s at least a little unusual, or once in a lifetime type experiences.  

HELL YEAH!!!!

I have to send some appreciation to my Rep. from Oakland, Ms. Barbara Lee.

The House yesterday passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, by a vote of 247-178, strengthening the Equal Pay Act, to help women earn the same wage as their male counterparts.

Thank you!   Thank you!  It’s not often that I get to feel like the person I voted for is actually doing something that directly effects my life.

The only thing is, there’s no effing way that Bush is gonna sign it.

For more information, check out Feministing, as well as The Gavel.

Thank you Feministing for posting the YouTube that I so lazily lifted.

My Whole Existance Reeks of Smoke and Whiskey

I have this bag, it was given to me at work, and I love it, because it’s just this canvas thing that slings easily across my body.  It has two external pouches which are perfect for my iPod and phone.  It’s khaki, so it already looks kind of dingy, and I don’t have to worry about getting it dirty.  It’s just the right size, too, to carry plenty of stuff, but it’s not awkward if it’s not totally full.  I love this thing to death.

And right now, I don’t want to go anywhere near it.  It smells so freaking bad.   I can’t even tell you how bad it is, except to tell you why it smells so bad.

Yesterday, after work, my department went out for drinks.   There were some folks in town from New York, and they were staying in the city, so we went over and were hanging out at Schroeder’s, a German restaurant with big, big beers.   I stuck to the pints, and had a couple, as well as a couple of shots of whiskey.   My tolerance level has gone way up since Tijuana. 

So, everything was fine at Schroeder’s, but then my co-workers wanted to move along, and where did they want to meander to?  Whiskey Thieves.  If you’re unawares of how the smoking laws work in California, let me tell you that Whiskey Thieves is the loophole.  You see, the law is based around the theory that employees should not be exposed to second hand smoke.   So, employees shouldn’t be working in the same place where people are smoking, so no smoking where there’s any employee present.  However, if the business does not have any employees and the owner doesn’t mind working in smoke, then you can smoke in the location.   Whiskey Thieves is owner operated, in other words, the bartender is the owner, so you can smoke in there, if that’s what you do.

So, I was there for about an hour and a half.   I sat at the bar and had a very amusing conversation with a couple of fellas.   I’d like to say that I remember the full conversation, but you know, at this point there was more whiskey, which may or may have not gotten dribbled on my bag.   I remember that the conversation did not suck.   

By the time I got out of there, I smelled like a cigarette butt floating in the last few drops of whiskey in a glass.    

Isn’t that lovely?

Just sayin’.

Insomnia is Expensive

OK, so I can’t sleep. I’m still mildly sinus infected and/or dealing with whatever that was at the beginning of last week, and recovering from my weekend get away to TJ. I should have passed out the second I hit the pillow. That would make sense. Since when have my sleeping patterns ever made sense, though.

A lot of the time when I can’t sleep, it’s because I’m obsessing on one particular thought or series of thoughts.  Sometimes it’s because I’m excited about something.  Tonight it seemed like I just had the vague sensation of having forgot something.  Like, maybe I had forgotten to think of something or obsess over it.  Maybe there was some future conversation that I hadn’t imagined yet and run through twelve hundred times in my head.    One of these days, I’m going to be better at meditating that stuff out.   Well, actually, I can meditate it out, but meditation doesn’t put me to sleep.   Me’da says it works for him, but for me, it sort of heightened relaxed state, so it’s like I’m too focused on being relaxed to be relaxed enough to fall asleep.

Whatever.  Rambling.  See this.  This is why I don’t sleep.  This is exactly what goes through my head.

Anyway, so I’m sitting here on the computer, and I’m reading blogs, and I see this one blog on Feministing about a documentary, and one of the people interviewed in the clip is an author.  Next thing you know, I’m looking her up on Amazon, and buying three books.   

Aarrrggghhhh!  I need to go to sleep before I buy any shoes.  I don’t need shoes.  I don’t.

Anyway, here’s the trailer for the documentary that started this all: