#90 - she fell in love with the bass player

This band is seriously climbing the charts on my list. They were phenomenal live! My cousin Annie and I headed to the Nerolux tonight to see Cut Off Your Hands. Having been only introduced to them recently and loving them; I was pretty stoked. We got there when the "doors opened" at 7:30... nothing nothing... 7:45... there were maybe 5 other people at the bar but no sign of a show. We walked around and got some ice cream while we waited for something to happen. Around 8:00 we headed back and from the street I recognized Cut Off. "Oh no! They've already started!" We rushed inside to still see no more than five people in the venue and to find out they were only doing sound check. 8:30... 9:00. A little after 9, they finally got up and were WELL worth the wait. All their songs were so fun and sounded so good live! The lead singer was extremely entertaining to watch; bouncing all around. The drummer was energetic as well and had some great solos. The guitarist was always on and had good vocals as well. I COULD NOT TAKE MY EYES OFF THE BASS PLAYER. Despite being the cutest thing I have ever seen, he played well (moving all around too), and was a great back-up vocal.

Because there were only a few other people at the concert, we were able to stand alone up close. I was directly below the bass player and we kept locking eyes. You think I'm exaggerating, but he was staring at me! Then he would smile big and adorable-like and I melted every time. I felt twelve years old... a big swoony grin on my face and unable to look away. I've never had anyone in a band look at me so much. It was magical, to say the least. After they played, we went up to him and told them how great they were. He was SO nice! Very appreciative and said how they don't have 'fans' just 'friends' and introduced himself (Philip) and started to get to know us. Most of the time I was just thinking "you look pretty..." "you sound pretty" (they are from New Zeland)... "I like you".... "look at me more". Usually I'm pretty good at talking to boys; I don't get nervous, but I guess when the hot bass player from a sweet band wants to get to know me, I fumble over myself like a swoony little girl. He asked if we were going to stay after the show and said he wanted to buy us a drink. We left just after the show, but not after saying my goodbyes and my, i'll miss you's and his it was wonderful to meet you's. Parting is such sweet sorrow, beautiful-new-zeland-bass-player-phil.

If they are coming to you - go to them!

Upcoming Shows

May 25 2009 8:00P NEUROLUX W/VIVA VOCE Boise, Idaho May 26 2009 8:00P THE BADLANDER W/VIVA VOCE Missoula, Montana May 28 2009 8:00P TURF CLUB W/VIVA VOCE St Paul, Minnesota May 29 2009 8:00P EMPTY BOTTLE W/VIVA VOCE Chicago, Illinois May 30 2009 8:00P THE BURLINGTON - DR SNIKKERS + MR PUPPY DJ SET Chicago, Illinois May 31 2009 8:00P THE SUMMIT W/VIVA VOCE Columbus, Ohio Jun 1 2009 8:00P BUG JAR W/VIVA VOCE Rochester, New York Jun 2 2009 8:00P GREAT SCOTT W/VIVA VOCE Allston, Massachusetts Jun 3 2009 8:00P JOHNNY BRENDA’S W/VIVA VOCE Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Jun 4 2009 8:00P MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG W/VIVA VOCE Brooklyn, New York Jun 5 2009 8:00P IOTA CLUB AND CAFE W/VIVA VOCE Arlington, Virginia Jun 6 2009 8:00P MUSICA W/VIVA VOCE Akron, Ohio Jun 7 2009 8:00P SOUTHGATE HOUSE W/VIVA VOCE Newport, Kentucky Jun 9 2009 8:00P FIREBIRD W/VIVA VOCE St Louis, Missouri Jun 10 2009 8:00P RECORD BAR W/VIVA VOCE Kansas City, Ohio Jun 11 2009 8:00P THE OPOLIS W/VIVA VOCE Norman, Oklahoma Jun 12 2009 8:00P HAILEYS W/VIVA VOCE Denton, Texas Jun 13 2009 8:00P THE MOHAWK Austin, Texas Jun 15 2009 8:00P PLUSH W/VIVA VOCE Tucson, Arizona Jun 16 2009 8:00P RHYTHM ROOM W/VIVA VOCE Phoenix, Arizona Jun 17 2009 8:00P THE ECHO W/VIVA VOCE LA, California Jun 18 2009 8:00P BOTTOM OF THE HILL W/VIVA VOCE San Fran, California Jun 20 2009 8:00P WONDER BALLROOM W/VIVA VOCE Portland, Oregon Jun 21 2009 8:00P THE VERA PROJECT Seattle, Washington Jun 22 2009 8:00P MEDIA CLUB Vancouver, British Columbia Jun 24 2009 8:00P PAWN SHOP Edmonton, Alberta Jun 25 2009 8:00P VERNS Calgary, Alberta Jun 26 2009 8:00P THE EXCHANGE Regina, Saskatchewan Jun 27 2009 8:00P ROYAL ALBERT ARMS HOTEL Winnipeg, Manitoba

#89 - boise part 2 - the place.

I couldn't get a hold of my park friend to get the address for the place he found me, so I was now in search for a computer so I could look if up for myself. With my faux tomtom, I arrived at the public library. Being the daughter of a librarian, I should know that there are never enough computers. True to form, there was a wait for the world wide web, so I got on the phone and tried to call out for assistance. Not knowing exactly what to search for, it wasn't going so well so I called information again to see if they had ideas for a computer I could use. Evidently they don't really do that sort of thing so I parked back downtown again to see what I could find. Deciding that record store people are cool and know everything, I went back into Record Exchange. "You're back! How's the hunting going?" I had missed my record store friends and felt better hanging out there. I told them about my new search and they told me I could use their computers all I wanted. I stood behind the desk and perused craigslist for something I remembered from Park Friend's blackberry. I found two or three that sounded good, plus the one he showed me. After calling head first, I headed out to tour the studios and one bedroom apartments. The first, we'll call it the Tiny Mean Neighbor Apartment, was farther out of town than I first thought and down this weird road. I asked a woman outside with her kid if I was in the right place and she was a little rude and snappy so I decided just to call the guy again to make sure I found it. Right place, it was just weird. He took me around to the side of his house to this little shed type place. One big room downstairs with a tiny kitchen and tiny bathroom, then a ladder going upstairs to a little crouchy room where the bed goes. The owners were very nice and a little awkward (guess they don't have many bitters from their posting). A little too weird, I left to check out the other places.

The phone number didn't work, but I knew the address so I just went over. A block from the heart of downtown, I was pretty excited. It was a house with 5 or so apartments inside. I opened the door to what could have been my death. It was one of those places that looked like someone could be actually dead inside and no one would know, or care. Despite the weird smelly old carpets and dark dark wood I knocked on the two downstairs doors to see if any one knew anything about the vacancy (aka - guy who was shot and hidden in the back). No response. I headed up the stairs to the apartment where I heard a TV on. On a quiet commercial break I knocked loudly and... nothing. Okay, so I didn't wait too long, but you wouldn't either! I was a little discouraged and slightly terrified, as far as the apartment hunting goes. The one I really liked and thought was perfect and safe was a little out of my price range. Trying to be more prepared for Monday, I have a hefty list of places to call and set up appointments for.

#88 - boise part 1 - the car.

Can't say I thought this plan through entirely. After talking with my family in Boise and finding out what job connections I had through them, I set out for downtown Boise. I knew this: my tasks were to find a job and find an apartment, and I had legs and the whole day. Before I left, I did a quick search of apartments online and took pictures of their addresses on my phone. Obviously, I was well researched and prepared...right. So, I parked my car in a 'pay to park' lot right downtown. I began walking around, enjoying all the small shops and restaurants and of course, found the one record store with in a few minutes. I perused their collection (which was extremely impressive) and bought a little something. I talked to the employees there for a while, telling them of my quest and asked for any Boise wisdom they could impart.

Focus, Vanessa, Focus. Job. Apartment. Okay, so then I head out to search for possible employment places. I ran into a YMCA and, after chatting with their staff, found out that there was an opening for a Wellness Program Director. Done. So with application and brochure in hand, I walked a few more blocks down and found a nice park with safe looking apartments. It was locked up pretty tight, so I took down the phone number and called home to report. A nice looking man was sitting on the bench next to me so we started talking. He had been living in Boise for about 10 years and was helping me navigate the ropes. We got lunch while he opened my eyes to the 'perfect for me' apartments on Craigslist via his blackberry. He set up a few touring appointments for me and offered to look with me. We exchanged numbers but I told him I'd look around here more first and then give him a call. Time to head back to my car. Car... car... dang it! Where did I park again?? I remembered what I had passed and the general roads, but I had been walking all around for about 3 hours by now that I had forgotten where exactly it was. After searching all around for another hour I started to worry... a bit. A lot a bit. I called information and asked them for their advice. Soon after I was transferred to the police and had to explain my situation to Officer Joel.

It's a little embarrassing when you have to respond to, "911 dispatch; what's your emergency?" with, "oh hey... so I've been looking for my car for a while now and can't seem to find where I parked. Do you guys help with that sort of thing?.... sorry....."

He was extremely nice and didn't even make fun of me. He drove around for me while I waited patiently on the phone, trying to give him any guidance I could.

"Where are you now, Ma'am? Okay, can you look down the block and see my flashing lights? Your car is in the lot right next to me."

I knew I was close! I profusely expressed my gratitude, knowing he had better things to do than find a silly girl's misplaced car. Buckled and now air-conditioned, I tried to figure out where to go next.

This was it. If you see this lot - watch out! It moves and disappears... sneaky lot.

#87 - i gotta know

I was led astray in the 5th grade, Mrs. Molhar's class. We were doing a science project to see how soda erodes bone and teeth. During our experiments, my teacher was telling us the history of soda, "When coca-cola was originally made, it was green." Very a-matter-of-fact. From that moment on, I knew, when coca-cola was first made, it was green. 11 years later (two or so months ago) I was in a diner with a friend and I educated him on the origins of coca-cola, reiterating what my 5th grade teacher had told me. He didn't believe me!? My cited 10 year old sources were not good enough for him, evidently. Putting good money on this belief I had, we went home and researched it. Although it is a common myth, it is a myth just the same. I couldn't believe it! What else have I been led astray about? That flipped the skeptical switch. That, and watching myth busters has opened my eyes to a lot of misconceptions. Today, I got an email telling me that this August, Mars would be as big as the moon and how this wouldn't happen again for another 30,000 years or something incredible like that. Now encased in skeptical wisdom, I looked it up on reliable scientific websites before marking my calendar and telling all my friends. Sadly, another myth. The truth is out there, it's just tough to distinguish sometimes.

So.... Rachel.... is it true what you told me when I was 5?? Pee is stored in your calf?? And Mom... drinking liquid green jello has miracle medicinal powers??

#86 - FWD:

My eyes always go straight for that tiny postage stamp on the left of my computer. A little red circle appears in the corner with a number when I have new emails. It's always so exciting to hear the little 'ding' when a newcomer arrives. It's fun to know people are thinking of me or want to talk to me. Disappointment crashes on my head though, when the big reveal brings the letters: FWD: I used to get a ton of forwards when I would give my email out like free samples at Costco. People I didn't know very well would have my email address and so that was the only thing they would ever find to send me. I have since created a 'public email' given to businesses and such, a 'personal email' given to friends and family, and a 'private email' which I am saving for a special occasion. Last time I had a private email, only one person had it and it was his special account. So the amount of forwards have really been cut down. I received one today though, which spurred this monologue. I like getting fun cute things, but what I do sometimes is just take the parts I like and put them in a new, personalized email; I think it's happier that way. And remember, only YOU can prevent forwards.

#85 - friend mongers

I don't have facebook, but when I first did, I would add everyone who wanted to be my 'friend'. Acquaintances, people I saw in my classes, friends of friends who added me (or something ridiculous like that). But I didn't add everyone. Like those guys who just added me because they just though I was cute and wanted to "get to know me". After I reached some new level of maturity, though, I went through all my face 'friends' and deleted the ones I didn't know, never talked to, or never had any intention of talking to. That narrowed it down quite a bit to just my actual friends. Looking around though, I noticed people just had thousands and thousands of friends. There is no way these people are actually friends with that many people! They are just friend mongers. Trying to show off how popular they are and how many 'friends' they have. I don't like these people.

Now that you are up-to-date, here is my story. I recently joined a new website called goodreads. It's an intellectual faceboook of sorts where people get together and share what books they have read and give their reviews and recommendations. Aka: the bookbook. All the people I am friends with have normal amounts of human friends. BUT today this guy added me to be his friend and I had no idea who he was! He told me how he wanted to share books with me and that I should add him. I looked at his profile and this guy has over 3,000 friends. The friend mongers on the bookbook are seeking me out already! Needless to say, I clicked the ignore button.

#84 - the latest my eyes have seen

So a group of Swedish (of course) designers called "Humans since 1982" designed a clock made up of 24 analog clocks. It was on display in Göteborg, which adds to its coolness. If you haven't seen it yet, it's rather hypnotizing... I thought it was pretty cool. And probably the sudden fascination with clocks is because I'm desperately bored and keep looking at mine.

P.S. This just was released... the first trailer for Sherlock Holmes. He seems more actiony and sexy than I remember from the Jeremy Brett series...

#83 - webbyapes

Never thinking this was a big deal, I never did it. Growing up, I remember my mom always assigning that to be our job after she went grocery shopping: wash all the vegetables and fruits. My own fresh-things-washing has consisted of rubbing an apple on my clothes before eating it and then just eating every thing else. But EW! something happened today... on my most recent grocery shopping excursion, I purchased fresh fruits and vegetables; among them was perfect looking grapes. And of course, when I got home, I picked a few off and ate them. No big deal. Then, today I took more out and was snacking on the vine, absent mindedly, while on my computer. I looked down to grab another grape from my already half eaten cluster, and there was a HUGE cobweb! Gross! My insides felt all... contaminated and infested. I immediately washed each individual grape and put them in a bowl, mumbling to myself over and over again "wash your grapes, wash your grapes, wash your grapes... ew ew ew". So in case you don't already - wash your fruits and vegetables, not only to prevent the consumption of webs and bugs, but dirt, bacteria and chemical residues that hang out on them too! They may look clean... but they are not.

#82A - Matt & Kim

Speaking of happy peppy upbeat snappy dance-to music....

They are from Brooklyn NY and started in 2004. Their music is almost impossible not to move to. They are very energetic and just fun listening. Again, another indie band from Vanessa - but they are hard not to like. Matt and Kim's "Daylight" is my favorite so far. They have three albums, Grand being released January of this year.

#82 - ditto kiddo

One meets so many people at school, it's often difficult to remember everyone's name. Enter - name associations. I've always associated people's names with things to help me place them (here's a few, for example).

"Beltbuckle" (can't actually remember his name, but he always wore ridiculously large belt buckles)

"The Chiseled"

"Tacoma John" (a guy I dated from Tacoma... too far away)

"Sledding Steve" (Steve took me sledding... self explanatory)

"Army" (a friend's boyfriend who was going through ROTC)

"Red" (A very tall very red redheaded man friend)

"Half-shell" (friend of mine who looks unmistakably like a turtle.. and always wears green)

The list could go on. I thought it was funny this semester though, how one of the faculty members who always comes into the gym refers to me. Since the end of last and the beginning of this semester, I have been known as "Tiny Tim" and "Miss America" by him. He is old and cute so I always go with it... those are just new ones for me. I've previously been called Roy, Nessers, Ness, Nestle, V (a favorite), Nessler ... etc, but those are all more logical.

#81 - i dwell in the tundra

I can't handle this. Not only is it incredibly dry compared to the ever raining Washington, but it's hurricane-like windy. Yesterday brought 60 mph wind gusts! Which, in the wind gust department, is pretty intense. I especially felt the effects by having to pedal down hill to push against the wind and almost being knocked over on my bike a few times. Back to the point: the wind and the dry weather is killing my skin. I already have hand problems - always banging them on things and scratching them up (apparently I have no way of controlling them, or have spatial problems and don't know how far away from my body they can get. They've been nicknamed my meth-hands from all the sores). That on top of the attacking weather = pain all over. It feels almost as though I have a burn on my hands and arms that won't go away.

#80 - my angel mother

Being away from home has made me more appreciative of my mother. I call her multiple times a day - searching for advise, someone to tell stories to, and to hear about her day. I don't know what I would do with out my mommy. Currently, I border on crazy, but she is always there to snap me back. This year's gift will come, par for the Park family, a few days after Mother's Day, but it got me thinking of past crafty gifts she has received.

One I particularly remember was when I was in the 6th grade. We were working with plaster in my art class and I decided that this would be the perfect surprise for my mommy. Yes, a plaster mold of my hand, shaped like a claw. After the mold hardened, I cleverly thought to paint it green (her favorite color). It wasn't until after she opened the gift that I realized I had just given my mom an unattractive, terrifying, green, scary, claw hand for mother's day.

That might have been the same year that my sister and I woke up extra early in the morning to make her breakfast in bed (like we usually did every year). Wanting to mix things up, instead of tea with honey, eggs and toast... we went with a large cake. Yellow cake, decorated with different colors to look like a painter's pallet. As we started to carry it up the stairs, it came crashing to the floor. After screams and shrieks of utter disappointment, we began work on the second attempt. Again, the thought didn't cross our minds until after the fact, but cake for breakfast probably wasn't the most desired gift.

Through all of our ridiculousness, she loves us just the same! I love my wonderful family and my angel mother!

Happy Mother's Day!

#79 - i would like you to dance - - birthday

In honor of Sami being birthed 21 years ago, we had a surprise party - complete with margaritas, a keg of beer, cake, friends, drinking games and a fort. Evidently, I'm terrible at winning games. This wasn't apparent to me, until I had to down a big glass of water each time I couldn't lay down in Phase 10. I drank, essentially, every time!

Sami and I have officially recruited the best fort builders in the industry. After topping all forts last semester with the "Dragon Cave" Taron and Brent out-did themselves by constructing us the "Birthing Fort" in honor of Samantha's big event, of course. We slept in it two nights, but finally had to de-construct this afternoon. It was a travesty to say the least. Now the bar is set even higher for the next fort.

I was thinking that my next fort might not be until I'm in my new place though, which means it's going to be sufficiently less-cool. Maybe we can manage a few more this semester though...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY friday SAMI! Love you

#78 - wind in the wheat

I'm searching for a little 'me'. Something that can begin when I begin a new stage in life. This stage being graduation, moving, working and living. I'm thinking it's either going to be a plant of some sort, filling the home of my dead bamboo tree, or an animal of some kind.

First, the plant. I don't think I want it to be a flower. Don't get me wrong, I love flowers! But I want to have something more substancial, something that won't die so easy, something like a little tree. Or maybe a food of some sort. Also, the challenge here is it has to start when the new phase starts, so I'm on the hunt for a little seed.

Option two, the pet. Obviously this cannot be birthed and begin life when I do, like a plant. It will have to be a little further along than that, but it can start it's new life with me, just the same. I was debating between a dog or a cat. A dog will be more loving and give more back to me, but also takes a lot more work. Walking, washing and the like. A cat would be less maintance and would allow me to go out of town without too much trouble. There is always the option too of a really big fish (extrememly less exciting), a turtle (if its time with me doesn't end tragically like Tardy's did), or maybe a bunny (possibly too much stinkiness and cage cleaning), or a baby chick (what happens when he grows up!?)

The main goal here is to not be so lonely and bored, to take care of something, and to not have my apartment smell like a zoo. If you have ideas or suggestions, please feel free to help me.

#77 - an inspiration to us all

Right now I am in 'find-a-job-and-an-apartment-for-after-graduation' mode. It's an exciting mode to be in, especially the apartment part. I'm trying to find something I can afford (so, super cheap) but not creepy and gross. Getting a studio apartment seems very romantic and glamerous so I'm leaning more towards that. The job hunt is a little more nerve-racking but I have lots of support and networking helpers. I'm not nervous; I know I'll be taken care of. I was talking to one of my co-workers at the gym today though, telling her of my post-graduation plans. I told her that I am going to graduate from BYU-Idaho unmarried (how un-mormon of me!) and get my own place in the "real world". She told me how refreshing that was to hear and how I inspired her to get excited about her real-life (single) plans. In no way am I anti-marriage; just seminars here like: "Graduating and Still Single? Find Out What's Wrong With You." make me sad for those poor girls, thinking life is over if they have to be adults by themselves. Cheer up little ones! Be happy! You'll be okay - - you've just been programmed to think otherwise.

(Okay, so maybe the second half of that seminar title isn't completely accurate, but the first half was real and the second part is right along those lines...)

#76 - don't forget me

There is only one down-side I can see with having Sami as my only roommate... and that is: sometimes, she leaves. Last weekend she went to Utah for a friend's wedding and the repercussions of that didn't hit me till the door closed behind her. No Sami = home alone. This also would be less of a devastation if I had a cell phone that worked. The night before she left (Wednesday night), in mid text, she just died. The screen went wiggi and then black. So now I'm home Thursday, with no place to be exactly and no phone. I don't even know anyone's phone numbers -- that dang crutch. Who has address books anymore?? A few other friends (the drop-in-on kind) were out of town too so options were slim. After I stood still, pondering my current predicament for a few seconds I read (which was great! I never get around to reading just for fun), took a nap, ate, watched a movie and had just "me time". It was pretty nice... for a few hours. Thankfully, after my mom informed one of my best friends that I was alone, he took me out and entertained me till midnight.

Sleep? Alone? In the dark? Without a phone? You kidding me? I'm not an alone kind of girl, obviously. It took a repeating "Sleepy Playlist" to finally drift me off at 3 in the morning. Only to then wake up paranoid at 6, fearful I would sleep though class with out my cellphone alarm clock.

Friday was a little better. At least I was prepared, but that didn't mean I could go without a light on, checking all the windows and door at least twice (plus setting up obstacles in front of the window that doesn't lock), and music playing; Annuals singing me to sleep. Saturday day was spend out and about the whole day and night was spent sleeping at a friend's house (I was not about to do that whole terrified thing again). I am alive and now better prepared for solitary living after graduation. And hopefully, my phone never fails me again when I need it most.

**and for those who follow the hyperlink - my playlist obsession now brings me to a grand total of 106 playlists.