Friend

We sent The Skullcranes off today at a BBQ at the lead singers house. Thanks Keeler and Johnson for your hospitality.

It’s so Joe.

Rock N Roll

&

Bye Bye

Recently my friend Mahtab and I shared a memory. We were reminded of her 30th birthday in Baltimore. We were both attending the IA Summit and it happened to also be her birthday weekend, so we went out for her favorite, Indian Food.

We found a wonderful little restaurant just down the street from our hotel. I found these pics and thought I’d post for her in honor of the memory. Enjoy the memory, Mahtab.

Thanks to Amy for taking such in tune photos at Lisa and Jason’s wedding, we got a rare and fantastic moment while we are together.

I have several friends and family that really have a tough time right around the end of December. Sure, there is lots of fun and celebration. Many religions have very momentous events to commemorate.

However, the Capitalism wake takes a heavy toll on all of us. It is the type of economy we live in so I accept it as my reality. I buy presents at this time of year because I know my country is depending on me to spend my money on all kinds of stuff neither myself or any of my loved one’s really needs. Sometimes there are pleasant surprises, but that’s a whole set of expectations to meet. You don’t want to disappoint anyone. You don’t want sadness cause by you. Everybody must be happy and buy stuff. NOW. AND LOTS OF IT.

And on December 31st, the ultimate secular holiday, New Year’s Eve. It always seems like there is so much messaging out there that makes you think you need to spend that last night of the previous year having the best time you ever had. I mean come on, that’s a lot of pressure. How can that be fun.

There are massive myth telling activities happening too. I have a friend who questions this ‘myth’ of Santa and doesn’t really want to tell her son this odd little fib. She wants to let him know that mommy and daddy love him and not that some person he’ll never see is watching him to see if he’s naughty or nice and judging him. When you put it that way, can you really argue with her? I don’t think so.

So it’s stressful and full of expectations and false hopes. I think that might be why some of the people I know get bummed out.

I’m not trying to devalue any joy that is derived from this time of year for any of my dear readers. I wish everyone the best, this time of year and well, all times of year.

Any joy that can be derived from activity that does not harm others can’t be all bad.

So if you are feeling bummed out right now, focus on a little joy and let the rest go…….

I don’t think everyone feels this way, but this time of year is kind of hard on people. There are expectations, false hopes, obligations, myths, and endless activities that may not mean much in the end. It seems to heighten every year. It’s important to some religions and it’s very important to capitolism that this time of year is very very jolly.

I think it’s stressful too. We make ourselves crazy over the smallest details. We imbue significant meaning into activity that might be time better spent just being quiet with people you love.

So this time of year, ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing. Think about your actions and really think about the people around you. We should be thinking about these people all the time, not just this time of year, because we are supposed to. I’m not trying to lecture anyone, just questioning the status quo. It’s always good to think about your actions and because of how busy this time of year gets, you might forget to take a breath or two, relax, enjoy and approach your acts of kindness and generosity with mindfulness. If you are mindful you might be able to save just a little ‘comfort and joy’ for yourself.

The zoo is such an amazing venue in the summer. The acoustics are really beautiful, but in Minnesota there are some drawbacks…..

I saw Aimee Mann last night with my good friend Shan. She was supposed to go with Lori, but she couldn’t get here from out of town.

Shan called Lori during the show, but i’m sure it wasn’t the same.

Aimee is someone I admire. I don’t have many of her albums but I trust my friends taste and I’ve heard most of the music. She was really fun to see last night.

She was so appreciative of the fans and really modest. She mentioned that she was going to play some songs from a movie called Magnolia. She said she had a few songs on the soundtrack. Like I said, modest.

She was also a really good sport. She and her band were being attacked by bugs, so much so that her drummer had a moth fly in his mouth.

Now that’s dedication. They even did 2 encores.

Thanks Aimee and your band.

See all my pictures in my gallery.

In technology, you get used to change. Yesterday my husband upgraded our blog experience. He installed WordPress at home. We’d been using blogger to get off the ground and that was amazing. It got us started. You can set it up so fast.

Now I feel like I’ve gone from the nice but compact car to the luxury sedan. I can set many blogs up. These blogs can have different users. I have ultimate control over look and feel.

I’ve been using WordPress for awhile because I post on the MNteractive weblog which uses WP. I just never thought I’d have one of my very own.

Props go out to my computer geek husband. Thanks for always being there to provide this gadget girl all the best in optimal technology experiences. I’m lucky.

We were standing in the fairly small crowd at the 400 bar. My husband and two of our good friends. We had been here before. We had been here before to see the same band we were here to see now. I’ve seen incarnations of that band many, many times. Friday night it was Crooked Fingers and it felt like one of those moments. It was familiar and right. I’ve seen Eric play in Archers of Loaf, as himself and in Crooked Fingers. I’ve seen Crooked Fingers play a few times. It was never as good as this. He’s beefed up the band. He brought Matt in. Matt the crazy bassist. Matt that rocks. When we all realized he was added back into the mix it was pretty exciting. We saw the band and it felt great. Watching musicians evolve as you evolve yourself in life. Nothing stays the same and that’s fantastic. It’s amazing to have reminders of that. Some things you keep coming back to in life. Entertainment, enjoyment, and a little bit of karmic satisfaction. Thanks for coming to Minneapolis again, Crooked Fingers , we love you.

I started my blog today because my good friend Mahtab started one recently and I’ve enjoyed reading it so much, that I was inspired.

This is a picture of Mahtab and me.