Happy Birthday!

Fall TV I'm Looking Forward to

Here's a list of Fall TV I'm looking forward to. #whynot write about the things I love - I'm not one to pretend I don't watch TV. I go through phases where I won't watch much but overall my life is ruled by TV and I'm OK with that.

1. The Walking Dead

2. iZombie

3. Gotham

4. Grimm

5. Sleepy Hollow

6. Bob's Burgers

DIY End Tables - what's that you say?

When we were living with my parents I helped my dad trim the big tree in their front yard. I want to say we did it for Mother’s Day because it was something my mom requested. I tried looking for the old post because I swear I wrote about the tables already. I wanted to see if I could find the before picture I took, but maybe I dreamt the entire post up. That would make sense considering my erratic blogging scheduling.

We got a little side-tracked and started making tables with the leftover logs. I say “we” but really I held on to things while my dad did all of the work. Since then they have been sitting in my parent’s basement “drying out” waiting for me to do something with them. I finally figured it out and came up with this.

I sanded them down but I didn’t want to completely remove the chainsaw marks. I took the bark off of two legs and left one au natural for both tables. Then I painted two legs, one white and one hot pink. Finally, I put a clear protective coat on top.

I wish I would have taken pics with my real camera and not just my cell phone but I wouldn't be a mediocre blogger if I had thought ahead.

7 Things

1. Last week we spent two whole nights creating environmentally ethical dubsmash videos and sending them back and forth between me, Tyrone, my brother and his wife. It was one of the most fun times I’ve had. Tyrone got us started on it and began sending them to my brother on our group text. My brother in his ever charming way started sending us videos back, yet he had created his own version of dubsmash called “dillsmash” (his name is Dillen) by making his wife hold up the camera for him while he pushed play on the sounds from his iPad. I was dying. I could not stop laughing. Finally, he figured out it was much easier using the app and we were in for some sweet-ass lyp-syncing the rest of the night. It’s funny how addicting it is when you have people you can send them to. In related news, it wasn't until yesterday that I realized I was calling it dubmash not dubsmash.
 2. Friday night we went to dinner and a movie, I guess some may call that “date night.” I NEVER call it that, probably because I don’t think of it like that when Tyrone and I go out. Maybe because we go out a lot. Anyways, we tried this new place called Zao Café and I fell immediately in major-heart-eyes with it. It’s simple Asian food and they have Vietnamese iced coffee that has taken over my life. We liked it so much we went back the next day for lunch. It was weeks overdue but the movie we saw was Antman and I fell in love with that too but mostly because I’m already in love with Paul Rudd. On our way to dinner I was checking FB and got one of the “memory” reminders and exactly six years ago I was watching I Love You Man and gushing over it online. PAUL RUDD IS IN THAT MOVIE. In 2009 I was, apparently, a very active FB user. It was much more fun back then. Now it’s becoming like tumblr but for your mom.
 

(I hope this video works here; first time trying it out)

3. We made our own version of Pina Coladas Saturday night that consisted of Trader Joes Pineapple juice (the best shit ever), coconut water, ice (obviously), coconut crème, blended and topped with homemade whipped cream. WAIT! I forgot about the rum. It was quite refreshing after a long day of shopping.
 4. Sunday we went for a ride down Provo Canyon Trail. I wore a hat and glasses and still got sunburned on my forehead. I have no idea how that happened. I blame the smokey air we’re having due to the west coast wild fires. My allergies are not happy about any of it. Our air here is so bad you would think we were having our own crazy wild fires but surprisingly we have had a low fire season…and that news tidbit was brought to you by Utah’s newest anchorwoman, Brandy Franklin. Never heard of her.
 5. Our life pretty much still revolves around our puppies and potty breaks even though I went out with my friend Jamie last night. I talked her ear off in the restaurant parking lot while she wiggled around trying not to piss herself.
 6. I am on one today. I can’t tell if it’s because I’m getting sick or what.
 7. I’m so ready for Halloween!!! “This is Halloween, This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Warped Tour 2015

I think all musical festivals should be held in the Spring or Fall.

I’ll do my best to restrain myself from complaining about the heat too much here. I haven’t been to Warped Tour in about 14 – 15 years. I remember going in 2000/2001 to see MXPX and I can’t even remember who else was there. I can usually remember shows very well but this show didn’t stick with me. I do have the world’s worst memory so that could be it too. I quickly remembered why I hate going to festivals at the fairgrounds; there is no shade and the “grass” is really just dirt. The main stage is always on the big asphalt area (no matter what festival it is) which SUCKS because standing on black in 96 degree heat makes you more miserable.

OK, did I start that off on a positive note or what?

With that old-lady bicker out of the way I will say that I had a blast. I was able to see “most” of the bands I wanted to and I didn’t pass out from exhaustion.

Did I mention that on our way to the show Tyrone asked me if I picked up the tickets (I didn’t)? I thought he was kidding because he’s always giving me shit like that. When we got to the Central Pointe station which is about a little less than halfway from our place and the fairgrounds, we had to get back on the south train to pick up the tickets Tyrone left on the counter. I was so pissed because this meant we were going to be late and I couldn’t see that anyone had posted the lineup yet so I didn’t know when anyone was playing yet. We weren’t too late though. We got there in enough time to walk around, find the lineup and check out the booths.  I found Adam Elmakias tent right away. I really wanted to stop by because he has my dream job but I didn’t want to look like a tool in line with the scene tweens. We listened to Silverstein walking through the booths. They played on the Monster Energy stage which was in the middle of the grounds.

How’s our positivity levels checking out?

yes, I bought the Warped Tour water bottle BEFOREHAND  because I'm a nerd like that

Beartooth view from the back

The first band we wanted to see was Beartooth. I, personally, love these guys. We waited around through I killed the Prom Queen so we could be near the front. It started off really great. The crowd wasn’t too pushy and everyone was moshing around respectively which is my favorite kind of moshing because, well, I’M OLD. I have to say there were more adults at this event than I expected and they weren’t just hanging out the reverse babysitting tent. Three songs in and Caleb invited all of the back stragglers to crowd in closer to the ones (us) having fun in the front and it caused chaos. The moshing because unbearable and everyone was literally on top of each other struggling to breathe through the dust that was being kicked up from the “grass.” Tyrone had a wall between me and one of the pits that was going on but it became so unbearable that he grabbed me and made us get out. He was getting way too hot trying to ward them off and the dust because mud in our lungs. Once we finally got to the back of the crowd he looked at me and said, “You have something on your teeth,” and I wiped a finger across my front chicklets to find a layer of mud nesting over them. It was so nasty. The one good thing about Warped Tour is that you can fill up a water bottle for free and as many times as you need. We needed it more than at least 20 times. After their set was done we headed for the one area that had shade to blow the dirt out of our noses. About this time we were finally hungry so we stood in line at one of two food stands that were open and listened to We Came As Romans while we waited.

At this point my memory of what we did next is hazy once we ate. We people-watched for a while and tried not to laugh too hard at what we saw. We did walk around again because I remember hearing a few other bands. But you know me, I’m not going to sit stand through every fucking band. I was there for 3 – 4 bands and that was it really.

Towards the tale-end of Memphis May Fire we made our way to the Unicorn Stage to get up-close and personal with Lynn from PVRIS. Since I missed these guys in January I wanted to make sure I saw them. I’ve been listening to their album since I first heard of them from Alternative Press Miss Erin Kelly’s Blog which is my main source for music news. They were SO MUCH FUN!! I ignored the blaring asphalt and jumped and sang like an idiot. It was great!

Tyrone was drooling over Mike's drumset

The cherry on top was that PTV played right after PVRIS. They were the best. Of course I think that because I’m in love with all of them. I still have their signed poster hanging on my bedroom ceiling that was put there while Tyrone was in Idaho a lot for work. It’s still there. Tyrone has only made one or two comments about taking it down but he hasn’t. It’s still up, Bish! Yes, I just typed the word “Bish” because I just recently learned what it meant and wanted to be cool by using it. Now that I’ve explained that it’s probably not cool and I’ve veered away from talking about PTV so I’m doing really well here, aren’t I? Anyway, they were really good and I would love to say that I made it through their whole set without getting heat exhaustion but I can’t. During the second to the last song I just freaked out because I couldn’t breathe and plowed my way through all of the sweaty little hobbits. I don’t feel that way often but I honestly thought I was going to die if I didn’t get out of there. At one point, there was just no breathing room and no one was budging anymore. There were a ton of little girls pushing through to get up front, as they do, but then the crowd just decided that they had had enough and wouldn’t even stay flexible for those that needed to even move their arms or fucking take a drink of water. I love that you get to bring in backpacks but in a tight crowd they become annoying as fuck to deal with.

We left after PTV. I wanted to stay and see a few other bands but I just couldn’t and I felt satisfied at that point with what I saw so we headed out to catch the train.

In short, I’m old and should stay home. But I did have fun, I promise.

Yada yada

7 Things

1. Puppy poo is my life now. I was sitting at my desk yesterday at work and pulled out a handful of green poo bags that I had stuffed in my pocket. I should mention they were not full. After Fecal Festival 2015 I'm not sure what I was thinking getting another puppy. It has been rough. I was under the impression she was 8 weeks, but she was only 5 weeks when we picked her up (tiny miscommunication) so we're having to make up for lost litter time and mommy time. She is so feisty and shits and pees wherever the hell she feels like it. I have to thank my SIL for telling us about Natures Miracle carpet cleaner though, it really is a fucking miracle; great for removing the piss stank. 

2. The Book of Mormon musical. It has finally come home to Utah and I can't go - WHAAA! WHAAA! I've listened to the soundtrack when it first came out and fell in love. It's brilliant and I don't mean that because they make fun of LDS beliefs that most people have never heard of, but because it's so well done. In Utah, some people won't talk about it. In fact, it hasn't been on the news much here because getting someone to talk publicly about it would be career suicide. People here don't like it yet they love it. I read some article that said it wasn't doing well here but in fact it is sold-out. This review describes how the crowd reacted after the opening song. I think people here actually love it. Tickets range from $85 to $160. Last time I checked there were only a couple of crappy $85 seats left. I want to actually be able to see it. I can't pay $85 for a shitty seat; I'm too cheap for that. I'm not a Mormon and wasn't raised as such, but that isn't why I want to see this. I am a christian though, and I hear that is makes more fun of religion as a whole and that is really why I want to see it. (If that doens't make sense to you that's OK) I'm all about making fun of religion. Plus, the show has an underlying positive message and is much deeper than some expect. It's just one of those things I think I need to see before I die. I used to say that about Les Miserables but I missed out on that too. I have been listening to this playlist of the songs on YouTube to keep me from crying. ("Turn it Off" is the best!)

3. I just discovered The Black Tapes podcast. It's a docu-drama that is setup like Serial, except that it is fictional. I love listening to the stories while I work. I had Tyrone listening to it at home and he got so bugged when I told him it wasn't real. They do a good job with it even if some of the paranormal stories are a bit ridiculous. 

4. We recently finished True Detective S1. It was really good, as expected.

5. I have piles of inventory that I need to shoot and post to my shop. I think I might need to take vacation time to get that done. I haven't been wanting to spend a lot of nights and weekends on my shop as I have in the past. I still have interest in it, but my interest in living my life in it's current state is winning out and I'm OK with that.

6. Gwen & Gavin splitting up upsets me. I audibly screamed, "NOOOO!!!" when I heard the news. I don't care what that says about me. They were one of those couples from my young adulthood that I remember and loved that they were together. They were the perfect post 90's couple at the time. 

7. I wonder how much poo I'll have to pick up tonight?