gesundheit
I absolutely LOVE The Sneeze. Steven absolutely had me laughin out loud today reading through his Captain Avenger Clearing House and the Cheap-Ass Cereal Hall of Fame.Genius I tell yoU!
Genius I tell yoU!
great mac apps
Forever I've been meaning to write up a little "How I like Mac vs. PC" since I did the big switch. I've got a lot to say about it, but the most annoying thing has been how when you're saving or opening a file you couldn't delete or rename a file you saw in the browser window. Well, guess WHAT?!?!? There's a wonderful little app that will solve this woe!!! yay!!!!Faithful reader ddcrane (Dave) was so awesome to not only refer my services to someone at his company, but also send me a great list of links to some fancy mac add ons to make the mac life even easier, prettier and more efficient. aww yaaa - Thanks Dave!
First & foremost I must share with you the best app I've seen yet, since it takes care of the annoying Open/Save file rename/delete problem:
Default Folder
Description: Lets you assign command keys to user specified folders for use in open or save dialogs. Tacks on a small toolbar to the right of dialogs with lists of numerous functions such as "recently opened folders", "favorites", "rename file", etc. Lets you specify a default folder to open on any dialog for a given application (hence the name). Lets you click on already saved files' filenames and puts it in the "Save as" field. Springs to the last file opened on subsequent Open dialogs. Excellent software.
AWESOME!
Here's some more that caught my eye, with my comments below:
Quicksilver, Butler or Launch Bar:
I use Launchbar & love it... It takes care of needing most of the other oh so handy mac add ons in my opinion. Quicksilver would be something I would check out if I already hadn't gone w/ Launchbar... same thing really. If you're not using one of these, you've got to check it out - it most definitely makes finding anything you want so fast at the click of a few keys. And it learns!! I love that.
MenuStrip
I like this one too - I like that it has the Auto hide feature, the other app I was using for that was annoying because you couldn't turn it on & off easily enough so it took over & got really buggy w/ password windows & such. This looks pretty cool, but that's the only feature I really care to have and so I'm not sure I'd pay $12 just for that. Plus, you don't really need an app fr hiding applications as you switch between them. If you're really into it, you can hide others when switching by holding down the option w/ the command key when you either tab/command through your other open apps or select it in the dock using the mouse. Hoping a free one comes out - or the AutoHide one I downloaded before gets an update with an on/off button implemented.
WindowShade
This looks kinda cool to me...I like the idea of how it minimizes to just a bar instead of hiding/minimizing the window to the dock. I might check it out later...
A Better Finder Rename -
Description: Absolutely essential if you work with large numbers of files and you need to rename them on any regular basis. Incredibly powerful software lets you make alphabetic or numeric lists, rename characters within a file name with choices of "at the beginning", "at the end", "anywhere", etc. You can either drag files to a droplet icon, choose "Rename" from contextual pop-up, or press Option-Cmd-R. Money well spent, IMO.
This is pretty cool. I don't really need it right now, but I like knowing there's an app in case I do!! :)
FruitMenu
I really like the FruitMenu feature of having a 'Set Desktop Picture' option in the right click at all times and being able to customize the Apple menu. Weird that mac's don't already have those two features! However, all the rest you can pretty much do w/o that app. I have my Application folder in my dock and you can right click on that to quickly browse, so you could do the same w/ your HD. But I usually just use Launchbar to quickly get to most anything. But those first 2 things almost make me wanna get it :)
TinkerTool (FREE!)
Description: Enables dozens of previously inaccessible options, like having both scroll arrows at both ends of the scroll bar (i'd pay for this!) -Finder Quit (& restart) -control system fonts -turn off font smoothing below any size you want.
Wow, this looks cool! Lots of neat additions - and free! woohoo! :) I downloaded this one right away.
Which apps do you love?
UPDATE!! UPDATE!! If you like this list, see the new willotoons' recommended mac apps 2005 list I just posted!
forever and a day
I'm slacking on blogging, sorry bout that. I could have made time last week, but the days slipped by - and then they got hotter and hotter, which honestly made it a little harder to work :)I'm gonna try to make this quick so I can get to bed:
Last Thursday night was awesome if for no other reason than I got to go out w/ NO JACKET! Seriously! In San Francisco, our June-August - when everyone else is in the heat of summer - is foggy and cold. In fact year round in this town you have to leave the house w/ some kind of jacket pretty much every day, so to be able to leave the house w/o jackets is HUGE. And in a tank top & skirt no less! woohoo!
So, it was a super nice night out. Cameron came & got me and Rick, Lyne & Jim all met us at Doc's Clock's for a pre-show drink. Then we headed over to 12 Galaxies for the show: Lovemakers w/ Film School and Silversun Pickups
It was my first time at 12 Galaxies and I love it. Awesome club, I can't wait to go back. We were all pretty psyched on the amazing weather, the great new club and the evening ahead of us... so it made for a fantastic start to the evening.
Silversun Pickups were good, I'd like to hear them play again sometime.
Film School was more rockin than the first time I'd seen them, and I really enjoyed their set! Apparently Nyles is doing more work with his band, N.Lannon, so Film School won't be playing as much/any time soon, so it was good to catch them now. I ran into Warren (my drum teacher) there too, which was cool. He's playing drums for N.Lannon!
We were MOST psyched to see the ever so sexy Lovemakers, and that we did!! Despite having to fend off some drugged up gross guy, thinking he was hot shit with his pants 1/2 way open. eeww! He's not worth even talking about more, but thankfully between Rick & a few other pissed off audience members we got him out of there and were able to enjoy the show full force. We had the super hott Scott & Lisa shakin it right in front of us. Practically sweating on us. :) It was so great to see them again - they were on fire! I have some great photos that I'll post this week some time.
UPDATE: Photos Posted!
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Friday night we went & had margs & a quick bite to eat at Chevy's and then caught Napoleon Dynamite. It was so funny - I loved it.
Afterwards it was still so nice & warm out that I suggested Rick finally take me up on the roof of his apartment building, like he's said he's been wanting to. Great idea, Willo! :)
It was awesome... he layed out this big shag rug and we brought up Baley's on ice and a blanket and layed under a full moon, looking out at the view of the Golden Gate Bridge and trying to see constellations through the bright light of the moon. Perfect night for it!
However, I can't wait to go up there again when there's no moon. We felt like we had a big flashlight on us, and it was hard to see the stars! Also, I'll bring a pillow and the full bottle of Baley's. :)
Saturday morning we were greeted with nothing but luck!! After sleeping in we realized we'd spaced setting an alarm and left my car in a place that should not only have at least gotten a quarter in the meter by 9am, but that was in a commercial loading zone and therefore could have been towed! eek!!
So, hoping that the worst would be a ticket, we got over to it by about 11:15 to find it was thankfully still there AND there was no ticket! WOW!! What luck!!
Oh & as I reparked the car, apparently Rick was greeted by a frequent reader (Hi Stacey!) and when I got back he told me I'd just missed her - darnit!
THEN, long story short - through a couple random events, we ended up getting free breakfast!! nice!! What a great way to start an incredibly warm and sunny Saturday!
That afternoon Rick & I put on our walkin shoes and hit the park. We walked from Stanyan aaaall the way through Golden Gate Park out to the beach (where by 3:30 it was of course: foggy), but it was still pretty nice and warm. Warmer than usual anyway! So we layed there for a bit (and enjoyed watching the surfers getting pummeled by the waves), until it got just a little too cold for our shirts/shorts attire and we decided to head back inland towards the sun.
Approx 5-6 miles roundtrip we ended our nice long walk with some yummy noodles at the Citrus Club. yumm!! Rick's been wanting to take me there and it was fantastic. The Hot & Sour soup is soo good and we got yummy Pad Thai and spring rolls too. Oh, and the cold beers were very, very refreshing after our long walk in the sun!
We stopped into Ameoba, rapped w/ Warren about my Sunday drum lesson & then headed back to the car.
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Saturday night: Ben Kweller w/ the Unicorns at The Fillmore
For some craaaazy reason The Unicorns went on right. on. time. jeeshk! Couldn't they have just gone on 15 minutes late? How rude! hahaa See, we crashed when we got home after our walk and noodle adventure and ended up napping a little longer than we thought and so we were rushing to get there and ended up missing the majority of their (ridiculously short) set. 30 minutes!! Only 2 bands on the bill! WHAT GIVES?!?!?!
I don't think they were too happy with it either. Maybe Ben Kweller likes to go to bed early? Who knows... but their last 2 songs were good and we were at least glad we'd seen them before (unlike the Kings of Leon debacle).
I love Ben Kweller and have been wanting to see him live for a long time. I got SHA SHA when it came out and loved it - and his newest, On My Way, is just as fantastic. He writes such fun songs. Great lyrics and I love it when he really belts it out. Rick's been learning several of his songs on guitar, too, so he was psyched to see them play em live.
Jem, Tania & Kyo(sp?) showed up (missing the Unicorns entirely, unfortunately) and joined us up front for rockin out w/ Ben and his fellow tight jeaned bandmates. It was a super fun show, despite the fact that the entire thing was exactly 2 hours long. Saturday night 9-11pm? Who does that??
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Today started nice with breakfast out on the porch. Good thing too because the weather and my mood somehow spiraled downward from there. I did however get a new keyboard! And off CL, no less, so it cost me 1/2 the price as a new one would have - woohoo! I've been needing a new USB mac keyboard and have yet to turn my PC on, but wanted one that I could use in my KVM switch to use between my PC/Mac. Hopefully it won't make the beeping noise I've heard about, but I can always plug in my camera's USB cord or something to make it stop. Ok, sorry for the geek talk, there's maybe 5% of you that know what I'm talking about.
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I had drum lessons, which were great - despite my foul mood, and then I came home and cooked myself a pizza and tried to work a little bit. And that brings us up to here!
The photos of the last week are way funner than my quick and dirty summary, so I'll try to post those over the next few days.
Have a good week everyone..
füd
Do you love sushi as much as I do? Check out this *super* cute & helpful site for finding yummy sushi near you: SushiFinderI went to Trader Joe's lastnight for the first time in a long time. I love that store! The groceries are so affordable. I can't wait to have lunch!
It's 1:38pm, why haven't I had lunch yet? Well, I get up & make coffee, but then I forget to eat and instead work work work on my delicious double shot caffeine high... and then noon rolls around & my tummy starts growling. But I'm still in the mood for breakfast, so I make myself a bowl of cereal.
I'm absolutely addicted to Special K Red Berries. It's the perfect meal! Quick, easy, cool, crunchy, sweet, fruit, fiber, and you eat it with a spoon! :)
So ya, I will have lunch around 4 - and I'm looking forward to it! haha
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I also got a free pint of Ben & Jerries (coupon from a purchase on punchstock). I hardly ever buy B&J's cuz I'm a hard core Haagan Daaz lover... but this is that Dave Matthews Swirled one or whatever it's called - and it looks good! Fudge, Coffee, Carmal, mmmm!!
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I'm listening to the new Rilo Kiley and it's fantastic! I love them.
We're hittin Film School & Lovemakers this Thursday at 12 Galaxies - and then Ben Kweller & the Unicorns this weekend! woohoo!
I had more to say here I think, but I gots to get back to work - I'm designing a site for my friend's restaurant that just opened up in Maui: Tastings Restaurant
Later gators
overheated
Hey guess what? My battery is one of the 'too hot for my laptop' batteries getting recalled by apple!It's definitely HOT! When my laptop is on my desk, I can feel the heat through the 1/2 inch particle board IKEA desk warming my legs underneath. ha! And when I've watched DVD's in bed, I have to have a thick blanket between me & the laptop or it gets way too hot on my legs.
Hopefully the new one won't be so hot! We'll see...
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I've been doing good rippin my collection. I think I'm averaging a good 15/day - but that's not as fast as it should be for getting through it all!
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I want an Airport Express!!
I am LOVING the sunshine today!
This morning I was going to have about 3 girlfriends over for breakfast, but it was very last minute and 2 of the girls are just not morning people, so I knew it was slim chances they'd make it. And the other is a working busy bee like me, so I can only sympathize with her, as I certainly know how that is! So it ended up being lovely Lyneylooo & I, which was the original plan anyway! Lyne brought over bagels and whipped us up some yummy eggs with fresh mushrooms and we had that with some sliced avocado and yummy latte's out on my sunny porch with my awesome patio set and it was absolutely delightful!!We burned Lyne some CD's and she was like a little kid in a candy store - so cute! I'm happy she can have some new music!! And I got the new Sonic Youth and a few other things from her - woohoo!
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Speaking of music - lastnight I had wanted to hit a show, but then wasn't gonna go out since all my show buddies either are out of town or bailed, but then my buddy Hai said he'd be down for goin out - so we hit the Condor / Ex-Boyfriends / BoyJazz show at the Elbo Room.
First of all, that Elbo Room is really getting more swanky I think! I don't remember it seeming that cool... and lastnight I liked it! Maybe it's their sign outside that I don't like. I know, weird, but I'm not sure I like the font. haha
Aaanyway, it's cool inside. I wasn't so psyched on Condor honestly - but maybe I need to get to know them better or hear it again or something. Or maybe I wasn't in the mood for that kind of noise, I don't know. All I know is they did have a chic drummer, and that's always good :) We played a couple games of pool through their set and I played unbelievably poorly. ha! Sometimes I'm so damn good at pool, and other times - like lastnight - I'm very, very bad.
Ex-boyfriends are SO FUN! I loved em. They're like a more indie-alternative to your Blink 182 / Green Day sound... very fun & upbeat and I really enjoyed their set. They had a great crowd of fans there too, which was so cute.
Boyjazz was awesome!! What a show those boys put on. It was hilarious! I can't wait to get their CD - Annie says it's one of her favorites right now (granted she books these boys) but she said she can't stop playing it... and I believe her cuz they've got a really fun sound. They were really loose (errr, the lead singer seemed a little drunk) but in a really fun good way that very well could be how they play every time, but it was so full of silly, raw expressive energy that I was totally entertained. And their rockin had me shakin and smiling. Very cool. Yay that Hai decided to go or I wouldn't have probably gone on my own!
It was great to see Annie, and we of course had to have our ritual shot together. This time though instead of tequila, we had Fernet! I have heard a ton about this (Brian!) and hadn't yet tried it although Rick & I keep saying we want to. It's sorta like Jager in that it's a herbal digestive, dark type of liquor. Annie got them in shot glasses and a ginger ale chaser which was really yummy. She described it as more of a upper buzz vs just getting you drunker, and I think I'd agree - I did feel a little buzz of energy afterwards... pretty cool!
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Ok, now I gotta get some work done so I can go out & take a walk and enjoy some more of this beautiful Saturday sun!
tough day
oy... I had one of those days. How bout you?It could have been because lastnight soon after going to sleep the mesquito's decended and proceeded to eat my hot (temperature and otherwise) boyfriend up and no more than 30 minutes later we had to simply turn on the light, put on our glasses and kill that damn mesquito!
We did. But Rick was convinced that wasn't him or he would be full of blood. According to the 8 huge bites (he has allergies too, so they effect him more), I believed him... but after dozing off once with the light on we decided that must have been him and tried to sleep.
I awoke at 4am to find him just deciding to leave after waking up with his hand hurting from being bitten. JESUS Mesquito's!! So he left for FL today and I will miss him.
Anyway, I woke up after some crazy fall-back-asleep-after waking-up-early-and-falling-back-asleep dreams... and then a lot happened:
> I sold my couch
> I did two loads of laundry
> I had house cleaners come clean my house. Yes this is SUCH a luxury, but right now I neeeed someone to help me mop these floors because I DONT WANT TO! And they did. My place hasn't looked cleaner since I moved in. I'm stoked.
> I reproduced a .eps of a company's logo
> I worked on 10x10 trade show panels
> I had a couch meltdown. I thought I wanted this one couch and I loved it so much and I thought it was actually a really good deal for a really nice couch... so I thought NO though, because it's white and I have a really fuzzy kitty.. and I don't want to have to worry about getting spahetti sauce on it & ruining it forever.
>> That, and Rick's not here and I didn't have enough super strong man muscles. And then I just was thinking about slipcovering it - but it's such a beautiful couch - it'd be a shame... so what do I do.. yaddayadda. Finally I broke down when I realized how hard it would be to get through my front gate. Totally stress me out.
>>> I dunno - I think I could probably make it all happen... but not today. It's kinda hard to find a good affordable couch these days. I shoulda just paid someone to wrap it up & move it.
aaanyway
then after someone stressful of afternoon of dealing with more stuff than i planned for the day, I finally got to shower and go buy a bottle of wine and head over to my friend Lyne's house. She cooked me a nice italian dinner (italian music too!) and we drank wine and talked about boys and life and she showed me her new dresses. she's such a peach. and she made really yummy food - AND - she gave me a chocolate caramel afterwards!
I learned her brother and father are both musicians. Her little brother Aaron Cuadra is a musician in LA. We listened to him and he sounds a ton like the music I used to listen to in like '93. Which is not a dis, I love that stuff still. Jackopierce and the old Vertical Horizon. I know I'm a geek - but when I lived in Boulder, I used to listen to that all the time.
aanyway that leads me up to here. Oh & she gave me a new skirt! Now if it'll just warm up around here already!
xoxo
furniture revamp
I rearranged my place and am getting rid of the old & in with the new!In the last 24 hours I've sold my couch, my dresser & my mirror! (see items) And was able to also sell my electric blanket, LIFE game, Rio MP3 player, and a bunch more between the time I had my garage sale and now. Woohoo!
I was tired of the couch I've had for awhile (except for that it was red, I loved having a red couch!). But I found a really nice super comfy couch that I couldn't pass up - and albeit a way heavier couch, it has a real sofa bed pull out (instead of the foam one I had), so that'll be good if my Mom & sister come to town - we'll all be super comfy. Most importantly my new couch & old couch are only 76" and in these small SF places you gotta have compact stuff!!
Which leads me to the dresser... The way I moved around my place I have a space I can fit a dresser that calls for one thats more tall than wide. I've had my current dresses for years, so it's definitely time for a new one! I think I might get this Target one, because it sorta matches the "country/vintage" look I've got goin on in here - and if I replace the knobs on it, it'll look even better.
That mirror I've had forever, and with this new dresser, I'll probably get another little mirror that hangs on the wall above it.
I had gotten rid of 2 plastic file drawer/cart things because I bought this nice big IKEA shelf/file cabinet thing. So as soon as I get the new dresser I can put my other bookcase where my old dresser is and by then I'll have my new couch - and wala! New refreshed little house! :)
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Woohoo! In November there's a West Elm opening in Corte Madera! Read article.
movie & shows
Rick & I finally made it to a movie on Sunday night! This week is not as crazy as the last couple have been, so I actually get to leave and do things around 6pm! woohoo!We saw Spiderman 2 on IMAX!!! Sounds awesome, huh? It WAS!!!
Kirsten Dunst totally looks hotter in this one than the first.. and they had some seriously awesome scenes of Spidey cruisin through the city. I loved seeing it on the humungo screen with that amazing surround sound - very cool!
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Lastnight Jem & I went to The Donnas show at Bottom of the Hill.
Openers: Lashes / Communiqué
The Donnas have been working on a new album, and their drummer had hurt her hand, so they haven't played live in quite some time! Because of this they had a totally packed sold out show with members of the audience that had traveled from other cities and she even said other countries! whoa!
The Lashes went on first and I thought they were pretty good. A bunch of people on stage and great energy. I liked em and would dig seein them again.
Communiqué went on next and they were excellent. I want some of their stuff and would also definitely go see them again.
The Donnas were fun - the lead singer has the most perfect hair!! I'm serious! She was very cute and flashed these really sexy looks at the audience. The whole set of girls are all very cute and it was great to hear some of their new songs.
The lead singer could use some voice lessons or something in my opinion... I think her voice isn't bad, but somehow I think it could be better or tighter or stronger or something. But their songs are so fun and they're all very cute - and I'd been wanting to see them for a long time - So it was COOL!
I didn't have my Rick w/ me as he's getting ready to leave town this weekend & had too much he had to take care of. Understandable, but he was missed! I did however get a very nice surprise by having my friends Lyne & Jim show up! woohoo!!!
Lyne showers me with love and she's just a DOLL!! It was so great to see her and she loved The Donnas. yay!
I don't have any shows planned for the weekend - anything good goin on peeps?
photos
Many of you may have already peeked around, but I've *finally* posted photos from the last month or so of parties and shows, etc....So, as I already posted: There's an album from Rick & I's trip to Vegas this last weekend - where we had a blast!
Then there's the album from the previous weekend's debauchery, including Hillary's Pizza making party & the I Hate Cartoons festival on Friday night - and then my brother Max & Samara coming up for dinner & then over to Sarah's for her going away/birthday party (where somehow I managed to not have a photo of Sarah & I from that night! How did that happen? :) BUT Sarah's photos of the evening are posted on her site.
Then there's an album from the weekend before last - photos from Lucia's Zeitgeist/Fresh Meat party that was sooo fun!
And lastly there's a "random photos" album from July & August, that has a few party photos (Nancy) and several shows: The Gossip, Ambulance Ltd & The Hives - along with some Kazoobie kitty photos and other random neighborhood shots.
someone got married in vegas...
but it wasn't me!! (although we were amazed with how many new bride & grooms we saw in their full wedding gear!) But after reading this news, it's no wonder we couldn't get reservations into Little Buddah on Saturday night! The Hilton sisters were there with their young 20-something rich TV star friends partyin the night away and preparing for Nicky Hilton's 2:30am Vegas wedding!I love how this article says they've been "dating off and on for several years". Hmm, well if she's only 20 (!) then I guess he may have at once been dating JAILBAIT! :p
Ok, enough talkin trash about the tabloid stars... get back to work :)
fruit of the gods
Oh my god... have you ever eaten a Pluot? They're the most amazing fruit ever ever ever!!! I've never tasted anything so delicious. It's better than ice cream. They're sweet and tart at the same time - and the texture is divine!I just had one for the first time lastnight... and I'm in love! I want to go buy 20 more and eat them all day long!
My DCResource.com Redesign is live!
Jeff Keller, reviewer extraordinaire and the man behind one of the top digital camera review sites on the web, hired me last fall for a massive redesign.We redesigned his logo & his site from top to bottom! Since then Jeff has been working hard updating all of his archives, creating a robust content management system to efficiently handle his 7+ years of reviews in his database, updating the graphics (1000's all had purple backgrounds) and prepare everything for our new design template.
So here it is almost a year later and last week we buttoned up the last few little things and now I present to you the new & improved (re-designed) Digital Camera Resource Page!
(The site actually went live last Thursday, but I couldn't get around to posting it before I left :)
I'm very proud of Jeff for all his hard work putting together the back end, and am very pleased with the design - even a year later! It's pretty exciting in the world of digital camera review sites to have a redesign like this and Jeff's site is one of the most helpful IMO. His reviews are down to earth & easy to understand and he's helped many people guide their way to finding the camera that's right for them... including me!
Check it out and let me know what you think!
sin city
I'm back from Vegas!! I wanted to leave a quick note before I left but of course the last day before we headed out was too crazy & I didn't even have time. But we're back now & we had a fantastic trip!We stayed at the Paris Hotel and it was awesome. This is the first time I've been to Vegas since I was like 19, and even then it wasn't really to go to Vegas - so it's practically like my first time! Virgin voyage to the city of sin! You know that was a good time ;)
Friday night we settled in, and then headed over to the Hard Rock to eat at Nobu - a DELICIOUS japanese restaurant.
While waiting for our reservation we played a little blackjack - and then after dinner we hit the craps table! This is the first time I've gambled at all, and we made out good! It took me awhile to realize all my chips actually meant money - but as soon as I did, I was thinking craps is the best game ever cuz it just felt like free money! :) So we both made about $100 there which was cool, and by that time our friends Bruno & Guam and their 2 friends showed up. They were headed to Body English, which is Hard Rock's club.. so we chatted w/ them awhile and then went off to do our own thing for the rest of the night. Gotta love the free drinks while you gamble, eh? :)
Saturday we got up, ate and then hit the pool! This was the moment I'd been waiting for. Through all this hard work I've been doing, my one little calgon take me away fantasy is just to be laying out in the warm sun, in my bikini with a cold drink in my hand... and we did just that!
The pool there is crazy too, cuz the Eiffel tower is RIGHT next to you! It's awesome. It wasn't even tooo hot that day either, which made it just perfect. We even had a 2 free drinks by the pool coupon! score! :)
After cleaning up we headed over to the Bellagio Hotel (beautiful hotel - wow!) to pick up our tickets to Zumanity, with a small scare that we were too late, but thankfully they were still there. Then we headed back over to the Paris hotel for a quick trip up the Eiffel Tower :) Fun to see the view from up there and look down on the pool we'd just been chillin at.
Then we promptly headed over to New York New York (where Zumanity was playing) so we could take a look around and then grab a drink and a bite to eat to hold us over till later. Zumanity was incredible! Totally sexy... lots of skin! :) Cirque de Soleil is so great at interacting with the audience and getting everyone in the mood. Expensive tix, but you really get your money's worth if you ask me - they give you a serious show! I thought it was great - and we had really great seats too!
After that we headed over to the Aladdin to meet up with Bruno & Guam at a restaurant called Crustacean. They actually have one here in SF, too, that I've never been to. We weren't really that hungry so we all ordered some appetizers and had some yummy drinks before heading over to Curve. The boys had free passes to get in, which was cool cuz normally Rick & I don't hit clubs that much and personally I'm not into spending the $20-$50 it can cost to get in the door of those places! So free was a great price just to check out the scene.
After that Rick & I lost a little money on the craps table at the Aladdin, and I got a taste of how different the crowd is there vs. The Hard Rock - which is a pretty fun, young scene in comparison! So we left & headed over to The Palms. Rick sat down for some blackjack there and a couple hours later made out with a couple hundred $$$!! Nice babe!!!! It sorta took care of some other loses, so all in all he came out up about a $150 or so, I think - but you should have seen some of the cards he had near the end - it was awesome!!!
Lastly, we hit Risque at the Paris (again, free passes - awww yaa), before calling it a night. Risque is actually a pretty nice club, swankier than Curve for sure.
Overall we had SUCH a fantastic trip. Rick & I had a wonderful time together, I got to get a taste for how fun gambling can be (even though I'm still quite conservative and scared of it :) and I got my fun in the sun with a cold drink! I can't wait to go back.
Photos? Of course :) Check em out here.
thoughts around my ipod/mp3's
1. If I dohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifn't see a CD fit to rip for my iPod (or MP3 collection for that matter), is the CD even worth keeping?
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2. Why is it so hard to get the iPod to go back to just straight up shuffle after listening to a specific playlist or CD? Am I doing something wrong?
I also hate it when I want to turn the backlight on & if I don't hold down the menu button long enough all of a sudden I start "the menu dance".
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3. I have the Monstor iCarPlay FM radio connector/charger thingy, and so far it's fantastic. I seem to have good luck w/ 88.1 here in San Francisco.
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4. Check this place out:ReadytoPlay.com.
update (8/17): Silly me didn't do the calculations on this right... and it would actually cost me $600+ to get my collection ripped. ($$$ !!!) Now for .10/cd I might do it - but for a $1 CD - that's just waaaay too much when you have my collection. So now I'm on a warpath to see if I can't get my collection ripped myself within 2 weeks - Let's see if I can do it!
Oh - and if you're curious, there's another site that does something similar: RipDigital and one even cheaper than those two: MoonDogDigital. Man, you start searching for these places and you'll see they're poppin up everywhere, in the bay area alone I think there's about 5 or 6 companies offering this! Now if they'll just lower their prices... For $700 I could probably buy my own mass ripping machine & start my own company!
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5. I've been loving listening to WOXY
When I'm working I forget to keep changing the CD's in my changer in the living room, so I usually just play music right off my laptop since it's right here if I wanna change a song & all. Online streaming radio is the best though because it's like expanding my shuffle to listen to a bunch of new stuff out there, too. I love KEXP.org, very much too. WOXY I heard about on Tribe and have listened to quite a bit since. They talk about the artists and their albums a fair bit, so I learn something, too! It's like talk radio for the music nerd.
Oh & WOXY's stream displays the artist & song title in iTunes!
you had me at $2 margaritas
Sorry this is last minute, but I want you locals to know about this cool event happenin tonite here in the Mission:The League of Pissed Off Voters Presents: Viva Blue (evite)
Location: El Rio, 3158 Mission St., San Francisco, CA
(the El Rio is a sweet bar!!)
When: Tuesday, August 10, 8:00pm
This event is a fundraiser for road-trips to register voters in Nevada. Help us swing Nevada Blue, and re-defeat Bush in November.
Featuring:
? Afrobeat band, Aphrodesia
? DJ Dyslexic + Special Guests
? $2 Margaritas!!!
Click here for more details.
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I'd go, but I'm actually going to be in Marin tonite hangin w/ the Weingals and finally seeing their new house! But if you dig good music & cheap margs AND wanna support getting that lahoooserr out of the WH, GO show your support! Plus, my friend Mike is helpin out with it - and he's RAD! Have fun!
comfy shoes
I LOVE comfortable shoes. We're off to Vegas this weekend, and I sure as heck won't be troupsing around in 2 inch strappy heals (who can wear those?) Nope, I'm a *total* practical shoe girl. I might have an occasional night out in my fancy boots not made for walkin, but strappy heals are something you'll probably never see these size 10 feet in!I have a few favorite pairs of shoes: My red Kenneth Cole Reactions and my tan leather slip ons I got from Nordstrom's Rack - If I could just have brand new duplicates of these to last me another year or two I'd be pleased as punch!!
Awhile back I'd posted in someone's comments how much I loved Dansko shoes cuz they're so comfortable. Totally the practical type of shoe I love. (If you like Dansko/practical shoes - check out Dan's Practicals). My Dansko sandals, that are kinda like these (but mine don't have that buckle and they're black) are so comfy. They've lasted me years, too - I bought them in New York about 3.5 years ago! If you ask me, you've got to have good walkin shoes!
GARAGE SALE: SUNDAY, AUG 8 * 10am-2pm!!!
Come to Jane & I's garage sale & say hi & most importantly, buy our stuff! :)This is one of the many items I'm selling - follow the link to more.
Hope to see you there!
I'm alive...
Can you believe it's been a week since I've posted? jeeshk!!!I just had my friend in Hawaii call and ask if I'm still alive. ha! Yes, I'm alive. I've just been working my arse off. Look Mom, no arse! It's all worked off! :)
So ya, I've just had my head buried in work literally from 9am all day, all meals right here at my desk, and when I eat I click through all the emails I've ignored due to working so frantically... and then on into the night, usually 1 or 3am. (!) ya... just a little crazy.
I got a rush project last week, that spilled over into this week - and then another project that became a little longer than it was supposed to be (aren't they all? :) So, check this out (and this may only make sense to other designers/web geeks out there) but in 2 weeks I have designed 4 homepages - 2 of which I did 2nd level designs & full production of the HTML/CSS templates - another that's just had a couple rounds of revisions/updates and another I'm still waiting to hear back on (deadline was just yesterday). I also started & completed a 12 page Whitepaper and redid all the graphs involved... (this also was a great project to get more familiar w/ Quark. I'm all ready to start a zine now boy! ha) And all the little things in between - one being a dynamic text flash thingy that was fun to do.
Anyway, as you can gather I've had absolutely no time to do anything else. I've barely bathed, eaten and slept! :)
But being busy is so overrated these days huh? I mean, I'm not here to impress you with my long super accomplished list - cuz really *EVERYONE* is just so damn busy. And as I've said before - I LOVE IT! So I'm not complaining, but boy is it going to be nice to sit by the pool in LV with a cold drink in my hand!
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Of course my one get-me-out-of-the-house vice is live music! And with purchasing tickets ahead of time, I was able to atleast get my booty out of the house for 3 shows in the last week.
#1 Rilo Kiley last Friday night was *AWESOME!!!!!!!!!* I'm sooo in love with the lead singer, Jenny Lewis. Her songs are so beautiful and full of passion and I love it when she swears. :) Her voice is sooo beautiful and she's adorable... absolutely lovely to watch on stage.
It was a sweltering hot, sold out show. I am not sure how Jem, who is always wearing a couple layers, even made it through without passing out... but it's probably cuz she's a pro show ho! :) xoxo I love that woman.
Ok, so back to Rilo Kiley - if you don't have any of their stuff yet - go get it now! I've fallen in love with their CD "Execution of All Things" - and they've even has a new one coming out in a week or so, which you can listen to a few of the new songs here! woohoo!
Here's a VenisZine interview on them, too.
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After working a bit last Saturday, I did get out & have some fun by hittin Lucia's fun gathering at Zeitgeist. It was good to be back there, it'd been awhile! I met lots of fun new folks and got to hang with a lot of good friends, too. It was awesome and the night ended with Rick & Jee talking us into hitting El Faralito around 1am. Twist my arm: Care for some butter & cheese right before bed? Heart attack, here I come! haha
It was really fun to hang w/ Jee & Dan, and get to know him a tad better - and just see them together :) It was great to spend time with Jee, too. Especially when she's tipsy - she absolutely cracks me up. She's much more silly :) Jee's a sweetie.
And our fun friend Moses joined us too, which was awesome. He sprained his foot or something, so he's got this big clown shoe on it (hilarious) & is on crutches (which is a bummer). Moses is a good guy and way fun to party with.
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Then after working all day Sunday, Jem, Rick & I hit The Hives show at The Fillmore. Sahara Hotnights opened for them - Oh & Reining Sound, too, but unfortunately we missed most of their set. I just got their "Too Much Guitar" CD off emusic though, to give it a listen & check them out. I've heard good things.
Sahara Hotnights wasn't any better than when we saw them at Coachella in the 104 sweltering heat. They're really just kinda boring live somehow. I love their CD Jenny Bomb, but live they're just very 'eh'. I don't know if it's because you can't understand anything she's saying - or because they - I don't know... it just was whatever. But their chic drummer is sweet :)
The Hives were fun, but between working and going out the night before I was a little wiped out. I'd seen them at SXSW, and they were on fire & it was suuuuch a fun show! This show was really fun, too - but I think it woulda been funner if I had more energy (or a few more drinks in me :) BUT if you've never seen them - go & get right up front, it's a blast. I'm looking forward to checking out their new CD.
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I did nothing but work, work, work from Mon-Thurs night and then lastnight we hit the Ambulance Ltd/Elefant show at GAMH.
Ambulance was INCREDIBLE. I loved them. They're 5 totally real, down to earth, no frills guys that sound super solid together and you just want to take the lead singer home to your Mom.
I can't say enough about their set... it absolutely had me sooo happy!!! Not to mention I was honestly just so happy to be surrounded by my show buddies, and with my sweetie for the first time in _days_. It was really. super. great!
Elefant came on next (after a cheering audience chanted their name even!) and I really wanted to like these guys. Especially after seeing their avid fans singing along to every song and freaking out like it's Elvis himself! But, honestly, I didn't think they were that great at all.
I mean, I think I woulda liked them more had I listened to the CD first... cuz the songs are catchy and I do like the lead singer's voice. But you know what killed it for me? This guy could not have been more totally opposite of Ambulance in the down to earth, humble category. This guy is absolutely FULL OF HIMSELF! Which is fine and it's not the worst - and it's good to see a guy get up there and rock us out like he owns the place. BUT this guy's hand movements have *got* to stop. It might as well been a rock opera with his silver glittery scarf, his "i'm trying too hard to look indie" overly shaggy hair and these theatrical dramatic hand movements. HA! He even *watched* his own hands as he slowly moved them dramatically in front of himself. It was hard to watch.
Ricky G made a bet with me, behind Jem, that she'd leave at the 4th song. I thought she'd stay, cuz she gave me hope when she commented on the 2nd song that she thought they sounded like The Psychadelic Furs. But wouldn't you know it *boom* right when he called it she turned around and gave us the "i think i'm gonna go" line. I owe Rick $2. :)
And that's THAT!! Finally an update!! Thank you if you missed me and sorry I made you come back here every day or so to find nothing! I even have a camera full of photos to post eventually, too - which I should have time to do this weekend. So, woohoo! Happy Friday everyone.
