goodbye, goodnight

In case you couldn't tell, I like to go to concerts. Being the data geek that I am, I decided I wanted to write down all of the bands I have seen (at least the ones I can remember) and the number of times I have seen them. To complicate matters further, I thought it would be fun to categorized them by my desire to see them in concert again.

Bands I Have Seen in Concert
Would I See Them Again?
Yes
A Silent Film*## 3 Barcelona*##** 5 Civil Twilight*## 3 Collective Soul###### 6 Crash Kings* 1 Foo Fighters O 1 Foster the People# 1 Gold Fields* 1 Imagine Dragons# 1 Locksley* 1 Mae### 3 Mika# 1 Muse# 1 MuteMath# 1 Royal Teeth* 1 Snow Patrol# 1 The Black Keys# 1 U2## 2 Windsor Drive*# 2 Young the Giant# 1
If the Tickets Are Cheap
Andrew McMahon^ 1 Barenaked Ladies O 1 Bon Jovi# 1 Dave Matthews Band# 1 Deas Vail* 1 Kings of Leon# 1 Lifehouse O 1
If the Tickets Are Free and I Don't Have Anything Else to Do
Anberlin^ 1 Arctic Monkies* 1 Blue October^ 1 Ed Sheernan* 1 Grouplove* 1 Lady Danville* 1 Modest Mouse# 1 Mumford and Sons# 1 No Doubt* 1 Relient K# 1 Ryan Shupe## 2 Silversun Pickups* 1 The Format# 1 The Fray#* 2 Train# 1

Nah

Bob Schneider# 1 Chain Gang of 1974* 1 Creed O 1 Fastball* 1 Low Millions* 1 Owl City* 1
Not Even If You Payed Me
He is We* 1

#Headliner
*Opener
^Headliner but I was there for the opener(s)
O 2002 Olympic Medal Plaza because I was a volunteer

Notes:
1. Openers are only included if they were memorable (good or bad) enough that I recall the name
2. There are probably some concerts I have attended that I can't remember

Sources: Effie's Brain, Facebook, iPhoto Library

The last category probably needs a short explanation. The band He is We opened for one of my favorites, Barcelona. Their first strike came when they took 45 mins to get set up, the second was their arrogant attitude, and the third was they were not nearly as talented as they imagined themselves to be.

good morning after all

According to my Instagram feed it seem like the only things I do are go to concerts and go skiing. While that's not all I do, these two activities are some of very favorite and are usually the most picture worthy. This ski season has given me some of my favorite ski days. I got a new pair of skis for Christmas and I have absolutely loved them. With my old pair of skis I had a difficult time skiing in powder, but now I crave floating through the pristine snow. I love looking down a run and see a field of white ready for me to make tracks. It was days like that that made it worth getting up at 7:00 am on a Saturday. The ski season is pretty much over (praying for one more powder day), but I had some amazing days and no regrets.

Bluebird day at Brighton

View into Park City from Brighton

Blue skies at Alta

Freezing cold day at Snowbasin, but with 20" of new snow I didn't mind

Did you see the sky today? Talk about blue.

The Orange Bubble at the Canyons. Heated seats on a ski lift are nice.

goodbye

No, I'm not actually going anywhere.  I realized that it has been nearly a year since I posted anything on my blog and thought it was like I had said goodbye to the three people who actually read what I write.  I guess that just goes to show how incredibly dull the past year has been.  Maybe that's not entirely true.  I actually did plenty of fun things during 2011, but I just wasn't motivated enough to write about them.

Well, new year, fresh start.

One of my favorite things in the world is going to concerts, and I have several in the coming months that I'm really excited about.

The first is MuteMath on February 14, yep, Valentine's Day.  This is actually a welcome happenstance, because now I don't have to sit at home watching TV or a movie, pretending I'm ok that I don't have a date on Valentine's Day.  I actually get to go to a concert, something that makes me incredibly happy, with my roommate and two other people who we have coerced into coming with us.  MuteMath is a band I discovered when their song "Typical" came up on my Pandora station and now they are one of my favorites.  This will be my first time seeing them live.  I was planning on seeing them a few years ago when they opened for another band, but my concert buddy (aka my roommate) was sick that night and since I hadn't already bought tickets I missed out.




The next concert is Snow Patrol at the end of April.  I haven't seen them in concert before and I'm extra excited to see them in a small venue.  This is a band that usually plays in arenas or at big outdoor festivals.  I can't wait to hear them live, even if it is true that Gary Lightbody has a potty mouth.




The last concert (well at least the last of the three I currently have tickets for) is The Black Keys.  I started listening the The Black Keys fairly recently.  I had heard "Howlin' for You" and "Tighten Up" on the radio before, but hadn't bothered to look up more of their songs.  When "Lonely Boy" made its way to my ears, I listened up and now I absolutely dig these guys.  I'm a little disappointed that the concert is at the Maverick Center, but I have a feeling I'll enjoy it despite the less than stellar venue.

good woman down

Last Friday I went skiing by myself for the first time and I have to say it was one of the best ski days I have ever had.  I have been complaining for a while that I didn’t have anyone to go skiing with on my Friday’s off.  I was a little skeptical when my roommate told me I should just go by myself.  I’m normally ok with going places and doing things by myself, but the thought of skiing alone had me a little scared.  What if I crashed and hurt myself on a run and no one found me?  What if some psycho sat next to me on the lift?  What if I slid off the road into a ditch and no one could see me?  She said I would be fine.  She also said she used to do it all the time when learning how to snowboard and that it was the best. 

Friday morning I packed up my car and headed to Powder Mountain (they had the best deal I could find on short notice and I just like the resort).  I got there about 9:30 and the place was empty.  I think that is what I like about Powder, it isn’t crowded with out-of-towners.  It is more of a hidden treasure for locals and visitors in the know.  My first couple of runs I was completely alone, I didn’t pass anyone and no one passed me. 

On my fourth run my first fear happened.  I was cruising down a blue and not really concentrating on my technique when I caught an edge and was propelled forward.  My skis popped off as I was sliding face first down the steep slope.  When I finally stopped, I saw that my poles were still around my wrists but my skis stopped quite a ways up the slope.  I laid there for a little bit, trying to catch my breath after having it knock out of me.  As I pushed myself up, I realized that when I tried to brace myself during the fall I totally pulled something in my left shoulder.  I was not happy about that because I had been skiing for less than an hour.  I had to tell myself that I wasn’t hurt because there was no way I was going to waste a whole day.  The pep talk did me good and clicked back into my skis and continued on my merry way.

The remainder of my solo ski day was fantastic.  I met quite a few people on the lifts and skied some runs with a couple of them.  I even saw Ed Roland, lead singer of my favorite band (or a guy who looks a lot like him, I couldn’t tell).  I skied until I could ski no more (because they were shutting down the lifts).  On the way home I realized that my shoulder definitely was hurt, I had a hard time lifting it, but I’m so glad it didn’t hinder my most excellent day.

eat that up, it's good for you

I like sandwiches.  Often my lunch at work is a sandwich.  I do not like pre-made sandwiches that have been sitting in the fridge for hours, which is the reason I bring all the ingredients for a sandwich to work and make it fresh.  I have been doing this for years.

When I first started, I tended to buy cheap bread and cheap turkey and then would complain to myself that the sandwiches I made never tasted as good as the ones I get at a restaurant.  Being a thinker, I thought about why my sandwiches sucked and I came to the conclusion that it wasn't the sandwich's fault. The sandwich was only as good as the stuff that made it and that stuff was cheap crap.

The solution to this terrible problem was simple, buy good stuff to make good sandwiches.  Now, I would say my sandwiches are awesome!  Ciabatta bread, roasted turkey, swiss, bell peppers, romaine lettuce, mayo, mustard, and maybe an avocado.  If I ever need to make a few bucks on the side I could sell my sandwiches to my coworkers.

Good Directions Life Lesson:  Life is too short to eat cheap crap turkey.
 

good day sunshine

With piles of snow on the ground, I thought it would be a good time to remember my trip to Hawaii. Warmth and sunshine sound good right about now, but maybe a day skiing down a mountain will cure me of my winter blues.

The waterfall where scenes from Lost were filmed

 

feel good drag

I like going to concerts. I especially like going to concerts by up-and-coming bands at small venues. I like to concerts best of all when I'm able to get my picture taken with one or more band members. It makes me kind of giddy. This happened a few weeks ago with two bands, Civil Twilight and Crash Kings. Both were the opening acts for Anberlin, and both totally outperformed the headliner. I actually didn't even stay for all of Anberlin's set, I can't stand when bands feel they have to have everything turned up full blast instead of finding the right balance. They were definitely the drag of the night.

The third time was the charm for me to see Civil Twilight. I had attempted to see them two other times, but neither worked out. I was pleased with their set, even if it was a little short, but wish the venue was better. Who ever thought a warehouse with no modification for sound was an idiot.

Crash Kings are amazing live because they play with such energy and enthusiasm. I think I'm a sucker for a three-member band, especially when one of them plays the piano. Who ever created a keyboard with a whammy bar that sounds like a guitar was a genius.

Civil Twilight

Richard Wouters and Steven McKeller from Civil Twilight

Crash Kings

Tony Beliveau from Crash Kings

Mike Beliveau from Crash Kings

good grief

Sunday was one of those days, the one where I hurt myself quite a bit. I really don’t mean to, but for some reason Sunday was a klutzy day.

It started at my friend Christy’s new house. The roommates and I decided to keep her company on her first night sleeping there. Sunday morning, Christy and I were carrying the spare mattress I had slept on upstairs to the storage room when I bashed my left shoulder on a very pointy banister.

After returning home to get ready for church while doing my hair I burnt my finger on my flat iron (or hot styling tool for the person I told this story to who didn’t know what a flat iron is).

The next hurt me moment came as we were driving to church. I was eating an apple and bit the inside of my lip not just once, but three times.

For the grand finale, I was getting ready to go to my parent’s house for dinner when I heard Christy come to the door. I had left my shirt at her house and she was returning it. I was excited to see her and tell her thanks so I quickly put on my heels, grabbed my purse and rushed down the stairs. I made it down to the first landing just fine, but as I rounded the corner I lost my footing, scrambled to catch myself, and slid down the rest of the stairs in an awkward position while watching the looks of terror on my friends’ faces. As I came to rest at the bottom I burst out laughing. It was the only thing to do because I wasn’t hurt at all, well except for the bruise that showed up on my arm the next day.

it's gonna be so good

After years of wanting to go to there
I get to go to here

in October.

With these lovely ladies.


And hopefully operation Hot Bod For Hawaii (HBFH) is successful so I can look good in one of these


Yep, an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini
It's Hawaii, not a ward swim party

and i'm feeling good

It is going to be difficult to top the excitement and exhilaration I felt on Monday night. The anticipation had been building for about five months. The deliverance surpassed the hype. No concert will ever compare. Muse, those rock gods from across the pond, put on one mind-blowing show. Take away the lights, the lasers, the smoke, the hydraulic platforms, the giant screens, and the glass piano and leave just the music and it still would have been the best concert I have ever been to. Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme, and Dominic Howard have truly perfected their art. This was a once in a lifetime type experience that I hope to repeat.

 
Muse--Feeling Good

color me good

Despite the fact that I live in Utah and there is snow on the ground on April 1^st I have officially welcomed spring. Last Saturday a group of people (friends and friends-of-friends) traveled to the Holi Festival of Colors at the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. This was my first experience at the FofC and I regret nothing and would do it again.

This is what happens when it gets into your eye and tears stream through layers of color.

be good to yourself

I have a tendency to bottle up all my emotion. I let all the little disappointments and difficulties along with some big things build until I have an emotion explosion and it all comes out is one big, wet mess. The strange part is some little thing that on a normal day is not a big deal triggers the explosion. It’s like the little pebble that starts the rockslide. Why it has to happen in the middle of church I do not know.

I tell myself to stop crying you big baby, but it doesn’t help at all. It also doesn’t help when someone tries to comfort me; it actually increases the tear flow exponentially. Luckily, there wasn’t any sobbing, just quiet tears. The good thing is it doesn’t last very long. I’m fully recovered within a half hour, 45 minutes tops (at least from the tears).

The saying “don’t cry over spilled milk” is generally good advice. Letting all the little disappointments and a few big difficulties build and build and build until I explode at the most inopportune times isn’t good advice either.

collection of goods

I really love Collective Soul. When anyone asks me who my favorite bands are, Collective Soul is the first out of my mouth. I know I have liked them since their beginning and I know my older sisters had something to do with it. I distinctly remember my sister's copy of "Hints Allegations & Things Left Unsaid" because of the cover art. I liked "Shine" but really didn't get hooked until I borrowed another sister's copy of "Dosage."

As of Thursday night, I have seen Collective Soul in concert five times and I would go see them tomorrow if I could. Each of the five concerts have been in different venues of varying sizes.

#1 The Huntsman Center--2001
They were promoting the "Blender" album. I went with my younger brother and the place was packed. They did the usual walk off the stage and come back out to perform an encore, but after that the crowd was still cheering and the light came up and they came back out and performed one more song.

# 2 The Canyons--2005
Shortly after the Tsunami, Collective Soul play a "free" concert at the Canyons, but asked for donations. Outdoor concert in February, good but cold.

#3 Grand Junction, Co--2005
About a week after I saw them at the Canyons, I went to Grand Junction to visit my sister and see them perform in an old movie theatre that had been converted into a concert venue. I had already purchased tickets for this event when I saw them at the Canyons. I enjoyed this particular time because we were so close to the stage and I hadn't ever been that close before.

#4 Peppermill Concert Hall, Wendover--2008
This was a second try on this particular venue. The first time we drove the two hours from Salt Lake to Wendover only to pull up the venue in time to see "Collective Soul Has Been CANCELLED due to Illnes" flash on the marquee (yes I did spell illness wrong, but only because they did). I wish I had video of our faces when we read that. So instead of seeing the concert, we ate at a terrible buffet and drove the two hours back home. They did refund the tickets, so we were only out the money for gas and the stomach pain from the food.


Six months later the concert was rescheduled and I checked multiple times before we drove the two hours to Wendover that it was really happening this time. This was the first concert I have attended without an opening band. So while I enjoyed the concert and the venue, it was short.

# 5 The Rail--January 21, 2010
Despite the poorly organized process of getting into the venue, I think this is one of the better places for a concert. It is less than a year old, so everything is clean and shiny. The layout is very open with an 21+ balcony area surrounding the entire space. We were about three people back from the front and I took way too many pictures and lots of video. I'm sure the people behind me were annoyed with the crazy girl and her camera, but I didn't really care because among all the terrible pictures I was able to get some pretty cool ones.





I know I'll see Collective Soul again, so here's to next time.

life is good, but sometimes it's amazing

Yesterday I looked into the mirror and smiled. I’m not sure exactly why, but I felt joyful. For the past few months I have been happy, but there has been something keeping me a little down. At that moment, everything felt different. I knew that I had a family who loves me, friends who care about me, and the gospel in my life. At that moment, everything else didn’t seem to matter. At that moment, I realized life is not only good, it's amazing.

my pain may have been a good thing

I usually only wear high heels on Sunday for church or the rare occasions I drive to work. Friday night, however, I was trying out the heels with jeans thing that I have been told some guys really like. The roommates and I were going to SLC for dinner. I was walking to the car when all of a sudden I found myself falling down the concrete stairs toward the front of my car. I can’t be certain, but I think I tried to catch my balance and ended doing a 180 which saved my butt from a big bruise. My left leg, just below the knee, wasn’t so lucky. Of course the roommates didn’t get to see my graceful fall; just me sprawled on the garage floor. I got up and immediately knew I had to change my shoes. I took off the heels, quickly limbed upstairs to my room, and grabbed my much more sensible, but still fashionable boots.

As we were cruising down I-15 nearing the Farmington interchange area (I know they have a name for it but I can’t remember because it hasn’t caught on like the “Spaghetti Bowl”) we saw one of those UDOT signs that said the left lanes were blocked due to an accident and lots of break lights. We came upon a multiple-car-pile-up that had occurred maybe a minute or two before we got there. It seemed to be caused by the slowing of traffic following a previous multiple-car-pile-up.

All three of us rubbernecked as we slowly drove passed the two scenes and couldn’t help but wonder if we had been on the road just a few minutes earlier if we would have been one of the cars with the smashed-in front end. So if my tumble down the stairs and the resulting changing of the footwear saved us from a wreck, then I’m glad my pain resulted in something good.

so good for two reasons

One of my favorite shows recently used one of my favorite bands in an episode and it made me extremely happy.

good to my ears

I'm not a fan of buying single songs, I have always like buying albums. One reason is I often find I like songs on the album more than the singles that are played on the radio. I tend to listen to the same albums over and over. The following are my most recent favorites. I can honestly say I listen to each these albums and enjoy each song.

Absolutes--Barcelona



Are You Nervous?--Rock Kills Kid



Armistice--Mute Math



Collective Soul (Rabbit)--Collective Soul



Don't Make Me Wait--Locksley



Final Straw--Snow Patrol



Once Upon a Time in the West--Hard-Fi



The Resistance--Muse



The Sun and the Moon--The Bravery



Viva La Vida--Coldplay

good reason not to go to wal-mart

I have many reasons I do not go to wal-mart, but I gained an additional one on last Saturday night. I only had a half hour in order to pick up some printer ink, chips, and salsa before I needed to be to my friends' birthday party. I needed the printer ink to be able to print my lesson for the next day and the chips and salsa were for the party. I usually go to target for said purchases, but wal-mart happens to be closer to my house and my friend's house. So, despite my better judgment I found myself in a harshly lit aisle staring at the salsa when someone approached from my left and said "you don't want any of those."

I turned and looked at a late 40-something man and gave him a confused look. He then proceeded to tell me that he was making fresh peach salsa with peaches from his garden and that I should come over to his house and get some. I just gave a creeped-out courtesy laugh and turned back to making my salsa selection. He then crossed behind me to my right and told me that he was making watermelon salsa the next day and I could go to his house and get some of that too. Another courtesy laugh followed and he was gone.

There is my newest reason: Getting hit on by creepy old men in the salsa aisle.

Some additional reason for not going to wal-mart were observed during this latest trip: A larger woman in a v-neck tank top that was 3 sizes too small with lurpy boyfriend in a wife-beater and baggy pants. Long lines with slow checkers. Security devices on everything over $20 that can easily be concealed in a purse or down someone's pants.

good clean capitol funishment

I have now been to Washington D.C. six times. The first five times were for work and I wasn’t able to see everything I would have liked because I was in meetings all day and by the time I was able to get to the Mall, all of the museums were closed. I was lucky if I had a two hour window before my flight to get through one museum (usually about half of it). This last time I was on an actual vacation and had the chance to see nearly everything I wanted to. Here is everything I saw while traveling to D.C and back again.

Day 1—Traveling
Salt Lake City Airport
Atlanta Georgia Airport
Washington Dulles Airport
Comfort Inn at Tyson’s Corner

Day 2—Monuments Day aka Lots of Walking
Washington Monument
World War II Monument
Vietnam Memorial
Lincoln Monument
Korean War Memorial
Holocaust Museum* (A humbling experience and not for the faint of heart)
FDR Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing
PF Chang’s with a group of 32

Day 3—Day at the Museum
Fords Theater
American History Museum*
Natural History Museum*
Pizza and Games with the family

Day 4—Another Day at the Museum
The White House tour with an appearance by Alonzo Mourning (President Obama held up the tour because he was in a room nearby)
Top of the Washington Monument
Native American Museum
Air and Space Museum*
Fudruckers

Day 5—More Museums
National Archives (when a big security guard with a deep voice tells you not to take flash photography you better listen. Luckily I didn’t have to learn through experience)
Library of Congress*
Tour of the Capitol
The Golden Corral (not by choice)

Days 6-7—Pilgrimage to the Uncle’s House in Virginia
Church
Tour of James Madison University
Listen to my uncle’s sweet speakers (we’re talking speakers costing tens of thousands of dollars)
Harrisonburg, VA bowling alley

Day 8—Traveling
Washington Dulles Airport with the slowest ID and gate ticket checker ever
Cincinnati Airport
Salt Lake City Airport
Home!

*highly recommended

good timing

I went to Washington D.C. with my extended family for a week in June. At one point we had 40 people wandering around the Mall, getting on and off the Metro, and taking over PF Chang’s.

The timing of our trip couldn’t have been better. We narrowly missed two tragic events. The shooting at the Holocaust Museum took place less than a week before we arrived and the worst accident in the D.C. Metro’s history took place only two days after we left downtown. These two events are incredibly sad and I’m sorry for the families that are affected, but I’m grateful my family had a safe vacation.

Because of this I’m reminded that bad things can happen at anytime and we need to be grateful every time we arrive to our intended destination safely, every time we go a public area and return home again, every time we go to work and return to our families.