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.

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

 

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.

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.

good to know

While I normally enjoy reading others "25 Random Things about me" it took me a while to compose one of my own. It turned out to be kind of interesting experience. I know I'm a geek, but now the proof is in writing. I also added a few extras to the end.


In general I don’t like female singers, nearly all the artist on my ipod are male.

I’m a total geek at heart. Give me Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Star Trek.

I have been into Star Wars for nearly my whole life. I have seen the original trilogy so many times I have each movie memorized. During Junior High and High School I read nearly every post “Return of the Jedi” novel available. I have only been beaten once playing “Star Wars: Trivial Pursuit.”

I’m inwardly obsessive but outwardly passive.

I love a good turkey sandwich, adding bacon makes it even better. However, even more important than the toppings of a sandwich is the bread. For me the bread makes the sandwich. My current bread of choice is ciabatta.

I ride the bus to and from work nearly everyday and have done so for three years. Oh, the gas money I have saved and the books I have read.

I prefer to work behind the scenes but will step up and take charge when the occasion arises.

I love country swing and line dancing but don’t really care for country music. I do have some left over music from my short liking-country-music-phase.

I love amusement park rides, especially the rollercoasters. I would rather spend a vacation day at Six Flags than at the beach.

I have had a season pass to Lagoon for the past three summers and I already have my 2009 pass.

No one in my family has had braces and I don’t mind going to the dentist.

Witty comments and flashes of brilliance are few are far between so I’m always proud of myself when they do occur, especially when it is in the moment and not an hour later.

I still separate nearly all food items on my plate so they do not touch. Not a big fan of warm mashed potatoes and gravy and cold jell-o mixing.

I’m picky when it comes to my nighttime sleeping environment. One time I was staying at my sister’s house and I made my brother-in-law turn off their outside lights even though they were on a timer and would have turned off shortly.

It makes me mad when people blow the snow from their sidewalks onto the cleared street. Do they not realize that they can blow it back onto their yard?

I often have delusions of grandeur.

I don’t think people should like something just because it is popular. I also think people shouldn’t not like something just because it is popular. Figure it out.

I’m not ticklish.

I rarely respond to being teased the way the person doing the teasing was hoping.

I know a little about a lot, but only a lot about a little.

I loved drawing and painting and doing crafts when I was little, but as I got older I had less time to devote to this hobby and have now lost most of my skills.

Growing up, the only time we had soda/pop/soda pop in our house was sprite or 7 up when we were sick. When I was old enough to choose what I wanted to drink I choose Dr. Pepper. It was my little rebellion.

I’m the type of person that has a tendency to get in trouble. If I even step one toe over the line I get caught.

I love getting new music and movies.

I often hop on the band long after everyone else has jumped off.

I have had a few people tell me I look like Jennifer Aniston. I don't know if I agree, but I'll take it.