Music is my life. Everything can be expressed, handled or just felt more deeply with the right chord or phrase. I have been blessed with some amazing friends and am still at that point where my life is an open book. If you’d like, stick around for a bit and help me write a few chapters…Do you hear that buzzing in the background? Yeah, that’s all of the angry owners of Apple’s new iPhone 3G bitching at customer support because they can’t get their new phones activated. Hmmm wonder who’s gonna win this clash of the titans. My money’s on Jobs. I’ve heard that you can use the thin MacBookAir as a Chinese throwing star. Just an FYI. At least the tech blogs are having fun with it.
I’m guessing you have no idea what this is or where it’s located, but yesterday as I was enjoying a mug of hot Mint Magic tea from the Campus Coffee Bean here in Flag, I discovered this rare gem in the Ladies’ Powder Room. (No, I wasn’t drinking my tea in the bathroom. I had just had enough tea that I had to use the bathroom. Sorry, TMI.) What is it, you might ask. Well, it’s a “Surf and Sip” internet kiosk, of course. So just in case you need to check your email or facebook account while you tinkle, you can. That simple fact makes the world a-ok to me.
I have very few rules when it comes to sharing my life here in this little space of mine. They aren’t brain-busters… but simple, logical, don’t scare your readers away or get fired rules.First, I don’t discuss work unless it’s fun and harmless. Next, I don’t name names when I’m upset and ranting even when I want to scream and point, “That’s the big, fat, meanie-head!!! They’re the ones that made me cry! Go poke them in the eye if you love me…” (Discreet and private finger-pointing is why email and texting were created.) Finally, I try to keep my love stalking obsession appreciation of John Mayer to a minimum. That, my friends, is what message boards, Local-83, Mayer-loving friends, and 15gbs of hard drive space are for. (Don’t judge. I’m sure you have deep, dark secrets. *cough* Taylor Swift *cough*)
But, today I plan on breaking rule #3. Please don’t think that I’m going to be gushing about ‘that pansy boy who’s written crappy songs like Your Body Is A Wonderland and Daughters and stop reading. Please? You might actually enjoy JM if you give him a chance and get past the fact you think he’s not your cup of tea (or your pissed that he’s dated Jessica Simpson and you haven’t). Anyway, back in December Mayer held his 1st Annual Holiday Charity Revue where he played music from his three musical incarnations: the bluesy John Mayer Trio, his ‘apr’ acoustic work, and jams with his full band. It was promised at the time that that night’s show would eventually make it to a dvd, and that simple fact took a way a bit of the pain I experienced when
I decided not to sell my soul and take a road trip to LA to hear him play as John, John Mayer Trio, and John Mayer live.
Mayer released his first dvd Any Given Thursday back in the spring of 2003, and I distinctly remember watching it in wonder for the first time. This was back before Austin City Limits, Crossroads with Brad Paisley, Saturday Night Live, and the millions of youtube videos available today. I had a few live shows in digital format and hundreds of mp3s yet had never watched him play before. The AGT dvd began with standard Mayer acoustic songs like Back To You, 3×5, and City Love, but as track #5 started, I knew this was something new. “I’m not alone but I wish I was. Cause then I’d know I was down because I didn’t have a friend around to love me like they do right now.” I must have rewound that first phrase of Something’s Missing six times before I let the dvd play on. He continued with a cover of The Police’s Message In A Bottle, Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Lenny, a new intro to Why Georgia, and his typically quirky between song banter. Just when he’d lulled me into a groove of familiar songs, he started Covered In Rain.
As I think back on it, I realize that as I heard CIR for the first time it wasn’t the song itself that captured me but watching him perform it. I didn’t pick up on the raw reactions to a post-911 NYC in the lyrics or the continuation of City Love‘s story of Lydia in this first listen. Yet, ‘the second (about 2.5 mins in) the guitar solo began, this song demanded my attention and admiration. I grew up listening to my dad’s idea of guitar gods, but to me, this was different. Somehow in that 5 minute guitar solo a story was told… and the emotions caused by ‘the world getting colder’ found their canvas. CIR still ranks at the top of my favorite John Mayer songs, and the chance I had to watch him play it live is something I’ll never forget.
Needless to say, when his newest dvd (and 2-disc set!), Where The Light Is, is finally released on July 1st, there will be a copy in my hands as soon as possible. (Some of you may even be forced into watching it with me, and it won’t kill you. Call it your late birthday present to me. I promise not to sing too loud or squeal to much.) Seriously though, part of me is worried that my expectations are so high that I may ended up disappointed with the final product of that night back in December, but I just don’t see how that’s possible. He played Free Fallin and In Your Atmosphere… Steve Jordan, Pino Palladino… the band!!! How can that not be amazing?!?! Until then, I’ll wait patiently watching Any Given Thursday for the 92nd time (with the commentary on) and hope that when I finally get my hands on it, you’ll forgive me if that’s all I want to listen to (and talk about) for a while.
Any Given Thursday’s Covered In Rain
Where The Light Is trailer
Welcome to my new office! Notice the lack of pink, action figures, The Office memorabilia, and space! Well, I did, too. How three of us are gonna coexist in this space remains to be seen… guess I’ve just been spoiled with my current desk arrangement. But, don’t expect a few of my comfort items to not follow me there. (I promise I’ll keep it under control, H.)
Moving on, I finally began the new project at work yesterday that I’ve been hinting at for the past month and am not quite as overwhelmed as I thought I’d be. Then again, it’s early. I’m interested to see how it’s gonna work to spend half of my day in two separate places on campus while I do my real job and run this 20 hour-a- week project, but the learning experience should out-weigh the inconvenience. Right? Plus, look at the pretty new Mac I’ll be using. Makes your heart skip a beat, doesn’t it?
Isn’t this the exact behavior I spend 42% of my life trying to discourage? Might as well just keep all your passwords to your email, bank account, and all other private information on a post-note beside your keyboard.
Just received this email… hoping it’s not true.
Laurel,
I know you don’t want to admit it, but I think you have a problem. Please please please get help! Talk to your parents, they are your best support and I’m sure they will understand. Also, I’m always available to talk about anything, good or bad. Just get help, professional help.
With this link.
I love birthdays. I love singing happy birthday, making birthday cakes, wearing the silly hats, and the whole shebang. This past Friday was one of my student worker’s 23rd birthday, but due to the boys’ all-consuming desire to desktop game (and a previously scheduled all-you-can-eat spaghetti CaresTeam dinner I was hosting), we decided to wait until Saturday to kick-off Corypalooza. The night of geeky debauchery began with a handful of us checking out the movie 21 (which I don’t strongly recommend paying more than $3 to see.) After the movie we headed out to Cory’s dinner of choice, Thai food.
So I’ve finally decided to ditch my host and move everything to a much happier, prettier webhosting service. If you’ve been getting errors when trying to access this site in the last two weeks, I apologize and am working hard to keep that from happening again. I plan on spending much of this weekend working to provide you a more stable reading environment, so if you have any issues or can’t access the site this weekend… sit tight. I promise I’m working on it.
ETA: The site is up and happy on its new server. Thanks to the few of you who offered advice and suggestions. I’m tickled pink we won’t be having an outage here… on to blogging!
Cory hooked me up with this web gem last night. Apocalyptic Times, Greek Warriors, and Charles Barkley… life can’t get better than this.
Most of the time our student workers create documentation that is concise and informative. However, this is what we see when our student managers spend hours upon hours trying to fix a machine, and their final, last-ditch effort fails.
Of the 10,000 things I love about my job, there are a few things that irk me. Today’s edition of Seriously, Seriously?!?!?! is “why do people buy a Windows machine and then decorate it with Apple stickers (more than likely from their iPods)?” Embrace your OS, people! Live and compute with pride! /rant
1) I’ll be so glad when my HDI certification exam is over tomorrow and am even happier I no longer have to study for exams post-college.
2) E-quaintance is my new favorite word. I can’t tell you where I heard it because I made it up. (Yes, Lauren. I used to play WOW.)
3)
This will be delivered to my door tomorrow according to Fedex.com (track it with me if you’d like). I will be so relieved to have a phone conversation or send a text message without fear of my phone rebooting itself. I swear it’s like its running Mobile Windows ME. shudders
4) 106 blog comments in one day that were caught as spam has GOT to be some kind of record, right?
Work has been out of control lately. From 12-15 hour work days to ‘the stress of my modern day office’, I haven’t had a huge amount of time to relax, surf the web, or even sleep. But one thing is for sure… no matter how busy I’ve been I always check out my favorite blogger’s page each day. Today’s post had me giggling out loud at work. This woman is simply brilliant with a writing style that makes you want to be her best friend. Enjoy this little tidbit and if you love it as much as I did… bookmark her. She’s worth it.
Today’s Post: Daydreaming of Palm Trees
Almost two months ago, I took the challenge to blog everyday for the month of November. With a little organization and perseverance, I was able to do just that and have continued to blog everyday since. So when I was invited to join the “Blog-a-day for a Year” challenge, I figured, “Why not?” With four days left in 2007, I’m stretching my fingers and thinking about things I’d like to talk about in the upcoming year. But let’s get real, as much of a first-born planner and organizer as I am, when it comes to blogging you’re still gonna see the same things… random stories, musical musings, and tons of pics! I’m quite excited for this undertaking, and if you’re a blogger, too, consider joining me! Let the adventure begin…
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