dance . . .

so i've been watching america's best dance crew on mtv lately. i know, i know . . . it's reality tv but i have been a huge fan of so you think you can dance since the beginning so it's not a stretch. i am just blown away by the talent out there. anywho, i was reminded last night about a guy who auditioned for last season's so you think you can dance that didn't make it but they brought him back for the finale anyway because he was amazing. at this point, i'm bummed because i *know* the next season of so you think you can dance will start while i'm gone. hope mac can figure out how to tivo it for me!

here's the video . . . enjoy. this performance made me fall in love with this song and i think of it every time i hear it!


be sure to tune in tonight to catch the finale of america's best dance crew ... you'll be amazed!

so i was cruising youtube today . . .

and look what i found . . .




and then i found this . . .



both stunningly amazing

so today i'm thankful for . . . technology that allows me to see such amazingness

cabaret . . .

so i have a closet love of musicals. i think living in nyc sparked a love of theater for me but i do admit to a life-long love of "grease". after all, i have been called "rizzo" by some friends for a very long time.

i've always been a bit *hesitant* to see the local productions of some shows but when cabaret was being put on by our local theater company staring storm large i just had to see it for myself. i bought tickets as soon as they went on sale and waited ... saturday was finally the day for the show. mac got the day off and joined me. we had great seats (although we arrived a bit late and had to sit in the *sin bin* aka the back wall until intermission). i have been a fan of storm large's for a couple of years and think she's an amazing musician and H - O - T! got to see the last show that she played with her band, the balls, back in august at the wonder ballroom. so when i heard she was going to play the lead part of sally bowles in cabaret i ran right out and bought the tickets. the added bonus was that another great local actor was cast as the emcee. wade mccollum is just an amazingly talented individual. i had the pleasure of seeing him in a one-man show last year called "i am my own wife" and he just blew me away.

cabaret is an already baudy show ... somehow this production just took it over the top. was so much fun and i just walked out giddy. there were times that i forgot it was storm as sally and that just proves how amazing of a job she did.

so today i'm thankful for . . . great theater and someone to share it with.

recovering . . .

so it's been quiet on the wires for the last 9 days because it's been absolutely crazy busy. my family arrived on fri, 9.14 in a whirlwind. they arrived 2 hours earlier than i expected them so, needless to say, i wasn't done cleaning & getting the house ready. i ended up meeting them at the hotel and then going to lunch. we ended up at chez jose for dinner and then i headed to the goodfoot for star's going away gathering. good music, good friends, good dancing. i got home around 1a after getting all that nervous energy out from being with the family. was definitely a good time.

saturday morning started with a trip to the farmer's market to shop for goodies for that afternoon's bbq at my house so the *fam* could meet the *friends*. the fam was amazed at the produce & flowers available at the market but were a bit stunned by the prices. that way of shopping is just so foreign to them. we got back to the house and my stepdad and grandpa wanted to watch the gator game so we turned that on for them and my mom, grandma, and i headed out the alberta street fair for a bit. my friend, jg, was going to be in the parade with the samba bateria he plays with. they're called the lions of batucada and they're so much fun! we popped into the mash tun to say hi to kim & then headed back to the house. the bbq was a huge success. had a great turnout. thanks to star, jenmc (and her lovely lady), lara & todd, sweets, z & dk, jg & osha, ryan, and angell for coming over to show the family some love.

after the folks went home, star and i headed to the florida room for anunce's 40th blowout. was lovely to help her celebrate the big occasion. i got home around 230a after helping mfp clean up and run some folks back to the house. had a lovely breakfast with star on sunday am before i met up with the folks do go down to the willamette valley for some wine tasting. had a nice afternoon which included stops at sokol blosser, argyle, ponzi and torii mor. stopped for lunch at the dundee bistro and drank so more. we headed back to the house and cooked dinner and just hung out.

on monday, we made the trek out to the gorge to see multnomah falls and vista house. made a stop through edgefield on the way back for more wine tasting and a snack. since tuesday was my mom & stepdad's birthday (yes, they share a bday), i made reservations at higgins for a nice dinner. was a great meal!

tuesday was a slow day with visits to my office so the folks could see it and then went over to the rogue public house for some beer tasting. grandma was coming down with a cold and wasn't feeling well so we just headed back to the house. anunce and mfp came by to meet the folks. was a really nice visit with them. was nice to hang out and just spend time together. remarkably, there was no tension! i think that's a first.

wednesday was back to work for a full day of meetings & catching up. i had plans last night to meet up with mac, a very cool woman i met a few weeks ago at pop tart. she's an amazing dancer and a hoot to hang out with. we can just talk for hours! it's so nice. we had dinner at crush and then headed to holocene to see some djs. switch, diplo and dj beyonda were spinning. the music was awesome. despite being a school night, we danced till 2a.

today i'm thankful for . . . being able to function on 3 hrs of sleep.

more soon . . .

weekend report . . .

had a crazy weekend but it was good. after my quiet friday night on the couch, saturday was a whirlwind. had a hair appt then met up with c for a wine tasting then headed over to the muddy boot festival to hang out with h and ran into some former co-workers and another lacrosse coach. got a call from sarah that she & her girl were going out and i should meet up with them so i did. we had a chill night downtown and ended up hitting a few different places before heading home around 130p.

sunday was planned to be a day of cleaning and getting the house ready for the family. as i sat in my backyard performing my usual sunday morning routine (breakfast & coffee outside while calling the fam), i got a call from star. she was calling to see if i wanted to hang out and go for a walk or something. it sounded like a great idea since i was completely unmotivated for my chores and i hadn't seen her in over a week. i got dressed and was off to pick her up. we ran a few errands and ended up down on hawthorne doing a bit of window shopping. was a nice couple of hours to just hang out and spend some 1:1 time. not sure how many more chances for that we'll have before she goes. (departure date is 2 weeks from today)

after hanging out with star, i stopped by anunce & mfp's place to pick some tomatoes from their garden and ended up at the florida room for a late lunch/brunch (ok, it was 3p but pancakes and a bloody mary still sounded good). got home around 4p and started cleaning up the yard and vacuumed the whole house. headed out to pop tart around 730 to meet up with star and her friends as well as my friend, geah, who was making her first appearance. had fun hanging out with folks and then the music kicked up and i couldn't keep still! ended up dancing with a very cool woman most of the night. was great to hear some mash up by some great dj's.

today i'm thankful for . . . unexpected fun and great music

long weekends . . .

today i'm thankful for . . . good friends

i know i've been thankful for them before but i could say that every day and absolutely mean it. this weekend has been full of good friends and i'm so grateful for my *crew* - all the different facets of it.

the weekend started with an amazing show by rodrigo y gabriela at the oregon zoo. if you don't know who these guys are ... go look 'em up. better yet, get to a show! just do it! trust me, you'll never be the same again. if someone told you that two mexican kids that used to play heavy metal then moved to ireland and all they play are acoustic guitars, you look at them and laugh. i understand. it's exactly what i did the first time someone told me about them. then i saw them and it was all over. amazing! it's the only word i have for it. what a way to start the holiday weekend.

saturday was spent with the masses at lowe's (returning unused concrete), home depot (buying the mini-fridge for the kitchen project), and the rebuilding center (looking for a used cabinet i could modify so i didn't have build from scratch - more on that later). i was successful in all places albeit unexpectedly at the rebuilding center. i didn't find a cabinet to modify but i did find a used sink and faucet for $10 - score! got home with the loot and then met up with abs to work on the evite for anunce's 40th bday party. ended up at the eroom with star and jenmc. it was the fob after-party and the place was *packed*! music was great and i danced for hours. was a great time. my friend kim even came for a bit despite her aversion to lesbians - never mind that she *is* one! ;-)

got up this morning at 10a despite going to bed at 4a - no good reason really. just got home and couldn't sleep so i started to watch a movie i'd tivo'ed. got moving around 11a when my boss came over to borrow some boxes for her move. sucks to have to interact with the boss after a night out and little sleep. met up with a friend for coffee at fuel cafe and then headed back to lowe's with c to buy the lumber for the outdoor kitchen. i wasn't able to find a cabinet to modify so i'm going to have to *build* one from scratch. oh, well. i tried. at least i found a used sink & faucet!

there were several bbq's being hosted this evening due to the long weekend. i made it to one - never quite made it to the other one. it was way across town so it was just too far to drive after a cocktail or two. was fun to hang out in the backyard on a beautiful summer night. the stars were out. it was quiet. home by 10 and am now hanging with the dogs on the couch. yes, multiple dogs. i'm dog-sitting this weekend for z and dk's dogs. they went camping to the coast for the weekend and always take suki when i travel so i have their 3 for the long weekend. crazy to have 4 dogs in the house. they're great and it's nice to be *surrounded* by snuggling dogs.

tomorrow i hope to actually build the cabinet. i now have all the materials and tools i need so i really have no excuse *not* to do the work. just got a call from jg - he's gonna come help me in the morning cut the lumber and then i can just build in the afternoon. shouldn't be too hard. it's going to be a simple cabinet - no drawers and just one door in the middle. i'm excited to finally have this thing done. will need to go back to the old house tomorrow and pick up the black granite i haven't picked up yet so i can use that on the countertop of the outdoor kitchen. i think it's going to be the best bet given the cost ne. so w (as in, i've already spent almost $500 on this thing. i've really don't want to spend a fortune more on a countertop. so whatever i choose has to be *cheap*.).

also tomorrow luscious, the former owner of this house and good friend of mine, is coming over to help me work out the plumbing and my friend sarah will be coming by to help me work out the electrical. i've decided to make this a full fancy outdoor kitchen. i even got a recommendation for a place just 3 blocks up the road that will make my awning that will cover the kitchen when it's done. i'm getting very excited to have this done. i know that time is limited for how much longer i'll be able to use it this year. but i know i'll be so grateful for it next summer when i'm remodeling the kitchen. after living through lea & finn's kitchen remodel, i understand how important it is to live without a real sink and fridge.

i couldn't have made it through weekend (and i still haven't) without my friends. nor would i have wanted to. i am so fortunate to have good friends. from the ones that i can hang with at the zoo for a great outdoor concert to the ones that will go to lowe's on a holiday weekend to help me haul lumber to the ones that host bbqs and just want to hang out to the ones that want to dance the night away. i'm so so blessed.

the whirlwind is over . . .

the last few weeks have been a total whirlwind. the trip to nashville and cincinnati was fun but i wasn't in any one place for more than 2 days so it felt a bit more crazed than a 7 day trip should have felt. am so glad i worked on the plane on the way home. made my 1st day back at the office much easier than it could have been. i had a few hours to myself after work to clean up the house and have dinner before i picked star up after her class. she had a little time to grab a cocktail and catch up. was a really nice time. i love talking to that girl. could listen to her for hours.

thursday the whirlwind became a hurricane! i left work at 1230p and picked up robyna at the airport. after a quick stop at the store for lunch & munchies we headed to the house. we had lunch in the yard and i logged back into work for a few more hours. after i was done working, we took a walk through my 'hood and headed down to the mash tun for a few beers. hung out for a bit chatting with 2 of my favorite bartenders and listening to leonard cohen on the jukebox. robyna's a big fan. i still can't hear an lc song and not think of her. headed back to the house and watched a movie. stayed up way too late but had some good catching up to do!

friday i had a day full of meetings at the office while robyna slept in and took the pudge for a walk to the park. i got done with work around 3p and we headed to the store to get ready for the bbq we had planned that night. was a lovely evening to be outside and we took full advantage of it. was great to have my local friends meet my old friends. had a ball, killed the keg, and finally doused the fire at 2a. even the dog had given up & gone to bed by then! ;-)

saturday was full of shopping - literally. a couple of my friends wanted to take me shopping because i've been saying i needed a new *look*. i generally hate to shop for myself but if a cute girl (make that 3 cute girls) want to pick clothes out for me to try on, i'm down for shopping anytime! got some great finds including an awesome black motorcycle jacket! robyna got some hot sandals. we headed over to the party at star's around 630p. had a good time - again another opportunity to enjoy a portland summer evening. we headed outta there around 845p to go get ready for the big girl4girl dance party going on that night. party was a little lame so we ended up at the e-room. hadn't been there in years but had a great time listening to some karaoke (some really good, some painfully bad). was chatting with jenmc and kc and robyna just had a great time. was getting checked out constantly and her drawl was definitely drawing attention! we closed the place down and robyna & i headed home. had another drink when we got here and finally crawled into bed around 3a.

took her to the airport this am. she had an 1115a flight back to atl. was so fantastic to see her and talk to her and drink with her - some of my favorite things with one of my favorite people. am finding it hard to get motivated to accomplish the 3 major things on my to do list for the day. am hoping to see star tonight or some night this week for dinner and some good company ... we'll see if the stars align for that to happen. (no pun intended)

i think i need a nap .... till later.