A few random, short things:
- I am deeply saddened by Sydney Pollack's passing. I really, truly adored that man; he was exceptional.
- It's possible that I love Phil Collins more than is entirely normal.
- Work sucks the energy out of me, but it's so much fun and the people are really great (especially now that I'm socializing more).
- My paycheck on Thursday is going to ROCK. Hard core.
- California overturning the ban on gay marriage rocks even more hard core. Small steps.
- I still love Alanis Morissette. So very much.
- My BFF is engaged to be married. So very weird.
- Policies and Republicanism aside, I think John McCain is a really good guy (and he has some AMAZING people on his staff who are steering him in all the right directions).



Alright...I can't think of anything else and I'm sleepy, so I'm going to watch a little TV before hitting the hay. I have to wake up at 5:10 tomorrow morning, so I can get to work by 7:15am. I work until 8pm...that's a 12-hour shift. Ouch.

Oh man.

Yesterday was RIDICULOUSLY awesome.

Colleen and I left around 10:15am and after a couple detours to the bank and Dunkin' Donuts, we were on our way to Tampa at 10:40. Making ridiculously good time, we got to the city around noon (Google maps predicted a 1h43m drive...or not).

Navigating downtown Tampa was a little tricky because first I took a sort-of wrong turn, then there were streets blocked off for the festivities. We ended up following a long line of cars into a parking garage that had a special, all-day "event parking" for only $10. Most of the other places we had seen were $20...so sweet. And we were only a few blocks from Bayshore Blvd, where most of the Gasparilla festivities were happening.

Initially, we just walked along Bayshore and it was a bunch of vendors selling beads and trinkets, bad carnival-type food, and people sitting along the parade route. It seemed pretty dull but there was alcohol a-plenty and by 12:30 there were a ton of drunk people already. Following suit, we bought an overpriced, $5 bottle of Bacardi Silver (the only non-beer thing they were selling). Noticing we'd passed a Publix earlier, we decided to head that way and get a 6-pack of something not so crazily overpriced.

And oh man, was the Publix doing a booming business. People were taking cases of beer off out of the cooler as quickly as the stockers could put them up there. And for some reason, they were only selling beer. No wine coolers or Mike's Hard, or Bacardi Silvers...not even a hard cider. Additionally, their wine section was blocked off so you couldn't get to it. We're still not quite sure why that is, but we had noticed that they were selling those 4-packs of little wine bottles, so we each grabbed a pack and went off in search of a cup. Colleen had the brilliant idea of going to the deli section where they have fountain drinks, so we took two empty cups with lids and straws. Once outside the store, we cracked open the bottles and filled up our cups. I think we decided that the four mini bottles is equivalent to a regular bottle of wine, so we were chugging down bottles of wine out of to-go cups with straws. So classy.

After we started drinking, the festivities got more amusing and we found a good, not overly crowded place to watch the parade, which is really the whole point. It's epic and LONG. Well over two hours of floats with people dressed in pirate gear throwing beads. Oh, it's all about the beads. We were glad we didn't actually buy any because I got 52 strands and Colleen got 69...for free. It was awesome...but heavy on the neck after a while. We also chatted with some cool people around and it ended up being really cool.

After the parade, we had a couple hours until the concert, which was the perfect amount of time to stand in a ridiculous long line for Publix's bathrooms (because the port-o-potties everywhere were gross and had huge lines anyway). We then bought another drink from Publix (they were selling single bottles of beer, wine, and Mike's Hard at a booth by the door. Weird), and headed back to the car, where we dropped off most of the beads, and other souvenirs, and changed into clothes that weren't quite as smelly. The parking garage became an even better find when I noticed that you could see the St. Pete Times Forum from where we were...it was only 3 blocks away. Awesome.

So we headed that way, went in and went on search for hard liquor. Alas! No hard liquor was to be sold! We found a Bacardi bar, and they only had bad wines (a chardonnay and a shiraz. No thanks). We ended up finding a guy selling Arbor Mist White Zinfindel and decided it was our best option. Then we decided since we hadn't eaten since the donuts at 10:30 and it was now 8 hours later and we had drunken a bottle of wine each, not to mention the Bacardi Silver and Mike's Hard...that we should eat. So we got fries and a hot dog and took our seats.

The concert.

Oh dear god. I could have died last night and my life would have been ENTIRELY fulfilled. Alanis was amazing. She played for an hour and there were probably 3 songs that I didn't know (so I'm assuming they are new...because let's be honest, I know 98% of her music, though not so much off of Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie).

And Matchbox. Oh, my dear, dear Matchbox. They were lovely and wonderful and I knew every song (though I was sketchiest on the ones from More Than You Think You Are and only belted out the choruses). But I had really forgotten how much I love both Alanis and Matchbox as performers. I had a really great time and it was awesome.


I would write more about it. How I felt that if my soul had a voice, it would be Alanis, and other crazy garble like that, but my sister just called and I'm meeting her (and the other sister and brother-in-law) at Disney. Because I haven't had enough fun this weekend. Magic Kingdom, here I come!!!

I'm a little pissed.

I'm at my sister's house, which doesn't have high-speed internet, so I usually steal wireless from one of her neighbors.

I used that same wireless network last night, but this morning, when I went to get my Alanis/Matchbox tickets at 10am when they went on sale...I couldn't connect to that network. At one point, it prompted me for a password. My free internet could be gone forever!

Alas, I did find a network that I haven't seen here before, and it has a very weak signal, but it's what I am on now, and I was able (2 and a half hours late) to get tickets...not very good ones (nothing was available on the floor, or in the front of any sections). But two still cost me $150 with taxes and convenience charges, and I probably should have just gone down to the St. Pete Forum to get them this morning, but I didn't anticipate such a rush. I mean...I can appreciate that neither Alanis nor Matchbox has had a huge popularity in the last 6 years (though I clearly still love them).

Oh well. I have tickets, and that's the important thing.


In other news, I'm dog sitting today. So far, it's been pretty good. Lucky sleeps a lot, so it's usually pretty quiet. But he and the cats still have huge issues (as expected), and I'm mostly useless when it comes to all that. I don't really know how to deal with dogs...I've never had one and the longest I've ever spent alone with a dog is probably 3 hours. So today...Lucky and I have 8 quality hours.

Also, I love getting time alone with the digital cable. I'm currently watching a show called "Art and the City" on Ovation (a channel devoted to art and film...hi, where have you been all my life?). The show is really awesome, and especially the episode I'm currently watching, which takes place in Chicago. The next is "Paris," so I am quite at my leisure.

I can't wait to back to Chicago for Winter Break...too bad flights are getting more and more expensive by the day. I might have to take my first non-nonstop flight. That's right...I've NEVER had a layover. They scare me. I don't want to miss a flight and I hate the idea that if one flight is running late, I might miss my connection. But alas. If it saves me $200, who am I to argue?

Oh my god!!!!


[!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]


[!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]


Alanis Morissette. Touring with Matchbox Twenty.

January 26th in Tampa.


Dear god...this is better than when she toured with Barenaked Ladies (which was an awesome show..btw).


Tickets go on sale tomorrow. I must go. MUST.