And I hate raccoons!!

Substance soon, I promise. But in the meantime, this made me laugh aloud several times today.


more cat pictures

In concert

Inspired by Pioneer Woman (I have to thank Annika for linking me there once upon a time), who asks "What concerts have you been to?"

I have been to many concerts in my day (why, yes, I am old, thanks so much for asking!), so I think I will just stick with two that stand out in my memory. Okay, maybe three.

The first concert I ever attended was Loggins and Messina at the Greek Theater in Berkeley, California. I was 16 years old and I thought that when Kenny Loggins, sans shirt, came to the edge of the stage, I would die from the hotness. The bearded, hippy hotness (this was long before Footloose). The Greek is an outdoor arena, modelled (as one might guess) on the Greek amphitheatres of old. We sat on stone (concrete) seats and sweated as the sun poured down on us. I have been to many other concerts at the Greek, but this one was the first and thus, worthy of memory.

Another concert at the Greek was the Indigo Girls. I remember this one clearly because it was when Bill Clinton was running for president. Emily wore a Clinton/Gore bumper sticker on the thigh of her jeans and when she sang the lyric "Well the world seems spent and the president has no good idea who the masses are", we screamed our agreement. Let it be me, indeed. The world was full of hope, the sun was hot, the womyn of Berkeley were half nekkid and the men were enlightened and we all rocked our asses off.

The best concert I have ever been to was Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet performing The Juliet Letters at the San Francisco Symphony Concert Hall. If you haven't heard this album, I strongly recommend it. It is Elvis at his lyrical best and the influence of the Brodsky makes for a profound musical experience. In concert, Elvis and the Brodsky played the album in order, as a concert piece. It was brillant- Costello was in perfect voice and the power of the live performance resonated in a way a recording simply cannot.

The only mar in a perfect performance was the woman behind us. We came to call her "the dying swan" because she consistently honked out her pleasure with moans of "Elllllllllllllvisssssssssssssssss!" Her enthusiasm became even more heightened when The Juliet Letters ended, and Costello performed some of his other songs. Her pleas for certain songs soared over the audience in loud volumes. We shook our heads and sighed. But even with swan lady, it was the best concert ever.

So, tell me about a concert that you remember, for better or worse.

KaBOOM!!!

We are having a big ole thunderstorm tonight. The lightning has been so close a couple of times that the thunder sounded nearly simultaneously, but not quite. Is it true that if you hear the thunder at the same time you have been hit? Maybe not, but it makes for a thrilling and scary thought.

I would like to go upstairs and take a bath, but I am having second thoughts. One of the things I learned about lightning since moving to Canada (Not many thunderstorms in the Bay Area, which is why I am always really annoyed when television and movies show thunderstorms in San Francisco) is that you don't go swimming. I don't know if baths apply as well, but since I actually experienced getting an electrical shock once while resting my feet against the spigot, I am reluctant to submerge myself as long as the storm is overhead. And no, the electrical shock was not due to thunderstorm. It actually occurred in my old house in SF (the place without thunderstorms, remember?) and was due to a wire that was not grounded properly and came into contact with the bathroom pipes. Let me tell you, getting even a mild electric shock while reclining in a full tub of water is not a pleasant experience.

Anyway, the storm has nearly passed, so maybe I can go take that bath. The dog is barking like mad at the door. She used to be terrified of storms, but now she is nearly deaf. Instead, she seems to think that someone (maybe the pesky raccoon who keeps breaking into our composter) is trying to-- well, I am not exactly sure what she thinks. But whatever she thinks, she is going to make sure that in order to get to her mom and dad, that whatever is going to have to go through Lucy the dog! I feel safe.

And the storm has indeed passed.