Gorillaz and Mumford & Sons!

Hello everyone!

This is just a quick update while Anu goes to get his hair cut, waking him up at a reasonable time on the weekends is a heroic feat and I'm actually quite proud that I managed it today.

This has been a really fun couple of weeks for us because we've been able to go to two AMAZING concerts in addition to having had a really fun Halloween party and celebrating Anu's 24th birthday. I'll write about the party/birthday when I have more time, but for now I just wanted to go on and on about how completely kickass the concerts were.

OK, you ready? DUDE, THEY WERE SO KICKASS!!!!!

The Gorillaz concert was really high budget, so the lights/giant screen/80 bajillion musicians they bring with them made for such a fun show. It was at the Erwin center, but they were really only able to use half of the seating because they have that giant screen where they play the cartoon videos, and it really wouldn't be nice to expect people to sit behind it and miss the whole show.

Honestly, though, the way the people behind us were acting they might as well have sat behind the screen. It was a sullen teenage kid, his mom, and I guess maybe his stepdad and they were just ridiculous. Didn't stand up ONCE, sat completely still in their seats through the entire show, opener and all. Guys, the opener was N.E.R.D. and I have to confess that I may or may not have skank danced it up when they played Lapdance. Whatever. If Boring McTooCoolForFun and his family don't want to dance that's their problem and they're going to have to deal with trying to see through my back the whole night.

Performance wise Gorillaz were, of course, completely brilliant. SO much energy and SO many unbelievably talented musicians onstage. Granted, I've never had to cheer so long for an encore, but I guess it's hard to wrangle up 20 people and get them back onstage. Also, they didn't do the regular Clint Eastwood rap, which was disappointing because I know it by heart and was looking forward to screaming it out at the top of my lungs (much to the theoretical delight of captain sullen and crew behind us, I'm sure). Still, the show was so much fun and I wish I could see them every weekend. Pictures!

See Mr. Grumpy Pants behind us? Oh, teenagers.

And yeah, we were in the cheap seats. We still had a great view though. I would normally have ponied up for better seats, BUT the same day Gorillaz went on sale I had to speedy ninja purchase some other tickets as well.

So, because I am awesome and intuitive and totally know everything about music and bands and stuff (shut up, you...) I knew as soon as I heard that Mumford & Sons was coming to Austin that the tickets were going to sell out in a few hours. They were playing Stubbs, so the interest level was definitely going to exceed the holding capacity of the venue. Because I am such a genius wizard, I thusly deduced that I would need to camp the website and buy tickets the very minute they went on sale. I did just that, and lo, we were able to go see one of the best shows we've ever been to.

So, of course it was cold and horrible on the day of the concert. Of course. The concert was in the outdoor part of Stubb's, so why wouldn't it be 50 degrees and raining? Whatever. We got there about 45 minutes before doors and were able to get spots right near the stage, which was awesome. Dealing with the dudebros who decided to stand in the same area was not as awesome, but being super close is way fun.

The first opener was King Charles, who is just a cool guy. Amazing voice, outstanding lyrical prowess, very compelling stage presence, and also he has this giant mop of dreads he wears on his head like a crown. I'll show you the picture I took, but it's sort of blurry so I'll also show you a professional one so you can get the right idea.

The second opener was Cadillac Sky, and they were also awesome. Lots of bearded fellows with banjos and guitars and violins playing like there was no fucking tomorrow. SO much energy, their lead singer/guitarist was like a perpetual motion machine, the harder he jammed the more pumped up he got. Crazy fun. I won't lie though, toward the end of their set I was getting a bit tired of standing and I mostly just wanted Mumford & Sons to come on. And then they did! Hooray!

It would take me forever to do a writeup about everything that's right and good about Mumford & Sons as a band, so let me just tell you this. If you buy one album this year, you buy Sigh No More. It is the best breakout album I have ever head. Their lyrics are beautiful and their sound is just eerie and haunting and energizing and inspiring and...look, just go get the album. Everyone I know who has heard it can back me up on this.

Their show was everything I could have expected and more. I quite literally danced, sang, and cheered myself into dehydration sickness. I thought I was going to die. But it was SO. WORTH. IT.

Second best concert I've ever seen, and ONLY second because nobody can ever top David Gray, ever. Ever. Wanna see some pictures? HELL YEAH YOU DO!

That last picture is especially awesome because for their last song they brought on Cadillac Sky and King Charles and they all did a couple of songs together. So much fun, so much talent, so much awesome. I might just be ruined for other concerts now. We'll see.




Love and Kisses,
Daner

Lazy, tired...Hypnotoad!

Me night

Hey there cats and kittens, I'm back for another update.

Tonight is one of Anu's crazy late nights at work, so right now it's just me and the kittens and Seymore and Rosko. I made my favorite sodium bomb for dinner (Marie Callendar's Thanksgiving frozen plate) and I've been pretty much just blobbing around on the couch ever since. I started developing a monster headache in the last hour or so of work, and the grocery shopping, traffic, and sun in my eyes on the way home really didn't help. Luckily, dinner and some Advil always seem to be up to the task.

Monday was amaaaaazing because the kiddos had the day off and we were able to come in, get a crapload of work done, and then go home by 2. It's amazing how easy and stress free teaching is when there aren't any students in your way! ;-)

I've been tearing my way through the Harry Potter series again. I'm pretty sure I read it about twice a year now. I know that's pretty pathetic, but I promise I read plenty of new books as well. I just tend to be a little bored over the summers (even when I wasn't working in education) so it just feels right to read them then, and then I HAVE to re-read before the movies come out. I suppose in 2 years that won't be a problem anymore but WE AREN'T GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW, OK?!

Anu and I are going to see Gorillaz on Friday, and I'm really looking forward to that. I've always been curious as to what one of their concerts is like since it's a cartoon band. I'll let you know.

Y'all, it is the midpoint of the semester and I am BEAT. Teaching is great but it can be so draining. I love interacting with the kids and my coworkers, but sometimes I feel like I'm going to drown in all the paperwork and filing and other random administrative stuff that has to be taken care of. I wonder if it's like that in private schools as well since they aren't held accountable to the state in nearly as many ways. Hmm.

Alright y'all, I'm going to do some more reading and then get on with all of my evening to-do's.

Love and Kisses,
Daner

Being interesting is haaaaard....

OK, it won't be pretty (my brain turns off at 5:15) but here's a life update for y'all.

Umm...so I work a lot. 8-5 with about 35-40 minutes in there for lunch. We have two four-hour sessions and students attend one or the other. I go between 3 different classrooms and teach anything and everything. Our school doesn't follow the traditional direct teach format, so students can work on any of their subjects at any given time. As such, I answer questions about IPC, economics, pre-cal, home ec, astronomy, and whatever the hell else all back to back. By the end of the day my head doesn't work anymore. I like my job though, don't get me wrong.

Anu and I spent a lot of money on concerts. We went to ACL last weekend (yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!) and later this month we're going to go see Gorillaz and Mumford & Sons. That's some good times right there. I discovered Mumford & Sons a few months ago and I have been practically addicted to their album ever since. Love me some British folk music.

Don't tell David Gray I'm seeing them, OK?

Seymore and Rosko are getting to know each other little by little. The goal is to have them living in the same cage by Christmas. We'll see. Rosko seems to be the most interested in being friends, Seymore thinks he's a tiny pitbull who has to defend his house at all times or die trying. It's a work in progress.

I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series right now because I want to be primed up and ready to go for the epic-ness of Deathly Hallows part 1. I freaked out all crazy-like when I saw the newest trailer, it is going to be so effing amazing. I don't even know what to do with my life until it comes out. Anu and I considered going to Harry Potter land for our anniversary, but we decided to put that off until next year after the last movie (sob) comes out. Mostly because we don't want people to think we're only capable of vacationing in Orlando. Instead we're going to Hawaii! Yay! But the main point is that Harry Potter is my favorite. What? I'm sorry, I really wasn't kidding when I said I'm sort of dumb by the end of the day. I don't even really know what I just said.

We got a new loveseat? That's news, right? I'd take a picture of it and put it in this update, but then I'd have to stand up, find my camera, take a picture, upload it, and upload it again. Dumb.

OK guys, that's all I've got for now. I'll try to be better about this. Even though SOME of you don't ever blog EITHER and so I'm in the DARK  about your LIVES.

JASON, HAVE YOU SET A DATE YET? MAGGIE, HOW IS SCHOOL?

Jesus, people, work with me.

Love and Kisses,
Daner

You know

Bad blogger, etc, etc...

No real update today (too tired, always tired) but I wanted to share my two favorite internet videos. I can't stop watching either of them:






Enjoy!

Love and Kisses,
Daner
(seriously y'all, I am tired ALL THE TIME)

Vlog time

Jukebox Hero

Good morning blogoneers, I hope that wherever you are you have excellent central air and/or one of those mind-freak Dyson fans without the blades. It's hot, y'all, this is generally what I'm getting at.

Anyway, one of the 10 billion blogs I frequent had a fun post today about personal talents that are not incredibly impressive and generally do not have any significant value. The blogger's talent was ironing, and after thinking about it for a little bit I'm pretty sure mine are spotting animals like a bandit and having a ridiculous memory for song lyrics. Again, neither of those things will get me anywhere in life. Nobody wants to put me up on stage and watch me do those things. My life is not made easier because of them. Never the less, I am pretty awesome at them and now I'm going to regale you with tales of how cool I am.

I'm pretty sure my ability to spot any and all animals within my field of vision started when I was a kid and we went on class field trips to the zoo. Kids have a knack for turning pretty much anything into a competition, and it wasn't long in our lives before we started seeing the zoo as the ultimate I-Spy challenge. I mean, think about it; you go to the zoo as an adult and you stand there and appreciate the majesty of...I don't know, the Okapi, for 5-10 minutes and then you amble on to the Impalas. Hooray for safari hoofstock, majesty of Africa, blah blah blah. Kids, however, will travel in herds and stampede from one exhibit to the next, "LION. THERE. BY THE ROCK. DONE." followed by one of them sprinting off to the Rhinos while the slow kids desperately try to find  it, knowing full well that they can't move on until they do.

Guys, I was a rock star at that game. I can find a Clouded Leopard in 10 seconds flat even if he's curled up on the high perch and only the tip of his whiskers are showing. The Reptile house? Forget that business, I'm in and out in 5 minutes while everyone else is still trying to distinguish the Eyelash Viper from the foliage. I can spot Caterpillars crossing the street for Christ's sake! I've made Anu pull the car over at night because I saw a toad trying to hop up on the sidewalk from the street and I wanted to help him! It's crazy and someone somewhere owes me a medal.

My other amazingly useless talent is a mind like a steel trap when it comes to song lyrics. Can I sing? Absolutely not, but you're sweet for asking. Nope, I know every word to just about every song I've ever heard, and I know all of the inflections and pauses and peculiar breathing noises as well. I don't remember the riffs and solos so much, this is a constant source of frustration for Anu and I when we try to do humdingers during Cranium. He'll be singing the Free Bird solo and I'll be staring at him blankly, then once we lose he shows me the card and from there out it's all,

"WHY WOULD YOU SING IT THAT WAY? LISTEN: IF I LEEEEAVE HERE TOMOOOOOORROOOOOOWWWWW...."

"BECAUSE IT'S FREE BIRD! FREE BIRD! EVERYBODY WHO EVER LIVED KNOWS THE SOLO IN FREE BIRD! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

*punching fight*

Just kidding, no domestic violence. But it is insanely frustrating. I don't think he even remembers that songs HAVE lyrics. Seriously, if you ask him to sing a song the words he will use are "boop, dadadada, buuuum buuum buuuuuum, bernerner" and the like and all you will get out of it is how the guitar part goes.

The good news for me is that piano bars exist. I went to a dueling piano bar in Fort Worth with Flanagan on Friday night and it was so much fun that I almost died. I could sing every song at the top of my lungs and nobody could hear how out of tune I was. I knew every song! I was so proud! It was a good night for me, guys.

I'm going to end this entry the same way that the prompting blog did: what are your obscure and pointless talents? Are you the DDR Champion? Can nobody peel a cucumber quite like you? Do tell. We can start the most pointless act in the world together and call it Cirque de So-lame. It will be fun.

Love and Kisses,
Daner

I am absolutely awful

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

You all are so cool for still being followers. I want to give you a hug, but all I have right now are internet arms which I know are not nearly good enough. Still:

(>")>

See? It's a little Kirby guy and he's totally going in for a hug. Geared toward you, sexy reader. I hope that helped ease the pain.

To be completely honest, I don't even really have a set topic for this entry. Mostly I just felt bad because it's been almost 2 months since my last post and that's just not how you convince people that you're interesting and cool. "Haha, look how silent and non updated her blog is! I'm gonna recommend her to everybody!!! :D :D :D"

In my defense, though, during the week I am 100% bored and unmotivated to do anything but obsessively surf the internet, pausing here and there to play Viva Pinata on the xbox Anu got. The good news is that I can pretty much tell you everything about every celebrity scandal ever and I'm really good at Pinata farming. The bad news is that I have jack crap to write about when I finally do get guilty enough to feel like I really should make a post. I guess I could write about my Pinatas but there's only so much to be said about my frustration with Pretztails eating my Bunnycombs.

(For real though, they're not even that cute and the bunnies are adorable. I hate them so much. One time I spent a lot of money on a hat for my Bunny and then this ass face just flounced in and ate him while I was busy watering a tree. I know, I know, I could just keep two of them in my garden and be done with it, but they start fights like there's no tomorrow. And they're NOT THAT CUTE! Grrr...)

I'm going up to Lewisville next week for job training, so I suppose that's pretty exciting. I really wish it was time for the school year to start, I'm going to be the most ridiculously awesome high school TA ever. Those kids are going to learn so much science that they won't even know what to do with themselves. Also, my principal kind of hinted at the fact that I might be able to develop some outdoorsy programs for them. We're going kayaking, kiddos!

Anu and I have been working out (like Responsible Adults) regularly lately and we've decided that we're going to do Warrior Dash in November. I am so pumped. It looks like pretty much the most fun 5k in the world. If you're in Austin, you should totally do it with us because it's going to be insane. Like, crazy person in a mental institution insane.

(That wasn't a dig at those with mental illness, I've just been dying over these "Real Moment with Rachel Zoe" parody videos. Here, watch it:



So there you go.)

But yeah, back to Warrior Dash. Here's the website if you want to go:

http://warriordash.com/register2010_central_texas.php

I'm sorry this post is all over the place. I hope it's at least somewhat entertaining.

Also, Eric is going away to med school on a magical island and that makes us all very sad. We threw him a surprise party that was doctor themed, and I think it was a big hit. I won't post any saucy pictures for fear of med school/ bosses/ students finding them and deciding that we're all bad people, but here are some fairly innocent ones so you can get the gist of it:

(It says Dr. Hap Hapablap, Chief of Drinkytown. The name will make sense if you knew this kid in high school...or if you watch old school Simpsons episodes.Also, Anu said my handwriting looks like Comic Sans. You be the judge.)

See how we were all in scrubs? Commitment, guys, it's all about commitment.

Ummm...oh, I know. Another new development is that Flanagan got me straight up addicted to shopping for clothes and books on eBay. I can't stop. SUCH GOOD DEALS, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW! I was so dubious at first and now I'm desperately trying to stop myself from draining our bank account on 40,000 bargains. Thanks a lot, kid. Now I'm never going to be able to afford a pony! :(

OK, I've worn myself out. I'm going to go read Hyperbole and a Half for a couple of hours until I have to go to the gym and do more squats and other horrible things that promise to make my body parts more attractive. Ugh.

Love and Kisses,

Dana

Like a sore thumb

So, I borked my thumb. Typing is...difficult. Molly fell off the fridge on Thursday when I was cutting things up for dinner and between her latching on to my thumb for dear life as I tried to catch her and the knife I had been holding bopping me like a mo' fo' on its way down my poor thumb stood nary a chance. I made some pictures to explain better:

(PS: there's no need to tell me I'm not as talented as Ally Brosh. I've been reading her blog for a few months now and I am well aware that she is the queen of hilarity and MS Paint. I just..I like to draw. I used to do it on LJ, remember?!?!)

I was going to be a big tough toughie and just tough out the pain until it healed, but it started doing this thing where I would reach for something/ grab something/ scratch my head/ point/ exist and it would go completely numb for a second and then experience the pleasant sensation of bursting into electric flames. Cool. So Anu made me go to the doctor. I like my doctor, but she gave me 2 steroid shots IN MY THUMB right under the skin and was getting all wiggly with the needle and saying things like, "I'm trying to make sure I cover your WHOOOOOLE two tendons there!" and I was like, "wiggly needle in my skiiiiiin, trying to scrape apart my liiiiife" and it sucked. But it feels much better now because doctors are wonderful. I do have to wear this sexy brace for a month, though:

OK, this typing with no right thumb thing is wildly frustrating, so I think I'll stop here. I hope everyone is having a summer full of fun times and healthy thumbs. :-D

Love and Kisses,
Dana

I like ink

Breaking news for those who have either never met me or didn't pick up on my oh-so-subtle clues in other blog entries: I AM AN INK JUNKIE.

I love tattoos. I love having tattoos, I love getting tattoos, I love seeing other people's tattoos. When my friends get tattoos, I react in the way most people reserve for the birth of kids. "Oh my GOD can I SEE IT? I LOVE IT! When did you GET it? Do you love it? You are AWESOME! Let's have a PARTY!"

I don't really have the cojones or personality to be one of those amazing ladies who cover themselves with fabulous tatts, all of mine are easily concealable and I have no desire to get any that wouldn't fit that criteria. I love people who are brave enough to go all out, but I'm just not one of them. I also try to pick spots that are (relatively) resistant to dramatic change, my abs are awesome right now but time has a way of stretching/flubbering/sagging that particular area and I personally am turned off by that possibility. Back/ribs/legs/wrists are more my style.

That having been said, I think one of the most ridiculous things people can say about tattoos is, "they'll look so ridiculous when you're old." Newsflash: you are not going to be a supermodel when you're 70. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but when we're old we are going to LOOK old. It's not like the non-tattooed folk will be running around looking like spry 19 year old bikini models while the inked crowd will be wrinkled and gnarly and covered in horrible amorphous blobs. Ever seen old marines? Their anchor tatts still look righteous and hardcore, so those nay-sayers can go suck an egg. (The same egg? One egg per nay-sayer? I don't care.)

I think the permanency of tattoos is the biggest draw. It's something that you can decide to do to your body that will be there forever, it's a constant reminder of certain times and feelings in your life that can't (easily) be erased. I think there's something beautiful about that. People talk about regretting tattoos as your personality changes, but I just don't see the need for regret. Even if you look back at your tattoo 20 years later and think the design or sentiment is a little silly it still represents a part of you that was very real. We are all products of our collective experiences, and to me a tattoo is just a visual representation of that fact; no more ridiculous than the scars and laugh lines that follow us into old age.

I went to see my man Jon Reed at True Blue Tattoo here in Austin last night to get my last tattoo for a while. I'm about to go on some medication that makes your skin go funny for quite a long time, so Anu decided that for my birthday he'd get me one last hurrah. I now present to you what will possibly be the last tattoo of my 20's:

Why an elephant? Because Elephants never forget, and this little fellow on my leg is there to remind me that I love, that I am loved, and that even though people may leave your life (through death, distance, what have you) love marks us forever. I've lost a lot of people in the past few years, and waking up to this happy little guy every morning helps me focus on what their presence in my life did for me instead of the pain left by their passing. Is that corny? Yeah, probably. But I don't corn-up that often, so I think you'll be alright. ^_^


Love and Kisses,
Dana

I found a bug.

There must have been something in the air a few weeks ago that made lots of moths and butterflies feel very amorous, because recently I feel like I've been surrounded by big fat caterpillars. That's not a bad thing mind you, I really like...pretty much anything that's alive, to be honest. And caterpillars are definitely way up on the list of things that make me happy. The problem is that I've most often run into them while they're trying to cross the street, and even though they're fast little goobers they don't quite outstrip cars yet. I try very hard not to run them over when I see them scuttling across the road, but I can never tell if I've succeeded or not because it's not like squishing a caterpillar is going to make any noticeable chance in the smoothness of your ride.

Anyway, on three separate occasions I've seen them cavorting around on our outdoor breakfast nook, and this morning I was lucky enough to have my camera nearby so I could snap a few pictures of the fuzzy little dude for you. He's very cool, and from what my google-fu has uncovered for me he seems to be a Saltmarsh caterpillar. Here he is:

What a cool guy, right? I wanted him to eat a leaf in front of me because I like watching their little mouths move, but he was clearly in a very big hurry to do something and had no time for my shenanigans.



Anyway, after I followed him around for a little bit I decided to give him a hand and help him up on to a plant. I hope he appreciated it.

I also looked up his future online, and now I really do hope he and his friends stick around because if they do we should have some of these pretty fellows fluttering around in a month or so:

Hooray! OK, just thought I'd let you know about him. You care about caterpillars, right? Of course you do.

Love and Kisses,
Dana

Updates, bacon not included.

I'm going to skip the apologies that normally accompany a late post because...I'm sure you have them memorized by now.

It has been crazy busy around here! This past weekend was the first we were able to spend at home in Austin in quite a while and we still found ourselves hustling from place to place. Mind you, I'm not complaining. I much prefer busy weekends to the ones that feel like a waste of a perfectly good set of no-work days. You know the ones, you sit down on the couch for just a few minutes to watch the end of Lord of the Rings (playing on TBS for the 19th consecutive weekend) and when you look up again 7 hours have gone by and you've watched every romantic comedy produced in the late nineties. Yes, we all love You've Got Mail, but for real. Zero productivity and you can't even say that you had that much fun, plus now all your snacks are gone and you've gotten crumbs all up in your cushions.

The weekend before was split between San Antonio and Austin. My parents came up Friday evening because they had gotten us all tickets to the Revival Fest (a rockabilly multi-headliner concert) at the Nutty Brown Cafe. We had a lot of fun, the music was neat and the atmosphere was really laid back and relaxing. I was on ink watch, of course, and yet again was blown away by the tat quality here in the ATX. I swear, the itch for more ink will never go away as long as I'm living here. It didn't help that the current scene in rockabilly music is the 50's black/navy dress with white polka dots, red belts, red lipstick, and coiffed hair topped off with plenty of visible work...everywhere I looked I was bombarded with people who looked cooler than me. Le sigh. Pictures!

On Saturday Anu and I went out to celebrate his new promotion (PS: Anu got promoted. Hooray!!!) at Eddie V's and it was amazing as usual. I forgot to specify that we wanted a table by the band, but it was still a lot of fun and we had a really great server who gave us a free dessert in honor of Anu's accomplishment. Free Bananas on Fire? Awesome. Also, I wore a new dress that I'm sort of really obsessed with. Everybody look at it:

Sunday was mother's day so we made the trek down to SA town to take our mothers (and my grandmother) out to celebrate. We went to Paesano's which...I hate to say, but I was really disappointed with. The prices were insane for the quality, I've had better food at trattoria style joints and didn't have to pay nearly as much. Also, the waiter was an ass. I'm sure it had quite a bit to do with the fact that it was mother's day, but that doesn't excuse flat out rudeness. I've been tired too, my friend. That doesn't give you the right to roll your eyes at someone for not knowing that salads don't come with every entree, especially since the way the salad/no salad meals are divided up is pretty damn bizarre. Pics!

The week itself was full of subbing for me and work for Anu. I had my last club meeting with my Girlstart girls, that was a sad day. We signed each other's shirts and talked about the future, they told me they wanted me to be their teacher in high school and they all traded phone numbers with each other. They are amazing kids and I know they are going to lead wonderful lives. I will miss them so much, I already do.

This weekend was Austin weekend, hooray! It was nice to be able to do all the little things around town that we're so in love with. We went to Mt. Bonnell Saturday morning and stared at the wealthy folks' houses for a while. I saw a lizard. We were pretty much eaten alive by tiny gnats, but it was worth it. We ate lunch at Dirty Martin's (burger heaven omg) and then went home to get ready for a wine and cheese cocktail party one of Anu's coworkers was throwing. We had a lot of fun at the party, we brought a bottle of our favorite Da Vinci chianti and goat cheese rolled in sunflower seeds (try it, it's amazing) and both were liked by all. We met lots of interesting new people and even made friends with some people from Philly and LA. The time flew by like nobody's business, probably because of a little invention called "wine game" that I can elaborate on in the comments if you'd like. I only have pictures of the first part of the day, so here they go:

Anu came down with some cold symptoms on Sunday, so we didn't do anything too extreme. We did see a hotel on fire on our way to Java Noodle, so that was something. Nobody got hurt, no worries. Apparently some guy set his sheets on fire, left the building, then called the cops a few hours later to tell them what he'd done and then sat and waited for them to come arrest him. I don't even know, y'all, some people just don't make sense to me. But yeah, it didn't stop us from having delicious Indonesian food. Mmmm.

We also saw Iron Man 2 at some point...I can't really remember when. It was alright, definitely entertaining for a couple of hours but nothing special. I remember thinking the first one was super cool, though I don't exactly remember why. This one was kind of a let down, but it was worth seeing.

Alright, that's all I've got for now. I hope you all have had a lovely couple of weeks, and if YOU have a blog I want you to know that you're a lazy blob who needs to update more. Because dudes, my blog list has been so slow lately. Entertain me, y'all!

Love and Kisses,
Dana

My kingdom for a horse!

I'm glad that my Derby hat was such a success with you all, I will admit that I felt completely fabulous while sporting it this weekend. It helped that I also knew I was reducing my risk of face cancer.

Anu was able to sneak out of the office for the weekend so on Saturday he and I woke up at 5 AM to drive up to Weatherford and watch Maggie compete at the Greenwood horse trials. She has recently moved up to intermediate and this was her second event in that division. For non-horsey folk, you can think of it like video game levels. If you're competing in eventing, you will do dressage, cross country, and stadium jumping regardless of your level. As you move up in levels (based on the experience level of horse and rider) you have harder jumping courses, more demanding time requirements, and more exact and complicated dressage tests. The level sequence is as follows:

Beginner Novice
Novice
Training
Preliminary
Intermediate
Advanced

So, as you can see, competing at the intermediate level is a big. freaking. deal.

We weren't able to come up for dressage, but we did get to see parts of her cross country ride (most of it is off in the woods, so the average spectator can only really manage to run over and watch a few of the jumps) and her stadium jumping round on Sunday. She was such a rock star! It was so much fun to be back in that environment, and the cherry on the sundae was the fact that she and Dante brought home a first place ribbon! Hooray!

Those of you who are friends with me on facebook will have seen the pictures I took, but just in case...

I really do miss being a part of the horse world. I was never much in to competing (because I wasn't all that great, haha), but to this day I have never liked any activity more. It isn't even just riding, I miss BEING around horses. Lessons, cleaning tack, being around the barn, training new lesson horses, teaching beginners, all of it. The unfortunate fact of the matter, however, is that horses are just

REALLY

FREAKING

EXPENSIVE.

Even if you don't own one! Lessons are expensive, the gear you need is expensive, every single part of it is expensive. Someday I'll be able to be a part of it again, but right now it's just not in the cards. Now let's all look at some pictures of me with horses, haha.

(This is the broken arm I got from being bucked off of a pony that didn't like me)

*sigh* meeeemorieeeees.....

Love and Kisses,

Daner