Mr Germ has a New Year's resolution/threat for you:



Thanks Mr Germ, you're so adorable!!!!

That's Just What You Are

In our endeavor we are never seeing eye to eye
No guts to sever so forever may we wave good-bye
And you're always telling me that it's my turn to move
When I wonder what could make the needle jump the groove

I won't fall for the oldest trick in the book
So don't sit there and think you're off of the hook
By saying there is no use changing
'Cause that's just what you are
That's just what you are

Acting steady always ready to defend your fears
What's the matter with the truth did I offend your ears
By suggesting that a change might be a thing to try
Like it would kill you just to try and be a nicer guy

It's not like you would lose some critical piece
If somehow you moved point A to point B
Maintaining there is no point changing
'Cause that's just what you are
That's just what you are

Now I could talk to you 'til I'm blue in the face
But we still would arrive at the very same place
With you running around and me out of the race

So maybe you're right nobody can take
Something older than time and hope you could make
It better that would be a mistake

So take it just so far
'Cause that's just what you are
That's just what you are
That's just what you are

You're like a sleepwalking man
It's a danger to wake you
Even when it is apparent
Where your actions will take you
And that's just what you are
And that's just what you are...

Coaching soccer is awesome, try it!

If you don't want to try it, just read about it:

GVMS Soccer Blog

If you don't want to read about it, poo on you.

Ho Ho



















(The third Ho took the picture.)

Best text in a while...

Music is my sa-rah.
Music is my hank dog.
Music is my good times.
Music is my hot hot friend!

sung to the shiz beat dropped 'in' below...



THX Su-zie !

Coaching

I just finished the painstaking task of selecting my competitive soccer team. I am happy with the decisions. Some girls couldn't care less whether they made the team or not and I thank them for making the task easier. Some of the girls will cry when they see the list. Some girls have informed me that if they don't make the team, they will be "a total bitch to me" to which I replied "Bring it girlies!" to which they replied "Oh, it's already been brought'n!"

It was kinda like picking a fantasy football team except it is actual middle school girls and it's soccer.

Wish us luck!

ASHLEY BEVINS, Sweeper
GRACE BLACK, Forward
GRACE BLAIR, Forward
EMILY BOLLINGER, Defense
ELIZABETH BOLLINGER, Defense
COBBY BRZENSKI, Midfield
KELLY CARNEY, Forward
MICHAELA CHERNEY, Keeper
SARAH DESHIELDS, Midfield
BROOKE FAULKNER, Midfield
BROOKE HEBEL, Midfield
TORI HENDRY, Fwd/Mid
CLAIRE HOBACK, Fwd/Mid
ELIZABETH JACKSON, Fwd/Mid
EMMA KLIMAS, Forward
MAYA MATHIS, Keeper
MADISON MCNALLY, Forward
LESLIE MOSQUERA, Forward
JENNY MYERS, Defense
CAROLINE OGLANDER, Fwd/Mid
KELLY OLSON, Forward
BRIANNA WILSON, Sweeper

VALENTINA CHEREDNICHENKO, Manager
ELIZABETH TROUTMAN, Manager

:)

Work this out!

We all thought that after a workout nothing hydrates you better than water, sports drinks or a sloppy make out sesh...WRONG! This is where it's at!

Although, I happen to know some of you skip the workout all together (TOS and Mike K). Heh.

Saving Lives, no big deal

Johns Hopkins University has sent out warnings in its newsletter suggesting that dioxins found in everyday plastics can cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are released from the plastics when the plastic is subjected to extreme heat or cold so, JHU advises:

1. No plastic containers in microwave.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

We should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. High heat in combination with fat releases dioxins from the plastic into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, use glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. So such things as frozen dinners, instant ramen noodles and soups should be removed from the container they came in and heated in something else.

Some of the fast food restaurants have moved away from the foam and plastic containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons. Also, plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is irradiated, the high heat causes toxins to melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

From JC, BTW.

SPIN December 2007

This month's SPIN is the best I have ever read! If you don't subscribe or have zero interest in actually reading it...here is the Cliff's Notes version.

Win Butler (of Arcade Fire) and Springsteen (no first name necessary) are simultaneously interviewed regarding both career and personal lives. They discuss influences, current music interests (The Boss listens to Rhianna!), their latest albums, popularity struggles and as the mag states 'the early days, the glory days, and the end of days.' Such good reading.

Major takeaway for me is Win's choice of gift to Bruce, a trio of three books:
Why I Write by George Orwell
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
All of which I hope to pick up by week's end.

Also in the issue:
Beth Ditto interview
Maynard James Keenan interview (!)
Radiohead album/new business model review
Awesome Holiday gift guide (hint hint)
Shia LaBeouf's musical taste/latest project (more interesting than you might think)
15 Songs You Need to Download NOW!!!!
Concert pictorial featuring
The Go! Team
The Hives
Crystal Castles

So, hope this inspires you to buy/subscribe. If not, borrow my copy because this is a must read. Peace.

FYI:

There is no such thing as 'the bigger half.'

This concludes our lesson on fractions for today.
Class dismissed :)

I heart Trent Reznor

Dear Mr. Reznor,

I heart you for a lot of reasons. Your musical ability and level of creativity is limitless and off the heazy. Your collaborations (thus far) cross genre lines and have defined albums and artists. Your opinions and world views should make any politician or activist envious. But most recently, Trent, I heart you for this quote:

"I do actually believe in love. I can't say that I am 100
percent successful in that department, but I think it's one
of the few worthwhile human experiences. It's cooler than
anything I can think of right now."

Awesome, simply awesome. Thank you.

Love,
Sarah

This Girl's New Music Favourites (as promised)

Feist
Arcade Fire
The Decemberists
Cansei De Ser Sexy
Motocade
Battles
MUSE
The Fratellis
Viva Voce
YOAV
Regina Spektor
K-OS

This Girl's Highly Recommended Not-So-New Music

The Shins (raise your hand if you knew I was gonna type that)
Flogging Molly
Tori Amos
Talking Heads
The Stone Roses
Peter Gabriel
The White Stripes
The Pixies
Kings of Leon
Spoon
Flight of the Conchords

BTW, I am 'This Girl'
Please leave your music suggestions as comments.
Three people besides myself will see them, but I'm not telling you who.

Red Rock Canyon, Nevada

13 mile scenic drive and some moderate hiking.
No wild donkeys that day :(
However, in the pictures below, you can see a jack-ass :)





Thank you, Em, for being my sherpa!

Happy 25-hours-long-19th Birthday Lizard :)

"Girl Sailor"

The gutter may profess its love,
Then follow it with hesitation,
But there are just so many of
You out there for rent

A stronger girl would shake this off in flight,
And never give it more than a frowning hour,
But you have let your heart decide,
Loss has conquered you,

You've won one too many fights,
Wearing many hats every time,
But you wont win here tonight,

You've made it through the direst of straits alright,
Can you help it if plain love now seems less interesting?
You haven't changed an ounce in my eyes,
And I cannot lecture you,

And does anything I say seem relevant at all?
You've been at the helm since you were just five,
While I cannot claim to be more than a passenger,

But, you've won one too many fights,
Wearing all of your clothes at the same time,
Let the good times end tonight,
Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her,
This time,

Just a moment or two from now,
Not a mind will retain even a trace,
Of the thoughts that I struggled to tell
And how our stack of cards just fell,

So settle this once and for all,
The light no longer shows the cracks around my door,
And I have no lantern to light your way home tonight,

You are not some saint who's above,
Giving someone a stroll through the flowers,
You've got so much more to dream of,
Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her,
This time,
This time,
This time.

House Sitting Wilderness Safari

That's right...I'm house sitting and dog sitting again. I don't really understand the concept of house sitting. Houses don't need to be sat, they can take care of themselves. However, it is probably a good thing that I am here. If I wasn't, how would anyone know if the flat screen was working properly. Or the jacuzzi. Or the washer and dryer (I am 5 loads and counting in the last 24 hrs). Or the elliptical machine. Or the bar. Or the pool and patio loungers. Yeah, it is a good thing I am here giving all of these things routine use and maintenance. This kind of job does not come without its share of danger and risk though, hence the title of the post...

First of all, spiders. They are everywhere (outside). All of them harmless, of course, as there are only five occurring poisonous spiders in FL: the southern black widow, northern black widow, red widow, brown widow and brown recluse. Nonetheless, I have been documenting the nocturnal activity of a ginormous and very colorful spider who routinely spins a web at dusk each night in between a tree and a lamppost on the edge of the property. This thing is big. And scary looking. The web could easily catch and contain a bat or a small bird (exaggeration). So far I have only see it get a giant moth and the other tiny bugs that flutter around lights at night. also around the house are spiny backed orb weavers, jumping spiders, long jawed orb spiders and wolf spiders. The pool cage is like a rainforest's canopy of spider webs. Blurg!

Second, a box turtle. Hank first discovered the turtle specimen. He was outside with me while I washed my car and he started barking, a lot. Hank doesn't usually bark any type of alarming, fast paced, high pitched excited bark, but he was. He was barking with his head down at something on the ground. I got scared thinking it was a snake about to strike (foreshadowing a later story - you like that?). I came around the bush to get a better look and it was a tiny box turtle scared and boxed in his shell. He was about the size of a gourmet half pound hamburger with a big sesame seed bun. I picked it up and brought it into the grass and waited for it to poke its head out. It did. You know what that means...a turtle head was poking out! That's so juvenile and hilarious. I have since seen the turtle twice more. Once in almost the exact same spot I originally saw him and once about 4 houses down in the mulch of some landscaping.

Third, an iguana, in a small palm tree right in front of the house. It was early evening. I was standing under/next to the tree and all of the sudden there was some loud rustling above my head. A two foot iguana was falling from the tree and hitting the frawns on its way down. It caught itself on the last possible frawn, right next to my head, before what would have been its five foot fall to the ground!! I screamed loud as it scurried back into the thicker foliage of the tree and ran away. I also ran away.

Fourth, a giant albino frog (the albino part was possibly because it was dead). It was on the golf course on the edge of the lake. It was pretty big, the size of my hand, but not moving. I got closer expecting it to move but it didn't. I got really close expecting it to move but it didn't. I poked it lightly with a stick expecting it to move but it didn't. I got another stick and picked it up and put it in the shallow water of the lake expecting it to move but it didn't. If it was dead, it had just died because it wasn't rigor mortis or petrified. If it wasn't dead, it is a very good actor and/or was an opossum in its former life.

Fifth, a poisonous venomous aggressive tiny snake that I tried to rescue that was stuck in the pool overflow reserve that I got scared of when it tried to attack me that I left there overnight hoping it would just drown that we eventually had to get the pool man to capture in a bucket and release outside and FAR AWAY. That little guy could not have been more that seven inches long but thought it was an anaconda or something. I didn't know snakes could suffer from Napoleon Complex (aka survival instincts I know).

Sixth, and most terrifying (cue cheesy Hitchcock suspense horror flick music),
TWO PUGS!!!!!!

Goodbye October and Oktoberfest...see you next year!!!


(Thanks to Mike and his wicked good photoshop capabilities without which these pictures could not have been possible)

My long anticipated, long delayed blog re: THE SHINS!!!
(and the Pacific Northwest and Vegas, part one)

Back in February, to celebrate a new job and before I actually started it, I decided to take a last minute trip, by myself, to see my favourite band, The Shins, two nights in a row in two different cities I have never been to. I know, I'm awesome.

I arrived in Seattle/Tacoma, WA airport at 1:23 pm on February 19. I took a cab to my hotel, Mediterranean Inn on Queen Anne in Queen Anne.

It was nice. They let me check in early which was even nicer. I immediately ditched my stuff and headed out to explore Seattle. I started out going north on Queen Anne and west on Mercer towards some water. I saw some cargo ships and rainy weather, nothing special. Then I went up 1st to Olympic where I saw this:


Isn't it so cute?! I want one just like it someday, except a hybrid.

I made it back to Mercer and headed east toward Seattle Center, where the Space Needle is and a monorail to Westlake, which I took after I called everyone I knew after I totally freaked the eff out after I saw this:

You know what this means right? It means I saw The Shins perform in Easy Street, up close and personal and almost got to meet them. I was going to ask them for a ride to Portland the next day to save on train fair but they had to dig out before anyone could talk to them. But everyone who showed up for the free show got a bitchin' poster with all of their signatures, which I promptly had custom framed with my first paycheck :) But I am getting ahead of myself...

After I was done wigging out, I continued to Seattle Center, saw the Space Needle, some really cool structure art and carnival games and rides. I fought the urge to ride all the rides and got on the monorail instead. I saw Westlake, bummed around and went back to Queen Anne and had dinner at Phukit, a Thai restaurant highly recommended by some dear Seattlite friends, Craig and Suzie. Thanks guys, it was delicious. Bedtime, day one over.


Day two: February 20. I had breakfast at Five Point, where almost everyone was still drunk from the night before, including the staff. The jukebox rocked!!

Then it was a walk to Olympic Sculpture Park where I finally trusted someone enough to give them my camera and have them take my picture with something cool.


I then took the waterfront streetcar to Seattle's most famous tourist attraction, Pike Place Market where they throw fish at Pike Place Fish Company and make the best crepes of all time at Crepe de France.



I signed the guestbook :)

After the market, I hauled ass back to Easy Street Records, watched the free show and then ducked into TS McHughe's for an afternoon drink. The beer selection was killer and I had a Black Velvet, a Snakebite and a glass of made in house Ginger Ale. It was pretty much the best Ginger Ale in the world. Maybe the universe. There were some cool dudes who were bragging about winning a trivia contest the night before. I asked them what some of the trivia questions were, they then posed them as questions to me which I answered no problem. They bought one of my drinks and invited me onto their team. I declined.

The taps and bottles.

The decor (my kind of place!!!)

I went back to my hotel to sleep it off before The Shins show at Paramount Theatre that night. Paramount is beautiful, so beautiful. Google it. The opening band was a husband and wife act called Viva Voce. He played drums, keyboard and harmonica and she shredded multiple guitars. They both sing too. Talented. During the kick arse concert, I met a brother and sister duo from Seattle, MaryEllen and Matt. We all became fast friends and they invited me for pizza after the show. We went to Capitol Hill for said pizza and then to Broadway Grill where I had an amazing ice cream brownie sundae.

They then gave me a ride back to my hotel...hospitable what?!!! Thanks guys :) Other than another night's sleep and a cab ride to the train station the next morning, that does it for my Seattle adventure. On to Portland...

Tell me that you love me more...

Sarah's Spectrum of Stress (Relief)<

Well, two things. First, does anyone have a magical fall asleep fast idea for me? I already exercise regularly, I am sleeping between 8-9 hours a night so I am not getting too much sleep, I avoid caffeine in general but especially after 6pm, I am not under any kind of abnormal stress (just regular everyday stresses), OH WAIT!!! I HAVE been stressed lately due to the contents of a book I have been reading the last week or so...Never mind, problem solved. I will simply refrain from reading the book before bed. Also, in addition I have to sufficiently decompress my brain waves and emotions with happy thoughts about pink sparkly drum kits. Thanks for your input, btw, sigh of relief from this girl.

Second, and now related I suppose, I have been applying myself to learning new songs on drums. My new instrument of choice, drums feel more natural to me than any other instrument I have tried (with the exception of exceptional vocals). Maybe I am simple minded musically, maybe I lack finger dexterity, maybe it's cuz I'm flaky (typical drummer trait I have been told) but I LOVE PLAYING DRUMS.

I wish I'd have had the enthusiasm/applied my ability in the Leamy Hall basement 8 years ago :)

Okay, it's truthiness time. Format: list.

1) Not blogging for the last year was a mistake. Now I have so much catching up to do and plan on doing it for the next 5 days.
2) One may not agree or disagree with said catching up posts but "You know what it is? It is what it is." Ugh.
3) I have not been the only lazy blogger (Hank, Matt Dana), so there.
4) I have been a bad friend to some and a great friend to others which makes me feel good and bad. I may or may not explain this.
5) The new music I will tell you about totally pounds and you will thank me!!
6) The vacations I have taken totally pound and you will be jealous of me!!
7) I am totally kidding about you being jealous, I'm not THAT concieted.
8) I did not spell 'conceited' correctly.
This list is over :(

I won the bet. Suckah!