I thought it appropriate to post my picture I took last year at Pride, of my buddy Josh showing the Christian nutjobs where to stick it, as we head out to the festival this afternoon.
Hope everyone has a great Pride. Who knew that celebrating diversity and unity could be so fun!?
Happy Pride!
waking up
brushing teeth
taking pills
driving
talking
eating
leaving
sleeping
simple tasks
completed each day
happening so fast
without thought
without drive
without change
simple tasks
distract from the world around
buzzing
whirring around me
I am caught in slow motion
everything seems at a standstill
or I am moving so quickly
that it only seems to have slowed around
I am too caught in my flow
to notice the simplicity
the beauty
the difference
I am too caught in the flow
to just stop
and live for the moment
and sometimes
that is what scares me most of all
So I have been thinking about doing it for a long time, because I think that ear plugs look incredibly hot on guys, but recently, I have been thinking more and more seriously about it. Well, a friend of mines family came into town not too long ago, and her nephew had plugs, and for whatever reason, that made the interest go WAY up. I felt like I HAD to get them.
Well, cut to yesterday… I got them. I got my ears pierced yesterday at the Piercing Experience in Inman Park, and except for the pain of having your ear jabbed with a big needle, I couldn’t be happier. Brian, the piercer at PE was AMAZING. Totally gentle, and extremely kind. Seriously, if you want ANYTHING pierced, I would not recommend anyone else; he was extremely awesome with my piercings. I am not going to lie and say that it didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (I guess). I am glad that it is over, and the healing can begin. I have already picked out some great stone plugs for when I get all healed up, but until then, I am rocking some clear glass, and I have to say, that they are quite fetching.
I can’t believe I went through with it, to be honest, but now that I have them, I am totally loving them. Getting pierced at a big gauge (6g!!!) was a bit intimidating, but Brian at PE made it as good of an experience as I think that it could have been. I am so glad I went there.
On a completely different note (no pun intended), I have been listened to the new Death Cab for Cutie album, Narrow Stairs,
from this blogger… do yourself a favor and pick it up!
I know I mentioned it yesterday, but I felt compelled to post at least two shots, because I could not be more pleased with the way my film came out. I got some amazing shots of Sara, and I am so very happy to have been able to get them.
The show was amazing, and now I always have these photos to look back at, and remember the power of the night. I would love to be a concert photographer for a living… I could totally get into it. The excitement of getting those shots makes the back breaking standing in place for 4 hours TOTALLY worth it. Anyone hiring?
I had to take a detour on the way to work today, because of the unpredictable Atlanta traffic practically shutting down 85N. I was sitting still on the exit from 20E, and I thought, “self, let’s just go down to University, and then pop back up Boulevard”. Well, low and behold, during my little detour, I managed to get a moment of sheer joy; I saw an old friend that I haven’t seen in what seems like an eternity!
Mr. Fangs is BACK!!! Check it:
Now, I am pretty sure that these are new, because I have been down through this area before, and I haven’t seen them before. James also mentioned the two black ones as new, because he drives that way to work every day, and he remembers them showing up recently.
I had pretty much given up on ever seeing a new Mr. Fangs, and in a sheer moment of randomness, I found TEN (if you click on the above photo, you can go to my flickr and see the others)! Normally, I would hate graffiti, but this little guy is just so cute and really brings a smile to my face. Seriously, seeing Mr. Fangs made my day!!!
Also, just a note about the concert last night. Basically, it was amazing. Everything I expected. Sara was effortlessly amazing, and totally flawless in both her singing, and in her stage presence. My buddy Deb went with me, and admitted that she had a new appreciation for Sara after seeing her live, simply because of how amazing she is live. I think that is why I gush about her so much, because that is how I found out about her, and after seeing her several times, she never disappoints me in the least. I got to take my XSi with me to the show, and I took hundreds of pictures, all of which I have yet to sort through and get to editing for flickr. Stay tuned for that in the near future. To satiate your potential appetite for those photos, how about a little video of Sara singing Genie in a Bottle:
Yesterday, I finally got my trusty DSLR out and finally took some new pictures. Deb, Tina, and I went down to the always interesting Little Five Points, and I took about 200 pictures. Look for them to pop up slowly on flickr over the next few weeks; I don’t want to run out of new pictures to post by dumping them all on at once!!
I hope that everyone is having a great weekend. I have been listening to new music by Goldfrapp, Sia, and the pop-trashy Marie Picasso. Exploring new music can definitely take you down some interesting avenues. I really like Sia’s new CD, but it really reminds me of Nicole Atkins, only way more mellow. I have to say, that it made me want to listen to Nicole; which I promptly did. Man, music sure can be fun, can’t it?
Anywho… hope everyone’s Sunday goes by very slow… Monday is never a fun time!
Wow.
The Pipettes were AMAZING. They are such a kooky lot, and they danced and sang their way right into my heart. Seriously, as crazy as I was about them BEFORE the show, I am deeply, deeply in love with them now!!! They blew me away. I was also happy to be so close to the stage, and got to see a really great show.
The whole night was a lot of fun. Even the opening act, Nicole Atkins, was smashing as well. I downloaded her CD, and am enjoying it right now. She is quite the talent as well.
Overall, I am so pleased that I went to see the Pipettes. There is a reason that their debut album is one of my top picks for this year; it is amazing, and so are they. If you get the chance to see them in the future, I highly suggest you do!! These three ladies are amazing!!!
Here’s a LITTLE clip of “Pull Shapes” I managed to get (not great quality, but gives you the idea):
Also, here’s a link to the flickr set with the pictures that I took at the concert. I don’t know how I feel about them, because the quality is a little off, as it was really dark in the venue. I am sure that they are fine though, and I am being too hard on myself, but whatever… I had a fantastic night, so I guess that’s all that really matters!
Yesterday, we spent the better part of the day at Ink and Dagger Tattoo Parlour, getting the color added to James’ amazing koi tattoo. I have to say, that Ms. Malia Reynolds completely exceeded my expectations; this tattoo is beautiful!!! She is one of the amazingly talented artists at the shop, and I am so glad that James could get tattooed by her!
James was a trooper, and managed to sit for almost 5 hours!! I have to say, that he really surprised me with that, and I am glad that he got such an amazing tattoo. If only everyone’s first tattoo could be this amazing, right?
Well, I know that is in large part thanks to Malia! As always, if you want to get amazing tattoos, be sure that you head over to Ink and Dagger, over in Decatur, because it is THE place to get tattooed in (or around) Atlanta!
This definitely makes me want ANOTHER ONE!!! HA!
Hope everyone is having a great 3-day weekend!
So this week has really gotten away from me. Perhaps it was the combination of the pain killers, the muscle relaxers, the inability to get around without pain, the back spasms, the cabin fever, and the myriad of other distractions that have somehow kept me sane in my bed this week. Thank god for wireless internet, movies, music, working from home, a snuggly dog, the internets, and my lovely husband (who does, unfortunately, have a pretty shallow threshold for dealing with things like this, and occasionally needs to disappear; which is annoying, but sometimes understandable). Overall, it has been a relaxing week, but I just can’t believe that it is over, and I am still pretty uncomfortable.
I know that a lot of people are still wondering why I haven’t gone to the doctor, and thanks for the advice that everyone has provided, but at this point, I don’t see a need to go in, wait an hour, pay my copay, and hear him say I have a pulled muscle in my back and tell me to continue taking the muscle relaxers he has already provided me with. If it gets any worse, I will definitely head for the nearest medical professional, but as long as I continue on my path to progress (see my LONG path to SLOW progress), I will just keep the routine of relax, rest, take pills, sleep, and try not to move in a way that will activate a back spasm (as I did this morning, and triggered the aggravation all over again… nice).
I just hope that this weekend can include some time outside of this house… I am beginning to get a little stir crazy. I have to say though, it has been nice having time to spend watching all of these movies, and repeatedly listening to Sara Bareilles‘ new CD (which again, is WONDERFUL). I have also spent a little time getting to know my netvibes page, which I am obviously not using to its fullest potential. I still want to add more cool shit, so if you have an suggestions, I am all ears.
Final interesting note: I noticed that the picture that I took of my friend at pride was getting a TON of attention yesterday, and I finally found out why; it made reddit at some point during the day. What does that mean? Try 20k+ views and around 30 some odd favorites and comments. Nice. At least it was flickr’s bandwidth and not mine, right? Still, I love that such an awesome “protest” of the protesters is getting so much positive attention; they really do ruin things like pride.
Hope everyone has a great weekend… you’ve got red on you.
Last night, we had the amazing pleasure of seeing the amazing MIKA at Center Stage. It was a sold out show, and MIKA more than delivered.
The show was amazing. MIKA is an amazing performer, and totally has the talent that he displays on his record. I was blown away with how awesome this 23 year old (!!) is. I will definitely keep my eye out for when he is in town again. Great show!
The opening act, Natalia, wasn’t really my style. I could have done without her. Additionally, between her and MIKA, there was this weird round of break dancing, which was kind of out there, and really went on too long. It got annoying.
There was this really odd gentleman who was to our right, up in the seats section, who had staked a claim on a handicapped person’s space, who literally performed routine after routine for the people in the crowd. It was quite entertaining, and made us wonder what he was on; because it was probably some good stuff.
The show was also taped, so that was kind of interesting to have this huge camera boom over our heads and in our faces all night. Perhaps I will be on a DVD some day. Who knows…
Overall, the show was awesome, and it ended (as you can get a feel from this picture), with the performance of Lollipop, with the whole band coming out in furry animal costumes. Once the song got going, these huge balloons filled the arena, and there was even a huge blast of confetti shot into the air. It was pretty amazing.
I guess I really can’t say enough positive things about the concert, and if you weren’t there, you certainly missed out. At least do yourself a favor, if you haven’t already, and check out the amazing MIKA! You won’t be sorry!!!
