Music

Before we get started, here's some new LCD Soundsystem for your listening enjoyment... (Awesome, SteveK, your tip about just shrinking the height on the YouTube player works!!!)

Much of my thoughts go like an agile retrospective these days... project management is permeating my thinking patterns.

Good

• I made it to DrupalCon San Francisco, and despite being sick and going late, had a great time, and rested lots so I got better and not sicker while I was there.
• Over the flu. After shaking the death cough, my lungs actually feeling better than they have in over a year and a half. My voice is back which makes me very happy, except my high singing range, but I'm sure that will return with a little more time.
• Work is busy. I feel like I am being effective, and like my hard work over the last year and a half is paying off making things run smoothly, having everyone feel self-actualized, having happy clients, and getting to do the kind of work we enjoy.
• I feel more appreciated and at peace in various aspects of my life than I have in a long time. (Ever?)
• Eating lots of good food; I have gained back about 2.5 of the 8.5 pounds I lost since February. Might not seem like much but I was worried it would be even harder to gain anything back.
• Got a crapload of blood tests done last weekend, and they all came back normal. I was getting lots of bruising, but I can safely assume now that it is just from being a bit malnutritioned, and that some steady Vit C intake will fix me up.
• Also, I went back to the old walk-in clinic I used to go to before I started hunting for a GP...Holy I forgot how much better a couple of the docs there are. 
• I've mostly been sleeping a lot better lately, and sleeping/waking earlier than is normal for me. It's felt very odd, but in a good way. I doubt it will last much longer, but it's been nice.
• I have been feeling more relaxed in general. I like this. I'm pretty sure the people around me like it too.
• I have more spoons lately.
• I've been doing a better job at keeping a balance, taking care of myself, asking for help, not being mad at myself for not feeling well.
• Oh, and my Drupal Voices podcast that was recorded at the conference was posted this week!

Bad

• My stomach is still generally feeling awful, more awful than normal, as has been the case since last summer. (Luckily looks like I'm gonna get a referral to a new, hopefully more helpful, GI doc when walk-in doc is back from vacation.)
• My apartment is getting more construction. It makes me crazy. I am househunting. I don't find moving fun.
• My back and neck have been fucking killing me lately. Too much computer and sickness, not enough yoga and off-computer time.
• I ate moldy soy yogurt today. No biggie, just gross.
• I don't have much Drupal Docs mojo right now.
• I really, really miss several beloved friends who are not here.
• Not sure if this is really a "bad" but I'm not sure going to DrupalCon Copenhagen is really going to be the best thing for me right now.

Do differently next time

• Get annual flu shot. It's just not worth getting the flu (I've had it 4 times in 3 years since moving downtown!)
• Not stand for useless and/or rude doctors.
• Not eat suspicious soy yogurt. (I have made this mistake more than once now.)
• Do more yoga! Do more yoga! Do more yoga! When will I learn?

1. Quiet
2. Going back to the office
3. Spring flowers
4. Views ninja skillz
5. Dropping my good camera hard and it being completely fine
6. Clean desk
7. Digesting = Energy
8. Amazing girlfriends (even when some are far away)
9. Apricot pate
10. New Jay Malinowski album

So, as I was saying in my last post, the music in DC at the March Cake & Kisses party at Asylum (footage from that night here put to some Five One music) totally took me by surprise.  It was so, so excellent, and make me thank Katherine for dragging me out that night!  I asked this guy photographing the event who the bands were before leaving, and the flyer he gave me was enough to go on and find the groups that were there on YouTube, which led me to their websites, and so on. FYI for anyone planning on visiting DC or who lives there, Cake & Kisses is on the first Thursday of every month at Asylum in the Adams Morgan area.

We saw two groups, the first one was The Five One.  They have a sort of varied sound, some songs softer and a bit reggae-ish, some a lot more hardcore, but all of it (for those who believe in the "there are only two kinds of music" theory) definitely on the good side.  Luckily for me, they actually have a great internet presence as well so I've been able to dig up a lot of their music.  With their main site, Deuce Day World, a MySpace site, a Facebook fan page, and a Twitter account (@thefiveone), it won't be hard to keep up with their new material.  Oh, and don't let me forget there's tons of stuff on their YouTube account and a bit on Vimeo.

The four band members go by the monikers of Red, Blue, Green, and Gold, and though I'm not sure what the story behind that is, I can say I wish I had taken the time to say hello to these guys when I had the chance.  After making an account on the Deuce Day World site, a couple of them made a point of saying hello, and Gold (who I have unconfirmed suspicions of him being some kind of web guy himself, as there must be someone behind all their web stuff being so good) pointed me in the right direction to dig up mp3s of their "Deuce Burgers" project.  This is a good place to start - they're releasing one every Thursday in 2009, and they're remixed/covers of other songs, and damn are they good!  You can stream them on the site (or on their MySpace), or download the whole set (which I'm assuming gets updated every week).  You can also download individual tracks from the main site, but there's sort of an annoying download interface thing on there, so I'd suggest just downloading the whole set.

My favorites so far (and I have a lot more listening to do) are (in no particular order):

Colors Like Us (Deuce Burgers, or watch their video on Vimeo, cause it's pretty entertaining)
District of Colossus (Deuce Burgers, or video on Vimeo)
Waiting for Her Again (Deuce Burgers)
Somewhere in Boston - I don't know if that's actually the name of the song ??? video on Vimeo (haven't found an mp3 of this one)
Active - have only found this one as video on YouTube so far, not sure if there's an mp3 around

The next group was Mello-D and the Rados, although, I think it may have actually just been Mello-D, I can't recall who else was backing him. This stuff had a lot more jazzy feel to it, and even some sweet sax solos (not unlike this) as well.  Different vibe, but also really enjoyed it.  You can stream music on the main site and they've got some  stuff on their MySpace site, and a Facebook fan page as well.  This is their YouTube page and there's sort of a video mini-documentary primer about the group here that I would highly recommend if you want to get a feel for them.  Here's what appears to be their "hit" video, Still Cool Witchu, and another (older?) one Stupid Jerk. Be sure to check out this one if you're ready to laugh your face off - and it's got a positive message: safe sex!  Be warned, it's graphic!

Mello-D has played with KRS ONE (one of their song collabs is on the MySpace page), and he has toured all over carnation, and I think is actually pretty well known now that I'm doing a little more research on him.  Which makes a lot of sense, actually, because I was thinking to myself at the show, how the hell is this guy not super famous by now???  I guess we were just lucky to have caught the show!

Enough links for you?  Well I'm not quite done yet!!!

While digging up all this stuff, I also came across this site: DC Rap that's got general info and updates about the music scene in DC.

And there were also several other guys at the Cake & Kisses show freestyling, a couple of them (Tyrone Norris aka. Mental Stamina, and Chris Carr aka. Stoney Ashes) make up another group called Rosetta Stoned (and MySpace), who I have yet to really look up much about.  They have some involvment with an art/music group called the Food Chain Collective, there's some YouTube action here and check out Chris Carr - he starts at 2:10 in this vid where he uses the word "mitochondria" in a freestyle.  Awesome!

And last but certainly not least, 40 mins of crazy freestyle in front of the DC Historical Society Museum:  Hip-hop Cinema Cafe Presents Freestyle Cypher Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.  And I would love to know who the rest of the guys in these are, so if anyone can point me in the right direction, would be much appreciated!

There ya go!

"Someone Great" - LCD Soundsystem [Had to take the embedded video out cause it was screwing up my layout intensely--watch it here.]

It's strange how it seems that one day things can be going well, exciting even. Things are changing in your life in a good way, you're on track, you're feeling confident. And then the next thing you know, something happens totally out of left field and throws it all off track.I feel like every time I get a good groove going, life drops a bunch another hurdle in my way, as if just to test me. To keep testing me. I've almost gotten to a place where I can just say to myself, it's just another test, you just have to get through it. Which is helpful, because it makes things seem less catastrophic in a way...though admittedly it can take me a couple weeks to get into that frame of mind where I'm ready to tackle the obstacle and get back on track. To remember that I'm strong and competent and that things will be okay.

I mean, it's hard not to freak out when bad things happen out of the blue, and feel like, seriously, what did I do to deserve this??? But eventually you have to accept that sometimes sucky things happen, regardless of how good you are, how smart you are, how beautiful you are, how giving you are, how nice you are. Things just happen that are out of your control.

And then you just have to let go, and move on, and jump over the hurdles, and keep running.

Good things:

1. Getting excited about my new career adventures.
2. Going to Saskatoon soon and see my parents and family friends! For the first time in a year and a half, and the first time during warm weather in at least 5 years!
3. When I get back, I'll be able to make my apartment look normal again (long story).
4. Berries are still in season.
5. I get to see Kirsti soon!!!
6. Real estate prices are dropping...maybe I'll be able to afford to buy before I turn 30?
7. I really like my new gym shorts.

Seven, not too bad.

Been having a crappy day, on top of a fairly stressful few weeks, so decided to take a cue from Rachel and focus on the positive:

1. I reorganized my hall closet, and it's much better than before, allowing me to keep my entrance less cluttered, and access stuff, which makes me happy.
2. I'm getting my hair cut and coloured tomorrow, with Martin, which makes it fun rather than a chore.
3. The Jazz Festival starts tomorrow.
4. Four and a half more workdays till 10 glorious days off (including going to the cabin!!!)
5. Flirting with boys

What are your five things today?

I know, it's not really the first day of fall quite yet, but it sure felt like it. The air has been getting chillier on and off over the past week, and it really hit all of a sudden today. Even though we really got cheated out of a proper summer this year, I am ready for fall. Despite being my first summer since finishing school, it's been one of the most challenging summers I've had, and I can't say that I'm sad to see it go.

Scott, Boris, and a bunch of the other geeky types have headed to Barcelona for the next ten days or so for DrupalCon and judging purely from Facebook status updates, have made it there safely. It would have been great to go, but regardless of whether or not I would have been up for it, I have already committed the rest of my vacation days earned to date to going to my cousin's wedding in LA at the end of October.

(Friday night hanging with Tall Scott on Denman.)

I took the day off of socializing today after staying up too late the past couple nights, and decided to catch up on a few things. First order of business was making my weekly trip to the gym. I would be thrilled if I could keep it up to twice a week, but it just hasn't been happening. Once a week and at least I can justify keeping my pass. Did my regular workout in my new leggings that I got for $12 in the sales bin at Roots (the sales bin at Roots rocks).

Decided to head over to Capers and get some groceries--luckily had dressed extra cozy, as it was pretty darned chilly out! It turned out that the Sustainability Fair, which I thought was only on yesterday, and I'd missed, was on again today! Lotsa food to sample, I tried some mint-green tea. The owner of Twice Shy had a booth there and was selling stuff from last year's line at mostly well over half off! Got a couple tops (I really must profile them on SpendLocally). Wandered around, then went in and got my groceries. Came back out and sat down to eat some lunch, and shortly DNA6 took the stage...I'd never heard of them, but it was a GREAT set! Had to get a tea to stay warm enough to make it through the show, but enjoyed it thoroughly. They seemed way too good to be playing the Capers Fair, but what the hey, I'm not gonna complain! Hoping to be able to catch a full length set sometime and get the full experience. It was just starting to spit again as they wrapped it up, so I snapped up their CD for $10, and headed home.

Haven't really been overly productive the rest of the day, but when it's drizzly and grey outside, I never really feel bad about it. I don't feel much like making my lunch for tomorrow, so I think I might finally try out one of the local eateries by the office. I've been there six months without buying lunch once!

Oh, and my seagull (I call him/her "my" seagull cause (s)he hangs out on my balcony frequently) barfed up mussel shells on my balcony today. I opened the door, and looked at the seagull, and it puked. It was disgusting.

(My hens and chicks finally bloomed!)

Work's been pretty crazy the last week or so, as our tech guy Chris left us to go do grad studies in Belgium, in fact he flew out today. His 'replacement' (I hate that word, cause you can't really replace someone, but I can't think of a better one) has been with us for two weeks now training and getting caught up on everything. I will miss having Chris around, he taught me sooo much, and is a really level-headed person to have around.

(Lunch on Chris' last day.)

Hoping for a less hectic week, getting back into the routine...getting my zen back. Zen-master Parveen must be slacking, cause I've been feeling really allovertheplace lately!