End o' week musings

This week wasn't too demanding and I found time for fun-- even with my job!

Friday I went to the Los Angeles County Fair with my podmate, Linda. She had to chase down some stories, so I tagged along to help her through the interviews. We hung out with the Budweiser clydesdales and their handsome groomsmen, saw newborn piglets, talked to a cappybarra and ate fried zucchini and sweet potatoes.

My friend, Louise, is working in the Flower Pavilion, so we stopped by to say hello and she gave us a tour of "backstage." We got to go inside the huge refrigerator where the flowers are kept and to the areas where they are trimmed and arranged. Louise also gave us a guided tour of the pavilion, pointing out challenges with the projects and giving us interesting trivia.

After that we went to the Rodent Roundup area and saw their exhibit of live creatures, most of which were asleep. We giggled when we saw the Siberian Hampsters sign and told the attendant that it should be hamsters. She looked serious and said, "No. Hampsters is right. We give them our dirty laundry" (Think hamper) Then she laughed and said, "You think that's funny, check out our pairie dog." It should have been a prairie dog.... hmmmmm..... Poor lady, she told us that we were the first to notice the signs and she was embarrassed, but had not made them.

Friday night I went to the Dockside Grill in West Covina to see my friends The Subs. They had a really good show and the crowd was quite fun. Valerie and Andrew joined me and we had the lobster bisque soup - yummy! - with a glass of wine for me. It was a nice evening.

Saturday I started yoga class. It was difficult in some ways, but I'm more flexible than I thought. I am sooo looking forward to tomorrow's session! In the evening I went to see Lungbutter at the Bucaneer in Sierra Madre. They had a rough time of it, but still shined. They started late and the lead guitarist did a short acoustic set, hoping for more people to turn up in the already pretty full bar. Then they took the stage and got through about three numbers when the guitarist broke the same string on both guitars. They had to stop and kept us waiting while the guitarist went home quickly for more strings. Finally they got it going and sounded great. I enjoyed them, but it was getting late and I had to work the next day, so I begrungingly left. Look for more from me on Lungbutter and check them out for yourself if you get a chance.

On Sunday I drove out near the Los Angeles International Airport to a little church to listen to a Welsh choir. They were wonderful! I will be writing about them soon and it definitely gave me a strong start for my story. If I had the time, I would join them, as their voices were superb.

The rest of my week was filled with interviews - Holland phenoms Racoon, magician John Gabriel, local rockers the Devin Reeves Band, as well as dance practices. Yesterday I started my day at the spider pavilion at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles - it was creepy and beautiful at the same time - and ended it at Bean Town in Sierra Madre listening to Dan Roten play some nice 12-string guitar and sing with his sweet and expressive voice.

This weekend I'm off to the CD release party for Orange at Safari Sam's in Hollyweird and hopefully getting together with my brother to go over our next step to getting my motorcycle back on the road.

Photo party! Yeah, yeah! Today I'll let you gander at a cute animal pic, my '65 Triumph Daytona Special 500 pre-teardown and some photos of my friend and guitarist/singer/songwriter extraordinaire Joe Walla. If you have a minute, drop me a line and let me know which Joe Walla photo you like best (the black and whites, not the one with me), as he's considering new pictures for his press packages and album covers.

In rotation this week: Will Haven, Orange, The Matches, Kitaro, In Theory, Horse the Band, Dengue Fever, The Wildhearts, Cradle of Filth, Racoon, Cipes and the People, Bayside and "Hits They Missed!"

This week I encourage you to take on a project and clean out a closet, a collection, etc. because it is quite cathartic. I am making it a point to stick six different CDs in my car player every few days until I've listen through the set. When I'm done, I sort them out, putting the ones I like best or think I will listen to in my CD shelves at home and setting aside ones that I know a certain friend will like to give to them when I see them next. The ones that just don't make either place I am putting in my "lovely parting gift" basket by my door- oh, you haven't heard of that?!

The "lovely parting gift" basket is a great idea when, like me, you've moved into a smaller place. I put anything I don't want or need in or next to the basket and whenever someone visits I tell them to look through it and take home whatever they would like- with one caveat - if they find out they don't like what they took (as in a book or CD), they have to pass it to someone else with the same caveat. I've even given CDs to the pizza delivery guy!

See? It's easy and you feel so much better knowing that you're not just throwing things out, you're passing them on to someone who will appreciate them. Plus the more uncluttered your life is, the less stress you feel. C'mon, try it and let me know what you gave away and how it has changed your life.

Keep on rockin'

Mickie