End o' week musings

What a week it was!

Last weekend was the end of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire and I danced my tushie off. It's only today that I finally feel fully recovered, although I still am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow (so take the hint and don't call, text or bug me in anyway til afternoon!). It was a lot of fun doing Faire and I really enjoy the company of my group, but it's a long commitment and gets tiring after so many "lost weekends." Plus you should see the pile of clothes in my dirty laundry basket and the dust on my TV! Yes, I've got a lot of chores waiting for me...

I had some good interviews this week, including talking with Joanna Santos, curator of "Hollow Thoughts: A Skull Exhibit" that is opening at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra in June. Check it out and make plans http://www.gallerynucleus.com/. It's on of my favorite art venues, plus it has a store with cool t-shirts, books and other finds.

My other neat chat was with Robert Bell of Kool & the Gang. He was cool-- and nice and interesting. The band is on tour with Van Halen and will be in Los Angeles and Anaheim over the next two weeks. In case you didn't hear, VH has canceled all its dates after the end of June. I'm not very surprised, but I feel bad for Kool & the Gang because they had to make time in their schedule for the shows. Kool has been doing its thing for four decades and is still touring globally to the delight of its still-growing fan base.

Wednesday night I went to the Key Club in Hollywood to see Sabaton ( http://www.sabaton.com/ ). Wow! I liked their albums and enjoyed my interview with lead vocalist Joakim (visit http://www.sgvn.com/ and search the archive to find my story online), but live they were amazing. Those boyz from Sweden know how to rock and love what they do, plus they're easy on the eyes. The crowd was totally into the show and kept chanting "Sabaton" in between each song. They also sang along with every tune, even the new ones. And this was the record release party!

I took my friend John with me and he's now a fan. He told me he has watched Sabaton's videos and has added their albums to his collection. I wonder if his band will cover some of the material?

Well, it's a three-day weekend for me, but I haven't filled it up with stuff to do because I really need to be a bit of a slug... ooo and that nasty housework needs doing... ugh! But I am thinking of going to see Civet at House of Blues in Hollywood tonight and I have plans to go to the Scottish Festival on Sunday. Maybe I'll get invited to a barbecue Monday... or I'll have a nice afternoon nap!

In rotation this week: Sabaton (too obvious?!), Black Sabbath, Terrible Things, Kirk Whalum, Kool & the Gang and Tom Petty.

Photos we got 'em: A couple of cute pet pix and photos of me and fellow blogger Gary ( http://2o3lines.blogspot.com/ ) from our visit at the Hard Rock in San Diego the other week.

Thought o' the week: Put it aside. I'll be honest, I'm not happy. In fact I'm on a FTW bent (for those of you who don't know what FTW means, it's not very nice). Things in my life are not going the way I expected and I'm beyond frustrated. I'm hurt and angry and more because I have invested a lot of time and passion into something that doesn't seem to be working out.

This morning I woke up with a different attitude. Instead of feeling down or mad, I have reached the "don't care" point. This is very rare for me. Today I have no patience for anything or anyone who doesn't meet my agenda and I just want to do what makes me feel good no matter how it affects said anything or anyone. Yeah, no more Ms. Nice Grrrl today...

But then, I remembered I have a day off on Monday and it's Memorial Day, a day to remember our military. My heart softened. I am not important right now. What I want or need is not important right now. What is important is showing our support and caring for the people who are willing to give or have given their lives for us. To keep me safe and maintain my freedom.

I plan to take some time on Monday to think about and appreciate our military. I hope I can find a way to show how much they mean to me. I will be pushing my agenda aside for the greater good. The way it should be. I encourage you to also put it aside, whatever it is, and honor our military with me.

Keep on rockin'

Mickie