Monday, February 07, 2005
The Concert
Ok, so I might be LDS but that doesn't necessarily mean that going to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is on my list of "must do in this lifetime" things. However opportunity presented itself and Friday night found us headed to Cox Arena for the first San Diego visit from the choir since 1969.
It was a truly amazing experience. Now I can understand why the choir is so loved. They sang an incredible selection of songs that included hymns, folk songs and patriotic songs. Unfortunately I don't have my program with me, but my favorite song was Swahili??? There were bongos and a drum beat and at one point in the song they had a male soloist singing while various members of the choir made noises and called out. It was like you were instantly transformed to the middle of some kind of tribal celebration.
Here are a few things that I noticed about the concert.
1) It was quiet! It's amazing how quiet 8,000 people can become.
2) The crowd was polite. I don't know what the holdup getting into the arena was but the traffic was horrendous. It took us 1/2 hour to travel 1/2 mile. Once we finally parked we had to take elevators and walk quite a ways. Everyone in the elevator was friendly and talking. We were all strangers but you never would've known.
3) There was no smoking!!!! One of the things I hate about concerts is the smoking; the smell of pot and cloves. It was so strange to walk out of a concert and not have to walk through a cloud of smoke. My clothes didn't stink. I didn't smell alcohol. My feet weren't sticky from stepping through spilled beer and soda.
4) Culture Shock - On our way out of the area we stopped at the convenience store for a soda. Talk about one extreme to another. It was like a party in the store. There were local college kids buying more cups because they ran out at their party. Girls who barely had any clothes on were trying to get change for their trip to TJ (tiajuana - dancing, drinking, partying). And here we were....dressed in our Sunday best. It was kind of funny. I'm sure they were kind of thinking the same thing about us.
It was a truly amazing experience. Now I can understand why the choir is so loved. They sang an incredible selection of songs that included hymns, folk songs and patriotic songs. Unfortunately I don't have my program with me, but my favorite song was Swahili??? There were bongos and a drum beat and at one point in the song they had a male soloist singing while various members of the choir made noises and called out. It was like you were instantly transformed to the middle of some kind of tribal celebration.
Here are a few things that I noticed about the concert.
1) It was quiet! It's amazing how quiet 8,000 people can become.
2) The crowd was polite. I don't know what the holdup getting into the arena was but the traffic was horrendous. It took us 1/2 hour to travel 1/2 mile. Once we finally parked we had to take elevators and walk quite a ways. Everyone in the elevator was friendly and talking. We were all strangers but you never would've known.
3) There was no smoking!!!! One of the things I hate about concerts is the smoking; the smell of pot and cloves. It was so strange to walk out of a concert and not have to walk through a cloud of smoke. My clothes didn't stink. I didn't smell alcohol. My feet weren't sticky from stepping through spilled beer and soda.
4) Culture Shock - On our way out of the area we stopped at the convenience store for a soda. Talk about one extreme to another. It was like a party in the store. There were local college kids buying more cups because they ran out at their party. Girls who barely had any clothes on were trying to get change for their trip to TJ (tiajuana - dancing, drinking, partying). And here we were....dressed in our Sunday best. It was kind of funny. I'm sure they were kind of thinking the same thing about us.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Barnes and Noble convert
That's right folks... I skipped over Amazon and went straight to Barnes and Noble. Will I ever go back?
There was a point when I thought book and internet = Amazon. Want a book, go to Amazon. Want a book review - Amazon. You get the picture. My little book club raves about Amazon. Each month the hostess would say how she ordered all her used books via Amazon and got such a great deal. Me? I would try. I would go and search and look through all the used books. One time I even attempted to purchase them but something on the website freaked out and my order wasn't placed.
So I've spent the mega bucks on my book selections. (In our little book club the hostess buys the books for the whole group. That way we aren't all driving around each month to buy the books. It's kinda fun. It's like getting a present every month.)
My last selection was The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Which of course is only available in hardback at like $15 per book. Before that? The Secret Life of Bees... not old enough to get copies at the used book stores.... again...mega bucks to buy them all.
So this time...this time I went to Barnes and Noble. My first crisis was to actually find a book that Jane hasn't read yet. I was browsing through the bargain books when I stumbled across The Rapture of Canaan. Ah, a good book. I've read that book. Has Jane? No.. woo hoo.. we're moving along now. A few phone calls later and a couple of mouse clicks and I have four copies of the book on it's way and how much did I spend??? $23 for four books and shipping.
There was a point when I thought book and internet = Amazon. Want a book, go to Amazon. Want a book review - Amazon. You get the picture. My little book club raves about Amazon. Each month the hostess would say how she ordered all her used books via Amazon and got such a great deal. Me? I would try. I would go and search and look through all the used books. One time I even attempted to purchase them but something on the website freaked out and my order wasn't placed.
So I've spent the mega bucks on my book selections. (In our little book club the hostess buys the books for the whole group. That way we aren't all driving around each month to buy the books. It's kinda fun. It's like getting a present every month.)
My last selection was The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Which of course is only available in hardback at like $15 per book. Before that? The Secret Life of Bees... not old enough to get copies at the used book stores.... again...mega bucks to buy them all.
So this time...this time I went to Barnes and Noble. My first crisis was to actually find a book that Jane hasn't read yet. I was browsing through the bargain books when I stumbled across The Rapture of Canaan. Ah, a good book. I've read that book. Has Jane? No.. woo hoo.. we're moving along now. A few phone calls later and a couple of mouse clicks and I have four copies of the book on it's way and how much did I spend??? $23 for four books and shipping.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Oh No, My list even freaked out the server
It's a sad sign when you attempt to post your "work in progress" Wednesday list and the server freaks out. Did it read my list? It was stuck in some kind of vicious loop posting the files. I let it sit for several minutes when I finally accepted it. It ate it. It couldn't handle my list so it ate it.
Now I get to type it over again. Why? Because I forgot my own rule of "copying" my post prior to publishing it.
(I'm still working out how to put the little buttons on my blog so I can "play." I activated my webspace through my internet provider, now I have to put my pictures there. I was spoiled by my old website through yahoo. Their sitebuilder software was so easy to use. I didn't have to think...to learn.... sadly those days are over. I either have to buy some software or break down and learn something new.)
So here it is - My work in progress list.
Knitting -
Knitting class - It's only "in progress" because it was last night. I finished this weeks samples, but the teacher gave us "extra credit" samples to work on. One is a mock cable. I can't remember what the other one is. I'll whip them out tonight. She also gave me the finishing touches on the notions holder so I should be finishing that up this week as well ...and posting pictures....
Booga Bag - www.blacksheepbags.com./booga_bag.html I started it yesterday. I finished the bottom, picked up the stitches and I'm happily knitting up the bag. It was a little tricky in that I couldn't quite figure out the picking up the stitches thing. The only way I could figure to do it was to literally pick up and knit each stitch one at a time. Hopefully I did it right. I can't wait to finish my first felted project!!
Hello Kitty Knitalong - Sadly...I'm having to postpone this one. I had to frog the bag because I made a mistake in row... I got interupted un-knitting it and messed it all up. Stitches fell of needles, holes appeared between color changes... Not a pretty sight! Good news is it was always my prototype and I haven't bought the official yarn. I learned what I need to work on and I'll pick it back up in a couple weeks. Perhaps I'll learn more tricks at class to make it easier for me.
Crochet -
Cardigan - eek I haven't worked on it for a couple of weeks. It's looking good though
63 Squares - two squares done... I've been knitting obsessed lately.
Stamp -
5 paperbag books for my submission are done. I want to make a few more and then send in the top 5...plus I need to keep a few samples on hand for my workshops/classes.
I won't dare list my things "to do"...that could overwhelm a person!
Ok....here's my second attempt to post this. Wish me and the server luck!
Now I get to type it over again. Why? Because I forgot my own rule of "copying" my post prior to publishing it.
(I'm still working out how to put the little buttons on my blog so I can "play." I activated my webspace through my internet provider, now I have to put my pictures there. I was spoiled by my old website through yahoo. Their sitebuilder software was so easy to use. I didn't have to think...to learn.... sadly those days are over. I either have to buy some software or break down and learn something new.)
So here it is - My work in progress list.
Knitting -
Knitting class - It's only "in progress" because it was last night. I finished this weeks samples, but the teacher gave us "extra credit" samples to work on. One is a mock cable. I can't remember what the other one is. I'll whip them out tonight. She also gave me the finishing touches on the notions holder so I should be finishing that up this week as well ...and posting pictures....
Booga Bag - www.blacksheepbags.com./booga_bag.html I started it yesterday. I finished the bottom, picked up the stitches and I'm happily knitting up the bag. It was a little tricky in that I couldn't quite figure out the picking up the stitches thing. The only way I could figure to do it was to literally pick up and knit each stitch one at a time. Hopefully I did it right. I can't wait to finish my first felted project!!
Hello Kitty Knitalong - Sadly...I'm having to postpone this one. I had to frog the bag because I made a mistake in row... I got interupted un-knitting it and messed it all up. Stitches fell of needles, holes appeared between color changes... Not a pretty sight! Good news is it was always my prototype and I haven't bought the official yarn. I learned what I need to work on and I'll pick it back up in a couple weeks. Perhaps I'll learn more tricks at class to make it easier for me.
Crochet -
Cardigan - eek I haven't worked on it for a couple of weeks. It's looking good though
63 Squares - two squares done... I've been knitting obsessed lately.
Stamp -
5 paperbag books for my submission are done. I want to make a few more and then send in the top 5...plus I need to keep a few samples on hand for my workshops/classes.
I won't dare list my things "to do"...that could overwhelm a person!
Ok....here's my second attempt to post this. Wish me and the server luck!
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Blog Wish List
Well I've been tinkering around with my blog. I'm trying to figure out how to personalize my sidebar. So far I figured out how to add a Currently Reading section and I linked the books to amazon.com. Anyone know a better way to do that?? I also added a couple of links to other blogs I read, but I can't figure out why there are extra lines down there. I have more links to add, but I want to figure that out first.
So here's my blog wish list...
1) I want a blog mentor! I'm the one that helps everyone else with their computer stuff... but I need a mentor to help me. LOL.
2) I would like to create a list of all the books I've read (well the ones I can remember) and have a link on my sidebar to the list. The real reason I want to figure out how to do this is because I want my whole book club to do it. We have one voracious reader who has read so many books that it's hard to pick a book she hasn't read. And well...it would be fun to keep track of the books I've read
3) Do I have to have webspace somewhere else to keep that list?
4) Buttons!! I want buttons. I need to figure out where to get my own server space so I can use buttons without stealing someone's bandwidth.
5) And last but not least... I noticed that another blog somehow categorized their entries. So you could click on finished projects and it pulled up all the entries with finished projects...
So that's my wish list/to do list... I'm off to search the help files to figure it out. But hey, if anyone actually reads this blog and has some helpful tips... I'm all ears!!
So here's my blog wish list...
1) I want a blog mentor! I'm the one that helps everyone else with their computer stuff... but I need a mentor to help me. LOL.
2) I would like to create a list of all the books I've read (well the ones I can remember) and have a link on my sidebar to the list. The real reason I want to figure out how to do this is because I want my whole book club to do it. We have one voracious reader who has read so many books that it's hard to pick a book she hasn't read. And well...it would be fun to keep track of the books I've read
3) Do I have to have webspace somewhere else to keep that list?
4) Buttons!! I want buttons. I need to figure out where to get my own server space so I can use buttons without stealing someone's bandwidth.
5) And last but not least... I noticed that another blog somehow categorized their entries. So you could click on finished projects and it pulled up all the entries with finished projects...
So that's my wish list/to do list... I'm off to search the help files to figure it out. But hey, if anyone actually reads this blog and has some helpful tips... I'm all ears!!
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