lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Thursday, October 30, 2003
Sometimes things need to be said.
Things like congratulations to two friends who finally announce their engagement. In some ways, I can't believe it happened, and in another way I wonder what took so long. :) So, Melissa and Darrin, this blog's for you. Happy Engagement Announcement Day!
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Wednesday, October 29, 2003
"Two for Gigli."
It's true.
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Tuesday, October 28, 2003
Annoyance of the Tuesday.
Web pages that use javascript or flash or whatever to make pretty but fickle menus where one must move the mouse just so in order to keep moving toward the desired subcategory out of all those that popped up when the mouse was moved over the main category to make the subcategories do the popping. Little margin for error makes for frustration in having to move the mouse very slowly and precisely so as to avoid all the subcategories disappearing and having to start all over (see TV Guide Online for a good example of this if my explanation is lacking). This also applies to operating systems such as Windows (or some versions of Windows, anyway--not sure if it's all) that do a similarly obnoxious thing with the Start menu and Internet Explorer menus.

Perhaps I should follow Andy's lead of writing in verse so there can be no rants.

Bad rants!
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Monday, October 27, 2003
Rail away, rail away, rail away...
That's right.  We have boughten our Amtrak tickets from South Bend, IN to New York, New York.  It seemed the thing to do as it cost less than half what flying would have.  So as a result we will actually have some money to spend while we're there.  Always a good thing.  Yay for Amtrak.  Please have an electrical outlet at our seats.

(As a side note, I feel obligated to mention that we played golf yesterday in freezing 40-degree-weather.  I shot a 54, which breaks my streak of improving or at least not getting worse with each round, but Josh blew away his previous best of 51 by shooting 42.  He sucks.  ;))
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Friday, October 24, 2003
I want to get away.  I want to fly away.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We are looking at trading in our tentative December weekend at a Door County bed and breakfast for a tentative trip to New York City for New Years.  A friend of ours is temporarily living in midtown Manhattan and has offered us a free place to stay (sleeping on the floor with a bunch of other people who will also be visiting--sounds like fun, no?), so we would only have to pay for plane tickets and cab/subway fares (and a certain amount of food, I suppose, which I don't really want to think about).  But we would get to see two of our friends from high school, spend a few days in Manhattan without a car (whew!), and possibly watch the the ball drop in Times Square--all for a lot less money than we could likely ever have the chance to do again.  Unfortunately, airfares aren't coming up as cheap as we were hoping (nothing sub-$200), either over the holidays or any time in the next few months at all.  Pooper.  Not that that will stop us, but it does put a little question mark by it.  If anyone knows of any good travel web sites or other tricks for finding the lowest airfares, please bestow that information upon us (though we've already checked quite a few sites).   Maybe this will just be most of our Christmas present to each other...
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Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Each paragraph begins a new thought.  Yes, I'm lazy.
Annika Sorenstam was inducted into the LPGA and World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday.  She is 33.  The youngest player ever to receive such an honor.  I'm very proud.

A scene in last night's "Gilmore Girls" had a continuity problem that was really bothering me.  As the shot went back and forth between Lorelai and Luke in the diner, every time it showed Lorelai the collar of her shirt was either normal or tucked under her sweater.  Normal.  Tucked.  Tucked.  Normal.  Tucked.  Ack!  Really, people, I think you can do better than that...

Speaking of "Gilmore Girls," have y'all heard that Sebastian Bach (no, not Johann, I'm afraid) is going to guest star?  Read all about it on The Bach's official web site (just scroll down to the big heading that reads, "BACH DOES GILMORE GIRLS").  It's um, amusing.

And speaking of guest stars, I don't know if any of you watch either of these shows, but a couple actors I dig are guest starring on a couple of shows I dig (and sorry to anyone who doesn't have a WB affiliate).  Michael McKean is going to play Perry White on "Smallville" (not a huge shock as his wife is Annette O'Toole, who plays Martha Kent), and James Earl Jones is going to play Ephram's new piano teacher on "Everwood."  Yay for good casting.

Direct quote from a promo for WGN's Morning News:  "And, it's the greatest World Series that never was.  We'll have Game 4 highlights of the Cubs and Red Sox tomorrow, 5:30 to 9."  Can you say, "mental health care?" ;) (That one was for you, Kaly ;))
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Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Each paragraph begins a new thought.
"Saturday Night Live" is so bad this year.  And Britney?  Come on now, everyone move your mouths with me:  "l-i-p  s-y-n-c."  Wasn't that fun?

There is a phenomenon occurring in our neighborhood that we don't quite, erm, what's the word?  Oh, yeah:  get.  People here do not rake their leaves.  I have not seen one person on our street doing so.  They all get out their leaf blowers and blow all their leaves into piles in the street.  I have never seen such a thing before.  Why do they do this?  Is this what we should be doing as well?  We are quite clueless.  Is anyone out there less clueless than we?  How about some information please?  Straight up now tell me.  Tell me.

Do not buy Josh a DVD burner for Christmas.  He is getting one for his birthday.  And, I guess, so am I.  (*evil grin*)

The latest R.E.M. video is not bad.  If you are one of those people who appreciates when music videos are not bad, you may watch it.  (Or, if that link doesn't work, go to VH1's R.E.M. page and click on the link for the "Bad Day" video.)

My golf scores the four times I have played golf on the par 27 course, in order:  67, 56, 53, 53.  It is way fun.  I am going to be very sad when October ends and the course closes for the winter.  :(
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Monday, October 20, 2003
Well, there's thirty-five bucks I'll never see again.
I had to wait a few days to write about this because I needed to take a little time to start to get over the horrible, horrible evening that was Friday night.  I spent all day Friday in Libertyville so Josh and I could leave right after he got off work to go down to Chicago for the Turin Brakes concert.  We happily found free street parking about a block away from the club around 6:30.  The concert started at 10.  Needless to say, we had a bit of time to kill.  So we took a walk around the neighborhood, popping into some stores that were still open and looking for a restaurant at which to have dinner.  We ate at a nice little pub where they for some reason had women's college volleyball on the television, and left for the concert venue a little after 8.  So while we were walking, I mentioned that we should get our IDs out so we would have them ready at the door to the 21+ show.  Can you guess where this is heading?

As I was talking I suddenly had a horrible thought that I had left my driver's license in the pocket of my other jacket after the Josh Rouse concert last weekend, but then I thought, nah, I'm sure I put it back in my wallet in my purse.  I start looking.  And looking.  And freaking.  Yes, now I'm freaking a little bit because I'm not finding it.  Josh says mybe it won't even matter if I can't find it.  We get to the door, Josh gives his name for our will call tickets, and The Guy asks for our IDs.  Um.  I look some more.  I dig through my purse frantically, through my jacket pockets, pants pockets, trying to will it to just be SOMEWHERE.  People come up behind us in line and we step off to the side just inside the door to continue looking while the people show their IDs and pop right in, no problem.  The Guy says if I don't have my ID we'll just have to go back and get it.  We explain that's not an option since the round trip would take about 3 1/2 hours, minimum.  He says there's nothing he can do.  We look some more.  It's not there.  And now I'm really getting upset.  We look through every little thing I have to see if something might prove I'm over 21.  Insurance cards, an ISU fee card from three years ago, my Alumni Association card, social security card... there's nothing.

Now I'm crying.  I'm standing just inside the door next to some guys starting to set up a merchandise table and I'm crying.  We keep looking, over and over again, even though we know there's no point.  And The Guy lets us stand there for literally about half an hour.  After which point he says, "I'm really going to have to ask you guys to leave now."  We ask (well, really Josh asks, because I can't really talk) if there's any way at all I can see the concert, like if I can just stand right there right by the door the whole time.  He says no way I really shouldn't even have been there now.  He says something that seems to imply that we can sit just outside the door to the bar in the little vestibule and at least hear the concert.  We leave.  We look for my ID in the car (yeah, right).  We come back to the venue about ten minutes before the show is to start and sit on a window ledge in the vestibule to get ready to hear the show at least.  At this point I'm still very upset, but I'm not crying anymore.  Until The Guy, who will hereforto be referred to as The Evil Guy, comes out and tells us I can't even be in the vestibule without a 21+ ID.  Huh?  I'm sobbing again now, so Josh asks him why in the heck that is since we're outside the door that says "21+" and the only door we are inside has absolutely nothing bar-related on it and also leads to a staircase to an upstairs apartment.  The Evil Guy says they own the whole building, so I can't be in it anywhere.  WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP.  Yeah, I just bet that apartment can only be occupied by non-minors WITH IDs.

So in a last ditch effort to get something, however miniscule, out of the evening except heartache, we sit outside the bar on the sidewalk and listen to the show through the window (as well as we can hear with traffic going by, which is usually enough for me to tell what song is being played and enjoy it--a little).  We luck out when one of the cars parked on the street right in front leaves and Josh runs to repark our car in the empty spot, so we get to sit in the not-quite-as-cold car for the rest of the show.  I watch people trickle out of the bar as the night goes along and I want to scream at them, "What are you doing??  Evil Guy actually let you in and now you're leaving?  Voluntarily?  What's wrong with you?!"  But I don't.  The band plays all three of the songs I really wanted to hear, which thrills me at the same time as it breaks my heart, because I can't really hear them.

I haven't cried so much in a long time, especially in public.  I'm not sure why I was
SO upset about the whole thing, but I really was.  Just a few of the things that bothered me:
a)  I didn't get to see a group I really wanted to see.
b)  I had already paid to see the group I didn't get to see.
c)  It would have been bad enough to have gotten nothing for the $35 those tickets cost, but what it actually felt like was that we spent $35 for an evening of hell.
d)  The Evil Guy just didn't seem at all understanding or sympathetic to the situation, even when I was standing right in front of him with tears streaming down my face, visibly very upset.  I'm not saying he should have let me in if it's the law not to, but he sure as heck could have been nicer about everything.  (And I'm pretty positive it wasn't the law that decided I couldn't even be in the same building but outside the drinking establishment itself.  What pooey.)  It is this that is going to get them (Martyrs', 3855 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL) a very carefully worded letter explaining to them why they will never have my business again, no matter who they book.

And, to Olly and Gale:  Please come back to this country for more than nine dates before you put another album out.  I would very much like to see you.  Thank you.
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Thursday, October 16, 2003
"FOX stands for 'Cubs suck'."
Baseball season is officially over.
We shall not speak of it again.

I have finally been called.
Okay, so technically they called my husband and not me (which is SO not the way it should have been, by the way), but I'm speaking metaphorically here.  Beginning this morning and for the next seven days, we are officially a Nielsen household.  That's right!  For once I can put my TV obsession to good use!  Finally my voice will be heard!  Yes, I will singelhandedly increase the ratings of "Ed," "Gilmore Girls," and "Alias!"  Just try to stop me!  I am seriously so jazzed I get to do this.  It's a bit of a dream come true, as silley as that sounds.  Hey, we all have things we love, and this is one of mine.  You don't like it, take it up with my lawyer.
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Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Oh, right, and the important stuff...
1.  Happy Birthday, Josh!  No worries about being sung to at choir now.
2.  We are skipping choir rehearsal tonight to watch Game 7.  That's right.  We are going to hell.
3.  I fully expect to be physically ill tonight out of sheer nervousness.  I cannot believe how much this matters.  It really, really, REALLY does.
4.  Which reminds me, Joshua--are you sure you want to have your birthday pizza and apple cream cake tonight?  Are we really going to feel like eating it?
5.  We got ten dollars in the mail today.  I will explain tomorrow why that makes me so happy.

Ciao.  And may God bless the Cubbies. (Yes, I believe He cares even about the little things.)
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Concerts of the week.
A word to the wise (or, perhaps more to the stupid in this case): if a major city concert venue says on their website that arriving via public transportation is strongly recommended, one would be wise to heed that warning.  For if one doesn't, one might spend almost an hour driving around in an increasingly desperate search for any parking spot within fifteen blocks of the venue.  Who would do such an idiotic thing, you ask?  Why, not us, that's for sure.  But if we had it might have gone a little something like this.  Hypothetically.

We first arrived at the Vic Theatre in Chicago around the time the doors opened at 6:30 Saturday night.  Unfortunately, we were in our car at the time and needed to stash it somewhere, as it has been my experience that most theatres won't let cars in.  Something about "limited space" inside or some nonsense.  Whatever.  So we drove around looking for free street parking.  Or metered street parking that didn't have a two-hour time limit.  Or a paid lot.  We passed up the last spot in a lot about four blocks from the theatre after the attendant told us it would cost $25 to park there.  Yeah, that was gonna happen.  About fifteen minutes later I was panicking as we drove around aimlessly by then only half an hour until the show actually started.  All of a sudden that $25 wasn't looking so bad compared to not finding any parking at all and missing the show we had invested $37 in.  Miraculously, we found a lot about ten blocks away (only a few blocks from Wrigley Field--where the game was NOT going on... if it had been we would have been totally and completely screwed as far as parking) that cost us *only* $13.  On our very brisk walk to the Vic we paused for a moment at the aforementioned intersection because there was a big (and I mean huge) screen TV set up at one of the corners with the Cubs game on.  So even though we were running quite late, we stayed to watch one of Sammy's at bats (he walked :P) with a few dozen other Cubs fans who were milling about.  (As a side note, it turns out that the reason the parking situation was so dreary that night was because there were so many people in the Wrigleyville area to watch the game at the local sports bars, etc.  There were lots of people everywhere and a real sort of energy in the air--very cool atmosphere.)

We made it to the theatre a little before 8, but still had to stand in the will call line to get our tickets (which they couldn't find at first--another moment of panic), and then in another line to wait to be frisked.  One of the security chicks (girls get girls, guys get guys) spent a good three or four minutes digging through my purse, taking out lotion and asking what it was, taking out LIPSTICK and asking what it was (?), but barely glancing at the radio and headphones I had in there to keep up on the game to make sure that was what they really were.  And I think she might have confiscated some of my gum (?).  We found seats (in the balcony, but not a bad view considering how late we came in to a general admission show) a few minutes after 8, and the second opening act (Jump, Little Children) was already performing.  The first opener, Charlotte Martin, had apparently gone on half an hour before the scheduled start (no idea why), so we completely missed her.  Too bad, since I had heard good things about her.  Jump was potentially cool, since they had an upright acoustic bass, accordian, and cello, but I honestly didn't pay too close attention to them what with the Cubs game on the radio and, thankfully, on a TV out in the mezzanine bar area behind the balcony.

I do not use too many parentheses.

But when Howie Day finally went on, it was time (for me, anyway) to ignore the game.  This is the first tour he's ever done with a backing band--everything else has been just him and a guitar and lots and lots of effects pedals, and I was pretty well blown away.  In the four days since his new album had come out I had listened to it over and over so I would know the songs come Saturday, and I was not disappointed.  His last encore was my favorite song of the new album, and the one song Howie put down his guitar for and played piano.  It could not have ended on a more perfect note, and his whole set was a total thrill for me.  (It's always nice to be not disappointed by a concert when you've never seen the artist live before and so don't know what to expect *cough*Evanescence*cough*.  He did do two old songs ("Sorry, So Sorry" and "Ghost") in his trademark solo-looping-effects style, and it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen live.  (Incidentally, Kaly, if you've never seen his solo live performance DVD that came with my Madrigals EP, you must see it--it is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.)

We left the theatre to a nasty, COLD rain, in which we proceeded to walk/run the ten blocks back to our car (mostly along North Halsted, which we began to have a strong suspicion was, um, how do I put this...  a "mostly male" neighborhood?  I will refrain from details.  And you're welcome.

Okay, quickly on to Sunday night.  We drove to Madison (again) to Luther's Blues (again).  The concert started half an hour late, and Leona Naess was fine (I have one of her CDs but am not a major fan).  Then Josh Rouse came out (yay!).  And after only about 20 minutes of down time (double yay!), which is maybe the least I've ever experienced at a real concert (non-festival).  I didn't know his own album as well as I knew Howie's, because I don't own it yet, but I knew enough that it was a very enjoyable concert.  And he did more old songs than I expected him to, which was a very pleasant surprise--especially since he actually did one of my two favorite songs, which I never thought I would hear, and two of my three second-tier-favorite songs.  He played most of the songs I really wanted to hear, which is pretty amazing when someone has put out four full albums and one EP.  I was pretty thrilled with the set list.  He also looked really cool in a jean jacket and a brown leather sort of cab-driver cap that went with the whole 70's feel of his latest album.  The one real bummer of the night (other than the fact that poor Josh, who didn't care one snit about the concert but came with me anyway out of the goodness of his heart, got sick from the cigarette smoke :() was that I was very much looking forward to finally being able to pick up a couple of his impossible-to-find-anywhere-but-online CDs, quite possibly for only about $10 apiece.  No such luck.  Sure, they had shirts and, of course, panties, for his new album, but not an actual album in sight, old or new.  Huh?  I need someone to explain this to me.  I always thought much of the point of touring was to sell more albums, and what better way than to sell them yourself at those very concerts, giving your fans a price break while at the same time making more of a profit than if a middle-man were involved (much like selling a house FSBO ;)).  Anyway, as a result, you all can expect a Josh Rouse album or two to be on my Christmas list (I have to get them eventually or I'll feel too guilty about having downloaded the songs).

So four concerts down, one to go.  In Chicago (ugh).  If I can convince Josh to go to what will probably be another smoky club with another sleepy act he doesn't care about (Turin Brakes) this Friday.  And if we do go, though, I guarantee we will take the El.  Because I know none of you want to sit through another long-winded story about looking for parking.  Just tell me I'm wrong.
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Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Point for discussion.
As a person who is already a fan of a paticular musical artist, are you somehow predisposed to like future music from that artist moreso than you would if it sounded exactly the same (vocals and all) but was by a different artist? Mmmmm. Discuss.
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Monday, October 13, 2003
Okay, so the deal is that this is the deal...
When our server hard drive crashed on Friday, I lost quite a few things, like all comments, pages, and photos since August 2 (which is stupidly the last time we backed up everything on our server). This also includes Kaly's comments since August 2. We will be implementing a system shortly with which we will have every little thing written to two drives simultaneously, so everything will always be backed up. It's going to take me several days to remake the new archive pages I had and reinsert any photos into my blog (not that that's going to be noticed by any of you likely), but I'm afraid the comments are probably gone for good.

Later today or tomorrow I will be back with What I Did With My Weekend This Weekend, including two concert reviews, a panic-stricken search for parking in Chicago, and how we watched one of Sammy's at bats at the intersection of N. Clark and W. Roscoe in Wrigleyville Saturday night.
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Wednesday, October 08, 2003
At least I got to listen to my brand-spanking-new Howie Day CD on the way to and from...
Sometimes a person is inclined to do ridiculous things in order to get Mountain Dew LiveWire.  Like drive up to a Milwaukee suburb to see what turns out to be a very bad movie at the cheap theater just because the Walmart across the street from said theater is the only place you have been able to find LiveWire in the last couple of weeks.  And you get to the Walmart only to discover that they have since sold out of the LiveWire they had when you were last there.  So you basically drove half an hour to see a very bad movie.  (I will go into more detail if anyone for some reason has a morbid curiosity about in what specific ways Uptown Girls is horrid.)

Back to more pleasant things, I have since been informed that the Fareway in Ames still has "plenty of LiveWire."  Therefore, this is a specific request for moM and daD to buy us three or four 12-packs and maybe a couple of 2-liters.  We will pay you back and take them off your hands in about a month or so.  Thank you muchly.
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Tuesday, October 07, 2003
Recipe of the Day.
Okay, Kaly, here you go.

MOM'S SPICED CIDER
1 gallon apple cider
2-3 cinnamon sticks (~3 in. long)
~6 whole cloves
~4 whole allspice
Simmer 30 minutes minimum, 45 min. to an hour for full flavor.
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Monday, October 06, 2003
Marlins, here we come!
I trust you all watched the Cubs beat up on the Braves last night, so there can be no bad moods today.  :)

Random Josh Quote of the Day.
"'Full House" trivia keeps me up at night."

Random Request of the Day.
If you happen to find any 12-packs or 2-liters of Mountain Dew LiveWire where you live (the orange, "Only Available Summer 2003!" variant) and you will be seeing us any time within the next few months, please buy some for us.  Thank you.

Random Golf Score of the Day.
Mine, yesterday, the first time we actually went out on a course:  67*.

Random Facts About Your Friendly Host, Beth-Annie.
I like to be chilly when I go to bed at night so I can snuggle under my covers.  I can't stand sleeping in the heat during the summer, and in the winter, no flannel jammies for me.  I'd rather wear shorts and a tank top and just have three blankets piled on top of me.

*par 27 course.
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Friday, October 03, 2003
The Wrigley Field scoreboard has never been hit by a ball??

Last night was the worst episode of "Friends" I have seen in a very long time.  It was not funny (I really laughed maybe twice, which is extremely low for "Friends"), it had not-good storylines, and just when you thought Ross couldn't get any more annoying, he reaches new heights.  Oy.  I hope this was not a sign of things to come for the rest of this final seasonette.

+++

"Ed" had its worst rating ever for a first-run episode this week.  I am scared.

+++

What is it about seeing an artist in concert that makes you appreciate them even more than you did before?  Is it that you feel more connected to the music because you have now had a real, in-person, shared experience with the musicians who make said music?  I don't know, but this happens to me a lot.  I came to love Over the Rhine through their concerts, and now I am going through a bit of Guster-obsession following that show.  I simply love them.  And I've found recordings of at least four different Guster songs by university a capella groups (Brown, Harvard, Tufts, Stanford).  Very cool.  I am starting to understand why their fans are so rabid.  Besides, how can you not love a group that has links to The Onion, McSweeney's, AND Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers on ther website?

+++

Okay, here's the deal.  Small kitchen appliances that have a cooking surface (georgeforemanesque grills, waffle irons, etc.) should make said cooking surface removable so that it can be immersed in water for cleaning purposes.  It is a major patootie pain to have to clean all kinds of grease and gook off when you can only use a very small amount of water to rinse it off.  How rude.

+++

We now own shares of Motorola stock.  How scary is that?
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Thursday, October 02, 2003
I loves me the Guskids.
There is really no way to describe how Absolutely Fabulous the Guster concert was last night, from the ridiculously insane energy of "Airport Song" and "Fa Fa" to the completely acoustic (literally--no mikes or amps) final encore sung at the edge of the stage to a hushed theater, it was all just so way awesome. And it's times like these I get really bummed that no one has any idea what I'm talking about. I am all alone in my world of music. Oh how that sucks.
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Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Hi.
The Cubbies won their first game against the Braves last night. I was so nervous toward the end of the game that I was actually feeling a little sick (Josh, too... we care way too much about sports... but only certain sports, so it's okay). Perhaps it's a good thing we will be at the Guster concert for the last half of tonight's game. (Guster! Yay! I am so so so excited!) This morning at 8am tickets went on sale for the NLCS games in Chicago (should we beat the Braves) and Josh spent over 45 minutes straight simultaneously on the internet and phone in the hopes of scoring tickets. Didn't happen. Not really all that surprising when you have hundreds of thousands of people all fighting for the same thing at the same time. You have to get really lucky and we, well, didn't. Bummer. On the upside, though, now we aren't out $50 for standing room only tickets.
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