The last goodbye...

On Monday the Egg overheated and after consulting with the mechanic we decided to let it go.
My mom bought the car new in 1990 and in 2002 we took ownership, and for eight years the Egg took us where we needed to go. These last two years big price tag fixes started to happen and it started showing signs of aging. The thought of "this is the beginning of the end," crossed our minds more than once and this summer after a hefty fix, we decided that the next issue that took us into the thousands financially would be the end. Many of my friends drove the Egg and had the pleasure of sitting in the backseat. I know my friend, D in Knoxville, will always have fond memories of riding to Senior Taco crammed in the back and my friend I, in SF, having to ride in the front eating his knees, because he is over 6ft tall.
When B drove it into the car lot yesterday he had to have the heater blasting to prevent it from overheating. At the end the tires were bald, the CD player was broken, the passenger door mirror was hanging on by a thread, and that is not even mentioning all of the under-the-hood issues. We now have a new vehicle, but this post is to honor, The Egg.
1990-2010

She's Crafty...

On Friday night I participated in a Rock n' Roll craft show at DiPiazza's. It was a benefit for AMP( www.amporg.org). There Goes the Neighborhood is comprised of the tenants of my building. Together we sold our wares (feather clips, key broaches, politico pins, dog scarves, aprons, felt cards, reusable lunch bags, and more) and got to watch drag kings, bands, and performers strut their stuff on stage. For about 5 years I have talked about making stuff ETSY style and until the past couple of weeks all I had produced was talk. I worked pretty hard on my stuff and made a small chunk of change. My friends involved, J and R, were an inspiration to me and I was glad to be part of the event with them. R's husbando provided our logo, which I think is adorable. Will I keep up the crafting? Good question. I just got a job and I start school in two days. Oh, did I mention I am going to put together a Christmas show? I love it when my plate is full.

Bona Drag

I can not believe that summer is almost over! The weather has been so mild it seems like an extended spring and though I am unemployed, I have been keeping myself busy enough to not blog. When people say the economy is bad and there are no jobs it is absolutely true. Although I have stopped counting I would say I have applied for a hundred jobs. A few weeks ago, I applied for jobs I was totally not qualified for (Sales Exec. at a company that sells high end men's suits to Ross type stores) to jobs I was totally over qualified for (the list is so long, but I applied for a job at a gas station convenience store) and a dog walker. So! School starts in a few weeks and I am excited. Bring on due dates and lots of reading.

Master! Master! Master of puppets is pulling your strings...

Awwww yeah!
I have done graduated. It was a long and fantastic road, but I have a master's degree in musicology.
It could not have been possible without the support of my wonderful, fantastic, and super-duper husband. His patience and awesomeness was amazing! My pals in California, Tennessee, and New York provided me with insight as well as being a great ear when I needed it. I had the best adviser in the universe, which made the whole experience worth it. In the fall I start a second master's in library science and I am pumped. Me-pencil skirt, glasses, hair in a bun-you get the visual. This has been the greatest birthday gift for me, from me. I hope all of my friends and colleagues do well in their future endeavors. For now, I am having another drink!

And all the girls say, I'm pretty fly...

Identity. How does one identify? Culturally? Ethnicity? Geographically? Sexual Orientation? Nationally? Common interests?
I am female, a musician, a budding academic and Californian. Half of my family is Canadian and I have a DIY ethic. Where do I fit in?
Or do I have to fit in? Is my absence of identity, my actual identity? Is this too postmodern? Is this post-post modern thought? Not belonging is in fact belonging? I can ask many rhetorical questions. But an answer would be a way to get off this möbius strip.

Silver Bells the red nosed Santa had a chesnuts roasting on an open fire...

I am in the home stretch of my first draft of my thesis. I have no idea if it is any good and at this time I do not care. I mean I care, but I just want my adviser to bleed all over it so I can fix it up real nice for my committee. Two weeks ago, I rented my cap and gown, joined the alumni association and Monday I will send in my Phi Kappa Phi forms. Phi Kappa Phi! I have not walked for graduation since I was in high school. My mom says watching me graduate from high school was a high point (and if you saw my transcripts from HS you would understand), but this time when I walk it will be for me. I did this! Yes, I had help (thanks B, you are the best), but it is all me. This whole graduate school adventure has been amazing...I have met some great people that I hope will be life long friends -H, J, J and J, P, E at UT- C, M, S, and L at CSULB- taken classes with some amazing professors, and learned so much about not only the discipline of musicology, but putting music in a social context, musical analysis, and of course f@%$ing Christmas songs. I might not have gotten into a PhD program, but I will have a M.A. So everyone will have to start addressing me as "Master Watson."

World Destruction- your life ain't nothing.

Yes, it is a reference to one of my favorite songs of the 1980s, Afrika Bambaata and Johnny Lydon's Time Zone. It was a 12 inch single released in 1984-I thought it was the shizzy.
Anyway! I am worried that we (humans) have made the Earth so upset with our pollution, annihilation of species, and total disregard for just about everything she will not forgive us this time. Earthquakes, volcano eruptions, extreme weather and all the other
"natural disasters" are a sign to be a little nicer to our landlord.
Unlike when I hear an easy noise coming from my car and I turn up the radio with the hope it will go away, personal conservation might be the way to go.

Freeze Frame!

Hockey Song...

Here are some pics from the Olympics so far...Having a blast! Can not believe I have only been here a couple of days. We have done so much!
Photos-
Our digs
The rings
Us in front of our first event. China vs Switzerland women's hockey
Me with a fiver!

larghetto...

It is thesis-time. I am finishing up my first draft of the first chapter, and it feels strange. Not bad strange, or good strange, just strange, strange. It is already February which is kind of crazy since it was just Christmas. I hurt my neck on New Year's Eve and in the last few days I am finally starting to feel back to myself. Since I am going to be (gulp!) forty, I guess it takes a bit longer to heal.
Saw the Residents a few days ago and I enjoyed it. It had been quite a few years since I had last gone to see and hear them, and they did not disappoint. I mean it wasn't as good as the first time I saw them twenty years ago (Cube E and King and Eye), but it was very enjoyable. Who knows when I will write again. Word!