Love is an open door...

My kid loves Frozen, what can you do?

Friday marks my ten year wedding anniversary. Double digits. Holy cow.
It has been quite a ride. I mean we got married, moved away to a strange land known as Tennessee, and I started grad school. Husband changed careers and worked at Dollywood.
We moved back to California, where I finished my degree and then started another one. We had a baby! Moved back to the Bay Area and are going to attempt to put some roots down for the long haul.

Me and the Hus are a pretty solid team. I think we try to keep things balanced by splitting responsibilities and always laughing together.

Our kid is the love of our life, but I can't think of my life without my partner.
As he will tell you I am super easy to live with and not a dominant personality (clearing of throat), but he takes it in stride, because lucky for him our daughter is the same way.
With that being said, I have the pleasure of living with two individuals who are very "particular" about how things should be--- the way the bed is made, socks on feet, and the list could go on.

Anyway! Ten years of being married to my best friend is alright with me. I got him slippers for an anniversary present. This may not sound like much, but there is a back story. Since the wee one came into our lives we haven't gotten each other presents, but I thought with this being a "big one," a present might be nice. I also thought a present would be nice for me and sent him some links of things I want. Yep, marital bliss.

Happy Anniversary Hunny. You are aces in my book.

Raindrops keeping falling on my head.

I wish.
I am unhealthy obsessed with the drought. As a native of the great state of California it enrages me that there is not more coverage and action towards finding alternatives, aggressive restrictions and the like to help our dry state.
Typically, I blame the millennials for everything (usually in a "get off my lawn" high water pants, shaking my fist, kids and their rock music kind of way), but I think that there is major denial about the dire situation our poor state is in...
I think fast forward action and making people aware of it EVERY day is what needs to be done.
Not to sound like the crazy guy at the Civic Center BART station who yells about the apocalypse or anything, but I want news agencies to shove it down the throats of people.
Don't get me wrong, I was very interested in Angelina's lady parts, but did NPR have to report it?
There is an opportunity here for people to come together and do right.
As someone who was born and raised in  California, I am a bit arrogant- because I am a native.
I say drive around in your dirty cars, let your lawns die, and demand that fracking in California stop.
Let us all become mini-conservationists. I am sure someone can make an app for that.

http://californiansagainstfracking.org/
http://saveourwater.com/

Fashion. Turn to left. Fashion. Right!

Today on BART I noticed that I was the most colorfully dressed person in the car.

I was wearing a pink corduroy peacoat and a scarf with a bunch of different colors on it. 

Looking around almost everyone had on black, brown, dark blue, or grey. There wasn't even the shocking bright colored hairstyle on the alternaperson.

I know I have been away for awhile, but did living in southern California encourage me to wear bright colors?

I can't gauge what people are wearing on the students, because many of them are fashion students.

With that being said there are a lot of earth tones happening in the library at this very minute.

My daughter loves to wear all the same color and is not afraid to match up polka dots and stripes and Hello Kitty pants.Yes, she is 3 and I would look like a freakin' crazy person if I dressed like her.

Take today for instance, she is out and about with a sweater, tights, and sneakers on... 

Yep. Outfit complete. Next.

I think that I want to continue wearing bright colors. I mean I don't want to dress like Pippi Longstocking or anything. Well, she did have some kicking tights. 

Terrapin Station

I have never been in a band that played multiple sets.
My punk rock ethos is 25 minutes of rawk and exit the stage.
Last Saturday I stepped out of my comfort zone. The band played three sets. Yes. I did that.
The sets were about 35 minutes or so. It was nice being out of my comfort zone. Also, it was nice being warmed up. Often I don't feel totally warmed up until our second to last song.
My back was sore the next day, but we did bring some serious rock.
A highlight was asking a patron to come up and sing with us. I am pretty sure nobody knew him.
Did I love playing 3 sets? No. Would I do it again? Sure.

Vacation all I ever wanted, vacation had to get away...

I just got back from a fun weekend in Tahoe with some friends.
My friend, who also blogs, beat me to the punch and wrote a really great entry. Here it is http://hulainthesunset.blogspot.com/2014/09/tahoe-bubble.html.
It was really nice to hang with my pals. I have know all these jokers between 15-29 years and it was nice to be with them.
Some things I would like to add...
My daughter is really sensitive. I mean super duper sensitive. Some Dora the Explorer episodes are too much for her and she also cries if another kid starts crying. She doesn't like the water (lake, ocean, river), or sand. She also takes a long time to warm up to other kids. And she is afraid of dogs.
Right. So why don't you stick her in a cabin with dogs, kids, and by a lake with sand?
It was not my intention to take her out comfort zone completely, and for the most part she did pretty darn good.
She also is a great traveler. This came in handy because we caught some Burning Man traffic on the way back and it took us over 11 hours to get home.
Here are a few photos.

Bears are very welcoming.

Little one on "Sparky."

 A pant suit the husband would not let me purchase.

Us in Lee Vining last year.

Lil' one in Lee Vining this year.

Ruby Tuesday

Over the years many, many, many of my friends have supported me and my musical endeavors. 

IDA often played after midnight in the middle of the week and there were a group of folks who were always willing to stay and support. 

With the transition (and drummer change) from IDA to Vida there were some additions and subtractions to the group, but the 11:45 spot at the Cocodrie was still ours to play. 

After Vida, there was a hiatus (about 7-8 months), where I played with a band that never played a show (with me anyway).

Pirx the Pilot came next...there were a lot of shows (often at punk houses, so those shows were done by nightfall) and a lot of support.

There was also a production of "Hedwig" and other musical projects that saw a lot of friends coming out to listen to my musical mojo.

I moved away and relocated to the Los Angeles area. In the past 6 years, I have played in 3 bands. 

Since I am in my forties (ah-em) and don't have as many friends in the area, my support system has dwindled to just a few people.

Last year, I was seeing my really good friend open up for the Cult at House of Blues. A person whom I have known for almost 25 years was there. He was either a roommate or neighbor of a drummer for IDA. 

He ALWAYS went to see us play. Chameleon on Tuesday night? No problem. Upstairs at the DNA on a Sunday? Handled. Some crazy art gallery holding an illegal party? Yep!

 He never asked to get in free and actually looked like he was enjoying himself. 

I write that last sentence, because I had many friends who would only come see me play IF I put them on the list. 

Anywho, we caught up and with the help of social media (good ol' fbook), we became friends again. 

My band (Stingray Barbie) was playing a show and I can't remember if I announced it or messaged him, but he showed up!

He lives far. I mean he lives in the general geographic area, but it is far. 

For a year now he has come to almost every show we have played. 

He is also a musician and the last piece I heard was a frenetic jazzy slow dance with an electronic hangover. 

My point is that he is the ultimate fan. Without a word he will show up to a show, stand in front, and thank us for the rock. 

When you are in a band that doesn't always bring in a crowd on Tuesday night. It is really nice to see a familiar face who honestly wants to be there. 

Where the streets have no name...

I have played in bands for a long time. I have had the pleasure of playing across the U.S. and parts of Canada. Some shows were always great (thanks Milwaukee), some shows were surprisingly fun (Elko, NV), and then there are the crazy ones.

 I am looking at you Paw Paw, Michigan.

I played a show in Kent, Ohio and besides someone asking if we had a keyboard amp, before the show the “promoter” asked us to help him clear out what seemed like 50 old bicycles out of the club. There was also the show in Kirksville, Missouri when we arrived back at the punk house we were staying at and found much of the furniture on the roof. This was also the place with a broken toilet. Anyway, I digress; the point is that usually the weird shows or crazy stories surrounding them are not usually where I lived.

Last night we were on the bill of a new place. The flyer indicated that there were going to be multiple stages and food. Tickets were being sold on a website and the communications from the promoter seemed to indicated promise to a good show.

When I drove up to the unmarked building I could tell it was a dump. I don’t mean graffiti on the walls or scary bathrooms, I mean like a dump.

There were three rooms with filthy white carpet that were where the musicians were supposed to perform. The DJ room had a table; the “acoustic” room had a PA that one would use for calling out Bingo, and the “rock” room well… Here are some photos.

Off the rock room was a smaller room with a two kids and a dog watching TV. There was a woman wandering around who seemed to be on speed and a dude with a bunch of keys who put up a banner outside with the name of the club.

There was no PA (see photo) but an amp with a microphone plugged into it. Don’t worry it was not too loud, because there was no power on the stage. No one really talked to us until 30 minutes after they were suppose to open the doors.

One of the bands packed up and left and we followed suit. As we were leaving a guy with some set times on a piece of paper was connecting extension cords to get power to the amp.

On the way back to my vehicle, I saw a dude getting a handy Joe in his car. 

Rock and roll. (Photos by Stingray Barbie)