I haven’t written much recently. I know. 2006 was a nice year though. No one I love died and everyone stayed fairly healthy though I had a scary bout of pneumonia. Coughing blood? Not fun. I had images of Victorian women succombing to consumption running through my mind when that happened. But it wasn’t quite that bad for me, just lots of coughing over a prolonged period led to some burst blood vessels in the lungs compunded by the pneumonia.

So 2006 wasn’t off to a great start, but ah well, it passed and echinacea is fabulous. But things soon picked up and we went through some good upheaval. Got busted for having Spooky which turned out to be a good thing because it was the catalyst (geddit? CATalyst?) for getting us into our new apartment. It’s small but it’s got a lot of bonuses (gorgeous stove, garage, ground floor – we still marvel at the novelty of being able to get out of the car, take ten steps and be inside.) and best of all we’re allowed to have Spooks, so it’s all good.

We did some travelling with Aunt Jo and hung out with the fam in Montana. So bloody gorgeous there. I love the mountains. Amazing how much Great Falls is similar to Grand Island – apart from the dirty great river running through it.

Shannon started her sophomore year and is growing up so fast. She’s such a beautiful kid – er, young lady. She’s driving a bit more and I’ve let her take the car on her own (just to the store 3 blocks away) and THAT was nervewracking, but she’s a good driver and I want her to be confident when she goes for her license this year. *gulp*

The holiday season was very nice. Quiet, but nice.

It was a busy year, full of lots to do. I’m hoping 2007 goes just as well.

So I have some far away rellies who want to take a peep into the new place. So I got it in my head to use my dinky digicam that records 20 seconds of video and make a bunch of clips.

And then I got a little crazy with the Windows Moviemaker 🙂

Anyway, it’s shaky and sort of dark even though I had every light in the place on. But this was fun to make 🙂

I’m having fun decorating the new place for Christmas. If I could just keep Spooky from eating the lower branches of our tree it would be perfect.

But this year is kind of special. Not only are we in the new place and digging it (OMG a GARAGE!) but this year I’ve found some of my mother’s decorations. It’s rather nice having those out. AND I can put up lights outside! I feel like such a grownup.

Pretty eh? First time we’ve done all white lights on the tree too. I kind of like it.

Another decoration of Mom’s I’ve got out (I don’t know why we put these things out really, I mean it’s only Shannon and me, but it’s just *nice*. Like putting fuzzy slippers on, curling up in a chair with a steaming mug of cocoa and reading a favourite book) is the Ballroom scene. It’s a bunch of Victorian figurines dancing around a ballroom via magnets while tinny Christmas music plays. It’s kind of sweet to watch actually. Hypnotizing even.

Just ask Spooky:

I can’t keep her away from it when it’s on. Look closely. Little bugger is balancing on her hind legs like a meerkat. It’s most amusing.

So what’s on the books for us… We’ll be off to Cousin Gunter and new Cousin Beca’s wedding reception in a couple of weeks. I’m ChaCha-ing my ass off to make Xmas this year extra nice. If you haven’t tried ChaCha, check it out. It’s pretty nice, especially if you’re not very tech savvy and Googling does your head in. Search via ChaCha and let a guide do all the work for you 🙂

Signing off for now. Need to ponder a new design for Running On…

A little protesting going on today when President Bush arrived in GI to pump up the Red team for the election on Tuesday. I was feeling curious, especially since the event center is just down the street. So the kidlet and I wandered over and caught a bunch of protestors in action as well as a shot or two of Air Force One and the motorcade.

yes their signs do say, “Welcome President Douche Bag.”

There was a bit of a tussle when we were told to move back behind some yellow police tape and yet the people who weren’t protesting were not asked to move back. A few 20-somethings began shouting about it which pissed off some elderly folk and the Secret Service had to come over and smooth things over. Agent Jeremy (I heard him answer his phone) simply dared the protestors to go join the non-protestors.

So they did. It was pretty cool. There were extra signs laying around and Someone asked the kid if she wanted to hold one, so she did. I held one too but I’ll admit I was just more interested in seeing all the fuss. Mine just said ‘Bring ’em Back Home.’

Anyway it was a fun thing to do on a Sunday 🙂

After such a long wait, the Big Night has come and gone and I’m suffering from post-concert letdown which was exacerbated by the 6 hour drive home.

But man, what a show. What a freaking awesome show. It was so good, so… surreal to be mere feet away from this band I love. I had forgotten what it’s like to see a favourite band in a small, intimate place. It’s been… well several years. And the whole evening was one giant flashback to my days of going to alternative clubs with the children decked in black lipstick and liner, lace and the ever present Docs and leather. Some things don’t seem to change I guess.

It was fun to share this with my daughter as well 🙂 It was her first experience in such an atmosphere herself and I’m pretty sure she enjoyed it. What killed me was how she quickly saw through a lot of the bullshit people talk when they’re out and about. She has a quick wit and cutting cynicism. She does me proud 🙂

So beginning with a longass drive to Denver we arrived at our hotel, The Embassy Suites (Or NBC Suites according a Shan when she was ickle 🙂 in Centennial. We explored our lovely rooms, she hit the pool and fitness room for a bit while I showered and got ready. By the time we were ready to go, it was still early but this turned out to be a good thing because of course, I got lost on the way to the Gothic.

Eventually we arrived and found ourselves in a long line of goths, emos, normals, halloween costumes, and the usual assortment of pretentious twits you find out shows like this (I say that out of love because I used to be a pretentious twit when I was at a show with all my friends. We were loud, we said outrageous things for shock value and generally acted like morons. These days I find it rather endearing.)

When they (finally) let us in (after I had to prove I was Shan’s mother – she was under the 16+ age limit) we made our way to the floor in front of the stage. It was crowded but not too much and we had the not-so-brilliant idea of hanging back until the opening act was done and then shoving our way up to the front between bands.

But we realized this was not going to be the best plan, so during the opening DJ guy, we began inching our way up front instead. Shannon made me proud again by being fearless when it came to scrambling towards any hole that opened in front of us, dragging me along behind her. By the time the main opening band, She Wants Revenge, was done we were just about at the barrier 🙂 It was a hard battle and some very short girl with a mohawk was pissed I wouldn’t let her in front of me. I couldn’t because I couldn’t take a chance of Shan getting separated from me. And frankly, if she wanted to see the band, knowing she was very short, she could have gone to the balcony level and had a perfect view. I am not nice at concerts. I’d forgotten that 🙂 I’m quite a bitch in fact.

This show more than others. I wanted to be as close as possible. I’d come a long way and waited a long time to see them. I could quite possibly never get another chance so sorry mohawkgirl. It’s every fan for herself.

Another thing I found amusing was the tiny girls at the barrier who kept getting pissed off because people were *gasp* touching them! They would suddenly shove themself backwards in anger trying to get people to back off. I had to laugh. I mean really, if you going to position yourself at the very front of a crowd, all of whom are huge fans of the band, how can you not expect to pretty much get squished. I couldn’t put my arms down the whole show but did I bitch? No. I had dancy-boy to my left who decided to bounce off me every other downbeat. Did I bitch? No. He was just having a good time. As long as I can see the boys in the band, you can pour beer down my back and stomp on my feet.

Anyway, the show… She Wants Revenge was pretty good. Justin Warfield (last heard by me doing a rap on a Placebo song called “Spite & Malice”) fronts this band and instead of rapping, it turned out to be a sort of Bauhaus/Post Bauhaus Peter Murphy vibe with a dance twist. The song that caught my attention the most was… I think it might be called, “Black Liner” maybe? not sure. Anyway I liked it a lot. Shannon prefered one they did called, “Out of COntrol.”

Anyway, they were great. Good band to listen to before Placebo.

And after about a half an hour set tear-down and rebuild, it was time for my boys to hit the stage. First Steve snuck his way to his drumkit amid the shrieks and applause. Then Stef casually wandered onstage looking like pure sex. Man oh man this guy knows every rock and roll pose in the book. It was very hard to take my eyes off of him. We were on his side of the stage as well. It was a small stage though so when I could tear my eyes off Stef, they were riveted on Brian. He walked on stage like he owned it, slung a guitar strap over his shoulder, and they went right into, “Infra-red” from their new album.

I cannot describe how it felt to be there. To see them live after all this time. It was surreal. It was extraordinary. It was satisfying. I don’t have any idea of the setlist. I was too busy screaming, dancing, snapping pix, fending off mohawk girl, grinning like an idiot and generally having a total blast. Stef vamped all over the stage, striking pose after pose while Brian sang his little heart out and looked just as delectable.

The only slight disappointment was that they didn’t come back for encores 🙁 I don’t know why but I got a glimpse of the setlist and it didn’t show any planned. I don’t know if the notate encore songs on the setlists, but these didn’t have anything listed after the final song. Looking back, the show did feel sort of rushed. But that could just me. Who knows. I’ll look around the net and see what other Denver-ites who were there thought.

But that minor disappointment wasn’t enough to ruin the experience. I’m still so very glad we got to go see them. I’m flat broke, but it was so worth it. It just felt good to go, you know?

[EDIT] Someone posted the Denver setlist, so here ’tis:

Placebo set list from Denver, Colorado Show (28 Oct)

1. Infra-red
2. Meds
3. Because I Want You
4. Drag
5. Sleeping with Ghosts
6. Song to Say Goodbye
7. Every you, Every Me
8. One of a Kind
9. Special K
10. The Bitter End
11. Running Up That Hill (Kate Bush cover)
12. Taste in Men
13. Twenty Years

I’m also seeing a few other people complaining about the short show and no encores. I feel a little bit short-changed considering that I’m sure I’m not alone in that I’ve waited years to see them live and drove 6 hours to see them. But the flipside of that is I could have not seen them at all so I guess I should shutup about it already. Maybe something happened and they couldn’t play longer or something. Who knows. But if I get the chance again, I’ll go see them again. I loved what I got 🙂

I’ve uploaded my digicam pix to Spotted at the Paper. Cell pix to come 🙂 So glad cameras were allowed 🙂

That’s where I’m going, along with those people who talk at the theater and child molesters and I’ll tell you why…

We parked near the garden center at Walmart and walked in the doors. Just inside the door there lay a beautiful, dazed little bird on its back. It had apparently slammed into the sliding door and it looked like its life was slowly ebbing away.

My daughter gasped loudly and said, ‘There’s a bird on the floor!” and two sales associates rushed over to see – each women; each one’s heart breaking just a little to see this sad little bird die from a wind gust it couldn’t handle.

It’s tail moved slowly back and forth and its eyes were wide open in a kind of glazed astonishment. My daughter and I began to walk away, not wanting to witness its final moments.

As we made our way into the main store, I blurted out, “‘E’s not dead, ‘E’s PINING.”

My daughter burst out with a guffaw that echoed around the huge garden area and then immediately clamped both hands over her mouth as if it was disrespectful.

I looked at her in horror.

“Oh now I’m definitely going to hell.”

She replied, “We’re both going anyway Mom. We read Harry Potter.”

“Oh yeah.”

And then we carried on with the rest of the dead parrot skit 🙂

Getting close to bedtime and it’s time to round up the cat so I can boot her out of my room…

Except she’s nowhere to be found. I start looking all over for her. I’m calling her name, rattling her food dish, peeking in every crevasse (and in this small apartment it does not take long) and still no sign. She’s not under my bed. She’s not curled up in her favourite chair in the living room. I enlist Shan’s help.

She didn’t worm her way into a closet or nose open the kitchen cupboard and clamber inside. Shan even checked my closet which hadn’t been opened all evening. Hey, you never know. We start to panic. Did she slip outside? It’s new to her here. How would she know to find our apartment? Scenes from every movie about animals making epic journies flit through my head.

No sign of her outside. It’s cold out. She’ll freeze if she got out there 🙁 I grab her bag of treats hoping she’ll come padding up from where ever she is when she hears the familiar rattle.

As I walk through my room shaking the bag, a little head pops out of my damn duffle bag. “Is that food?”

The little weasel 🙂

My guess is she was trying to be slick. I spent the better part of last night squirting the hell out of her for scratching at my bedroom door every 5 minutes. I got very little sleep and had to resort to shutting her in the laundry room and then toss and turn the rest of the night feeling sorry for her.

So she’s obviously trying to hide in my room hoping I’ll forget about her and when I’m juuuust about asleep, she’ll pounce on my head.

Foiled by the treats though 🙂 hehe.