fire dance lands mom in handcuffs

since this IS theoretically a fire dancing blog... and i haven't posted a single fire-related item in a long time...

this story just makes me laugh. and cry at the same time. what the hell was she doing out there without a safety, who could perform crowd control??

good lord, woman!

dumbass people like her are the ones who get allllll the rest of us good kids in trouble with johnny fire marshal, just because they don't like the looks of it.

blogger blocked at US border

huh? this is a bit much for me to deal with right now.

on a more gentle note, new shoes make a happy, happy day.

i survived the sf bay area stadium tour 2005

so, we've finally come to the end of the Great SF Bay Area Stadium Tour 2005. at least, that's what it WAS. for me, anyway. too many shows, too many big venues. it's kind of a shame they all had to come to town at the same time, because it's been a little overwhelming, but what else can you do? i mean, you have to see them all, right?

shows included:
bauhaus - warfield, san francisco
U2 - oakland arena
rolling stones & metallica - sbc park, san francisco
depeche mode - hp pavillion, san jose
nine inch nails - oakland arena

roundup follows...

total shows seen = 5
within a span of = 3.5 weeks
total amount spent on tickets (for two) = somewhere around $1000

most spent on a regular-sized beer = $7.50, sbc park, san francisco
most spent on a cocktail = $6.75, san jose arena
longest ladies' room line = sbc park
quickest ladies' room line = san jose arena
worst beer selection = sbc park
best beer selection = oakland arena
worst seats = depeche mode, san jose
best seats = NIN, oakland arena
least pre-party or tailgaiting opportunities = U2, oakland arena
best tailgaiting = depeche mode, san jose arena
favorite show = rolling stones & metallica, sbc park
least favorite show = bauhaus, warfield, san francisco

in chronological order, let's take a look at the rock, or lack of it, that filled my life in the past few weeks.

=====
Bauhaus
Warfield, San Francisco
10.25.05

you've seen my previous posts, yes? clearly, this show was not my favorite. they sounded good, sure. they sounded as good as they do in my living room. at least i can take a beer onto my couch in my own living room. there's a lot to love about bauhaus, and just as much to love about love & rockets and all of the other offshoots, but this show was not worth $45 a ticket.

=====
U2
Oakland Arena
11.09.05

mmm. yes, you've probably seen my post about this show, too. lots of posturing, kneeling, arm-raising, and pleading by bono, some cool light effects, and some pretty crappy $200 seats that wound up being so far to the side they were practically behind the stage.

=====
Rolling Stones & Metallica
SBC Park, San Francisco
11.15.05

they rocked. they totally rocked. i can't believe they're still alive. i can't believe they're still SO ALIVE. of course, i'm talking about the stones. metallica were eh, fine - nothing moved me, nothing turned me off; i tapped my foot and sang along, didn't really feel like worshipping the devil. the stones, however, were devilish, funky, and i swear to god, those old men are sexy. as sexy as holograms can be!

=====
Depeche Mode
HP Pavillion, San Jose
11.18.05

depeche mode were like a bunch of slithery amoebas singing through a vacuum tube, at the bottom of a fish bowl filled with screaming, gay sardines. their stage set was very cool and futuristic; their sound was AWFUL; their fans were insane!

=====
Nine Inch Nails
Oakland Arena
11.19.05

most of this show was great. the sound was perfect, our seats were amazing, the drinks were flowing - a great time! only, trent reznor looks awful with short hair, the "arty" behind-the-curtain thing was way too long and way too weird, and once dave told me that trent is not only clean but hawking Narcotics Anonymous and bragging about his NA keychain in interviews, i was over it.

phew! that's the roundup. i'm exhausted. i think it's going to be a long time before i head to another big arena show, so for now, i've left the stadium.

hahaha halloween!

oh yeah - we are pure comedy. that's michell's spaghetti head on dave, btw. everybody now: on top of spageeeeeeeetiiiiii, all covered with cheeeeeese, i lost my poor meeeeeeatbaaaaall when somebody sneeeeezed.

depth of field

spent much of the weekend playing with my new camera. it's a bit more advanced than my old one, but best of all, i get to play with things like portrait-style clear images in the front, with lovely fuzzy backgrounds. i clearly haven't perfected it yet, but that's what practice and playtime are for. more to come! as i get better! which i will!

you, too?

so, U2 put on a huge, stadium rock show. the edge strummed the right chords, bono raised his arms to the sky and dropped to his knees a lot, and the gap-clad, suv-driving, kid-having audience raised their right (white) arms and pumped their fists to the beat. the machine was well-oiled and everything proceeded as planned. until the moment when bono began his regular rant about saving the world. except this time, his eyes turned beaming, blood red, his arms and legs split their skin to reveal the steel-and-bolt robotic machinery beneath, and his head began spinning around on his neck like a top. the roof of the arena opened like a blossoming lotus, and the ultraviolet laser from the spaceship above caught the entire stage and floor-residing audience in its beam, lifted them straight into the ship, and disappeared! it happened in an instant, and the rest of us who were left were a bit shaken, but the beer stands were still open, so we hung out for a cold one, then departed. we took the train, and were home before midnight.

that pic is actually damian marley, the opening act. the alien invasion happened before i could capture the actual androids on my cameraphone.

blah-haus

heh. turns out i wasn't the only one who thought they were a sleepy show.... check out adrian's blog. he's a rockstar.

oh yeah, that *other* great concert ticket news? ummm, a couple of shows. U2 in oakland tonight, and metallica with the stones next tuesday at candlestick! rawk and roll, baby!

or rock and old. that too.

mmm... it vibrates....

so, along the lines of remembering to take care of myself first, and to remember the things i really enjoy, i spent a little money on my cube at work. two things i really enjoy are coffee and massages. so i bought a little candle that smells like "a blend of cocoa, espresso, and vanilla," that's perched right next to my monitor.

but best of all, i dropped a mere $50 on one of those super-squishy massage seats, the kind that straps over your regular chair, plugs in, and vibrates your stresses away. yes, it's a strap-on for your office chair. right now, i swear it's the best fifty bucks i've ever spent.

this is not a corporate blog

i've been feeling a little overwhelmed with work recently and have been taking some vital steps to restore me to myself. it's not just that there's so much actual, practical work to DO while i'm in the office (which there is, tons of it), it's that the whole concept of where i work and what i do has gotten to a point where IT eclipses ME sometimes, and the essential andrea gets lost in the whole stupid process.

i'm talking about my actual everyday job, the one that pays the bills. it's at a big tech company, where i work as an internal trainer. it's also in the news every day, since it's a company that many people are pretty familiar with. now, i don't want to talk too much about work - first, because i don't really feel like adhering to too many corporate blogging rules; second, because i don't want to have to create an anonymous blog just to bitch about work; and third, because i am just so sick of talking about work that i don't want to talk about it any more!

see, what happens is that other people - casual acquaintances, my friends, my mom, even my sweet and wonderful boyfriend - hear about the company from the outside and it all seems very exotic and exciting to them. i've penetrated the inner depths of a place they will never know so intimately. so it's natural that they want to talk about it with me. the downside is that they sometimes start to associate my JOB with ME. then what becomes cool about andrea is not who i am anymore, but where i work. it's no longer, "this is andrea, she's an amazing painter," but "this is andrea, she works at company x."



and i really hate that.

so i've been making some conscious, concerted efforts to remind MYSELF that my job is not me and i am not my job. to remember that andrea is that girl at the climbing gym on mondays, the one who surfs and snowboards and runs and has done yoga for ten years going now, and who even actually spins fire in a professional troupe! who IS a great painter, and a great cook, and handy with a grill and a drill and her bills, and her boy, and her books, and oh yeah, she also has a master's degree in creative writing, and she's a published poet several times over. and she's got a great costume closet, and yeah - she's made most of them, and most of all she usually just wants to hang out in the saltwater, snow, and sunshine, and drink some beers at sunset with her sweet man and her good friends.

and NOT think about work, and not BE AT work. and come up with a good, really snappy comeback for all of those people who think she's a millionaire and make stupid and ignorant comments along those lines.

i am not a millionaire, folks. not even close!



so... well, what now? back to work tomorrow morning, i suppose it's really not so bad, not as long as i remember the rest that is really so good.