weekend!
feeling like I have a social life is such fun! :)
so, Friday went as previously mentioned. Mike and I did manage to get free chipotle burritos - we actually opted for burrito bowls so the contents would be more homogenized. there's nothing worse than getting an all rice+sourcream bite followed by an all hotsauce+beans bite in an actual chipotle burrito. we ate these around 7pm outside the entrance to SDSU's open air theater, where the Jason Mraz concert was to begin at 7:30.
before I go on, please note that this is the *FIRST* concert of the non-classical variety that I have ever been to, so you can expect to be amused at some of my "WTF?" observations that may be obvious to you more experienced concerg-goers.
around 7:25, some opening band started playing, so we headed in. we learned that the standing room was actually behind the entire seating area, not in the middle or up front as we'd hoped. suck. and the ushers were anally checking tickets before letting you into the seating area. so, we listened to the opening group for about half an hour on and off, occasionally migrating to avoid smokers or whatnot. they were selling lots of beer and snacks very near the standing room which made it hard to focus on the music.
then they began resetting the stage, and it took forever. during this time, loads of people were rushing into their seats, so we slipped by. (we were wearing our bright green and red M&M shirts which didn't make us exactly inconspicuous, but it *was* a pretty decent crowd.) we picked a row near the back and actually sat vaguely close to where we think our actual tickets would have put us. so finally, a group starts playing. it's really hard to see since we're so far away, but it looks kind of like a girl is singing, and I'm rather confused as to why (a) Jason Mraz isn't the main singer up front at his own concert and (b) everyone is still walking around, buying food, and talking loudly as if nothing is going on up front. at least another half hour passes, and I finally figure out that this is yet another opening group. they're all wearing weird spider costumes and I'm starting to wonder if Jason canceled and we just didn't get the memo or something, because by now it's nearly 8:30. (also amusing - the costumes of many concert-goers, since it was halloween after all.)
this group winds up by saying "thank you Jason!" (so I haven't totally lost my mind) and then there is another nearly thirty minute break, where stage hands casually rearrange things and stupid ads about taking pictures with your phone and emailing them to somebody are projected. by now it is 9pm and the concrete benches are getting hard, and I wouldn't mind a snack. of course, we can't even think of leaving the seating area because we'll never be able to get back in, so we sit tight.
and then, FINALLY, they project a silly video of jason backstage playing rock band with his... rock band. and FINALLY he takes the stage to much applause. suddenly everything gets ten times louder and the lights are way more intense. people are actually mostly listening now, rather than texting or chatting with their friends or screaming random things for no apparent reason. but there is still an annoying level of activity, when all I'd like to do is sit back and listen.
anyway, I'm not going to give you a song blow-by-blow, because I don't remember everything (and actually didn't recognize several of the songs). but all in all, once he finally took the stage, it was fantastic! he played for about an hour and a half and then got cheered back for a couple of encores. I enjoyed the more acoustic pieces, as well as when he had the ladies in the audience singing the chorus to Remedy and then led the guys in singing nothing other than Wonderwall on top of it!! brilliant.
one thing I found really weird, though, in addition to how rude/loud some people were, is how the loud, low bass drum affected me. I've always known I don't like super loud music or bass lines that rattle your chest, but this was just plain weird. I had a hard time breathing when the bass drum was going, and I felt kind of like it was messing with my heart rhythm. there were at least two instances when I swear I had an abnormal heart rhythm as a result of the booming bass. and my right jaw hinge wouldn't stop painfully popping out of its socket toward the end of the concert, but it was fine the next day.
anyway, the concert let out just before 11pm, and I headed back to my on-campus office to change into none other than Captain Janeway - we then headed to the astrograd's Halloween party. we stayed for a couple of hours, by which point many people were more drunk than it is fun to hang out with them when you aren't drunk. (did that parse?) but my personal highlight was how Jim and Sarah had homemade original series Star Trek costumes, and they made my high school-era Janeway outfit with its too-short of sleeves look amateur. these people rock.
yesterday we spent the day with Jessica, Berta, and Victoria. Jessica and Berta are Mudders class of '03 (seniors Mike's freshman year), and Victoria is Berta's friend. Jessica lives in her car by choice, occasionally staying put in LA to work at a radio station and her parents live north of San Diego. Berta and Victoria are first year high school teachers in Las Vegas.
the day began with a phone call around 10:30, when we were thinking about being conscious. (we hadn't gotten home until after 1am to be fair.) Jessica wanted us to come meet her, Berta, and Victoria at the San Diego Wild Animal Park as we had semi-planned. Mike groggily said we'd be there in an hour. then I got on google and found it was a 40 minute drive away, not a 20 minute one. oops.
we made it there sometime before 1pm, trying and failing to find a taco bell en route, and met up with everyone. Mike and I had done dinner with Jessica recently, but I had never met the other two and Mike hadn't seen Berta since his freshman year at Mudd. so we did the wild animal park! it's actually an extension of the zoo, only it's way up north on a sizeable chunk of land. primary observation: birds stink.
(aside: maybe I just have hyperactive senses across the board. tasting the pink in pink frosting... bassy music affecting my heart rhythm... gagging at the smell of stinky birds... )
actually, it was a pretty neat place, but I'm still not a huge fan of zoos and their extensions. Jessica had one free ticket for us, but we had to pay $9 for parking and $25ish for a second ticket, plus we of course required a serving of dippin dots. :) it was really hot out, but they are smart and have little misters nearly everywhere you walk. we saw gobs of animals... gorillas, flamingos, marmot-type things, a tortoise, a condor (which is HUGE), a cheetah, and lots of funny looking things whose names I've forgotten. most of them were native to Africa I believe.
after the wild animal park, we all headed over to Jessica's parents' place, which is in one of those middle of nowhere retirement type communities with a gate and a clubhouse. we helped make dinner, which wound up being pasta with three delicious sauces, and heard some really sobering stories of how poorly educated US high schoolers are from Berta and Victoria. like, they don't know how to use a ruler, they can't tell time on an analog clock, and they confuse the order of the numbers when subtracting. whoa.
after dinner, we had a long conversation about many things Mudd, went on a post-sunset walk up to a nearby random gazebo to admire the lack of light pollution (yay!), and enjoyed some of the most amazing cupcakes EVER from a place in Las Vegas called "the cupcakery" with some of the most amazing dark chocolate ice cream EVER to complement them. yum.
finally it was super board game time!! we played a grand total of two games of Ticket to Ride and two games of Blue Moon City (using the expansion the second time). Jessica and Victoria teamed up for Ticket to Ride as "team red," and we had great fun listening to them strategize covertly. I won by a lot in the first round and got royally screwed in the second. Blue Moon City was more neutral, and Victoria headed to bed sometime in the middle of watching the four of us play round one. we didn't start round two until quite late, and by the end nobody was really strategizing anymore because we were just tired.
but the whole day was really, really fun. we got to connect with some fellow Mudders and just hang out. it was relaxing but engaging at the same time, almost like what you wish would happen more often at Mudd with good friends only it doesn't because there's always gobs of work to be done. thankfully we got an extra hour of sleep before church this morning, but we still weren't home until after 1am (new time).
and now it is Sunday and I have spent way too long writing about my weekend! in sum, it is great to know people from a bunch of different places, as random as those connections may be. that, and DST is weird because it's certifiably dark and it's only 5:30pm, which will make biking home from school more of a car-dodging sport than I'd like in the near future.
this Friday I'm flying out to Houston to help Aunt Pam move stuff from her deceased aunt, uncle, and cousin's house up to Kansas City where she lives, then I'm flying from Kansas City back here on the following Wednesday. it's a long story, but it should be quite the adventure and you can expect to hear about it soon!
so, Friday went as previously mentioned. Mike and I did manage to get free chipotle burritos - we actually opted for burrito bowls so the contents would be more homogenized. there's nothing worse than getting an all rice+sourcream bite followed by an all hotsauce+beans bite in an actual chipotle burrito. we ate these around 7pm outside the entrance to SDSU's open air theater, where the Jason Mraz concert was to begin at 7:30.
before I go on, please note that this is the *FIRST* concert of the non-classical variety that I have ever been to, so you can expect to be amused at some of my "WTF?" observations that may be obvious to you more experienced concerg-goers.
around 7:25, some opening band started playing, so we headed in. we learned that the standing room was actually behind the entire seating area, not in the middle or up front as we'd hoped. suck. and the ushers were anally checking tickets before letting you into the seating area. so, we listened to the opening group for about half an hour on and off, occasionally migrating to avoid smokers or whatnot. they were selling lots of beer and snacks very near the standing room which made it hard to focus on the music.
then they began resetting the stage, and it took forever. during this time, loads of people were rushing into their seats, so we slipped by. (we were wearing our bright green and red M&M shirts which didn't make us exactly inconspicuous, but it *was* a pretty decent crowd.) we picked a row near the back and actually sat vaguely close to where we think our actual tickets would have put us. so finally, a group starts playing. it's really hard to see since we're so far away, but it looks kind of like a girl is singing, and I'm rather confused as to why (a) Jason Mraz isn't the main singer up front at his own concert and (b) everyone is still walking around, buying food, and talking loudly as if nothing is going on up front. at least another half hour passes, and I finally figure out that this is yet another opening group. they're all wearing weird spider costumes and I'm starting to wonder if Jason canceled and we just didn't get the memo or something, because by now it's nearly 8:30. (also amusing - the costumes of many concert-goers, since it was halloween after all.)
this group winds up by saying "thank you Jason!" (so I haven't totally lost my mind) and then there is another nearly thirty minute break, where stage hands casually rearrange things and stupid ads about taking pictures with your phone and emailing them to somebody are projected. by now it is 9pm and the concrete benches are getting hard, and I wouldn't mind a snack. of course, we can't even think of leaving the seating area because we'll never be able to get back in, so we sit tight.
and then, FINALLY, they project a silly video of jason backstage playing rock band with his... rock band. and FINALLY he takes the stage to much applause. suddenly everything gets ten times louder and the lights are way more intense. people are actually mostly listening now, rather than texting or chatting with their friends or screaming random things for no apparent reason. but there is still an annoying level of activity, when all I'd like to do is sit back and listen.
anyway, I'm not going to give you a song blow-by-blow, because I don't remember everything (and actually didn't recognize several of the songs). but all in all, once he finally took the stage, it was fantastic! he played for about an hour and a half and then got cheered back for a couple of encores. I enjoyed the more acoustic pieces, as well as when he had the ladies in the audience singing the chorus to Remedy and then led the guys in singing nothing other than Wonderwall on top of it!! brilliant.
one thing I found really weird, though, in addition to how rude/loud some people were, is how the loud, low bass drum affected me. I've always known I don't like super loud music or bass lines that rattle your chest, but this was just plain weird. I had a hard time breathing when the bass drum was going, and I felt kind of like it was messing with my heart rhythm. there were at least two instances when I swear I had an abnormal heart rhythm as a result of the booming bass. and my right jaw hinge wouldn't stop painfully popping out of its socket toward the end of the concert, but it was fine the next day.
anyway, the concert let out just before 11pm, and I headed back to my on-campus office to change into none other than Captain Janeway - we then headed to the astrograd's Halloween party. we stayed for a couple of hours, by which point many people were more drunk than it is fun to hang out with them when you aren't drunk. (did that parse?) but my personal highlight was how Jim and Sarah had homemade original series Star Trek costumes, and they made my high school-era Janeway outfit with its too-short of sleeves look amateur. these people rock.
yesterday we spent the day with Jessica, Berta, and Victoria. Jessica and Berta are Mudders class of '03 (seniors Mike's freshman year), and Victoria is Berta's friend. Jessica lives in her car by choice, occasionally staying put in LA to work at a radio station and her parents live north of San Diego. Berta and Victoria are first year high school teachers in Las Vegas.
the day began with a phone call around 10:30, when we were thinking about being conscious. (we hadn't gotten home until after 1am to be fair.) Jessica wanted us to come meet her, Berta, and Victoria at the San Diego Wild Animal Park as we had semi-planned. Mike groggily said we'd be there in an hour. then I got on google and found it was a 40 minute drive away, not a 20 minute one. oops.
we made it there sometime before 1pm, trying and failing to find a taco bell en route, and met up with everyone. Mike and I had done dinner with Jessica recently, but I had never met the other two and Mike hadn't seen Berta since his freshman year at Mudd. so we did the wild animal park! it's actually an extension of the zoo, only it's way up north on a sizeable chunk of land. primary observation: birds stink.
(aside: maybe I just have hyperactive senses across the board. tasting the pink in pink frosting... bassy music affecting my heart rhythm... gagging at the smell of stinky birds... )
actually, it was a pretty neat place, but I'm still not a huge fan of zoos and their extensions. Jessica had one free ticket for us, but we had to pay $9 for parking and $25ish for a second ticket, plus we of course required a serving of dippin dots. :) it was really hot out, but they are smart and have little misters nearly everywhere you walk. we saw gobs of animals... gorillas, flamingos, marmot-type things, a tortoise, a condor (which is HUGE), a cheetah, and lots of funny looking things whose names I've forgotten. most of them were native to Africa I believe.
after the wild animal park, we all headed over to Jessica's parents' place, which is in one of those middle of nowhere retirement type communities with a gate and a clubhouse. we helped make dinner, which wound up being pasta with three delicious sauces, and heard some really sobering stories of how poorly educated US high schoolers are from Berta and Victoria. like, they don't know how to use a ruler, they can't tell time on an analog clock, and they confuse the order of the numbers when subtracting. whoa.
after dinner, we had a long conversation about many things Mudd, went on a post-sunset walk up to a nearby random gazebo to admire the lack of light pollution (yay!), and enjoyed some of the most amazing cupcakes EVER from a place in Las Vegas called "the cupcakery" with some of the most amazing dark chocolate ice cream EVER to complement them. yum.
finally it was super board game time!! we played a grand total of two games of Ticket to Ride and two games of Blue Moon City (using the expansion the second time). Jessica and Victoria teamed up for Ticket to Ride as "team red," and we had great fun listening to them strategize covertly. I won by a lot in the first round and got royally screwed in the second. Blue Moon City was more neutral, and Victoria headed to bed sometime in the middle of watching the four of us play round one. we didn't start round two until quite late, and by the end nobody was really strategizing anymore because we were just tired.
but the whole day was really, really fun. we got to connect with some fellow Mudders and just hang out. it was relaxing but engaging at the same time, almost like what you wish would happen more often at Mudd with good friends only it doesn't because there's always gobs of work to be done. thankfully we got an extra hour of sleep before church this morning, but we still weren't home until after 1am (new time).
and now it is Sunday and I have spent way too long writing about my weekend! in sum, it is great to know people from a bunch of different places, as random as those connections may be. that, and DST is weird because it's certifiably dark and it's only 5:30pm, which will make biking home from school more of a car-dodging sport than I'd like in the near future.
this Friday I'm flying out to Houston to help Aunt Pam move stuff from her deceased aunt, uncle, and cousin's house up to Kansas City where she lives, then I'm flying from Kansas City back here on the following Wednesday. it's a long story, but it should be quite the adventure and you can expect to hear about it soon!