Sing us a Song...

I just returned from seeing the one and only Billy Joel for the second time, and I have to say that Billy still rocks! I had a blast with Fuego and the Rev singing, dancing and yes, yelling my admiration for Billy Joel. Billy rocked the house for over two hours, ending the show with Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, Only the Good Die Young and of course the Piano Man. The photo was taken with an iphone at the show from our amazingly close floor seats. Thank you Fuego and the Rev for the birthday/xmas billy joel ticket present!

I've been looking for the perfect YouTube video to capture the moment. The video below is pretty much my exact experience. It's as if the person next to me had taken it.
Notice: 1) Billy is a great pianist and would often be fiddling around on the keys and then just slip into a song. 2) As soon as he starts playing the Piano man the person taking the video starts swaying... this is something you have no control over, the song forces your body to react in this manner. 3) The girl singing along (we all did it), but it's so loud you can't even hear yourself... well, actually you can kind of hear yourself, and I'm pretty sure I sounded this bad.

The complete Set List
Prelude/Angry Young Man
My Life
Everybody Loves You Now
The Entertainer
The Ballad of Billy The Kid
Allentown
New York State of Mind
Zanzibar
Root Beer Rag
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Don't Ask Me Why
Captain Jack
She's Always A Woman
Keeping The Faith
The River of Dreams
Highway To Hell
We Didn't Start The Fire
It's Still Rock and Roll To Me
You May Be Right
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Only The Good Die Young
Piano Man

Mendo heaven...

Just returned from a weekend in Mendo with some of the loveliest people I know. When surrounded by such beauties as the Pumpkin (left) and De-ja-de and the Jar (right), how can one not bask in the joy of life? Couple that with plenty more good company, warm sunshine and good food and you have Mendo heaven.

It's snowing in Arcata....

That's right... It's been snowing all afternoon!

Thai carrot soup = yum, yum, yummy...

I like to cook with as much locally grown produce as possible. It's gets a little more difficult this time of the year. By now I've tired of winter squash recipes and kale and potatoes just lose their excitement. The other day while in the market I found a 5 pound bag of brilliantly orange carrots and made the purchase with soup in mind. I found the following recipe and whipped it up served with salad and bread. All enjoyed the flavorful soup that warmed us on a cold winters evening.



2 Tb butter
1 onion (i used red)
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 thumbs of ginger (minced)
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin
2 lbs carrots (chopped)
1 jalapeno pepper
4 cups veggie broth
3 heaping Tbsp peanut butter
1 cup coconut milk
cilantro
chopped peanuts

- Melt butter in a soup pan and add onion, garlic and ginger (simmer 3 min.)
- Add coriander and cumin
- Add carrots, jalapeno pepper and broth. Cover and simmer 25 minutes.
- Add peanut butter.
- Process in food processor.
- Return to soup pan and stir in coconut milk.
- Put in serving bowls and garnish with cilantro and peanut bits

Wales...

Want to see more of my trip? Go here. Click on "View as Slideshow" in upper right hand corner for a better look.

Yes, I had a wonderful time and great New Years in Wales! I went on many hikes around the country side and had fun exploring castles with Marmite as my tour guide. I ate Welsh cakes, pasties and plenty of bread, cheese and curry. I drank beer and cider in pubs and even indulged in real fish and chips. I learned how to pronounce "services" and "slow" in Welsh. No, I never had need to use these words but they were the most common on road signs and thus easy to learn. Best of all I survived the crazy roads and crazy drivers. I developed a strong liking for hedge rows but missed the California sun.

Sorry Wizard, I did not find Kathryn Zeta Jone's sister.

Happy Solstice...

This photo was taken by Steven Vander Meer (25 second exposure ). He and his wife host a winter solstice party at their house on the bay every year.

It was a gorgeous evening of moonbows, homebrew, intentions, homemade soups & breads, and many good friends.

5 rainbows today...

Today I saw rainbows that went from Humboldt Bay to the Pacific Ocean.
The ocean photo was taken from the roof of my office and the right was taken from my desk.

30 it is...

I've never been one to be fearful of aging... but there was something different about turning 30. I still can't pin point what it was exactly but the word "uneasiness" might come somewhat close to explaining how I was feeling. Maybe it's just the paying attention of time and realizing it continues on whether you're ready for it to or not. I've sometimes taken issue with New Year's Eve for this very reason.


So, yes, the anticipation of turning 30 made me uneasy... However, when I awoke on my birthday I felt great. Being 30 is just dandy. I was even inspired to go for a morning run at the marsh.









To mark the special occasion I ate sushi (the real stuff), and followed the meal with some bowling with great friends. Fuego insisted I take a photo expressing how I feel about turning 30. I've posted a couple.









Check out how wasted I am... NOT! I'm just talented enough to look like I am. With age comes skills.

Thank you Universe... more please!

As the Free Will Astrology guy says:

The Universe is conspiring to bring
you exactly what you want and to
fulfill your happiness (just get out
of the way and let it happen!)

Thoughts become things... choose
the good ones.

Parents, friends and babies oh my!

A full week... It all started with two nights of couchsurfing followed by a trip to Chico to see the parents for TG. My friends Garnabus, Fuego, and their daughter EMj came for the day from Cow town. We spent the day hiking in upper bidwell park and returned to a wonderful feast prepared by my amazing parents.

The week also entailed getting to meet Twatter's baby boy, Pumpkin. Of course being the cool, psuedo hippie auntie-em that I am, I took Twatter and the pumpkin to the park too! Can't ever get enough of those beautiful oaks and sycamores.

I returned to my dwelling behind the redwood curtain to new friends, including Marmite. Marmite is responsible for the amazing seafood soup shown. Halibut, clams, shrimp with a yummy tomato sauce with veggies. To die for... really!

More photos of the week can be found here.

Couchsurfing...

I was recently introduced to a new and rapidly growing online forum > www.couchsurfing.com by my friend Tree.

As my friend Fuego put it, "It's like Myspace for treehuggers." Basically, people of all ages all across the world have profiles similar to Myspace. The website offers you the opportunity to have someone "surf" your couch (stay at your place) or you could just offer to meet someone for a coffee or show them around your area. The website is set up to be as safe as possible with different levels of verifications and references shown on your profile.

Within a week of signing up I've had 5 requests to surf my couch. I just finished hosting two great people, one from South Africa and one from Wales. Since I don't have the time or money to travel right now it was great having cultures come to me. I never realized how little I know about Wales!

So far it's been an amazing experience!

Getting closer to home...

I posted about my "return from mono land" a few months back when I was going through a massive increase in energy levels. It wasn't too long after that when I realized actually, I wasn't fully back.

It's amazing to think that my energy level is still increasing 8 months after having gotten sick. Even more incredible is how many times I truly believed, because I wanted to believe, that I was back to normal. When you start from ZERO energy every lit bit feels incredible.

I've been feeling great for the most part the last few months but every time I would really start to push myself both physically and mentally I would inevitably hit the wall and break down. The last couple of weeks have involved yet another massive spurt of energy and no walls have been met as of yet. I'm hopeful to begin training for the Spring Avenue of the Giants 1/2 marathon that I missed last year due to the need to sleep for 2 weeks straight.

With the increased energy I've also found an increased interest in dancing. This past week was "dance week" at my home with all the roomies involved. We attempted the C Walk, Justin Timberlake moves, our own specialty styles and even the Worm. I wish I had a video camera because I'd have you all rolling on the ground in serious "I can't breeth" laughing fits. Dance week also involved watching Save the Last Dance, Step Up, and Swing Kids.