Thoughts from an AshHole

New Year's Resolutions

2012-01-04T20:21:00.003-05:00

ok so i really don't do new year's resolutions. but i did have a goal for the week long break i had between christmas and new year's... but didn't really accomplish anything i really wanted to. what i really ended up doing was sleeping. so here are what my goals were... which i will now call my new year's resolutions because i really do want to get them done.

finish the book i'm reading - well i read 200 pages, but i just kept falling asleep!
finish the most recent concert blogs or at least the ones from 2011 - yup, didn't do it at all
finally finish up the travel blog - yea that has been a goal for a while now - let's do this 2012!
workout - ok i do this most days, but took a break over the holidays and i'm starting back this sunday

there you have it. four failed goals will now become my resolutions. some of them for the second time. i'm gonna get it done, and if you read my blogs, you will be happy that i do it as well.

Best Of 2011

2011-12-21T15:20:00.001-05:00

ok i know i have been awful about blogging lately, or over the past year and a half really, but here’s a shot to try and redeem myself as a blogger: best of 2011 music in my opinion. yes everyone does it. yes mine will include some of those same albums. But this is what I liked about music in 2011, in a bit of an order but really it is just how it came into my head and making sure that I had at least 10. these are just my opinions and not done with a particular genre in mind, and I know there are other way amazing albums out there, but I just wasn’t as in to them as I was these and the events that went along with them to make them more memorable to me. that being said…

10. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
i’ll start with fleet foxes since it’s one of the albums that I really liked yet still didn’t listen to the entire year. It was great inspiration and I really enjoyed seeing them live at ACL. great album, but I do have to be in more of a folk mood to listen.

9. The Antlers – Burst Apart
burst apart is one of those albums that could be a great soundtrack. That’s what I think of for when I listen to it. that it is the soundtrack to my day. seeing them at ACL during the day shows how great they can sound. the antlers are also one of the best twitter accounts out there for random thoughts on just about anything. the followers also get very involved and it’s always a good read.

8. Foster the People – Torches
ok if this album doesn’t want to make you get up and dance, there is something wrong with you. this is one album that spans across genres getting people happy. my favorites are houdini and waste, but there is honestly nothing bad on this album. i can’t wait to see what they come up with in the future, and of course, seeing them in concert this year was great.

7. Portugal. The Man – In the Mountain in the Cloud
i'm not really sure how i came about listening to this album, but I bought it and loved it. this didn’t take any time for me to love either. it was immediate for me. it’s upbeat electronic and feel good music. on top of loving this album, I enjoyed the show they had with lights galore. my favorite part about finding portugal. the man though: twitter. one of my favorite twitter accounts to follow for sure thanks to all of the instagram pics i see on an almost hourly basis. thanks for filling my time with beautiful music and fun photos throughout my days.

6. TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light
the album itself is great, but what made me love this most was the entirety of the album put into a compilation of music videos aired together as a total package. this made the experience of the album visual and audible. kudos to tv on the radio for making one of the best, longest, commercial free video hours on palladia i have ever been able to witness. plus the music just totally rocks.

5. Thursday – No Devolucion
thursday really started going towards a different sound with this album. of course i still liked it. this was much more experimental, yet you really have to assume that bands will evolve over time. i got a sneak peak at a few songs from streaming as well as some live at the 10 year anniversary tour of full collapse. the packaging and website just go to show that it wasn’t just about the music this time. it had a feel to the whole thing. unfortunately, while headlining for the album it was announced they will be on an indefinite hiatus and didn’t really end up with a headlining tour for the album after all since it was more of a goodbye tour. nonetheless, thursday left us with something to be remembered.

4. Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See
it took me a little bit of time to get used to the slower sound arctic monkeys put out with suck it and see, but after a couple listens i had my favorites. the album is more singable than past hits. it has been in my car and on my ipod playing a lot since preparing for their concert as well as remembering it afterwards. If you want a review of that, you’ll have to read it from my shows i've seen blog. but overall a very played album for me this year.

3. The Strokes – Angles
welcome back, i missed you. really what else is there to say about the strokes album except why oh why did i not go to bonnaroo? seriously though, this was a great happy feel to the album and you could really tell that all band members were involved in writing it. i loved all the songs on this album the first time playing it through and have a complete void in my life having not seen the strokes live. i am kicking myself over not going to ACL in 2010 and not forcing people to go to bonnaroo with me this year. at least I was able to stream the strokes live on sunday from bonnaroo. that was a very exciting thing for me as they played many old songs as well as some of the favs from angles. but in reality, i really could listen to anything that comes out of julian casablancas mouth and love it.

2. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
i have been listening to radiohead since close to the beginning and their albums never cease to amaze me (after the initial shock of Kid A that is). TKOL was no exception, however only 8 tracks was slightly disappointing. i had preordered the newspaper album online getting the mp3 album for early download when it became available on the Friday after valentine’s day when it was announced, a month before expected. having done all of this and completely loving the album for what the 8 songs were worth listening to it in my car day in and day out, i was surprised to receive some free tracks for having pre-ordered for record store day. let’s follow up all of that with multiple television appearances to finally start to promote the album, and a palladia live session of the entire thing similar to what they did for In Rainbows. then I got to wait in anticipation for the tour dates to be announced. finally being part of the pre-sale on radiohead’s website for general admission will call tickets knowing that no scalpers would be involved in that portion of the sale. i had my tix by 7am ET instead of having to wait until the usual 10am sale time that most websites have. i will definitely continue to play this album over and over until march.

1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
this album is definitely the top album of the year for me. it was pretty much stuck on repeat on my ipod for weeks. i could not. stop. listening. it is an amazing follow up to for emma forever with adding instruments. The culmination of the album was getting to see bon iver shortly after the album was released. seeing the entire band up there and the lighting to go with it, made listening to the it later seem feel like remembering one of the best moments of your life. that's really what music is to me anyway. a feeling that you feel when you hear a song or an album, and bon iver knows how to make you feel.

honorable mentions
The Black Keys – El Camino: this came out way too late in december to have a real impact on the year, but i do love some black keys and the singles have been out for at least a month having some impact. Psychic Babble – My Brother’s Ears My Sister’s Eyes: is also on my ipod upstairs with some constant play, it is definitely one to remember for the year, but didn’t make it to the top of my thoughts this round. Oh yea, let’s not forget Adele – 21 but i'm not going to be one of those people who puts it at number one since it wasn’t on constant repeat in my car or anything.

Facebook Married

2011-12-20T08:58:00.002-05:00

wouldn’t it be funny if facebook initiated common law marriage? like if you were “in a relationship” with the same person officially on facebook for a certain amount of time, it just automatically updated it to be married. that would be silly and really interesting. then instead of common law, you’d just say i’m facebook married.

Couples

2010-07-12T11:15:00.003-04:00

i have been neglecting my blogs a lot lately, but it’s mostly because I have been so busy. i have still not finished my paris trip, and i’ve now been to new york, so that needs to be added. i have also been to so many shows since the last post, but those take some time as well. so I have decided to write one here while I catch up on my others.

jimmy and i have always had single friends. it’s fun to hang out with our friends, and we have no problem having single friends, but we have really tried to have a few couples to hang out with as well. it’s just nice to have another couple to do couple things with. we don’t mind single friends, most of our friends are single, but it’s nice to not be the only couple. and it’s nice be on the same level as other couples as well.

first there was matt & jessica. we loved hanging out with them. they had been dating for a while, and they were each our friends prior to the relationship (long story, but it was a very fun coincidence). we were fine hanging out all together, or totally separate from the boys. then they moved to colorado, and we still went out there a few times to visit them as a couple. but now are no longer together.

we went to a barbecue a few months ago that had a lot of couples. in fact, i think that there were only 3 single people there. it was quite refreshing to be around a majority of couples. including us, i think there were 4 couples. we all got along so well, that the girls decided to have a girls night away from the boys. it sounded like a great start to coupledom! we even had a friend of someone join us and all 5 of us girls were in serious relationships. no one had been dating for less than 1.5 years, many closer to my 9 years than most. now, all but one of the girls and myself are no longer in those long term relationships. and these were kind of shocking breakups anyway. And the fact that that many have ended is very weird to me. i feel like we are the last one to survive.

now, we have been trying to find another great couple to hang out with. scott and tiffany seem to work out well so far. we are all georgia tech grads, and are cool to hang out together, alone, or just guys and girls. we even get along with all of their friends. we also all have season tickets to the football games together. they also have a lot of single friends, so i think that is also quite helpful. they are in the same type of situation that we are in. hopefully our new couple-relationship will work out well - wish us luck!

Moxie's Dragon

2009-12-31T13:28:00.006-05:00

moxie gets a new toy every christmas. she has a number of toys we keep in a basket, and she takes care of them pretty well for a dog. her favorite toy is a stuffed pig. she usually wears it out between 8 - 12 months, so her usual christmas present is this pig. it all started on her first christmas when she shoved her head into the bag to pull out her first traditional pig toy. this year, however, we decided to change it up a bit. this always worries me because she is picky about her toys. she has a squirrel she has hardly touched, a duck and a frog that are still in good condition, multiple toy bones or actual bones that have lasted for years. the only one she likes is her pig.

so jimmy and i see this dragon at petsmart in october. he says, let's get it for her for christmas. so we buy it. in order to make sure the pig doesn't win the show, we replace it early. in fact, we give her a new pig that day. she was so happy to have the pig, it just reinforced the worry i had for her to not like her new dragon. but christmas morning comes, and she actually seems happy with her dragon. she actually seems to like it quite a bit. that and her pig are the only toys consistently out of her basket. i am so happy she got to have a new toy that isn't currently discontinued.

Moxie's first pig December 2003:

Moxie's Pig:

Moxie's Dragon:

Kitchen Update

2009-11-25T23:03:00.006-05:00

i know it's been a while. i really don't have a lot to say lately, and not a lot of time to say it. i will say that our oven recently broke. it was difficult to live without it, but we are pretty capable of cooking on the stovetop, so we got by for a few weeks. we decided, however, that it was a necessity prior to thanksgiving. we had always told ourselves that when one of our appliances broke, we would replace it with something nice that we actually wanted. well we were definitely going to stick to that rule. after shopping around for ranges, we realized that we might as well spend the extra money to get all of the extras we wanted including an oval center burner and a double oven with convection cooking. we shopped around and wanted to make sure the rest of the appliances would easily coordinate with the gas range we decided to buy. we decided on frigidaire gallery in stainless steel.

well, we thought about how we'd feel having a kitchen that didn't match, and researched the costs, and decided to upgrade the whole kitchen while we were at it. best buy had a great deal going on, but lowe's had all of the items we wanted. so we decide to take the pricing from best buy to lowe's and got a price match with delivery. we buy it and await the call for the deliveries.

our refrigerator and oven arrive first on saturday. it was quite exciting being able to bake again. our dishwasher and microwave hood come in and are installed on tuesday. our refrigerator begins leaking water somewhere near the the filter. jimmy calls lowe's and they are going to send someone out on thursday. well on thursday, the fridge just stops working. lowe's sends a loaner after jimmy argues about how they need to provide some sort of refrigeration since it's not our fault that this one they delivered stopped working. our refrigerator is on backorder, so this is the best they can do. this fridge is smaller than our original. it takes up less of a footprint and is much shorter. it is a standard freezer on top fridge that doesn't even make ice. jimmy decides to call lowe's back friday morning. he tells them that this loaner fridge is unacceptable and by no means comparable to the brand new one we just purchased, and that we need our purchased version prior to thanksgiving. also, he says that even though ours is on backorder, there must be one available in the 17 metropolitan lowe's and they need to find one to get to us right away. they delivered it on saturday.

so please, enjoy the view of our somewhat new kitchen.

before:

after:

Sitting in Training

2009-02-19T06:37:00.002-05:00

i get so annoyed in classes here at work. there are some people that are so knowledgeable i like to hear about what they know. then there are the ones that just don't know a thing. we have to go really slow for those slow learners. then, there are the ones that think they know everything but really don't. these people drive me crazy. quit yelling out your useless crap just because you like to hear your own smart comments. i want to leave the room to not have to witness you embarrass yourself to such an extreme.

i'm sure my extra stress right now does not help with this situation, but come on. i had to stop listening to the class and write this because i was so annoyed.

Packing

2009-01-27T14:08:00.003-05:00

i am sitting here getting prepared for my multitude of business travel, when a thought occurred to me: how do you pack for a 2 week long trip? i am so fickle about what i want to wear that i usually don't decide until i get out of the shower. then i see what mood i'm in, and that helps to determine what color shirt i will wear with my different shades of black pants. ok, sometimes i really do wear some brown, but mostly black. it's way more versatile.

i am going to be awat for 12 days in a row (well, working days) and i don't want to wear something twice on this trip. plus, i don't really know what i want to wear when. or the shoes!!! what a dilemma! i can't be sure what i will want to wear on which day, so what do i do? take all of the clothes in my closet? temporarily transfer everything over to the hotel closet? i suppose i could do that. it just seems like an awful lot of work. so i suppose i will have to make a decision ahead of time, and pack a little extra just to be sure. i can't say i'll like pink on monday, but maybe on thursday. or maybe wednesday will warm up a little and i can wear short sleeves. why do i have to worry about planning ahead?

Book Series

2009-01-08T07:16:00.008-05:00

there is an extreme depression and withdrawl that follows reading a book series.

i didn't read any of the harry potter books until after the last was released. i had just watched the movies beforehand, then after the order of the phoenix, i just couldn't wait to see what happened. i was also worried that someone would spoil the ending for me. so i decided to immediately begin reading them all. once i started reading them, i was done rather quickly. less than two months. but when i was finished, i couldn't find anything to fill the void i felt after finishing hp. i tried a lot of books. i read the chronicles or narnia, his dark materials trilogy, some random other single books, and even tried a wrinkle in time. nothing compared. finally, i just decided to re-read all of the hp books to prepare for the next movie. of course, it helped, but then i was sad once again when it was over. nothing was good enough! what was i supposed to do?

answer: twilight.

and i have to admit that i am obsessed with the twilight series. i enjoyed reading it so much, i read the entire four book series in less than two weeks. i just couldn't stop. it's a good thing i started reading it after they were all out and available for me to get the next one with next to no time (similar to my hp experience). although with that, i don't get the anticipation that others get waiting for the release of the next book. i wonder if i am missing out on that. unfortunately, i am now in withdrawl again. i'm really not sure where to go from here. i finally filled the void from hp, but now that twilight is done, i think the hole that is left is even bigger. all i can think about is re-reading the whole thing before new moon comes out in november.

i need a new series to try and fill my void up slowly. at least until november. help!

Where's My Hot Actor?

2009-01-06T09:03:00.007-05:00

over the holiday break, i came to the conclusion after going to the movies, that the movies are not made for twenty-somethings. let alone one with a great lead guy to lust over the entire time. there just aren’t any twenty-something actors out there for me to drool over.

let me examine the some of the current films for this point on the most basic level.
-australia – love story w/ 40 year olds
-bedtime stories – kid movie w/ 40 year olds
-curious case of benjamin button – love story w/ 40 year olds
-four christmases – love story w/ 40 year olds (ok, reese is in her 30s)
-marley & me - love story w/ 40 year olds
-seven pounds – maybe…
-the spirit – action movie, maybe the unknown main actor could be ok
-twilight – teen movie – robert pattison is 22
-valkyrie – tom cruise…. enough said

ok, so basically that gives us love stories for the teens, or love stories for the older people. and they keep getting older and older. there are hardly any movies with people that are 30, let alone the late 20s. people magazine’s sexiest men are always around 40, I guess they are supposed to get older with age, but with my self getting older, I just don’t know what sexy actors I have to go and see anymore. it just feels wrong to look at these young boys. and the older guys are just too old for me at this time.

who does that leave us with at our age to look after on-screen? here are a few options, but they aren’t that great, or that many… ryan reynolds, jake gyllenhal, orlando bloom. can you think of anyone else? i’ll start a tally to keep up.

Crazy First Week

2008-11-24T06:20:00.004-05:00

first week down. it was a long and tiring week. first things first, i really don't even know who i report to. well, i guess i report to my scheduling lead, but he is not technically a manager, so therefor i actually "report" to some guy who i have yet to meet. i know it's interesting, but apparently this is just the way it is run over here since there is a limited amount of upper management. that's fun though. it's almost like i'm working on my own for once. there is very little micromanagement so far, and it's like i can do what i want with my work.

on that note, i actually already have work. it was 3 days and i was given work to start on and own. i find this quite interesting being a lowly level 2 and getting all of this work already. it is exactly what i needed. i'm very excited for myself right now. though it was a little odd for people to come up to me and expect me to know a lot about the programs after 2 or 3 days. hopefully i can represent enough to be who i really am and do all of the work the way it needs to be done. it will be a challenge, but i am up to it and excited to be able to be in this position.

Sitting in the Offsite

2008-11-12T13:23:00.004-05:00

can you believe that this is your job and what are you are supposed to do for the rest of your life? sitting in a classroom-like environment reminded me that this can't possibly be what i want to do.

five years ago i would never have anticipated that this where i would be sitting five years later. so here i sit, being bored, and realizing i can't even sleep like i would in a classroom. this is work. this is my job. wow, how did i get here? at least in college this information seemed more interesting, and the students were more perceptive to learning new things. also, the learning went at a faster pace instead of like high school where no student is left behind. and let's give rewards and awards to those who finally pulled through after struggling through the simplest tasks.

i guess it's all just one more reason to move on. i hope things are different at my new job.

Packed Personal Stuff

2008-11-10T15:41:00.006-05:00

i almost finished packing today. i have 4 boxes of work stuff, and put all of my personal stuff in a separate box that i will move over myself. my walls are bare, there are no pictures. my georgia tech calendar has been put away. coffee mugs, collages, all gone. it's sad knowing how much stuff i just put away, i hope i can arrange it as nicely in my new area.

this brings up an interesting point, however. some areas around work only let you have minimal personal stuff on your desk (or none at all). i believe that this is not really helping with work/life balance. i work 9 hour days and i like to be able to look over and see my friends and family there with me. i think that if you have to wear something around your neck for 8 hours a day it should be something you like. you basically live 1/3 of your life at work, another 1/3 sleeping, and that leaves the other 1/3 for home. if i spend 1/3 of my time here, it is better for employee morale to allow personal belongings.

i understand that having everything ergonomically arranged for your most efficient use is a good idea. i'm not saying it isn't. i just prefer to be able to have personal stuff there as well. especially if it doesn't get in the way. i have seen stuff that is just not appropriate. stuff that invades personal space or is childish understandably comes across as unprofessional. but let us have our tasteful fun.

Music Evolution

2008-11-07T14:06:00.006-05:00

so i had to come up with a list of top ten for a playlist for a fun work activity. this task was not as easy as i thought it would be for a few reasons

i listen to albums, not just songs, and i didnt' want to just list the 10 songs on the album i listen to most
not all of my music has been converted over to my computer for itunes
i had a hard time deciding between what i'm currently listening to vs what i have always loved and don't necessarily listen to all the time

so i had my wonderful boyfriend helping me pick them out (and of course i took quite a few my my top itunes albums as well picking out one song per artist). upon him helping me try and figure out my list, i came to the realization that although jimmy and i used to have the same muscal tastes, we seem to have drifted into different directions. of course, there were always some genres that we were not completely in synch, but for the most part very similar. funny thing is, neither of us are really that into our previous musical interests.

so i know that over time music evolves. i have tried to keep an open mind and began listening to some new bands. particularly because i enjoy going to shows, i wanted to see bands that hadn't broken up or died. jimmy, on the other hand, went the opposite direction. listening to mainly classic rock and not opening the door to new hip stuff. i guess that's ok. i still enjoy the classic rock stuff, but i guess i've closed the door (but not locked it) to that phase of musical listening to allow more to fill my head. i still enjoy a great pink floyd album, but i really need to be in the mood to listen to it a bit more than just plugging it in and rocking out.

where will this end up? i'm not really sure. maybe i will get in the mood to listen to more stuff randomly. i still have to in jimmy's car at least. and he still goes to shows with me even though it might not be his favorite band. it all works out in the end. we'll always have punk rock.

New Job New Blog

2008-11-06T13:12:00.000-05:00

i'm starting a new job soon. leaving this one behind made me think a lot, so i decided to start a blog.

i needed a change. i have been in the same job doing basically the same things for the past 4 years. it has been a great learning experience, but i really wanted something new. it was no longer as challenging as i had hoped. it came to me in thinking that, this can't possibly be what i want to do for the rest of my life, can it? in order to not be stuck in a rut, i went for something new.

while this new position should be similar to my current job, i think it will open more options for future growth. new people, new systems, new products - i'm ready and willing to get going!

so the countdown begins.