So I Wish I Could Dance

If only I could dance like these fine folk... love these routines! The choreography, musicality, athleticism...

(Though it probably also helps that I love all these songs too.)

Dancers: Talia and BJ (from the Canada edition, I guess)

Song: TI and Justin Timberlake - Dead and Gone

Dancers: Katie and Joshua

Song: Adele - Hometown Glory

Sidenote: I had a crush on Katie during her season... while Chris had a crush on Twitch, heh. This was also my first intro to the awesomeness of Adele. 

Dancers: Sabra and Neil

Song: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams

And one more Katee dance... because it's kinda hot. IMO.

Dancers: Katee and Joshua

Song: Angela Via - Baila Baila

A Decade of Concerts

So tonight I joined my cousin Mendy, her boyfriend Alex, and some of their friends at the Del Mar racetrack to celebrate his birthday by betting on a few races and (once the last race was finished) watching the... wait for it... WEEZER CONCERT!!!

Weezer is fun, catchy, and they are great live performers, and as we stood there in front of the stage waiting for the show to begin, it dawned on me... they were my very first concert, back in 2001... ten years ago! Which of course got my mind going on this whole "decade of song" tangent and how I would have to write about it when I got home. 

[insert that hazy music you hear on a sitcom when a character goes into "flashback" mode]

It was November 2001... I was a young freshman at UCSD who was just starting to diversify his music tastes beyond pop radio stations, and getting into the whole mp3 thing / downloading thing too, and in doing so discovered a band called Jimmy Eat World. This was before they hit it big, as I got into their (at the time) newest CD called "Bleed American" prior to the events of 9/11, which prompted a name change to the disc. Anyways, I *loved* them, so when I found out they were touring as one of the opening bands for Weezer (who I had also just recently heard and started to enjoy as well), I *had* to go. 

So I went with my dad (as I had no concert-loving friends), who had no idea who these bands were, but went to keep me company... though thinking on it now, I think it was mainly because my parents didn't want their 17-year-old alone at a concert. But it was a great time over at Cox Arena - I remember the excitement, the singing along to all my favorite songs, the rocking out with my head and shoulders, taking in all the lights and staging, and the big light-up =w= logo for Weezer. It was a blast, and it started my whole concert fanaticism. I still have the ticket somewhere, boxed-up as a keepsake, along with almost all the concert tickets I've acquired over the last ten years. 

There's over 100, of this I am sure. 

But I'm glad I got my first taste of live music back in the day, and that it moved me to keep going. When I first started, I would just go by myself, and I'm glad that I did as I would've missed out on some killer shows if I'd been too dependent on having someone with me to do these things. And not just the big artist/band shows too, but the smaller coffeehouse / local music scene artists as well. 

One of my friends posted a picture of a crowd from a concert she recently attended, and her caption was something like "How can we be strangers when we're all here singing the same words?" And I loved that. It's very true and it's pretty rad to experience those moments where everyone is united in music and lyrics and enjoying every second of the song. 

Weezer had plenty of those moments tonight, especially with the crowd singing the chorus to "Undone (The Sweater Song)", or the "woot woot" sounds in "Buddy Holly", or screaming out "Say It Ain't Soooooooo-oh-whoa-whoaaaaa" for "Say It Ain't So"... 

So here's to the last ten years of concerts! Let's see what the next ten years bring... (*cough*Adeleplease*cough*)

Random Updates

Something I Currently Love: the band Foster the People

Listening to this CD as I type this out... definitely my current favorite band! I was lucky enough to attend their sold-out show at the House of Blues with two work friends in July, and they put on an amazing show. Great energy, sound, fun, dance-y in a way, and apparently they're cute (so says Suzy, who was at the concert and was all about the bass player, haha)... speaking of - if I'm ever in a rock band, I call the bass. They're always just chillin, rocking out, doing their thing, and I already play that in the video game Rock Band. :P

And it's funny at work to hear Suzy's mom start to sing the chorus... "all the other kids with the pumped up kicks..."



Things to Not Say to a Lady: Never tell a lady that she smells like sushi. Either you know why or you don't... needless to say, I didn't know why at the time. So in my naiveté I told Suzy's mom that she smelled like sushi, and she was all "no, no I do not!" To which I made it worse and said "yeah you do", and other people who were overhearing this were trying not to crack up while I was oblivious as to what was going on... sigh. When the story was retold at work today (and this happened yesterday), it made for a good laugh (she does a good job at telling the story, embellishing it just enough and making me blush)... we'll see how long the teasing goes, haha.

My Celebrity Doppelgänger: Awhile ago, it was a thing on Facebook to temporarily change your profile pic to that of a celeb. I really don't think I have one, so I didn't participate in the shenanigans. But I was walking downtown this evening, and some guy (not sure if he was homeless or not) asked me for change. I was in a rush and had no change, so I curtly replied "sorry" and kept walking. But then he called out again and said "hey man, you know you look like Tiger Woods?" I didn't turn back around, but I did laugh to myself... this was the second time in 6 years that I was told I resemble the golfer, with the first time being when my buddy Pete pulled me up on stage at Lestat's to beat up a piñata. Good times. :)

Confessions of a Reverend

Two weekends ago, I had the honor of officiating at my cousin John's wedding to his longtime girlfriend Katrine. Here are five thoughts. (Confessions just sounded cooler in the title. What.) 

1. I still can't believe it. My little cousin is now married, and they already have a beautiful little daughter... and she is suuuuuuuch a cutie-pie. It's very rad seeing my cousin start his family. He was always like my little brother growing up. He gave me the name "Rara" (because he couldn't say my actual name), and I gave him the name "Sas-See" (say it like "sassy"). I have no clue why, considering I was older and could read/speak well enough. But luckily for him, as we got older, the nickname went away. I'm still Ra, of course. "Rev Ra", as they call me, as it was very cool that they asked me to perform the ceremony. 

2. I sooooooo wanted to drink before the ceremony. Seriously! This is the second straight wedding when all I wanted to do was a have a few drinks before the ceremony with all the other guys, but couldn't out of fear that I'd be sloppy in my speeches. But I wanted to be good and I took my officiant duties seriously, to give it the gravitas that it deserved. (But as soon as I no longer had to speechify? It. Was. On.)

3. I'm staunchly against doing the "first look" now. I didn't have much of an opinion beforehand, and knew very little about it. But J and K didn't want to do that... he spent the night at one of his groomsman's apartment, and she didn't even want any of the guys to see her at all until she marched down the aisle. But it was so.... I'll say "cute" to see him all nervous and jittery beforehand - not in the "cold feet" way, but in the "can't believe this is happening and can't wait to see her" way. And then... to see him as finally saw her in her dress as she walked down with her parents... to see the tears of joy and love in both their eyes as her parents brought them together... it was just surreal and so cool to witness. I had to make sure I kept my composure too, since I had to run the ceremony, but I was getting all verklempt. The ceremony went off without a hitch. But thinking about it as the evening went on, I decided that I want that moment too. 

4. How do you *not* get up to dance or at the very least start to shimmy when the opening drum beats to MJ's "Billie Jean" starts playing? That was the very first song the DJ played to get the dancing started. I stayed in my chair, sad to say, as I saw only couples getting up on the dance floor. But I did groove to it with my head and shoulders, until later on, Katrine's sister grabbed me from my chair and dragged me to the floor. It was a great time! I haven't been to many weddings, but the DJ and the music had everyone dancing - even my parents got up for a bit too! "I throw my hands up in the air sometimes..."

5. Everyone's having babies. Well, maybe not everyone... but John and Katrine have little Saylor, and Cody and Emily have Everett... other friends are looking at adopting (which I've always wanted to do), and another couple just told me they're expecting, so it's a rad time. In the case of Saylor, I can just be the cool "uncle", and you betcha I will spoil her. I'll have no legit nieces and nephews of my own, since I'm an only child, so my cousin's kids will be getting lots of love. In talking with my cuz, I was tripping out about how when Saylor turns 13, I'll be 40. To quote Joey from Blossom, "WHOA!" Haha... Johnny did ask when I'd be giving Saylor a little cousin to play with, but that's a long time coming. Although, I did get the idea to name my first son "Cameron Joseph"... the reasons being threefold. First, I like the name "Cameron". Second, "Joseph" works in honor of my mom (Josephine). Third (and why I *really* like the combo), it gives my kid options in that it's a normal middle name (which I personally do not have) AND he can go by his initials (CJ). Haha. 

I'm on a BIKE!

Yes, the title should be read as if I'm singing "I'm on a BOAT!" Because now I have this bad boy - a 17.5" 2008 Trek 7.3 FX...

...whatever that means. So truth be told, I know jack squat about bikes. Confession: I don't know how to ride one. Now, there is photographic evidence of me standing *next* to a bike from when I was around the age of 5 (it appears), so I can only assume I was in the process of learning... but then said "screw it." Or whatever the 5-year old version of me would say.

So two decades later, and I've decided that I want to learn! But the whole "not having a bike" thing kinda doesn't help with the "wanting to learn" thing... plus, now that I've done a marathon, my next racing goal is to eventually do a triathlon, and I'm not quiiiiiiite there. So in my mind, step 1 was "get a bike."

And lo and behold, my buddy Pete posted that he was selling his road bike. I inquired, got some info, and then today I drove up to check it out. He helped me get on it and get my bearings, and I did a few loops around his complex parking lot (with him guiding me and holding the back of the bike at times) and I'm still gonna be in the process of learning for awhile... but I'm optimistic. It reminds me of learning how to drive and how hella nervous driving around a parking lot was, but you eventually get the hang of things. After the test drive, I thought about it for a few minutes, then decided to be adventurous and take it! I just need to keep getting on the horse and keep moving, so I look forward to spending more time outside and getting my workout on. Because from the half hour or so that we spent outside, I was a sweaty beast! Probably from all that balancing, haha.

Afterwards we walked over to a cool sushi place that they frequent... and I'm not a big sushi guy, even though a good deal of my close friends and family are. So I kinda just went with whatever they told me to try, which included raw albacore and other things w/ crab and lobster that were super delicious! I wish I'd made a note of what I had, so if I go out to other places, I'll know what to try.

But all in all, I feel like I had a good Thursday. Said "yes" to the bike, said "yes" to the sushi... as my birthday was a month ago, I was sorta "challenged" to come up with a theme or a word for this 27th year... I don't know if I have a word, but right now I'm feeling like going with the old improv saying of "yes, and..." Meaning you have to just take the opportunity given to you, then go with it and make the best of things... even if you end up feeling silly afterwards, by being a 27-year old learning to ride a bike while it's being guided by your 31-year old friend, haha...

So.

[entry deleted]

So I initially published a blog about what happened this evening, since I really wanted to write about it, but since we're not openly discussing it on Facebook and it may not be best to discuss online, I removed the details I wrote about just to be on the safe side... but basically... let's just say the expression "shit just got real" is very appropriate... what a trip... [Ask me offline.]

[And the following was how I ended the initial blog, and I'm keeping it in since I enjoy the song.]

To end on a not so scary/macabre note, I've been digging on Adele lately. This one is definitely my current favorite. Stripped down and soulful and lyrics that make me swoon - what a performer and songwriter...

Empire State of Mind

Cue Jay-Z and Alicia Keys... Because I will be going to New York! Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can't do... you can bet I'll be playing this song to exhaustion from now until my trip.

I'd been keeping track of flights this summer/fall, to see how feasible it would be to take little vacation. Definitely have the vacation hours saved up, and not having to pay rent helps, and I'm single and in my 20s and have no attachments, so now seemed like a good time. I actually still need to fly outside the country and visit the Philippines for the first time, but I've always had plane phobia. However, a continental flight doesn't seem as bad as 16 hours across the Pacific. 

Plus this theatre loving kid really wants to see a show! 

So this week I found out that Southwest Airlines was having a three day sale, with round trip flights to the east coast for $240! From the fares I'd seen before and from talking to my JAWP, this was a good deal. I also wanted to visit Chicago too, as I have a first cousin out there with her family. It's not NYC, but at least I could visit family and there'd still be plenty to do and see. Maybe catch a game at Wrigley Field! Initially I was thinking I'd only take one trip, and I ended up leaning towards Chicago. I could stay with my cousin and not have to worry about hotel fare, which was a huge plus. So I threw out the idea to my mom, who then talked to my cousin, and then it was game on as she told me to order the tickets. So our late summer trip is a go!

This happened on Thursday evening, which left three hours in the online sale. But I still felt a pull to visit NYC... I mean, how often would I find a round-trip flight to NYC for that low? My biggest issue was going alone, as I don't know anyone in the city and knew no one to travel with. But then with a little nudge from JAWP, I decided to go for it. Picked a few days in October, and bought my tickets. Felt so great! I still have no idea where I'll be staying, or what I'll be doing exactly, but that's part of the excitement. I'll work out the details in the meantime and get some planning of all the sights I want to see. 

And of course, I will find ways to see Broadway shows on Broadway! At least one. My number one priority right now is The Book of Mormon. Tickets are pretty pricey, as it's Broadway and it just won a buttload of Tony Awards... but to say I got to see the smash musical (of which I adore the soundtrack) with the original cast (fingers crossed) at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre - which was home to Spring Awakening?!?! 

Bring it on.