Countdown to Concert Craziness

So if you're a regular reader of this anti-blog you'll know I'm a teensy bit of a junkie. A concert junkie that is. In 2009 I went to about 14 concerts. That's a little more than one a month which seems normal to me, but apparently, per pretty much everyone in my life, it's a lot. Okay, so maybe it is. Well, we're about 3 weeks into 2010 and I haven't gone to one concert yet, not one! However, that's all about to change...

• February brings the Elton John/Billy Joel concert I was supposed to see in November. It also brings Bon Jovi and Mariah Carey. Oh yes, I've got an eclectic playlist.

• March brings John Mayer to town. I'll be seeing him by myself since my normal concert-going friends had no interest. Ah well...more for me I guess...

• April brings MUSE, and May gives me James Taylor and Carole King and hopefully Lifehouse and Daughtry - though those tickets aren't actually on sale yet.

• Finally, June comes along and brings U2 to town - well, to O-Town, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them again on their crazy stadium tour. 

I'm sure some others will come along to take my concert dollars, and I can't wait!

Why isn't it okay that I don't want an iPhone?

So I purchased a Palm Pixi today and couldn't be happier. When I posted this status on Twitter and Facebook, a string of comments came quickly...mostly wondering why I didn't get an iPhone and letting me know that my choice was substandard. Apparently it's not okay to want a Palm. Apparently I'm subhuman if I don't want an iPhone or a Blackberry or even a Google Nexus or whatever that new phone is called. But mostly, it was about the iPhone. There were a few who liked my status or told me to go for it - thank you for that.

Is the iPhone cool? Of course it is. It's made by Apple. Despite my devotion to Apple, I don't actually have to own everything they make. And sorry, but having AT&T as my only provider option? No thanks. If the Sprint Network carried the iPhone, then we might be having a different discussion, but I don't know. I'm frankly just addicted to Palm.

I've had a Palm of some variety for more than 10 years. Yes. I was one of those geeks with the Palm Pilot way back when. I synched, I beamed, I learned the graffiti. It was a big thing when I moved to the Treo and combined two pieces of technology into one. It worked though. The Treo was a great tool, but not a great phone. The Centro, also made by Palm, my current phone, is both a great phone and a great tool. The Pixi is just the next best thing in my opinion.

Let me restate: IN MY OPINION.

Most of my friends have iPhones. Many that don't wish they did. I have zero issues with any of it. I just happen to prefer the Palm OS. Maybe it's because I want to be different. I don't know. Maybe I just like it. And maybe, just maybe, that's okay.

Note to self: Make Twitter and Facebook updates less attackable in the future.

It's just another New Year's Eve...

...another night like all the rest.

Can you name the artist? It's a classic in my opinion, a little sad, but I can't go through a New Year's Eve without hearing it. I was kinda bitter that I couldn't find Barry - yes that's Barry Manilow - actually performing the song, but you can at least hear the song in this video.





Of course another classic New Year's Eve tune is Prince's 1999...but now it just seems old.

I'm home on New Year's Eve, and am enjoying it immensely. I just finished watching the Sharks win in a shootout - yay! - and had a great Outback dinner with a good friend.

I'm pretty sure I get Outback Curbside Takeaway too often considering three of the servers that work the Takeaway area stopped at our table to chat with me. On the other hand, because they know me, I sometimes get free tea. It's not all bad, right?

I have no interest in making New Year's resolutions, do you? I found a cool Resolution Generator site that helps you if you do want to make them though. The first one I generated said: "This Year, I Will...Try Harder." Really? Okay. I'll try harder at something. It might be lounging, but whatever. I'll try harder at it. The second one I generated said: "This Year, I Will...Touch My Toes." Ummm...okay...I didn't try a third one.

I'm not sure I'll be staying up 'till midnight; we'll see. It's after midnight in New York now...doesn't that count? I have another 3 hours before the hour hits here and at this moment, it's doubtful that I'll see it roll in.

I hope you all enjoy ringing in Twenty-Ten. See you next year!

It's Christmas time...

...and there's no need to be afraid. At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shade. And in our world of plenty we can spread a smile of joy. Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time.




This is quite possibly my all-time favorite modern Christmas song, not because it's a great song, which it is, but because of the message it provides. Whenever I hear it during the Christmas season, I get chills and sometimes even tears in my eyes. It saddens me that our world still struggles with poverty and starvation more than 20 years after this was put together. It reminds me that I personally need to do more to feed the world...whether that's the other side of the planet, or the other side of my neighborhood.

I realize this is a very mellow blog for Christmas Eve, well, now Christmas Day, but it was on my mind and I wanted to share.

Happy Christmas Everyone!

Email Spam Entertains

I started reading some of the subject lines for the email that ends up in my spam folder and while too many to count are about enhancing a body part I don't actually possess, I recently found some to be highly entertaining.

Blow the bacterial infections away from you.
OH! Is that all it takes to be healthy? Just blow things away from me? I'm so glad I know this now. My life will be much better.

Have you brushed your hair this morning
Note, there was no punctuation, but I find it interesting that an email spammer would care whether or not I brushed my hair. For the record, I did, in fact, brush my hair this morning.

rushed over to the door and desperately shook the handle
Really? And I would read an email with this subject line why exactly?

8
I'm serious. That was the subject line. Just the number 8.

GOOD BUSINESS CONTRACT/REPLY
Since they put this uber attractive subject in all caps it's clearly the most important things for me to read, right? I mean, doesn't everyone need a good business contract? Good thing they emailed me this or I would have been lost.

Bessie started to give me dusting and tidying jobs to do
Well you go Bessie. Make other people do your dirty work.

I am glad you are not my true relation
This email came from someone called "queen bettie". While I'm certain the queen of some country IS my true relation, I'm pretty sure she'd capitalize Queen...and Bettie...

Seminar on "Team Building & Development"
Oh yeah. The quotes were in there. I can only guess what this seminar is really about since it's clearly only pretending to be about team building and development.

Give us a call to get a diploma.
What the heck did I spend all those years in college for if all I had to do was make a phone call? Geez, if only email spam had existed in the late 80s...