I'm Halfway There

Molly e-mailed me today saying she's "obsessed" with T&S.
I reminded her how much she despised and ridiculed them at first glance.
Let that be a lesson to you, Miss Mongo. Never scoff at my judgment and recommendations, especially when concerning talented Canadian twins.

It is in celebration in converting another soul to T&S that I write, well that and I have 35 minutes to kill before I go to work.

I spent a good chunk of my time yesterday finally sorting out all of the sheet music I have accumulated over the span of my worship career. It was kinda ridiculous the number of copies I had of some songs, and by "kinda", I mean REALLY. I'm pretty sure I piled my countless packets into a corner in my room and didn't touch them for three or four years. Add that to the number of different teams and people I've played with and that makes for quite a hefty stack. It made me nostalgic to think of all the groups I've played with: about four Youth Sundays, two Trainee Sundays, four Deputations, CFM Sunday School, Pathfinder Musicals (I don't really miss those), and six or so years of Youth Worship band.
I miss playing with people. I miss having that team. I miss having a place.

I don't know if I'll play this fall when programs kick off again. At this point, I don't know if there will really even be a program, at least a program like any sort I've been involved in before. If there is something, who knows if I'll even be able to participate due to school and work.

Oh well, one of the benefits of playing guitar is that you can play it without any accompaniment and it sounds just fine, at least so long as I can still play worth a darn.

I kid you not, there are probably 13 "Undignified"s and 11 "I Am Free"s in that there front pile alone.

To never playing in Hans Bronson again,

-KL

I'm Not Unfaithful, But I'll Stray

I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't blogged in awhile.
I know, weird.

I suppose the desire to type out anecdotal evidence of my existence has just left the building. Typing out pieces of my day or how I'm feeling to people who may or may not be reading has very little appeal to me anymore. I don't know what I'm supposed to say. I don't know what I should write.

The truth?

No.

Since when has anyone ever wanted the truth. Least of all me.

I don't mean to be negative about the whole blog-writing shtick, but it's just not what I wanted it to be. Now, this isn't to say that I'm leaving forever, I may or may not resurface (hell, maybe even tomorrow (but don't hold your breath)). I'd just rather have real conversations, real relations of my day, my life, my thoughts, feelings, desires. I know that's not possible for some people reading this, per se (i.e. Chile...?).

hmm, awkwardly transitioned ending?

yes.

The Night Which Will Live in Infamy, or at least permanently in my brain

So.
The concert was
AMAZING!
was there ever any doubt?

The whole trip was awesome and much needed. I went with my friend Jordyn and we drove to Portland pretty much straight from school (after getting much needed sustenance from Barracuda's first). The last time I went to Portland with a friend, she fell asleep and it was rather drawl. Thankfully, Jordyn didn't--especially since she was driving.

With relatively few tactical errors or difficulties getting to the venue (thanks to The Google and the power of the iPhone), we arrived early and parked in a cozy garage. As we were pulling in though, I looked across the street to a small park and saw a small crowd of people with giant, green, blow-up alligators. One in the crowd was "riding" the alligator in a (f)risky manner. I stared at Jordyn and proclaimed, "Why is that man humping an alligator?" When we crossed the street we saw it was a woman and I was embarrassed, especially because I had forgotten that the alligator represented Tegan and Sara's new single, "Alligator". She then pulled out a boombox and proceeded to teach the surrounding fans the dance from the music video. It was disturbing and I am glad I am a super-fan, but not a CRAZY-super-fan.

After chilling in the park and then walking through a cloud of pot smoke, we entered the venue and got our seats. Unfortunately it wasn't general admission and everybody had assigned seats. We weren't in a terrible spot though. We were in the center column, about 2/3 back to the point where we were about eye-level with whoever was on stage.
Example:


The opening acts were semi-decent. We both agreed that Holly Miranda would have been much better as a solo act, though her cover of "I'd Rather Go Blind" by Etta James was stellar. Steel Train...let's just say I'd never go see that euphemistic band again unless they were an opener and I had no choice.

Finally, after two hours of sitting, the glory arrived. The backdrop fell and everybody screamed. The first words out of Tegan's mouth were, "Thank you, we're Tegan and Sara and we're from the socialist nation of Canada so you have the choice and if you feel like standing up, you go ahead!" Done.

From start to finish Jordyn and I were screaming and clapping and singing our lungs out. So epic.
The only thing I wish had happened would be that they bantered more. T&S are famous for telling stories and bantering at length between songs. I don't know if it was because this was the last night of the tour or what, but there were only 2 or 3 stories and Sara said very little at all.
But whatever because I am a content fan who saw my favorite band live and they were superb all the same. I wish I could go back and live in that night whenever I want.

I'm presenting to you this: it's one of their older songs, but they played it in the encore without the rest of their band and it's such a beautiful song Tegan wrote about when she didn't think that they would make it and Sara wanted to quit the band altogether.


and lastly, because I can't resist, I bring you: "Alligator Humping (wo)Man"
You have been warned.
-KL

What to do with the leftover you

This blog is for Molly.
Little did I know that she depended on my blogs like she depends on punching people.
Appreciate the fact that I turned my computer back on just for you, my dear.
I know, Living Sacrifice personified.

So, life.
I've been working a lot. Brandon went to weekends only so he could be Mr. Dad for his new daughter. While his replacement is getting trained, I'm taking his shifts which means I go straight from work to school most days. I've become quite adept at changing pants in my cozy car. And the extra time has cushioned my tip cup quite nicely. It's also given me the opportunity to work on my latte art which I somewhat difficult for me because it requires me to be both patient and relent on perfectionist tenancies. It's also funny though as Annette has asked me to do the espresso cart at church every other week or so and when I pour drinks there, if there's even a tiny squiggle or hint of movement in the foam, they gather around and "oooh" or "ahh"! It makes me feel better when I try to actually do a rosetta at work and fail epically whilst Joey or Nicci are watching.

School is the same old same old. Have I mentioned I despise Russian history?
I do.
I am excited that I will probably never have to touch another Russian class after this semester though. But then again, knowing WSU TC and the innovation they possess, they will find a way to change that!

I spent the majority of the daylight hours with Padre today. The crisp pre-noon half-hour or so was spent digging through the recycling receptacles with a metal rake. We had taken cardboard from outside the "Old" house last night to recycle like the back-patting, earth saving, global warming stopping superheroes we are. Then this morning, Mom "informed" us that there was a power strip in a long cardboard tube that needed to be returned. So off we went to retrieve the tube.
I don't know about elsewhere, but around these parts it seems the people enjoy spending their leisurely Sunday mornings hauling giant chunks of cardboard to the recycle bins. There were so many new pieces on top of where I thought I had put the tubes.
So there we were, man with a metal rake, girl with a shovel, trying to pull waste out of a huge bin with only half-a-foot openings. It also didn't help that the slats were at about forehead level for me.
After many scrapped knuckles on Padre's part, weird looks from other green superheroes, and one man informing us that pulling things out is illegal, we found all the tubes.
And they were empty.

Thankfully, the rest of our day was not quite as wasted as we then went home and swept, vacuumed, and mopped the entire basement. It was not the most exhilarating tasks to do on one's day off, but we were happy to work together and get us all one step closer to D-Day.

So I guess that's my update/instant blog for today.
My eyes are starting to burn. Oh how I remember the days of staying up past midnight....

Now you owe me one,

-KL

Mark My Words: I Might Be Something Someday

Goodbye 2009.
Hello 2010.

Dear 2009,
You were pretty swell. You went a bit fast, but we had some good times.
I got my first real job. It's awesome, most of the time.
I traveled to three different countries, two of them (Albania and England for a bit) on my 5th(?) mission trip. Canada was a blast and I am so very thankful for the people that went with me and the experiences we had, even sleeping in a baseball dugout. That trip freed me in quite a few ways.
I learned more about Russian history than I will ever want to know. Though I will be learning even more this year (can't wait).
Sounds kinda sad, but after two years at WSU TC, I made a friend that I actually do stuff with outside of school. Now we can learn about/be tortured by Russia together!
I was on the APNC at West Side (something anyone reading my blog even pseudo-regularly would know about).
I finally moved back into the real house.
Just kidding, it's still not done.
I had a kick-ass New Year's Eve.
I think that's about the gist of you.

So thanks for being a smokin' fine year,
-KL

Dear 2010,

I am looking forward to you. We had a shaky start with food poisoning, but I think we can make up for that.
I think some big things will be taking place on your watch. I'm already looking forward to the high school retreat in about 3 weeks. There's also the high probability of an extended "hiatus" from youth worship team. I'm quite relieved for that to occur as well. And April. Sweet, glorious April. Why can't you be here sooner?
Anyways, I hope we work out quite splendidly. I'm pretty sure we will. I guess that's it for now, I'm sure we'll see each other around. I look forward to it!

To 363 more days of unicorns, chap stick, and clean socks;
-KL

Hope all four of you reading this have a fantastic year to come as well! If not, I might be able to get you 2010's address and you can go have a word with it--crowbars are pretty effective as well.

Correct(ed) Over Time

I've never wanted April to come faster in my life.
(sounds like the opening to some erotic fiction, but it's not)
I think I have blog Tourettes, sorry.



-KL

Gibberish Slurs

So I finally decided to spend the iTunes gift card I got for my birthday. Well, most of it.
I obviously bought the bonus tracks from the album of the artist(s?) whose names I shall not mention for fear of beating a dead horse.
Also bought Iron On (Kate Cooper!)'s old EP and another album I've been meaning to pick up, Spoons by Wallis Bird.

Now, one of the benefits of enjoying guitar powered music and playing the guitar is that the two can go together. Crazy, I know. Bear with me.

However, I neither have the time or experience to be completely stellar at guitar. Mostly I just mess around and play the same couple songs over and over, repeat.
But listening to Wallis, who rocks the acoustic (and has an amazing Irish accent to boot), I believe I have found the key to becoming a strumming genius.

All I need to do is have a traumatic accident occur in which I lose most of the fingers on my right hand and have all but one of them reattached. Score. Key. Instant success. It has definitely worked for Wallis.

Wait. I don't believe Kaki King has had anything traumatic happen to her digits. Flawed again. Going with hierarchy, Kaki wins any day in my book and thus I shall spare my fingers. That and I'm kinda attached to my pinky finger. Too bad. I really thought I was on to something.

Still a ten-fingered, rambling, guitar player;
-KL

Kneel, Condition Your Feelings

So yesterday I did something really dumb. I wore brand new high-tops with low-cut socks. I now have a nickel sized patch of rubbed-clean skin. Awesome.

Other than that, I am gearing up for a marathon weekend. *exhale* Thankfully I had the time to shower tonight so I should be good for three or four days.

I plead APNC, mostly.
We're bringing out our third interviewee.
The good news is this will probably be our last visit. Mostly because we're out of money...and we're all exhausted. I'm trying really hard not to be resentful over the whole process and some of the people involved. It's no easy task being on a church committee, let alone one that meets every week for months on end.
I'm SO ready for this to be over. And hopefully (fingers crossed), we'll have a new Youth Pastor all decided upon by mid-November.

But enough about that.

The good news is, Canadian mail is about 10x better than USPS. I know everyone was gripping their seat in anticipation of me getting my Canadian mail and I'm very pleased to announce that my Tegan and Sara bundle has arrived.



I don't know why the photo is sideways...I'm perplexed to say the least.
If you want to hear the CD, which I know you do, come sit in my car with me and we will drive and chat and groove to lyrics that will rock your world. Believe me, I don't lie when it comes to Tegan and Sara. I can pretty much tell you anything that you want to know about them, well, except maybe their shoe size, but I think it's a 7, maybe 6.5.

Creeped out yet?

Seriously though, come chill with me in my car. 'Tis one of my favorite things to do. I'll drive you somewhere. Anywhere.

I think the four shots (of coffee) I had aren't going to let me sleep anytime soon. Which is unfortunate as I have to work at 6 tomorrow. I feel like Finn on cold medicine.

Further embarrassed,
-KL

Go Steady with Me

The post might be semi-incoherent/tangent laced because I'm finding it hard to focus due to the fact that it is SAINTHOOD DAY and I am soooo distracted by the beautifully captivating lyrics pouring out of my stereo speakers.

I'll leave you to figure out that one.

So on Sunday I drove Kyle back to EWU because that was literally the only time we could spend together during his short visit home. I'm so glad we did it that way too. I love that guy (in the most platonic way possible, of course). I find him to be one of the easiest people I know to talk to. And talk I needed. And let's face it, what better time to talk than when you are confined to a very small space that is hurtling down a freeway at 70 mph.
We geeked out a lot too. Movies, TV, Final Fantasy, Glee, Company of Thieves, Tegan and Sara, Zelda, singing Oscar Wilde. These are a few of my favorite things. Oh the beauty, it astounds.
When we arrived at Eastern we walked around in the dark and reminisced more. I met his reclusive roommate and then departed into the dark void between Cheney and the TC. It was a good trip. Much needed. I think I already said that, but oh well.

Pause for listening to catchy riff.
Now my keyboard has become a drum, sweet!

Other than that, life is pretty general.
Though to pierce my head, that would be a feat.

I'm contemplating a lot of things lately. Well, more just re-contemplating. When I decide what to do, you may be among the first to know. Though I don't think I'd ever do it via blog.
yeah, this post is totally sound and in no way ambiguous.
Just the way I like it.

Now you know you know it now,
-KL

Spider v. Bat; Tiger v. Rat; Owl v. Dove

So, I told Molly I would blog tonight.
I half regret that as my eyes roll back in my head and I curl up more cozily under my quilt. Regardless, this will be a much shorter blog than I planned on (oh yes, I plan my blogs, what kind of J would I be if I didn't).

Mostly what I was going to blog about was my day (hmm, go figure). It was a crazy one. I went at 6 this morning and opened with Kristin. She nonchalantly told me that the wi-fi was down and no one knew what to do to fix it, not even the Cline's computer guys. Now normally, the only bad thing about wi-fi being down would be that it's much harder to check my facebook on the go, but at work, our computers need the wi-fi in order to charge credit cards. This especially means bad news for whoever is running the drive-thru (i.e. me) because they have to ring up the order in the back and then explain to the customer, "no, I'm not running away with your credit card, I need to go up front and scan it because I've been building up bad karma for days when I work."

So my legs were thoroughly streched today, along with my patience as the back-up credit card machine crapped out for 10 minutes and then the computers had to be rebooted. Awesome.

Josh, the manager, was also working this morning and he tends to get stressed out easily. Possibly even easier than I do. Which is somewhat surprising. Hmm.
So most of the first seven hours of my day were spent like that. :)

Much to my pleasure, Molly randomly texted me during a down moment and gave me a textie-hug...I'm making that a word. Seriously though, Molly, I really needed that! Also, I downloaded an Eisley CD. I haven't listened to much, it's ok...I think I'm the type of person new music needs to grow on, so I'll get back to you after I've listened to it a few more times. We'll see if that happens before Sainthood comes out, once that does, nothing else will even be streaming through my headphones. Currently I'm stuck on Metric though. Nice beats, random words. OK, tangent.

So after work, I walked to the front of the store to find (pause for dramatic effect) Rebecca! Once again, it was so nice to just sit and talk to an actual person, not a crazed customer who had not been filled with caffeine and paid with a nickel and a credit card yet. We do need to do that more often, I mean, we live in the same city(ish), how hard can it be?

Tomorrow is Sunday, which means APNC. Let's just ignore that for now. I feel my shoulders tensing already, hurray!

Well, tomorrow is another day. Where does all this time go? It can fly for all I care. I wish I could fly. Stream-of-consciousness-writing. Interesting. I'm gonna pass-out.
Night.

May all your wi-fi connections work,
-KL

I Know You Feel It Too (Well, probably not you)

DISCLAIMER: This blog is completely irrelevant, it is just me rambling on to myself about one of my obsessions, because I have no one else to ramble about my obsessions to.

Got off work today at 12:30ish. Came home, played guitar, got ready to take a shower. But I decided it would be a good idea to check some of my usual websites before-hand--who knows when the world will implode and how else would I know but to check my regular sites?

So I'm on this one news-site and there I see "On Tegan and Sara's New Single: Hell". Say no more.
Now, if you ever really get me talking about music, like really, I will divulge my obsession with the Canadian duo. Like, I kinda think it's unhealthy how much I love them. Really.
So I watch the video and then go on iTunes to listen to the 30 second sample. It's just not enough. I have controlled myself from purchasing the single, b/c I've already pre-ordered the album and it's coming at the end of the month. But it's too long to wait. On top of that, I see that iTunes has some "Bonus Tracks" available by album only. No. freaking. way. I ordered mine directly from the T&S website. Am I gonna get those tracks? I hope so. I hope so...
I guess I could break my Tegan and Sara code and pirate them later if they don't come with my pre-order.
Words cannot express.
If only I knew someone slightly less obsessed with them than me, I would go to their concert in January. Until then, youtube shall have to suffice and my heart will yearn for this next album.

Unashamedly,
-KL

Take a Breath/Take a Breath/With Me/Blow by Blow

I don't really have anything to say tonight.
Ok, that's kinda a lie. I'm sure I could go on about my life and the random details and adventures which occur within it. But I don't know that I will.

Menial details (I suppose I can at least get away with these):
Finally went to Canada this past weekend. It was good, I had a fun time with Jeremy, Kyle and Maribeth. However, if you happen to go up en-route of Metaline Falls (which is the border entrance closest to Idaho), make sure to get there before midnight, otherwise you will be forced to retreat down the hill and attempt to find a camping spot. There are some interesting ones to be had...indeed.

School is boring. I can't wait to be done. Although I do enjoy my "History of Imperial Russia" Prof. She is a bizarre--in a good way.

Work is good. I can make a pretty amazing latte now, though the designs still turn out as deformed hearts or nonsensical swirls. I found out today that the bosses are also letting Nicci go, which I find to be unfortunate. She is, without a doubt, the hardest worker there and I'm sad to see her go. At first I was really intimidated to work with her, but as the past few months passed and I gave her a few rides home, I really started to enjoy her personality and strength. I could totally think of somebody else I'd rather have them fire (two actually), but I'm not the boss and I'm glad I'm not.

And so that brings me to church...yeah.
APNC -> still searching
Refinery -> starts next week
Youth Worship Band -> oh crap, I need to start that again soon, don't I?!
Albania/Deputation -> 6 hours of sharing and debrief this Sunday (can't it just end already? for once I'm glad I have an APNC meeting that afternoon).
There's probably other stuff, but oh well.
Mostly I just miss the kids and want all the meetings to go away so we can finally get started and get back to being with them.

That's all I'm putting out there for now.



Have a refulgent evening my friends/blog stalkers,

-KL