Ah, the Fate Stare. I mean, the State Fair.

I'm not sure why I got so many bewildered looks of disgust when I told friends and coworkers that I was headed to the State Fair last Saturday.

My question back - Why wouldn't you want to go?

Besides being the BEST people watching experience of all time, you can see crafts and animals and carnies and fried food and screaming children and cheap junk for sale, all in one place.

There are cowboys and girls wearing super short dresses and hoop earrings who belong in Scottsdale clubs (who dresses up like that to go to a FAIR?), Mexicans and women in daisy dukes with Uggs, women with shirts that look like Edward Scissorhands got ahold of the back (we tried to follow her and take a picture, but she was too darn fast) and lots of other fun What Not to Wears.

But the best part for me is filling up on my once a year Funnel Cake and Indian Fry Bread.  Mmmm.....
I tried to break up the food, not cram it all down in one sitting, since I knew I had to try it all.  But by the end of the night, I was home popping Pepto like candy, wishing I hadn't eaten so much.  My stomach felt like a rock, even when I awoke the next morning.   Suddenly I'm craving fresh fruit and veggies.

Musical Monday

Last week I got to hit not one, not two, but THREE shows.  Hallelujah!  Back to normal pre-Phoenix behavior.  Thank you bands, for actually stopping here and not just skipping Phoenix for LA or Vegas, or even Tucson.

Last Monday - We Are Scientists (one of those bands that their home country doesn't fully appreciate; they're much more loved in the UK).

Last Tuesday - The Hotel Cafe Tour (chick style)

I had been dying to see Meiko, who was great, but everyone else was equally impressive.  Laura Jansen especially (I always love the ones with the piano more than the ones with guitar).

Last Saturday - Weezer at the AZ State Fair

I sang "Say it Ain't SooooooAwhoaaawhoaaaa..." with all these people:

Rivers Cuomo is a strange little man, but so so entertaining.  I had to think back to the previous Weezer shows I've attended; one at Coachella and one in Spain where I almost died on the floor of the Plaza de Toros en Madrid because everyone rushed the arena to see Dover when Weezer had finished and there was only one exit and it was tiny and I was pushing to get out while thousands (okay, maybe hundreds) were pushing to get in and at one point my feet were off the floor and my shoulders pinned to the people around me and I almost hit the metal barriers on the side.

And then, possibly the most crowd participation I have seen, and the most entertaining -the Hootenanny revival.  He brought out 35 people with their own instruments to play along, ranging from trumpets to cellos, flutes, and even a didgeridoo.  The crowd chanted Hip Hip! when appropriate and all was well.

A Walk Down Birthday Lane

Ah, the Birthday recap edition, looking on past Septembers

People tend to ask, what do you want for your birthday? Or what did you get?

I guess I’m not so much into “things.” I’d much rather have experiences. Memorable ones. With bright sunny days surrounded by friends with music and laughter and stories of past excursions and creating moments worthy of future tales.

My birthday celebrations in recent years (for my own sake, I'm starting to forget these things):

2007 – I really don’t remember. Guess it shouldn't be on this memorable experiences list. I had just moved to Phoenix. I’d been at my job barely a month, a couple coworkers took me out for lunch to Delux. The grandparents with whom I lived were in the California condo for two weeks. I was home alone. I think I visited the other grandparents down south for a birthday dinner or something. May have been a rather sad experience, comparatively speaking.

2006 – Bowling at Lucky Strike! And a barbeque on our stoop afterwards, in our tiny little area of green space on our tiny little grill on the steps of our townhouse. Man, I miss that place.

2005 – The big 2.5 decade celebration with a huge party and glossy black and white invites and black attire requested and my roommate passing out 25 candles to 25 guys who had to present me with said candle after giving me a smooch. Hilarious. Thank you, Niki.

2004 - A year I'd rather forget, the year of the "Bar Mitzvah." Thanks to a few good friends, I still managed to make the weekend mostly decent and we're all about to laugh (sort of) about the whole thing now.Pre-digital camera days

2003 - Really, no idea.  I had just moved in with Niki and Yuhi to our Van Ness apartment.  No recollection.  

2002 - I have a really cute picture of me, Erin, Crystal, and Shannon in our apartment from that day.  I think we went out to dinner?  I wore a red skirt.

2001 - A few days after 9/11.  Rather muted. I do think JWP took me out for a really nice dinner and got me an awesome spa package, which I used during Thanksgiving break when Tanner came to visit me at the S St house.  Yeah....

2000 - The Henle apartment.  I think I went home around that time for a long weekend.  And when I came back the roommates + Abe had ice cream and cake waiting for me late one Sunday night.

1999 - First college birthday.  The ladies of Harbin 3 had been friends all of 2.5 weeks.  My lovely roommate ACS decorated the hallway, got a cake, balloons, and we had a little fiesta.

This year as I was pondering what to do, this wonderful lady suggested she could come into town for the weekend. My immediate response was a forceful NO! I (and I hate to say hate) strongly dislike this place and don’t want to spend the weekend here.

Her immediate alternative (and one of the reasons why she’s brilliant), let’s go to Palm Springs. Perfect, perfect, perfect!

Weekend recap, coming up.