It took entirely too long to get to Irvine Meadows last night (yeah, I'm old-school like that, still calling it Irvine Meadows) for the Blink-182/Weezer show. The parking lot was super-full so I had to walk forever to get the venue. The concession stand was having some kind of beer issue so it took me 20 minutes to make it through that relatively short line.

With pizza and drink finally in hand, the lights go off and Weezer's intro music comes on. Damn it!! I power walk up the hill...

I'm actually pretty excited about seeing the Black Eyed Peas open up for U2 at the Rose Bowl next month. I like the group's past singles and have a certain affection for Fergie ("The Dutchess" is a great dance pop record and I grew up watching her on "Kids Inc."), so had a fair amount of confidence in the selection when the tour was announced.

Lately I've gotten more enthusiastic about the Black Eyed Peas' set because of the song "I Gotta Feeling." I...

I adore the movie "Empire Records," it's a great one to pop in when I'm sick or down or bored because it totally picks me up. It's about a record store, the kids who work there and the one day that changes their lives forever, but in a totally quirky, slightly indie, '90s kind of way.



A portion of the movie is dedicated to Rex Manning, a former teen idol turned bitter pop singer...

I believe my high school boyfriend truly had a soundtrack to his life. Any major moment, happy occurrence, favorite memory was accompanied by a song, and hearing said song would instantly transport him back to that time and place.

For me, songs aren't necessarily tied to a specific moment, but instead a series of moments or a time in my life.

Pearl Jam's "Black" just came on the radio and sent me back to high school. I was best friends with my brother's on-again/off-again...

In his first Tweet of the day, John Mayer mentioned that today is his 11,518th day. I did a little math and figured out that today is my 11,580th day.

There is a theory that it takes about 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. I've been on this Earth now for about 277,920 hours, so I think that more than qualifies me as an expert in living my life.

Knowing that, actually having the numbers to look on, gives me comfort, makes each day less scary, less overwhelming....

I have a weakness for guys who play guitar and today happens to be the 50th birthday of one of my favorite guitar players—Brian Setzer. A handful of extraordinarily lucky people in Mr. Setzer's new hometown of Minneapolis will get to celebrate this momentous occasion with The Stray Cats. I get to celebrate it right here.

I was too young to listen to The Stray Cats when the band first hit it big. I fell in love with those amazing rock-a-billy songs when I was in high school and hung...

When "All That You Can't Leave Behind" came out, I was in the midst of a quarter-life crisis. The guys in U2 were going through a bit of a crisis themselves, it seemed, so they hashed it out with music. I connected with that album so much because of that, grateful to have these four men out there bumping up against what life had to throw at them and somehow coming out the better for it. What a great example for a girl to have.

A new U2 album, a new time of uncertainty and...

I adore John Mayer for many, many reasons, one being his journal entries that are funny, sweet, honest, inspiring and, sometimes, odd.

He's just started working on his next album and, with his new journal, is already letting everyone know he's planning to take his time. I appreciate that. I appreciate that an artist I like isn't satisfied throwing any old junk out there and expecting his fans to eat it up. I appreciate that he's a bit of a perfectionist.

He covered...

A friend posted this on her blog and it sounded like a fun way to waste a bit of time, so I took up the challenge.

Here are the instructions for creating your own album cover:

• The first article you get from Wikipedia is the name of your artist/band.
  
• The last four or five words of the very last quote on this site is the title of your album.
  
• The third picture from Flickr's Explore page, no matter what it is, will be your album cover art.
  
• Use

...

NPR has this weekly feature called This I Believe where people submit essays on their personal beliefs. The essay that aired last week was really sweet and honest and touching. The author was in Kindergarten when he wrote this, he's now 7. I just feel like this is something great to share.

Thirty Things I Believe
I believe life is good.
I believe God is in everything.
I believe we’re all equal.
I believe we can help people.
I believe everyone is...

Happy Chinese New Year! We ate yummy Chinese takeout at work today to celebrate and everyone has been sharing their horoscopes for the year. I like the way mine sounds.

Hoping for a very great Year of the Ox!!

Snake Ratings

79% (10 favorable and 2 neutral months)
The Snake has an incredibly favorable year ahead. The year of the Ox provides many opportunities for the Snake to fulfill long awaited career goals and achieve more than he/she ever imagined....

I was just taking a bit of trip down memory lane in a rarely used blog I have. There are a few repeating themes in it, including John Mayer. I really do the boy. I think he's so talented and funny and hot (super hot!).

It's his songs that really get me, though. I remember first hearing the singles from "Room for Squares" and feeling a click, like he understood what I was going through because he was going through it, too. I still feel that way.

One...

My fortune cookie from lunch said, "Share your happiness with others today," so I'm going to.

Today is Jan. 13, a Tuesday in winter. While some parts of the country are blanketed by snow, coping with unbelievably low temperatures, it's about 80 in Southern California's lovely South Bay, the Santa Ana winds making the sky so clear and gorgeous.

Combining this week's shockingly warm weather with Sunday's trip to The Joshua Tree, I am reaffirming my love for...

We're getting off work at 3 in honor of the holiday (yay!) and are getting a four-day weekend (double-yay!). I wanted to do a quick wrap-up on 2008 and wish everyone the best possible 2009.

My half-niece got married this year, as did two of my good friends. All three weddings were great, completely right for each couple.

I went to a bunch of great concerts this year, including finally getting to see The Stray Cats live after 16 years of wishing. No Madonna this year,...

I got back from New York late Tuesday, spent yesterday sleeping and doing laundry, and am back at work today.
I had such a fantastic time visiting my friend and seeing the sites. It was very cold this weekend but did not snow as was forecast (hooray!!). I could have done without the wind that nearly knocked me over but think I'd take wind over snow any day.
I got in very early on Saturday morning. We had brunch at the super-adorable Alice's Tea Cup near Central Park and then took...