Friday Five- 4/17

Guess what? It's Friday...again! On Wednesday I was thinking, 'OH! This week isn't going by as fast as usual...I can write that in my blog'...but alas, now that Friday is here, I am pretty sure the week flew by. Maybe it was Thursday that flew by. Maybe Thursday has been the time machine all along. Here are your five for this week:

1. My old pals, Carbon Leaf, made a pit stop into the music lounge on Monday...no show, just a promotional thing. Because of my time working at KMTT, I have seen the Carbon Leaf guys too much to count. BUT, sadly, they have made a few changes in their lineup recently...and it just isn't the same. I haven't been to a show for a couple of years...both because I have been traveling and they have been recording/not touring as much. So I wasn't sure what to expect for the music lounge. And I have to admit, it was sad. Like, they sounded like them, but it wasn't the band that I knew and loved...but because it SOUNDED like them, it reminded me that it WASN'T them...I just wanted Scott to give me a big hug after they were done playing. But he wasn't there. It was nice chatting with Barry, Terry and Carter, and I was reminded of what nice guys they are. Carter is going to have a baby soon and he is really excited about it. It left me with the 'oh, I miss the good ol days' feeling.

2. I have been trying to think of areas I can cut back my spending- and let me tell you, there are not many...I haven't shopped in who knows how long! So I have decided to do a trial run of not having a car...see if I can live without a vehicle. I did it in college. I should be able to do it now. I have been pretending that I just don't have the option of driving places. I have been taking the bus- and even better, I have been walking a ton. Taking a car takes so much less time, but I forget how much I enjoy walking! How much better you get to know the neighborhood...the smells and sounds that you don't get inside the car. Not to mention the extra exercise it gives me. I still have to drive when I open at Starbucks- there isn't a bus that runs early enough for that. It would be so great if I could cut out my car insurance, gas, AND all the stupid parking tickets I get when I work downtown...ugh! It is still a work in progress, but so far so good....especially when the sunshine is out!

3. I watched American Idol this week. I know nothing of this season...this is the first time I have watched. They are down to their final 7...and I have to say, sounded like a pretty good group. It was 'songs from the movies' week...which seems like a fun theme. Except just about everyone picked super lame songs. The most generic movie songs ever. ONE guy did the song from Once by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova...which I absolutely love. I was soooo glad he sang that song...just a little bit obscure. I also really appreciate that a couple of them actually play instruments...I think that is important and those guys get extra points right off the bat. I don't like that, since there are four judges, they don't all comment on each performance...they did a two and two thing. Let's be honest, we all just want to hear what Simon has to say. BUT THEN, the second night, the voting off show....ugh, I was so annoyed. Apparently this season the judges get one "save"...they can save a contestant that the viewers voted off. And they decided to use it on the piano playing guy...who I liked (the piano thing always gets me)...but they put on this big show...Simon being against it, the other judges rooting him on...it just looked soooo scripted and fake. At least make it appear that it isn't fixed. It was really bad. I was home by myself and I was rolling my eyes, and possibly shouted at the screen. It was horrible...and I have no intention of watching anymore...just because of that. And because next week is disco.

4. I am reading a new book right now. My mom gave it to me...it is called "A Whole New Mind" and it is about how right brain people are going to rule the future. Basically it is saying that through outsourcing, automation, and the abundance of STUFF we are capable of having, just being a "left brain" thinker/worker isn't enough anymore. We can't just rely on being book smart. The only way to rise above those, is to be creative...make the normal, abnormal. Make things beautiful and interesting. Design. Create. Play. Find meaning. I feel like I have been doing more creating and actively TRYING to be creative lately...TRYING to find an alternate solution, or another idea. And by actively TRYING, it has become easier. I don't have to try so much...the ideas come. I feel myself BEING more creative. And in that, I feel smarter. I have more confidence and feel like I can figure out anything. I recommend the book. And on another, sort of related note...I have mentioned how much I enjoy a good character in a book. I don't care what the book is actually about, as long as I like the characters. I went back and re-read one of my favorite characters- Stargirl. Have you read it? Go get it now and read it. And there is a new-ish sequel to the story...which I felt a little unsure about, and didn't like at ALL in the beginning. But in good ol Stargirl/Jerry Spinelli fashion- the story has some great characters. There is a boy- Perry. And he doesn't seem like a character you would like. He skips school, he steals things, he was sent away to bad kids boot camp, he has a "harem" of girls that call themselves the Honeybees who follow him around...and yet, the way Spinelli writes him, you really like him. He and Stargirl get along because they are those right brain kind of people....they are always looking for a different way to do something, they don't care about what they are SUPPOSED to do. There is a joke in that imagineer book I read, "Q. How many imagineers does it take to change a lightbulb? A. Does it have to be a lightbulb?" I like it. This is a totally scattered and incomplete #4 point...but take what you can. And read Stargirl.

5. On Wednesday I closed at Starbucks. We had a box of the mini Top Pot donuts that we had to mark out, so we decided to open em up and sample a few. Or many. I left work feeling like I needed to do some major running. I haven't been very good about running lately- like 3 miles tops. But I decided I was going to do the Green Lake circle twice- 5.6 miles. The weather was GORGEOUS. I got there about 7:40pm, and it seriously took everything in me not to do the Phoebe run. I just wanted to hold my arms out and pretend I was flying. Maybe it was all that right brain reading I had done on the bus right before that...I don't know. But man, it was such an amazing night for a run...I made it around twice, no prob at all.

Have a fab weekend...see you again before you know it.