Veni Vidi Vivi

We went to see Rent (the touring show with the originators of Mark and Roger performing) for Prom Queen's birthday. She is seventeen, omg! Anyway, I had never seen it, and oh, okay, now I see what the fuss was all about. I'm just about thirteen years late.

See, P hates musicals (except for Jesus Christ Superstar), and while I enjoyed Annie and other popular musicals as a kid, I never got into them and I never really got to see many on stage. My high school did not do musicals (we did straight up theater) and my theater track in college was definitely not the musical theater track. In fact, I think it is fair to say I was a musical snob for a long time. If it wasn't theater (without the silly singing), I wasn't interested (except for Cabaret - that was my big favorite). It was a thing.

Now we are much more receptive. In the last few years I've seen Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and now Rent for the first time ever on stage. One of these days, I'll see Les Mis - it is on the list.

Rent was quite good, even though I cared far less about Mimi/Roger than I did Angel/Collins or Joann/Maureen. But the music was, wow, energizing, to say the least, and I loved the staging. The ensemble last night was quite good, but I think some songs got a bit oversung; it was hard to hear words, but there was plenty of voice. Of course, we were also in the nosebleed seats, so it could be that we just didn't get the best effect up there. The show's highest praise came from P who said, "It was a lot better than I thought it would be." *snickers*

I has a router again!

This is only because Jen had to go out and buy a new one. After, literally, hours on the phone with the idiots at Qwest, instead of the replacement we were supposed to receive, we got an installation disk. Helpful, huh? Finally she talked to someone with a clue, and we are getting a much faster one on May 26th. Until then, we have the extra replacement.

We went to the Cure concert last night at Red Rocks. It was absolutely amazing. They played for three hours; there were four encores. Four. This is the sixth time I've seen them, and while I missed the synth sound that fills out their music, their current iteration is powerful (bass, two guitars, drums), and damn, they can play for guys pushing fifty.

I am far behind on my Friends list and e-mail. And now I'm tired. *watches Ugly Betty and takes Intarweb pressure off of self*

Weekly fandom roundup! For lo, I am a happy geek girl.

( Comics! (Buffy and SPN:Origins) )

( Speaking of Supernatural (with spoilers for next week's ep from the trailer only) )

( Music - Tori Amos )

( Milliways-shaped things )

( A small Dr. Who related rant )

And now I am done talkin'. Woo hoo!

So one of the best parts of varadia's visit was the sheer amount of plot ideas we came up with. For all of our characters (including Aspen's). There is much, much plot now. And here I was saying I had none. SILLY ME.

Now we just have to find the time and energy to put these plots into action.

Lost was meh. Ish. I am a little disappointed. I sure hope things pick up for the show.

I have found something I like to do at work. I am archiving and organizing one of the sharepoint sites where the old courses go. I am finding I am really, really enjoying whipping it into shape. Alas, it isn't a very long project, though. Still, for the rest of this week I shall slap my headphones on and enjoy.

Speaking of headphones, I got the newest Rasputina over the weekend, and I ADORE it. Usually they are kind of hit or miss - I usually like a few songs on each cd but the others leave me cold. This one is much more consistent. So now I have all of my Rasputina on my iPod.

I really, really love my iPod. So so much.

I am Goth!Mom, hear me roar!

The Bauhaus show was awesome, and having our goddaughter here was even more so. She's become a really cool person. And OMG she was so excited in a very laconic way.

I totally felt like Goth!Mom though. Luckily, there were many Goth!Moms at the show (Julie, I loooooked for you!!!) and I dressed up moderately which was much fun. And this morning? I totally made a well-balanced breakfast for her. It was fun.

Sara spent all day today watching Blackadder. Lots and lot of it. All the while she was uploading most of our Cure and Bauhaus/Peter Murphy collection onto her iPod. So cute.

I would love to have one more day of weekend, however.

With the sound of lots and lots of music. We've been hitting the genres pretty hard this evening. Starting with Johnny Cash - the newest cd, America IV: the Man Comes Around. This blew me away. He covers Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" - and he makes you forget anyone else ever did it. Nick Cave sings with him on a Hank Williams Sr. song. AND he sings "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and it's more intense in a way then the original. Dude, it's gothalicious goodness from the Man in Black! It's actually a fine, fine album. I am mightily impressed.

See, our home has been undergoing a slight country conversion lately. It started with Dwight Yoakum and Hank Sr. and some roots music. Then Dixie Chicks hit, and we've been loving their music. Most recently P. has gone on a Willie Nelson kick. Let me tell you, Willie is a fine song writer with a beautiful way of phrasing his songs. And the sounds he gets from his old, beat up guitar - beautiful. So now with the new Johnny Cash, I have a feeling we'll be looking for more of his work as well. It must be the whole growing up in Oklahoma thing ;) But I will not touch modern country with a ten foot pole - Alan Jackson can kiss my ass.

So we moved on from Mr. Cash to some old video tapes of - viideos! Most of which date from 1993 or so when we moved away from the little town we lived in while in college to a place where we actually got cable. We taped soooo many videos from MTV when we finally had it again. Of course, this was when MTV played slightly more videos than now. Sigh, remember "120 Minutes"? Good times, good times. This tape has some great stuff though - "Perfect Drug" Nine Inch Nails (in which Trent Reznor is the closest to my mental image of Snape than anyone else), "Caught a Light Sneeze" Tori, "Put Your Hand in the Puppet Head" They Might Be Giants...

But my sickening revelation of the night - the fact that I am, indeed, getting old whether I like it or not - was when "How Soon Is Now" by the Smiths came on. Now, this is one of my favorite songs ever - it was my teenage anthem. P, ever the realist, turns to me and says 'This is almost 20 years old." I couldn't wrap my head around that. In 1984, my 14 yr-old-self looked at 20 years ago and saw the early Beatles. It was like ancient history. And that's how the teens now look back at my music. It is so weird to think about it that way. So weird. WAH.

But anyhoo, it's been a pleasant evening. And I'm not so old that I don't like some new stuff. Ok, I only like Coldplay - all the rap and hip hop stuff out there now sounds like mostly rude noise to me, but oh well.