And if that wasn't enough, when I was listening to the song, I came up with the idea for this:
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Adventure 34.5 - Continued Overdosing
Because going to 3 concerts in 11 days wasn't enough, my aunt introduced me to the Irish pub rock station on Pandora when she came over for St. Patrick's Day, and I have my own Celtic rock awesomeness playlist on iTunes. Plus, I'm hoping to do a song for ASL club (i.e. signing it), and I wanted to do "The One" by Gaelic Storm because it's silly.
And if that wasn't enough, when I was listening to the song, I came up with the idea for this:
Which I'm sure isn't original, but I couldn't find one someone else made so I made it myself. It's gotten 478 +1s on Google, which is awesome except for the fact that I don't remember posting it as public...
And if that wasn't enough, when I was listening to the song, I came up with the idea for this:
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Adventure 34 - Overdose
But it's Celtic fusion, so it's a good kind of overdose. In the span of 11 days, I went to three concerts of groups of some sort of Celtic influence and it was awesome.
I'll start with March 10, which was the Dropkick Murphys concert back home. This was the birthday present for my now ex, so we went to an Irish pub nearby and had some killer food; I had boxty with melt-in-your-mouth steak, and he had reuben mac & cheese which was surprisingly good, probably because I didn't get any sauerkraut in the bites I took. I bought a shirt of course, though I had a hard time choosing because I definitely wanted a tour shirt but they had another one that had "putting the 'fun' in 'dysfunctional' since 1996 (I think that was the year)" on the back which I also wanted, but I stuck with the tour shirt.
The two opening bands were Ramshackle Army (from Australia) and Frank Turner and the Sleepless Souls. I liked both: Ramshackle Army had a great fiddle player that was super animated and really fun to watch, and Frank Turner was really engaged with the audience and even let a lady from the moshpit play the harmonica solo in one of his songs.
Obviously the Dropkick Murphys were awesome. They were awesome last year when we went, and this year I actually knew most of the words (which may or may not have been a good thing considering I can't sing to save my life, but then again it was probably too loud for anyone to hear me anyway). They also did a cover of ACDC's "Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)", which was done very well, and they also did an acoustic set, complete with what Ken Casey referred to as the "goddamn barstools," because every acoustic set needs to be done on barstools. They also did the same thing they did last year with "Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced," where Ken Casey went out into the moshpit and sang with the crowd. Of course, he told everyone to wait until the chorus to charge him, but at this point everyone was indeed shitfaced so they kinda smushed him right from the start and he's like "You guys do not follow directions well!"
What was also cool (and kinda not at the same time) was in the middle of "Going Out in Style," some guy in the front of the moshpit was having heart trouble, so they stopped the song to make sure he was ok. Supposedly the guy was ok later, and obviously having heart issues is not a good thing, but I thought it was really classy of them to stop and personally make sure the guy was ok.
March 15 was Enter the Haggis, which was awesome aside from the ending (which I already explained). We had to drive an hour to get there, and it was at this bar/restauranty type place so it was a quaint little venue. The only issue there was the fact that supposedly it was a 21+ event without parents even though the site said all ages but the manager let us slide because we had already bought tickets, so he just gave us green wristbands in case we tried to buy alcohol or something.
I kinda ran into the same problem with this concert that I did with the Dropkick Murphys last year in the sense that I knew some of the songs but not generally the ones they played, so I got to sing along with a few and stand there awkwardly for the rest. The venue had us in a little huddle-type thing, and when the band took a drink break, they walked through us and talked to people, which was cool. (At one point, I had the opportunity to grab the bassist's ass but I didn't because I am a reasonable person. Most of the time, anyway.) Overall it was really cool and I'd definitely see them again.
Finally, Wednesday was Gaelic Storm back here, not at school but in town. I had never been in the venue, but supposedly they had recently renovated the theater and it looked really nice. I went with my honors big (she also took me to the place with the pizza elevator), and it was a blast. I had only listened to one of their albums in full but I knew other songs from video-binging on YouTube over break. The band was also super interactive with the crowd; we had to dance and clap and sing, and one guy threw his hat on stage not once but twice and the lead singer picked it up both times, wore it for a few songs and gave it back. They were all really animated (especially the drummer on the ukelele, good god I thought he was going to break it), and it was a fantastic concert.
The pièce de résistance, however, was the band coming out into the lobby after for autographs and pictures. I was actually pretty surprised how quickly the line went, but I didn't have anything for them to sign so I was a badass and got my arm signed because I am just that cool.
It was all sorts of awesome, and I left it there until Saturday morning. I only scrubbed it off because it was starting to fade out (except for Peter's, maybe he just had a really good Sharpie or something).
So basically it was all sorts of Celtic awesomeness and a lot of fun. I would so do it again. Minus the dumping.
I'll start with March 10, which was the Dropkick Murphys concert back home. This was the birthday present for my now ex, so we went to an Irish pub nearby and had some killer food; I had boxty with melt-in-your-mouth steak, and he had reuben mac & cheese which was surprisingly good, probably because I didn't get any sauerkraut in the bites I took. I bought a shirt of course, though I had a hard time choosing because I definitely wanted a tour shirt but they had another one that had "putting the 'fun' in 'dysfunctional' since 1996 (I think that was the year)" on the back which I also wanted, but I stuck with the tour shirt.
The two opening bands were Ramshackle Army (from Australia) and Frank Turner and the Sleepless Souls. I liked both: Ramshackle Army had a great fiddle player that was super animated and really fun to watch, and Frank Turner was really engaged with the audience and even let a lady from the moshpit play the harmonica solo in one of his songs.
Obviously the Dropkick Murphys were awesome. They were awesome last year when we went, and this year I actually knew most of the words (which may or may not have been a good thing considering I can't sing to save my life, but then again it was probably too loud for anyone to hear me anyway). They also did a cover of ACDC's "Dirty Deeds (Done Dirt Cheap)", which was done very well, and they also did an acoustic set, complete with what Ken Casey referred to as the "goddamn barstools," because every acoustic set needs to be done on barstools. They also did the same thing they did last year with "Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced," where Ken Casey went out into the moshpit and sang with the crowd. Of course, he told everyone to wait until the chorus to charge him, but at this point everyone was indeed shitfaced so they kinda smushed him right from the start and he's like "You guys do not follow directions well!"
What was also cool (and kinda not at the same time) was in the middle of "Going Out in Style," some guy in the front of the moshpit was having heart trouble, so they stopped the song to make sure he was ok. Supposedly the guy was ok later, and obviously having heart issues is not a good thing, but I thought it was really classy of them to stop and personally make sure the guy was ok.
March 15 was Enter the Haggis, which was awesome aside from the ending (which I already explained). We had to drive an hour to get there, and it was at this bar/restauranty type place so it was a quaint little venue. The only issue there was the fact that supposedly it was a 21+ event without parents even though the site said all ages but the manager let us slide because we had already bought tickets, so he just gave us green wristbands in case we tried to buy alcohol or something.
I kinda ran into the same problem with this concert that I did with the Dropkick Murphys last year in the sense that I knew some of the songs but not generally the ones they played, so I got to sing along with a few and stand there awkwardly for the rest. The venue had us in a little huddle-type thing, and when the band took a drink break, they walked through us and talked to people, which was cool. (At one point, I had the opportunity to grab the bassist's ass but I didn't because I am a reasonable person. Most of the time, anyway.) Overall it was really cool and I'd definitely see them again.
Finally, Wednesday was Gaelic Storm back here, not at school but in town. I had never been in the venue, but supposedly they had recently renovated the theater and it looked really nice. I went with my honors big (she also took me to the place with the pizza elevator), and it was a blast. I had only listened to one of their albums in full but I knew other songs from video-binging on YouTube over break. The band was also super interactive with the crowd; we had to dance and clap and sing, and one guy threw his hat on stage not once but twice and the lead singer picked it up both times, wore it for a few songs and gave it back. They were all really animated (especially the drummer on the ukelele, good god I thought he was going to break it), and it was a fantastic concert.
The pièce de résistance, however, was the band coming out into the lobby after for autographs and pictures. I was actually pretty surprised how quickly the line went, but I didn't have anything for them to sign so I was a badass and got my arm signed because I am just that cool.
 |
| From left to right: Peter Purvis (pipes), Ryan Lacey (drums), Patrick Murphy (accordion and vocals), Jessie Burns (fiddle) and Steve Twigger (guitar and vocals). |
It was all sorts of awesome, and I left it there until Saturday morning. I only scrubbed it off because it was starting to fade out (except for Peter's, maybe he just had a really good Sharpie or something).
So basically it was all sorts of Celtic awesomeness and a lot of fun. I would so do it again. Minus the dumping.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Adventure 33 - Out and About
It's been freakishly nice the past few days. I'm talking mid 70s, sunny, great breeze, so definitely not standard March fare. But due to my uncanny ability to sunburn at the drop of a hat, I've stayed in quarantine for most of it. Today, however, I decided that homework could wait and that I wanted to go for a walk, so I grabbed a friend from the floor above me and we walked around campus to enjoy the weather. It was around 4 so most danger of me getting fried was gone, so we walked from one end of the academic buildings to the other (they're in a line for the most part), around the back and back towards the center, sat in front of the science building and BSed for a while, walked to the chapel pond and discovered that there were fish in it.
I kinda figured there were fish in it, but the only time I've gone to the pond was back in October, so I was really excited. I grabbed a stick from a nearby tree and tried to see how deep the water was (the stick wasn't long enough), and then we just decided to pester the fish. It was extremely immature but it was fun to just lay on the dock and BS and poke fish.
I kinda figured there were fish in it, but the only time I've gone to the pond was back in October, so I was really excited. I grabbed a stick from a nearby tree and tried to see how deep the water was (the stick wasn't long enough), and then we just decided to pester the fish. It was extremely immature but it was fun to just lay on the dock and BS and poke fish.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Adventure 32 - Atypical
Not much of a surprise, since I never do anything normally, but spring break is just an example. Rather than going to someplace warm and party-hartying (or staying in New England and party-hartying for St. Patrick's Day...), I went home for what has been a chaotic week. As with any break, I'm balancing seeing everyone while I'm home, plus taking advantage of the full kitchen. This week has included more tie-dye cupcakes, maple french toast cupcakes (that turned out more like muffins), and a St. Patrick's Day dinner including Guinness-braised short ribs, black and tan mac & cheese, boxty, Baileys mousse pie, Irish soda bread. I've also met up with friends and family, and I went to two concerts with my boyfriend, the Dropkick Murphys on Saturday and Enter the Haggis on Thursday.
After which he dumped me.
To be fair, we had a good run, but it had to happen eventually. Things had been going down the tank for a while (you know, since July when the polyamory bullshit started), and I had considered it myself but didn't want to deal with the pain. And obviously breakups/dumpings suck regardless, but he was very polite about it. He did it right before I dropped him off on Thursday because he wanted to do it in person and that was probably the last time we'd see each other before we went back, plus we still got to enjoy the concert (which I'll talk about next week after my Gaelic Storm concert, might as well do them all at the same time).
Am I happy about it? No, not really. This means that the other one gets what she wants yet again, which really pisses me off 'cause she gets life handed to her on a silver platter and never has to do a damn thing. This also means a major shot to my self esteem because I'm extremely self-conscious and the fact that he's not romantically interested anymore (or however he put it) means that clearly I screwed up somewhere. But more importantly, this means that even if we do stay friends, which is a stretch, it'll never be the same, and that really sucks.
On the plus side, I finally got to unfriend the other one as soon as I got home because I had only stayed "friends" out of respect for him, so now I don't have to deal with her shit anymore. I also had an excuse to text my friends at obscene hours of the morning (I didn't get home til 1) because I wanted them to hear it from me and not Facebook, and they've been texting to make sure I'm doing ok, which is really sweet. And when I get back to school, I get a singles' appreciation dinner/freedom festival/bitchfest with one of my guy friends who is also single (yeah, that one, but don't get any ideas).
So it's not perfect, but I'll live.
After which he dumped me.
To be fair, we had a good run, but it had to happen eventually. Things had been going down the tank for a while (you know, since July when the polyamory bullshit started), and I had considered it myself but didn't want to deal with the pain. And obviously breakups/dumpings suck regardless, but he was very polite about it. He did it right before I dropped him off on Thursday because he wanted to do it in person and that was probably the last time we'd see each other before we went back, plus we still got to enjoy the concert (which I'll talk about next week after my Gaelic Storm concert, might as well do them all at the same time).
Am I happy about it? No, not really. This means that the other one gets what she wants yet again, which really pisses me off 'cause she gets life handed to her on a silver platter and never has to do a damn thing. This also means a major shot to my self esteem because I'm extremely self-conscious and the fact that he's not romantically interested anymore (or however he put it) means that clearly I screwed up somewhere. But more importantly, this means that even if we do stay friends, which is a stretch, it'll never be the same, and that really sucks.
On the plus side, I finally got to unfriend the other one as soon as I got home because I had only stayed "friends" out of respect for him, so now I don't have to deal with her shit anymore. I also had an excuse to text my friends at obscene hours of the morning (I didn't get home til 1) because I wanted them to hear it from me and not Facebook, and they've been texting to make sure I'm doing ok, which is really sweet. And when I get back to school, I get a singles' appreciation dinner/freedom festival/bitchfest with one of my guy friends who is also single (yeah, that one, but don't get any ideas).
So it's not perfect, but I'll live.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Adventure 31 - Quick Adjustments
Because a week is kindof a short time to go from hair dyed with fading henna to hair dyed blue to no hair at all.
To explain, I have to go back to right before freshman year of high school when I donated my hair the first time. I think it was 14", from elbow-length to a bob. Skipping ahead to Halloween senior year, I was supposed to be Penny from Dr. Horrible but hennaed my hair a nice strawberry blond rather than the correct dark red. Right before I went to college, I lopped it off again to donate, about 13", and hennaed the remainder a nice bright natural red. Last Saturday, I elected to dye my hair because I decided that a week later, I was going to shave my head.
No, this was not a hipster "natural hair is too mainstream" moment, but I had seen ads on campus and stuff for a St. Baldrick's head-shaving event to raise money for kids with cancer. Having donated my hair twice to Locks of Love, I figured, "Eh, why not? It'll grow back, and it's for a good cause." The blue came because I knew that if I ever dyed my hair blue normally, I'd probably have to shave it off to get back to the normal color anyway, so if I was only going to have hair for another week and get it shaved off anyway, might as well go for broke.
I only ended up raising $75 for the event, $25 of that being from me, but the event raised over $3500, including $1000+ from one girl who also donated her ridiculously long ponytail to Locks of Love before shaving her head. It was crazy and awesome. There were quite a few people who participated, and everyone was super nice.
It was kinda strange 'cause I ran into a bunch of people in the dining hall (normally I'll see one or two people I know if I'm lucky), and everyone's all like "OMG you shaved your head! Oh, you're so brave, that's so awesome," and I got 26 likes on my bald photo on Facebook which really shouldn't mean much to me but it felt really cool.
So far, I've only run into a few problems with not having hair. The first is the one where people come up to me and go all "You shaved your head!" on me, like I didn't know or something... The second is with my hats, because my prickly scalp likes to adhere to fleece and other hat materials, plus I now have to wear a hat when I go outside because I don't have hair to keep my head warm. And finally, a lot of people, myself included, have developed a tactile fascination with my head. It's fuzzy. And the president of the group that sponsored the shaving said that he does it ever year and it's super fuzzy for the first two months or so.
Oh, and now I notice when my hair isn't the same length :P
To explain, I have to go back to right before freshman year of high school when I donated my hair the first time. I think it was 14", from elbow-length to a bob. Skipping ahead to Halloween senior year, I was supposed to be Penny from Dr. Horrible but hennaed my hair a nice strawberry blond rather than the correct dark red. Right before I went to college, I lopped it off again to donate, about 13", and hennaed the remainder a nice bright natural red. Last Saturday, I elected to dye my hair because I decided that a week later, I was going to shave my head.
No, this was not a hipster "natural hair is too mainstream" moment, but I had seen ads on campus and stuff for a St. Baldrick's head-shaving event to raise money for kids with cancer. Having donated my hair twice to Locks of Love, I figured, "Eh, why not? It'll grow back, and it's for a good cause." The blue came because I knew that if I ever dyed my hair blue normally, I'd probably have to shave it off to get back to the normal color anyway, so if I was only going to have hair for another week and get it shaved off anyway, might as well go for broke.
I only ended up raising $75 for the event, $25 of that being from me, but the event raised over $3500, including $1000+ from one girl who also donated her ridiculously long ponytail to Locks of Love before shaving her head. It was crazy and awesome. There were quite a few people who participated, and everyone was super nice.
It was kinda strange 'cause I ran into a bunch of people in the dining hall (normally I'll see one or two people I know if I'm lucky), and everyone's all like "OMG you shaved your head! Oh, you're so brave, that's so awesome," and I got 26 likes on my bald photo on Facebook which really shouldn't mean much to me but it felt really cool.
So far, I've only run into a few problems with not having hair. The first is the one where people come up to me and go all "You shaved your head!" on me, like I didn't know or something... The second is with my hats, because my prickly scalp likes to adhere to fleece and other hat materials, plus I now have to wear a hat when I go outside because I don't have hair to keep my head warm. And finally, a lot of people, myself included, have developed a tactile fascination with my head. It's fuzzy. And the president of the group that sponsored the shaving said that he does it ever year and it's super fuzzy for the first two months or so.
Oh, and now I notice when my hair isn't the same length :P
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