Happy Birthday to Me!!

On my birthday, I was given a fantastic gift. Josh and I went to the Tool concert at the Gorge.
Now Josh has been a Tool fan for a long time. I'm more of a newbie who has only recently begun to listen to Tool and appreciate their amazing musical talent. I was never allowed to listen to “secular” music when I was younger, so I missed out on some of the amazing music that happened in the 80’s and 90’s. I knew little of the wonders of Pearl Jam or Nirvana or Tool. Although these bands shaped the genre of music I love now, I am only recently discovering my appreciation for them. Since I have begun listening to Tool, I have been amazed by Maynard’s vocal talent. The vocals in a band have always been the selling point for me. If the vocals are good, I love the band. If I don’t like the vocals, the band has a slim chance of making my favorites list. Maynard’s vocals are amazing and his control over his voice is fantastic. This is what the man has dedicated his life to and boy does it show.
The concert began with three hours of waiting in line and two hours of sitting in the bowl of the Gorge. It was hot, but nothing that a few super-humans, like Josh and I, couldn’t handle. When Tool came on stage, the crowd of over 20,000 people began to scream uncontrollably. The stage was all white with a white backing that extended behind the band members. As the music started, the crowd began to sing the first song with Maynard and the white background and floor exploded in a myriad of undulating colors that didn’t stop for the next two hours. All that could be seen of the band (from where we were anyways) was the outline of the band members and of Maynard as he danced sporadically to the music and the sound of his own voice. It was entrancing. One of those scenes which requires pure willpower to peel your eyes away from. When they ended the first time (before the encore), 20,000 people stood screaming for more. Then out came thousands of lighters as the fans chanted the name of a band they love. It was amazing.
This concert ranks up on the list of best concerts ever…in fact…it might take the top spot. The music was captivating, Maynard’s voice was captivating, and the videos were captivating. When it was all over, my first two thoughts were, “Talk about sensory overload,” and “That was fucking awesome!!” My next thought was…”Happy Birthday to me!!!!”

Attempting to Live in the Moment

Tonight I sit and wonder about what it means to be present. I have a problem being present. It seems to be something that has slipped off my to-do list. It seems to have been forgotten. What does it mean to be present? What does that look like for me and am I brave enough to experience the bad and the good that occurs in the present? This is what I struggle with. I want to be present, but there is something about it that scares me…that keeps me from abandoning all and letting loose. I think I fear the fluidity, the constant change, the ebb and flow which often feels like insanity in my head. If I live in the moment, I will have to claim that insanity as my own; I will have to learn to live with the chaos that resides within my mind. Living in the present sounds messy and uncontrollable.
I was talking with Josh a while ago about being a nymph and what kind of nymph I would be. Josh thought a tree nymph, I thought a water nymph. As I have been thinking about it more, I don’t think I could be a water nymph because I couldn’t handle the constant motion, the constant change, the feeling of not having control. I like to plant my roots and hold firm. I like to hold on to what I know and enjoy it. I like the familiarity and the stillness of being in one place for awhile. Yet I am beginning to see the advantages to the water. Water is ever-changing and flexible. It can fill any space and be comfortable there. It flows wherever it can, and it is both terrifying and peaceful at the same time. I feel I need to embrace my inner water nymph, because flexibility is crucial to living in the present. I need to learn to embrace the fluidity and the changes that scare me so much and keep me from fully experiencing my own life.

My personality

I took a personality test to see just how fantastically wonderful I am. All in all I think the test is pretty acurate. I enjoy personality tests cause I can either shape them to appear the way I want by answering falsly, or I can answer truthfully and get an outside view of who I am. It's always good to get a little outside perspective to add balance to my own perspective.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion 56% Stability 66% Orderliness 36% Accommodation 43% Interdependence 90% Intellectual 43% Mystical 30% Artistic 43% Religious 36% Hedonism 70% Materialism 43% Narcissism 36% Adventurousness 36% Work ethic 23% Self absorbed 50% Conflict seeking 43% Need to dominate 16% Romantic 36% Avoidant 43% Anti-authority 70% Wealth 30% Dependency 36% Change averse 36% Cautiousness 63% Individuality 70% Sexuality 76% Peter pan complex 43% Physical security 83% Physical Fitness 64% Histrionic 23% Paranoia 43% Vanity 43% Hypersensitivity 56% Female cliche 36%

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Oh Canada!

Canada proved to be the perfect place for us to take our summer vacation. We had a great time relaxing and hanging out with our friends Christina and Michael. It was a fantastic five days filled with hiking, kyaking, watching movies, playing games, looking for seals, taking pictures (I think our end total was 600 pics!), soaking in the hottub, and all around relaxing. One of my favorite activities on this trip was soaking in the hottub, because the picture to the right was our view from it...are you jealous yet? Needless to say it was difficult to come back to the land of full-time work, but that's life.
I think my other favorite part was the kyaking. That was a lot of fun and something that I've never done before. It's one of those activities that left me feeling like I had conquered something that I didn't know I was capable of. It gave me a sense of accomplishment with a little ego boost on the side. Another key to the success of our kyaking trip was the fact that we were color coordinated...cause that's always very important!

Over all, I would strongly reccommend the Sunshine Coast to any who are looking for a great vacation spot. We stayed at the Island Cottage in Sechelt (pronounced see-chelt, and mispronounced sea-salt) and it was fantastic.

Check...Check...is this thing on?