SYTYCD Tour 2008

Well I've finally caught up on sleep from being up until 2 am last night. MIL and I went to the "Dance" tour in San Jose and stayed behind for the informal meet and greet at the end of the night. I have photos, videos, and a review on MK-O's forums. We got everyone's autograph at the meet-up and saw some of my favorite dances from the season.

Photos can be found here.
Videos are here.
And... the review is here. (I am a Mark fan-girl, so consider yourself warned. It's a little heavy.)

Apparently my roots are blond...

Ever since SYTYCD ended in August, I've been downloading new music to my IPod religiously. The show opens my ears to new music every year; this year was no exception. (Thank you, Mark Kanemura, for bringing Santogold to my headphones.)

So during my downloading spree, I decide to dip into my long buried hip hop roots (really though, I'm about as hip hop as Cat Deeley) and I downloaded some Kanye West. As overplayed as they were, I thoroughly enjoyed the radio edits of Stronger and Golddigger. So of course I wanted to add these songs to my collection. The versions that popped up on ITunes were the first ones I downloaded. They were explicit versions, but I figured that they can't be that bad. I've downloaded explicit music before and nothing has shocked me yet.

Apparently, explicit really means explicit when it comes to Mr. West. I started listening to Golddigger on the way to work this morning and discovered what the un-edited version of the song REALLY says. I believe my reaction was "oh... Oh... OH MY GOD!" Hit forward... next song. Dang it. And I totally bought that song too. Now I feel all embarrassed to listen to it. I can't listen to it at work for sure... so I'm limited to my headphones and solo car trips.

I wonder if ITunes allows you to return songs... probably not and probably one of the downfalls of the digital music age. Then again, it was just $0.99.

What else crept into my playlist: Goldfrapp is making its debut, as is Coldplay's new album, M.I.A. (which practically beat me into submission after hearing "Paper Planes" five times last Wednesday), and Fiest.

Well, I'm Glad I Like Jamba Juice

So if you remember last Tuesday, I ended up needing to go to the doctor for my swollen foot fiasco. Well, this week, on Tuesday, I decided to eat some zapped enchiladas for lunch. Totally forgot the whole "let sit for 1 minute" deal and completely FRIED the roof of my mouth. I actually have ulcers on my gums from the heat. (Sorry if this is TMI.)

I went to the dentist this morning to make sure it was not anything more serious (like a mandatory root canal or something... I swear I floss... most of the time). She just said no, that sucks. Don't eat anymore hot foods. And it'll heal in about 2 weeks.

WHAT? Two weeks??? I can't chew anything on the right side of my mouth. Drinking water stings! WTF am I going to do for 2 weeks!?

I think the best part of the appointment was that the dentist gave me a scrip for the pain. It's called "Magic Mouthwash." No joke. Yes, apparently I'm five years old. It's apparently a combo of about 3 different pain killers in liquid form. And it has to be made from scratch. And no pharmacist in their right mind wants to mix this crap. It probably tastes like ass anyway. I'll stick to the double doses of Motrin and frequent trips to Jamba Juice. (Which is about the only thing I can tolerate without screaming.)

Did I mention I hate Tuesdays?!

Work It Out

My swollen ankle extravaganza has finally subsided, so I decided to strap on the tennis shoes and head to my second West Coast Swing lesson. It was technically a "dance party" night, but they offered a free lesson with admission. I didn't stay for the party, simply because... well I like swing dancing... I HATE the swing scene. I think I even saw a guy I used to dance with 8 years ago. He hadn't changed a bit. Luckily it was dark and I escaped without anyone noticing.

Anyway, I popped into the beginner lesson with another couple. We did this little tension exercise do demonstrate the relationship between a lead and follow. It involved linking hands and bending our knees together while standing in front of each other. So of course, since I'm sorely out of shape and my hamstrings are tight, bending my knees with my lead was a challenge. Yes! The simple act of bending my knees/squatting was painful! The lead/instructor kept saying "straighten your back!" and I couldn't.

This dancin' thing is going to involve a lot more work, isn't it? My core is shot, legs are tight, and I'm dancing kind of heavy. I'm out of shape.

Inspired to fix this mess I discovered last night, I went to my little pygmy gym this morning while M headed for some work at the office. I managed to do 30 minutes of light cardio and a little bit of weight training. Then came home to do some housecleaning.

I am SORE! Everything hurts. I mean, I feel great and all... but my legs are screaming at me.

I've got a long way to go apparently. And to think I was going to quit the gym and just focus on ballroom. Looks like I need the supplemental activity as well. Darn it!

We Have a Dancer Down...

So of course the minute I decide to take dance seriously, I end up with a swollen foot that doesn't allow me to put on the ballroom shoes I haven't even purchased yet!

Long story short, I get really bad reactions to mosquito bites in the areas below my knees. Usually entails antibiotics for 10 days, a pointless dr. visit, and flip flops at work. It's that bad. And Sunday was the day that Newman Center decided to hold their night mass outside... and I wore flip flops... and no bug repellent. I totally got bit. I was really hoping that the reaction wouldn't be as bad because I'm a little older and the bite didn't look that bad yesterday.

Well I wake up today and the bite looks awful. (I'll spare the gory details.) Off to the dr. I go, grab the meds, buy a heating pad to keep blood flow to the infection.

This all occurs after I come home from my first West Coast Swing lesson and purchasing 5 lessons for future Wednesdays. Guess I'll have to sit on my behind just a little bit longer. *annoyed*

Why Didn't I Pay Attention to This Last Year

Our friends came over last night and introduced M and I to the Robot Chicken "Star Wars" episode. Granted we could only see clips of the episode that aired last year, it's still pretty flippin' hilarious. (And probably not work-safe, so proceed with caution... unless you have headphones.) I realize that I'm supposed to be 27 years old, but this had me giggling like a silly tween.

Link to the clips on YouTube.

And then if you can get over the fact that Palpatine sounds exactly like Quagmire, this one is pretty good too.

Starbucks Says It's Fall

The first day of September was greeted by the pre-mature return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. I say pre-mature because it's still ranges from 95-100 degrees outside here in Sacramento. And of course, you have to enjoy this beverage hot! (How sadly inappropriate.)

The only downfall of this drink is that there is no such thing as a "skinny pumpkin spice latte." So my insulin pump goes into overdrive just so I can indulge in this seasonal venture. But it's sweet, decadent, cinnaminy goodness is SO WORTH IT. Until of course, I need to retest my blood sugars.

Pretty soon, we'll see the return of the Gingerbread latte and the famous red cups, which somehow signals the start of the holiday season.

Other signs that it's fall:

• Fall colors are back in fashion. Say hello to bold hues like chocolate brown, amethyst, and burnt orange! It's all over Macy's now kids. Go shopping.
• I have the sudden urge to return to college to learn something new. But it's short lived when I realize that I can't attend most of the classes and I would have to do homework again. (No thank you.)
• I can finally wear a majority of my wardrobe again... it's all sweaters. And scarves. And pashminas.
• The phones are suddenly busier at work again. And they won't stop ringing until late May 2009.
• No More Reruns! CSI, The Office, and House are all new! And The Fringe looks kind of interesting too.
• I'd say trees start turning pretty colors and there is a crisp feel to the air. But since I'm in Sacramento, "Fall" actually lasts about 2 weeks and is scrunched between summer and bitter, cold winter. Blink and you might miss it.
• It's Election Season. Time for campaign ads, false promises, and a whole lot of uncomfortable conversations with co-workers. (Generally speaking, that is...)

zOMG, Stop!

Okay, seriously. What part of a 3-day weekend to people NOT understand? I made the mistake of checking email this weekend for work and I had 43 (!!!) new emails. All sent from 5:00 pm on Friday to Monday at 1:00 pm. I mean, yes, there were some from my bosses... to be expected. But was I the only one NOT working this weekend?

Oh, and when I arrived at work today at 9, I had 16 ADDITIONAL messages. Majority of them all asking the same freakin' question.

Ugh! Can I go hide under a rock now? Please?

I have The Touch

So, after contemplation and one dead IPod Mini battery too many, I decided to head to the Apple Store at Arden and upgrade my IPod. This was a totally unnecessary purchase (seeing that I already have a Shuffle for the gym I never go to), however; I felt it was time to be rid of the Mini from circa 2003.

I think my trade up was even more justified when I took the Mini in to the store and had team members oogle the antique model and say "wow! I haven't seen one of those in YEARS! It's the Paperweight version." *sigh*

So after an hour (yes, that includes a 25 minute wait just to GET into the store), I have my hands on a new IPod Touch. The Touch comes complete with a huge color screen, calendar, photo viewing space, and I can access YouTube and Gmail on it. And the GPS will be handy in Europe, if I can find a free internet cafe. Oh yeah, and it plays all gazillion of my songs too.

And here is a nifty tidbit: if you have an old IPod and you want to upgrade, you can recycle your old one and get 10% off your purchase. It saved about $30, which is what it's going to cost me to get a case for it. (I'm such an Apple-sucker... Ugh!)

So when this pretty penny is paid off, it'll be about time to upgrade the OS on my lappy. But we'll wait until I can't stand Parallels Desktop anymore.