Strange Pulse

One of my favorite bands when I was a teenager, I haven’t seen them since the 80’s. That was one of the funnest shows I’ve ever been to. The Young Fresh Fellows opened (a super fun local Seattle band) and it was the only show I’ve ever been to where I knew the words to every single song that was played all night.

The Gurus broke up a few years back so I never thought I’d get to see them again. I took my daughter Cat to the show in LA on Wed. It was SO fun. We were right against the stage and I got some great pics.

I also got some great video clips, and one whole song, which you can download here:

http://qsysue.tagplazen.org/shows/hoodoogurus/03-28-07/

You can see the rest of the pics I took there too.

I’m seeing them again tonight in Anaheim! But no cameras are allowed at the venue. Stupid House of Blues.

I’ll post some songs to the radio.blog. I’ll write up a review of both shows at Kulturblog.com too, probably this weekend.

I love how I’m wearing a ribbon in my hair, yet no pants.

This whale is smiling at you!

We went to the Long Beach Aquarium. Elijah and I did, I mean—Cat’s in Seattle for the weekend visiting grandparents, and Daniel took Nathaniel to Magic Mountain for his birthday. Elijah doesn’t enjoy theme parks, so we went to the Aquarium.

First thing I saw worth taking pictures of were the jellyfish. I could’ve stayed there all day taking pictures of these things. Unfortunately my camera sucks and Elijah didn’t want to stand around while I got lost in picture-taking, so I only got a few.

It was super crowded. This is a giant tank full of sharks:

Sharks must be really popular. Seemed like they were everywhere. Outside there’s a petting tank full of sharks and rays. You can touch them as they swim by, but only with two fingers (to prevent injury to them, not to you). I thought a shark would be slimy, but it was textured. Sort of meshlike? Can’t quite describe it. But it was cool. I touched a shark! It was only 2 feet long, but still.

I did not touch this manta ray, although I could have (this was the petting tank):

I did not touch this shark:

But it’s funny how they just love to swim right up by you, over and over again. Maybe they’re looking for a way out of the tank.

The spider crabs CREEPED ME OUT.

This little guy was a total crack up:

Especially since he was sitting in a tank with seasnakes.

We caught cleaning time. There were about four men in this tank cleaning it.

This gives you an idea of the size of this manta ray!

Cute huh? A Finding Nemo tank!

If I lay down for more than 10 minutes during the day, though, it kills me. Headache, sloggy…Ruins my entire day.

Sucks when I’m really tired, and sleeping feels so good. I wake up and feel horrible the rest of the day!

Saturday Daniel and I both laid down for a nap. We slept for an hour. He woke up wanting to go to the beach. I woke up wanting to never move again. But after an hour or so (and an Aleve) I decided just to go. Who cares if I move in slow motion? I was hoping to stay long enough to catch the sunset, but it was too cold. (We’re wimps now about cold.)

I must’ve had my white balance set wrong, these pictures shouldn’t be this yellow. But I kind of like it.

That’s Long Beach in the distance.

Daniel asked if I wanted him to model for me. As if he has to ask. Then he said, “Cuz I’ve learned a lot from watching America’s Next Top Model.”

Uh huh.

Cat in a dress my mom made for her (holding sparklers).

My older brother meets chocolate cake.

And Joan Baez came on to introduce something. I said to Daniel, “I met her once. She said I looked like the burning bush.”

He asked when and I told him when I was 16, the same trip I met U2.

He said, “You are the weirdest girl I have ever known.”

I asked why and he said, “I can’t believe we’ve been married for 20 years and you just tell me, ‘oh yeah, I met Joan Baez, she called me the burning bush!’”

(She called me that because of my hair, which looked about like this at the time, only bigger. I think I may have been wearing that exact sweater.)

A bunch of silhouette shots taken at the Valley of Fire.

More shots from the Valley of Fire. Really a remarkable place.

Sometime soon I want to get to this place:

Vasquez Rocks