lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Monday, December 29, 2003
Hi this is a quick post to say I'm too busy to post because I have to pack and make lists and do stuff and pack for when we leave for New York tomorrow where I will get to see Uri and Ryan and Liz and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and maybe go ice skating if it doesn't cost fifteen dollars like Kim thinks it might but I hope it doesn't because that's a lot of money just to ice skate and fall on your icy butt but Amtrak had better have a plugin at our seats so we can listen to our new XM satellite radio which I'm already getting addicted to because they play much more and better music than on stupid regular radio plus they tell you what they're playing and you can surf the stations without changing the stations which drives Josh much less nuts and that would be fun to do on the train for eighteen hours.
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Thursday, December 18, 2003
Proof that I read Steve's blog.
I need Mr. Griffin to clarify the following statement, which appeared in his blog entry of Tuesday, December 16, 2003:

"'Total Eclipse of the Heart' is to pop music what fruitcakes are to the holidays."

I sincerely hope this was not meant as a diss of the "'Clipse," 'cause if it was I think we have a serious problem on our hands.  It is quite simply one of the most brilliant songs to come out of the '80s (though I will refrain from commenting on the video), and anyone who dares defy me on that point... well... let's just say you won't be getting your Chia Pet from a certain someone this Christmas.  ;)

(Very) Random Facts About Your Friendly Host, Beth-Annie.
The bag of Kraft "Jet Puffed" miniature marshmallows sitting in front of me right now says on the packaging, "Reclose bag to keep marshmallows soft."  Now, you know me, I always have to be the rebel.  So you know what?  I WILL NOT CLOSE THE BAG OF MINIATURE MARSHMALLOWS TO KEEP THEM SOFT!  I defy you, you Kraft-Nabsico Mega-Corporation!  Okay, so maybe that's not why I won't close the bag.  I HATE soft marshmallows.  If they're melted it's all well and good because they're, well, melted.  But at room temperature they do not become yummily snackable until you allow the marshmallows to become... not hard, but sort of firm and chewy.  To achieve this to the best extent, you should buy a bag and then let it age a good couple of years (the one I have right now has a date of OCT 17 01 on it).  You can do this more quickly by simply not "reclosing the bag" like it says, but the effect won't be quite the same and it becomes trickier because you have to figure out a way to expose all the marshmallows to the air, not just the ones on the outside--the inside ones will still be soft otherwise, and that's no good for anybody.  So the aging thing is really best.  I know it takes patience, but if I can do it you can do it!  (Incidentally, this will not really work with the jumbo marshmallows.  They're just too big to get chewy all the way through.)  This is the only way miniature marshmallows are to be eaten plain.  Any other way is just gross.

Oh, dear me, I think being sick has made me delirious...
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Wednesday, December 17, 2003
In unhappy news.
Me sicky.  It doesn't seem to be the "flu," per se, but it sure as heck is something.  I'm all fatigued, have a bit of a wonky tummy, and I've got the worst sore throat I've had in a long time, very dry and scratchy with a nasty tickly cough that's been keeping me up at night something fierce.  In the middle of the night last night I had a spell where I was coughing so badly I could hardly breathe and almost threw up.  Not exactly fun.  My throat is so closed off from my tonsils being swollen it's a wonder I can even swallow--or breathe.  And I've lost most of my voice just in time for the Christmas Cantata.  I don't think there's much point in my going to choir rehearsal tonight seeing as I can barely talk, let alone sing, let alone sing as high as the stupid thing is.  We'll have to see if I have a voice by this weekend when the actual performance is (which 3/4 of my family is coming up here for, by the way).  Wouldn't that be funny if I ended up not being able to sing in it after all this?

In happy news.
Word on the street today was that Marco Sanchez was a guest star on "24" last night.  I did a little digging (uh, that would be playing the opening credits of my taped copy of the show on the Replay--I'm a couple episodes behind and so hadn't watched it yet), and lo and behold there was his name.  Makes me a bit more eager to get through those back episodes so I can see his gorgeous mug in action again.  Hubba hubba.  ;)
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Tuesday, December 16, 2003
I am here to entertain.  Apparently.
No, we did not miss any of the concert, including the "opening act," which is a good thing considering that was Howie Day.  Unfortunately his set was only 30 minutes long (which he did solo, as I suspected for such a short set), so he really only had time for those songs he pretty much *had* to do.  Oh well.  Even short, mediocre Howie is better than a full set of most artists.

Guster, my favorite of course (considering they are one of my three favorite artists still currently making music) was next and played about 45 minutes.  I so wish it had been double that, but I appreciated what appeared to be a sincere attempt on their part to fit as many songs as possible into their shortened set, while still squeezing in a sufficient amount of Ryan's smart-alecky comments.  Of the few songs I really wanted to hear that they hadn't played at the Milwaukee concert in October, they played approximately none (though I found out they did my absolute favorite, "Two Points for Honesty," at their Des Moines concert we decided to forgo in November--doh!).  Still, though, they were the highlight of the evening for me (as well as Josh--he's come to really like them... ha!), and we did get one gem we hadn't gotten in Milwaukee:  Brian "singing" "Total Eclipse of the Heart" at the end of their set.  Ah, yes, the beauty of it all...

It was around this time (right before "Total Eclipse") that the two folks who had tickets to the seats right next to me decided to show up for the concert (we were sixth row, center section of a beautiful theater, just to set the stage for y'all).  They each had two beers and appeared to already be well on their way to being sloshed.  This appearance was further accentuated when, during Bri's "Eclipse" solo, the guy standing next to me leaned over and said in that rather loud way drunks have, "THIS IS REALLY FUNNY!"  While my mouth just smiled politely and said, "Yup," my brain was attempting to telepathically communicate with the man, "Please, please, please, just don't talk to me again.  And don't spill your beer on me."  The beer part of that would be repeated several times more throughout the rest of the night, especially when he would drunkily dance around waving his arms with a beer in each hand.  The two of them squeezed past us and then back again several times more, each time bringing back more beer.  Last count I think they had each had six.  Six SIXTEEN ounce cans.  I certainly hope they weren't drving themselves home.

Moving on.  Allow me to explain something about Maroon 5.  I love their music.  Their MUSIC.  Some of their lyrics aren't bad either, but some of them...well, let's just say I sort of ignore them.  But their music is AWE-SOME.  I did not, however, care for their live performance very much.  Sure, they had a lot of energy, but it was the kind of energy that seemed more showy than genuine, more "hey, look at us, we're rockin' rock stars" than "we really love music and dig sharing our talent with you kind folks" (the latter being more the kind of attitude Guster has on stage).  That's the best way I can think of to describe it--they just had this "attitude,"  this "we are so ultra-hip" vibe that really turned me off.  Plus, the lead singer just creeps me out for some reason.  Maybe it was his constant gyrating to the music.  Maybe it was the fact that his pants were falling down and showing half his underwear and almost more.  Maybe it was his excessive use of the F-word for no other apparent reason than to use the F-word.  Maybe it was all of the above.  They just had a real immaturity about them.  Mercifully they only played about as long as Guster did.  Still like their CD, just don't ever need to see them live again.

I've tried coming up with a way to describe Jason Mraz's music for those who don't know it... and it's hard.  It's sort of a scatty, funky, jazzy, folky be-bop pop.  Or something.  And as for his personality, his stage presence, Josh came up with "corny charm."  That's a pretty good description, I'd say.  He came out with a knit cap on his head, one of those with the ear flaps with strings hanging down from them with little yarn balls on the ends.  He never took it off, which was a darn shame from where I was standing, since he looks darn cute when you can see his hair.  Ah, well, can't have everything in life I suppose.  ;)  His live performances are very much, well, jammy, I guess you could call it.  Lots of improv and musical  tangents.  I appreciated all that in a way, but he also tends to do a lot of his independent and unreleased stuff live, of which I'm only familiar with a song or two.  As a general rule I have a much more enjoyable concert experience if I'm  familiar with the songs already.  And one of those that was actually off his album ("Absolutely Zero") was very changed up in a way I really didn't care for--from slow, simple, and pretty to quickened, crowded, and with an odd beat.  No thanks.  One thing no one can deny, though:  the guy has an absolute blast up on stage.  That much was obvious.  And not everyone ends a concert with "The Rainbow Conncection."  Wicked-cool, man.

I learned from this experience.  Besides just the time zone thing.  :P  I learned that I would rather see one band I really love play a full concert than several I like play for a few hours.  Gimme an hour and a half of Guster or Howie next time.  That would've made getting home at 3am more worth it, too.  But, hey, I got me a "Guster is for Lovers" t-shirt, which isn't even available online.  So I'm a happy camper.
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Thursday, December 11, 2003
A suggestion.  Strike that.  Two suggestions.
Suggestion #1:  If you are ever in our house and running the microwave and hair dryer at the same time, don't.  Power go bye-bye.

Suggestion #2:  If you live not too far west of a time zone divide, but not quite near enough to ever think about it being there, and you are driving four hours to a concert that is across said divide, you would be wise to plan for the extra hour you will be losing after you cross the divide, or else you might suddenly realize as you are driving that the concert actually starts in one hour, not two.  That would be bad.  Hypothetically.
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Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Happy new blog!
Or maybe it's just me who's so happy about it.  It's pretty, Christmasy without being too Christmasy, and tells you more random things about me that you don't really need to know.  What fun.  You can take a look at the old blog to compare if you wish.  I'm still working out some bugs, so let me know if anything is messed up or seems broken (I know both of the "TO FULL LIST" links are broken right now, but I doubt they would be used anyway).

Tomorrow is the Howie Day/Guster/Maroon 5/Jason Mraz concert!  I think that deserves a big ole Homer-esque "WOOOOO-HOOOOO!"
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Monday, December 08, 2003
"Light is dark and one."
When I was a kid and this time of year rolled around, I remember counting the houses with Christmas lights as we would drive through town or through the country on the way to visit relatives.  My kids will never be able to do this.  Every other house these days is decked out with the things, and while in some ways it's kind of nice (I've always been a fan of "pretty lights"), I think it's made them less special.  A lot of cities still have these drive-through light displays where you pay a few bucks per car, but it seems to me something like that becomes somewhat obselete when you can drive down any residential street now and see similarly extravagant displays.

I personally am not big on the overdone, overlit, buy-one-of-everything-in-the-outdoor-Christmas-decoration-aisle-at-Target-and-stick-it-on-your-house/lawn thing.  Some people like that, and that's fine, but don't expect my house to ever look like that.  Giant inflatable snowmen, "Merry Christmas" projections onto the front of the house, reindeer made of lights... it's just not for me.  I don't like grid lights (they're too even) and despise chaser lights (they make me dizzy).  I like lights that are simple, classy, and preferrably white (some red is acceptable, too).  Hang a wreath with a red bow, twist some lighted evergreen garlands around your front porch columns or railings, put a fake candle in each window of your house, etc.  Now THAT'S nice.

We haven't put up any Christmas lights ourselves yet, but are thinking we'd like to since it's the first Christmas we actually have our own house to decorate.  We have a couple of evergreen bushes on either side of our front door that we could put lights on (nice and simple), but the problem is that our house doesn't have a single outdoor outlet (what genius designed that?).  We may just run a cord inside the front door since we don't really use it much, but I'm not sure.  Stupid house... :P
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Friday, December 05, 2003
What is the deal, anyway?  Practically the whole nation gets snow except for us??  Not that I particularly want to shovel the stuff, but I sure wouldn't mind looking at it instead of all the brown.

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Steve, I really liked your Dec. 3 blog entry.  It was quite eloquent and you made some very interesting points--and actually helped me feel like I'm not so weird.  :)  Thanks.

(Also, if you ever want to link to a specific blog entry, there are individual links in the time posted at the end of each entry.  I don't know whether you would have wanted to do that there or not, or if you already knew you could, but if not, there you go.)
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You know, that WBB game inspired us so much that we're probably going to go to the Iowa-Marquette game tonight in Milwaukee.  This in addition to the Iowa State-Wisconsin game we were already planning to go to on Sunday in Madison.  Ah, basketball season.

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In case anyone is curious, I passed my qualifying test for library employment (I needed 70% and I got 95%.  Yay me.)  So now I just wait for a call about an interview.  It could come today, it could come in several months.  I have no earthly clue.  What fun.  :P

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And the new-and-improved blog is... coming along.  It's all taking a bit longer than I thought, but, hey, what doesn't?  (It also doesn't help that I'm pretty picky and want to get *everything just the way I want it*.  Although some browsers or computers will just mess it up anyway, so I don't know why I even bother. :))  If I'm lucky I'll get it launched later today.  If I'm lucky.
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Thursday, December 04, 2003
"It's 2003!  WHY can't I teleport?!??"
Tell me, how is it possible that without even having a job (yet) or kids (yet) I have so much crap to do that there just aren't enough hours in the day?  This scares me a bit for when I do have either of the above things...

Every women's basketball game should be fifty minutes.
Oh, my, what a game.  WHAT a game.  I can just imagine how nail-biting-exciting it would have been to have seen it on TV (like some places in Iowa could) or especially to have actually been there (did either of you Ames folks go?)  Double overtime, Iowa-Iowa State rivalry, and 10,000 fans even after snowy weather.  And I even missed most of the live internet broadcast because I was stupid enough to go to choir less than a month before we have to perform the Christmas Cantata.  Doh.  I only heard the last seven minutes or so, but Josh is getting us a video copy of the game, so we can see ISU score all 101 points eventually.  Awww yeahhh...

Tackiness.
I am adding a couple of things to my Christmas list.
1)  A Bible study book of some sort so that Josh and I can be guided in reading and studying God's Word together (so I guess this would actually be for both of us).  I made the tough but relieving decision this week to quit the Bible study I had been attending (if anyone really wants to know the story of that, I can tell you), but I really want to stick with the Bible reading it got me to start up again, and doing that with my husband is what I always wanted to do in the first place.
2)  Suave Seasonals "Winter Snowfall" body lotion or body wash.  Okay, maybe it seems a little ridiculous to ask for something like this, but I want them desperately and haven't been able to find anything except the shampoo and conditioner this year, though I know the other stuff exists.  Please buy some for me if you find it!  It's cheap and I don't care how much of it I get!  I am quite serious about this.
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Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Does it somewhat defeat the purpose of recycling an aluminum can if you have to waste a bunch of water in order to rinse it out completely?

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I finally watched this weekend's "men's" Skins Game last night, and was very happy to see Annika come in second out of four, beating Phil Mickelson and Mark O'Meara and losing only to Fred Couples.  Yup, thems some REAL PGA Tour names.  I would say, "You go, girl!" but I just don't think I can pull it off.  ;)

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Expect a change in the coming days to my blog.  I figured once we hit December perhaps it was time to get rid of the summer colors.  :)  I am also looking to add a few new things, both aesthetic and more-info-about-myself-wise, perhaps a photo of myself so everyone can see how pretty I am.  Ha.  Ha.  We shall see.  I am very strange in that I get real urges to shake things up every once in a while (like changing my blog's colors, rearranging the furniture, driving a different route home from Iowa, or wanting to move to a new house).  But then I can get very upset at change in some areas (at church, in the way things work at a job, in the redesign and navigation of websites I go to on a regular basis, when certain TV show timeslots are shuffled around, etc.).  So basically you can never tell.  Either I'm going to love it when things are mixed up and changed or I'm going to hate it.  Take your best guess.

And I think the current title is gonna stick.  It seems to work, I just need a way to shorten it when need be.  Any ideas?
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Monday, December 01, 2003
Being depressed sucks.  I could pretend I'm not, but I am.  And it sucks.

Try the Parmesan & Garlic Cheez-its.  They rock.
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