Hella Good

So my awesome friend Mary came down and went to the No Doubt concert with me and I don't want to spoil the ending for you, but it may have been the BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE! Getting to the amphitheater was a huge adventure. An adventure driven by Mary because when confronted by the unexpected Mary sees adventure and Jennifer sees plan-ruining complication. We're different that way. Anyway, the first adventure was failing to take the earlier offramp (you betrayed us, Google Maps!) We were stuck in traffic trying to get off the freeway for a good forty-five minutes. During that time, we watched the gas--which was low to begin with--get lower and lower and then the little gas light went on. When we were finally off the freeway, we tried to turn into a gas station, but were foiled by gridlock. We saw another station a little further down the road (and a little further from the road we needed to be on). It was a Sam's Club station, members only. At that point, Mary performed a very bold U-turn and we weathered some more congestion before finally accessing the first station from the side. I should mention that the concert had started by this time.

With gridlock on all sides, we had no choice but to go straight through the intersection, rather than turn left as we needed to do. Unfortunately, the road we were now on was under construction. No turning around for us. Finally, there was an intersection from which we could turn around. Except we couldn't because there wasn't any place to turn left and there was a lot on congestion because first off-ramp from the freeway fed into the road. Then we couldn't go straight anymore because the road was closed and our only choices were to get back on the freeway in the opposite direction or make a completely illegal U-turn and try to wedge ourselves into the congestion. Laughing hysterically we made the insane turn and finally after some 90 minutes stuck in traffic, we arrived at the venue.

By now it was 8:10 pm (concert started at 7:30) and my water bottle had been confiscated. Good thing too, or I would have used it to club to death the people in front of me. But more on that later. Paramore has already started playing, we're in a hurry to get in, we try unsuccessfully to find our seats and trudge halfway through the amphitheater to where we do find our seats. And they are awesome and perfect seats. Except for the two girls dancing and doing karaoke in front of me. Just so you get a clear picture, we are surrounded by 30 yr-olds with beers and Blackberries in their hands. Everyone else in the entire section is sitting down except for these two girls. I passed an executive order to have all fifteen year-old girls taken into the woods and shot, but it must have been non-binding because no one ever came to get them. Now, I don't know if you know this (I didn't), but apparently Paramore sings the theme for "Twilight" and nothing excites fifteen year-old girls more than Paramore and "Twilight." Blessedly, that was the end of the set list and the girls left to use the bathroom or harass the band or something. During the break between sets, the screens showed text messages sent to the concert. One said, "16 yr olds, go home and let the adults enjoy the No Doubt concert." This received a lot of cheers in my section.

The lights dimmed, the seats the girls had been annoyingly bouncing around in were claimed by their rightful owners (it was a sold-out show) and the No Doubt concert began. And what a concert it was. It was loud and they played all the songs you wanted to hear and a few older ones. They changed the songs a bit, but they still sounded great and the band was totally on. I saw No Doubt in a GA concert at UVSC for my eighteenth birthday when it was just them doing whatever they wanted and us moshing happily below. This was more of an 'event' concert; everything was all choreographed and had cool video backgrounds (including vintage, pre-Tragic Kingdom footage). It was so much fun and hardly seemed that any time had passed. The only acknowledgement that time had indeed past came when the band performed "A Simple Kind of Life." Originally a very melancholy song about how the lead singer still single and childless at 30, it took on a more upbeat, nostalgic feeling. (The crowd cheered wildly at the line, "I always thought I'd be a mom." I guess they're fanatical fans of motherhood.)

Speaking of the lead singer, it was great to see the Gwen Stefani of my youth, all tomboy with her wallet chains and combat boots and wife-beater doing boy-style push-ups. I much prefer the you-lookin'-at-me? Gwen to the trend-setting fashionista that's been around since she went solo.

In conclusion, getting there was awesome, fifteen year-old girls are stupid, and the No Doubt concert was awesome beyond words. Also, Libya is a land of contrasts.

In Further Honor of Us: 25 Random Questions

Since your love of trivia and my surplus time overlap, I thought I'd pose and answer 25 random questions about Paul and myself. Warning: This is shamelessly cribbed and condensed from a friend.

1. Do you like bleu cheese?: J--not really, Paul says yes.

2. What is your favorite ZZ Top album? Who listens to ZZ Top any more?

3. What is your favorite snack? J--goldfish crackers or hazelnuts, Paul--bagels.

4. What do you think of hot dogs?: They are delicious! (Paul's more of a brat man, technically.)

5. Favorite Christmas movie?: J--How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Paul--It's a Wonderful Life.

6. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?: J--engagement ring, Paul--wedding ring.

7. Favorite hobby?: J--hobbies? Paul--playing video games with his bros.

8. Do you wear glasses/contacts?: Of course, have you seen us?

9. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment:J--Dinosaurs! Piper is adorable. I want ice cream. Paul--Delicious, he saw she wasn't dead, or was it a ghost? (Paul is watching Primeval right now)

10. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:J--water, milk, juice. Paul--drinks diet Coke exclusively.

11. Where would you like to go?: J--Bed. Paul--Pipertown!

12. Do you own slippers?:J--I own scooffies, does that count? Paul--no.

13. What color shirt are you wearing?: J--White, Paul--none

14. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?: Yes, and we love to eat bonbons and watch the afternoon soaps. Do you know us at all? One of us wouldn't even sleep in sheets if it weren't for the other.

15. Can you whistle?: J-yes, Paul-yes.

16. Where are you now?: We're both on the couch

17. Would you be a pirate?: J--heck yes! Paul-no.

18. What songs do you sing in the shower?: We do not sing in the shower. Paul talks in his sleep, though.

19. Last thing you ate: J--part of Paul's snack. Paul--Chocolate Chip Molten Fudge Cake.

20. What is in your pocket right now?: Pajamas don't have pockets. Sorry.

21. Last thing that made you laugh?:J--Craig Ferguson's lip-synching of "Oops I did it again." Paul--Something Awful

22. What vehicle do you drive?: Accord.

23. Worst injury you've ever had?:J--broke my finger. Paul--has never been seriously injured. It's like he's...unbreakable...or something.

24. Do you love where you live?:J--yes. Paul--eh, sure.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house?: Two, one's sitting in the living room begging for DI.

Of Years and Matrimonial Contracts, Part 2

Well, our actual anniversary was last night and it was quite nice. We went out to a local steakhouse for dinner and it was delicious. Paul's prime rib may have been better than my filet mignon, hard as it is to admit. Then we came home and watched the Bones finale. Paul was away on yet another business trip last week, so he missed it. (He was heartbroken about it, I assume you.) No, he most certainly wasn't, but it's my Star Wars*, so he graciously watched it with his full attention. He even told me that a certain anonymous friend of his also loves Bones. I don't want to brag, but I would like to say the number of people who think Bones is awesome continues to increase, while the number of people who think it is lame remains constant at 1 (Paul). I also asked if he had any defining memories, but he didn't. He said he mainly saw five happy years, not any specific events, which was pretty much how I felt. You may awww now.

*This is a reference to How I Met Your Mother (not grandmother/mother-approved). The main character, Ted, is attempting to prove to his friend, Marshall, that he isn't rushing into a marriage. But it's revealed Ted's fiancee has never seen Star Wars, his favorite movie of all time.** It's not just his favorite movie, it's what he watches "when he's home sick with the flu, on rainy Sunday afternoons in the fall, on Christmas Eve, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad." So, as a test of their compatibility, they watch Star Wars. I think you can imagine how it goes.

**This leads Marshall to say one of the best things ever said on television: "The only people in the universe who haven't seen Stars Wars are the characters in Star Wars. And that's cause they lived them, Ted! That's cause they lived the Star Wars!"

Of Years and Matrimonial Contracts

Tomorrow will be our fifth wedding anniversary. Can you believe that? Where did the time go? I guess five years isn't very long. I am amazed at how often I still fail to remember foods that Paul hates, for example. I think I named five different dinners in a row on Wednesday that he didn't like. In five years, we've:

Lived in four apartments in two states and one foreign country
Bought a car
Adopted a cat
Accumulated three bachelor's degrees
Entered the world of gainful employment (well, one of us)

Yet, it doesn't feel like much has changed. One of the quirks of time, I suppose. I thought I'd fill the rest of the space with crazy trivia about us or nice sentimental memories, but I can't really think of any trivia and, let's be honest, I'm not much of a nice sentimental memory person. I guess if there's anything I've learned, is that when times are good, it doesn't matter so much whether you're alone or not (though not is better), but when times are hard or bad or just plain miserable, being married makes an unmeasurable difference.

Crawling Out From Under the Apocalyptic Rumble

Well, I finally finished my semester yesterday at 5:00 pm. Hurray! I'm glad it's over and I'm glad I have the whole summer to build myself back up. It's been over a hundred for the last week or two and I haven't even gone swimming. That's how busy I've been. I was working on my seminar paper, which only served to remind me how out-of-shape I am writing-wise. I'm hoping the professor doesn't read the non-translation part too critically. It was a really interesting topic (a little-studied apocalyptic scripture--medieval Daoist apocalypses are the best apocalypses) and I'd like to do more work on it in the future. It fills me with grand plans...charts on walls, databases...I might still be a little obsessed with it.

Anyway, I also "summered up" the blog here. I think it looks nice, bit more summery and beachy. Oh, and I added the kitten because seriously, bathing kittens? Hilarious! Almost as funny as thug puppets.

Why Won't It End?

Why won't this semester end already? I'm sick of papers and knowing there are finals that should be studied for. Why can't we end it here? Whatever I have, I have. Typing until midnight or one in the morning has lost its charm.

Hey Man, Can You Spare $25?

Perhaps some of you have noticed the little logo in the right corner, you know the one that says "Kiva: loans that change lives." I put it up around Christmas. My mom had asked for some kind of charitable donation as a Christmas gift this year, something like Heifer International. I don't quite remember how I found Kiva (Mary, I think). It's a person-to-person micro-lending organization. It's so awesome I can't clearly explain it, so go to www.kiva.org for the basics. What I love about it is how you can pick precisely to whom the money goes. If you want to support women expanding their clothing-making business in Ghana to pay their children's school fees, you can do that. And trust me, you'll have multiple choices. I personally focus on Central Asia (Team Tajikistan represent!), but that's just me. Another thing I like is that it pools money from multiple donors for a single loan. It's super-hard knowing that $600 or whatever could change a family's life, but how many people have that much lying around? Now how many people have--at some point in their lives--$25 they could spare? And the best part? You get your loan back at the end of the repayment period. That's right, after the loan is paid off, you get your $25 dollars back. You can take the money, you can give it to Kiva itself (to cover overhead), or you can lend it to someone else and start the cycle anew. It's like the $25 that keeps on giving.

In conclusion, micro-lending is awesome, Mother's Day is coming, what would Mom like more than making the world a better place (and maybe some flowers)?