U2/Muse Concert

While the drive home is one I would certainly like to forget (the torrential downpour and massive 90 mph semi-trucks who were oblivious to it did not make for a pleasant drive home), I will not likely soon forget the concert from last night.

It was a surprisingly easy drive up to Giant Stadium. No traffic to speak of, 70+ mph the whole way, and right into the parking lot without a single issue. I was pretty early because I was so afraid of sitting in traffic for 4 hours, so I just camped out in my hatchback, reading a book, drinking some yummy Mike's Hard Pomegranate Lemonade (yum, yum) and listening to U2.

The rest of the crew showed up a while later and we had a nice little tailgater before heading inside. The stage was incredible. A full 360 degree stage (hence the tour name) allowed for there to be very few "bad" seats in the house. We were up high in the stadium, but in a great spot to look right down onto the stage and see EVERYTHING! It was, in my opinion, far better than being across the stadium from them in the first row of seats!

Muse came on a little after 7pm. They ROCKED Giant Stadium. They played some phenomenal tunes, including some of my faves. I was really, really impressed with them. Seeing them live certainly inspired me to come home and gather together as much of their stuff as I can.

I tried to take some videos...but my poor little camera could not handle the sound level. So, while the videos are pretty cool visually, the sound is just a bunch of screeching noise. I figured, best not to load them here! :(

A short while after Muse left the stage, it was time for the big guys to take over. The Major Tom entry was pretty funny, actually, with the pinnacle at the top of the giant olive green tarantula with bright gold buttons! But, when the house lights dropped, the crowd went mad. It was incredible.

They played a lot of stuff I was expecting...starting with a few from the new album and then heading into some of their older stuff (Breathe, No Line on the Horizon, Where the Streets Have No Name, Sunday Bloody Sunday). However, it should be noted that their arrangement for I Know I'll Go Crazy, If I Don't Go Crazy was...well, CRAZY GOOD! Larry Mullen leaving the drum kit to walk the catwalk with a bongo was so cool. It's one of my favorite songs from the new album and it was really good to hear it all funky-like! They played a few that I wouldn't have expected, but knew were coming from others who had seen them already (Ultraviolet). And they played a few that I had no reason to expect (The Unforgettable Fire, Your Blue Room, MLK)! All in all, it was an incredible show (not that I expected any less).

Thanks again to Fred and Beth for making it possible for me to see this show and to Corinne for being a great concert partner! Any time, my friend...any time!

Turn My Green Eyes Blue

I was becoming quite the green eyed monster. I was listening to people talk about the U2 concert in various locations across the U.S. And, here I was, knowing full-right well that the Irish quartet had decided to skip over Philly this time around. They are planning to hit Giant Stadium in Northern NJ (essentially NYC) and Washington D.C....but Philly? Not a note being played.

Oh...the green eyed monster was quietly rearing its ugly head.

And then...the craziest thing happened. I got a message from Beth letting me know that there was a chance I could get two tickets for the show at the Meadowlands. REALLY?!! Only problem was that the show is on a Wednesday. No problem here - I don't have class on Thursday and I am done early on Wednesday! :)

Needless to say my biggest challenge was finding someone to go who could get the time off to travel up to NYC on a Wednesday afternoon. Fortunately, that person arrived in the form of Corinne! Yeah, baby!

So...thanks to Fred, I am hitting the road tomorrow afternoon to go see my favorite band of all time. This will be my 5th U2 concert, my third distinct tour experience, and this will make it my 3rd state (I've seen them in Michigan, PA, and now NJ). Awesome!

Thanks Fred for having two tickets to spare!

Thanks Beth for knowing that I love U2 and getting in touch!

Thanks Corinne for being up for PARTYING our butts off at the Meadowlands!

WOO HOOOOOO!

Star Wars

To paraphrase from the great Star Wars original trilogy...

The insanity is strong in my family. I have it. My brother has it. And my niece and nephew have it.

Bike? Check. Helmet? Check. Game Face? Double Check!

Noah and Aaron

Emma during her warm up. She knows that you need to legs the pins warmed up before the big race!

Start line...you can see Noah in the yellow next to Aaron and Emma. You can see from her stance that Emma, like her Auntie Sarah, is ready to "Go from the Gun!"

Proud owner of her first cycling medal!

Noah contemplates his sprint.

Their first bike race! Noah took 4th and Emma was 5th. Oh, I'm so proud! Sniff, sniff!

Tour des Farms

I spent an absolutely lovely day on the bike today with Beth and Barb. We decided to do the Tour des Farms....here is my ride report!

What: The Tour Des Farm

Where: 54 miles of slightly undulating roads in Burlington County South Jersey

# of riders: some 250

# of Sturdies: 6 that I saw...Beth, Barb, Thunder (she did the shorter ride with a friend), two other pinkees seen in passing, and me!

The ride was an amazing jaunt around the farm country of South Jersey that included stops at several farmstands along the 54 mile route. At the stands, we could spend Farm Bucks or our own bucks to buy whatever we wanted. The best part was that the farm stand would keep our goodies and the ride organizer would come around and pick up the bags and bring them back to the start finish.

The weather was PERFECT. Sunny, cool, a little windy, and totally fantastic. Even though there were over 200 riders on the roads, it was NOT your typical ride

. The road was not full of bikes, you really only saw people at the farm stands themselves, and the 54 mile route was not super popular, so once we got out on that loop of the course, we were essentially alone.

We made out like BANDITS today! We picked up carrots, beans, apples, potatoes, preserves, corn, etc. It was amazing. The two best stops on the trip were McGregor's and Strawberry Hill Farm. McGregor's was an amazing stop with a HUGE selection of ENORMOUS veggies (check out the carrots in the photo above!), a giant wall of preserves, and some fantastic looking pies and cakes!! I know that it would take me at least an hour to drive out there to shop, but I would do it in a heartbeat...the place was that AWESOME!

Strawberry Hill Farm was cool because it was essentially a pick your own fruit farm. Since it wasn't really a "shop," we weren't sure at first what to do. But, the guy running it came out to meet us and said, why don't you just take a walk out in the orchard and grab an apple. :) So, that's just what we did. We walked out, picked a row of Red Delicious, and grabbed three off the tree and ate them RIGHT THERE. They were AWESOME!

Look at how HAPPY I am! Thanks to Barb and Beth for doing this ride with me...it was GREAT! :)

News Across the Nation

So, it's been a busy week out here on the East Coast. After a fun and enjoyable summer, I have started back to work. Classes are actually going really well. Things are moving along with plans for Merida and for departmental stuff (new hire, exhibition stuff, museum trips, etc.). I'm working hard to get a lot of my administrative stuff done at school so that I can really hit the road with my dissertation work.

In Michigan, my little nephew actually started school this year. He's only three, but he is taking a bus to school. Such a little man, he is! Not to mention my little Emma-girl! She's not a little tike anymore, but is really growing up FAST! Apparently, both she and Noah raced their bikes at my brother's last race. He said that he is going to send some photos, but I haven't seen them yet. I hope that they send some along...if so, I will post them for sure.

Further west, my big sister is expecting a little nudger of her very own! Last week, she found out that they are expecting a little girl. How exciting! I am trying to figure out how I can get out there to see her before the baby is born and DEFINITELY afterward!

It's very exciting around here, I guess. Lots going on, lots coming up, and lots on the burner right now.

Hitler...and Cows

So, we recently started broadcasting on a cable channel at work. This is a really cool thing, and my colleagues and I spent a few hours last week recording our own program for the TV Channel. We're doing short Art History lectures (3-5 minutes) on works of art that will be shown in rotation over the next semester or two. I was a little hesitant about it at first, but I really enjoyed the filming and am looking forward to seeing how it turns out in the end! :)

Anyway...the point of this is that I have been having a little fun with our programming, especially when walking in one of the main doors at school. See, if you walk in one particular entrance, there is a TV in the lobby that is broadcasting the channel. However, the TV is muted, so there is no sound.

Day 1: I enter campus and look up to see Hitler on the TV! All I see is him standing behind a podium, talking with his usual dynamic hand gestures. Maybe this wouldn't have been any less confusing with sound, but at least I could have, possibly, understood what the program was. Maybe?

Day 2: Far more confusing than Day 1, I entered the building to see random shots of black and white TV footage starring....cows. Yep...cows. It was flipping through random shots from programs, all of which included cows. Now, without sound I have absolutely NO IDEA what the heck this was supposed to mean. To be honest, it scared me a little and I'm not sure I want to know! HEHE!!!

Hopefully, no one has the same reaction to our program!

Visit from the Rents

It has been a busy week!

Last week at this time, I was busily cleaning my house for the arrival of the Parental Units! They arrived late last Thursday night and stayed until very early Tuesday morning (which also happened to be my first day of classes for the semester)! We had an AWESOME visit!

We drove down to visit Chuck at the shore for one day. We went to the fish market in Cape May, we went to the Farm stand in Stone Harbor, we took a stroll on the beach, made a delicious dinner and played some cards. It was a great day to spend with them down there, just talking, catching up and cooking together. Much fun.

We spent one afternoon window shopping in New Hope! My only experience with New Hope prior to their visit was cruising through there on bikes one day during one of our Fall century rides. It was neat to walk around. Lots of people and things to look at and enjoy! :)

We made a few yummy dinners here at home and really enjoyed just hanging out, drinking wine, and chatting. It really was a fantastic time. I'm so glad that they came out to see me/us. It's pretty tough living 11 hours away from your parents, when you'd rather live 11 minutes away. Alas, that's what I get for moving to the east coast to marry some boy! :) hehehe!

Here are a few photos from our visit to the shore and to New Hope!

Excitement Abounds

Again...life has been handing out heaping portions of "What the heck is going on?" lately!

Getting back into the swing of things at work has actually been pretty great. I really do love my job, despite any complaining I might do (is there anyone who really never complains about work??). It's also nice to be back to a routine. Routine helps me a lot, I've realized. It's actually much easier for me to get things done when I'm busy. When I have a lot of free time, I tend to fill it with fun stuff or stuff that makes you feel good rather than things that need to get done! Alas, back to work for me really does mean back to work!

I got a call the other day from my mom who says, "Do you have plans this weekend?" I quickly say, "Nope! Why?! Are you coming to visit?!" And she says, "We were thinking about it." Within a two minute conversation, they had decided to drive out for a visit and will be arriving tomorrow! Wah-hoooo!! This makes me very happy.

So...my last weekend of total freedom will be spent with my parents, which will be awesome. Then, my nose really hits the grindstone. Teaching, researching, writing, grading....it's all waiting for me on Tuesday!

Bring it on!