Absent birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY zakkati!!

Happy Birthday to one of the funniest, liveliest LJers I've ever met! I miss you and wish you were still posting. *hugs* I hope your day is great!

*blinks wearily*

I am nearly caught up with the flist. All three of them.

Granted, I was speed reading and skimming.

But the sad thing is--I'll be gone for Terminus on Tuesday, and I'll get behind again. Then when I come home from Terminus I'll be crazed for a few days because I'll be writing up my extra-wordy con reports and getting packed for the honeymoon, so I doubt I'll be able to do much more than the obligatory look-at-everyone's-con-photos sort of thing.

I welcome September, sweet September, delicious, lazy September, full of promise and empty days, time to recharge, time to create, time to get my life in order.

This has been the Summer Of Way Too Many Things Going On At Once. I'm a bit frazzled, I must admit.

Thank goodness my next big project doesn't really start until October, when I have to begin packing up the apartment in hopes of buying a house in December.

The concert

Just got back from a triple header. The main acts were fingereleven, Staind, and Three Doors Down.

The opening act was Sick Puppies, and the lead singer kept mentioning that they were from Sydney, Australia. I don't know if you care or not, but he did, so I will mention it for him. He was very enthusiastic. The bass guitarist was a girl wearing a Hot Topic outfit. Their logo was a ripped out heart with wings and blood spatter, yet their most famous song turned out to be a sweet ballad that was played over a "Free Hugs" commercial.

Eventually they got around to doing a cover of "Say My Name" by Destiny's Child, which involved a truly bizarre lead-in by the lead singer, who said some nonsense about pushing the girls over the hood of a car and undoing their belt and then something unintelligible. His version involved scat singing and was horrible. Really horrible. Somewhere, on a tropical island, Cristál in hand, Jay-Z looking on in concern, Beyoncé is wincing.

Fingereleven was delicious, though I suspect the lead singer was drunk, and they only played for a half hour (though they did sneak a little Pink Floyd in). They have three guitarists: Mohawk, who was quite fun and also contributes vocals; Mad Dog, who has very long hair that he whips around constantly, and takes his guitar on and off and plays while holding it vertical, and is constantly jumping around; and Bored Bass, who stood in one place during the entire concert with his back against a stack. That could be in self-defense, however, seeing that Mad Dog was on his side of the stage, and to get in his way would definitely be asking to fill out workmen's comp forms.

Staind was fabulous, except the bass guitar and the bass drum were so overpowering that there were times where I could not hear Aaron Lewis singing. I don't mind having the bass guitar resonating in my chest cavity, but I do mind having it distorted beyond belief so that at times you can't even tell which note the bass guitarist is hitting.

We left before TDD started. I only like one song, and my sister couldn't remember any of their songs, and she came for Staind, after all.

A fun time, though it only reinforces what I dislike about crowds. Smoke, elbows in the small of my back, and screaming crazy girls.