I did stuff this summer, I swear. Just not a lot of stuff that was interesting enough to blog about. Saw a couple shows, just Of Montreal at the Gothic Theater and Clipse at Mission Ballroom, but there really weren’t many shows I wanted to see.
Me, Patrick, Court and Andy at Of Montreal at the Gothic Theater. Sabrina is hiding behind Patrick’s arm I think. – 07/26/2025
That all changes in 17 days, when my best friend Court and I head to Atlanta for Shaky Knees 2025. It’s a three day festival and My Chemical Romance is headlining day 2, so Court and I will lose our tiny little minds nerding out over early 2000’s emo. Devo is also playing and they are one of my top ten favorite bands ever. It’ll be my first time seeing them, which should be a blast.
Then we get back, and the gauntlet o’ shows begins in earnest.
Current Lineup for September – November: Sept 19-21 – Shaky Knees, Piedmont Park, Atlanta Sept 26th – They Might Be Giants, Ogden Theater October 1st – Autechre, Ogden Theater October 3rd – Wolf Alice, Ogden Theater October 9th – Yung Lean, Fillmore Auditorium October 12th – Twin Peaks: A Conversation with the Stars, Paramount Theater October 14th – Stereolab, Gothic Theater November 8th – The Faint, Gothic Theater November 13th – Devo, Mission Ballroom November 14th – Underworld, Fillmore Auditorium November 18th – Mars Volta, Mission Ballroom
Clearly I will be making up for the lost time in the summer, and getting a couple bucket list shows checked off my list – Autechre, Stereolab, Devo and Underworld!
Now back to your regularly scheduled boring for a few weeks. I’m just going to try to survive at work. And at home, Patrick tested positive for Covid 2 days ago and I tested negative, so trying to not get that shit again after it ruined my birthday a year and a half ago. Hoping I’m still relatively immunized to it…
It’s been a stressful week and a half. Last Wednesday night I had to take the cat to the emergency vet. Twice, in one day, actually. A few weeks ago, he had started straining to pee, and going in and out of his box and constantly licking his nether regions. We were worried but were able to get him into his regular vet the next day, and they were able to get him peeing again and sent him home with meds, and he was fine for like three weeks.
Last Wednesday he started doing the straining thing again and our vet couldn’t get him in, so they recommended we take him to the emergency vet. So we did.
He looks like he’s learned to disassociate pretty well.
Anyway, they gave him some drugs to relax him but he wouldn’t even try to pee at the ER so they sent us home, where he started straining and going in and out of his box again. An hour or two later, we turned right back around and went back.
Turned out he did have a blockage, so they had to keep him overnight and unblock him, then give him meds and fluids til he was pretty clear. He’d been pretty good with the new wet food (he now has to be on special urinary diet food) until today, when he started leaving little bloody puddles around the house while I was at a movie and Patrick was at home with him. I’ll write a review post about the movie later. So I had to hurry home, and we went back to the emergency vet this evening for a third time.
Unsurprisingly, they remembered us.
He felt safer in his Pokeball.
Fortunately for my bank account, today we’re not looking blocked, just seems to be a badly inflamed bladder. So they’ve sent us home with kitty NSAIDs and painkillers and now I get to monitor him. Wheeeeeeeee.
Fingers crossed this is the last of the shit and he’ll be good with the drugs and wet food.
Other exciting things – I went with my friends Eduardo and Dolan and Dolan’s new girlfriend Kennedy to a gun range and shot real guns (not just the little shitty rifles they let us shoot once at Y-Camp) for the first time.
Here is Eduardo being armed and fabulous:
Pew pew, bitches.
It was honestly an interesting and fun experience. Got to shoot 3 rifles and 2 handguns. It was louder than I even thought it would be. I liked the little Glock 9mm best, but the AR-15 was actually pretty fun to shoot if a little terrifying. The place we went was really nice and had a restaurant in it, so after we shot for like 2 hours we got some actually reasonably decent food.
I would never have really seen myself as someone who would go learn how to handle a gun, but unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures.
Last thing is that I redid my battle station (aka my desk) and I’m rather proud of how nice it looks:
Think that pretty much covers the updates for the moment.
That’s only kind of a lie. I did get that shirt, but I also bought more things than shirt.
Anyway, we went to Seattle this week, which was fun. I love to explore a new city.
We flew first class both ways, which I get really excited about every time, like a puppy super stoked about their impending pup cup in someone’s tiktok from a Starbucks drive-thru.
You get free booze and an actually decently comfy seat in United First, and since our flight was over 900 miles, we got lunch both directions.
I got tortellini en brodo which apparently is italian for “tortellini with a bunch of peas, 5 chickpeas, cheese of indeterminate type and a sauce chef boyardee would disavow”.
Eating on a plane is always fun, but they give you an actual butter knife and also a very nice banana pudding and free booze, so it’s extra fun this way.
Anyway, we saw some mountains:
This was somewhere around Wyoming, I think.
So we got to Seattle in one piece, and I think we pretty well killed it. We got in early on Monday and couldn’t check in yet, so we walked over to the Spheres (https://www.seattlespheres.com/) and found a bar for a bit, went and checked in, and decided to walk to Belltown and go get some dinner. We ended up at a place called Ohana, which was fabulous. We ordered a bunch of random sushi and musubi and had some noodles too.
Then we walked across the street to this bar called the Black Cat, which had both Fernet and Malort on tap. These were clearly our kind of people.
We had a blast there, stopped at a bodega and got snacks and wine, and fell asleep on the couch in our entirely too large “hotel room” watching Law and Order.
Tuesday morning, Patrick got up well before I did, so he ventured out early to walk around the city. I got my shit together and met up with him at this little cafe called Ludi’s, at which I got breakfast lumpia, which came with the best and most “don’t breathe on anyone for at least an hour” garlic rice I have ever experienced in my life. It was lifechanging, and now I want this for breakfast every day.
This meal is going to live rent free in my head for so long.
After that, we had some time to kill before going to our food tour of the Pike Place Market, so we went to H-Mart, walked around the general area and then stopped in at this store on the corner right by where we picked up the tour.
It was called “Robots vs Sloths”. You could literally not pay someone enough where they would be able to create a store name that makes me want to enter said store more.
So. Much. Cute. Stuff.
I got the titular shirt and a very cute patch for my not-punk-jacket, and then it was time for the food tour.
Honestly, it was a lot of fun. Our tour guide Scott, was great, very funny. The best thing we had (I thought) was the chowder from Pike Place Chowder. Honorable mentions to the cold brew tiramisu from Kitchen & Market and the London Fog gelato from Hellenika Cultured Creamery, as well as the truffle guy from Truffle Queen who was just a killer salesman and definitely got Patrick for some truffle salt. Oh, and the pepper guy from Bonnie B’s Peppers who got me for like 90 bucks worth of pickled stuff.
Here is us in front of the market, failing at selfies:
Patrick is more photogenic than I am.
After the market, we decided to walk over to the Pop Culture museum.
This was a good choice, because a) the Space Needle is right by it and b) I am a giant nerd.
I could not stop singing “SPAAAAACE NEEDLE” to the tune of the Red Robin jingle.
Here is a photodump of shit we saw at the Museum of Pop Culture:
After that, we decided to check out a different neighborhood and took a lyft to Fremont. Had some food at an Irish pub style place that was good, went to a guitar shop, walked around a bit, and also went to see the Fremont Troll before going to a bar called Bar House, which had SO MANY BAR DOGS. I love a good bar dog, and there were like 6 of them, which ruled.
The Fremont Troll. People do not understand how to use the roundabout it’s next to, and that was hilarious.
After Bar House, we realized it was getting late and got a ride back to the hotel to regroup, then got some dinner in the neighborhood and collapsed back at the hotel.
Wednesday was nice since we didn’t really have any plans. By the time I got up and ready, Patrick was up in Capitol Hill, so I got a ride up to where he was and we took the train to the UW campus to see the cherry blossoms, which were really beautiful. The campus itself looks like something out of Harry Potter. The architecture is ornate and stately, and the grounds truly impressive. Here’s a few photos, some of which were shot on my little toy camera:
After that, we walked to their little university district and got breakfast, then took the train to Pioneer Square, where I bought a couple books. Because of course I bought a book by Stan Brakhage:
These are extremely Kate appropriate books.
We then walked from there down to the piers, which are total tourist traps but also kind of good people watching, and had a beer, then walked back up to Belltown and ended up at Shorty’s and played some pinball and used their photobooth. We’re kind of cute sometimes.
Just a couple of cutie patooties.
At that point we needed food so we walked down the street to a place called Cyclops, got some food (I kinda wish I had gotten a bar shirt, tbh) then had a bit of time to kill before going to meet my friend in Ballard, so we stopped in at the Screwdriver Bar which was a really cool joint covered in records with a bartender who was super nice.
Took a Lyft to Ballard and met up with my friend Danielle, who I hadn’t seen in person in years, played more pinball and ate nachos, and then she had to go so we wandered the neighborhood and found a Taco Time! For those of you who don’t know, I worked at the sole Taco Time in Iowa back in 2001-2002 and am still OBSESSED with the crisp chicken burritos, so we each got one. The ones in WA are not as good as I remember, unforunately.
After that, we continued walking around Ballard, and ended up by this place called the Tractor Tavern, at which point we heard good live music eminating from it. We went inside and paid to watch, and it ended up being such a good show we bought tickets to see them again in Denver tonight (there will be a different blog post about that). Early James was the dude’s moniker, look him up for sure if you like bluesy country rock.
Went back to the hotel after and passed out.
Thursday we didn’t really do much other than get breakfast and head to the airport, where thank god I had made a reservation for security because the line for standard screening was INSANE. Once on the plane we were again in first class. I had the chicken pizzalolo or something like that. They let me double fist wine and White Claw, which made me very happy, and I bought something from Skymall even though it’s not the same as it used to be.
Again, the banana pudding was the star of the show.
Anyway, we got home without incident, and that was the end of vacation.
This was entirely too long, but I had photos to dump. If you’re still here, leave a shoutout!
Hi there, if you’re out there reading this. I am not, in fact, dead. I am very much alive. I just haven’t been doing things like writing in this for a while.
Mostly because we haven’t done anything particularly interesting in a while, but also because I’ve been lazy. Anyway, I’m here to rectify my lack of posting by meandering about a bit verbally.
We are, however, doing something interesting in the next few days, and are taking most of next week to go explore Seattle, a place that is on our short list of “places we might consider moving to at a later date”. I have never been, Patrick on the other hand has lived there before, although not in the last 20 years, so we’re assuming a lot of things have changed between then and now.
From what I understand, it doesn’t look like this much and is instead almost constantly rainy.
We’re going in style, too. First class there and back on United, and we are staying at the most insane hotel I think I’ve ever stayed in. Patrick was like, “we are going big” and got us a “two bedroom executive suite” at this hotel in South Lake Union.
This is not actually like a hotel room at all, it’s a whole ass two bedroom apartment with a balcony, full kitchen and living room, and a balcony. Check out one of the example floorplans:
Is this not the most insane “hotel room”? I haven’t even touched on the amenities yet, but there are 2 pools, one indoor, one outdoor, 2 hot tubs (you will find me there at least once per day on this trip), a KARAOKE room, multiple outdoor areas with firepits and outdoor kitchens, a 9000 square foot workout room, a games room with pool and shuffleboard, a theater room, a “sports court with climbing wall”….we literally could entertain ourselves without leaving the hotel the entire trip.
I am excited, though, because we’ve booked a food tour of Pike Place Market for the first full day we are there, at like lunch time, so we’ll do that for a couple hours then find something else to do in the afternoon. I had a $200 “experience” gift certificate from a long time ago at work that I hadn’t used in years so fortunately for us that means free food tour!
Anyway, I’m excited in general. Two more sleeps til I get to go be fancy AF on a plane where they will serve me a nice lunch and all the free booze I want!
The other thing I am very excited for will be awaiting me on my return home – I caved and bought a Moog Subsequent 25 because it’s being discontinued and was $300 off the regular price. I’d been eyeing one for a couple years now, every time we went to Chicago Music Exchange when we’ve traveled there. Now, it will finally be mine! Also I’m banned from buying any more synthesizers for a while. But look how pretty she is:
A few housekeeping items before we begin today’s foray into my record collection: first, I did great at the doc this week and my liver levels aren’t elevated at all anymore, and second, that was not a Superb anything, let alone an Owl, it was a trouncing.
Note: There will be spoilers in this review, but I’ll let you know before I spoil anything.
My beloved boyfriend, Patrick, who I promise is not a robot love slave despite putting up with me for nearly 3.5 years with a minimum of complaining, actually expressed interest in seeing this one. Despite it being a horror movie, after seeing the preview before something we saw a couple weeks ago he actually asked to go see it. I, being the horror lover that I am, jumped at the chance to go to the movies after the lull that was everything in January after Nosferatu. So we went last night.
Note: There will be spoilers in this review, but I’ll let you know before I spoil anything.
My beloved boyfriend, Patrick, who I promise is not a robot love slave despite putting up with me for nearly 3.5 years with a minimum of complaining, actually expressed interest in seeing this one. Despite it being a horror movie, after seeing the preview before something we saw a couple weeks ago he actually asked to go see it. I, being the horror lover that I am, jumped at the chance to go to the movies after the lull that was everything in January after Nosferatu. So we went last night.
Have you ever heard a record that sounds like having a dream about being trapped in a mall in the 80’s or early 90’s? I have, and it’s this one.
A while back, we were down on South Broadway doing some shopping and went into FM, which is a clothing boutique that also has a shockingly good selection of records. I saw this, but didn’t buy it at that point. Then later the same day, I saw someone posting about it on r/Vinyl and talking about how difficult it was to find and immediately kicked myself for not purchasing it.
I know I haven’t posted anything since Sunday. Partially that’s because it’s January, the time of year when I start getting really sick of winter and just wish to hibernate. The other part is probably the near crippling feeling of overwhelm and general malaise. Let’s call it seasonal depression.
It’s Sunday, which means it’s time to introduce one of the first things I want to do every week. Namely, to play a record or two from my collection, and write about them.
I think that for now, at least, I’m just going to leave the looks of the site how it is. I like the simple, clean look. I’m so sick of every single page on the internet being crammed with ads and content, it’s nice to have space.
Anyway, I think I’ve got the basics set up now. I also managed to download all my old Instagram and FB pictures and whatnot – they really provide you with a near terrifying amount of data when you do that. I think I’m fairly set to start closing down my Facebook account. For a month or so I will make all posts private except for occasional posts plugging this blog, and then delete it forever.
I’ve really missed the days of the old internet, when I visited more than basically 3 websites. I’ve missed not being forced into consuming trash content from people I don’t know all the time. I’m excited for the projects I’m starting on right now.
What projects, you might wonder?
Well…
First, I guess this blog is kind of a big project with a lot of little subprojects.
Subproject 1:
I’m planning to go through my entire record collection alphabetically (-ish, I have a somewhat freeform version of what alphabetical means, in that if an artist goes by several names I tend to shelve them all together under the primary name I think of them as), listen to the whole record, and write a little review of each one. Right now I’m going to start doing that on Sundays, because Sunday seems like a lovely day to listen to a record and write about it.
Subproject 2:
I’m also planning to start writing about film, like, a lot. Much like Subproject 1, I’m also planning to go through my physical film collection of things I have on Blu-ray and DVD. I’ve got probably at least 100 films then, so that’s fun. I’m also going to write up reviews of films I go to, and some streaming movies, especially more indie and foreign things I watch.
My other, non blog related big project is learning FL Studio and recording some music. I’ve finally got a good setup, a bunch of instruments and equipment, and I’ve spent enough money on all these things that if I don’t start doing something with them, I will start being sad about it.
I’ll of course post anything I create that I don’t hate here.
