So it turns out I like jazz. And blues.

Whodathunkit?

Glad I went. She was fun and funny and soulful and has an incredible voice. I bought one of her CD's from a table in the lobby one my way out, and also bought on from the act that went on ahead of her, Beaucoup Blue -- a father-and-son blues duo out of Philadelphia. Blues and jazz, two things I've never really sought out, and I liked 'em both.

Only one drawback of the evening--two people right behind me who wouldn't stop talking. Constant chatter. All. Night. Long. Argh! I wish I'd had the nerve to do what a friend of mine did after some woman sat next to him and chatted to her companion the whole way through a showing of Moulin Rouge. After the lights came up, he turned to her and said:

"You owe me four dollars."

"What?!?"

"Your yapping made me miss about half that movie. Ticket cost me $8. You owe me $4."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Well, I know what you were talking about." And then he proceeded to list all the topics she and her friend had discussed over the past two hours. She stood there, shocked and affronted.

"Hey, lady, in future? If you want to talk, go to a restaurant. If you come to see a movie? Shut up."

He's my hero.

Outside my comfort zone

Melody Gardot's coming to town. A while back, someone pointed tonight's concert out via Twitter, asked if anyone wanted to go wither her, and sent a YouTube link. After a little exploring, I decided liked what I heard and that I would go. The person who mentioned the concert isn't going. At least I don't think she is. Never heard from her again about the topic, even after I tried contacting her directly. Maybe I misunderstood.

I've been to plays by myself, but I usually attend concerts with other people. Don't know why that is, but I'd rather listen to music with someone I know. Well, tonight, I'm going by myself. To listen to jazz, which is a genre I've never really paid much attention to before.

Should be interesting.

For G

I do have an actual written post coming, if I ever finish the &@%! thing. But in the mean time, I'm posting this with G (of Postcards to Myself) in mind, 'cause he once mentioned that he liked ukuleles:



On YouTube, the caption next to the video says:

Created on June 21, 2009. London Uke Festival - For more info check londonukefestival.com We smashed the record with 851 peforming on day!

Independent confirmation...

...also known as a sop to my vanity:

I was out and about yesterday afternoon, got onto a bus, and a woman I haven't seen in months said to me,

"You've lost weight!"

So there we are. Time to find the scale and see how much. Just for curiosity's sake.

Small victories

I bought a whole bunch of new clothes from the local branch of Lane Bryant back in April. They were having a huge everything-must-go sale prior to closing the branch for good, as apparently there aren't enough fat girls to clothe in this town (yeah, right). I scored $400 worth of clothes for $44. Go me! Virtual high five!

Then a few weeks later I gave myself a stern talking to and started to take Weight Watchers more seriously. I know, I know. New clothes, then lose weight? Isn't that supposed to go the other way 'round? Well, as my brother-in-law would say, "That's how I roll."

I still haven't weighed myself, though I am following program otherwise. I'm trying to teach myself that I need to focus on how I feel and not rely on some number to tell me whether I'm doing well.

It's working. My new clothes have been getting very baggy. Yesterday I went to put on a pair of the jeans I bought in April, and just as experiment I tried to get them on without undoing the button at the top. They slipped right on! Hurray! Oh, crap. That meant I needed to find a different pair of pants, 'cause if they slip on that easily, they'll slide down that easily as well.

I found another, smaller pair of jeans I haven't worn for a while. They fit! Kind of. Little tight across the thigh, but I didn't snap myself in half when I sat down in 'em, so those jeans have been rotated back into the wardrobe.

I have a long way to go. I don't even know how far. I suppose sooner or later I need to find the scale and get on it, if only to adjust my Weight Watchers' plan. For anyone not familiar with the program, as you lose weight, you lose "points" -- every food is assigned a point value, and you get a certain amount of points to use in a day, with 35 extra to spread around through the week. As you get smaller, so does your points budget.

I need to find that scale. I think it's in one of the boxes I labeled "Odds & Ends." But my more immediate need is to get myself to a store and buy a belt. I do not want to accidentally moon someone in the library. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

I retweeted this, but I don't think that's enough

I got a tweet from Neil Gaiman (well, not to me, exactly. I follow him). He sent out the following link, and I thought it was worth putting up on the blog:



I wish I was nearer to New York City. Apparently he's performing there this weekend.

I also like his alternate title for this clip: Squandering an Expensive Music School Education on Ridiculous Youtube Videos.

Big Pixar fan over here

Was talking with some folks at work today about Up, which I'd like to see sometime soon, and how I've always liked Pixar even before I knew who they were. When Toy Story came out, it reminded me of an animated short I saw when I was in college, as part of a film of the winners of some international animation tourney (back when they used to bring things like that to campus and show 'em to us). It was called "Tin Toy." Then I saw a special on the making of Toy Story and learned that these were the same people who did "Tin Toy." I just found it on YouTube:



Another one I liked (turned out to be another one of theirs) was in a similar vein, about a snowman living in a snowglobe (a souvenir from Alaska, I think) who falls in love with another souvenir (from Miami) on the shelf. Found that one too. It's called "Knick Knack:"



Yep. Watching these has reinforced my desire to go see Up.

Lolly's paw

To anyone who's been wondering: there will be no need to biopsy the cat's paw. That thing with the definite edges? Scab. Fell off a few days after I posted about it. The next time the cat allowed me to look at her foot, it looked great. I looked yesterday, and couldn't tell there'd been a wound at all. Mind you, I was was holding the cat in mid-air, dangling her feet in front of me, so I only got a few glimpses. But everything looks good!

Yay! Crisis averted.