Black Eyed Peas and Comic Con

I live in a condo next to the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium, over looking Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.

Thursday there was a notice in the elevator that on Friday the street in front of World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium would be blocked off for a private event, and that there would be a big-name band playing that private event from 8pm to 9:30pm.

Husband did some sleuthing, like calling the Atlanta Police Dept to see who had the permit to block off the street, and found out that the private event was Microsoft's global sales conference. He called the World of Coke to ask about the band and whoever he talked to thought Husband worked for Coke headquarters and was testing him. So Husband got no info out of them.

Friday night, Husband and I went out into the Park and saw a huge stage set up in the park between World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium. There were privacy fences set up around the street so we couldn't get too close, but we saw lights and heard the music.

Turns out the band was the Black Eyed Peas. Right at 8pm they started and they ended at 9:30pm. We found a place in the park to hang out and listen. We could see the big screens with our binoculars. In the picture above, you can seea cluster on tiny people in red shirts. Those are World of Coke employees standing on the roof of the WoC. I think they had the best seats for the concert.

So we enjoyed a free concert of a band we have actually paid money for to see earlier this year.

And, while the concert was going on in Atlanta, I was following Whedonesque and others on my iPhone Tweeting about San Diego Comic Con.

The Runaways

The comic book series, not the band or the movie about the band.

Got it from the library, read Volumes 1, 2 and 3 in one sitting.

Essentially, the Runaways are children who find out their parents are evil supervillians.

No time to say more, other than I've put the other volumes on request at the library, including the one written by Joss Whedon.

In other news, work is overwhelming with deadlines, budget crunches and personnel dramas. The less said, the saner I'll be.

Advice for those about to go to college

A friend sent out a request for tips to give to a young relative about to enter college. That was 22 years ago for me. Answering her e-mail sent me down memory lane. Somehow my advice kept circling back to student activism -- helped my eventual career and social life, if not my GPA :)


And here's a section from Crazy Aunt Purl see sidebar for link, that I love:
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My parents drove their house-on-wheels from Idyllwild to Orange County to be closer to Grandma. I went down last week to visit and on Saturday we were at the nursing home chatting with Grandma, she seemed really good. We got on the topic of traveling -- she and Grandpa traveled all over the world before he passed away -- and I asked her what her favorite travel destination was in all that time.

"Well, I found something to enjoy about every place we visited," she said. And she went on to tell me about some of her favorite places, like seeing the Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota.

"You know, Grandma, I've never been there. Or to Mount Rushmore. Or most of the middle," I said. "Sometimes I feel embarrassed that I've seen so many far-off places and I've only seen part of the United States."

"Oh, I think you're doing it just right," said Grandma. "Travel now and see the world while you're young and can stand those long plane rides. Later when you're older you can stay here and see the whole country."

All this time I felt a little guilty for always wanting to go off somewhere else and see the world and in just a five-minute conversation she changed my whole outlook. That's one of the things I've always liked about Grandma. She never really makes excuses or has regrets.

30 Days of Buffy

Apparently there's a meme going around asking questions about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, such as favorite season, 2 characters you'd like to see together who never did, etc.

I'm following along at Let's Fold Scarves at http://www.moley75.co.uk/2010/07/05/30-days-of-buffy-buffy-meme/ and on Tumblr at http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/30+days+of+Buffy

On the Tumblr site, different people are posting different days. Day 23 is Two Characters You Wanted To Get Together That Never Did. Let the slash shipping begin!

I've only watched the series once so don't know it well enough to play along. However, I'm looking forward to seeing what other people post.

Fourth of July 2010

July 4 is many things. In the United States of America, it's Independence Day. There are fireworks and parades and we have a party at our flat because it overlooks Centennial Olympic Park. We get to be in the thick of the fireworks.

We actually got to see fireworks twice: on Friday at the Braves game, which the Braves won, and on Sunday, the Fourth of July.

In my family, it's my parents' wedding anniversary. #41 this year.

It's also the annual Peachtree Road Race, a very popular 10K race. Brother-in-law came to run it and he placed 332 out of 55,000+ racers, so he ranked in the top 1% of racers. He's really into running, having done a few marathons now too. That's our attempt at taking his picture up above.

And I gave up on the crochet stripy blanket. For some reason, the sides bow out and are uneven. I could block it out, but I've ripped out and redone rows and still not working. Plus, I have to look at my work when doing single crochet rows. Which means I can't read or watch TV or people watch at the same time.

So I'm going back to the Chocolate Box pattern, which I first did here for a friend.

Last time, I made one large block. This time I'm going to try making these colorful blocks, alternating with black blocks. We'll see how it goes.

Also, I don't have to look at my hands while I do the Chocolate Box pattern, so have been able to read Storm of Swords, the third book in the Song of Fire and Ice fantasy series, and watch my Leverage DVDs. Really enjoying the commentary track.