Too Good to Resist

Ok, it's been awhile since we've posted anything, but this is too good not to blog...

Close Call With John Popper

Nick and I traveled to Cleveland for the weekend in celebration of our first wedding anniversary. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, visited the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and stayed at the Holiday Inn Select. It's funny, but our most interesting experiences occurred during our time at the hotel.

On Sunday, we had just packed up our bags and left our room on the 16th floor, and were preparing to go downstairs to check out and head over to the Rock Hall of Fame. As we reached the elevator to go down, the doors open, and my jaw dropped. A man who looked EXACTLY like John Popper of Blues Traveler, along with a Native American-looking man packing luggage, got out of the elevator as we were getting on. I knew, deep in my gut, that this man WAS in fact THE JOHN POPPER. He rounded the corner with who I assumed was his roadie, and I found my vocal chords.

I tugged on Nick's coat sleeve, and said, "Hey, wasn't that John Popper?" Nick was in denial. He said when you see celebrities, they almost never look like themselves. And this man looked just like John Popper, therefore he assumed there was no way it was him. So, I didn't chase him around the corner, although I would've liked to. Like I said, something in my gut said I was right. Call it women's intuition. :)

As we went downstairs, I said to Nick, "But, seriously, we're in Cleveland, the home of blues, how far-fetched is it that John Popper could be here?"

Well, I was right. As soon as we got home, I logged on to Blues Traveler's website, and low and behold, they are performing at the House of Blues tonight.

It was John Popper. I've been kicking myself for not saying something to the man, just in case, ever since. I have to say, though, this was by far my favorite experience of the weekend.

And to add to the bizarreness of the experience, while at the Hard Rock just the night before, we saw, on Hard Rock TV, an amazing cover of "Low Rider" performed live by Blues Traveler. Straaange. :)

Cough, hack, sneeze...

I'm back! With a vengeance! As Nick reported, I spent the weekend in the care of the fine folks at Adena Regional Medical Center, laid up by the nasty pneumonia goblin. Now, I'm on my way up, up, up, with Levaquin, (prescription-strength) Mucinex, an inhaler, and steroids. And the daggone steroids have me bouncing off the walls. I swear, while trying to sleep last night, my eyes felt as big as quarters!

'Lil Gracie has a cold, too, and is also taking some anti-biotics and cough syrup, and Nick headed to Dr. Tucker's office this morning with the same bug. Hopefully he can nip it in the bud before it gets him down as bad as it did me.

So, in other words, we've been ailing, but we're fighting bac! (Haha)

This Friday is our annual Halloween Party, which is sure to be a hoot. Nick, as you know, will make his attempt to look like Tom Waits, and I'll be appearing as none other than Betty Boop! Boop-oop-a-doop! :) Festivities will begin around 7ish.

I'm also back to school today, and I'm amazed at how quickly this quarter has flown by. I've missed a lot, which sucks, but I think I'm back on track for good now. All of the surgeries are done until the beginning of the year, when Mom will have her gall bladder removed. She had a very successful heart cath two Thursdays ago, and her doctor, (check this name out:) Bipinpreet Nagra, healed her quite well. Turns out, she had a rhythm problem and all he needed to do was burn a small place in her heart so that her synapses would have a place to go. Or something like that. Nonetheless, she's doing much, much better.

On a romantic note, Nick and I will celebrate our first anniversary next Wednesday, and we'll be heading to Cleveland for the weekend following. He's taking me to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I've never been to, and he's got some other tricks up his sleeve that I'm unaware of. I love surprises! :)) Perhaps for next Wacky Wednesday, our pals will celebrate this monentous occasion with us. I'll tell ya, it's so strange, I feel like I just met Nick yesterday and that I've known him all my life both at the same time. He's the man of my dreams, and I still feel as lucky as the day I married him.

My recommendations for this week: "Death Proof" and "Planet Terror," better known as the double feature "Grindhouse." Amazing, amazing, amazing.

The Hives and Cartoon Network

Bad...Ass....

That is all.

Ups and Downs

Let's get the bad out of the way first....

Poor Jenn has been in the hospital with pneumonia for the past two days. She had been feeling bad, and went in for a doctor's appointment on Friday. Her vitals were extremely erratic...her pulse was 150 because she wasn't getting enough oxygen. So, they've had her on I.V. anti-biotics and potassium for the past 2 days. They've also been giving her breathing treatments with a type of steroid. Gracie's also been sick with a milder version of the same thing. The light at the end of the tunnel is in sight now, though. "Someone please tell me it's not a train." Sorry, couldn't resist one of my favorite Cracker lyrics.

For the good....

I finally launched my redesign of the library's website on Wednesday this week.

I think it's pretty good, considering I had very little experience. My method was to go through the basic tutorials for Dreamweaver 8, and then alter them to fit what I wanted for the library. I also found some awesome free services to enhance the site, like Google Calendar's embedded calendar feature and a blogger blog for library news. My favorite thing is the blog widgets for current bestsellers. I used LibraryThing to create those. Check out the site and tell me what you think. I'll be going into more detail in future posts, just in case anyone wants to know how to set some of this stuff up. I think they're valuable tools for anyone creating a decent website for a small rural library. Especially if you're not a professional web designer...

Jenn will be home in a couple of hours...so I'm off to wash the dishes and clean the litterbox!

We're having a Halloween Party on Friday! Be there, suckers! I'll be attempting to look like Tom Waits...

Top 15 Time

Thank heaven for Last.fm.

I decided to get to work on my Top 15 for 2007, seeing as how Christmas is just around the bend. This has become the easiest task EVER thanks to my Overall Top Tracks chart on Last.fm.

For those of you unaware, Last.fm keeps track of what you're listening to, and "scrobbles" music to it's webpage. From there, it gives you recommendations based on what you listen to and creates charts to let you get a visual of what you've been listening to. It tracks your favorite artists, albums, and songs.

And viola! I was able to quickly and efficiently narrow my TRUE favorite tracks of the year down to about 20. Now all I have to do is pick and choose who goes and who stays.

In udder words, check out Last.fm. And even if you don't, get to work on YOUR Top 15!

So, what is this Top 15 thing? Well, all of our pals make mixed cds of our 15 favorite tracks from the year, then at our annual Christmas party, everyone brings enough copies for everyone else, and we swap! It's the bestest way to find out your friends' true tastes and to get an earful of music you may have never heard before. We get all crazy about it and make our own cd covers and all. If you're interested in joining in, let me know, and I'll try to get a decent tally on how many copies everyone will need to bring come December.

Yay!

Let's Play Catch (Up)

Hello, faithful readers. I assume it's time for a Slone Family Update. We've been rather busy lately; I'm sure that's evident from the lack of posts.

Gracie
Lil Miss Gracie turned four on September 19. Her daddy and I worked together to throw her a party at the Walnut Street Park in Waverly, and she had a blast. More pics can be seen on my MySpace.


Nick
Nick is recovering well following his collarbone surgery. He's back to work, and actually just returned from the Ohio Library Convention. He's getting more and more brilliant every day, but if you know Nick, you're well aware of that already. :)

Jenn
I'm on the downhill slope for this quarter. It's kind of sad. Just as soon as I get used to my classes, it's time to change. I'm also looking into work study; I'm hoping to work in the library at OU-C. And I've finally decided what I want to be when I grow up: a librarian. Go figure. :) I've just decided I've got to do what I'm good at and what I enjoy. Organization and technology fit right into both of those categories. So that's what I'll do.


Also, Nick, Brandy, Patrick, Virginia and I were lucky enough to catch The Arcade Fire at the LC last week. OMG it was fabulous. In case you haven't heard (and I don't know how in the world that would be possible), I hugged Win Butler. At the end of the concert, following the encore and "Wake Up," he stepped out into the loving crowd, and a few fans were lucky enough to touch the musical prodigy. I not only touched him, but wrapped my arms around his waist and held on for dear life! (Obsessive much I know.) It truly was the concert of my life. And they won't be back to Ohio for at least two years, according to Win. The Fire will be holed up in some gothic church somewhere recording a new album, and don't plan to come back to the states anytime soon. Oh, I'm a lucky girl. Here's someone's video of Win's Walk. If you watch closely enough, at the end, there's a short shot of me going spastic. I've got sunglasses on my head.




Other things on my mind:

Halloween Party: We're hosting the annual Halloween Party on Wacky Wednesday this year. Wednesday is, after all, Halloween. I'm torn between Mama from "Mama's Family," a flapper, or something else entirely. Suggestions welcome.

Top 15: I've been using the wonderfulness of Last.fm's Overall Top Tracks charts to create my Top 15 for this year. Prepare for one outstanding musical compilation. I'm proud of it already.

My Love: Nick and I will celebrate our one-year anniversary on Nov. 6. He's cooking up a nice retreat for us (I think to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) to celebrate.

New Pals: School is fun. I've (finally!) met a couple people I jive with at OU-C. The school screams "APPALACHIA!!!" so I'm nuts about finding people who don't.

Recommendations: Here's the fun part of my post. Here's what I've got to share with the world.

Music: Gogel Bordello (Ukranian immigrant gypsy punk)

Gogol Bordello – Dogs Were Barking


TV: The IT Crowd




TV: The Mighty Boosh

On Writing a Book...

Ok....I'm writing a book. Or, rather, I'm collecting material for writing a book. I love my job at the library, but I could use some extra income. Plus, just telling everyone that I'm writing a book will motivate me to actually complete it. Right now, it looks like it's going to be a diet book. If you would have asked me 10 years ago what kind of book I would write.....a DIET BOOK would have been at the bottom of the list.

Nevertheless, I've lost 35 pounds in about two months. I'm also poised to lose another 40 by Christmas. It's been ridiculously simple for me to do it, too. I've essentially been synthesizing 4 or 5 different books into one lifestyle change/diet. While reading these books, I found that they often contradicted each other. I kept thinking "surely there's a way to combine the good advice from all these books to make them work together, rather than against each other." Well, there is.....and I'm gonna write it. It'll also contain a fair amount of gen-x comedy and slacker philosophy. I'm gonna research good ideas for titles....but I'm sure it'll have something to do with the diet being simple, and me being lazy.

On the non-lazy side of things, I actually made it to the gym yesterday. I rode the only kind of bike that I'll consider going near....a STATIONARY bike. My legs are paying for it today...

I may also publish and market the book myself....depending on how much time it'll eat up. I'm looking for automated income, here....

I welcome title suggestions...

Where's that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel?

Oh, yeah ... listen to this one

So, today, I dolled myself up and headed to class. I was wearing this totally cute lacey shirt. I got in the car, went to readjust the shirt to cover my love handles which were hanging out, and - RIP. My shirt tore. My boob fell out. I whimpered a little.

So, being ten minutes away from class with a COMS exam waiting, I made a pit-stop at the Lion's Den. (Well, I was naked, after all.) I thought, perhaps, hopefully, they'd have some novelty tees in store to save my day.

I clutched my tote bag close to my bare chest and waltzed into the porn shop. Luckily, my hopes were correct. I'm now bearing a black tee-shirt with a big kissy smack on it and a Lion's Den emblem. I rule.

What a better way to start the day? Now, tell that one to all of your friends.