christopher575

The first real date I went on with Garrett was at an Indian restaurant near my apartment in November 2008. I showed up wearing an Information Society t-shirt from their concert I went to in 2006 at El Corazon in Seattle. That's how we learned that we shared the same favorite band! Great way to start a date, but he was bummed to learn he narrowly missed seeing them. I was lucky to have seen that show, since I only knew it was happening because I saw a small flyer in a record store window.

One of our major regrets has always been not going on the Star Trek Cruise they were a headlining act on. For those who don't know, their self-titled album has a lot of samples from the original Star Trek series, and there's a lot of overlap between Star Trek fans and INSOC fans. We didn't go because it was extremely expensive and we weren't exactly flush with cash. Ten years or so later, they announced a show with Tiffany and Taylor Dayne at the Daytona Beach Bandshell in Florida, which looks like a pretty neat place to see a show!



This would have been our first time on a plane since COVID came and we were pretty excited to go. We had tickets to the show, a hotel, and a flight all booked, and then the band canceled. Then they announced a show we were less excited to go to at a place called Sam's Burger Joint in San Antonio, Texas. The venue had a few booths that were already sold out, and two opening acts were on the lineup. It was going to be a long, exhausting night, but we once again got the tickets and made the reservations.

Then the band announced another show with an early start and one opening act at a beautiful amphtheatre in Ojai, CA. That sounded so much better than San Antonio, so we canceled that trip and booked a multi-day trip in Los Angeles during which we'd spend one night in Ojai for the show. Then they canceled Ojai. We were zero for three, twice because of them and once because of us. A couple of years went by with no shows that would really work for us, but then they made an announcement I absolutely couldn't believe: three new dates in New York, Philadelphia, and Everett! Our favorite band in our very own city, what are the odds?

Kind of good, actually, because the new APEX art and culture center in Everett is starting to really take off, especially with acts that'll draw older music fans. A Flock of Seagulls has played there twice, and the venue has also hosted Anabella Lwin of Bow Wow Wow among others. Lene Lovich is doing a huge tour after no shows for 30 years, and we'll be a stop for her, too. They're even hosting reunion parties for Skoochie's, a famous all-ages club from Seattle back in the day, and even though its fans are 50 and up now, they're packing the place for a night of dancing each time a reunion party happens.

When I saw INSOC would be there September 27th, I sent a calendar invite to Garrett and then messaged him telling him to check his email IMMEDIATELY. September 27th happens to be our friend Claire's birthday so we told her sorry, but we were choosing her birthday activity this year. Garrett wanted to make a great big event of it and bought 16 table tickets so we and our friends would be guaranteed a place to sit. Of course, it would be quite a herculean effort to find enough people to use them up. We ended up wasting one ticket, and my brother and sister-in-law couldn't go at the last minute but the tickets had already been transferred to them by that point. I told them to try to sell them in the Ticketmaster app but I think it was too late.

Speaking of the transfers, that was a lot of work for Garrett. Thankfully a tab in our house spreadsheet made it easy to keep track of everyone's contact info, who had paid him back yet, and the transfer status of all the tickets.

There wasn't really a good way to go out to dinner first with so many people, so we hosted a pre-func at our place and it was a lot of fun. Parking downtown was super easy and we got there during the second DJ, who was also the promoter who booked the band. When we got to the venue I realized I'd left my license in my water fitness bag, but thankfully they were OK with checking my name in the Ticketmaster app against my Costco card since it also has my photo.

Thankfully we got there when we did because while the email from Ticketmaster said the band would go on at 9:30, they actually started at 9:00. That didn't bother us at all, but I have to imagine quite a few people missed some songs.



I forgot to mention that my friend Chad joined us. We've known each other since Kindergarten, so in addition to being one of my closest friends, he's my oldest one. When I RSVP'd to the show's Facebook event, he messaged to ask if he could visit and come along and I said please do! He currently lives in Ohio and we hadn't seen him since we met up in Hawaii in 2016. Coincidentally, our friend Melissa who was also part of that group trip joined us for the show. He arrived Thursday and left this morning, so we had plenty of time to show him around. We went to White Lotus for lunch after I picked him up, which is where my favorite dish in town is.



We also went to my favorite restaurant, Terracotta Red, and I of course took him to the Funko flagship store and had him do my favorite photo op there.



The concert was incredible, and another great thing about this visit was that Chad came to my classes Friday and this morning and is even planning to check out his local YMCA and their water fitness classes after he gets home. Melissa came back home with us after the concert and we all stayed up until 4am visiting. I was a designated driver for the show and didn't have any drinks until we got back home, and I'm really glad I did that. I've had so many concerts ruined because the show lasted a while but it's hard to keep the energy up when alcohol's involved. And of course concert drink prices are outrageous. I was impressed there was free water, it reminded me of one of my old favorite club nights.

We wondered for a long time if we'd ever get to see Information Society, and it would have been sad if not because Garrett never did before this show. It's nice to see Everett in its early stages of becoming a very cool music destination and a fun alternative to the old Seattle venues.

On June 2, I saw that Nikki Glaser would be playing at the stadium in Everett and asked Garrett if he'd like to go to a surprise show. The last time I asked him that was when we saw Michael Carbonaro in Seattle, and he didn't know who it would be until we drove up to the hotel and saw his name on the marquee of the venue kittycorner from the hotel. I was sure he'd hear about the Nikki Glaser show since she's definitely one of the top names in comedy to ever perform here, maybe even the biggest one yet.

Whoever promoted the show clearly didn't pay for much targeted advertising. I never saw an ad for it and neither did Garrett, and we managed to make it all the way to the stairs leading to our seats before he saw the graphic on the screen.



We saw someone he knows from the neighborhood bar as we got in line and he said, "Ready for some laughs?" and I told him not to say any more because Garrett had no idea what the show was yet. That was close.

I'd bought us the cheapest seats on the second level, and when we got there they said everyone with 200 level seats should stop by a table where they were upgrading everyone's tickets to floor level. I guess they just didn't sell enough of the floor and didn't want Nikki and her two openers looking out at an empty floor. I wouldn't say the view was that much better since we'd be watching her on the screen anyway, but there was so much more leg room on the floor, and there was a restroom nearby.

I do wish they'd used the ticketmaster app to take care of the reseating process, though. They probably never thought of how it'd be so much better to get an alert that you could select better seats and be ready with the app instead of dealing with a person who had huge piles of paper tickets to hand out. Thankfully we were among the first people to stop at that table and complete that process.

Our arena is nice and we walked all the way around the concessions level to check it out. The first place we stopped had no wine at all and the stand they sent us to just had one red wine option. I told the guy to prepare for a riot if Nikki Glaser was playing and there was no chardonnay available. He was bummed that the venue hadn't prepared better.

It was such a fun show and I honestly can't believe how good she is at weaving together a nonstop train of thought that works so well. Toward the end she mentioned that lots of doctors and teachers over the years hinted that she might have autism, and that made me realize more autistic people should probably pursue comedy.

Much like with the casino amphitheater, I have a good parking trick for our arena. We decided after it took half an hour to get out of a parking garage when we saw Sarah Colonna that we'd just street park for big shows in downtown Everett from now on. From my recent experience at a new tattoo shop, I knew exactly where we'd find plenty of parking. We ate at home, but next time we have a show there, there are plenty of fantastic dinner choices nearby, too.

Unfortunately that's not the case with the next concert we have planned on 9/27 but that's a problem for another day.

I went to Nelly's water fitness class on Wednesday, the only morning I don't teach. We were chatting after class and she said we should get water fitness tattoos. I pointed out that I already had mine, my second row knuckles that read DUMB BELL and said she should get them, too. She doesn't want to tattoo her hands, and suggested we could get pickle tattoos instead since we're both pickle fanatics. In fact, she probably suggested that because on her way in she discovered the scratch-and-sniff pickle stickers I'd left for her in the rolling case our speaker is in.

It was great timing because I had two back-to-back appointments yesterday and was able to get Aubrey to freehand a pickle for me in a perfect spot that needed a gap filler. Funnily enough, I wasn't paying attention and she drew it in a different spot than I suggested, but the one she picked turned out to be better.

This weekend is Arlington SkyFest, the aviation event Garrett is on the board of and has been involved with since 1992 (I think?) when it was the Arlington Fly-in. He always spends a few days up there leading up to the event and I bring his mom for the best parts Saturday evening. She and I always hit a casino and get some food on the way, and this time we'll be seeing the newly-expanded Tulalip casino for the first time. If the name's familiar, that's because the amphitheater where we recently saw a concert is there. It was surprising to see the casino's new north entrance so close to where the show was.

Garrett's cousin Becky is volunteering this year and since I'm home today I'm watching her dog Bear. A visit where Bear and Tuvix had a swell time was how we ended up deciding to meet Tilly and adopted her. Here's a brief break from the chaos.

Right around when I got to the Y this morning, my lower back started to hurt. It's been a while since I had any back pain and I thought it'd stay away long-term thanks to deep water fitness. There are quite a few core-centric moves I have to demo and I always do as much as I can. I slept pretty well last night and I wonder if it happened because I spent too much time sleeping on my back because I wasn't tossing and turning so much.

In a couple of months when my job has gone from part-time to full-time for a spell, I think a new mattress is in order. Someone I chatted with after class today said a nice, new firm mattress would be great but I think it's time to get a soft one. I've had a firm mattress for years now and and the only reason I can stand it at all is that I have a topper on it. I'll go to a store and try out a soft one and make sure I can exchange it if it doesn't work out.

Everyone in class was very understanding as I struggled through the hour, just like they were when I hurt my knee. I've already arranged for a sub for Monday if I need one, but I'd really like to teach that day since my last two classes there were canceled. I'm subbing for Nelly who does the other deep water day, so I'll do that class twice next week.

I got some feedback today regarding deep water, that it can be hard to keep up with the combination moves. The transitions are supposed to be part of the challenge but I'd rather up the reps for less switching around in order to keep the class happy. I polled the class on Tuesday to see if I should introduce a new routine and people were into the idea. A couple said they didn't want to switch immediately, so I said my goal would be to introduce a new routine in three weeks. It's about time I got some more use out of the site I subscribe to for lessons.

I'm on my own for much of today so I figured I'd see a matinee. Garrett is up north and it occurred to me that I might be able to see a movie and also get lunch at District 1, a fantastic Vietnamese restaurant and bar that's close to the movie theater in Marysville, and maybe he could join if the stars aligned. And maybe I could get takeout for later if they didn't.

I went to check the menu and that's when I noticed something very interesting about District 1: there's no pho! It's quite possible I noticed that the last time I was there which would have been in 2019. But I think I didn't notice because I didn't mention it in the post I wrote. The lack of pho greatly reduces the options for Garrett since he's allergic to soy and a lot of Vietnamese dishes use it in the marinade. Pho is always fine, though.

Incidentally, one thing that's great about that place is that they have fries. More places that serve banh mi should have fries, dammit!

My future plans for us going to District 1 and a movie dashed, I decided to look at movie times here in Everett and learned there's an RPX showing of The Fantastic Four: First Steps here at 9am! The ticket I bought online was definitely not cheap, but I'm grateful for something to do this morning. This isn't the only movie in theaters right now that I'd like to see, but Garrett's interested in the Superman one and the new Naked Gun. I hope we manage to see them.

It's wild how my moviegoing habits have changed. Back in the MoviePass heyday, I also happened to be working 4am-noon, so I went to the theater 2-3 times each week. A lot has changed in my personal and professional lives, but the biggest reason aside from my schedule change that I don't go to the movies much is COVID. It's funny and appropriate that my fourth outing since COVID came along is Fantastic Four. The others were:

- A Quiet Place 2 because the first one was absolutely incredible to watch in the theater.

- Spider-Man: No Way Home because I was traveling and had time to kill driving from Long Beach to Seaside, so a stop to watch a movie in Astoria was perfect.

- Final Destination Bloodlines, because obviously I had to see the long-awaited installment in one of my favorite franchises that features a knockoff Space Needle on the big screen. I actually already bought that on DVD and it came to streaming this week, too.

I'm trying not to have too much of an agenda after the movie. I might pop into White Lotus for banh hoi, my favorite dish that's only available at two restaurants locally, theirs being the best. I might pop into Lion's Paw because one of my tattoos needs a touch-up. In other movie news, I may as well share what I posted earlier on Facebook about a series I found this week:

I recently learned about a series of vampire movies called Subspecies via some gifs I saw on Tumblr. How a cheesy horror series with five chapters evaded me so long is a mystery, especially since it's absolutely terrible, which you know is a bonus for me. Parts 1-3 and 5 are on Tubi, and I thought I had to install Xumo Play to watch part 4. Xumo Play doesn't have a search feature so you're expected to search for it from your TV's main menu, and that's how I found out it's on Roku Channel as well, which is where I'm watching it, because apps that don't have a search don't deserve the traffic.
The movies came out in 1991, 1993, 1994, and 1998. Then part 5 came along in 2023 with lots of returning cast members. I love when that happens.

The Tulalip casino does outdoor summer concerts every year, but we're lucky if there's even one we want to go to when summer rolls around. I've seen Diana Ross, Huey Lewis and the News, and Blondie there, but that's only three times I remember since moving up here 11 years ago. This year they booked The Commodores with Kool and the Gang, and Bev wanted to go, and Garrett's cousin Becky joined us. I was originally thinking it'd just be an ok show, but the crowd and bands were just so much fun. It helped that I got us amazing seats in the back of a section so it was easy to come and go, and I have a secret parking trick for the venue.



Of course, concerts are still an ordeal just because of how late they run. I think after I played with Tilly in the yard for about half an hour while Garrett walked Tuvix, I finally got in bed at 12:20 or so. Thankfully I managed to stay in bed until around 6:00, which is pretty late for me.

Today would have been a fantastic day to lounge around the house, but I'm heading out soon. My water fitness mentor has an annual party on her incredible five acre property, the star of which is a 120-foot slip and slide. It's not the standard flat one that you think of when you hear that, which is great because those are hard to enjoy. They use a hilly spot and create a homemade water slide. I didn't do it last year because I had fresh tattoos, but I'm planning to today. I made pinwheels to take and there will be dinner. I'll have a swimsuit on under my shorts and will bring undies and a towel and everything should be fine. Hopefully the hose I saw everyone rinsing off with last year won't be too cold.

Blue is the color of all that I wear.

Yesterday was an indulgent celebration day in honor of my new job that starts July 14. I hit the Korean spa for a scrub and massage, then went to a Thai place for lunch. I was very impressed by their menu and messaged Garrett to ask if he'd like me to bring home some curry since we learned recently that Thai curry is a safe dish for him allergy-wise. He said yes, so I ended up also getting their pad thai for my dinner. My lunch while there was salad rolls and duck noodle soup, and everything was great.

Then I popped over to Foundation hoping to do a project with Ben that we previously discussed. Unlike with many of our previous projects, he said he could do it any time with jewelry the shop keeps stocked; no jewelry order required. Score! Unfortunately, he was out that day, and the apprentice wasn't comfortable trying the complicated project. But Aubrey the tattoo artist was available to do walk-ins, so she and I consulted my long list of ideas for something that sounded fun. We ended up tattooing the outline of something I've wanted for a while and it ended up on my inner thigh. She apologized because she'd have to, uh, shift things around once in a while. I said that was fine because the guy who did my scrub at the K spa had already done that.

In fact, we had an unusally hard time shaving the area, and I think it was because of that masseur. The scrub is a wet procedure and the guys who worked there before him always used lotion for the massage after. He had me dry off so he could use massage oil, and I think that's why the hair on my thigh was laying super flat.

Since we were tattooing anyway, it made sense to also do something really small from my list, and we did one on the side of my hand. That was after I got as far as the outline on the thigh tattoo and tapped out, saving the color for another day. I probably could have done at least some of the color if it wasn't such a sensitive spot.

Aubrey had a fun question that I couldn't answer immediately: how many artists had tattooed me? I told her there was no way to figure it out in the moment but it would be easy to add a column to my "tattoo have" tab in my spreadsheet and take a little stroll down memory lane. It's actually the same spreadsheet I used to use to make SchadenFriday and Caturday. I've been using it forever and it has tons of hidden tabs.

I went back to the shop today to pick up the water bottle I left there and get the piercing, and was able to tell her that I've now been tattooed by 22 different people. And I'm fortunate to say they all did a good job and none of them are people I wouldn't return to based on quality of work. There are three I wouldn't be tattooed by again because of events that have transpired since then, but nothing so bad has happened that I'd cover up or remove their work.

The piercing turned out super cool and I'll share photos when my ear's less angry. I did something else on that ear recently and that's why I went ahead with the new one now. It'll be a long time before the first project is healed, so why wait all that time and then start the healing process over? May as well heal a few things together. Piercing/tattoo enthusiast logic at its finest.

About 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave for Seattle on Wednesday, I was heading back in from the back yard and made a horrible discovery. There was a bat stuck to the flypaper we had hanging next to the door. Somehow flies always end up hanging around the back door as well as the one upstairs leading to the deck, and a strip of flypaper hanging next to each always seemed like a smart solution. But it's one I should have stopped using even sooner afer finding a few feathers stuck in the same one that then had a bat writhing around on it. I wasn't confident it could be unstuck without major injuries even if we could find a place that would try it in a timely manner, so I did what felt like the next best thing and took it out of its misery rather than let it starve in place.

I felt horrible about it and still do. But now that I know there are bats around here I decided to welcome them with a safe place for them to roost. A very cool goth-looking bat box is on its way and will go up somewhere on our property soon. I hope the box ends up being a popular spot for them, and if that happens, I'm guessing they'll provide even better insect control than fly paper ever could. In the meantime, I've thrown away the box of fly papers we had and the product is banned from my home forever.