Let's try this again, shall we? - Super-Awesome, Shorty-Summer

Summer has failed me...or perhaps I have failed Summer. So I am starting over.

Selina's official Summer do-over kicked off on August 15th with the Warped Tour. I took a vacation day Monday and leveled my Paladin to 79. Pedro celebrated his 22nd birthday on Tuesday and we all stuffed our faces with and incredible WoW-themed cake. Then Liz and I hit the two-thirds point for our "silly people like to run 7-marathons on treadmills at the gym" event. It got even more awesome last night when The Bleeding Edge played at The Grail in Post Falls. We had a killer time and booked two more shows with that venue. So far, so good.



I am going to concentrate on making each day of "Super-Awesome, Shorty-Summer" every bit as great as its name implies. Although I am short on time, I am long on ideas for maximum Summer impact.

Hear that sizzle and pop? That's the sound of a fire starting. It will continue to burn away fast and furious until Tuesday, September 22nd. That's a little under a month of seasonal activity.

Cindy says it can be awesome like the last 5 minutes of a fireworks show: extra-intense, bright and loud. An impressive ending that makes the build-up worth it. Everyone knows that the finale is the best part anyway.

(Just to be clear, my summer failure doesn't include my week of vacation that was previously chronicled in this blog. I would be lying if I told you that I didn't have a blast.)

Sometimes the best way to enjoy the time you have is to step back and take a look at what you were doing wrong before. I think I just assumed that if I waited long enough, Summer would happen to me and I would have a great time.

Now I am in pursuit of Summer, I realize that it will not wait for me.

Attack of the 80's

Shutter sunglasses, pink and black tiger-striped skin-tight pants, lime green nylon hats and mustaches galore. Welcome to my 80's nightmare...it's happening right now...and I am wide awake.

This Saturday was the 15th Warped Tour at The Gorge. I am used to seeing punky-colored-hair, spikes, leather and ripped black fishnets. This year was completely different. You couldn't drunkenly stumble 2 feet in any direction without running into Cyndi Lauper and the Beastie Boys circa 1985. Last year we were fine, where did this entire generation of color-blind fashion victims come from?! Surely they remember watching their older brothers and sisters getting dressed up like that...the crimping...the hairspray...the horror. Why are we doing this again?

Ranting aside, it was a great show. We saw Bad Religion, NOFX, Senses Fail, Saosin, In this Moment, YB, Meg and Dia, 3OH!3 and a bunch of others. Maybe it was just me, but it didn't seem like the pits were as intense as they have been in the past. It was cool to finally see NOFX, it sucked that most of the people watching their set were just there waiting for 3OH!3 to come up next. Hopefully they appreciated the better band and will see the error of their ways (^_^)

It didn't rain, I didn't see any flaming port-a-poties and no one slept under a car (at least not anyone from our group). So I say, "Success!"

I didn't see as much of the emo kids as in years past. There were still skin-tight pants but they were more of an 80's style (neon colors or higher cut in the waist) than the usual 70's punk rock influenced style. Hair is going bleach blond with black roots, I didn't see a single person with the "chunked" hair color.

I noticed a lot of t-shirts with giant Helvetica text like, "THIS IS A 3OH3! SHIRT" in black ink on white shirts. No graphics, just text. There were quite a few different takes on that design. Some were in multi-neon inks, but most were just black or white ink.

The best thing to do now is to embrace this resurgence of ridiculousness. I missed out on the bad 80's fashion the first time around because I was too young to successfully dress myself (perhaps I still am). This is a golden opportunity to shine like a glittering neon beacon of awesomeness without even the slightest hint of irony.

Babysitters Club anyone? Where is my half-shirt?! It's time to party.

how I spent my summer vacation

August 3, 2009

by sEliNa - age 25

I am in pursuit of the perfect week...how do you think I did?:

Friday - dyed my hair orange, ate at Neato Burrito, went to a Sonic Youth concert

Saturday - Gym, finished reading "Good Omens" - awesome book, hilarious, went skateboarding with rad new board and saw Over the Hedge in the park in Liberty Lake

Sunday - Bare Buns Fun Run at Kanisku Ranch, I got 1st place for females ages 25-29

Then we attended the Royal Fireworks Concert in Riverfront Park. In my opinion, the fireworks display for the symphony was way more impressive than the usual 4th of July show.

Monday - Pullman adventure to visit Erin

On the way down to Pullman I saw phone booths! The only other phone booth I have seen in the past few years is the one next to the Shell station on Division that doesn't have a phone inside, but always seems to contain a homeless person and hundreds of burrito wrappers.
then...
I got attacked by Freddy Cougar at Sella's. The delicious calzones made the bites and scratches worth it.
then...
I toured Erin's extra-sensitive apartment
then...
we did a little bowling and checked out the arcade. I beat Erin at every game...yes, Erin, I did...don't listen to her...she is a liar.

Just for fun: See if you can guess which of these sinks belongs to Erin, and which belongs to her room mate.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Tuesday - Played WoW went to the gym and got my new board ready to bomb hills

Wednesday - Played Wow some more and bought a killer new coat for the winter they tell me we'll be having as soon as the 105 degree weather ends...

Thursday - Flying Irish, gym, skateboarding, rocking at Club Edge (no photos from this show) Please enjoy a photo of me loving beer instead:

Yep, that's my 21st birthday. Not much has changed.

Friday - Went to see Harry Potter, then gave Greg a new hair cut and took artsy photos in the living room


Saturday - gym again (I am a machine!) + attended Mark and Jen's Awesome Wedding

Sunday - Chillin' at the lake with Greg's family

Trying to convince me to try wakeboarding, Greg says, "Doesn't my hair look awesome?! I totally face-planted and got water up my nose...it feels like someone punched me in the face!...but it turned out okay. Wanna try it?"

Um...sure honey...I'm all over that.

I am now ready for my next vacation. Can I make it better than this one? I'm going to try.