Category Archives: Adam Lambert

Snapshots


Where I was yesterday:

Deep Fried Oreos at the Orange County Fair – my annual indulgence.

With my Adam Fan Gal Pals, Vicki, Jan & Holly

This is the view from my seat in the pit courtesy of more Jan ticket karma/magic

Adam Lambert in Costa Mesa July 19, 2012

Yes, I could see his blue blue eyes.

Most of the time I just got shots of the spot lights behind him. As close as I was it was still hard to time it with just my iphone. But it was an amazing night!

And now, where I will be tomorrow:

Race bibs for me and Alex and the very cool t-shirt they gave out for the Bolt to the Q 5K run tomorrow.

We are all hoping for a no-barfing-on-the-stadium-turf race from Alex :-) Really don’ t need to see that on the jumbotron! Of course, since we start running at the same time, I wont have to worry about seeing that as he will finish close to 10 minutes before me. I’m just hoping not to collapse on the uphill portion we will cover before the first mile marker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adam Lambert + Queen


 

I watched this entire concert online Saturday night. What a dream come true for Adam – who sang Bohemian Rhapsody was his audition song for American Idol. Freddie is one of his great inspirations. How amazing is it that a kid from San Diego grew up to step in Freddie’s shoes? In so many ways, Adam is Freddie’s legacy. How fantastic must it be for him to have Brian May and Roger Taylor ASK him to do this? And gush over him constantly? Yes, Adam has his solos career (and I will see him again a couple of weeks in concert for his 2nd album)…but he also was truly born to do this with Queen.

May 16th – Beware of the cookies!


Note to self: – no matter HOW tempting it is to get one those big ass cookies from the cafeteria after lunch – DON’T.

I’m pretty sure the amount of will power it takes to push past the sugar drop from that thing and remain focused at work is greater then pushing myself to keep running up that damn hill around the corner from my house.

It probably doesn’t help that I was inclined towards feeling down after seeing that 15 did not improve his math grade after the last unit test. I mean, it isn’t WORSE, but it also isn’t BETTER and he really needs to bring that up to play football. He’s got one more unit test and homework packet and the final to do it. I suppose I should be happy that he maintained at this point. Argh.

AP history test is tomorrow. We have to be at the testing facility at 7am to check in for an 8am exam! Oh – fun fun fun times I tell ya.

At least the day (pre-cookie) was otherwise productive and fun. I blazed through work AND caught up with some friends while coordinating the purchase of tickets for a hastily announced Adam Lambert concert in July up in Costa Mesa. It’s the Orange County fair venue again where I went on back to back nights back in 2010. GREAT setup there. I didn’t even mind possibly getting back section tickets again since those were plenty fine. But – the sent out a message after 10pm last night that fan club members could get in on a pre-sale this morning. General sale starts Sat. Being at work with a good internet connection I figured I had a decent shot so I contacted my two other Adam fans friends who I knew might not have the best chance to get in on the action this morning. We had fun texting back and forth as a few of us got online together and managed to buy a grand total of 5 tickets. Yes, just FIVE! They were allowing 8 per member, but I don’t know if ANYONE got that many at once. After about a dozen attempts to secure a block I threw up my hands and said “Fine! If I only get one for myself, so be it!” Got one right away and it is an awesome seat. thinking of my friends I went in again and got another single. Then another member on the site messaged me that she had 2 extras she would sell in the same section as one of my singles. SOLD! So, I have four secured. Already promised two to a friend. I knew I could get rid of any extras quickly!

Riding off the high from that I knocked out more stuff at my desk and then took a post-lunch (I eat at my desk) break to start organizing and printing out the new info on pergolas that I had found so that I can update the ebook and website with even better info and  instructions. It was at that point that my brain crashed.

“I’m full.” it said. “No more information input please.”

I toyed with the idea of not running as planned tonight. I’ll probably cut the work day short tomorrow due to the AP exam. Can’t imagine going back to work after I pick up 15 from the test (hey, mom’s get lazy excuses too!) so I figured in addition to running some cat related errands that I would also, you know, run run in the afternoon tomorrow as a bonus. But – driving home I started perking up and decided that I really NEEDED to run in order to have any amount of focusing ability tonight so I planned on going my mid-range route of 2.6 but could cut it short if needed.

Oh, and did I never need! I stopped running at the two mile mark and walked home the last little bit. And those 2 miles were a STRUGGLE. Ah well, at least I did run and I probably will run another short route again tomorrow so – whatever.

I’m spending the rest of the night reading the new book that arrived yesterday:

Laterz

May 14 – Trespassing!


Arrived today! Of course I’ve been listening to the tracks streaming on his website since last week, but now I get to blast it in the car and finally load it on my phone and not be at the whims of a web stream. I’m pretty much guaranteed to love everything he sings – especially since he will never venture into country :-)

Anyhow – thanks to the vets office I was able to qualify for an account with Care Credit in order to pay them off and avoid paying interest and finance charges. This is the same company I used when I had my laser eye surgery and they do interest free loans (as long as you pay off within a year) for medical procedures for smaller dollar amounts. I just didn’t know that included vet bills! HUGE relief because paying it off over a year is no problem at all.

I think both cats are still adjusting to the events. Chip is much more affectionate today though he still does NOT want to be picked up at all. We’ve had to start a new feeding routine and Amber is NOT happy about it at all. I’m not overly concerned. She could stand to lose a pound or two and I know she will start eating what is put in front of her in due time.

Work was mellow. It was also potentially mo rtifying though I think I wore the right outfit to cover up my faux pas. I had a slight wardrobe malfunction normally attributed to guys – my fly was down – from when I arrived until 10:00 when I discovered it. Sheesh.

I ran when I got home as planned. My goal is every other day. I’m hoping to do the full 3.2 loop but at the least I will do the 2.6 route. With hill at the end of course because why not torture myself completely? I usually end up keeping rhythm with my steps as I say in my head “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!” I figure it worked for the Little Train so why not me? :-) Anyhow I did the full 3.2 tonight but purposefully slower finishing in just under 35 minutes. Felt OK. Not bad, not great, but fine. Hoping to pick up the pace Wednesday night.

No homework drama tonight thankfully.

Keeping in line with last week’s events, I’ll close tonight with a line from the song “Outlaws of Love” that Adam wrote in response to the LGBT struggle but as he points out, it works for anyone who feels threatened over who they love. A Romeo and Juliet interpretation can be applied so to speak as well as his own personal feelings about his freedom to love and marry who he wants:

They say we’ll rot in hell

Well I don’t think we will

They’ve branded us enough

Outlaws of love.

May 8 – of running and deep thoughts and dinner


I did it – woke up and ran the 3.2 mile loop along the trail near my house. And oh, was it hard! I purposefully didn’t wear the heart monitor because I wanted to go slow and not even look at my time along the way. I have enough of a touch of OCD or inner competitiveness that I know if I saw how slow I was going (vs running by how I felt) I would push it too fast. Still – dang!! My feet hurt so much after only 2 miles that I doubted I would be able to make it up the final uphill mile. And yet, I did. Found things around me to focus on and take my mind off my feet (like my truly achy abs that HURT when I took deeper breaths and tortured me all day if I sneezed – dang circuit class!)

Normally I feel pretty pumped from doing a morning run but for some reason I didn’t get that today :(

Ah well – work was brightened by the news that Adam Lambert’s 2nd album which releases in the US in a week was streaming on his website. I listened to it twice and chair danced the whole time :) Oh how that voice makes me smile.

So – the deep thoughts – well first it was following the efforts today in North Carolina where a pretty odious Amendment was unfortunately voted into place to define marriage in their state constitution as the only type of legal domestic partnership the state will recognize – and of course they limited marriage to only being between one man and one woman. So they effectively did away with ANY type of non-marriage relationship having any legal definition or rights recognized. It eats away at adoption rights and even domestic abuse laws outside of a marriage. Makes me so sad. The rights of a minority should NEVER be voted on my the majority. Also? I really really loathe discrimination and labeling people as “less than” or “other”.

OTOH I was thrilled to hear that San Diego will be the first city in the nation to have a street named after Harvey Milk! That will happen sometime this month for a street in Hillcrest. You can bet I’ll head up there to take a picture when it is dedicated!

So I was going to mention that a co-worker in another department has a really cute sticker on her car that I first noticed yesterday. It’s a little girl kneeling in from of a cross and it says “God answers knee-mail” Hah! Cute huh? Knee mail. Love it.

But then….well, this gal is young and a very overtly devout Christian clearly..and she and I had a debate over evolution last year that was respectful but I remember thinking at some point that she certainly was set in her beliefs so I went pretty easy on her. No point in challenging her that much. Anyhow…she walks during lunch with another co-worker who is pretty non-religious like me. The other day she apparently wore a t-shirt that said “I started out as a fetus so I don’t believe in abortion” (or something along those lines..can’t remember the exact phrasing). Fine – but – she actualy asked my co-worker if she liked the shirt! Lord…it’s one thing to wear a potentially divisive t-shirt, it’s another to draw attention to it and challenge someone to indicate their support or disagreement! Thankfully the other co-worker is more mature and very very sweet and just managed to shrug and not answer and change the subject gracefully. However, she said later she thought of the perfect response and I have to agree it would have been perfect:

“I am pro-choice so I fully support your choice to wear that shirt”

Awesome!

I’d like to chalk this up to the gals youth. But I hope she learns someday that it isn’t necessary to challenge other people on their beliefs like that. I know a lot of Christians who feel like they can’t express their faith in the open – but – like that? The knee mail sticker? Fabulous. The t-shirt? Borderline. The question about the t-shirt? Crossed the line IMHO.

Moving on…

Walked in the door after work to a glorious smell – a roast – in the crock pot! 26 had gone shopping and also has white corn on the cob on the grill. Fabulous! Except?  He did all this at around 3pm so we have to wait until 8 to eat!!! I’m dying in here smelling this!! But – it’s always nice to come home to dinner being prepared for you :)

This day must, of course, be rainbow in honor of Equality. Which will happen in my lifetime! It must!

 

My goodbye to 2010


Today and tomorrow are the probably the two biggest listacle days of the year. Everyone will be blogging about the highlights/lowlights of 2010 and then tomorrow making their 2011 resolutions. Given that most of us who write on the internet are doing to unload one or two (or 10,000) frustrations through the keyboard vs onto real life peeps, the vast preponderance of the 2010 retrospectives will be negative. I’ve already seen plenty of of twitter posts leaning in that direction.

As always, I gotta be contrarian :-)

Sure, 2010 had some personally and universally truly sucky events. Certainly beginning the year as it did for me with the death of an August mom and then my best friend from high school managed kicked the year off in a rather craptastic fashion. Later on in the summer I lost a dear C&J friend as well. Death, being part of life, probably touched all of us at some point this year and I do feel the holes that they left. But then, I am also thankful for the fact that I knew them. That I carry parts of them in my heart. That my memories help to honor their life.

Moving on…I said I was gonna be different..so…Happy Time!

2010 has been a year when my immediate family has been healthy and drama free – I call that pretty damn good!

When I cut up my credit cards one year ago, it was with the wish that nothing major happened so that I could live without them – 2010 complied.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed. I’m sure I don’t need to go into a deep political essay since you all already know how much equality means to me :-)

19 of 35 countries have been cleared of their loose nuclear material.

Wait…what?

Yeah – no matter where you stand politically I would hope you agree that this is rather brilliant news. All the more intriguing when you find out how it was done – James Bond style:

Thank you to Rachel Maddow for being the ONLY person on ANY “news” channel yesterday to cover this! Even on vacation she put this segment together for her show and it’s not the first time. Another such adventure was highlighted by her earlier this year, but this one is great because of her fantastic interview with the NNSA director. C’mon now, be honest – show of hands – how many of you even heard of the NNSA or Director Thomas D’Agostino before watching this? Well, other than Page of course! Anyone? Beuller?!! Yeah, I didn’t think so. And like I said – this isn’t really a right or left issue – this is just pretty damn cool and VERY important in the grand scheme of, oh, not getting blown up by this stuff anywhere around the world!

OK, moving on to something lighter – I did make it through 52 books this year as planned AND I did get out on the trails and hike more often – a lot of the time with SportsBoy so that’s a huge win for the year.

The cats didn’t escape or destroy anything major. Sure, they barfed in terribly creative places. Shoot, just this week Chip “blessed” Music Man’s bed and I sure had to laugh when I saw a pile of dried hairball on the carpet when we switched out old bed for new in my room last month. Then there was the perfectly placed hurl on SportsBoy’s dirty laundry which he couldn’t QUITE put IN his hamper – a risk her no longer takes after a white t-shirt was ruined! But hey – that’s life with cats right?

So really – if you think about it – and you should – there ARE high lights to the year that is leaving us. Enjoy the good, learn from the bad, and turn around and face the new year eh?

Oh, and it’s never a bad thing to walk forward with a little more glitter and love :-)

 

Happy New Year!

 

Adam Lambert, 21st century rock star


You might have seen Adam sing Change is Gonna Come on American Idol. But casual fans probably don’t know that he first sang that song exactly 6 years ago. On 12/15/04 he made his debut solo performance for the Zodiac show at the Music Box in LA and blew people’s minds with his makeup and his outfit, and oh yeah, that VOICE! He sang it with the depth of emotion of someone who was feeling every last syllable of the lyrics. It was personal. Raw. Angry. Challenging. Powerful.

But it wasn’t enough to launch a full blown career as a pop star. As he explains in video, oh, there were obstacles. So he made his way to American Idol to put himself on a show that would be the platform he needed. And the most of it in a way no other artist on the show has. He proved winning is not everything. The producers asked him to sing Change is Gonna Come on the finale. No outrageous outfit. No sparkly makeup. Just Adam and his heart and his voice. He had already blown people’s minds by that point. But this more elegant, understated Adam knew he was on the precipice of his achieving his dream. So again, he squeezed every ounce out of the song. Not as angry. Not as raw. But, still powerful & this time, hopeful.

Last night, as he wrapped up the next to the last of his Glamnation World Tour concerts, he sang it again. This time as a celebration of those six years and what change really has happened for him. But also now taking on a role he was once reluctant to take – that of an activist. A year into this rock star experience and he sees the power that his voice – speaking & singing – can have for people. And he’s starting to me more comfortable about using it. On the same day that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal passed in Congress – closer than we’ve ever been to abolishing it – Adam speaks of the more universal meaning to this song for our generation. And after singing about Change – he has a little fun with another old school rock song.

Ladies and gentlemen, rock & roll 2010 style. Some activism, some cursing, and a whole whole whole lotta soul.

 

Grammy Nominated Adam Lambert!


OK, yes, this is shallow. And silly. And I always diss awards shows as just nonsense. I mean, Justin Beeber??? A teeny bopper whose voice hasn’t changed & who sings sugar pop songs? That’s GRAMMY quality?!

And yet….if you are GOING to nominate the Beebhead, then thank you, thank you for at least flinging a nod at my guy Adam Lambert:

And to think he is nominated along with Michael Jackson! (who will probably will posthumously dammit!) Given that Adam burst on the scene with his rendition of Black or White on American Idol, that is some cool connection there. I don’t care. All that matters is that from now on the words “Grammy Nominated” will be in front of his name!

I haz a rant


On the eve of a mid term election day, and despite my absolute passion for politics and the games surrounding it, I am absolutely DONE with people who MIX politics and games – specifically, the World Series.

Quit telling me who to root for in the Series based on political beliefs! Seriously – STOP IT!

You know why I love sports? Because I am a fan of that particular sport and a die hard fan of my local teams. I root for them no matter what. Fan being short for fanatic, I take that very seriously. Win or lose, I love My Padres & My Chargers and whatever team my son happens to be playing for at the time. It’s also quite shallow. No hidden meaning. No real life impact. Just good old FUN.

Do I care whether the owners of the team are conservative or liberal? Hell No! Do I care about the political leanings of the players on my teams? Hell No!

Sports is an ESCAPE from politics – not something to be blended with it. It’s supposed to be mindless and fun. You cheer & boo players and teams lustily to let off steam about all the other real life crap going on in your world.

So do I care about this Calif vs Texas (blue state vs red state) World Series? Hell no! All my liberal baseball fans are screaming that we have to root for San Fran because they somehow “represent”  liberals. WTF? NO – they represent the Giants & Giants fans and that’s IT! And as a diehard Padres fan – NO – I do NOT have to root for them thank you very much!  I am still absolutely allowed to be bitter about losing the division to them. I am absolutely allowed to be pissed at the recently developed assholish behavior of previously fun loving Giants fans. So yes, this proud Democrat, who already mailed in her straight ticket Democratic ballot for California, is rooting full scale for The Rangers. Yes, they are on the verge of losing most likely, but I don’t care. Yes, it would make the Worst President Ever happy if the Rangers pulled it out. I don’t care!!! I can separate those things.

Politics is not a 24/7 thing – it shouldn’t take over your entire life. You shouldn’t be looking for political statements or spin in everything everyone says or does.

It reminds me of the Adam Lambert fans who cannot seem to breathe without asking his permission. How sad is that? Don’t you know who YOU are without validation from him? Here’s one of my favorite (sarcasm) exchanges with an Adam fan – which has happened three times in the last year:

Fan: “Do you watch True Blood?”

Me: “No, I am not into vampire stories at all”

Fan: “Oh, but Adam LOVES it!”

Yeah – so? I’m supposed to change around all of my interests & passions to match Adam’s? Uh, NO. Also, boy did YOU miss his message to everyone about being happy IN YOUR OWN SKIN!  Yes, I love Adam and his music. No, I don’t love True Blood. Oh look, my world did not shatter at that statement!

I am balanced. I am nuanced.  I have a mind of my own & I use it. Try it.