Epic Fail

There is a huge failure going on in our society. I have been subjected to this failure a lot recently and as I find it isn't improving, I felt the need to write about it. The parents of kids in the age range of teenager to late 20's - you have failed. (Of course this is not an all encompassing statement as there are some great kids out there.) The failure has come in the fact that these kids have no manners whatsoever and also feel like they are above reproach. I'm sorry but not even close! I have been in some places lately that have a lot of people. I find that almost consistently, the kids of this generation will shove to get past you without an "excuse me" or anything. You may get the rare "Sorry" but it is said so indignantly like it is your fault for standing there being in their way. Really??? How is this possible? I know the parents of these kids were taught manners! Is that the problem? Is it that the parents' life was SO horrible because they had to be nice to people that they just decided to do the exact opposite and exclude manners at all from the upbringing of their own kids? It sure does seem that way. Example: my friend and I are at Voodoo Music Festival. We are listening to a group play and we are standing shoulder to shoulder essentially because it is crowded. Now, there is some space to pass on the far side of my friend and on the side of me. However, this bratty girl tries to walk between us. Seriously, there is probably less than 5" between me and my friend and there is a pretty big gap on the outside of us. So in order to make a point, I hold my hand out to stop her from walking between us, tell her to go around, and she gets pissed off at me and calls me a bitch. I told her when she gets to be my age, she'll have earned being one but right now, not so much. Maybe I am a bitch but I really don't understand what the difficulty would have been with walking over 1 step to the side and being done with it. Am I being unreasonable? I truly don't think I am! I will admit that sometimes at these large public events, you may not have a choice to walk through a group of people but say "Excuse me" if you have to. It is just common courtesy!! And parents - get off your butts and teach your kids some manners! It isn't too late!

Haiku

I haven't posted a Haiku since November so I thought it might be about time. Angels or demons we are both but which one now maybe always both. Okay, yes I was just watching "Angels and Demons" so that was my inspiration. It's a fantastic book and pretty good movie.

SXSW 2012

I made an effort to take my old butt down to SXSW this year. I will say that I didn't do it up as much as last year but I did pretty good. I started on Thursday and got down to my first event at 3:30pm-ish. I went to the Filter Magazine party at Cedar Street to see Kaiser Chiefs and Keane. I got there and there was a pretty big crowd. I stood on the sidewalk and inched my way up so I could see the stage pretty well. I had a RSVP to the party but I finally saw the line for that and it was around the corner. Dilemma - Do I go stand in that line and run the risk of not hearing these 2 bands or do I stay where I am? There is a better view and free beverages if I get in but...! So the verdict is - stay where I am! I met some nice folks and had a great time. Love both of those groups! Go see them if you get a chance. After this was over, I walked over to 2nd and Trinity to get in line to get my wristband for Pure Volume house. It was loads of fun in there last year - we snuck into a VIP area and had our own bar and access to computers as well as some cool "frames" for us to take pictures with. However, it was in such a better location last year. We never ended up there this year. Friday, I went to the British Music party at Latitude 30. It was the Scottish Showcase and it was fantastic! 4 acts and every one of them was really good. First was a DJ called Jackmaster. He was super! Most of the time I get bored by DJ's pretty fast. This guy mixed it up so much, I was jammin' the whole time! After him, there were 3 bands: Three Blind Wolves, The Xcerts, and The Twilight Sad! All of them were great! I highly recommend you checking them out. After this show, I met up with my friends. We went to Buffalo Billiards to get some dinner and while we were there, things got a little sketchy!! Dr. Sketchy decided we needed to meet some Irish guys because we there was an earlier conversation about Ireland and Norther Ireland. They were nice guys. It was these 2 guys that were in a band and their handler. They were quite happy to eat our food and drink the beverages the Dr. bought them. It was fun to meet them. I wasn't able to go see them but I looked them up online and I like their sound. Their name is Viva City. We walked back to the car and were trying to get prepared mentally for a very early Saturday morning. The Dr. had made a plan for us to be at Fado at 7am to go hang out with the 101X morning show folks there and then we were going to Rachel Ray's SX party. Well, as they say, best laid plans! 3 of the 4 of us made it. If you're guessing right now, you're probably right. The good Dr didn't make it. But the girls did and we had a great time getting started at 7:30am. It was early but there were a LOT of people there. We had some breakfast and some "hair of the dog" (aka mimosas) and then we walked over to Stubb's to get in line for RR's party. The line was really long (down 9th St. almost to I-35 frontage). We thought that we might have a problem getting in but we got in 15 minutes after the gates opened. It was a wonderful party. There were lots of people and a huge line for the free food. Surprisingly, the bars didn't have lines. We hung out there and listened to some great music: Bob Schneider, Imaginary Dragons, Of Monsters and Men, Jimmy Cliff, The Givers, etc. It was super! Then we went over to the British party but it wasn't as fun as it was Friday. It was then decided to go get some dinner and then go home. It was a fun time. Did a lot of walking and a lot of beverage drinking. Heard some wonderful music and spent time with my friends. Who knows - next year might require a little more time there.

in my life

You know, in my life all sorts of things happen and all sorts of things don't. Let's compare 2 weekends - the last 2. Two weeks ago on Friday, I went with my friend to a benefit party, the New Wave Ball. It was an 80's party with dressing up and 80's music and it was so much fun. My buddy, JS, and I got all decked out in our fabulous outfits and walked over to the party. We danced and sang and had some drinks and talked to people and took pictures with some of the random dressed up folks. I had this adorable guy, dressed up as a nerd, come up and start dancing with me. We danced for over an hour straight and chatted some and it was great! I felt so young and good and loved it. I haven't had that happen to me in a very long time. We expressed an interest to see each other again and exchanged numbers. Have I heard from him? Of course not! Why should that happen? Especially to me. So there you go. The rest of the weekend was uneventful. Move to this weekend. Went to Houston to go see Radiohead! Amazing show! We stayed across the street from the venue so there was no driving (yippee) so we had some drinks before the show and took some pictures. My friend LC made me feel incredible with her very sweet comments to me. I can't tell you how nice it was to hear that especially from a gorgeous, tall woman who turns heads everywhere she goes. I think I had a little extra bit of confidence because of that all night. I met a really nice man who brought his son to the show. Then we went to a bar in the neighborhood. A nice looking guy starts talking to me. I start talking back. He is immediately Mr. Touchy Feely. Odd but I've had a few drinks, I'll play along. Then his friend comes over and says that their wives are sisters. Ok. We're done now but oh no, he just keeps coming on to me. Um, no you don't! I was trying to get away but all my friends came back in and started talking to them too. I finally got my friend SC to the side and told him to get me out of there! Thanks for the rescue!! So seriously. A married guy hitting on me. Do I look like an easy target? I'm not. This is what happens in my life. Great start but just a crappy finish. Must figure out a way to have the good finish. I'm open to suggestions! :)