loud noises

"You're not dressed very gangster."

With a skeptic look on my face, I glanced at Phil as I settled into the passenger's seat of his car. "Do you think I own anything that is gangster?" I asked. (I grew up in the suburbs of Des Moines, Iowa and now live in Lawrence, Kansas; a town best described as hipster).

"I've seen you wear one or two things," he replied.

I didn't end up changing so I was wearing my Gap shorts (What? it was really hot!) and pink cardigan to the Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony concert last night. If I wasn't going to come close to "gangster" why even try? "Polar opposite" seemed more hilarious anyway.

After dinner, we made our way to The Granada. Phil has been a "Bone" fan for awhile and had mentioned earlier in the week that he wanted to go. I didn't realize until the next day that he wanted me to go with him. He was going to buy tickets, so why not? I don't go to enough concerts and we had no plans anyway.

On Friday, Lawrence.com's Twitter account was giving away tickets. Thanks to Wikipedia, I was able to answer a trivia question and win two tickets. (I may be reviving my Twitter contest winning streak I started two years ago. I won tickets for a country concert at The Granada and Mat Kearney tickets at The Beaumont Club as well as some free food. Most recently I wont VIP seats at The Dole Institute's lecture with Bob Woodward; a lecture that was my perfect mix of geekdom. Politics AND Journalism. Swoon.)

Lonely Hearts Club opened and for not being much of a rap fan, I enjoyed their performance. They also had various other (local, I think) rappers including Steddy P w G-Train (I only know this because of The Granada's website, for serious).

By the time Bone Thugs 'n' Harmony started there was more smoke inside The Granada then I had experienced since Lawrence's smoking ban in '04. But when the performers themselves aren't abiding by city rules, I don't think you can expect to control the habits of 1,000 or so fans.

I don't think I moved through the whole first song. During the openers, it was impossible not to move a bit to the beat. But this? This was LOUD. Not only could I feel the speakers, there was enough sound for my ear drum to be pulsing continuously.

After three songs, Phil motioned and we moved from the front area of the venue and went all the way behind the bar, close to the doors. Phil was disappointed that the acoustics were so bad. It did not need to be that loud and the feedback was bad. I was glad it wasn't just me. We stayed for a few more minutes but Phil decided we didn't need to stay.

Just a little bit warmer

I walked to my office this afternoon after eating my lunch outside behind my building. The bench wasn't very comfortable but the stone was warm and welcoming. My arms and face had turned a bit pink from the 30 minutes I had spent outside. It wasn't long, but my skin has been missing color for months now.

Wasn't it snowing this time last week?

In the middle of January, in the middle of February the winter season seems so long. But now, I'm wondering "didn't we just celebrate my birthday?" and "What happened to Christmas?" and "Did I listen to any holiday music?"

We're happy tonight.

Walking in a winter wonderland.

While I love the snow falling and twinkling Christmas lights and a crackling fire in the fireplace I also need the change. I appreciate the crisp air of a late October morning because just two months before the temperature is higher than a human's body temperature and the humidity makes me melt into a puddle. So, it is about time for the weather to warm up. 

But not too much.