Happy Birthday, to me!

Yeah, I'm kinda liking the whole being 28 thing.

I considered the better part of Thursday as being part of my birthday festivities. The start of my birthday festivities, rather. Thursday was pretty freaking EPIC. 

Thursday. I ditched math class and went to Campbell with my Mother, to see Michael Schenker (again). Yeah, we saw the Michael Schenker Group when they came through Fresno last week... but once wasn't enough, we had to see them again. What better day than the day before my birthday?! (I'll be writing stuff on my music blog soon... whenever I fully wake up.) My Mother and I had such an epic time... good freaking gracious. Mom even got to meet Michael Schenker... for free. I seriously thought she was going to faint. We hung out with Carlos the monkey. We got front row, again (I hauled ass, man!)... secured 6 seats. Rocked out and took pics! The pics I took last night were waaay better than the ones I took in Fresno.

We left Campbell at around midnight-ish... the drive back home was a bit rough, so we didn't get home until a bit after 3am. The drive back officially started off my birthday... and boy, was that an experience. 

McDonald's gave me my Dr. Pepper for free because the car in front of us in the drive-thru took forever and a day to get their stuff. It was their way of apologizing for the inconvenience. Score!  That Dr. Pepper tasted wonderful... it had just the right amount of Dr. and the right amount of Pepper! That usually never happens; it's either Dr. Dr. or Pepper Pepper. Happy Birrrrrthdayyyy, to meeeee! Something else happened, but we won't talk about that. I will talk about how silly I become when I am sleep-deprived, though. I become borderline ridiculous. It's actually kinda funny. I was also amped up on caffeine and chocolate... yeah, I was almost bouncing off the walls. Fun stuff.

We finally made it home and we couldn't sleep. Mom went to bed somewhere around 4-ish... but yeah, I stayed awake, watching episodes of "Mr. Belvedere"... I crashed somewhere around 5:30-ish. I got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep. It was lovely. I woke up around 10am (we had lunch plans with a friend of ours) and watched a few more episodes of "Mr. Belvedere"... and then this happened:

(Brice Beckham played "Wesley T. Owens" on 'Mr. Belvedere') ♥
I may or may not have tweeted that I was having a mini- Belvedere marathon on my birthday. Heh.

Speaking of birthday wishes, I have the greatest friends EVER!!!! I got so many amazing birthday wishes today! I loved each and every wish... they were all very much appreciated ♥

Also... A VERY SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO MY ISLAND FAMILY ♥ 
Oh, and a very special shout out to my newest birthday buddy, Ivy Quinn! My Island sista, Tiffany, gave birth to the little cutie this morning! :)

 The birthday lunch: started off by opening a couple of prezzies...

I GOT A UKULELE!!!!!!!!!!

That's a big freaking deal. Hey, Eddie Vedder, call me... we'll jam together! I also got a Mark Ruffalo/Matthew Broderick movie that I've never seen before! We had the lunch and then we played some games. That seems to be the running theme... haha! We played a zombie brain dice game and then "War". 

We were supposed to rest a little bit when we got home but that didn't happen. Woo. Running on empty.

My birthday festivities - the main event. My Grandmother offered to make me a birthday dinner... and it was a very good birthday dinner! I think I ate too much, but what else is new? I'll never learn.

I didn't want cake so I asked for cupcakes, instead. And ice cream.

On a scale of 1 to  Stone Gossard... I'd say these babies were a couple of Stone Gossards!

Speaking of Stoney Pony, I got a Green River CD for my birthday!!! ♥

I also got $$$. Cash is always good, especially when you don't have any...  2 packs of sour gummy worms and a cute little Valentine's bear figurine... I immediately named that little fella, "Stone/Stoney". Ha.

Vh1 Classic also loves feeding my Pearl Jam addiction... I am spending the last 30 minutes of my birthday watching "Pearl Jam: Lightning Bolt". Perfection ♥

I was a victim of a musical robbery.

It's February 1st... oh, how quickly the days pass by. The days need to slow down a bit, because my birthday is in 13 days... I'm about to turn the dreaded 28. Another year closer to the big 3 0... geeeezussss... but I don't want to talk about that. Jam on...

Math. We all know I love math. Math is sexy. Rawr... NOT! Math is an ugly beast... an ugly beast that will forever be the death of me. Make it stop, please. We had our first test on Tuesday. We were given a study guide last Thursday to work on and to study off of. I did the study guide at least 5-6 times from last Thursday to Tuesday... I could've done it in my sleep. Fast forward to Tuesday... we were handed the tests... only about 10% of what was on the study guide was actually on the test. The thoughts I had are too vulgar to post on here... but there were a lot of f-bombs. A LOT of f-bombs. My next thought? Alright then. Oh, and I should probably mention that we're not allowed to use calculators in my class. Yeah. It's lovely... all kinds of lovely. 26 questions but we were only getting graded for 25... that kind of made things a little better.
I was certain that I had failed it. If not failed, then at least a D. I was bummed. Absolutely bummed. I was also pissed... so very pissed. I mean, why give us a study guide when only a chunk of it will actually end up on the test? It's a complete waste of time... and it gives false hope. I listened to Rage Against the Machine for almost the entire rest of the day/night. I wasn't in a very good mood. Saying that I was disappointed would be an understatement...

Fast forward to Thursday. I had both school and work to deal with. I had to go to work almost immediately after I got out of class... I knew I'd be getting my test back... I was not ready. Getting a failing grade would've made my night at work a living hell. He waited until the end of class to hand our tests back. Looooovely. That was terrible!! I rocked the class work for the day, though. (Now I have 'Rock the Casbah' stuck in my head.) I got my test and walked out the door... I didn't even want to look at it. I got a friggin' 92%. A 92%. I actually verbally asked myself, "How in the actual hell?" Seriously, how?! I missed 3, but only 2 counted. I missed one that I knew I was going to miss... the other 2 were easy ones that I thought I got right. Ha. Oops. I was baffled. I'm still baffled. It was easy stuff compared to what's coming up... but damn... at least give us legit stuff to study. I don't want or need any mathematical mind f*cks.

The P!nk concert. I guess someone hates me because I was given the 'smoking area'. I would've rather have taken 50 math tests in a row. It's mind boggling... ADULTS DO NOT FUCKING LISTEN. What part of you cannot take alcoholic beverages outside with you don't people understand?!?! I don't know if that's a new rule (?) or what, but people could NOT grasp that concept... ALL freaking night. Gawd. The Savemart Center needs to make a sign and put it up, or something. The concert goers thought that I was the one who made this rule. Why would I make that rule? I don't even understand that rule? Give me a break.

I was right by an entrance door... I saw all walks of life walk in and walk by. I was also next to the merch table. I saw some very interesting people. People ranging from 7 years old to 70 years old. ALL walks of life. It was very interesting. My favorite was a guy who walked in wearing a black leather corset, a black mini skirt and black leather knee-high boots. Work it, dude!! The girl in the pink tutu ranked a close (or not so close) 2nd. I got hit on by 6 men and 12 lesbians. I don't know how many times I was told that I was "the cutest security guard ever!!" Or that I was the cutest security guard that they had ever seen. Puppies are cute. Babies are cute. Kittens are cute. I am not any of those things. If one more person calls me "cute", I just might scream. Moving on...

I conversed with a James Franco look-alike... I was alllllll smiles with that one. I literally almost said, "I'm sorry James Franco, you cannot take your beer out to the smoking area." Almost. He was SO CUTE. Then there was one of P!nk's dancers (who shall remain nameless)... I thought she was going to murder me at first. Straight out of a creepy horror flick. Working that particular post was an experience... one I hope to never experience again. I'd rather work a door that doesn't open... I'm becoming less and less of a "people person"... less than I already was before.

After I was cleared of 'smoking area' duty, I was told to go and help out with a post-show meet and greet. The opening band, The Kin were holding a meet and greet after P!nk was over. There were tons of people in line... tons. All the way down the concourse and around the corner. Goodness. Girls were swooning left and right. About 5 minutes after I got there, they randomly stepped aside from their meet and greet. One of the guys yelled something like, "HEYYYY EVERYBODY! ARE YOU READY FOR A MUSICAL ROBBERYYYY?!?!" We were like, "What the hell?!" It started with a nice little drum beat... then they started to walk up/down the concourse a bit while singing about 30 seconds (maybe more?) of "When Doves Cry" by Prince. Of course it had to be a Prince song, right? Geezus. I couldn't help but laugh. That was the strangest, most random thing I have ever witnessed. Once they were done, they quietly walked back to the meet and greet and pretended like nothing ever happened. I was a victim of a musical robbery. It was my first... and hopefully my last.

I'm back in the saddle again...

I'm baaaaaaaack.

I'm not sure I really want to be... but I am. Math. I hate math. Here's to four long months. Woo.

I took last semester off, in case anybody was wondering. Not by choice, as I was kind of forced to. It all started when my math class was canceled. Yep. They canceled it mid-summer (I'm thinkin'?) but failed to notify anyone until two weeks before the Fall semester started. Ass. All ass. It wasn't like I could afford a damn math book (plus a zillion dollar online code) AND a computer book (which was almost a zillion dollars). So, I decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and that my college could f*ck off... so yeah, I made the decision to take a break. Work some, take the break, and go back in the Spring. Here I am. Spring 2014.

Ohhhh yeah, I should also add that they canceled my computer class, too. They canceled it on THE morning of the first class meeting. I think I made the right decision.

Math. Wooooo friggin' hooooo!!! My brother had my instructor for two straight semesters. I trust his judgement, so I decided to take Mr. Allen. Only about half of the class understood his humor today... I'm thinkin' it's going to be a looooong semester. I excel in sarcasm and dry humor... so I get it. I should also mention that he looks like a less cuter version of Ryan Gosling. Geezus. 

Oh, and I should also probably mention that about ten or so people that are in my class this semester, were in my previous math class. Yep. One of them, is the the older dude that hit on me a lot (or whatever the f*ck he was trying to do?). Lovely. I saw him standing by the door waiting for class... talk about a deer in the headlights. We made 'small talk'... which means we made long talk, because you cannot make small talk with this guy. The "so, what have you been up to?!" conversation. Me: "Yeah, well... I saw Pearl Jam a few months ago... and that friggin' ruled." He almost fainted. He had no clue that they had even toured, much less came through California. Five seconds or so later, "Ah, man... I have some old, rare footage of Mother... --- I CUT HIM OFF SO FAST TO SQUEEEE, LIKE THE MOTHER LOVE BONE FAN GIRL THAT I AM. OMG. --- ... Love Bone on VHS. Man... their singer... he was amazing. Just... the way he sang..." Me: "ANDYYYY!!!! I love Andy Wood. He was great. One of the greatest. He seemed like he had an amazing personality." Then he proceeded to ask if I had seen the new (it's not new) PJ documentary movie. "Zillions of times. I've watched it four times in the last two days. Vh1 Classic and Palladia love to feed my addiction. I also own it on DVD."

Ooookayyy... this dude... we can be friends. I think. I think? Yeah, maybe. I mean, he mentioned Mother Love Bone before I even threw that name out there. It takes a special breed. He flipped out when I spoke the MLB language right back to him. I seriously think that people think that I am secretly some 40-year-old police spy (who looks 12) who takes classes/hangs out on campus so I can spy on anyone doing illegal stuff on campus. That's how people make me feel sometimes... haha! I'm just a rad 27-year-old. That's all ;)

The second person being, the Marq Torien/Nathan Parsons look-alike. Dude... I KNOW!!! I do not need a repeat of that. If this semester is going to be a repeat... no, I do not need any repeats. He was one of the last people to walk in. He sat two seats away from me. Of course he did. However, he is not enrolled in the class and he wasn't on the wait list. I don't know if he got in or not... I guess I'll see on Thursday. Geezus.

Today's lecture wasn't too bad. We got through the first two sections of chapter 1. I can do that stuff. I can do that stuff almost in my sleep. Anything after chapter 1... probably not. heh.

Where should I go next with this thing? The fact that I hate funerals or that Tim Burton will forever be a genius in my mind?

Okay, I'm gonna go with Tim Burton forever being a genius in my mind. 

(Still photo from 'Big Fish')

"Big Fish" was one of the few Tim Burton films that I hadn't seen. I knew Pearl Jam had a song on the soundtrack (it plays in the closing credits) "Man of the Hour" and it's one of my fave songs. For some reason, I just never saw it. Dish on-Demand or whatever it's called has had it in their "free movie section" for a while now and I was going to watch it, but I forgot about it. Hey, it sucks getting old, kids. Heh. Anywayyy... my Uncle was an absolute mess, the day after my Grandfather passed. In between sobs, he kept talking about how he was so happy and so glad that they were able to take my Grandfather on his last fishing trip (my grandfather LOVED to fish. LOVED.) He kept talking about how he caught some big fish. Every other sentence, he talked about big fish... big fish... big fish. Ding, ding, ding... the light bulb went on. It was rather bright, too. I had heard Eddie Vedder talk about it... and I was thinking to myself, 'okay... I'll watch it. But not now. NOT now.' A few nights later, I was surfing through the 'free movies' on Dish and passed by Big Fish... "Nope!" Then I heard a voice, and it was singing "She ain't got no yo-yo"... "Yep!" and I went back to Big Fish and pressed the play button. So, I kinda love that movie. I do. The Ved was right. One can not finish that movie and leave with a dry eye, let me tell ya people. Damn. The end was what got me. Billy Crudup's character says something like, "my father was a big fish"... yeah, well, my grandfather was big fish. The imagery in that scene along with that quote was the start of some kind of a healing process... or maybe some sort of reassurance? That part made me bawl but it also made me smile. So yeah, Tim Burton can do no wrong, in my mind. Even the awkwardly uncomfortable "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"... yeah. A genius you are, Tim.

I think I've depressed myself enough (and probably depressed anyone reading this), so I won't even go into my grandfather's funeral. Or maybe I should? Yeah. I will. It took place last Friday. People were sobbing before the damn thing even started. I don't know who had the bright idea to have a picture montage thing playing on the TV screen as everyone arrived (fully equipped with SAD music in the background)... but yeah, good friggin' job. AND when I first noticed it, it just so happened to be showing a picture of myself, my mother, brother, father, and grandmother WITH my grandfather last year on his birthday. GEEZUS. They must've looped that thing at least 3 times before the service even started. Once was enough, thanks. Like, my father was crying. I heard it. Whoa.

My grandfather was a vet (Korean War) so they started the service with a prayer and the traditional army presentation... "Taps". Friggin' "Taps". No. It was all downhill for me and probably everyone else from there. The guy officiating the service was a relative... a hilarious relative, and I knew he would do it right and make us smile, as well as laugh. However, even the funniest story still made a lot of us cry. Just, damnit. Damnit, I say. Every other sentence "and he loved to fish." Flashbacks to 'Big Fish' kept happening and yeah, I couldn't help but tear up. I think I had a dry eye for all of 5-10 minutes during the entire thing. My grandma laughed and tried to smile during the stories and what-not... but you can tell she was hurting. My uncle was about to break down but he managed to stay cool. My grandfather's sister sat in between my mother and I... hearing or seeing her cry would make me cry. Seeing random relatives, friends and former co-workers cry and hearing them tell their stories = no. Seeing my mother cry would make me cry. Seeing my father cry... let's just put it this way, I'm 27-years-old (almost 28), and I've probably seen my father cry maybe four or five times in my entire life. Just like my grandma, when my father cries... that's some serious stuff. I sensed that someone else was about to break down, but I tried to let him be... until the end when everyone was encouraged to give their 'final goodbyes' to the urn and what-not. I absolutely could not. The people within our family circle, absolutely could not. I can still see certain people breaking down in my mind and it still straight up destroys me. It probably will for a while. Hell, I even hugged a few people that I would NEVER hug (let alone touch) otherwise. Duuuuuuude. I even hugged my mother's biological "mother". Well, she kind of attack-hugged me... but I didn't exactly resist. Yeah.

The after party... no, um... the after shindig thingy-ma-bobber... whatever the hell it's called? THAT was interesting. Most of the people there I had no knowledge of. A lot of the people there I hadn't seen since I was probably a kid? Yeah, I kinda just kept to myself and stayed within my circle (mom, dad, brother). 

Some genius (I won't name names) thought it was a good idea to take a family photo. Yeeeeahhhh because let's all SMILE (because we were all sooooo happy. Woo!) and make that a friggin' family reunion photo. I cackled. I really did. I knew that was going to happen. I just knew. A post-funeral shindig thingy-ma-bobber is NO place for a 'family photo'. It was actually hilarious, though. I love let's all smile because we were told to smile but we don't really want to smile, pictures. I would post the picture... but taking the actual picture itself was already somewhat ill-advised.

Soooo yeah... that's what's been going on in the life of Liz...

I will now go and watch episodes of "Mr. Belvedere", because... well... why the hell not?!