I like change. A lot. Even unexpected change is exciting for me.

I heard in a song that every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. While I don’t really like the song, I think that line has an important concept to consider.

So what time of day am I?

You Are Sunrise

You enjoy living a slow, fulfilling life. You enjoy living every moment, no matter how ordinary. You are a person of reflection and meditation. You start and end every day by looking inward. Caring and giving, you enjoy making people happy. You’re often cooking for friends or buying them gifts. All in all, you know how to love life for what it is - not for how it should be.

technorati tags: life, changes

I’m not Canadian. Not even close. I’m not even French, despite growing up in cajun country. And I don’t speak French.

I’ve been to Canada once, though, back in 2001. My roommate from college lives in the Montreal area. Beautiful country.

Why am I blogging about Canada? Because this week’s pick is Canadian.

This week’s pick: The Tragically Hip

The Hip is one of the most entertaining live acts I’ve ever seen. Singer Gordon Downie is a helluva poet who has some of the best lyrics I’ve heard. I typically don’t pay attention to lyrics, but I do to his.

The Hip comes to Austin about every two years, and I’m looking forward to this time around.

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To see the complete ACL Festival line-up, click here.

technorati tags: music, austin, acl, festival, canada

Given watching movies is one of my hobbies and that I’ll likely spend a lot of this weekend recovering from my trip and my first week back at work by spending some quality time on my sofa watching movies, I thought this week’s quiz should have a movie theme.

Would my life make a good movie? Likely not. But if it were a movie, it would likely be:

The Movie Of Your Life Is An Indie Flick

You do things your own way - and it’s made for colorful times. Your life hasn’t turned out how anyone expected, thank goodness! Your best movie matches: Clerks, Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite

That makes sense, but then again I’ve always done things my own way so it’s only natural that we’re still not quite sure how it will turn out.

technorati tags: life

Here are some pictures from my trip to Tahoe, which was absolutely gorgeous.

Our first view of the Lake, taken in Tahoe City:

From our hotel room:

A waterfall at Emerald Bay:

Our favorite watering hole:

From the grounds of our hotel:

For a more complete description of these pictures and more photos, please visit my husband’s blog.

technorati tags: travel, tahoe, california, nature

My music taste has evolved over time into an eclectic mix where just about every genre is represented by at least one CD. As a small child I was obsessed with Kiss, and in elementary school I went through a country and western phase — just as any good Texan does. By high school I discovered electronica and goth, as well as gansta rap. And in college I developed a strong appreciation for jazz.

So this week’s pick naturally combines all of those.

This week’s pick: Thievery Corporation

I discovered Thievery Corporation about five years ago looking through lists on Amazon.com, purchasing DJ Kicks, a remix CD that they made as part of the DJ Kicks series. We now own everything they have recorded.

What’s great about Thievery Corporation is that they borrow from several genres to create a cool electronica-lounge sound. Half of the CDs they have released are remixes of other artists, and half are original material.

We saw them at ACL last year, and it was hands-down one of the best shows I have ever seen. I’m really excited that they are returning again this year — they generally have not played in Austin.

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To see the complete ACL Festival line-up, click here.

technorati tags: music, austin, acl, festival

I think I made it clear in yesterday’s posting that we had a great time in Lake Tahoe. My husband did it even more justice than me in his latest posting on his regular blog.

One thing I failed to mention in yesterday’s posting was the quality of the beers in northern California. While I’ve enjoyed many northern California beers in Texas, what I realized is that what gets sent here is skunky or a little stale.

Here’s a rundown of the beers we enjoyed last week (in no particular order):

1. Steelhead Extra Pale Ale from the Mad River Brewing Company
2. Eye of the Hawk Select Ale from the Mendocino Brewing Company
3. Tahoe Red Ale from the Lake Tahoe Brewing Company
4. Great White HefeWeizen from the Lost Coast Brewing Company
5. And of course, our ever-favorite Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company

We get our photos back tomorrow.

technorati tags: travel, tahoe, california, beer

We’re back from our week at Lake Tahoe. Damn, it’s hot in Texas.

This was hands-down the best place we’ve ever visited. We had a low-impact kind of week where we really just did whatever we wanted as the mood struck us. Some highlights from the week:

Monday: Travel day

Tuesday: A cold, rainy day with highs in the 40s and some snow mixed with the rain. The great thing about rainy days is that they often lead to great lighting for photos, so we took a drive up to Emerald Bay. We also managed to find the newest Sonic Youth album, Rather Ripped, at a small music store near the California-Nevada border.

Wednesday: Drove through the Sierras to visit my husband’s uncle near Nevada City, California.

Thursday: Went hiking at Sugar Pine Point State Park, and actually saw a black bear! Also went to Donner Lake (the site of the unfortunate Donner Party) and stood in snow.

Friday: Our flight back to Austin was cancelled just as we arrived at the Reno airport and there were no other flights back until Saturday, so we ended up having a mini-vacation at the Reno Hilton, a destination unto itself. We don’t gamble, but this place has so much to do that we were well-entertained…. we even went bowling!

Saturday: Arrived home.

I’ll post some pictures as soon as they come back from Precision Camera. We used real film for this one.

technorati tags: travel, tahoe, california, vacation

(image by Neil Li, borrowed from Wikipedia)

At long last… my vacation is here.

I will be spending the next week on what I think is a well-deserved, long-overdue trip to get away from it. We’re talking no e-mail, no chores, no meetings — nothing but pure R&R.

After a week of “hunnert” degree temperatures this week, my husband and I will be hitting the deck chairs of Lake Tahoe. Apparently the 1960 Winter Olympics were held close to where we’re staying.

The weather next week? Apparently, not too bad. Slight chance of some showers, but highs in the 50s. Perfect weather for some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Have a great week!

technorati tags: travel, tahoe, california, vacation

Since I’m out of pocket next week I’m posting my weekly musings early.

In honor of going to California this week, I thought I’d discover my inner Californian.

You Belong in San Francisco

You crave an eclectic, urban environment. You’re half California, half NYC.

You’re open minded, tolerant, and secretly think you’re the best.

People may dismiss you as a hippie, but you’re also progressive, interesting, and rich!

I’ve only been to California twice, once to Los Angeles and once to Palm Springs. Sounds like I’ve been on the wrong side of the state.

technorati tags: travel, california, vacation

Since I’m out of pocket next week I’m posting my weekly musings early.

I’ve always had a diverse taste in music. We own more than 1,000 CDs in just about all genres: classic rock, emo, punk, electronica, hip-hop, soul, shoegazing, yallternative, you name it. But I am partial to jazz, and probably half of our CDs are either great jazz classics or newer artists we find through reading JazzTimes.