Happy Belated Matador at 21!

This year has been the year of rock and roll for me. Yes, there have been years when I have seen a large number of concerts (1995 and 1996 were very fruitful in this regard--maybe even early 1997), but living in Vegas has put a damper on the rock and roll. Getting older hasn't helped; in talking with Todd about turning 37, we mentioned that 35 seemed manageable, but that 37 is just too close to 40 and the-old-guy-in-the-corner for comfort. So, while in Park City for a family reunion, I happened to hear about a Modest Mouse show in Salt Lake. I scrounged up the details and found that not only was it a concert, but a FREE concert as part of their city concert series. I met my friend Eric and went to the show, which was enjoyable, if you're into spending time in a city park with roughly 40,000 strangers. Later, I spent some birthday money on a last-minute concert decision: the Pixies came to Vegas (there was a rash of shows in late September/early October--no one, and I mean NO ONE comes through town, but in the span of a couple of weeks there was Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, the Pixies, and the gigantic Matador show--of course, saying "no one" should probably be tempered with the fact that I no longer pick up the free weeklies to see who's coming, nor do I get much reliable music information from the teenagers I spend my days with). When I initially saw the tickets for the Pixies, they were $180 or something crazy like that, but I think I was looking at the pre-sale/hotel room combo. The show was great, and, considering my Pixies obsession started about the time they were falling apart, it was the first real chance I had to see them. They played the album "Doolittle" in its entirety, in addition to the b-sides from the singles and a few of their most popular tracks. I would've stayed much later if they would have continued. But this is not a post about the Pixies (well, okay, it kind of has been); it is about the mother lode.

Beach Blog.

Went to the beach for Halloween (Nevada Day Observed) and were there for five days. I had been dreaming about it at work for about a week before we went. We went with Phoenix and Scott & kids. There were lots of families there, which meant lots of kids. I'll leave it at that. We had beach days, a Mormon Battalion day, and a Lego day. I shot lots of pictures. Here are some (sorry for all the sunsets. Hmmm. That makes it sound like sunsets are my fault, like "sorry for all that cancer". What I mean is that I enjoy the sunsets and I apologize for forcing you to look at them).




Scott walking into the sunset with a boogie board:







More to come. Maybe. Are you happy now, Susan? :)

Halloween Outfits.

Went to the kids' "Halloween Howl" at school. The boy, if you couldn't tell, is Indiana Jones. The girl is a ladybug. The wife is a rootin' tootin' cowgirl. The me is a 70s golfer. We had fun. We ate cotton candy, raced a sack race, threw whipped cream "pies" at a teacher, and three of us went through a spook alley and regretted it. I found a new palindrome in their school's name:
"Howard A. Wasden, Ned saw a Dr. Aw! Oh!"--that's how you know it's a good night.














I'm experimenting with strange crops, so I thought I'd include this sliver of a vampire from the Howl.

Same to you, kid.