Hangface ROCKS!!!

Sorry that I didn't get anything posted yesterday. Things were super busy with relatives getting ready to leave and all. That, and Kumo wouldn't get off the computer. But more about that in another post. Anyway, I'm going to miss little Holly and Robin a bunch, but they'll be back next time they have vacation. They promised.

I will post more wedding photos, but first, I thought I'd post some of the shots from my getting to meet Hangface. What a GREAT BAND!! So, here are some more pictures from the show at the City Lights Pavilions on Tuesday the 25th. Enjoy!

This is me and the whole band. Apparently someone needs to feed Hogne.

I swear I just wanted to talk to him about playing the guitar. How was I supposed to know that Tom was so afraid of bunnies in sunglasses? Sorry man, I hope the therapy helps.

I was impressed to discover that lead singer, Bee, has his own little stuffed companion. I didn't get to talk to him much, since he was quite buzzy.

Bee, The Bee and ME!

We hung out on the RV (affectionately called "The Boat") until it was time for the show. Then it was off to dance around like maniacs.

I went to the concert in the company of two gorgeous ladies, Sam and Paula. They know all about music, and know lots and lots of bands. They're awfully sweet too, even to stuffed bunnies.

While I was wandering the grounds, checking things out between shows, I found a place selling fresh, hot mini donuts. Oh man. These things are incredibly addictive. They really should come with a warning label. So.... good.... and... yummy...

Once Paula and Sam pulled me away from the donuts, I got to meet the incredibly talented photographer, Mr. Mark Stout. Mark isn't only an amazing photographer, but he also runs a webpage that lists, reviews, and photographs all the cool things to do in Colorado. Check it out here: http://www.whatsdoingtonight.com. He's also a super nice guy.

An interesting aspect about Hangface that I noticed at the Pavilions and then last night (pictures of THAT gig forthcoming) is the quality of fan they seem to draw. Most of the Hangface fans I've met are GREAT people. And I'm honored to join the ranks of those addicted to Hangface. It was a great night, a great concert and a great bunch of guys!

As Hangface says...

until next time...

ROCK ON!!!

Girls Go Wild

Oh My.

So, about 7 p.m., people started showing up for this party. Kumo dealt with letting everyone in, and since the other person arranging this shindig was Becky (the bride) 's sister, Laci, who has been fairly... aggressive, in trying to get involved with me, I was just as happy to hide out. I thought it'd just be me and Voltaire hanging out in the office. But Kumo swiped my dog, explaining that since Voltaire is a girl, she's invited.

Harumph.

Anyway, at about 8 p.m. the party was going full tilt and there was a knock at the door. I answered and found myself facing an officer of the law.

I told him "Sorry, officer. I'll tell them to keep it down." and he said "No, man. I'm the stripper." Staring at the roll of belly protruding from his uniform shirt my immediate thought was "You're kidding," but I let him in and showed him where the girls were holed up.

Laci met us at the door . And it became obvious from her demeanor that it was THAT kind of party. I wished the stripper luck, and left him to the girls.

The stripper left about an hour ago, and now they're downstairs eating ice cream. It sounds like they had fun. And I guess I'm glad. I'm not anxious to see what they've done to that room, though. I'm afraid to look.

But I might sneak down and have some ice cream myself after they're gone. :)

Party Girls, and a Girl Party

I got home from school, to find a slightly tipsy Kumo pigging out on the dining room table.

She explained to me, between hiccups, that she was sampling the snacks for the party tonight. The bachelorette party for Becky, that's being held HERE. TONIGHT!! When I asked her why I hadn't heard anything about a party being held at MY house, she laughed herself silly and said "You're a boy! You're not invited!" as if that explained it.

So apparently we'll be having company this evening.

We also had company this afternoon. My dear, sweet sister, Willow, took in Aunt Esther and the kids so that Aunt Esther wouldn't have to put up with Voltaire. I used Voltaire not liking kids as an excuse. Though, when Willow brought the kids by to say "hello" this afternoon, Voltaire proved me a complete liar. She adores the kids!!

Thankfully, Aunt Esther didn't come along to see what a complete fib it was.

Holly LOVES Voltaire.

I told her there would be puppies soon, and I think she's going to try to talk her mom into letting her have one. So I'm not even sure, between dissing her for a dog, and her daughter begging for a puppy because of me, if Aunt Esther is even going to be speaking to me at the wedding tomorrow.

Speaking of the wedding, I was really worried about what to do with Voltaire. I was thinking that maybe I just wouldn't go, but my sister Willow once again saved the day by offering to stay here and Voltaire sit for me. She told me that she wasn't ever as close with Becky as I was, and she was thinking about not going anyway. Willow's got horses, and one of her mares just had a foal a few weeks ago, so she's experienced with this birthing stuff. And Voltaire seems to like her (Voltaire seems to like EVERYONE), so I think that'll work out great.

Voltaire hasn't shown any of the weirdness that Mandi was seeing, now that she's been home. She's been super affectionate, eats everything I put in front of her, and is very playful. She sleeps a lot, but given her condition, I guess that makes sense.

As I write this, both girls are sleeping. Voltaire is sleeping off her playing with the kids, and Kumo is sleeping off her bender sampling.

I would go clean the room where this party is going to be, but it's Kumo's doing and SHE can clean it.

Well, whenever she wakes up, anyway.

Unexpected Houseguests of the Future

Oh for crying out loud.

Aunt Esther is going to kill me.

I crawled out of bed early this morning to go to school, which was tough after such a late (but fun) night. At lunch, I checked my voicemail and found a panicked message from Mandi telling me that Voltaire was acting weird last night, barfed up dinner, and this morning was lethargic and wouldn't come out from under her couch. So she was rushing him to the vet. As I was trying to call her back, she called me again and told me she was coming to my house, with Voltaire and that we needed "to talk".

Our talk went something like this:

Me: Is he okay?

Mandi: Well, yes....

Me: Did he get into something bad?

Mandi: In a manner of speaking, yeah... about 51 days ago.

Me: What does that mean?

Mandi: She's pregnant.

Me: WHAT?!? He's.... he's pregnant? How can that happen?!?!?

Mandi: SHE is pregnant. And, well, Gage, you see, when a mommy dog loves a daddy dog....

Me: ....
*****************
I rushed home, leaving class early to meet Mandi at my house. She had even put little pink ribbons on him her before they got here.

So now, I am not only stuck with Mike's abandoned dog. I'm stuck with Mike's PREGNANT abandoned dog. Apparently the strange behavior Mandi was seeing in Voltaire was just doggie morning sickness, and general near-birth pregnancy weariness. The vet is guessing that he's she's about 51 days pregnant. Apparently he was able to feel puppies, and the xrays they took showed five little puppy skeletons.

Five puppies. FIVE.

Mandi said that she won't keep Voltaire anymore because he she could pop anytime and should be home with his her loved ones, but that when he she goes into labor I can call her and she'll be here immediately, any time of day. Mandi volunteers with a couple of shelters, and has done this kind of thing before. I've never even delivered a pizza, much less a puppy. I am completely overwhelmed.

Kumo is thrilled. Voltaire seems very happy to be home. Which just leaves me, so stressed out I keep pulling my ears, trying to figure out what on earth I am going to tell Aunt Esther.

Hangface Concert - Part 1

Hangface ROCKED! I am one bushed bunny, but I wanted to post a couple of pictures before I fell over asleep. I had a great time! They're not only a great band, but they're really nice people. I enjoyed their music, and getting to hang around with them. What a bunch of great guys!

I met a lot of really cool people too. The rest of the pictures will go up probably Thursday morning. Check back. In the meantime, here's a brief look at how I spent my evening!

I danced in front of the stage.

And I jammed to Espen's wicked drum playing.

And I wished that I was lucky enough to win the Hangface motorcycle (I probably would've given it to Kumo, but still.)

And now I'm home, trying not to contemplate the fact that I'm going to be up and on my way to school in just a few hours. It was totally worth it though. Hopefully they'll come back soon!

Night night!

Unexpected Houseguest

Well, I should have seen it coming. And I don't know why I didn't.

I got home from the Renaissance Festival on Sunday, and there was a note from Kumo. It said "Off running errands. Be home soon. K " The "be home soon" should've set off alarms, but for some reason didn't. Maybe I was just too tired. Sure enough, she did come back later. With an armload of her stuff.

Yesterday, before I went to school, I told her, "I don't mind if your stuff is here, but I can't have it scattered all over the place". So, when I got home last night, I discovered she had brought over her dresser, and taken mine to the basement. My baby sister has taken over my bedroom.

Here's my room BEFORE hurricane Kumo.

And here's my room AFTER hurricane Kumo.

The observant will notice there's a freakin' sword in my bed. That would be her katana, which she SLEEPS WITH. She also moved her other swords into my room, they're on the black dresser to the right. Apparently her black dresser is the latest in ninja furnishings.

When I asked her "Why are you moving your furniture over to my house?" she just said "Well, you said you didn't want my stuff everywhere." As if that made it all clear, and that was that.

My apartment isn't that big. I have no idea where I'm going to put Aunt Esther and the kids if Kumo is sleeping in the bedroom. I guess we'll figure it out Thursday when they arrive.

School is a little stressful, and tonight promises to be late because Hangface are in town and we have tickets!!! They're one of Wendy's favorite bands, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing them. But it means school tomorrow morning is going to be rough.

Anyway, Wendy told me that when she gets stressed out, sometimes it helps her to sit down at the harp and play. It helps her relax. So I gave the psaltery a try, and it went GREAT! I think I can make this work.

I'm going to build a stand for it, to hold it in this position, so I can play places other than the couch. I've never actually tried a bowed instrument before. Kind of wild. A little squeaky, but I think I'll get it. Once I'm feeling a little more confident, and I have my playing position better worked out, I'm going to try to find a teacher.

For now, I should be studying for palpation class. I'll report all my adventures with Hangface tomorrow!

Gage's Renaissance Adventure - Part 3

So I've been considering taking up an instrument for a while. I thought maybe I would try being a drummer.

And while the drums were GORGEOUS, drumming doesn't seem to be quite me. While wandering, I met a wonderful woman named Oksana Moshinsky who talked to me about taking up the bandura.

And while Oksana plays the bandura just beautifully, we both decided that it was much too large an instrument for me. She was very kind to play for me, though. I bought a copy of her CD so I can listen to her play even when I'm not at the Renaissance Festival. Her playing was THAT beautiful.

I watched a guitar player, a fiddle player and a little dancer for a while at one of the stages. I saw a flute player, some bagpipe players, and a person playing a recorder. But none of those instruments seemed like they suited me either. I was starting to despair that I would EVER find the right instrument....

...and then, on the wind, I heard the most beautiful, most haunting sound. I followed the sound of this haunting music to the shop where it was coming from and found it.... the bowed psaltery.

I had to have it. I have no idea how I'm going to play it, but I will figure it out, and Wendy said she would help.

Meredith, the wonderful sales lady who helped me, gave me a big good luck snuggle as I was leaving. She was a big sweetie, and very helpful.

With all of my shopping out of the way, we decided it was time to head home. Eventually, we did find the car (that parking lot is HUGE). I don't remember much about the drive home, because I curled up in Wendy's straw hat and fell asleep.

So, all together it was a GREAT day at the RenFest. I met lots of neat people, and I think (maybe) I've finally found an instrument. I'll figure out how I'm going to play it (leaning over, sitting on a chair, etc), and then see if I can find a teacher. Wish me luck!

Thanks for reading about my RenFest Adventure!!!

Hope you had a great weekend, too!

Gage's Renaissance Adventure - Part 2

Ever had homework that was so easy, you though you must have done it wrong? I just did. (shrug) I guess we'll see tomorrow. Anyway, where was I?

Oh yeah! We'd just gotten to the front gate and I was showing you cool RenFest pictures!

I met a whole bunch of interesting characters while just wandering around -

I met Pan, God of the Woodlands and, apparently, ceramic horns with fluffy things on them.


And I met a pirate, who turned out to be quite nice despite being a pirate and all.

And I even met a Vampire Lady.

And her very pretty friend with a parasol, and (remarkably) no apparent vampire bite marks.

I met a very nice couple, who let me enjoy the shade with them for a moment.

Then I decided I needed a break, and a beverage, and I discovered that nothing says Renaissance Festival quite like pizza, and a margarita served in a plastic cup.

While eating pizza, I met a lovely lady named Sophie and her two kids, Luc and Viviane. They're traveling here for summer vacation and then going back home to France! Viviane, is going to be a famous director someday! Now you can say you heard about her here first!!

So, after my pizza break, I started checking out the instruments. Pictures of THAT in the next entry!

Gage's Renaissance Adventure - Part 1

Kumo stayed over again, only this time she took over my bed, and had actually brought pjs with her. Weird. I don't really understand what's up, but she seems really happy over here, so I guess it's okay. I slept on the couch, which is where I sleep often enough anyway. It's just easier to crash on the couch in the office when working late on the computer. Voltaire has slept on the couch with me pretty much the whole time he's been here. It was pretty weird sleeping on the couch without him last night.

Mandi's house is in the exact OPPOSITE direction of the Renaissance Festival, so we didn't get a chance to go see Voltaire on our way down. But I did call Mandi, and she said he's doing fine. Mostly hanging out under her couch, which is a little weird, but she figures he's just homesick. It's only one more week. I'm sure he'll hang in there.

Anyway, over coffee this morning, Kumo and I were discussing the Renaissance Festival.

Me: So we're off to the Renaissance Festival.

K: OH! I didn't bring my costume!

Me: Um, I meant we - Wendy and I, "we". You're not going.

K: Not having my costume isn't that big a deal. I'll just go as a civilian.

Me: It isn't the costume, Kumo. You're not going.

K: Why?!?!?

Me: Because I'm not getting thrown out of another RenFest with you.

K: (Harumph)...you crack one guy's sternum....

Me: He was a PERFORMER! In the middle of a JOUST!

K: As if it's my fault he was a crappy fighter.

Me: He WASN'T a fighter, Kumo!

K: Yeah, no kidding. His technique sucked. He got his ass kicked by a rabbit. I'LL say he wasn't a fighter.

I finally gave up trying to explain this to Kumo, and just got ready. Before I knew it, we were on our way to beautiful Larkspur, Colorado! Kumo still didn't get it, but did wave goodbye to us as we left.

Our house isn't very far from the RenFest site, and I was so excited it seemed like it took no time at all to get there. Beautiful countryside went by (we went the back route) and before I knew it we were at the front gate!

We wandered in, and got lots of cool pictures.

Right now, I really should be doing my phyisology homework for tomorrow. But after that, I'll come back and post some of the pictures. Either tonight or tomorrow morning. Promise!

Saturday Pt. 2 - Afternoon: Picnic in the Park

After the writers' group, Kumo and I were pretty hungry. Turns out so were Billy, Marmie and Billy's friend Sylvester. So we all wandered over to Chipolte, grabbed some food and then headed off to Crown Hill Park, which is just up the street from the writers' group.

Kumo immediately broke into the bag upon arriving at the picnic spot.

While Kumo was digging in the bag, looking for the chips we forgot to order (D'oh!), I noticed that in our little picnic pagoda, there was a barn swallow nest.

Wendy took a picture of me....

...while I was taking a picture of this barn swallow.

Kumo finally broke out the huge fajita steak burrito we were sharing for lunch, and we snarfed it up pretty quickly. Though there was one slight disagreement concerning certain black ninja bunnies eating all the steak parts and leaving all the onions. Slight because I finally decided that steak bits probably weren't worth dying over.


The burrito was delicious (even if I didn't get all that much of the steak). After that we just hung out a bit and took in the beauty of Crown Hill. It's a great park.

Billy, Marmie, and Sylvester just laid back and relaxed. Apparently they had a slight disagreement about the guacamole, which Marmie seemed to feel was entirely hers.

All in all, a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Thanks for picnicing with us, you guys!

Billy, as always, it was great to hang out with you.

Marmie, I hope you enjoyed your guacamole. :)

Sylvester, it was great to meet you.

Kumo.... you owe me a steak burrito!!!

Saturday Pt. 1: Morning - Writers' Group

Kumo fell asleep in the library chair last night, and then followed me to the writers' group this morning. Strange having Kumo here at the writers' group. She's not a writer, and not even much of a reader for that matter. If it's not about ninjas or written by Richard Marcinko Kumo just isn't interested.

So mostly Kumo hung around, reading The Onion with Billy Bear...


...and hustling Billy and Marmie at Fish. She's like that.

Hanging out with Billy and Marmie is always good. Marmie looks lovely in her beautiful new necklace, but she's always been known as someone with exquisite taste. I'm glad that Kumo, Billy and Marmie all seem to like each other. As I type this, Kumo is now playing a rousing game of solitare, but seems just happy as can be to just be hanging out here.

I'm not sure why Kumo's over all the time now, but with Voltaire being over at Mandi's until Aunt Esther's visit is over, it is kind of nice having another presence in the house. It's quiet with Voltaire gone. I hadn't realized how quickly I had gotten used to his being around. Mandi now laughs at me every time I call, but I just want to make sure he's doing okay over there. She said he seems a little mellow, and not as playful as he was when she brought the dogs over here the other day, but mostly okay. Maybe I'll go over and visit him sometime next week.

Anyway, tomorrow Wendyand I are all supposed to be hitting the Renaissance Festival (finally!), and I think that'll be great! I'm really looking forward to going in costume and everything!

Maybe we'll be able to swing by and visit Voltaire on the way.

Family

Aunt Esther and my cousins, Holly and Robin

This wedding is bringing out many of my relatives, and really is turning into an impromptu family reuion for us. Talking to Aunt Esther on the phone this morning, I realized I haven't talked much about my family here.

It's huge, there are an awful lot of us: siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews. There will be relatives at this wedding that I talk to nearly every day. There will be relatives that I haven't talked to in years. And there will be relatives that I could gladly go several MORE years without talking to.

I realized I am both looking forward to, and dreading this wedding. Oh, those of us who really don't get along have gotten to where we can be in a room together with civility. But being faced with rifts that you know cannot be healed is never comfortable.

It will be interesting, at any rate. Aren't weddings always?

Massage School Update

I love Thursdays. I get to sleep in, catch up on my e-mail, and blog. It's a nice day off.

School is going GREAT! I'm learning so much! It's been a very, VERY busy week. In palpation, we learned about the muscles of the scapula and the shoulder girdle.

I adore my teacher, even though I'm not sure how she feels about having a rabbit in her classroom. I've met lots of nice people, who have no problems studying with a rabbit, like Nicole who I studied with last Sunday.

For my massage class, I have to do massages in the school lab and then write up what I learned from them, what kind of massage I did, how would I change things for the client, etc.

So I got my lab space all ready.

And my first victim volunteer was my little sister, Kumo.

Being a ninja and all, Kumo is quite a tense bunny. But she said her back felt a million times better when I was all done, and she wants to schedule regular massages now. Which shouldn't be hard, considering lately she seems to spend every moment she's not at work at MY house. Weird.

Anyway, I was then able to procure a human volunteer for massage practice, which was GREAT!

Turns out, massaging humans is EXHAUSTING! First of all, they're HUGE! When Wendy first suggested to me that I do the Chinese massage thing where you walk on people's backs, I thought she was kidding, but since I have to walk on them to get to all the different places to massage anyway, I figure I might as well make it part of the massage. Perhaps tap dance lessons are in order?

Anyway, it's been just wonderful, and I'm told I have pretty good technique. I'll be looking for more volunteers, so if you're up for a rabbit massage, just let me know!

Off to get Voltaire all packed up and ready to go over to Mandi's house. Aunt Esther isn't coming until Thursday the 27th, but this way I can vacuum all the dog fur off the couch and everything. Esther hates dogs a LOT, and it's really nice of Mandi to dogsit Voltaire so he's out of the house while she's here. I think he'll have a great time playing with Taylor and Murphy, Mandi's dogs, too. It'll be like a little doggie vacation for Voltaire! Should be great!

Monday Night Poker....er, Go Fish

Kumo showed up this afternoon, shortly after I got home from school. We hung around a bit, and just as she was about to leave, a pretty serious looking storm rolled in.


So we brought her bike up onto the porch, where it'd be safe, and she came back inside for some coffee and cards in the library.

We stayed up much too late playing a very heated game of "Go Fish" (heated as games like Fish can only get when played by siblings).


She growled at me once (seriously, growled at me) for asking for her Jacks. And then completely wiped the floor with me for the rest of the game. (shaking head) My sister, "Go Fish" card shark.

It's been lovely spending more time with her. Voltaire adores her (I'm starting to think that Voltaire adores everyone). I offered to let her stay overnight, but she felt the roads were dry enough that she'd be okay on the ride home. She knows her bike makes me nervous (she's been in two wrecks on her previous motorcycles) and so she called me as soon as she got home, to let me know she made it home alive.

She is really most considerate of her worry prone brother.... even if she is a card shark.