A few of my favorite..people...

As we begin hiring new Blaze directors for next year, here's some photos of the great group who rocked the 05/06 Blaze world! Students who run college radio stations are the best!

Roger Clyne for President?

I drove by a car today that had a bumper sticker that said Roger Clyne for President. Those crazy Peacemaker fans, I am surprised it didn't say Roger Clyne is god or at least start him in local government first! LOL.

Next week is guest DJ week at The Blaze. Robin is bringing his partner in the new side project (see photo) The stuff I have heard online sounds fantastic! The guy is Steve French who Robin met ages ago from the band Star Club. I seemed to recall August Red opening for them here at The Roxy. That was the night everyone thought I took out an add for redboy in the back of the New Times. (I certainly did NOT!) Anyway, this year is going to be crazy for great new CDS, this Long Shadows, a new Blossoms, a new Matt, Jon Auer's solo, and a new one from those other guys...um NOME?

I am heading to LA tomorrow! So excited to get a short vacation. A chance to get out of town and see some music! PPF and I plan plenty of wine and chocolate for our viewing fest! Hopefully I will have plenty of tales to tell when I return. Maybe I will make it to Ameoba to!

Everything is cool biz around the homestead. Dan and I have been having a ton of fun lately. I finally got him to the doctor about his allergies too-Dan to the doctor-amazing! Next amzing feat will be him putting that new motor in that red car...

Artic Monkeys are the new Carter the unstoppable sex machine.

Bay Window is going fantastic. I have edited through Chapter 48. There are 71 chapters but I eliminated one and combined two others so...I guess that means I am more than half way through the edits (Although some of the last chapters seem longer. Maybe?) Again I can just say I didn't think I would enjoy editing but I really have. (Content editing, not english type stuff-bleck!) I suspect based on my sessions with the writing coach, I could still use more weeding out.

Trip to NS plans are moving along. We ran into a snag with one of the hotels. We found one on the internet that has 3 beds and two bathrooms-I have never seen a hotel room that large for the price we got quoted! Waiting to hear if Nova approves of it. Missy and I are now trying to come up with clever ways to make more dough. I plan to teach her ebay so she can put some of my junk up.

The Blaze has a ton of Hot Tamales! So today's catch phrase- try using it-is "Hot Tamales!"

Just between you and me...

Observations on a Friday:

I just drove by a smart car while I was driving the golf cart. It was smaller that the golf cart. If you got hit in one of those, you would die..period.. that is smart?? I will stick to my gas guzzling big ole truck thank you!

Tony and I were meeting to dine at the new Long Wongs in Tempe..but you see...it is NOT Long Wongs as the once great venue for bands to play. It is a chain Long Wongs with T-shirts that say, Long Wong's is back. Far from it, not the same owners, small menu and no music. Tony was so turned off by the fact that they are trying to pawn it off as the original, we left. I call that dedication to an establishment.

Yesterday was proof I should NOT work on Bay Window at work. I needed to return a call to a girl named Millie. It rang for a while and I get distracted as to who I was calling. When she answered, I asked for MIMI! She giggled because she said her nieces call her Mimi but you know I said it because I was looking at my computer screen! LOL! THEN, my appointment comes, the gal looks at all my photos of our dogs and says she has a lab named Murph...I near choke.

I am busting through editing now, at about chapter 29 now. Enjoying it immensely, keeping me from doing chores as usual ;) I can add or delete one sentence that can manipulate it the way I need it to go. I read a chapter this week that I don’t think I have seen since I wrote it, like last June! I had forgotten what I wrote!

I had to attend this "Future of local Television" this week that kept me at work until like 9:30pm. I certainly listened but also wrote three "treatments" for new novel options. Jim and Andy was one of them, the girl racer one which didn't seem to have an obvious conflict to it and a third idea which seems the most intriguing. It combines an old short story I wrote back in college and a newer idea I had talking to my pal E-Ruh! We'll see, I told Missy, I think I will start on number two after we return from Nova Scotia. I hope to be done with my content edits of Bay Window by the time we go. Then upon return, add anything I was struck by while visiting. Then I think it will be time to begin again. It will pretty much be one year from the time I started Bay Window. PPF has volunteered to grammar, format and spell edit (oh, but she knows I owe and will pay her back big time! I know her weekness!) Then I figure out IF I pursue it?? I am still inclined to wait until I am done with number 2.

Up until Christmas time, I had never heard of fan fiction. Now I learn there are stories about Qui Gon and Obi Wan in love.... or Jon and Ken...or Matt Good and Raine from OLP... I keep forgetting to tell Dan, he is going to laugh his ass off.

One more week until I go to LA! Yeah! Concerts and loads of video watching. Can't wait to actually have something to do for a weekend. Was supposed to race this weekend but alas that team I race for cancelled a opportunity to race in nice weather. What a shock! I swear, Team Speedworld looks better every year! I'm off to edit, I mean get work done! :)

39 things that happened on my 39th birthday

Somewhat in order of occurence...

1. My SMB buddy MIR started a b-day thread for me at midnight EST, lots of photos of my fave rock musicians ensued. Made me glow, thanks guys!
2. Woke up to Jasper having his worst seizure yet, full body. Dan eased him out of it.
3. Unlike last year at work, there were no signs on my office door or flowers in my office. I did have nice emails and ecards.
4. Just like last year, I had to do Freshman Orientation, needy kids this time too.
5. I got b-day text messages from KBM, M, and Wake!
6. The academic advising crew took me to Ruby Tuesday for lunch.
7. I was late for my own lunch due to needy kids at orientation
8. Matt and I bitched about Sirius while waiting for Orientation kids
9. First song I listened to on ipod in morning- "The Good in Everyone"
10. My co-worker who was out for surgery came back for my lunch. Great to see her!
11. Had RT salad bar, second to Marie Calender in Salad bars IMO.
12. Drove golf cart-love that thing!
13. Co-workers sang to me at RT.
14. My pal, PPF called, told her she didn't have to sing
15. Tony left message, he was supposed to go to 4 Peaks at 6am, based on VM, he may have!!
16. Had mini-work crisis, had to go see Dean, all worked out fine.
17. Had call from idiot incoming frosh mom, "My Johnny this.." "MY Johnny that.."
18. Spent last hour at work final editing Bay Window Chpter 3-5.
19. Took out on of my very favorite lines becuase it was all knowing and nothing else follows that point of view. Still sad to remove it
20. Dan finally called, he had fell asleep and panicked to run to grocery store to get cake and flowers about 10 min before I got home.
21. Had to go straight to dinner at Fogo E Brasa, a Brazilian Steak place
22. Collins clan didn't seem to like Fogo like Dan and I do.
23. Bill was $375! Yikes, I will never hear end of that!
24. It was YUM, meats were tasty and rare plus They had shrimp!
25. Dan got me dozen roses, pack of gum,and a snoopy card. He already got me a new race jacket at the CSK's 2 wks ago.
26. J & S have new foster child at dinner, they maybe able to adopt him, maybe soon we will have 3 nephews.
27. Hunter ran straight past his mom to give me a hug first at dinner.
28. MY ipod played a nice selection of Harlequin, GT, Sloan, GB's and Posies for my day.
29. Watched dvd of Collins clan trip to dunes last week, proof that Dan was jumping my quad.
30. Blew out number 39 candles on my Chocolate cake (Crowded House) Made same wish I always do..someday it will come true!
31. Opened gifts, money from Mom & Dad Collins for NS trip.
32. Gifts From Missy, Travis and Hunter- Lil fridge for my office plus Dessert perfume and powder (Missy knows so well what I look at in stores!)
33. Gifts from Jody, Sue and Matthew - Posie flower jewelery, purple and black shirts that I opened up to find Sloan decal ON! LMC stunned! PLUS Maple Music gift certificate!
34. Showed Missy and Sue my SMB b-day thread
35. Hunter served me my birthday cake and ice cream.
36. Went to restroom, came out to M & S pulling me into kids bedroom
37. World War 5 erupted between Collins boys and their parents. I left, Dan didn't come home until midnight.
38. Opened gifts from Nina at home, cried how much I miss my family, called PPF to keep me occupied and not as depressed as I was getting. (Thanks ;))
39. Della and Jasper got in fight over bone, Dan got bit by Della. Went to bed. The End.

Election Day - Arcadia

Observations Day:

Spring break around these parts making it very quiet-love it! I have orientations three days this week but fortunately they now end by noon. Last year we were lucky if we got back to office by 6pm. Ash and Wasef leave for SXSW today! Oh the memories there! I will have to blog that this week. They are so lucky; nearly every newer Canadian band is playing this year plus Sam Robert and Jon Auer! I told them if The Blaze was sending them, it was advisor orders that they must see at least one Canadian band. I know Wasef will, we'll see if Ash does-JK!

I booked our hotel in New Glasgow, NS yesterday. I have my eye on a lodge style place for our night in Cape Breton. I need to check with Missy, she and Hunter went to Sea World. I should have all reservations done by this weekend. Once that is done, I just need to save like crazy!

While Dan went dune riding this past weekend, I spend hours editing. I did do a few household chores as I always get sort of guilty if I don't do something else. It was so weird how I avoided editing at first because NOW I love it. I am so happy finding the little things that needed tweaking. I still need a grammar master to be sure. I am enjoying content cleaning, not comma usage! Oddly I still think I like the very first chapter the least. I need to find just one or two little sparks to make me satisfied with it. I struggle with introductions to characters I notice, like um...the main ones..

On Friday I got something I won on ebay that is rather unbelievable. I won a radio station compilation from Q104 (where Elise get's her first job of course) It has TWO Haywire songs on it I have NEVER heard before. 20 years later (ugh that sounds so horrible) 1986, my favorite year of Canadian music! I always remember being at the mall in London,ONT at Sam the record man searching for a list of bands that included Eye Eye, Glass Tiger and Haywire. Then my boyfriend at the time surprised me by showing up at that mall, while I was in that store. He had just gotten to London from Iowa. (We were there for a drag boat race. I'll have to think hard to remember how he figured out I was at the mall)

Tempe is the dumbest town known to man. They now have construction on Apache and University. Last week it took me an hour to get to work! I have rethought my approach. I have to get up earlier now, damn them and I actually take the freeway to work! This is for like the next two years. I have never, ever wanted to be one of those people who sit in traffic everyday. I have avoided it for all of my working years until now. GRRRRR

Oh yeah, I am turning 39 this week. I haven't really thought too much about my birthday. I am not upset about age or anything. Like I said last year, it was my mom who make sure to make my birthday special every year so it just becomes a day where I miss her, not like I don't suffer from that every day anyway. Dan tries, I know he does. Anyway, I'd like to go out to dinner but it will be tough this year with it being on a Friday. I need to think of a place that no one would think of to go to on St. Patrick's day (like Chinese or something) LMC, successful at 39 years of avoiding green beer ;)

I was thinking that I have been listening to XM 52 every day since Wake discovered they were playing all Canadian music. Everyday! I can not believe the amount o new bands I have discovered thanks to that and C & J's show. Oh and I am STILL having problems with my Sirius receiver. It rained Saturday (first time since Oct 18, like 145 days or something) anyway; the satellite wouldn't work, because it rained??? If it were not for C & J's show, I would tell Sirius where they can stick their satellite radio.

Dan suggested he and I go to Washington DC to see all the museums. I have to go to a convention in Nov at Syracuse. We started talking about it as he asked me if I wanted him to go with me. I told him he would be bored in NY but maybe we could go somewhere after. Then he suggested we meet in DC. (Soul City-Partland Bros is on) I think this would be a great idea for us to finally have a vacation. Don't think I didn't try for Toronto though LOL! No, I hope we do it, it would be a great vacation. (Me, vacationing in a US city nowhere near the Canadian border-unbelievable! :))

"Music is my aeroplane"

Yesterday, with a tiny tear in my eye, I clicked accept on the reservations for a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia via Continental airlines. 10 days, 9 nights to a destination that will be the farthest I will have ever traveled from home. Melissa is super excited; we spent last Sat plotting out where we will be each night so we can book hotels. Nova herself, who I met 20 years ago, calling herself Nova Scotia on the air is already booked on a flight and will join us for the last 4 days. This weekend I will finish booking the hotels as Missy and I will be hanging the first half of the trip in New Glasgow with my pal Jay who is helping us plan some day tripping to PEI and Cape Breton. I couldn't help but marvel at what a journey this novel has led me on in some many ways. On the Tuesday of the trip, we have deemed it "Bay Window" day, we are going to hit many of the locations I placed my characters in. (Except Peggy's Cove which we will save for when Nina gets there)

The iceberg DJ just said he went to see Jeff Martin of Tea Party at the Mod Club in TO last week and that Loverboy played after him. He said they did new material and said "they still have it, goods new stuff." When they were on the "Hit me baby one more time" show last summer, Reno seemed to be having a tough time singing.

Until the trip, not only do I need to keep saving dough (I haven't bought a CD in a few months!) I have been so swamped at work, ebb and flow...many times in this blog I joked about not having much work to do; now I am getting killed with three big projects all at once while still maintaining things like the radio station, the CV kids activities and teaching. The big three stomach churners are orientation; the summer broadcast high school deal (that is officially mine now, last year I was assisting) and finding 40 freshman to live in Cronkite Village next year in a month. They changed the deadline from May 1 to April 1 so I am pulling my hair out to find the right 40 incoming frosh in a short time. I have been getting a mailer ready for the last two days and personally calling leads all over the place to lure them in.. After school gets out, I have 40 kids and the summer deal is over, I will be able to breathe! And then I will leave for NS (think I will need it??)

Editing is going a little better with Bay Window. I have been kinda sick this week, missed work Tuesday and just laying low trying to kick it out of me. It has been a good chance to read and do a casual edit. I am enjoying it now and not afraid to pull poor sentences and stuff that was frivolous. I plan to rewrite a couple early scenes this weekend as Dan is heading to the Dunes. I will certainly do some chores but my main plan for the weekend is to edit (oh and those 8 hours I spend listening to those guys on the radio.

Dan wants me to go watch a show called I love Toys on VH1 so I am going to go check it out.
Jason Collett is on the radio! Maybe I will be seeing him in a few weeks. I love this song- "I'll bring the sun" (last CD I bought come to think of it!)

I have no idea how to get rid of the double post prior! Now the same DJ is talking about his My Space page. I will have to check it out later, I have been collecting bands on "jasper's" My Space. It is kinda fun, I thought Jon was crazy when he told me to set one up last year-that Jon he is always a head of the curve! I still think Jasper is the only dog on my space with his own email address! ;) You can write Jasper or Wicket, Jasper (at) millercollinsracing.com or Wicket (at) Della doesn't have her own yet -LOL! We're talking about a dog that ate a razor this week and we had to rush her to emergency to have her x-rayed for it in her belly. She was fine, no razor...dumb Bassett hound...;)

YHZ, here we come!

Darn old work has been keeping me from blogging-hee but this week I am grateful for work as I finally found out the fate of CV. All is well and CV will continue-Yeah! I have a ton more work to do before April to get it filled. Anyway, work is good plus dumb old orientations started again this week, I am scheduled for all of them except when the high school institutes are and when I go to Nova Scotia.

Speaking of said trip, Plans are really taking shape and within a day or two..I will have plane tickets! I certainly have been focusing my energies on research and plans. I always said I should have been a travel agent (although they are useless now thanks to the internet) Looks like we are flying with a layover in Newark and leaving a day sooner so as to not lose a day in travel there. Nina has her flight and hotel booked already. I need to make a few different reservations in the different towns we will be in before she arrives. It is becoming more a reality, which is making me sooo excited!

Letter number four on the C & J show last night, I am such a DORK! I just like to write and they just read um...I say they don't need to read them on the air. I always wrote letters to Ken Posie too, just fun..oh well, I need to lay off...but it was fun. Jay Sloan has so much of the same music taste as myself, I enjoy commenting on it. Today he was talking about how he can't get into a band if the singer isn't good/sweet sounding, which anyone who knows me has been true forever!

I have been doing some reading of Bay Window since some of it I haven't read in a few months. Not much editing still, Missy says I am overanalyzing it and worrying about it too much. I think it is not very fun. Although, I think I am going to take my very favorite scene and rewrite entire thing for fun and to clean it up. Some rewrites need to wait until I can make some NS impressions.

Not much more than work and passing out early lately. Oh, I did become an SMB legend last week which is yet another piece of evidence that I have lost all my social skills and entered dorkdom. Nah, I love it, I always had friends all over the country, this is another chance to meet other music people which has always been fun, I wonder about my old Posies pals but I fear getting started on their message board.. I thought I had fun observations for this blog but forgot them all now. Will work on that, after I nap ;)!

Darn old work has been keeping me from blogging-hee but this week I am grateful for work as I finally found out the fate of CV. All is well and CV will continue-Yeah! I have a ton more work to do before April to get it filled. Anyway, work is good plus dumb old orientations started again this week, I am scheduled for all of them except when the high school institutes are and when I go to Nova Scotia.

Speaking of said trip, Plans are really taking shape and within a day or two..I will have plane tickets! I certainly have been focusing my energies on research and plans. I always said I should have been a travel agent (although they are useless now thanks to the internet) Looks like we are flying with a layover in Newark and leaving a day sooner so as to not lose a day in travel there. Nina has her flight and hotel booked already. I need to make a few different reservations in the different towns we will be in before she arrives. It is becoming more a reality, which is making me sooo excited!

Letter number four on the C & J show last night, I am such a DORK! I just like to write and they just read um...I say they don't need to read them on the air. I always wrote letters to Ken Posie too, just fun..oh well, I need to lay off...but it was fun. Jay Sloan has so much of the same music taste as myself, I enjoy commenting on it. Today he was talking about how he can't get into a band if the singer isn't good/sweet sounding, which anyone who knows me has been true forever!

I have been doing some reading of Bay Window since some of it I haven't read in a few months. Not much editing still, Missy says I am overanalyzing it and worrying about it too much. I think it is not very fun. Although, I think I am going to take my very favorite scene and rewrite entire thing for fun and to clean it up. Some rewrites need to wait until I can make some NS impressions.

Not much more than work and passing out early lately. Oh, I did become an SMB legend last week which is yet another piece of evidence that I have lost all my social skills and entered dorkdom. Nah, I love it, I always had friends all over the country, this is another chance to meet other music people which has always been fun, I wonder about my old Posies pals but I fear getting started on their message board.. I thought I had fun observations for this blog but forgot them all now. Will work on that, after I nap ;)!