squirelawrence

but DAMN, that girl can sing. 

SiriusXM radio had an hourlong interview/acoustic set with Evenescence while I was on the road for work (totally worth whatever I paid for Sirius this month).  They opened with Bring Me to Life, of course, and at first, the acoustic set (with piano and cello) sounds pretty much like the album version (which is kind of neat in itself).  Then it hits the point where normally the guitars come snarling in, and the difference hits you.  And then the non-difference hits you - Amy Lee's vocal track sounds exactly the same.  And you realize that amazing, pure, precise, freaking GORGEOUS  voice is all her - she can do this with nothing more than a microphone and an empty room.  

Damn, that girl can sing.  And apparently she plays harp, too, which has got to be amazing to see. 

It's not that my cars refuse to break down (which may be the more advanced version, I suppose - wonder if I can level up somehow?).  It's that WHEN they break down, they tend to be very considerate about it.  

For example - my last three breakdowns?  One, the car refused to start after we had stopped for lunch at Arby's (where we never went for lunch normally).  The Arby's was across the street from an Autozone - we walked over, grabbed a new battery, walked back, drove away. 

The second?  Tire shredded and blew out on the Interstate.  Managed to pull over to the shoulder without incident.  Neither the car nor I had stopped shaking when a breakdown vehicle pulled up behind me.  They saw the tire start to fray and followed me for the half-mile it took for the tire to blow.  Had the tire changed out in under 5 minutes.  

And tonight.  My car dies while I zipping down the highway.  I pull over in what I later find is the last stop for several miles before the shoulder just drops off.  Call Roadside Assistance - they say tow will be there in an hour or two.  Tow pulls up in 15 minutes.  Get towed to dealership, where I have to leave the car and make my way home.  Figure I'll walk across the highway to the sandwich shop, call a cab and get some dinner while I wait.  There's a cab pulled into the restaurant, just finishing up their dinner.  Zip right home.  

And yeah, my beloved, less than 8 months old car broke down, which makes me pretty upset.  On the other hand, no one was hurt, I got home with little fuss (although damn, the cab ride home was expensive), and this was about the perfect time, as I'm about to fly out to New Mexico for the week anyway.  If I can manage to get the repairs initiated by phone, I can stay home tomorrow and Saturday, the shuttle comes to get me Sunday, and then I'm in New Mexico for the week and wouldn't be driving anyway.  Almost makes me feel bad for, well, feeling bad that my car broke down.

Almost.

Had a terrible, horrible, very bad day - despite getting to see tricksterquinn and her new house of awesome - involving a truly demented GPS and some very horrible roads.  And no phone service.  And getting home to find the obituary of one of my high school classmates in my email inbox.

One the very slight uptick, the GPS routing me through the back roads of Hell meant that I got to see cows, and horses, and BEARS!  Mama black bear and two cubs standing on the side of the road and contemplating crossing.  Very cute.

I'm going to run away and join the circus now. 

An interview with Neil Gaiman turns into Adam Savage from Mythbusters, in the voice of Gollum, singing "I Will Survive."

Could not stop laughing.  I think the interviewer may actually have sustained injuries.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X9eriClHWLw#at=186

This planet is so WEIRD.  But I loves it, I loves it, my precious!

The cat's been a little suspicious for the last couple of days, but not much, lured into a false sense of security by my very slow packing pace. Even she started to get alarmed at the number of boxes popping up, though, and the emptying of the closet was a dead giveaway. Luckily, she didn't panic and hide under the bed, allowing me to lock her up in the study with the food and the litter box instead.

The movers have come and gone - my entire life packed into 2/3 of a storage pod in under an hour and a half. Slightly depressing, that, but also impressive. Due to the apartment complex I'm moving to being closed on Easter, I'm stuck here until Monday morning, when I will be hitting the road for Durham, NC. My email will remain the same, as will my phone (at least for the immediate future), and I'll pass on my new physical address shortly.

now can I has sleep? *pitiful whine*

I got the job on Monday. I drove an hour north (to be fair, the inestimable tricksterquinn drove me out there) of Baltimore to buy the car on Tuesday. It had six miles on it when I drove off the lot.

I drove to North Carolina on Wednesday to apartment shop. Drove back today and got the news that the lease application was approved an hour ago (pending payment of deposits and proof of renter's insurance - yup, it's a NICE apartment). My beloved new Nissan Juke (needs a name - I'm leaning towards Luke at the moment) now has 724 miles on it, and I am SOOOOOO tired.

I have the moving truck scheduled for pickup and dropoff, and am waiting for the movers to call me back to schedule packing, loading and unloading. It's been an incredibly productive couple of days, but I feel like I've been beaten with a stick (yes, in fact, I do know what that feels like). I really need a nap, but I still need to schedule the movers and figure out where I can park the car legally and move it. *whine some more*

Got a call this morning from the Federal Public Defender's Office, asking me what start date I wanted. I think that qualifies as an official job offer. *snerk*

They're supposed to email me the formal letter (including my salary) tomorrow. I also get to go to Carmax tomorrow and purchase a car, so I can drive to North Carolina and apartment shop before I have to move in two weeks. Gonna be a busy couple of weeks.

So, for all those in the DC and Baltimore area - I'll miss you! Hope all stays well for you here, but I need to get back to court, and that seems to mean back to North Carolina. On the other hand, the apartment I'm hoping to get is a block from the local Amtrak station, so hopefully I'll be back soon and often.

Saw an ad in the Pentagon Metro station for some military contractor that apparently manufactures an electronic communication and intelligence network for the military.

Name of the contractor? Palantir.

I'm so amused. Wonder if they had to pay royalties to Tolkien's estate?

(1) My, Olivia Wilde sure is pretty.

(2) This really would make a cool video game.

(3) I sorta wish they'd let Bruce Boxleitner chew more scenery.

(4) They let Jeff Bridges chew quite enough scenery, thank you very much.

(5) Overall, I enjoyed it (although I seem to have been in the minority in my audience that did so).

I was just thinking that despite its lack of many of the things I loved about the original series, the new "Nikita" was beginning to grow on me (unlike SG:U, which has finally lost me, but that's a different story) when tonight's episode brought me Broots, the nervous, twitchy computer genius from "The Pretender," playing a nervous, twitchy computer genius. Play to your strengths, Brootsy!

...damn, this show gets any better and I'm gonna have to find icons for it.