A fine morning to sleep in on, or tl;dr mit Uberreiniger

[uberreiniger]

It has been a couple of busy weeks for me. I've kept meaning to get on LJ and talk about it but have either been too tired or too preoccupied to bother. Two weeks ago my team at work unexpectedly got moved to day shift. We go back to evenings today. But the change in schedules let me enjoy raiding in the evenings with my World of Warcraft guild - something I've really missed since I started this job. And I also got to go to rehearsal with the theatre group I'm involved in. The downside was the harsh reminder that I really am a night person and that as much as I like having my evenings free, I'm always going to hate getting up in the morning to go to work. I always feel very tired, sluggish, and almost ill at work in the daytime even when I've gotten plenty of sleep the night before. I hate not having my evenings free now, but am very glad to be back on a sleep schedule that fits my circadean rhythm.

Coinciding with the switch to days was the toothache I've been ignoring for some time now reaching unbearable levels. So I ate the fact that I do not have insurance and went to the dentist. Turns out the pain is from grinding my teeth. He did a little work that's taken care of things enough that I no longer wake up in agony in the middle of the night now. Unfortunately it's just a short term solution. I need two root canals and some more work besides. But hey, people in this country don't NEED better health coverage, right?

I don't want to go into detail, but this last couple of weeks has also seen me having trouble from one of my nastier creditors. I've got a date with them this month to work out a payment plan and get them to stop harassing me but doing so is going to leave me with virtually nothing from my paychecks. I'm already dealing with one creditor and trying to keep up with my car payments after all. At least I'm in a situation where I'm living rent free so it's not the end of the world. But the stress of dealing with these people is consuming and I'll be happier when I can just mail them checks and not have to talk to them anymore.

Once I set up my payments with the creditor it's going to be the end of fun money as I know it for the foreseeable future. Therefore I figured that if I needed or wanted things I had better buy them now while I still had the bulk of my paycheck sitting in my pocket where no one else could touch it. Friday night and Saturday were one epic shopping trip. I bought some new shirts, a new pair of pants for work, and a much-needed new pair of shoes. Those who follow me on Facebook know what an ordeal that was. In a nutshell, nobody around here sells the style and brand of shoes that I like. Friday night saw me go to five different stores in search of them. When I finally did find them they weren't in my size. Luckily the store had what I needed at another location nearby but since it was closing time I had to wait until Saturday to get them. It was worth the wait though. I'm very satisfied.

On Saturday I also sold off the last of my old books I no longer want. I've been doing this over the period of several weeks but this weekend I really hit the jackpot. Turned on some of the books I'd been hanging onto were actually on the store's list of merchandise they really wanted. This used bookstore also has a used cd section and as it so happened someone else's trash was there waiting to be my treasure. I walked out with the latest releases from Nile and Megadeth, along with a Dresden Dolls CD. Still having plenty of my book bounty left over, I wandered down to Streetside Records in Westport and also acquired the newest releases from Paradise Lost and Epica.

Probably the naughtiest thing I bought for myself this weekend, however, was an MP3 player. I've never really owned one unless you count the weird one my dad found at work that I never figured out how to use and eventually lost. This one's a Sandisk and fairly cheap but it's working for me so far. Things I've learned about Apple lately have made me never want an iPod or anything else they make. What I bought seems to work just as well. Plus the only iPod I could have afforded is one of those really tiny ones that's the size of a Lego brick and could easily be confused for a piece of chewing gum. I might finally be joining the 21st century and buying an MP3 player but I'm not caving into this obsession with having every piece of technology so small it's a choking hazard. For the same price as an Apple iSwallowedit I got a Sandisk Sansa that fits in the palm of my hand and has more storage space. Eat it, Jobs.

It was still an extremely impulsive purchase on my part. I rarely make them and if anything, I hate making them. But as I was sitting at home loading cd's onto my computer I finally had the moment of going "Damnit, I want this. And if I don't buy it now I won't have another chance for a long, long time." So it is done and I don't regret it. Now I can put my money toward debt, taxes, and the GRE less fettered by unfulfilled want.

Congratulations if you're still reading after all that. Sunday was the day I had really looked forward to. I went over to Lesley and zombiecowboy's house to rehearse for the theatre troupe again and to provide drumming accompaniment while the ladies bellydanced. I haven't gotten to drum in almost a year and I was terribly out of practice and kept missing beats. But Lesley complimented me afterward and said she was really glad and excited to be having me there to do it. It was definitely fun and since this is going to be an every Sunday thing I'm hoping I will soon be back in the groove, literally.

I really enjoy all the music I acquired this weekend, but The Dresden Dolls are getting the heaviest play right now. I'm definitely on an Amanda Palmer kick at the moment. I've got to say I like The Dresden Dolls better than her solo work. Her solo work's not bad, just different and the DD's fit my tastes a bit more squarely. It's too bad she killed the other Dresden Doll and used his sinews for ukulele strings. He joins a long and tragic musical graveyard whose cadavers include but are not limited to:

-Art Garfunkle
-DJ Jazzy Jeff
-The male members of No Doubt.
-The two Black Eyed Peas who aren't Fergie or will.i.am.
-Anyone from Destiny's Child who isn't named Beyonce
-Any Stray Cat who is not Brian Setzer
-That guy who founded Evanescence, then left because Amy Lee is a bitch.
-The guy from Wham! who wasn't George Michael... and later, George Michael.

RIP

Comments

[germsama.livejournal.com]

"-That guy who founded Evanescence, then left because Amy Lee is a bitch."

Ugh, good riddance Ben Moody.

Rasputina is another band that's left a hefty trail of dead bodies over the course of their (her) career. I think of the dozens only one of the cellists survived to make a career for herself.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I dunno, the math's real simple. Fallen: Album written with Ben Moody, is an entire album of good songs. The Open Door: an album written without him and there's not a good song on it.

I'm leaving out bands like Rasputina (or Megadeth for that matter,) where the revolving door policy has become a running joke. I'm thinking more of musicians who got famous with the help of a set group of bandmates, then left them high and dry for a solo career under their own name.

[germsama.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't Evanescence fall in the category of the revolving door?

Gotta disagree with you on Fallen vs The Open Door, though I'm of the opinion that Evanescence's greatest loss was that of David Hodges. He was the third and most overlooked of the three founders, worked on Fallen and left the band shortly before it's release to pursue a career in Christian music. And he was incredible. I could go on and on and on about the statement, "Ben left because Amy's a bitch," because it's just a topic that sets me off with the amount of misconception around it... but I don't want to hijack your thread.

Amanda Palmer is amazing.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I actually initially perceived them as more akin to the Eurythmics i.e. the two main people and their backup band. The Open Door was one of the most disappointing albums I've ever bought and I really wanted to like it. None of the tracks on it were memorable or stood out to me at all.

[flame-song.livejournal.com]

I totally love Amanda Palmer...

[ayashi.livejournal.com]

I don't really understand the big thing with ipods. Before I bought my iphone (the only apple product I own) I thought of getting an mp3 player but I didn't really see any reason to get an ipod. It is nice that it can sync up with iTunes I guess, but I didn't use iTunes until I finally let myself accept that the winamp I had once known and loved had died a horrible and lengthy death XD (this was after refusing to upgrade for who knows how many updates because every update just made it worse)

Nowadays I still wonder if the iPhone is worth it or if I'd rather just get a different smartphone. That though I'm still undecided on. I still have a few months to think on that one though before my renewal comes up. At least the phone can double up as an mp3 player.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

The iPhone was marketed as nothing more than a status symbol and that's all it looks like to me. Then again I'm total luddite when it comes to cell phones. I don't care if my phone browses the web or tweets or whatever. I just want my phone to be a phone.

[lizzie_borden]

My Mom has, for years, tried to convince me to get an ipod as she's a long time mac user.. I absolutely will NOT do it. And it all stems from the fact that, in windows 98, Quicktime was one of the biggest problems on my systems and forget about uninstalling it..

I've had similar problems trying to get itunes off of windows machines too. I totally understand that those things are built to work with different systems, blah blah blah, but, being that I'm NOT a mac user, and have no intention of being one, I will absolutely NOT infect another nonMac machine with their invasive software.

I've used macs, I've owned macs, my husband's just bought a new iMac. I don't really have much of a problem with them until it comes to their software and my ability to control it and being that I'm on a nonMac system, it makes it much more of a hassle. Windows is no prize winning pig either, but at least I can beat it into submission.

I don't think that Mac is any more evil than Windows, on any scale, I just don't like how difficult it is to work with on Windows systems. As far as how they conduct their business, well, everyone is out to make a dime, everyone puts a spin on things, and when you're dealing with multi-billion dollar industries that revolve around technology that changes/upgrades every 2 weeks, I can't blame ANYONE for going to extreme lengths to keep it locked up tighter than fort knox. If the competition gets what makes you stand out, well, you don't stand out anymore.


As for mp3's, I've got a Samsung P3 mp3 player. I LOVE it. If you're ever looking for something that does a little bit more, they're fantastic. I watch movies on it, read ebooks, listen to music, play games, write notes, and it's all touch screen on a drag and drop & plug and play interface with no hassle from a 3rd party monitoring what I put into it.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good model. If I ever want to upgrade I'll try to remember that one.

I doubt Mac is any better or any worse than any other Megacorp out there. But their software is getting more and more invasive all the time. I resent the fact that they design software that deliberately punishes you for not running it on their systems. Makes me not want to mess with their crap at all.

[armageddonriver.livejournal.com]

Mmm, gotta love Amanda and the Dresden Dolls. I don't think I could say I prefer one lot of music over the other; they both appeal to me in different ways.

There may be hope for Brian yet, though. Amanda intimated at the Melbourne show that a new Dresden Dolls tour could crop up sometime in the not-too-distant future. No promises, but we can hope :)

As with germsama, I don't necessarily agree with your position on Evanescence - personally, I think The Open Door is a far more individual and developed offering - but that's just a matter of taste. Cradle of Filth are probably another band you can add to the list, though ;)

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Cradle is probably the only band out there that's had more lineup changes than Megadeth!

And what is everybody's hard on for The Open Door? It's a terrible album. I listened to that sucker three times all the way through trying to find a single song that was memorable or interesting and none were.

[armageddonriver.livejournal.com]

Hehehe, yes. When I saw Cradle live for the second time, there were only three members remaining from the line-up I saw the first time.

I think Evanescence's sound is much more developed and individual on The Open Door. I love Fallen, but I nevertheless tend to agree with the criticism that a lot of the songs sounded very similar. The Open Door, by contrast, broke off in different directions and explored more of the band's potential, in my opinion. I really like Cloud Nine and Snow White Queen for that reason, particularly the things Amy is doing vocally.

To be fair though, I hated Call Me When You're Sober when it first came out, and still do. And you're certainly right about Amy being a pain in the arse, though recent interviews lead me to hope that she's grown up a bit.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

I think I'd be less critical of Amy if she could pull it off live. I've seen several live songs of theirs online and yeah, they're pulling some serious studio magic to make her sound good on the albums. Kind of like Tarja.

I must be listening to a different Open Door than everyone else. Yes it's a very glossy, well-produced, "big" sounding album, but the songs all felt very lackluster and tired. I actually thought the songs on Fallen sounded very diverse. It was one of those rare albums where every song could have been a single.

[armageddonriver.livejournal.com]

I never saw Tarja live personally, though I enjoy the live recordings I have of her. I think the End of an Era concert was astounding; one of the best Metal DVDs in my collection, in my opinion.

As for Amy, all I can really say is that she was much improved the second time I saw her, in 2007. There are plenty of vocalists I like better, though. Liv Kristine blows her out of the water live.

*shrug* Diff'rent strokes. It'll be interesting to see how things go with the new album. Apparently it's going in a more Industrial sort of direction.

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

Glad you got out to do some shopping. I hope you can work things out with your creditors.

I'm just thankful I have insurance, though I pay an insane price for it.

Edit: It's not really an insane price at all. Just more than I can afford.

[uberreiniger.livejournal.com]

Any price you can't afford is an insane one where insurance is concerned.