sunny days and sixty degrees

the title is not there to make you new englanders jealous. it is to tell you what i have been missing whilst i've been on the couch. i caught dustin's sickness. though it seems to have loosened it's grip (or grippe), now cramming for the chemistry final has taken hold. those are stories i know you do not wish to hear. so i will spare you. it seems today is Laura's birthday. march 1. every year. so happy birthday , laura! also today marks our halfway point here in california this trip. hard to believe we have only been here two months, huh. but couple that with two weeks in arkansas, and a few weeks not working, and the time really adds up. so we should be home by may.
now the news:
we went to see built to spill. they are, after all, my favorite band. they played at the filmore in san francisco. the meat puppets opened up for them. now the filmore is full of history. anyone who is anyone has played there, so i love to go there. for some reason, they give away apples by the front door. just a little fact for y'all. so we saved all our errands for monday until we were leaving for the show. my goal was to miss the meat puppets. their name alone made me a little ill during their heyday in the mid nineties. so i really had no desire to see them. unfortunately, (or fortunately as the case may be) we forgot about rock star time. in living in vermont for so long, we forgot that shows do not start on time. so we got there half an hour late. not even late enough to miss the real opening band (hel-vetia--from seattle). they were ok to bad. no one was really feeling them and even their drummer looked bored. so we tried to be enthusiastic about them. but no. they played for 45 mins and the singer asked if his sister had made it. silence took over the crowd. even the dude's sister couldn't make it. sad day for him, huh. then the meat puppets. i was dreading this. i knew Nirvana had covered two of their songs on their unplugged album. so i knew it could be better than i thought, but still when they took the stage i was still not thrilled. then they started playing some southern rock type song, and the energy the bassist had was amazing. soon i was dancing and cheering. then they played some songs i knew. they were great! i almost considered saying to dust that they were my new favorite band, and we could just leave because there was no way built to spill was living up to the meat puppet's energy . they were all dancing and playing instruments, and singing, and smiling and sweating. they were working it. and the crowd was going crazy. especially the balding men (and me). everyone was cheering and laughing along with them. now, this was a show i wanted to see. when they were done, i bought my bts shirt, proof i had been to the show, and went upstairs to a bar area where a band was playing along to some old radio show recording (putting their own soundtrack on it). dust was happy. as we went down to the main stage and took our place in the crowd for built to spill, we were ready. dust had a beer, i had a new shirt in my pocket. good to go. then they came out. the set was pretty good. they did not even come close to playing everything i wanted to hear, but they played a good mix of old and new songs. it was nice to have the whole crowd sing along and dance. it was good. and they kept going (they aren't called the indie jam band for nothing). it seemed like hours of me dancing and cheering. it was great! as we left, we got a free poster. new art for the house. what a good adventure.
the next day, i had a job interview at the chiropractic clinic. (i got the job, but had to quit before it began.) here is that story. the interview went great. i really liked all the people i talked to. the typing and the math went well. they offered me the job, and i told them i was going to chiropractic school in september. they asked if i wanted to push that start date back and work for them for a year. i told them i had already pushed it back long enough, and september was late enough. so i didn't take the job.
(you will also remember i had an interview with a cactus store--that was creepy. they asked how i thought i would be selling cactus in five years. it is a part time job. really. five years. one of the owners looked homeless and one looked like mr. rogers. we sat in a little room, our knees hitting, and the smell of fertilizers filling our noses. --too creepy. as i left, the boy in the retail area was so sad/bored and said "s-s-see you soon?" i told him to have a nice day. but it was an altogether creepy time at the cactus store! so no me for them.) now back to the chiropractic day.
that was also dustin's first day at the farmer's market. it was sunny and in the upper sixties. i took him at 12:30, and went to Trader Joe's to get come Emergen-c's to fight off the cold i had been feeling. i made it home and had to take a nap because i was exhausted. two hours later, i forced myself to get up and clean the house and do the dishes. then i went to get dust. i had to lay down again when he got home. i made dinner at nine and went to bed. the next day was much the same. all i had the energy to do was go to the in-n- out burger. then nap. yesh. i was getting boring. and fast. for two days, and i mean 2 days i was hurtin'. now i am better. but i have the sneezes. but at least i can leave the house.
during my stint with the chimera, we went to see there will be blood. that is right. those of you paying attention know we couldn't go see that movie until dustin finished the book. so, ladies and gents, you can start the count of actual books read by dustin manix this year with "oil" by upton sinclair. it inspired "there will be blood." and dust gives it a thumbs up (the book and the movie). so see, i told y'all he could read. you thought it was just a life of video games for us here in sunny california, but no. we read. i've read three books--four if you count me finishing the organic chem book. and dust has finished one. but his wii fitness age is at least half what mine it. he is 22 and last i checked i was 57. so there is something to be said for not reading.
tomorrow hilary comes. we will show her around. it will be good. i have another interview at a running store that sells orthodics (i have made custom shoe inserts at my job in portland--so maybe i can get that.) it pays more than $13 an hour and it is part time. nice. and another interview on friday for medical records filing--pick your own hours up to 18. so not so bad. i'll keep you posted and try to publish more pick, but you guys don't need sick pictures. that is no good for anyone. better now. we'll talk to you all soon!