Getting Inked... Finally

I've been wanting to get a tattoo for a while.  I wanted to cover up the Jack Skellington I have on my arm. He was once a part of a tattoo collage idea I had a long time ago.  Things have changed.  I asked friends and did some research before picking the shop.  I received a lot of Raves about Delta Art & Tattoo in Pittsburg CA.  I called to see if there was someone to speak to in person about what I wanted.  They had time, and I rushed over to hopefully speak to a guy named Rich.  I found Rich on Instagram, he has some wicked work. I chatted with Jason about the work he was doing at the moment. I quickly changed my mind about who was doing my tattoo and we discussed possibilities for my tattoo and I made an appointment.  I came in Friday April 7 for a 3 hour session.  On my way there I was called into work, but told them it would have to wait until after my appointment. There was no way I was canceling.  I had to cancel my first appointment due to work; Jason was a sweetheart and rescheduled me. I am grateful for his kindness as I've been waiting too long to get this done.  Jason had a great collage of autumn foliage including one of my favorite flowers, the sunflower.  Dahlia is my other favorite which is also an autumn flower (not in this tattoo).  We get started and I let him know that this session wasn't just about the tattoo but some much needed pain therapy.  Stress with work gave me an itch for pain.  I was relaxed and reading my book most of the time.  He'd ask how I was doing every so often and I made a snarky remark about it not hurting.  He offered to make it hurt for me.  He worked on me for about 2.5 hours... He had another client coming in at 6 and I had to get to work.  Jason is an awesome artist and a cool cat.  I can't wait for my next session.

Manic Monday

Happy Manic Monday

I hope your Monday was Marvelous.  Mine started out energetic, positive, and bright.  I had an appointment for an onsite recruitment for a small local staffing agency.  Unfortunately it wasn't right for me.  I decided to see what else was out in the world of employment only to feel a bit discouraged by the lack of possibilities.  Maybe the career center I was visiting had not updated for the week.  I did find two positions to apply for so it wasn't a complete loss.

I applied for the two positions when I got home.  I forgot how long it takes to apply for jobs online.  Retail jobs make you take those crazy long personality quizzes to see if you're a good fit for the company.  The same set of questions asked in different ways, how fun.  I do have a Career Fair in Concord on Wednesday. YAY!  When I picked up the flyer today I saw a list of companies that will be there.  NICE! So of course I googled ALL of them.  Out of the 39 listed less than half are an option for me.  That sounds okay, even with 6 being Staffing Agencies, 1 is the agency I wanted to make an appointment with.  If anything I may learn something new and maybe make some good business contacts.  You never know these days.

After applying for the two positions and while doing some company researching, I spoke to my mother on the phone for over an hour.  We talked about everything; my grandma, cousins, sisters, my fathers job, their house, plans for their trips to Nebraska and California, what I'm doing now, talked about two friends of mine, my kids and the measles outbreak.  Yeah, we talked a lot.

The rest of the day was working on some chores and I started on my resume updating.  I need to finish that by 11 a.m. Tuesday because I have a Fair Housing workshop I'm going to at 1 p.m.  Then I need to  go to the Antioch Library to print a bunch of stuff since my printer is out of ink.  I'm too cheap to buy new ink at the moment.  Every penny counts, especially when the dentist called to tell me I have an appointment next week and my payment will be $76.00.  UGH! I don't have money to spend on things other than bills right now.  I do need the dental work done though.  I'm trying to stay positive and keep good energy flowing..

Positive things happen to positive people. THINK POSITIVE!

Spring Mayhem and Fan Girls

Chillin' and watching the show.

Last weekend I went to CSU East Bay for their Spring Mayhem.  My friend Becca invited me to go because T Mills was performing. Now, I am not a huge fan of T Mills, but I do like some of his music.  He seemed really tall, then again I am only 5'2".  It was cute to see him interact with his fans, especially the older ladies.  He was polite and remembered a lot of his regular concert goers. he seemed humble and sweet.  I'm not one to follow musicians from concert to concert. I'm not a groupie, but there were a lot of ladies there who had been following him to all the local events.  I think that's crazy. Why would you want to follow a musician around and take pictures with them at each event?  I enjoy good music and love going to festivals and concerts, I also like to meet and talk to the artists, but I just don't get the whole fan girling with the running, screaming, and fighting over a person of celebrity status.  Everyone stands in line and gets to say hi and take a pic, WHY do you have to be first? WHY do you have to tell everyone how many times you have seen the artist in concert or "met" them as if it makes you better and higher in the fan girl food chain?  WHY do you have to push, shove, hit, and kick to get as close as possible, is this person going to heal you with their special musical powers? I am a huge fan of some musicians and would love to have the opportunity to meet them, but I would never chase them or fight for their attention.  They are just people who happen to have a great talent.  It's nice taking pictures with people you admire, but I would rather be able to have a conversation with them.  Not a "HI remember me, I go to allll your shows, omg I love you, can I have your baby?"  Okay, not ALL fan girls are that bad, but most are.  It's gross. This show wasn't even that bad, just a few crazy fan girls.  The fangirling is part of the reason I don't like being in front at huge concerts.

At Spring Mayhem there were a few local bands (as in, California bands), and that's where I get excited.  I love to support unsigned artists far more than celebrities.  Though T Mills gave a great performance, and I truly enjoyed his show. I enjoyed the unsigned bands much more.  I also prefer the intimate performance settings to huge concert crowds.  The bands were great and the crowd loved them, well except for one.  There was another rapper, can't remember his name, that I felt the T Mills fan girls didn't give him enough respect.  He did well and was busting his ass on stage.  The girls didn't care because he wasn't T Mills.  Much respect to that guy and I hope he gets where he wants to go in life.  The other bands included The Cires (pronounced like Cyrus), The Big Bang, Los Rakas, Lungs and Limbs, Radical Something, DLRN, Eric Billinger, and one or two more that I can't recall the names.  All were fan-freakin-tastic and I would see them all again, if I can.  I have nothing but love and respect for all the performers of Spring Mayhem.  Over all I had a great time.  I love live music and enjoy people watching. So it was a win/win for me. YAY! Let me share some photos with you.

Note: photos not in order.

They're already waiting front and center. 

The Big Bang Band

DLRN

Students entertaining crowd between performers

T Mills of course

The crowd enjoying T Mills performance

Radical Something rockin' the stage

The Cires (cyrus)

Los Rakas from Oakland CA :)

Lungs and Limbs 

After show sunburn, oopsy

As I am writing this entry, I start to think about any possible celebrities I would fan girl over and love to meet.  While I think about it I realize I am such a geek.  Most people I would gush over are in some way nerdy or super smart. Well I'm not 100 % sure about a few.  So lets list these people I would fan girl over, maybe...  Note: not just musicians in the list

Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit (He's my Rock Star crush)
Scarlet Johansson
Nikola Tesla
Wil Wheaton
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Mark Twain
Elvis
Jennifer Lawrence  (she loves food)
Robert Downey Jr.

Black Diamond Mines 6.3.12

Happy Sunday! 

Today Samantha and I walked to Black Diamond Mines. While walking one of the trails a hawk kept flying low over us. I'm guessing it had a nest near by. We visited Rose Hill Cemetery and found a baby rattle snake sleeping on one of the grave stones. We found a dead young owl and ground squirrel (RIP). We ran through a swarm of bees too. Then as we were leaving a cow was seriously watching us walk out of the park. We even saw some wild turkeys on the way home. It was about 8 miles from our home to the cemetery and back. I wore the new shoes I bought yesterday to break them in. I forgot that some new shoes make my feet go numb after a while. By the time we got home I had to take a bath and soak my feet and ankles. It was well worth it though. 

aww baby rattle snake. 

How now, brown cow... stop watching us.