Thanks for the birthday wishes!

BK and PGL, thanks for the Bday wishes. I had a nice birthday, although I did get a nasty cold. Luckily, the Kiwi was home and took care of me. It was nice to not have to chop wood when you feel like crap. There are some nasty cold and flu viruses going around at work (flying pig flu - "Doctor, when I cough I smell bacon!"). Rimshot!

Anyway, I haven't posted for a while. I've been pretty busy at work. I have been annointed project manager of our system upgrade, and I have spent the last few weeks trying to convince people to come work with us, doing interviews, and the like. I've actually had two people quit their full time permanent jobs to come work with us. And the other consultant has turned down work to wait to work on our project. It must be my natural charisma.

The project officially starts in July, although it started for me in February. The moment the funding was approved for the project, people immediately started freaking out because we hadn't done anything yet. It was bizzare. So, I'm going to have to do a lot of edumacating about how projects work. Fun stuff.

I'm half excited, half freaked out about the whole thing. I mean, I've been doing projects for years, and I know how they work, and what to do, but it is a little disconcerting to actually have to be in charge of a group of burning monkeys running toward a cliff. Not unlike riding shotgun down the avalanche (thanks Shawn Colvin). When we first talked about me being the PM, I was initially reluctant to do it, until the Kiwi pointed out that I was being a big chicken. Which I was. So now when I start to get freaked out about something, I have to remember that I've done it all before, except for the Excel part. I now know exponentially more about office furniture and the space charges for the building we're going to use than I ever dreamt was possible.

We're going to have 12 people on the project including me. It runs for a year and I have the best consultant in Australasia to do the hardest part of the implementation. He and I became good friends on the last project and he was more than happy to work with me again. He's fabulous and I'm sure he will save my bacon on more than one occasion.

Egads, this is a boring post. Enough.

New Template

I have to admit, I picked it because of the name...tequila.

Readers? How do you like it? I felt the need to update since members of my blogosphere have done the same.

Music I Love: Covers

Ok, cover tunes may be my fave genre. There is nothing I love more than an homage to a favorite/favourite tune. In no particular order:

1. Friend of the Devil - Lyle Lovett: It's a Grateful Dead tune. Right after Jerry Garcia died, I saw Lyle Lovett at some venue in West Phx (sort of near ASU West. Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?) I think Bruce Hornsby opened for him. Anyway, Lyle came out on the stage after the opening act but before his set, with his guitar and a cello as I recall (he had a cello player, he didn't play both), and sang "Friend of the Devil" (his version is on Dedicated, a tribute album to the Grateful Dead - now out of print but worth looking for - which has covers of Truckin' by Dwight Yoakum, Wharf Rat by Midnight Oil - stellar stuff). There was literally not a dry eye in the house. He just came out on a dark stage with a spotlight, sang the song and left. It was very affecting. Even now.

2. Party Doll, recorded by Mary Chapin Carpenter on her Party Doll album originally by the Rolling Stones (or Mick, I can't remember). It is a slowed down, beautiful song.

3. Four Seasons in one Day - Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin, originally recorded by Crowded House. The boys from Te Awamutu (from whence the Finn Brothers hail - and can I tell you how stoked I was when I made the connection between them and Te Awamutu in one of their songs - damn, I felt like a New Zealander because I had been there!) is one of the few songs I got offa certain file sharing service before it met its untimely commercial demise (I have like two files from the era, really!). For one thing, you can understand all the lyrics without the big NZ accents.

4. Sweet Jane by Cowboy Junkies (on an Out Magazine compilation CD we have), the original by Lou Reed. You know how good it is? It sounds like a Cowboy Junkies song!!

5. Every Little Thing (He) Does is Magic by Shawn Colvin off "Cover Girl". It's nearly as good as Sting's. Nearly.

6. Baby Got Back by Jonathan Coulton. It's a folk/pop version of the Sir Mix a Lot song (read his liner notes - it talks about why Sir Mix a Lot is not really royalty). First, you understand the lyrics. Secondly, his loping lyrical singing makes it funny.

7. Straight Out Of Compton - Nina Gordon. It is obscene, it is funny, and the melody is beautiful in the way she does it.

8. Gin and Juice - The Gourds. The Snoop Dogg must be loving this. This bluegrass version (Ver SAILS?) is so funny that I never skip by it when it comes up on the shuffle. Never. Even a little homage to "Walk on the Wild Side" in there. Classic.

9. Refugee by Melissa Etheridge. Now, I love Meliss, but I can only take her in small doses, because she has that Indigo Girls like earnestness that makes me a little sick feeling in my stomach. However, she has done some good songs, such as "You Can Sleep While I Drive". There's not a 'that way inclined' girl out there that doesn't totally identify with this song, even though that unless you time travel (or go through Area 51), there is no 'direct' way to go from Tucson up to Santa Fe. Ask the girls. They'll tell you. You have to totally go through Flagstaff or Las Cruces or something. Again, I digress. Her cover of the Tom Petty Song is pretty freaking great.

10. Breathless by X. It's a Otis Blackwell song, for those of you that are totally young (yes you, BK). Excene Cervenka sang it and it was such an awesome cover (from More Fun in the New World).

I could go on, but I'm tired. I may pick this up later, or I may do MUSICALS next!!!

Music I Like: Folk

I started working on a Desert Island Discs list a while back, but I've been inspired to work with genres instead of a top ten list. I just feel like namin some names of the music I like. Let's start with folk!! (Hey! Is everybody ready to hear some folk music?? Bonus points to you who know what that refers to.) I'll follow up in a follow up post.

I love folk music, in part because it is often so depressing. It drives the Kiwi batty I think because she doesn't get how such an optimistic person can love such depressing music. I say the depressing songs are often the best. For example, "I Can't Make You Love Me" recorded by Bonnie Raitt on "Luck of the Draw" makes me choke up. Every time I hear it. I have it on my iPod Shuffle (yes, I drank the Kool Aid, but only a little bit) but I always have to skip over it. A sixteen year old sang it on American Idol tonight and I got all verklempt.

I love the harmony, I love the sad lyrics, I love the plaintive melodies. I love the word play. For example, in Shawn Colvin's "Shotgun Down the Avalanche" how can you not love the lyrics "I'm riding shotgun down the avalanche" (talk about out of control - sort of like a reorg at work!) or "When we met each other, we stopped on a dime" from "Stranded". Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" is a classic although it did cross over to the pop charts in a big way. Suzanne Vega was really a good folkie back in the day "Marlene on the Wall"? Get outta here!! I do have a really soft spot for Shawn Colvin - I can't hate anything she does. She's my Joan Armatrading of the 90's and beyond. Speaking of SAINT JOAN - "The Weakness in Me" - "Show Some Emotion" - "Down To Zero" - "Willow"? Ok not technically folk but we'll split the difference.

David Willcox is pretty great - "New World" is a really good song. Loving Gillian Welch - she has such an unusual voice. Mary Chapin Carpenter is really great although she's not technically folk, more country. But I've seen her do some really good folk music. 10,000 Miles is a great rendition. She has that folky storytelling vibe (ala "This Shirt" which actually gets on my nerves if I hear it too much. But her cover of "Party Doll" by the Rolling Stones is gorgeous). The Story was originally kind of a folk group, although I think that truthfully, Jennifer Kimball has better folk chops than Jonatha Brooke (whom I totally love).

Indigo Girls have gorgeous harmonies but their lyrics are so sincere that they give me a cramp. Crosby Stills and Nash (and sometimes Y, I mean Young) can be very folky - "Helplessly Hoping" is a wonderful song. In my alternative High School (alternative in that most of the teachers were hippies or ex hippies - and I came from an uptight HS in Texas) my English teacher (70's Folk Musician in her own right, but that's probably another post, if only for the connection that I had to her from my previous HS and my University days) used the song to teach alliteration. (Use it with the kids, they will totally get it.)

I AM the queen of digression. If only it made me lose weight. But hey, I digress.

Cowboy Junkies are pretty folkie, and I love them. Natalie Merchant (of 10,000 Maniacs) totally has the whole folk thing down pat. Lilith Fair? Saw the tour TWICE. Hell, I even liked Jewel!!

I may have a part two of this one. I'll get back to ya.

Lively Up Yourselves

Our very own micro blogosphere has been pretty downbeat lately (BK's birthday and donuts notwithstanding) so I thought I'd try to lighten the mood with some positive things.

1. Our business case for my upcoming project went over its first (and most major) hurdle. The Vice Chancellor approved it (which usually means that it will get approved the rest of the way since his support is crucial). He also said that we have set the standard for future business cases at the University. I contributed in a small way with some heart wrenching prose about why our solution was better and all the rest sucked.

2. I won $35 in Powerball last weekend. I'm going to Disneyland!

3. We're going to be Grandmas! The Kiwi's youngest (daughter) is having a baby with her partner in September I think (that is to say, I think that's the due date. I know about the baby part). I refuse to be called granny or nana or any of those other old lady names. I am leaning towards Abuela. The Kiwi (ever the linguist) pointed out that young children cannot pronounce words that start with a vowel and I said "Dude, tell that to the five billion Spanish speakers!!!" I reckon to be one of the first people in Australia OR NZ to be called Abuela. (Now I just need to learn to make tortillas). (Which I would TOTALLY love to learn).

4. I booked a trip to the USA to visit my family in July. The Kiwi can't go (mostly because she's having a grandchild, see number 3 above) and because the Masters degree takes precedence, but I'm going. I'm spending a week in Tahoe with MY ENTIRE FANDAMILY. This is something I haven't done since I was 21 and we went to Hawaii. I'm only a little scared. After all, I now have five nephews.

5. I got the moving company to pay for a damaged art work, even though it was less than the insurance excess. The movers, through gross negligence, shattered the glass on one of our only art pieces. I wrote a strongly worded letter (an homage to Titanic) to the moving company complaining about the poor customer service and incompetence of the moving team in Australia, and they agreed to refund the money for the repairs. Someday I may do a post on my success with strongly worded letters.

There! In one post we have a professional success, a financial windfall, the miracle of life, a family bonding experience and a moral victory.

How good is that?

Date Issues

Currently, I have issues with dates. Not romantic type dates (got that covered), but scheduling dates. The Kiwi has a number of flights booked to come home over the next few months. So, there's those dates floating around. Then, there are the dates for the project that I'm doing but hasn't been approved yet (yet another set of dates). THEN there's the dates that I am going to go the States for a flying visit (as they say here - a.k.a. a quick visit). My Mother says "the only dates we are booked is when the family goes to Tahoe, which is July 18-26". Wanna guess which dates I booked my flight for? July 16-25. They looked really good when I was booking them. Normally I would have obsessively compared all of the dates that may come into play but this time I totally didn't do that. I even had a conversation with the Kiwi this morning about why those dates weren't the best (because, at the end of that same week that I return, I go to Auckland for a visit with said Kiwi).

So, I have a dilemma. Do I keep the dates I have and try to work it out with my family? On one hand it would be easy to go with them, as they will all be there in one place, saving us thousands of miles in the car travelling all over Phoenix. And, the weather in Tahoe in July will be definitely better to the weather in Phoenix in July. On the other hand, it may be a logistical nightmare trying to get myself from LAX to PHX to RNO to Tahoe. On the other hand, I do have all those miles I still haven't used for Delta and United. I could change the flights to August which would probably be better work-wise.

My brain is full.

You Know Why Working at a University Rocks?

Because you not only get Good Friday and Easter Monday off, you get Easter Tuesday off as well. How can you not love that?