Moving sucks. Concerts ROCK!

Yesterday was the big move day.

We had almost everything in boxes so it's likely the move was as easy as it could have been without simply hiring movers. Dad showed up to help (poor guy) and we rented the truck and filled it to the brim. I was afraid we'd be making two trips, but once flipped the couch vertically (!?) we had plenty of room.

It was a pain, but it was necessary pain, and it was only for one day.

We got our first look at the place that day. 100 more square feet than the last, with a fireplace and a balcony that finds itself protected by trees from the lightly-used street nearby. The balcony is kind of in the middle of a "C" shaped building, so it only has one view out to the street area which is obscured by the trees. At first I thought this was an odd feature, but thinking about it has turned it into my favorite feature. Not too much sun, not too many people, and with a plug to do some computing in the fresh air. Do want. There is only one shared wall (bedroom and bathroom side) so our many loud parties with hundreds of people will be a bit easier on the neighbors, and it's on the second floor, which I seem to prefer for some reason. Additionally, we have our own staircase to an oversized front porch which overlooks a greenery-sided walkway through the complex. A place to sit in the breezy shade, and no worries about people stomping past door.

The main move completed at about 7:30 and by that time we were all dead or dying. My brother-in-law got off work and came to help for the last hour, and quickly reminded us how slowly we were actually moving. I thanked him for his help and told him it probably would have taken us twice the time to do what he helped us with, and meant it. Now, we only had some odds and ends (and our rabbit) at the old place. We returned the truck, and loaded Ava and her cage up in my car and rushed back home to drop her off and leave.

Leave to where? I'm glad you asked.

Leave to go see Ima Robot at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. Oh yeah. It was quite an experience. We were more tired than we'd been in years, and we were ready to go shake ourselves violently to one of our favorite bands.

When we got in, Ima Robot seemed to be getting warmed up, but I couldn't identify the lead singer (who has a very distinct voice) (to say the least). They quit the stage and the cover band set up. They looked a little corny getting ready, but for a while I forgot everything that had happened that day because Thinking Aloud rocked my face off. Did NOT expect that. Extremely high energy, extremely high volume, extremely high rock-to-awesome ratio. And it wasn't just heavy rocking, their songs had the great progression that's usually lacking from most solid rock. When they finished up, I recovered my face and after a bit of setup, Ima Robot retook the stage with their lead. I thought there was a lot of energy in the room with Thinking Aloud, but I was not prepared for the unmitigated awesome that filled the room when they started playing the favorites. It was the first concert I'd been to that I actually wanted to go to, and it was, in my mind, epic. It was quite a thing to experience.

They finished up and we left at 1, with the firm intention to head home, unload the car, head to the old place, load up the last bit, head back home, NOT unpack the car, and hit the hay for a week. Sadly the last part read more like, "hit the hay for 3 hours"

By the time we got home, I felt like three guys worked me over with crowbars. Three hours later nothing changed.

I resisted the temptation to call in sick to stay home and recover (and on a Friday, no less!) So here I am in my chair, still reeling from the dangerous levels of awesome I experienced last night and my day-long crowbar beating, trying to keep the world spinning for our customers, while taking care of the projects thrown at me, returning the e-mails fired at me, pondering my next big move, enjoying the anticipation of shooting with my dad in the desert this Saturday, both loving and hating the ringing in my ears, and (of course) carving out a bit of time to update you folks. Thanks for reading guys.

ps, I picked up a Thinking Aloud CD at the bar, and (of course) the CD is no where near the same as live. But I find comfort knowing that I get more out of the tracks than someone else would, having seen it preformed live. I can hit play, close my eyes, and see that lead singer screaming into the mic. I must then, quickly open my eyes because I'm driving. Spec-tacular.