Din D.D.

On her wedding day, my mom gave me a gold wedding band that had belonged to my great great grandmother. She told me she had wanted to give it to me for a while but now I was finally "old enough" to be responsible with it.

Apparently being 30 has some unknown privileges such as being trusted with family heirlooms...

The ring has an inscription that reads, "Din D.D." Apparently D.D. is David Davidson, my great great grandfather and today I learned after checking in with some nordic colleagues that "din" means "Yours" as in "Always Yours." How sweet and lovely is that?

But right off, the ring presented a few problems.

1. It's gold and I wear silver.
2. It's a BIG ring. It was my great great Norwegian grandmother's wedding ring and while it may have fit her ring finger it fits my middle one and could actually be worn on my pointer finger.
3. It LOOKS like a wedding band and as a single swinging gal in London town, even if worn on my middle finger, could prove to be a bit confusing.

Yet, even with all my superficial reasons firmly in place, I have to say that I love the ring. I put it on that day and have worn it everyday since (you can kind of see it on my hand in the What I Learned This Weekend post below).

I love that even though I have no idea what my great great grandmother looked like, I know what size her ring finger was; I love that I know that she wore this important gold ring for most of her life on her right hand; and I love that I know that she was loved by David Davidson. It doesn't tell me everything but it tells me more than I knew before. It's a time capsule for my family worn right on my hand and I intend to keep it there until it's replaced by a "din" of my own.

*sigh*

Doesn't that sound sweet and romantic?

Let's be honest, with my track record means it's just me and G.G.Grandma's din forever. But then again I am leaving London and it's crappy dating scene forever in just a few short weeks so things could be looking up. Seriously click on the dating link. It's so worth it.

Din, ReckenRoll

What I Learned This Weekend: Live Earth

Apparently, I LOVE Metallica.

Who knew?

I walked into Live Earth* jazzed to see the Chilli Peppers and Madonna. I left THRILLED that I had seen the Foo Fighters and Metallica. The Peppers & Madge were good - don't get me wrong - but it was f*cking METALLICA.

I was ready to start a riot.

I'd hereby like to make a motion that from this day forward only ROCK bands play stadiums of Wembley's size. Pop stars not allowed in anything bigger than an arena.

Who's with me?

Other stuff I learned this weekend:

• Live Earth crowds are very well behaved. No one wants to riot.
• Spinal Tap jokes are funnier if you've actually seen Spinal Tap.
• James Blunt sucks as much live as he does on the radio.
• The Chilli Peppers drummer looks just like Will Ferrell. It's kinda scary.
• Wembley can not handle a crowd of 65,000 people for 8+ hours. We stood in line for the bathroom, the food, the beer, the money machine...
• They only serve hot dogs, cheeseburgers, chicken & chips, and fish & chips at Wembley. This is a very limited selection for an 8+ hour concert.
• Wembly CAN control a crowd of 65k people entering Wembley tube station after the event. London police use cops on horses. They all stand in a line across the road to the station. They then make an announcement telling everyone to wait and then turn all the horses the long way to form a sort of horse wall across the crowd. Everyone waits until it's time to go again and the horses turn back to let everyone past. It's bloody brilliant.
• Musicians get the most amazing smile on their face when the crowd at Wembley sings their lyrics back to them. I could actually see Dave Grohl thinking, "This is awesome."

*Many thanks to my friend Brendan for the tickets, the beers, the hot dogs and standing in various lines for no less than 2 hours throughout different points in the day to supply me with all of the above.Many thanks also to Brendan for not being embarassed by me or my love of the RAWK when I discovered my love of Metallica. You are a true friend.

And Just Because it's Friday...

I give you all Pearl. Don't say I never did anything for you my pretties...


I need to get my drink on.

Friday's Top Five: FutureSexLoveSound

1. Teenage girls who dress up super slutty in case Justin sees them in the 400 level = Funny.
2. Women WAY OLD enough to know better who dress up super slutty in case Justin sees them on the 100 level = Kinda sad but still funny.


3. It's been decided that Fergis sucks A LOT. We were late, arriving at 7.55 pm. She was supposed to be on stage starting at 7.30 and she was already done. LAME. However, it did mean time for a beer before Justin.
4. It has also been decided that Timbaland should stick to the studio and avoid the live stage. I do not argue that the man makes some hot music. However, he did a random 20 minute set in the middle of the show last night (without Justin) that consisted of a random DJ mixing crap like The Fray and Kelly Clarkson while he yelled, "WHAT? WHAT? YELL HELL YA! CAN YOU HEAR ME LONDON? WHAT? WHAT? YELL HELL YA!" over and over and over and over and over and over and over. When he wasn't doing that he was just yelling over a random background track. Same content as above. For TWENTY minutes. LAME. However, it did mean time for another beer and bathroom break before more Justin.


5. Justin is worth every penny every time. Good show. I am sore today from popping and locking like nobody's business while trying not to slide to my death down the nosebleed incline we were on. Next time I get better seats - if for no other reason that to bring the Robot like London has never seen before.

*I couldn't get a photo of the slutty girls but here is some super lazy Sexyback dedication instead.

Have a good weekend all. If you want to watch any of the Live Earth shows they will be streaming them on MSN. Look for me at the UK show - I'll be the speck in the back!

What's Got 2 Thumbs and is Going to See Justin AND Live Earth?

.
THIS girl.

(Oddly enough, I am wearing that shirt today. In case you were wondering what I looked like today, it's that.)

Rosie managed to score us some sweet tickets to Justin tonight at the O2. This will be my third time seeing JT live (yes, I was a big Nsync fan - no, I am so NOT ashamed) and if it's anything like the previous occasions we should be in for a helluva good time. We'll be popping and locking to make Cherry proud. Hey, I may even throw in the Robot...just for kicks.

Fergie is opening. I have mixed feelings about Fergie. Mostly the feeling is, "Does she suck a little or suck a lot?" But then any girl who wears a tiara and bares midriff while confusing millions of Americans about what bridge they are looking at deserves to be hated.

Just a lil bit.

*please note TOWER BRIDGE in the background. Stupid ass.

But I digress. Justin alone would be enough to make my week alone. BUT...

My friend Brendan is visiting from the States this week and he managed to hook a sister up with tickets to Live Earth London. The line up is AMAZING: Madonna, Beastie Boys, Chilli Peppers, Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, Black Eyed Peas, Metallica, Snow Patrol, Keane...it goes on and on. They announced the set list today. You can read it here and drool over my Saturday afternoon.

As Brendan said when he arrived today, it's all a bit surreal. Seattle has got a lot to live up to. How am I ever going to leave this place?

Happy 4th o' July from London

Jeff and I are going to run down to the Thames later and throw in all the Twinings and PG Tips we can find from the office kitchen while singing America the Beautiful.

Who's coming with us??

Owning up to Responsibilities

Since I was tagged by multiple parties a few weeks back (thank you Cherry and Loaf), I've had this overwhelming sense of guilt for not responding. Normally, I can just brush off a leme (Cherry's new term) but with the double tag - I just can't seem to let it go...so here I go.

You broke me boys.

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

1. A Blog of a Good Time
2. Classy
3. Meaning of Loaf
4. Cherry Ride
5. ReckenRoll

Select five people to tag: (Will any of them do it? I have my doubts but here goes...)

1. 5of9er
2. MKinMotion
3. Prashant
4. American in London
5. Goonder

What were you doing 10 years ago?
June 1997. I was back in Alaska for the summer between junior and senior year of college. Working for Grayline as a lead CSR at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Anchorage. I had just spent a semester studying in Morelia, Mexico.

What were you doing 1 year ago?
Let me check my old blog. Apparently I was watching the World Cup, preparing my summer beach reading list, praying the US government got my passport back to me before I went to South Africa and hanging out with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Cheese
2. Chocolate
3. Cheese
4. Chocolate
5. Cheese

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:
It might be easier to list 5 songs I don't know all the lyrics too. I am kinda like Rain Man. It's a sad little gift. I REALLY want to go on that new game show they are advertising in the States. The one where you need to know the lyrics to win. I would ROCK that game show. I would be that show's all time champion.

1. Rump Shaker - Wrexs n Effex
2. We Are the World - By everyone famous in 1985
3. I Want Your Sex - George Michael
4. California Love - 2Pac
5. Bye Bye Bye - Nsync

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
What's sad is that a million bucks doesn't really go that far these days.

1. Buy a PHAT pad in Seattle (but not in NYC or London, you need way more than that in NYC & London) and get a dog. Maybe two (dogs, not places).
2. Buy a place in Whistler and Hawaii. Travel frequently between the two.
3. Take an extended leave of absence from my jobby job and travel in style around China, Japan, Thailand and India for a few months. Bring friends with me.
4. Buy some Jimmys and Manolos and handbags to match, oh my!
5. Treat friends to day of pampering at the spa...in Singapore.

Five bad habits:

1. Learning all the words to pop songs
2. Chewing my nails when they snag
3. Telling off other drivers regardless of whether they can hear me
4. Playing with my necklace/hair
5. Blogging at work

Five things you like doing:
Any time? Any place?

1. Skiing/Snowboarding
2. Drinking cold white wine on a sunny day
3. Trying new restaurants and bars
4. Going to the theatre
5. Laying on the beach. Any beach.

Five things you would never wear again:
Can this include 5 things I never wore in the first place?

1. Skinny jeans
2. Uggs
3. Big feathered bangs
4. Spandex leggings as part of a regular outfit
5. Capri pants

Five favorite toys:
This is tough. Do they mean grown up toys or toys toys? I am mixing and matching.

1. iPod
2. Smartphone
3. Silly Putty
4. The Airzooka
5. Digital Camera

London Goes Smoke-Free

With almost a straight month of traveling under my belt, I have to say, it was really nice to be in my own bed again last night. After watering my 2 severely dehydrated plants, throwing away all the food in my fridge, and reading the warning letters from all my utility companies, I managed to stay awake until early evening and fell asleep on my couch around 5.30 last night. I woke around 9 and moved to my bed and then only woke up twice with the jet lag - but every time I was confused to find myself in a familiar place. All sure signs that it's time to STOP moving.

Needless to say, I have been slightly out of touch with things happening back here on the homefront. Failed bombings, 17 days of straight rain, and London going SMOKE FREE.

I nearly jumped out of my chair on landing at Heathrow and being reminded that all of the airport was now a smoke-free facility. I had completely forgotten that as of 1 July there is no smoking in any public building INCLUDING PUBS, BARS and RESTAURANTS.

It's a whole new London.

Good-bye (for now) USA

See you in 6 weeks...and it will be for real next time.

Although, after hearing these lyrics at the karaoke bar tonight, I might reconsider my membership.

"Oh, Justice will be served and the battle will rage.
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
You'll be sorry that you messed with the US of A
'Cuz we'll put a boot in your ass
It's the American way."

Seriously? "We'll put a boot in your ass. It's the American way?" I thought life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was the American Way. Did they change it? Did I miss a memo?

I thought it was a joke until I looked around me and saw everyone belting it out, and some even getting teary eyed in the process. There was not a single drop of irony in the room. The fact that the cowboy singing it was completely off the beat and tone deaf didn't help, but I was totally in shock. This pandering, over simplistic crap was tugging at everyone's heart strings and apparently I was the ass who couldn't muster a tear.

It's freaking FREEDOM FRIES. It's freaking email forwards with Powerpoint slides of bald eagles with tears in their eyes and I was in a room full of people spamming me.

It's the ignorance behind overly patriotic and righteous crap like this that have put me in the middle of more than one stupid conversation where I have had to explain that these archaic, chauvanistic, patriarchal, patronizing, ignorant redneck ideas are not necessarily representative of every American (although they are rather characteristic of our current President, but again, I digress). It completely over-simplifies and serves no purpose except to limit thinking...Black and White. America=Good and Others=Bad. Eye for an eye.

There are so many shades of gray to global politics and cultures and ideas. From what I've seen, ultimately, everyone just wants to live their lives in the best way they can - without conflict, strife, or anyone shoving a boot up anyone's asses.

A pacificist I am not, but what's so funny about peace, love and understanding?
Toby Keith, I am not a fan.