Harder Better Faster Stronger

I woke up this morning with "Harder Better Faster Stronger" playing in my head. I can only imagine how restful my sleep actually was.

The imagery in my head is all In-Design CS3 commands: snap, grids, place, resize, fit content to frame, crop, kern, group, stroke ... etc. Cheers.

Engagment Party: Indian style

Priya visited this weekend to go to her roomate's engagement party, so I got to tag along.

We had some adventures getting there. Notably, Google Maps failed us both for the first time ever. It told us a wrong turn off from the highway, and we got all turned around headed east in stead of west, losing an entire hour in the process. Apparently the ceremony got started late, and it wasn't incredibly spectacular to watch anyways, but we did miss out on appetizers and we were ravenous by that point. People at our table kept laughing at me because I kept eying the dinner table, and Priya explained to them that I was a biker with a biker's appetite ... so true.

Priya mentioned that her beautiful turquoise outfit was going to pale in comparison to the Naperville Indians who were stylish, and when we got there, I could see what she meant. Although they're encrusted with beads and lavish arabesques and gold thread, there's something about Indian clothing that can pull it off without being tacky or cheap-looking.

Anyways, food was delicious (we ran to the front of the line when we heard it was being served ...), and there was dancing to bhangra and other awesome desi beats afterwards.

And for some reason, the drive back was SO MUCH EASIER ??? In stead of taking us on two highways and about 5 local roads, this time, Google planted us on I-90 within two turns. Why didn't it tell us to do that the first time around ?!?!?! We were confused, but relieved.

BACKSTREET BOYZZZ ?????

And by Backstreet Boys, I mean Joe, Eric, Curjay, Marty, and Chad. Always.

No, but really, I just saw them live. A friend from lower/middle/high school, Caitlin, had an extra ticket, which who in their right mind would turn it down ??? My friends, I imagine, will react in several different ways. My metal head ex-boyfriends would cry at my lack of taste and be glad they're no longer with me, my indie/experimental/ska/80's/rock/david bowie friends from high school will hopefully excuse my foibles since the rest of my music taste is pretty solid, my panjabi/indie/shakira friends from college would be totally down, and my girlfriends from middle/high school will be not-so-secretly jealous. I think I had about as much fun laughing at the other fans as watching them perform and singing every word to some of their older songs. Oh, and the opening act was Girlicious ... I spent the entire time laughing at them too. Holla!

It also reminded me of the time a bunch of Bike and Builders watched "Step Up Two" together. It had Barbara swearing she'd drop all else for 2 years to be able to dance like a JabbaWockee, and several others claiming they could. For old time's sake:



I also tried driving for the first time in over a year! Hannah Wagley talked about saying "slowing" in her car while driving, and I wasn't unscathed from Bike and Build either. I saw the speedometer hit 45mph, and I tried to pop my eardrums because I thought I was going downhill from a mountain pass (because last time I hit 45mph was on Teton Pass). I also flinched while riding over potholes ...

Not much in other news. The mountain passes in Washington state (that shouldn't have existed :p) killed my chain, so I have a shiny new one now, and I've gone swimming in Lake Michigan. The water feels incredibly warm after the mountain streams. Awww ...