Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Just got back from seeing TSO in Seattle... wonderful concert! The music was incredible and they really know how to put on a show -- there were lights and lasers and fireworks and flames. It was a little weird in that the music is definitely rock, and yet it seemed more like going to the symphony. Made for a strange sort of experience, though it was not unlike the Bond concert we went to awhile back.

However, Key Arena is not the most comfortable of venues -- there's about twice as much room in your average coach-class airline seat. The worst part was that the guy next to me (the stranger, not rackham) had apparently decided that the armrest between us was all his, which meant his shoulder was over in my seat (and, technically, Rackham did the same thing, but at least with him, I could lean on him a bit). So, until I got a little more aggressive about my space in the second half of the show, I spent the concert scrunched up as much as possible. My shoulders are still sore.

Oh, yeah... and Mr. Personal Space Invader kept talking on his cellphone during the concert. I caught him at it three different times. Okay, yeah, the conversations were mercifully short, but it's a concert for crying out loud, turn off your friggin' phone.

Bonus on the way home: we detoured around the bulk of the traffic heading for the freeway, searching for an alternate on-ramp (we ended up back at the one everyone else was using anyway, but still managed to make better time) and got to see where the two monorail trains are jammed together. Lots and lots of police and blinky lights... near as we could tell, they were working on separating them.

Oh, yeah, and some lovely slushy rain on the way home. I'm still not convinced we're actually going to get snow tonight, if only because the county has seriously prepared for it (they have sandtrucks at the ready and have fitted other trucks with snowplows).

No snow

Did I call it or did I call it? No snow here this morning, just lots and lots of really cold rain. I hear that some of the areas a bit closer to the mountains have gotten some, but the majority of the Puget Sound managed to escape the white stuff for the time being.

We had a funny moment this morning... we've got a webcam pointing out at the driveway and streaming the video over our local network, and rackham happened to see something moving around out there a little while ago. Whatever it was, it was small and was zipping around the open area next to the cars. At first, we thought it might be some sort of bug flitting around in front of the camera because it kept going in circles, but then it dashed under my car. When it showed up again, I ran up to the front door and then to the guest room window to try to catch a glimpse and, near as we can tell, it's a really, really young possum. Out running in ever tighter circles in the middle of our driveway. And why? Because it was chasing its tail. Hee!

I kind of wish we'd been able to get some video of it, because it's very cute. But the garbage truck showed up and it scampered off. :-(

And taradaktyl, it definitely wasn't a rat! ;-)

Christmas / Holiday Cards

It's that time of year again and I even remembered to post something before it got too late to send cards out! Yay!

So, in my attempt to blanket the globe with seasonal cheer and since I know I've only got addresses for a few of you (and I'm not positive how up-to-date my address list is, anyway), if you'd like to get a card from me (and I've found some lovely seasonal cards with local flavor to send out this year), either reply here with your address (I'll be setting all comments to be screened, so each one should only be visible to me and the person who posts it) or send me an email at fenchurche(at)gmail(dot)com!