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Last night my neighborhood experienced not ONE, but TWO power outages, each within minutes of each other. Normally, power outages don’t bother me. They are often annoying inconveniences, but last night I had a minor scare. It wasn’t really the outage itself that scared me, nor was it the darkness, but it was the timing of the power outage that freaked me out because I was utterly caught off guard at an especially awkward time.
It was late last night, not 1am late, but still late for what I was doing. I was taking a bath after everyone in my household had already gone to bed. I had my bath set up perfectly: Soothing hot water? Check. Charged up iPad? Check. Netflix movie queued up & ready to go? Also check! No interruptions? Check, check, check. Until it had happened. I was lounging comfortably in my bathtub in the middle of watching a Netflix movie. I had already completed the cleansing & washing part of my bath, the business end. So, next came the leisure part of my bath routine, my favorite part of taking a bath. More than soaking in the hot water, I like playing games or watching a Netflix movie on my iPad “Richard” while lounging in the bathtub.
Last night I was particularly relaxed because nobody was up & about with any opportunities to interrupt my relaxing bath. That’s when the power outage decided to rear its ugly & inconvenient head. I was two-thirds in to watching my movie, & all of a sudden I heard a noise, one close to a power source shutting down, then all the lights went out. Barely five seconds later, the power returned. However, I was already feeling alarmed. I jumped out of the bath, grabbed my towel, & woke Jian up to ask him to check the home’s circuit breaker panel. Everything seemed to be in order since the power had come back. The Internet connection had been rebooted, so I had to wait a few minutes to continue watching my movie. Needless to say, I didn’t take this first mini outage as any cue to finish up my bath & go to bed. I hopped right back into my bath, which was still warm, & continued to watch Netflix.
Ten minutes later, I was really becoming engrossed in the movie, & the power goes out again. This time I was a little more on the scared side. The entire neighborhood was covered in pitch black darkness. I’m not afraid of the dark in my own home, mostly because my 90-year old next door neighbor always keeps his kitchen lights on, & it creates a glow that shines all the way to my house. I live on a hill, & my elderly neighbor’s house is on the higher side of the slope (I’m on the lower side of the slope). Our adjoining property-line fence sits lower than most fences because he complains about it blocking his non-existent view. Therefore, his kitchen light shines into my bedroom at night, creating a nice nightlight effect. This helps me to see in the dark, especially if I have to get up in the middle of the night to pee.
This time I was sitting in the bathtub, & all of a sudden everything goes black & the house is eerily quiet (probably because the bathroom ceiling fan went out as well as my movie). The bathroom was so dark I couldn’t even see the door. I got out of the tub again, & woke Jian up yet again to check the house once more. This time the power stayed out for over twenty minutes, & I finally decided to finish my bath. I couldn’t watch anything on Netflix anyway, so I had no interest in sitting in a pool of water bathed in darkness (haha, no pun intended). It felt weird, cleaning up & getting ready for bed by the light of a flashlight & backlight from my smartphone. There was nothing romantic about it, no soft glow, no ambience. It was all shadows & creepy beams of light dancing along the cold walls. I did end up finishing my Netflix movie. The power came back on. More than anything, I felt grateful that though we have many clocks around our house, most of them run on batteries, so the only clocks I had to reset this morning were the ones on the kitchen stove & microwave. Who decides to take a bath late at night in the middle of a power outage? This guy. [Points to myself] Cheers.
Today’s song of the day:
So last week I finally went to the Bramdon Flowers concert. I had purchased the tickets months in advance, so the anticipation was making me antsy & excited. Since I’ve only seen Brandon Flowers perform with his band The Killers, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect stage performance-wise. I knew he was going to sing songs from his two released solo albums Flamingo & The Desired Effect, & I had a feeling he would perform a few of his band’s hit songs just to ramp up the crowd’s attention. I never knew I could admire him so much as an artist & a songwriter.
Brandon Flowers really knows how to engage his audience & fans. He really made us feel like we were all one big group of longtime friends who haven’t seen each other in a while. He took the time to explain a few of his songs, likes how the inspiration behind the song Magdalena came after experiencing a spiritual Mexican festival focused on musical celebrations. The entire audience erupted in rowdy cheers when he asked the question “Do you think he’s innocent or guilty?” then proceeded to perform a spirited rendition of Jenny Was a Friend of Mine.
The theater of the concert was pretty small, but it didn’t feel small until I got to my seat. I was sitting quite high up in the second tier balcony section. Yes I could easily see everything on the stage, but it was hard to get a clear view of the Brandon & band. It was difficult to spot Brandon, but that was because the stage lighting was so bright & harsh, so he was constantly being overshadowed by the set lights.
I try not to take too many photos or videos during concerts anyway, so I didn’t bother taking good quality photos of Brandon.
After the concert, Jian complained that the acoustics & the sound in the theater was not that great, but I didn’t think of it one bit. I was too busy enjoying the atmosphere, the music, & dancing in my seat. I was clapping so hard the entire time that I actually made a small bruise form on the palm of my hand. I didn’t even notice it until I got home & was in the shower, then I saw the purple & blue spot on my palm. It didn’t hurt at all, but that’s how I knew I had such a blast…being so enthusiastic. I absolutely enjoyed the mix of songs from both of Brandon Flowers’ solo albums (more songs from The Desired Effect than Flamingo), & peppered inbetween were a few of The Killers’ songs as well.
I had such an amazing time at the Brandon Flowers concert. It kind of made me wish I could go to a Killers concert some day. I’ve only ever seen The Killers perform at music festivals, so I’d like to go to one of their standalone concerts. Well, next month I’m going to yet another concert (at the same venue no less!). This time I’m going to see Franz Ferdinand perform with Sparks & debuting their hybrid group called FFS. I’m so excited to see my favorite Scottish band in concert!! I can’t wait. This is going to be the year of concerts for me, even though I am super bummed out that I missed Outside Lands this year, but there’s still more of 2015 yet to come. Cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
I can’t believe it’s almost September! Today is the last day of August. Summer is nearly over, at least according to the calendar. It’s a good thing that where I live, the weather only gets warmer from August until mid-October. The sun is out, & the skies couldn’t look more beautiful. It’s such a waste to be cooped up inside the house (or office cubicle). I’ve decided to take a personal day for myself today just to unwind & reorganize my life’s To Do list. Hey, even persons with less stressful jobs need some personal time to recharge his/her own batteries.
This summer, I feel like every day rolls by on one continuous loop. I don’t even remember when each day begins or ends. It has all been one big blur of the past four months. My niece’s 5-year old birthday, which coincided with my older female cousin’s bridal shower. My own birthday, which ended in a rather embarrassing way that I wish I could go back & do over again. Many more birthday parties of my close friends & family. Followed by the Mexican-destination wedding of my above mentioned cousin, which happened to take place on the exact date of our other cousin’s birthday (which truly upset him…but only for a short time). Shortly after that, San Diego’s International Comic-Con took up an ample chunk of my July days. Peppered in with a few extremely brief layover days in Los Angeles. More birthday celebrations! And now, here we are at the end of August.
WHERE DID ALL THE DAYS RUN OFF TO?! WHERE DID ALL THE TIME GO?!
Right now I’m sitting in my local coffee shop, in my “usual seat”, writing this blog post. I just finished eating a pre-made protein snack box filled with fruits, slices of cheese, a hard boiled egg, & a small slice of multi-grain bread. This is one of the regular food items I always order at this coffee shop. I am a creature of habit, & usually order only amongst the same three or four items I like every time. I don’t mind trying new things, but I dont like holding up the line behind me. So, I generally just pick the things I like/know, so that I can place my order quickly, pay the cashier, & step out of the line fast.
Since today is my so-called day off from doing my everyday work, I’m going to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air, & outdoors. Then, I’m going to watch a matinee movie, a movie that I am more than happy to pay to watch twice in the theaters. Yes, that’s how much I thoroughly enjoy watching this particular movie. (I will even buy this movie on DVD &/or digital download when it it released.) In two days I’m going to watch Brandon Flowers (the lead singer of the band The Killers) in concert. I’ve only ever seen him in concert at the Outside Lands music festival along with his fellow Killers bandmates. This will be the first time I will be watching Brandon Flowers perform music from his solo albums. I’m so excited to be going to another concert, especially since it’s Brandon Flowers, & he is a great musician that I admire very much. I. Can’t. Wait. Cheers!
Today’s song of the day:
Rabbits & Foxes 
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