20,173 Herniated Cervical Vertebrae (post-Metallica thoughts)

*Deep breath in... then out* Damn.

I have not been in the front door more than 20 mins from the Metallica concert, so I'm gonna try to log some memories and observations before they are clouded by a relaxing shower and double-digit hours of sleep.

1. If your new wife will join you on the floor level of a Metallica show, you know she's special. Good to meet you, Chris.
2. T-shirts should never cost $32 apiece... but some do... and they still sell.
3. Bad seat doesn't necessarily mean bad show. Thank God for that!
4. Just because you are assigned a seat, it doesn't mean you ever have to sit down. In fact, you probably shouldn't.
5. I saw a couple sharing a sweet kiss during "Wherever I May Roam." Whatever works.
6. Lars was lit from behind and at a low angle, so you could see his shadow just booming up on the ceiling - pretty damn pimp.
7. James has cut pretty much all the swearing out of his stage banter, and it only sneaks up in a few choice songs. I wonder if that's intentional or what.
8. I was unusually amped up when "Master of Puppets" started up, one that doesn't usually grip me, but that's probably what started my whiplash.
9. I don't remember what song it was that had just started, but I will swear until my grave that the moment James Hetfield struck his guitar, it played the note thunder.
10. I was teased all night with the possibility of hearing "The Unforgiven", but it never came. However, "Motorbreath" was a very pleasant surprise.
11. If I had to choose between a lights show and pyros.... yeah, you already know which way I'd lean.
12. Between songs, James pointed out some young kid up at the very front, looked to be around 12. Lucky damn kid!
13. Hurricane Rob did some spinning around the stage again. He also fell down at one point because his own closing bass riff defeated him.
14. Giant black Death Magnetic beach balls were awesome, especially when the band was kicking them out into the audience while they kept playing. James jump-heatbutted one, which was hilarious.
15. My boss' brother clearly dumped the rest of his beer on the floor from trying to check his watch. I scolded him for this, but also staring down and holding onto the evidential empty plastic cups.
16. At one time, the audience's "hey-hey-hey" chant was so strong and so coordinated that in between shouts it almost felt silent.
17. I guess I haven't seen Metallica live since I became a die-hard Hokies fan. That made "Enter Sandman" very, VERY special and moving.
18. There was a moment in one song where Rob, Kirk and James formed a triangle in front of Lars, all pointing to him like they were channeling energy. It was really cool, and I think it worked!
19. Their sound quality in an arena will never be as good as an open stadium. But their very worst show is probably still mind-blowing.
20. Lighting rigs designed as giant steel coffins that revolve around stage, tilt and swing down... bad-ass. If I got any decent shots, it's of those bad boys in action. These had to be 30' in length or so.

Finally, let's see if I can name every song (out of order) that got played tonight.
Ecstacy of Gold
That Was Just Your Life
The End of the Line
Broken, Beat and Scarred
The Day That Never Comes
All Nightmare Long
Cyanide
Sad But True
Wherever I May Roam
Nothing Else Matters
Die, Die My Darling
Motorbreath
Seek and Destroy
Harvester of Sorrow
One
Four Horsemen
Master of Puppets
Enter Sandman
Battery

Good times. Big nod to Kelly and Chris for making this my fantastic birthday gift! Well, a very ginger nod because my neck is sore, my stomach is growling and my aching body desperately needs a shower. Might be pics later if any of them came out even quarter-decent. Rock rock on.

My 2008 Book Quest

In the past few years I have fallen back in love with reading so long as I can find material that interests me. Yes, some of it may revolve around philosophy or death other topics that don't easily come up in everyday conversation. But I decided that 2008 would by my year of explosive reading, aiming to finish a book every week, or have 52 total by year's end. Though this didn't happen - I made it to 39, finishing the last just before midnight on New Year's Eve - I still did more reading in one year than most people will ever do in their entire lives. Really... 39 out of 52. It's like I got thru September and just started slacking. Beach Week sure derailed me a bit among other things. But what follows is a full listing of those 39 books that I did manage to finish. I'll wait until my next post to nod at my recommendations and ones to avoid. So here's what I tackled in '08:

Ciao, America! (Beppe Severgnini)
How Starbucks Saved My Life (Michael Gates Gill)
You Suck (Christopher Moore)
Bad vs. Worse (Joshua Piven)
Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be: A Rock & Roll Fairy Tale (Jen Trynin)
Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury (Stephan Pastis)
Bloodsucking Fiends (Christopher Moore)
Bang Your Head (David Konow)
My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student (Rebekah Nathan)
Xenocide (Orson Scott Card)
Children of the Mind (Orson Scott Card)
Rock On: An Office Power Ballad (Dan Kennedy)
The Man with the Iron Tattoo... (John Castaldo, Lawrence Levitt)
How Doctors Think (Jerome Groopman)
Wisdom for a Young Musician (Bruce Warren)
Lio: Happiness is a Squishy Cephalopod (Mark Tatulli)
I'm Ready for My Movie Contract: A Get Fuzzy Collection (Darby Conley)
The Crass Menagerie: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury (Stephan Pastis)
Then We Came to the End (Joshua Ferris)
Come On Down!: Behind the Big Doors at "The Price is Right" (Stan Blits)
Made in America (Matt Hughes)
The Office and Philosophy: Scenes from the Unexamined Life (J. Jeremy Wisnewski)
Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices and Priorities of a Winning Life (Tony Dungy)
Island of the Sequined Love Nun (Christopher Moore)
F Minus (Tony Carillo)
My Boring-Ass Life: The Uncomfortably Candid Diary of Kevin Smith (Kevin Smith)
Kill as Few Patients as Possible: And Fifty-Six Other Essays on How to be the World's Best Doctor (Oscar London)
The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove (Christopher Moore)
God Save the Fan... (Will Leitch)
This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (Daniel J. Levitin)
Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die (Michael Largo)
Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance (Atul Gawande)
Serenity Found: More Unauthorized Essays on Joss Whedon's Firefly Universe (Jane Espenson)
Rule Number Two: Lessons I Learned in a Combat Hospital (Heidi Squier Kraft)
Fluke (Christopher Moore)
Coyote Blue (Christopher Moore)
Practical Demonkeeping (Christopher Moore)
Falling Up (Shel Silverstein)
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty (Anne Rice)

Damn... I really read a LOT! Some of those titles were abbreviated, but you've got enough info to look them up on Amazon or wherever for your own pleasure. As I said a follow-up post will... umm... follow shortly. Rock/read on.

Post-(Christmas-Crazies)

I felt the need to parenthesize my title so that it clarified I'm writing this post the Christmas-crazies and not that I'm experiencing post-Christmas crazies. Got it? Good. Here we go!

I worked the morning of Christmas Eve at the clinic, but Mike and I acted as techs that day, running around nearly non-stop. I soon regretted wearing my Skechers on account of them having nearly no padding, so my feet started to kill after only a couple hours. But we hustled thru the day and eventually closed up at 3. I ran back to my place quickly to pick up some forgotten items for the weekend, then down to Waldorf.

I made decent time getting down there, but was still sore and tired upon my arrival, so I lied down for 30 mins or so before joining everyone for dinner. I had a couple plates worth of food, spoke when spoken to, but mostly tried not to collapse at the table. After dinner, I went back to lying down to rest up before the last church service at 7:30. I wake up, roll over to the clock... 8:30. Guess that's one tradition I just broke - oh well. I go back to sleep until about midnight. I get up for maybe an hour or two, then spend the rest of the night forcing myself back to sleep. This lead to a sore neck and back. Bah.

Christmas day went pretty nicely. If nothing else, it was gorgeous outside, so that was a pleasant surprise. I opened presents with Mom and Dad, then we carted everything else over to Burke for more gifting and eating with them Sextons. We pull up to the sight of Leah riding around on her new tricycle, so she's having a blasty blast. We spend the rest of the day rocking gifts, consoling Laurence over his tooth/teeth, eating fantastic food and taking scattered naps. We eventually head back to Waldorf with Little Miss in tow, the rest of the Sexton party to follow the next day. Oh - and Chris apparently can't make soup. I know this sounds dumb, but I will out-dumb him soon enough.

I don't remember doing much on Friday... picked up some stuff around town, watched both WALL-E and Beowulf, going out to Mexico for dinner, not much else. But the ride home after dinner was interesting. Get ready for dumb! Chris and I evaluated our beer situation at the house and deemed it inadequate, so we made a stop on the way back. He stayed in the car with Laurence while I ran inside to get 12 bottles of whatever. I quickly do so, then come outside to see what I think is Chris standing outside, leaning into the car to fix up Lars in his seat. I decide the best signal for "we're ready to go" is to sit down in the shotgun seat and close the door. But instead of hearing, "let's roll," I get in response, "Ummm... can I help you?" I slowly notice how the seats feel a little different... wouldn't you know I got into some strangers' car while the mom was fixing up her own child in the back. They were surprisingly cool about it, considering they could've thought way worse of me and come after me. But we're still not sure who's got the better story: me or them? *shrugs*

Saturday meant building a train set for Leah. Why? I don't know. My cooperation in this obviously proves I'm just the muscle and not the brains. Stupid train set demanded some of both, though. After conquoring that, I packed up to head home, where Dad and I promptly signed my lease for another year at Mt. Marley. Spicy, meaty foodage was eaten, and then I had peace again. I spent the rest of the weekend just relaxing and doing things on my own schedule. It was nice.

That's pretty much it. As usual, I made out like a bandit for gifts this year: some movies, a couple shirts, wine glasses, kitcheny stuff, new Guitar Hero game, Shel Silverstein book, musical train ornament, framed picture of the kids, and (eventually) a new timing belt and water pump for my car. Lotsa good stuff, no real excess. I like.