Heather Barton

I have 2 jackets on!!!

Due to money we had to sell our Nocturnal rave tickets.  But when it came down to deciding if we needed to sell our Thom Yorke tickets we just couldn’t do it!   We are SUCH Radiohead fans, and since the tickets were much less than the Nocturnal ones we decided to go.  And boy were we NOT disappointed!   Considering his latest solo album is very, very rave-like, it was like being at the best combination of Nocturnal and Radiohead.

But…. it was at The Greek… an outdoor venue and boy, was it COLD!  We took a Lyft there so we could indulge and for NO REASON got there before doors even opened!  Perhaps it was excess eagerness to get out of the house!  The tickets were on Sex God’s phone all ready to show, but lost internet connection when we got to the actual gate so we couldn’t pull them up and had to walk over to the ticket booth which had better reception and then RAN to the gate so they could scan them before we lost connection!  Nothing like a bit of hilarity to start Date Night.

Just a clip of the concert

We wandered the small venue, found our seats and cheered when other people began filling up around us, because it WAS COLD!!!    A lovely gay couple who sat right next to us and as soon as they sat down we struck up a conversation because their hair was as dyed as mine and so we HAD to discuss that!  At a break they left and came back with Hot Chocolate so when we got the itch to walk a bit we looked but couldn’t find where it was being sold at the venue.

The opener was one guy on a large drum set and wow… just wow… he was AMAZING!  I was flying so much and the seats were so far away that honestly I thought it was Thom Yorke!  I know he’s proficient at drums and my brain just registered it all as “Well, it’s Thom Yorke, sure the first few songs are just drum solos”  Then the guy spoke, told us who he was, thanked us for listening and left.  I giggled at my assumptions!

So in that break we went walking a bit again.  Our neighbors did the same and when they came back they brought us a Hot Chocolate!  So wonderful!  Later during the concert they were smart enough to scamper down to closer empty seats.  Rule Breaking like that is really difficult for me and Sex God was happy enough with the view so I didn’t have to be the wet blanket for him.

Thom Yorke didn’t disappoint at ALL.  But sadly my high wore off too early and since I wasn’t at Coachella where I’m able to spread out to dance, I began to really feel my feet with all the standing.  I ended up towards the end, sitting in my seat, with my eyes closed, feeling the music to my bones.  (while trying to stay warm!)

Knowing how difficult the reception was we skipped the crowd waiting for rides and opted to walk ALL the way down the hillside to better reception.  There were many people ALSO walking with us and across the way a guy puking and dry heaving (LOUDLY as he walked!) lol….  poor, poor neighbors!!    We finally made it down, called a Lyft and got home where I huddled under MANY blankets!

Arrival at Vegas!

One of my favorite Ikea Co-workers, Nico, invited me to participate in the celebration of his husband’s 40th birthday by joining them on a party bus to Las Vegas.  And boy… did we have FUN!   I’d already met his husband when he came over to one of my parties and he fit right in with us so when I asked Sex God if he wanted to go, he enthusiastically said YES!   Our co-worker got 2 other co-workers and their partners to go with because his husband had loads of co-workers going and while he gets along with them, it’s not as much fun as going with us, heeheehee.

So EARLY Saturday morning we packed and drove to Northridge to meet the bus by 7am for the long 6 hour drive up to Vegas.  The most annoying part of that was passing my house on the way to Vegas and thinking I could have saved an hour if they’d given me the option to get picked up!  The coordinators had Mimosas and jello shots, beer and hard liquor, which we sampled a bit of (and others sampled a lot of!).  They also had donuts, chips and sandwiches for the drive up.  There was music playing but it was a BUS so conversation wasn’t as easy as I liked so I ended up doing more napping than chatting! (That turned out to be a good thing…foreshadowing!!)

Poolside!

When we arrived the hotel told us that check in was at 4pm BUT for an extra $20 we could get a room upgrade and early check in.  I felt completely scammed!  But Sex God shrugged so we paid their extortion and went up to our room.  There wasn’t really any set plan for the trip, just a loose outline of Bus, poolside, buffet dinner, club, club, sleep, bus.  So after unloading our stuff we joined some of the group down at the hotel’s pool.   The drinks were expensive but DELICIOUS!  And we also got hungry so had some yummy food, which was a good thing as the buffet turned out to be unappetizing but maybe that was due to how expensive it was.  (foreshadowing!!)

We completely forgot that happy hour at the pool began at 3:00 where our delicious drinks would have been half price because after a few hours in the sun we decided we’d love to have some actual alone, no-one-can-hear-us, time and scampered back to the room for some hot sex.  And after that, went down for some gambling.  Although the gambling lasted for a much shorter time!   Sex God wasn’t feeling lucky and the slots ate our money so fast we decided to completely skip ALL gambling for the trip.

By this time we tried to connect with our group and go to the buffet.  Though a miscommunication on my part I was confused on the pricing so had a bit of sticker shock at the entrance.  Then there was complete confusion about seating with our group, further putting me in a disgruntled mood.  The food choices looked overcooked and unappetizing and I can honestly say the only thing I found enjoyable was the coffee ice cream.   Which proved to be a mistake later due to my lactose sensitivity!

We managed to hook up with the Ikea Six and get an Uber to the strip.  They had plans to hit Fat Tuesday for drinks and since Sex God and I had started our “party festivities” in the room we were content to wander wherever they suggested!  Which we managed to do A

Drunken Fun!

LOT of!  Walking and talking, drinks in hand, around Vegas was a lot of fun!  Nico contacted us that his group had abandoned him a bit so he was going to back to his hotel room.  By this time, little Jas had consumed muuuuuuch too much and after several “emptying bouts” was ready to go!  We tried to get a Lyft but chose THE WORST place to get picked up and ended up hailing an empty taxi/Lyft off the street, no mean feat since there was 6 of us!  (and we’re told a bit illegal, but we had no idea!)

Back to the hotel, Jas and her beau went to their room and we went up to the honeymoon suite to hang with Nico.  He’d never partaken so we inducted him down in the hotel’s smoking area.  He was adorably disgusted with smoking while trying to get high so we went back up the room.  Where he proceeded to announce he didn’t feel anything while eating ALL the snacks and laughing with us while we laughed at that.  Then predictably he got tired and we all went to our respective rooms.

I was completely relaxed, dead eyes desperate to close, wanting sleep sooo bad and yet, mind completely awake.   And worse… body dealing with too much gas and lots of needed toilet time (damn Ice Cream!)  Sex God was the same (sans the toilet time) so we were up for hours trying to sleep, laughing and giggling on how we COULDN’T sleep and shushing each other in our search for sleep.  I finally started to come down (and get off the toilet) about 3 am and managed, maybe, 3 hours of much interrupted sleep.  Sex God managed NO sleep (hence my “interrupted” sleep lol)

Bus Ride Home

We gave up the search for sleep and went down for breakfast where Sex God tried Keno, remembering it from childhood.  It seems quite the rigged game to me but I didn’t burst his delusions as he was having fun.  And while he did “win” he didn’t win his money back.   After that we popped up to the room and checked out.  The bus loaded up at 11am in hopes we’d leave by noon, which was closer to noon-ish lol.   Amusingly we all seemed to choose the same seats for the drive back.  But this time while the hard core drinkers DID do some partying, most of us just slept on the way back.  (note to self….pack a plane pillow for next party bus!)

There was so much traffic on the way out of Vegas (bus at a slow crawl) and then into Los Angeles, (again passing right by my house!) that it took us an extra hour just to get to Northridge.  Nico suggested we come to his place to continue the party, but while we would have loved to extend the time, we were pretty exhausted!   We had this same problem at Coachella… NOT starting our “partying” early enough to allow for decent sleep!

But I can definitely say that a Party Bus is how I enjoy Vegas.  Short, sweet, and with someone else driving!!  I’d change the music, though!!

Self Dyed my Hair this year

Yes….another year, another Coachella.  (and only 2 months late on blogging it! I’m improving! ha)   Since we just purchased presale for 2020, it seemed appropriate to get this blog going.

Carpoolchella Artwork. Steampunk Charlotte’s Web

This year we had 6 people & 3 cars camping with us.   Nobody felt I needed to do any camp set up “rehearsal” as 4 of us learned enough from last year to realize a few facts.  1.  Only bring food for communal breakfasts.  Everyone can bring their own lunch/dinner/snacks if they so choose.  2. With three spots & six people it was obvious we were going to have three in one tent, three in another, and a communal space in between!  3. Cots are great but only IN TENTS!

So basically, I only had to make sure there were enough seats for people to gather and enough canopies and tents & sleeping blankets and tent sides. lol  Sex God only had to make sure his truck was running, would hold what we needed only in the bed and was decked out for Carpoolchella!  Luckily the other two cars with us, easily handled the luggage overflow lol.  We DID get pulled over for Carpoolchella and I did the pick from the bag.  Sadly, we only got $20 in food vouchers for  each of us.  Maybe next year we’ll get the grand prize of VIP for Life!

We all vowed to crash at my house the Wednesday night before so we could be up and on the road early Thursday.  Last year they didn’t open camping until 2am Friday  due to winds but told most people it wouldn’t be open until 10 am Friday, so we missed some choice camping spots.  This year we landed before noon and since we were with a group, we got moved off to a waiting area for group campers.  I must tell you, it was a sweet spot we got!  A bit far from the porta-potties but right next to a large structure that was a wonderful wind break!  Because the wind DID pick up by Friday night and Saturday.  But I get ahead of myself.

Sex God did his usual “I’m in charge of setting up” thing, but with 5 willing helpers he had it all up pretty fast.  Four of us were now old hands at Coachella but two of our group were newbies.  Ali (a friend from working at Target) had come with us one year to Bottlerock and didn’t really know my co-workers from IKEA, Martha and Monica.  So Ali crashed in our tent and Camille, Martha’s friend, crashed between their cots in another tent. Campsite all up we scampered off to see the campgrounds.   Most everything was the same as last year.   We’d managed to bring in ALL our alcohol and paraphernalia and proceeded to enjoy our pre-party day at Coachella!   We made a few plans for Friday and that was a serious as the day got!

Id didn’t wear my Chinese hat for the photo but I did wear it all that 1st day.

Friday morning, Sex God cooked his usual scrambled egg with veggies and cheese.   Our group decided we needed a lot more ice and food and snacks so they took the town shuttle to get groceries.  While they did that Sex God and I went to see the show playing in the big structure next to us.  It was a movie done by Childish Gambino called Guava Island.  And it was wonderful.  PLEASE see it!  I think it’s playing on Amazon Prime.  It is many of Gambino’s best songs supporting a moving storyline.  Seeing that Friday really excited me to see him headline that night.

This year’s Coachella lineup wasn’t packed full of people I wanted to see.  Which actually wasn’t a bad thing!  It meant we had more leisure time, it meant we didn’t have to actually pick and choose who to miss.  Although the place opened at 11 am, we didn’t have anyone to see before 2pm which was Let’s Eat Grandma at the enclosed & AC’d Gobi tent (cute, young twin girls band).  I did stand in line for a looooong time trying to get into the merch tent but gave up to join my Sex God to enjoy the music.  Everyone else was smart enough to get on their phone and order their merch thru Postmates to be picked up.  I might try that next year if I decide I REALLY need merch lol.   We saw Rat Boy (adorable British punks) and Fisher, then relaxed & danced with Calypso Rose who brought out younger relatives to liven it up.  We wanted to see The Frights or Ella Mai but ended up popping back to the campsite to change into warmer clothes, get our drink on snack a bit.

DJ graphics at their best!

Sex  God was hyped to see The 1975 but they started halfway through Black Pink’s set.  All the girls were jacked to see the BP, so we went with them to see what the fuss was about.  EVERYONE was there to see this K-pop group.  I lasted 2 songs before I realized this level of “POP” hit me like 90’s pop music.  To me, it was like watching 4 Korean Brittany Spears dancing on the stage.  If you’re not already familiar with the songs, they are incomprehensible.  If you’re not a Hello Kitty type of fan, it’s nauseating.  I turned to Sex God and happily said, “Shall we go to 1975 now!?    We stayed there for the rest of the night, seeing an AMAZING performance by Janelle Monae, popped over to check out DJ Snake (who was harshin my mello vibe and my feet were getting sore from standing) and ended the night with Childish Gambino.   Who Sex God felt killed it!  Considering he probably got bumped up to headliner when Kanye pulled out (Thank God!) he didn’t do a bad job, but after watching his brilliant movie, I felt let down by his show.

Blurry is exactly how we felt!

I was dog tired by the time we got back to the campsite.  Sex God told me I wouldn’t be able to sleep and I told him he was wrong.  Sadly, he was right!  The combination of ingested entertainment had me giggling off and on with Sex God all night.  Just when I thought I’d be able to drift off the wind would wake me with dreams of being beaten by giant ribbons or thoughts of “why are there birds trying to get in!”   We gave up trying to sleep by the early morning and just started our day!

Day 2 so windy we skipped hats for bandanas

So my Saturday was veeeery low key!  Early on a guy came around telling everyone they should strip their canopies because of the wind.  So we did, and for some crazy reason our tent cover wasn’t put on (Sex God felt it made the tent too stuffy forgetting it also provided shade and privacy!) so lots of dirt and wind blew through our tent.   Despite that I did a lot of trying to nap that day.  No one else felt the need to go in before 4 so we had a hugely lazy day!

Martha, Monica & Sex God watching Bazzi

I think we got there in time to see The Interrupters.  I know we saw Bazzi.  Sex God was jazzed to see him but while I enjoy his music, he’s a bit dull live.  We saw Smino for a bit and then went over to see Billie Eilish.  I LOVE her music, but we got there late so didn’t find a good place to see her, and boy were my feet hurting.  She is Wonderful to WATCH live, but her soft voice doesn’t really play well at a festival.  We ended up moving off to enjoy Parcels before heading to the Main stage to see Tame Impala.   To be honest… I don’t think I knew ANY of their songs! lol

The wind wasn’t as bad as past Coachella’s where it’s blowing heavy grit off the desert, but it was gusting pretty well that night.  I tried to lie in my sleeping bag, but gave up after 5 minutes and dragged bag, pillow and myself into the backseat of the truck.  I knew I needed the quiet and warmth if I wasn’t going to be drained for the rest of my vacation!  It was perfect. lol

6 people snacking & eventually I get a pickle half in my donuts!

Sex God was up early thinking he’d get a good seat for the Kanye Easter Service.  Everyone else went in at a reasonable hour.  I chose that time to hit the showers!  It was a first time for me at these facilities.  Things I didn’t know…. There are no benches for your shit.  There are are hooks but best to bring a bag to hold ALL your clothes, clean and dirty!  There will be a line no matter when you go!

Truly LOADED fries! Good way to spend our free food $$$

Sex God came back from the Kanye thing ALL upset.  He waited forever.  Kanye never sang just sat with family like some king.  It was hot, it was long (like over 3 hours) and my squirrel bf got fed up quick.  The rest of the group stayed a bit longer but they also felt it was pretty disappointing and pretentious.   We cooked up bacon with breakfast, making a mess in the process! lol and hung out.  We weren’t overly hot with the canopies stripped and lowered even in the sun due to the light breeze so it was a nice relaxing time.

I’ll be honest…this is my favorite way to Coachella

We tried to get into the venue early enough to see Boy Pablo.  Then we stopped over to sleep through Dennis Lloyd waiting for Lizzo!  She was just amazing!!  Fantastic live and her voice was wonderful.  Everyone else went off to see Zedd and we popped over to see Hyukon.  I really liked them and the AC in the Gobi tent was nice!  We listened to about 20 minutes of Sofi Tucker and then scampered off to see Khalid.  Sex God loves Khalid, but I was a bit underwhelmed.  He was a bit boring to me.  Nice songs but they made me want to lie down and sleep. lol.  With Khalid done we walked over to catch some Chvrches before heading over to Ariana Grande.  I will say, I wasn’t impressed with her.  Her show looked an awful lot like a little girl emulating Beyonce… and she was no Beyonce!

Ali’s pretty pink hair! And Martha’s butt

We ended Sunday with Sex God joining me sleeping in the truck, me in the back and him in the passenger front seat.  Ali had also abandoned our tent to cram in with the other girls!   Monday had us a leisurely morning before sorting through the rest of the food, emptying water filled coolers and taking down the campsite.

This year’s Coachella vacation  was pretty perfect as Ali was the same age as my other friends and she rounded them out into four.  They hung mostly together and my love and I got to enjoy a festival alone.  And when we wanted to hang with friends we did.  I’m looking forward to next year!

Sex God delighted everyone by occasionally disappearing & showing up with food!

In February Sex God and I celebrated 9 years together.  We always combine these celebrations with Valentines Day, since the anniversary is so close to that day and I was lucky enough to think of the perfect gift!

There is this building in downtown Los Angeles that has an exterior slide made of strong clear plastic that goes from one floor to another floor.  Doesn’t sound very cool until you know that the floors are the 70th floors!  So at the top of a building with terrific views of Los Angles they installed a Sky Slide for people to ride.  When Sex God heard of this he repeatedly talked about it being on his bucket list.   Every time we’d go through downtown he’d remember this and try to look at the buildings to find the slide.   This happened again when we went to see AlterEgo, so shortly after that I googled it!

They had several tiers of pricing with the lowest being a particular day and time for $25 a ticket.  So I chose a day I had off from work, near our anniversary and Valentines Day and tried to choose a time where we would have a daytime view, sunset view and night view.  So much research for a slide!

Sex God was pretty thrilled when I finally told him a few days before the event.   Yet, even on that day we both kind of forgot about it and didn’t leave enough time to get there, through traffic, by 4pm!  So I was freaking out that our tickets would be voided if we weren’t there on time and when we finally got there we couldn’t find parking ANYWHERE!   We went to what looked like a public parking lot and drove all through it looking for a single spot and while we saw many they were all 3 car deep spots and the attendants were not cooperating in helping us in any way.  I was so upset I was in tears in trying to get to this event.  We finally turned a corner and found parking for $20, threw the cash at the guy and hurried to the event.  Well, Sex God would have hurried but he could  only go as fast as my rehabing ankle could hobble!

The slide

We entered the building and was told at the front desk that the Sky Space entrance was around the corner and up the steps.   Still worried at the time crunch….we were 45 minutes past the designated 4pm point… I hobbled up the steps as quickly as I could and was SO relieved when our tickets were happily received.   Oddly, there was a security screening point and then we entered the elevator which only went to floor 65.   Once off the elevator we were ushered to a photo place, then around to ANOTHER elevator to ride up to the 78th floor.  Oh the ear popping!

So finally arriving at the Sky Space it was pretty empty!  It was all the exterior rooms of 2 floors packed with viewing windows, a bar, snack bar and 2 outdoor areas.   There were maybe 30 some odd people, almost all tourists, with about 6 or so people using professional cameras taking pictures.  Since I’d bought 2 tickets to the Sky Slide, the first thing he did was ride it.  And the poor man was sadly disappointed.   It was too short to get a feeling of fun or even danger for him.  And when he rode it again before we left, the thing gave him a shot of static electricity!

Visions of phone overboard made this difficult to watch!

I will say the views were beautiful.  Thankfully it wasn’t raining nor too cold, but it WAS cloudy so we didn’t get any gorgeous sunsets and no stars in the sky! lol   We decided we didn’t want to spend the money on over priced drinks so after about an hour looking at the view and realizing we aren’t getting any sunset, we left.

And hobbled our way to our car, cutting through the downtown library instead of going around.  Then we got to sit in traffic on the way home!  ha!   Overall it was a good night, although Sex God might rethink his bucket list if any more of them are as much of a let down as this last one!

      When we saw this lineup last year, I thought it looked good but the price of the tickets for an iHeartRadio concert seemed not worth it to me, so I passed & thought I’d convinced Sex God to pass also.  But, flush with the money from a medical study, he bought 2 tickets!!  So we went… with me in a wheelchair!

I will admit it was everything I expected from an iHeart Radio show.  The concert was pretty rushed with every band playing about 6 or 7 of their most popular songs with only about 10 minutes between bands.   But, other than The Revivalists who were horrible (too country & hurt my ears!), ALL the bands were amazing!

21 Pilots!

They were smart enough to START with 21Pilots.  The only time I’ve been able to see them live was at a KROQ event where I was so short I saw NOTHING!  So this time it was a true, true joy to see them live!  They said, “Lets make the phrase ‘Save the Best for First'” and boy they sure lived up to it.  They were just perfect to start this concert.  They had great effects (fire!), great energy and the crowd (who showed up early for them) loved it.  For them alone, I’m really glad I went.

Rise Against

The next band up that was good was Rise Against.  I’ve never really been a fan of them, thinking they were a bit metal for me, but boy I really enjoyed them live.  I guess, it really means something to watch a band perform their hit music live.   And everyone was thrilled (meant little to me cuz I don’t know the bands) when a guitarists from Rage Against the Machine showed up to play a song they co-wrote.  He was pretty amazing too!

Bishop Briggs was next up and she kept the energy high even with a slight malfunction with her dub system.  She did a great shout out as the ONLY female in the lineup on the day of the Women’s March in Los Angeles.   We’ve seen her several times now and she never disappoints live.

Weezer played ALL their hits, doing a shout out to 21 Pilots by saying “Save the best for the middle!”  I love spontaneity at concerts!!  Last time I saw Weezer was at a KROQ festival and they played after Panic! at the Disco and I felt they were soooooo old and slow that I was disappointed.  But they were actually very good at AlterEgo!  Right until they played their new hit Africa.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great performance of a great song, but I got worn out on it when Toto made it a hit!  And if they’re a conflict with another band when they play Coachella in a few months, I’m ok with missing them!

The Killers

After Weezer, The Killers came on stage.  Brendan Flowers is quite the performer…very Vegas.  But I’m spoiled by the beauty and sensual joy of Brandon’s (also from Vegas) performances in Panic! concerts.   Don’t get me wrong… great performance, great songs, glad I saw them live (so I don’t need to again), but they’re not my favorite band to see live.

Ending the night WAS a favorite band to see…. Muse!!  And wow… just wow.  I’ve seen them several times live and until you SEE Matt Bellemy belt out those lyrics you COMPLETELY forget how amazing his voice is!   I’m glad we went to this concert just to be able to see Muse & 21 Pilots, although to be honest I’d have rather we’d just spent the money seeing just Muse or 21 Pilots!  But Lesson learned and I don’t think we’ll be buying tickets to another iHeart concert event.  Particularly when the radio station often does a live broadcast we can watch directly from home!!!

MUSE!!!

Whew…. 2018 was a WILD RIDE of a year.  The crazy of President Cheeto (ongoing) and the anxiety of the run up to November and then the joy of the Blue Wave has left me exhausted!  Particularly  in California!   We will see how we can fix or at least STOP the Wackjob in the White House while we prepare for the desperate tactics of the GOP for the 2020 elections.

I learned one thing in that political maelstrom …. I CAN make a difference even in my financial poverty with $1 at a time.  Every month I gave about $10 in political donations to about 10 different politicians and the majority of those politicians won or came VERY close.  I’m going to encourage that to ALL my poverty stricken friends, because together we will win.

I’m still working at IKEA and I must tell you I still love that job.  It was a struggle there a bit as the company rolled out O4G (see the Nov 20, 2018 article businessinsider.com) and a lot of long term employees freaked.  As a relatively new employee in a new store I

kind of stood there wondering what the fuss was about as most changes didn’t effect me, but come the end of the year when they “announced” they were cutting benefits & not giving raises, well, there was A LOT of union talk.  But when the above article came out and the media coverage about it, the company “postponed” some of those employee changes and the employee noise has died down.  Personally, I blame all this crazy bs on

Xmas party overspill into the kitchen!

IKEA USA trying to turn a good European company into a typical US Corporation.  Better to strive to model itself after Costco than Walmart!  And then the CEO sent us an email telling us he’d HEARD us and wanted to do what he could to keep Ikea as a great place to work.  😀

Besides me genuinely LIKING people, and therefor loving retail, I’ve stumbled upon an amazing group of people at Ikea!  In 2017 I had a New Year’s Eve party with some co-workers and it was so much fun I had several more parties through 2018.  So when my fellow co-workers talked about an after party to the Christmas party, I offered my house to a few and BAM…what a crowd!

2018 saw me turn 55, my Sex God turn 50, my oldest turn 21 and my youngest 17.  There have been A LOT of emotional challenges with my kids, each in their own way, but there are successes also.  Luke is transferring to CSUN to finish his BS, Evan has adjusted to community college life while sorting through diet & exercise to get less fat healthier, Conor is going to test out of his last year in high school (so he doesn’t go to jail if he loses his temper on a 17 year old once he turns 18 this year) and frankly he needs to be around smarter students.

Non-selfie stick at a concert gets you unrelated hair bombs in your shot!

As you can see from past posts we still go to Coachella every year and have pre-purchased our 2019 tickets and camping.  We also saw Alesso at the Palladium, Nothing But Thieves at The Fonda (miss the El Rey but they’re getting bigger audiences!), watched the remote broadcast of KROQ’s Weenie Roast (with Nothing But Thieves!), & saw Iliza Shlesinger’s Elder Millenial tour.  We paid for overpriced food, overpriced drinks & overpriced tickets to see Ada Vox at the Catalina Bar & Grill.  It was a good show, but the expense!  There were a few other minor local shows & a whole lot of Marvel movies!

Early in 2018 my knee was finally diagnosed with a torn meniscus & had knee surgery in June.  I lasted 2 weeks away from work and was demanding they let me back in because I’d watched all my t.v.!  I ended up spending months in the sit-down section of Ikea, i.e. the Restaurant begging for cash lane shifts saying it was physical therapy!  My knee gradually healed and I was soon walking without knee pain (heel spurs still an issue but Yay

Day 3 after the fall

Cortisone!) yet I’m pretty terrified of dancing these days!  I’m so worried I might do damage!   Of course, THEN on the 26th of December I fell down the last few of my stairs at home chipping a bone in my left ankle AND bruising 2 bones in my right knee!  Both legs out, I was wheelchair bound while I tried to find doctors working through the holiday season.  I was out of work for 30 days before going back to sit down duty at Ikea.

In 2017 I began to see a Urologist.  My many UTI’s had gotten out of control and they stopped showing any bacteria!  After a CT scan, others tests and a scope he puts me on a daily dose of “like cranberry” pills.  The prescription one was ridiculously expensive, but he gave me an over the counter version his patients swear by.  I tried both and stuck with the cheap one.  And for MOST of a year I was UTI free!  I thought, yay cured!  But then last fall I got hit with the symptoms again.  Sadly my Urologists staff did NOT help beyond taking a urine sample (black with blood) & sending me off  with no symptom relief, saying they’d know the results in a few days.  My PC doctor’s office was WAY better, phoned the doctor after looking at the sample (“are you on your period?” the nurse quietly asked me….

Unrelated to this section but seeing Nothing But Thieves with these people was a year highlight!

nope, post menopausal by 2 years) & gave me prescriptions for the symptoms.  What “I” learned from the instance (which again came up no bacterial infection) was that the “I” in UTI for me, stands for inflammation.  When symptoms hit, I hit back with Motrin (anti-inflammatory) & the cranberry pills & lots of water.  My body purges everything so I’m stuck on a toilet for a good 3-4 hours, but if I keep up the Motrin/Cranberry/Water during the worse when it’s over, it all goes back to normal.  What triggers it?  My best guess is too much salt in my diet.  I’ve always loved snacking on salty sunflower seeds and I can eat a lot!  And if I also eat a sugary snack I think it just does something to my system to inflame a block that leads to these symptoms.   This theory will be strongly tested 2019!

I had high hopes of fixing my body in 2018 so I could fix my teeth in 2019, but with my fall down the stairs, my goals may be postponed.   Additionally I finally got that Mammogram done, which led to a re-scan, which led to an ultrasound and the conclusion I have what appears to be a small cyst in a breast which they will watch with a scan every 6 months.   The urologist also wants another scope in 6 months and I tell BOTH of them, I cannot schedule anything until the knee Doc tells me if I need surgery on my knee!

Plus there are kid expenses planned for 2019 that I have no idea how I’m going to survive!  2018 saw Conor getting ingrown toe surgery and his red head gene sensitivity made us have to choose general anesthesia to have it done.  Best experience he ever had, he swears, so we’re hoping to have the toe procedure permanently done in 2019.   And probably sometime in the next year or so the boy is going to need his wisdom teeth out like his brothers.   Sigh…and if Luke goes to Northridge, he might need a vehicle for transportation!

On the eve of the 2019 lineup coming out I thought I’d do some more catching up on blog posts by posting THIS!.

Ah yes… another Coachella.  This one as unique as the last one!   Yes, we did pre-sale in April 2017, of course, so we didn’t feel the pressure to buy when the lineup came out.  But I had a lot of new friends where I worked & many wanted to go!!  I, sadly, was working when tickets went on sale, so I had Sex God buy 4 tickets and another camping spot.  It completely frazzled him because the site can be really challenging, but he was successful!

So now we had 5 of us going with 2 camping spots (the sixth ticket we sold to SG’s daughter).  I’m quite the planner so I made us all come to my house to do a mock up of setting up the campsite… and thank goodness we DID!  We quickly realized what we needed and who would buy what and how much the reimbursement would cost each of us.  Being prepared is the key to successful camping.   The down note to all this planning was getting the diagnosis of a meniscus tear in my knee.  So even though I got a cortisone shot in my foot for my heel spur I was an injured girl hobbling about.

Sex God went to TOWN on his Fiesta in decorating with hopes to win the Carpoolchella.  Leaving for camping was supposed to be Thursday but they announced a delay in opening camping due to expected high winds.  But that worked out because there was SOOOO much to do!  I wanted to pre-pack the vehicles but Sex God was still decorating and Gloria wasn’t going to arrive with her car until we were ready to leave.  So we ended up loading at 5am!  We headed off in our two cars, stopping for food and to switch people with stuff at Indio so the tiny Fiesta would have 4 people in it (a requirement for winning) without those people having to sit cramped for the ENTIRE drive.

He did a metal dragonfly on top of the car!

We thought we were early, but there was A LOT of people who didn’t get the notice that early camping entry was delayed so those people ended up parked & waiting at the Walmart parking lot.  Then Coachella opened the camping at 3am without telling us, so we waited in the long line to get through security and THEN the 8 security lines feeding into one entry line giving us the stress of keeping together so we’d have side by side camping spots.  I was in front and I see a golf cart following Sex God’s Fiesta… as soon as we parked they let us know we were winning Carpoolchella!   That consisted of getting to pick a prize from a bowl and while we DIDN’T win the VIP for Life tickets, we did win a VIP upgrade!  Well, THEY did… the ones in that car lol..  I was driving the other car!

Work Friends!

Camp set up was quick because we did a rehearsal which was much needed because since we were arriving Friday now instead of Thursday we had to scamper quickly into the venue!   Coachella wasn’t exactly new to any of our group but only the bf and I had been frequent goers.  The food choices had expanded hugely!  So we did a visit around to get the lay of the land.  Sadly all the rushed anxiety resulted in a quick blown up argument with Sex God & I over food/money which was just as quickly solved with money for food!  I keep forgetting my slowed metabolism is the opposite of HIS heightened metabolism.  And to be honest, he might have felt a little put out with me bringing my friends and it not be just the two of us.  Of course, I remember the year he brought several of HIS friends and I managed not to get out of sorts. lol

The Weekend

First Day we, of course, saw The Weekend and bounced about to see a few other artists, Slow Magic & Kalela.  My BFF Gloria & I saw Greta Van Fleet and we were blown away!  I kept turning to her to scream “How OLD is this BAND?!”  Because these were youngsters in their 20’s playing music (and looking like) something straight outa 70’s Glam Rock!  We gave up seeing Alison Wonderland because she clashed with The Weekend & missed The Neighborhood (seen them) and Bleachers (seen them)  due to popping back to the campsite at dusk to change into warmer/comfortable clothes have dinner and to, well,  boost our high for the night!  Everyone tried to continue the fun at the silent disco after The Weekend but the LINES! lol so us oldsters went to bed & the youngsters eventually joined us.

Festival Selfie

Second Day we separated as a group as my younger co-workers wanted to see more of the House music/Dj’s and I wanted to do more lying on the grass with wonderful music around me! (remember knee injury!) Plus THEY all had VIP wristbands, while I did not  My girl Glo stayed with me the entire time….another reason she’s my BFF!  We missed Sir Sly (which we’d seen at the El Rey) to experience (an A/C & comfortable seats) House music visual show in the dome.

Beyonce!

But we managed to see Marian Hill, First Aid Kit & a bit of Yaeli before popping back to the campsite for food, jeans & drinks.  I gave up seeing David Byrne for that because I was a bit outvoted on WHEN we went back to the campsite!  We topped off the night with Jorja Smith, a bit of Haim and, of course, Beyonce!   The best part of Coachella is seeing someone I WOULD NEVER PAY to see if its just them.  Most of Coachella’s headliners fall into that category for me.  The exception being Muse (crossing fingers for 2019!) or Radiohead.

An old co-worker and roommate of one of our group decided to join us, finding a ticket, a place to park their car for the night and a ride to the venue!  They arrived after Beyonce and partied with the other youngsters & crashed in Gloria’s SUV (big hearted Gloria!)

Sex God is passed OUT

Day Three and we’d gotten into a groove even with the addition of other people.  Plus the BEST BAND EVER was playing that day, Nothing But Thieves!!!  We were starting to feel the burnout Day 3 of Coachella sometimes brings, which I actually love about Coachella.  So after popping in to see The Delirians and LP we parked ourselves at our favorite shady spot at the Outdoor stage to see Magic Giant before Nothing But Thieves came on.  There were a LOT of great bands/performers on Sunday and we

Nothing But Thieves!!!

missed MANY of them because they conflicted with each other!  The DOWNSIDE to Coachella!  Plus a lot of this “We” was either just me and Glo or me and Sex God.  We saw a bit of DeJ Loaf before popping over to see Hayley Kiyoko.  We saw Cardi B (who I’m a so/so fan of) but missed Portugal the Man for the campsite break.  With the additional of 2 more people the break was even MORE difficult to coordinate!   But we got back in time for Odesza and Eminem.  Eminem was AMAZING!  He really was great to watch and listen to.

The downside of going with friends was the difficulty of Sex God and I to have sex!  By night 3 we were VERY horny and had managed to fight 3 times during the weekend!  So when we got back to our campsite and found none of the youngsters and Gloria solidly asleep in our tent we snuck into my car and solidly steamed up those windows with (surprisingly) delicious car sex!   And finished before the youngsters were done partying in the after hours camping section! Ha!  Fast sex is great ONLY if you manage to get all the buttons pushed in that time… which is the reason my bf’s nickname is Sex God! heeheehee

Eminem!

This was the first time camping for most of our group and they were amazed to wake up to the campsite being a ghost town.  Lots of people leave in the night and you rarely notice!  And some scamper away at dawn.   Although we are all very ready to go home (showers! beds! flushing toilets!!) we are still sluggish from a weekend of partying.  Once Motrin & hydration has been passed around we begin the packing process.  It’s quick work with Sex God being the squirrel-on-pepsi-general that he becomes!  Cara and Tramell (our crashers) squeezed themselves and their stuff into Gloria’s car and she dropped them off at their vehicle.  Sex God and I took most everything else & headed out.

Funiest thing was in the hurry of packing, Sex God found a bottle of water and stuck it into his car cupholder to drink on the drive.  Unbenounced to HIM it was the bottle of VODKA that Monica was going to sneak into the venue on Sunday when they announced we could bring our own bottles of water into the venue (due to the heat!)  He found this out when he took a HUGE slug of the water and then gargle screamed it out in indignation.  Girlfriend struggle of sympathy/laughter is REAL!

We’ve already purchased 4 tickets & 2 camping spots for next year!!

Color in the Hair!

Yes… yes, this post happened over a year ago, but I’m catching up!  Bee happy!

So Sex God turned to me one day and said, “Lets go to EDC!?”   (he recently did this to me again saying ‘lets go to Burning Man!’ which was a definite and resounding NO!)   My response was, “How about we try a baby rave first.”  I began to research and found several rave events but settled on Nocturnal in September.  It was nicely priced, set on grass and not cement (a negative in my books for events), had several stages which meant choices, and most importantly it had a camping option!  I got a cortisone shot for my heel spur to survive walking and dancing.  And for the first time I dyed my hair!  Two colors, a mix of red and blue.

Relaxing in the tent

We didn’t spring for the exorbitantly priced car camping just the tent camping so it was a little different than Coachella.  Once we parked the car we had to drag ALL our stuff to the site.  The problem with this was 1. we’re doing this at night, 2. we foolishly thought we should do this in one trip, 3.  we had to also go through security!  (they confiscated ALL my glow sticks!!)  So by the time we got through all THAT we were so tired we picked the first spot we saw.  It quickly became apparent the 10×10 allotted space was rather small for our large tent/canopy AND that we’d forgot the blow up bed & sleeping bags!

Painted accessories drying!

The first day doesn’t start until sunset, so there is lots of relaxation time and time to explore.  And time to let my Sex God painted shoes and hat to dry!  Nocturnal was held at the Glen Helen Regional Park and there’s a water slide plus a large wading pool!   From the camping to the event there was snacks sold and space with house music dancing which turned into a silent disco at midnight.

Silly Sex God!

There was a long line to get into the event and they separated the lines into two sections, male and female.  Of course the girl lines went SLOW since we carry purses to inspect!  But the BONDING that was happening in line was wonderful.   When I told them I was over 50 it seemed to inspire the youngsters that they wouldn’t get boring in the future when they got old . lol…if they only knew how unique I am!   The kids quickly introduced me to P.L.U.R. which is Peace, Love, Unity & Respect, with all the corresponding hand motions and bracelet exchange!  Like I said, it was delightful!

The Beautiful Grounds

That wonderful acceptance and instant friendship was continued through the weekend!  I noticed that whenever Sex God left me comfortably sitting on the grass, happily watching everything to go off to get food or drink or the bathroom or do something I chose not to do… I was ALWAYS inexplicably joined by a single woman who would sit and chat.   And when he returned, I’d introduce her and after a minute she’d abruptly off and go.  At first I thought it was them who needed the company, but by day three when it also happened at the pool during the day I was realizing they thought I needed taken care of or protecting!  I’ve never experienced

Fun florescence!

such female solidarity!  Say WHATEVER you want about this new generation and raves, but they are truly wonderful people who look after each other.

I’ll be honest, I really don’t remember “who we saw” as it was all more of a random wandering lead by our ears, and there was alcohol.  There was A LOT of walking.  A locker we purchased but NEVER used because Sex God never goes anywhere without his small backpack.  Probably the reason people often asked us if we were “carrying”  lol.  Since we knew none of the artists… and since my hard rap nephew was our sole suggestion source… we just let the music and the moments guide us each night.

Do I fit it? lol

The drink choices weren’t that thrilling but it was more like Bottlerock than Coachella in that it didn’t have a special fenced off drinking area and just let you walk around with your drink.  It lived up to all our hopes!   Oh and did I mention there were costumes? hahaha!   The naked guy was great but the guy dancing in the disco outside of the venue in a Big Hero 6 costume was a lot of fun too!

Must take picture!

The El Rey is one of my favorite venues to see a band.   They often host my favorite

Waiting in line with fellow Nothing But Thieves fans is half the fun!

types… up and coming musicians…. in a wonderfully intimate atmosphere.  It used to be a theater and the decor represents that with two raised areas on each side and a balcony in the back.  Once of the things I very much enjoy is the full bar!

I saw Nothing but Thieves there twice and it was the best performance of my life! Of course, it could be because they are just the best young band out there!  And if I don’t say it enough… you should be listening to this band!!

My BFF Gloria dancing at Nothing But Thieves!

We also saw Sir Sly play at The El Rey and that was a lot of fun.  We were completely unfamiliar with the band beyond the one hit playing on the radio.  And they were very good!  With a bit of a heartbreaking back story they maintain a positive music vibe.

I fell in love with Mondo Cuzmo from their hit Shine on the radio and jumped at the opportunity when I found them playing at The El Rey!  What I’ve downloaded from iTunes I’ve loved and I hear they have a new album coming out!

Sex God and I always check in with The El Rey to see if there are any favorites we want to see playing there.  I hope you have a favorite venue also!