#music at the marina

[thedaveandkimmershow]

Lotta cool things to say about August. The biggest is this:

Kimmer scored an A in her Bio Statistics course.

A very big deal. Like that young American hockey team beating the Russians at the Olympics many decades ago for the first time. 🤯

Kimmer got an A.

In Bio Statistics.

Make no mistake. Statistics has been her kryptonite all the way back to her undergrad years in college. It has always been thus. After college, when it was various graduate studies, she did everything she could to dodge those classes having done them already because they just did not compute for her.

And on and on and on and on 'n on.

So. 

What happened to break that pattern?

YouTube for one. A big one. In which you can absolutely find the people who communicate complex disciplines like statistics in ways that are easily understood by people who don't usually understand them.

The second reason for her success was, of course, her professor.

Can't understate enough.

So yeah. Like I said... this was a very very VERY big deal. 😁😁😁

Also, by the end of the month, this Quarter From Hell was officially over. Done. And by Quarter From Hell I'm taking about a period of educational pursuit that, even as it enables massive professional growth, still manages to profoundly kick your ass and forces you to consider just how long you can keep this up. ��🤨

We kicked off August with a lovely dinner at Mod Pizza in Lynnwood with one of Kimmer's custom concoctions that never disappoints. 🤩☺️

Couple nights later it's Joan Jett & The Blackhearts opening for Alanis Morissette's Triple Moon Tour at White River Amphitheater just a stone's throw from Auburn.

The tickets were a gift from Daughter Number 1 earlier in the year, something she knew her ol' mom 'n dad would dearly enjoy.

Which.

We.

Did.

Been a while, I won't lie. Been a while since we attended a proper concert of this scale. Joan Jett was definitely a lovely trip down memory lane atop iconic songs to which everyone still knows the lyrics...

And definitely sung 'um. 😁😁😁

The headliner, Alanis Morissette, produced a wildly big show, taking full advantage of nighttime that fully descended by her first song.

Coupla big screens to either side of the stage masterfully filled by a crew of camera ops. A big screen, back 'n center, onto which was projected imagery implicit and implied by the music and lyrics. A strip of sheer fabric, ten to fifteen feet wide that not only captured lights, shadows, and imagery, but also acted as a wall that could obscure the back of the stage. The lights, of course, highly choreographed. The sometimes frenetic motion of Morissette... so effective at focusing thousands of eyes in rapt and sometimes disbelieving attention.

Yeah. 

She and her band put on a show.

They put on a big show, and, like I said, it's been a while since we've experienced one.

And we very very very much appreciated the experience. 🤪🤩☺️

A small thing in August that's legitimately a very very big thing: we gotta new mechanic to handle the maintenance of our cars. It's been a while, is all I'm saying. During which time we used larger shops that were just fine... just not with the same personal touch.

So HUZZAH!!! 🤩

August 8 kicked off a triple shot of Little Lies performances: MUSIC AT THE MARINA on Thursday at the Everett Marina, SOUTH LAKE UNION BLOCK PARTY on Friday at Denny Park, and TASTE EDMONDS on Saturday at Civic Center Playfield.

The Little Lies is a Fleetwood Mac tribute band with which Linzy's performed since its formation in March of 2022. She plays keys, acoustic guitar, and handles all Christine McVie vocals.

Of the three parts of the triple shot this year, we made it to the Marina show in Everett and the Taste show in Edmonds both of which we enjoyed tremendously and both of which have become a yearly summer family tradition. We even share the Everett tradition with a dear friend of ours so it's extra special sweet. ☺️

A week later, August 16, Linzy's at Woodinville's Wine Alley for an outdoor performance that drew more engagement and requests than performing inside during a wine bar gig. The sound got to be louder, the summer crowd bigger, and a good time was had by all. There was even a group of adults sitting right next to Linzy on the patio of the wine bar next to her who remained right there for the entire three-hour set.

They even sang along to some of Linzy's Taylor Swift covers. 🤩

For myself, professionally, August was the continuation of a creative Renaissance. 

Ummm...

Maybe that's overstating a little.

For sure I'm having a lot of fun on the projects I'm crafting with old tools, new tools, an evolving creative mindset, and a bit of deep diving into all the resources I have at my command. 🤯

August 25 and we're celebrating the birthdays of two of our dear friends who're (conveniently) married to each other. So we have they, their three-year-old and their five-year-old over for the afternoon to just enjoy ourselves.

Relax.

Play.

Converse.

Dine.

Drink.

And enjoy dessert. Sending them home with exhausted children.

Talk about a WIN. 😉

August 29 we're with that same family at the Evergreen State fair, enjoying ride and snack experiences with their kids and hoping they hadn't suddenly made off to Jamaica with the couplehood we just afforded them. 🤣

We were also there for yet another Little Lies performance, this time a shorter set as they opened for a Led Zeppelin tribute band.

Gotta say: since this was technically a school night, the entire experience very much felt like playing hooky. 🤪

The next morning, August 30, I had to be early to work and so missed out on the inaugural ride of light rail from Lynnwood to the UW. At the end of the workday, though, I did take that ride in the opposite direction and it.

Was.

Magnificent.

Twenty-five minutes.

Didn't even have to hop over to a bus at Northgate. 🤯

And then it's August 31st on which I woke up in the morning believing yes, sincerely believing, that this was September 1.

Whoops.

Actually, September 1's today.

So onward!

😁

[annabelle--cane]

sometimes I read a radioactively bad take and just sit there like "not only do you not understand this story but you fundamentally do not understand how stories work in general, and you have never considered that your discord with every piece of fiction you come across could possibly be a problem on your end"

[wamija]

[koreankitkat]

They're so (tenta)cool

[zendeyas]

Marina – music video Primadonna

[sophsun1]

Marina and the Diamonds | Primadonna

[bobcatblahs]

I was asked this and told to pass it along <3: put 5 songs you listen to, post it, then send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers :]

First off- I’m one of your favorite followers? 🥹

Songs that are my favs currently are, in no particular order…

Good People- Mumford & Sons ft. Pharrell

Just My Type- Jeremy Renner

Man’s World- Marina

Too Sweet- Hozier

Sun to Me-Zach Bryan

Thank youuuu

@mylifeiscomics @deardiary17 @chaoticrosesimp @joelslastofus @five-potatoes-high @nb-n0v4 @thelibraryofalexandriastillburns @cowgirljol @hotspace39 @doctordiscosbignaturals @tatennant

[ghostorbz]

rawr x3 and stuff happy 2014 or something

+ original quality

AUGZHAHXH I'm probably gonna make one of those uh art progress thingies I keep seeing they look fun :3

[hpheisler]

ebb & flow (face the dawn ver.)

off the hook ft. POPY & ROSE

demo v0.1 🐙

edit: full version... released!

[jel-jel-jel]

it's marinacht-ober. time for bad end

[thedaveandkimmershow]

There's no question I've lost track of time.

Why?

Because it feels like more time has passed since The Little Lies Music at the Marina show in Everett, Thursday July 20.

Like, waaaaaay more time.

It wasn't only a show, of course. We spent time hanging out with Linzy before and after. We spent time hanging out with friends during and after.

We worked, of course, that Thursday as well as the following day, Friday. Then Saturday was The Little Lies at the Bite of Seattle and Sunday was Midnight High at the Bite of Seattle, both days involving a fair bit of travel logistics and walking.

They were all shows and social events during which we got to hang out with fellow fans with whom we normally don't get to spend time. So there was a lot more experience in these experiences.

Then Monday we're back at work. Then Tuesday we're working from home. Then Tuesday evening and night Kimmer's packing our bags and coordinating with our cat-sitter while I'm at the premiere of a short film I cut for a team that competed in the 48 Hour Film Project a coupla weekends before.

By the time I'm home, it's pretty close to 12:30AM, Wednesday the 26th. By the time we're ready to sleep, we're edging passed 1:30AM 'cause we just shoehorned an episode of Madam Secretary in there. 😊

Later the same morning, my alarm goes off at 4:50AM 'cause a more serious alarm'll go off at 5AM and just the threat of that alarm wakes me up to make sure it never happens. The early alarm's because we've gotta be outta the house between 615 and 630, I've got a little tech packing to do, coffee and tea to make, Kimmer to wake up, then Kimmer to actually wake up, then showers all around, getting dressed, gathering up our travel gear, checking the house is good to go (everything locked, appliances off), summoning a ride share, exiting the house, locking the door, watering some plants with the garden hose (believe it or not—that was Kimmer), until our ride arrives.

640AM, by the way, is the moment we're officially on our way. Fifteen minutes later we're at the airport. Four hours later we're in Orange County.

Interestingly, the experience feels more like commuting rather than straight up air travel. The difference I think is that I associate SeaTac with big trips, huge adventures. Even just getting to SeaTac and being at SeaTac is its own adventure. Not so with Paine Field which is more, well, as I said...

A commute. 🤔

And then even from SNA we're only fifteen minutes from family. So being at home during a sunny-ish week then being in Irvine during a very sunny week is a fairly seamless experience. In a way, it's like we're putting less travel and effort into getting from here to there and, because of that, there's a time or two when I have to remind myself that we're not in Kansas anymore.

And this.

Aside from the seamlessness of the traveling, our lifestyle isn't massively different in Irvine with family than it is at home with ourselves. For example, landing in Orange County, our first stop's picking up groceries at Trader Joe's, a very home thing to do. And then once we're settled in, Kimmer's doing her online mental health gig with clients for a few hours. Once she's done, it's dinner out with family (Happy Hour!) at Brü Grill & Market then hanging out with family again until lights out.

Thursday we're on our way, along with Kimmer's nephew, to visit her aunt Jacquie in the courtyard of Jacquie's memory care community while Kimmer's cousin works on Jacquie's home. Afterward, a stop at the local internet service provider for a hardware swap on top of a galling forty-five minutes wait. After that... some work at Jacquie's house continuing our efforts to thin it out. And then, finally, we head off to that fantastic restaurant at the Soboba Casino Resort for tacos and beer (and one Coka Cola 😉).

After leaving the restaurant, one or more of us (excluding the driver) immediately falls asleep for the 90 minute drive back to Irvine after having spent most of the day in temperatures averaging 103 degrees. The high being 105. The low being 100. 🤯

Once home, we flatline for an hour or so before deciding dinner at the Wood Ranch Restaurant at the Irvine Spectrum Center is our best play.

Because meat, you know?

Lots 'n lots 'n lots 'n lots...

Of meat.

Holy Mother of God all that meat. 🥹

It's all superbly delicious whether as a brisket, bbq chicken, tri-tip steak or literally anything else on the menu.

Interestingly, later on, due to a promise Kimmer makes to her nephew, we hit Target (at the other end of the mall) for a box of brownie mix that I subsequently turn into actual brownies we get to eat before bed.

Okay.

So then Friday's a work day for Kimmer. Back online for client appointments and then after hours of that...

Charting.

Always with the charting.

Six-thirty in the evening, Kimmer's cousin gracefully offers us the use of his Miata. You break it, you buy it I think were his exact words. So we refamiliarize ourselves with driving a stick by driving around the nearby neighborhoods then, after that, driving the parking lots surrounding eight warehouses about a mile away after which we head off in random directions until we see a sign that reads Laguna so we turn toward the coast as the sun's on its way down. 😎

Now, the way our improvised route works out is that we eventually hit the Pacific Coast Highway by Dana Point. From there we headed north along the highway into the town of Laguna Beach where we slip off the PCH, heading inland along Laguna Canyon Road during full-blown nighttime. Once we're back, we indulge a coupla episodes of Madame Secretary on the couch... followed by a rare early-to-bed of ten-thirty.

We go right to sleep.

It's hard to imagine, by the way, but this was our third day in Orange County because our first two days felt like four. In the best way possible but still.

It's like we just experienced four days. At least.

Also, the bit of work Kimmer was doing, charting especially, felt like part of our home routine. Making our visit a light variation of home life... only with hotter temps, more sun, the desert, and the Pacific Ocean. 🌞

And then finally...

Today. Our last day... although it feels like any other day. Beginning with charting in the morning followed by jumping into the Miata around 130 to hit up the local GoodWill and the super glitzy GoodWill next door to that followed by Sprouts across the street all of which, as I pointed out before, are variations on our home routine.

Except the Miata, of course. 😕

Now, remember how I told you I made brownies Thursday night? Well, Kimmer's nephew was taking off for the weekend Friday morning and forgot to take the leftover brownies Kimmer set aside for him in the freezer.

So we ate them ourselves. 🤨

Kimmer got to thinking this morning, though, that we ought to make a new batch to leave behind for him which is how we ended up at Sprouts after which we drove over to Woodbury Town Center where we scored ice cream sandwiches we enjoyed out on the patio. Then we scored a coffee, an iced chai tea latte, and a cup of ice cubes from Starbucks across the parking lot and then set ourselves up in an impromptu outdoors office for the next hour-and-a-half.

It really was a lovely experience even if Kimmer was using that time to chart.

When we were done at Woodbury, we headed back, put the Miata back in its home garage and immediately indulged cold showers because we each finished the afternoon a bit hot and sticky. And not in a good way. 😉

Kimmer's already done most of the packing earlier in the day so there's not much to do but hang out in the living room for a bit of writing, charting, and indulging the smoothies Kimmer whipped up for us.

7PM we're out the door with our travel gear.

730 we're checking in at John Wayne and TSAing.

745 we're at Vino Volo continuing a tradition that's no two times old. ☺️

815 we just grabbed seats at the gate when our name's called and we think we're in trouble.

817 we're informed we've been upgraded to First Class.

Dang that was a most excellent plot twist. 🤯

And by 9 we're off the ground, winging our way home, experiencing the surprise of all the goodies that come with having seats in First Class. It shouldn't be a surprise... but it is. It really really is.

😁😁😁

Right now, it's six after eleven and we're descending through the Pacific Northwest night sky to Paine Field. We're sitting in seats 1C and 1D, literally the front of the class.

We'll be out the door soon. Grab our checked bag on the way to the transit center to catch our ride. Probably home again around quarter to midnight.

And when we get home?

We'll put some of our stuff away. One of us will feed the cat. And then we'll catch an episode of Madame Secretary.

Maybe two.

😉

So yeah. Along the way... I lost track of time. I lost track of time as all these events from Music at the Marina through our commute home from Orange County spread out over 9 days and blurred together. 😳

Ultimately, my future brain won't accept the fact that these events went back to back to back as we experienced them. My future brain will probably place these events in their own weeks, perhaps even separated by at least a week. Maybe it'll even "remember" these four days as straddling the end of July, beginning of August, with Linzy's gigs closer to the beginning of July. After all, these experiences couldn't possibly have fit into a touch over one week, could they???

Well... they just did.

☺️

[annabelle--cane]

it's destabilizing my worldview that according to all reports the wicked movie is actually good. what do you mean. big-budget star-studded movie adaptations of hit stage musicals are supposed to be bad. that is the way of the world. I think this is one of the seals of the apocalypse. they need to get back on set and film a version that's bad Right now.

[lachatalovematcha]

₊˚🎀🌈‧ ︵‿ ꒰ ⏝ ୨ 🎀🌈 ୧ ⏝ ꒱ ‿︵ ‧˚₊ 🧇🎀🌈₊˚‧

🎀⭐🌈月色のシンジケート✮２００３🎀⭐🌈

₊˚🎀🌈‧ ︵‿ ꒰ ⏝ ୨ 🎀🌈 ୧ ⏝ ꒱ ‿︵ ‧˚₊ 🧇🎀🌈₊˚‧

[crybabiesinbadlands]

2015 Tumblr music CDs 💿💕

[sea-talk]

"I called my manager in April 2011 and said 'Hello. Can I pretend to be a totally different person?' He said 'No. You cannot.'"

- Marina and The Diamonds a.k.a ♡ ELECTRA HEART ♡