Zed Enjoy’s Music

As i’ve previously mentioned, I went to Chicago this past weekend to see Fever Ray in concert. The concert was so great, it had me looking up some of Karin Dreijer Andersson’s older works. In 2005, Karin was featured in Röyksopp’s song entitled What Else Is There?

The song alone is amazing, but the visuals of the music video really hit home for me. It is eerie, because the video seems to take on a dream-like state… but the things that happen in the video are things that I, personally, dream. The way the model floats instead of walking, the way the light follows her, the houses just floating off–these are all things i’ve dreamed, and i’ve dreamed them more than once! Now, I realize that that sounds very strange, but it is true. It makes me wonder about what connects us as human beings, whether or not the bonds are stronger than we believe on any given day. The director of the video is Martin de Turrah, and other than his being Danish, I can’t say as though I know much about him or his work, but i’m looking forward to learning about him.

Also, must mention the model used in the video, Marianne Schröder is so amazingly beautiful! Then again, so is Karin–who ACTUALLY shows her face in this video. I think she almost looks a little angry as she bites into her apple.

But I digress… if you haven’t heard this song, I suggest you check it out. It has the familiar haunting voice of Karin Dreijer Andersson, and the wonderfully electronic/ambient genre that Röyksopp has made their own. Enjoy

-Zed

Zed Does Chicago!

So I just got back from the windy city… and windy (and rainy) it was indeed! It was a four hour trip from our home to the northern suburbs. We got a REALLY good deal at Hotwire for the Skokie DoubleTree. Seriously the best service i’ve received (excluding going on a Royal Caribbean cruise). Friendly staff, warm chocolate chip cookie at check-in, indoor/outdoor swimming pool (it’s the same pool!), comfy king-sized bed and newly remodeled rooms. It was the perfect get-away! And not too far from downtown!

FRIDAY: Prior to leaving, I checked mapquest for the best route… 20 miles out of town, I realized we went the wrong way! We decided not to turn around, Jeff was more familiar with this way and with so many major highways, it’d be pretty easy to get in the general vicinity. However, the problem was coming INTO town from another direction. Turns out it was really easy and we arrived ahead of schedule! Very nervous about our room–as I said, the price was a steal–we grabbed the paperwork and walked into the hotel. Our reaction? WOW. Had I been thinking, i’d have taken pictures of the lobby, it was VERY cool. The entire decor theme seemed to be centered around geometric shapes.

We decided to stick near Skokie for the night–we went to the outdoor mall across the street and ended up buying some lovely chutney, a wooden spoon (to replace the old one that broke) and scone mix (couldn’t find the clotted cream though!) We drooled over everything at the Mac Store and the Sony Store and looked at Tiffany’s from a distance (We were way too under-dressed for this mall!) But some girl complimented me while I was wearing Jeff’s Blackhawks sweater! Jeff was jealous, because she was hot! hehe! We headed back and went down the the restaurant in the hotel. I had fish and chips (it was WAY too greasy, should have known!) and Jeff had a spicy burger. We went up to the room and took a short nap before going swimming! The pool was AWESOME 2/3’s indoor, 1/3 out. Jeff had never been in a pool like that before, so it was a fun experience. About 3 hours later, we went back to the room, showered and changed to go get dinner #2 at Panera Bread… that swimming sure wipes you out! We wandered around Best Buy for a while then were to meet up with my cousin, Catherine, who was in town with her college Quiz Bowl team. We ended up getting lost and tried to get ice cream at two different places–finally called it a night and went to the grocery store to pick up a comb (we’d forgotten ours) and ice cream to eat back in the hotel room. It was nice to see her and finally meet her boyfriend, but due to their early morning, we then called it a night. Jeff and I went back to the room, relaxed by watching the British version of The Office on Adult Swim until we were too tired to stay up anymore!

Saturday: We slept in as late as the excitement would allow and made our way downtown–traffic was a bitch and cabbies are evil bastards who wish death upon anyone driving the same road as them. We made it though, and went first to Sears/Willis tower… where we waited in line… forever.

It was worth the wait…

After that, we were famished (this took about 4 hours and we didn’t eat breakfast)… but there was NOTHING open except for Panera and subway. We walked about 4 blocks before we spotted Dylan’s Tavern & Grill. The food was phenomenal. I had a Philly Cheesesteak and Jeff had an Italian Beef sandwich. We over ate, but it was so worth it.

By that time it started raining, so we rushed the last 3/4ths of the mile to the car and decided to go onto lake shore drive where we’d be closer to 3 of the most popular sites. We ended up going to the Field Museum and the Aquarium.

The Field Museum wasn’t as cool as I thought it’d be. We still had fun, but we only had an hour before it closed. But we did get to see “Sue the T-Rex”. She was smaller than I thought she’d be, but still very cool!

We then went to the Aquarium, it was pretty neat, we even got to see a 4-D showing of “Pole to Pole” from Planet Earth, sadly it wasn’t the entire episode, just part of it. I was quite sad at how short they cut it. It was still fun!

We had three hours till the show, but me, being the worry wart I am decided we should make it down there… good thing! We got lost for 45 minutes! It took us another hour to actually get down there and find a parking spot with traffic (and many near accidents due to cabbies…) We make it down there, managed to get FREE parking (omg yes, it was amazing). The show was sold out, we looped around part of a city block waiting to get in. Finally, huzzah! We’re in!

The opener was VUK from Finland. Pretty cool, has potential, but Fever Ray BLEW her out of the water. She opened with “If I Had A Heart”. They used so much fog machine, you couldn’t even see when she came on stage! But the smoke cleared and what you saw looked a lot like this:

*

She eventually took off that amazing headdress, but in true Fever Ray style, Karin had her face painted and a longer wig on:

*

The concert was fantastic–the walls SHOOK during the song Concrete Walls.

She is really clever–each part of the show was cleverly thought out the music transition, the lighting, the fog, the costumes. It’s not just music, it’s an entire experience. Mind, body, and soul.

Interesting side note, it was fun watching the hipsters trying to nod their head in time to the music. We went back to the hotel (after getting lost again, stupid maps don’t give enough DETAIL). We ordered the BEST pizza ever: Sarpino’s. It was so yummy. We ate a few slices while watching Animal Planet and crashed.

Sunday: Jeff was up bright and early–I was still out cold. We packed up, checked out, went to Starbuck’s for a cup of joe before hitting the road. We got lost again (are you sensing a theme?) Once again, damn maps! We ended up crossing 90 on a bridge with no exits and tried to backtrack.. didn’t work. Thought we got it right and ended up on 290… which dead ends at O’Hare… But once we drove around there we got headed out the right way and everything was smooth sailing from there.

Once we were at the Madison area, we decided to call my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin who live near by. We stayed for a few hours and ended up walking away with Santa Cruz Raspberry Lemonade, tons of Gourds, a few squash’s, two pumpkins and a home-cooked meal in our bellies! They are obviously very generous people who APPARENTLY cannot take no for an answer. We met the chickens and their puppy Holly (a medium-sized grey poodle). She is very pretty and fairly well-behaved.

We once again hit the road and with excellent directions from my uncle, managed NOT to get lost. Finally home, and not looking forward to laundry.

It was quite the weekend! Next time we plan on a RELAXING get away without as much running. We’ve decided we will definitely go back there again.

* The astricks are to say these are not my photos–heck, this isn’t even the show I was at, this took place in NYC. Here’s the original link: http://bit.ly/4agYxp

Well, I suppose it’s officially late and tomorrow is officially Monday, so I should go to sleep! Thanks for tuning in, good luck and good night!

-Zed

For the Love of Desert! …Or Is It Dessert?

There is nothing like the scorching, arid presence of a desert. If you’ve been to one, you know what I mean. Having spend most of my life in Northern Wisconsin where snow envelops the environment 3 out of 4 seasons and the sun is a distant legend whose stories were brought to my small part of the world by travelers. It certainly seemed that way at the time.

But due to my parents love of everything not Wisconsin, I was able to travel fairly frequently. One place in particular my parents loved so much that they gave up their life in Wisconsin and home to make a new home here:

This is a view of Overton and Logandale, Nevada from Mormon Mesa. This photo epitomizes everything that I currently want. I miss my family, I miss the hot, hot sun (even though it is currently sunny in Wisconsin), I miss 4-wheeling through the desert over 50 MPH. I miss my dog, a German Shepherd named Zoie. I miss the incredibly comfortable bed I have in Nevada. I miss playing tennis at night under street lamps.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the little home i’ve made here in central Wisconsin. I have my future husband, my best friend and what I consider to be the cutest cat on earth all in one semi-spacious apartment. My apartment even has an attached garage! All three of us have somewhat decent jobs, considering the economy and I am almost done with my undergrad degree!

But my parents home is just minutes from the Valley of Fire National Park. If you’ve never been there, I suggest you go, it’s even more stunning in the flesh! Or if you’re looking for something a little cooler, they’re also very close to Lake Meade! Or if you’re the scholarly type, there is always St. Thomas–the ghost town/lost city.

And ALL of that is just 70 miles from a small town called Las Vegas! Ever heard of it? *sigh* I miss my family.

Zed en espanol…

So I have taken it upon myself to enroll in my local university’s Spanish program for the summer. Apparently i’ve retained a lot more of it from high school than I thought.

Tomorrow is my second quiz/exam, so we’ll see how that goes. We’ve also been watching a BBC programme in classe called “Muzzy”. He’s a cute fluffy alien, but I think I have a thing for the bad guy–Corvex! He’s a computer nerd brainac. Totally my type.

Speaking of types–went swimming today/this evening in a local river, had a great time! My friend Leah invited some of her guy friends over… One of them apparently had a crush on me and spent the rest of the evening trying to put a wedge between my fiance and myself. Have to say though, it did do wonders for my ego! I still have it! Afterward the fiance and I mowed down a VERY healthy McDonald’s dinner and met up with Leah and co. again. At every given opportunity the weirdo in question would agree with me, especially if my fiance disagreed. Yes. Because that is what all women want. A mindless Zombie who follows our every whim. *sigh* Can’t wait for THAT overly eager facebook friend request… *sigh* Maybe I should block people from seeing my wordpress on there… That would probably be a good idea.

I joined back into WoW for a few months just to play the summer holiday, but sadly it doesn’t seem to be going as planned. Too much Spanish, work and nice weather have been taking up my time. Then again life is always a great balance… which is why I quit WoW in the first place. Oh well, we’ll see how the 2nd time goes around.

Until then, much love.

Hasta luego!

Zed

Zed Has “Over-Excited Writer’s Syndrome”–Oy vey!

So I have been busy trying to write a novel of sorts. It seems like every other author out there who have troubles writing are dealing with writers block. My problem is trying to get the voices in my head so that I can complete one project before starting another. My mind is out of sorts trying to figure out which end is up and not mix my stories all into one jumble.

Though I technically have 4 stories i’m working on, there are two that seem to be taking the lead. The newest of these stories will be a short story about a paranoid vampire seeking help from a Psychologist. The other a more serious novel about a man who can traveling through space and time with the help of a book and his finding the one person he might be able to share it with. Even as I read my descriptor for my novel, I realize it sounds vaguely like Doctor Who–I assure you it isn’t.

I will probably most more specifics as my projects develop, until then keep cool like the opposite side of the pillow.

-Zed

Zed says, “Things Can Be Tough”

So, I haven’t posted in a few days. To be entirely honest my life was just flipped upside down and then turned over once more with a new light… if that doesn’t make sense, i’ll put it in the words of wisdom my mother sent to me via e-mail, “when one door closes another opens”

She honestly couldn’t be more right. But to understand the true meaning of that to my situation I will need to provide some backstory.

A few years back I was in an abusive relationship. Most of my friends thought I had an amazing relationship with Kumar. My family and some of my friends only saw be become withdrawn and sad… something they were not used to, I was always the bright and bubbly one. So I distanced myself from the people who saw through the facade, and became closer to those who saw my change as the stress of being in a long-distance relationship. The relationship lasted one short year, but has caused lasting effects which changed me for the rest of my life. Only, I hadn’t realized this until just now, two years later.

On a side-note, nearly all the people I distanced from myself did come back to support me during the hardest time of my life, when I finally got the balls to leave the bastard. Unfortunately, I never didn’t understand how damaged I was until recently. I never sought out counseling and tried to deal with my pain on my own, which has not only sabotaged my college career, but my day-to-day routine.

I dropped out of school the semester after I broke up with Kumar and worked full-time at a great pizza place (previously mentioned, I believe). He continued to come visit me, despite my wishes for him not to… Friends began to formulate plans of what I would do if he showed up and bullied me at my workplace. I was scared the entire time. Half a year after the break up, a friend introduced me to one of the most wonderful men i’ve ever had a chance to meet. He was tall, skinny, nerdy (which in Zed terminology= HOTT!)… Then he opened his mouth. He was very smooth, up until he used THE WORST pickup line in the history of man–”You’re cute enough…” I was so desperate I actually went for that. With the support of my old friends and my new boyfriend, I sent one final e-mail to the asshole threatening a restraining order. He sent one back cursing me with all the power of Kali/Durga and his other gods. Well, it didn’t work. Apparently Hindu’s with double-standards don’t gain power from their Gods.

But I digress.. back to the point of the post. I said that I was left a different woman after a year of his attacks. Before I met him, I was bright, bubbly, energetic, focused, though a bit eccentric. I was a people person and wanted to help those who had dealt with misfortune. After the whole experience, I was left bitter… I am still the same person, but less bright… more cynical. Energetic, still, but a bit worn. I’m more eccentric than ever. Now, I avoid people and their problems. If a person comes up to me with a problem, I do listen, I am a caring person and get along with people easily, that hasn’t changed. Only now, I don’t go looking for it. So Psychology was no longer a proper fit. Square peg, round hole if you will.

So when I went back to school and found my fellow psych majors annoying as hell and did poorly in classes, it shouldn’t have been a surprise, but I didn’t understand that I did change at that point. So I continued, and my grades kept falling. I kept making excuses, the classes were harder, the professors were cruel, the student stared at me. While I still half believe that, I realize the classes were not any different than before, I was.

Yesterday I went to an appointment with a general degree advisor (for those who have no clue what they want to do). She ran a couple ideas through the computer and found I was almost ready to have a degree in a completely different area of study. At this point I don’t care if my major is underwater basket weaving as long as I get a degree! So it appears I am going to be graduating with a major in Social Science with a minor in Sociology. Yeehaw! AND if i’m really feeling it, I can go back for a teaching degree.

The past few days my worries were almost getting the best of me.. but now that i’m about to go into another chapter, I am ready to admit my faults and start anew. I am lucky that I am able to go to college, have a loving family and fiance (yes, the skinny hottie with the bad pickup lines), and some life-long friends to help me along the way.

This sappy post has come to an end, i’m off for now.

-Zed

At The Late Night, Double Feature Zed-Show

An article I recently found via digg.com discusses “The 9 Most Obnoxious Movie Watchers” While for some of it, I think they hit the nail on the head, I think they missed a few.

1. The Snoring Grandpa– This guy comes into the theater for one reason and one reason only–his wife dragged him (she should be a category in of itself). Because his wife forced him there, he’s missing his pinochle game with Bernie and the guys. But Henrieta has Ed by the balls, so he sits in a theater snoring to Confessions of a Shopaholic.

2. I think this is what “Craig the Critic” was trying to get at, but that category was just too broad so I’m breaking it down into two parts, A & B if you will.
A). The Annoying Black Guy– Now I think that the site didn’t put this because it didn’t want to be called racist. And on that subject–I’m not racist. If you think I am, please play the worlds smallest violin, please. But we all know how (especially in a scary movie, with major suspense in the air) the guy who likes to call things out to the screen, as though it can hear his opinions… NEWSFLASH, it can’t.
B). The Annoying White Guy–This guy doesn’t talk to the screen so much, as the people around his general area. His statements are usually preceded by a “shhhayah,” and are dressed like a Wayne’s World reject.

3). The “NERD ALERT” Expert–With countless movies being made after books, comics, video games etc there WILL be someone in the theater who knows absolutely everything there is to know about the movie. This person will constantly tell you, the people around them, the problems with the movie and why it doesn’t translate as well in the movie as it does off paper.

I’m sure there are others, just as horrible, but this is the list i’ve compiled for now.

I’m out,

Zed

Zedywood

So, like thousands of my country-men, I use Netflix. It is a great way to rent movies, especially for the incredibly lazy. Going to the post office box is much easier than going to rent a movie. Not only that, but it’s cheaper! And I get tons of selection, blu-ray, international films, it’s amazing.

Today I am watching a movie i’ve wanted to see for 3 years: Salaam Namaste! I’m probably 1/4 through the movie–Indian movies are incredibly long, and so far I LOVE IT. If there are any cornballs out there like me, I highly recommend it. If nothing check it out for the hot actors! Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan

This is a short blog, it seems, but I might be back later to add more.

-Zed

We’re All-Stars Now–In the Zed Show

So, today I had A-Z Spaghettio’s for lunch. Which I have found to TOTALLY BLOW. The flavor is good, of course, just tastes like regular Spaghettio’s, but as regular Spaghettio’s are just “O”’s, you’d expect the A-Z to be a wide variety of letters. WRONG. I found over half of the letters to be “O”’s with the rest being a jumble of letters like B, F, and X. Needless to say, I will not be putting A-Z Spaghettio’s together to make death threats anytime soon.

In unrelated news, I am a huge fan of Diggnation. Kevin and Alex are basically my heroes. On one of their more recent episodes, they featured “The Best Star Wars figurine ever”–THE FORCE. Even though this is obviously a spoof, I am pretty sure that if given the chance, I would buy this. I already have an extensive collection from the original 1977, 1980, and 1983 Star Wars movies, all in their original packaging (except the Millennium Falcon, that one was soooo cool we had to touch it).

Just to further prove my nerdiness, I found an interesting article on Wired. I have always been interested in Anthropology and the study of early human history. And being that my fiance works with high school CD kids, this article kinda hit home. The Wiki article I linked uses the term “Mental Retardation.” However, I live in Wisconsin where the the official term used is “Cognitively Disabled” after a lawsuit.

Another interesting article I stumbled across is what inmates order as their “last meal.” Granted, I know that this is their final meal before they’re stuck with a bunch of needles and cross the River of Styx, but these people typically ordered A LOT of food. Seriously, 4 COKES?!

ANNNNDDD Finally, video games that should have been Zombified. Huzzah! I’m sure i’ll have entire post about Zombies at some point, so i’ll leave it at this for now…

I’m out,

Zed

Why (or is it Y) Zed?

Post #2.

Either I am incredibly shallow and self-absorbed, or blogging is like crack for those who are afraid of substance abuse, because this is my second post within 2 hours of making my very own blog.

But I suppose I can just slather a layer of make-up on this post and pretend that it is actually is worth reading.

WHY ZED?

I really truly want to clear this up in case I somehow manage to get any followers on this thing (other than my best friend and my fiance, they already know my lame stories).

I have never been one of those type of people who just has a nickname. My family, of course, has over the years given me numerous nicknames that really have nothing to do with who I am as a person. Sure, when Austin Power’s 2 came out and Mini Me was introduced to the world, it seemed cute to call me that, being that I am 8 inches shorter than my older sister. There was also the nickname “Squirrel” given to me by family friends. I was probably 13 at the time, and had an excessive amount of energy and a bad habit of talking before I could think. While the same is basically true of me 10 years later, this side of me isn’t as prominent and not often displayed publicly. So I was simply known by my given name for most of my life, and I was content. Anytime someone tried to nickname me, I despised it. My hatred of these nicknames never gave them time to stick. One of my ex’s (who is still one of my greatest friends) tried many times to give me nicknames in high school (the likes of which were “apple” do to a gala sticker stuck to me at lunch and “stubby-fingers” do to my pathetically short fingers).

So it wasn’t until my sophomore year in college I actually needed a nickname. For the greater part of my sophomore year I worked at IHOP. Great food, terrible place to work. I’m not sure if this is the same at all IHOP’s, but my experience was awful. The management treated us like vermin, so on April Fool’s Day, I walked out, only returning with my cleaned uniform (they keep your last check otherwise). A week later I got a job at a pizza place. An old friend of mine had recently been made Assistant Manager, and I got a job making pizza’s. Unfortunately, our boss had the same first name I did. He was to be known by our shared name and I became “Z”, the first letter of my surname.

The pizza place was the best place i’ve ever worked. The pay was shit, I always smelt like pizza (which, it turns out a lot of men find alluring), the flour got EVERYWHERE (I still have flour stuck into the seems of my work shoes and in my old cell phone). What was so amazing about it? The people. Working at a shitty pizza place made me friendships of a lifetime. It was through one of my co-workers that I met my fiance. *insert chorus of “Awwwww!’s*

So that is how my nickname became “Z”. But I live in the United States where that is pronounced “Zee”. But I happen to be an avid anglophile, where they pronounce the letter as “zed”. Considering they invented the language, I am going to trust them. Why am I an anglophile? I love their accents, their humour, the way they spell things, their slang, their system of government, their culture, their television programmes, their books, and yet i’ve never been there. *le sigh*

This entire story is based on the idea that someone other than my best friend and my fiance will read this. But I think it is important to understand that “Z” is the end of the alphabet. In school I was always the last to answer for attendance. It is an ending to something… but I never felt that it should be that way… it doesn’t have to end just because it went A-Z. I feel if we were to put the alphabet backward so “Z” was first, it would put a differnet perspective on everything… and I feel maybe I provide a different perspective.

However, as to not bore my already captive audience, this is part 2 of my 2nd post for them–something a little more original.

Smiley!

Two basic internet smiley’s.

1. : )

2. : – )

But which one to use?

The first one is very simple, it only involves the use of : and ) which is great for those of us who are too lazy.

The second looks more like an actual face rather than a puppet from Sesame Street.

My preference is the more simplistic, nose-less one. My BFF prefers the nose.

In the end does it matter? A nose is a nose, and eventually someone is going to want to fix it.

Now! From whence you came you will remain!

I’m out,

Zed