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This week for Sweet Tunes Thursday, I’m giving you a recap of the Murderdolls show I went to on Monday the 30th.

I’m sure this sounds totally lame, but that show being scheduled was a dream come true. The fact that they reformed and released an ALBUM is something I’ve fantasized about for the past 8 years. But. They. Did it.

Ok.

So I’m a total spaz, in case you didn’t know this. And I’m realllly pretty sure that the Murderdolls know this now too.  CUZ I MET THE FLIPPING BAND. Yeah. I met them.

And you know what? It’s funny because like 5 years ago I spent a TON of time thinking about how cool it would be to hang with Joey Jordison and just how that meeting would go down. Yeah, so didn’t happen like that. I totally freaked and didn’t know what to say and I think it came out like, “OMG OMG OMG 5 years ago you were totally my idol.” But then I realized what I said, and that it wasn’t what I wanted to say, so I was like, “But you’re still freaking awesome!”

Yeah. I don’t think he was too excited about that.

Regardless, I did get to meet the rest of the band too. All of those guys are super nice and I made sure to tell the guitarist that he was really good — he was an unknown and it’s pretty awesome that he stepped in and took over for Tripp Eisen.

AND I talked to Wednesday 13 (I actually said, “DUDE I WANT TO TALK TO YOU” and he’s all “Okay then, let’s talk.”).  I told him that I saw him a couple years back at a little bar in Cedar Falls and he remembered it (or maybe not? but he was nice enough to say he did).  He was really nice and it was probably the coolest 30 seconds of my life … haha.

Oh oh oh, and here’s the cool part: So I’d randomly put my deconstructed t-shirt quilt in the back of my car a while back because I thought it would look cool in the back window. Well, it was made from mostly Slipknot and Murderdolls shirts. Conveniently, I grabbed it and the band signed it. So now I’ve got a kickass signed quilt. What up?

And it was really cool that Wednesday signed one of the dolls … and Joey did too. Joey drew a little smiley face, so I guess that’s way cool. He thought the whole quilt idea was pretty sweet. (maybe cuz it’s mostly made of shirts from bands that he’s in?).

Anyway — oh wait, there was a show. Right.

So the concert was pretty much amazing. I know I’m sure I sound like a complete douche right now, but shut up. I love these guys. I seriously waited 8 years for anything and about crapped myself when I found out they were releasing anything and this concert was (as I mentioned) a dream come true. I dragged Mark along, but he loves Wednesday’s old band, Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 (who I blogged about a couple weeks ago), so he had an awesome time — in the back, drinkin’ PBR.

Me — I was up front. Practically on the stage.  Wednesday got in my face a few times and it was pretty sweet.

They played a few of their new songs and a bunch of the songs from their last album. Great show!

For your enjoyment, I’ve included some videos. The first one doesn’t have good sound, but it’s got a great view.  And if you look on the left side, I’m in the hot pink zebra shirt!

WOW this august has proven to be a rockin’ one. Megadeth/Slayer/Testament last Saturday and on Monday, Aug. 30th, I’m going to FINALLY get to see the Murderdolls — one of my absolute favorite bands ever. This is beyond exciting because I didn’t think I’d EVER get the chance to see the ‘dolls. They released an album in 2002 (way back when I graduated from high school!) and have been put on the back burner since 2004 when they quit touring as Joey Jordison (the guitarist) is the drummer for Slipknot and they were kind of a big deal then.

Side note: I just blogged about FDQ last Thursday, and that’s a related band.

I did get a chance to see Wednesday 13, the frontman for the Murderdolls, back in 2005 at a tiny lil bar in Cedar Falls. I was about a foot away from him the whole time — he played stuff from his new album and some Frankenstein Drag Queens songs.  He even shot me with his fake plastic gun (guys, that was kind of amazing).

Anyway … it was awesome seeing him, but it wasn’t QUITE as awesome as it would be to see the Murderdolls live.

WELL, my dream has finally come true.

The band reunited this year — at least frontman Wednesday 13 and Joey Jordison — and they’ve put together a new album with some new members. They’ve scheduled a tour, but it starts overseas and ends nowhere near here. I’m pretty sure they’re on Ozzfest, which isn’t something I’m interested in.

I was on twitter yesterday, and one of my friends re-tweeted something about a Des Moines show on Monday from the Murderdolls twitter account.  I managed to snag tickets to what I’m guessing will be a sold-out show. So, on Monday, I’m going to be rocking out at the House of Bricks with the Murderdolls … and I can barely contain my excitement!

eeeeeek! Seriously. I’m like a 12-year-old-girl going to a Miley Cyrus concert.

Love goes to Des Moines local Cara Hall this week and her ironically titled blog, Failed Feminist.

I met Cara last year through Craft Saturday in Des Moines. In her own words, Cara “is a writer in Des Moines, Iowa (which is cooler than you think). And as much as she never expected to, she loves all things Martha. Just try to pry the knitting needles out of her hands. She’s always trying new recipes and DIY projects, and she hopes you’ll try them too. She’s also always working on herself, and there is oh so much work to do.”

I read Cara’s blog for her crafty updates, her dog photos and commentary, but mostly for her recipes. One of my favorites is inside out egg rolls, which is pictured in the screenshot above.

So, check her out. She’s also a fellow Des Moines Register Featured Blogger.

You know it’s going to be a fabulous day when you wake up, check your e-mail and see that somebody nice and talented has included you in her etsy treasury.

MimiBird included me on her Birdies Tweet Tweet treasury today.

Check out the adorable things she picked out. Mine is definitely not the cutest.

Last Sunday, Mark, Barney and I went to Des Moines. I had a coffee table that was sitting out for me at work that I needed to pick up and I needed Mark’s car to retrieve it. So, we decided to take Barney so we could get him an ice cream cone at Snookies Malt Shop. For those of you who don’t know, Snookies is a really great malt shop in the Beaverdale neighborhood in Des Moines and they love dogs.  So, they hand out little doggie-sized ice cream cones along with people’s ice cream treats.

Barney was surprisingly good on the walk around the lake. He met a few other doggies and behaved himself. He also met a few little kids. So, all in all, he was very deserving of the ice cream cone he was going to get.

He was also a little apprehensive of the car ride. I’m guessing because every other time he’s been in a longer car ride the poor dog got dropped off at a new home.  I’m his 3rd home — 4th, if you count the brief stint with my parents (which I’m sure he does).  Anyway, he started enjoying it when I rolled down the window and let him hang out a bit (don’t worry guys, he had his harness on and I had a vice grip on both him and his leash).

We made it to the malt shop and Mark and I ordered.  I got Barney his cone and sat down with him.  To my surprise, he didn’t eat it all in one bite like my old dachshund* would have.  He licked it! Like a person!  He didn’t eat the cone part — apparently he didn’t consider that part food (this is coming from somebody who sometimes eats poo).

After he finished his cone, he sat around waiting patiently to see if there was going to be any more. Nope. Not sharing.  I got a brownie sundae with hot fudge and marshmallow, and Mark got a Heath not-sure-what-they-call-it-there-but-is-essentially-a-Blizzard (TM).

*side note — my old doxie (Jake the Snake) was famous for his eating feats. I don’t have all day to tell you the stories, but my favorite has to do with ice cream.  My mom was scooping ice cream for a birthday party or something, and it was a particularly frozen hard batch.  She scooped really hard, and the scoop of ice cream flew off the ice cream scooper. Jake just happened to be walking by and snatched the WHOLE SCOOP of ice cream on the way. It didn’t even hit the ground. It. Was. Epic. That dog ate EVERYTHING and lived to be almost 15.

In case you’re curious … since I got off on the tangent … here’s some pictures of Jake.

He was rather rotund here. I’m guessing this was when he was about twelve.

My papasan chair was one of his favorite places to snuggle up under a blanket. He would usually play musical beds/chairs all day long and find interesting places to nap.

For instance, on my pillow, covered up in my blanket. No joke. This dog did this on his own. This was actually the last time I saw him. I think I stayed for the weekend and I had folded my blanket up and set it next to my pillow. That dog crawled under the blanket and fell asleep like this.

CHILDREN OF BODOM

is

coming

to

Des MOINES!

October 1 — they’re supporting Black Label Society, who, I’m cool with seeing again, but more importantly:

ALEXI LAIHO is coming to Des Moines. AND it’s a small venue.  Which means.  I could be. Within. His. Reach.

Oh man.

By the way … for those of you who don’t know me, did I mention that I’m a huge metalhead? I think that needs to probably be in my sidebar bio somewhere.

It’s soooo cheesy, but Children of Bodom are my end-all-do-all favorite metal band (aside from the ‘deth of course, who I’m scheduled to see again in August). They really came into play when I had my leg injury from running the 2008 Des Moines Marathon … I started listening to their album, Are You Dead Yet? and the lyrics from the title track became my mantra: “Should I regret, or ask myself, are you dead yet?” I even did a metal craft swap last summer and received a very cool cross stitch with those lyrics.  It was their driving speed that turned me from a jog-paced distance runner into a competitive shorter distance runner (I killed the last half marathon I ran!).

And in case you forgot, I may or may not have a minor crush on their lead vocalist and guitarist … Alexi. Laiho.

Anyway, I’m sure noone that reads this is even close to half as excited as I am about this, but I’m about ready to pee my pants over here waiting for them to announce ticket sales at the 7 Flags Center here!

Just thought I’d mention to y’all that I’m now a featured lifestyle blogger on the Des Moines Register. To quote my friend Corey, it’s the modern-day equivalent of having a cable-access show!

Which reminds me of some of my favorite SNL sketches … and best movie to spawn from SNL characters.

It’s weird when all your belongings are moved out of a space that you used to call your own. It’s just … empty.  A shell.

I was sitting in my empty apartment waiting to get checked out when it hit me that I wasn’t in my home anymore. Then I got to thinking about all the stuff that happened in that apartment. First thing that came to mind was the time I got epically sick with the stomach flu and wound up lying on the bathroom floor all night. Then I remembered going through the breakup last fall and how I couldn’t stand coming home to that apartment because it didn’t feel like home to me. It was just the place I ended up when my last boyfriend didn’t want me around anymore.

But then I remembered that my first kiss with Mark was in this room.  The first time he came to Des Moines he spent time here.

That’s about it. Honestly, I’m not going to miss this place much. I’m going to miss the fact that I can’t go home and shower over lunch after a workout, craft over lunch, take a nap over lunch, or just chill out and watch crappy TV over my lunch.  Otherwise, I consider it just a place to store my stuff. Not really much of a home.

Hey all!

It’s that magical time again. That’s right. MARKET DAY!

If y’all don’t know what Market Day is by now, you should probably get out from under that rock you’ve been hiding under.

Market Day is a casual monthly market for art, vintage, found items, homemade and handmade goods. Artists are encouraged to look beyond what they traditionally retail and bring a fun and inexpensive mix of items. Think arts festival meets bohemian garage sale. It is always free-to-attend. Six of the seven dates overlap with the nearby Des Moines Downtown Farmers’ Market. It’s is a seasonal event and runs the last Saturday of every month, May through October. We also have a special Black Friday sale the day after Thanksgiving.  Market Day is brought to you by make/break.

So basically, lots of cool people peddling pretty things.

It’s from 9 AM–2 PM this Saturday in a warehouse off of MLK. Here’s a map.

I’m going to be selling a lot of things and offering all of my pieces from 2009 at an INSANELY low price.  I’m having a trunk sale. Everything in the trunk must go. I’m also moving this week, so anything I don’t have to move, I’d be glad to offer at a fabulously low price.

In the meantime, enjoy this video of Cat Rocketship, one of the make/break peeps, chatting with me about Market Day.  For up-to-date info about Market Day, follow them on twitter.

For a preview of what I’m selling, check my etsy or my flickr. I sell things on etsy at a higher price than what I sell at Market Day, so for better deals and steals, hit up Market Day next Saturday!

Okay, so a friend of mine is going to try this in February, so I thought, hey, why not?

I’m going to attempt to only eat out at local establishments — no chain restaurants — in February.  Can I do this?  I think I can.  I pretty much avoid chains for the most part anyway.  Sooo … here I go!

I should maybe attempt to blog about the different places I try, but we’ll see how that goes.

Read about my friend swearing off chain restaurants for a month.