Alanis Morissette

Played at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland on Monday and Jeff and I went to see the show. I bought the tickets months ago and have had the date and time on my calendar ever since. I reminded Jeff we were going last Friday or so....then Monday rolls around and I didn't think of it at all until about 4:47pm, yikes! We are going to a concert tonight! About that time of day, I'm ready to call it a day and just go lay on the couch and do NOTHING! That rarely ever happens, but, now, I've got to get moving and get my a** to a concert! And feed the kids dinner and try to make myself look even the slightest bit cool, it is rock and roll!! The show starts at 8pm, so now, I'm thinking...if they have an opener, she won't even start playing until after 9pm....I am going to be really ready to fall asleep!! On the ride there, I comment, reminder to self, no concerts on weeknights any more!! Jeff heartily agreed.

Alexi Murdoch opened for her. I've heard his music on KFOG' Acoustic Sunrise Show on Sunday mornings sometimes. It's pretty music, lovely guitar and good voice, a little low key compared to Alanis and not the best music to keep me awake!! It's nice music for relaxing, not revving up!

The Paramount Theatre is a beautiful restored building in classic art deco. There's lots of naked ladies worked into the decor all around. It is something to see and very entertaining while you are waiting for the headliner to begin. I was lucky to have gotten great seats, we were in row P, when I counted, that worked out to be row 16 from the stage, pretty good! It's a smaller venue, so that was also really great to see someone perform. We recently saw The Swell Season there, they were the duo that performed in the movie Once (great movie!). It is nice to drive about 20 minutes, park literally within 100 yards of the door to the theatre and be in and out so quick. It's not like going to see DMB at Shoreline Theatre!

Alanis came on and played an awesome show. I saw her once previously, when she toured for her first album, a long time ago...at the San Jose Arena. I went with Eric and Mickie....that was a while ago. I remember the sound level being so loud that I couldn't enjoy it and I couldn't understand a word she was singing. Also, the screaming girls that sat behind us sang every song at the top of their lungs, drowning out Alanis. This time it was a different experience although I did have wild-girl-that-doesn't-have-any-rhythm sitting next to me. She whooped it up an got up to dance at every opportunity, arms splaying. Alanis did not disappoint. She played a lot of her hits and didn't (surprisingly) play too many from her newest cd. She played it pretty safe, not straying from the original recordings. Her band was made up of 2 guitar players, 1 bass player, drummer and keyboardist, all guys. They were an interesting back drop, not interacting with her too much. For all of our on-the-dark-side-of-45 moaning and groaning about going....it was a great show and I'm very glad we went.

A couple of items....Joey made 2 goals tonight in the first high school soccer game of the season. He made the JV team this year (we were hoping for Varsity) and he was named one of 3 captains of the team! So that is great. The final score of the game was 4-0. They played Moreau High School. There's pros and cons to being on Varsity vs JV, a couple of the pros for JV, he will get to play a lot and he is one of the captains.

Jeff and I are officially engaged to be married! We are very happy and thrilled about the "next" step. The kids are happy too.

I have signed up on Facebook. I had a couple of people ask me if I was on, so I checked it out and it is cool! It's a fun and interesting socializing tool, check it out! Let me know if you're on and we can hook up and become friends!