Discarded all the naughty nights for niceness

Do you see that little countdown clock to the right over there? Yep, it's down to single digits, which means in just a few days I'll be 30! (Are you allowed to have a blog after 30? I'm pretty sure I have to turn in my MySpace page.)

It also means that in a few short days I'll be heading off to San Francisco to celebrate said birthday with all the friends I managed to convince to join me. I woke up this morning pretty excited about the whole trip. I can already tell that this next week at work is going to seem endless. Oh well, at least there will be some serious fun at the end of it.

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Now it's time for that album I promised. Today it's Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys. Is it a sophomore slump from the young British band that burst on the scene in 2006? My answer - maybe?

I definitely don't like this album as much as their first. Maybe it's just that the witty lyrics and punk riffs were such a surprise the first time. Now they all seem a little worn. I still think Favourite Worst Nightmare is worth your time (and money), it's just not going to change your life. Arctic Monkeys have a lot of good music ahead of them, and I'll always be there to see what they put out. If they're the future of British rock, I'm in good hands.

My imaginary British boyfriend

I promise to write about Declan's next album soon, but I wanted to add another quick post. I stumbled on this website for the International Mixtape Project last month and decided to check it out. It's perfect for geeks like me who enjoy making mixes and forcing them upon friends. Now I get to force them upon perfect strangers.

Here's how it works: You sign up and pay $10 (for operating fees - I don't blame them, this thing's probably a hassle to run). Every month they send you the name and address of someone to send a mix CD to. The email usually contains a thematic suggestion but you can send anything you want. In turn, somebody else sends you a CD.

I signed up in May and sent a copy of "Sad Panda" to a guy in Canada. I was starting to think the whole thing might be too much of a hassle for me, what with the going to the post office and all, when one afternoon there was a lovely brown envelope in my mailbox with a Royal Mail stamp on it. My CD had arrived and it was from some British (and sad?) guy named James.

I immediately played the CD and it was great fun. It had a little British rap (which I love) and Neutral Milk Hotel (which I also love) and I found myself imagining my wonderful British boyfriend had sent this to me. If Shawn can have an imaginary German girlfriend and Nicolaj can have an imaginary New York girlfriend, why not me? Now, I can't wait to see what arrives this month. I have a brand new mix to ship off to New Zealand!

We'll miss you Tony!

Jeff and I are celebrating the last episode of The Sopranos with a nice chianti.

Quick update

I have to get ready for the last episode of The Sopranos tonight (laundry, vacuum, pizza) but I wanted to give a quick update on Tippy. I'm happy to report that his wound is healing nicely and his famous appetite has returned. I gave him a bath on Thursday to clean him up and he wasn't too happy about that, but otherwise he's back to his perky self.

See?

Do you get HBO with that thing?

My parents were in town this weekend, but it was Tippy who stole the show. I noticed he wasn't eating well and would whine when I picked him up. On Saturday night I did a little looking and discovered some swelling in a not so comfortable place. That landed him an emergency trip to the vet where they said he had an infected anal gland (I know, eww). There was some lancing, and some pain killers and then he came out in this cute little lampshade. He was not a happy camper.

He spent most of the weekend under my bed, and I spent most of it paying way more attention to my cat's backside than I ever thought I would.

So he's been on antibiotics the last couple days and starting to return to his old self. Getting rid of the lampshde improved his spirits immensely. Apparently, he's not a big fan of the Sopranos.