a very fine gingerbread house

natalya and i built a gingerbread house together over the holiday break. it was quite an experience to say the least. here's my favorite quote from the event:

"Natalya get your hand out of your pants. We don't stick our hand in our pants when we're building gingerbread houses."

i'm amazed at the things i say as a parent...

the things we do for love...

May I vent for a minute? I think that the packaging gods have it in for parents or something. I had a heck of a time helping Natalya get her presents out of their respective boxes on Christmas morning. Each and every little item was secured in the box by a long piece of wire that was twisted this way and that. By the time I got to the sixth or seventh one I was ready to bring out the big bolt cutters! Only you can't do that really because you might clip the Little Mermaid's head off by accident.

What happened to the good old days when little toy pieces floated freely inside their boxes?

Suffice it to say that as a parent, I often find myself doing things that no sane person would ever do. For example, here I am drying the Little Mermaid's hair after she had a bath with Natalya on Christmas night. I couldn't send either one of the girls to bed with a wet head now could I?!









And here's the reason I do all of these crazy things...my sweet Natalya!

She's enjoying her first time playing in 'real' snow -- ever. This was taken a couple days before Christmas. This guy in San Carlos brings in a truck load of snow every year and dumps it in front of his house. Kids come from miles around to play in the snow :)

season's greetings

what is that thing?

I found this thing growing next to the fence in my front yard. it must be some kind of mushroomy thing.

Elvis: Live at Works Gallery!!!

Last Saturday night was a lot of fun! I donated a new Elvis portrait (Lint Me Tender) to Works Gallery in San Jose for their 30th anniversary auction. I used to be on the Board of Directors at Works (way back in the 90s).

Anyway, on the way to the gallery opening Natalya said, "People actually pay money for your artwork, right Mama?"

At the gallery we had fun watching people's reactions and listening to their comments about Elvis. My favorite comment was, "This is SO COOL — and disturbing at the same time. I mean, where did all of that lint come from?"













Lint Me Tender

dream on!

The "Bad Boys from Boston" otherwise known as Aerosmith rounded out the 20th Shoreline concert season last Thursday night. Motley Crue opened the show. Let's just say they're not one of my favs. It's always a bad sign when the hum of the amphlifiers (before the show starts) is enough to make you put your earplugs in -- the Crue was loud! Lot's of stage antics (scantily clad dancing girls; pyro flames & explosions) but it didn't cover up Vince Neil's thin vocals. All bang and no bite. Nuff said.

On to the stars of the show: Aerosmith. I received my first Aerosmith album (yes. it was vinyl) on my 12th birthday. Toys in the Attic. I listened to it non-stop for days. I was hooked! I've been an Aero-head ever since. I can remember laying in bed at night staring at my poster of Steven Tyler and dreaming about meeting the band one day. That dream came true one year at Pine Knob Music Theatre when I was working backstage in the Hospitality Dept. The guys were so cool! I remember that they were listening to AC/DC's Back in Black which had just been released.

Fast forward to 2006. I've worked with Aerosmith several times throughout my years at Shoreline. The guys are so accommodating -- always willing to do meet and greets with the fans etc.

So on Thursday night I stood in front of the stage for the first three songs with the photographers. And I felt so blessed! Not only did I get to watch Aerosmith from this prime position -- I also got to meet the guys again. The 12 year old Kaari would never have believed that one day she would be so close to her idols. Dream on indeed!




















Two of my new close personal friends display Aerosmith's set list from the Shoreline show.

the bridge school benefit 2006

it's fall and that means two things to me: the world series (go tigers!) and the bridge school benefit at shoreline. http://www.bridgeschool.org/













this year we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of the bridge school benefit shows. i'm proud to say that i've worked 19 out of those 20 shows. here are some pics and musings from the shows this weekend:

biggest surprise of the shows (in a good way): this honor goes to trent reznor of "nine inch nails" fame. i was initially skeptical about acoustic versions of nine inch nails songs. trent did an amazing set! he played the grand piano and was backed by a 4-piece string section. the arrangements were fantastic! his set included "Piggy (nothing can stop me now)" and a chilling (it gave me goosebumps) version of "Hurt".






















best story: dave grohl, frontman for the foo fighters, said that the first time he played "everlong" solo and acoustic was at the foo fighters first bridge show (oct. 2000). he said that he realized half-way through the song that it was "really intense" to be playing it acoustically. dave looked out at the audience and spotted his best friend who was crying (the song is really beautiful) and then dave started crying. he finished the song and walked off stage passing neil young and david crosby on his way. neil and david both gave him a thumbs up and said "good job kid". then dave said that he ran back to his dressing room and just sobbed he was so overwhelmed by the experience.






















brushes with fame: in 2004 i brushed elbows (literally) with paul mccartney. this year i finally got to meet eddie vedder. pearl jam has played the bridge benefit many times but this was my first official handshake with the lead pearl. he's very short. about 5' 4" and was in a very good mood this weekend. he really likes doing these shows. lucky for me!

my first & hopefully last trip to st. louis

went to st. louis for a conference. the conference was great but let's just say that i don't need to go back to st. louis... ever! and i mean that in the nicest way. really i do.





















there are two things that all visitors to St. Louis are required to do: visit the arch and take the Budweiser Brewery tour










































i call the next series of photos "Signs of St. Louis":

































































































FYI: If you're looking for Jesus -- you'll find him driving a white Ford truck -- in St. Louis.

she looked right at me!

Sheryl Crow and John Mayer were at Shoreline last week. Andrea and I grabbed some seats in the fifth row to watch Sheryl's set. (Membership does have its privileges afterall). Anyway -- when Sheryl sang 'Steve McQueen' she looked right at me! We locked eyes for a moment. I'm sure of it! I now have a new favorite Sheryl Crow song :)

download festival at shoreline

Beck headlines the Download Festival this year. He had a puppet show happening in the middle of the stage during the performance. There was a puppet representing each band member. The puppet show mimicked exactly what the live band was doing. It was fabulous!
















Beck's puppets in action.

Other bands on the stage for the festival included The Shins, Muse, Yeah Yeah Yeah's and TV on the Radio and straight from Monterrey Mexico -- Kinky! They (Kinky) totally rocked the second stage and TV on the Radio is definitely worth a listen.

Check them out:
http://www.amazon.com/Kinky/dp/B00006314Y
http://www.tvontheradio.com/

cones of september

at the baylands (that's shoreline amphitheatre in the distance).

along the baylands trails.

dave matthews at shoreline

here's a picture of dave matthews when he was at shoreline a couple of weeks ago -- or maybe should i say a "picture of a video of dave..." i have a video monitor in my shoreline office and can watch the show from there when i want to.

natalya's first week of school

ready for her first day of school!
(yes. she's wearing purple socks
and that is a barbie doll .)






















talya's shoes: after first day of school

















talya's shoes: after second day of school

















talya's shoes: after third day of school

random but meaningful

a sign of the times...

my favorite new shirt (great for shoreline shows)

dancing with natalya

cone fest

My obsession with cones (pylons) continues. Here are some recent pics.

kitsch klub gathering

I spent saturday afternoon with my buddies from art school. we call ourselves the 'kitsch klub' (long story). our assignment for this meeting was to create a self-portrait. we then exchanged them randomly. i did a self-portrait in dryer lint. kim is now the proud owner of it.





















renee and kim are comparing salt packaging. renee is holding a really cool plastic pouch with a spout for pouring the salt. and -- this salt package had a great story on it about where the salt came from (something about ancient sea beds). i guess you know which one i liked the best.
















kim just bought a new Mac that has an application on it called Photo Booth. we had fun playing with it!