kaari's blog

She's a Magic (wo)Man

2011-09-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night Def Leppard and Heart played at Shoreline. They both looked and sounded great but Heart won the prize for most unforgettable concert moment of the evening -- and perhaps the entire 2011 Shoreline Season.

Ann and Nancy were playing an excellent cover of The Who's Love, Reign O'er Me and lo and behold rain drops started falling and lightening crossed the sky. It was magical and AMAZING! Kudos to the Wilson sisters -- and of course Mother Nature -- for the perfect timing.

nancy and ann wilson at shoreline

basketball and perspiration

2011-07-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

Miss Muffet is working on her jump shot

Natalya played basketball with Coach Lauren yesterday. They played outside and it was pretty warm. On the way home Natalya said, "Mama — I think I'm sweating in places where a girl shouldn't be sweating!"

She really has a way with words sometimes...

It wasn't in the Cards -- again...

2011-04-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

Stanford Seniors Jeanette Pohlen, Melanie Murphy and Kayla Pedersen fight for a loose ball

I can't believe it happened again... another trip to the Final Four (that's four years in a row!) and another loss. 62 - 63. Ouch! Of course there were a couple of bogus foul calls on Stanford in the last couple of minutes -- that didn't help matters. But the Cardinal blew a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left. What happened? The Texas A & M defense was more than the Stanford Women could handle.

I'm so heartbroken... but to put things in perspective, I'm not as heartbroken as the time we lost the 1997 Finals to Old Dominion... that was the worst! It was also the first time Shmoopie ever saw me cry over a basketball game. This year's loss is probably just the second worst loss.

Thanks for another (mostly) great year Stanford!

Looks Can Be Deceiving

2011-02-07T21:55:00.000-08:00

Miss Muffett came home from school with white-out all over her hands.

Me: What's with all the white-out on your hands?

Muffett: I painted it on my hands on purpose when I was in class.

Me: On purpose?

Muffett: Uh huh. It makes it look like I've been working hard.

Miss Muffett in San Francisco with a "P" shadow

2010: What Happened?

2011-01-16T23:19:00.000-08:00

I was woefully lacadaisical this year in posting to my blog so before I write about 2011, let me recap the year that was 2010.

We celebrated Shmoopie’s 50th birthday in March with a party at the beach in Aptos, CA. We stayed at a resort called Seascape. Andrea’s parents and their partners came as well as her sister Karen and her family. All of the planning was worth it because the weekend went off without a hitch and Andrea was really pleased with her birthday weekend. She ate her annual bacon and eggs breakfast surrounded by her loved ones. We got really fun party favors for the everyone who attended: reusable shopping bags with a cartoon drawing of Andrea printed on them and the phrase Would you trust your mental health to this woman? (She’s a psychotherapist.) Everybody loved the bags!

In early April my folks treated our family as well as my brother’s family to a week at a resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary there. Everyone had a blast! The weather was great and we did lots of fun activities like jet skiing, zip lining, boogie boarding and just plain being lazy on the beach. The only down side of our Mexico trip was that it happened to coincide with the Women’s College Basketball Play-offs. I still can’t believe I told my parents that it was okay to schedule the trip during play-off season! I must’ve been multi-tasking when they asked me.

My brother Eric and me in Mexico

Shoreline Amphitheatre was my home away from home for the summer. I finished my 24th season there. Highlights of the season included meeting Elvis Costello, the return of Sarah McLachlan and Lilith Fair, and meeting the American Idol Finalists. Their publicist is an old friend of mine so she invited Natalya to hang out with the Idols before the show. When I asked Natalya if she wanted to hang with the Idols her eyes bugged out of her head. She was speechless (very rare). Needless to say, Natalya had a blast backstage with the gang (and so did Andrea and I). The Idols were really sweet to Natalya and talked to her about following her dreams etc.

Hanging out with the 2010 American Idol finalists

Natalya spent her summer days at school (Bowman is a year-round school). However, she did spend one week at the Stanford Women’s basketball camp. I was just as excited for her to attend the camp as she was -- maybe more so. She had a great time and got to meet and play ball with some of the Stanford players. The week of intense basketball definitely improved Natalya’s game.

Natalya and her favorite Stanford basketball player, Kayla Pedersen

We took Natalya to Disneyland for her ninth birthday and after that, began our search for a dog. We’d promised Natalya several years ago that she could have a dog when she turned 9 -- so we had to make good on our promise. After weeks of searching we rescued “Olive”. She was 4 months old; a Lab-Basenji mix. We really lucked out because she’s a fantastic dog. Very sweet and well-behaved for the most part.. We’re taking her to puppy classes and having lots of fun with her. Now if she would just stop chewing everything in sight life with Olive would be perfect.

Olive at the park

And finally, a moment I will never forget, the Stanford Women's Basketball Team beat the UConn Huskies on December 30th at Maples Pavilion. The win ended UConn's record-breaking winning streak of 92 games. Shmoopie and I were so elated by the win that we opened our New Year's Eve bottle of champagne a night early to celebrate. Go Cardinal!

Stanford celebrates its big win

that's rock n roll

2010-12-31T14:10:00.000-08:00

Peter Frampton in the 1970s

I ran into some people at a party the other night who knew I worked at Shoreline. While we were chatting they asked me about some of my "memorable Shoreline moments"... here's the first in a series:

A few seasons ago we had a show with Journey, Peter Frampton and John Waite. I was standing in front of the stage with the photographers waiting for Peter Frampton to start his set. The lights came up and Frampton started playing Show Me the Way. The rookie photographer next to me pointed his lens at the old guy playing guitar but didn't take any shots. Instead he leaned over and said, "let me know when Peter Frampton is on stage."

I yelled over the music "that IS PETER FRAMPTON".

Priceless.

Peter Frampton is still rocking

this is the thing...

2010-12-16T14:52:00.000-08:00

Natalya with Michael Jackson's star in Hollywood

A couple of weeks ago we had Miss Muffet's parent teacher conference. At Bowman, each student participates in their conference. The students prepare ahead of time and bring some of the work they're particularly proud of to show to their parents.

In her oh-so-Natalya way, Miss Muffet presented a science project and described it as, “this is a thing I did and I learned that this is the thing that’s part of that thinga-ma-jiggy.”

Just imagine how proud Mishy Mama and I felt after the presentation :)

KFC

2010-12-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

Miss Muffet made quite a discovery. On the way home from school yesterday she said, "Guess what Mama?! When I stick my fingers in my armpits and then smell my fingers it smells like chicken!"

Still not sure how to respond to this one...

2010 is our Year of the Dog

2010-11-24T12:59:00.000-08:00

We just celebrated a two-month anniversary with our dog Olive. She's a Basenji/Lab mix born in Taiwan of all places. A rescue group in Southern California works with a rescue group in Taiwan. Apparently there's a major stray dog problem there -- lucky for us because otherwise we wouldn't have Olive!

We started looking for a rescue dog in September and made a connection with a dog via Doggie Protective Services. They accepted our application and helped us find "Melina" a one year old Basenji/Lab mix. Needless to say, Natalya was off-the-charts excited about meeting Melina.

Unfortunately, when we got to the adoption fair at Pet Food Express we were told that Melina had been adopted the day before. Poor Natalya! She was heartbroken. She ran out of the store sobbing. Andrea ran after her and I stayed with the Doggie volunteers. They told me to hang around because a litter of black puppies was coming in. The problem was that we didn't want a puppy :)

Then the puppies came in. Three of them. Two girls and a boy. They were about 5 months old. Natalya got permission to get into the pen with them and Olive (named Malika at the time) walked right over to her and started sniffing and kissing her. The other two dogs ignored Natalya. So let's just say that Olive chose Natalya. Two hours later we were back home with the newest addition to our family: Olive Peterwak!

olive's first day at home with natalya

Season Number 24 Comes to an End

2010-10-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Just finished season number 24 at Shoreline. I still love working there and hanging with all of my Shoreline peeps. We've all known each other for quite awhile now!

Highlights from this season:

Live 105's BFD. Always a fun day. Loved hearing some of the "new" bands.

Lilith Fair: The Wilson Sisters rocked the house and I watched their set with some old pals from my early days at Shoreline (Lynn and Sabrina). We had a blast!

Rihanna: Great stage show and she sounded even better. I strolled past her backstage and was surprised by how tall she was... even without the high heels! Worked with a crew from yahoo! News to do a story about the Shoreline's efforts to be green. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN13tKIBQOQ

American Idol Live tour: Did a press conference with the Idols. They were all really nice kids (yes they are kids -- very young). Got to bring Natalya in so she could meet the Idols. She was thrilled of course :)

ZZ Top: The guys still have it. It was really fun to hear the old ZZ tunes again. 38 Special played too and they sounded like they hadn't aged a bit. Fun to hear Hold on Loosely -- a song that my band used to play back in high school.

ZZ Top: Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard

Bridge School Benefit: Always a highlight. Got to meet Elvis Costello this year. He was really sweet with all of the Bridge kids. Seemed to be enjoying his time at Shoreline. Sir Elton John was masterful. And it was an unexpected treat to see country music legend Ralph Stanley. He's 93 years old and can still wear rhinestones proudly and put on a show. I wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Pearl Jam again (they've done the Bridge many times) but their sets this year were superb. Probably the best I've seen from PJ!

Thanks to my pal Tim Mosenfelder for the great photos :)

Sir Elton John

Ralph Stanley

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam

a dancing partner

2010-06-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Shmoopie and I were in the car with Natalya and she asked us if we were going to get married. We explained that when we're "allowed" to get married we would.

Natalya: Who are you going to invite to the wedding?

Me: Family and friends.

Natalya: So I'll be invited?

Shmoopie: Of course!

Natalya: Can I bring someone?

Me: Sure who do you want to bring?

Natalya: I wanna bring a hobo.

Me: A hobo? Why a hobo?

Natalya: So I'll have someone to dance with.

We made Natalya ride her bike to see Wicked -- her broom was out of gas :)

so close and yet...

2010-04-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

I've been putting off posting this entry, enjoying my time as the Queen of Denial...but I must face finally the truth. My Stanford Women's Basketball team lost the NCAA Tournament Championship game to the University of Connecticut 82 - 73. We (yes "we") only lost by 9 points. A smaller margin than any team that has lost to UConn in quite a while. We were even ahead at half-time with a score of 20 - 12. But alas, it wasn't meant to be :(

No. 2 Seed Stanford played No. 1 Seed UConn in the Championship Game

The final game was even more excruciating because Shmoopie and I were in Mexico and Mexican ESPN didn't show any of the women's games. We had to "watch" the game by standing next to our new friend Alfonso in the hotel's Internet Cafe -- which was a line of computers at the back of the Sport Bar (singular). Alfonso found a game-feed on the web somehow and the three of us sat in front of a laptop and waited for the screen to refresh every 30 seconds or so. Like I said: excruciating. The second half was much more painful than the first. That's when UConn pulled ahead of Stanford; Jayne Appel got hurt and then UConn put the hammer down. Andrea and I were SO disappointed -- so was Alfonso -- he was invested too!

Stanford Senior Jayne Appel throws a pass

Thanks for another great season my Cardinal Ladies and farewell to Jayne Appel and the other Seniors. It was awesome watching you develop as players over the course of four seasons. It's hard to say goodbye :(

We'll be back at Maples Pavillion next season ready to cheer you on and welcome the new players.

Go Stanford!!!

Reunited and it Felt So Good

2010-02-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago I met my BFFs from my Michigan State University days for a little reunion. We stayed in San Diego and had a blast! There was much talking and much laughter. It was so good to be together again. Here are some quotes from the weekend (I'll let you guess who said what...):

When I buried the first cat...
Duck tape is his best friend.
You look really sad -- did people magazine not come today?
I've only been here when it's packed.
The word **** is like #### to me.
I don't understand a word you said.
Right now I just want you to know that I feel like I'm in another country.
I only stalled once.
You gotta have some kind of twitch.
I have trouble crossing the street.
Sorry if I gave you whiplash.

Susan Straka, me, and Susan Gaines in San Diego

happy new year!

2010-01-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

natalya in michigan with her red and green braces

Natalya and I made a fruit smoothie the other day.

Me: What do you think of the flavor?

Natalya: It’s a little off-balance but not too bad.

Here's hoping that 2010 is a balanced year for you and yours!

another gem from natalya

2009-12-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

Natalya and I were looking at a website today that outlined some of the things that happened over the course of 2009. She was particularly interested in the Michael Jackson stuff so we scrolled through the MJ photos. Natalya stopped at a picture of Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Jackson together and said, "Wow... this picture is cute... and kinda gross at the same time."

Out of the mouths of babes...

Feeling Thankful

2009-11-25T22:49:00.000-08:00

Natalya has been talking a lot about her cousins and how excited she is to see them next month. So I've been sharing childhood stories with her (edited versions of course!) about my cousins and me. My brother and I had great relationships with all of our cousins. However, we had particularly close relationships with the cousins on my mom’s side of the family. We all lived within 20 minutes of each other and were close in age as well, so we were together a lot.

my brother and me with our cousins and grandparents

Thanksgiving day with my cousins was always a blast. We spent a lot of time picking on the youngest member of our group: April Melinda (sorry April)! Nothing delighted us more than agitating April to the point where she ran from the kids’s table to the adult’s table and tattled on us -- which was when the five of us collectively shrugged our shoulders and claimed complete innocence.

There were many other great bonding moments growing up with my cousins: like the time we thought it would be a good idea to turn off all of the lights in the basement and throw stuff at each other in the dark. Someone got hit with a coffee can and ended up with a nasty head wound. Our first response to someone getting hurt was strategically planning what we were going to tell our parents. It was one for all and all for one.

I also remember the creation of the boogie step. I'll spare you the disgusting details but at some point we decided that the second to the last basement step at each household was the boogie step. We were forbidden to step on it. To this day, when I’m going down the basement steps at my folk’s house I skip the second to the last step from the bottom.

When my Grandmother passed away I fully comprehended the bond that my cousins and I shared. I couldn't have made it through the grieving and loss without the support of my cousins. I'll never forget how I felt when the six of us served as pall bearers and carried our Grandma's coffin at her funeral. Our parents were a little concerned about us having this responsibility given the loss we were suffering. But we wanted to do it — it just felt right somehow. On that cold Michigan January day, sharing the experience of losing our Grandma, I realized just how incredibly special the bond with my cousins was.

And now I am witnessing my daughter’s growing relationship with her cousins. She absolutely adores my brother’s boys. They accept each other fully and they love being together. It warms my heart to know that Natalaya's life will hold the same experience as mine: a strong bond with her cousins.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! And especially to my cousins: Rodney, Vicki, Kelly, and April — I’m so thankful to have grown up with you and for the bond that we share!

my 23rd season at shoreline comes to an end

2009-11-17T15:45:00.001-08:00

The Official Bridge Benefit Pumpkin

Wow! Another season is over. This one really flew by. Lots of festival-type shows meaning lots of photographers and press to deal with: Live 105's BFD. Mayhem. Cruefest. Rock the Bells. Warped tour, etc.

Highlights: The Killers stage and lighting design; No Doubt; seeing old friends at The Bridge School Benefit; Gavin Rossdale's set at the Bridge (more on that later).

Lowlights: Getting screamed at by the Security supervisor from Coldplay (it was about something really stupid).

The Bridge Benefit 2009 - Overall it was a fairly quiet Bridge weekend. I enjoyed Adam Sandler's set on Sunday. His cover of Powderfinger with Neil Young was fantastic! Gavin Rossdale's sets on both days were amazing. That guy can sing. And talk about stage presence... His cover of Prince's Sometimes It Snows In April was chilling. Gwen Stefani is a lucky woman!

Gavin Rossdale aka Mr. Gwen Stefani

My Shoreline partner Laura Parks, with awesome photographer/ friend Barry Brecheisen from Chicago (and me)

say what?

2009-09-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

Natalya and a friend at the aquarium

Natalya has a nasty blister on her left palm. She spent too much time on the monkey bars at school. Last night I was putting a fresh dressing on her wound and we had a funny conversation.

Natalya: are you going to use goose tape on my hand?

Me: Huh?

Natalya: You know -- goose tape.

Me: Do you mean "duck tape"?

Natalya: No. I mean goose tape.

Me: No. I'm using this tape and the other tape is called "duct" tape not "duck" tape.

Natalya: Oh. Then why does everybody call it "duck" tape?

Me: Because when people say "duct" it sounds like "duck".

Natalya: And what about when people say "goose"?

Me: Umm -- it sounds like "goose" doesn't it?

mastercards and milky ways

2009-07-09T16:22:00.001-07:00

Natalya strikes a pose at the San Francisco Pride Parade

Earlier this week while driving Natalya to her summer day camp I noticed that she was unusually quiet. (She usually serenades me in the car with the latest Radio Disney hits.) I looked back at Natalya and she appeared to be deep in thought.

Me: What's up Natalya? What are you thinking about?

Natalya: Candy.
And -- credit cards.

Me: Huh?

Natalya: I said candy and credit cards.

Me: Oh. What about candy and credit cards?

Natalya: Can you use credit cards to buy candy?

Me: :)

natalya finishes first grade!

2009-06-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

natalya and her dance partner jacob wait for the music to start

Natalya finished First Grade yesterday. We're really proud of her. The last few days of school were jam packed with parties and performances. The entire First Grade at Bubb School participated in an International Dance performance one evening. Natalya and her dance partner looked great together and of course, Natalya wasn't nervous about performing in front of over 100 people :) She really seemed to enjoy herself -- and we certainly enjoyed watching her!

natalya shows us why we could hear her voice over all the others

jacob swings his partner

When my brothber and I were kids, my parents took us out for ice cream after we finished the last day of school. I've continued that time honored tradition with Natalya.

natalya enjoys her ice cream sundae after school
(and mom waits for the chocolate and sugar to kick in)

bathtime chats

2009-05-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Bath time with Natalya is something that I usually look forward to. We tend to have some good conversations while she bathes. Sometimes we use it as an opportunity to just be silly or sing little songs that we make up together. And sometimes she says things that leave me speechless.

The other night, Natalya and I were chatting about her day at school while she was in the tub. At one point she looked down at herself in the water and then looked up at me and asked "Mama -- When am I going to get cubix hair?"

Needless to say, this was one of those speechless times for me.

natalya's refrigerator messages

2009-04-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Natalya is campaigning for a dog. She wants a dog more than anything in the entire world. Everyday she says Mama -- I still want a dog. If I catch her staring off into space it's because she's thinking about having a dog.

Andrea and I want a dog too but for various reasons, we're not getting one in the near future. We promised that we would however get a dog someday. Natalya replied that Someday means never. I told her that we'll see means never and that someday means later.

In the meantime, Natalya has taken her dog campaign to the refrigerator. She's been leaving us messages on the door. We get a new message about once a week.

You have to admire my daughter's persistence!

it's over and we're sad

2009-04-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

Jayne Appel reflects after the loss to UConn

The good news: Stanford made it to the women's NCAA Final Four again this year. The bad news: they couldn't get past UConn this time. Stanford 63, UConn 84. Ouch! And UConn went on to win it all by beating Louisville in the Championship game.

We Stanford fans are sad and so is Jayne... her teammates had an abysmal game. They barely showed up to help her out. Such a bummer.

In the meantime, I'm counting the days till the opening game of the 2009-10 season :)

E.T. phone home

2009-03-30T22:14:00.001-07:00

We watched the movie E.T. with Natalya the other night. She'd never seen it before. There's a scene where Elliott calls his older brother Michael "penis breath".

When we heard this Andrea and I just looked at each other and gulped nervously waiting for Natalya's reaction. Natalya started laughing and said "That was funny!"

Me: "What was funny Natalya?"

Natalya: Elliott called his brother "peanut breath". That's really funny Mom.

Me: (breathing a sigh of relief) Yes Natalya -- it's hilarious!

march madness: here we go again!

2009-03-19T15:30:00.001-07:00

Stanford Center Jayne Appel - Pac 10 Player of the Year.
(Jayne also has the honor of being Natalya's favorite basketball player)

It's tournament time and the Stanford Women's Basketball Team got the number two seed again in their region. Last year we rode the two seed all the way to the final championship game -- where we were soundly defeated by Tennessee :( What will this year bring? Several sports writers and analysts are predicting another trip to the Final Four for The Cardinal. I just hope my nerves can handle it!

Go Stanford!!!

a gem from natalya

2009-03-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

The other day Natalya asked me about breasts and how old you are when you "get breasts". We talked about breasts for a little while and then I said something like, "you like boobies don't you?"

Natalya answered, "I don't like boobies Mama -- I like cleavage!"

natalya rocking out on-stage at shoreline

Dustin Black's powerful and poignant Oscar acceptance speech

2009-02-23T21:19:00.001-08:00

Farewell 2008

2009-01-12T22:46:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! It's January and time for me to list some of my favorite things in 2008.

Kaari's Favorite Things: 2008

Movie: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Humorous. Great dialogue. Amazing cast: Javier Barden, Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz. Interesting, complex characters. Woody Allen at his best.

penelope cruz in 'vicky cristina barcelona'

New TV Series: True Blood on HBO
I've always loved vampire stories and True Blood delivers a fantastic story in every episode. There's also an amusing and interesting gay sub-text thanks to Allan Ball the man who brought to us Six Feet Under. Example dialog: "What's the world to do now that all the Vampires are out? The next thing you know they'll what the same rights as humans." And really -- how can anyone say no to a handsome vampire named "Bill"? :)

my favorite new television show

Concert: REM at the Greek Theatre, Berkeley
Gorgeous night in the great outdoors. Special seats thanks to my connections :) I've seen REM several times. Some shows were fantastic and some were just okay. Michael Stipe really brought his A-game this time! Are you surprised that I didn't choose the Madonna show in November? Well, the sound quality at that show was pitiful. So -- sorry Madonna -- I'm going with REM this time.

andrea enjoying one of our thrones at REM at the Greek

Restaurant: Cascal in downtown Mountain View
Sitting outside with friends enjoying the California weather. Excellent food and unbeatable service.

Spanish fries at Cascal -- Yum!

Favorite Natalya Moment: Watching Natalya meet the Jonas Brothers
The look on her face was truly priceless! This favorite moment is followed closely by the time that Natalya told me that she loved me "as much as a jellyfish".

natalya and her new best friends

Hey California! You Can Forget My Taxes!

2008-11-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

Last night I was talking to one of my friends about Proposition 8 and the fallout the gay community is experiencing as a result of its passing. I said that I was considering not paying State taxes until I had the same rights as all of the other California minority groups who pay taxes. I get equal rights -- the State of California can have my tax contribution. Seems like a fair trade to me.

Apparently, I'm not alone in my thinking. Today I found this blog post from Melissa Etheridge. Here's a snippet:

Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

You can find the full post here:

http://thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-11-06/you-can-forget-my-taxes

Rock on Melissa! Great minds think alike :)

Bridge School Benefit 2008

2008-11-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

Alas, another Shoreline season has come to an end. On October 25th and 26th we hosted the Bridge School Benefit shows. They were fun shows as usual however this year some of the usual Bridge magic was missing. I'm chalking it up to the impending election -- everyone was feeling anxious -- not to mention the fact that most of the acts on the line-up already play acoustic shows (meaning no surprises like Metallica playing acoustic).

Sarah McLachlan delivered the most outstanding set at Saturday's show. She accompanied herself on piano as well as guitar. Sarah played some old favorites like Possession and Ice Cream, as well as some new tunes like U Want Me 2. Her voice was clear and strong and the audience rewarded her with the only standing ovation of the night.

The highlight of Sunday's show was Josh Groban singing a song with the Smashing Pumpkins. That was indeed a magical moment and definitely one I never thought I'd witness in my lifetime!

Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins and Josh Grobin singing 'Disarm'

Photo by my friend Tim Mosenfelder

the first of many halloween parties this year

2008-10-20T21:07:00.000-07:00

Natalya attended her first Halloween party of the "season" last Friday. Miss Muffet has a couple more parties on her schedule. She took her Rock Star outfit but ended up wearing this Sully costume instead. Pretty cute :)

first day of first grade

2008-09-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

natalya and andrea walking to school on the first day

Natalya started first grade last month. So far she's been really excited about going to school. Aside from recess, her favorite part of the day is Writing Workshop -- she's becoming quite the little story teller.

natalya and her back to school pie

My parents were in town when school started so my mom made Natalya a back to school pie otherwise known as Lemon Meringue (made with lemons from the tree in our backyard). Thanks Grandma Elaine!

there's a snake in my boots!

2008-09-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

Natalya has a talking Woody doll (Woody is the cowboy from the Toy Story movies). Last week she told me that Woody was talking to her in the middle of the night. She wanted to throw him away because he was broken. I rescued Woody from the trash and put him in our closet. Around 2:30 in the morning I awoke to a voice saying "Howdy Partner!" I chuckled to myself and went back to sleep. Then at 5 a.m. I heard "There's a snake in my boots!"

That was the last straw -- I wasn't going to let Woody wake me up again. I took him downstairs and stuck him on top of Natalya's toy box.

We didn't hear from Woody again for at least three days and then suddenly one evening Woody exclaimed once again, "There's a snake in my boots!"

Currently, Woody is perched on a chair in the garage. Every once in awhile we hear him say hello and complain about the snake in his boots. Now we think that Woody is trying to worm his way back into the house. Lately the only thing we've heard him say is, "You're my favorite Deputy!"

That's really nice Woody -- but you're still not coming back inside! :)

RIP Miyake June 1994 - August 2008

2008-08-16T22:33:00.001-07:00

when's dinner?

noble hunter

happiness is a warm ironing board

natalya meets the jonas brothers!

2008-07-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

The Jonas Brothers were at Shoreline on Tuesday night. They happen to be one of Natalya's favorites groups. We -- uh -- I mean "she" listens to them all the time. So I used my Shoreline connections and status and got Miss Muffet backstage to meet them. I thought that she might be star-struck, but Natalya did very well. She marched right up when it was her turn and gave Joe, Nick and Kevin a hug before posing for the picture with them.

I wish I had a photo of the look on Natalya's face after she met the guys. Sheer joy. She put her hands up on each side of her head and screamed "I just met the Jonas Brothers!" And then she just stood there dumbfounded.

joe, natalya, nick and kevin

I was able to get front row seats for Natalya and her "boyfriend" Jackson for the concert. They both ended up standing against the rail in front of the stage for the entire show (two hours).

natalya and jack standing at the edge of the stage

If this doesn't get me a nomination for Mom of the Year I don't know what will!

signed, sealed, delivered

2008-07-07T22:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday night Stevie Wonder was at Shoreline and I got to meet him! I was backstage with his publicist and we strolled past Stevie who was sitting outside on the hospitality deck. She stopped to chat for a minute and he asked "who's with you?" And she said, "This is Kaari. She's the Media Coordinator for the venue."

Stevie held out his hand and said "pleased to meet you." And I shook his hand. I was so stoked! I had to remain calm though. Didn't want to look unprofessional at work. But when I got back to my office I jumped up and down and texted Andrea the good news :)

artist's rendering of the Stevie Wonder / Kaari meeting

can you hear me now?

2008-07-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

Natalya just had ear surgery and it was a success! She'd lost 30-40% of her hearing due to fluid in her ears. The surgeon went in and sucked the goo out of Natalya's ears and put tubes in and now — no more loud televisions and loud talking at our house. And no more confusion — when we yell at Natalya it's because we're angry about something! :)

ready to roll to the operating room with puppy

pencils and patriotism

2008-06-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

natalya enjoys an ice cream sundae on the last day of school

Natalya got a new pencil from the dentist this week as her "prize". It's red, white and blue with stars and stripes on it. Natalya showed the pencil to Andrea and me.

Andrea exclaimed, "what a patriotic pencil!"

Natalya: "what's patriotic mean?"

Andrea: "it means that you love your country."

Natalya: "No. I just like pencils."

live 105's BFD 2008

2008-06-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

a body surfer
photo by skyler greene - skygreenephoto.com

We recently kicked off the first of several festivals at Shoreline this season: BFD '08. This show used to be a combination parking lot/general admission show with the last few acts playing the main stage. This year we did the entire thing in the parking lot. It was quite a scene and great for people watching as evidenced in these photos (above and below)

and the best dressed BFD couple award goes to...

Last but not least, I have to include this pic of Moby. Out of all the performers I've met during my time at Shoreline Moby is one of the most humble and gracious people I've ever encountered. Rock on Moby!

my man moby
photo by skyler greene - skygreenephoto.com

kindergarten commando

2008-05-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

Picture this scene: Andrea and I are walking with Natalya to school. It's the night of her Kindergarten end-of-the-school-year open house... as we get closer to her classroom, Natalya announces, "and i'm not wearing any underwear!"

Yippee! First grade here we come!!!

natalya with some of her pals

dancing fools

2008-05-29T15:24:00.001-07:00

natalya and jackson performing on the Shoreline stage -- with a special guest appearance by yours truly! (jackson's mom shot this footage quite awhile ago -- i just located it).

more unsolicited advice from natalya

2008-05-23T12:38:00.001-07:00

wise and sweet natalya

The other day Natalya said to me, "Hey Mom! If you put American Guppies up your nose you'll stop snoring."

Where does she come up with these things?

it's about time!

2008-05-15T12:02:00.000-07:00

a bunch of hip judges

Yippee! I never thought I'd see the day!'

In its 4-3 ruling the Republican-dominated high court struck down state laws against same-sex marriage and said domestic partnerships that provide many of the rights and benefits of matrimony are not enough.

Let's hope that this decision sticks. If it's up to the Christian Right -- it won't. James Dobson, chairman of the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family called the ruling an "outrage".

Dude! Why don't you fight for something that truly matters?... like I don't know -- maybe peace on earth -- an end to world hunger... Gay marriage is not your problem. Intolerance is.

motown baby!

2008-05-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

mr. wonder

I'm happy to announce that we just added a show at Shoreline that I'm actually looking forward to! Stevie Wonder is coming to my playground on July 5th. I'm so psyched about this concert! Being born and raised in the Detroit area, I grew up with the Motown Sound. And I've seen both the Temptations and the Four Tops live. I've seen Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five. I've even seen Diana Ross (remind me to tell you the story about the dirty mirror ball hanging over her stage) but I've never seen Stevie Wonder live.

Thank you to the Live Nation booking gods and godesses for making this one a reality!

huh?

2008-04-23T13:00:00.001-07:00

The other day I visited a Starbucks in Palo Alto. I paid for my order with my official Starbucks Paul McCartney card. The young Starbucks employee behind the register asked, "Who is this guy? He's somebody famous right? Did he write something or other?"

After composing myself (I had to resist the urge to scream at the kid) I carefully said, "Paul McCartney is from The Beatles. You've heard of them right?"

Starbucks kid: Oh yeah. I think so.

Me: (Again, trying not to scream) He's one of the most prolific singer/songwriters ever.

Starbucks kid: Shrugs. Oh okay.

Me: At this point I decided to just walk away. I thought about launching into a diatribe about the fact that Starbucks was the first place to promote and sell Paul McCartney's latest CD (Memory Almost Full) and ask Starbucks Kid if he'd ever looked around the store -- because there just happened to be McCartney CDs for sale in the rotating CD rack...

There were a million other things I could've said. But I decided that my time would be better spent by giving Natalya a refresher course on The Beatles and their influence on music etc.

(Later) Me talking to Natalya: Hey Natalya -- you know Paul McCartney and The Beatles right?

Natalya: Yes Mom. The Beatles did Yellow Submarine and that's a drawing of Paul McCartney hanging upstairs in the hallway... the one you did when you were in ninth grade.

Me: I love you Natalya. You make me so proud!

it wasn't in the Cards... Stanford 48, Tennessee 64

2008-04-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

We lost and that sucks. What more can I say? Hmm.

How about: I'm really going to miss you Candice and I'm sorry that you didn't have a better game on Tuesday. Thanks for four years of (mostly) great memories...good luck in the WNBA!

candice is taking us to the championship!

2008-04-07T08:42:00.001-07:00

Our girls played an AWESOME game on Sunday. They didn't let up on UConn even when the going got a little tougher. Candice was such a cool-headed leader... One more game versus the Tennessee Lady Vols on Tuesday. This just might be the year for Stanford Women's BB to go all the way!!!

our girls are going to the Final Four!!!

2008-04-02T13:26:00.000-07:00

We did it!!! The Stanford Women's basketball team has made it to the Final Four for the first time since 1997. Yes, we did it. Andrea and I follow the Stanford teams closely year after year... we watch the players develop from Freshman to Senior level players... we get attached... and therefore what happens to our team happens to us. (Didn't someone use that line in an advertising campaign?)

Now we're preparing for our big game against UConn on Sunday, April 6th. We will be ready!!! Go Stanford!!!

springtime in chicago

2008-03-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

we're here for our niece's bat mitzvah. needless to say, it doesn't feel much like spring! the snow is really picturesque though. i took this in front of the Hancock building.

here's a pic of Natalya getting down at the bat mitzvah party. she had an awesome time!

a fashion statement from natalya

2008-03-04T23:02:00.000-08:00

i kept natalya home from school today because she was running a fever. i knew that i was going to be inside all day playing nurse so when i got dressed in the morning i put on some old jeans and a t-shirt. natalya took one look at me and told me she wanted me to change my clothes. she said,"i want you to dress like you're going to work mom." i asked why and natalya said, "because you just look kinda, um, lazy or something." nice one natalya.

playing in the ocean with natalya in our matching UV shirts.

while she did not approve what i wore today she did approve this 'outfit'

my Yahoo! ride comes to an end...

2008-02-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

view of the yahoo! great america campus

on tuesday, february 12th i was one of the many Yahoo! employees who got the boot as part of a "reduction in force". needless to say, my year and a half at Yahoo! was quite a bumpy ride. i moved 3 times to 3 different campuses (including a stint at the Great America campus where i had an excellent view of the roller coasters); once i moved to a new cube for all of one week before i had to move again; i lost most of my staff and was unable to re-build my team due to a hiring freeze; and for the majority of the time i was there, my Yahoo! property was under the threat of being purchased by an outside company (not microsoft).

don't get me wrong -- like a roller coaster ride, there were some definite "highs" and good times too. mostly because of the fabulous people i worked with on the Personals team. for example, i worked with some of the best product managers i've ever encountered.

and now it's all come to and end... at least the ride is over. i was starting to feel sick to my stomach...

microhoo?

2008-02-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

would microsoft ever do something like this?

thanks to all of you who've checked in with me regarding the big Microsoft and Yahoo! news. lots and lots of speculation over the past few days to be sure. suffice it to say that i'm tired of working at a place where there's so much uncertainty. it's exhausting! one of my biggest concerns about a Microsoft purchase of Yahoo! is the possible affects on Yahoo's culture. I was at Adobe when they acquired Macromedia a few years ago and there was a major ugly culture clash :(

fun times at yahoo! (thankfully it's not my cube)

searching for the prize inside

2008-01-21T16:46:00.001-08:00

when i was a kid you had to dig to the bottom of a box of cereal to get to the prize inside. and -- the prize was actually in the cereal. i remember negotiating with my brother about which one of us would carefully stick our hand inside the newly opened box to dig down to the prize.

times have changed. imagine my horror upon opening a box of honey nut cheerios for natalya only to see the prize sitting on top of the sealed bag of cereal. and not only that -- the prize was sealed in plastic as well. thanks a lot general mills -- you've taken the fun out of cereal with prizes :(

natalya's words of wisdom

2008-01-09T18:51:00.000-08:00

the other night while i was driving natalya home from school she shared this gem with me:

"Mom — i think the purpose of growing up is getting older."

...out of the mouths of babes.

natalya enjoys the snow in michigan

smile - it's a new year!

2008-01-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

happy new year everyone! andrea, nataly and i just returned from a great trip to michigan. going 'home' for the holidays had many benefits: i saw my family; i played in the snow with natalya for the first time in our lives and i went through some old stuff of mine that my mom recently unearthed. one of the coolest finds was this toy camera. it was the first camera i ever owned. it doesn't really take pictures but i remember feeling cool and grown-up when i used it as a kid. thanks mom!

say "cheese"

stanford 73, tennessee 69

2007-12-23T15:28:00.001-08:00

stanford's candice wiggins celebrates the victory

we did it!!! yes "we" did. we beat the Lady Volunteers from Tennessee for the first time in 11 years! the game was at Maples last night and andrea, natalya and i were there to witness the historical moment. it feel SO GOOD to post a win against Tennessee after so many losses.

jane apel and candice wiggins played well but it was rosalyn gold-onwude who really delivered after the game went into overtime. she scored 9 of her game total 10 points during the extra 5 minutes.

thanks for the early christmas present santa! :)

jane apel and kayla pederson block a shot by Player of the Year candace parker

sunrise and cheesecake

2007-12-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

the other morning i glanced out my bedroom window while i was getting ready for work and this is what i saw: what a gorgeous sky!

later that day i asked natalya what we should get Grandma Elaine for Christmas. her answer was "a cheesecake". here's how the conversation unfolded:

me: will we buy one or make one?

natalya: i'll make one

me: how will you make it?

natalya: i'll get some cheese and put it in those round pans and then put frosting on top.

me: yum! grandma will love that :)

Oh Hanukkah!

2007-12-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

We're enjoying Hanukkah with natalya this year. She's enjoying it mostly because of the presents (she is a kid afterall).

Our temple, Etz Chayim, had a Hanukkah celebration. Everyone brought their menorahs. We put them on tables in the courtyard and lit them. It was a beautiful sight!

is it december already?

2007-11-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

wow! i can't believe that tomorrow is the first day of december. where did november go? and where did i go in november?

i went to southern california twice: once for thanksgiving to visit andrea's family and once for work. the work gig was in santa monica and venice. here are some pics from that trip.

i shot this early one morning... later on there were people swinging from ring to ring like monkeys. no kids. only adults waiting in line to swing on the rings. it was great!

on the beach at santa monica

"stop all wars"
venice beach

shoreline season 21 comes to an end

2007-11-04T21:31:00.001-08:00

It's difficult to believe BUT I just finished my 21st season working at Shoreline Amphitheatre. (I was 12 years old when I started there!) It was a "light" season as we say in the biz -- about 25 shows scheduled. The reason I'm able to manage a part-time job with a full-time job and motherhood is my dear friend Laura Parks. Laura and I job-share the smaller scale shows and work the big festival shows as a team.

lovely laura parks and me: partners in crime

We ended this season with the Bridge School Benefit http://www.bridgeschool.org/. It was a great gig to end the season with. Part of what made it great was that I got to spend time with Laura and my best buddies from the world of concert photography. They all came out for the Bridge shows. I turned the table and took some pics of them over the Bridge weekend. Here are some shots of my photographer pals:

los angeles-based photographer john shearer is ready to go

misha vladimirskiy and john shearer shooting away

the gang waiting for the next act to begin
from left: anthony pidgeon (kneeling), jerome brunet, stephen miner, tim mosenfelder (kneeling), john marr

The Bridge Benefit this year featured Regina Spektor, Tom Waits with the Kronos Quartet, John Mayer, Tegan and Sarah, Jerry Lee Lewis, Metallica and Neil Young. Something happened that has never happened at a Bridge show before: an opening act (first artist in the line-up) received a standing ovation. That person was Regina Spektor. Her set on Sunday was phenomenal and apparently the audience agreed. She seemed pretty shocked by the ovation and very appreciative as well.

Regina was good but Tom Waits and Kronos stole the show on both days. I haven't seen Tom Waits live before and he blew me away! I downloaded a bunch of his songs from iTunes right after his set on Saturday night. I'm a believer!

tom waits takes flight at the bridge benefit
photo by jerome brunet

Thanks to all of my Shoreline friends for another great season -- see you next year!

things we say to natalya

2007-10-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

Pirates don't play tennis.
-- Andrea's response to Natalya when she asked if she could wear her pirate costume outside to play.

Hands are not replaceable.
-- We said this to Natalya when she kept sticking her hand out the car window while we were driving somewhere.

Next time use more water and less soap -- a lot less soap...
-- Kaari's reaction to Natalya's "help" washing dishes.

the scene of the crime

annie lennox is a goddess!

2007-10-17T19:31:00.001-07:00

we saw Annie Lennox in San Francisco last week. she played the Nob Hill Masonic. a tiny little place and we managed to be in the fifth row -- close enough for her to spit on us! she sounded great too. played some stuff off the new CD and also did some Eurythmics tunes. all in all it was a pretty good night EXCEPT for the fact that there was a freaky couple sitting in front of us.

the funny part about this is that freaky people always sit in front of us. we're magnates. for example, when we saw melissa etheridge in portland the couple in front of us were the only people in the entire place who stood up for the duration of the show (3 hours). and when we went to see the true colors tour (which was a very gay crowd) a straight couple was in front of us and they were making out all night. how dare they flaunt their lifestyle in public! :)

talya the toothless wonder...

2007-10-02T10:25:00.000-07:00

natalya has lost a total of seven teeth now. two of her grown up teeth have come in and another five are on their way. she looks pretty silly. it's hard to take her seriously sometimes when she's talking and her tongue is flopping out through the space in front of her mouth :)

apparently it's difficult to open your toothless mouth and your eyes at the same time

and the winner is...

2007-09-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

every year there's an opening band at Shoreline that permeates my jaded "i've seen hundreds of concerts and hundreds of bands" exterior. last year the award went to "TV on the Radio". this year the award for "best opening act at Shoreline Amphitheatre" goes to (drum roll please): LCD Soundsystem!

LCD Soundsystem live

LCD Soundsystem opened for Arcade Fire and they were really good and really fun. the lead singer, James Murphy, is one of those frontmen you could pass on the street and never think for a second that he's the lead singer of a band. he looks more like - um - a software engineer. LCD got the crowd out of their seats and dancing with their infectious grooves. After their set I headed right back to my office to download some of LCD Soundsystem's music from iTunes. I suggest that you do the same as soon as possible!

james murphy: singer or software engineer?

announcement: She's Geeky (un)Conference

2007-09-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

She's Geeky ( http://www.shesgeeky.org)

A Women's Tech (un)conference
October 22-23 in Mountain View, CA.

I'm very excited to be a part of She's Geeky. I've been helping the organizers by getting the word out to all of my geeky gals and it's shaping up to be a great couple of days! This event is designed to bring together women from a range of technology-focused disciplines who self identify as geeky. Our goal is to support skills exchange and learning between women working in diverse fields and to create a space for networking and talking about issues faced by women in technology.

The first day is programmed with some excellent presenters and the second day is the (un) conference part where participants will build their own schedule of events. This way we get to talk about whatever we're interested in!

a movie for natalya

2007-09-18T13:27:00.001-07:00

natalya asked me to make a movie for her for her sixth birthday. here's what i did... she loved it... hope you do to!

http://homepage.mac.com/kaari/iMovieTheater47.html

(copy and paste this URL into your browser)

a dream come true

2007-09-02T00:26:00.000-07:00

Andrea and I made a trip to London in August while my folks stayed with Natalya. We had a fabulous time! Stayed near Soho. Did a lot of the touristy things: Westminster Abbey; The Tate Modern; Madame Tussaud's; rode the Underground all over the city; etc. One of the highlights of the trip for me was walking across Abbey Road just like the Beatles. What a rush!

The lowlight of the trip was the homophobia we experienced. We assumed that London was an accepting place. I mean, they passed the "civil partnership" law and everything -- right? We were so wrong! On three separate occasions men hassled us. For example, one night when we were riding the Tube we happened to sit down across from these two middle-aged local guys. The minute we sat down they started muttering to each other while they staring at us. I kept hearing the word "lesbian". One of the guys would not take his eyes off of me. Every time I looked up he was staring at me. What the heck were we supposed to do? If we said anything to them we'd just be adding fuel to the fire. So we ignored them...and felt grateful for living in Northern California where the episodes of homophobia we experience are very few and far between.

first day of school

2007-08-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

Natalya started Kindergarten this week. She was SO EXCITED about it! I'm so glad that I didn't have to drag her into the classroom :) Her teacher's name is Ms. Brock. She's the quintessential teacher: hair in a bun; glasses; wearing a skirt and sensible shoes. (that's her standing in the background of the photo) I have the impression that she's seen it all and nothing that Natalya does will phase her...so it's a good match!

natalya is 6!

2007-08-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

Natalya turned 6 on August 6th. I still can't believe it! time has flown by. We had a party for her at "Sky High Sports" where you can "jump sky high". It's a wall-to-wall trampoline place and the kids (and parents) had loads of fun. As one partygoer shouted, "this is way better than Pump It Up!"

another gem from natalya

2007-07-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

natalya posing in front of her gym

Last night Natalya was performing for Andrea, Amy (Amos) and me. At one point she stopped dancing and very dramatically waved her hands and said, "then a flush fell over the crowd -- (in a very breathy voice) -- FLUSH"

Do you think she meant "hush"?

I love that kid :)

natalya's sense of humor

2007-07-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

We took Natalya to see Ratatouille this weekend. This was after much prodding on her part mind you. Usually when we take her to a movie she's fine until her cherry "Icee" drink runs out. The minute that's gone she's ready to leave the theater. So -- I told her we'd go to Ratatouille on the condition that we'd stay for the entire movie (even after the Icee was gone).

I bought Natalya the Icee and we sat down and watched all of the movie previews. When Ratatouille finally started she leaned over toward me and said "I'm ready to go now". And then she flashed a big mischievous grin.

Needless to say, we made it through the entire movie this time. :)

This is a photo of Natalya displaying her white t-shirts.
The one on the left is after a day at camp.
The one on the right is before a day at camp.
I don't know what she does to get so dirty but she's
definitely having fun this summer!

True Colors

2007-07-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

Friday night Andrea and I went to the True Colors concert at the Greek in Berkeley. The tour takes its name from one of tour organizer Cyndi Lauper’s best-known songs. A portion of the proceeds from each ticket sold on this month-long tour, goes to benefit the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest organization working for GLBT equality. The tour also provided a forum for other equal rights organizations, including PFLAG and the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

San Francisco-born comic Margaret Cho served as the host of the event and provided some of its best moments with her between-sets comedy routines. Almost all of her bits and punch lines are rated NC-17 — especially the lyrics to her hilarious rap song Your Puss which she performed with fellow comic Diana Yanez.

The tour’s two opening acts the Cliks and the Dresden Dolls were both really solid. The Cliks is a Toronto-based female indie-rock quartet that (according to my pal music critic Jim Harrington) should appeal to fans of the Pretenders. The Dresden Dolls is an over-the-top glam-rock duo from Boston which describes its sound as Brechtian punk cabaret. Jim thinks they sound like a mashup of the White Stripes and Queen — and I have to agree. The highlight of the Doll's set was an amusing and flawless cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs.

Sadly, both openers overshadowed the next act: Deborah Harry. The New Wave icon, who turned 62 on Sunday (July 1), sounded okay, but her song selection was disappointing. Harry focused on her solo material, mostly including tracks from her new disc instead of her legendary work with Blondie. The best part of her set was the tune French Kissin’ in the USA, but there could have been many highlights with a fewBlondie tunes thrown in.

Rosie O’Donnell took the stage next and wowed the crowd with some stand-up material. Her humor centered around her sexuality, her weight, her time on “The View” and, of course, her battle with Donald Trump.

Andy Bell of Erasure

Following O’Donnell, Erasure entered the picture and a booming dance party started. Backed by three female singers, the duo of vocalist Andy Bell and keyboardist Vince Clarke gave the best set of the night. In fact, in my mind they just plain blew everyone else away. They sounded so good and there was so much electricity in the air during their set that I got chills. Seriously.

Erasure played several fan favorites like Blue Savannah, Love to Hate You, Chains of Love and Sometimes. Bell's voice sounded strong and clear and the classic Erasure tunes sounded better than ever. Even the new songs stacked up against the old ones. Proving that Erasure’s new disc Light at the End of the World is the band’s best release in years.

Lauper couldn’t match Erasure’s overall energy during her set, but she did contribute some good moments. For example, she delivered an energetic version of Money Changes Everything and a very funky rendition of She Bop. Lauper also brought O’Donnell back on-stage to add some solid percussion to Girls Just Want to Have Fun and then summoned the entire cast back for an uplifting show-closer on Abba’s Take a Chance on Me. All in all, True Colors was a truly fabulous concert!

Pride 2007

2007-06-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Gay Pride in San Francisco. I'm sorry to say that the last time I went to SF Pride was before I got Natalya :( To be specific, Andrea and I went to the Dyke March then. We were supposed to meet my pal Pati there and a funny thing happened along the way... It went something like this:

I called Pati on her cell phone when we got to the Castro (as planned). Keep in mind that when Pati and I talk on the phone we goof around a lot. We sing to each other and say "hello" in very affected ways.

Pati: Hello?
Me: Helloooooooo! Happy Pride!
Pati: Hellooooooo to you too!
Me: Hey there Patooti! What's shaking?
Pati: Helloooooo darlin'! (in a sing-song voice)
Me: So let's meet in front of the Gauntlet baby.
Pati: Okay -- see you there in a few minutes. Bye!
Me: Okay. Bye.

Andrea and I walked over to the Gauntlet and I didn't see Pati so I called her back.

Pati: Hello?
Me: Howdy. Where are you?
Pati: In front of the Gauntlet.
Me: No you're not. I'm standing here and I don't see you.
Pati: I swear to you — I'm in front of the Gauntlet.
Me: Then why can't I see you?
Pati: If you want your cell phone back you need to find me.
Me: Huh? What are you talking about?
Pati: You left your cell phone in my car and I'm trying to meet you to return it.
Me: But I'm talking to you on MY cell phone.
Pati: Wait a minute -- do you have long red curly hair?
Me: No Pati. But you do you big idiot!
Pati: Oh no! I'm not Pati. I just have her phone.
Me: Huh?
Pati: This woman with red curly hair left her cell phone in my car. I gave her a ride to the Dyke March but I don't know her.
Me: Oh — so you've been answering Pati's phone...
Pati: Well yeah. I was hoping that I could figure out a way to get the phone back to her.

Needless to say, Pati got her phone back that night and we both had a great big laugh about the ordeal.

a lesson in determination

2007-06-18T22:54:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a trip to Michigan to see the family. Took the kids to a water park one day and Natalya had a blast of course. One of the pools at the park had 3 basketball hoops. Natalya grabbed a ball and her mom and jumped into the pool to shoot a few baskets. Natalya and I spent about 90 minutes total shooting baskets throughout the day. During that entire time she never made a basket. Never.

(Natalya & Cousin Joshua in the pool)

But my girl didn't get discouraged. She never wanted to give up and she never stopped having fun. I have a new appreciation for what a special little girl she is and am thrilled that I'm continuing to learn from her approach to life and living.

got brownies?

2007-06-07T14:36:00.001-07:00

natalya and i made brownies the other night for her to take to school. she was a big help! :)

OM

2007-06-05T22:45:00.001-07:00

natalya gave us a buddha for our backyard for mother's day. we planted the flowers and rocks around him. kinda peaceful looking isn't it?

and so it begins...

2007-05-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

I started my 21st (wow!) season at Shoreline Amphitheatre last weekend. Our opening show was headlined by Brad Paisley -- he's a popular country artist. (Hey I just work the shows I don't book 'em). Anyway, let's just say that it was an eye-opener of an evening for me. This popular country cross-over stuff frightens me. Case in point: before Brad takes the stage the music of AC/DC is blasting through the venue and all of these cowboy hat covered heads are banging to Back in Black. Then the lights go down and Brad takes the stage and the crowd switches to country mode and they're all singing along with the guy who writes "tears in my beers" songs like Two Feet of top Soil:

Yesterday I thought that I was low as I could get
I had hit rock bottom ever since you up and left
But this morning when I saw you with somebody else
Well needless to say
Thats when I started sinkin' even lower
And as far as where I'm at today

Theres two feet of topsoil
A little bit of bedrock, limestone in between
A fossilized dinosaur
A little patch of crude oil
A thousand feet of granite underneath
Then there's me

Amusing but not my cup of tea...give me Back in Black any day and ROCK ON!

mother's day 2007

2007-05-22T22:44:00.001-07:00

natalya did a portrait of me for mother's day this year. and she told me that she loved me "more than a potato chip." i'll take that as a compliment :)

here's a photo taken on my first mother's day
with natalya (2003). we've both grown a lot
since then.

another milestone achieved

2007-05-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

Natalya has officially mastered a two-wheeler! Needless to say, she's feeling very grown up now. The day this picture was taken it was about 90 degrees outside. When Natalya got dressed for school she ran downstairs and grabbed her winter fleece jacket to wear.

Me: "Natalya it's going to be really warm outside today. You don't need a jacket."

Natalya: "Yes I do Mom. I need to wear the jacket to protect people from seeing my cute clothes."

Me: (making a mental note: don't ever tell Natalya that she looks cute in her clothes.)

playdate

2007-05-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

got dreams?

2007-04-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I told Natalya that she could ride her bike to school (I throw the bike in my car and she rides from the parking lot to the classroom). She replied "oh Mama you're the best! You make my dreams come true!"

And Miss Muffet makes my dreams come true as well — she's going to be an awesome basektball player! Here's a picture of her playing while her proud mom looks on :)

girls just wanna have fun

2007-04-04T15:09:00.000-07:00

I love this pic of Natalya and her pal Yarden playing with shaving cream at Camp Rimon. Those two girls really know how to have a good time!

perhaps it was a premonition?

2007-03-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Florida State 68, Stanford 61

I am in mourning. My Stanford girls lost to Florida State last night. And they lost at home. It's so painful! I wouldn't feel so bad if we'd (yes we'd) played a good game. But we didn't. We pretty much sucked. This is really testing my resolve to not see loss as disaster.

Stanford center Brooke Smith wipes her eyes after Stanford was upset by Florida State 68-61 during their second-round game in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

loss & luck

2007-03-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

As we head into basketball season's March Madness where one loss means you're out of the tournament — I've been thinking about loss and luck in general. I certainly had my share of losses and luck in 2006. And it's still difficult not to initially view every loss as a disaster — but I'm working on it :) Here's a little something from Elizabeth Bishop:

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost
that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day.
Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel.
None of these will bring disaster.

Even losing you (the lovely voice, a brilliant smile) I shan't have lied.
It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like
(write it!) like disaster.

i met a REAL rock star...

2007-03-10T01:23:00.000-08:00

The coolest thing happened last week: I finally met a real rock star! What do you mean by 'real' you ask? I mean the guy who invented the Apple iPhone!!! How cool is that?

I saw this guy at a Stanford game playing with what looked like an iPhone and thought to myself "that looks like an iPhone". But then I thought that it couldn't be an iPhone because nobody has an iPhone yet (except for Steve Jobs er -- and this guy).

Anyway, it turns out that the man who's been sitting in front of me at Stanford games for the past three years or so is the one and only Scott Forster. Not only did he create the iPhone, he created Mac OSX as well. A true genius and a true rock star in my book!

crime scene?

2007-03-01T22:50:00.000-08:00

I found two of Natalya's Barbie dolls sprawled out on the floor this morning -- so far I haven't found any witnesses to the heinous crime.

who's your daddy?

2007-02-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

So I'm laying in bed this morning cuddling with Natalya and listening to a CD: Lisa Marie Presley to be exact. At one point I looked at Natalya and asked, "did you know that Lisa Marie is Elvis Presley's daughter?"

Natalya looked at me with eyes wide and replied, "you mean OUR ELVIS?"

You gotta love that kid of mine :)

happy valentine's day

2007-02-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

The Yahoo! billboard in San Francisco.

the agony of defeat

2007-02-05T21:30:00.000-08:00

No. 8 Stanford Women's Hoops Upset By No. 21 California, 72-57 Stanford's winning streak is ended at 17 games.

Pinch me -- am I dreaming? No. It's a nightmare! That's right folks. My Stanford Women's Basketball team LOST to Cal on Sunday. I'm still recovering. I think I'm in the angry stage of grieving now.

How the f---k could my girls let this happen?! The Stanford women haven't lost to Cal in six years. And this is their first loss in the Pac-10 Conference this year (now they're 11-1). I know. It's still a respectable record for the season -- but lose to Cal? Unacceptable!

Freshman Center Jane Appel fights for a rebound

dental trauma

2007-01-30T23:18:00.000-08:00

My little daredevil had an accident at school the other day. Natalya and her friend Ori were on the same swing playing "spider" (I still haven't gotten a straight answer about what this game entails) and Natalya fell off. Then Ori fell on Natalya and her teeth ended up in his head. Ori's head is fine. Natalya's teeth are not.

After two hours at the dentist Natalya now has "splints" on her front teeth. Turns out that the four teeth in the front (on top) were all injured and lose. Ouch!

She's feeling very grown up because "it's like I have braces like the big kids" and couldn't wait to show her pals at school. Thank goodness she's such an optimist!

We have a special mouth wash to prevent infection and will go back to the dentist in 10 days. The dentist thinks that the main two front teeth will fall out within six months on their own. She's trying to save the other two because the roots are still quite long.

Hopefully we've made our one and only trip to the "Dental Trauma Room" at her dentist's office. :)

fame

2007-01-19T23:13:00.000-08:00

the other day natalya and i were in the car chatting about her singing talent. we discussed what it was like to sing in front of an audience "like Madonna" (yes. that's my daughter!) anyway, she thought for a moment and then declared that she didn't want to sing in front of a lot of people because she "might get stagefreaked."

by the way: Natalya has changed her stage name from Sydney Wicked to "Vicky Hartbrask". (don't ask -- I have no idea where she gets this stuff from).

krispy kreme car jack

2007-01-08T22:22:00.000-08:00

i had a strange experience while driving to shoreline the other day. i'm sitting at a stop light and all of a sudden this guy is standing next to my car and yelling something at me. i quickly locked my doors. then somehow the yelling registered as "frantic" rather than "angry" so i rolled down my window.

guy: where's Krispy Kreme?
me: what?
guy: how do I get to Krispy Kreme from here?
me: oh. um. get back on 101 north and exit at Rengstorff.
guy: (while running back to his car which was behind mine) okay. thanks!
me: whew!

and here's a pic of my girlie doing one of her modeling poses.
she's modeling one of her gender bender outfits. :)

a new year on the horizon (and a confession)

2007-01-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

went for a walk near Shoreline at sundown and shot this pic of the top of the tent. i can't wait for the new concert season to begin!

And speaking of Shoreline -- I have a confession to make: Kelly Clarkson kicked ass last summer when she played "the Shed"!

I really wasn't looking forward to the show. I mean -- it was only Kelly Clarkson afterall -- just an American Idol champion. It's not like Melissa Etheridge was performing.

The night arrived and Shoreline was filled with thousands of little girls with their moms in tow. It was the first concert for most of them and you could feel the excitement in the air (seriously). When Kelly took the stage the place erupted! Everyone was screaming for Kelly. The audience sang along with every word to every song. Kelly sounded fantastic. She worked the crowd and made sure that the first time concert-goers had a memorable experience... it was everything a concert should be. Kudos to Kelly! I'm a convert (seriously).

a very fine gingerbread house

2006-12-30T13:25:00.000-08:00

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...

2006-12-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

what is that thing?

2006-12-10T23:15:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2006-12-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-11-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

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

2006-10-22T20:51:00.000-07:00

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!