Halloweenie Eve

The Vampyre
Lord Byron

But first, on earth as Vampire sent,
Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race:
There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet
By which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corse:
Thy victims, ere they yet expire,
Shall know the demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers are wither'd on the stem...
Wet with thine own best blood shall drip
Thy gnashing tooth and haggard lip;
Then stalking to thy sullen grave,
Go--and with Gouls and Afrits rave;
Till these in horror shrink away
From spectre more accursed than they!

Ride the Rivers Century Ride

Even though I don't think anyone would ever describe me as an athlete, while in school I played one sport or another for just about every season. From volleyball to basketball, soccer to tennis, and yes, even cheerleading to pom pons. You can definitely find me in a silly yearbook photo for all them.

So if not because of being a natural athlete, why else would I play?

Back in school, I'm pretty sure I thought it had more to do with being social. A great way to hang out with friends. But now I realize that it is also because I truly enjoy being active.

Anyway, the newest sport I've added to my repertoire is cycling. And aside from the ridiculous gear (As a rule, I never like to wear spandex as an outer layer AND I definitely don't need extra padding on my "seat"), I think I've really found something I'd like to stick with.

I'd gotten a bike last summer and spent some time in the saddle, but it wasn't until a friend suggested doing a century ride for his birthday, that I'd ever considered doing anything more than riding a few nearby trails.

So, I spent the last few months training and gearing up and am happy to report that I survived the ride and can't wait to do another!

If you're curious, the Ride the Rivers Century was a fabulous ride that included sites of the mighty Mississipp, Route 66, two ferry crossings, five trails and the Gateway Arch. Check it out here.

KoL

My husband Aric and I were lucky enough to come across tickets to the Kings of Leon show last week. Typically I would prefer to see a show at a smaller, more Pageant-esque venue, but free tickets and not having seen a show in a good while seemed like a perfect opportunity. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely fair to say that I dig KoL. We have a couple of their albums and I rather enjoy Followill's random shrieking that tends to accompany some of his vocals.

As the lights go up from the opening band, we finally have a chance to take a good look around. We'd of course gotten there with enough time to see a few White Lies songs, but it was dark and we were rushing.

Anyway, as the lights go up Aric asks, "Since when are skinny jeans the concert-going uniform."

"HAHAHAHAHA," I laugh.

"Oh wait, does that make us old?", I realize. "Shoot. I kinda think it might."

As we try to rationalize that if we are indeed older than average for the crowd, "We at least kinda blend in, right?", we notice a couple two rows in front of us. They certainly have us in age by a good 10 years, seem to be dressed very "hip" for when they were the average age at a show (circa 1990s), and they don't seem to notice any of this as they take a photo for the group of kids next to them.

"They must've already had their come to jebus about this", we conclude. And after few jokes between the two of us as we scan some of the other craziness in the crowd, we've settled in and are ready for the show to start.

It was a pretty entertaining show as it goes. Lots of "Rock Show" lighting, great sound, mixed set list, energetic crowd, and as a band they all seemed to be pretty talented musicians. I would definitely recommend checking them out when they come through town.

So I guess it was bound to happen at some point, you can't stay in 21 forever, right?