I sang karaoke once. It was my 13th birthday and my sister and cousin were with me. We sang “Love Shack” by the B-52′s. It was my cousin’s choice of song; I had only heard it once or twice so I totally butchered it. That was the last time I ever sang karaoke.

Until last night.

And oh my goodness, I had so much fun! I was a little nervous but I eased into it with a good Beatles song, “When I’m Sixty-Four”. After that I was hooked. I sang so many songs I can’t remember them all, but there were a few memorable performances:

• “Hip to be Square” by Huey Lewis and the News – I thought this song would just come flooding back to me but sadly, it did not. Thankfully the two guys in front came up and helped me out. The guy on the left even graced us with an outstanding air saxophone solo.
• I sang a sad rendition of “Two of a Kind” by Garth Brooks. Sad, sad. I should not be let anywhere near the country songs.
• “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. This was my favorite! Love, love, love this song. Never knew all the lyrics, so it was great to look over at the screen and “hey, there are words!”
• Speaking of lyrics… I had no idea “Hungry Like the Wolf” was such a dirty song! I couldn’t even get through this one because I was laughing with embarrassment. It didn’t help that my father-in-law was standing at the bar watching the whole thing. Thankfully a nice drunk man came up to help me finish out the song.
• “Love Shack” by the B-52′s – I had to do my signature song, it’s tradition! (At age 31 I now know the song MUCH better) But it turns out it’s more of a duet so next time I’ll be dragging a friend up to help me.
• I sang “Losing my Religion” by R.E.M. – flawlessly, I might add :) – but it turned out to be too slow and depressing for a final number so I finished the night off with
• “Ob-la-di Ob-la-da” by the Beatles! Perfect choice for an encore, don’t you think?

I just never knew karaoke could be so much fun! I was nervous about getting up there at first, but as soon as I started singing I realized it wasn’t so bad. I worried that I wouldn’t remember how the song went, but when the music started playing I just jumped right in. It’s like when you’re in the car and a song comes on that you really like – you just feel compelled to sing along. It’s the same way with karaoke, and oddly you don’t even care that people are watching you. After all, they are there for the same reason. They understand the world of karaoke.

Tonight has been a fantastic night of vegging! It started with a bit of Facebook Fun and moved on to a bunch of Top Chef Webcamming with my mom and sister. This was the second night we all had our webcams and microphones and instant messengers set up while we each watched Top Chef in the comfort of our own living rooms. We all live in different towns (Mom now in a different state even) so this allows us to see each other’s reactions and hear each other’s exclamations, and then we can discuss the show at the commercial breaks. We have some technical kinks to work out but so far it’s been a lot of fun. Oh I can’t even tell you how much fun it is. Fun, fun, fun!

And now while I should be in bed I’m loading my iPod with some different music and I’m purchasing a few new songs. I have to say I am totally in love with The Killers. I think they are quickly becoming my #3 favorite band (With R.E.M. in the #1 spot and Over the Rhine at #2).

Oh, and also I have to mention that Mike made reubens for dinner again tonight and they were really delicious – even better than last time. I have never been a fan of reuben sandwiches, and by Not A Fan I mean I wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole if you paid me, but Mike has successfully converted me. Up is down, left is right, it’s craziness!

Last night we went to a friend’s birthday party and they had a karaoke box set up. Sadly, most of us were too chicken to get up there and sing… lights too bright and not enough alcohol I guess. There were a few brave souls and one of the songs they chose to sing was “Elvira” by the Oakridge Boys. You know the one:

“My heart’s on fire, Elvira
Giddy Up Oom Poppa Omm Poppa Mow Mow
Giddy Up Oom Poppa Omm Poppa Mow Mow
Heigh-ho Silver, away!”

Until yesterday, Mike had never heard that song (shocking, I know). But the funny thing is that it wasn’t at the party that he heard it for the first time. Oh no, he overheard a certain mother singing that song to her son in the kitchen just that afternoon (that would be me). Was it just a crazy coincidence or were the gods trying to pay tribute to the Oakridge Boys that day? I guess we’ll never know ;)

Misheard Lyrics – Pearl Jam – Yellow Ledbetter:

Oh look, I found some Christmas cheer. It’s The Drifters singing “White Christmas”.

This song is so much fun to lip sync to! Hit pause and go grab a hairbrush. Seriously, you have to try it. You’re gonna love it.

This kid totally loves to dance, and he apparently digs the Black Crowes. If you listen carefully you can hear him singing along.

There is no remedy for his cuteness.

With a healthy dose of nausea comes a bit of irritability as well, which makes it ever so important to have the right kind of music playing at my desk while I’m working away. Today is one of those days where the only kind that’s tolerable is Led Zeppelin. It’s a first for me, but hey – whatever works, right?

Friday was my Rex Manning Day! My sister, Kari, and I spent a great day in Chicago and then went to see R.E.M., my all time favorite band, in concert at the United Center!

I awoke at 5:30 am ready for the day, but decided it would be in my best interest to get a little more sleep. I dozed off but was awake again 20 minutes later. You just can’t sleep when you’re excited about the day. I got up, got ready, and was on the road by 6:30 am. I called Kari to let her know I was on my way. She lives about 2 hours from me, so it gave her plenty of time to get breakfast ready for when I arrived. Once we had our vittles we packed our bags and hit the road!

The drive was pretty uneventful until we got to Indiana. Kari thought the speed limit on the freeway was 65 mph but the cop informed us (very rudely, I might add) that it was 55 mph. The irony was that when the cop flashed her lights, Kari pulled over and ended up parking right in front of the speed limit sign. We are lame about pictures and didn’t think to get a snapshot of it, so we took a picture of another 55 mph sign we passed along the way. You know, so we wouldn’t forget. Just picture less concrete and more clouds.

After an accidental detour and a $0.30 toll, we made it into Chicago just fine. I love Chicago. I LOVE Chicago. I am apparently a total city girl. Who knew? Kari lived there for about 2 years so she showed me some of her old stomping grounds. She had packed a picnic lunch – AMAZING chicken salad sandwiches, grapes, bananas, chocolate pudding, chips, oatmeal raisin cookies, ginger ale to wash it all down – so we parked in the Gold Coast neighborhood and walked to the nearest park to eat. We thought it was a dog park but it turns out it was just a dog-friendly park. Darn. I’ve never seen a real dog park.

I want to take this opportunity now to thank Jewel-Osco for offering public restrooms. We searched far and wide. Thank you, Jewel. You saved our bladders.

After lunch we still had plenty of time to kill, so we walked around and eventually found the coffee shop Kari used to frequent. Well, I guess it’s more than a coffee shop but we were going just for the coffee. We ordered two cups of the Turkish stuff and sipped and chatted for the next hour or so. The coffee was a little sweet for my taste but it didn’t matter because I was in great company having great conversation. Kari and I talk almost every day, but this was a day we could just chill and have fun without all the distractions of every day life. It was wonderful.

We went to La Pasadita for dinner. Kari used to eat there a lot and she has been raving about their tacos, so we had to go. Kari ordered the carne asada torta and I had the super carne asada burrito. People, carne asada is the way to go. This burrito was ginormous, and full of steak. It was the kind of burrito that just kept getting better, bite after bite. I was stuffed to the gills after eating half and saved the rest for later. Thankfully Kari had the picnic cooler because that second half made for a nice snack after the concert. When we walked out of the restaurant we mentioned that we should have taken a picture. I thought about it while we were there but we were the only white people there and I thought if we busted out the camera then we would really stick out like sore thumbs.

After dinner we did some shoe shopping, because La Pasadita is located in the Shoe Capital of Chicago. Haven’t you heard of it? We also found some cool clothing shops. One that sold super cute baby shirts that are printed with things like “Led Zeppelin” or “iPood”. Cute stuff but all overpriced. The other shop we liked was a consignment shop. When we entered we were greeted by the owner’s 20 month old daughter. The owner was a very sweet lady. She thought I was pregnant but I forgave her because she dared to walk around her own store barefooted. Oh, and her daughter had her own playroom which I thought was pretty cool. She had some nice stuff for sale. Most of it wasn’t my size but I did find a shirt I liked that I ended up buying and wearing to the concert.

Yes! The concert! And you thought I would never get there. I give you props if you’re still with me here. This is a long post. We arrived at the United Center super early and were the first patrons at a decent parking lot. It was nice to get there early and not have to contend with crowds. People really didn’t start showing up until the second opening act started playing, which surprised me. If I pay for an entire concert, I want to be there for the entire thing.

The first opening act was The National. I hadn’t heard of them and had no expectations so I was surprised that I enjoyed them so much. The lead singer had a nice deep voice and the melodies reminded me a lot of some of my favorite 80′s music, but without seeming like knock-offs. I also liked that they were a band made up of bonafide musicians. They played piano, violin, trumpet, and trombone. It was good stuff.

Modest Mouse on the other hand, was a complete disappointment. I have liked them in the past but their performance just didn’t do anything for me. That’s all I really have to say about that.

If you’re not an R.E.M. fan like me you could probably just skip the next two paragraphs. Just a warning.

R.E.M. was amazing. Outstanding. Far exceeding my expectations even. I was thrilled to see what a great time they were having on stage. Michael Stipe looked like he was just having the time of his life. I was pretty happy with their song selection, which was a good mix of the old with the new. They started off with some oldies like “Begin the Begin” and “These Days”. That made me glad I had listened to my “Life’s Rich Pageant” tape on the way to Kari’s so I could brush up on the lyrics. They played most of the songs off the new “Accelerate” album. I know I’m going to love that album even more now because every time I listen to it I’ll be reminded of how it sounded in concert. Some other favorites were ”Final Straw,” “Bad Day,” “Ignoreland,” “The Great Beyond,” and “Man on the Moon” (did you know the latter 2 were both written about Andy Kaufman?). They played for a solid two hours so I can’t recall all the songs but those are the ones that come to mind.

They played the usual audience favorites like “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth” (which I personally can’t stand… I could do without the whole “Monster” album) and “Losing My Religion” (which I’ve heard a million times but still can’t make myself hate it… it’s a good song). I was hoping for “Nightswimming” but didn’t have my fingers crossed because it’s not really a “concert” song (Are you getting tired of the quotation marks yet?). They didn’t play it. They didn’t play “It’s The End of the World” either, which I didn’t expect, but it would have been fun to sing along. There are so many great R.E.M. songs that I would have loved to hear but I especially would have loved if they had played “Outsiders” and brought Q-Tip out on stage to rap with Michael Stipe. If they had done that I might have crapped my pants.

All in all, it was a fantastic concert and a fantastic day. June 6, 2008 was my Rex Manning Day. Thank you, Jesus :P

Oh, this day has finally come! The day my sister and I will tool around and reminisce in Chicago, feast on the best tacos in the world (so I’ve heard), and tickle our souls and earbuds at the R.E.M. concert. Let’s see if I’m ready…

Coffee – check!
Concert tickets – check!
Weaver D’s “Automatic for the People” t-shirt – check!
Map of Chicago – check!
All the R.E.M. albums I own – check!
Goofy giddy grin – check!

I think that’s everything I need. I’m hittin’ the road!!

I bought my tickets to R.E.M. for the Chicago concert on June 6th. I can’t wait! WOO freakin’ HOO!!