Second verse, same as the first!
Blogger will be the death of me. I had a huge post written, and while it was publishing it was erased. ARRGH!

So, here is the gist of it:

I haven't been feeling the urge to post lately, but not because I don't have anything to say. In fact, there is a lot of interesting stuff going on. Victor and I went to Arkansas last weekend to meet my new nephew. We also went wedding/reception location scouting with Diana and found at least one winner.

The last couple of weeks we bought a bunch of new CDs, including new albums by the Decemberists, Gruff Rhys, Ffa Coffi Pawb, Annie, Montag, Roots Manuva, Stars, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, Iron & Wine, Daft Punk, M.I.A, Queens of the Stone Age... well, that's all I can remember right now. Plus we're going to see the Decemberists next week. Suddenly, there's a lot to be excited about music-wise.

Tonight we're jumping on a plane to Mexico City for Easter weekend. Victor's uncle lives there, and we're going to his ranch (hacienda?) about 20 miles out of the city in Tepotzotlán. Apparently the big attraction there is the St. Francis Xavier Church , which I hope we'll visit. Victor's uncle also has horses there, so I hope we get a chance to ride. I had horses growing up and always rode, until a few bad experiences in high school kinda scared me off horses for a while. I rode once in Ireland in 1997, which was an adventure, because they ride English style over there. I'm used to Western style, and the two styles are quite different. Anyway, I think it will be a fun and relaxing weekend.

I predict a riot... about "Brickhouse"
Wow, thanks to everyone who weighed in on the wedding reception music. It's good to know that other people are of the same opinion. I'll let Kris and Victor fight out the "Brickhouse" issue. Should be an interesting fight.

Victor and I are once again playing the "Where should we go?" game... this time, we're trying to decide what to do for Easter weekend. He's corresponding with his uncle in Mexico City, and we're also exploring Canadian and South American options. I'd love to go any of those places, as long as we have enough time to see some interesting stuff without rushing around too much.

Who's going to SXSW this year? I think we're going to miss it (that's three years in a row.. no, make that 19 years in a row for me) this year. Too bad, because there are an awful lot of great bands playing. Lots of new music out now, too. What's rocking everyone's iPods/DellPods/stereo/FM tuner?

Music is my boyfriend.
It was a pretty quiet weekend for me, since I had some kind of horrible head cold or something. Part of it was spent watching an hour of CMT's 100 Greatest Songs, which was surprisingly good. I was raised listening to country music (I switched to pop once "the outside world" got a hold of me, but I still love old country). Victor and I enjoyed reminiscing about the songs on the countdown.

Later that evening, after watching some music DVDs we have (Placebo, Belle and Sebastian, and Blur, if you must know), we started a quest to find the official Mandy and Victor First Dance at the Wedding Reception. Yes, although we do not have a date or venue, we decided we must pick the song right away. And we did! It's a secret, bound by a pinky swear, so I can't disclose it here. But I promise it will be perfect.

Fueled with excitement from the CMT countdown, music DVDs, and the first dance song selection, we then decided to download some songs appropriate for the reception. We're going to set up the iPod or laptop instead of getting a DJ. This allows us to have more control over the song selection - no chicken dance, "YMCA," or "Celebration" for us! We found some songs that our parents would like (old country, Elvis, Neil Diamond, crooners, etc.) that we also would enjoy. Now, about 80% of what is played will be "our" music, or what we would normally listen to on a daily basis. The other 20% will be this stuff that our parents/family would enjoy, as sanctioned by us. As Victor so succinctly put it, "I'm serious. I could give a damn about what other people 'like to dance to.' If I don't like the song, it's not being played. End of story."

What do you guys think? Will anyone miss the chicken dance? Who's going to get mad if we don't include "Twist and Shout" or "The Twist?" Who really wants to do the electric slide? Can a wedding reception survive without "I Will Survive?"

I have a nephew!!
Yesterday, a little before 5pm, my sister had a bouncing baby boy! His name is Austin, and he was nine and a half pounds. She ended up having to get a C-section. I can't wait to see him. We're going home next weekend to meet him. I'm totally ready to be Cool Aunt Mandy.

We hate it when our friends become successful!
No, really, Morrissey, we love it!

Some friends of mine have put together the TriPartIte Film Festival, which is an annual event benefiting charity (this year's charity is SafePlace). The festival screens films by lesser known Austin-area directors, including films by my friends Ryan, Aaron, Kat, and Sean. This year's festival takes place on Friday, May 6 at 8:30pm, and it will be held at Jo's Coffee Shop on South Congress. Anyone in Austin should go! I don't know if I'll be able to make it since it starts so early, but I'd like to try.

Additionally, my friend Kris is now a theatre critic (freelance! freelance!) for the brand new TimeOut Chicago. Check out their theatre section to catch a glimpse of the work of this rising star! I wonder if he wrote a critique of my perfomance in Steel Magnolias back in high school... We went to different schools, but his drama class came to see our production (which was pretty painful). Only a few short months later, we met in college.

Edit: Ryan wanted to let me know he is even more famous than I had previously stated. Check out his latest column in Lumino Magazine.

No news to report, really.
Wow, long time no see. Sorry about that. We went to Victor's birthday extravaganza this weekend in Austin. Lots of fun. We've also been dealing with hardcore wedding planning. First it was in Arkansas. Then it was in Dallas. Now, I think it's back to being in Arkansas. We'll get everything sorted out soon... hopefully by next week. I'm really looking forward to starting the real planning. I think I may try to make the invitations myself... well, we'll see.

I don't really have much else to report. My boss was fired last week, which is kinda strange. I feel bad for her, though I think it's definitely a good thing for the company. I'm going to have a lot more work to do now, which will be nice. Currently, we're not able to get much done because the network drives have been down since yesterday.

Southern Engineering
Last night I took Victor out to Monica's Aca y Alla for his birthday dinner. They were doing half-price food (every Tuesday, Dallas folks), so it ended up costing far less than I had expected. It was very yummy Tex-Mex, and the margaritas were tasty. Perhaps too tasty...

A coworker and I were discussing colloquialisms yesterday. I mentioned that in college I had written a paper on the dialect spoken in the Appalachian mountains. I really enjoyed researching that paper, especially learning about how many of the "improper" forms of words that people use there are actually leftover alternate forms dating back many hundreds of years. These words were brought over by immigrants, particularly the Scots-Irish. Anyway, the other interesting thing I learned was that a pocket of Appalachian people moved to the Ozarks, which is why some of that same dialect has persisted there. You know, where I grew up. Anyway, I found one of the words discovered through my research to be really funny... and then I heard my own father use it! The word is "antigogglin," which means crooked. He used it while trying to put gas in his truck when the gas hose was all tangled up (or antigogglin, as he called it).

Anyway, here's a fun list called "AR-bonics," which mentions some of the other words and phrases found in Arkansas. We did use a lot of them in my family, including "yonder," "cattywompus" (or as my dad liked to say, catassywompus), and "pee-waddlin" (a variation of "pee-waddin" found in this list). And I know I've said it before, but I sure do love the rest of that site. Oh, and Ryan... he mentions your old workplace Backyard Burgers in the list!

Finally, a poll for everyone! Let's say you could join any of today's rock or pop bands. Who would you choose? What would you do? My choice is Belle and Sebastian. I'd play flute and tambourine. Yes, I know that they already have members that do that... but this is a fantasy, remember? Please put your answer in the comments.

Happy Birthday Victor!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my fiance is a whopping 29 years old. Let the spanking begin.