Our House...in the Middle of the Woods

I actually made this a little while ago, but I was lazy and didn't get a chance to promote it.  So here it is, fresh from Burns Productions, a tour of the Oakbrook Commons Estate, West and East wings respectively:

The apartment is very nice, and it's kind of nice not to worry about things like out-of-state landlords and an uncooperative toilet flusher.  Also, whoever invented the garbage disposal is my new god.

Nice to Know You, Incubus

Tonight I had my first taste of Saratoga Springs, specifically the Performing Arts Center (SPAC).  The venue was sort of outdoors-ish in the middle of the Saratoga Spa State Park, so the surrounding area was very woodsy and pretty.

Note: apologies for the sub-par photography.  There was no flash photography and we were kind of far back.

The opening act, Young the Giant, was surprisingly good.  Sort of one of those bands that does those softer rock songs you find buried in a quirky indie movie.  In all my concert-going experience, they are tied for first in the "best opening band" category with Cold War Kids.

Incubus themselves were as awesome as I thought they would be.  They played quite a few tracks from Morning View, which made me super happy.  I especially loved that they played "Are you In," and got a little bit of audience participation.  I'm not a huge expert on a lot of their discography (though I did listen to pretty much all of it today via Spotify), so I knew a few songs really well, a few other songs in general and a couple songs I didn't know at all.

I also got to experience driving in the dark for the first time, which was pretty unremarkable.  No small critters committed suicide via my tires.  Though I had to park in a tree (really should have taken a photo), so I might have slightly damaged it.  Ah well, there's a lot of nature up here; I was bound to damage some of it at some point.

Took off to the Great White North. Emphasis on "White."

Well, here I am.  A Pennsylvanian born and bred living just across the northern border.  Do I like snow?  Not really.  Skiing?  Def not.  Hiking?  I could be convinced, but it's not a driving force.

Honestly, I did it for one simple reason: because it was there.  I had an opportunity and I took it.  It might end up being a mistake, but in the end, it doesn't really matter.  Mistakes are just as big a part of life as getting things right.  And they're a hell of a lot more interesting.

So, I'm living with my boyfriend in a very nice apartment in a small oasis of consumerism in the midst of a vast, northern wilderness.  Right now, I'm still enjoying the novelty of it.  I definitely miss some things, like having great sandwiches and coffee Coolattas within walking distance.  I definitely don't miss other things, like the terrible indie bands that would play in my building's basement and, due to a lack of insulation, might as well have been playing in my living room.

Today was kind of a strike against this whole plan, though.  I had a few simple tasks: drop off the boyfriend's dry cleaning, pick up some groceries and drop off an overdue library book.  Evidently, today was not a good day for Clifton Park's older, female residents.  I'm fairly certain I didn't step on any kittens or small children in front of them, but you sure couldn't tell from their reactions.

Honestly, if today is the worst of it, I can deal.  I have a partially working CD player in a mostly working Kia that has decent bass, so life can never be that bad.