my sister

I miss my sister. We don't keep in touch enough. We need to be better at that. We've always been really close, but what's funny is we've also both been very independent. I don't think either one of us has really been homesick. Well, I'm not sure, she might have had a few moments when she was in New York but I think at the time she was just in a difficult place and she definitely wasn't that happy with where she was. Other than that though, I mean, I went to camp when I was in 6th or 7th grade. I flew all the way across the country and it never occurred to me to call home... not once while I was gone. I also know that I'm just not that good at keeping in touch with people either. I think my grandmother and I have that in common as well... I should call her this weekend...

Hold close to your family, to your loved ones. They're always going to be there for you, through thick and thin. They may have their own strong opinions about things but that's just because they care about you so much. Either way, they're always on your side.

Love you lil' sis!

~Gwen

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It just occurred to me, I never updated everyone on Harry Potter's 7th book!! The book was awesome. Just awesom. I thought she brought in enough new stuff to the story to be truly intrigued, and I felt she tied all things up quite nicely. I've read the book and I bought the audio CDs. I've just finished listening to the CDs, and Jim Dale does another great job. I have to say I have minor frustrations, because the voices, though all distictive, don't entirely mesh with the ones he came up with in past books. At least I don't think they do. But then again, those of you who know me know how particular I can be... :)

So that's my update. If you haven't read the Harry Potter series, I would definitly suggest it, for children or adults. Obviously, you have to enjoy the concept of magical worlds, but it's a pretty easy read and touches on lots of good moral points.

~Gwen

Amy Courts

I've been delinquent in keeping my blog and myspace up to date, so now I guess I'm overcompensating, but you have to check out my myspace page and my friend Amy Courts.

I noticed that Amy, Eric Paslay and Heidi Burson were playing tonight, so how could I resist seeing three people I knew I'd love all in one night. When I got to Lyrix, I spotted Amy, and after ordering a Shirley Temple (I know, going all out tonight, wasn't I?) I stopped by her table to say hi and catch up a little. Later, when she went up to play in the round with Eric and another singer/songwriter, they went through each of their songs, and on Amy's last song, she dedicated it "for a girl who is missing a boy halfway around the world" and she proceeded to sing what she knows is my favourite song of hers (so far anyways... :) ). I cried. She's so awesome, that just meant so much to me. So thank you again, Amy. You're a dearheart and I love you.

~Gwen

Love for Friends

Back in June when I visited California, I met up with an old high school friend of mine. His roommate happened to be another old high school friend of mine, but at the time I visited, Chris was unavailable. I was sad. Then I found out that Chris had gotten a part with Evita! and would be starting his National tour with the group in Chattanooga! So last Thursday, I get this last minute call. He's playing that night and Friday night. I busted my buns to get my work done by Friday afternoon (and let me tell you... that was rough) and, forgetting that there is an hour time difference between Nashville and Chattanooga, I then skipped dinner and left straight from work to make it to the show on time.

I got there at 7:56pm for the 8pm show , bought a ticket (row Q seat 9, right up front and just off center... awesome), and the lights went down. I had made it with seconds to spare. Chris was awesome. He was in the Ensemble that night, but he had a couple of solo parts and I was so proud of him! It was a great show. I wish I had gotten to meet the guy that played Che, Omar I think it was... he was amazing.

After the show, Chris and I met up and wandered off to a quiet corner of a bar to catch up for a couple of hours. It was so good to see him again. I'm so bad at keeping in touch with people, but I still cherish moments when I do finally get to reconnect with old friends. I had a great night, even though I got home at 1:45am. :)

~Gwen

I am sooooo behind!!!

I'm so sorry, world, I haven't posted a thing for weeks and weeks!! I've been so caught up in a few things I haven't even had a chance to look at my blogs or myspace. Oh, and can I just say how irritated I am. My workplace, totally without notice, has suddenly blocked all access to myspace, which is really ruining my social event calendar, because a lot of things happen right after work on weeknights, and now I can't check to see what's going on after work. I'm missing my shows because I can't check my calendar. Now I'm going to have to come up with some new system, which is not going to be ideal.

On a totally different note, though I've been missing very much my dance and my music friends, those events never did pan out very well socially. Dance is good, we have gatherings after class (which I've been skipping because my foot still hurts), but I wasn't meeting any single guys to date. I made a few really great friends, but none turned into a relationship. And the music scene has been a total bust on that front. Now, however, I've found a really nice, wonderful even, fellow that I've become really attached too, and I had to send him overseas last week. It's tearing my heart out, but we're doing a pretty good job so far of keeping in touch, and we'll see how it all works out. He should be back in about 6 months. So ladies, wish me luck and give me some ideas on things I can send him in the mail to keep him happy!! We're both already really looking forward to the day he gets back.

~Gwen

Harry Potter

The movie was really good tonight. I don't like to review these movies right after I see them, and I'll have to watch it a couple more times, because they cram so much into such a short time and they leave out parts of the story I'm expecting to see.... so I still have to digest, but all in all, great movie.

Now I'm looking forward to Book 7 which I should get in the mail on the 21st. Three guesses what I'll be doing all weekend once I get the book... :)

oh, and one last note, because it's been nagging me for a while now: boys confuse me. I go along, thinking everything is fine, and then they act funny and I'm confused again.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Two announcements:

I'm headed to Illinois this weekend to celebrate my friend Matt Martino's pre-CD release party back home where it all started. For one day only, we'll be able to get his CD, before it's official national release on July 28th, where we'll celebrate again here in Nashville at BB King's. I'm super excited for him!!

And for the second announcement, for those of you who love Harry Potter like I do,

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!!!

You can go to http://mugglenet.com to get the countdowns for your own page.

~Gwen

I love Nashville!!

I've just had another really great night. Let me just say, I *love* the music scene in Nashville.

It's just amazing because almost every time I go out to see someone sing, I find more singer/songwriters that I want to check out and support... my myspace page is getting chock full of musical talent. I may have to make another page for my personal stuff, because I don't want any fun filler stuff to distract people from the awesome music that I want them to discover. Tonight I found two more great artists, and I'll be adding them to my list.

If you haven't tried the music scene in Nashville, and I'm talking about the writer's rounds and small gigs around town, check out www.myspace.com/gwenbanks to find a few talented people to go out and see and expand on your experience from there. A few of my favorite places to go are Bluebird Cafe on Hillsboro in Green Hills, Lyrix on Peabody and 1st ave, Fuel on 2nd ave, Dan McGuinness Pub on Music Row, and 12th and Porter... on 12th and Porter.

And if you need any suggestions, just ask! :)

~Gwen

Dog Training

OMG, I have to tell you, I had the best time last night!!

You're going to laugh at me, I know, but I went to a dog training seminar, led by a new friend of mine, Nikki Ivey. It... was... AWESOME!! Her new organization is called DogSpeak. She's just so passionate about dog training and the positive reinforcement techniques, AND she can talk about it in an educating and just lovable way. I know, I'm gushing, but I can't wait for the next one.

I met Nikki about a year and a half ago when she had her own indoor facility where I would take Mako for occational dog socialization nights. It was a big warehouse sized space with padded floor puzzle pieces, so they weren't playing directly on cement (have you heard a dog's head hit the cement when wrestling with another dog? It's heart-sinking scary.) She closed the facility to focus on other passions she had, namely her Search and Rescue organization TERRA, and helping another facility get their dog day care going strong. She's done a wonderful job with both (Note: she also started TN's Metro SAR before starting TERRA), and I've recently touched base with her again. I can't wait to see and learn more about dog training and truly understanding the amazing relationship one can have with their pet when you finally understand each other.

So, for anyone who owns a dog, whether you think you have issues or not, about anything, check out her website and Yahoo! Group. The website talks about how to understand your dog's language and how to train a dog with humane, and efficient, techniques to have good manners around the house and beyond. The Yahoo! Group is a forum where you can ask questions and receive notifications of upcoming seminars and events.

http://dogspeak101.com/

and

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/DogSpeak101/

Check it out!! Her next seminar is:

Dog-Dog Interactions

9:00am - 12:00pm

classroom lesson

1:30pm - 3:30pm

dog park work with the dogs!!

~Gwen

Cichlids

I went to Aquatic Critter yesterday to check out options for some more food for the cichlids. I'm running low, and I needed to find something that maybe my littlest one would eat, because he hasn't grown like his siblings since I got them.

Anyways, here's how they came to be.

My coworker had three blood parrots, two of which mated and had babies. Unlikely to begin with. The four babies from that brood were more of a light pink color than the bright orange of the parents. And the tails at least weren't as deformed as the parents. Then a male from one of those babies, the light pink ones I mean, mated with the other female blood parrot that she had. Doubly unlikely. Mine are the babies from that pairing. I'll have to see if I can get pics of the mom and dad.

So here they are. An unlikely bunch, and mutts to boot, but I like them a lot. :)

~Gwen

Starting out

One has to start somewhere, so where better than at the beginning...

No, you're right, that might be a bit excessive. Why don't we just start from where we are now.

I got back a couple of weeks ago from this year's main family vacation. We had a great 10 days in the lovely state of California and my family and I hit Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, San Diego Zoo (and the trolley tour), and a bit of LA (Kodak Theatre on the night of Al Pacino's AFI Lifetime achievement award, to be precise). All in all, a great time, and a very relaxing vacation. Didn't even hurt to go back to work, because life was just too darn cool to be upset about it. :)

Now today, I had visit number four of my five Laser Hair Removal treatments, and let me tell you something. This stuff HURTS!! Smarted like a devil. I definitely see an epidural in my future, because I apparently have a lower pain tolerance than I thought I did. Geez. I have to say, though, even though right after the treatment I stung like a banshee and had red welts all over my legs, the redness is basically gone now and my legs look normal again. But from the smell of burning hair in the room today, I think we killed off a number of folicles that will never see the light of day again. So mission accomplished I suppose. The nurses themselves, however, will do well in their off hours for a little extra cash as dominatrix types, though. Shoot, if I paid for this treatment myself, imagine who else might. They've got my recommendation.

One last note for the day. If you haven't found my myspace website yet, and you love music, take a look. I'm trying to support the singer/songwriter talents in Nashville and San Diego, and my friend Matt Martino has his 1st CD release party coming up in July. Two parties, actually, and I'm totally stoked to see him where he is right now. We're going to have a big bash in downtown Nashville on July 28th at BB Kings, so if you want more info, let me know.

www.myspace.com/gwenbanks

Thanks for reading!!
Gwen