Last Saturday, we drove up to Berkeley to watch Dido in concert at the Berkeley Communty Theather. It had been a long day - we were packing, waiting for the plumber to finish the job at our new place, so we weren’t really in a concert mood. But I would say, Dido’s voice is amazing. I loved how the stage lights and effects flow so well with the songs. Her voice was crisp, clear, and … just awesome. I love all of her songs, and I tell ya, they sound SOO much better live. Good thing we brought the binos, it was so hard to see her face and the band from the balcony seats we were at. Well worth it!

Yes, last weekend was officially the move day. We’ve procrastinated for too long, and now, there’s closure ;). I love the new place so much - even though there are boxes everywhere, the backyard is weed infested, and we don’t have DSL. We’ll be spending this week just trying to get our home in order.

Clover seems to be taking it all in just fine, though he did have some stress screeching yesterday when we moved. How can he complain, he has the room with a view!

Clover is my alarm clock. One morning he didn’t screech out to me, and I was late. Every morning, if he hears the slightest movement from either me or Doug, he’ll start his screeching - “Hey, you guys are up I want out!” type of greeting. Or maybe its “Wake up lazybones!” I don’t know … So when I don’t want to officially announce that I’m awake I will try to sneak into the bathroom for my shower.

Clover likes to sing to Catie Curtis songs, while I whistle to the music, and maybe sing a verse or two. Maybe he’s trying to tell me “Your singing is driving me crazy!”, or “See, I can sing better than you!” He’ll make that hollering chimpanzee screech, which I don’t think, passes in the bird world as “a good singing voice”. Don’t tell him, he’s sensitive ;).

He’s so much a part of my life now, and its only been 2 weeks! Doug, on the other hand, needs to open up to him more, he’s a nippy bird, I’ll admit, but he’s cute, plus, he’s just a baby, and he’s using his beak on EVERYTHING!

Yep, my pet green-cheeked conure has a blog - its called Cloverville, and you can read all about his adventures.

I brought Clover to work today, and maybe I should make it a point to bring him to work once a week. Tomorrow’s the 1 week anniversary of him stayin with us, and so far, he’s great fun to be with, except sometimes he nips real hard, especially at night, he doesn’t want to be skritched as often now, though I kinda like to have more cuddle times with him. He seems to treat my hand and fingers as a toy …

The past three days with Clover had been a great learning experience. When we first got back, he was wary of things around him, and all he did was to eat, eat, and drink water. In the morning I try to give him some cuddle time, and skritches. Last night, after work, he seemed more adventurous, and even started playing with his toys. I took him out, and just before dinner, tried to introduce him to a shallow bucket of water to bathe. To my surprise, he started rolling in the water, and splashing drops of water all over! It was too cool. Unfortunately I didn’t have a camera ready, so I didn’t take any pics. I tried him off with a towel, as he huddled in it, trembling a little with his wet feathers - he looked so tiny and thin!

Yep, I’m officially a bird slave. Clover is a green-cheeked conure, and because of him, I wake up at 6am on a Sunday morning. Watching him take his breakfast, playing a little with him, and having him poop on me, all this is very new to me, and I’m sure he’s getting to know me as well, heck its just been a day! here’s a picture of him eating.

Looking back on the past month, I would say that April 2004 has been a special month for me. So many things have happened:

1. We got the key to our new home
2. I learned more about home improvement in this month than I ever had in my life.
3. We went to 2 Catie Curtis shows
4. Mac’s passing

A month I will always remember.

Clover, my green cheek, will be coming home this Saturday. Last weekend was really well spent, I tell ya - amidst the scorching weather, we managed to drive down to the Livermore Art and Wine Festival, shop for furniture, and get our electrical appliances.

Now if I can just get up on my BFA and start packing … my heart’s already in the new place, but it sucks to have to pack before we can move …. ARGH.