Here's the Andrew Bird setlist from last night's performance at the Hideout Block Party.

Fiery Crash
Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left
Opposite Day
Plasticities
Heretics
Scythian Empire
Simple X
Imitosis
Armchairs
Dr. Stringz (!) only a little bit of it after a guy behind me yelled it out
Fake Palindromes
Skin Is, My
Tables and Chairs
Dark Matter

Obviously very Armchair heavy.

He played 37 minutes past the noise curfew!

And he's absolutely brilliant live. His albums pale in comparision. I can't get over that whistling!

Nate asked if an artist plays all the instruments by himself, does that make him self absorbed? To which I replied, no, it makes him the master of his domain. Which Andrew certainly has shown he is.

So I fixed the archives and omitted some of the links on the right.

I also read back through a bunch of old blogs, and wow, I'm glad I'm not the silly girl I was 5 years ago. It's actually embarrassing.

Maybe now I'll actually try to keep up with this blog.

Don't expect much, though.

Wow.

I need to do a major overhaul of this blog soon. For some reason none of my archives are showing up (and there's a lot, considering that I've had this blog since August 2002.) For that I blame the new Blogger. Half the links on the right are dead, (for that I just blame the passage of time) and I'm no longer the crazed DMB fan that I was when I started this blog.

Not like it really matters to anyone but me, anyway.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.


How much does a person live, after all? Does he/she live a thousand days, or only one? For a week, or for several centuries? How long does a person spend dying? What does it mean to say 'for ever'?"
Pablo Neruda

Ten years ago today is when the passion started.

Today is the tenth anniversary of my very first concert!

Bush with opener Veruca Salt.

I was 13 and in 8th grade at the time. My friend Lisa and I had counted down the days til the 24th for months. In our hastily scrawled notes during class, we'd put the countdown as we signed our names. We'd say, "I'm screaming daisies," a line from Greedy Fly, "only 16 days away!"

Wow. I wonder where I'll be in another 10 years.

advance Lolla lineup!

Wooohooo. Like 99% of music, the Lolla lineup has leaked before it's release date! It will be officially announced tomorrow, but I've got it for you now. Drumroll please....

!!!
Amy Winehouse
Annuals
Aqueduct
Arckid
Bang Bang Bang
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Blonde Redhead
Blue October
Boud Stems
Cary Ott
Charlie Musselwhite
Chin Up Chin Up
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clour Revolt
Cold War Kids
CSS
Daft Punk
David Vandervelde
Dios
Electric Six
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Femi Kuti
Fields
G. Love & Special Sauce
Ghostland Observatory
Heartless Bastards
High Class Elite
Iggy & The Stooges
Illinois
Interpol
Jack's Mannequin
Jim Noir
Juliette & The Licks
Kings of Leon
LCD Soundsystem
Los Campesinos!
Lupe Fiasco
M.I.A.
Matt Roan
Mikey Avalon
Modest Mouse
Motion City Soundtrack
Muse
My Morning Jacket
Patti Smith
Paulo Nutini
Pearl Jam
Pete Yorn
Peter Bjorn and John
Regina Spektor
Rhymefest
Roky Erikson
Ryan Shaw
Sam Roberts Band
Satellite Party
Sean Lennon
Silverchair
Silversun Pickups
Slightly Stoopid
Snow Patrol
Son Volt
Soulive
Sparklehorse
Spoon
Stephen Marley
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
Tapes n' Tapes
The 1900's
The Black Angels
The Black Keys
The Cribs
The Fratellis
The Hold Steady
The Polyphonic Spree
The Rapture
The Roots
The Satin Peaches
The View
The Wailers
Tokyo Police Club
TV on the Radio
Viva Voce
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yo La Tengo

Of that lineup, I'd be most excited about seeing Femi Kuti, son of the late afrobeat great Fela Kuti. Haven't yet seen Clap Your Hands Say Yeah; love them. And Illinois, who contrary to their name, are from Pennsylvania. I've already seen PJ, Silverchair, Modest Mouse, Interpol. Wouldn't mind seeing any of them again, especially MM with Marr and new material, but.. eh.

Quite honestly, I was expecting a bit more out of the Lolla lineup.. I was really hoping for Panda Bear, or Andrew Bird, or dare I say Ryan Adams again? At this point, I think I'll wait for the single day passes. Not to sound like I'm not excited, because I am.

Who knows who else will pop up. I am sure like last year there will be new artists added up until August.


Thoughts on the lineup?

So I'm thinking of starting a music blog. It's an endeavor I've wanted to tackle for a while, and I'm at this point where I've decided I'm going to do everything I've wanted to do but have put off. Like salsa lessons. Have wanted to take them for about 8 years, and never have. On Tuesday I will be going to my first lesson.

Lately I've had a voracious appetite for music blogs. I cannot get enough. For hours I will read and read and read, finding blogs through blogs through blogs. Have discovered a ton of new music in the past year and a half this way, but for some reason, recently, this obsession of mine has become insatiable.

I read them daily. I've been reading some of these blogs for a long time; others, have recently found. I like checking them all daily for new posts so as not to fall behind, for one thing--it's really not a TON of reading then. Plus you never know what kind of gems will be posted next.

I was going to post a list of all the blogs I read daily, along with a synopsis of each one, but I'm much too tired, so that's another post for another day. Here's a few to whet your appetite:

http://www.canyouseethesunset.com/index.html newest one that I've found and LOVED. Especially because the blogger lives in Chicago and puts a local twist on many of the entries. Definitely in my top 3, and I just discovered it a few days ago!

http://fuelfriends.blogspot.com/ this one is probably my favorite.

http://www.regnyouth.com/ full albums, rarities, EPs, live shows in a million different genres can be found here.

http://hypem.com Mecca of finding new blogs and the most recently posted music. Crawls blogs and compiles the mp3s posted as well as the post and blogs on which they were made.

These are the essential blogs. Immerse yourself, and find some new tunes. Ready, set, go!

So you want to hear about my awful night?

Here's how it goes.

Roger and I had plans to hang out after he got off of work at 7. I talked to him two or three times yesterday while at work, with the last convo at 10 to 5. He was heading into the fitting room to cover and said he'd call me back later. Well later came, and the phone call did not. He never called me after he got off of work to hang out! So that sucked. And I was bummed.

So I decided to just go over to Ash's to help her move. HAD I known that R. and I weren't going to hang out, I would have left and gone over there earlier. I got there around 8:30ish. Tried to enlist some help to move all the shit to no avail. It's times like these that you know who your real friends are. Had been hoping to get some guys to give us a hand. A good friend of Ashley's ended up being a total tool and not helping us despite the fact that Ash always helps him. When his car broke down, she offered him her car. She's offered his ROOMMATE her car when his wasn't around. She does shit for him or at least offers all the time. And he couldn't even help us move for a couple hours. So Ash and I spent the next 4 hours packing things up into the U-Haul; very heavy things. Very heavy mattress in particular. Oh god it was rough.

Then I went to get home to get my mom's truck so we could get the futon over to work cuz Ash is letting us use it for our breakroom. Had an argument with my mom about Ashley and I moving all this stuff by ourselves... but what else are we supposed to do? I wasn't about to abandon her. Got the truck, drove to Lemont.. we loaded it.. then drove it to ON where we left it by the dock doors.

Then we drove back to Ash's and loaded up the back of my mom's truck with her big chair, which she is taking to her store for the breakroom. THEN we drove to her new place to unload.

By now it's 2am. We were both exhausted. But we still had to unload all of Ashley's stuff because we had to get the U-Haul back by 6:30am.

Joey didn't move all his huge miscellaneous shit out of Ashley's room like he was supposed to, so we had to move a bunch of big stuff around before we could even start to unload into Ash's room.

Started unloading the truck now. Got all the little random shit into boxes (we had run out but there were more at Joey's) and brought in the little stuff. Then my phone rings. It's my mom saying that if we need to put the futon in the kitchen at my house because of the rain then we can do it. Rain? Aw fuck. Actually, it's starting to rain as my mom is saying this. I told her that the futon was outside at work and not to worry about it. I mean, how much could it rain anyways?

Spoke too soon. Lots of lightning begins. Frightening. We're unloading a bunch of shit and standing inside a big metal truck. That's awesome. And then it starts to POUR. By now Ash and I are very frustrated and tired and basically ready to cry. But we have to get this stuff unloaded so we can get the U-Haul back. I take out a rolling rack with clothes and bring it down the ramp and up the walk into the building. I hear a crash. I turn around, yell to see what happened, then run into the street. Ashley is in pain, I have no idea what happened, there's pots and pans and broken glasses on the ground. She's crying and hurt and going into shock. She can barely get a word out. She manages to tell me that she slipped and fell right on the edge of the metal on the truck, right in the middle of her back. She tells me that she's going into shock. I don't know what that entails and I freak out. She's takes a few minutes to get herself back under control. I tell her that there's no way we are doing any more of this tonight. She's hurt, it's dangerous with the rain and the lightning, and it's just not worth it. We'll take the U-Haul back late. Whatever charges are incurred are worth more than us killing ourselves doing this.

Go inside, soaked to the bone, discouraged, scared, exhausted. Change clothes. It's 3:45. Lay down on the couch and set the alarm for 5:30 so we can finish moving it all.

Anyway, about 6 we finally crawl off the couch--Ash's back is hurting, but she's able to walk and is not completely stiff or unable to move. Thank God. She's really fortunate that she wasn't badly hurt.

We tackle the mattress first--it's a beast and is what we were most worried about moving. It was rough, but we got it done, and everything after that was a piece of cake.

Took the truck back to U-Haul, late, but it was okay and I don't think they really charged us that much extra, so that was fortunate.

Went back to Ash's and crashed on the couch for about an hour. It's now 12 hours later--we'd been moving stuff this whole time. Except for the hour and a half nap on the couch while waiting for daylight and the rain to let up.

The ordeal is not completely over though.

The problem is that the futon at work is still sitting outside. Noone knows about it. I tried calling over there this morning cuz I thought they could bring it in before they took in the truck... but there was no truck today. I tried calling numerous times starting at 6:30.. then remembered around 7:15 that H was 8 to 5 today. Hmm, no truck. Lots of driving and being wet and stuff and I forgot to call H back at 8 to tell her about it. So this futon is still sitting outside the dock doors at work, by now it's SOAKED, and the cushion was really heavy to begin with. Shit. I don't know if anyone will be able to take it in, and I can't move it by myself. I don't know if there's the coverage for someone to help me out in the pouring rain for a while and take it in.. and then where do we put it.. hopefully in the backroom over the weekend to dry out.. noone even knows I was going to bring a futon for the breakroom. Fuck.

And then there's the big chair still in the back of my mom's truck. I still need to drop that off at Wheaton later on.

And poor Ash still has to unpack everything; her whole apartment has been crammed into one little bedroom with some spillover into the living room. I don't know how she managed to make it fit. Oh, and we filled up 2 whole dumpsters of trash and things she didn't need from her apartment.

So I'm running on about 2 hours of sleep and I was short on sleep this last week to begin with. This is awesome.

But there's no way I could have left Ash to do it on her own. No way. She'd do the same thing for me.

And I'm really mad about Roger. Not as mad as much as upset, actually. I just don't get it.

I'm tired and incoherent and rambling. And this blog sucks but I needed to vent about what we've been doing the past 16 hours.

I think maybe I'm going to either a. sleep for a while b. take a hot shower because I am freezing as well as filthy and c. call work and tell them about the futon and figure out a plan of action. Shit its going to be a long day.

originally posted Friday, January 19, 2007 10:21am

I'm buzzing like a jar full of lightening bugs.

longest (and latest) show ever last night. Ryan went on at 10:25pm and played straight until 12:55pm. Craziness.

highlight for me was Let It Ride. It always amazes me how he can slow down/speed up his songs to make them sound completely different. He fluctuated back and forth between normal tempo, then slowed down tempo, then sped up tempo during Let It Ride and some other songs as well. He did that to Dear Chicago when I saw him back in August. I didn't even recognize the song until I heard "You know the girl you said I'd meet some day? Well, I've got something to confess." Whoa! This is.. Dear Chicago... but it sounds nothing like Dear Chicago.. craziness.

set from Thursday as follows:
1. Magnolia Mountain
2. A Kiss Before I Go
3. Please Do Not Let Me Go
4. Tears of Gold
5. Peaceful Valley
6. Easy Plateau
7. New York, New York
8. Let It Ride
9. Bartering Lines
10. To Be Young
11. Cold Roses
12. Shakedown on 9th St >
13. Carribean Queen >
14. I See Monsters
15. You Don't See Me Crying (Neal Casal)
16. Dear John
17. Harder Now That It's Over
18. The End
19. Two Hearts
20. Trouble On Wheels
21. September
22. Blue Hotel
23. Freeway To The Canyon (Neal Casal)
24. Arkham Asylum
25. Beautiful Sorta
26. Mockingbird Song
27. Typecast
28. What Sin Replaces Love

originally posted Tuesday, January 16, 2007 10:59pm

there's hope for winds of change.

I'm very much looking forward to this:

As many of you know, over the last few months I have been thinking hard about my plans for 2008. Running for the presidency is a profound decision - a decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition alone - and so before I committed myself and my family to this race, I wanted to be sure that this was right for us and, more importantly, right for the country.

I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago. But as I've spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months; as I've read your emails and read your letters; I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics.
So I've spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need.

The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place. Our economy is changing rapidly, and that means profound changes for working people. Many of you have shared with me your stories about skyrocketing health care bills, the pensions you've lost and your struggles to pay for college for your kids. Our continued dependence on oil has put our security and our very planet at risk. And we're still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged.

But challenging as they are, it's not the magnitude of our problems that concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics. America's faced big problems before. But today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions.

And that's what we have to change first.

We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.

This won't happen by itself. A change in our politics can only come from you; from people across our country who believe there's a better way and are willing to work for it.

Years ago, as a community organizer in Chicago, I learned that meaningful change always begins at the grassroots, and that engaged citizens working together can accomplish extraordinary things.

So even in the midst of the enormous challenges we face today, I have great faith and hope about the future - because I believe in you.

And that's why I wanted to tell you first that I'll be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee. For the next several weeks, I am going to talk with people from around the country, listening and learning more about the challenges we face as a nation, the opportunities that lie before us, and the role that a presidential campaign might play in bringing our country together. And on February 10th, at the end of these decisions and in my home state of Illinois, I'll share my plans with my friends, neighbors and fellow Americans.

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your time, your suggestions, your encouragement and your prayers. And I look forward to continuing our conversation in the weeks and months to come.

Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Barack Obama

He had my vote for the Senate, and he'll have it again for President. I know he could make some very much needed changes in this country. And he's always had great environmental stances. I back him 100%.

I'm currently reading his memoir, Dreams From My Father.

I think he's a very down to earth man. He has goals, but they aren't out of scope or too lofty. And above all, I have faith in him. I don't think he makes empty promises or just says what the people want to hear to get support. I am very excited and highly anticipate the great things that I know he can do for this country.

originally posted Saturday, January 13, 2007 2:07 am

one breaks my body and the other breaks my soul.

Oh the night, here it comes again.

Is it the winter? The dark, endless nights?

I seem to recall every winter, around pretty much the same time, where everything hits me pretty hard. Maybe the lack of warmth and sun. But perhaps not. Ah, I'll just chalk it up to the time of year. It's a lot easier that way.

Or maybe I'm just listening to too much Ryan.

I get to see him next Thursday. I hope I see this soulful, heartbroken Ryan, and not the Dead/Phil Leshed-out Ryan. bah.

I'll upload this version of La Cienega that I've just listened to 5 times in a row. THIS IS THE RYAN I WANT TO SEE. THIS IS THE RYAN I WANT TO SEE. THIS RYAN. THIS RYAN. THIS RYAN.

Maybe if I say it enough, it'll happen.

Enough of my incoherent babbling.

Here's the Ryan.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/nhq7hv

And with that, it's bedtime.

I definitely have not done a good job of keeping up with this blog this year.

I am sorry.

Today is Christmas. It's funny how it loses its magic as I get older. I remember thinking the same thing last year, but the extent this year was even more. Boo to getting older and growing up.

I will try to be better about this whole blog thing. We shall see.

So I was checking my email and I saw this:

93XRT Shows Going On Sale This Saturday, 11/11 at 10AM:*BUD LIGHT PRESENTS THE LEN & BOB BASH FOR CHICAGO CUBS CHARITIES: RYAN ADAMS at House of Blues - Thursday, 1/18

WHAT!? Ryan is coming!? I logged into Ticketmaster to see how much tix are (not like it matters, I'm there regardless) and saw that there is a presale going on now--I bought my ticket not even 2 minutes after first finding out that Ryan is even going to be in Chicago. FUCK YEAH!

I'm THRILLED.

If anyone wants to go, get a ticket and go with me. It's 21+ and General Admission. A Ryan show is always a crapshoot; you don't quite know how it's going to be. Tantrums or not, he's my favorite artist and I wouldn't miss it for the world. He played a totally rocked out/jammed out set at Lolla this summer (he sped up Dear Chicago and I didn't recognize it until I was like.. wait.. this is.. Dear Chicago.. the... hell?! when I was listening to the lyrics.) He played a bunch of Grateful Dead covers and it was a good show but it wasn't the Ryan that I wanted to see. I wanted to see the acoustic, soulful Ryan. The heartbroken Ryan. The Ryan that I can put on at the end of a crappy day, darkened room, where he'll woefully sing and I'll wallow in whatever has got me in a funk, while ultimately feeling so much better.

THAT is the Ryan that I want to see. But eh, he is motherfuckin Ryan Adams, the Ol' D.A., and he'll do and play whatever he wants, and that ultimately is the Ryan I know and love. And I'll take whatever Ryan I can get.

(However, if he were to play Jacksonville Skyline, I think I would die. Or at least cry, and that is saying ALOT, because I NEVER cry.)

Enough Ryan gushing. Go out and buy a ticket and experience the greatness that is the prolific Ryan Adams.

on christmas music and photography.

My annual Christmas mix started today. Well, I started digging out all of my Christmas cds. I have a shit ton left to find, too. Hey, it's a start. I preordered Sufjan's Christmas EPs a week or so ago and I believe it's set to ship next Tuesday (my brother's birthday.) VERY EXCITED. I already have a couple EPs from years past saved on a disc somewhere, but it will be different to actually have the lot of them in my hand, even more songs than before, and all the fun stuff that comes with the cds. For more info, check out asthmatickitty.com.

I LOVE Christmas music. And yeah, it's a bit early, but if I don't start it soon it will never get done. I never finished Fallen Leaves: Oh Six this year. And I never finished last year's Fallen Leaves either. And last year I never finished my Christmas mix. Kinda disappointing. Don't know why I haven't had the tenacity to finish any of my mixes in the last year.

So I'm trying to get my mix done early, and I'm determined to start Christmas shopping this month. I want to get everything done early this year so I don't have to deal with the crowds and scrambling around to get things done. Also, we should all know the depth of my procrastination, so at least if I intend to start it now, then MAYBE I won't put it off until the last minute!

This Friday I am going to the S.O.F.A Show. S.O.F.A. stands for Sculpture Objects Functional Art. I've gone every year (except the year I was away at ISU) starting my sophomore year of high school. It's a great collection of sculpture, jewelry, textiles, metalwork, glasswork, woodwork.. all sorts of art from a ton of different artists from around the world. It's at Festival Hall at Navy Pier and it's really the highlight of every fall for me. There are some really amazing pieces and often the artists are there and it's really interesting to hear their perspective on their pieces and the thoughts and inspiration and significance behind them.

I always walk away from the SOFA Show wishing that I hadn't given up on my art. Not to say that I've completely given up. I am still an artist at heart. I just don't often express myself in that form anymore. I always walk away vowing that I will reconnect with that outlet again. Perhaps this year I will finally fix my camera--my little point and shoot just isn't cutting it anymore. In actuality, it never really DID cut it. I miss my AE-1. I miss the darkroom and even the smell of the chemicals.

Digital is great but there's really just nothing like having complete control over all the variables within photography. Nothing hangs in the balance. Light is not a double edged sword. Really the only mistake you can make is if something happens to your memory card. And if something did, would you blame it on yourself or on the faulty technology? More than likely the latter. With film, you make one mistake--let in a little light, have too high or too low a temperature when developing the film--and it's gone. Nothing to show for your hard work shooting. No extreme feeling of accomplishment when the film turns out great and the prints turn out even better.

Not to say that I'm against digital. I love the instantaneous results from a digital, as well as the fact that it's very cost-effective. I don't have to print what I don't want to. There's no cost for the developing nor the prints. Or for those fortunate to have access to a darkroom, the cost of paper and chemicals.

I really wish I had the money to buy a Rebel XT... AMAZING digital. If I won the lottery, it would definitely be on my list of things to do with the money. After paying off my car but before the trip around the globe. Because obviously, what would be the point of buying a Rebel XT if I were to not take it around the globe?

In short, I miss photography like mad, but I never realize it until I really begin to think about it. I think I'll buy myself a new camera before this summer.

I am so sad.

I just logged into one of my email addresses. I have had that email address since I was a junior in high school. Anyway, it had all sorts of old emails, mainly from my freshman year in college. Emails that I wanted to save forever. Emails that for months I have been meaning to transfer over to my other account but had never done it because I would have to go through every single one and send it over and I just had never had time. Anyway, I guess I hadn't logged into hotmail on that account in over 30 days, so when I logged in it said that it had that email address saved especially for me.. so once I got past all of the resetting of my options, it took me to my inbox, where I had 0 emails. All of the emails that I had been saving have been lost forever. Yes, I'm being a bit dramatic, they're only emails, you say, but those silly letters completely changed the course of my life and I wanted to save them for posterity. I need things like that. They allow me to hold onto the person I was. Preserve my thoughts and feelings of that person who I was at that point in time. Because the person I was then and the person I am now are quite different. The person I will be in 2 months will also have those different experiences, thoughts, etc. Why else do you think I blog? It's to keep a reminder of who I was and how I have changed. It's not for your benefit, it's for mine. So in losing those emails, I lose a piece of my heart and soul. I wanted to save those memories forever, and now they are gone. I should have preserved them while I could.

perfect fall day.

Work went by so fast today. Sundays are nice because I usually do a lot of training. Learned how to do the Sunday audit from Heather from 8 to nearly 10, then trained a bunch of new hires from 10 to 1, went on lunch from 1 to 2, then was on the floor for my remaining 3 hours, most of it spent on register, which was a welcome change. I only had to CEO for about 45 minutes. It was the fastest day at work in the longest time and a really good one at that.

Now I'm sitting at home, it's chilly, overcast, and blustery. I'm sitting here wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans and flip flops. I love this kind of weather. It's absolutely perfect. I'm drinking Sam Adam's Octoberfest and I'm working on Fallen Leaves: Oh Six. The Bears are on the tv, and while I'm not watching nor very interested, it definitely makes it a very fall day and I love it.

I may have to stop and get a chai later to complete my night. There's already some trees changing and starting to drop leaves. David Gray and Ryan Adams are the soundtrack to my life during these months.

I'm so excited that there is already a bunch of Halloween stuff at work. The only downside is that right before Halloween we're going to put up all the Christmas stuff. That's crap, I'd like to give Halloween the exposure it deserves, but what can do? It's retail. The holidays are fast approaching and while it's the busiest and most stressful time of the year at work, it's also the most fun and I love holiday.

It's going to be a long week til my next day off (Thursday) but I'm hopeful that it will be a good one. If the weather stays like this, it definitely will be.

Friday is my brother's band's show at The Note. It's a battle of the bands and they had to audition and interview for it, so it's really exciting that they're going to be playing. Zack and Ashley said they would go, and if anyone else wants to join, let me know. Tickets are only $10 in advance and I can get em from my bro.

Sidenote, I discovered an awesome indie band from Madrid named Luca. I can't get enough of their song 'Derby.'

Also, there's a new Gael Garcia Bernal movie called 'The Science of Sleep' that comes out the 22nd and that I am dying to see. It looks very creative and albeit a little bizarre. It's from the director of Eternal Sunshine, which I loved. And I love love love love love Gael as an actor, and not to mention that I think he is downright gorgeous.

I just thought this was cute.

liz -- [noun]: A master blogger 'How" will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

So I am irritated.

My ipod has been plugged into the computer today, charging, and I've been intermittently adding on various music. I get in the mood to listen to Jacksonville City Nights again; I was listening to it earlier on during the day. I search under my ipod for it, and it has disappeared from my ipod. It says that it's still on there, but with that little exclamation point next to it. My play counts and everything are still there, but I had to locate JCN (which was a feat in itself) and reload it on to my computer and my ipod. I'm really more irritated because now I have brand new play counts for it, and for some reason I'm really anal about my play counts. I don't like how it says 0, it needs to say 12 or however many listens I've given each respective song. It completely bothers me. I know it's incredibly anal and neurotic, but UGH. I guess it's my slight OCD tendencies popping up. But it also makes me wonder how much of my other music has disappeared and I have no idea about.

I'm also irritated because it was really nice outside today and I had cramps and felt like shit all day and did nothing but lie around. I never get cramps so when I do I feel like I'm dying.

In keeping with the irritation trend, I wanted to sit outside and enjoy my dinner on my patio. It's a gorgeous day, and I want to be able to enjoy that simple pleasure while I can because soon enough it'll be winter in Chicago. So I get out there, and I was attacked by a bee. He didn't sting me, but he chased me around and flew around my head, and since I was stung for the first time this summer and it hurt like a bitch I've developed a fear when they buzz around me. I was forced to bring my dinner inside.

If you hadn't noticed, I'm a little crabby today. hah. It feels good to vent though.

Lemme tell you though, JCN is really hitting the spot today. If this isn't one of the perfect fall albums, I don't know what is.

Positive things for today: Fallen Leaves: Oh Six was started today. Suggestions are welcome. Considering Fallen Leaves 05 wasn't completed last year, I'm going all out this year. Cover art and everything. The requisite David Gray and Ryan Adams will be on there, but all other suggestions are welcome. I've got a pretty decent list, but I'm trying to give it a little bit more of an indie spin. However, it's still pretty mellow, and there's a lot of alt country on there, but honestly, alt country just sounds so fall. It strikes that chord.

Not that I didn't have a good time when I saw Ryan and the Cardinals at Lolla, but I really wish that he had slowed down his set and had given it more of the Ryan sound that I love. He had really rocked it up, and while good, it just wasn't what I was expecting. I still need to see him a couple more times before I am satisfied. Give me the soulful depressed Ryan over a Rock Out Ryan any day.

So while technically I have seen Ryan, he's going back on the Must See list. My Must See list at the beginning of the year consisted of The Rolling Stones, Ryan Adams, Eric Clapton, and Neil Young. I saw the Stones in the beginning of the year, I saw Ryan at Lolla, and I'm seeing Clapton in 2 weeks. The only one left on there is Neil Young. It's quite impressive that I knocked all those groups off of my list in less than the span of a year, because they've been on that list for several years.

The end of the summer stretch has been good to me. I've been keeping very busy hanging out with various people. Hung out with Matt when he was in from Portland last month. Been spending a lot of time with Kristen. We went to the Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin and that was something new and interesting. It's so nice to be back to hanging out with her. I went to Waterfall Glen with Erin last week, and that was quite enjoyable to catch up with her and to get out into nature and do some hiking. I've been hanging out with Zack a lot and met all of his friends at his party over the weekend, and they are AWESOME. Definitely hope to hang out with all of them more. Had a lot of really good conversations with random people. Came back in touch with Kristina Perinat, and while I haven't talked to her since I randomly saw her, it was so nice to catch up briefly and attempt to make plans to hang out. Hanging out with Kristine again. Got back in touch with Blair and Jenny and Puja but haven't hung out with any of them yet. It's just so nice to have a big circle of friends again. In the past when I've just had that one or two people I hung out with all the time/talked to all the time, etc, and then things went on the fritz... it just wasn't that great. There's been a lot of crappy drama with some people this year, and I am very appreciative that I've got all these wonderful people back in my life. I sometimes unintentionally lose touch with people, and don't see everyone as often as I wish. Like Melissa and Brian and Val, and Blair, etc etc.

I really think that fall 06 is going to be the best fall I've had in some time. Wish lists for this fall: Fallen Leaves 06 to be completed. Haunted houses, corn mazes, apple picking, pumpkins, and Halloween parties.

I'm happy. And here comes the best stretch of the year.

I need some new music blogs to read. Any suggestions welcome. These are the ones I read daily:

www.regnyouth.com

http://www.youaintnopicasso.com/

http://iguessimfloating.blogspot.com/

http://cpmu.blogspot.com/

http://aquariumdrunk.blogspot.com/


To say I've got a music blog obsession would be putting it lightly. I mean, I read these 5 daily, and it's not enough! I need some good new ones.

I've got a lot more to say but I'll have to do a big blog tomorrow.

this is from last night:

I actually was discussing with Matt the other day how Sufjan has been exhausted. He's a great artist, but really, he's no longer the indie king he was right after Illinois. I wouldn't say that the collective public as a whole is sick of him, I just think that after Illinois he had this Midas-touch syndrome going on and we all happily gobbled up anything that he threw our way.

After Illinois, when I heard he was coming out with Avalanche, all the versions of songs that didn't make it onto the album, I was really excited for this 'new' Sufjan material. But then when it rolled around that the album was out....I admit that I was kind of Sufjan-ed out. I took the summer off from Sufjan more or less; not to say that my love for him ever faded. Like any other relationship, I just needed a break. Came back from Mexico and heard that he was coming to town, but the show had already sold out. (Still looking for a ticket to his show next month, if you know anyone who has an extra. I'm not willing to pay the $60 that people are selling their tix for on craigslist. Ridiculous. But the people who sell tickets above face value is another rant for another blog.) Tonight I downloaded 3 alternate versions of Chicago off of Avalanche, and I've got the Sufjan bug again. At least for tonight.

My music obsessions often are mercurial. While I can't get enough of Chicago tonight, tomorrow I may not even want to hear Sufjan again for a while. Why do you think tonight is the first time I've really listened to anything off of The Avalanche, even though I could have had it in April if I wanted?

Prior to the Sufjan this evening I was on a huge Sunny Day Real Estate kick. Jeremy Enigk of SDRE is coming out with a solo album in October. I downloaded an upcoming track amd have been listening to it on repeat. His voice has an ethereal quality to it, and it reminded me of how much I love SDRE. Now WHY has it been so long since I sat down and listened to them?

The past hour I have been fluctuating between SDRE and Sufjan, and I am happy, as well as my ears.

That means it's time for bed.

Hello, old friend. It has been a loong long while since I blogged last.

It is now the end of August. September is mere days away and fall is fast approaching. Wow, how this year has flown.

In my absence I have traveled to Mexico and spent several weeks there. The most amazing experience of my life and maybe I will write about it one day soon. I have seen several concerts this summer, I've hung out in the city, I've mended old friendships, formed new ones, and stagnated others, I've bought my first car, and lots of other stuff. That's basically it in a nutshell.

Today I took the train into the city to meet up with Matt before he boarded his return train to Portland. We got Potbelly's for lunch (honestly, I am not a fan of their sandwiches--not impressed at all) and then went to Millennium Park and just chilled, listened to music, people watched, talked. It was nice to see Matt several times while he was here in Illinois.

I was very frustrated at work tonight. I went in to train some new-hires as well as put some veteran employees through a new training. It went horribly. The veteran employees thought they were above the whole training and didn't pay attention and were snotty, and only a few of the new hires actually talked. It's superfrustrating to have to talk for 3 hours straight when noone will participate or even read out of the book. I was so irritated when I left.

My brother went camping last week and set up my tent today to air it out. I came home at 8:30pm and it was still up. Too late to take it down because it probably has some dew on it by now and the whole putting it up deal would be fruitless. I am tempted to go spend the night in there. Have myself a mini-campout. Escape from the world. Pretend I am far far away in the woods, and not right in front of my house. Lie down with a sleeping bag and a flashlight and transcend myself to another time and place. Gaze up at the stars and for the night, forget about everything. Yes, I think it's a plan.

I really don't update this as often as I should anymore.

This weekend is going to be awesome.

It's supposed to be gorgeous and sunny.

Tomorrow going to the Cougars game with Laura, Melissa, and Brian.

Saturday is Melissa's bachlorette party.

No plans for Sunday or anything, but at least the first part of the weekend will be awesome. Granted, I'm going to be working every day, but whatever. I'm not looking forward to walking into all sorts of messes/crap tomorrow, but at least we had the business today, and Cheryl called to give me a heads up. (no rolling racks left because they are all full of running; at least 6 shipment carts of processing, and no extra people to help out. AWESOME!) So yeah, I think I'll probably need (several) Leinie's at the game tomorrow! heh.

Last night Laura! and I went to see Matt Costa at Schuba's.

I am so glad that we went! I was thisclose to calling her and telling her that I didn't want to go because I really wasn't feeling well. I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go though, because after all, I've been wanting for last night since January or February when the show was announced.

Survived the drive through the narrow, scary construction zone lanes on the Dan Ryan. Glad we didn't have to drive through that clusterfuck during rush hour. Managed to get to Schuba's right at 10:30, where we found a street parking spot RIGHT ACROSS the street from Schuba's. Didn't have to circle looking for one AT ALL, so that was a relief.

Awesome show. I love Schuba's. It's so intimate. Just a cool atmosphere. I also like being right up front by the stage. It's such a different experience than seeing a band in a huge venue from a football field's length away.

The 88 opened; we thought they were great. Most of the guys in the band had crazy crazy hair, they had tons of energy, and were fun to watch as well as listen to.

Matt Costa--very chill. Highlights for me were Sunshine and Behind the Moon. The whole show was fun... the crowd was generally good, which is surprising considering how late it was when the show started, and the volume of alcohol consumed by some of the people there. We were right up by the stage, and the people around us were friendly and polite..when we'd take a picture they'd duck out of the way. The only downside was the vent in the ceiling that kept dripping on me! Haha. I guess that's the price I paid for being 5 feet away from the band.

After the show, Matt and his band were milling around talking to people. Met Matt, then talked to one of the guys at the merch table, and then had a conversation with the drummer Adam for a few minutes. We were surprised just how nice everyone was--even down to the crew guy that Laura borrowed a Sharpie from. It made the whole experience that much better.

I'm really glad that I didn't let a headache, exhaustion, and general crappiness prevent me from having a FABULOUS time. I would have really regretted it if I didn't go.

(this is a double post. I wrote it last night)

So. Wisdom tooth hell this past week. I'll give you the highlights.

4 impacted wisdom teeth.

Couldn't take the steroids that they prescribe to keep the swelling to a minimum, so I was superswollen. Like, more so than a chipmunk. So swollen that my poor little face didn't have a chin anymore, and actually made the shape of my face square. I'm surprised the mirror didn't break when I looked into it. It was horrible and painful. And now I actually have bruises on my face because of the swelling.

The pain. Awful. Couldn't touch my face. Couldn't open my mouth. Couldn't eat, sleep, do anything. I was superweak and even getting up to go to the bathroom wiped me out. Painkillers every 2 hours for nearly a week straight. Eeek.

I fainted. Twice. The day of my surgery (which was Monday.) Walked into my kitchen from the couch because I felt like I was going to be sick. Stood over the sink, the feeling passed, I turned around, the room got fuzzy, and bam! fainted. My mom kind of freaked out, she helped me up, we slowly walked into the living room, but right before we got there I fainted again. It was very surreal. Bringing the total of times I've fainted my whole life to three.

Couldn't eat anything at all the first 2 days. The next 3 days only ate broccoli cheese soup. Everything else tasted funny to me for some reason. Finally onto solid foods today! Woohooo

The pain got excruciatingly worse near the end of the week. Went in to see the doc again on Friday and it turns out I have 'dry sockets.' I'll spare you the details, but basically it's disgusting, and thus the reason why I was in so much pain.

It's Saturday, I can finally almost kind of speak normally again, after only being able to talk for the first time yesterday. My swelling has come down considerably--I no longer have a square face, and my chin has reappeared! I don't feel like I'm dying anymore, and I don't have to take painkillers every 2 hours. I am in better spirits, too. I am not feeling fantastic, but at least I don't feel or look like I am dying anymore, and I will go back to work on Monday. The healing process is going to take a few months (no tortilla chips! sad sad..) so that sucks, but at least the worst is over (I hope.)

The past few days have been good on the pod though.

This is what I got: (all whole albums)

The Album Leaf--In An Off White Room
The Album Leaf--In A Safe Place
The Album Leaf--One Day I'll Be On Time
Rhett Miller--The Instigator
Uncle Tupelo--March 16-20, 1992
The National--Alligator
The Fray--Reason EP
Belle and Sebastian--Dear Catastrophe Waitress
The Books--Lost and Safe
Godspeed You! Black Emperor--F# A# (Infinity)
Sufjan Stevens--Enjoy Your Rabbit
Ligre--Tu Voz Cansada
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!--selftitled
Starlight Mints--Drowaton
David Gray--Flesh (never had the whole album, just the majority of random songs from this album)
Anathallo--Floating World
plus, De La Soul, The Roots, and the Marvin Gaye box set for my bro.
plus a lot of random songs by even more random artists.
Soo.. 19 albums? I'd say that's pretty good. hehe

And The Album Leaf is rocking my world. I think I may like them more than Explosions in the Sky. Which is saying a LOT.

Time to go drug myself up and go to bed. I didn't sleep the whole day like I have been the whole last week, so I am behind on my beauty rest. hah!
Also, my new couch rocks my world. I can sleep on it all night and my back doesn't hurt the slightest.

I am really happy at work right now. For the first time in a couple of years I feel like I am truly appreciated and rewarded for what I do, emotionally as well as financially. I am so touched that when news of my promotion came out I received 3 phone calls and 3 emails all from different people at other stores that I have worked with (some only briefly) in the past congratulating me. And then Dana today bought me a present of 'essentials' that I will need for the job--a really nice journal/notebook, pens, post it notes, and pencils, and of course a card that she made herself. It was so sweet of her; I was so touched.

I'm just really excited. Things have been really great. Not only at work, but in general. I spent some time in the city last week catching up with some people, I won passes to see Death Cab for Cutie in a private tiny performance at Schuba's--there were probably 70 people there, tops. Oh, and Eve and I went to Iberico as well. Those were some of the most memorable moments from last week. I'm thinking that last week was truly one of the greatest I've had, ever. Or at least in the last couple of years. Everything seems to be falling into place...

And I'll try to be better about blogging.

List 10 bands/artists that you like.Then answer the questions.
1. Ryan Adams
2. David Gray
3. Ozomatli
4. Dave Matthews Band
5. Interpol
6. Modest Mouse
7. Whiskeytown
8. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
9. Guster
10. The Mars Volta

What was the first song you ever heard by ..10? (The Mars Volta)
probably Son Et Lumiere since we're talking Mars Volta.. however At The Drive In was The Mars Volta's predecessor--once they broke up TMV was formed, and the first song I can remember really listening to of theirs (ATDI) was Enfilade.

What is your favourite album of ..8 ? (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)
Does Greatest Hits count? I'd say no, but I'm going to count it anyways. The epitome of summery (driving) music.

What is your favourite lyric that ..5 has sung? (Interpol)
"I had seven faces
thought I knew which one to wear
but I'm sick of spending these lonely nights
training myself not to care"--NYC

How many times have you seen ..4 live? (DMB)
16. This band was my obsession for.. ever, it seems. I've lost most of my craziness for them, but this summer definitely won't feel the same since I won't see them at Alpine (I'll be in Mexico at the time.) Actually, I won't be seeing them at all this summer. First time in 5 years. It's the end of an era, I guess.

What's your favourite song of ...7? (Whiskeytown)
Jacksonville Skyline. Might even be my absolute favorite song EVER.

What is a good memory you have concerning the music of ..6? (Modest Mouse)
Modest Mouse reminds me of ISU in general. Especially car rides, but also of trips to Deadpan Alley and buying the majority of their EPs. MM also reminds me of my brother.

Name a song by ..3 that makes you sad? (Ozomatli)
Ozo is very happy music, and the only time I can think of Ozo possibly making me sad is at the end of one of their concerts (since it's over.)

What is your favourite lyric that ..2 has sung? (David Gray)
"And ours is a road that is strewn with goodbyes, but as it unfolds, as it all unwinds, remember your soul is the one thing you can't compromise."--Shine

What is your favourite song by ..9? (Guster)
hmm... maybe Careful, maybe Amsterdam, maybe Barrel of a Gun

How did you get into ..2? (David Gray)
gosh, I can't even remember. I probably heard Babylon on the radio, went out and bought White Ladder, and the rest is history. It definitely was my senior year of HS though, cuz I remember listening to the album when I was away at ISU.

What was the first song you heard by ..1? (Ryan Adams)
It was probably New York, New York. The first song that made him stick in my mind? Oh My Sweet Carolina

What's your favourite song by ..4? (DMB)
Dancing Nancies

What is a good memory you have concerning...2? (David Gray)
besides our second row seats at his concert last month? heh. Listening to White Ladder while camping and hanging out on a summer's night.

Is there a song by ...8 that makes you sad? (Tom Petty)
It'll All Work Out, or Square One, if any.

What is your favourite song of ..1? (Ryan Adams)
That's like asking a mom which of her children she likes most. Obviously Jacksonville Skyline, but also Let It Ride, Oh My Sweet Carolina, Firecracker, My Winding Wheel, In My Time of Need, Trains... I could go on and on. This man has stolen a chunk of my heart and soul.

this entry is actually from Wednesday, March 22nd, 4:48 am. From now on when I have a good myspace blog I am going to copy it to here.

on VH1, Jewel, and writing

It's another late night--well, considering that I fell asleep on my couch by 10:30... I guess it's not so bad. At least I've already had 4 hours of sleep!

Okay. So I fell asleep on my couch. Woke up around 2:15, decided to put on VH1. Now, I very rarely watch VH1 or MTV or anything. Actually, I really don't watch that much tv at all except for the news, Letterman, and the Food Network. Oh and Fox if I'm home and 24 and/or Idol is on. But I do know that late at night VH1 plays some videos, so I put it on since I didn't feel like physically getting up to go upstairs yet.

couple random things about VH1 tonight:

First of all, I rarely listen to the radio, so I'm really behind on what's 'popular.' Forgive my ignorance.

Um, I didn't know that Nada Surf even had a video, much less were on VH1. I didn't know they were that mainstream. Interesting.

U2 live Elevation. The past year or two U2 has really gotten on my nerves--I think Bono is pompous. Hence the irritation when everyone talks about what a fantastic band they are. However, the live Elevation really showcased the fact that they indeed do rock. Regardless of my feelings on Bono.

2 Jamieisms. "OOh, is this the Killers?" and that Green Day Blvd of Broken Dreams song. heh.

Jewel has a video out that reminds me of summer. I want to say that her song was called Again and Again. She's in a white sundress and the light is all golden and she's standing on a screen porch and lying in the grass, and it's simple and pretty. I think maybe she got her teeth fixed?! Which on one hand is good, because hey, if it makes her feel better about herself then I'm all for it, and I think she looks better with them fixed anyways. But I have read several times that she said she'd never get her teeth fixed because it's a part of who she is. However, this was also before she came out with the commercialized crap like Intuition. She used to be one of my favorite artists--Pieces of You dramatically shaped who I was growing up. I can't imagine surviving junior high and high school without that album. Her album Spirit was pretty good as well, but I don't have any of her albums after that because the songs I had heard from them lacked the raw vulnerability that was so appealing in her work. Case in point: listen to the title track, Pieces of You, and then listen to her song Intuition--you'll see what I mean.

A little more about Jewel--I do think she's a beautiful writer. I have her book of poetry, A Night Without Armor as well as Chasing Down the Dawn, which is a collection of poems, essays, and stories about her life growing up. I remember eagerly waiting for the release of Chasing Down the Dawn, and I bought it very soon after it came out. I devoured Chasing Down the Dawn and finished it the same night I got it. Which really wasn't that uncommon with the way I used to read, but I remember it being a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I have always wanted to write and she was a big source of inspiration to me--mainly with her prose. I loved her book of poetry so much that I actually bought a spoken word cd of her reading it. Couldn't tell you where it is, and I don't think I listened to it more than once.. but it's always interesting to hear poetry read how the author intended it. You can't get that from the words on the page.

All this talk of poetry reminds me of being on the Calliope all through high school. Sitting around after school reading people's submissions--mostly poetry, but also short stories or essays, and also going through all of the artistic submissions as well--photos, drawings, paintings, etc. The initial selection of the theme and then the actual pieces, then the design of the book, the formatting, the typing of the work, the final send off to the press... It was always so satisfying at the end of the semester when we'd produced a book of student work--and even more so to see my own work in there. Those were good times.

This is one of my favorites from her book of poetry. It's called All the Words.


all the words I wish your fingers could feel

all the times I've wished
you could know
the silent sorrow
lying stiff in my throat
like cold
and broken teeth

I wish you could hear
the child that cries
in my flesh and makes
my bones ache

I wish I could speak to my fear

I wish you could hold me
in your arms like oceans
and soothe what my muscles remember
all the bruises, all the sour hope
all the screams and scraped knees
the cloudy days so dark
I wondered if my eyes
were even open

the days that I felt
like August, and that I, too,
would soon turn
to Fall

this is actually from Sunday, March 19th, 2006. 3:14am.

late night musings.

My favorite time of day, and always has been, are those few moments before sleep when I'm lying in bed, the stress of the day has dissipated, and I'm completely relaxed and listening to my ipod. Recent ultimate relaxation playlist of choice: Explosions in the Sky. Has beat out White Ladder for the last week. Craziness!

My mom and I received a postcard in the mail from her friend Nancy last week. When we were in Atlanta in October we had met up with Nancy for lunch, and then she took us to the Atlanta Botanical Garden. I took a ton ton ton of photos, and they turned out quite nicely. We sent Nancy copies of these last month, and she sent a really nice note about how beautifully the photos turned out and how I have quite the talent as a photographer. It felt good to hear that I still have it in me, since it's been a while since I've been really serious about photography. I miss that creative outlet.

Another thing that I need to get back into is writing. I really think my senior year of high school was the pinnacle of my creativity--I won a couple of awards for my photography and for a poem that I wrote that year. Photography and writing are two things that were such a huge part of me, but they have been pushed to the side for a while. I am going to try to rekindle my talent in each.

I really need to start listening better and not jumping to conclusions. I've had too many misunderstandings lately.

I also need to get back on a decent sleep schedule.

Things (my perspective of things) are so much different in the early hours of the morning when I'm dead tired. I think it's a lot of incoherent rambling tonight, however. We'll blame it on the lack of sleep and the beer at the bar earlier.

I think that's it for now.

This summer is going to feel weird.

The major thing being no DMB at Alpine for me this year. I'll be in Mexico when the boys will be up at Alpine. It's bittersweet, because hello, I'll be in Mexico and I'm really excited about it, but at the same time, I'm really bummed because for the last 4 years, DMB at Alpine has been the highlight of my summer. It just doesn't feel like summer without the trip up to Wisconsin to sit outside under the wood pavilion, people on the lawn as far as the eye can see, the warm breeze blowing (or as the case last year, the stifling heat and no air circulation!) The tailgating before and after the show, the camaraderie of all the fans, the pretty Warehouse tickets to add to my pile of ticket stubs, and the corresponding lazy camping trip to Big Foot Beach. I guess sometimes you have to make sacrifices. (heh, like going to Mexico is a sacrifice.)


Okay, so I can deal with no Alpine. I'm bummed, but it's doable. I figured I'd be able to catch another show sometime during the summer--maybe Deer Creek. With my schedule, there's just no way I could swing it. Can't get any more time off of work, nor do I have any money at the beginning of the summer either. Maybe a show towards the end of the summer, but then there's nothing close, so I would have to travel, and then there's all the expenses that go along with that. Randall's would be fun to go to; David Gray AND DMB. However, financially, it just can't happen. Hence no ticket requests for me! It will be very strange to not see DMB at all this year. Especially no DMB shows in the summer! It's unnatural, really. But it's the end of an era, I suppose. I have lost a lot of the passion I had for DMB anyways... can't even remember the last time I really listened to them. I think it was after the Alpine shows. I couldn't even sing you half the songs on their latest album (but for good reason.) Hell, I couldn't even NAME more than 3 or 4 of the songs on their newest album. I suppose in time it's possible that I'll get back into them again. At least I hope so; considering all the time and the money and the money and the money that I have invested into that band. Haha.

The Lollapalooza line up was announced the other day. I heard about it in passing, but I honestly didn't really pay much attention, because I figured I would only marginally be interested in seeing any of the bands that would be playing. My taste in music has really mellowed out--I'm just not as into the total rocking out as I once was. Anyway, my brother and I were talking about the lineup, and he mentioned Matisyahu (whom he likes, but whom I have not gotten into) Death Cab, Chili Peppers, Wilco, Kanye and Common, Aqualung, Matt Costa. Considering that I have already seen Aqualung and Death Cab, will see Matt Costa in May, wouldn't go to a Kanye or Common concert exclusively, and don't know enough Wilco to really consider myself a fan, figured it wouldn't be worth it to pay the $150 for the 3 day pass to trek down to the city and sweat it out in the August humidity with a billion other people. Then I decided to look at the whole lineup, and I'm so glad I did. I couldn't believe that my brother neglected to tell me that my RYAN ADAMS WILL BE THERE!

Now I absolutely must go. The $150 will be completely worth it now. Ryan Adams is one of my 3 must see artists before I die (the other 2 being Eric Clapton and Neil Young.)

I'm excited about seeing Ryan (obviously) Matt Costa, Death Cab, Nada Surf, Manu Chao, Aqualung, Wilco (who so many consider the greatest band in America, and while I appreciate the talent of Jeff Tweedy, I still haven't become fully immersed in their catalogue.) There's lots of others on the lineup who I know a few songs by, or have heard great things about them, but don't really know much about their music. (Here's looking at The Flaming Lips, Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers, Iron & Wine, Calexico, Andrew Bird, Of Montreal, and 2 of Matt's favorites, Sleater-Kinney and Sonic Youth. I know, blasphemy!) Hey, I've got til August to dabble, right?

excellent excellent show. will post a review soon. 2nd row seats! beautiful venue! snagged a setlist! took lots of pictures and will upload them soon!

Home from vacation! All my expectations were met! YAY.

Here's some little bites:
Sun. the surf. Trolley ride with Louie. Hemingway. Key Lime pie. Sloppy Joe's. 6 toed cats. Sunglasses. Sunscreen. Grasp the handrail. Stars. Waves. Sand. 24 hour pizza--Napolitana! Lido deck. Walking around the deck looking at the ocean. The very front of the ship, the view, and the wind. I saw a shooting star! "Helllo 3B." "Look, there's our friends!" Crazy personalities. North Carolinaians. "This is my sister Steph." -"She was your cousin yesterday." The lounge singer man. Karaoke. Illusions dance club. My dancing friends. Carrie Klug clone. The random kid with the long hair that I saw everywhere. "Ladies, come take a picture!" Dessert more often than not. "Hola señoritas" from the steward down the hall. Towel animals. Our awesome cabin. "My favorite part was when we got off the ship." Waiting to disembark the ship for Mexico and making random friends. RRRRRRRRRRRené! Marrrrrrrrrrrrtín. Caverns and snorkeling. Jumping into the water. Nearly drowning cuz my snorkel mouthpiece never worked properly. Nearly impaling myself on stalagmites. Doing a damn good job at bartering. "I have to make money, my wife needs a place to sleep," complete with corresponding hand motions. Practicing my Spanish. Getting some awesome jewelry. Sol cerveza (my dad's favorite) out of the can on the bus! Playa del Carmen. Gasolina! Putting my feet in the Gulf of Mexico. Searching for an ATM. Making friends with the shopkeepers. Going in search of cosas por El Día de los Muertos and finding La Catrina instead! Talking it up with Lienzo on the cab ride back to Calica. Seeing a shark in the water off the shore of Calica from the top deck of the ship. Falling on my ass--not once, but TWICE in a row on the Lido deck because it was wet and I was wearing the wrong flip flops. The Calypso band! Snoop Dogg. AMEN. One Love tour people. Lupe. womanizing Marine with the sugar mommas and how he reminded me of Garrett. Laughing at everyone's pictures in the photo shop. Our dinner 'friends'--and how much did those boobies cost? CUBA CUBA. "Humanitarian effort"--aka rescuing Cuban refugees. Dramamine. Being nearly bucked out of bed from the ship rocking like crazy. Juanes! Everglades and alligators. The crazy picture-taking freaks on the airboat with us. The bitch behind the counter in the 'restaurant.' The birds surrounding us when we sat down with food. "And my boyfriend of 2 and a half years died of pneumonia and there was nothing I could do about it." The nice little courtyard/park thing outside the airport. Stand-by flights. Dina Lohan in the airport and Laura paparazzi-ing it up. The nice guy from American who got us on the earlier flight. "You ladies aren't dressed right for Chicago," okay creepy guy. Not sending any postcards. American 'losing' our luggage and Incompetent Idiot Extraordinaire, Derrick Igby. Thank you for wasting 45 minutes of my life when my luggage was on the other side of the wall. But hey, at least I freaked out and stood up for myself. Us being sarcastic bitches. yay. All in all, it was an adventure.

yay vacation time! sun and sand and surf and spanish!

be home next week!

Tomorrow is my last day off until the following Wednesday. I really should do something about digging out my warm weather clothes and skirts and tops and consider packing. Because trying to cram everything (laundry, packing, errands) into the day before leaving on a trip never works for me.

Anyway. I don't really know what to say. I've been in a permabadmood for the past several weeks, so that's kind of weird and unfortunate. Throw in a dash (okay, definitely more like a quart) of sad bastard and it makes for a liz that noone really should want to be around.

But today, I'm actually feeling quite better for some reason. I guess things are just kind of ironing into place. Nothing has drastically changed except for my mood, though (and that still isn't completely up to par.) Maybe it's the fact that our cruise is only a week away, and so I'm just generally in a better mood knowing that in a week I'll be a million miles away, basically no worries other than getting too much sun (which is actually a huge concern.) You're talking to Miss Fair-Skin Queen of the World. I wear SPF 45 and still burn horribly. I'm come to terms with the fact that I will never be a bronzed goddess. I am pale. Porcelain, almost. Translucent, maybe. I mean, COME ON, I have to buy the lightest shade in makeup always--and sometimes it's too dark. So the sun is a major concern of mine. I have to find a wide brimmed hat. I'm thinking a cowboy hat would be fun. heh. To go along with the whole country girl road I've been headed down.

By now you should have picked up on how much I love Ryan. (If you haven't, then you seriously need to reevaluate about if you have an ounce of an idea about who I am.) I love this man's music and words so much. Sometimes he just KILLS me. I'm just amazed that one man can contain so much emotion and romanticism. (Yes, I know I am a total geek when it comes to music.) But I have been seriously obsessed with his solo stuff and with Whiskeytown. Lately I've been looking around and have been listening to a lot more down the alt-country and then country road. Which is a little strange for me because prior to say, 2002 when I would listen to country when hanging out with Tyler and the FH boys, I HATED it. And now I'm actually enjoying it. The alt-country stuff was really easy to get into, and I'm still not yet sold on the super-country-sounding stuff yet, but I'm easing my way into it. It's a little strange for me to say that I actually enjoy country music, but I'm doing it. heh.

In other noteworthy music related news, I've decided that Jacksonville Skyline could very possibly be my favorite song of all time. And that's HUGE. I can't ever pick an absolute favorite, so when I do, you should know that's its a big big deal. Like how David Gray's White Ladder is my absolute favorite album of all time.

There's a lot more that I could and would write about, but I feel pressure building at the base of my neck, which inevitably means a migraine is headed my way! Time to go ward it off and get some sleep.

really reallyf un night until i had an asthma atatck which led to a panic attack cuz i freaked out cuz i couldn't breathe. that was nto fun at all. ugh. i feel a whole lot better now sot aht's good ibut that was really scary for a while. i actually cried! i haven't cried in like a year. i can' tremember the last time i cried.

Class yesterday was the greatest class I think I've had in years. It was completely awesome because the unit we are covering is on art. And hello, I love art and know tons about it. Spanish + Art = happy liz. We spent basically the whole period discussing everyone's favorite pieces of art. It really wasn't anything spectacular but I had a really fun time in class. I am such a dork.

So it brought me back to the realization that the art world is something I need to get back into. I miss it. Maybe I'll take an art class next semester. And who knows, maybe I can minor in Art History or something. Work in a museum or gallery or something somewhere.

meet my love.

Driving home from school tonight, I realized that I live for summer.

I come alive in the summer. It's when I have the opportunity to travel. Concerts, fun stuff to do in the city, camping, driving with my windows down, flip flops, etc.

I always say that fall is my favorite season, and it is temperature and aesthetics wise. All the colors, the leaves, the trees, etc. The long-anticipated chill in the air after the unrelentless heat and humidity of Chicago in the summertime.

But in actuality, summer is technically my favorite. And I never realized it until tonight.

I can't wait for summer. I'm obviously broke trying to pay for these trips that I am taking. Every single day I obsess and anticipate my summer plans. It's what is getting me though these long winter months. The monotony of work and school and basically doing nothing interesting. I can't wait to be in Mexico for a couple of weeks. I can't wait to experience another culture and the people and to speak the language with the native speakers. Not just in a classroom setting or with the occasional customer at work.

I hope my aunt gets her scholarship. Obviously it will be an incredible experience for her if she does, but for selfish reasons, I really want to get to tack another trip onto my agenda this summer. And not just any trip, a trip to my favorite place in the world. Obviously if you know me, you know my obsession with Spain.

I want to have the language mastered NOW so I can move abroad.

Going back to the summer, I haven't even mentioned concerts! What would the summer be without concerts, specifically DMB, and even more so DMB at Alpine? It's definitely a summer tradition. I only hope the shows this year don't fall when I am going to be out of the country. It wouldn't feel like summer without a trip to Wisconsin to see the boys.

As if this wasn't enough planned for my summer, I really want to go camping. I would love to head back to the Boundary Waters, but I know that is not plausible. If at least I can squeeze in a weekend in a state park somewhere, that would be fantastic. I need a new tent, though. Mine is on the fritz. Well, it's not, I guess, but I'd like a new one. haha.

Once again, the whole summer thought process was brought on by some Guster.



Now it's back to reality. Winter. Chicago.


Nothing moves out here in the cold.
Nothing breathes or even smiles.

ohhhh, Ryan. How he knows.

I was reading through some archives of my old blogs. Specifically from November and December 2002. Just for no other reason than to kill time before I get in the shower. I actually used to write meaningful blogs. Shocker, right? I don't quite remember when I strayed away from writing things that had some substance to them. My audience was a factor in it though. I don't have to be concerned over that anymore, but I've gotten in the habit of these little bullshit entries that have little substance.

I really don't know where I am going with this, or rather I actually do, but I don't have time to expand on it because I need to get in the shower because I have to be at work in an hour.

I'd say that I will continue writing about this later, but I know myself, and later I'll probably be tired of writing and thinking about it.

I'm back to school. I'm excited. I love my class... love the subject, love the teacher, love the people in it.. heh. (Love to. Love the bag. Love the shoes. Love everything. Love to.) Especially the couple new cute additions to my class.

Exciting things coming up. Rolling Stones on Monday. Ummm. I guess that's really it for now. But that's exciting, right?!

Nicest evening. Class, blue eyed cuties, then tea with Laura. Analyzing moves that will be made by unsavories, Home Depot Cards, and other general sarcastic and philosophical banter. You know, the usual.

Now I'm listening to the Fray and WE REALLY NEED TO GO! It'll be an adventure.

Oh, and if anyone who reads this wants to go to a Latin club to do some salsa dancing, lemme know. I'm looking to branch out. Who knows, maybe we can meet some hotties. ¡Que caliente!

....and a couple more.

I got 2nd row tickets to David Gray when Laura and I go see him in Milwaukee in March. This is the coolest thing EVER.

Anyway, I'm still sick as a dog--I have been sick since Wednesday. Yes, I know I appear to have fallen off the face of the planet. I have not been feeling well and thus have not talked to anyone. Please don't take it personally.

Being sick has been good on the tunes, though. I've downloaded about 15 albums and spent 3 and a half hours reorganizing and fixing the tags with all my stuff in iTunes. I also deleted the 200 Christmas songs I had on my ipod. It'll be a bitch to reimport all of my Christmas cds next year, but I am not going to leave it so that about every 10 songs on my shuffle is a Christmas song. And a good number of cds I've been meaning to import into iTunes finally made their way into my computer. Man, it's tiring to have such a vastly superior taste in music, but really, someone has got to do it.

I saw a postcard on Post Secret, and I think it was designed for me. The pic is no longer up on their website, but once I get my hands on a copy, I will post it.

I don't know why I'm being so pompous tonight. Oh well.

I am currently listening to Guster. They remind me of the summer. Of carefree nights of driving around with the windows down, the wind blowing my hair. Citronella candles on my porch. Of grass and trees and camping. Big Foot Beach. The DMB concerts at Alpine. Guster actually opened for DMB at Alpine in '04, but that's not why Guster reminds me of summer and camping. Their happy, upbeat music just embodies the whole summery feeling.

And on this cold January night, sick as a dog, it's really nice to put in their album and daydream of a happy time. So even though I'm inside, nose red from blowing it, in a sweatshirt and feeling just generally crappy, I can close my eyes, and pretend I am not here in this place or time. It's the summer, I'm in my car on a long drive with the windows down and the sun streaming in and the wind blowing my hair. Sigh.

OOOH. I just found that I can add artwork to the songs in iTunes. Here's yet another thing to spend vast amounts of time on.

Happy 700th post on this blog to me! Also, it's the first post of 2006! Craziness.

This past week I have become reacquainted with some dear old friends. I'm just fortunate to have these people in my life. These people are the type where we won't talk for the longest time but it's like no time has elapsed and we pick up right where we left off. I feel this is the definition of a true friendship. YAY.

This is my last post of 2005.

Weird.