To-Do list.

When I'm finally done with this god-awful semester, there are plenty of things that I need/want to get done. I might as well make a personal list so I won't forget.

- finish my painting

- finish every single one of my recorded shows (Brand New, Kevin Devine, Modest Mouse, Yellowcard, Straylight Run, and Bayside)

- finish Choke (I started reading this book a year ago. that says enough)

- finish Survivor (yes, I do start books while I'm in the middle of another)

- start 1984

- start Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

- work more hours

- begin a short film

- continue with my extensive "movie watching list"

- sleep more/sleep less

By the way, New Found Glory's new EP "Tip of the Iceberg" is so great.

Currently listening: New Found Glory- "If You Don't Love Me"

ATTENTION: Bro Infiltration alert

Yes, that's right. "Bros" are beginning to branch out from the safety of Nickelback and Dave Matthew's concerts. They are showing up at your favorite band's show, listening to things that aren't on the radio, and raising their "bro drink" in the air with the accompanying "devil horns".

It's just something that I've been realizing lately (I find it odd when one of these guys gets into a fight during...The Honorary Title). It could be that they have been there all along and I've only recently noticed. Who knows. But at every single show I have been at lately, there has been an increasing amount of guys with their pop collared shirts, bad haircuts, alcoholism, and bro-ness in general.

Incase you are terrible at distinguishing a "bro" based on looks, just look for the guy grinding on his bleached blonde/over-tanned girlfriend, playing intense air bass, acting like a douchebag, and holding his bro drink (more than likely a beer or a cup of Jäger) in the air for the entire set. If you spot one of these guys at your next show (granted you aren't seeing Hinder), please do not approach them. Keep your distance, quickly find the nearest bottle of hair gel, and lure him out.

Currently listening: Vedera- "Desire on Repeat"

Mae/The Honorary Title

The Honorary Title put on a very good set. I can't get over Jarrod Gorbel's voice on CD, let alone live. He pulls off every single song flawlessly. It makes me hate the fact that I cannot sing, even more.

This was my third time seeing Mae. While they've always put on a good sounding show, I often find myself becoming really tired during their sets. I'm not exactly sure why. Thursday night, however, was different. They played for over an hour while playing all of my favorites from "Destination: Beautiful" and "The Everglow". I haven't even listened to their newer CD, so I'm glad that this tour has been more focused on their other material. The best part of the night was afterwards when they played the acoustic set (which was to benefit Habitat for Humanity). I think that it's a pretty awesome thing that they have been doing. You donate a minimum of $5 and get to sit in on the set. It would be nice if more bands would do this. So at around midnight, about 20-25 of us sat on the floor and the guys did an amazing job of playing literally my top 6 songs of theirs. "Ready and Waiting", "Sun", "Anything", "Giving It Away", "The Ocean", and "Tisbury Lane".

Afterwards we brought the drummer from Mae and their tour manager to Bourbon. They didn't talk too much. I think it was because they were frightened of what they were seeing. Or bored out of their mind like I was. I guess that I can understand wanting to at least check out Bourbon Street if it is your first time in New Orleans. Other than that, while it may be entertaining sometimes to see the oddballs, it's ultimately a waste of time.

Currently listening: International Superheroes of Hardcore- "Seat Belt"

Top 41 albums.

because I can't pick 40.

1.) American Football- "s/t"

2.) Anberlin- "Never Take Friendship Personal"

3.) As Cities Burn- "Son, I Loved You At Your Darkest"

4.) As Cities Burn- "Come Now Sleep"

5.) As Tall As Lions- "s/t"

6.) Blink 182- "Enema of the State"

7.) Brand New- "Deja Entendu"

8.) Brand New- "The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me"

9.) Circa Survive- "Juturna"

10.) Copeland- "Beneath Medicine Tree"

11.) Damien Rice- "O"

12.) Dashboard Confessional- "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most"

13.) Dead Hearts- "Bitter Verses"

14.) Dear and the Headlights- "Small Steps Heavy Hooves"

15.) Death Cab for Cutie- "Transatlanticism"

16.) The Early November- "The Room's Too Cold"

17.) Explosions In The Sky- "The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place"

18.) Fall Out Boy- "Take This To Your Grave"

19.) The Format- "Dog Problems"

20.) Further Seems Forever- "The Moon Is Down"

21.) The Get Up Kids- "Something To Write Home About"

22.) Glassjaw- "Worship and Tribute"

23.) Jimmy Eat World- "Clarity"

24.) Kanye West- "Graduation"

25.) Lily Allen- "Alright Still"

26.) Lydia- "Illuminate"

27.) Lydia- "This December; It's One More and I'm Free"

28.) Manchester Orchestra- "I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child"

29.) Modest Mouse- "Good News For People Who Love Bad News"

30.) New Found Glory- "s/t"

31.) New Found Glory- "Sticks and Stones"

32.) Park- "Building A Better ___"

33.) Portugal. The Man- "Waiter: You Vultures!"

34.) The Postal Service- "Give Up"

35.) Saves The Day- "Through Being Cool"

36.) Saves The Day- "Stay What You Are"

37.) Say Anything- "...Is A Real Boy"

38.) Something Corporate- "Leaving Through The Window"

39.) The Spill Canvas- "Sunsets and Car Crashes"

40.) The Starting Line- "Say It Like You Mean It"

41.) Taking Back Sunday- "Tell All Your Friends"

EPs

1.) Colour Revolt- "s/t"

2.) Dashboard Confessional- "So Impossible EP"

3.) The Early November- "The Acoustic EP"

4.) The Early November- "For All of This"

5.) The Graduate- "Horror Show"

6.) The Honorary Title- "s/t"

7.) Ivory- "s/t"

8.) Jimmy Eat World- "Stay On My Side Tonight EP"

9.) John Mayer- "Inside Wants Out"

10.) Moneen- "Saying Something You Have Already Said Before"

11.) Mute Math- "Reset EP"

12.) Saosin- "Translating The Name"

13.) The Starting Line- "Make Yourself At Home EP"

14.) This Will Destroy You- "Young Mountain EP"

15.) You, Me, and Everyone We Know- "Party For The Grown and Sexy"

16.) New Found Glory- "Tip of the Iceberg EP"

With pride, keep every failure in

I like those random moments of temporary clarity. When something just hits you and suddenly the worry and weight of the world no longer rest on your shoulders.

At least it lasts for a little while.

playing Death in a card game

4am:
There's no room to look in between foreign
letters and dotted "i's" that
line the stairway to your doorway.

I gamble with luck.

Your mismatched socks lay carelessly
off of the side of your bed as
you fight the light switch.
"stayawake"

Please, close your eyes as
I try to imagine every thought,
every sound, every memory,
every syllable
that's racing through your mind.

When it's this expected,
no one sees it coming.

Xanga.

I've been reading old Xanga entries from 2005. It's crazy how much things changed for me after that year. I'm also certain that I was pretty damn unhappy with how things were going for me.

"I wish that I could talk to someone who would actually listen instead of just waiting for their turn to speak. Many people do that...and that's what's so tragic. Nowadays, it's hard to find someone that you can talk with about anything and everything, without holding back. More so, it's hard to find someone that would actually be (truly) interested in what you'd say. It's unfortunate, but that's life I suppose."

It's almost sad how I had absolutely no one to talk to about things that actually mattered to me. Everything was meaningless conversation. I suppose that you can't expect much when you attend Destrehan High School.

Currently Listening: Lupe Fiasco- "Little Weapon"

Planning.

Well, shortly after that last post I bought my tickets. Now I'll blab about our plans because I think the only people who read this are the people coming with me.

We are renting a car and taking that up to Chicago. It'll save us the wear and tear/mileage on our own vehicles. The trip can take around 12-16 hours depending on stops, so we are just going to drive that straight through. It's pretty much a straight shot and an easy drive. I've gone back and forth to Chicago a few times so far, but I've never been the one driving. We're planning on staying at Hotel 71 which is right in the middle of Downtown and less than a mile from the park. It's also right on the river, has nice rooms, and apparently the rooms have amazing views of the city. As for the fourth night, we'll most likely be staying at my cousin Susan's apartment. Thank God for her letting us park at her place too. That will save us an outrageous $30/night for parking at the hotel. Plus she's already being extremely helpful to me so far. I like having nice family, haha. As for public transport, I think it will only cost us $12 each for unlimited rides on the train. Gas, extra money, car rental, and tickets will all together cost about $430. Not too bad.

I'm really excited about this.


Currently listening: Okkervil River- "Missing Children"

Lollapalooza.

Months and months ago (around the time of Voodoo) Cordarro and I made up our "dream festival" list. Who knew that it would essentially become Lollapalooza 2008. I'm still sort of "freaking out" about it because the line-up was announced only an hour or so ago. The current line-up can be found here, but here are some notable favorites of mine:

Brand New, Explosions In The Sky, Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Manchester Orchestra, Girl Talk, The Weakerthans, Mates of States, Bloc Party, Radiohead, Broken Social Scene, Louis XIV, G. Love & Special Sauce, Steel Train, The Cool Kids, Gnarls Barkley, Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s, and Bloc Party.

There should also be a good bit more added. I'm crossing my fingers for Lily Allen, Dear and the Headlights, and Modest Mouse. Then it would be perfect.

We've already started trying to plan this whole trip. We're just that excited I guess. Tickets are $190 right now, so that's a typical 3 day fest price. I think we're going to wind up driving though because roundtrip to Chicago looks to be about $250 and we'd get by cheaper with driving. Hopefully my aunt will let us stay at her place in Arlington Heights because it's only about 30 minutes (or less) away. Here's to hoping this all works out. It would be the perfect birthday.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

David Fincher talked a lot about this movie last spring when he came talk at UNO (while in the middle of filming) and I've been wondering when it actually comes out. It turns out there's still a decent wait, but it will be out this December. It's one of my most anticipated movies of the year. It's done by my favorite director, great plot, Brad Pitt (of course, of course), it's shot completely in the New Orleans area, and I'm anxious to see how they work with the aging process.

In the early 20th century, an 80-year-old man is born aging backwards, causing complications when he falls in love with a 30 year old woman. Fincher said, "It's dark, it's romantic, and it also deals with mortality in a pretty unflattering way. The guy is born in 1919 - with the film itself beginning in World War I, traveling around the world and carrying on all the way through to the year 2000."

IMDB

You, Me, and Everyone We Know.

If anyone does wind up reading this, I've got to suggest a band right now. You, Me, and Everyone We Know. As you can see on the left hand side (lastFM widget), I can't stop listening to them. They have their EP for free download right now, and I think you'd be doing yourself a favor by taking a listen. There's been some comparisons to Say Anything, and while I don't think they're as prevalent as a lot of people say, I can still hear some similarities here and there. It's catchy...and good at the same time. Nothing that will blow your mind and change your life, but most definitely worth checking out.

No one actually likes to drive.

I think that I have the magical power to stop a lane of traffic. no, I'm not kidding. Take, for example, something that happens almost every day: if I am in Lane A, which is stopped, and I decide, "Hey, I'd actually like to get to class on time today!", I move into Lane B, which is currently moving. Once I'm finally in Lane B (because you know that it will take about 10 minutes before anyone even lets you merge) then everyone in Lane A is flying past me going 80 and I am stopped once again. I often expect to turn to my side to see the old man/walker combo from Office Space.

When I finally get out of said traffic, there is a brief sigh of relief. Maybe I'll actually get to wherever I'm planning on going today! Then I almost get run off of the road by a lady driving a Hummer with a cell phone attached to her ear. That's always fun. I'm guessing that conversation must have been very exciting for her to be swerving and not paying attention to her driving. That always happens to me when I try to watch a movie on my dashboard TV/DVD combo. Right when the good parts come someone always has to interrupt it by blowing their damn horn. I'm sorry, lady. Mufasa just died and I'm trying to cope with it.

Once I finally arrive at my destination I think, "There is no possible way that anything can happen/annoy me while I'm traveling 3 miles an hour looking for a parking spot." After looking for ages for an open spot (because there are about 10 x's more cars than people in this country), I finally find one! I just have to wait for this person to pull out. So I proceed to sit there with my blinker on and wait. As soon as the person pulls out, another car swoops in and grabs the spot before I can even blink in disbelief. This is part of the reason that sometimes I almost jump on the idea of running to Wal-Mart, buying a ton of blank white stickers, and writing things such as "Learn to drive", "Moron", "Learn to park", "I hope that this sticker ruins your paint job", or "Your boyfriend is more than likely cheating on you with someone far more attractive" and slapping them on some people's cars. Oh, that would be a nice little moment.

let's give this another shot

shall we? I create too many blogs for my own good.
let's see how long this one lasts.