headless chicken

This past September my friend and I had the brilliant idea to go to South by Southwest, the HUGE music festival in Austin, Texas for my Spring Break/he-has-a-real-job-so-he's-taking-a-week-off. We kept talking about it and I kept waiting for my finances to be in order, and finally we bought out plane tickets and booked a hotel.


My friend, this dude, is 25. He prides himself on his ability to dress exactly like Jarvis Cocker of Pulp fame, except no one really knows or cares who Jarvis Cocker is in the United States, with the exception of like twenty people who frequent all twenty Brit-pop dance nights in DC. (Note that each of these people have their own night somewhere in the U-street cooridor.) We bonded over our mutual love of Frightened Rabbit in one of those "have you heard blank? no, have you heard blank. no, have you heard... conversations. For those that haven't listened to them, they write the absolute saddest, most pathetic, yet catch love songs that all come together to form two perfect I-just-went-though-a-horrible-break-up albums. He and I have spent way too much time listening to Poke:

Being taken over by the fear

Lily Allen doesn't have the best reputation in the music industry. She's a bit "edgy" if you will. I didn't like her first album and didn't understand the fuss. I get annoyed when I see her featured in the tabloids, and I couldn't care less about her upbringing (she poses as a rags to riches story when she's had riches all along...). BUT! Then she came out with the single The Fear and I can't stop listening to it. And now she's put up her entire sophomore album on her myspace page, and I'll tell you what it is the cure to her first album. It's arrogant, snarky, sweet and all wrapped in heaps of bubblegum. Even the song Fuck You (you being George Bush in this instance) sounds sweet. She has found a balance of contrast between her lyrics and accompaniment. I'm not going to say that she doesn't get on my nerves anymore, because she does, but I wouldn't be surprised if this album hit number one it's first week out, at least in the UK, it's that good.

For those of you that aren't going to hop to it and give it a listen, I'll give you the abridged version.
1. Everyone's at it - she questions why our generation is so quick to turn to medication and drugs over constructive vices.
2. The Fear - her i'm-not-sure-if-i-love-or-hate-fame song; the lines "I don't know what's right and what's real, anymore" and "life's more about film stars and less about mothers" lead any listener to question if she's sure about where her life is headed. Love it.
3. Not fair - simply about a nice boy who can't give her an orgasm. Sucks for her, possibly more for him, but hilarious nonetheless.
4. 22 - she pities a woman who's "nearly thirty" and who's "life is nearly over" all because society says so. I'm going to have to agree, I don't think anyone's life really starts until they are 22, and unfortunately being a woman, society does seem to say that we're not worth much after thirty, it's a shame really because I know some really cool ladies that are 30+. I don't agree with the sentiment, but the statement.
5. I could say - breakup song about moving on. meh.
6. Back to the Start - funny that this comes right after the breakup song. This is probably the most danceable on the album - more electronic/synth that isn't missed on other tracks but fits this one perfectly.
7.Never Gonna Happen - incorporates some russian folk sounds on the intro; this track is what everyone means when they say that someone is being "fake" - she sounds so sweet, but take a closer listen and she's verbally slapping him in the face.
8. Fuck You - George Bush. Hilarious.
9. Who'd have known - beginning of a relationship song, I kind of hate it because it suits my life perfectly right now.
10. Chinese - the part where suddenly all you and your hunny want to do is watch tv and eat chinese food, being domestic isn't all bad.
11.Him - about God and his role on Earth, and like every person ever she's not sure if she believes.
12. He wasn't there - I don't know if this is about an ex or daddy issues. I'm thinking the later, but I coudl be wrong.

Now, go listen to it!

So much for Harmony

I have done absolutely nothing productive today. I did however cut Garrett's hair, which looked pretty good, if I do say so myself. I ate some fruit snacks and watched Gossip Girl, after spending way too much time looking for the third episode and then waiting for it to load. And now I'm listening to Mates of State and watching an argument unfold via BYT. I did not mean for that to go where it has. Yikes!


Anyway, Mates of State are probably one of the least talked about indie bands right now, despite having just released a sixth album. I'm pretty sure it's their sixth anyway. They are a married couple that has a couple of kids and live in Connecticut. She, previously a teacher, and he, previously a cancer researcher. Overall, they're adorable. She plays the organ/keys while he bangs on the drums, and they harmonize perfectly. Can you imagine what a wonderful world we would live in if we all could harmonize like that with our loved ones? Arguments would sound so much nicer.

If you have an Imeem account listen to them here. Or you can always check them out on MySpace and YouTube.

HACK!

I am sick. My body couldn't even make through a whole month of college before it decided to get sick. I have sinusitis, yeah, that's a real illness. It's the best kind because it takes all of the most lovely ailments having to do with your head and puts them all together. So, right now my tonsils are huge, and I mean huge because while they're abnormally large and no one will take them out, they manage to become the size of golfballs when I'm sick. I also have a headache, as in my entire head is throbbing. My ears and neck are sore. I can feel the mucus running down my throat, but when I go to blow my nose or gargle, nothing comes. Instead I get to cough phlegmballs at my bodies request, i.e. whenever it wants to.

I can breath through my nose, that's nice. But the only way I can relieve any of the sinus pressure is by using nose spray. FUN! FUN! FUN!

I've had this three times in the last year. Last October, last November and this past February. It wasn't until that third time that they got the diagnosis right. And they gave me an IV and I almost died. Man, that was scary. I mean having a needle in my arm is scary. And all these times I had my blood drawn. The first two times I was treated by military doctors, and let me tell you, they suck. Not because they're in the military, but because they didn't run enough tests or believe me when I told them that I didn't have mono or strep, but ran those tests, and when they came out negative told me to take IB profen for the fever.

You know, I understand that doctors are supposed to be the ones "in charge" of making the diagnosis. But I'll tell you what, I am someone that has had strep throat enough times in my life to know when I have it. I've never had mono, but I've done my research just to make sure I don't have it. And all these people always wanted to test for those two instead of just taking my word for it. Guess who was right. I was! And guess what else, they like to waste my time by running those tests anyway.

I really hope I can just go tomorrow to the student health clinic, tell them what I have, have them write me a prescription for augmentin, and be on my way.

I am currently at my sister's and completely broke, well not completely but I don't want to spend my savings. Yesterday I was excited that she came to pick me up. I had been anticipating at least one cash tip yesterday, but nothing came. So i had three of those fruit cups of mandarin oranges and three mini candy bars prior to her picking me up. Once we got back to her place, her brother-in-law and his galpal made dinner, it was goodish, but t hey put bacon in the pasta and didn't use very much sauce. But who cares, because I ate food, the real kind. With nutrients. The kind that fills you up instead of giving you a headache or makes you crave more - the candy bars. And what's even nicer is that I'm staying here all day, so I get to have more read food. HURRAY! I get paid on Tuesday, I'm excited.

As I write this I'm listening to the soundtrack to "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist." I'm very excited about this movie. I have a feeling I will be able to relate to it in a lot of ways. The soundtrack is wonderful, I've seen a few of those bands live, and Brightest Young Things has interviewed most of them. While I love this music, I don't love sharing it. And I'm not excited about all the high school girls who will see this movie and then show up at all these shows in the future. Guys, I'm really worried about this. I don't know how much more I can take of the lowlier human forms taking notice of my favorite bands. I should probably be excited for all the bands that are having their songs used in this movie, I mean it's huge for them. And I'm all for supporting musicians, I spend hundreds of dollars each year doing just that, but I think good music is like buying a great pair of jeans at Marshall's, you have to dig for it. Once you know where to dig, you continue to discover great finds. I hate seeing them just handed over when people haven't worked for it a little bit.

I'll just go over here and pout by myself.

blahblahblahsobsobsobsniffsniffsniff

I've been at school for about a month. My classes are fine. I'm taking sixteen credits and managing fairly well. The only classes I'm having a hard time in are Energy! (on my transcript that exclaimation point will be included) which is a physics, chemistry combo. It's not horrible, I just really hate doing math and this class requires all sorts of conversions; economics is similar, but more theory, so not as difficult and at least I find it interesting and it'll be helpful in journalism; and last, Focused Inquiry - it's the required freshman course, it's very similar to what English was like my first two years of high school, except my teacher is horrible and I want to punch him in the face and he's always "encouraging" us to be "creative" and to "step out of the 5-paragraph box" but when I do he tells me that I'm doing everything wrong.

Focused Inquiry is the worst replacement for an English 101 class. I understand that kids don't know how to write upon their arrival to college. I get that, but at least in high school I wasn't clumped with them in English (I was in advanced and AP English courses). So now he, an acting major (this class is taught by professors from all concentrations) is trying to teach me how to write.

This includes giving us "worksheets" aka busywork, that we have to fill out instead of writing comments and making corrections directly on each others' papers. I find assignments like this exhausting. Nothing is benefited from them. I can write, fairly well, I'm not Vanity Fair material...yet.

Anyway, I started doing homework yesterday and then I couldn't concentrate, so I wrote a blog. That kind of got everything out of system. Not really. I miss DC. A lot. People should not be this attached to cities. I know I've been very negative about Richmond, and it not having anything to offer, but it's true. It is unbelievable true. I can only imagine how much unhappier I would be at somewhere like JMU or even UVA.

I'm really trying to like Richmond. I went out Friday and Saturday. Friday we (my roommate Jessica, Garrett from econ and his friend Bryan) were going to go to that toga/underwear themed party, but none of felt like dressing up, and they wouldn't let us in unless we took our clothes off. Then we made it to a frat-party Jessica knew about. We were let in, and stayed for maybe ten minutes, because we all weren't invited (just Jessica) we were kicked out. It was disgusting. So after calling the cops and reporting underage drinking, we headed to Garrett's friend's house. That, while being a little awkward when his ex showed up, was far better than the previous two attempts to have a good time.

Luckily Saturday was my first day at work - Images Salon. It was a slight distraction from all the craziness that is my life, but of course there was salon drama. My first day was another girl's last. She was very bitter, not at me, just in general. I had two clients, and made at least a hundred bucks, plus tips, so I think I'll be making pretty decent money in no time.

By the time work was over the rain was gone and I was looking forward to exploing the city a bit more. Jessica keeps being added by these random guys on facebook who see her in the VCu network. She talks to them via facebook and they asked if she wanted to meet in the commons for dinner. I of course accompanied her. It was awkward and they were not fabulously good looking, I don't know what she was thinking.

Anyway we ended up inviting them to go see Cartel at the Canal Club with us. They came. We went. We saw the most horrible "venue" in the world. It is a combination "venue" and sports bar. Like Jaxx, but about four times the size.Ick! And to make it worse it was all ages, which is fine in DC, but in Richmond that meanst that the shows have to be done by ten thirty, on a saturday night. Really. I'm not even a fan of Cartel, and the crowd was full of fourteen-year-old scensters wearing the band shirts their parents bought for them that night. AWFUL!

And then of course yesterday I started crying, for a multitude of reasons, but mostly because I miss DC and Richmond is not close to coming up anytime soon.

I eventually got in touch with April and she came and picked me up. We went to Chop Suey (a used bookstore, awesome) and got ice cream. It was what I needed. Afterwards I met up with friends at Panda Veg (vegan chinese restaurant that is surprisingly good) and then went to the Ink (magazine) meeting.

I think Ink will probably be the defining factor as far as my college experience goes. I hope it works out. Wish me luck!

If you don't get it, you just don't get it

As you all know, I work at the Haircuttery. It's not so bad, I'm used to being around people with different views than I have, but I never bargained for what I've found there. I also know I'm a snob and consider my opinions and ways of doing things quite a bit higher than other's; but sometimes there is no reasoning with people (aka convincing them that they are wrong).

At work last week on a particularly slow day three of us were in the back "reading" Elle and Glamour magazines. In them there is an add for Skechers with Tori Spelling in it. She looks weird, especially in those adds. This began a discussion that led to me telling the other girls of my hatred for Sketchers. Usually I'm around fellow haters (with the exception of my mother who thinks they're wonderful looking shoes but bad on her back), but unknown to me I was in the presence of people who actually like Everything about Skechers. I tried to explain that they are cheaply made (of plastic), have that horribly huge S on them, generally ugly, etc. but there was no reasoning. Then one girl started complaining about her back - this particular girl is cheap, very cheap, and overweight. If you wear cheap shoes with absolutely no support and carry a few extra pounds, in addition to being on your feet at work everyday, of course your back is going to hurt.

I've tried to explain to her several times that she needs to get inserts, to which she replys, "I have. I've bought those Doctor Scholl's ones." No, I tell her, you need to see a podiatrist and get custom ones made. She then complains about how much that would cost, but she's considering getting back surgery!?!?!?!?! Three hundred dollars on something that could help you a lot and avoid the surgery or thousands of dollars on an avoidable surgery. This is the same girl who tells me that she knows losing weight would help her but she's just so lazy. She has told me that she is lazy. AGH!

Moving on/going back, that conversation led to us discussing trailors, and me of course in my typical nature telling everyone that I hate trailors, too. Trailors are generally crappy, trailor parks are gross, and the people that live there aren't usually much better. I feel I can say this because I've spent plenty of time (not lately) around/in trailors growing up with family in the south where a double-wide is the standard of living. Ms. Cheapy apparently grew up in a trailor, and was now offended. I almost felt bad... almost.

The other girl with us could see where I was coming from but thought that I was being a bit harsh (haven't heard that before). I love this girl, she is one of the sanest people that I work with, exceptionally talented and should be doing so much better than the Haircuttery. And then she had to drop thie awful bomb on me a few days ago when we were discussing music. She knows that I go to shows fairly often, and asked what my favorite band was/is - that she's heard of. I told her the Killers. Her's is Nickelback. NICKELBACK! She thinks that his voice is one of the best of today, and that Brandon Flowers' voice is whiney! Whiney!?

I'm not going to waste my time explaining why Nickelback is the worst band of all time (and Creed, and Korn).

please watch this

if you haven't heard...

I just wrote a review for Brightest Young Things (BYT) and will be reviewing the Tapes n Tapes show this week for them also. I'm pretty excited.

I also can't help but compare this to Almost Famous, I mean I'm not on tour or anything, but still, I can't help but make the comparison. Is that pathetic? Probably. Wishful thinking? Definitely.

Spin had a flash of GOP in their May issue, and a page featuring The Long Blondes - whom I may be reviewing in May. I think it's a good sign, considering Spin is one of my favorite magazines.

Can you tell I'm excited? Just a little bit.


http://www.brightestyoungthings.com/live-dc/live-dc-grand-ole-party-rogue-wave-930-club/

appropriate songs for commercials...

...should be heard on the radio, not OK Go, but after their MTV stunt, and songs on JCPenny's commercials, well they've sold out and that's sad.

And just now i heard Ingrid Michaelson's song "Take me the way I am" was on a Ross commercial. I find this very upsetting. I had such high hopes for her.

I'm a music snob, I am sorry. I really am, but selling out for clearance clothing! That, that is ridiculous.

Despite her outedness, i still hold the opinion that she is a great musician/vocalist and you should check her out.