Hell of a weekend, hell of a week following.

Tonight we are playing some songs acoustically and answering some questions on Goucher Radio which I'm really pschyed about. Then, I'm hanging out with this girl Amanda I met at Ted's BBQ on Saturday, maybe having Holy Frijoles, maybe bringing her to Trivia, depending. It's just a busy, exciting day so I'm all jittery. It's a feeling that makes me feel more alive than the monotonous day to day, and I really like that.

I did get to GC on Monday, so come tomorrow I will be rocking the guitar below and I'll have a pedaltrain that can fit all my pedals. Rock and roll.
Reeeally need to hit up GC and get rid of the Thinline/DRRI...



Pumped for an action packed weekend:
Today - rest... well, that's not really action-packed. but, I will catch up on the new degrassi episodes. maybe suit shopping since a tux seems pretty expensive to rent anyway.
Saturday - working overtime, Ted's BBQ
Sunday - home, Gala
Really eventful weekend:

Thursday, went to see Ted Leo, which is always a pleasure. Aside from the downpour going into 9:30 Club, it was a good show. Obits really shocked me... I was expecting some chill electronic junk from checking out some other Obits band on myspace, but they were really good. I just really like trekking to a show with a car full of people.

Friday, started off the day at the gym which was a lot less crowded than I expected. Then I had to go the UPE honor society induction thing which was a little weird. The three other inductees and I had to wait around in the hallway of York Road for a half an hour before there cult like ceremony with candles took place. I will say it was nice to go back and talk to some of my professors. Later on was Dan/Kevin's bday celebration at Brewer's Art. Had a near death experience involving the white snail on the way to it, but once we got there it was a really sweet place. Definitely will have to back there again for some Ozzys.

Saturday, started off the day again at the gym. I think I'm starting to get the working out routine in motion, which is good. I've been pretty damn lazy about getting any exercise since I've started working. Then had a real solid band practice in preparation for the Sunday CD release and worked out all the kinks in the new song which is rocking pretty hard. Then rushed off for the trivia championships. Da Beers did not show up, which was slightly disappointing cause we had a nice rivalry going on, so basically we just got crushed. It was fun, we all got to eat some good food and ordered 15 pitchers of beer. We decided that our name should be changed from Team Zissou to Youngest but Drunkest. Had a nice little post-trivia card playing and called it a night.

Sunday, had lunch with mom and then went to Kinko's to get some posters printed. I wasn't expecting them to have the 11x17 for the big ass show posters, but they did and the lady working was nice enough to basically double my order because she liked the design so much. I really want to go back to school and take graphic design, and she said that I should go back cause the design was a lot better than the stuff other students print at the store. So that was a huge mood boost in my day. Then we packed on up and headed over to Recher. The show went fairly well, all things considered. We had a good turnout from our promotion, just the other bands kinda half-assed everything. Overall though, it went pretty well.
Having one of those off days. A bunch of people close to my co-workers have either died or have become very sick in the past couple days. As is normal, whenever these thing happen, you gain perspective on life, look at the bigger picture, and examine how things are going/should be going. I'm feeling a little frustrated with some work stuff that I was hoping to have done by now, but it's really out of my hands.

On the upside, I'm excited for trivia tonight. We've decided to move to Tuesday's at Bateman's in Parkville because it's better for several people's schedules and Piv's has been kinda slacking lately. I'm a fan of Bateman's food and frisbee/kickball is going to be starting up soon, so I don't mind at all. Still feeling a little hurt about some of the team trying to oust Nate, Keith, and I for some random ringer. So I guess the oust-ers will become the oust-ed.

Our CD's come today, so I'll probably go home and pick those up. It's nice that one of my goals for the year got accomplished. I also joined a gym yesterday, so that's another goal completed.

Life is just up's and down's, I guess.
Just had this random thought about being social. I picture people's desire to hang out on a scale:

    1                     5                       10
Clinger           Normal         No desire at all

Generally, anything between 1 and 4 creeps me out, and anything between 6 and 8.5 intrigues me. 8.6 to 10 has no point.

Kinda weird. I think it's natural to think that way, but it's just weird and makes me wonder why people were designed or learned to think like that.
I completely forgot about a close friend's bday that's tomorrow until yesterday and I kinda feel like a jerk. I mean, yes, it's not like I literally COMPLETELY forgot about it, but usually I'm on top of these things. I mean, yeah, he didn't make it to hang out with me on my bday, so I shouldn't feel that bad, but he's a long time friend. Bleh.

So, I'm pumped that the album artwork is essentially done. Gonna get the badboy ordered by Friday.
Per the request of Quinn, this is me blogging more. See me blog. Blog, me, blog. I don't really like to talk about myself and my daily happenings, so I usually resist writing things in here. That is, unless it's something I need to get off my chest, but I'm just going to go with it.

Music of the day thus far:
Hot Rod Circuit - Sorry About Tomorrow

This week I'm pumped for:
Today - Getting the album artwork done hopefully. I really need to get on selling the tickets as the date is fast approaching. Craaaazy.
Wednesday - Trivia! Final week for the season, and as long as we don't fuck up big time, we're automatically going to the Playoffs and possible the Championship.

















Thursday - Kevin's standup, we might even get COUGARS!
Saturday - Playing bass at a gig for the first time. Can't wait to rock in a band in a different role.


Other thoughts lately:
I'm pretty overall content. Hanging out with everyone about equally, meeting some new people here and there. So yeah, pretty much all there is to say about that.

Really, really digging the gear I picked up last week. Perfect to play solo stuff and to have the 60's tones I've really wanted at bedroom levels.




I've decided guitar gear-wise I'm just going to sell off anything I don't use really frequently and just have ideal setups for each of the types of music I want to play:
Rock and roll - ES339 > JMP 2204
60's pop/solo stuff - '62 Telecaster w/ Bigsby > AC15C1
Pop-punk - '72 Deluxe or Delonge Strat > DSL 50 or JMP 2204

Really need to get the Thinline, some extra pedals, maybe the Delonge, and maybe the DRRI out the door to get a '72.
I probably should have followed up the last one of these sooner, but whatever. My mistakes were not as drastic as they seemed to me when I wrote the last entry. In fact, it seems as though I make a MUCH bigger deal out of things in my mind than I should. What can I say though... a "stage 3 clinger" freaks me out a little bit.

But as those mistakes pass, good things come. I've realized that staying true to the idea of doing what makes you happy is truly the most important thing. That said, as a way of addressing my fears of not meeting new people and putting myself out there, I'm going to the Cursive/Alkaline Trio show with this random girl. Usually when I get myself in to these kinds of situations, I have a level of apprehension. My sleep goes to hell, I get anxious, and I have a sensation of dreading what will come of it. However, this week I've felt completely relaxed, to a level that is out the ordinary for me. I've slept 9 hours or so the past two nights, which is unheard of unless I'm sick. I have a good feeling about this *knock on wood*
Sometimes I do things to put myself out there, then I realize it might not be the best idea after the fact. Most of the time I'm pretty good at making logical decisions, but when it comes to social things I do some dumb shit. I guess you have to make mistakes, otherwise, you will not learn.
I realize that I sometimes use playing music as a way of escaping things I don't want to deal with. But I think that's ok. In my mind all good things in life will come because of music. Music gives me a medium to be myself on a level not able to be reached in normal interaction. Completely devoid of anything negative; true, pure, honest.
So pumped on the band right now. We've got three good recordings, and we'll probably do a couple more throughout the month. We're getting some new promos done, redoing the myspace, getting stickers, and maybe doing some shirts. Being in a band can be a lot of work, but being able to say, "yeah, this is us" just feels awesome.
I feel like I'm staring down the barrel of a loaded gun. That gun's name is life. It's easy to ignore our shortcomings and neglect things we should deal with when our life is busy. Because, well, you're too busy to think about those things. Eventually, we all get free time, and those things catch up with us. The question is, do you sit and continue in ignorance, or do what you can to change those things? Better yet, how do we change those things that we've neglected for so long?

These are the questions that are currently on my mind. I've made some pretty radical changes in my life, but I feel most of those were done when I was much younger. More able to change. I personally think the inability to change is some bullshit figment of my imagination, and with a little will, I can make the changes I want again. It's that first moment of jumping that's the bitch... the free-fall is a blast.
I love doing these lists cause it gives you a chance to think about all the great music that has come out. Granted, I'll probably revise this, but it's something to kill time at work.


Best of 2009

1. The Dangerous Summer - Reach for the Sun


















2. Brand New - Daisy
















3. Paramore - Brand New Eyes
















4. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - Outer South

















5. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
















6. Passion Pit - Manners
















7. Ace Enders and a Million Different People - When I Hit the Ground
















8. Title Fight - The Last Thing You Forget

















9. Them Crooked Vultures - s/t
















10. Manchester Orchestra - Mean Everything to Nothing



















Best of the Decade

1. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
















2. Brand New - Deja Entendu
















3. The Starting Line - Say It Like You Mean It
















4. Ted Leo/The Pharmacists - Shake the Sheets
















5. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
















6. Ryan Adams - Rock and Roll
















7. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
















8. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm















9. Bright Eyes - Fevers and Mirrors
















10. Nada Surf - The Weight Is a Gift


Today is just a blogging kind of day, I suppose. This one falls under my lack of understanding with social things and people. There was this girl in my music class in the Spring who I thought seemed pretty cool, but as luck would have it, she would come in after the class had started and leave right as it ended. Seemingly, just another one of those people who you notice in life, they don't notice you, and you never see again.

Out of the blue, my friend sends me a text message and says she's with her friend who knows me. I don't recognize the name my friend throws out so I look her up through Facebook and it turns out to be this girl. This just confuses the hell of out of me, not on a women level, but on a people level. It seemed that this girl who paid little attention to my existance and rarely talked to me somehow remembers me, my name, and being in this class with me. How the hell does that work? I'm more used to being on the creeper side of keeping tabs on people. As the creeper, you would think you would know when your being creep'd.

I kind of brushed it off as whatever until my friend asked me to go drinking with her and this girl. I can't really tell if this is one of those trying to hook up friends things or if it's like hey, they know each other, so yeah. I dunno man... creeper role reversal'd.
Done. Finally done with school. Right now I'm just feeling really excited about all the free time that I'll be able to devote to things that deserve my attention. I thought when it came down to the moment, I'd be feeling super-anxious, but right now, it feels great. I guess I was kinda fearing the onset of anxiety attacks like I had last year around this time, but *knock on wood* I'm feeling the excited side of that emotion rather than the worried side. Hopefully, that's an indication that I have a better notion of where I am, who I am, and where I need to go.
Does acting pretentious actually mean you have any intellectual value? My opinion: no, it usually means the opposite.

There's this old dude at work who talks like someone on the history channel, does that contemplative folded hands thing when he swings his chair around (think Dr. Evil), and if you hand him something while he's working, he won't bother to look away. He also tells really dry jokes and laughs like he should be having tea and crumpets.

Don't forget to stick up your pinky, you want them to know you're classy.
One of my friends become (and I use this term loosely) acquaintences has decided to move back to Australia. It's weird for me to even give a second thought to a thing like this, but all of a sudden I feel that people are leaving. Or at least, ultimately plan to leave. College ends and we are free to explore. The world is our oyster and all that stuff.

Am I stupid for staying here? I don't feel like it, but maybe I'm blinded by comfort of the familiar.
My internal/external struggle with school and doing things I enjoy is becoming way too apparent. I'll sit and do one problem of a homework assignment, then stop and pick up the guitar for 15 minutes, then I'll go look at some computer stuff, then I'll come back to homework. At that point I think to myself, "Oh shit, I actually have to finish this."

5 weeks, 2 days to go.
Sometimes I feel distant from everyone, and in those moments I feel a little more human. In a weird way though, it's kind of enjoyable. No negativity. More focused. More thoughtful. Thinking of the future. It gives me hope, as strange as that might seem.
Holy hell... As a person who feels like they endlessly search for that tone in their head, I think this is as close as humanly possible.