Suspended Like A Spirit Over Speeding Cars

It has been quite the longest dry spell since I have last posted and I've decided it needs to stop - hence this post. I can't think of much else to post about except what else has currently been going on in my life (probably not the most exciting topic, but when you're me, it is understandable).

School started up again in January - I've probably been to a total of 7-8 classes thus far. I find the motivation hard to come by. Ironically enough, I registered for 2 volleyball classes this semester; one is at 8AM and the other at 9AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The irony in this, if you don't know my very well, is that I'm actually going to these classes. I've been known to sleep through 1PM classes and not register for classes before noon, and yet I've been managing these classes with ease. Secret to my success? I actually like volleyball. Also, the fact that Darren and I have a wager for a fish burger at Stan's, pending upon whether or not I make 80% attendance to these classes, may or may not have a slight effect upon this (I do plan on winning, btw).

I have no idea what's going on in my Samoan 202 class because I come an hour late every time and am there for maybe 15 minutes of lecture. It's slightly frustrating, but I'm glad my teacher is accommodating of my work schedule. I'm writing my philosophy paper on the irrationality of theistic belief - this is mostly to piss off all the Mormons I attend school with. We need a little sass around here and I find it my personal mission to provide such antics - if not only for my sole amusement. I have this Graphic Design class that I've been to once? Yeah, I should go more often. It does happen to be my major. I don't think I have any other classes... It's a pretty tame schedule and I need to get on top of things. No, wait, I forgot about my Family History class! Yeah, lame. That's all I have on that.

Life sucks with Barret in a completely different state and not even in the western part of the country. My days now mostly consist of school (whatever part I attend or time spent ditching), work (thank God for work, it keeps me sane), and roommate antics (we're pretty weird together, but in a good way). I must say that it's hard to function without him since we mostly complemented each other in almost every facet of our lives, but I'm sure we will be one happy married couple soon enough! Unfortunately, I won't be making it out to Mardi Gras this year. I think I missed the boat on that one considering my horrible timing and lack of precious, precious money. I did, however, spend a nice little weekend (day, mostly) in San Diego the other week with Christopher, Blake, and Julia. It was a great little getaway and I don't know when I will next see the ocean...

My congratulations to Dan and Michael on their engagement! It's a long time in coming and I'm so happy for the two. They're getting married out in Cape Cod this summer and I will be trying my best to make it for the ceremony.

Okay, stop. Somehow I just went this whole post without saying a single thing about the effing Brand New concert I went to!! Ugh. It was bloody amazing. I went with my roommate Kathy Le, some of her friends, and my best friend from home Carless Walker Texas Ranger (or Carly, whatever). The first band sucked ass. We don't care about the preachy lyrics, the Baptist reverend voice, nor do we especially care for the lead singer's sick fro, pervy mustache, and ridiculous purple and blue jogging suit - the Asian guitarist's voice was a pleasant surprise though, I'll give them that. Manchester Orchestra followed with a decent set - I must admit that I've seen better. Dear Andy Hull, please clean up your face. Carly was right when she said it looked like you were deliberately trying to repel women. Thank you, at least, for playing Where Have You Been. Brand New, though, was definitely something else. The show started immediately with Jesse Lacey solo with his guitar playing Soco Amaretto Lime. It was epic. They played their best songs from Daisy, The Devil and God, and Deja. It was just beautiful. Their hour and a half set seriously made up for all the complete retards ("complete retards" include 2 drunk girls who ran into me multiple times, the dumbasses who insist on moshing in the middle of the crowd, and the blazed girl who swayed her whole body and almost got punched out by Carly) who generally flock to any kind of rock show. What made it better was that we had eaten at The Pie in Salt Lake and had delicious, leftover pizza in the car and ice cream cake at home. It was a great night and I'm sorry Barret missed it :(

Let me leave you with the song Soco Amaretto Lime because I feel prompted to do so (probably divine intervention, not going to lie).



Keep your eyes peeled for more updates. Or don't. Whatever.

Catching Up, But Not Really

Brand New's show in SL,UT was cancelled due to illness.

I happened to be in WalMart with a favorite boy of mine, Blake Allen, when I got a disturbing call from Chris that BN's show in Salt Lake and Denver were cancelled. The bag of candy I was so excited to buy was immediately laid aside at the checkout line and I began to hang my head like a 13 yr. old depressed teenager (which, technically, I was still a teenager at 19 and quite depressed, though a little more mature in the head-hanging than the average 13 yr. old). I pretty much sulked all the way home and all that night and all the next morning. It was the single event in my October life that I was looking forward to most. It's okay though, because they're rescheduling... I just have to bide my time.

We had a day at Disneyland lined up, but unfortunately the plans took a turn for the worst, but in the end it worked out well! I spent my birthday having a great time with awesome people - literally, the whole 24 hours of that day - doing some fun and unexpected things. MWUAH to everyone who made it what it was!

Daisy

Man.

I've been meaning to save a post for my review of Daisy, Brand New's latest and greatest. I've spent hours reading reviews by fans, critics, haters, radio hosts... I've seen it. I've been preparing and brooding over what I'd say, but after all that thought and deep introspection, here it is: I like it. No, in fact, I love it. From the weirdly haunting gospel hymn recordings to Jesse Lacey's screaming vocals, it's a brisk walk down that dark alley we loitered in with The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me. This celebration of the edgier, darker side of life makes me thirst for more and keeps this album on repeat. Kudos to Brand New for always putting out and props to Vinnie for the significant contribution in these lyrics. I admire the hard-headed determination Brand New has in pursuing their unique sound and the wise choice to ignore the hopes and dreams of fans, musicians, and fads alike.

Well, I'll stop. I could probably go on forever about them and I don't doubt that the majority of my posts are about these kids. Tomorrow is my birthday. I plan on enjoying myself.

I don't like the thought that someone thinks he/she knows me. I like to think that I'm such an individual that since you are not me, you will never know me. Any thoughts?


It's been a while, but here's my song of the day:

Hanasakajijii (Four: A Great Wind, More Ash) by Anathallo

[Sadly, for first listening I could only find a live version in recording so it's not best of quality]

"Yesterday, the land went dry.
I sprinkled ash of my neighbor's urn
Over the yard.

Sprinkled in the hope
That should I cut out
A pie wedge,
I would find gold.
Buried in the ground
Between the grass and growth.

Instead, the earth skin cracking
And a great wind, more ash,
Slivers of the ground burning in the eyes
Of ones, who, standing there...

Long ago, when it all began
The dog would dig the ground
And whisper, "Master, come to the garden.
By your hand to the spade, cut away behind your house.

Cut away for coins. Cut away to the buried..."

Get excited.

I feel as if a blog post is in order due to some of the best news of the year and that is (drum roll)... The announcement of Brand New's 2009 tour dates! I've no idea if you knew this (honestly, though, can you call yourself my friend had you not?), but I'm pretty much a through-and-through Brand New fanatic. The tour dates and locations can be found here on Brand New's myspace page. Try not to drool on the keyboard because, frankly, the rumors are true; Brand New is the shit.

As a member of BN's street team, I am most assuredly and electronically under oath and therefore bound to spread the joys and wondrous news of this band. Their new album [named, then un-named, then re-named] 'Daisy' hits the US Sept. 22nd (so far away!) and the UK Sept. 21st (those bastards...). Please enjoy the album art, because I send out my props to the designer. It's simple and fantastic. BN's single 'At The Bottom' will debut on their myspace page Monday, the 10th of August and will be available on iTunes the 11th.

All right, for those whose first time it is on my blog, I have a disclaimer: I'm not a huge freak. Seriously. If you read further, you'll notice that I DO actually blog about things other than BN - my hate of Utah, for example. I just happen to be quite dedicated to my favorite band and a little too excited that their Salt Lake City (SLUT as i like to refer to it as) happens to be on October 9th - which is the day before my birthday! Weeeee *^.^* And although tickets officially go on sale on Monday the 10th, tickets can be found online at http://www.ducatking.com/. I love ducatking. Want to know why? 1. They sell all of BN's shows 2. The tickets are really cool! My last BN tickets were black and hot pink striped, and 3. I don't get screwed over every freaking time I show interest/attempt to buy anything(hey, TicketMaster, is that you? I'm still bitter, if you can't tell). But really. My gal BFF Carless has her tickets in sorts and will be travelling from Rexburg, Idaho to be with me on this occasion! Now I just need Barret to buy his and we're good... Let me know if you want to come/want to compare your love of BN to mine!

So on to something completely unrelated to Brand New...

I found out Darren from work loves sushi. Guess what, everyone? I, too, love sushi! It's good. We love tempura. This was probably the only interesting conversation I had today. I thoroughly enjoy talking food because hey, I'm Poly and I love food a little bit more than the white people. So I'm not going to bore you more with food, but I can entertain you with [DUN DUN DUN] http://www.emailsfromcrazypeople.com/! It is exactly like what the URL states - this is a site dedicated to emails/sometimes texts/notes/letters from crazy people all over the world! I spend many an hour at work flipping through these wonderful sites and it gets me through the day. Here are some links to my three favorite emails/letters in my whole, brown life.

Devil Worship and Christmas Lights
The Pets Clause
and my all-time favorite:
The Spider Story

These are the things I like to do in my spare time and I feel that I am that much the better person for doing so. Life is good. As Mr. Schott, my high school Latin teacher, would hate to say HABES BONAM UNAM!

It's everything.
The vibe.
The people.
This school.
Its culture.
The reach, the influence.
It's stagnant and festering and I can't stand the thought of being near it. I don't understand the kind of person that thrives in this and I don't mean to offend in any way. I gave it that chance and now I'm moving on.

A Matter of Life and Death

Hi-ho, friends!

Let's start with the good stuff ---> I'm loving summer. I love, love, love this carefree, nonchalant time in life in which people are more open, risky, and in my opinion, alive. There's a lot to be adored and enjoyed this time of year and spending unadulterated bonding time with my good friends is worthy of any endeavor. You know, I'm anxious to know what the future holds and to see the rippling effects of my choices throughtout life, but I can't live any less here in the present. I like it.

I've decided to not attend BYU this winter semester. In fact, I have a feeling that this will be the last time I reside in this great state of Utah. I'm not bitter, really. My reasons for leaving are not reasons of hate, oppression, or disbelief, but merely because I don't think I can ever be happy here. Utah isn't for me and in no way is BYU an environment that I want, or can, thrive in spiritually or artistically. I'm breaking out of this cookie cutter town and running to a place I've been happy in the past and can pursue my own dreams. I have my sights set on University of Canterbury in New Zealand, but I'm keeping my options open. I plan on working hardcore on my portfolio this fall semester here at BYU that I may have the best chances of getting into the BFA program...


Lately I find myself wistfully thinking of cool things to do, new things to try and yet I am faced with my ultimate nemesis in life: $

Down with money!!1 It's too ironic that I don't care for money and yet it's quite necessay for the life I currently lead. I want to road trip but I don't have money. I don't mind working for it, but sometimes I don't want to go in to work... Too many an occasion has this held me back. Why is school so expensive? I love that I pay for the things I need and do, but it gets annoying. Boo. Hence my ridiculous obsession with Burning Man. Seriously? I'm going. It's hard to explain what this thing is, but let me just direct you to their site --> http://www.burningman.com/

So on that happy and exciting note, I leave you, my readers, with a special treat of a song I am obsessed with: