Go to this website NOW.



Okay, if you're not feeling so adventurous and you actually NEED a pitch... if you like(d) Pandora, muxtape (r.i.p.), or last.fm and you want to discover some cool new music... this is the place. Okay, when you get there, it's all gonna seem a little overwhelming and crazycakes at first. My advice, just click on something. If you want more specific guidance, I'll link some artists below. But sign up, and just start playing songs. It doesn't do the things that other sites do, where you can only listen to a mix once in order, or just shuffles random song after random song at you, to make sure labels don't get their panties in a twist over "on demand" listening. You'll find the odd song that's cheated up by some poser, but most of the songs are uploaded by the bands and they WANT you to listen to them, A LOT. Songs make it onto the homepage by way of users bumping them, so the more you listen and bump, the more visibility they get, etc. You can also download some of the songs for free, or buy DRM-free copies from amazon if you REALLY like them, which obviously helps the bands even more. And you will obviously be discovering loads of cool new music that you wouldn't otherwise. Sold yet? If not, try these artists...

Kingsfoil
Locksley
The Monolators
Speechwriters LLC
Bishop Allen
Andrea Wittgens

First of all. I need to stop reading The Huffington Post. Secondly, FUCK YES, COLIN POWELL! WAY TO BE AWESOME. Not that this sentiment is particularly NEW, but... YESSSS. Thirdly, "W." was EXCELLENT. Go see it :) If you can go with 9 or 10 fellow sushi-lovers and discuss at length at an Applebee's when you're done, that is also highly recommended ;)

Lastly, and largely unrelated...

( Dear brain, )

Kingsfoil + Ting Tings = aweseome.

Poll #1261013 This weekend...
Open to: Friends, detailed results viewable to: Friends, participants: 4

If we're offered overtime this Saturday, should I...

Okay, so remember when I was like, "Hey, I can't believe I am so stupid" when I went to that We the Kings show at the Chameleon Club? Well, I am SOOO over that, because that's where I first heard Kingsfoil and they were amazing and so I bought their cd. Well, one of them, "Bear In The Attic". I am telling you, since August 27th, I have WORN. IT. OUT. I have sent the songs to everybody who would take them, burned them onto my Philly disc drop, stuck stickers everywhere, put them up on myspace and loaded them onto my ipod. You get it, Kingsfoil... all the time.

So, The Fratellis show was... well, I want to say a disaster, but it wasn't exactly. I think it was more that it was a tremendous let down through no fault of their own. The sound in that place was just incredibly poor. I was so ramped up for that concert, they are seriously one of my favorite bands ever, I was SO EXCITED about finally being able to see them, and it was just... not cool. Anyway, I'll review that show properly later, but my point really is that... I just didn't really feel like doing or going to anything after that. But Kingsfoil is from York, and I liked them, and their album seemed to pass muster (unlike The Midway State who are fun as hell live, unimaginably bland on record), and they were playing a free show at Millersville's Club DeVille.

So I had decided that I would go. Millersville is like a 15 minute drive from Lancaster, so I could just swing by after work and then go home. No big deal. It's not costing me anything, it's not really out of my way... I'll just go. The more I listened to the cd, the more I was anticipating it, which worried me a bit, but I didn't get that feeling... that sort of weird knot that says, "You know better, just don't do it..." and instead was going, "Okay, well... what have you got to lose?" So, today FINALLY came and this is how the show went.

Got there early. VERY early, but I didn't want to sit in the car for two hours, so I went into the SMC and wandered around aimlessly until a little after 6pm. Killed some time watching House in the lobby by the info desk. In retrospect, I probably should have just gone down to the Club and taken a seat, but I felt so awkward about not being an MU student that it was hard to go in even when the concert was close to beginning. But I did.

I found a seat at a table near the back and started rambling in my journal. Two girls came over and asked if they could sit down and proceeded to be very annoying for a very long time.

The first band was The Mint and they were pretty good. I mean, I really wasn't expecting a lot, but I was impressed. The girls were annoying throughout this band. I'm not sure who they came to see, if anyone, or if they just kinda wandered in, but they were there, they were annoying and that was that. Next up was some band from Philly called The Goodnight Anthem. They were actually incredibly fun, and if it weren't for the annoying girls, I probably would have gotten up and gone up front to the stage, but I was kind of trapped against the wall. Anyway, at some point they got up to go to the merch booth and I could at least stand up. When they finished their set, I bought their cd because it was only $5 and their set was SO much fun and it got me out of my back corner and gave me the opportunity to move up to the front.

So let me first say this... the (temporarily) annoying girls notwithstanding, this concert was amazing if only for the fact that none of the things I hate about concerts happened:

- no sucky openers
- no waiting FOREVER between bands (they all set up and removed their own gear)
- no pushing or shoving necessary to get up front
- no getting smooshed by inconsiderate assholes
- no loud drunk people
- no couples making out in front of me
- no tall people standing at the front
- no security rifling through your bags
- no sloped floors
- no stage
- no crazy lights/blinding spots
- no REALLY CRAPPY sound systems
- no ringing in my ears afterwards

The whole venue was probably as big as my living room, and yet there was none of that bullshit that happens in places ten times the size. I am sure I can name most of the reasons for that, but the point really is just that it was a VERY welcome change.

What did happen was...

- the bands sets up their own gear
- the bands did their own sound checks
- the bands had to walk through the crowd to set up/tear down/take the "stage"
- the bands man their own merch booths (well, they have other people for when they're actually playing)
- the bands can actually SEE you from stage (even if you are in the back)
- the bands hangs out before/during/after their sets

And there were places to sit if you were so inclined. I wasn't. At least not for Kingsfoil, so I got right up front. Crazy. I just walked up to a spot and there I was. And it was SUCH a good place to be. I mean, I think I was less than ten feet from the band. Dancing, bouncing around, singing along, and all in all having a fucking AWESOME time. I was caught singing along a couple of times, but would totally forget the lyrics when Jordan made eye contact and would sort of start singing *at* me. It was thrilling and unnerving at the same time. I'm used to being more or less anonymous. Y'know, just another face in the crowd, and I was having so much fun that I would forget that I wasn't and then rememeber when it was like, "Oh shit... they're looking." Anyway, good times.

I didn't hang around to chat. I should have, but I was like, "Welllll... I have work in the morning..." etc. Excuses, excuses :p Although, that is true, and it was probably the smart thing to do. Normally, I want to kick myself when I miss those kinds of opportunities, but in this case... I dunno, I felt fine just kinda walking away thrilled and happy and glad I went. It really was enough. Maybe next time. Because, yes, I will be going back :) A lot.

Anyway, so that's it. Check out the band, buy their cds, and see them live if you can. You will be amazed.

Anyway, I think that's it for now :) G'night.

The Babelfish lyrics meme:
1) Put your iPod/Winamp/Whatever on shuffle and pick the first ten songs. Choose ten songs off your playlist that a) have lyrics and b) people might actually recognize.
2) Take the chorus and plug the lyrics into Babelfish.
3) Change them to Spanish.
4) Change those results to French.
5) Then change the results back to English.
6) Post the results here and let people try to guess what the song is.

( a rather weird slice of my library... )

( extra credit )

the night was spent and my money was young and i had to get home before my neck was wrung

That was sort of Thurs/Fri in a nutshell... lol. The long version will have to wait until my workday from hell is over.

I think we have to meet this tour at another stop and like kidnap Electric Touch. I am seriously considering Washington, D.C. I might also seriously be nuts, but I did kind of love them.

The Toxic Airborne Event (?) can DIAF... maybe. The TLA, it turns out, may not be the fairest place to make those judgments. But I'm not sure I'd last through another one of their infinite (andnotinagoodway) sets. It was nearly impossible the first time.

The Fratellis.... will have to wait until I'm home for real.

Several things were weird about this show. First of all I went by myself. Ugh. Like, at Mika it didn't matter because Mika fans are nerdy and fun and actually like music and they're friendly and they talk to each other and Mika shows are really a big fucking party with like... animal suits and rainbow confetti.

The We the Kings audience seemed to be comprised of mostly snobby hipster teens, which I sort of anticipated, but like... DAMN. I mean, that's really not fair, they were alright. Just young. I can't hate, I've been there. They were having a good time, so was I. But like I have never seen so many people at a show so preoccupied with their cell phones. Man, I remember going to shows where they confiscated your cell phones and cameras before you even went in, so I didn't take mine. I mean and that was before phones were ALSO cameras, which I now REALLY wish mine was :(

Next thing that was weird was how EARLY it was. I don't think I've been to a show where the DOORS were before 7pm, let alone the first band. Like there was actual music happening before it was even dark (6:30pm). And they were DONE before it was even dark (7:10pm). Also there were lights still on at the back of the club which was weird.

But okay, here's the thing - so this We the Kings show was just such a poorly planned deal on my part... like... I heard about the concert, wanted to go to the concert, bought tickets via ticketmaster... had them held at will call, only like... I didn't get a physical ticket. That's okay, they let me in but seriousy, I left my camera in the car because I didn't think I could have it... I don't have a cameraphone, I don't actually own the cd, and didn't even get a ticket stub out of the deal...

So, of course, three bands open for We the Kings and then they come on and do like a TWENTY MINUTE SET... maybe even like 15 minutes. Shortest one of all because all ages shows have to be over by 10pm in Lancaster. Now, their set was done at like 9:15, but the reason they cut it off early is so they could come out and meet all the fans. Like... ALL the fans. Which was great/annoying/weird/sad because I had like NOTHING. So I said I just found out about the show today and came straight from work, hence the total unpreparedness. Travis just hugged me, thanked me for showing up and said he was glad I decided to come :) But ARGH! A camera would have been SO helpful. Or... any signable item at all. But it was sweet and it was enough and it was a fun show, and I was glad I decided to go, too.

Kingsfoil was pretty cool, too. They're doing a free show in Millersville that I might go to. The guys were really nice and next time I will take my freakin' camera. AUGH!

I can never seem to write actual lj posts anymore so here's just s sampling of the goings-on in my life in no particular order...

Sandra's laptop is busted, it's been out of commission for about a week. This sucks, so I've called her a lot. And tonight I wrote her a letter! Because that's what she would do for me if it was my lappy that got dead.

I started cleaning my room. Like serious. It's so bad that I have to sleep on the floor because I have put so much on the bed while I'm cleaning that I can't get in it. Kind of forces me to keep working though. The desk is very nearly cleared off, so that should be out of my room soon. I took a whole bag full of purses/handbags to Goodwill, as well as some old mugs that were just kind of sitting around in the kitchenette because they were displaced in the remodel.

Fratellis tickets came in the mail today! I am crazy excited. My employer is so not playing ball on the leave requests related to this show, but I can still make it, so it's all okay there.

I have failed to make progress on my Perks of Being A Wallflower blog... I really need a title, suggestions are totally welcome. I have, however, started a tracklist for a mix that is kind of PoBaW-related, which will probably go up on muxtape and also be burned as a disc drop mix. In addition, I've acquired all the songs belonging to side B of Charlie's One Winter mix from the book and I may do the same thing with that. All of this will be posted and linked at http;//charlie-esque.net as soon as I can make it happen.

I have made progress in my "normal" blog in a way... I updated it at least. Created a flickr account for it. All that jazz. It has pictures and posts and categories and I am thinking with a little extra work tomorrow should be ready for linking. Not that it's really all that secret or hard to find. I am just kinda worried about the lack of content, despite the work-in-progress nature of the site. Or blog. Actually, I wish it was more of a site proper... but I'm not sure I could pull that off anymore. Wordpress is just so easy...

I went to my company cookout thing today. It was pretty much as awkward as anticipated, but it was fun, too. By some weird series of events I ended up winning a kind of melty cake and a case of burgers... I didn't especially want or need these, but I have them now, so... yeah. It was all just kinda weird.

I cleaned out the inbox of one of my gmail accounts...

I was in the hot tub for awhile... I blew some bubbles... I don't know. I think that all the interesting things are pretty much covered. Yeah... updates to follow.

Well, making an effort do some "real" blogging. I have a personal one going on, which is a wreck, but I'll link when it's debugged a bit. Then there is going to be Charlie-esque which is going to be a sort of pet project blog related to The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, which will be at http://charlie-esque.net when I get it kind of organized and started. Right no, all that's there is probably an empty wordpress thing, but anyone who has read the book, please comment, because I'd kind of like to get some feedback.

I am also cleaning out my room in a major way. I didn't get as much done today as I would have liked, but I did at least start doing it. I'm aiming to keep it going until it's properly done, and then expand my project all over the house.

I am reading If The Buddha Got Stuck by Charlotte Kasl and liking it a lot.

I am experimenting with twitter.

I have been making plans to go to a LOT of meetups.

I bought two tickets to the Fratellis show. I still don't have anyone to go with. if you are someone who wants to see the Fratellis, tell me. If not, I'm dragging someone from meetup. I have one ticket to Equus. I don't think anyone else will want to go. I am seriously thinking about getting Spring Awakening tickets for that day as well (Equus is a matinee). I am trying to figure out if I will be able to see Hawksley in Buffalo in November. I want to do all of this.

I give up for tonight because I am totally exhausted.

ETA for PK/Liz awareness/benefit; The Fratellis have added like 24983740174 dates to their tour and one of them is ACL and I know you always go to ACL anyway, but you are going to The Fratellis now whether you want to or not ;p That's 9/25

And Liz, they are coming to the Center Stage in Atlanta, so you should go too. That's 9/30.

Okay, so... I have been to two meetups so far. I went to the sushi one in Mechanicsburg which was aweseomely fun. I did actually try sushi... two vegetarian-ish rolls (cucumber and california) and your basic tuna roll. The jury is still out. I got ordered a maki combo and didn't realize that there were going to be like... 6 of each one. I think I ate like... four of them. I did have some salty miso soup and a sad little salad (that orange gingery dressing on some soggy iceberg lettuce) that Sandra warned me about. So um, that's my excuse. I did actually eat at least one of each, though, so I didn't wimp out or anything. They did have other non-sushi Japanese food, so I probably could have cheated, but that would have totally defeated the purpose. I would try it again, definitely, and it's a niiiice place. I got way confused trying to find it though. Sandra helped me out with some skillful googling which didn't really help because google does not know its way around Mechanicsburg apparenty... but I found it in the end. The meetup itself was fun, I met cool people, had a blast, even felt slightly adventurous, all very good.

The second one I went to on Monday was just a local "dining out" group which I joined because they were going to this place I always wanted to try. It turned out to be a much smaller one with an older, less diverse crowd, but it was still a good time and the food was awesome, too. It's a Mexican/Italian restaurant called... Mexitaly. Yup. Apparently, they have a garden out back where they grow some of the ingredients that they use and I mean it really just looks like this little shack by the side of the road with mismatch patio furniture and a minigolf course, but what it lacks in... well, ambiance?... it makes up for EVERYWHERE else. I'm glad I finally checked it out. I would definitely go again but I remember that day I was feeling sooo torn about it, like I don't wanna go/I already RSVP'd. I'm late/you have a shitty commute, they'll understand. What if they don't?/Deal with it. I just wanna go home/if you don't have fun, you're 10 minutes from home, etc. I mean, I REALLY had to talk myself into it, but grudgingly I pulled into the lot, and grudgingly I got out of the car and I forced myself to walk shyly up to the table and join. I'm glad I did, too. That's what a lot of this is about because the nice part is... honestly, the best thing... was getting to hang out and talk to people that were just other people.

I mean, I work in a call center, I talk to people all day... and a lot of them are great, but business is business and unfortunately... the nature of my business kinda sucks, not the kind of conversations I would choose to be having all day, believe me. But for better or worse, it's a job and I'm grateful to have it... but with all my friends being... everywhere else, I was really feeling people-deprived, so it was great just to feel even remotely social. Which happened again for me on Saturday, too, but in a different way.

When I was growing up, before I knew like... ANYBODY on my flist, there was an elderly couple who lived next door to me named Janet and Dennis Myers. They had a granddaughter, Natasha, who would come to visit over the summers and who was like my for serious childhood BFF. We were like sisters and they were like a third set of grandparents to me. Janet is probably the person who I can trace my love of cats back to... and I got my own first cat, a Himalayan named Sugar, from a litter Natasha's family cats had had. Anyway, it's hard for me not to enumerate every great memory I have about them and the time when they lived there, because they were there for almost my whole life. Eventually, though... Dennis got sick so they moved down south to live with another of their children so that they would have family nearby to care for him. So new people moved in, we never really saw much of Natasha or her family anymore, there really was no reason for them to come to Red Lion with Janet and Dennis gone. But last year, Janet passed away. There was a ceremony held down south which my grandmother went to, but I wasn't able to, which I always felt kind of ... uncomfortable about. I wanted to be there, I felt like I should have been, but on Saturday I got another chance. There was another ceremony here in PA to spread the ashes and we all went and it was just... right. It was relatively small, 13 of us there including the pastor and the four of us in my family, but it was great. Maybe not the circumstances you like... but it's so oddly refreshing and nourishing to be with people you have that kind of history with... to remember with you and remind you where you came from and all that you had back when you didn't even know it. I didn't ever really notice how much I had compartmentalized and forgotten those years, and others... that you kind of push aside or let go of or otherwise don't feel because of the necessity of the present, the pressure of the future. Things get lost sometimes without you ever meaning for them to. Sometimes, you are lucky and you find them again.

First of all, I have some new musics. Man, I like the weirdest stuff right now. First I got Metro Station's self-titled album, since I loved my illegal copy sososo much I went out and bought it all legit and proper. It's only fair. And then I bought "Here We Stand" by The Fratellis, because when The Fratellis make an album, I buy it. That's just what I do. And I've never been disappointed ever. Annnnd lastly, I bought "Riot" by Paramore. I haven't really listened to it yet. I keep playing "MiseryBusiness" over and over and over... I might get tired of it someday. I like their other single too, and I might even like the other songs if I could be bothered to listen to them. I'll let you know... if that ever happens, anyway.

Tomorrow I will maybe put up some songs and lyrics and stuff, but right now I should maybe be going to bed. But I can't. I am not tired because I worked like all day Saturday 7am - 3pm, then something like 5:45 pm - 11:45 pm. Sunday I woke up around noon, maybe for an hour or two before heading back to bed and sleeping until like 8:15pm. Watched some Futurama with my mom and had... dinner? I guess. Got online, talked to Sandra, paid some bills, did pretty much nothing useful or important other than that. Took a bath... went to bed and... woke up. After less than an hour.

Anyway, since I'm here and I'm posting, I might as well ask... I am new to sushi sort of. Like I explained to Sandra earlier, in Tennessee I had some tofu roll things which may or may not count as sushi, but nothing else. So I joined a sushi group on meetup.com because I have always wanted to try it, but it wasn't something I wanted to try on my own and possibly not know what to get or not like whatever I do get, etc. So I am just curious if anyone has ideas on what things are good to try if you have never tried sushi before?

Oh man, I just found a $10 bill in my copy of Anansi Boys that I must have been using as a bookmark. I grabbed it off the shelf by accident, missing the book I wanted (American Gods), by kind of groping in its general direction in the dark. And I found money in it! Yay! But like... yeah, I also joined this book club (I actually went a little crazy on meetup beause everything seemed pretty cool until I realized half the groups I joined are now defunct) and their September book is American Gods which I have tried to read once or twice in the past without ever getting too far. It's a good book from what I can tell, but I have always gotten too busy to ever finish it. Anyway I just think it's kind of cool that they picked a book I already have as opposed to one I will have to either buy or borrow.

Okay, maybe now I can get some sleep.

1.) I bought a car two weeks and um... two days ago. I got a new 2008 Nissan Versa Hatchback SL in sapphire blue and I ... LOVE IT. The CVT is all kinds of awesome. The stereo, the bluetooth, the intelligent key system, the cargo space, the sunroof, the shiny blue paint... all made of awesome. As much as it can be, my commute is now... FUN. Free XM radio + speed sensitive volume = MASSIVE singalong potential. The 90's on 9 is such a good place to be :D

2.) A week after getting my awesome new car, I also got an awesome new haircut. It is realllly short and bouncy and curly with layers and like no fuss. I have had it for a week and people are STILL coming up to me going OMG I LOVE YOUR HAIR IT'S SO CUTE. One of my co-workers from Tom's actually texted me to say they liked it annnnd this was weird/great... a complete stranger passed me on the sidewalk on the way to work and said, "You look fabulous, honey." I am dead serious. Just like that, it was so weird, but she totally made my day. LOL. Not to mention, it's softer and shinier and not all frizzy and just really, really simple to style. I think I'ma keep it.

3.) I have a glass teapot and some flowering teas. I am not sure who else besides Sandra and myself might be like, a total tea NERD, but I think that everyone should think these are totally cool. Because they are. Basidally, they are a tea leaves and flowers sewn together and rolled into little balls. You drop the ball in a clear teapot, pour the boiling water on and let it steep. As it steeps, the ball begins to open up and the flowers and tea leaves "bloom" and you have this very beautiful flower-y thing floating in your teapot, not to mention some tea in your teapot, but that's kind of the idea, isn't it? So far, I have tried an oolong variety with a bit of a peach flavoring, but I also have two jasmine varieties which i haven't used. The one I had was very flavorful but kind of mild/weak. I prefer stronger teas but I can't get over the novelty right now ;)

*sigh*

Why is the internet so boring tonight?

Man, so I did pretty much nothing productive last night. I spent a ton of time watching the Whitest Kids U Know on YouTube. I want whatever the curly, red, girl-type version of sexy-Trevor-hair is. And also sexy Trevor. <3

For some reason, I watched THIS particular video like 80000 times...

06.10.08

I'm at the point in my search now, where I think only fair tie-breaker is a test drive. Which is kind of terrifying, but I guess I should arrange to start making the rounds now.

In case I chicken out, I looked up another '93 Cavalier Coupe on AutoTrader.com :) A red one. I have it all planned out... It will be called Vash--the grey one was Wolfwood. I did sort of love that car, but my mechanic will bitch if I turn up with another one. Yeah, anyway... I guess I should get back to scheduling demos. *sigh* Will someone please tell me this is actually the fun part... I'm sure it's supposed to be but I am actually kinda panicked.

Okay, well... I am leaning very heavily toward the Versa hatchback at this point. I think I'm going to test drive this weekend maybe at the dealer in York and if it's not love, I'll move on to whatever is next.

( 2008 June 09 )

( 2008 June 08 )

( 2008 June 07 )

( 2008 June 06 )

( 2008 June 05 )