Keepin' it close to home.

DCist recently compiled a list of songs by local bands that have left washingtonian's in a state of aural pleasure for the past year. I agree. Favorites on the list include Greenland, M. Bragg, and The Bonapartes. I'm surprised to see that non of Army of Me's songs made the cut...

Get linked!

On an entirely unrelated note...

here's what DCist had to say about our style:

"In a world increasingly dominated by overpaid Hollywood stylists creating so-called “fashion icons” out of teenage starlets, one of our favorite things about D.C. is the unique style sensibilities of its residents. From Mousetrap glam to Georgetown preppy, you rock your looks with as much confidence and conviction as you defend your political opinions."

So true... our beloved district has one of the most unique vibes I've ever encountered and I love the juxtaposition of politics and la vie de bohemme.

The fun begins!

Kathryn and I were finally reunited last night at about 12am at Dulles Airport. She wasn't too happy about her arrival time, but it wasn't really a big deal. I'm not that far from the airport so I didn't mind picking her up at all. I'm so excited she is here. Right as we got her bags in the back of my trunk she got her camera and started to record the ride back to my house (where she will be staying for a week) and it was just absolutely ridiculous. We debated whether or not we should post it on vimeo but we came to the ultimate conclusion that it was just far too long and far too ridiculous to make strangers sit through. We were singing really off key to Bright Eyes and it probably would be embarassing for everyone involved. Anyway, she's here now and I'm super excited. We will be making more clips that will hopefully make the cut and be posted on vimeo so keep an eye out. And if you don't have the link to my vimeo page and want it, leave a message or shoot me an e-mail. :P

NEW YEARS EVE IS TOMORROW!!!

and here we go again...

Top 5 parties

1. Halloween in Collegiate Court
2. Keirn's going away in Collegiate Court
3. Foxridge "whatever happens in foxridge, stays in foxridge"
4. Wake Forest circa January 2005
5. UVA with Nina Cohen/Christy Lewis

Continuing...

Top 5 CDs in rotation this year:

1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
2. Kanye West - Late Registration
3. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
4. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
5. Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

Calais! Calais! Calais!
This year we spent Christmas in Charleston, SC where I've been the past week or so. Needless to say, it was great. My family was there and I could go on and on, but I will spare you. There was great food and I was in the company of wonderful people and that's pretty much all you can ask for. The weather was ridiculously nice outside too. I wore a t-shirt one of the days. We went to Church on Christmas and let me just say that the southerners really know how to build a church. It was gorgeous and the preist was so cute. I loved it and had a great time and can only hope that you guys did as well.

In other news, my parents officially announced their retirement to the family. They are planning on saying goodbye to their beloved jobs in 2008 when I graduate. They recently purchased a house in Myrtle Beach and I got to see it for the first time this week. I'm pretty much in love with it. It's smaller than the house we're living in right now, but it is absolutely GORGEOUS. The detailing on the doors and walls and knobs etc. are to die for. It's the perfect size for them and has extra rooms for when I visit with friends. The backyard is also amazing. It's got an outdoor grill built into this brick wall thing. There's a pool and a side fountain. My mom suggested that I get married there. It's got a golf course down the street so my dad is happy and the beach is only one block away. And it's not the touristy part of the beach either which is just perfect for them. I'm really happy for my parents and I'm really excited for their house. The builder also told us that Tiger Woods just bought a house down the street so maybe dad will catch a glimpse of him on the green. I'm really glad they are finally doing something for themselves. They've given up so much for us it's about time they went all out. This house is ridiculous though, the color schemes are amazing and mom got an interior designer to help her turn it into her dream home. So far it's about 80% finished and from what i've seen, it's just - there are no words. From the mirrors to the floors, to the patio in the back... I will not be able to resist the temptation to visit.

I was browsing through my Tech 2005-2006 photo file on my computer and I came across this picture. I totally didn't even know I had it. It made me smile and laugh. And I guess this picture does a pretty good job in summing up my year. Full of good times, laughter, smiles, funny and amazing people. Thank you guys for making it a good one. :D 

Thump... Thump... Thumpity... Thump... Thump
(that's what my heart sounded like when I went to the Andy Warhol gallery yesterday)

Last night Kaj had the overwealming urge to go to DC and well, I've been wanting to go to the Andy Warhol gallery since Thanksgiving (also, we had tried to do this on Tuesday but it failed) so we finally got our schedules to match up with the Corcoran's and we went and Andy Warhol-ed it up. I picked him up in Arlington where he spent the day and cut my finger on a door while holding it for an old woman. Our walk to the metro was pretty ridiculous - my finger was bloody and we didn't have band-aids and I'm a germ-o-phobe so you can imagine how funny it was. Kaj asked the lady at the metro booth for band-aids and she had them! I was relieved but she did give me the 3rd degree on what happened which was kind of strange. Needless to say it was probably one of the most interesting trips to DC I've ever been on. Now that Kaj's been home from France for awhile, he's decided to become a DC know-it-all. So far so good. He has a pretty good sense of direction and found the Corcoran with no problem. However, he doesn't know what any of the buildings actually are. He's good with streets and that's about it. Anyway, the exhibit itself was absolutely amazing (shock!) - I loved it. Kaj was the perfect person to go with too. He let me take my time as I stared and stared and stared awestruck for hours. He liked to read the captions so I guess that kept him busy and kept me informed when he relayed all the information back to me. Not a fan of modern art, Kaj walked out of the Corcoran a convert. I guess my job was done for the day - I didn't do much though, Andy Warhol seems to have that effect on people. The display was great. I liked how the rooms were all themed. At one point, I remember turning to Kaj and just saying, "I can't believe we are this close to Andy Warhol right now." It was pretty surreal. I'm going to have to go again - I'm thinking of taking Kathryn when she flies in from North Carolina. I highly recommend it, if you haven't seen it all ready, please do so. Here's your chance! This exhibit is practically in our backyards - it would be a shame to pass it up. You won't regret it.

Keep it going...

Top 10 people I hung out with all the time

1. Kathryn [prob. everyday this summer]
2. Rachel
3. Matt
4. Drew
5. Keirn
6. Kathleen
7. Jerry
8. Maddie
9. Sarah
10. Pat

As the year comes to a close I think it will be fun to make top 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. lists. I'll post a few every day up until New Years eve.

Top 5 concerts:

1. Bright Eyes & Feist [November 2005]
2. Rufus Wainwright & Ben Folds [August 2005]
3. Bright Eyes & The Faint [May 2005]
4. Army of Me & The Bonapartes [Dec 2005]
5. Audrey Sessions @ Virginia Tech! [Oct 2005]


Top 10 college memories:

1. Hanging out with Audrye Sessions
2. Wake Forest Basketball game last year when Chris Paul was still there. 3rd row seats.
3. Meeting Dr. Simmons for the first time and being so scared about the future, but now looking back and realizing this man does wonders.
4. Hurricane Katrina sending former Tulane student Keirn to Virginia Tech for the semester
5. Hokie Football in the fall - there's NOTHING like it.
6. Being super lame the first time Pat came to visit - I cringe just thinking about it.
7. Making gingerbread houses with Jerry
8. John Boyer's World Region's class - probably the best class I've ever taken in my life. "There were ninjas!"
9. The cadets singing carols in my dorm during exam week in uniform.
10. Randomly being on Extreme Home Make Over and making fun of an orange Ty Pennington.

I made the Dean's list, and my Science G.P.A was over a 3.5 (which is the min. requirement to make it into Med-School) sooooo, basically this semester was awesome and I'm feeleing good about MCATs.

Oh yeah Animal Collective is playing in Asheville, NC and Washington, DC come March. :D Come with me!

Strikes everywhere!

It appears that the dancers of The Washington Ballet, more specifically the dancers of The Nutcracker have gone on strike. In otherwords, no Nutcracker for anybody this year. Sadly, the rest of the shows have been cancelled which could be detrimental to the company seeing as this event brings in the most revenue all year. I'm really saddened by this because this is an annual family tradition. For as long as I can remember, come Christmas time, we'd always go to the Kennedy Center or Warner theatre and I could always count on that to be the one consistant thing that happened in my life, but not this year. I know I'm probably sounding a little dramatic, but it's sad since this is a little piece of my childhood that I've hung onto for so long and this year it's gone. I guess, there comes a point where you just have to let go - I don't feel like I'm ready yet. 2006 is going to be a very challenging but hopefully rewarding year. I'm moving out on my own - I will be living in a townhouse cooking for myself and hoping it's not a complete disaster. I will have my toughest course load then, and I will also be taking my MCATs which will pretty much determine where I will be going the next 4 years of my life. I'm so excited since I've never been so sure about anything in my life. I guess this is what growing up feels like. I guess I just wanted to end the year by holding onto a piece of my "old self" if that makes any sense.

In other News, New York transit is on strike? Hopefully this doesn't happen in DC, from what I've heard/seen so far on the news and from friends, it is a pain in the ass.

So much for Andy Warholing it up...

Last night Kaj and I planned to make our way into the city to see the glorious Andy Warhol gallery at the Corcoran, however, this morning our hopes and dreams were shattered to pieces when we tried to see where we could park via the Corcoran website and came across this page. It seems quite random to me that the museum is closed every Tuesday. This would happen. My life is just that awesome. We decided to reschedule our excursion for Thursday instead and then, I came across this page - which is just perfect because we're supposed to meet friends for dinner on Thursday night in Georgetown anyway so after we Andy Warhol it up, we can Post Secret it up and kill time before dinner.

Perfect!

ALSOOO....

Army of Me was featured in The Washington Post a few days ago. Click here to read the article online, and click here if you're not a member and a scanned copy of the article in the paper should pop up.

DCist also covered Saturday night's concert and you can see it here.

Rummaging -----> sweet finds.

Today I was going through my closet because I have that kind of time on my hands and I came across an old school Polaroid Camera! :D I thought I had gotten rid of this a long time ago but I'm glad I didn't. I remember my dad bought it for me when I was in elementary school because I had some sort of science fair project due (and this was way before the digital camera days) and I had to have my pictures of various stages of bread mold (or whatever it was we were doing) on a poster board by the next day and the solution was... POLAROID CAMERA! I'm really glad I found it, I think it's still got some film in it too. Kaj and I are going to see the Andy Warhol gallery tomorrow so I figure I may just document my trip. I doubt they will let me take pictures in the museum itself, but if they did that would be terriffic. It's so ugly (pictured to the right) and bulky - the newer polaroids are much more compact and "futuristic" but, regardless, I'm in love with this photo-taking phenomenon of the 80's and 90's all over again. I prefer my old ugly polaroid camera to the 2005 soon to be 2006 ones anyway. I'm really excited about this. I'm surprised it has survived 3 moves. Now, if only I could find my old NES system...

discovery!

This morning, i went to put a croissant in the microwave and what did I find under it? The most amazing tea/coffee maker on the planet! Believe me, it's by no means an overstatement. I just tested it out and this cup of tea I'm drinking is made to perfection and required the touch of two buttons. Big shoutout goes to my dad's employees for getting this for him which he has decided to display in our kitchen for the use of his wife and children. My dad and I are coffee/tea drinking machines. I'm pretty sure we have caffeine in our blood 24-7 (okay, overstatement) but needless to say, I am very appreciative of this and am sad I cannot take this to school with me. I'm going to have to make a short clip and show you guys how this works because it amuses me to no end and it is so pretty. Keep checking vimeo out - I hope to have it up soon.

Back to this bangin' cup of tea.

You know you're hardcore when you've busted your finger and blood is gushing out, but you're still playing. The Bonapartes are badasses.

Home and lovvvving it!

I went to the Army of Me concert last night with Rach, Drew 1, Kaj, and his little sister. It was a great way to celebrate being back home. It was at the Black Cat (one of my favorite DC venues) and it was so much fun. We took the Metro and passed Cafe Saint Ex on the way there... it brought back a lot of memories. The concert was fun, it was an 18+ crowd. The Bonapartes opened and they were great, I enjoyed them a lot - this was the first time I'd heard them play - they were a cross between Modest Mouse and The Killers. The lead singer also had some pretty sweet dance moves. It was also their first release show and they've been getting a lot of good press around DC lately so watch out for them this coming year. Next, The Whips opened and they were really funny and entertaining but none of us were too impressed by their music. Lastly, Army of Me came on and as usual, they were amazing. They played a lot of songs from their "Fake Ugly EP" you know, just kickin' it old school. And then they did some of their newer material which included: Perfect, Going Through Changes, etc. This was their last show of the year and it was home so there was a great vibe throughout the whole place, then Vince announced that they just got a record deal (FINALLY!) - we were all so happy for them and right after he said that, they played "Come Down To DC" which I thought was very appropriate. I loved loved loved it. Such a fun night - I didn't get back home until 3am, but it was well worth it, I was in great company.

Next up: A visit to the Andy Warhol Gallery with Kaj and Rach.

Real quick...

- It's so good to be home. I've missed missed missed Northern Virginia
- I took Kathryn to the Airport today. I was sad because our schedules kind of clashed, but she will be back here soon enough after visiting her Dad in North Carolina.
- The Army of Me concert is tomorrow. I am very excited. We've got a good group of people going. Among them are, Drew, Rach, Kathleen and Myself. You are welcome to join us. It will be good times. RSVP and we'll all go together. :D
- Mike and Ollie are staying at Liz's house to see the great American Cities of DC and New York before flying to San Fran and then back home to New Zealand. I'm so sad these guys are going home. They are fantastic guys with killer personalities and well you know... a great accent. I hate to see them go - they will be terribly missed next semester. :(
- I got my Illinois shirt in the mail!!! I love it.
- I've been listening to Earth Wind & Fire's "September" all night. I feel like a big nerd, but it reminds me of how Juxta's Eric sings it (since I don't have that version) and it kind of puts me in a good nostalgic "I miss Tech" already kind of mood.
- Kaj is back from France and I received a few calls from him today which I was very excited about. I cannot wait to see this kid! I'm glad he is not jet-lagged anymore.
- Mike is also in town visiting for a very short period of time. If you want to see him, do it before Sunday.

On heavy rotation...

Elliot Smith's "St. Ides Heaven" and "Clementine." Clementine was the first Elliott Smith song I had ever heard. Replaying old memories tonight.

Other exciting news:

After a semester in France in the most picturesque location imaginable, Kaj is home! He can rest assured that his door will be one of the first that I knock on when I get home.

On the Agenda...
(December!)

- A visit to the Andy Warhol exhibit in DC
- Lunch with my cousin Dane who I haven't seen since this summer
- Army of Me concert
- Nutcracker with my family (annual tradition)
- Hosting a Holiday party with Rach
- Horseback riding in Western Loudoun with Kathleen
(we're going to try to pick up Polo this summer)
- Kaj's welcome home party (after a semester in France)
- Georgetown excursion day with Kathryn and Rach
- New York Summer trip meeting :D Finalizing details, choosing our hotel, coming up with an itinerary etc.
- Christmas at home
- South Carolina ?
- Kathryn flying in to stay with me for a week

I'm so excited. 2 more days.

Jeux d'enfants.

This movie is on my Christmas list. A French romantic comedy (and you know how I love all things French), it's a story about two kids that meet in grade school that have a colorful tin box. They pass the box along to one another when they want to dare the other to do something. This game of dare becomes extreme at times and follows them into adulthood (hence the literal french title meaning, child games). They end up falling for each other. I hear it's got a similar vibe to Amelie and I cannot wait to check it out. At a mere $10.99 on amazon.com, I say, why not?

Link to official website

PS: The American title of this movie is "Love me if you dare."

Currently...

- really enjoying the music of James Blunt (specifically the song "You're Beautiful")
- not enjoying how he looks over sexified in his picture (posted). I don't like when magazines or photographers do that. They take so much away from the human essence. Imperfections are beautiful, don't hide them. Well, maybe this picture isn't the best example now that I look at it, but you know what i'm talking about... all the airbrushed celebrities make me kind of sad because they are so naturally beautiful to begin with.
- getting excited to go home
- also listening to a lot of Aqualung (I guess the Brits are conquering my ears this exam week)
- thinking about how i should start packing

One more exam stands in the way of being immersed in Winter Break.

We have so much to celebrate!

The past few days have been great! Friday, Nich and I decided that we all needed to get together so we cooked alfredo for 15 people and had them all come over. The university was closed until 1pm on Friday so a lot of people's finals were rescheduled for 7:45am on Saturday which just wasn't fun for anyone involved. We decided we should have a low key night and it turned out wonderfully. By Saturday everyone was at their wits end. Exams will commence on Monday, but we all decided to throw a party. At first it was just for those same 15 people that came to dinner. We had a lot to Celebrate: Peter's birthday, Keirn's last semester at Tech, the end of our first exam week, Tommy's power hour Christmas mix, the holidays coming up, our group of friends. Keirn and I decided to cook for everyone this time. We made so much food, some of which included, pigs in a blanket, s'mores, cupcakes, dip... we pretty much went all out. These guys are like family to us so we were really excited to do it. Anyway, we ended up getting a keg and pretty much celebrated after exams around 3pm and went on through the night. By the end of the night a lot more people showed up and we had to get another keg, but it was great having everyone together one last time before exams. There wern't any random people at the party. Everybody knew everyone else - I thought it was pretty ideal. As you can probably gather from the pictures below, we all had a really great time. It was a great way to finish out the semester.

I also posted a video from last night on my vimeo page.

Ha ha, great minds think alike.  

Intoxicated! 

Awesome. 

I got him back. 

Drew beating me up. Me living to tell about it. 

Writing on Tommy's shirt 

Moe! This kid so so money! 

Yesssssssss! 

Avec le vin 

Todd looking drunk 

With Matt. :D 

We should have gone streaking...
One more paper and exam to go! I'm really actually kind of upset because as of an hour ago I finished all my exams and will probobably finish my paper by today (good thing). But my last exam of the semester just happens to fall on the last possible day of exams which means that I get to stay here until Thursday and not really do anything. Anyway, by last night, I had been studying for my Chem exam for roughly 48 hours and had become so dilusional I was singing the milkshake song. Then, for some reason, I felt it was a great idea to streak torgersen bridge (pictured and taken from VT's webpage). I didn't actually do it (thank you voices of reason), however, I did carefully think this out. Torg bridge is such a stretegic streaking location. Just look at it! It connects the library and Torg hall. It has easily accessible staircases at both ends so you can run up a set of stairs, streak, and run down the stairs on the other side. Underneath torg bridge are two "get-away" doors where you can have a "get-away" car parked to pick you up. Who doesn't study in Torg bridge for exams? Seriously, it would provide great comic relief for people who are stressed out. Basically PERFECT. But nobody wanted to do it with me. I feel as though streaking torg bridge is something a Hokie must do along with making out in the stakcks and camping on the drillfield before he/she graduates. Am I right? I even thought about what would happen if one got arrested for indecent exposure and had to go to jail. Though it probably isn't the best idea to spend the night before a final in jail... if you brought your books, I'm pretty sure you'd have incentive to study. Incentive = you not wanting to talk to the townies in jail with you. I wonder if they would let you study in jail. I mean there wouldn't be any distractions and you'd be too scared to talk to anyone/move. Okay so, obviously I didn't go through with it, but let it be known that it was seriously considered and thought through. Finals Spring 2006 anyone? Ha ha.

Sidenote: I've been listening to Aqualung's Strange and Beautiful on repeat all morning. (Better than the milkshake song? - definately!)

Oh man...

I am so excited right now. This morning, I bought (in my opinion) the coolest shirt EVER. I cannot wait to get it in the mail when I get home and wear it all day. And as if this shirt wasn't cool enough, it just had to be printed on American Apparel! In other words, the most quality sweatshop free shirts on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line! Yesss. So anyway, it's pictured, to the left. Don't get too jealous for you can score one of your own! Pat's probably going to be totally jealous since he's from Illinois. Don't worry, I'll wear it one day in his presence and make him cry.

PS: Sufjan Stevens is awesome and so is this CD and if you haven't yet, you should probably do yourself a favor and go download The Lord God Bird right about now.

I'm on the verge, I'm on the verge!

I'm pretty sure I just had the most bangin' day. I've been pretty concerned with my Pre-Med requirements this semester because the primary Pre-Med advisor (Dr. Simmons) is so hard to get a hold of becuase he has so many meetings with so many students so usually there's a one month wait to see him (that's if you're super lucky) anyway I signed up for a Chem class this semester thinking it was part of my Pre-Med requirements and it turns out that it's not (Go figure, life throws awesome curveballs at me constantly). Anyway Dr. Simmons told me I had to go talk to Dr. Amateis becuase he said he'd let me get by with taking that class as long as I took the second semester of a different Chemistry class, but he said it was really up to her to see if I was ready or if she'd let it slide. Anyway, I had a meeting with her today and she was so nice and helpful. She told me she had talked to my current Chem professor and she reccommended me for the second part of the Pre-Med Chem class and they let me opt out of the first one, but I still get credit for it which is just AWESOME. I'm so glad it worked out because I was afraid I'd be a semester behind which would have thrown everything off. It's so ironic because as far as my major (Psyc) goes, I can actually graduate next year, which would be a year early, but because I've declared Pre-Med, I have a lot of other classes to take, which obviously keeps me here and extra year, but it works out becuase I was supposed to graduate then anyway. Also, I don't want to take MCATs this year anyway so it works out. Today, I also declared Soc as my minor. The people in the Soc department were very helpful and it was quick and painless and now I am officially Pre-Med/Psyc with Soc. It's really exciting. I would never have thought that I would have picked up Soc, but I'm really happy with the decision and right now it feels as though everything is coming together so nicely and I'm just at a really good place right now. I know what I want to do for sure, and I love my classes/profs. Also, I took an exam this morning for Personality of Psyc and I'm pretty sure I rocked it! I was really excited when I left the room. I'm actually taking all my exams early and I would be done by this Friday and get to go home early except for I have ONE exam next Thursday (the last day of finals) and my professor won't change the date, or let us take it early so basically, I will just be staying here for 4 days doing nothing. :( I want to go visit friends at other schools, but I'm pretty sure everybody is taking exams right now so that's probably not an option. I don't know what I will do with myself... suggestions?

All smiles.

The corps of cadets just came through my hall singing Christmas carols while I was studying for my exam. It made me so happy. They were in uniform.... their hot ones. The ones that are all white that they only wear to Military Balls. So cute! It almost made my night... but then Colin called.

I wish I could tell you what's going on with Colin. He called to share some ridiculously exciting news which I cannot leak because I have been sworn to secrecy, but it bascially made me very happy. I was not only flabbergasted, but just so excited for him. My neighbor sharon came by because she heard me being excited for Colin over the phone and she told me I looked like I was going to cry for him because I was so excited. I mean, if I didn't have an exam to study for, I would probably be on the phone crying/laughing/clebrating with this kid. He is amazing and I am so proud of him and so happy for him. I know this is vague, but it is for good reason. Congrats Colin! :)

PS: I'm listening to Jeff Buckley right now and it's amazing! CD: Grace. Favorites include, Lilac Wine and Hallelujah.

Promises.

I've been on a Dove milk chocolate kick lately. My dove of choice? Promises. Like fortune cookies, but they taste better. Anyway, I've been saving the wrappers with little messages inside and since it's the end of the semester, there's really no point in me having a ton of these little squares of aluminium sit around so... I"m going to compile a list of wisdom a la Dove.

- Test your own limits and keep going
- Sometimes one smile means more than a dozen roses
- Love without rules
- Send a love letter this week.
- Smile before bed. You'll sleep better.
- Find your passion.
- Listen to your heartbeat and dance.
- Watch reruns, then replay your memories.
- Lose yourself in a moment.
- Learn soemthing from everyone you meet.
- You know what? You look good in red.
- Go against the grain.

Only I would get a recipe from someone at 2am.

This past weekend I went to Collegiate Court to watch one of the most devestating games I have ever seen (so devestating, this is the first time I've talked about it because I had to allow for some cushion time to lessen the pain). Anyway, that night, the boys cooked for us and by "the boys" I mean Drew and Nich (pronounced neesh), the two out of ten or so guys that were there. Surprisingly, they did a fantastic job and it left me completely envious of their cooking capibilities for they were far more superior than mine. Anyway, they made us Fetuccini alfredo (Nich) and Pork Tenderloin (Drew) both of which were cooked to perfection. It was pretty much amazing. Anyway, I asked if they could give me some cooking lessons or forward the recipes (Nich's recipe especially because I am a HUGE pasta/carbs fan). Drew said he would come by the townhouse next fall and help me cook so I wouldn't eat ramen every day or starve to death, and for that I am completely thankful. Okay well, moving along to the TRUE root of this story... At 2am last night I got an IM from Nich... with none other than this spectacular recipe (below):

nish: hey, the recipe for the alfredo is
nish: 1.5 cup heavy whipping cream, 1.25 cup parmesean cheese (you can use more or less depending how cheesy you like it), 1-3 cloves of garlic (smash them before you put them in the pot), pepper, and 1 tablespoon of butter
nish: and cook it on medium heat, maybe a little less
nish: until it mixes nicely
nish: this is for 1 box of noodles
nish: put salt in the water when you boil the noodles, and after you drain the noodles
nish: throw in mozzeralla, like a handful, and mix it around
nish: then just add the sauce and chicken

Sounds easy enough right? I think I can attempt to do this, however, I would like some directions on how to cook the chicken. I wonder if it has to be marinated? Also, with the sauce, I wonder if you let it simmer, or bring it to a boil... I need specifics. Also, I am an observational learner, so I think it would be a lot easier if I could just see it being done. Does somebody want to try cooking this with me sometime?

Panty raids... what?

Yesterday I received this Campus Notice, and today Ty Pennington was in my dorm room. I came back from classes today and saw a camera crew in my dorm and just thought that someone was filming for a final or something. Afterall, this is the beginning of exam week. Anyway, I had my iPod on and was in my own little world at the time and I didn't think much of it. The entrance way to my hall was kind of blocked by the crew so I politely asked if I could get to my dorm. Ty was there and I knew he looked familiar but I still wasn't putting the pieces together. Anyway, I made it to my dorm room pretty oblivious and then my neighbor from across the hall pulled me into her room. I hadn't even gotten my jacket off yet. And all she said to me was "act surprised" and made me play Nintendo. Sure enough after a few minutes the cameras busted into her room and we "acted surprised." Afterwards, my roomate and I went back to our rooms and they asked if they could film in there as well. We agreed, and seconds later, Ty busts through the door and goes through our drawers yelling "PANTY RAIDDD" and afterwards somebody asked us to sign a waiver so I'm thinking they are going to use it on air... which would be pretty funny. TiVo anyone? It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. It was a pretty random day. It's great when you attend a large and very scenic University. Cool stuff like this happens all the time.... to the point where you're not even phased anymore. I LOVE IT. PS: It snowed for the first time in Blacksburg since we've been here TODAY! I shot some footage (very turbulent footage) on my way back from classes... (it killed my batteries, and i wish it didn't otherwise i could have gotten some ty pennington and TLC and Main Eggleston-ness for you guys and that would have been amazing). Wow, good times.

PS: Mr. Pennington is quite orange considering it is the month of December and snowing.

Add these songs to your iTunes!
(Hopefully they will be on heavy rotation)

1. Tristan Prettyman - Shy that Way
2. Bright Eyes - Napoleon's Hat
3. Jason Mraz - Gypsy MC
4. Bob Dylan - One Too Many Mornings
5. Jeff Buckley - Lilac Wine
6. Army of Me - Perfect
7. Sufjan Stevens - The Lord God Bird*
8. Pavement - Spit On A Stranger
9. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
10. Elliott Smith - Twilight
11. Coldplay - White Shadows
12. Audrye Sessions - No One Is Listening
13. Travis - Flowers In The Window
14. Elliott Smith - Son of Sam
15. Ben Folds - Late

* His voice is just ridiculous in this song. I think I melted when I heard it. Lovely. Nice story behind the song too.

Cohen's away message:

mary fuckin le come back and tell me that story soberly. and do me. thanks.

ha ha ha... i love her.

Exams begin for me this week. I can't believe this semester is practically over. I had a 2 hour lunch with Tommy today because we had a lot of catching up to do. Turns out, our friend Ashely got married. And, last night our friend PJ got engaged so I'd like to extend my congratulations to Peej and his lovely. And, another one of our friends is thinking about poping the question. I have to keep this under wraps, but this is all very very exciting and I wish them all the best. This is a lot of exciting news shared over a lunch meeting... no?

oh yeah we lost last night. it wasn't fun.

My friends prove to be more amazing everyday.

Dylan has been working on this short for awhile and you can view it here. The poetry is written by our friend Keith and I think it's great (in a non bias way). I hope you enjoy it. I did.

Pffffft. Scratch that. Local Andy Zipf is where it's at.

Get some Andy here.

I'm a fan of the song "Your Fire." I would like him to sing me to sleep.

I'm feelin' it.

New Obession de Mary for you guys. They are called "Street to Nowhere." I think the lead singer sounds a little bit like the guy from Our Lady Peace from time to time. It's very eerie and edgy. As far as instrumentals go think Postal Service mixed with the strings of Audrye Sessions. I really like it. Click the link below to check it out yo'self.

Street to Nowhere