Recent musical obsessions...

...download now!

Brett Dennen! Especially the song "Ain't No Reason"

Tristan Prettyman. A fav. being, "Love Love Love"

Jessie Baylin's "Contradicting Words"

Schuyler Fisk & Joshua Radin's "Paperweight"

Jonah Matranga's cover of I want you back

Joshua Radin's "Closer"

Imogen Heap's "Speeding Cars"

Regina Spektor. FAV FAV FAV ---> "Fidelity"

actual e-mail I sent my mom:
I sent this jokingly because my O-chem work has really taken a toll on me lately and thought it would be funny to send this to them.

Dear Mom & Dad,

As I sit here wasting away doing O-chem, my brain hating me for deciding to double major in Sciences, I wonder why you weren't the creators of the Chia Pet or Peace Frogs even. If you were, I'd be the first in line to the Peace Frogs/Chia Pet empire and rocking out somewhere in Europe rather than... Blacksburg, VA.

<3 a very stressed out daughter,
Mary

Response:

Mary Anne,

In case you weren't aware, your parents live in the richest county in the nation according to the Census Bureau and The Washington Post so stop complaining. Also, if your dad and I had invented the Chia Pet/ Peace Frogs (which we wouldn't have because they are not useful to anybody), we still would have made you go to college and get a job. You know we wouldn't have wanted to raise you to become a jerk. Have fun with your O-chem, it's not that bad.

PS: We're proud of you and are really glad you want to go to Med-school. See you soon.

Love,
Mom

I'd say it went well...

Long story short, Saturday was rather eventful ending with an unconventional marker fight between Zabel and I. Needless to say, from the pictures, you can probably conclude that we both were victims of each other's marker annihilation. It looks like we both got beaten up pretty badly especially in his picture, the arm on the right looks like it was destroyed. Jason was also visiting this weekend so we went and met up with him while covered in marker. On the way back we passed a group of guys in the corps and I said something along the lines of "he beats me." It was dark so my arms totally looked battered and one of the guys turned and got so angry and was like, "don't hit her man, it's not cool" and I felt bad because they seriously looked like they were going to beat him up so I was all like just kidding guys it's just marker. Anyway, we wake up this morning and everyone decides they need to go get breakfast ASAP and since we completely slept through McDonalds breafast hours we had to go to an actual restaurant. What sucked was that I couldn't shower beforehand so I went out in public with marker all over my arms and face. We got some pretty interesting reactions from people when we walked into restaurants (obvi) but I guess I can look back on this and laugh because how many other times in my life will I actually do this? Probably zero.

Visitors!

Jason came to visit this morning. :) He was one of the first people in my neighborhood to befriend me when I was "the new kid" in 6th grade. We go way back and I LOVE this kid. He came this morning and basically went straight to the tailgate and went to his first Virginia Tech football game. He thinks we're crazy... but I mean, what can I say other than this town LOVES football. Anyway, afterwards we met up and he went to dinner with Matt and I. It was so good to see him and just hang out and talk. He reminds me of home. No matter how old we get, I think he's always going to be one of my friends that I never lose touch with. I could probably go for months without talking to him and randomly see him one day and not be awkward about it. Anyway, we were talking about his family and plan on visiting his brother and some of our friends in Boston sometime. We're not sure when yet. He tells me I have to see Boston like there's something wrong with me for not having already seen it. We planned for Thanksgiving break but decided nobody would be there, and then over Winter break, but his brother will be in Niger, so we're thinking Spring Break? I'm not sure yet, but it's in the works.

Cool Store Alert

Since I don't have class Friday, I spent my morning running errands and shopping for a new dress. My trip into Christiansburg was completely fruitless (and honestly, who am I kidding - it's Christiansburg. On my way home, I was passing downtown and thought to stop in some of the boutiques there to see what I could find. Normally, I don't buy anything from any of the boutiques downtown just because most of the stores cater to the "i like barely there clothing crowd." Anyway, while I was rummaging through these stores for a fun Fall dress I came across a place called Home body. I've been in there a few times before, but this time, the items really caught my eye. There was a nice selection of vintage-wear for girls along with tons of great t-shirts for guys, and lots of american apparel. Anyway, I ended up getting this great vintage dress which I'm completely excited about. If you guys are searching for one of a kind pieces, this is the place to go. The prices are great and the service is wonderful.

If you're interested, here's a link to the store's website: Home Body

Rando thought...

If you had gone out with a guy and you two broke up and later down the road you decided to date again, would you introduce him as your New(old) boyfriend? Quite the conundrum.

I have a new boyfriend,

... his name is O-Chem (short for Organic Chemistry). I wish he had a facebook profile so that I could say "It's complicated w/O-Chem." He always screws me time and time again and I can't break up with him because I'm afraid of what he will do if I leave him.

I've stretched this metaphor WAY to far. Ha. I'm actually studying for an O-Chem test that I have tomorrow. I'm freaking out (obvi) and I also plan to rock this bitch.

Concert in your room!

Zach Braff got to take over an Indie radio station for 5 hours to promote the soundtrack for his movie, The Last Kiss. Anyway, it was recorded and now it's on the internet for you to watch! My favorite performances, though they were all AMAZING, were Schuyler Fisk and Imogen Heap. Imogen Heap's set reminded me so much of a Howie Day set because he does the same thing with the synthesizer and it's surprising that not many people have seen this done. It's amazing to see live, Howie's REALLY good at it. Okay on that note, here's the link:

The Last Kiss radio performances

It bit you where?!

As if this crazy O-chem test I have on Thursday hasn't put a damper on my week already, add mosquito bite right under my eye to the list of things to royally make this week painful. I know, who does that ever happen to? I'm here to prove that yes, it is humanly possible to have a mosquito bite you on the lower lash line of your eye. It's a really awkward place to have a mosquito bite so obviously it hurts. It doesn't itch really, but it is swollen and it looks like I have an abnormal growth there. However, thanks to the magic that is benadryl the swelling went down a bit today so I at least looked human, but needless to say it still hurts and is a royal pain in the ass. :(

Chai Me!

Recently I've become obsessed with Oregon Chai. I've been spending 3 or 4 dollars a day at coffee shops purchasing chai and I figured I should probably buy my own and start making it to save some money. I was talking to my friend Kathryn about what kind to buy and she suggested Oregon Chai. You can buy in the form of tea bags, powder, or you can buy boxed concentrate. I bought the boxed concentrate and I absolutely love it. It's half concentrate and half milk (I use soymilk) and you heat it up and you've got a great cup of Chai waiting to make you smile. This stuff is really good, I am hooked already. My roomate Drew tried some and he really liked it too. It cost me about $4 and best of all... it's organic!

Front of the boat! 

Le lovebirds 

Yep, our sentiments exactly. Life is good. 

He does cool tricks. 

Awesome 

Claytor lake last weekend 

Updates coming at you...

- I saw The Last Kiss Friday with some friends and we LOVED it. It was a very absurd movie that provided no real solutions on how to right a very big wrong. I really liked the honesty in the fact that the ending was left somewhat resolved yet open ended. It really got me thinking if this is how my friends and I would turn out in 9 years. It kind of saddened me that we are all so capable of inflicting so much pain on somebody we love and vice versa. In that way, the movie was depressing because you realize that this happens to people all the time and they just have to figure it out. Conversely, though it was sad, I thought the bits of comedy throughout really saved it from being a complete downer. My roomate saw it with me and he said that he thought the movie could be depressing or funny depending on how you interpreted it. I can see how he would see that it's funny because in a way, the absurdism of it all pokes fun at our lives. I think I stand somewhere in between. I thought it was a good movie and if you're a Zach Braff fan you won't be let down. Go see it.

- We played Duke yesterday here at home and soundly beat them 36-0. It was a really good game, the weather was perfect. Here's a vid:



Tech Football on Vimeo

- Today is Mitch's 21st Birthday but he had his party last night and it was great. It wasn't a big party or anything, but he was surrounded by great friends and that's what a birthday should be right? The band, Glass came and celebrated with us. They're pretty cool guys. They even played some acoustic outside which was great. I had fun.

Your Life: The Soundtrack
Opening credits:	Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
Waking up:	Perfect Time of Day - Howie Day
Average day:	Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World
First date:	I Wanna Call It Love - Sondre Lerche
Falling in love:	Goodnight And Go - Frou Frou
Love scene:	To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens
Fight scene:	Helicopter - Bloc Party
Breaking up:	Title and Registration - Death Cab For Cutie
Getting back together:	First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes
Secret love:	Secret Heart - Feist
Life's okay:	Life is Wonderful - Jason Mraz
Mental breakdown:	One Too Many Mornings - Bob Dylan
Driving:	Nervous Tic Motion of A Head to the Left - Andrew Bird
Learning a lesson:	Love Will Come Through - Travis
Deep thought:	New Slang - The Shins
Flashback:	Firefly - Saves The Day
Partying:	Glass Danse - The Faint
Happy dance:	Bleeding Powers - Ted Leo & The Pharmicists
Regreting:	Fidelity - Regina Spektor
Long night alone:	A Stone - Okkervil River
Death scene:	A Fond Farewell - Elliott Smith
Closing credits:	Lion's Mane - Iron & Wine
Take this survey | Find more surveys You've been totally Bzoink*d

It's a first!

I forgot to mention it yesterday but I completed my first su do ku ever. I'm really really excited in a very geeky way. Who does su do ku in their spare time anyway? I tried to stay away from it since they started putting it in our school newspaper because so many people were addicted to it, but alas, I gave in and I actually did one, correctly!

I wrote the date on it and tore it out of the newspaper. Don't worry, I won't frame it or anything, but I will hang on to it. It really made my day.

Remembering...

There's nothing that can be said about today that hasn't already been said... but this struck a cord,

"We've come back to remember the valor of those we lost, those who innocently went to work that day and the brave souls who went in after them"

- Rudy Giuliani

In all the times I've gone to New York since 9/11, I could never bring myself to go to ground zero. However, this summer on a trip with my parents, I finally went. As I expected, it was completely overwhelming and that's from an outsider looking in. Needless to say, I had my sunglasses on and was standinging there with a few of my friends and we were just crying. It's unimaginable to have a gap that large in the sky... especially in the New York skyline where buildings are built on top of one another. It's been 5 years, but I can say that it still feels the same. I feel like I'm in my sophomore year of high school again, hearing about it on the PA system while chaos breaks loose as people try to contact their parents who work in The Pentagon... the wounds are still fresh. It's hard to let go.



Sept 11 (doc) on Vimeo

Retrospect...

I got bored tonight and read through some of my old blog entries and started laughing at how ridiculous I was... for example, I would write things like:

"I want to marry a guy with cool emo hair so I can smile everyday."

All I have to say about that is, wow, what a phase I went through. If you asked me now, I think I could say that "cool emo hair" doesn't do it for me at all. Rather, it's scary when a boy has nicer, longer, more dyed hair than you do.

Which leads me to the point that change is such a good thing. I'm glad I, well, WE are constantly evolving and discovering new things and leaving others behind.

I guess there really is no point to this post other than my realization of how much I've changed just by reading old blog entries. I'm glad to have this thing around chronicling different stages in my life when I fall in and out of love with people and things. It's weird that you can go back and do that, it's like opening up the past and suddenly seeing what happens and maybe reliving it briefly. It's nice and at times, embarassing but it feels safe.

In other news... I really like Regina Spektor's most recent CD.

Birthdays, Boat's, and Bashes!

Yesterday was Todd's birthday so we went to Claytor lake to take the speedboat for a spin... a little 4 hour spin. Equipped with water skis, knee boards, and tubes we set out to make it the best morning/afternoon on the lake ever... and, it was just that! The boys even gave up control of the boat and let me play around with it for awhile. It was awesome. I had so much fun. A video clip of my boating madness can be seen below. We also took tons of pictures so hopefully those will be up on flickr by the end of the day.

Boating was fun and all, but what's a Birthday without a nice party? Well, after we got back, we took power naps, had dinner and then people began filing in my house since we were hosting for Todd. So many people showed up and we all had such a good time. People didn't leave until 4am. I guess that's a sign of a good party. Needless to say, I was completely exhausted and slept really well. Anyway, I shoud run, but I hope your weekend was EXCELLENT.



Boating on Claytor lake on Vimeo



They got a little excited on Vimeo

Staying IN on Friday night...

Yep, it's true. I decided to stay in tonight. Tomorrow is Todd's birthday and he's getting a boat for most of the day and afterwards, we're throwing him a party at my house so I figured I wouldn't have my morning to do my work. So, I decided to stay in tonight and read. I'm reading a book by Anne Moody called "Coming of Age In Mississippi." I've had this professor before for a different class where he has had us read "Coming of Age In Samoa" and "Coming of Age In New Jersey." This book by far has been my favorite. I cannot put it down. I easily read through nine chapters tonight (which is required for next week) but I think I'm going to keep on going. It's such a good autobiography of being born into slavery in the south. I especially like this professor for not requiring a textbook for this class because a) I get to save 100 bucks and b) reading autobiographies of people who lived through the time or were important political figures during the time gives you a lot more insight on what was going on rather than the sugar-coated at times bias text books that we are forced to read every year. Anyway, I'm going to get back to reading it. I reccommend it to anyone looking for a book to read. It's not your typical "leisure" book, but it's a fairly easy read - it also moves very quickly. I love it so far.

Pretty excited.

Sondre Lerche's new album Phantom Punch comes out soon! I really love the last CD he put out called Duper Sessions and the ones before that were good too. I'm excited to see how he reinvents himself this time. He never ceases to "make it work."

A few things to note:

1. Via my O-chem TA (of all people), The opera, "La Boheme" is coming to the Jefferson Center in Roanoke in November. I know Roanoke is a bit of a drive BUT if you call in ahead of time you can get student tickets for free so hopefully that's a little bit of incentive for you to go.

2. There's a clothing sale going on in Squires that will end tomorrow at 8. I stopped by yesterday and was excited to see they had Seven Jeans, Citizens of Humanity jeans, Le Tigre and Lacoste polos among other great items at really low prices. As in for like a fourth of what you'd pay regularly. On that note... the J.Crew sale (my favorite) will be coming September 15th.

Once a hokie, ALWAYS a hokie

The Facebook's new facelift

I signed into Facebook today and what did I find? Yet another facelift for the site. Though I can see how owner Mark Zuckerberg would think this was a good idea, I feel like all the new changes are really bad. I hate the new layout. I hate the "ghost" words. The front page when you log into your own account is increasingly annoying. I feel like every change that has been made so far has been a bad one. I've talked to a lot of friends about this and they agree that the new layout is terrible. How was this a good idea? One too many facelifts and you start looking like Jone Rivers and that's what The Facebook has become. The new features seem to promote stalking like telling your friends who's walls you have posted messages on and what new photographs have been uploaded of you. It's actually really creepy and you wonder why there have been an increase in stalking issues on campus lately. What's next, showing people who's profiles you've recently been looking at? At this rate, nobody is going to use facebook if these changes take away from our privacy. I hate to bitch about facebook, but it's gotten really ridiculous lately and I had to vent.

quick update!

- I am really loving KT Tunstall's CD. I'm currently LOVING the song Silent Sea among other favorites which include: Suddenly I see and Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.

- This is going to be such a crazy week workwise so if I'm unresponsive, or seem like I've fallen off the face of the earth, this is the reason why.

- Matt, Drew, and I made dinner together tonight. It was a lot of fun and it was actually really good. We've been watching the food network religiously all week and we've been getting all these crazy cooking ideas so today we made Salmon, asparagus, long grain rice, and peas. And for dessert? We had a Peach Sorbet. It was awesome. Hopefully we do this again soon. Clips from our kitchen extravaganzaa can be seen below:



He'd be the happiest bear on earth on Vimeo

Our shoutout to Rachel Ray's show 30 minute meals... (we love her):



E.V.O.O and you're good to go on Vimeo

J.T failed to bring sexy back.

My friend sent me a copy of JT's new CD the other day and I have to say I was thoroughly disappointed. Aside from "Sexy Back" and well... "Sexy Back (remix feat. Clipse)" it sucked. Justin, what happened to your days of creating pop/dance magic? I think the saving grace of the CD is not him singing but the other artists featured in his songs which is really sad. Justin should have just left sexy as it was because "bringing it back" and failing is embarassing.