this is not a retraction

a while back i did some serious blogging about falling out of love with one of my favorite bands (gomez). well, not exactly falling out of love with but definitely not loving their new album. and the fact that i haven't seen them live in i don't know how long. no really, i can't quite remember the last time i saw them. i thiiink it was july 2009? is that right? whoa. i don't know. 

anyway, they're doing a big quinceanera tour to celebrate 15 years of playing together and they are FINALLY doing something that wilco, and other bands, have been doing for years. setlist requests! maybe if enough people band together and request as an organized group we won't have to hear any of the new songs. i kid. sort of. sorry, guys. so i think i'm going to go to the shows. two great friends of mine are getting married the day before the first show and many of my friends that i met through gomez will be in town for the wedding and i believe they're all planning on going to the first night before heading back to their respective home cities. how can i resist seeing the band that brought us all together with my wonderful friends? i don't think i can.

it's funny the way things change

gomez.

gomez.

where do i even begin with gomez? 

let's just say that our relationship started out hot and heavy and remained that way for many years until suddenly it was painful to stay in the relationship. i have made what i know are lifelong friends thanks to gomez and i will never forget them for that. however, what i would like to forget are the last 3 albums they've released. 

i've seen some good gomez shows in the middle of those subpar albums. i've also seen some bad ones, though and i don't have time for the bad ones anymore. i have so many incredible memories (hazy though some of them may be) and i don't want to taint that with anymore bad experiences. this might be a stretch for some of you to understand but i guess it's kind of like when a television show bows out while they're still pretty much on top, leaving before it has a chance to get bad. i've emotionally, and physically (you know, by not traveling across the country to see them anymore), detached myself before it can get any worse. that may sound harsh to some but it's true. 

part of being in a friendship with someone is that you enjoy their company and you care for them, so of course you would never picture your life without them. when you're in it, you can't ever imagine being out of it. that's how i feel about my love for gomez. i can admit wholeheartedly to you that i never imagined my feelings for the band, and its music, would fade so quickly and so hard and yet here i am writing this blog post. we're close a new gomez album release but, for once, i am not setting myself up for disappointment. i have accepted the reality that we have gone in different directions and that i do not have to force myself to like something just because i think i should, because i once did. i've asked this question a few times to friends who were having problems with other friends, "if you were to meet this person today, do you think you would forge a friendship with them?" if i were to "meet" gomez today, do i think i would become the fanatic that i once was? absolutely not.

earlier i wrote about how i had been having a difficult time listening to joseph arthur. i also have a difficult time listening to gomez but it's for different reasons. i used to have a friend who absolutely loved ac/dc. i think they were probably his 2nd or 3rd favorite band and i had never met anyone who liked them as much as he did. i still haven't. we are no longer friends and anytime ac/dc comes on the radio i have to change it because it reminds me of this amazing friendship that abruptly ended for seemingly no reason. when gomez comes up on shuffle, even the good songs, i can't quite bring myself to listen to them because it reminds me of an amazing friendship that i abruptly ended. i think eventually when i'm further removed from these emotions i'll be able to listen to those great albums that made me fall in love with them in the first place but for now it's easier for me to pretend that they don't exist. 

i feel like this all seems extremely harsh and that isn't necessarily my intention. the bottom line is that we're just different now and it's the end of an era for me. this isn't an attack on their entire musical catalogue by any means, it's the realization that i can just walk away. i don't have to hold on to something that was once special to me just because it was once special to me. 

i mean, i don't still love new kids on the block and they were once extremely special to me.





but really, this slideshow that kerry made 4 years ago kind of epitomizes why i stuck around for as long as i did, even after the music started going downhill: the people.

a special piece of memorabilia

my mother is a pack rat. her mother was a pack rat. i have pack rat tendencies but i really try to keep it under control. i have about a box full of things that i would take with me each time i move, even if they remained in the box forever, because i simply can't part with them.

i have several setlists from gomez shows that i've been to over the years. i used to have them displayed in my room, with other memorabilia (like tickets, wristbands, and pictures) from the show affixed to them. i no longer have them up on the walls but i haven't been able to part with them. in may of 2006 i went on a roadtrip with 4 great friends to new orleans to see gomez. sam ended up with one of the setlists and tonight, that setlist was given to me. 

her boyfriend found it in a box of her stuff and he gave it to kelly when he stopped in san angelo over the weekend on his way to austin. kelly walked into amber's kitchen tonight with the setlist in his hand and i immediately said, "new orleans?" he told me that he wanted me to have it because he knew i would do something "creative" with it. i still have everything from that show so i will definitely be throwing it all into a frame sometime soon. it means to much to me to have it and i know that i'll treasure it forever. 

the 5 of us in new orleans, one of my all-time favorite pictures. i know i posted it recently but it's worth posting again because it's so great :) 

love is better than a warm trombone

i've written a little about this in the past but it's been on my mind recently so i'm going into more detail.

several weeks before sxsw it was announced that gomez and the decemberists would be playing a free show at pangea on st. patrick's day, the night before sxsw officially began. i could not have been more excited! until i found out that the only way to get tickets to this free show was to wait in line at waterloo records on the morning of march 16th. if you didn't already know, i work in retail and was already taking off wednesday-saturday of that week to attend the festival so there was no way i could take any time off to go get ticket for the show. and, of course, those that waited in line for the tickets could only collect one. i was beside myself. i finally decided i was just going to call in sick on march 16th (which is also my birthday) because i HAD to have a ticket to this show.

the ticket drop was to take place at 10:00 am and we knew that people would be there crazy early so we debated how early was too early to show up. i think we ended up arriving around 6:30 but i can't remember exactly. we were only about 15 people back in the line so we knew we would get tickets, it was just a matter of keeping ourselves entertained for 3+ hours. that wasn't too hard since there were quite a few of us there: me, dana, jeremy, alicia, phoebe, rachel, david and a couple of david's friends. we talked, did crossword puzzles and drank birthday mimosas. yes, david went to whole foods and came back with champagne and orange juice. it was so much fun! eventually they opened the store and we all filed in to get our one ticket.

at that point, it was only about 10:15 am and i probably could have gone into work for the rest of the day but i was exhausted because i woke up super early that morning. i went home, took a nap, and then went to vivo for my birthday dinner.

the next day i worked until 6:00 or so and then headed to meet dana and jeremy to go to the show! on the way downtown we found out that getting into the show was also on a first-come-first-served basis. soooo they possibly gave away more tickets than they had room for? awesome! we ended up cutting in line with rachel and david to ensure our admittance (shhh! i hate cutters but there was no way i was risking not getting in after all the time i had already invested in this show). the doors opened at least 30 minutes later than they were supposed to. i was getting really impatient because at that point, it had been, like, 20 months since i had last seen gomez. i was ready! they finally let us in and the show was great! the open bar was nice too. haha!

now, the real point of this blog is to share these videos with you:

airstream driver which features several shots of audience members looking rather silly. the first time i watched this video i held my breath, hoping that my face would not appear on my computer screen.

love is better than a warm trombone which is surprisingly without crowd close-ups until a little over 3 minutes in. yes, that is yours truly, double-fisting free drinks. and while it may appear that i'm "cheersing" the camera man, i'm actually posing for meghan's camera that none of y'all can see. and wait, that's not all, i'm in it again just a few seconds later. there are no other audience members in that video. none. just moi. why? at first i was humiliated and i was glad that i was the first of my friends to see it because that meant i could decide whether anyone else saw the video. then i realized something, it's kind of funny. and the more i watched it, the funnier it got. and the less embarrassed i was. so i decided to share it! and no one made fun of me, at least not to my face. so now, dear weblog, i'm here to share the video with you. be gentle, it's my first time.

another one for the books

i got home around midnight last night from a short but absolutely wonderful weekend in san francisco. i am in the process of uploading my pictures to flickr and soon will post my favorites here.

i would like to say a HUGE thank you to all of my fabulous friends who were a part of my two days in sf. you guys are incredible and i'm so lucky to have you in my life!

and, of course, another big time thank you to gomez for giving me a reason to travel halfway across the country to hang out with so many amazing people, and for varying the setlists so much :)

stuff i love 9

with just two more sleeps (that's how i'm measuring time now) until i leave for san francisco, it's no wonder i'm going to write about how much i love gomez. i'll keep it short because it's probably stuff you've all heard before but i'm too excited about this trip to think about anything else. well, i've been thinking of things other than gomez but it's all related to the trip. blind pilot, booze cruise, the plethora of fabulous friends i'll get to spend time with...etc. sorry for being boring another week in a row but i can't help it...I LOVE GOMEZ.

660 miles later...

that is the approximate distance i traveled this week. i saw 4 gomez shows in 3 days. one was just an in-store at waterloo records but, whatever, it totally counts. for the past couple of years, i've had a bit of a love/hate on-again-off-again relationship with gomez. it's hard for me to explain but i really started to question my love for them. i wondered if maybe i was just hanging on to the great memories that i've made with all the amazing friends that i've met along the way. i know that part of it was due to the fact that they took a much deserved hiatus from touring. finally, after nearly 2 years, i saw them a few times during sxsw. i had fun but wasn't super impressed but i was still all about driving around texas to see them because i'm a sucker. and i am SO glad i did!

the show at stubb's totally blew my mind. at first i thought maybe it was just me, like i was searching for something to grab onto. then i realized that everyone else there was having their minds blown too. i knew it was the best show i had seen in a LONG time. everything just clicked together perfectly. the music was flawless, the energy between the band and the crowd was unbelievably high and the guys really seemed to be enjoying themselves more than ever. after the show the band was in agreement that it was one of the best shows they've had in years. the term "triple dicked" was used to describe what they had done to the crowd. haha! who knows why exactly it happened but i am so glad it did and so glad that i was there.

the next day bonnie and i headed to houston. i knew that the show in houston wouldn't have quite the same vibe that the austin show did but i was still really looking forward to it because my dear friend sarah was coming with us. the crowd was kind of meh but the show was still lots of fun. they all seemed to be in high spirits again (or still) and that really rubs off on me. i thought of a new term for when they're all getting along really well and goofing around on stage: bromez. haha don't ask! my big complaint was that EVERYONE in the front row was acting like the band was some sort of zoo exhibit. i've never seen so many people taking pictures of them before. and the stage wasn't very elevated or separated from the crowd by anything so it all seemed pretty awkward for the guys. i managed to sneek in 3 pictures that i really wanted without being awkward or annoying. seriously, y'all, the cougar next to me must have taken 500 pictures with her phone. it was ridiculous!

the drive to dallas was a bit tedious but when we were about an hour outside of dallas we were able to pick up 93.3 out of dallas where ben, ian, and olly were doing an in-studio performance and interview. it was hysterical! it definitely helped perk me up for the rest of the drive. when we finally got to the hotel we just relaxed in the room for a few hours before heading down to dinner. during our meal a massive storm rolled into town. i'm talking HUGE! it was crazy windy for a while and then the sky opened up and dumped buckets and buckets of rain. there was also a tornado warning. after an hour or so it stopped and we were able to leave the hotel bar. the hotel had a shuttle that took us to the house of blues for free. it would have been great if the driver hadn't been a total creepo. as soon as we got in the van he said, "if i get dui tonight you guys are responsible." what?! we're taking the hotel shuttle so we don't have to be responsible!

the show in dallas was pretty fun. we had a lot of friendly people around us which was awesome. when it was over i was a little bummed because i realized that i was going to have to go home the next day and resume my normal, boring life. it was totally worth all the money and time. in fact, in the middle of that trip i went ahead and booked another trip to see gomez play 2 nights at the fillmore in san francisco july 30 and 31. i've been wanting to see gomez at the fillmore for ages now. AND blind pilot is opening these shows. if you know me at all or have read my blog, you probably know that i really, really love blind pilot. and on top of all that, several of my great friends are going to be there so it was kind of a no-brainer. i can't wait!

thank you, gomez, for renewing the spark.

now, i will leave you with some pictures. all of my pictures are in this flickr set but here are a few of my favorites:

the setlists from all 3 nights

left to right stubb's-austin, warehouse live-houston, house of blues-dallas

olly playing his iphone during bone tired. ian and olly both play some sort of musical apps during this song, it's pretty fascinating to watch!

i would really love this picture if blackie was visible in it

ben playing an alarm clock at the end of natural reaction

i had to crop this one because some tall cougar was standing in front of me and her head got in the frame

i have lots of pictures of ben from this trip but i really love this one. it's a combo of the fact that i manged to catch ben belting it out, the warm lighting that compliments the color of the guitar and ben's shirt, and little tom in the background. i just love it!

ian during ruff stuff

meghan calls this one ben's sassy pose...hehe!

it's over already?

i'm home! it went by really fast but at the same time, i am totally exhausted and kind of glad to be relaxing in my own bed. i'll post a detailed blog with pictures at some point this weekend. i just wanted to make a quick post to let y'all know that i survived :)

poster child

a few days ago i received a package of gomez posters. i had a few left over from sxsw as well so i think i had around 40. i woke up early before work yesterday to fill all them in with the necessary information to promote the show at stubb's next monday. i had intended to put some up last night before i met up with lori and kelley at side bar but that didn't happen. after deservedly sleeping in today, i decided it was time to get to work.

thanks to past postering adventures i knew that a small staple gun would be really helpful today so i headed to sears to find the cheapest one possible. i got a craftsman for $10. score! and totally worth it. i've always had a partner when hanging posters so i didn't quite know what to expect on a solo mission. i grabbed a reusable shopping bag and loaded it up with the posters, staple gun, and tape. i slung my camera bag on my shoulder and hit the pavement.

my first stop was stubb's. this fence has seen its fair share of posters as is evidenced by all these staples. crazy!

i made my way down red river and onto 6th. after i covered that area i decided to go to south congress. 

that last one is probably my favorite. the tickets are being sold via frontgate tickets and in the background you can see the frontgate offices. i love it! haha! 

it was 93 degrees this afternoon and i wore jeans like a dumbass. i was SO hot and sweaty! it wasn't terrible though and it went by pretty quickly. and, in case you're wondering, hanging posters alone isn't tough at all. i was grateful for that. i hope these posters help. i really want to see a big crowd at this show! 

it's about to get crazy!

back in april i had a three-night-run of events. much to my surprise, it wasn't as bad as i was anticipating. and by bad, i just mean utterly exhausting. well, starting this coming wednesday, i have 6 concerts to attend in 8 days. i have to work 4 out of those 8 days as well. so that's shows wednesday (passion pit), thursday (helio sequence), and friday (animal collective) with the weekend off (but not off from work! and i have inventory sunday night...boo!), then gomez monday (stubb's plus an in-store at waterloo), tuesday (warehouse live), and wednesday (house of blues). so the last part of the insanity is not just concerts but also a small roadtrip. tuesday we'll drive from austin to houston, wednesday we'll drive from houston to dallas, and thursday we'll drive from dallas to austin. it's not a terrible amount of time on the road, thank god! you may find yourselves wondering why on earth i would go see gomez 3 nights in a row. well, it's something that i can't explain. you either get it or you don't. fortunately, my friend bonnie gets it and she will be my partner in crime for this trip. as you can see, the last time gomez "did" texas, things got silly. hopefully this trip won't involve a speeding ticket!

i will try my best to take lots of fun pictures. i will also try to remember as many details as possible to write about later. that isn't really for y'all but some people might enjoy it anyway. it's mostly for myself so i can look back on it later when my memories start to fade. anyway, i will leave you all with my fortune from tonight's panda express dinner. i shall keep this in mind :) 

keep your expectations reasonable

the final keep me up

a while back i posted this video of the mentalists covering mgmt's kids using only iphones and ipod touches. making music using iphone applications is the wave of the future, apparently. 

recently members of gomez olly peacock, ben ottewell, ian ball and sound engineer graham pattison spent an evening recording some songs using iphones and the result is the final keep me up. i'm really curious about how they came up with the project name and the names for the songs. it's all very fascinating to me for some reason. anyway, check it out if you want to hear these guys channel their inner-eno. 

mission: affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy

a few years ago christopher wray-mccann hatched a plan to get his favorite musician friends to gather in hawaii and record some music. somehow, the stars aligned and they were all able to take off to hawaii for a month and thus, operation aloha was born. operation aloha consists of the following artists:

dajon everett (gomez)

ian ball (gomez)

james valentine (maroon 5)

jesse carmichael (maroon 5)

olly peacock (gomez)

sam farrar (phantom planet)

christopher wray-mccann (photographer)

charles danek

fil krohnengold (all spots to black) (as well as many other acts he contributes to)

mathew chaney

mauren wray-mccann

nadav kahn (kahn brothers)

saam gabbay

will nash

i highly suggest checking out the songs, pictures, and videos on the website. it's all so breathtakingly beautiful! the electronic press kit is fantastic but if you have the time, you should deifnitely watch the "words and images" video. it's about 13 minutes long but very interesting. the whole thing looks like it was such an amazing and unique experience for everyone involved. it's probably something that could never really be duplicated. 

if you happen to be in the LA area, some of the members of operation aloha will be performing at the troubadour on may 12, the day the album is being released. if you go, be sure to get there early enough to see all spots to black! and if you're like me, and NOT in the LA area, you can catch them on carson daly thursday night. 

i can't wait to own this album! 

gomez at stubb's june 8

hey austin! have you bought your tickets for gomez at stubb's yet? i suggest you do! it's going to be a fantastic night, as long as it's not too hot. 

gomez does dallas (and austin and houston)

i know i just saw gomez during sxsw but that doesn't make me any less excited that they're coming to texas june 8-10. and of course i'll be going to all three shows. i can't not see them if they're within a 3 hour drive from me! plus, the sxsw sets were so short...they barely count! carlos and i were emailing back and forth about upcoming shows we're going to and he said, "someone is a little obsessed with gomez, wow." like this is something new? i told him, "actually, going to see gomez in texas is pretty tame for me." and rachel asked me, "aren't you tired of seeing them?" haha nope! my friend bonnie and i are going to roadtrip it for these shows and i could not be more excited! the last time i did a texas roadtrip for gomez was when they were opening for the fray. we had a really fantastic time but those shows kind of blew. i mean, come on...they were opening for the freakin' fray! speaking of opening, i'm anxious to see who they have as an opener on this tour! 

here are their summer tour dates so far:

May 22 St. Andrews Hall, Detroit, MI  May 23 Summercamp, Chillicothe, IL May 24 Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee, WI  May 26 House of Blues, Cleveland, OH  May 27 Headliners Music Hall, Louisville, KY May 29 Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON May 30 Mountain Jam Festival, Hunter, NY Jun 1 Terminal 5, New York, NY Jun 2 House of Blues, Boston, MA  Jun 3 Mr. Smalls Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA Jun 4 Madison Theatre, Covington, KY  Jun 7 Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival, Ozark, AR  Jun 8 Stubb's, Austin, TX Jun 9 Warehouse Live, Houston, TX Jun 10 House of Blues, Dallas, TX  Jun 12 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, TN 

visit their gigs page for ticket info. 

i am SO over (itunes exclusive)s

i get that record labels (hint hint...ATO) want to gain new fans for their bands (well, i guess they do. they don't seem too into promoting gomez but whatever) but releasing itunes exclusives is bullshit. the apparent purpose of these exclusive songs is to entice people to buy the whole album on itunes rather than just a few songs. meanwhile, the dedicated fans who pre-order the album and pay for shipping are screwed. 

with ben kweller's latest release, i probably paid around $15 when it was all said and done and that album was released on itunes for $7.99 with an exclusive song AND video. now the new gomez album is out and there's an exclusive song on it too. apparently in the uk you can buy just that one song but not here. A LOT of people that pre-ordered the new album are left wanting to buy the whole thing on itunes again just for that ONE song. one song. 

to me, it just feels like a big fuck you to the people who buy every album, the t-shirts, the onesies, and spend their tax returns to travel across the country to see the band live. 

and i don't really want to get started on what best buy is selling that the music today shop wasn't. it's the new gomez album with a live dvd from the vic in chicago back in 2007. once again, anyone who pre-ordered the album does not get this dvd. lame. the management and label will try to argue that by pre-ordering you get a signed booklet but, really, who gives a shit? i have signed booklets and posters and they're in boxes in my closet. but a live dvd? i would like to have that. 

pre-order a new tide

head on over to the gomez store to pre-order your copy of a new tide. the first 500 orders will receive an autographed cd booklet! and for the true audiophile, the vinyl comes with a copy of the cd as well! and it's only $15. what a steal! and it would appear that one lucky pre-orderer (haha) will win an autographed geeeetar. i don't know the details on that though. 

a new tide

feast your eyes on this artwork for the new gomez album:

it's definitely different than any of their previous albums. and it's definitely 1 million times better than the artwork for how we operate (sorry to whomever did that) but i'm not sure what i think of it. i would like to hold it in my hands and really examine it. 

and for you east-coasters, here are some tour dates:

Mar 21 Workplay Theatre, Birmingham, AL Mar 22 Visulite Theatre, Charlotte, NC Mar 23 The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC Mar 24 Center Stage, Atlanta, GA Mar 26 Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD Mar 27 Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA Mar 28 Theatre of The Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA Mar 29 9:30 Club, Washington, DC Mar 31 Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY Apr 1 State Theatre, Ithaca, NY Apr 2 Pearl Street, Northampton, MA Apr 3 Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

(March 22, 23, 24, 26 and April 1 are co-headlining dates with Josh Ritter. Blind Pilot is support on March 28 and Alberta Cross supports on April 3)

visit their gigs page for ticket info. nyc and brooklyn have already sold out. crazy! the details of their sxsw shows haven't been released yet but i did receive word yesterday that they will be recording an in-studio session at kgsr while they're here. hooray! and i have no doubt that they'll be announcing some west coast dates soonish. they heart the west coast. 

new music and sxsw watch

head over to gomeztheband.com for a free download of the first single off their new album (set for release on march 31), airstream driver. it's super catchy!

if you preorder the new elvis perkins in dearland album, you get a free 128k stream of it. this one is released on march 10. i have a deep, deep love for the last elvis perkins album and i can't wait to see them again! 

i've been talking up black joe lewis and the honeybears for quite a while now. we go see them almost every time they play because their live shows are that much fun. so much energy! the music is like nothing else out there right now. if you live in austin and haven't seen them yet, what the hell are you waiting for? i've never known anyone to not have a wonderful time at one of their shows. it's just impossible not to enjoy it!

anywho, they just released a 10" available here. and it comes with a free "bitch i love you" sticker! believe, if i had had any cash on me when we saw them the other night i would have bought several of those stickers. haha! they also have a full-length album coming out on march 17. 

oh, i almost forgot! go check out the black joe lewis and the honeybears' daytrotter session. and then tell me that big booty woman doesn't make you want to dance.

long time no blog

so i guess i haven't blogged about anything substantial in a long time. i suppose that's because there hasn't been much happening. let's backtrack a little, shall we? jason and i went to see band of horses during acl weekend. i thoroughly enjoyed the show. it was my first time seeing them live and they definitely impressed me. i would see them again in a heartbeat. i might even travel to see them, that's how good they were! they're not really touring right now but if they ever come to a town near you, it's in your best interest to go. i didn't go to chicago on october 2 to see gomez. i had some stuff come up and i just couldn't do it. somehow, i wasn't as bummed about missing the show as i thought i would be. i wasn't particularly bummed about it at all, actually. i was more upset about not seeing all of my friends that were there but luckily i get to see quite a few of them this coming weekend in san francisco. yes, i'm FINALLY going to san francisco on friday. i feel like i've been waiting forever for this weekend to get here. i am beyond stoked to see kerry, josh, matt, meghan, kelly, erin, drew, jen and whoever else i'm missing. sorry dudes, i took an ambien a little while ago. and of course, i am so excited to see ian and buddy play TWO shows. i loves me some ian and buddy. in order to have the 4 days off to take this trip, i have to work 8 days in a row. i've just finished the 4th. halfway. i can do this! i'm kind of stressing out because i don't really have time to do any of that "pre-going out of town" stuff that needs to be done. shopping, laundry, planning what to take...things like that. i'll manage though, right? sam was in town last weekend which was super fabulous. i haven't seen her since april! that's such a long time. we had a birthday party for her and amber and lolo's. it was a total blast! we all just sat around and laughed all night. we are a pretty fucking funny bunch of people, if i do say so myself. i miss sam though, i wish she would move back! last night we went out for josh's birthday. we spent a good portion of the night at mugshots, which was kind of weird. there was a time in my life where i knew A LOT of the people hanging out there on a friday or saturday (because we went there every friday). last night i didn't see anyone that i knew. luckily someone was playing my usual jams on the jukebox so that was comforting. don't stop believin' and yoshimi battles the pink robots, that's where it's at! the only thing that would have made it better was if they played dancing with myself. now it's time for bed. 4 more days. 4 more days.

she did it again

congratulations, jenny lewis, for making another fantastic solo album. i don't like acid tongue as much as rabbit fur coat but i've only listened to it a few times. it could easily grow on me. it's good to hear a studio version of fernando since she's been playing that one at shows for a couple of years now. and i just love her voice. i could listen to it all day, probably. i'm really glad i bought that ticket to see her with conor oberst and m. ward in a couple of weeks. i don't remember if i blogged about it but i had sort of convinced myself that i didn't want (need, really) to go to that show but then i realized that i would be super bummed if i missed it. frontgate's website didn't have any tickets available but the la zona rosa site did. i don't know what's up with that. we finally won trivia last night after many weeks of coming in 2nd to the upperdeckers. it was very satisfying. and i finally got the seinfeld question! there is a seinfeld question pretty much every week and we hardly ever get them right. it's frustrating because i know that i've seen every episode of that show at least once but when i'm put on the spot, i can't really remember anything. haha lame! my short trip to chicago is 3 weeks from today. i'm super anxious about it! and i use the word "anxious" in both the good and bad way. ugh, i dunno. i'm just kind of stressing because i'm non-reving and because it's such a short trip. i almost wonder if it's even worth it but i already know the answer to that.