Vacation Post #1 Comic Books

If I ever want to read a book, I usually just pick up a comic book and just start to read it.  I like comic books because they are just quick reads with loads of detail in them. My favorite comic book is V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore. Yeah, he also did Watchmen and Swamp Thing, but I still like V for Vendetta for the content matter. I seen the movie, but I kind of forgot about it so, I'll have to watch it again.  Anyway V is a vigilante and he is trying to save England from an authoritarian regime. I am personally a fan of "Orwell" like novels, but even if you don't like them, I'm sure that you will like this comic. Lots of crazy gangsters, crazy cops, and even a guy with a pretty awesome mask.

I like Batman so much, I got into an argument with my best friend on the reasons why Batman is better than Superman (If you are reading this, I'm sorry... Really sorry) I also have a Batman pin on my jacket next to my Siouxsie and the Banshees and Sonic Youth pins. If that isn't dedication, then I can't tell you what is. My school library is kind of wack, so I have to fight off a pack of small children at the local library to get my fix of Batman (It is well worth it... Well worth it.) I think that I'll stencil my own Batman shirt... But I don't want to get sued.

I used to be a HUGE manga fan, but I kind of stooped reading the past couple of years. My favorite mangas are Kodocha (childs toy), Yotsuba&!, and Azumanga Daioh. If you are looking for a quick and funny read, check out Azumanga Daioh: all the funnyness of school, and all of the niceness of the comic book.

So yeah, I'm still on "academic vacation" so I'm not going to be online as much as I normally do. If you want to do some reading, check out my music blog. No, my major posts are still in development, so don't fret if there are nothing but videos.

Back on vacation.

I'm going back to camp. I should be really sore, but instead I'm really tired. I'm staying overnight and I'm kind of happy/not too happy that I am. I'm wearing my Superchunk shirt today and I know already that some kid "wont get it" I don't care though. There is a banquet dinner tonight and I hope that they wont serve Mexican food or Italian (I love your culture, but I always have Spaghetti or Tacos and I'm getting tired of it). I will be back on Sunday and I will write a real post then. See you later.

Not a good day for an academic vacation.

So this morning  I couldn't sleep. I had a dream that I was watching this play in Quebec and some French Canadian gangsters stabbed me in the kidneys. That was at 2:48 this morning. I couldn't sleep all night, so I just kind of looked at my blue wall until 5 this morning when I ate some breakfast and later brushed my teeth. I ran to my cabinet and took a White Wilow Bark Pill (the health foodie alternative to Advil) and some Ginger tablets to calm my nerves. I left at 6:45 and headed off to the University with my suitcase where I would spend all day wishing that I had more white willow and Advil to make the stabling pain in my back go away. Anyway, we had to do introductions and mine went something like this "Heeey. I'm SUPER happy to be here with you all and I hope I make some reaaaly cool friends here at camp :D" Just to say, my eyes were bloodshot like none's business and I was really pale. At snack time, I totally destroyed some chips and chex mix and had like 3 cups of lemonade. I don't really care of people thought that I was "high" because one, I don't care what people think of me, and I know that I wasn't high. I don't smoke.

I had some cold pizza for lunch. I guess the pizza was hot, but our campus tour took a little two long, so I had to eat it cold. Yeah, you might know that I'm kind of having a hard time being vegetarian, and I really wanted to have some chicken wings, but I know that those poor little chickens didn't want to become wings that a "cheating" vegatarian would eat.  So I just helped myself to some salad. It was quite good. I was the only one who took croutons.  I talked to some kids who were talking about what they did at school and I realized that these weren't the same kids that I met at band camp two weeks ago.  If these where the same kids at  band camp two weeks ago, then I wouldn't have a problem with them talking about "anime" but  I don't want to look like a jackwagon and talk about X-ray spex, or the Vivian Girls or even Patti Smith. I'll make it fine though (at least I hope so).

We left for the Amusement park around  5:30 and that wasn't too great because I remembered that I was missing the X games. It would be really nice if one of you blog readers told me who won BMX vert and Skate park final because I only seen part of those things. Whenever I close my eyes I see some guy doing a tre flip off a rail or something like that. If you have no idea what I just said, go on to the next paragraph.

Yeah, another vegetarian shock for me because I had to eat this awful mac and cheese at the amusement park (people from Colorado: what is the amusement park that charges you 20 dollars to get into? Yeah, I went to that one).  I'm happy that my mom brought me a veggie burrito for me to eat,  I just about had it with that pizza stuff. I could really use a Monster Energy drink right now. I might just pass out while typing this and its only  11:22 PM. So I'll end this soon.

I got home and I got a CD from rock camp! That means I got something new to review for my music blog. I would take it with me in the morning, but I just don't think that that would work out too well... Yeah I won't be here tomorrow because I'm staying the night. I'll be sure to write about all of the ridiculous things that we did at "academic camp" too. If anyone happens to see Cops, X-games 16, or any other TV that I shouldn't be watching anyway, tell me whats going on in a comment. I'll try to take a picture or three while I'm there.  I got the single room and everyone thinks that I'm "Lucky", but in reality, its quite cold and lonely. . . Yeah, might have to text a post about that... Yeah, I miss my blog already D:



So that's what I did today on my "academic vacation". Sorry if I had to go home and write about it. Here are two Patti Smith songs to listen to. They were kind of combining in my head today too. I think the Advil did it.

Patti Smith - Horses & Hey Joe


Patti Smith - Because The Night

On Vacation

I thought that it would be a good idea if I took an "academic vacation" at the college for the weekend, but I'm starting to regret it. I won't have time to watch tv (like I watch tv anyway), catch up on my sleep, or (most important) go on the internet. I'm kind of like "Why am I leaving..." but we will just have to wait and see how things are going to go. I'll have the auto post on so you guys can read some of my stuff that I wrote earlier in the week.  I'm writing off of the poll results, so vote in my polls! Anyway, see you later. I provided some links to click so you wont get bored :)

My Forum - Join us and bring my forum back from the dead! 

The Sound Collection -  My other blog on music. Bookmark it!

Papa's Pizzeria - Fun little pizza game.

20 Questions - Do I need to say more?

Salut les lecteurs français!

Bonjour. Je voulais dire salut à tous les lecteurs qui viennent de pays de langue française. Je suis encore à apprendre le français, donc je vais arrêter maintenant. :)

How to write a debate case that will get you to 3rd round at a National Qualifing Meet

I did this once. I don't know how I excatly did it, but I did do this. I got to third round at a National Qualifing meet although I was the last ranked in my catagory.  In other words, I kicked some serious tail that day.  I know that it's Summer, but I still can't get debate out of my mind. I was really thining about all of the other things that I could do, but thats a post for later. Just to let you all know, a Case is almost the same thing as a 2-10 long winded paragraph on any topic that the National Forensic League wants. This blog post is ment to be very sarcastic, and I'm sorry if I offended any other debaters out there. No, this is not a coppy of the speech that got me to the third round at nat qualls last season. Again, please don't take this seriosll

You can't write an essay without a topic, so my topic will be " Is it fair for Speech and Debaters to spend 12 hour days at Tournaments?"

Once you have your topic, you have to see if you want to start off writing your affirmative speech or negative speech. For times sake, I'm going to start off with my Affirmative speech. When writing both sides, remember not to put your own personal feelings into it. If you do that, then it will be easier for your opponent to attack you on a point such as "Biased to personal opinion" or "Being a Republican", and we really don't want that to happen...

To start off the speech, you want a touchy quote by some famous foreign dead guy.  If the guy is famous, then your stupid judge can know who he is, if the guy is from a far away place, then he must be important, and last, if a guy said this quote, then they would also give you bonus points because guys are just ideal right?  My quote will be by Frederick Ophiner (Get it? This guy isn't real! hah, this is already sounding smart!): "The one who speaks the most, deserves the best competition. " That sounds good right? 

How can you do Lincoln Douglas Debate if you don't have a value? Well, you can't. I tried it and I lost (by two points! Not a bad deal). When you pick out your values, you want to have a Core Value. A Core Value is the CORE of your case. If you have no CORE value, then you are just screwed.  My core value will be Anti Choice, because debaters don't choose their own destiny. How? How don't they choose their destiny? You explain that later. The little value criterion (if you want to be a hot shot, call it "criterion") is just a sitting duck. You use little VC when you want to whip your smarty pants opponent in your last speech, but that isn't important right now.

Lets move on to the real meat of the case: the Contention. Your contentions is where you go all out crazy in any way possible to prove your point.  Contentions should be filled with as much evidence as you can put in them. I seen (well heard) some kid with 10 contentions in their case (not a lie). I had to go up against them too and man was I screwed. To prove my point. Just put as much junk in the contentions as you want to. The more the better.

At the end, you should say " I see nothing other than an Affirmitive ballot". It strikes fear in your opponent and plus, it makes you look pretty cool too. This is what your case should look like if you took all of my recommendations:

Aff Case:

A wise man by the name of  Frederick Ophiner once said "The one who speaks the most, deserves the best competition." I fully agree with this quote and I stand in FULL affirmation of the topic Is it fair for Speech and Debaters to spend 12 hour days at Tournaments?

Let me now present my values:
My Core value is Anti-Thought and my Criterion is Lack of Sleep.

Contentions:
Contention 1:People don't need sleep.
Subpoint A: I am an example. (use subpoints to sound flashy! Use them often!)
Subpoint B:
Subpoint C:
Subpoint D:
Contention 2: You can sleep when you are dead.
Subpoint A: I'm an example too.
Subpoint B:
Subpoint C: More BS statistics.
Subpoint D: (you get the point right?)

Remember to close things off with: I can see nothing other than an Affirmative ballot.

That's it.  That is how you write an award winning case. I still don't know why I do this every weekend while I'm in school.

Stuff that makes me angry.

I'm kind of angry right now, and I don't really get as angry as much as I used to and that's great. That doesn't really matter now because I'm mad right now and I need to vent before I go to bed unhappy and have a really bad nightmare about slowly going blind and getting hit by a car while running to the hospital. So I'm going to write a list of some things that make me angry, and some of my pet peeves.


Things that make me angry

• Being angry.
• Being sad.
• Being depressed (I'm not right now).
• When people have the wrong first impression of me.
• People who are rude, selfish, dishonest, liars, and people who are just lame.
• Nazis.
• Homophobes.
• Misuse of the English Language (ie, bad grammar, bad spelling, usage of numbers in place of letters).
• Bad endings in great novels, like in 1984. Great book, but what was that ending all about?
• Getting cheated out of something that I deserved (do I need to bring up this terrible, terrible incident?)
• People who flat out ask if I'm a guy. (This is so rude)
• Not being able to talk to my friends.
• When my "friends" don't talk to me.
• When people rant about their Boyfriends/Gilrfriends
• Being Lonely.
• Doing math for long periods of time.
• Not landing a "Fancy Pants" skateboarding trick.
• Doing homework
• Philosophy essays at 2 in the morning.
• Getting up at 5 o'clock for a debate meet.
• Getting up home at 11 in the night from a debate meet.
• MTV and Fuse (yuck)
• Writing blog post late at night.

Well, I'm feeling better now. I guess I have to make a list of all of the things that make me happy.

What I want for my birthday.

I don't want too much for my birthday because I don't want too much of anything anyway because I don't need material objects (thanks Buddha!). I might just be growing up but I really tried to think about what I wanted for my birthday, but I couldn't find more than 5 things that I would really like to make my birthday the best ever.  I broke this list into  material things that I wanted, and the non-material things that I wanted. It was only fair.

Material

• The Simpson's Season 5. I could settle for seasons 4 and 6 too. (Note to blog readers: I am a Simpsonholic. I seen every episode and can quote just about every one too. I should be yellow)
•  South Park Seasons 8,9, or 10
  I love South Park, so why not (try) to have the whole series on DVD? Yeah, I think that the series has started to slip in the past few seasons but its fine with me. I'll just watch the older and better episodes. If you are just getting into South Park, I recommend seasons 1-10, don't waste your time with the newer ones, they are just not top-notch.
• Money.
  No, I'm not asking for 250 dollars. I'd be happy with 10 or 20 so I could buy some CD's or improve my vinyl collection (Yes 20 dollars will buy you about 5 used vinyls at my favorite shop. 20 dollars would also buy you 1 brand new release from just about any indie label. Blame hipsters.) 
• Effects pedal for my awesome guitar
  I'm cheepo, I bought this pretty good multi-effects pedal for like 30 dollars at Christmas time as a gift for myself. I still use it, but I want to upgrade to this distortion pedal that's really great. What's the catch? I know this place where you can get the same pedal for only...20 dollars! Hah, I'm not spending 120 dollars for this pedal new! I'm a cheepo 8)
• Wii Fit Plus
I'm a health nut, but I never have the time to go run around outside or go for a walk. I have the Original Wii Fit, but I kind of "beat" the game. This game must be good if it has a "plus" on it. Its like improved fitness plan. I need to get on a fitness plan anyway. 

Non Material Things

• I want to have a good year.
  I'm so happy that I really started to find myself last birthday. I just want to keep this "happy streak" going so I can keep enjoying life as much as I do right now.
• I want to show people what I'm made of.
  Most people that I encounter (not all of them) think that I'm a "quiet kid who will go on a shooting rampage if provoked. Oh, and she is kind of nice." That isn't true. I know that I don't really care about what other people think about me, but when people go up to me and say "you can't do that because you are stupid" then I really got to say something back to them.
•  I want to reach my goals.
   I have big goals and small goals, but either way I have things that I want to achieve. That is very important because if I didn't have any goals, then I would just be asleep all of the time and I can't even do that.  The only thing that I have to do now is to write a list of my goals and slowly reach them, one at a time. I know that this is going to take a while, but it still is worth trying. 
•  I want to volunteer more.
   I do lots of volunteering, but I want to do even more. I'm not bored with the stuff that I do now, but I just want to really see if I can find a place where I really want to waste my time. (I meant that as a good waste of time too).
• Keep being me.
  I really learned the importance of being myself this summer, but I always knew that being my outlandish geeky self was a good thing after all. It is really hard for a kid like me to be me in a urban wetland of teens who think its a bad thing to stand up for yourself, listen to punk rock, be smart, not watch MTV and be friendly. I admit that sometimes I wonder why they hate me, but then again, I can always think about the promise that I made to myself.

I want one last thing...
A Birthday Cake!  Whats a birthday without the cake?

Anddd Here is a video that just popped into my mind that regards birthday cake.

Cibo Matto - Birthday Cake (Live) 

What I should be doing right now.

I'm kind of bored right now, so I'm going to list the things that I should be doing right now. Hopefully, this will serve as a list so I can start to do these things whenever I get bored in the next few days. And to make it fun, I'm going to see how many of these things I can do in a whole day. Its fun, and I get something done too!

1. Write blog post on all the things that I did on my "to - do" list.
2. Finish writing post about my music collection on "The Sound Collection".
3. Write Birthday wish list.
4. Go outside and do something before it gets too dark.
5. Buy skateboard wheels before winter. 
6. Buy 3 pairs of new pants.
7. Get a Le Tigre CD and dance to it.
8. Get Mika Miko's C.Y.S.L.A.B.F CD and blog about it.
9. Buy some Cd's off of mail order.
10. Buy something from of K Records and blog about it.
11. Buy something from 4AD Records and blog about it. 
12. Upload new CD's that I got for free.
13. Finish that darn summer reading book by next week so I can be like "Yeah! I finished my summer reading early :D"
14. Finish that darn History homework so I can be like "Yeah! I finished my summer homework early!"
15. Take more naps/sleep late/get to bed early.
16. E-mail friend and and update them on stuff thats going on.
17. Try to update my blog theme.
18. Read another 3 books this summer.
19. "Try" to hang out with my friends before they go to school.
20. Go Skateboarding.
21. Start packing for weekend trip.
22. Finish the patches I started making.
23. Start making bracelets from my old broken belt.
24. Buy a new belt/get a new belt buckle.
25. Think about new hair cut and get it.
26. Buy two or three pairs of shoes. 
27. Play my guitar more.
28. Finish that song I started writing earlier this summer.
29. Write a journal entry.
30. Write a blog entry.

Yeah, I know that I won't get all of this done in one day, but it is still worth a try. I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

American Apparel rant and review.

Image by anne.oeldorfhirsch via Flickr

 **Note: 8/9/10. I have written part two of my infamous American Apparel rant and review.  It is more of a review this time, and I think you would like to read more of what I have to say about American Apparel.**

So it was 103ish degrees outside and I decided to by a new sweater at American Apparel.  I was looking at them and I thought "Its a good time to come in here because it's a nice day, and plus who wants to by a sweater in 103 degree heat?"  The staff people looked relieved because I bought something. The both of them were friendly and nice, which is a plus for any store. I got my white bag full of my new "apparel" and I really started to think about how I feel about the company.

Advertising: I'm not going to stay on this one for long, but I the advertising is kind of...Erm... Strange?  Not strange in a bad way, but  that other strange the "unfamiliar" type of deal.  Its like the 70's met the 80's and had children. These children grew up to be yuppies.  These yuppie children got a hold of their parents retro "chic" camera and started to sell advrage clothing with unusual names. Like "deep V" or "track tee". Whatever those yuppie children are doing, its working.

Clothing: Like I said before, the names are "strange" but the clothes are top quality stuff! I want to say that they are pricey, but you do "get what you pay for" at American Apparel.

1. T-Shirts: Because I love T-shirts, I do have the right to rant about them as much as I want.  In a nut - shell, regular shirts are not American apparel. If you have one, then you know what I mean.  These shirts are like clouds. You can wear it 50 times and I swear, it will still feel the same. (Trust me, I have like 15 of these AA shirts). These shirts are pretty good to silk screen or stencil on because they transfer easily, but if the design starts to fade on your favorite shirt, it must be well loved or was silk screened with really  bad paint. If you want to pay extra, go ahead and get the organic cotton shirts. If the regular shirts are soft, then the organic ones are just the softest ones ever! I'm kind of cheating myself if I say that a "shirts a shirt" but these shirts are all great. I go for the "Fine Jersey Short Sleeve", it has just about every color you can think of, even Kelly Green (one of my school colors).  The sizes are dwonky so, always go to the store before you buy it! This is true  when you are buying wholesale shirts from other websites (like cafe press or something) 
2.  Pants: I haven't really looked into these yet, but at the store, most of the pants weren't cotton. Strange right? It was this weird, plastic, shiny stuff that I wouldn't' choose to wear.  I just wish that they had Low waist pants! I don't want to look like someones grandmother in 1985 when I wear their super high waist pants.  That's just what I think though, I'm sure someone else wants to look like that.
3. Sweatshirts: If I had to buy one thing from this store it would be a Zip Hoodie. I only have one, and its my debate team hoodie, so I have to wear it every Friday for school spirit day (well I don't have to, but still).  Trust me, if it wasn't hot outside, I would be living in this hoodie. I washed this thing 50+ times, and its well lived in. The cotton is kind of getting "worn" or whatever its called, but it feels just as good or better then the first time that I got it. I highly recommend these. They are just as expensive as the sweaters, but are still worth it. 
4.  Sweaters: Again, funky names, but are very top notch.  I just bought the sailor stripe pullover, and I can't wait to wear it! (I guess I could wear it now, but I might get heatstroke...again...) I love this sweater so much, I might get another one in wine and creme because it looks so nice. and if I had the money I'd get the thin stripe crew neck sweater. The only bad thing about that one is that its so thick! If you had a button up or whatever under that thing, I'm sure you wouldn't need a jacket, even in the dead of winter.
5. "Select Vintage": What makes these so "vintage" anyway? These are "on-line" only, so I have no idea about these. I don't think I'm planing on buying one of these "vintage" items anyway.

Sizing:
The Sizing at AA is kind of weird. If I order something custom from cafe press or something like that, I go for a large. It fits me fine, but the bottom is too large. I went to AA this week to see what size that I really was, it ended up that I was a... Extra Small!! What the heck?  In my book, AA doesn't keep the sizing consistent, this is true when buying Unisex stuff (oh wait, half of their stuff is unisex!). They always say to order two sizes small when getting the unisex stuff, so lucky me, I'm a xx small, or if I'm lucky an xxx small (yes, they do have that size!). Thanks AA, I know know that I'm classified as a super small petite.  Want to know something crazy? I can fit a kids small AA shirt! That's just wild...

Price:
"You get what you pay for" and at AA, you really do get what you pay for. Yes, I did spend 18 bucks on a "organic recycled cotton" hat, but that is the best hat that I have had ever. Yes, it might be outlandish to pay 40 dollars for a sweater, or 18 for a shirt, but buy it! Trust me, I'm always low on cash, but I always have some money saved for AA shopping trips! (Yeah, it took me like 3 months to save for this trip, but it was well worth it.)

Other Customers: 
Have you heard the saying "Only hipsters shop at American Apparel?" Well, that isn't true (well, some of it at least). When I was there, I seen some 20 year old with his dear old mother paying for his 140 dollars worth of clothes. I feel bad for his mum, but you can never know about other peoples lives. I was the only other person there, so the customers were pretty scarce this Saturday.

Quick tangent: If I was 10 years older than I am now, I probably would be a hipster. I have no clue why, but I would fit the mold. (Remind me to make this my next rant. "Hipsters, what happens after your emo grows up".

*Just in case you missed it again... I do have part two of this review up. It is less of a rant and more of a review. I packed in more info and links and even added in what my readers wanted me too! Click that link ok. Here it is again*

What I did at band practice: Day 6

It's the last day of camp :'( But I wasn't too sad because we KILLED it at the gig today! I had fun. Trying to dance was my favorite part. The dance party was awesome, and I don't' care if I can't dance very well. I'm very sore right now; its hard to walk, my knee hurts, and my left arm is sore ( I really don't know how I'm typing right now). I think today's high temperature was 104 degrees outside. The church didn't have air conditioning, and the fans weren't helping the room cool down. The theater wasn't too bad because it was dark, but it was still really hot in there. I went through two bottles of water, but everything worked out fine. I was kind of hungry half way though, (I just can't eat one slice of pizza! That isn't possible!) Anyway, I can't tell you what I did on the stage. I was in my own "zen" state and I was just going with the song. You know what? When I'm in my "zone" I just do what I have to do, so it's a good feeling. Heck, I don't' even know when things started. All I know is that we all kicked some butt today and I'm proud of everyone there. This experience was awesome, and I can't wait for next year :)

I'm working on my American Apparel rant for tomorrow. Its going to be epic.

What I did at band practice: Day 5

The last full day of band practice before the big gig! If this was the Friday before any debate meet, I would be wigging out. It's diffrent this time because it isn't my friends basement, or someones backyard birthday party. This gig is on a stage and this gig has bright lights. This wont be a coffee shop, and it isnt'a school band concert. This is legit. I don't know how I really feel, its a mix of hyper and kind of nervous. I don't do too much during the song (wait, I do some playing) but the solo/bridge/breakdown is where it really is at.  If the drummer keeps up, then I'll be fine, if they don't keep up I'll be going on my own beat and will most likely be screwed (but I should be able to fight through the errors). Another thing, if our vocalist forgets the second verse...then we go to the bridge. You know what I do, I'm off in my own guitar world spacing out and focusing on the 2 harmonizing cords that I play, and then its like... BAM! Play the solo! Play it! annd I end up over thinking my simple solo. Ok, enough of me talking, let me do the run down thing:

800-9:ish: Get there and mindless chatter on something that I don't remember (well I really just forgot it, but it should pop into my head later)
10:00-12:00:  Practice #1
1:00 - 5 ish: Practcice #2

Not a lot right? The less stuff we do , the better I feel. But the longer we do it, the more tired I get. Looks like I'm not watching South Park today... Friday 5 will be around later, and I will also update my other blog too.

What I did at band practice: Day 4

We are (semi) famous! Our gig got in a newspaper, so even more people will most likely show up for the show! Like I said, I'm really glad that we are going last. I need to get around my stage fright, but I think I can do that in about a day or two. All of our songs are sounding solid as ever, and my solo keeps changing, but thats fine, whenever I change it, it always sounds better than it did the first time. Everyone is excited, I am too, but yes, I'm kind of nervous. Who wouldn't be? I'm "fine" but I wish it over, but I'd feel even better if it was over.

Here is what we did today
8:00: Arrive at friends house
9:00-12:00: Practice!
12:00: Lunch
1:00-3:00: More Practice
4-15:4:30: Break
4:30-5:00: Even more practice.

We keep doing less and less! That's great. Like I said, I just want this to be over and done with so I can get back to having my "free time" over summer vacation. Oh, we can't decide on what to wear. I'm going to do what I always do: T - shirt, Jeans, and sneakers. They can do whatever they want to, but I already know what I want to do. We will work it out tomorrow.

Yes, I will be posting my "Friday 5" tomorrow, no matter what time I get home.

What I did at band practice: Day 3

So we got something done today! We only have 3 days left until the gig and I'm starting to get nervous. The solo is bangin as normal, and the band is starting to get the songs down like paste on paper. Our band is going last though, so we are not that nervous about playing. Practice today was kind of weird because we spent the better part of an hour "discussing" song structure. I hope that we can actually jam and make our songs "solid" tomorrow, because if we don't, we are gong to be screwed.

Once again, here is the hourly breakdown.

8:00: Friends house
9:00 - 11:00: Practice
12:00: Lunch time
1:00 - 3:45: More practice time.
4:15 - 5:00: Practice with talking.



I might be kicking myself later, but I gave our tab to our band manager. The crazy thing is that they play music, (in a band) and it could be a hit! I might be getting ahead of myself, but its ok. All I care about is getting credit for writing part of it (ie. the solo). If  I get credit, then I'm fine with it.

I think that this is my entry for the day, I got to change some songs around (again). I'll be here tomorrow.

What I did at band practice: Day 2

Day two of band practice, It went by fast so I'm quite happy about that. We got something done today! That's great because we are still writing songs and they don't suck. I have to make up a solo for tomorrow practice, but I should write something good tonight. Heres the rundown of what we did today.

8:00: Arvie at friends house.
9:00: Start Jam session.
11:00: End Jam session. (For Now)
12:00:Lunch
1:00: Songwriting time
2:00-4:00: 2nd Jam session
5:00: Time to go home.

I think that tomorrow should be more productive (musically), but I'm not too sure if we are going to be 100% serious. Well you have to have some fun with your friends right? I have a callus on my playing hand, but I don't think that it will effect my playing tomorrow. I need to bring my effect pedal tomorrow, so I can make my solo even more wicked :)

What I did at band practice: Day One

So not too long ago, my friend called me and said that we have a gig on the 17th of July. I thought that "It wouldn't be too bad, I'll just practice a little bit and just take the rest of the days off until the day of the gig where we can practice more". I just happy that my band mates scheduled practice for all of this week. The bad part is that its 9 hours long. Yes,  think that I will be burnt out by the end of the week. Here is the run-down of what I did today:
8:00: Arvie at friends house
9:00: Talk about song writing. Start to write songs.
10:00 - 11:00: Jam session. Try to synchronize music lyrics and the rest of our music.
12:00: Lunch break.
1:00 - 2:00: Another jam session.
3:00: Break.
3:45 - 4:15: Song writing (again) and Jam session to "review" songs.
4:15 - 5:00: Talk time and then time to go home.
I don't know what were going to do tomorrow, but I'm sure it will be great. I'll tell you guys about it too.  We will (try) to make shirts and things to sell later in the week, so I can't wait for that either.

Be sure to come back every day this week, I'll keep posting about my trials and tribulations.

The Saturday Drag

Image via Wikipedia

I'm always finding myself bored on the Saturdays that I have off from debate meets, working or volunteering. I know why though; Saturdays are my day to relax. Its Saturday today, so I wrote down what I did for the day.

12:00: Wake up. Make up bed. Go online and check updates from various websites.
12:30: Watch Soccer Game.
1:00: Continue to watch soccer game.
1:30: Still watch soccer game.
2:00: Try to finish watching soccer game.
3:00: Get back on-line to see that I still have no new notifications.
3:30: Sit on the couch and think for 30 minutes.
4:00: Eat some pizza.
4:30: Think about blogging.
5:00 - 7:00: Sleep
7:30: More pizza
8:00: Start typing my blog entry.

Did you notice that I limited my human contact today? I don't know if people don't feel like talking to me, or if I don't' feel like talking to people. My Saturdays off are like hell, its like being dragged through mud. Have you ever been dragged though mud? I haven't either, but you get what I'm trying to say right? Saturdays are like caramel bars, they are thick, difficult to bite through, and quite tasty. So in the end I love Saturdays, but they tend to compress my fun into a measly two hours. (That is a picture of caramel cheesecake by the way)

Almost Vegetarian, Fully hungry.

Image via Wikipedia

Not too long ago, I decided to go back into being vegetarian. I didn't quit because I craved bacon sandwiches, I had to stop temporally due to "heath reasons".I'm better now, (thanks invisible pink unicorn)  but I'm really missing all of my carnivore influenced snack foods. If I had to be stuck eating one food before I went this transformation, it would be Canadian Bacon and Pineapple pizza (Canada jokes are coming soon, don't worry about it). Now that I can't eat ham, or bacon, or anything from a pig or cow, I have to find something more creative to eat.  Lately, I've been trying to replace real "meat" with "meat replacement" (also known as tofu).It isn't half bad, but the trick is trying to get that "spongy" taste to go away.  Synthetic meat isn't that bad, but most of the time its oatmeal  made to look like something, like a hamburger. Look at the difference: the top picture is a "real" hamburger, and the bottom is a "veggie burger".

You can feel my pain right? Look at that thing, the real hamburger is just saying "Come and bite me. I'm very good", and wimpy veggie burger is pleading "Try me, I'm healthy". Its the same ingredients, but meat just looks better. Refer back to the veggie one again, look at the veggies around it. I think tomato, lamo pickle and green and green frazzle grass are veggie burger's "tough friends". If insulted, they will most likely reply "Hey man, don't pick on veggie burger. He has 8 vitamins and nutrients to keep you going throughout the day!" Regular hamburger doesn't play that though, regular hamburger has its "awesomeness" to protect him. Veggie wimp doesn't get that.



Don't get me wrong, I'm not done ranting about me excluding meat from my diet. I just need some time to think about all of the other foods that I miss. I should have pt. 2 up today or tomorrow.  Anyway, here is a little thing to read while you wait.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Mr. Bacon vs. Monsieur Tofu (bacontoday.com)

Typical summer conversation with friends.

Summer is bad enough for me this year, I think I have a little too much on my plate. I have a month left of college classes (I'm getting ahead), band practice all next week, and volunteer work. I guess I got the brilliant idea to contact all of my friends and ask "Hey, want to do something next week?". It doesn't sound bad when you think about it, there is nothing wrong with hanging out with friends and talking, or doing whatever you  do with friends, but the conversation always ends up like this:

Me:Want to go to the park or something this week?
Friend:Oh sure! What day?
Me:I was thinking Wednesday because I get off early.
Friend:Oh, I can't do Wednesday. I have plans with some kid that you don't know.
Me:(Takes a deep breath and remembers "happy place") Ok,well, how about Saturday?
Friend:No, I'll be out of town for the weekend.
Me:Alright, fine. Are you going to be in town any time time next week?
Friend:I should be :)

So then I wait a week, or two, or three. Then I got kind of mad:

Me:So, are we going to go to that one place?
Friend:What one place?
Me:The park? The bowling alley? The skate park?
Friend:Well, I can't D:
Me:(Holding back extreme anger) Why can't you? I waited a week or three and you give me the same answer!
Friend:Sorry :( I'll be here all next week if you want to hang out.
Me: Oh, I have plans. (Or, I don't want to hang out because you don't want to hang out with me.)

I think my friends are avoiding me. I'm not lame or anything like that, I love having fun. I just like to have fun in odd ways. One time, I asked another one of my friends if they wanted to  go to the independent movie theatre in town. They said "yes", and I really couldn't wait. Then when the day came around they call me and say "I can't go today, I'm grounded." Then I look on Facebook an hour or so later,  and my news feed says "I loved the amusement park today! Movies tomorrow :)"  If I had my way, I'd go to that other movie theater and sit right behind them and pour buttered popcorn on their sorry head. Of course I wouldn't do that, but what's stopping me?

Either way, my vacation is half over. I know whats going to happen in about 2 months:
Friend:Want to go to the movies this weekend?
Me:No sorry, I told you I'm working.
Friend:Oh, we never hang out. We should see each other more.
Me:I tried this summer, you "never had the time", or you went to the movies with your "other" friend.
Friend:...That's right.
Me:By the way, you missed my birthday.
Friend:Happy (late) Birthday!
Me:Sorry, I don't do the "late" birthday thing. Guess you have to wait 'till next year :)

I'm not a needy friend, but I recommend this article for further reading.

Related articles by Zemanta

• What To Do When You're The Needy Friend [Friend In Need] (jezebel.com)

My day off.

Image via Wikipedia

I was kind of bored today, so I took the day off. I really needed to relax and just get a break from life, so I decided to wake up at 12:30 and watch the Uruguay v. Netherlands soccer mach. I was really into it until the 63rd minute. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open because my head was pounding like a bass drum on a metal drummers drum set. Anyway, I was happy that the Netherlands won. I was just upset because orange is my least favorite color and it didn't help my headache any. Bright orange is just a bad enough color.

The game was over around 2 so I went back to my bedroom to try to take a two hour nap. I got up at 3 and I was going to paint a X-Ray Spex patch for my jacket, but again my eyes and brain didn't feel like working.

I was sitting on my couch and I thought about my Last Fm page and if I could try to break 15,000 tracks. I put on my headphones and I tried again, to go back to bed, but it didn't happen. So I just put my music on shuffle again and tried to muster the 125 or so tracks that I need to pass 15,000 songs. I think that you should know that I have had my Last Fm account since 7-7-07. And since then I have been more of an audiophile (check my other blog on that).

My friend texted  me about my blog and they said something along the lines of  "oh wow, you sure don't post anything on your blog". I really should have said that I don't want to post anything on my blogs. In a way, blogs are kind of tedious for me to write in. No, its not because I don't like writing in my blog, its just that I find it hard to write something that people want to read. I really want 25 hours in the day, and I really just want more days like this, just to hang out with my thoughts and just take a break.

My bandmate told me that we are having mandatory practices from 8-5 all next week and a gig on Saturday (or Sunday, I can't remember). So yes, I am glad that I have days like this, and I am happy that I did get the chance to just relax today. 

You have another blog?

People always ask me if I have a blog, and I'm kind of hesitant to say that I have a blog. I have around three blogs, and all of them are for different things; Wordpress has all of my important, yet strange ramblings, and my other blogger talks about my music collection (I still have no time to update that). But it hit me, I need to just have a blog where I talk about my life and just all of the interesting things that go on in it. My third blog is my journal, and I don't want to post my journal on the interwebs because that is just wrong. So hopefully I can have some fun on this other blog, and I hope you will too.