A Little Harsh

Busy busy times for me. I register for classes this coming Tuesday, however, I have a hold on my registration because I need to pick a major. That's why I am here again waiting to meet my adviser. I was initially going to go with a journalism major to get that hold off but when I called the journalism office they informed me that the journalism major has a special entry process which is closed until spring semester. Now I need to re-plan a go a different route so I can register on time. On top of that, I have two major papers due within 6 days and I need to work ahead of class schedules since I am taking a trip to Korea soon. Why don't I just work on it all this weekend? Oh yea, I might be going to Duluth. If I wasn't so fucking busy, going to Duluth would be a no brainier, but since I am so busy I need to weigh my options a little more. Stressful!
Duluth sounds like a grand time and it appears that a whole gang of people are headed up this weekend. I just wish I wasn't so busy. I really need to work ahead so my Korea trip can be as enjoyable as can be. I am really looking forward to this trip. I am also really confused about airport and international regulations since I've never been out of the country or on a plane since I was one. I'll just go with. I plan to document (via video camera) as much as I can and just try and soak up as much as I can.

This past weekend was really fun. Jon came down from Duluth and brought his neighbor Danielle with him. They arrived in The Hood around 6:30ish and stopped by my place first. We went over to Jon's place quickly to drop some stuff off and see his parents but then rolled to pick Dean up. We sat around Melrose for a little bit with the Celtics game on. Boston looks might impressive and KG looks revived. He almost looks younger (sometimes it's hard to tell since he is so black it all looks the same). After we got a little grub and went back to Jon's. We called Mitch and Andy over and popped in Eternal Sunshine. I think Dean, Andy and I were the only ones to see the movie before that sitting so it was a new experience for most of the people there. Eternal Sunshine is an experience everyone should get around to. I went home early to get some sleep since I had to wake up early for church and I didn't want to be drained for a big Saturday. Church went well, the youth group I lead got into a big discussion which was entertaining to be a part of. Later Jon and crew picked me up from Church and we rolled to Rochester from there. Danielle's cousin, Emily, was a part of a huge volleyball and we were all going to go cheer her on. We got just as they were starting and we got to watch the Owatanna girls high school volleyball team get their whoop on. After we went to go get some Chipotle which was delicious since I hadn't had Chipotle in quite some time. On the way to Emily's house, where we were invited to stay at, we received the invitation to join the volleyball team for a post-win celebration. We accepted the invite and met up with Emily. We didn't do much other than sit around and chat. I tried to get an autograph from my favorite Owatanna player but lacked a pen and a canvas. I was however honored with a dance lesson from the team. They taught me a team dance they perform after one of their players gets a spike. After the team party, we went over to Emily's and watched Donnie Darko. That movie honestly never gets old. You learn something new from it each time. When we finished Donnie Darko we went downstairs were we planned to sleep and just talked until we slowly fell asleep. We left early Sunday and got to The Hood around noon-ish. We all went home to clean up and met up so we could go see 30 Days of Night. We made a Best Buy detour so Jon could pick up a temporary phone since his Razor's screen shattered and he didn't want to pull out of his contract to get a new phone. 30 Days of Night was a entertaining movie, but my opinion should not sway anyone to watch it since I am a huge fan of horror movies. Especially ones where a group of humans work together to survive a mass of infected. These movies always get my imagination running. I thought it was well made. I thought they did blood really well and the movie flowed smoothly. I didn't like how they showed the vampires perspectives, I thought that took away from the movie. After the movie we got some grub and chilled at Jon's house until Jon took off back to Duluth. Overall one of the most enjoyable weekends since school started. It makes me worried that if I pass on Duluth, I will be missing out on a whole assortment of fun.
Since I got to see 30 Days of Night, the only fall movie left on my list is Saw4. I feel kind of naked and disappointed that I haven't seen Saw4 yet and disappointed cause I didn't see it opening night. It had become sort of a tradition. I guess there really wasn't much motivation since Jon wasn't there and the series seems to be going down hill. I'll probably end up waiting until it comes out on DVD. I need to get my hands on 28 Weeks Later and watch that joint over again cause I loved it.

I feel as though I need to apologize for my last blog. It was kind of harsh and maybe unfair. I am comfortable enough to talk to my Mom about anything and we talked about my apartment issue and I told her I vent by speaking with Dean and Jon and also by blogging. She told me that blogging and venting is good, but that if I am going to document my thoughts and leave it open for the public, that I need to watch what I am saying. She told me there is a difference between lying and being respectful. The line might be thin, but she is right when she says that. I guess I just felt like I had to tell the truth and nothing but the truth in my own words (And not sell-out haha). It is something I am going to have to balance better in the future because I am not trying to offend anyone with these bad boys. I just like honing my thoughts.
Before I moved into Melrose people always told me, "never move in with your best friends." I took the tip in, but I wanted to challenge it because I felt like my best friends were different from the average best friends. Well, 2.5 months into it, I got to say rooming with the right best friends rocks. I can only imagine how much better the experience would have been if Jon were a part of it. I can't think of a time where there has been a clash with Dean. It has been all jokes and when we aren't joking we are helping each other with school or other things. So, when people tell you never to room with your best friends, punch them on the nose and tell them they are wrong. Actually don't do that, because they are probably right. I think people like me and people like my friends are the minority. There aren't many genuine people around any more.
One more issue I want to bring up. I don't think I am going to think about this in depth until after my Korea trip, but I think I am going to bring it up. As of now, I think I have about $200 in my bank account which is not enough to pay next months rent. I just received a check for about $300 which puts me at $500 which is just enough to pay for my rent. But if you have been doing the math so far, this leaves me with a balance of $0 after I pay for November. How do I expect to pay for Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June and July? I really have no clue. So I've been weighing my pros and cons trying to see what might be best for me. I am currently thinking about sub-leasing my contract and staying at home. The benefits would be that I save money that I don't really have. Less stress, because lets face it, rooming with E.H has been extremely stressful. Those two factors alone are enough. But there are cons to this as well. I would need to purchase a car with no money, but I don't think my parents would have a problem with helping me here. But the major thing that is holding me back is that I feel like I am bailing out on Dean. We went into this together and I have been having a blast rooming with him, but if I leave, I feel like I am abandoning him (sell-out?). I keep telling myself not to worry about Dean, that he can take care of him self and that in situations like this where I have no money and stress management is key, I have to look out for what is best for me. But I still can't help it, it is my nature to weigh all scenarios in. I'm kind of stuck in a shitty situation, but I don't think I am going to think to much about it nor will I come up with a decision until after my Korea trip.

Yay, I need to piss and then go see my adviser.

You're Already Dead

Yay! Still an hour plus until my advisory meeting so I need to burn some time. A perfect time to blog in this computer lab like I did so much last year. I finished class about 45 minutes ago and I didn't feel like walking back home to only walk back an hour later for my meeting. The meeting should be interesting. I guess I really don't have something concrete to talk about, but rather I was going to ask my councilor what I should do with the rest of my collegiate career and then my life. Kind of a weird theme huh? But the fact is that I need to pick a major within 2 weeks and whether or not that major correlates to my life and career, it is still going to be an important decision I feel. Oh the chaos and confusion!

So the state of our apartment has been pretty fair as of late. Zak has really raised his understanding and has really tried hard to balance his living style with the style of others. His actions are much appreciated as far as I go. Dean has always been one of the more understanding and considerate people I've known so no worries there, duh. I hate to admit it, but the only hiccup now in our room is Mitch. How someone can be so naive, ignorant, arrogant, self-centered, inconsiderate and hot-tempered baffles me. It's hard to explain what he does, but if you are around him long enough you quickly catch on to his annoying habits. You don't have to live with him to pick these annoyances up. The thing is that it is impossible to talk to him about everything and anything because he just lies about all his insecurities and misdoings. I think he is so far into thinking that he is good at living and everything that he can't accept mistakes. If you confront him about something and he doesn't lie, he just gets angry. Along with this, his logic confuses me. I don't think I have blogged about the story of when he yelled at Zak, which I shall document now. I believe he needed to get up at 6 or something the next morning so he went to bed early. Well, Zak, Dean and myself got into a mild slap-happy mood in the living room so our volume was above normal. Well I walk into my room to brush up and get ready bed when I see Mitch storm by the door, single Zak out and yell, "Seriously, shut the fuck up. I have to get up at 6 A.M." The actions and words independently might not be seen to extreme, but let us consider a few things. One: He is generally, and by generally I mean always, the loudest person when I am trying to get to bed. Bed time for me is around midnight every night since I have morning classes this semester. His over exaggerated laughs and unnecessary excitement over Madden plays or what is going on TV always keeps me up (Even worse, haunts me haha). Two: He seems to put the volume of his laptop and volume of the TV in competition. For some reason he needs to watch YouTube at the same time as ESPN. When YouTube gets to loud, he just raises the volume for ESPN, but when his video is done buffering and ESPN is eclipsing his laptops volume, up goes the Youtube audio. Considerate? I think not. I would feel bad if I was the only one upset about his actions cause I know I can be picky at times. I never want to assume my way is the best way, so I had to make sure and ask my other roommates. The consensus of our room was his actions are not acceptable. I could write about this topic for megabytes and megabytes of server space, but I'll end it after a few more issues. With Mitch, nothing ever stays consistent. It could be that his memory is horrible and he just forgets that he has used something and where that item should be returned, but for some odd reason that item never returns clean or does it ever return. Also, he does this thing when he is done with milk cartons and cans. He rinses them and leaves them out on the kitchen counter-top. Now I am pretty American when it comes to living style, but I did grow up under a Korean roof and I am curious, is this a Caucasian habit? I don't want to make the mistake of a cultural difference. In my house, we usually clean up our mess and it is unacceptable to leave things out expecting other people to throw it away for you. That might just be my house though. I am beginning to think that he owns the refrigerator space as well. He just shoves other peoples items aside to access his and never moves them back. This might be a little picky, but I enjoy it when I am looking for food and it is aesthetically pleasing to look into the fridge. I don't want to think that I am eating mashed up pigs food. I will end with one more issue. A couple of weeks ago we made a "Room 125 Constitution." In this constitution we made a few major rules. One of them was that we would only eat our own food. I asked the room when we first moved in because I knew this was going to be an issue but they all agreed on community food. Now we all have to mark our items of food with a B, D, M, Z or C. Benny, Dean, Min, Zak or community. During the community era, which I knew wasn't going to work, I would probably put in about $30 of food a week with items like bread, water bottles and other much used items. Another major change we made was that everyone is responsible for their own dishes. You use it, you clean it. Pretty basic I think. For some reason this concept hasn't caught on as quickly as I had imagined. This past Monday, we made some amendments to make sure everyone does their part. Mitch admitted to not doing the dishes because he felt others were not doing their part. I once heard a quote that stated that two wrongs don't make a right...or I guess in this case, one wrong doesn't make a right. Because Zak and I confirmed that Dean was cleaning his dishes right after he used them, Zak only uses the food his Dad brings him which is in Tupperware and there wasn't ever any Tupperware, and I clean my isht everyday after class. We gave everyone a 24 hour rule so it was acceptable for me to wait until I got home from class. And I don't mean to be arrogant, but to put it bluntly, I am the standard right now when it comes to overall cleanness. On top of this, we saw items in the sink with Mitch's garbage in it. No one else in our apartment has eggs except for Mitch, so how did that egg covered frying pan, spatula and plate get into the sink? Maybe we have a 5th ghost roommate? Ya, that has to be it.

Along with the issues at the apartment, I've been kind of struggling with the discovery that people lie to me much more than I initially understood. I really thought if continued to be genuinely honest, that karma would work its magic. I always gave people the benefit of the doubt, but now I understand that when you give people that lenience they abuse it and when the do it for so long, it just becomes natural. Lies are so easily seen through. I firmly believe there is no such thing as a good lie when it comes from a liar. It is too obvious. The thing is, I am not one to call people out on their fuck ups so I will continue to get abused. If only people were strong enough to resist societies temptations and standards. Face it fuckers, you will never impress society and other fakes or "hipsters", you might as well start bonding with the people that matter. Don't sell out.
I guess this kind goes along with the liars idea, but I learned about a theory in my psychoanalysis class that really bothers me. In Sigmund Freud's studies of the human unconscious, pre-conscious and conscious, he states that all humans have an unconscious instinct to seek betrayal. That seems pretty ridiculous but how can we prove it right or wrong? I think it really dug into me because for the past 2 years I've struggled with this issue. It really wore me down last year and the only thing that kept me up was music (Good thing Senses Fail's "Still Searching" and Brand New's "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me" came out when they did). I always asked myself, how does this horrible thing always happen to me? Haven't I always been loyal and caring? Then this theory exposed it self last week. Could it really have been that I have been setting my self up for epic heartbreaks? Consciously, I know I don't ever want to feel that way again. I guess what really eats at me is that if this really is an instinct and I really don't have any control over this, am I really living? I might as well just be a programmed robot that does my internal instincts will. I pride my self with strong logic and strong cognitive abilities but really maybe it's not even me doing these actions. I kind of think of it as my conscious in a vehicle that my unconscious is driving. I can think and see what is going on outside the window, but where the vehicle is going I have no control over. Kind of depresses me.

Almost time for my meeting so I will end on one last topic - the new Armor for Sleep album. Couldn't have come out at a better time. It is like artists and music knows when I need to talk about certain things and they always come out to help (haha, it could be that there is so much music our there, but always by my favorite artists?). It is almost as if Armor for Sleep wanted to talk about liars and betrayal with me. The CD has a theme of critiquing society and how it changes the way people act. "Smile For The Camera" the albums name is pretty self explanatory. I really love how Armor takes shots at hipsters (Listen of "Williamsburg"). There are a few parts in the CD that I don't really like, but overall it is something I really enjoy. The production might have been more fitting for the theme of "Dream to Make Believe" since it has a lot of echo and reverb effects along with chimes and bells but it works for this CD as well. Do your self a good deed and go listen to the whole album. And I don't give a shit what people say about emo music, I think it is fantastic. I really do feel like it is poetry, emotion, human thought, humanitarianism, therapy all in motion. If you can't except that people need to share their feelings, that is to bad for you.

Hipsters

Fuck em.

Golly it's been a while. Much to write about quickly since I need to attend our second house meeting and go work out after. I'll keep the topics short yet meaningful.

I still haven't found the time to talk about the release of Halo3, which seems for ever ago now. I really haven't got to play it much yet, but from what I've experienced I like. Really it can't ever replace the initial shock that Halo2 gave me, but it is a nice little update and reminder of Halo. What I'm trying to say is, it really doesn't feel that much different than Halo2 so it isn't anything new to me. Halo2 was a fresh and new experience and had me hooked for months, but I don't really see Halo3 doing that. It is nice to go home on the weekends and just sit on Halo3 with Jon (Who I miss very much, just had to throw that out) till 4 A.M chatting with him, Red and Danielle. It certainly has made the time away from him seem much shorter. Just being able to talk to him and being able to feel his youth come out my head-set is all worth it. Halo3 is well worth the buy, but it isn't more than I expected. I wish I could play it more often, cause the truth is I've been getting my ass kicked (to my standards) on there. I guess a 1:1 ratio isn't that bad, but it's not satisfying knowing that in my Halo2 prime I could break off about 30 kills at will in a team slayer.

I was lucky enough to experience the Underoath headliner and the Chiodos headliner these past few weeks. Underoath's show was on a Thursday and the Friday after I was a zombie the whole day. I think that morning I woke up, unraveled my legs from underneath my covers, climbed down from my bed and stood there for an uncertain amount of time. With my eyes closed, I stood by the bathroom door not sure what my next move was. Of course my normal morning routine is to take a shower at the point. I paced my self for Underoath which was smart because I was gassed half way through the Underoath set. I sat back for Maylene and The Sons of Disaster who were pretty good. I guess their sound isn't really my favorite but I enjoyed watching and listening from the back. I got into the floor for Poison The Well and jammed out for "Nerdy" which is the only song I really knew by them. I got my rock on for Every Time I Die who motivated the Myth to open up what was possibly one of the biggest circle pits I have ever seen. Dean and Nick got sucked into that circle pit and told me a girl passed out because she fell and got trampled. Lastly, Underoath. Their set was just epic. No other word can really describe what they did on stage. They walked on stage to Salmamir with this video projected behind the drum set. The video was well made and totally creepy. They had these awesome transitions between songs and amazing interludes. Every time they ended a song Aaron hit one if his digital drum pads which was set on this huge bass sound and the projector shot out Underoath's iconic 0. They probably played for at least a hour and fifteen minutes which is crazy long. Way to much Underoath for me to handle (Jigga please...). I got home, swapped some stories, took a shower and went to bed.
The following Monday was time for Chiodos. I felt that this was the best all around concert in October. We waited in this huge twisting line at the Cabooze and when we got in we had to wait for Leah and Zak since they didn't have tickets. I could barely stand still while waiting for them since The Devil Wears Prada were already on stage. Once Zak and Leah got in I quickly assimilated into the crowd. Devil Wears Prada is just hella crazy and I only wish I knew the words so I could have screamoed it up with them. Next was Scary Kids Scaring Kids who I am just obsessed with right now and I don't know why. Their set was really good, but it wasn't life changing or anything. I guess I just really dig their new CD. Emery was the main support and I was extremely disappointed by them. It took them way to long to set up and get on stage which killed the atmosphere and energy and when they did hit the stage their sound was all messed up. I think I could have sung an acoustic ballad louder than their amps were set. It really sucked the energy out of the crowd. Since they took so long to set up, they had to cut their set short and they decided to cut most of their songs from The Question which were the only songs I really knew since I hadn't listened to their new joint much. They did end with Walls which was a wise choice since that is the song most people know by them. Watching Scary Kids and Emery back to back really makes you appreciate keyboardists. The Emery keyboardists did one of the sickest things I had ever seen in concert. He decided to walk on the crowd haha. It was like watching Jesus. Chiodos finished the night off with a bang. They played a nice blend of old and new and mixed it nicely with soft and hard. Craig played a couple of acoustic songs for the encore. The most unique part of the night was when some jackass threw a cup full of ice at Craig between his two acoustic songs. Craig paused and let the dummy know that Craig might sound and look like a girl, but that he could kick his fucking ass. And that there are about 300 other people that would back him. Then he finished the night. It took for ever to get out cause Nick and Zak walked around the venue trying to find Zak's shoe. When we finally did get out I was greeted by B-Nag of Four Letter Lie handing out FLL ads. I was in much better shape after this show and I had enough energy to sit around and chat with the crew. For some odd reason I decided to assign Pokemon characters to everyone when we got home. I'm weird. I came away form these two concerts with an understanding of why good bands are good. Because they are smart and they work hard. When you compare bands, it is pretty obvious which ones practice and think things out and which ones don't. I mean, I'm sure all bands practice their songs, but it shows when a band puts in a little extra work. Although Emery stunk the joint up, their performance would have been very good if it weren't for the poor sound quality. And Underoath - it is obvious that their set was well practiced. It can't be that epic on accident. There are some concerts I was looking forward to in November but it looks like I will be in Korea during those so I guess I wait until some December shows are listed or else some spring tours and then Bamboozle. We'll see.

This past weekend was our second week of football for the 2007 fall season. We had a handful of people bail out so at first the core group of people were going to call the game off but we managed to get a 3v3 game and it turned out to be one of the more entertaining weeks in recent memory and one of the more memorable. We played like 2 or 3 games with one set of teams and then mixed it up to see if we could balance the teams out a little more. We were in our second game with the new teams when the game had to and due to the skin above my eye being split open. Dean and I collided faces and I thought it was just going to be a bruiser but when the guys walked over to check up on me they let me know that my face was bleeding. When I looked up I saw a bunch of shocked faces and they let me know that I was probably going to need stitches. When I saw the cut for the first time in Andy's car mirror I couldn't believe how big the cut was. It honestly didn't feel as bad as it looked and I'm not trying to be macho or anything, but I am curious as to why something like that hurts less then a bruise or something? I've seen boxers with the same cut above their eye and it looks like the end of the world to me, but this cut was honestly like 200% better than a paper cut pain-wise. The worst part was going to the doctors cause it took 4 hours to get 8 stitches. It was horrible. The part that hurt the most was getting the novocaine cause it burned on the way in. Aside from the hospital, the most upsetting part was that we couldn't finish the game. I guess it's a good thing since we were losing in overtime and the other team just got the ball and I hadn't lost all day. Now I can still say I went undefeated that day. I was playing much better football compared to week 1. Our football games have such a different feel to it without Jon. When Jon is on the field it's like there is black-hole on the field that everyone has to pay attention to on defense and offense. I'm a thinker when playing football so not having to worry about Jon takes so much weight off my mind since Jon and I were pretty much not allowed to play on the same team. Anywho, pray that my gash doesn't scar horribly and I look forward to the next time I get to play some football.

I have a couple of important topics I still need to blog about but it'll have to wait since I have a couple of things I still need to do tonight. I've been struggling with a social issue lately and I wanted to bring up a topic I learned about in my psychoanalysis class that really dug into me. Also I've been into music like crazy lately. Maybe because of all the concerts, but it is one of those moments in my life again where it feels like music is the most understanding element around. All I want to do is listen to music and sing lately (which has kind of been hard with my cold). Oh, and I need to update the sad state of our apartment. Mostly just Ernest Hemmingway shit. He sucks at life. I hope everyone is doing better than my eye...because if you're not, your life sucks.

That's Never Been In My Yard Before!

I've just received two horrible notes of news. The first one happened a couple hours ago when Nick called me to let me know that we will not be heading up to Duluth this weekend to visit Jon. Which is a major let down since I had my mind set for about two weeks that we would be going up. I guess playing Halo3 with Jon via X-Box live will have to do. It would have been nice though to go up and chill. The second note I just read off of Absolutepunk is that Fred Mascherino of Taking Back Sunday just left the band to pursue his solo project. I know Taking Back Sunday has had member changes before, but this is the Taking Back Sunday I know and have dug into. Also with the amount of success they have had I really thought this lineup was solidified. What I mean by that is that this member change phase seems different from the last one. During the previous change they were still a growing band but I thought this time they had time to gel and harden. I think it makes it much harder to change. Oh well, we will see what happens. They are writing a record now, so really soon too.

While we are on the topic of music, I might as well continue. Recently I got to hear and watch the music video from System of a Down front man Serj Tankian's new project. Although the song sounds just like System of a Down's material, the video is what hooked me. I mean who else has the balls to set up building blocks in the figure of two buildings and throw a toy plane into it? I know I don't know Serj personally nor have I followed his work that much in depth (I did indulge in the earlier System of a Down songs), but he seems like a real humanitarian. Some one who knows his shit and isn't afraid to preach his opinion. Much respect for Serj Tankian. I look forward to his CD coming out at the end of the month.

I had the chance to catch Good Luck Chuck on opening night and I guess I wasn't disappointed but I wasn't really falling out of my chair laughing either. I guess I'm just a sucker for Jessica Alba movies, and so I've decided I need to put my wiener in check and stop wasting my money on Alba movies. Good Luck Chuck had some funny moments but sometimes I think it was just over the top. Like Dane Cook's sex montage, that shit was crazy, and Dane's friend fucking the grape fruit. Yuck! I would never fuck a grape fruit because that's weird and because my dick would be all citrusy and sticky. With that said, I must admit Jessica Alba is fine/hot/sexy/beautiful/gorgeous/and any other adjective that compliments her looking so god damn amazing. Plus, it was one of those bubbly romantic comedies that everyone has to kind of love unless you're cynical fuck with no romance in your heart. It just has one of those, "I want to hold you forever and you're always on my mind" themes to it. Cute, no?

One last thing before my Ernest Hemingway style blog comes to a close (Pwah haha). During my time away from Jon and Dick, I've felt like the youthful side of personality has been sapping away slowly. I think they both were key elements to me being my self around people. I mean, I'm always my self around people, but they allowed me to be ridiculous when ever I wanted. They let me use my imagination and they were able to follow along with my visuals. I can't do that with everyone and especially around one of my fucking room-mates haha (He is such a buzz kill). This roommate always seems like he comes home with a "I'm going to beat the shit out of my wife when I get home" type of attitude. His temper is one of a kind. If he lived in a more rural area, he would indeed be considered white trash. Without a fucking doubt. I fear for his potential wives already. Not only is she going to have to cook, clean, look after, serve him, she is also going to have to put up with his shit and she probably is going to get slapped around. It's sad that to think women are still actually beat and still looked upon as an inferior sex. Humans and their superiority complex. It really does confuse me, but really when I look at my self from a third person point of view, I am not immune to this complex. It's just human nature to make things easier for them selves and harder for others.

Anywho, I need to check a couple of things, see if any updates appeared on Absolutepunk and then I want to get me some shut eye. Va-holla!

Dean Kong Steals Shit From Target

...Yes, the title is true. It may be hard to believe, but under Dean's monotone exterior is a viscous criminal. A stealing rat that denies any wrong doing, but let the truth be known. Va-holla!

My blogging has been inconsistent at best and that fact does not please me. My last blog was over a week ago. The best excuse I can come up with is that last week was a busy one filled with quizzes and a formal paper and lets not forget the release of Halo3 (More on Halo3 later, or perhaps a separate blog about it). This week should be a little smoother and should allow me to catch up on my readings I have fallen so far behind on. Tonight with my extra time, I tried my luck at curry and rice and it didn't turn out bad. The only thing that was a little messed up were the potatoes. I think I need to chop them into finer pieces and cook them a little longer. It still was probably the best meal I've had since I moved in. And did anyone catch that Padres vs. Rockies game that just ended a few minutes ago? What a game. A couple of other quick sports notes I should mention while on the topic. I won this years Fantasy Baseball league in the closest Fantasy Championship ever. Quan and I ended up tying 5-5 but Yahoo! awarded me with the victory since I beat him twice out of the three meetings during the regular season we had. Add another trophy to my already crowded collection. I am going to need to invest in a larger trophy case soon. Also, after the Monday Night game, I officially have my first Fantasy Football win of 2007-08. My team is coming together a little better and I hope to make a surge soon.

A couple of old notes I want to mention briefly. O.J Simpson is stupid and so are the New England Patriots. I wish O.J and Cochran the best of luck...oh wait, never mind. Ya, good luck idiot. And the Patriots are fucking cheaters, enough said. However, I am glad Randy Moss is back. But if they didn't cheat against the Eagles during the Super Bowl a few years ago, I would be even more baller than I am now.

A lot has been going on in our apartment since the last time I blogged and most of it is negative. Seeing that my bed time is sneaking up on me rather quickly here, I won't get into it with depth. A lot of the issues revolve around Mitch (And from chatting to roommates, I'm not the only one being bothered) and I've been chatting with a lot of outside sources to see what they would do and what they think of the whole situation. I tried to give them my best third person, non-partisan version of the story to those who needed that version so they could be the judge of all that is going on. I never want to just assume that I am the right party. But of course I gave them my side of the story after I gave them the third party version, because lets face it, venting feels good. Anywho, there has been some major bitching, some unfair yelling, and just to much inconsiderate behavior I see that eats away at me. I'm learning a lot about my fourth roommate, Zak. He is a really laid back dude which is nice, but he is really green when it comes to growing up and learning how to live out in the new adult world with new people. I have grown so much over these past three years. He is a little bit naive on things, but I give him a pass because he is two years behind me. Still, he has a lot of catching up to do. I also learned he is kind of a "bro" type. He is like border line bro - kind of like a bro that didn't make the cut with the other bros and is waiting to be called up. The thing is, I can't really relate with bros, and really people that are like me never get along with bros. I consider them shallow people, that's why I'm glad Zak is border line bro. I am not saying Zak is a shallow person because I don't think he is, I'm just saying he sometimes previews the personality type of those kind of people. The Bro-ish, frat-ish kind of dudes. You know, reckless and careless and naive and stupid and dumb and lets not forget gay. Ah shit, va-holla! Oh, however, there is one thing he does that kind of bothers me. He always sleeps on the living room couch. I mean, if we had 4 couches that would be okay, but we don't have enough seating for everyone when he does that. That is what I mean when I say people aren't considerate because well, he does have a bed.

Anywho, time to end this mess. I got to listen to the new Say Anything joint, arrange some things quick and then bed time. Va-holla!

Go Eagles!...guess not

I'm blogging right now in the comfort of my living room while watching the mighty Eagles play the racist Redskins on Monday Night Football. The first half has been pretty mild but I'm hoping for a big second half out of the Eagles. I got a hefty chunk of my mass communications reading done today so I'm giving myself an unnecessary and unearned break. I say this because over the weekend, Friday included, I didn't do jack squat, so now I'm even further behind in my reading.

I was thinking today while I was eating my dinner, why do human beings need to eat so god damn much? When I say "much" I mean both the huge quantity of the food we eat and how frequently we need to eat. While microwaving my frozen noodles it felt like it was only a few minutes ago I had eaten lunch. Albeit it had been roughly 5.5 hours since my last meal, it still feels like I eat much too frequently. Why do humans need to eat so much? That is kind of a rhetorical question because I don't care to hear your scientifically fundamental answer, "It's because we are warm blooded creatures," cause I will just come back with a youthful, "Why?" and when you handle that one I will once again ask, "Why?" I think I've been paying attention to frequency of my meals more closely since tasty food is more difficult to come by now that I'm without the maternal safety net of my mother and since I am a college student with the stiffest of budget. I don't really know where I'm going with this topic but I was thinking about it while eating and I felt like I had to document it.

There has recently been two exceptional CD releases in As I Lay Dying's "An Ocean Between Us" and Chiodos' "Bone Palace Ballet." At first listen I gave As I Lay Dying's CD the higher grade, but just like their first CD it took a bit for the Chiodos CD to grow on me, and now that I've run through it about 25 times, I think it's safe to say it has grown on me. Right now my favorite song of the album has to be "Intensity In Ten cities." I think this Chiodos CD is definitely a progression and has lots of musical growth compared to their first CD. I love how they incorporated strings into their songs, I love the backup vocals (or I guess backup screaming would make more sense in this case), and I think the keyboards are more prevalent in this album. I think who ever is screaming now for the band is much better then Craig Owens as a screamer. When Craig does scream, it sounds like he is scared he is going to hurt his pretty throat. I get this vibe from from Mr. Owens that he fears straining himself when yelling because he to beautiful. This may not be true and just a misinterpretation, I don't know the guy personally, but just from his live performances and You Tube videos I get that vibe. So the new screamer who actually screams/yells is very refreshing to me. I think this CD would have made a better rookie album because I think it is easier to understand for the general public. The first CD is little more complex in my opinion. That doesn't mean the second album isn't bigger and more grown up (because that would just negate what I wrote above), because I do think that the second CD is much more dense and a lot more rich, but something about the second CD that makes me think it would have made a better first CD. I think it would be cool to see the CDs swapped in time periods but the growth between the CDs remain the same. But isn't that how it is with artists today - when they first come up its all about doing what they want and the artistic value of the music but once the music business starts coming into play it affects the music. I guess it really isn't their fault.

Before I end this blog and get ready to go work out I want to write about one more topic. I know I've written about my struggle to adapt to moving in with 3 other guys with abundance lately, but I haven't really written about it with detail so this will be my last bitch-fest unless something new comes up. I have a list of things that I've noticed since my stay and I plan on hitting all of them quickly. I must insert a disclaimer before I start that I am a little bit frustrated at the moment due to reasons I do not care to mention for the safety of peoples feelings. So if I write a little more directly and without cushioning my comments to accommodate to peoples feeling, I apologize in advance. One thing I have listed is the trash bin. Many times I've found the garbage over filling, yet no one has the courtesy to dump the receptacle. I don't see how someone doesn't get the message that if something is over filling, it needs to be emptied. It's so confusing to me because back at home, when the trash is full and you were the one to put it over its brim, it is understood that you need to toss it. I mean, if you don't do it when its full, who are you expecting to do it? Mommy? Min? I've decided that bringing the trash out is one thing I will not do during my stay here because I am responsible for so many other chores around the house. Rather, I will leave the trash bin out as a hint for the others to empty it. In fact, the trash is out in the open right now and has been out since the afternoon and guess what...it's still there. After a while I even opened the top to give another visual clue that it needs to be tossed but instead someone decided to put the lid back on. Hopeless. It's frustrating to say the least. I wish I could be more vocal about it but it's just not my nature to call people out on their short comings. I just don't understand how it doesn't register automatically. Did their parents not teach them the meaning of house work? I'm glad I understand how lucky I was to have my parents support me for so long. I really appreciate everything they did and still do for me and I think my peers take all the benefits of their parents for granted. It's a shame. They still expect someone to do everything for them and being the only person that understands this, the person that does all the house work will be me. (I just walked out to grab a cup of water and the trash is still there...sigh). Another thing that bothers me is how bad these people are at paying attention to details. I've grabbed a dish or cup out of the cupboard with stains all over it or is still wet. Stains mean someone just didn't wash it good enough and it bothers me when our dishes and cups aren't dried yet stored because the moister gives bacteria a necessary environment to cultivate. So I one day built up enough courage to propose that I am willing to clean the dishes alone and the response was incredibly disappointing. Actually, a response doesn't even exist. All I got was mumble from Dean, Mitch kept switching through the TV channels and Zak just sat their accompanying Mitch. I mean how fucking rude is that!? Here I am trying to get some guidelines figured out and offer to clean all the fucking dishes alone and they just brush me the fuck off? That really upset me and made me even more critical of them. Let me remind you that this is only two weeks into our year lease. I plan on having lunch with my Mom on Friday of this week and I plan on venting with her and apologizing for being a slob back at home. My friend Roshani has actually been helping me out a lot just by giving me someone to talk to which has been uplifting. She even came over and called some people out for me (intentionally or intentionally I don't know) which made me feel 100% better. Anywho, I guess they must not have heard my proposal because I often find dishes out of place and strange dishes in the washer that I don't remember washing. It's so obvious when others do it because I always put things in a certain direction and in specific places. Oh! That's another thing that bothers me, nothing ever stays consistent, everything is in a new place each time I look for it. Whether it be the items in the fridge, or items in the cupboards, or things that are layed out else where, etc. Also things never remain strait. I mean if you knock something out of place, put it back into fucking place, is it that fucking hard? Another issue I have with these guys are crumbs. If you spill something, CLEAN IT THE FUCK UP!!!!! Who the fuck do you expect to pick things up after you!? Mommy? Min? I don't get it. If something is spilled, it is obviously not going to move and clean it self. So it just sits there. I hate when someone makes a sandwich because there will be bread crumbs everywhere and I hate when people make ramen because there are broken pieces of ramen all over the stove top and kitchen floor. I must be the only one stepping on these crumbs because no one else seems to mind their new niche. So, if anyone wants some free ramen, please steal some from our place. I hate having to clean the tops of everything and the kitchen floor everyday because there are so many fucking crumbs. Clean up after yourself! Oh, and it is sooooo obvious who does what. I mean one time I watched someone make a bowl of ramen and right after the floor was littered. Not only that, they left the ramen packing out on the counter top. That amazed me. I even know who overfills the garbage cans because I see someone eat something and thats what I see overfilled ready to fall out of the bin. I mean these guys don't even try to hide it which makes me think they are completely oblivious to what they are doing. Which in turn gives me no hope. Another issue along with crumbs are stains. If you spill sauce or something, wipe it because it'll just sit there and dry. One time someone spilled a little jelly on our table and just left it. When I came home from class, I cleaned it, duh, who else? On top of being filthy, they are awfully loud at night. This one doesn't bother me as much and I think I'm just critical about this because so many other things are going wrong, but I mean they could be a little more observant and considerate since I usually go to bed at the same time every night. For some reason the guys think the best time to pump up the TV volume is when I go to bed. The best time to do laundry is when I go to bed, which sucks because the washer and dryer are connected to a wall that is next to my bed. On top of that, a couple of my roommates asked me for some of my music and I was very reluctant to assist them because this just meant more ammunition for them to play at night. So is being independent fun? Yes. Is having your own place fun? Yes. But I think the next 11 months will be a struggle for me unless I can slowly change these guys. With all that said, I know Dean is trying and without his help, I probably would have already snapped. (I think I just heard a new garbage bag being expanded, and this is right after Dean left the room. Surprise that Dean does it...no. I actually think he is the only other person that has dumped the trash other than me). Dean has offered to help clean the dishes, and I personally think his dish washing skills are up to par so I wouldn't mind letting him do it but I would never force it on him. He offered to help me this one day but I couldn't find a way to make it a efficient two man job so I declined and I don't know if I did it in a respectful manner. Just knowing that he cares and actually thinks about doing the dishes is good enough for me. Plus he takes out the trash and he actually wipes the counter tops and observes spills and stains. He even managed to clean out the microwave once, something I forgot to clean. So much respect to Dean. But really, if I had to guess before the move in, would I have guessed all this would happen any other way? I don't think anyone would have guessed Mitch being the hard worker and clean one over Dean. Oh, and we've had guests come over on weekends that haven't helped much either. I saw someone grab items and move it to another area for no obvious reason. There was no significance in the move other then it made the desktop messier. My favorite guest is Andy or Dick easily. Andy comes over, puts his shoes in line with the others, minds his own business, doesn't beg for attention, cleans after him self, is fun to be around, etc. Dick comes over and just plays games haha. Roshani is also a fun person to have over and she is totally someone I can talk to about my struggles. I don't know...I feel bad that I have to scrutinize my friends and maybe I am to critical and to much of a neat freak. I feel bad sometimes that I am like this, but I don't think being clean and considerate is to much to ask of any human being. More the considerate part that bothers me. I wish Jon were one of my roommates because that would make it 3 people who could look after each other and clean after them selves because I know Jon's parents taught him how to clean after he eats. I've seen him do it and he even cleans after all of us after we eat over at his house. Dean usually gives him a hand, and I try to give him a hand when ever I can. But enough bitching, plus its late and pasted my bed time. I must admit it feels good to vent.
I wrote this quickly towards the end so sorry if it's undecipherable.

Lets Call It A Night

It feels like I've been doing homework forever but really I haven't done anything. I've just had this giant political parties course packet in my lap all day but every time I try to read it I get distracted. It is time to be honest with myself, no more homework except for the things that are due tomorrow because today just ain't my day. I'm going to take a little break from homework and blog then I'll probably go work out and then wrap up some loose ends up before bed. Lately it has felt like days are made up of 10 hours. Everything just moves so quickly now. I wish I had time to go outside and enjoy the last few weeks of pleasant outdoors weather and enjoy the suns charity on my skin but with all this school work I've been trapped in my apartment. Plus, the U of M campus is sometimes just to crowded and loud to walk around but at the same time I love how alive it is. Just depends on my mood I guess. Back home when ever I wanted to be outside I would just text Jon and we would find an outdoor activity. That is a luxury I no longer have and something I probably won't experience for quite some time. The thought just makes my heart sink deep. Time and happiness are such valuable qualities we all take for granted. I was cleaning my bathroom after class today and I was having one of those conversations with myself and I thought about the phrase, "time is money" and I thought to myself would it make sense if we said "money is time?" I don't think it makes sense when you flip it around. I think we are so quick to trade in our time for a couple extra bucks, but I would any day trade money in for time. If it were possible, I would like to exchange some money right now to rewind the clock back to when it was summer. When my cell phone would wake me up around 10 just to be snoozed four times. When I would walk out of my room and limp to the bathroom to the sound of my little brother playing Maple Story. When I would make brunch for my little brother and myself while I wait for Jon to get off of work. When I could see my parents when ever I wanted to. When Jon lived down the street and we would struggle to find things to do but we managed to amuse each other every day. That is what my happiness is made up of. I frequently take little 5 minute reading breaks when doing my homework where I just let my mind rest, but this whole week I end up thinking about summer when taking those breaks. All sorts of pains set in when I realize it is almost going to be an entire year until all my wishes will be lived. I try not to think about it since all I'm left with after my break is a huge knot on my throat. I think I feel helpless knowing that I can't make my brother's, my parent's and my friend's days better when I'm not around them. At the same time, I know I shouldn't worry so much because my brother isn't a baby anymore, he is a high school student. My parents are probably the most gifted people I know; I need their protection more then they need mine, duh! I am lucky to have some friends around me and I guess I miss the ability to just walk down the street to see Jon when ever I want. I just can't help but feel lonely.

Ever since we moved into our apartment, Dean and I have been down to the little workout room every night, except for last Saturday when we had company. Well, I've been down there every night but a couple of nights shouldn't count because I got down there late and I had homework left over so I only stayed for like 30 minutes. I am hoping to work off this baby fat. It is convenient that we can just walk down a flight of stairs and get our work out on but it feels so time consuming with school. They have these cameras set up in the community rooms here at Melrose so we can just turn our TVs to a channel to see how busy the rooms are and I just checked the weight room and now would be the perfect time to go down and I'd rather start earlier rather then late so I can be down there a little longer. Plus, I have some left over homework and I start early tomorrow. So more blogging tomorrow.

Her

I need to take a homework break so I decided to blog quickly. I can't be here to long since I have a quiz tomorrow and I still haven't read one of the chapters. I plan on skimming the chapter quickly and hope I pick up the key terms. Not only do I need a homework break, but I need to blog because my soul really needs it. Ever since school started my heart has had this ache and I just can't shake it. I have no idea what is bothering me, but I just get sad and lonely so quickly so I am using this blog as a way to let my heart speak and vent a little.

My blogging hasn't been as regular as I imagined and this is because I switched my class schedule around a little. Last year I got to blog regularly because I had so many breaks between classes and so much down time waiting to go home with Joe, and I thought I could use the breaks between classes this year to get my blogging back on track. The problem with this is, I no longer have any breaks between my classes. I barely have enough time to make the journey across the Washington bridge to get from class to class. Originally I had hour breaks between 3 of my classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but a course change closed those gaps. I start at 9 am on M,W,F and end at 12. I start at 10 on Tuesdays and Thursdays and end 12, pretty solid eh? Anyway, those class gaps gave me a perfect excuse to blog a bunch but now I no longer have that luxury. It is harder for me to blog when I'm home because I have to clean after the three other dudes and I could just be doing homework. Regardless, I plan blogging at least once a week but hopefully more. I can't complain though, the class set-up is real convenient and class has been going smooth so far. I'm a little behind, but really when aren't we behind with school work.

A couple of topics before I get back to learning about journalism ethics and morals. On top of my random heart-aches, which don't feel like physical heart-aches so don't think I'm having heart attacks, I've been stressing out a little too. A lot is changing not only for me but the other dudes I live with as well. The thing is I've learned I'm sort of this control freak and I feel out of sync when things don't have a certain flow or pulse to it. I'm sure the other dudes are adjusting as well, but they seem so much more laid back then me and I get this feeling that I am getting on their nerves a little with all my direction and subtle criticism. I read a Max Bemis (Say Anything) interview towards the end of my summer vacation and he explained the difficulties about being the leader figure and a control freak and it made total sense to me. He explained that when you have these qualities, you will often be the hated one but you have to accept that and look to strike a balance between philanthropist and disciplinarian. I am trying to find that balance in my new setting but I fear that it might take a little while and I hope things don't crumble before then. I think I need to draw lessons from my experiences as a friend to help me adjust to this new lifestyle. Looking back at my career as a member of "The Hood," I think I did a good job balancing things. Some might say I was unfair, and they might be right, but I did what I believed in and I think things turned out better rather than worse when you look at the over all production. Even just this past summer my logic was challenged by a friend, and I had to step back and re-evaluate my reasoning because I often doubt my self and I try to view my actions in the third person in hopes to keep things fair. I've come to the conclusion that I can't please everyone, but I think I live a fair enough life where I don't obstruct other peoples way of living. In the case of my apartment, I think slowly we will all begin to learn each other preferences and we will look out for each others wants and needs a little more. We will see.

Anywho, I need to go do some more reading so more blogging tomorrow.

To Much At Once

I just got done with the second of my three classes today and still not to much homework. I have a bunch reading in two my classes already but that shouldn't be to bad. I have hour gaps between each of my three classes on Mon, Wed and Fri so I should be able to use these breaks to blog regularly which is going to be nice since my blogging over the summer was very random. I wish I would have blogged during the last few weeks of my summer break because so much happened in a very short and I didn't have a second to spare. I got to hang out with the people most important to me everyday so I consider every moment of the last two weeks or so time well spent. I think there was a stretch in there where we slept over at Jon's house for 4 days consecutively. Remember in my previous blog where I mentioned that challenge Jon and I set for our selves? Well we failed horribly, I think I lost a consistent 2 pounds. I say consistent because your weight fluctuates so easily depending on what you eat and what you are wearing. There was a time within those last two weeks where Jon and I went to the Mall Of America two days in a row, once because we wanted to go to the Mall and once because we went to Ikea the day after so we stopped by the Mall. And then there was a bunch of random stuff like golfing, basketball, Perkins, Ben sleeping over, blah blah blah. Oh, and the official Melrose move in date. I moved a couple of my items in and we had the bros over and slept there for a night but then we went back to the neighborhood because we had things to do. Jon's last night before Duluth was an emotional one. I thought I wouldn't cry but when Jon gave me his goodbye hug I couldn't find it in myself to let go and I tried harder and harder to let go but I just kept holding on and the thought of letting go made me cry. Why are good byes so hard? Ever since that night I've been on an emotional roller coaster, if this is what PMS feels like I feel bad for you ladies.

I am now fully moved into Melrose and so far its been a good experience. Everyone gets along, everyone is respectful, there is enough food to get by on and the apartment stays clean for the most part. Well, it stays clean because of me because I am a neat freak and kind of a control freak. It is a good thing the dudes are a little more laid back then me. It bothers we when things are just thrown around and things aren't strait, it bothers me when there are crumbs all over the place, it bothers me when things are dirty so I have to clean it. It sucks that I've had to clean the dishes all but one time (Thanks Dean), it sucks that I've taken out the trash all but like 2 times (Thanks Dean), it sucks that I have to pick things up, fold things and wipe things down, but it just comes with the territory. Last night the garbage lid wouldn't close because it was so full, but I bet you the person who filled it passed its brim didn't even think about taking the trash out. I just don't get how people could ignore something like that. A couple of times our sink has been full with dirty dishes and I know it would sit until I cleaned them. A couple of times I left the dishes in the sink and I left the trash full to see if anyone would want to take care of them, but no one did so I fixed it. I'm not really blaming my room mates, but it kind if sucks that I'm like this neat freak and I have to put all this energy into maintaining a clean apartment when I live with three other dudes. I wonder if girls are this messy? It makes me really appreciate living with parents who likes things clean and neat. I really miss the security of my Mom. I went home last night and I gave my Mom a big hug. Its only been 5 days and I miss her like crazy. I'll probably end up living at home until I'm like 45 haha. I miss my annoying little brother too haha. I'm trying to teach myself how to sleep with ear plugs because our room is very noisy. The air conditioning at Melrose is very noisy and so when people watch TV they always have the volume way up and since the TV volume is way up people have to speak over the TV so everything just gets louder and louder. And Mitch always does his laundry when I hop in bed haha. And last night Mitch just got himself a laptop and I could hear the music he was playing from his room since there is a vent that just runs through three rooms one being my bedroom. I've been going with the one ear plug technique and just smashing my other ear against my pillow so that when I roll over in my sleep I will have an ear exposed to collect the awful noise that my cell phone makes to wake me up. I am going to experiment with two plugs this weekend to see how that goes, since I don't want to miss my alarm just because I have ear plugs in. Actually, this morning the ear plug wasn't in my ear and it was no where to be found...so I might need to invest in more plugs.
Anywho, time for my Monsters, Cyborgs and Robots class...I think thats what its called.

My Brain Is Melting

I am writing this blog at 4 A.M while I organize all the files on my laptop and hard drive so that I can re-format my virus infested laptop and while I watch Dick, Jon, Red and Mitch play Champions of Norath. I'm not going to front, I am very hungry at the moment and I could go for that left over squid that is sitting at home. That probably sounds nasty to most, but the shit is good as hell. Lets see, what did I do today? The day started off earlier then usual since Jon, Dick and I had to go into work. We got to Franklin Press when we realized that all the doors were locked so Jon called his Dad and he told Jon that Jon forgot the keys at home, so we went back home to pick up the keys and then went back to work. It all was not worth the trouble since we only worked for like a hour and half the time we were trying to stretch the project out. After work Jon and I played multiple games of Strikers. I pretty much dominated him, I'm not going to lie. After we went out and hit up Best Buy so Jon could return some stuff and we made a Taco Bell trip.

Nice, I was writing this blog last night but then in the middle of it I was all like, "Well fuck it, I don't really feel like writing a blog," so I quit but Blogger saved the draft so I might as well post it after I add on to it. Again, I am still hungry because I haven't eaten for a while but you know, thats okay, I need to lose 10 pounds before September gets here. Again, I don't feel like writing to much so I will write something short and then get back to watching the boys get their ass whooped in Champions of Norath. For some odd reason while I laid on Jon's couch when I woke up, I thought to myself about, well, myself. And I guess human beings. I don't know what made me think of this, but what is life really about? The other day my little brother asked my Dad what the meaning of life was because I claimed earlier that between me and my Dad, we know everything. So while we left a store, he tried to prove me wrong and asked me, "What is the meaning of life?" and I told him thats something Dad knows and my Dad replied, "The meaning of life is to work." We all laughed, but when you think about it, its kind of true. Why did we as human beings set up this system of life? With that in mind, I asked myself this morning, "What do I really have in life?" And really, we have nothing except for our mind and our ability of thought. Our reasoning is the only thing we can base anything off of, wrong or right. But really, who can say ones reasoning is right or wrong when it comes to life and its crazy questions. I know I go after what I believe, and I trust my intuition and my reasoning because without it I would be completely lost. My reasoning only has been tested for 20 years, my reasoning can't be as good as someone who has lived for 60 years, but I think my 20 years of testing has strengthened above some of my peers. Anywho, I'm just typing without any thought, its just what I was debating with myself this morning when I woke up. I think about weird stuff when I have down time.

Sue Me

I got to keep this blog short because I need to wake up earlier than I have been since I am going to go do some manual labor over at Franklin Press. Today was an energy filled day since I spent the whole day with the kids from church. Our church went on some cabin trip up about 3 hours north and I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had but I'm not going to lie, little kids are exhausting. But I do love playing with little kids and our church has a lot of them ranging from 1 year olds all the way up to blooming high school students. Most of them are really beautiful children and only one or two really give me a hard time. I wish I could offer them more but I can't really come up with what I can do to make their lives that much better. I mean, I have so many limitations. I can only hope that I put a smile on their faces every weekend. On the way up to the cabin I watched Almost Famous which was an okay movie I thought. Nothing I need to brag about or rip on immediately so I'll just keep going with this blog. When I got there we had service and then lunch and then everyone went off to do find their own entertainment. After sitting around and not doing much for a couple of hours the kids and I went to go ride paddle boats and canoes. The boats were flooded because it was raining earlier so I had to pull the paddle boats to shore and drain all of them. While I was doing this a little girl I was ordered to watch fell into some shallow water because one of the other kids ran into her. I ran quickly to her aid but her pants were soaked. I felt awful but she didn't cry so I knew she wasn't to devastated. After some taking the kids out on canoes and paddle boats we all went back to our cabin and laid around and played some cards. After dinner our family headed out and I felt bad that I couldn't spend the night there with everyone but my parents are busy people and I told Jon I would come into work on Sunday. On the way home I just took a nap. When I got home I cleaned up and just surfed the inter-web. More interviews, more blogs, more YouTube. I think I've listened to "The Mighty R-E-A-L" like 5 times today during my limited iPod time. Such a catchy little tune, and it is nice to hear Meg&Dia sing about something other than a book. For the past couple of days, when ever I am on computer I have been streaming the new As I Lay Dying CD and let me tell you, its fucking crazy good. Every song makes me want to get my metal on and they have awesome preludes, interludes and just these cool breaks. Go to their MySpace and stream it!

Damn, its already one and I need to wake up at 9 so I better get to bed. I really wanted to blog about a couple of items but it'll just have to wait! Ni Ni!

Still Wasted Off My Zima

Nothing new to really blog about, just a bunch of little things that have been going on. Last night Jon and I set up a challenge that will take place until the start of September. Our mission so to lose 10 pounds in roughly 2.5 weeks. I believe Jon needs to get to 179 and I need to get to 164 come September. 164 sounds like a crazy number to me because I don't think I've been that light since the 3rd grade haha. And whats even crazier is that I started the summer at 185 and really I haven't done much to lose the weight. Just eat a little bit healthier, and be aware of proportions and really thats all I've done. I am excited to be in control of everything I eat once I move into the apartment and I've talked to Dean about experimenting with our diets. I am tempted to try a vegetarian diet or maybe even a vegan diet. I always hear stories of new vegetarians saying how light and wonderful they feel after they take meat out of their diet and I think its totally true. I'm not a big meat eater, and so when I go on long stretches without meat, I really do see and feel the difference. I heard that once you go two weeks without meat you are over the hump and can consider yourself a vegetarian. Oh, before I leave this diet topic, I've lost about 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks and all I've really eaten is Taco Bell. So, forget Subway, go to Taco Bell.

The last few days I've wasted a bunch of life by I've reading and watching an endless amount of interviews over at Absolutepunk.net. I mean the interviews totally rock, but c'mon Min, you can find better stuff you can do. On top of that, I've been doing a lot of YouTubing and I've been watching tons of band covers done by people at home and more band interviews. I think its safe to say music is completely consuming my life. I really enjoyed reading the Circa Survive interview then reading the Saosin interview. Its crazy how much more bitter Saosin is about the breakup. But I respect both bands and I totally dig the music that both create. I think Saosin is so lucky to have had Anthony and then how lucky are they to get Cove. Anthony is just this real down to earth, keep it reals kind of dude and is just hilarious to listen to during interviews. Cove is less articulate I think, but he has equally as deep thoughts and an awesome approach to music and life. And on top of that, he is strait-edge which is really awesome I think being that he is involved in the rock music field. When I'm not binging on the emo scene, the boys and I have been playing a lot of Mario Strikers for the Wii. A crazy addicting game. We went to about 4 Blockbusters this one night and wasted a ton of Mitch's gas looking for a copy of The Bigs, but no one had it so we got Strikers instead and we haven't been disappointed. It gets very intense at times and there have been countless re-matches. I not a self boaster, but when it comes down to it, I think I hold the champions seat. I accept all challenges haha. When we aren't Strikering it up, we have been going out a lot and doing people watching. It is really fun and funny but when you think about it is actually quite lame.

Well I really wish I could write more but I have to get ready to go to the Orthodontics. I am getting another wire put in and that means my life is going to suck again for about 2 weeks. But hey, it might help me diet challenge if I can't eat a lot. I was hoping to write about 2 topics that have been bothering me slightly recently and about perspective and how I've been doubting my judgment a lot lately. Maybe tonight.

A Mothers Love Is Unconditional

Not that I will ever experience what that love mentioned in my title is like first hand, I still believe it to be true. But I like to think that I have enough love to share to keep someone happy.

I haven't blogged for a while, but it hasn't been my fault. I went on a little cabin trip with Mitch, Jon and Dick last week up in Wisconsin and the area we went to had no internet connection. Ya, none, pretty gross huh? I managed though. It was a very entertaining vacation but nothing I have to blog extensively about because it was just your ordinary cabin trip. Well, I guess nothing can be really ordinary with me, because I am so weird. I mean, who can find such amusement in Cheesy Poofs and Icicle Treats? Who can find such happiness in Van Damme's Blood Sport and 50 round games of Mario Party? Who can trigger slap-happy mode with a flick of the switch? Not many people, so ordinary was the wrong word to use. I apologize. But we got some quality lake time in and I went golfing for the first time ever. I must admit, golf is one hell of an activity, very entertaining. I don't see why people get so angry when playing golf, I can't find it in myself to get so angry when playing golf. I mean, to say I'm a competitive person would be an understatement, but I still can't get angry during golf. It is so friendly! Hopefully I can edit the footage we recorded while on our vacation and make a short little video blog out of it.

I got to watch Rush Hour 3 last night and it didn't blow me away, but it didn't make me want to pull out my hair either. I got some good laughs out of the movie. There was a part in the movie where I seriously must have been the only one laughing in the theater. I don't see how other people didn't laugh at that part, but meh, their loss at a chance at laughing. And laughter is quite beautiful is it not?

On Friday Ben came over and we didn't have much planned. We just thought it would be cool to see each other after about a 3 week to month long drought. It is a damn shame we can't see each other more often, but thats life isn't it? We are all growing up so fast at we are at that point in life where things are going to change whether we like it or not. It may hurt, it may be for the better, it may make people stronger, but things will change. I had the hardest time accepting that, but I think I am learning. And as long as I learn from life, what more can I do? Anywho, I've strayed. Ben came over and we just sat around for a while watching Dick do things on the computer. Later we busted out the guitars and helped Leah figure this part out this piano part for a Chiodos song. After we popped in Halo2 and killed each other for a little bit since some of my files are corrupted or something. Then we went over to Peter's house for a little jam session and I must admit it was a grand time. We had this list of songs we wanted to play, but that quickly was thrown out. I know people have heard of rap free-styling but let me introduce to you rock free-styling. It was the best thing we could have done and it was very entertaining. I think we actually laid out the structure to our next little song. A metal-core tune that I've already started thinking the lyrics out to. The jam session reminded me how fun it is to have the ability to just mess around and play some music even if it sucks. It reminded me why for the longest time I wanted to be a touring band. Because I love road trips, I love just sitting around with friends for countless hours, I love having to find my own entertainment, and I love music. Put it all together and basically you have a touring band.

Anywho, I have no idea where I'm going with this blog. I guess I wanted to blog just to blog. You know what would be cool? To be a C-list celebrity. I think it would suck to have paparazzi chasing you around, although I would manage to find amusement in it the first couple of times, but I think it would be cool to have people want to talk to you just because they think you're cool. Is Pete Wentz considered a A-list celebrity?

Well, I best go take me a shower and get ready for the day. I don't have much planned, but hopefully something comes up. I have this feeling in the pit of my tummy and the best way to describe it is to say it feels like this ball of love I need to share with people. I sound like a hippie. But I'm serious, I've been in such a relaxed, happy and loving state lately I just want to share it with everyone.

Boo-Ya-Sha-Ka

These last couple of days I've been such a good mood and I've been totally slap happy and I've realized that spooning is such a good way to pass the time. If you can't get around to spooning due to lack of personel, or just embarrassed to try it, dry humping also happens to be a very positive alternative. But you know whats pissing me off right now, YouTube is fucking up and its throwing off my concentration. Meh!

Before I start knocking off some of the items on my "Very Important To Blog About" list, which doesn't really exist, I'm going to take a moment to jot down what my day was like today. So it began as a normal Saturday and pretty much ended like a normal Saturday. Went to church, did my church thing then came home from church. After church I got a call from Jon so I was going to run over to his house but I took a second to lay on my bed and it ended up to be a 4 hour nap. It sucked and rocked at the same time because really, who needs a 4 hour nap, but really, who doesn't want a 4 hour nap? So when I woke up Dick and Jon were chilling in the other room so I walk out and laid on the couch and almost fell asleep again. Lazy? I think not. Later Mitch came over and we just bro-ed out basically. We didn't really play any video games, we didn't really watch any movies, we just sat around and entertained ourselves Amish style. We sat around and chatted and thats just what we did for hours and hours. Boring? I think not. We did manage to make a Taco Bell run, you can decide whether thats Amish or not. We just goofed off but we did have a very serious talk about the state of our friendships, and it just re-assured me how lucky I am to have put these very special people around me. The world we live in is a crazy place and the only thing one can control is what one does, thinks and feels. To have special, caring people around is such a luxury. Remember that, I know I truly do value that luxury. I wish I could write more about how cool we are, but no, I can't.

So I think it is safe to say that I am fully recovered from my teeth operation. Really I've never struggled with it, I've been good since my nap after the surgery. I was scared going into it because Dawson got his teeth pulled a while back and it put him out of action for a week. He couldn't work or hang out for a while so I was worried that I might waste a chunk of my life. But I also should have given myself more credit and listened to Jon and Ben's stories a little more. They, Jon and Ben, told me that you are pretty much good to go right after and really I was. I like to think that my pain tolerance is comparable to Jon and Ben's. Now I just have this huge gap in the front of my teeth and I can't wait to get the wire in to close the fucking gap. I look like a hockey player, and I feel stupider because of it haha.

I have a note for the movie "Identity" here since I watched it a couple of weeks ago. But I think I'll pass. A decent flick, but nothing I need to blog about.

It is hard to believe that Warped Tour 2007 was a week ago now. It honestly feels like it was 2 days ago and I just can't get over the fact that I need to wait a whole year for it happen again. I just can't, and every time I think of Warped Tour I get this feeling in my tummy (its actually happening while I write this) and I get kind of depressed. A whole fucking year?! This is a serious request, if anyone wants to go to the Kansas Warped Tour or any other neighboring Warped Tour's, holler at your boy. I am thinking about going to the Motion City Soundtrack concert next week and that might help calm my nerves. I'm like a drug addict, except for concerts, and you know, not drugs. Drugs are dumb, don't do them.

So its 4 A.M and I'm not tired, that means nothing but trouble. Note to self: avoid 4 hour naps during the middle of the day. They will fuck you up.

While Warped Tour was mentioned, lets talk about Meg and Dia and how fucking hot they are haha. Its pretty pathetic how much Mitch and I are obsessing over the two ladies, because really, do we have any chance? First we got to meet them and grab their attnetion, and secondly we got to meet them, and lastly we have to have something to actually attract them. Do we have like a 1% chance? Um, no. But do we have like .03% chance? Yea, maybe, which is sweet, because you're saying there is a chance. Prior to Warped, I just figured they are probably decent looking people in real life. I mean, I've seen their music videos and photos and I always thought they were edited to look better and blah blah. But now that I've actually seen the two gals in person, and the fact that they were actually prettier in person...well...thats not good news. Or is it? Ahh, I don't know. All I know is they are easy on the eyes. The two hottest girls the emo scene has to offer.

And while I mention the emo scene, this is something that has only recently begun bothering me. What the hell is up with these people threatening to hurt emos and ripping on emo music? I just don't get it. Its just another style of music and its just another group of people. Get over it!

You know what, I think I am actually going to try my luck with some sleep even though I know I will just end up rolling around. I was going to write something about the bridge collapsing in Minnesota but maybe I will save that for my next blog. Which might be a while because come Monday I will be in Wisconsin with Jon, Mitch and Dick playing some golf, doing a little fishing and sipping on some O'Douls. Ya know, getting wasted. Ya, like I'm cool enough to get wasted haha. It sounds like its going to be a grand old time. Maybe if they have internet there I will bring my laptop and do a video dairy like I did for the Cabin Trip last year or I will just blog about it. Hmm...video dairy does sound cool...maybe I will make it a every August type thing since it has been a year since Jon and I went on that trip. We will see.

Met Joe Black

I just finished watching a movie that is titled "Meet Joe Black" and basically it rocked my little human heart. I've never seen The Notebook before, but if that is romance classic, and if Dawn of the Dead is a gore and zombie classic (And a movie about a dream of mine haha), and if 40 Year Old Virgin is a funny ass movie, then Meet Joe Black is the movie you should watch any time you feel bad about life. I mean it just brought me back down to Earth and then slapped my face and laughed at me. It makes you ask your self, "Why do I think life is so terrible?" And before Warped Tour this Sunday, I honestly thought my life was terrible. Ever since Warped Tour, I've been floating and nothing could affect my happy mood, but Meet Joe Black knocked some sense back into me. How could a rock event make me so happy? Where are the people you love in your life? I don't know, maybe I am way to emotional right now after watching such a touching movie, and probably come tomorrow I'll ask myself why I wrote such a pussy blog, but still, I am going to continue writing. Because the one of the best lessons I pulled from the movie is that not to have regrets. And the movie was right, regrets are just stupid, they are self-barriers we create on our selves. The movie taught me not to have regrets, because life is to complicated, but in the end things work them selves out and that life is way to hard to let go of. But one day, we all do let go of it. I'm the type of person that always worries and always tries to plan out the next move? And why, for what? There is no predicting where life takes you, its just 90% luck any ways. Why do I always worry about what I have done, and why do I always worry about what I'm about to do, and why do I always worry about things I am doing? Why am I always trying to impress people and why do I have to act macho all the time? The sad thing is, I am 99% more honest and more other things than the other people of this world, and I'm just not pleased with my level of living. I just don't think I've lived up to par with the "Good Human Being" living standards. But who gives a fuck? No one is keeping track. No regrets right? I am 99% better than most of the people I know because its my nature, it all comes natural to me. Do I sound like a cock for saying that? Yea, probably, but I most likely sound like a cock to the people who don't really know me. And I was going to say, "Who gives a shit about those people?" But I do. I really do. Again, its my nature. I just care about people and I care about feelings and emotion and love. Why, I don't know, blame my Mom and Dad for cursing/blessing me with these genes. Get to know me, you'll see. There are people that I let get close to me, and they know what kind of person that I am, but some how our friendships have decayed. I don't know where I am going with all of this, I'm just speaking from the heart and I think thats the best place to draw words from. Not from the brain where your words are influenced by self gain, but rather from the heart, where things are un-filtered and full of love (I sound like a hippie). Maybe thats why I love the saying, "You can die like a republican without a heart, or you can die without a brain like a Democrat." And ain't it the truth? Its sad that in the world we live in, if you show that you care and show that you love, you are stupid. Well, I'm stupid. Maybe what I'm trying to say is, re-evaluate where you are in life. Sometimes we just need to take a few steps back and see what we are doing, see what we are doing wrong, and don't forget what we are doing right. Just live the right way, and don't forget, try not to have any regrets. No one can say what is wrong or right and be 100% sure.

I also loved the movie because it really is so fucking romantic. And I happen to be a hopeless romantic. I plan on checking out The Notebook and comparing it to Meet Joe Black and I'll let you know how much nuts The Notebook sucks. Meet Joe Black has one of my favorite scenes from any movie (I explained it in a blog before). I'll search for it on YouTube, I found a ghetto version of it so if I can't find a better one, it'll have to do. Unless you go see the movie or have seen it. Its the coffee shop goodbye, before Brad Pitt becomes Joe Black. And I'm not going to lie, I shed a few tears, yea, I did. It is so much easier to say that over a blog, and I don't know why. Fucking society and making it wrong for a man to cry. Why can't we cry we ever we want? Thats just not fair. Societies standards blow nuts! Thats why I love non-conformists. But I also know that with out law and order, nothing would exist. Any who, fuck society and go watch Meet Joe Black. Its 3 hours long, so make sure you have the time haha. It was cool, right when the movie ended and the credits starting rolling, my clock switched to 1 A.M. Like a message from fate or something.

Well, while I am in the mood for writing and on an emotional high, I might as well continue writing about things. Lets talk about Kevin Garnett, the greatest basketball player I have ever watched play the game and will ever watch play the game, no questions asked, and please, don't ask any because you're wrong. I was at Jon's house when I heard the news he was to be traded to the Boston Celtics, and I really could have cried. And if I was alone when I heard the news, I probably would have. Again, society. This is the guy I've come to respect so much over these past 10 years. The guy I modeled my basketball game after and my psyche after. The guy who put Minnesota basketball on the map. The guy who does everything basketball stands for so right people will never know. I hope for the best for Kevin Garnett. I hope this change brings him many good things, but the thing I hope for most is that I hope people start to understand him. I feel horrible for the guy, he does everything the way it should be done, and no one gives him any respect. Well, I know what he has done, and thats why he will always be my favorite basketball players and really, one of my favorite human beings. Thats bold because I don't even know the mo-fo personally, but I can just sense it. I know what he is made of inside and its the same stuff I am made of. I'm excited to see what is going to happen in Boston.

So today I got 5 teeth pulled, all of my back teeth and a front one pulled to make room for my teeth when my braces move them. I chose to go to sleep over being awake and numb because I scared about the operation. I was scared about both methods so I chose the method where I would wouldn't have to think about anything. Quite the experience I guess, or like, lack of experience. I remember them putting the laughing gas over my nose and talking to me. They were strapping me into the chair so I wouldn't fall out and the doc was talking some things over with me and then they injected something into my arm. It made my whole arm numb and it almost took all my brain power just to think about it. Then I switched my attention over to how I was feeling and I could sense the gas taking its toll on me. I challenged myself to fight the anesthesia for as long as I could. I closed my eyes because it would be easier, it was such a task just to keep them open. I remember the doc kept talking and he asked if I was out and I shook my head no because I was to lazy to speak. So they just kept waiting because I was being stubborn and thats all I remember. Next thing I remember is being in a tiny room with the lady and my Dad. They were talking and when I looked at my Dad he was holding a bottle of ice cream and I kept thinking, "I wonder what flavor that is and I can't wait to get home so I can eat it." Then I passed out again, at least I think I did. Then I slightly remember being in the sun, my sister tells me it was when I was walking to the car. She said she asked me a bunch of questions and I would answer them like I was fully functional, but I don't remember a single question she asked me. And now that I think of it, I remember sitting shot-gun being asked questions. She also told me I kept walking toward walls and that she had to pull me to the car. I feel fine now and I felt really good after I took my nap. My mouth is still numb and I keep putting my tongue where my front teeth should be but everything seems good. Its kind of scary though, the anesthesia. I mean I pride my self on my ability to think under pressure and having such sharp senses, but really, all that means nothing. It can all be taken away from me with simple anesthesia.

Anywho, my last blog (Warped Tour) was way to long to I'll try and keep this one to a minimal. Probably blog tomorrow after-noon.
Remember, no regrets!

WARPED TOUR 2007!!!!!!!!!!

I just got out of the shower like 10 minutes ago and I must admit it was a very refreshing shower. I haven't showered or brushed my teeth in over 24 hours and with good reason, and trust me, I am never that filthy. I spent my whole Monday at Jon's house bumming and bro-ing out with the bros, I mean, who else would you bro out with, girls?! Eww. We had a big old weenier fest at Jon's house after Warped Tour and our plan for Monday was to sit around and do nothing, but bro out of course, ha. But I will talk about my Monday later in the blog in effort to try and keep this blog as chronologically organized and possible. I am super tired right now but I want to start blogging about Warped Weekend and everything prior of Warped Weekend as soon as possible because I want to get my thoughts out while they are at their freshest. This blog has the potential to get VERY long and very un-organized but I got to do what I got to do.

I have lots and lots of internet catching up to do. I have several other blog notes written down that I need to blog about but a Warped Tour blog takes priority over many things in my life. I have MySpace and Facebooking I need to catch up on and I hate falling behind in current events in the real world and the music and sports world. While sports is mentioned, I love Kevin Garnett. But I fell behind in all this earlier last week because my laptop has been severely molested by Spyware and anything else that could slow the performance of a computer. So to everyone that has been commenting me and messaging me on MySpace and Facebook, very sorry. I plan on fixing this advance P.O.S this week. And then I fell behind even further on Friday when Warped preparations began and Dean came down. I clear all appointments during a Dean Kong visit. After some major chilling I called it a day so I could get some sleep before church. After church on Saturday, the Warped preparations began again with Dean, Jon and Mitch. We hit up a few stores to pick up some items such as energy drinks and sun-screen and then got a good string of basketball games in. After basketball we did some major bro-ing out by listening to Warped music and playing some VG's. For dinner Jon, Mitch, Dean, Nick and myself went out to Applebees. There I actually checked my phone for like the second time all day and I had a bunch of texts. I rarely check my phone anymore, there is no use, I don't really have a lot of friends anymore. And when my few friends and I want to hang out, we already know when and where so there is little need for us to contact each other. Anywho, one text was of importance. Andy Dawson who was suppose to go to Warped Tour bailed out because of a tummy ache. A tummy ache would not have kept me from Warped Tour, the Worlds end might have, all of mans illnesses at once might have stopped me, but nothing else. But hey, not everyone is me, not everyone loves music the way I do, so its legit. Dawson's father is usually our means of getting to Warped Tour and now we needed to find a new ride. So we asked around and a couple of solutions quickly came up. Then we all went home to get some rest for Warped Sunday. Sunday, the big day, was finally upon us. I woke up on Sunday with a bloody-nose, maybe because I was to excited or something that makes me sound crazier and sweeter then I really am. I hopped in the shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed and then did my hair and skipped over to Jon's. When I got there everyone of importance was already there waiting. Nick, Jon, Dean and Mitch were all chilling in Jon's basement and when I got there we all rolled over to the McDonalds to get our breakfast on. I never wake up early enough for a McDs breakfast but let me tell you, the lines are long. After it took us 15-20 minutes to get our food and were behind in schedule, we jetted over to Freedom (Freedom!!) gas-station formerly known as Conoco. There we got our selves the necessary liquids for the day. After that we got back to Jon's house where we confirmed a ride with Jon's Dad and after a run over to my house to get some things and drop things off we all crammed into Jim's Tahoe. The "Overcast Kids" came and jumped in along with Leah. There is some massive road work going on and we didn't have a direct route to the Metrodome so Jim had to look for a detour, and this is on top of us being like 20 minutes late by our agenda. So Jim, with As I Lay Dying blasting in his ear, found a detour and got us there in good time. Much later than we had planned, but hey, we made it. We hopped in a shorter line since many of the people had already been admitted. Even with the shorter line it took ages for us to get on Warped grounds. Sweat had already started forming from standing in the hot sun and my bottle of ice started to melt way to quickly. The most baller thing in the line was probably when Jon whipped out his sausage egg mcmuffin from his back pocket and ate it in line. Oh, on the way to the line I ran into Dan Sederstrom who I haven't seen for an extended period of time and we planned on meeting up so it was perfect. I was the first to get my ticket scanned out of my group of friends and after I did, I stalled hoping so that some of my friends could get scanned and catch up, and as soon as I saw Mitch and Dan pop out of the mess I took off for the Mecca of Warped Tour, the giant balloon with the list of bands and times and stages. I was scared because there was a band that was playing while I was in line and they had finished before I got my ticket scanned and I had this ache in my heart because I thought one of the bands on my "Must-See" list had finished. But when I checked the first line of bands on the balloon I saw I hadn't missed anything important. So, who first...were there any bands stacked on top of each other...who was playing later...what are the stages called...this is going to rock my weenie off and I'm going to have to find it later...its hot...so many thoughts were running through my head because this is the time where everything needs to be organized for a successful Warped Tour. Mitch and Dan caught up and we quickly dissected the schedule and it helped that Dan had a sidekick cause he was able to punch the info into his mobile communication device. Here is what struck me first after reading the balloon: nice slow start to Warped, Chiodos and Escape The Fate are playing 15 minutes apart, Meg and Dia during the middle of he day, Amber Pacific and Starting Line playing 15 minutes apart from each other, Underoath at 7:15 and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus had indeed won the Energizer 10 minutes and were playing at 7:45. So, time to finally start the day that is Warped Tour 2007.

From here on out, I will list the bands I saw in chronological order and write about what I like, and mostly about what I like since I don't have a lot of negative things to say about music, and things about what I saw and what I felt. Warped Tour 2007!

1) Funeral For A Friend: I started Warped Tour with a Dan and Mitch and while we were staring at the giant balloon, Wales band Funeral For A Friend had hit one of the main stages. So we walked over there and caught about 3-4 songs of their set. I wish I knew more of their songs and I wish I had their new CD because they sounded really good. For those of you who attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, I can't wait to get back on the HUB. Lots of shopping to do. They definitely had some rock out music and their guitars sounded really good live. The vocals from what I heard were pretty much dead on with their CDs. If I get around to it, I will try and learn a bunch of Funeral For A Friend just so I can go see them live and rock out. I really like one of their older songs, "Roses For The Dead," I believe its called.

2) Boys Like Girls: Although I don't really listen to a lot of power-pop-rock type music I listen to Boys Like Girls here and there. Dan mentioned them and I didn't mind checking them out so after Funeral For A Friend we went to the other side of the Warped grounds to catch the beginning of Boys Like Girls. Dan and I wanted to hear "The Great Escape" but I didn't catch it because they saved it for the end of their set and I had plans to catch some of Straylight Runs set. I managed to sing along with Boys Like Girls from the back. They were pretty good live but I guess I just couldn't get into it since I hadn't been in the thick of things yet and they weren't a band I was super-duper excited for. I'm sure their fans loved their set, and I think the singing and the instrumentals were good, but I'm going to say they aren't an act I need to check out again any time soon. After trading a few texts with Jon and Dean during Boys Like Girls about upcoming Chiodos and Straylight Run, Mitch and I hiked it back to the main stages to catch Straylight Run while Dan stayed to catch "The Great Escape."

3) Straylight Run: They played on one of the main stages so it was really surprising to see how tiny their crowd was. I watched them from the back of their crowd but if it were any other main stage band I would have been in the upper-middle of the crowd. I always feel terrible when bands don't have a big crowd to play to or when the fans don't give any energy and love back. I don't want to give the impression that no one was there, because there was plenty of people there to see them, just not the amount I'd like to see for a main stage band. Anywho, I can see why Dean loves this band so much because they really fit his style of music. Really chill with a indie feel. What I really love about the band is that everyone in the band can play pretty much every instrument in the world. Its cool to watch them move around and take over instruments depending on song. Straylight Run sounds like a band I need to check out with more depth, but again, not a band I need to see live again any time soon. Don't think I'm ripping on these bands that I don't need to see live again immediately cause I am not, they are all immensely talented and I have all the respect for them, but I'm more of a screamo guy, so there are acts I don't need to see live a bunch of times. I left Straylights stage a song early to hop over to the other main stage for an act I was very ready for.

4) Chiodos: Last time I saw them was at the Take Action Tour two years ago at the Quest. And I remember them putting on an awesome show and I still remember the gorilla that introduced them then. Before Chiodos even hit the stage I met up with a friend I made on the Warped Tour website, Rob. A real cool dude. We traded numbers prior to the show and we texted each other to find one another and we chatted for a bit but we were interrupted by Chiodos running onto the stage. If I am not mistaken, I believe they started out with "The Words Best Friend..." which is the same song they started out with two years ago. I hope when the song came on, Jon was rocking out hard as hell because thats our favorite Chiodos song and at the Quest two years ago he didn't know what was going on and didn't rock out with me during that song. I told him that he owed me. Chiodos was the first band at this years Warped Tour where I got in the thick of the crowd and got to jump around, throw some elbows, scream out loud, and spit all over the fucking place. I believe they played a new song for their second song and then I stayed for a couple of more songs but left early because like I mentioned in my foreword, Chiodos and Escape the Fate played 15 minutes apart from each other and it wasn't like I could just hop over to the next main stage since Escape The Fate was on the Hurley Stage. I just figured I've seen Chiodos once already so I better check out Escape The Fate since they are up and coming.

5) Escape The Fate: My shirt was finally a soaked dark blue due to the madness of Chiodos but after I snaked my way out of the crowd I had to run over to the Hurley Stage and stake my spot for Escape The Fate. No time to rest except for it took about 5 minutes until Escape The Fate got on. Damn, I left to early haha. Dean, Jon and probably the other guys made it over to Escape The Fate in time and got spots close to me. I saw the band waiting on the side to hop on and when the time came they all hopped onto the stage and played a little intro while Ronnie (Frontman) took this weird dragon mask off. The crowd wasn't as big nor as violent as Chiodos' but it definitely rocked. Escape The Fate pretty much lived up to my expectations but I cut them a little break because Ronnie seemed very sick. It might have been 2 or 3 songs in but he puked all over the middle of the stage and this guy ran out with a can of Monster and make-shift cleaned it. During the next song, as a joke Ronnie bent over to touch the left over puke with his hand and wiped it all over his face. Gross! Between the songs his fellow band members kept checking up on him and it was cool to see a band that is suppose to be machismo take care of each other. Ronnie felt we weren't living up to his standards so he kept calling us out. "You guys fucking suck!" "Where the fuck are you guys?!" "I want to see everyone rock the fuck out!" So we gave him what he asked for. I got a good laugh when they played "Situations" because they didn't have the moans and groans in the back but luckily Dean was next to me and filled in for Escape The Fate. They ended with "Not Good Enough..." which was an awesome song to end on. If Escape The Fate hops on the right tour this fall, you can count me in!

6) Meg and Dia: After Escape The Fate I think we went inside the Dome to drain our main vain and fill up our empty water bottles. After, we made our way to the Hurley.com stage to watch Meg and Dia, another first time band for me. When I got there I was surprised to see how spaced out everyone was and how short everyone was. I could see over the top of everyone, mostly because they were all little girls. I felt bad advancing my way up in this crowd so I found a nice little opening in the middle of the crowd. Before the rest of the band came out, Dia Frampton was walking around drinking her monster on the stage listening to their neighbor stage rocking. Then her band joined her and started their set and I started jumping around but something was wrong. I don't know if this is true with all Meg and Dia crowds, but no one was moving, everyone was standing still. I honestly think I was the only one dancing. And I'm a mosher so it was so weird not to be pinned up against another body. But hey, I was excited to see them and fuck other people if they don't want to get rowdy haha. Dan must have spotted me dancing, and probably quite easily, because the guy next to me poked me and signaled my attention over to Dan who I hadn't seen since Boys Like Girls. He gave me this, "eyes to the stage and look at those hot girls," look and he was pretty much right. Dia has this cowbell part during "Lessons In Jersey..." and after she finished her part she threw the stick out into the crowd. I bet she was trying to knock me out with it but I have these lightning quick reflexes and I was able to catch it before it hit me. Sucker, maybe next time. She went to work on that cowbell because the stick is trucked up! I enjoyed their set but I felt so stupid being the only one moving in a crowd with a bunch of 16 year old girls. I wouldn't mind seeing them again, but probably not at Warped and in a more jam packed indoor venue. The funniest part of the set was when this little girl, probably around the age of 5 was on her Dads shoulder. She sat there stating at me because I was stuck out and looked like an idiot. It was no ordinary stare, it was a look of death, no blinking, and her eyes were locked on like a heat seeking missile. I looked back at my friends to see if they noticed her and I saw they were already laughing. Dean had this stare down with her and I'm pretty sure she is damaged for life now. If that girl has social anxiety, blame Dean. I can easily say that Meg and Dia is the prettiest band at Warped Tour, but mostly because if Nick Price. After their set, only a fence separated the fans and their loading area so Jon walked up and got Dia's attention and began to talk to her and the rest of us less confident boys walked up to say hi. I just told her that she did well but Jon had a more extended conversation with her.

7) Merch tents and other tents: There was a little break between Meg&Dia and Bayside so we decided to to walk around and check out all the tents and some people wanted to buy some Merch. We hit up a bunch of PETA like tents and some other tents but I wondered where the merch tents were. Later we learned that all the merch tents were moved to a special corner this year and thats why we weren't seeing them in their usual spot. While we were walking around I saw this guy that looked a little to familiar and when I got a direct look at his face I realized it was Chris of Underoath, who seems like the coolest and most down to earth guy of the band or at least thats the way it seems from the video blogs I've seen. As I walked by I said Hi and I told him to play hard during their set because I'm excited to watch them. As I was walking away, I thought of a question I had to ask him so I ran back to ask him, "Why isn't The Almost playing on our stop?" and he told me that it would be to hard for Aaron to play two sets a day. Which makes sense because c'mon, it is Underoath. After Chris and the more boring section of tents, we made our way to the merch corner where we paused by Amber Pacific's tent because Nick was going to by something and Will of Amber was selling the merch. The Meg&Dia tent was right next to the Amber Pacific tent so Mitch had to decide to I get something from Meg&Dia or something from Amber Pacific. He opted Meg&Dia. Nick got some value pack where he got a shirt, poster and CD I believe. I had a longer chat with Will about how Warped was going and the reception of their new CD and he gave me honest and humble answers. Two qualities I definitely value in any human being. Oh, and at the Underoath tent they had this sign that said "No We Don't Know Why The Almost Isn't Playing" posted so I felt bad for asking Chris because I can imagine how numbing answering that question 100,000 times could be. After all the tent hokey pokey it was time to return to the music.

8)Bayside: How fitting that I caught some of Bayside's set after Meg and Dia's. Where was Anberlin and Jonezetta haha. No, but really, where was Jonezetta, Meg and Dia remembered when they couldn't make it to Minnesota due to the snow storm this past winter but Jonezetta hasn't made it up yet. Losers. I wish I would actually get around to learning Baysides stuff because they seem like a class act band. I tried to learn their stuff for the Anberlin tour but I just didn't feel the songs for some reason. Maybe they just aren't my cup of tea, but I know they are a brilliant band and that sucks that I can't get into them. I caught the beginning of their set but left a little early to catch Cinematic Sunrise and to see Meg and Dia during their signing.

Alrighty, bed time because I am FREAKIN TIRED! I will finish this blog in the morning.

Good morning! All this writing has taken its toll on me and I needed to take a 7.5 hour nap exactly in the middle of Warped Weekend. Lets finish off with the bands.

9) Cinematic Sunrise: Cinematic's and Bayside's stages were close enough where I could still watch and hear Bayside while we waited for Cinematic. I planned on watching Cinematic from the back because I wanted to catch Amber Pacific for sure and they were next. But another thing that worked out perfectly was that we were right next to the energizer tent where Meg and Dia were to have their signing. Dan, Mitch and I went through the line and I had them sign the stick I caught and Mitch got picture with them and got his shirt signed. Oh, before we even reached Meg, Dia and their band, I saw this lady I knew I saw before and I asked Dean, "Isn't that chick from Straylight Run?" and Dean immediately stole his camera back from Mitch and made his way. Look at his default picture to see how it turned out. I listened to a couple of Cinematic Sunrise songs most of which I didn't know since their songs are impossible to get a hold of. Before we left the stage to hop over to the Amber Pacific set I saw that the line to Meg and Dia was pretty much gone so I asked Dia quickly if I could get a band picture since I regretted not getting one before and I'd prefer a whole band picture because I hate singling people out. Meg was all ready to leave and Dia was nice enough and shouted her back and I felt like a dumb ass because after my picture the line grew again and they were forced to sign for another 10 minutes or so. So the real question I need to ask is, did this part have anything to do with Cinematic Sunrise?

10) Amber Pacific: This was Deans first time seeing Amber Pacific and it is Mitch's favorite band so he was jacked to see them again. And I must admit it was one of the best crowds of the day. Matt of Amber Pacific suggested we open up a circle pit so Mitch and I made our way and had to jump in the circle pit. It was a soft circle pit by hardcore standards, but it was still lots of fun. I knew we should have opened one up during Meg and Dia. I promised myself that I would limit my circle pit action, but there was no way I was going home without one. They had a good mix of old songs and new. Matt brought his brother with him and when he told the story of why his brother came to Minnesota he explained that it was because Minnesota had the hottest girls. Ya, right, buddy. But Amber Pacific rocked it like they usually do and depending on how good the Sum41 CD is and how much tickets are, I may have to see them in the fall/winter. Oh, and Amber Pacific could probably challenge Meg and Dia for the prettiest band at Warped Tour award but mostly because of Dango. (Damn it, I just looked up the Amber dates and it says they are playing with Yellowcard, that probably means higher priced tickets).

11) The Starting Line: I planned on leaving Amber Pacific's set early to catch the Starting Line but I was so caught up in Amber Pacific I stayed for the whole time. When I got to the Starting Line they were playing a song I knew so I was able to jump right in (I don't know any of the songs off their new CD). I think I was able to catch 3 Starting Line songs and all of them were off their old CDs so it made for a grand time. Jon got himself a better spot because he left Amber Pacific early but I could see his headband from jumping up and down from a distance. I wish they would have spaced Amber and Starting Line out more because I would have loved catching their whole set because I had lots of fun singing along with them. Which was a little bit harder since the singer changes how the songs are sung a little, but hey, easier then singing along with Dia because if you want me to falsetto like her you might as well chop off my balls.

12) Circa Survive: We stayed at the Starting Line stage because Circa Survive was set to play there after the band played on the other main stage finished. New Found Glory was that other band so I got to sing along a little while we waited to Circa Survive. I only recently got into Circa which sucks because I've had them on my iPod for I don't know how long but I never listened to them. I guess I was into Saosin and that made for no Circa...does that even make sense!? Anywho, Circa's set was hypnotizing. Anthony Green is a mad man. I am going to make a promise right now: that I will learn all of Circa Survive's music and I will go to one of their up coming concerts. Promise. Come school I will do some major HUB shopping and believe me, "On Letting Go" is at the top of the list. I might actually just go out to Best Buy and snag that as soon as possible. Because I have a feeling that if I can get really into their music and I see them live, I can have one of those out of body experiences like I did with Underoath at the Myth. And out of body is the best way to describe Anthony Green on stage. I would feel safe betting that it is not actually Anthony Green performing on stage, but rather a spirit that posses him while singing and is trying to rip his physical body apart. He really is something else up there. Some might think he is weird, but I think if I were ever a front man, my style would be very much like his. Of course I couldn't sing like him, but our styles are alike, sort of the head-bangers mentality with a bunch of white-boy sexual dance club moves mixed in while making the weirdest stares. And one of their guitarists seemed way cool too. He challenged us to make a trifoce pit, which we failed it, but it was a cool idea. He also told crowd that if they received a free condom and knew they weren't going to use it, that they should make a balloon out of it. Lets just say that Circa Survives crowd could be considered celibate. Oh, another funny part was when someone threw a shoe at Anthony and he said if you hit the singer of a band thats like 10,000 points. Really, who assigns points to real life events except for me and my friends? I was reading an AP issue like 2 weeks ago and they had this section where they listed 22 bands you need to see before you die. Circa Survive was on the list and I was kind of surprised, but now I know why. Expect to see me in a Circa Survive crowd real soon. Thumbs way up.

13) Coheed and Cambria: I watched them from the back because I needed to find a good spot for Underoath who was up next. I always heard Coheed sounded just like their CD which I found hard to believe because of Claudio's voice. But what I had heard from the people was no lie. They sounded right on. I was also amazed by Claudio's guitar skills, I didn't know he was the shredder of the band. There isn't much to write about Coheed except for they played a wonderful set just because I was so tired by this time and I only had Underoath on the mind. During Circa Survive I thought was going to faint because I was so tired and I hadn't drank anything for a while so I got a hater-ade before I jumped into the Oath crowd. The funny thing is Coheed probably played like 3 songs total since their songs are so epic haha.

14) UNDEROATH: The greatest live show on earth, period. What I look forward to every year at Warped and then again in the winter. Not enough can be said about their music and their live performance. Trust me, you don't know what a rock concert is until you have been in a Underoath pit with me and Jon, and please, try and keep up. So don't tell me you've been to a rock concert until you have been. At the Myth this past spring during the Taking Back Sunday, Underoath, and Armor for Sleep show, I had this crazy out of body experience during Underoath's set. I couldn't move and I started crying out of no where and my eyes were locked on to the stage. It was actually quite scary but it felt so good. I didn't think it would happen again and it didn't, but it was still the same type of energy. It is amazing how much energy is put into me when Underoath is on the stage. Remember, I was dead tired, I really thought I wouldn't last in the Underoath pit. This was at the end of Warped tour and somehow Jon and I found the energy to rock out non-stop. But sometimes I feel like it really isn't our energy, but more we are just feeding off their energy, it sounds crazy, but thats exactly what an Underoath show is, crazy. I really can't describe what it feels like to be in an Underoath show, you just have to experience it. Before they played while in the crowd I couldn't even move I was so sore and I didn't talk much just cause I was so tired. Truly something else. Hands down, best set at Warped for me. Underoath again real soon please.

15) Red Jumpsuit Apparatus: The band that earned the 10 minutes extra. And although they weren't the best band live, I enjoyed watching them from the back. It was going to be to hard to make our way through the large crowd so Dean and I just chilled. But I really can't grasp why Underoath didn't earn 10 minutes extra, it really still doesn't make sense to me. Yes, I know Underoath isn't everyones favorite band, but ya know what, I don't give a shit, Underoath for 10 more minutes please! Or shit, give it to Coheed and Cambria so that they can play half a song extra. Or call up Dragon Force and let them play 2 songs total. I've always heard the RJA sucks live and I could see where people get that, Ronnie doesn't have the best live singing voice and they totally change their style into a more screamo feel. But you know what, if you listen to their demos, they sound exactly like their live show. I really think RJA should just become a screamo band because its a better fit, but of course bands need to make money and that means become more poppy. RJA live is like Underoath meets Senses Fail. They played Guardian Angel and another song with their 10 extra minutes which I thought was awesome because Guardian Angel is a good song. I wouldn't mind catching RJA live again soon. People rag on their live performance but I enjoyed it, Ronnie isn't the best singer but I still think he rocks as a frontman. He had some really awesome screaming parts.

16) End: Red Jumpsuit Apparatus was the last band we caught live and we left with Alkaline Trio playing in the back. Leah and Overcast Girl had to catch some of Spill Canvas. I was just drained, sore back, sore neck, knees, and burned face and just ready to die. Jim picked us up from the same spot he dropped us off and it was time to go home a heal our battle wounds. When we got home we all went our separate ways to get cleaned up. I was the first to came back to Jon's and I walked into Dean making his sandwich. Chicken noodle soup and sandwiches for dinner. After dinner, we just sat around, bro-ed out, did nothing and watched movies. The talk before we all fell asleep was pretty interesting too. I love sleep over conversations because everyone is so tired and we just say the dumbest crap ever. Oh, and 40 Year Old Virgin is sooo fucking funny, I love that movie. So if you ever wondered, "Do 20 year old dudes have sleep overs still?" the answer is yes.

17) Bands I Wish I Saw At Warped: The Almost wasn't there like I mentioned before but I think it would have been cool to see the. Can't blame Aaron tough, he kept it real during Underoath. I listened to New Found Glory at Warped but I didn't get to watch them because I was waiting for Circa Survive, but I think it would have been to see them. I think it would have been cool to catch Hawthorne Heights even though I have not listened to them since their first CD. I thought about catching Family Force 5 just because their music sounds so fun live, but nothing I had to see. I wish As I Lay Dying came to Minnesota because I have never seen them live yet and "94 Hours" would be amazing live, even though I've seen videos and they play it much slower. I wish Bert wasn't all messed up because I would have loved to see The Used. They rocked at Taste of Chaos. Jonezetta still owes me. And I wish Anberlin had come to Minnesota again.

I'm going to end this blog because its probably way to long.

Warped Tour 2007! If you didn't go, shoot yourself in the foot now. And in the face. I can't wait for 2008 and I am already looking foreword to this winter where the list of bands start showing up. It makes me so sad knowing that it'll be a whole year until I have this much fun again. Bamboozle anyone? It'll make the wait seem shorter. I need some more concerts soooooon! I honestly feel like a new man. I was going through a rough patch of life prior to Warped Tour but now I feel so refreshed. Ready to tackle anything thrown at me, well, not until all this sun burn and soreness wears off.