Nothing but Song

Feeling :  contemplative  Listening :  If It Isn\\\'t Love - New Edition  Reading :  Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

I’m now going through TAI withdrawal. I just had entirely too much fun that night, and I can’t get over it, haha.

Speaking of The Academy Is…, plz vote for them at the mtvU Woodie Awards for Best Performing Woodie & Best Viral Woodie. It’s free, and you can vote multiple times. Like I told everyone on MySpazz, even if you vote for someone else, please vote for my band just once.

I resisted posting about this at first, because it was a shock and I wasn’t sure I would be able to formulate my sentences properly. But I think I’ve coped with it long enough to be coherent. My best friend back in Cali, T, lost her mom, C, last week. C had a reaction to some medication she was taking, and it was too late when they found her.

I called T the day after she posted on MySpace, and in all the years I’ve known T, I’ve never seen her sad. She was always the one to get me excited about things because I was such a slacker in that department, unless it was about to spazz about music. She introduced me to Harry Potter, and I’ll never forget that. Just hearing how tore up she sounded on the phone made me hurt for her.

I think that’s a problem of Virgos. We feel much too deeply for our loved ones. Hearing about C’s passing sent me into an emotional void. It’s hard to explain. All I know is that it’s a damn good thing it was slow at work, because I wanted to curl into the fetal position and disappear. I called my ma at work and left a message on her voice mail to tell her, and partly because I wanted to hear her voice. I just wanted to know she was okay.

I hope that T finds some peace. That’s all I could ever want for her now. It’s been a terrible year for her emotionally. It’s hard to tell someone you’ll pray for them when they don’t believe in God, but I said it anyways.

What really makes me incredibly sad about C’s passing is that she died alone. My mom lives in Cali, and we live in Las Vegas. When she was in the hospital for her irregular heartbeat, we couldn’t be there for her.

All of this reminds me of my domain name, memento mori, remember your mortality. Don’t be so full of yourself to not realize that it can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye.

Otherwise, I’m okay. I think.

I’m actually staying on top of my homework. Shocking, isn’t it? So I can’t complain abt. that, rofl.

I have a paper due in Bible as Lit, but it’s one of those you can write an hour before it’s due and still get a decent grade on it. I’m like the greatest bullshitter when it comes to writing papers, and I shouldn’t say that. It just comes so natural to me, it’s like bullshit. rofl.

And really, it’s not going to be incredibly taxing. It’s just what story/character stood out the most to you out of all the readings thus far. I chose Cain and Abel. The nature of good and evil fascinates me to no end. What makes a person evil? What makes an evil person do what they do? So that was a natural fit for me to base my paper on. Plus I wouldn’t mind committing some fratricide in this house sometimes.

I have a presentation on Zitkala-Sa in my Writing About Lit class next week, which I feel pretty confident about. I could only find one good article about her writings, so I just chose that for my presentation. I mean, my presentation itself can’t be any worse than the ones I’ve seen this semester.

Speaking of Writing About Lit, I think I completely screwed myself in terms of degree requirements. My catalog year requires 2 classes that were combined to make Writing About Lit for the incoming students on this catalog year. If I’m understanding this correctly, in order to get my degree, I need 2 classes they don’t offer anymore!

Drama! Horror! Meep.

I emailed the Liberal Arts advisor, so hopefully they can shed some light on this ’cause this shit is bananas.

New musical obsession: Patrick Wolf. Everyone over at TKO is swooning hXc. I have his Burberry ads on my wall. And siriusly, “Tristan” is my favourite song ever.

I bought this muted red nail polish the other day that I am absolutely in love with. It’s called “Sweet” from the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear line. No matter what I do, Sally Hansen withstands the crap I put my hands through all day long. Which is why I named my blog entry after it ’cause it’s just that cool.

I hope everyone is okay. I’ve noticed that ppl aren’t posting as often as they used to. I dunno why, but I just thought I would post to say that I’m okay.

?: “Any new musical obsessions?”

Feeling :  giddy  Listening :  Same Blood - The Academy Is...  Reading :  Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury

Basically, the Academy Is… the other night was amazing.

I went with my niece, C. We painted my car with window chalk: Santi or Bust on the back window, Guy “Delicious” Ripley and TAITV on one side window in the back, and Burn the Merch on the other side. She wanted to paint all the windows, but I was all, “Dude, I still need to drive y’know.”

We got there a couple of hours early, and stood around in line. I had a screwdriver which loosened me up a bit. We took a walk around the plaza that housed Jillian’s. It’s really frickin’ quiet over there. It’s a shame the city doesn’t try to put more effort into it. I’d never been to the venue before, and being a local who actually cares about what goes on in city hall, it was shocking how there wasn’t anything going on there. Nobody was there. It’s a massive amount of wasted space! But that’s a rant for another day.

Tipsy from the screwdriver ’cause I drank it on an empty stomach, this random guy passes by and goes, “What are you waiting for?”

“THE ACADEMY IS!!” I yell shrilly.

“I have NO IDEA what you just said.” rofl.

I repeated it, but he gave up and walked away.

Anyways, we walked around the very quiet Neonopolis and when we got back to the queue, we met L, a friend of my niece C’s from the Panic! boards. L brought a friend, S. And we chatted for a bit. A lot of the kids in line were there for the opening acts, and they were being bitches. Plain and simple. There is no other way to explain it. We were acting silly in our own little group, and they would make little asides about our behaviour that almost put a damper on the whole waiting in line deal. What is with people like that??

After constantly checking our watches, we were all getting antsy that Jack the Camera Guy - TAI’s camera guy - who was supposed to give us our wristbands for the meet and greet had not yet shown up. We got the munchies, and had just run back after a quick run to the Walgreens nearby. But Jillian’s doesn’t allow outside food, so when the doors opened, I ended up tossing the food. I was tempted to put the food in the car, but by the time I realised I should do that, the doors had opened and we were right in front. Whatever.

I was like, “We need a sign to hold up against the window so someone can find out where Jack is.”

And L was like, “Yeah! Use this!” She gave me S’s Armor for Sleep poster that was handed out by their merch guy, and I took a Sharpie that I had brought for emergency purposes. I scribbled “WHERE’S JACK THE CAMERA GUY?!?” in big bold letters. C ran out of line to stand on this planter thing nearby to see if anyone knew. We were all feeling a little punchy. And literally 30 seconds after she did that, JACK SHOWED UP!! The people behind us in line were like, “Fucking seventh graders. Who’s Jack the Camera Guy?”

OK, it’s fine if you don’t know the significance of Jack, but don’t you DARE think you’re better than me in some way that you feel the need to talk shit about our behaviour. We weren’t hurting anybody. So what the hell? I was going to say something, possibly scrap with those jerks, and get kicked out of the show before it started, but I let it pass. If you want to be a bitter scene kid, fine. I’m not going to let you rain on my parade.

I shrieked and gestured for him to come over. Jack is a really nice guy. I think he was a little freaked out about our fangirlness, but I’m sure there’s some at every show, haha. We got everything situated, and we just waited for the doors to open. He kept walking around trying to find more SLH, and that’s when I remembered the candy. We bought a bag of Starburst and Airheads for the band, just for fun. We gave it to Jack, and when we saw him later on during - I think - Armor for Sleep’s set - he goes, “What candy?” I hope the guys got it. Or at least somebody’s at Jillian’s ended up enjoying it.

We got in okay, and bought our merch. The show starts, and it’s Sherwood up first, of course. Good music. L, C, and I are waiting impatiently for the meet and greet which was to take place upstairs at 7:30. So we didn’t really pay attention to Sherwood. We were to meet by the merch table for the M&G. Right as The Rocket Summer was setting up, we decided to wait with the other SLH by the merch table to confirm with Jack how many there was and our wristbands. He counted us a few times to make sure everyone had showed up, and he poked me in the arm the second time and I was not paying attention and chatting with C and L and was all, “What the hell?” rofl.

So we climb upstairs, and we wait around for the band to show up. We got our things ready and didn’t have to wait too long. I unrolled my rasterbation, and Jack and I had a small conversation about it. He was like, “Cool.” Jack finally realised what hoodie C was wearing (the same one Gabe Saporta from Cobra Starship was wearing on HCT), and he goes, “My friend Gabe has a hoodie like that.” *whispers* We bought the hoodie that morning; I bought the yellow/electric blue-striped one that Sisky digs at our local American Apparel at the same time (but I passed on wearing it in favour of my favourite TWLOHA hoodie).

They show up and Mike Carden is the first one we meet. It was a casual deal, just everyone standing around and conversing. I literally forgot everything I was going to say. I was going to have them sign a birthday sign I had made for my friend D, but I forgot that. I was going to mention seeing them on the casino floor at the Palms during HCT, and I forgot that too. I was going to bring a bottle of Captain Morgan’s, I forgot that. I was going to tell them that seeing them was my 24th birthday present to myself, forgot that too. Doy.

We meet Michael Guy next, and I have him sign my rasterbation. And I don’t know why, but I pointed him out like I was making like he didn’t know, and he goes, “yeah I know.” *facepalm* Butcher was next, a sweetheart. I think it was the Butcher who said that the picture I had chosen for the rasterbation may end up as an official poster. We tracked down Bill next, and he was just really shy and quiet. I know what it’s like to be shy around people but he was gracious.

Sisky was the last one we meet, and Butcher was all, “Hey, someone brought us Hi-C. Want some?” Another SLH had brought a basket of Hi-C and some baked goodies. And Sisky, as he’s signing C’s poster, goes, “Yeah.” So Butcher sticks the straw in his mouth and Sisky starts drinking! In Tagalog, we call it make subu (sp?). I don’t know what you call it in English. I got a picture of it. Between the three of us, C, L, and I got 3 different sides of it, rofl. He was wearing a Clash shirt, and he thanked me for pointing it out, but we didn’t talk about the Clash, which I had hoped we could have. I could talk about the Clash all day.

The guys loved the rasterbation, and they’re all, “That’s really good. She’s going to take your job, Jack,” and I wasn’t really paying attention so I didn’t acknowledge it until it was too late. I wasn’t even sure they were talking about me, actually, because I was busy trying to get it rolled up properly. *headdesk* I should’ve said, “Yeah, you know, Jack, if you ever want to retire, or if you need a Camera Girl…” Don’t you hate when you get really nervous during what should be a really simple, friendly conversation, and only realise much later what you should’ve said?

Anyways.

I asked Jack take a picture with my dorky sign, and he did. He ended up signing it for me too.

So we get the tail end of the Rocket Summer, and wait through Armor for Sleep. Good music too. I ended up buying TRS’s CD from one of their merch guys after the show.

The show itself was AMAZING. Everything I could’ve ever hoped for in a TAI headling show. That’s the best way to describe it. I threw a white bandanna onstage during Black Mamba, and I think MGC got confused for a second trying to figure out who threw it, rofl. He would’ve seen it was me, had the lights not gone out for dramatic effect at the precise moment I threw it.

Setlist was a bit of everything: opening with “Same Blood” and closing with “Almost Here.” “Attention, “Slow Down,” “The Phrase That Pays, “Black Mamba,” “Classifieds,” “Checkmarks,” “Down and Out,” LAX to O’Hare,” “We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands,” “Sleeping with Giants (Lifetime),” “Everything We Had,” “Bulls in Brooklyn,” “Neighbors,” “Seed,” and “40 Steps” was performed, and not necessarily in that order.

I forget between which songs, but William said they really loved Las Vegas, and “not because of the nightlife.” I screamed, “LIAR!” rofl. I don’t think he heard me though, haha.

I’ve been to a lot of shows, but I think SWG was - by far - the best I’ve been to. That is a testament to how bloody fantastic the boys are live. Loads of energy, all go, no quit.

They were personable in between songs, said we were an incredible crowd, and dedicated “Classifieds” to us. Mike gave the security guard a straight up dirty look during a song, after some crowd surfers were doing their thing, and both he and William addressed that afterwards. They go, “If you want to crowd surf, please be careful, because security’s not going to look out for you.”

I got video of “Everything We Had,” and it was lovely. Far better and much more emotional live. C said that William looked like he was going to let loose a few tears, but I think I missed that. I was too busy trying to get everyone on the video.

Got a picture with James by the sound boards afterwards. His first reaction to my niece was, “Wow, you’re… short.” Way to make a girl feel special Jimmy!

I forgot I was holding S’s shirt, but she and L took off right after the show so we weren’t able to give it to them. We waited around for a bit, called them a few times, no joy. Hopefully we can do it soon ’cause that was hers and all. If need be, I can mail it.

C passed out on the way home, and that leads us to now.

?: “Last live show that you went to?“

Feeling :  awake  Listening :  Ramble Tamble - CCR  Reading :  Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman

I added a ton of new wallpapers to Moonchild, my photography portfolio, which I’ve moved to a separate subdomain and gave it a name. Some of them aren’t credited with my URL, and that’s because they were originally ljsecrets that I had saved and made into wallpaper size.

I usually save ljsecrets because they mean something to me in some way at that particular time. But I had much too many saved. So I printed some out, and put them in a huge plastic frame from Target that originally had the Killers in it, so that if ppl really want to know me, they can read the secrets, and say, “Yeah, that was her.” The rest I made into wallpapers, and the others, I deleted because a lot of them were when I was feeling really emo and I just don’t want that cloud hanging over me anymore.

Speaking of subdomains, I moved my writing portfolio to a separate one as well, and named it One Touch. Having it a part of WordPress was easy for awhile there, but the script is generally meant to power a blog, and it seemed silly to have everything all in one place. I think it looks neater now that it’s not altogether actually. Plus it gives me an excuse to make more layouts, rofl.

My birthday was amazing, thanks for asking. At least I think so. I got phone calls from my mom, Kat, and 2 of my brothers. I got emails/texts from my eldest brother, Corinne, my cousin T, and my friend D. I got greetings from nearly everybody else in comments here on Memento mori, MySpace, and TKO.

I’m not big on presents. In my family, we rarely wait for holidays to buy gifts for each other. So my whole thing is, just remember me. A phone call, email, text, whatever. I don’t care. I just want to know that someone out there cares about me enough on my special day to say “Happy birthday.”

So thanks to everyone for that. Every greeting made my day a little brighter, it really did.

I couldn’t fall asleep Tuesday morning because I had closed at work the night before, and I was so excited about turning 24. So when my alarm went off 4 hours later, I wasn’t feeling it AT ALL. I dragged myself to my morning classes, and fell asleep during Pop Culture because the movie we were watching (”Metropolis”) I had seen a long time ago. If I wasn’t so tired, I would’ve stayed up to watch it. Luckily, my professor shut the lights off, so I was cool. It’s one of my favourite films though. I’m going to buy it eventually. I messed around online for a bit, went to Literature of the American West, then decided to skip on Bible as Lit that night in favour of picking up my pancit and a shot of Captain Morgan’s.

Let me tell you: I honestly took forever to pick up my pancit. I arrived just in time, but stupid me, thinking I could avoid traffic on the way home, took Blue Diamond. Durf! Everyone’s trying to get home around that time, and I had to sit through that godawful afternoon valley traffic with my iPod playing all the damn slow songs I had on the playlist I was listening to. Eurgh. I had eaten a light lunch as well, so smelling the pancit in the car was KILLING me. I was like, “Do I have a fork? Can I balance the party tray on my lap and eat it in between slamming on my brakes?” rofl.

My dad complained that I didn’t pick up anything else. Lumpia, kaldereta, fried fish, BBQ sticks, etc. I was like, “I don’t have any money!” I didn’t. I had just enough for the tray.

He goes, “Why didn’t you ask? I had money!”

*headdesk*

That’s how it works in my family. If you don’t tell whoever is shopping to get something, we don’t get it. Then you have to field complaints from everyone else in the house that we don’t have such and such. I love my family. We’re so crazy. haha.

I had never tasted rum before, and of course, when I took the first shot, I was practically drinking on an empty stomach. The pancit hadn’t hit my stomach just yet. So full of birthday cake, pancit, and rum, I slept for a couple of hours on my couch, rofl.

I’m pretty much going to keep the craziest part of my 24th birthday celebrations for Sunday, seeing as how it’s my Academy Is… gig, and my mom will be here. I will definitely let you know what happens then. Yay!

Taken from pretty much everyone on my flist at LJ, and I wouldn’t have bothered posting the results if they weren’t so hilarious/depressing.

1. Go to http://www.careercruising.com/.
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their “Career Matchmaker” questions.
4. Post the top ten fifteen results

1. Curator
2. Director of Photography
3. Set Designer
4. Costume Designer
5. Director
6. Special Effects Technician
7. Website Designer
8. Desktop Publisher
9. Sign Maker
10. Animator
11. Fashion Designer
12. Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator
13. Gunsmith
14. Sports Official
15. Pet Groomer

Lorraine and I pretty much agree that for questions that were pretty ambiguous, the results hit the nail on the head for both of us.

History has always been a favourite subject of mine. Always, always, always. As I take more upper division English classes, I sometimes wish I had majored in History instead. I don’t want to change now, because I’m almost done with the classes required for my Bachelor’s in English. If I could, I would definitely work as a museum curator somewhere if I could.

What’s Your Spiritual Type?

You scored 80, on a scale of 25 to 100. Here’s how to interpret your score:

25 - 29 Hardcore Skeptic — but interested or you wouldn’t be here!
30 - 39 Spiritual Dabbler — Open to spiritual matters but far from impressed
40 - 49 Active Spiritual Seeker – Spiritual but turned off by organized religion
50 - 59 Spiritual Straddler – One foot in traditional religion, one foot in free-form spirituality
60 - 69 Old-fashioned Seeker — Happy with my religion but searching for the right expression of it
70 - 79 Questioning Believer – You have doubts about the particulars but not the Big Stuff
80 - 89 Confident Believer – You have little doubt you’ve found the right path
90 - 100 Candidate for Clergy

My friends back in Cali were posting quizzes they found on BeliefNet, and this is another one on that site. I’m pleased with the results.

?: “Have you ever taken a quiz and thought to yourself, ‘Wow that’s really accurate?’”