i'd been meaning to post about this for awhile, but never did...did anyone else (particularly anyone else in the freshman class of 1998) freak when they discovered that the first season of "felicity" is being released in a dvd collection? i admit that i didn't watch much of it past mid-way through season two (the loss of the hair was too much for me to bear), but i had such a strong connection to that first season--each week, i'd see a bit of my college experience on television. cortni and i even sent each other taped letters--that's how into the show i was. granted, the odds of me buying it are slim to none, but you never know...i might feel an impulse to reconnect to my freshman self one day and cave.

never mentioned that i finished reading the lord of the rings trilogy late last week--bloody brilliant books. i'm now cleared to see the movies and can't wait until "the two towers" comes out--the fact that it's also orlando bloom viewing adds to the appeal. and, unlike others who shall remain nameless (*cough cough* BETH *cough cough*), i know what happens...neah-neah-na-na-neah! bwahahahaha...

at this time tomorrow, i will be on a plane making its final descent into good ol' albany international (HA!) airport, preparing for a few days of holiday relaxation, spending time with the family and some friends and everything else that includes, and frankly, i'm giddy just thinking about it.

there are so many things about it that i am looking forward to--seeing snow (this might be aided by the fact that i know i'll soon be returning to somewhere without snow, but i digress), seeing the family, having some time away from the office and being able to be a wiseass for a few days. i'm working a few shifts at good ol' mickey dees while i'm home as a way of helping out--they're short managers for thanksgiving break and i figured a little extra money couldn't hurt. my family expressed some concerns when i was so quick to offer to help--i heard the normal protests that i should relax during my break--but honestly? i'm going to have time to see my friends, i'll have time to sit around and do nothing and i'll have time to walk around town (something i haven't done in ages but plan to while i'm there), and i hate sitting around doing nothing, which is what a great deal of my "relaxation" time would be. i have to be doing things, otherwise i swear i'd go mad! so why not work a little bit, enjoy working at a job where i actually stand for a few hours at a time and see everyone that i used to work with? it seems like it works out exceptionally well to me...

i might be able to see beth on the last day i'm home, i know i'm spending time with becca and cortni and i have tentative plans to meet up and spend a little time together, so that'll be neat (haven't seen her since...what...did i even see her this summer? maybe...). i'll be able to spend some quality time with my brother and my parents and otherwise enjoy being home. it's so close...just have to get some stuff done tonight and then wake up way too early tomorrow morning...but it'll be worth it. :)

today i will be taking a tour of the capitol so i can (finally) sign up for the class to learn how to give tours. this brings me extreme, excessive joy, as i've been wanting to do this for ages and have been getting more than a little antsy as of late. there's been a big problem (in my eyes) as of late, with people not being fully aware of what my responsibilities are and whatnot, so i wanted to be able to have everything set, to be able to say, "ok, i handle flags, i handle tour scheduling AND i can give tours. so send that stuff my way." no more messing around, i say...i mean business.

there's a woman who has, as of late, begun to stand at the crosswalk beyond union station in the mornings, not asking for money or anything, but simply standing there and speaking in a prophet-like voice. she spends much of her time criticizing anyone she sees indulging in what she regards as a vice--smoking, drinking coffee, talking on a cell phone, etc. but then she's also loudly wishing everyone a lovely day, a great holiday, etc. she reminds me a great deal of prophet jack in "life or something like it," only without actually attempting to see the future or help the daily travelers. it leaves me puzzled each morning. does she expect someone to speak to her? does she want money? or is it just that she truly loves the sound of her own voice and believes we'll take something away from her daily proclamations? it's to the point now where i both anticipate and dread seeing her as i cross by the fountain. if she wasn't there in the morning, i know i'd wonder if something had happened to her, but i'd also breath a sigh of relief for a quieter morning commute...

i walked through the fallen leaves as i approached my office building. most of the leaves have fallen off the trees that line the streets, and they are so incredibly inviting, just lying there on the ground asking to be trampled. regardless of how old i get, i love watching my feet as i trapse through leaves. i love the crunch they make as i step on them and the swishing sound my foot makes as it moves through and over them and i love the sight of my foot disappearing into a mass of orange, red and brown. if only for a few seconds, i can forget any stress (if i have any at the time) or responsibility and feel like i'm a child again playing out on the lawn behind my old house.

while it's important to play in the leaves as a child, i think it's even more important to walk through them as you become an adult. that way you keep in touch with that childlike self and don't take yourself as seriously as you're expected to all the rest of the time...

how can i not swoon at photos like this and this? honestly...

once again, i say i heart the loc.

while they fell through on the harry potter front (they only know where one copy is, and that's not due back til after christmas), the library of congress has hooked me up with reading material for the next week or two...liz sheridan's dizzy & jimmy (yes, a continuation of my james dean biography trend), lori gottlieb's stick figure and tom stoppard's invention of love. score...

fun weekends are good, particularly when you're going home for a bit. that way you have fun stories for the people at home about the place where you live. went to happy hour with office people after work friday, then relaxed at home (as i had, at that point, gone to happy hours wednesday, thursday and friday--while i wasn't extreme in happy hour revelry, nonetheless, um...yeah) and went running (which made my body very, very happy with me) and settled in for a blockbuster night. explored georgetown on saturday afternoon (it finally wasn't raining when i went there! how shocked was i?!?!) and then went with alison to a house party (theme party and the theme was blue) that was fun. wound up spending time talking with a delightful british grad student--i heart a man with a british accent almost as much as i currently heart that loc...

so yeah--fun times--i was a happy camper. now i just have another day and a half of work, a little light packing (pulling out the big sweaters for my first experience of cold, snowy weather this year) and then making the trip back to vt for a few days! yippee...this will be fun.

this is a prime example of mayerism at its best. although i feel extremely weirded out by the fact that he's included in rolling stone's 2002 people of the year issue (considering i rushed out to buy rolling stone's 2001 people of the year issue because it was the review for "room for squares" was the first time he was featured in the magazine--look at what's happened in exactly a year...)

John Mayer

The singer-songwriter explains how to gently deface a hotel room

You're talking to me at the very end of a page," says John Mayer. "One foot is still playing songs off of Room for Squares, the other is really in the next thing." Exhausted after nearly two full years of touring behind Room, his platinum breakthrough, Mayer reflects on his place in the musical landscape.

Describe your year in five words.

Long, colorful, juxtaposed, eggs Benedict and crowds.

What do you mean, "juxtaposed"?

It's like, if my life were a role-playing game, I'd have a bunch of magic points and not a whole bunch of hit points. Wait . . . oh, my God, I can't believe I'm making a Dungeons and Dragons reference in Rolling Stone. I think this may discount my standing as a Person of the Year. Anyway, juxtaposed: It's certain elements of my life being maintained and other parts of my life not being maintained. When I get off the road in December, I'm going to rejoin my life in 1999, the last time that I had a semblance of a domestic life. So I may have complete strangers come over and ejaculate on my comforter, just to remind me of living in hotels.

Did you destroy anything this year?

I promised I'd break a hotel-room lamp this year, but I haven't done it.

How are you going to do it?

Respectfully. I'll probably lay it down, shed a tear and put a towel over it. That's how singer-songwriters trash hotel rooms.

What's your favorite record this year?

Coldplay. It's good times 10 million.

The best show you saw?

Elton John in Richmond, Virginia. Proving to the world that if he wasn't an icon until that night he played, he was after. I love the guy to pieces.

And he loves you, too, right? Does he ever give you advice?

Elton calls at times that are almost divine, like an angel just appearing in your life. He said to me, and I will never forget it, "Welcome to the world of bullshit. You have arrived, my darling."

What's the coolest thing that happened to you this year?

I was going to Berklee College of Music in 1997. My mom and dad would give me $250 a month to spend, but I started overdrawing from the bank, so I was below broke. My dad sent me a check for $250 and wrote, "John, remember me when you go platinum." I held onto that note through everything. Two days ago, he got his platinum plaque with that very piece of paper inside the glass.

RECESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'll focus on this positive and force myself to not think about the fact that this recess follows the joke that is homeland security.

recess revelry...revel...revelrevel...

and i'm out of here for the night.

when it rains, it pours. i'm almost scared to write anything about this, as i'm afraid it'll get back to me not having anything to do at times, but hey, i'll give it a shot:

i'm determined to put myself out there and have the opportunity to meet people. i'm not going to hide in my room--not that i have been, per se, but i've passed up a couple of opportunities because i haven't felt like it and whatnot, and i have to just be brave and try to be open and make the most of the opportunities that are here. so when alison mentioned that she might go to a house party saturday night and that we were invited if we wanted to come along, i told her to keep me posted if she decided to go because i'd be up for it. then i emailed chloe and asked her if she was up for front page thursday, so i'm planning on at least making a cameo there.

my plans for tonight, then, were to go home, go running, make dinner and enjoy my wednesday night tv action (hello, west wing and the bachelor!) and have it be really low-key. but then i get an email about a hill staffer happy hour with free drinks and munchies, so i'm thinking i should continue to be brave and attempt to be a social butterfly (and hell, how can i pass up free alcohol?). so i figure i can still do everything i planned on doing tonight, including my running, if i stop by this happy hour, have a drink (two at the absolute most), see if i can meet a person or two, then head home, run, make dinner and enjoy tv time.

this should work, right?

right.

wow. found a photo of st. mike's, taken yesterday, and it feels a world away, considering campus is blanketed in snow while we still have the foliage thing going on here (although i'll admit that it's waning). it feels too soon for snow to be covering the ground--although i think that has more to do with the fact that there's nothing even close to it here, except for some chilly weather, than the lack of realization that it's already late november...

late november? when did this happen? they hung up the wreaths at union station yesterday, so they were lit as i headed home from work last night. the poles are covered with lights and decorations at the little shopping center where i do my grocery shopping and a huge christmas tree is in the center of the center commons, decorated with white lights and silver and gold ribbon (which always makes me think of the old claymation rudolph the rednosed reindeer special song "silver & gold...silver & gold...").

it's weather where i bundle up in a sweater and wool peacoat, a soft scarf snug at my neck and thick knitted gloves on my hands, walking down the street with my head slightly bent to attempt to avoid some of the wind while the cold brings some color to my cheeks...weather where i want to wrap my hands around a paper cup filled with steaming hot cider and where i smile as the warmth of my bedroom surrounds me when i get home in the evening.

i love the end of autumn and beginning of winter for these very reasons. the trees still have some color, the leaves still crunch beneath my feet and it's not yet the bitter cold of, say, january. the dread of a long winter season hasn't yet hit, but i can be excited about another change in seasons and marvel at the fact that time has passed so quickly...

this is why mraz rocks. from the right kind of phrase:

post high

high on sugar that is.. what's up folkers and phrasers? pimps, players and private eyes? hows life treating you? i'm dandy eating candy in vermont. thought i'd send a quick hello and copy my recent road journal over here to give you a headstart never knowing how long it takes the web people to post it. i'm clueless to that kind of stuff..

i gotta hand it to you guys who post about howie day. you know whats up. that boy is the most genuine, non competitive, most professional and profound i've seen in quite awhile. i just thought i should mention that since we played last night and this is a message board and all. if i had a picture of us together i'd stick it right here. me wearing my australia t shirt hugging the shit out of howie day. though i may have one of toca.

it's late though and rather than go on, i'm going down and out. sleep time. enjoy the road post. i cant remember what it's about already.. i do know i'm about to brush my teeth and wash my feet though. i'm smart.

mraz road journal tell all scramble with cheese.

hello snow. thank you for keeping me cool on my day off. thanking you for being so easy to use as a weapon against the forces of Toca. thank you for snow balls, snow cones, snow angels and sledding. without you there would be no wonder, just winterland..
without you i would also just be able to wear my summerie canvas tennishoes. but instead you require a much more rugged, waterproof, and all terrain style foot protectant. and thick socks with the occasional long john extendo body sock. and hats and gloves and chapstick and stuff. but oh! , glorious snow. dont go. i throw back my head and know when i catch you on my tongue i feel myself grow. smaller into the child i was only a year ago..

escaping from rhyme scheme. vermonts finest hour.

i do my laundry while i conduct my emailing. within the several trips i've made to and from the cleaning machines, i couldnt help but dive into the candy machine as well. each time. i am powerless against the rainbow of fruit flavors shining bright in the vending light, illuminating my own reflection over the skittle display. making it look like the candy was already in my possession, i felt empty handed waiting for the elevator. so i figured mostly i'd lighten the load of silver change in my pockets and cash in for some sweets. now i'm neat. and complete.

so i'm sitting around all high on starburst and soda just thinking about this vast and spectacular vermont. thinking ice and cavity. feeling cold and full. and i thought of our founding fathers before us and recall what they've written about, feeling this same feeling i feel in vermont. i believe it was ben and jerry who said somewhere i'm sure "we know you will like this.." and they were right..

we tackled last nights show with every ounce of energy and enthusiasm we had left or could muster and had a blast as usual. good folks up here. i asked everyone if we they could hook us up with some sledding but i guess they figure i kid and the closest i got was peeling out my van in the icerink parking lot after the show. we also missed the meteor shower due to cloudy conditions. did anyone get to see it? shite! i live for that kind of stuff. i was looking at as fireworks for our completion of the week. instead we celebrated by not going anywhere today and enjoying burlington, vermont and it's merry dwellers. such a hip town, i ran into three people from the show just scampering around, i couldnt help but want to sing "silver bells" over and over in my head. that is until i started to get the feeling that this is where gremlins took place. i dont know that for a fact but at the movies this afternoon i couldve sworn those critters were behind the screen. but then again i think that everywhere. just a flashback.

i love going to see movies. i love it so much it pains me when anyone asks me my favorite film. in fact, never ask me again. i love them all. good ones, cheesy ones, bad ones, long ones, short one, animated ones, you name it. i'll pay anything to experience the movies. maybe i'm addicted to the popcorn, or the previews, i could watch previews all day. thats what i'll do. the next time anyone asks me my favorite movie, i'll say "the previews." or "the preview of men in black 2, that was great, that scene 45 seconds into the trailor that's spliced with the hook for the promo. brilliant!" or "i love the previews that came on before the ET re-release. it had "signs" in it before we knew "signs" was gonna be not so special. and it had only the ten second clip for "hulk" coming 2003. remember those? loved them."

so yeah. caught a movie tonight and had a beer over at nectars, a famous vermontian watering hole next to muddy waters, the coffee version of the same place but more like the house on pooh corner. nice town. did i mention there's snow?

i spoke with a few from the homeland today and they gave me the expected weather report. 86 and sexy as usual. i missed it but for only a moment and there is something magical about all of this sugary stuff on the ground. i'll enjoy it a bit longer. only the san diego in me is crying for a suntan.

we finished the jewel tour on this side and are looking forward to the longer sets again. though on our last night in DC she gave us a bit more running time and mad props. i feel bad though because in my business i neglected to get make her the thank you basket i had intended. you know the card and flowers routine with book and girlie stuff, including some dope lip balm/gloss combo that my good friend has designed. i sent nothing. i told my friend that jewel still received the lip balm though since i was wearing some when i kissed her farewell.. it's just on her cheek instead.

after that last show i managed to drive us all from DC to vermont, all but the last 50 miles of the entire trip. 10 hours. i get the iron man award for the week. go me. on my drive, just past daybreak, i had pulled over to refresh my tea and pee again and see the snow up close and you know.. i saw some seagulls. just hanging around the truckstop dumpster drinking off the slush and singing their beachie bird songs. maybe they were blind and the sound of the freeway is like the ocean to them, the snow and gravel their salty, sandy sea.. clueless. i once saw a cat on the beach in san diego. that makes more sense though. smart cat seeks largest aquarium to stare into. or maybe the seagull and cat came to suprise the other and just missed out.

you ever think you have a.d.d?.. how does one figure out if he or she does? by now i would think there is an online testing site or at least a humorous place to go make fun of your forgetful self.. i just seem to operate on so many different starting levels these days.. never finishing the one thing before me. although the greater one thing is getting accomplished, my thousand other things rotate while i spin to remember them and further their developement. or maybe i just want to do too much. and love too many people and try to do too many things. but do i do any? maybe it's not my attention span. maybe it's worse. maybe i've let my cavities run too deep and i've finally severed a major freeway at the spine brain interchange.. where's my soda?

next week is thanksgiving. sweet home sweet potato. haul in the stuffing. we'll be roughing it at my family's the way it should be. i'll have the whole gang from the van show in tow to throw down. mix in a few hometown friends and the family pet and we got ourselves a party. i can hear it now," jeet yet? yunk to? aight.. yeya man. your mama cooks good." we wont be barefoot or anything like that but in virginia your still south enough to talk like your always bored.

what else? did you know mraz means frost in slovakian. i remember that usually when i'm cursing it having smothered my windshield in a rich freezy lather. next time your go to a wendy's, order a mrazy and see what you get. maybe you'll have to be in the czech republic.

i'm going to get the all fellas in the frost crew to post next time so they can send love to their families and friends and all y'all for the holidays. it's our way of sending our very best rather than 10,000 hallmark cards with turkey and horn of plenty designs. you can print it out and color your own if you like. until then, use this one to know i'm alive and well and just hanging out and hanging in there.wasting time mostly. enjoying my sugar high at the motel 6. looking forward to having clean clothes in a few minutes..

according to justin (who got his information from those wacky mhz people), the howie day taping we attended should be airing on mhz on december 26. heehee...who'll be taping it? it's me...it's me...

alright people--decision-making time. i think i want to treat myself to a cd, but i don't know what to buy. comment with your recommendation.

- dmb, live at folsom field
- david gray, a new day at midnight
- jeff buckley, songs for no one
- beck, sea change
- ben folds, ben folds live
- badly drawn boy, have you fed the fish?

or a suggestion of your own?

ah...stress.

the past week has been full of it. stress, that is. i've been struggling with the typical feelings of not fitting in quite right, of craving the comfort that familiar faces and places provide, of the possibility of months of uneasiness and fear.

i know everyone goes through this when they leave home and strike out on their own, but knowing that doesn't necessarily make it any easier. i'm doing my best to focus on the fact that making one's own way is never easy and that, all things considered, i'm actually in pretty good shape. that this isn't like college, where you have a bunch of people in the same situation making the best of the situation and meeting new people because no one knows anyone else. that the people i meet here already have comfort zones with people, that they are familiar with the city, the routine, the lifestyle.

what's the point in doing anything if it's all going to be easy? it's the struggle that makes or breaks a person's character. sure, things are difficult at the moment and i feel a bit lost in the shuffle, without strong relationships down here to hold onto. but does that mean i'm going to give up? what, run back home and regret wasting the opportunity i've been presented with? of course not. i've had difficult times before. while the situation isn't like college, i felt the same way at the beginning of college--as if there was no way for me to leave my mark. i overcame that and i'm going to overcome this, dammit! i've never failed at anything i've tried doing--i don't intend to start now.

ok, dear readers, the sun has vanished (after a glorious, burnished-amber-and-emerald sunset), the calls are dying down, and i'm preparing to escape for the evening.

to my st. michael's readership: do not miss the opportunity to see jason mraz and howie day at higher ground tonight!!! you will regret it if you skip the show.

and tell both of them to get back to dc, play a show together and shower me with singer-songwriter love. :)

yeah paradise!!! boston phoenix best of poll puts my favorite boston club right at the top of the "best rock club" list...

good lord, just read the phoenix. need you even ask why i want to write for these guys? "best way to piss of charlie the tuna"???

ah...lovely.

at some point (probably during my week around christmas?) i want to head into cambridge and hit up the garmet district. i've heard so much about this place and it sounds like a fun place to check out.

I Do Not Choose to be a Common Man

It is my right to be uncommon...if I can; I seek opportunity...not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stole calm of utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, this I have done.
All this is what it means to be an American.
-- Dean Alfrange

JAM!

at the staff meeting today, we were given a pleasant surprise--the announcement that we have not only next thursday and friday off for thanksgiving, but also wednesday--five day holiday weekend! so, naturally, i got back to my desk and called my good friends at southwest to see if i could bump my wednesday night flight to wednesday morning. now i will be arriving in the winter wonderland that is albany around 9:30 a.m. on wednesday--which gives me most of wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday and part of sunday to relax and enjoy new england.

the only difficulty i'm encountering: metro doesn't start operating til 5:30 a.m. if my flight leaves BWI at 8 a.m., i need to be there by at least 7 (especially considering the holiday rush--good lord, i always used to feel so bad for the suckers who had to fly around the holidays--and now here i am...), which means i might have to think about getting one of those super shuttle things to make sure i get to the airport on time...but that's ok, because i an extra day off!!! whoo hoo!

i love it.

alicia said she's calling me from higher ground on monday, since i can't be at the mraz/howie show myself.

rock on.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Anti-fur activists storm runway at CBS' Victoria's Secret show.

quality.

that's it--i'm just going to have to gain my fame by winning the gap casting call contest.

preparing for my fifteen minutes of fame. ;)

so mraz is playing at dar sunday, opening for jewel. and while i was not willing to pay for a ticket just so i could see him open, i'm considering wandering into georgetown again on sunday afternoon (weather permitting, this time) to do a little mraz hunting. ;) it would be fun to see if i could spot him, in addition to the fact that i really enjoyed the area and want to explore it some more...and i'm on a mission to find a coffeeshop around there. i have no idea sometimes of who stumbles across this lil' blog--if anyone from d.c. happens to, know of any places in georgetown i should check out? leave commenting love (hell, even if you don't and even if you're not from d.c., leave commenting love so i feel special!)

hehehehe.

after a rather depressing two days, i'm determined to be in a good mood today. it's friday, it's sunny and i have the weekend ahead of me, when i can relax, go out if i feel like it, read and write. i'm looking forward to a quiet couple of days...

frus·tra·tion Pronunciation Key (fr-strshn) n.
- the act of frustrating or an instance of being frustrated.
- the state of being frustrated.
- something that serves to frustrate.
- having the mp3s of "gold dust" and "concertina" from the fairfax show on my computer at work--but being unable to listen to them at the moment and possessing no way to transport said mp3s back to home computer.

you're growing up. and rain sort of remains on the branches of a tree that will someday rule the earth. and it's good that there is rain. it clears the month of your sorry rainbow expressions, and it clears the streets of the silent armies... so we can dance.
- jim carroll

ok, the rest of veteran's day weekend, albeit extremely condensed for these purposes...

after meeting the girls at bwi and bringing them back to the apartment, we relaxed and enjoyed being together until the evening, at which point we headed into adams morgan for d.c.-style debauchery. i had intended for us to stop by millie & al's and then make a quick stop at dan's cafe so they could experience the flask special before we headed off to somewhere else. but when we found ourselves seated at a booth at dan's cafe and the drinks started flowing, we weren't feeling all too eager to give it up. a few rounds (and a few hours later), we headed home, but not before making a stop at pizza mart so the girls could experience the jumbo slice for themselves.

typically, adams morgan pizza functions in a manner similar to salsa con queso--that is, hangover preventative and inhebriation reducer. what it was about this particular night out, i have no idea. but it did the exact opposite. um...yeah.

anyway, on sunday we headed out to do some sight-seeing. the girls had expressed interest in seeing the kennedy center, since i had spent so much time there with actf, which was very sweet of them. so we headed over there and i showed them around a bit (the fountains have been taken out for a bit, which surprised me--they'd been there last month) and made sure to show them the view from the terrace balcony. then we headed to the national gallery, where we wound up exploring the gift shop instead of actually seeing the museum--but hey, it was like the entire museum was in one room. and besides, we were all exhausted anyway...

so after that, walked up the hill so i could show them my office building and we headed to union station before heading home to dinner and a movie night--saw "dangerous lives of alter boys" (highly recommend it) and "the smokers" (fell asleep during it). monday was spent dropping michelle off at the airport (note to self: wearing sandals when it's raining? not so much) and then beth and i returned to adams morgan to torture ourselves by browsing in music stores. so much good music available right now--the new dmb, david gray, wilco, mtv2 handpicked (look at the tracklisting and try to debate that one with me), u2, beck, badly drawn boy, jeff buckley...aurgh. enough to drive a girl mad...

but i enjoyed having a dose of home here in the city with me. being able to be comfortable and not worry about what people think of me...i needed that. i had so been looking forward to the girls visiting, and it became clear just why--because i love my girls. it was a great weekend and, while it's hard now because they're gone, i'm thrilled to have had the chance to spend time with them.

it feels as if i've been gone for a two-week vacation, but here i am...four days later, trying to at least jot down something about the extra-long weekend i experienced.

first, the vivid experience that was yesterday's day of musical revelry.

after braving the rain, wind and cold that stood between us and howie's performance at mhz studios, beth and i found ourselves among a small group of howie fans (probably around twenty people total) in the studio for the taping of his performance. besides feeling incredibly old and reaffirmed in my belief that i am a tame fan in comparison to some of the fans out there, being there for such a unique experience was very cool. the studio is small and audience members can sit on bleachers in the back behind the cameras. in addition, three small round tables with high stools line one wall on the stage, which is cast in blue and purple lights and has fabric draped about the top, giving the set a sort of cool coffeeshop vibe.

we wound up sitting on stage, beth at the end by one of the cameras, myself next to someone from the howie trading board at the center table. howie was a couple of feet away, and i tried to focus on watching him, rather than the blinking red lights on the three cameras that were moving about during the performance.

howie looked great, although the hair has gotten a little unruly (bit too big, even by his standards) but looks much better now that it's darker. he was wearing a long-sleeved black t-shirt and an incredible pair of jeans (he looked good--even beth acknowledged this). while waiting for the official ok from the cameraman to begin, everyone was sitting there wondering whether or not to say anything or whatnot, so there was a slight squirm factor, which was broken when howie, clearly feeling the same way, laughed nervously.

setlist:
sorry, so sorry
morning after
ghost (beams--no lyrics)
madrigals

watching him perform, i realized how far he's come in just the fifteen months since i'd last seen him perform live (wow--still can't believe it's been that long). songs that i knew like the back of my hand have evolved and grown even more impressive. he's improving as a musician by leaps and bounds. i figured that seeing him perform would accomplish one of two purposes: indicate that i no longer felt the draw of his music or indicate that there was no way for me to be able to stop liking his music. it was the latter.

after the set, he was in the hallway meeting with people and signing autographs, taking pictures, etc. so i finally got my picture taken with him--an event almost three years in the making. so now i'm waiting for something to go wrong with my camera or the film. :)

following the performance, a rain-soaked elizabeth and i headed into georgetown for "tori hunting" and wandered up and down the streets for a bit in what felt like hurricane-force winds. fortunately, we were able to find humor in the situation and laugh at how we had come to resembled drowned rats, particularly when we passed the four seasons hotel and saw two tour buses that we decided were tori's.

after a bit, we headed home, picked up chipotle and shmirnoff ices (and cranberry juice to try spicing them up, which was delightful) and then headed to the show with chloe.

it was bizarre, seeing howie again within a matter of hours, not to mention that it was odd to see him up on a big stage with a red curtain behind him. even from six rows back, he looked so small...very different than the mere feet away he had been earlier in the afternoon.

setlist:
sorry, so sorry
morning after
ghost (beams)
brace yourself
she says (one)
madrigals

i was rather disappointed that the setlist was so similar, but it was to be expected, all things considered. but the addition of the beams outro in "ghost" was so exciting to me (i've only heard it live once--at the iron horse in northampton), although i don't think very many people in the audience picked up on the reference. but hey, the howie fans knew. hearing "brace yourself" live for the first time was exciting--there's something about that song that just hooks me. i love it. and the addition of "one" in she says was a treat i hoped for, but didn't expect, so i was very happy. beth laughed when he went into it because she knew that i wanted to hear it.

and then, there was tori.

setlist:
wampum prayer
a sorta fairytale
take to the sky
pancake
cornflake girl
concertina
sweet sangria
crucify
wednesday
black dove
-road side cafe-
cloud on my tongue
gold dust
icicle -- improv --icicle again
northern lad

sugar
amber waves
don't make me come to vegas
hotel
i can't see new york
spring haze

-encore-
tear in your hand
virginia
hey jupiter -- dakota

in a word: mesmerizing.

i cannot do this show justice, all i can do is describe it a little bit. when she began with "wampum," a light was cast upon the curtain and the scarlet emblem appeared on it. i never expected her to start the show that way, but it fit so incredibly well. as the crowd cheered, the curtain was ripped away to display the stage setup. at the center, an organ to our left and the piano to our right. and, after a few moments of cheering, she walked out, looking absolutely gorgeous and impish.

from the instant she started playing the piano, my emotions were right up at the surface. with the manner in which her voice soared above everything else, the way she could command the keys, spinning from one instrument to the other before playing both at the same time or striking a pose while the rest of the band played, i couldn't take my eyes off of her. and they played it up--backlighting her in blue so she glowed with an other-worldly aura about her, setting up the lights so huge shadows of her band members towering behind while she cast no shadow--the whole thing made her seem larger than life while still showing her fragility--it was amazing.

i've never been at a show where everyone in the venue is silently hanging onto every single word before.

she commented on how d.c. feels like home and then talked about back in the day when she performed all around georgetown and never thought she'd get out of there, but whenever she's back, she's always in georgetown. beth and i looked at each other and screamed as we realized how right on we were about tori hunting in that particular area of the city. during "icicle," she was interrupted by the movement of the fans who had crowded the front area and went into a little ditty about "who's running the show...and who's running the country...and where were all of you last tuesday..." obviously we loved that.

particular favorites? hearing "pancake" because it's the vermont song on "scarlet's walk", hearing "wednesday" because i associate every wednesday at work with that song. "crucify" was amazing, as was "icicle" and "cornflake girl." honestly, every song was magical--and how often can you truly say that about a 23-song set?

but the song that truly got me was "gold dust." i have my own very personal connection to that song, and to hear her perform it solo on the piano was almost too much. i'll never forget how i felt listening to that song.

she was incredible and captivating and while i was a big fan before, words cannot describe how much i love tori amos right now. and i was so happy to be able to be there last night to experience it. thank you chloe and beth for being there with me.

considering that i've been very busy today and it's taken almost all day for me to be able to write just that, i'll have to write about the rest of the weekend tomorrow. but, in short, a lot of fun. more details will be provided later. :)

so it's friday, the 203 girls will be living it up d.c.-style this weekend and i am exceptionally excited. debauchery in adams morgan, the drag queen brunch sunday morning (i'm sure i'll have fun stories about THAT one) and spending some quality time will be lovely. note to self: buy film for camera.

i'm psyched about the upcoming three-day weekend, even more psyched that i'm taking a personal day on tuesday, which means a four-day weekend--and tori and howie (or towie and hori, depending on who you ask--heheeh) tuesday night...this is going to be a wonderful mini-vacation and couldn't come at a better time!

so enjoy yourself this weekend! take care...

if the past two days have shown me anything, it is that in many cases, age and maturity most certainly do not go hand in hand.

i swear i should buy stock in big red gum.

in other news...bubonic plague in nyc. imagine sitting in the doctor's office (or in a hospital bed or something) and the doctor walking in.

"well, doctor?"

"i'm sorry, you have the bubonic plague."

"hahaha. funny. dark ages reference, i get it. now what do i really have?"

"the bubonic plague."

"oh shit."

yearbooks are on their way--nothing like that to make you realize you have officially ended college...

beth's getting the gold star for the day by bringing down her copy on saturday so i can see it and freak out...as my copy will probably just be waiting for me at home when i go back for thanksgiving.

this whole trying to plan for the holidays thing is really frustrating--i'm figuring out how much holiday time i have and when i can take it...but it looks like things will work out very well, in the long run. we're going to mix things up a bit this year...i'm so special that the fam is coming to ME this year. actually, it's just because i have to be back at work the day after christmas...but i get the following week off, so i'll be heading back to vermont the saturday following christmas and living it up for a week (well, probably relaxing more than living it up, but i'm a fan of it either way) back in new england...revelrevel. anyone have fun ideas for new year's eve??

vermont's senators in the hot seat

this is pretty much where we're at--i found the ben & jerry's reference amusing, particularly the "commie-flavored ice cream". props to chloe for starting off my morning on a bitterly funny foot. ;)

where do i begin?

first, last night. yesterday was alison's birthday (who would have thought? three roommates, two of whom have birthdays two days apart), so her boyfriend set up a surprise dinner for her at red sage, a swanky restaurant on 14th street. so chloe and i joined a group of people to celebrate her birthday and all that.

the restaurant is lovely--modern, sophisticated with decor that reflects the borderline gourmet tex-mex fare--and it was nice to dress up a bit and go out for a meal. i was a little apprehensive because the menu is pricey (and i'm mad budget girl--when did this happen to me?), but felt much better when numerous people in the group commented on how appetizers were going to be the extent of our wild and crazy spending (these are my kind of people!). the service left MUCH to be desired. from forgetting about drinks to waiting FOREVER (we're talking like an hour) to have waiters appear to take our orders, we were all surprised, to say the least. i ordered this apple squash seasonal soup (most of the menu consisted of seafood and other things i never eat, i thought soup would be safe), which, unfortunately, wound up not appealing to me at all. so for my dinner, i had about two spoonfulls of soup and two pieces of bread. um...yeah. but hey, whatever, it was good to be there and show alison that we were thinking of her and all that. and the conversation was fun--it was strange, because i realized that it was the first time i went out to a dinner party without knowing a majority of the people, so it was yet another new experience for our heroine.

one of the reasons why chloe and i get along so well...we're walking to the car, talking about our respective selections (she had the jumbo lump crab) and all that. then she says, "you know, it was fun, i've wanted to check that place out, but i don't get it...give me chipotle any day." my thoughts exactly...i have never understood why you go to swanky restaurants and pay a lot more for a lot less food that usually leaves much to be desired. i have simple tastes and don't want cream everywhere and a bunch of food that i can't pronounce the name of. ;) i've been eating a lot of salads lately and love them because you can't really mess one up, know what i mean?

but it was fun, nonetheless--not to mention i'm always a fan of seeing new parts of the city. plus it gave me an excuse to not go running--i'm trying to limit my urges to go running to four or five times a week, as i've been really tired lately and have acknowledged that i'm doing it a bit too much. need to give my body a chance to relax a little bit--what's the point of going running too much and always being tired (before, during and after) when i can relax for a day and then have the energy to push myself while running (and not feel completely dead to the world after!)? i took sunday off and felt fantastic on monday when i ran (and the running had followed how ever much walking i wound up doing during the great tower search). so hopefully i'll be feeling great tonight so i can kick some running arse and do all that fun workout stuff.

but waking up today to the news that the republicans had taken over the senate and gained in the house--what a lousy start to a morning. what's going on here? does anyone else see how much trouble this is inviting? needless to say, i'm a little nervous about how the next session is going to be--and i'm really disappointed in voters.

grrrrr!

so, to give myself something to check up on throughout the weeks, i signed up for the whole mtv fantasty music tycoon game. well, it was also so i could assemble a record label with musicians that i would love to work with (if i were a) fabulously rich and b) had any knowledge about music labels). my six bands/artists? ryan adams, dave matthews band, david gray, coldplay, john mayer and tori amos.

:) there's no way in hell i'll win this contest, but just to pretend that i could be responsible for these artists? fun times. and i tell you the first thing i'd do is change up some of the ways mayer's being handled!

i heart tower records. gosh, i never thought i'd say that.

so my search for the mraz cd was, until yesterday afternoon, utterly unsuccessful. on a whim, i called the tower records on pennsylvania while here in the office--figured i'd see if they happened to have it in stock. to my shock, they did. so i gleefully asked them to put the cd on hold for me, as i would stop by on my way home from work and pick it up. i figured out what metro stop was nearest and where i needed to go to get from the metro to the store and everything. all set, right?

ha! first of all, i walked out of the metro and walked four or five blocks in the wrong direction. after that, i backtracked and tried to navigate from there. found a street i was looking for, so turned onto that...after walking for about a mile (when the walk was supposed to be just under half a mile), i put aside feeling stupid and walked into a random store (an office max or office depot--something office-y) to ask for directions. there's something about when someone gives you directions and ends with "you can't miss it" that screams, "hi, you're a dumbass." obviously i CAN miss it, as i hadn't found it yet.

nonetheless, these directions did in fact lead me to tower, where my cd was waiting for me (and on sale! ah, nothing like an added bonus to my pilgrimage for music). as i prepared to leave, i was wise and asked for directions to the nearest metro. i was told that the foggybottom stop was about three or four blocks down i street. foggybottom? damn...i'd gotten off at farragut north...obviously the helpful directions by wmata were not so helpful.

three or four blocks down i street, the metro was nowhere to be found. so i kept walking, taking a turn at some point because there had to be metro somewhere. next thing i know, i see a sign for new hampshire and realized that i was, if i was guessing right, en route to the kennedy center (side note: yes, if i saw new hampshire, that meant i was probably a street away from the foggybottom stop, but those streets weren't overly well-lit and i wasn't going to wander off with the hopes of walking down the right street.). so i stopped at a hotel and asked for directions, which the wonderful gentleman working there gave me. turns out, i was walking up the street as he said and saw a building that looked remarkably like front page. yep, i wound up in dupont. so i made this huge circle while trying to get to what should have been a very simple metro stop. if you asked me now where tower records is, i couldn't tell you, other than that it's at 2000 pennsylvania.

that aside, i now have in my possession mraz's "waiting for my rocket to come." and have been listening to it ever since. metro ride home, running last night, metro this morning. i think it's like many major label debuts--it's good, but you know the live performances and albums to come will be much better. i really dig mraz's style, lyrics and musicianship (more on this shortly), but i think it is slightly overproduced and is made more radio-friendly than it necessarily needs to be. but, at the same time, i look at it differently than many, as i like the rawer, less polished style of live recordings. i'm not really into perfection in music--if anything, my favorite moments are the random imperfections that make musicians human. i'm an underground girl and i love that.

this album makes me want to see mraz live. he's got a funky, slightly-twanged (but not too much to foray into any country-like styles, which i personally cannot stand) and saucy attitude and obviously enjoys that. i mean, take a song like "too much food." he starts it out casting himself as a curly fry in a box of straight fries, "messing with the flavor oh the flavor that you savor/ saving me for last but you better not eat me at all." but the song sets up food as a metaphor for the recording industry and is basically a fuck you to the people who try to tell him who to be and how to sound. love it! and i'm sorry, but i have to give credit to any guy who will write in a song, "so step on up to the plate to get a date with mraz/ see you better act fast because supplies they never last/ now you know this is a limited time offer," and offer himself up to ridicule with a big ol' grin on his face. he's not one to take himself too seriously (*cough cough* howie) or wax poetical too much from time to time (*ahem* mayer).

so yeah, i'm now certainly a mraz fan.

Gwyneth Paltrow takes a ride while filming a new movie Ted and Sylvia in Cambridge, England.

ted and sylvia??? a sylvia plath movie?!?!?!? YES!!!! i hadn't heard anything about this...now i must find out! this is bloody fantastic!

have you voted for averi today at opprocks.com? if not, please do...you can vote today and tomorrow (voting ends tomorrow), but only do so once a day so they don't eliminate your votes!

all day today, i have had not only the cursed bowl of halloween candy in front of me, but also a tray of authentic new jersey sticky buns that rob brought in (he got the jp award today, suffice to say). my gum-chewing has increased by leaps and bounds today...i'm proud to say i have not partaken in any of this sugary decadence (but fear not, soon-to-be-temporary-washingtonians, i have already assured beth that there will be indulgence this weekend--that's why i have to be good now! did someone say jumbo slice saturday night???). but it's been a test of willpower...willpower i wasn't aware that i really had.

i'm going to have to do some hardcore novel-writing tonight...for some reason i think my novel won't be finished until december--november is a really bad month for me to be writing. visitors last weekend, visitors this weekend...have to finish reading the second book of lord of the rings so i can indulge in some orlando bloom movie action around christmas...oy of the vay variety!

since i wasn't technically born until 6:30 on the 3rd, it still falls within the first 24 hours of my life as i write this. therefore, i'm treating myself. i found a copy of "waiting for my rocket to come" (the jason mraz album) at tower records on connecticut on sale for $9.99. i'm going to get it, because my parents said if i actually found a copy of it, they would buy it for me. so i will inform my parents this evening that they bought me the present afterall. :)

now i cannot WAIT to get out of work. new stuff to listen to as i go running tonight...

revel...revelrevel.

averi's going to be in the south?!?!??!?

i cannot believe they're going to be in philly tomorrow--how incredibly frustrating is it for me to know that they'll be playing a show that close to me and i can't go? this is worthy of a grr of the big fucking variety--but it makes me very happy to see that they're expanding their touring locations--COME TO DC!!!!!! or at least stop by and visit. ;)

so yeah, i'm now an ancient 22-year-old, as of approximately 6:30 last night. all can rejoice...it was a very nice birthday. i have something about birthdays (well, mine, anyway), where i always look forward to them, but also wind up dreading them. what can i say? i'm overly dramatic and always wind up thinking birthdays are this huge thing and spend time thinking about the point of my life i'm at...yadda yadda. so no matter how nice a birthday is, at some point, i will be mildly depressed and introverted. it's by no means a reflection on the people i'm with or what i'm doing and it passes quickly.

this year, i'm doing things a little differently on the birthday front. since so many people from down here are currently braving the cold while they campaign in vermont, plus the fact that i have a visitor or two (is it one visitor or two?) coming down this coming weekend, the actual birthday weekend was spent with my parents, who came down to spend some time with me and shower me with affection (all that good stuff). so it was a nice, relaxing weekend, good to have some fun, spend some quality time with the family, and charge my batteries for the weekend of debauchery that is to come.

spent saturday reading, relaxing, waiting for the parentals to arrive. once they did, we did some shopping and walking about. and for my actual birthday, we took advantage of the absolutely gorgeous autumn day by going to the national zoo. now, i haven't been to a zoo in years--i think since going to the zoo in the boston area when i was a very small child. granted, i'd been to the safari at six flags in jersey a couple of times since then, but that's different. so this was neat--a chance to return, in some respects, to my childhood while realizing that i'm growing up. the actual zoo was rather depressing, in some respects--since it was the end of the season, for all intensive purposes, it wasn't as green and lush as a zoo typically is. and then there were the signs--saying that one of the camels is lame because it has arthritis (poor thing), that the white tiger they used to have there died a few months ago, and then the typical "this species is endangered, there are only so many of them left" type of sign. mom and i were joking about it--how there was all of this death (or potential extinction) around, and here we were, celebrating my life...but it was still a lot of fun. my mother's big thing was the pandas--she loves them--so she was all excited, which was adorable. they wound up buying me a stuffed panda so i would always remember the unique way of spending my bday, and i have named it tutu (short for two-two--it was my mom's idea and i thought it was cute). i was all about seeing the kangaroos (my australian obsession shining through, eh?) and spent much of the rest of the afternoon speaking in my almost-forgotten crocodile hunter voice, thus cracking up my parents. we were silly, it was fun.

went to dinner at maggiano's, an italian restaurant near my apartment. first of all, this place is as italian a restaurant as ever i have seen--with the waiters bustling about, frantically waving their arms at each other and charming the diners. i was telling a story, completely oblivious to the fact that two of the waiters were clearing the table behind me with a marx-brothers-like bustle and humor that was hysterical to my parents, who were trying so hard to ignroe them and focus on what i was saying (to no avail). when i finally realized that despite my charming story, i wasn't causing the tears of laughter to coem to their eyes, i whirled around to see the table looking spotless and the waiters simply pushing chairs back into place. one of them smiled at me, i turned back to my table with a confused look on my face, and my parents lost it. the food was delicious--the portions are massive (i ordered a half-portion of spaghetti and meat sauce and was only able to eat half of that before i was stuffed)--and you sit there wondering when the mob boss is going to bust through the place. i loved it. and dessert at the cheesecake factory (which is two or three doors down) completed the great evening.

so it was a great day--got some calls from people who love me and felt great about that. the last present i opened was the one sent via my parents from becca--talk about a wonderful, wonderful gift!!! the time that went into that tape was incredible, and i now understand the disclaimer that came with it (don't worry, bec--i viewed most of it today before work--thank you for the warning!!!!!!!!). huge thank yous to becca, baz and beth for making me laugh and making me cry--that's one of the most wonderful birthday presents i've ever received and i love you all for it. look for the coming email that will defend my good name!

and now i'm back at work for another day. the candy is still here in front of me, torturing me...i will be strong. :)

i'm going to take advantage of the fact that the office is pretty much deserted and will spend the majority of my day working on my novel. revel...revelrevel...

not a good start to the month...i don't know what the deal is, but people are making less sense than normal today (which, considering how people tend to be normally, is a pretty significant problem), and i'm really not in the mood to deal with it.

do i deserve to get yelled at by a reporter because someone's out of the office? hells no. and will i put up with it? see previous answer. i'll be as polite as i can be, while still making it clear to rude people that they can kiss my ass. ;)

life lesson: when you've had a cold and don't feel particularly well anyway, DO NOT GO OUT.

i, of course, am an idiot and did go out. and had a lot of fun, admittedly. what was going to be a short, non-costumed trip to front page wound up being a costumed trip to polly esther's for a gw law party. um...yeah.

besides the normal looking forward to seeing my folks this weekend, i'm estatic that i won't be going out at any point this weekend, because the thought of alcohol makes my stomach turn at the moment.

but yeah, had a lot of fun. :)

happy november--i will be starting my novel today! after i clean up the disaster area that my room became last night, that is...