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. ;)