Counting the days

21 days and counting.

I can not WAIT for school to be over for the year. The kids are being complete animals and I can't completely blame them. I want to be done just as much (maybe more) than they do. My seniors checked out weeks ago and unfortunately they took some of my sophomores and juniors with them. I am tired. I am worn out. I am ahead of schedule with my English II classes (almost a book and a half ahead of the other English II teacher) and therefore will have two or three weeks where I have to figure out what to do with them since we'll be finished with all our novels and don't have a "regular" textbook for the class.

I waaaaaaannnnnntttt it to be summer (whine, whine).

Seriously, I want it to be summer so even if I am working (as I will be to make some extra cash) I don't go home with papers to grade or lessons to write. I can stay up and out later because my job doesn't require much brain power beyond answering the telephone and scheduling appointments. I can go to all the shows I want without feeling like I'm overextending myself. I'll have time to practice guitar and read trashy (or just "not-school") books. I can watch tv and movies without feeling guilty...it's gonna be great. *Sigh* just 21 more days...

Ok, enough whining. As they all are, busy week coming and going. Thursday Jon and I went to see Spiderman 3. It wasn't the greatest movie I've seen, but it was still a good evening. Friday we went to the Blind Pig to see Mando Diao (eh, ok) and I had popcorn thrown at me by idiotic and drunk guys. Morons. Saturday was a trip to visit Jon's fam and meet one of his brothers and sister in law. It was a really fun day and I have to say he has a great family. Very welcoming.

And for this week? School (of course), Friday is the Billy Talent show that got rescheduled from a month or so ago and then Saturday we're going to the Ansel Adams exhibit at the DIA. I think it's gonna be a good weekend. Is it wrong that it's only Tuesday and I'm already looking forward to it? ;)

Listening to: Mayday Parade, Tales Told by Dead Friends

Photos from Bamboozle

Just a few pics from Bamboozle. I have a ton more that I have to sort through, size, clean up etc. I'm too lazy right now to post more than these...

Bayside














Lordi


















New Found Glory


















Silverstein













The Oohlas

Ahh, Jersey

I made it to Jersey. I was beginning to doubt I would get here on one piece, but I made it. Let me explain why:

To begin with, I don't mind doing some things on the spur of the moment, but big things (say, travelling out of state for four days) I like to have some kind of a plan and an itinerary. It doesn't have to be planned to the minute, but I like knowing, for instance, when I'm leaving, where I'm staying, what time I'm coming home, how much it'll all cost, etc. I don't think that's too OCD. So, Harry and I'd been kicking around this idea for a few months and he wanted to do all the planning for it. Having extremely little extra time on my hands, I agreed to let him do it.

Where things became a problem is, even though I repeatedly asked for information on where we were staying, flight times, etc., I got no information or even a response. Come Wednesday of this week (we were supposed to leave Friday), I flipped out and told him that unless he gave me some concrete information, I was NOT getting on a plane on Friday. Luckily, that got me the information. However, I was dismayed to find that he decided to book us on a flight out of Flint (much closer to him than me) at 8am. This meant I had to get up at 5am in order to make the one hour drive as well as be there early enough to get through security. Now, I tend to get up around 5am on weekdays anyways, so this wasn't too awful. What was disturbing was that he'd initially told me we'd be leaving from Detroit in the afternoon (all the while patting himself on the back for "letting us be able to sleep in"). I suppose he wasn't being dishonest about the Detroit in the afternoon bit because, from Flint we flew to Detroit where we sat, waiting for our plane to LaGuardia until 2:3o pm. A total of five and a half hours.

The flight to NYC was less than comfortable as well because I got sandwiched between two big guys who had no concept of personal space. I was smooshed. One of the guys had BO. They kept pushing over onto my seat. I tried to sleep, and managed for a bit, but woke up enraged that I got stuck in the middle of them. The descent for landing was bumpy and at this point (4 pm) I hadn't eaten since 9am and the combo of the bumpy flight and no food in my stomach was making me nauseous. Of course we're at the back of the plane (a 747 I believe) and it takes a million years to get off. Initially I'd been told (this will become a theme I think) that we were getting a ride from the airport to Jersey from Harry's friend Andy. However, now that we're in NYC I'm told that we're taking the bus to Penn Station and then the train out to Jersey. I've done that kind of thing plenty of times before and I've travelled enough on my own to new places that this kind of thing doesn't phase me a whole lot. What irritated me was how it seemed I was initially told one thing and then not told that things changed until the last minute. THAT upsets me.

Of course we'd just missed the bus to Penn Station and were told another was coming at 4:30. Well...it was late. Now we're trying to get to Midtown Manhattan at 4:45 on a Friday. You can imagine what that was like...However, I will say this. It was pretty cool getting to see a little bit of NYC. I think the weirdest/coolest part was getting to see signs and stuff for all these places my parents talk about since they used to live there. I really wish I could have gone and explored the city. The skyline was unreal. I know DC is a pretty big city, but it is NOTHING compared to New York. There's no skyline in DC, it doesn't even have the same feel to it.

Ok, anyways. We're on the bus that I was told would go straight to Penn Station. Wrong. It drops you off at Grand Central where you have to take another bus to Penn. The other bus? It took at least half an hour of waiting before it got there. Now I'm beginning to really feel sick because it is 6pm and I haven't eaten. I feel shakey and want real food, but having no idea when bus #2 will get there, I wasn't about to run down the block to get food. Bus ride #2 was insane. I am amazed we didn't kill anyone or hit any cars. Again, the best part of that was getting to see some bits of New York.

Finally at Penn Station, Harry is at a loss for how to figure out a)what train we take and b)how to get a ticket. I am tired. I am hungry. I am so annoyed that I kept being told one thing and finding out it was gonna happen differently. Again, having ridden the train in DC as well as taken the train in England (both the tube and their national rail system) I took over. I got our tickets (not rocket science) I found our platform and train. It took about an hour to get to New Brunswick. Andy picked us up from the train station and asked if we wanted to eat. I was like, OMG, yes, I HAVE to eat right now!! Alas, my hopes were thwarted because he had to pick someone else up. He dropped us off at his house and then went to get this other guy. By this point it is 9pm. I am exhausted, annoyed and feel like I will be sick if I don't get some real food extremely fast. I admit, I was also feeling extremely sorry for myself (again, I blame the lack of food and fatigue).

FINALLY, we go eat. I felt so, so, so much better after I had food in my stomach it was unreal. We got back to Andy's and I went straight to bed and slept like a rock. I woke up retardedly early this morning (6 am!) but refused to get out of bed till at least 7:30, which was, in my mind, still too early but I always feel weird about sleeping in at other people's houses. Now I'm basically killing time until we go over to the Meadowlands for Bamboozle.

It's going to be 70-degrees and sunny here. The day looks gorgeous. I'm going to get to see lots of music, especially MCR. I have no idea if I'll be able to get in with my camera (I hope so) but at this point all I want is to get to wander around and check out all these bands. Today I'm going to try and see:

Silverstein
Bayside
Say Anything
New Found Glory
Muse
Permanent Me
Men, Women & Children
The Audition
Meg & Dia
The Hush Sound
My Chemical Romance!!
(the "just for starters" list)

Sunday I'm going to try and see:
Mae
Young Love
Killswitch Engage
Jack's Mannequin
Daphne Loves Derby
Lordi
The Oohlas
Catch 22
Drive By
Monty Are I

I have to see how this will all work out, but my priority, above pretty much all else is to see My Chem and The Oohlas. Anything else will be icing:)

I just want to get going at this point, I'm tired of sitting around and waiting but it's only 8am, so I guess I need to keep killing time.

More stories as they come up...

Wasting time

Rather than finishing grading tonight, I just spent the last hour reading over old blog entries. It's kinda interesting to see what was going on, where my head was, what I was excited or upset about. A few things I'd like to comment on:

1. I came across an entry where I listed my top 10 desert island discs (Sept 1, 2005). They were:
1. Sarah McLachlan "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy"
2. Nirvana "Nevermind"
3. Green Day "American Idiot"
4. Garbage "Garbage"
5. U2 "Joshua Tree"
6. Soundtrack to "Garden State"
7. Soundtrack to "Hilary and Jackie"
8. Tori Amos "From the Choirgirl Hotel"
9. Mazzy Star "So Tonight That I Might See"
10. The Cranberries "No Need to Argue"
It's interesting to see what music I felt was "vital" in my life at that time. I think the list would be almost 100% different if I made it now. I might keep #2, 4, & 5 on there, but I'm not convinced. Maybe some night when I've got nothing better to do, I'll come up with my new list.

It's also interesting and kind of funny to look at early posts where I was totally in awe of photos by Chris Schwegler and other Detroit music photogs. Funny that I've actually met Chris and MCR and other band photos I used to drool over? Well, I think I've taken some pretty damn good band photos (including of MCR) of my own:)

As I was going through, I came across a drawing that, thinking about it now, might make a really cool tattoo. Maybe this is the design I've been waiting for? Must think about this some more...

Some things haven't changed however. I still desperately want to move out. I did some math the other night and, with a little careful saving, I can save a year's worth of rent by the end of August and, thus, move out! Yay! I hope my math wasn't wrong.

I look at comments I'd made about people who I thought were friends, people who have become very good friends, someone who is more than a friend and the ups and downs I'd gone through with relationships of all kinds. It was rough, that's for sure. I feel like things are settling down though. It isn't easy feeling like someone who once was a really good friend isn't really that person anymore, but that's the way it goes I guess.

It was kind of fun to look at the music recommendations I'd made. Some I still agree with, some I've gotten over.

Yeah, so, kind of interesting. I probably should have spent the night grading, but this has it's purpose too:)

Hey, someone stop this crazy thing...

Well, quick round-up of life since I last posted:

Fina and I survived the weekend Jon was in DC. I'm pretty proud that neither of us were scarred or died in the process;)

This weekend was a whirlwind of activity:
Friday: Jon and I went to the school musical (West Side Story-very good production), were sighted together walking around town by a student (giggle, giggle, giggle, OMG, what were you two doing together??!) and enjoyed a visit to Tower.

Saturday: We headed out to Ferndale to celebrate Kelly Jean's graduation. Excellent party and we cooked chutney in front of everyone. It was pretty fun hearing "oh my god, that smells so good" anytime someone walked in the kitchen. We even got asked for the recipe.

Sunday: I attempted to work at ERC and get some grading done but I was thwarted in a number of ways. 1) I was somewhat hungover. 2) I really didn't have any motivation to get the papers graded. 3) Shannon called and it was way more fun talking to her than grading vocabulary sentences. I gave up relatively quickly and headed over to Jon's for a bit. While there, we got an invite from Kelly Jean to meet a bunch of people over at Tower and so we did. Good times.

Monday: Trivia night. We got a lot of points but other people got a lot of points too. 'Twas fun nonetheless.

As for the rest of the week, I head out to New York City on Friday and am hitting Bamboozle (woot, I get to see MCR again!) on Saturday and Sunday. Here's the thing...I do want to go and I kinda don't. Long story, most people have heard it so I'm not getting into it right now.

I've also been guestlisted for Mando Diao (at the Blind Pig) and Bright Eyes in the next few weeks. I'm counting down the days of school and really just want it to be summer. I'm tired, the kids are tired and no one really wants to be there. Alas...something like 30 days to go. I guess it could be worse.

Listening to: Jack's Mannequin, Everything in Transit