Exhaustion

I now remember why I hate having to drive to Oakland U so much. It's about 65 miles from A2 and it's an especially fun 65 miles during rush hour. Yesterday it took me over an hour and half to get home. Best part? I only have to do this for two more days. Worst part? I have to do this for two more days.

The saving grace of this whole thing is that the class is really helpful and my instructor is very good. I walked out the first day with a huge pile of books (for free) including the newest edition of "A Writer's Reference" and a brand new copy of the AP textbook I'll be using this year, which I didn't already have (yeah, I'm a nerd for getting excited about free textbooks!) The days are long and draining, but I think this will be well worth the time once school starts.

Speaking of school, I got our opening week's calendar in the mail today. It kind of makes me want to cry...I don't want summer to be over. I feel like it's flown by. Usually by the beginning of August I'm getting stir-crazy and ready for school to start but this summer I feel like I didn't fit in all the goofing off that I had planned, so knowing that school starts on the 20th is rather depressing.

And, as if this week wasn't nuts enough as it was with driving to Oakland U, I also am covering the Motion City Soundtrack/The Forecast/Hard Lessons show tomorrow night at St. Andrews (sold out, but I'm "on the list" and have a photo pass courtesy of Victory Records). Then Friday night is Kelly and Martin's party and another Hard Lessons show at The Elbow Room. Saturday is the big b-day bash for Wife and Jon. Whew...exhausting.

Backtracking for a moment though, Jon and I went to Warped on Friday and, even though I had a photo pass which was very cool, the lineup this year sucked. There are a few good bands on the lineup, but (of course) they weren't playing the Detroit date. After waking up to pouring rain that morning, the day became ungodly hot and humid and the trip to Comerica took 2 hours. I did see and shoot Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Hawthorne Heights and Mustardplug but I just could not get excited about most of the other acts and those I did have a desire to see, I've seen at least twice before. With the heat, lackluster lineup and crowds, we decided to take off early. It was honestly a very disappointing Warped, last year's was much better. Here's hoping next year's will be a vast improvement. I did at least get some cool photos, so it wasn't a total wash.

Time for bed.

Reviews

Not much new here other than a few new reviews up at Revolt and Static.
Read about the album that isn't made up of punk bands even though it's called Punk Goes Acoustic 2 here.
My review of the new Fall Out Boy album should be up in a day or two. More on that later.

My editor at Static finally put up my review of the Bright Eyes show and one of my photos. Check it out here.

Friday Jon and I are playing hooky from work to go to Warped. At least it isn't supposed to be as hot as it was last year, but it might rain...we'll see. There aren't too many bands I'm over the moon to check out, but at least I won't be at plastics! I *should* also have a photo/media pass for the day which would be cool. It's funny to think that last year's Warped was the very first live review I did and I was taking photos with my point and shoot. It's been quite a year.

Also, for anyone who is interested, The Hard Lessons are playing a show on August 3 at Ypsilanti's Elbow Room. I believe they go on at 10pm. Check them out, they're great!

Not much else in this neck of the woods.

Listening to: Lily Allen, Alright Still

The Detroit Zoo

On Saturday, Jon, Kelly Jean, Katie, Katie's boyfriend and I took a trip to the Detroit zoo. I don't remember the last time I was there and even if it isn't the best zoo I've ever been to, we had a good time. After the zoo we headed over to KJ's where we made fajitas, homemade tortillas and all sorts of other goodies. Once again, I wanted to take Telly (the pom) home with me but I restrained myself:)

A few photos from the day:


















Listening to: Fall Out Boy, Infinity on High

Coming Home

After barely making our connecting flight in Frankfurt, Wife and I made it back home. Looking back on the trip there's that odd feeling of seeming like I was away MUCH longer than 2 weeks and feeling like the time flew by. Quick summary and a few photos:

Husband, Wife and I flew from Detroit to Frankfurt where we spent 6 hours in the airport before our connecting flight. Husband and I were pleased to find we remembered more German than we initially thought-at least enough to order food and read the paper (and yes, there are naked women on the front page of German tabloids. Husband read a "real" newspaper and I got the trash.) After repeated desperate attempts to sleep on the uncomfortable seats, our flight to Milan finally happened and after waiting in Milan for the rest of our group and a long-ass bus ride, we made it to our hotel outside Venice.

Venice=Amazing. I wish we'd had more than one day there. We went to the Doge's Palace, a glass-blowing demonstration, took a vaparetto ride (gondolas are insanely expensive) and had an excellent lunch before it started to pour. We dodged the rain by ducking into a cafe outside of San Marco.

After Venice we took a brief stop in Pisa (tourist trap but at least I can say I've seen the tower) and headed to Florence. This is definitely another place I want to go back to and I think I liked it more than Rome. Our hotel was a bit weird though with the doors to the rooms having carpet on them and I didn't appreciate the group of screaming Greek girls that insisted on hanging out in the hall till all hours, but Florence itself was amazing.

On the way to Rome we stopped for a wine and food tasting and left with a dent in the wallet and some tasty treats. From there we stopped in Assisi which was beautiful. Finally we made it to Rome and after a nighttime tour where we ran into an Argintinian transvestite, we got to see famous sights such as the Coloseum, place where Julius Caesar was killed, the Forum, St. Peter's, and the Sistine Chapel to name a few.

Wife and I got to stay a few extra days in Rome and after (sort of) seeing the rest of the group off for their 6am flight, we hauled our luggage to our hotel near the Spanish Steps. It was great to have some time to relax after the breakneck pace of first part of the trip and we took in the Borghese Gardens and Gallery (amazing Bernini's), the cat sanctuary, a Valentino exhibit and such. Excellent dinners were had, money spent and much wine consumed.

However, as great as the trip was, I'm also really happy to be home. It was also nice (I'd be lying if I said it wasn't) to have a bunch of people so happy that I WAS home:)

Two other newsbites. While in Italy I got two frantic calls and an email from my department head. Rather than incur a horrendous international cell bill I borrowed a calling card and finally got through to her. It turns out that one of the other teachers in our department quit and my dept head needed to know if I'd be willing or interested in teaching AP language and comp or American Lit. Well, I hate American Lit, but loved my rhetoric classes so it looks like I'm teaching AP next year. I'm nervous, but honored that she feels I can do it.

I also *might* have an email interview with Linkin Park and My Chem in connection with their Projekt Revolution tour which would be AMAZING. Fingers crossed...Sure, an email interview isn't as cool as a live one, but I'll take it!

Wow the summer is going fast...

Venice







Pisa

This is no joke! We came across the "Dictators on Wine Bottles" series on the way to Florence. Scary....





Florence











Assisi

Merengues the size of your head.




Rome








We came across the ultimate in box wine. Juice-box wine! It wasn't as bad as you might expect...part of our lunch under the portico of the Pantheon.