Old News, but I'm Slow

So, I was going through the backlog of music magazines that has been building up and discovered some interesting news. Gerard Way got married a few weeks ago. I was a little stunned, and, I'll admit, that teeny, mcr loving girl in me was a little sad. Silly, I know:)

He married the bass player from Mindless Self Indulgence. Good for him. Chicks that play the bass are cool.
Guess I'm a little behind on my reading;)
Read MTV's info on the nuptuals here.

Must find a music job that pays. This teaching bullshit is killing me :(

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.

Finally, a chance to slow down

What a week and a half...it's been a lot of fun, but I was exhausted today and managed to sleep through most of the day. I probably won't be able to sleep tonight now, but I'm still tired, so maybe I'll luck out. Here's the rundown:

Friday: Dinner with Jon at Tower and then the Taking Back Sunday show at EMU. I ran into two students and the band only let photographers up front for two songs. You guys aren't that amazing to justify being dicks about how many songs we can be up there. Come on...three songs is the standard, let's stick to that.

Saturday: I got invited to check out Ganon at the Blind Pig so after letting Jon cook for me (what else is new:) we had some crap beer in the 8-Ball and then headed upstairs for the show. It was fun to finally see Ganon play since I've heard so much about them...I also got hit on as I was heading into the 8-Ball. It was kind of funny and weirdly flattering. Whatever.

Sunday: Dinner at Palio's with my parents, Husband, Wife and Jon for my belated b-day dinner. We drank a ridiculous amount of wine and then since I didn't have to work the next day, Jon and I headed to Conor's for karaoke. I refused to sing but also discovered that Jon is really good at karaoke. I learned something new:) I still don't think I could do it, I try to avoid public humiliation, but I had a lot of fun watching. Long talk with Jon afterwards, things are ok. I got home at 3am. My mom and dad were less than amused.

Monday: Writing, grading papers, hit the gym and then a celebratory dinner at Prickly Pear with Jon because he got the job at JSTOR. Then we hit trivia night at Conor's and kicked some ass. Fourth place baby! Not bad:)

Tuesday: Writing, grading papers, gym and the first early night in days. It felt like a Sunday night, boo hiss.

Wednesday: Horrid mandatory pro-life lecture at school. I wanted to cringe, argue and walk out all at once. Ugh. The joys of working in a Catholic school. MCR concert that night was amazing...Jon and I got lost on the way (you'd think I'd be better at finding my way in Detroit by this point). I get a call from Husband on the way there that they're being dicks about letting cameras in. I get really nervous because I'm supposed to have a photo pass, but what if the band's PR person screwed up? I'm also horribly anxious because I'm supposed to be on the guestlist +1. I had already gotten a ticket, but what if I wasn't on the list? Then I will have dragged Jon out to Joe Louis and wasted his time completely. I feel like I have elephants, pterydactyls (sp?) and some other large, horrible animal catapulting around in my stomach. Getting lost didn't help.

So, we finally make it to Joe Louis, find a parking spot and begin the hunt for Husband and Wife. The doors aren't open yet, so they're waiting outside sans coats among the hundreds and hundreds of angsty emo kids and their parents. Jon and I go to find the box office and get our tickets. No problem there but I then find I have to go to the media enterance to get my photo pass. We end up waiting almost half an hour to get said pass, but at least it was INSIDE and we essentially got to jump the whole line. I had to virtually sign my life away, but at least MCR granted photographers three songs unlike TBS.

Rise Against opened. I didn't care a whole lot but I got some good pics. MCR was amazing...I'm happy with the photos I got and still can't quite believe I was THAT close to them. They did two full sets...22 songs or so. The entire first half was The Black Parade, the second half was all stuff from Three Cheers. I loved every second and sang along like a total moron. Husband, Wife and Jon are all very good to put up with my silliness.

Thursday: Rough morning but not too bad. Then I had an interview with Bayside out at St. Andrews before their show. I got to do the interview on their tour bus which was pretty fun (first time I've ever been on a tour bus). The guys were nice and I think the interview went well. I had a photo pass to shoot the show and all went well until my back decided that I was an ass for essentially standing two days straight (work, MCR, work, Bayside). I was in agony but held in there to shoot the last band of the night and then took off to collapse into bed.

Friday: Frantically finishing TBS review for Static. It's now up and I got my first photo credit for them. Check it out here. Quick nap and then more cooking fun at Jon's. Great night overall.

Saturday: Frantically writing MCR review for Static. My editor wanted between 500-1,000 words. I sent him 1,300. The review and photo just went up, check it out here. Ran at the gym with Jon for a while, home to talk to my mom for the first time since Tuesday, finished MCR piece and headed back to Jon's to let him cook red beans and rice for me. Another excellent evening.

Sunday: Recovery. I have no attention span and didn't get shit done today. I needed to get a lot done but didn't. I know it'll be a busy week, but I don't think it'll be quite as awful as last week.

However, I did get offered the chance to review the Scissor Sisters show at the State on Thursday. I wasn't expecting that, but I'm not gonna turn down two free tix to the show. I may also get to interview and pretty definitely get to cover the Snow Patrol show in April (I think). I have two jobs. I just only get paid for one. BUT, I think I'm going to do quite well with my income tax refund, so I've been able to upgrade the digital SLR I want AND I should be able to get it pretty soon and have a hefty hunk of change left over. The rest I'll sock away for other big dreams of mine... (though getting another tattoo is awfully tempting...) I'm also thinking I'll work this summer at plastic surgery for the extra money. I really want to move out (I know, dropping a pile of money on a digital camera shouldn't come first then, but it does) and this will be a good way to do it. I hate the idea of working there, but the extra money is too tempting.

Mom and dad leave for Europe in 15 days, but I'm not counting. I can't wait. I guess I should go and try to finish up my crap for tomorrow now that it's 10:00 pm...

Oh, and a few of my favorite photos from MCR:





Listening to: Bayside, The Walking Wounded

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

OMG. Best news ever today. I got an email that I not only got guestlisted and a photo pass for the Taking Back Sunday show this Friday at EMU (which is going to be a pretty packed show) but I also got guestlisted +1 AND a photo pass for the My Chemical Romance show next week!!!! This is (for me) one of the coolest of all cool things:) I am SO excited. Ridiculously so. To be that close to a band I adore beyond sense and to get (hopefully) some great photos of them that I can put my name on....beyond amazing:)

Yes, I'm a little excited. This is gonna be awesome. I was psyched for that show to begin with and this just puts things over the top.

I almost bought my camera today and then decided that because I got an unexpected $400 bill from MSU because of some billing screwup from last semester, I should wait and see if I mightn't need some of that extra stash o'cash to pay that bill. I know it was the responsible thing to not drop the money on a camera I don't need just yet, but I reaaaalllly want it. Soon enough. Soon enough.

I am thrilled about these shows:) TBS should be ok, but the MCR show is gonna be off the map. I can't wait.

Listening to: Hedley, Hedley