The End

Oh. my. god. I made it to the end of the semester. Everything got done. Nothing was late. I managed to eke (sp?) my way through the semester working only 3 days and still being able to put gas in my car. Whew. I am SO glad it's over. Don't get me wrong, I liked at least one of my classes, but I'm so braindead at this point and I want to have some FUN this weekend (hint, hint, anyone feel like going out??)

Work sucked today. I hate the people that think they can treat you like shit just because you're the shmo answering the phone. I've come to the conclusion that the worst part of that isn't the people getting pissed at you, it's having to take it and not being able to just tell them to STFU (well, I could, but then I'd get fired). Oh well. Money, money, money...

My first night with no homework? I plan on having at least two super-strong, on the rocks margaritas and vegging out....ahh, tequila...

And, just for kicks, I came across this photo of Billie Joe & Wife on ohnotheydidn't (Wife, my fellow Pink reader, check it out. You'll like it.) They're just so damn cute, I can't stand it.

Well, that's it for now...
~S

Listening to: Hawthorne Heights-"If Only You Were Lonely"

We are headed for strangeness...

Well, my last paper of the semester is done (or almost done, I just need to write the damn abstract. Problem is, I don't know how to write an abstract. See, in the English world, we don't do that a whole lot, so I'm at a bit of a loss, and right now I just don't care.) I liked the reading I had to do for it, I mean, getting to read all this great stuff by Hunter S. Thompson and Tom Wolfe and I get credit for it?! Wow...

So, I came across this description Thompson wrote about his deadlines as he was covering the 1972 presidential election. Granted, my deadline hasn't been this bad, but who hasn't had these feelings at some point when they've been up against a deadline?

"There is a comfortable kind of consistency in this kind of finish, because that's the way all the rest of the book was written. From December '71 to January '73 -- in airport bars, all-nite coffee shops and dreary hotel rooms all over the country -- there is hardly a paragraph in this jangled saga that wasn't produced in a last-minute, teeth-grinding frenzy. There was never enough time. Every deadline was a crisis. All around me were experienced professional journalists meeting deadlines far more frequent than mine, but I was never able to learn from their example...
...Any $100 an hour psychiatrist could probably explain this problem to me, in thirteen or fourteen sessions, but I don't have time for that. No doubt it has something to do with a deep-seated personality defect, or maybe a kink in whatever blood vessel leads into the pineal gland...on the other hand, it might easily be something as simple & basically perverse as whatever instinct it is that causes a jackrabbit to wait until the last possible second to dart across the road in front of a speeding car...Why not? Anything that gets the adrenalin moving like a 440 volt blast in a copper bathtub is good for the reflexes and keeps the veins free of cholesterol."
-Hunter S. Thompson Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

Now I just need to make it through class tomorrow night, hand this sucker in, and be done with it. I think I'll grind out the abstract tomorrow at work:)
Ciao,
S

All in the Family

How nuts would it be to have Billie Joe Armstrong as your dad? I came across this pic of him & his family at the Kids Choice Awards and, seriously, how fucking cute is this family??? (Not the best pic of Billie Joe, but still...I wonder what he's looking at?) I just want to pinch all of their cheeks:)


In music news, I've heard the new album, Broken Boy Soldiers, by The Raconteurs (Jack White of The White Stripes fame) which comes out on May 16 and IT IS GOOD. I highly recommend "Steady As She Goes."

Also, if you feel like going back to those days of 80s era dance-y music, check out the album by The Sounds from Sweden. They're definitely one of those groups you'll either really like or really hate, not much middle ground. I'm happy they'll be at Warped this summer though. I think they'd be a good band to see live.

The phones are sucking my will to live this morning and I may be dragged to a staff meeting this afternoon. I'm not sure what would be worse-being alone on the phones for a few hours or being stuck in a pointless and boring meeting. I would like nothing more than to just grab my bag and walk out the door right now. Of course then the progression is: walk out--> get fired-->no money-->cardboard box-->die a horrible miserable death. Hmm, guess I'll stay on the phones.
So glad it's Friday.

Where do these people come from??

I really wonder. I had to post this. So, a guy calls the clinic yesterday wanting to know if we do penis enlargement.

What?! How the hell do I answer that without laughing? Give the call to the clinic manager, that's what you do:) (I wonder what she said to him...)

On a different note, the Oohlas have posted a NEW SONG on the Stolen Transmission website. It rocks. I am so fucking stoked for the new album to come out I can hardly stand it. Go listen to the new song!

Also, Husband and I are considering marketing these shirts. You know you want one...



Ugh, tomorrow really should be Friday.
I'm out,
S

PS-I'm working on the next installment of my story-thing about the plastic surgery clinic. Stay tuned for The Mumbler... (dun, dun, duuun...)

Time to Waste

Yeah, I really should be doing work for one of my classes instead of posting, but I have the attention span of a flea right now, so the work isn't too productive at the moment. Anyways, I wanted to write about the concert last night...

Alkaline Trio was AWESOME. Oh. My. God. They rocked. They played at the Royal Oak Music Theater which is this very cool old movie theater that was renovated at some point. It's fairly small and either there are no seats or they took them out for the concert. It was cool though because you could get right up to the stage if you wanted and since the floor was stepped (um, not sure how else to describe it) if you stood at the edge of one of the slightly higher platforms, you could easily see over the heads of everyone on the level below you. So, we staked out a good spot at the front of the first level and got an awesome view of the stage.

Against Me! opened and I liked them a lot-very punk and energetic. Unfortch, I hadn't heard them before, so I didn't really know their stuff, but I like what I heard.

Alkaline Trio just ripped it up. They played all the songs off Goddamnit and a few songs like "This Could be Love", "Emma" and "Blue in the Face" off Good Mourning. I was really psyhed when they played "Settle for Satin" from Crimson though:) Matt Skiba and Daniel Andriano did a bunch of acoustic stuff too which was amazing.

I don't think I've ever been in one room that had so many tattoos, piercings, mohawks and black t-shirts...it was kinda nuts:) Anyways, it was a fantastic show and I'd definitely see them again in a second.
And, as always, a few pics:

Fall Out Boy

Aargh, so tired, but it was so worth it! Great concert even if my brother and I were some of the oldest fans there (I'm not counting all the parents that were there with their teenage and pre-teen kids). I've decided that going to concerts, especially for bands like Fall Out Boy or Green Day, really make for interesting observations of social behavior. It might be a social scientists dream population or something.

Anyways, the bands got increasingly "pop-y" as the night went on and it was a good five hours of music or so. I definitely liked From First to Last and Hawthorne Heights. All American Rejects were good and I like some of their songs, but I'm not totally obsessed with them. Speaking of people watching, there was this group kids in front of me & my brother, totally decked out in Hawthorne Heights gear from head to toe (well, not quite, but they were def. HUGE fans). My brother and I were mocking them just a little, but they amused me in a sort of cute, aw, aren't they excited way. One of the girl's screaming when HH came out was a bit annoying, but, you know, overall, I got a kick out of them. Unlike the idiot woman that was sitting next to my brother...

We'd scooched down in our row since no one was sitting there for the first three bands and then this woman with two pre-teens comes along, looks at us and just goes "MOVE." Uh, yeah...we know we're in the wrong seats, we're happy to move, you don't need to treat us like idiots! Grr. In fact, we're probably older than you think. It got worse too. She was that parent, you know, the one that acts like a teenager and is probably embarassing her kids beyond belief. She was dancing and screaming and was even clapping along when they were doing the sound check. Some people are so weird.

Anyways, Fall Out Boy rocked. They played a really long set and all of the songs I really wanted to hear. Of course people went nuts when they played "Dance, Dance" and "Sugar, We're Going Down." I love those songs but I really think my favorite is "XO" so, I'm glad they played that too. They're hilarious to watch, I do NOT understand how you can jump around and do those little spinny flip things that Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman do and still play the bass/guitar. Amazing. Definitely a fun time and way worth the money. I somehow think the crowd at Alkaline Trio will be slightly different:) I am, however, still psyched to go to that too.

I took some pics from our nosebleed seats. They're not too bad all things considered...I guess if you squint you can imagine that they're Fall Out Boy.

Hawthorne Heights

From First to Last


All-American Rejects



Fall Out Boy

Excited...

Ridiculously psyched for the Fall Out Boy concert tonight:) The tickets I got sorta suck, nosebleed section and all, but I'm still excited to be going! Then I've got tickets to see Alkaline Trio on Sunday--I've seen them before so I know they'll be great.
Frankly, I'm amazed I survived the week. I had an insane amount of work but, no homework tonight!

Pics to follow.

Ahead of the curve again!

AAAHH! I love being right:) Go to the iTunes music store. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. The FREE single of the week is Damone's "Out Here All Night!!!" Did I not say a few weeks ago that Damone rocks?

GO DOWNLOAD IT NOW!

Again, my tastes have been validated. Yay me:)

Peeps!

This question came up at Easter dinner last night...are Peeps suceptible to Avian Flu?? Do you think a research quesiton on the effects of Peeps and alcohol might be funded by a government grant?? I think Peep research is the next big thing. I may need to get some "test subjects" since they'll be on sale today. Not to eat of course, just for the comic relief and to do experiements on:)

Ugh, it's gonna be a loooong week.

In my boredom at work I decided to start writing a story of sorts...since truth is usually stranger than fiction (especially if you work at a plastic surgery office) here's the truth about my office and the people I deal with. Honest to god, I couldn't make this stuff up...Let me know what you think.

_____________________________________________________________

“So, can she go to work the day after her surgery?”
I nearly sprayed coffee all over my computer screen when the caller asked that.
“Actually sir, if she has a chin tuck, rhinoplasty, abdominoplasty and liposuction, I don’t think she’ll want to go anywhere right away. Certainly not to work,” I replied with as much control as I could muster.

What I really wanted to say was,
“Are you completely nuts? If she has the fat sucked out of her hips, her nose surgically broken and fixed, the slack in her chin lopped off and a patch of tissue the size of a dinner plate taken off her stomach she will not be going anywhere. In fact, she’ll look like a train-wreck and it’s unlikely she’ll leave the house for a few weeks much less go back to work the next day.”
I finished up the call after answering about five hundred more ridiculous questions (which included whether this guy’s girlfriend would have to “disrobe” for surgery and if she could keep her shoes on) without either laughing or calling the guy a complete moron. Those stupid plastic surgery reality shows have made my job hell. Now everyone thinks they’ll be instantly beautiful after plastic surgery. They don’t see the bruising, infections or dried blood, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Yes, I work in a plastic surgery office. No, it is not what I dreamed of doing “when I grew up” when I was a little girl. It helps pay the bills but it can be a spirit-crushing, soul-sucking job. And those are just the good days. Don’t get me started on the bad ones. I spend the day answering the phone which may seem like a cushy job but it’s really boring as hell. I get to deal with the patients who realize at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday that they’ll run out of narcotics over the weekend. Or the people that want to know why the nurse hasn’t returned their call even though they only left their message twenty minutes earlier. Or the people that need to see a surgeon because they punched a wall (we get more of those calls than you’d think). Or the people that ask idiotic questions like Return-to-Work guy who I just got off the phone with.
Basically, I have a hard time controlling myself from spewing out what I really think when I get calls like that. There are only two things that stop me from telling the Botox Babes, Cry-Babies and Wall-Punchers how stupid they are: 1) I need this job no matter how much it sucks because I need the money and 2) As bad as it can be, I know other jobs like this could be a lot worse.

New Cartoon

Ok, it isn't quite as funny as the one to "Sugar We're Going Down" but the same guy that did the little stick figure movie to that song, did a new one to AFI's "Girl's Not Grey." It' s funny, maybe not entirely safe for work though... watch it.

So tiiiirrrreeeed...

Um, yeah. Now I remember why I don't like school. All that end of the semester shite that piles up and keeps you from doing normal things like sleeping and eating properly. Ugh. I'm so tired I feel like I'm gonna die and the worst part is knowing that I've got at least two more weeks to get through before it's all over. Man, this isn't a sprint, it's a fucking marathon.

Despite getting back from MSU at 10 last night and I still having homework to do, I did check out iTunes' free download for the week. It's GOOD. Go get Rock Kills Kid's "Hide Away" for FREE. Free is good...

I'd also recommend Hawthorne Heights. Particualrly "This is Who We Are" and "Saying Sorry." Yeah, they're like the MySpace fairy tale and all, but, hell, I like 'em.

Check out Pretty Girls Make Graves new album, Elan Vital. "Pyrite Pedestal," "Domino" and "The Magic Hour" are my favorites at the moment. Very cool stuff, the only way I can describe it is being sort of a mix betwen punk, a dash of disco, a little grainy 70s rock, and some accordians. Weird, I know, but it works.

Enough for now, I'm going to bed.
Ciao,
S

If you can be disgruntled, can you be gruntled??
I actually saw this word used in print. In a scholarly book on the New York Times, no less. I may make up words myself, but I dunno about this one.

Back to work.

God, I'm so stupid

You know, you'd think that after the zillions of years I've been in school, I'd be better at pacing myself and not end up like a lunatic frantically trying to finish everything by the end of the semester.

Apparently, I'm an idiot.

Here I am, a few measly weeks until it's over and I've got TEN MILLION things to do. Not only do I have two more stories to do for my JRN 200 class (to be fair, we only got the assignment for one on Wednesday and the other we technically still haven't gotten the assignment but we got the due date which isn't too fair), I've got three papers for my JRN 825 class (um, yeah, this IS my fault that I'm not more on top of them) and two stories due for The Crutch all in the next three weeks. Goodbye sleep, hello massive amounts of caffeine.

Oh wait, I've also got two concerts coming up in the next three weeks, both the week before the end of the semester. Yeah, phenomanally stupid planning on my part but I'd be kicking myself if I'd passed up the chance to see Alkaline Trio and Fall Out Boy. Well, such is life. It always gets done but the process sucks.

Well, let's get on to the fun stuff. Recommendations:

• I just found the concert photo site Shatter The Lens. Cool photos and while it still doesn't beat out Christopher Chouinard's pics, it's still got some neat stuff.
• I really like Flashlight Brown's song "Sicker." Pretty damn catchy, download it here.
• Eight Finger's Down's song "A Feeling, A Word, A Curse." Courtesy of their MySpace page (of course).
• I think I've mentioned The Hush Sound before...if you didn't listen then, try downloading "Crawling Towards the Sun."
  
• "The Levy" by From First to Last. Get it at their Pure Volume site.

Ok, that's it for now. Back to the books.
Ciao,
~S

Top 10 Songs

I'm not usually too keen on those 700 question-type surveys that are all over MySpace, but this one amused me. Give it a try and let me know what you come up with:)

Put your mp3 player on shuffle, and list the first ten songs.

First Song: It’s My Life (No Doubt)
Second Song: New Orleans Instrumental No. 1 (REM)
Third Song: Pale September (Fiona Apple)
Fourth Song: Mandinka (Sinead O’Connor)
Fifth Song: Meaning in Tragedy (As I Lay Dying)
Sixth Song: Stellar (Incubus)
Seventh Song: Pumpkin (Tricky)
Eighth Song: Once (Pearl Jam)
Ninth Song: Drown (Smashing Pumpkins)
Tenth Song: Smashed into Pieces (Silverstein)

Time to see what they mean to you!

Who does song 1 remind you of? For some reason it reminds me of PICS, I don’t think we ever practiced to it, so I’m not sure why…

What part of your life does song 2 describe the best? Um, the chill moments?

If you could dedicate song 3 to someone, who would it be? Ryan

Does Song 4's lyrics mean anything to you personally? No

Why do you like song 5? I think it kind of represents my musical growth lately (or something like that). Plus, I like the name of the band.

When did you first start listening to the artist of song 6? When my ex sent me the lyrics to this song back when we were dating.

How many albums do you have from the artist of song 7? One (Maxinquaye)

How are number 8 and 9 similar? They both start out pretty mellow & slow but get a lot harder as the songs progress. Both came out around the same time too-1991 and 1992.

What is number 10's meaning? Basically, about wanting to rip your heart out to stop the pain after someone has broken it (happy stuff)

What song out of the 10 is your favorite? Right now, Silverstein

What song out of the 10 is your least favorite? New Orleans Instrumental

Which song means the most to you and why? Probably “Stellar.” I guess it just reminds me of how my ex had good taste in music, and that’s pretty hard to find.

Would you dedicate any of these to your love/crush? I’m not sure if any of them are really appropriate (Stellar would be, but I wouldn’t re-use it!)

Would you dedicate any of these to your enemy? Pearl Jam

Do these top ten songs fairly reflect your music collection? Pretty much, I’m kinda all over the place and my collection shows that.

(Insert girlish squeal here)

So, this is very exciting! I got my very first promo copy of a cd before the album has been released! Can't tell you who the album's by, but it's pretty fun to get cd's that aren't on sale to the public till next week! (*mild gloating*)

I did my video for the MTV/Rolling Stone thing today with tons of help from Ben (who is a mastermind and genius and I owe him many, many drinks). I felt like a total tool just talking about myself on camera, but it's done and looks way better than if I'd borrowed a camcorder from someone and filmed in my living room or something. I'm still pretty sure I haven't even got a shot, but I definitely wouldn't have a chance if I didn't at least try, right?

I still can't believe I'm doing this, how crazy!

Despite all of this fun stuff, it dawned on me over the weekend how little time is left in the semester and how much crap I still have to do for my classes. I know it'll all get done (it always gets done) but I will probably be a nutcase for the next four weeks. Heh, at least I've got the Fall Out Boy concert and Alkaline Trio concert coming up as some study breaks (and I'm sure at that point, I'll really need them!) Right now I'm trying to justify reading old issues of Rolling Stone (I'm talking old, like 1967 when the mag first came out) as "homework" since I'm trying to work it into a final project for one of my classes. Only bummer is it's all on microfilm :( Ugh, takes me back to the days of spending hour after hour in the Library of Congress reading microfilm. I'll probably go blind. Oh well.
Ciao!
~S

Malaise and apathy...

Aargh. I just feel so blah and apathetic today. I don't want to be at work and the patients are grating on my nerves. I have the chance to go out tonight but part of me just wants to sit on my ass instead. I should go to the gym after work but I don't want to. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's pms. Who the hell knows. All I know is that I'd really love a nap right about now.

There's also this person who's really getting on my nerves. I "bumped" into her on mySpace relatively recently. Anyways, it seems like EVERY OTHER FREAKING THING she writes is about her boyfriend. I mean, get a life! Ok, so you love him, but this is bordering on obsessive stalker. I really wonder how he feels about her proclaiming her undying love for him every other line for the whole mySpace world to see. It's almost creepy but it's definitely annoying.

The other shitty thing about it is it makes me feel like even more of a loser for not having a boyfriend. I've been fairly ok about it lately, not really thinking about it too much, but every so often the whole thought rears its ugly head and I get all depressed. I guess this is one of those times. Ugh. I really think I'm going to be alone the rest of my life. Where the hell would I meet anyone? I'm the invisible girl, no one even notices me.

Ugh. Before I make myself even more depressed, I'm out.
Ciao,
S

A few quick recs...

Ok, a few things I wanted to share:

Damone fucking rules! Check 'em out! Seriously!

Also,check out the We Are Scientists video for "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt." It cracks me up...threeish minutes of the band being chased around by a guy in a bear suit. It's so weird it works.

I've decided I luurrvve the song "Monsters" by Matchbook Romance. Download it at Download it here.

Tweak's song "End My Days With You" which samples MCR's "Demolition Lovers." Normally I'm not a huge rap fan, but I gotta give this credit. Dowload it here.

Work is going SO slowly today. Ugh. Good news is, I might have another freelancing gig for a mag out of Detroit. Yay! Also some possibility of a job with a mag from the East Coast. For the moment, life is good.
Ciao,
Sasha

The Oohlas

Ok, that wasn't so bad:) Ollie was totally cool and nice and it went really well! Yay! I'm psyched too because she said they'd be touring soon and I told her they need to come to Michigan, particularly Ann Arbor (heh heh, yes, me trying to use my meager influence). She said that when I see them (not if!) to let her know I'm going to be there ahead of time and she'll get me on the list. The List! Sweet!
I can't wait till their album comes out, their EP is awesome so I'm sure the album will be fantastic. Not to mention, I love her hair:) Yes, I'm a bit star-struck but I can't help it. This is very exciting. If you'd asked me this time last year if I thought I'd be trying to get into music journalism I'd probably have laughed in your face. This is SO much more fun and exciting than the doctoral program I was in! Maybe leaving DC and not getting a teaching job was really a good thing...guess I'll have to wait and see...
Ciao,
S

Very Nervous

Aargh...I'm so excited but so nervous. In a few minutes I'm doing my interview with Ollie Tamale of The Oohlas. My first big music interview and I'm totally scared. I'm sure it'll be fine, but crikey, I hope I don't make an ass of myself!

Kee-razy, man...

I can't believe I'm doing this. I hate reality tv. So, it astonishes even me that I'm going through with applying for the MTV/Rolling Stone reality show. I'll never get picked in a million years, but I still can't believe I'm even trying. I must be mentally insane. Luckily, Ben is awesome and has agreed to help me make the video portion of my application. I'm going to feel like a complete moron doing that but, oh well. Who'd have thought I'd ever try to be on a reality show? A summer at Rolling Stone is good incentive though...

On a different note, I'm quite impressed with myself and forgot to mention this the other day. I have this little music addiction. I can deal with it if I want to (heh heh)...but I beg, buy and "steal" (mySpace music, i don't illegally download! i heart iTunes!) music whenever I can. So, the fact that I went into no less than three cool indie music stores this weekend to do interviews and managed to go home only having bought two used cds, is somewhat amazing. It wasn't easy, let me tell you;) All for the story, all for the story.

My mom and dad come home on Thursday and I'm actually looking forward to it. The house is really quiet when it's just me rattling around in it. I think I've done my fair share of sowing some wild oats while they've been gone (dyed my hair purple which I still love, got a tattoo, threw a party, yada yada yada), so I think I can cope with them being back. For a while at least;) Until they make me nuts again that is.

Ok, two photos from the party. The first is the pile of iPods from the contest, if somebody had a nano we'd have covered almost all the iPods out there:) Then there's Husband and Thomas. Husband looks either irritated or vaguely amused, I'm not sure which. I think Thomas is attempting to throw gang signs. Heh, yeah...I've also come to the conclusion that Husband didn't get sick after the party from antibiotics and alcohol. I blame the synthetic cheese and alcohol. Damn nacho cheese!

Ciao,
~Sasha

Recovery

Aargh...so tired. Well, I think the party went quite well and I'd say I successfully cooked for 13 people without going crazy or accidentally poisoning everyone.

It was a lot of fun. Tons of food, no one left hungry that was for sure. We did the playlist contest (I'm psyched to say Wife won with a pretty damn good playlist) and it was fun to see what music people brought. It was pretty funny though when Husband and his friend Thomas decided there was "us" and "them" when it came to music (I like to hope I'm included in the "us" group...). Hmm, maybe you had to be there for that one.

Drinking Jenga followed, there was some stripping, a wine glass full of tequila, and general hilarity. Unfortch, Husband discovered that antibiotics and alcohol don't mix well and his night ended less than stellar-ly (yeah, i know it isn't a word).

Nonetheless, there were some damn good quotes, which, after about 17 Coronas, it seemed like a good idea to write down (ok, i didn't have that many beers, you get the picture though). I think most of these are courtesy of Thomas who amuses me to no end:

• The end is very fucking nigh.
• Friends don't let friends rock lint.
• Fight Club you asshole!
• Now I have to go to Best Buy to buy my Swedish fucking deathmetal shit.
• Now I fucking know why there was prohibition.

Mmm, yeah, maybe you had to be there for some of those too. I had a great time though and I hope everyone else did too.

Spent most of the day fighting off a headache (not fair, I didn't even feel buzzed after all I drank last night but I still have to suffer with the headache today!) and running around Ann Arbor from indie record store to indie record store "getting the story." All I could think of was this bit from Hunter S. Thompson's Generation of Swine:

"Did you have fun?" asked the bell captain, as he opened the driverside door for me.
"Are you crazy?" I said. "I have a serious deadline to meet. We've been at the tattoo parlor all night. It was the only way to do it."
"What?" he said. "You got yourself tattooed?"
"Oh no," I told him. "Not me." I pointed to Maria, who was already far into the lobby. "She's the one who got the tattoo," I said. "A huge red and black panther between her shoulder blades."
He nodded slowly, but I could see that his face was tense. "What do you mean?" he said. "You made that poor girl get tattooed? Just for a newspaper story?"
"It was the right thing to do," I said. "We had no choice. We are, after all, professionals."


Well, I had no choice and I got the story, so it's all good. I also scored an interview with Ollie Tamale from The Oohlas. I'm going to speak with her this week and I'm psyched. I am, after all, a professional ;)
Ciao,
~S

The Fun Continues...

Wow, things just keep getting better! I emailed Ultragrrrl about The Oohlas to see if I could get a press release or some additional info on the band and she offered (I didn't even ask!) to help arrange an interview with them. How cool is that?! So, I may get to do my first band interview which would be super sweet (and, it's pretty damn cool that she got back to me so fast, I didn't think I'd hear so quickly). Wow, cool.

I may also be able to slay three classes this summer and that way I'd only have to take two in the fall. Best of all, two of the classes are these intense, one week classes, so I'd be done with them really quickly. It would definitely help cut down on all the driving back and forth to MSU. I hope that works out...

Party time tomorrow! I'm such a bad host though, I still haven't gone grocery shopping for the party, still haven't cleaned, haven't put together my playlist...god, I'm so lazy. I also need to finish my story on Schoolkids Records for Monday. Aargh, aargh, aarrgh. Too much to do, not enough time. So, with all this on my plate (and an interview I have to do tomorrow morning) should I even be considering going to a show at the Blind Pig tonight? Of course not. Am I? yeeess. I'm so dumb sometimes.
Ok, time to go Meijering, at least I can cross one thing off my to-do list then.
Ciao,
S

The Oohlas

Dude, I'm fucking stoked! Just got my assignments for the May issue of The Crutch and I get to do a profile piece on The Oohlas! Woo hoo! Not only are they a sweet band, they just signed to Ultragrrrl's label, Stolen Transmission AND I pitched the idea to my editor and he liked it, so, I get to do a story on a band I'm psyched about. Too cool:)

Wife gave me a heads up to a new reality show that Rolling Stone and MTV are doing. Basically, the people that get chosen will compete for a writing job at RS. I'd never get chosen and the application is about 100 pages long, but who knows, maybe I'll give it a try. Nothing ventured, right?

Psyched about my soiree/fiesta this weekend. It looks like my dinner party has grown to ginormous proportions. I've never cooked for 13 people before. This will be interesting...Heh, I'm asking people to bring their iPods or Mp3 players and I want to do a DJ party thingy--everyone gets to do a 15 minute setlist and we'll vote on who has the best set. I have to figure out a prize for the winner. I hope people try it, I think it could be totally fun.

Right, enough bitching. Ok, some musical recommendations:

• We Are Scientists: They rock my socks. For fans of Nightmare of You and The Killers (so, Husband, you will hate them. Don't even bother). I'm also very amused by their cover art. Three exceedingly nerdy looking guys holding kittens. WTF??
• The Hush Sound: Download "Momentum" from their myspace page.

Ciao, ~S

Drool...

Ok, allow me this totally teenie moment. The RIAA honored a bunch of Grammy winners and legends at a private ceremony yesterday and MCR was asked to play a tribute to Green Day. Of course the media was there so photos were taken...can I just say having Green Day and MCR in one photo is enough to make me swoon?:)

Er, yeah, I'll try to control myself now, sorry about that.

On a related note, MCR just released a DVD/CD set called "Life on the Murder Scene" and it is totally awesome. Lots of concert footage, videos and all sorts of goodies. If you like MCR, you'll definitely want to check it out.

Ugh, I really don't want to go to class tonight. I have to give a presentation on journalism during the Civil War...I don't waaannnt to give a preeessennntation... (whine, whine, whine). Damn, I hate Tuesdays.
At least it was brightened a bit by seeing MCR and Green Day all together;)
Ciao,
~S

Let's try this again

Ok, now that I've switched sites and all, let's try this again. I finally got the courage to get a tattoo over the weekend and am super happy with how it came out. My tattooist (is that a word??), Mike Emmett over at Name Brand in Ann Arbor, did an awesome job.

Here it is:
It came out exactly like I wanted and though it was kinda sore yesterday, doesn't really bother me at all today, so that's a good thing. I'll explain the significance of it some other day when I don't have homework to finish for tomorrow!!
Ciao,
~S

Update

Ok,
In a fit of total paranoia I removed some content. It isn't a problem with blogger, just me being, well, paranoid.
Google yourself sometime and you'll see what I mean.
Yikes.
~S

Warped here I come...

Werd,
Happy, happy, joy, joy:) I got tix to Warped and I'm PSYCHED. I'm hoping I can drag Husband along if he isn't too busy that weekend:) I figure if he's busy I can always find someone else to drag with me.

Also, my hair now has purple streaks. It's so cool. My mom will hate it.

Not much else right now, things are pretty quiet. Looks like it'll be a pretty dull St. Paddy's day. Oh well, that's ok. If you're really Irish, you don't need to buy into all that:)
Ciao,
~S

Young for Eternity

Oh. My. God. The Subways fucking rawk. Went down to the Magic Stick last night to check them out and they were amazing. The Virgin Millionaires and The Shys opened--I liked The Shys best of the two, but both were good, definitely better than the opening bands for Hard-Fi.

But then The Subways came out and blew me away. They just ripped into their set, and were all over the place. I swear, Charlotte Cooper is so fucking cute I can hardly stand it. She was just this blur of bass, black sequins and blonde hair--I have no idea how she can play the bass and be bouncing all over the place like that, but she manages to do it all and just rock at the same time. Billy Lunn and Josh Morgan were totally great too (I couldn't really see Josh v. well--I was standing kinda far back and I'm too short, oh well). They ended with Rock & Roll Queen and the crowd went totally insane, mosh pit forming and all.

God, what a great show. I'd see them again in a second. They're going to be big. I'm telling you, it's the British Invasion all over again.
I got a few pics, they aren't great (again, I was kinda far back), but you get the idea.
Now I've got to go catch up on my sleep:)
Ciao,
S

The Crutch & this week's recommendations

Hey,
So, woo hoo, the March issue of The Crutch is out and I've got a piece in it! Download your issue here (it's a pdf, so you'll need Adobe or Mac's Preview to view it).

Ok, onto the recommendations for this week:

• K.T. Tunstall "Suddenly I See" Tunstall is a Scottish singer/songwriter. She's quite popular in England right now...I confess I haven't heard any of her other stuff, but I really like this song.
• Lady Sovereign "Random V. Teen Spirit" Now, I don't know if this is sacrilege or just brilliant...v. cool smash-up of Lady Sov's "Random" and Nirvana's "Teen Spirit". Download it at her myspace site.
• Garbage's "Boys Wanna Fight". Fun song, v. dance-y, so if you like their older stuff, you might not like it. Great for working out to. Listen to it here.
• As predicted, Arctic Monkey mania has hit the US. Check out "A Certain Romance" before they get overplayed on the radio.

Party tonight:) Yay. So glad it's Friday! ~S

PS-I had more recommendations but a few accidentally got deleted and I'm too lazy to rewrite them right now:(

New Favorite Site

My new favorite waste-your-time, satisfy-your-desire-for-celeb-gossip is ohnotheydidn't! It isn't quite as fun as Pink, but still quite amusing:)

"The days go by oh so slow..."

Geeze, do they ever. Work has been boring as hell this week. Sure, I've still had my share of idiots, but I guess most of them must be in hiding because the phones haven't been ringing off the hook. It's weird because the idiots make me crazy, but at the same time they at least make the days go by fast. Not a lot of idiots=days go by sooooo slooooow. I can't believe it's only Wednesday too. Two more days of this. Aargh.

It should be fun weekend though--Ben is have a b-day bash on Friday night and I'm pretty sure Husband and Wife will be there (will they? I dunno, Husband hasn't emailed me back...must be nuts at work;) Then on Sunday night I'm going to see The Subways at the Magic Stick with Jim. I'm quite psyched and love the Magic Stick. Too bad it's on a Sunday night and I've got school the next day. Oh well, I'll live. I guess I'll be recuperating on Saturday (and doing homework, boo, hiss).

My parents leave for Italy soon...house to myself~yay! Woo hoo! I know I'll manage to freak myself out at night with my overactive imagination, but at least I've got my ferocious attack cat, the G!ck (yes, it's spelled right) to protect me. Heh, if you know the G!ck, you'll realize that if I'm depending on him, I'm in BIG trouble:) I love him to death, but he's afraid of everything. I'd be better off relying on Cosette. She'll take a limb off. Seriously.

At least I've got a guitar lesson this afternoon, so that's fun. I think I'm making pretty decent progress and I'm just about finished with my first book, so that's cool. Right now my teacher has me working on "Losing My Religion" by REM and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. I'm crap at power chords though, so Teen Spirit sounds less than great. Oh well, I'll keep at it. I'm also dinking around with a few Good Charlotte songs and some other Green Day stuff. I'm irritated though because I had this big stack of tabs and chords for songs but I think I accidentally threw it out. Grr. I wish I could find the chords for "I Want to be Buried in Your Backyard" by Nightmare of You-so far I've only found the tabs and I'm kinda crap at reading tabs right now.

Anywho, almost quitting time (thank god!)
Ciao,
Sasha

We're Falling Apart to Half Time

What are you supposed to do when someone you thought was your friend seems to be avoiding you? This whole situation is so sixth-grade or maybe I'm imagining things. I'm not sure...

I've known E since we were juniors in college. We worked together and just started hanging out over time. I guess we kind of bonded over the fact we were both going into teaching because, when I think about it, I'm not sure how much else we really have in common. Anyways, I've known her for about 8 years now. We got in one totally stupid girl fight a few years ago (over a guy, of course) and after that I was never stupid enough to tell her what I really thought about her taste in men. I have some difficulties with the guy she's seeing right now (mostly because I don't think he treats her very well, I think she could do a lot better and he just seems to make her upset most of the time) but I will NOT, under ANY circumstances, say anything like that to her. I learned from the last time around.

So, since I moved back to Ann Arbor, we've been hanging out again, but not very much. I understand that she has her own circle of friends, but it seems like the times we do actually hang out, all she does is talk about the guy--either how great he is (if they're together at that moment) or how miserable she is because they broke up for the 700th time. When they're together she's spending all of her time with him or planning for when she will be with him and thus too busy to hang out. When they've broken up she's too miserable to hang out. So, it gets a little frustrating, but again, I'm not getting into that fight again, so I don't say anything.

Here's the other thing that bothers me though, I feel like this friendship has become totally one-sided. She never calls, never wants to hang out and on the rare occasions I do get her out, she usually takes off early, claims she's tired but I can't quite believe her all the time. It's so shitty of me, but I really think she's running off to be with him. It sucks because I thought we were better friends than that.

So, I've dealt with not hanging out much. Lately she's been totally uncommunicative though. I mean SILENT. I called last weekend, she said she was sick and would call me back (she really did sound sick, so no problem there). Thing is, she never called back. I tried calling again in the middle of the week to see how she was doing. She said she was feeling somewhat better, couldn't talk and would call me back. No call. I tried again this weekend, she didn't answer, I left a message and haven't gotten a call back. Maybe she's still sick. I'd really like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I'm getting annoyed. No, I"m getting pissed. I thought we were friends. I'm beginning to get the feeling that she's screening her calls and the only reason she picked up in the middle of the week was because she didn't recognize the number I was calling from. I don't know what's going on and I obviously won't find out since she appears to be avoiding me.

Maybe I'm making more out of this than I should. Maybe she's just been feeling under the weather. I know she hasn't been up to her ears with schoolwork because she was on vacation all week. Maybe she's just had other things going on, but I thought she was enough of a friend that she could at least give me a quick call back. I'm really pretty hurt by this. That's it. The proverbial ball is in her court. I'm not calling anymore. If she wants to talk, she knows where to find me, but I'm not running after her anymore.
~S

Kind of amusing

I found this game (? not sure what to call it) at a friends mySpace page and thought it would be kind of fun to try. Pick a musician or a band and answer the questions using only song titles... let me know if you decide to try it!

My Chemical Romance! (Of course)

1.) Are you a male or female? The Ghost of You

2.) Describe yourself: I'm Not Okay (I Promise)

3.) How do you feel about yourself? Bury Me in Black

4.) Describe where you currently live: Cubicles

5.) If you could go anywhere, where would you go? To the End

6.) Your best friend is...Helena

7.) Your favorite color is...Early Sunsets Over Monroeville

8.) You know...What they Do to Guys Like Us In Prison

9.) What's the weather like? This is the Best Day Ever

10.) If your life was a TV show, what would it be called? Demolition Lovers

11.) What is life to you? It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish

12.) What is the best advice you have to give? Vampires Will Never Hurt You

13.) If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Our Lady of Sorrows

14.) What's the worst situation you could be in? Drowning Lessons

15.) What's the best situation you could be in? I Never Told You What I do for A Living

16.) What do you want most right now? Give 'Em Hell, Kid


**( The picture above was a "prayer card" created by MCR. It's St. Orpheia, the patron saint of broken guitar strings, heh heh. I just really liked the illustration, very cool.)

My name is trouble

Wow, hard to believe how much things can change in just a week. My old Subaru Impreza is no longer mine, I had to bid it farewell on Saturday and it was a little sad...it's so stupid, but last time I drove it, I didn't realize that would be the last time ever. I know it's dumb to get so sentimental over a car, but oh well. I can' t help it:)

Don't worry, I'm not up all night crying over my car, mostly because I am now the incredibly proud owner of a lovely blue Subaru Impreza WRX Limited. It is the nicest car I have ever, ever had. I will probably be paying for it the rest of my life, but I absolutely adore it. It's freaking loaded, turbo charged, spoiler, the whole nine yards. Best of all, it's a manual which makes me very happy. I learned to drive on a manual, my first car was a manual and then the last Impreza was an automatic (not my choice but it was the best available used car at the time I needed a car). I missed having a manual-it's way better for driving in the snow and, hell, let's face it, it's pretty damn cool to be a girl who can drive a manual transmission car. Of course I park miles from anyone else, I don't want anything happening to this car (heh, it's going to have to last me for aeons!) Ok, enough gushing. Forgive me, I've just never had a new-new car, so this is really exciting.

Ok, in music news...I'm going to see Alkaline Trio in April with Jim which I'm very excited about. I saw them open for My Chemical Romance back in September and they were great. I can't wait to see them again! That'll be a busy week music-wise, I see Fall Out Boy on April 20 and then AT on April 23. It's all good though:) I'm seeing The Subways in two weeks too, they'll be at the Magic Stick which is a totally cool small venue in Detroit. I was there for the first time when I saw Hard-Fi and it's just a great intimate space, very much like the Blind Pig. So, yay, music outings:)

A few recommendations:

• "Cosmopolitan" by Nine Black Alps: This is the free download this week on iTunes. Good song and did I mention it was free??
• "New English" by Ambulance Ltd. They kind of remind me of Idlewild, you can hear more of their stuff on their mySpace page.
• Speaking of Idlewild...Their album Warnings/Promises is amazing! Of course it's on iTunes, but if you aren't sure about downloading the whole album, do yourself the favor and at least get "As If I Hadn't Slept," "I Want a Warning", and "Love Steals Us from Loneliness". You'll thank me.
• The Oohlas: This group is going to be big. They just signed with Stolen Transmission and if you want to get some of their stuff before everyone jumps on the bandwagon, go to their website and download "Gone", "The Cahuenga Shuffle" and "The Rapid". Lead singer Ollie Tamale has this totally ethereal voice. They also just got a write-up in Alternative Press magazine, so check 'em out!
• Nightmare of You: Oh. My. God. This band is amazing. The more I listen to them, the more I am falling in love. Seriously. They're getting quite a cult following, and it's easy to see why. Go download their album at iTunes or, at least, "In the Bathroom Is Where I Want You," "I Want to be Buried in Your Backyard," and "My Name is Trouble." If you're from Ann Arbor, buy "The Heaven Studded Cinctures." Ann Arbor is mentioned in the song:) Heck, just buy the whole album, it's so good you won't regret it.

I could totally recommend tons more but I'll try and restrain myself. This post has gotten away from me as it is.
Ciao!
~Sasha

Going postal

I am this () close to just completely losing it right now. Work was rotten today, I had one idiot after another calling. I had surgeons who tell patients one thing but don't bother telling the schedulers. It's asinine how this place is run. There is NO communication, the surgeons all have huge egos and don't seem to realize that without us lowly clerical people this whole freaking place would fall apart. God I hate this place at times and cosmetic surgery patients are the worst. Who the hell cares if the first available appointment for your liposuction isn't till May? It isn't like it's life or death. God. People are SO STUPID at times. Grrr. Grr. Gr.

Ten minutes and I'm outta here. At least I'm going to a show at the Blind Pig tonight-I'm covering SSM for The Crutch, so I get in as press which is pretty damn cool. I think I'll need a beer. Or ten.

Thank god it's the weekend in 10 minutes. I've got to get out of this place before I say something insanely rude to a patient and get myself fired.
Grrr.

On a different note, listen to Nightmare of You--they rock (and they have a song that mentions Ann Arbor which is just fun).

~S

Good Mourning

Man, today was a sad, sad day. So, I have a car. It's a 1996 Subaru Impreza with 132,000 miles on it. I've driven it back and forth from Michigan to Washington, DC (multiple times); from Michigan to Stratford, Ontario (multiple times); now I'm driving from Ann Arbor to Lansing three times a week and used to commute from A2 to Livonia (for 3 1/2 years). So, lotsa miles on it. It has a dent in the passenger door from where my mom backed into my car (oops!), mismatching side-view mirrors from when some asshole whacked one of my mirrors off. The breaks went out on me and had to be totally rehauled to the tune of $2,000 about a year and a half ago and it's just generally a bit ghetto.

Here's the thing. I love my car. I've gotten really attached to it. So, my dad suggests that he bring it in to be checked over since it's been a few months and I'm putting a lot of miles on it now. When my cell rang at work and his number was on caller ID, I knew it wasn't going to be good.

The word "transmission" came up. The words "multiple leaks" were mentioned. The sum of another $1,000 was mentioned.

I wanted to cry.

So, the question is, do we put that money into my 10 year old car or into a new car? It looks like its going to be a new car which is totally exciting but this wasn't how I really wanted it to happen. Of course it'll be another Subaru, which is cool with me. I'm leaning towards the Impreza WRX but I'm going to the dealer with my parents (of course, I'm such a baby and a leech which bothers me, but SOMEDAY I'll have a real job. God, I just better have a real job! I can't take much more of this temp business) and we'll see what they've got etc. I was a little surprised. My mom and I were looking online at cars and I kept going towards the cheaper Subarus. Nice, but still not the WRX and she kept steering me towards the WRX. Not the totally tricked out one that's over $30,000, but still a bit nicer than I was leaning towards. Well, we'll see what happens. Who knows, maybe by this time next week I'll have a new car...but I'm sure gonna miss my little blue subaru in a way--we've been through a lot together:(

Woo hoo!

Aaah! Alkaline Trio is playing in Royal Oak April 23...it's only $15...anyone wanna come see them with me?? They're SO good.
please, please, please??
Lemme know.

Also, I should have two pieces in the March issue of The Crutch. Woo hoo!
Ciao,
~S

Even more stupid people

Ok, so I know my postings have been mostly about people that annoy me, but this has been one hell of a week for those kind of people. They're multiplying or something and I thought evolution was supposed to take care of that.

So, here's another of my favorite types of calls:
A patient calls, they're on their way to the appointment but have gotten lost. Instead of stopping the car to call and ask for directions, they KEEP DRIVING while they're on the phone. Um, HELLO, aren't you just getting more lost? It's pretty damn hard for me to tell you how to get here if you KEEP MOVING. Idiots. I spent ten minutes on the phone with someone who wouldn't stop the fucking car even though they were lost and it got harder and harder for me to tell them how to get here because after a while they couldn't even tell me roughly where they were. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!

Whew, sorry. The idiots are getting to me and it's harder and harder to keep the tourette's in check. Sometimes I just want to tell them that they're a complete idiot and to quit bugging me with stupid questions about their elective surgery. God, plastic surgery patients...useless lot, let me tell you.

Ok, on a different note, some musical recommendations since I haven't done any in ages.

• OkGo "You're So Damn Hot"--funny song, catchy, good tune in general, OkGo are going to be hot themselves:)
• The Magic Numbers "Love Me Like You Do"-free download on iTunes two weeks ago (I think) but they've been playing the song forever on British radio. Good song, but it might have the potential to get annoying if it's overplayed.
• Placebo "Infra-Red" awesome, awesome song. I'm not sure where the hell I got it, it's off their album "Meds" which hasn't been released yet...
• My Chemical Romance "To the End Remix"-this is off the soundtrack for Underworld: Evolution and it's just a pretty damn cool remix of "To the End." You can download it here.
• Hard-Fi has done a cover of the White Stripes "Seven Nation Army." The original is the best, but I like what they've done with the song. You can get it at iTunes.

That's it for now.

Ciao, ~S

Darwin: weeding stupid people out of the gene pool since 1859

Aargh. Is it a full moon? All the idiots are coming out of the woodwork. Honestly, today answering the phone it's just been one stupid person after another. Here's an example:
A woman has an appointment with a plastic surgeon. She has the appointment during the day during the week (like you do). When I tell her how long the appointment will take she's like "What am I supposed to do with my kids during the appointment?"

Um. I'm not a parent, and I'm definitely not a rocket-scientist, but I think the answer is...

YOU GET SOMEONE TO WATCH THEM.

Geez. Should you be getting elective surgery if you can't figure that one out?

I also love it when clerks/nurses/doctors from other clinics within the hospital call to make appts for patients and then they don't know what the patient needs to be seen for and they don't know what the patient's ID number is. For GOD'S SAKE, I've got six calls in the queue, call me back when you've got all the information! Grr. I hate stupid people (or at least people that don't have any common sense, I guess that's really what it is).

I wish it was the weekend :(
Ok, because I forgot some of them the other day and because I need to think happy thoughts...







Ciao,
~S

Valentine's Day Massacre

Oh yeah, how could I forget, it's Valentine's Day...whoopee (er, yeah, don't mind the excessive sarcasm). Yes, it sorta sucks being VD and not having a valentine, but I've been on the other side. That is, I've had a valentine on VD and it still sucked. So, I'd probably be kinda miserable either way:) (Actually, I'm not that miserable at all, it hasn't been too much of a "wanna slash your wrists" kind of valentine's day, so that's not all bad!)
So, seeing as I have no valentine, I'm going to indulge my fondness for hot musicians. Humor me here.
Ciao,
~S

Michelle Kwan & the Byzantine world of figure skating

Ok, so, I confess to being a figure skater. I've been skating for about 14 years ever since I fell in love with the sport while watching the 1992 Albertville Olympics. Since then, I've spent far too many hours in freezing cold rinks all over the country. I started too late to be really great at freestyle and even though I was good at compulsory figures they got rid of them and replaced them with moves in the field. Synchro was my true love and that's what I really miss being on my DC team. I skated synchro at the U of M for three years, went to the National championships five times and won Nationals once. Needless to say, I've spent a lot of years just following the sport--watching the men try to land quads, watching the US pairs teams struggle against the Russians, seeing the rise of American ice dancing and most of all, watching Michelle Kwan grow from a gangly little girl to one of the most beautiful skaters in history.

I was so sorry to hear that Kwan withdrew from the Olympics. Certainly, with an injury, it was the right thing to do, but I wanted to see her win that gold medal as much as the next person. Ok, so maybe she was a tiny bit of a long-shot going into her third Olympics, but look at her resume! So Tara Lipinski won an Olympic gold medal. What is she doing now? Did anyone even like her? Her jumps were low and very tight, Lipinski barely got around three times for her triples, yet somehow she won. Sarah Hughes, don't even get me started. She has no personality, insists on wearing over the boot tights (can we say, elephant feet??) and is boring to watch. Kwan has displayed more poise, grace and class than any athlete I can think of. She is always elegant, breathtaking to watch and a real credit to the sport of figure skating. If she chooses to retire from skating, we will lose an icon. She may not have an Olympic gold, but at least she wasn't a blip like Lipinski or Hughes. Kwan has proved her staying power and won time and time again at the National and World Championships. I think that Hughes and Lipinski winning Olympic gold was nothing more than a fluke.

The skating world is definitely a byzantine one, rife with biased judging, scandal (two words, Tonya Harding), and skaters that are considered old once they hit the age of 22. Michelle Kwan has not only always represented the sport with grace but she has also always represented the USA with that same grace. I will be disappointed that I won't get to see her skate on that Olympic ice in Turin, but I am proud to be part of a sport that can boast Michelle Kwan as it's star. If she does choose to retire, we will be losing a great athlete.

Michelle Kwan, I salute you.

Grammys...

I was pretty psyched for the Grammys, but oddly disappointed after the show. I was happy that U2 won a bunch of stuff but I wasn't terribly impressed with John Legend and I can't stand Kanye West.

I felt oddly happy for Kelly Clarkston, mostly because she seemed genuinely overwhelmed when she won her first award of the night. I'm not crazy about her music, but she's kinda cute and has a certain naivite that most of the people she was competing against didn't have. Her dress was weird though. The bottom looked like a carpet or something.

It was cool that Gwen Stefani and Billie Joe Armstrong presented together, and I was really psyched that Green Day won a Grammy (and that they beat out Mariah Carey and Kanye West). I haven't been too crazy about Madonna's music lately, but, damn, got to give the woman credit. She looks fantastic. Should I be so lucky! I was curious to see how they'd do the opening number between Madonna and the Gorillaz, and it was sort of cool but not as cool as I'd expected. They made such a big deal out of the fact that Madonna was performing with an animated band but really, what it was was the Gorillaz playing part of "Feel Good, Inc." and then Madonna singing "Hung Up." It was advertised as a duet or something but really wasn't. The only thing I didn't get about Madonna's outfit (well, besides the obvious, a purple leotard which would look hideous on anyone else but somehow works for her) was the capri-ish nylons she was wearing. I mean, the woman's got a great body, were the support hose (or whatever they were) really necessary??

Coldplay has gotten kind of annoying and I don't know what's up with Chris Martin's hair...with all the millons he's got, you think he could afford a haircut!

I was pretty disappointed that Fall Out Boy didn't win Best New Artist. I definitely liked them best of all the nominees. I give John Legend credit though, don't get me wrong, he is a good musician. His stuff just doesn't thrill me, but oh well. I was happy that The White Stripes won for Best Alternative Music Album too. Yeah for Detroit! I guess the whole thing was interesting, but I feel there were better Grammy shows in the past. Most of the performances were ok, though some of them got a bit boring to be honest (was the 15 minute tribute to Sly and the Family Stone really necessary??) One performance that stood out was the smash-up by Jay-Z and Linkin Park "Numb/Encore"--that I really liked. Otherwise, it was a pretty typical awards show I guess.

Some good news, I got a writing job which I'm pretty psyched about. I'm going to be doing some reviews for a small music mag out of Chicago and I already have two bands to cover for the March issue. I don't get paid, but I do get free cd's and tix to shows (I'm already on the guest list for a show coming up at the Blind Pig--kinda cool to get to say "I'm on the guest list!") Heck, it'll be something to add to my resume and if it helps me get a good music journalism job down the line, all the better! Happy, happy! Yeah for it almost being the weekend too:)
Ciao,
Sasha

B-day weekend

Well, hard to believe, but another birthday has come and gone (although a friend of mine insists that I actually get a whole birthday week, not just one day). It was definitely a good weekend though. Friday night I was all ambitious, went to the gym after work, practiced guitar and actually went to Starbucks to do homework so I woudldn't have to do any work on my b-day:) I actually kind of like going downtown to do work and drink coffee, nerdy I know.

So, Saturday I got a haircut (woo hoo! first time since October...my hair has gotten so long, for me at least), ran errands and then spent over an hour on the phone with SBC tech support b/c my internet wasn't working. That was the only downpoint of the day, the DSL didn't get fixed and actually didn't get fixed till today. I'm a total email geek and not having any internet access for three days was making me nuts. Then I went to dinner with my parents, Husband & Wife at Kana. It was SO good, man, I can't get over how great the food was. There are so many good restaurants in Ann Arbor, it was hard to pick, but I'm glad I picked what I did. After that Husband, Wife and I went over to the Alley Bar for drinks. Some other friends met up with us, though my friend "E" bailed on me which kinda upset me a little bit. She says she was sick, and I really want to believe her, but I have this sneaking feeling that she really got a booty call. I hope I'm wrong about that one. After drinking a LOT at Alley Bar, we headed over to the Fleetwood, didn't get kicked out (woo hoo!) and drank far too much coffee. I was pretty ragged the next day (mostly tired since I think I got in around 3am). A few random quotes from the night:

"Not all music can be about smacking your bitches"-courtesy of Wife's co-worker (but Wife gets credit for saying it at the bar!!)
"Beauty is only a lightswitch away"-Husband
"You're not fucking emo!"-me yelling drunkenly at Husband
"Phrase, yo"-T, bike friend of Husband's

I really think Wife's comment wins. God, that STILL cracks me up. Husband and Wife got me this sweet Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Music History and an iTunes gift card (prob the only reason I haven't spent it all yet is b/c I had no internet) and my parents got me a really pretty necklace. All in all, a good b-day. The only bummer was that my best friend from DC wasn't there to celebrate too-we have the same b-day, so it would have been doubly fun to celebrate together.

E is trying to make up for not hanging out on my birthday so I guess we're heading out this Saturday for more drinking and such. I won't complain:)

In other news, I got myself tix to go see Fall Out Boy (they're like crack I tell you! CRACK!) in April and I'm pretty damn psyched about it. They're playing with Hawthorne Heights, All-American Rejects and From First to Last, so it should be a pretty sweet show.

Parents head to Italy in about a month and I get the whole house to myself:) I've got plans, let me tell you.
Later,
Sasha

Just to clarify

Ok, I've gone back and forth a bit on whether or not to respond to a comment an anonymous reader left. I've decided I want to make a response. The comment was regarding why I was bummed about the whole Hard-Fi/Spin thing and the poster essentially said that I was dumb to think they'd even consider my review since they sent someone to the NYC show with the sole purpose of reviewing the band.

Clearly. That's what music magazines do. I realize that.

However, in my defense, a few comments. First of all, I didn't know that they had already covered the band in NYC when I pitched the idea to them. I found that out afterwards and as soon as I saw it I knew they wouldn't be at all interested in my pitch.

Secondly, I knew my pitch was a HUGE long-shot. I knew it was a big gamble and that they'd probably say "thanks but no thanks." I was totally terrified to even make the call figuring they'd probably just laugh in my face (er, or in my ear, you know what I mean). Here's the thing though, I've spent a lot of my life not doing things or not saying things because I was scared of what other people might think. I'm trying to change that, and this was one of those things. Sure, it would have been a lot "safer" to not even bother trying, but at least now I know what the deal was. I tried, that's a lot more that most people can say.

I've worked for a newspaper, I know how they assign stories and I know that it isn't a situation where they take the best one that a bunch of random people send in (that would be an idiotic way to run a publication, even I know that). I knew it was a possibility that they'd have someone covering the band since they'd just run an article on them but there's always that possibility that they didn't have someone there. In which case, you never know, maybe they'd have been even slightly interested in my story. I know they aren't the sort of publication to take random stories from freelancers, but I had to at least try. Stranger things have been known to happen.

Oh yeah, and one of the editors from Spin did email me back. Sure, it was a "thanks for the pitch but we aren't interested right now" kind of thing but at least I got a message back--definitely better than nothing.

Sorry for the rant, just wanted to clear a few things up.