I’m thankful for lots of stuff

Long time no see!

No seriously, it’s been since August. This is a bit ridiculous. But I’ve been busy over at my YouTube page, posting vlogs, making YouTube friends, meeting famous YouTubers – you know – that kinda stuff. Here’s my newest video if you care.

But that’s not the point of this blog. I’m dreadfully sorry I have neglected my dear wordpress for nearly four months. Tonight I have something to legitimately say, and I’m too lazy to record and edit a video. And everyone is home, and I hate filming vlogs with people in the house. It’s just awkward.

STOP RAMBLING, ABBY. YOU HAVE A MISSION.

Right. It’s Thanksgiving, or it was like an hour ago. Whatever.

So Happy Belated Turkey Day! There’s definitely still plenty of friggin turkey, so it’s just an extended Thanksgiving.

What am I thankful for? I just thought about posting it in a Facebook status, but there were way too many things to list, so I came over here to WordPress.

1. I’m thankful for my family’s overall healthiness (even though my parents both have high blood pressure and my great uncle is losing his mind, but that’s kinda funny). Seriously, in terms of my own health – I’m basically back to normal. I’ve lost weight the normal way, not the sick way. And I feel awesome. My family’s got in plenty of car accidents in the last year, and we’re all still fine. Our car insurance isn’t the greatest, but we’ve come out unscathed basically.
2. I’m thankful for the amazing opportunity I’ve had in the last year. PopWreckoning has MADE MY LIFE. I’ve got to shoot my favorite bands, meet my favorite bands, and meet so many awesome people in Seattle that it makes me want to move there more. Seriously, before I started talking to other photographers I would go to shows by myself and be bored. It was lonely. But now I have friends. Ones that I can legitimately say that they’re my friends. If I drive to Seattle by myself, I still no I’ll know someone there, and it’s awesome.
3. I’m thankful for my Ledgehammers (newspaper staff), because they deal with my crap, my forgetfulness, and they still work uber hard and I wouldn’t be able to make the quality paper that we do without them. I’m thankful that I even got the chance to be editor-in-chief, even though I’m going slightly mad with stress. Stress pushes me. Deadlines push me. I need that.
4. I’m thankful for Nerdfighteria. Actually, I’m thankful that I got the subculture assignment last spring in Demaske’s class, because it forced me to watch almost all of the Vlogbrothers videos, and that led to me to so many awesome YouTubers, a lot of whom I’ve met now. It’s nice to have this community that never stops, and all shares the same belief of “Don’t Forget To Be Awesome.” Because of John and Hank Green and YouTube, I’ve connected with so many cool people (some in my own area code!) and met amazing semi-famous YouTubers. I love you, Nerdfighteria.
5. I’m thankful for my ever-growing network of internet friends all across the country and across the world I’ve met because of Keith Murray and Chris Cain. Well, now because of the WASTRAVAGANZA (see previous post) a lot of those friends are not just internet friends anymore. That trip was the greatest thing ever. And I’m thankful that I have you all to share in the love. And not just my uber-fan WAS friends. I’m thankful for everyone somehow connected to WAS. Example – Aaron Pfenning. That man is going places, and I’m glad I got to be apart of it. He just needs to get his butt back over to the west coast in 2011.
6. I’m thankful for my friends at home. I’m thankful that people are happy and healthy and getting their life together. Okay, fine. I won’t be vague. I’m thankful that LAURA is home and happy. When Laura is sad, I’m sad. And Laura isn’t sad anymore, so I’m happy.
7. I’m thankful for good music. For all the good music I’ve seen and all the good music that is yet to come. I thank you – bands – for being awesome. “Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche. I can’t fathom anyone who doesn’t think the same.
8. I’m thankful for my dog who is way too old and stupid to realize it, but I love her. I don’t know what I’ll do when she finally does kick the bucket.
9. I’m thankful for how close my sister and I are. Because even though it makes the fact that she’s up at school most of the time harder, it makes when she comes home so much better. This weekend we’ll be seeing Deathly Hallows again, and she cut my hair tonight. Not many sisters would trust their little sister to cut their hair for them.
10. I’m thankful for this – my freedom to say what I want where I want. I’ve been taking so many media classes that it makes me incredibly cynical about what’s being told to me on a daily basis by the mass media. But these places on the internet that gives us the power to say what we want and connect with people astounds me every day. So many media theorists are so against the idea of the internet as a medium for journalism, but so many of them are so stuck in their ways that they can’t see the opportunity that this giant “series of tubes” creates. I love it, even though right now my business isn’t the most lucrative. Since my sister and I are so damn close, I figure I’ll just live with her and she can make all the money doing math stuff. Lord knows I won’t be able to do all my own taxes.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Go crazy on all those Black Friday deals that the commercials keep raving about. I’m poor, so I’ll be making personalized Christmas cards for all my pals. Cause I’m creative like that.

❤ Abby

BRANDING MYSELF

No, I’m not getting a tattoo.

That’s not the kind of branding I’m talking about.

Since it’s been summer for officially…almost 2 weeks…all I’ve been doing is cleaning my house for Libby’s grad party last weekend, general planning for Ledger next year (EIC WHAT WHAT!) and Internet-ing. Okay, that’s not a verb, but I’m making it a verb for now.

I figure with my free time this summer (whatever goddamn free time I DO have), I’ll increase my overall presence on the web. And some of your may think that it’s a complete waste of time and bandwidth, but I’ve come to find out that it most certainly is not. I’m not saying that I’m going to get a website, because that costs money, but with all the different networking sites where I exist, it adds up.

Just revamped my YouTube account:
TheGEEKSTER

Don’t judge me.

I’m serious. I kind of love vlogging, and with my recent mega foray into Nerdfighteria for Chris’s class (in which I got a 4.0!) I’ve seen how connective it is. Not that I will stop blogging, but vlogging is a completely different kind of thing – since you get to see people and their gestures, and hear their voice and tone. And YouTube is kind of awesome. I mean, I met Hank Green technically because of it. And I found this video:

Tres Piece never gets old.

Anyway, I love YouTube, and I insist that if you pay more attention to the parts of it that aren’t adorable cat videos (although those are always nice palate cleansers) or Miley Cyrus music videos. YouTube isn’t just a website, it’s a community.

I’ll actually be posting a video eventually defending my proclaimed status as a hipster, because so many people hate them. There are also several other videos on the docket that I’ve brainstormed:

1. Why I love Nerdfighteria
2. Doctor Who
3. 4th of July – why I love America, but would gladly live somewhere else
4. Camera nerd
5. The mega awesome WAStravaganza we have planned at the end of July and beginning of August.

I should probably fill you in on that, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

What else have I done to rebrand myself? Well I’ve updated my Tumblr to match the YouTube.

http://abbigshmail.tumblr.com/

I do love Tumblr. It’s like Twitter but not limited to words and links. I think I may have said that before, but I need to reproclaim it now. And today I got a Dailybooth, because I’m that narcissistic. Not really, but I figured, why not?

Now I just have to get on that internship thing and getting more photography gigs. I’ll need to set up my own Facebook fan page for that, and maybe get my business license, so I can write my lenses off on my taxes. I do have Lindsey and Chris’s wedding next May. Right, oh shit. I really want that lens.

Speaking of lens – LOOK WHAT I FOUND THIS MORNING. I can’t tell if it’s legit, or if all the things he’s selling are pieces of shit. Seriously, $2100 for a 5D Mk I and two awesome lens, one of which is normally at least $1300 by itself. This would be the ideal package though, right? A shiny new 5D and the wonderful wide angle with the most badass telephoto? Except in this guy’s photo of the equipment, the 70-200mm doesn’t look like the 70-200s I’ve seen. It’s all black. Hmmm. I’ll keep this in mind. I’ll just keep checking craigslist. I don’t wanna get scammed or stabbed or anything.

Internships – yeah, about that.

I’ve been scouring the internet for good ones, and sadly enough I’m too late for any summer ones, which I guess is fine because I’ll be preparing for next year (EIC WHAT WHAT!) and going to a bajillion shows. Have I introduced you to my schedule? These are all the shows I WANT to hit up this summer. And that’s not including what may come up randomly on the schedule. Except I don’t think I’m gonna go to the Capitol Hill Block Party. If I’m not getting in free, I’m out. That’s basically how I feel about most shows lately. Except for WAS.

Now I’ll get to the most badass part of my summer, except for the part when Laura gets home. Well, directly after Laura leaves to go back to New Jersey, I’ll be embarking on an as-yet-undefined-number-of-days trip to San Francisco to see my beloved We Are Scientists. It will be me, Adrian, her friend Ashley that I’ve never met, Renee, Amber, Dolores, and Jenn in San Fran. I’ll drive down to PDX and meet up with Adrian and Ash on August 6th so we can all drive the 10-hour drive to San Fran from there, cause the show is on the 7th. Like I said before, I don’t know how many nights we’ll be staying, but I think that we may end up staying at the Ritz-Carlton and split the price. It was $100 a night! And with 4 people, it would be about the same amount as paying for a hostel, but it would be infinitely cooler because it’s the damn Ritz-Carlton.

So we’ll be in San Francisco, WITH A CAR, so we will have some mobility, even though the public transportation in SF is quite awesome as I remember from high school. Of all the things to do in SF – GO TO AMOEBA, EAT IN CHINATOWN, and of course SEE WAS with all my cool peeps (or as Adrian has started calling us, “slores.”)

I think I’m done, but I have one last thing to add.

The Editor of Crawdaddy! Magazine just emailed me about doing on of these showcases, and I have to pick out 5 photos to showcase. I can’t pick my 5 best. Some of the ones I’m thinking of are:

I there are any that you think are awesomer, let me know.

❤ Abby

slightly less mundane

I don’t think I’ve experienced such a low after so many highs in a long time.

I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. I swear. Last week after all the Conan/Florence/Sasquatch/Spoon/Chris Hardwick/EIC awesomeness was all over, I just knew it had to end.

This past weekend, four of my sister’s peers were in a car accident just this side of the bridge. They hit a patch of gravel in the rain and flew into a ditch, hitting 3 trees on the way down. Noah Turgman, the driver, suffered fatal injuries, and Anna Heacox is still in the hospital with a broken back and potential brain damage. Harvey and Emery sustained minor injuries, and they’ve been back at school most of the week.

Libby knew Noah. I didn’t know him, but I knew his sister. We’ve known Anna since 6th grade when she was on Libby’s basketball team, and she’s one of Lindsay’s best friends. I played golf with Anna senior year, I’ve hung out with the girls loads of time since I’ve graduated, and when I heard that she’d be going to Western with Libby next year, I was really really glad.

I don’t consider myself a religious person. Hell, I’m not even sure what I believe anymore, which is fine with me, but I prayed for the first time on tuesday since my grandmother died in 2002. I tend to hold grudges, so me and God haven’t really been on speaking terms since then. But in all of this mess with Noah dying and Anna in the hospital, we didn’t know if she’d wake up. I’ve seen enough doctor shows to know that swelling in the brain doesn’t always end well. At that moment, sitting in traffic on 19th, in the rain, I started to cry in my car. Anna’s a great kid, and it wouldn’t be fair. It wouldn’t be fair to Anna, or to her family, or to all her peers. I love my sister and her friends so much, and they’d had enough pain for one week. I didn’t want for the death of two of their peers to ruin their senior year.

I remember how hard it was my junior year when Brian, Josh, and Arthur died. I didn’t even know them, and it was still hard. It took Outlook weeks to figure out how to cover their deaths. Three boys, three deaths, three weeks in a row, and one of them a suicide. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with in all my years as a student journalist. The editorial board discussed it for hours. We were almost split down the middle about how to cover it, and in the end I felt like we did the right thing doing two memorials instead of three, but I still felt dirty. I felt dirty and hated by my peers because of it.

Since then, there haven’t been any deaths at PHS. None. Until now.

After we heard the news on Saturday, it messed with everyone. Rumors started, horrible rumors that didn’t need to happen. It took the local news outlet – THE PENINSULA GATEWAY – until Sunday to post a link on their Facebook page to the News Tribune story. This whole ordeal has made me lose complete faith in The Gateway. Sorry if you like it, but I hate it. By the time I tweeted at the TNT and Gateway, I had more information than the TNT gave back to me.

But my point isn’t about hating on the news. Because they do good things sometimes. Komo 4 sent a reporter to a bonfire the kids had Saturday night to share memories about Noah. One day. One day to organize over 100 kids together at one friend’s house. I highly doubt all these kids were friends with each other, or even knew each other, but Noah brought all them together, and what’s happened since then has been the most inspiring thing I’ve ever seen.

Anna’s been in a medically-induced coma since Saturday, and all the procedures she’s going to need is going to cost a lot of money, and it will take time, because no one knows what kind of brain injuries she endured. On Monday – TWO DAYS AFTER THE ACCIDENT – enough kids organized together for the school to wear pink in honor of Noah, because it was his favorite color. Tuesday they wore green for Anna, and wednesday they wore yellow. Instantly the kids started planning a barbeque to raise money for her care, and to make tee-shirts with Anna’s favorite walrus silkscreen to sell. They got tee-shirts donated from different companies around town, and the Boosters provided money for them to buy hot dogs for wednesday’s barbeque. I don’t know how they did this so fast, but yesterday when I was at the barbeque, multiple people were already wearing shirts that simply said “Noah” and had the friendship symbol underneath it.

They raised over $2500 yesterday at lunch. Selling hot dogs, cupcakes, and Otter Pops, as well as taking donations up to $100 from random people. I skipped my first class to take pictures of the event, and my sister needed the car anyway.

That last one is just a small amount of kids compared to everyone that came. And they had two lunches to cover. Mom had to go to Costco and get more hot dogs because they were all out after first lunch.

They’re gonna do it again on Saturday, and on Sunday run a 5K as a fundraiser for Anna.

I’ve never been more proud of my sister and her friends. Being at the barbeque yesterday almost brought me to tears again, because it was so wonderful.

The doctors put in a feeding tube yesterday, and today Anna coughed, and I guess just a couple hours ago they started slowly taking her off the coma medicine, and it’s the best news I’ve heard all week. I’ve never been so glad to hear about someone coughing than I was this morning.

I’m just keeping hope that May starts out as well as April did.

I love you PHS.

❤ Abby

random nonsensical updates that have nothing to do with eachother

I just had to start with this video because my favorite band from San Fran that opened for We Are Scientists in 2008 released it this morning. It makes my heart feel full. It’s such a Valentine’s Day-y song. So cute and lovely, but not cutesy. Not only is it shot beautifully by Yours Truly (not me, the name of the production team), but it’s all warm and fuzzy and sweet. Don’t you just love the first couple lyrics? They’re kinda dirty, but from Chris’s lil’ crooner voice it sounds adorable.

I love the bit at the end when Chris explains what it’s about, the Phil Specter shout-out, when Julian and the two other drummers are playing in unison, and the violins, and Chris’s voice, and the Echo Chamber Orchestra, and John Vanderslice, and all the hugs. I just love it. It was a great way to end the day after finally turning in my personal essay for creative non-fiction, checking the IAS class schedule for next quarter, and having the easier midterm ever.

Seriously. Today was a good day. And Gary and Lucy came over. I swear I haven’t seen her since right after Christmas. The last two times Gary came over I wasn’t home. I was at Ledger one weekend and seeing Phoenix the next time. I was almost too excited to get home today, and when I walked in the door, Lucy could not have been more excited to see me. I really am her favorite. I’m not gonna lie. She didn’t stop jumping on me for 5 minutes and whining and gnawing at my wrist. That’s how she shows her love. She chews on me. I don’t know what I would have done if that dog had gotten away the night of Gary’s accident. I don’t know what HE would have done, because she’s clearly the best part of his life right now. Most likely what’s keeping him from looking for a job. Anyway… so…yeah. Good midterm.

Took photos at a school event today. It was called “Am I Beautiful?” So I was expecting this motivational thing about self-esteem, being yourself, ignoring stereotypes and uber skinny models, blah, blah…high school stuff, but nope. I walked into this room and a Bible was sitting on the table.

Uh. Oh.

It was a Christy event. That’s what I call them. I think it’s more vague that “Jesusy” or “Gody.” And besides, Gody could be misinterpreted as gawdy. And that’s not what I meant. No, it was Christy. I’m sitting there, listening to this woman talk about God and Jesus and the Bible and creation and all that, and I’m just taking pictures. At one point I think the woman said something about wanting scientists to come out realizing that they were wrong and be all “creation woot!” Well, not in those words, but basically that. It was WEIRD. They ended the thing with a prayer, and I snapped a couple pictures of the prayer, which turned out kinda cool actually, and I skipped out of the room before they opened their eyes. It was weird.

Oh, okay. Guess who’s April schedule just got even more inconvenient?

Well, obviously mine. But I just found out that Chris Hardwick, aka Nerdist, aka the host of G4’s Web Soup, aka the former host of MTV’s Singled Out aka one half of comedy duo Hard n’ Phirm is going to be in Seattle at the Showbox at the Market performing stand up on GUESS WHICH DAY?

No seriously guess.

Nope.

Not quite.

You’re getting warmer.

Okay, I’ll tell you. April 10th. Same night as Spoon, AND Jonsi Birgisson of Sigur Ros. And I find out today that layout weekend is April 9-11. So basically I have to decide to either drive 200 miles in two days or just go see Spoon on Friday the 9th and bail on Jonsi and Chris Hardwick the 10th. Cause I’m not missing Spoon. Not even for layout weekend. And besides, it’s on a friday, and we never stay as late on fridays. But saturday will be a problem. I skipped out early to see the Cribs two weeks ago and we ended up staying really late on sunday. But then again we didn’t get a lot done on friday. I still have two months to figure this shit out, but I just know I’m not missing Spoon. Plus, La Roux and Florence + the Machine are both within the next ten days of Spoon. Hooray for insane schedules!

Five…wait, four more days until we find out the Sasquatch Lineup. I cannot wait any longer. I need The Doctor right now to take me in the Tardis to four days into the future so I can know if my beloved Scientists will be gracing any of the stages at the Gorge. If they don’t Miranda and I have already devised a plan to record a video begging them to come. I think I might cry either way – if they do or they don’t come. And I’m also keeping my fingers crossed for Arcade Fire. That’d be wicked. And I think someone on Last.fm mentioned Panda Bear possibly coming back because of his new solo album. I would die. I would seriously keel over and die if Panda, WAS and Arcade Fire were there for me to celebrate my birthday. Good lord yes. And what else would be amazing – if the Morning Benders came to Sasquatch! They’re playing SXSW, why not come north? It’s only fair because their show at the Crocodile in April is 21+. Don’t they remember what it was like to not be able to go to shows they wanted to see? It wasn’t that long ago. Grrr. I should have started a Facebook campaign to bring my favorite artists to Sasquatch.

Well, we’ll know in four days, won’t we?

What else?

I won’t talk about Valentine’s Day until Valentine’s Day. But as of right now, I still don’t like it. It has an ugly color scheme, like the color of those creepy cartoony diagrams of your insides, and it’s like they have to put nasty chocolates in the boxes to make the mediocre ones seem amazing. Honestly, who eats the coconut ones? I don’t. I like Easter candy much more. You don’t get coconut eggs. Easter and Halloween candy isn’t a mystery. You don’t have to punch a hole in the bottom of Easter and Halloween chocolates to know what’s inside. Damn Valentine’s Day.

You know what I wanna do? Go to the new Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle. I’ve seen pictures, and I don’t think I’ve ever been to one. In 8th grade we went to Planet Hollywood in New York, but never the Hard Rock. Pretty sure. And it’s right off Pike Place, so it’s in a nice part of town, not sketchy at all.

I need voodoo doughnuts. I want a maple bacon doughnut right now. When Cassie comes to visit, she better bring me doughnuts. Or if it wasn’t layout weekend this weekend I’d drive down for the long weekend and stay with her. Oh well, we’re going to make a good paper. I’m proud of my pictures, and I think we have good content. I wasn’t at the meeting tuesday because of my stupid writing group for creative nonfiction, so I’m not sure what’s going in this issue.

I told you it was nonsensical.

I’m having Editors withdrawals. Off to watch more Youtube videos of various live performances.

❤ Abby

the ‘oughts? really?

Three days left of 2009.

I sure wish I could see THIS on NYE.

I’m writing this to procrastinate on my album review. Which is weird, because I love writing album reviews. And I should be really really REALLY excited about writing this one because once I turn this one in, I get the new Spoon album. And I’m SUPER psyched about Transference.

Bah. I’d lived through two full decades. Good lord.

And by the way, the “oughts” are a ridiculous way of referring to this decade. I know there’s no number we can attribute to it, but I figure, if we wait long enough, the phrase will come about. There’s no need for it now. I think we should just call it the angsty years. You have to admit, it wasn’t just because I was teen during this decade, but this country, the media, entertainment, people, were all angsty.

I wish this chair I was sitting in was taller. I feel really short right now. And it’s uncomfortable to lay my arms on the edge of my desk. And I’m using my desk now. I need to improve my posture, and sitting with my laptop literally in my lap was slowly giving me hunchback. Plus, I can use my mouse again. There’s no point in having a mouse if you’re not going to use it. AND – if I make an effort to keep my laptop in my room, it will deter my sister from taking it all the time. It won’t be readily available to her.

Our new blu-ray player is so loud. Mom and Dad are watching Inglourious Basterds downstairs and I can feel the bass in my feet, and I’m on the third floor.

Wow, this is the epitome of a tangent post. I’m like Virginia Woolf, but hopefully not as bipolar and annoying. I’m not all “ooo look over there let’s write about those irrelevant bystanders because they have pretty clothes and shiny jewelry….wait, BIRD!”

Seriously. I mailed out Mrs. Dalloway on Christmas Eve, and I couldn’t have been more happy to mail that SOB off. I mean, it was a pretty book, but in this case, you really CAN’T read a book by it’s cover. It needed to be covered with a bunch of random crap.

We had my grandfather’s surprise 80th birthday party yesterday, and it was actually really fun. I don’t mind hanging out with old people, and it honestly wasn’t all old people. There were maybe 4 other people who were as old at Grandpa. 90-year-old Uncle Don wasn’t there, so Grandpa was the deafest person there. The best part of yesterday was Grandma’s old friend Sarah, who taught her to make bee balm, and her sons Caleb and Levi came. And Mom was pretty sure she hadn’t seen them in at least ten years. Possibly 20. All I can remember of Sarah was the stories Grandma would tell me about her bee balm and soaps and her pet quail, Opie. Caleb and Levi were the ringbearers in my parents’ wedding. Caleb was also one of the pallbearers are my grandma’s funeral. Mom said told them that they were Grandma’s “practice grandkids,” since they were 7 and 9 when I was born. It almost made Mom cry when Caleb said that “Elaine didn’t need any practice.”

I miss her.

Well, I’m gonna go actually work on my “homework” so I can get my hands on the new Spoon. See ya later “oughts.” Christ that’s a stupid name.

❤ Abby

Finally.

Winter break is upon us. Well, actually, I have one final paper due next week, but that’s it. And it’s for ethics, so it won’t be incredibly hard. I’ve had a great last few weeks, hitting up two great shows, making a Super Awesome Decade Game for Ledger, and spontaneously driving to Seattle for a free movie screening and Michael Cera.

It officially feels like December now, ten days after it started.

And the fact that it’s THIS freaking cold:

Seriously, it was in the single digits in Olympia this week. Not quite that cold over here on the Kitsap Peninsula, but Libby did say that when she sprayed Febreze on her steering wheel the other day, it froze to her steering wheel. Don’t ask me why she was spraying Febreze in her car, cause I have no idea, but it’s still funny to think about something freezing that fast.

It’s cold. That’s all I’m trying to say.

So… any plans for New Years this year? I have no idea. Absolutely no clue. I don’t even remember what I was doing last year. Hmm…I think I’ll go check my archives real quick to see. >>>>>>>>>>>>> Well, it looks like I was just at home. Cause I’m pretty sure it was two years ago when I went to Jamie’s house and we lit our crotches on fire. Don’t ask.

But I honestly feel like doing something cool this year. It’s just too bad the two great New Years shows, Minus the Bear and Cake, are both 21+. Balls. I can’t wait for May, for Sasquatch, for 21. God it’s going to rock so hard.

2010 is already looking like a great year. I know I’ve said this before, but it’s true. Like, a gazillion of my favorite bands are coming out with new albums, I’m turning 21, hopefully I’ll get an internship this summer, and there’s a strong chance I might finally meet WAS, if they come to Seattle, that is. Or Portland. Fuck, I’d drive to San Fran if that was the only chance I got at seeing WAS next year.

Oh, that reminds me, I have to finalize my list of the best albums of the decade. I think I already have my best of 2009, but I have to finish writing it up, and I’ve scheduled it to publish at the end of the month. It’s only fair. I mean, a band could come out with the greatest album of the year within the last few weeks. It’s highly unlikely, but hey, it could happen.

My battery is about to die, but it was nice having a tangent post tonight, since I have nothing else to really worry about right now, and I’m tired.

❤ Abby

What should I be for Halloween?

I’ve been stuck inside feeling icky, with equally icky weather outside, and I’m procrastinating reading for class, so I figured I’d blog about that one holiday where every girl finds an excuse to dress like a whore.

Halloween!

Been thinking about it a lot, as last year’s costume was a cop-out last minute put together of random pieces of witch costumes we’ve been accumulating over the last 10 some odd years. But the problem I have with getting a costume together is my glasses. I don’t have contacts, so my glasses are unavoidable. I’ve figured I either have to be a character who already has glasses, be an inanimate object, or a like a librarian or doctor or some shit like that.

The latter two are lame, so I’ve decided on some bespectacled character from movies or television. I have a few options right now, and there are about 2 weeks until Halloween, so I have PLENTY of time to find the necessary pieces to put together any of these costumes.

1. Velma Dinkley from Scooby Doo

I just have to find a orange turtleneck, red skirt, orange knee-highs and some color of Mary Janes. And Millie could be Scooby!

2. Mary Katherine Gallagher (Molly Shannon from SNL and Superstar!)

Again, a skirt and knee-highs with Mary Janes. But I’m not sure if it will be as recognizable if I don’t get a dark wig. Hmmm…

3. Mime

I could have fun with the makeup for this one, and the glasses wouldn’t distract at all from the stark makeup. And the thing with these clothes – they would fit fine into my current wardrobe. And AmApp even has a “costume builder” for a mime. All the chick costumes on their involve leotards, so I passed.

What do y’all think? I thought Maybe Tina fey, but it wouldn’t be as recognizable. I also considered going with someone else as Robots, but not just ANY robots, but Flight of the Conchords Robots. And we go around quoting Bret and Jemaine. Just wear all silver and paint a box for a head.

Or maybe I’ll go with someone, as a Mac and a PC, but be ironic about it, and I’d be the PC because I have the glasses like John Hodgeman, and someone else could be the Mac. Hmmm…

(I WANT THESE!)

In this instance, dudes have so many more options to be hot men with glasses. I mean, if you’re a guy with glasses – you can be Harry Potter,

Stephen Colbert,

Clark Kent a la Superman,

Rivers Cuomo,

or Jemaine Clement!

Seriously, if I saw a guy dressed as Jemaine for Halloween, I’d just DIE. Or if a group of three guys went as the Lonely Island – one as Andy, one as Jorma, and one as Akiva. <3<3<3<3

I’m getting excited.

❤ Abby

Ah need to get mah hayerr did

Not sure why I was just speaking in Sookie Stackhouse Southern, but I felt like saying something more interesting that “my hair looks like shit,” and I miss True Blood already.

But right now I REALLY need to get my hair done. I seriously haven’t had a professional cut or color my hair in…well…two years in January. Libby’s been cutting it and she and I have been coloring it. I’m cheap, okay. Sue me.

I love my red hair. I do. It’s different and awesome and makes me stand out, but I’m lazy. Back when I went red, I was still puffy and bulgy from the prednisone, and I needed something to distract from my huge face. But now my face isn’t huge anymore. And I don’t like grow out. And I’m cheap. So I figure if I can get back to my natural color, I won’t have to worry about nasty grow out that makes me look cheap. (I never said I wanted to look cheap, I said I was cheap.)

But my dishwater blonde roots are about an inch right now, not such a good look. Really, I was walking by the copy center at UWT today, and noticed my glowing side part in my reflection. My dishwater blonde almost looks gray. Seriously. I don’t have the brightest or most vibrant shade of blonde, so even the faded red looks so ridiculously saturated against my natural color.

For the past few weeks while my roots grew, I’ve been trying to figure out what path to take to get back to my natural color without turning orange. Wigs and the Natalie Portman look were out of the question right off the bat, so that left color. I thought about stripping the color, but I’ve dyed it so many times that the orange would inevitably happen. Today, I gave into the idea of highlighting over time. At first, I was worried that the red grow out would still look wonky and incredibly tacky, but then I realized that if we do lots of highlights on top, basically covering up the roots with the first set of highlights, it might work. I think it might actually look kinda cool, like a tone on tone blonde red thing, but not too drastic like the highlights emo kids get. I’m just tired of my hair. That is the one thing in my life that I can stand changing a lot – my look. Not that it’s that important, but it’s easy to change. And just as easy to change back. Unfortunately, the red isn’t quite as easy to change back from than if I was a natural brunette and went blonde.

Oh, and btw.

This isn’t the haircolor I want. It’s the haircut I want.

I don’t know where I came upon a picture of this girl, because I don’t watch Soap Operas, but I think I typed in random search words and her picture came up. But do you think this haircut will work?

I don’t want to have straight hair, because it’s a bitch to manage and too time consuming to straighten. My hair is naturally big and wavy. The way I wear it now – that’s how I manage it.

But I’m diggin the cut, I just need to buy a smoothing creme and a curl activator.

Hopefully this will work.

Oh, and my headline reminded me of this. Hehe.

❤ Abby

The Summer is Over and I doubt i’ll be seeing you around

Today is an average day. Mom has work. Libby has a birthday party to go to. All my friends are at their job. I’m dog-sitting, and I at least one television is on at all times.

It’s September 12th. Just over two weeks until school starts, and this summer is not quite over. Contrary to my headline – a lyric from “Summer, Man” off Taking Back Sunday’s new album, “New Again.” But I figure since I’ve had so many things to write about lately, I’d take a day to write just to write.

But I must mention first that my three-part coverage of Bumbershoot is now online at Popwreckoning. They are underneath the featured stories in the slideshow on the top of the page. It’s pretty cool. You should read them, and tell all your peeps to start reading Popwreckoning instead of Pitchfork. If you like reading that kinda stuff.

It’s been a pretty lazy week since Bumbershoot last weekend, and I’m just fine with that. I’ve just been listening to music non-stop. Mostly Franz Ferdinand and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head. And now after Muse’s album, “The Resistance” leaked two days ago, lots of Muse.

Now I have an idea of what to write about. I’ll make a list of my top songs of the summer. I’ve been really anxious to make the “Best of” list of 2009, but it’s still only September, and there are three months left for some band to release their opus.

10. Letters from the Sky – Civil Twilight
This song was in the 3rd to the last episode of “Harper’s Island,” CBS’ murder mystery miniseries, and Mom thought at first listen that it was U2, but this band from Cape Town is really good.

9. Sink Into Me – Taking Back Sunday
TBS’ new album isn’t bad. It’s really different from their previous albums, which is probably why the title fits so well. But I’m freaking obsessed with this song, and the video of course, because Adam Lazzara has such fabulous hair in the video.

8. Bulletproof – La Roux
I saw her perform on Alexa Chung’s show, and saw pictures from Coachella and All Points West and other things, and was curious. Then Popwreckoning had a remix monday with this song, and I listened to the remixes OVER AND OVER again. It’s a really good dancefloor hit.

7. Ghosts Under Rocks – Ra Ra Riot
And older album, but I discovered them through one of my WAS buddies, can’t quite remember who, and then saw them on the lineup for Sasquatch. Sadly, I didn’t get to see them, but I downloaded the album anyway. I freaking love this song, and especially love to sing along.

6. The Rake’s Song – The Decemberists
This is the only song on the Hazards of Love that can stand along by itself without getting people confused. And it’s hilarious, yet still musically outstanding. Colin Meloy, right now I like you way more than Ben Gibbard. Right now, Death Cab and I aren’t getting along too well. Nevermind.

5. Beard Lust – Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head
Gah, I want to see them again! Sorry. I downloaded this one last year, but I didn’t start obsessively playing it until a few weeks ago when I was gearing up for Bumbershoot. And this song is do ridiculous but awesome at the same time.

4. Crying Lightning – Arctic Monkeys
It’s taken me awhile to warm up to Humbug, but even before I loved all the songs, I loved Crying Lightning from the beginning. Alex sounds so grown up. But then again, all English people sound more mature than Americans, no matter if they’re singing or they’re talking. The accent adds esteem.

3. Bite Hard – Franz Ferdinand
I fucking love them. And right about now, I’m a little sick of hearing No You Girls, even though it’s amazing. And Bite Hard was so good live, and had so much energy after the slow intro. I want to see them again. D:

2. I Don’t Bite (Carol) – We Are Scientists
Not technically on a CD yet, but hopefully Keith, Chris, Max and Andy have recorded it. Holy crap it makes me anxious for the new album. Thank god someone recorded the new songs from All Points West. Live is always better anyway.

1. Brothersport – Animal Collective
Well that was obvious. Saw them at Sasquatch, had brain orgasm, fell in love, listened to over and over and over and over again, danced alone in my car.

I’m done now. Watching Glee. LOVE IT.

❤ Abby

We’re living in Canned Heat

In that we can’t escape it.

This butter was left out for a few hours last night in our kitchen. Seriously. It was cold in the refrigerator before we put it in the bowl.

It’s making my mother, my uncle, and myself incredibly claustrophobic. Today isn’t nearly as bad as yesterday, and the day before that, but it’s still frustrating and at times – scary.

It was at least 101 in GH yesterday. Triple fucking digits. I mean, seriously. With over 70% humidity. I could literally FEEL the heat. The moisture in the air made the heat even more unbearable. Mom, Libby and I even took a drive up to Port Gamble where the weather was a good 30 degrees cooler, and wind. Then we took a drive over to Point No Point in Hansville, where we spent a whole lot of our childhood. I gotta tell you, it’s the saddest thing to see something that was such a big part of my youth go to waste. Vic, the guy who has run the place since my parents used to go there when they were teens, let the state buy Point No Point, and hire him to “run it.” Really, all they are doing is paying him to live there. He’s doing nothing. The boat launch in nonexistent, only a few rails still jetting out of the water, and a lone dock attached to nothing, so no one can actually stand on it. The boat house is deserted, the gate is always closed, even though it says “public beach,” and it is unrecognizable from what it was when I was a kid. The cabins next to the lawn are dilapidated, with the foundations falling apart to where no one can take a step in without crashing through the floorboards.

It’s shameful, and disgusting that the state legislature let that happen to such a nice place.

I took some pics to show how much Vic let it go.

Here’ the lonely dock.

What’s left of the boat launch.

Those flower beds used to be herring bins.

The cabin.

The cabin’s foundation.

Public access my ass.

It’s really sad.

And it’s really hot. I’m just excited that I’m getting my lens in a little over a week. I’m bidding on some old polaroid film since I found an old Polaroid camera at the Goodwill the other day for $4. It’s pretty awesome.

I’m watching Tyler Florence, and he’s making slopping joes and butternut squash chips with Parmesan cheese, so I’m gonna go now.

❤ Abby