This is just fucking ridiculous

I haven’t posted on this here blog in over 2 years. I know part of it is because I’ve acquired a YouTube account, but I can’t help but think that there were maybe a few people that read this religiously, and once I stopped they were so confused about where I was and if I had died. I doubt that actually happened, but I felt like writing today, and I went through my Facebook notes archives to find plenty of posts from here. So I thought I’d start it up again, in case anyone cares.

There is no sense in filling you in, since it’s not like there is no timeline that only pertains to my wordpress presence. I have Tumblr and Twitter and YouTube for the rest of that. But for some reason, not sure why, but Tumblr just doesn’t feel like an appropriate place to just write. I scroll through long posts on my dashboard, so it’s not like people would read it. Plus, I miss seeing Keith’s face on the top of my posts. I just miss Keith.

So I’m here, but what am I going to write about? I don’t even know now. I mean, I came all the way here with nothing to say? What the heck, Abby? Should I put some inspiring music on? Shit, all the music I’ve been listening to lately is inspiring in some way or another – whether it be some of my favourite musicians from years past, or musicians that I now call my friends.

Yeah, that’s a thing now. I have friends in bands now. So that’s cool. To put it lightly.

It’s not like I’m going to write about all of my non-shenanigans with these musician friends because that would be essentially me trying to act cool, and sometimes succeeding. I feel like YouTube has both added and detracted from my coolness factor. In my head I feel cooler because I have over 2500 subscribers that care enough to not unsubscribe and people call themselves “fans” of me. But in the larger society, “video blogger” is still a pretty misunderstood concept. Some people still associate “video blogger” with Chris Crocker, and some people only associate “beauty guru” with Michelle Phan, which sucks, because Michelle Phan sucks. Seriously, she sucks.

Maybe I came here to remind myself that I still love writing. I never write scripts for my videos, but that’s mainly because when I read from a script or try to memorize it I just sound ridiculously fake and awkward. But I do love writing. I’ve spent so much time in the last 2 years taking photos and making videos that I’ve kind of lost my first love. I mean, I succeeded in NaNoWriMo last year, but it’s still hard to believe (especially since I haven’t even finished the novel, I just reached over 50,000 words). Novels are different. Fiction is not what I have always done. I don’t write books. I don’t write songs. I write this. I write what I know, and that’s my life. Why couldn’t finding a job be as easy as setting up a blog? Good lord, I wish someone from a big time magazine would stumble upon this tiny blog and fall in love with my words that they would make it their job goal to find me and to get me to work for them. Wouldn’t that be great? It certainly would, but that obviously won’t happen, because that’s not how life works. You have to find your work. Work doesn’t find you.

Where did this even go? I’ve gone through about 6 songs as I’ve written this, from Lemolo to We Are Scientists, to Pop Etc. (formerly the Morning Benders). Maybe I need to take a couple test blogs to get back into how things were, or maybe I’m just preoccupied with the gold glitter in my nail polish.

This actually just popped into my head – what if I stopped blogging because I started doing more meaningful things with my life? Now that’s an existential question if I’ve ever heard one.

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

LOST, you got some ‘splaining to do!

I haven’t done a TV post in a while. Well, besides Doctor Who.

But yesterday was the beginning of the end. No, it’s not 2012 yet, the Reckoning has not come.

Season 6 of Lost started last night. I just watched the premiere today, and it was superb. I vote that one mystery is solved per episode. At least one mystery, cause lord knows there’s more mysteries than episodes this season. I’ll try not to be too spoilery, but some might slip out.

But the reason for this post isn’t to recap the season premiere, because that’d be annoying and I still wouldn’t be able to explain it enough for anyone to remotely understand. If you don’t watch Lost, stop reading if you haven’t already…in that case you wouldn’t be reading this sentence. …

Anyway, I’ve been watching Lost since the beginning. And I’ve had my times of confusion, sure, but the show’s never been crap. Which is something I can’t say for other shows *coughHeroesGrey’sAnatomycough.* So stop hating. Lost rocks. And there will be hole in our television lineup once it’s gone. You can’t deny it. Obviously people care enough to try to understand what the hell is going on.

That said, this last season has a lot to accomplish. Seriously. J.J. Abrams, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, if you don’t knock this out of the park, excuse the cliche, then we’re going to hate you. It’ll be the worst let down ever. I would have wasted 6 years of my life following this show. So I’ve compiled a list of things that you need to clear up. At least the things I can remember. These are in no particular order.

1. What the hell happened to Claire?

We know that Aaron’s all good now, but after she went all bonkers when Christian was in the jungle, she disappeared. That brings me to number two.

2. Does Christian Shephard actually exist in the present (or is he all ghosty in Jack’s head)?

I, for one, am totally creeped out by Jack’s visions of his father, but in the Island’s infinite power, did Christian come back to life like Locke could walk again? And does the fact that the airlines “lost” Christian’s body (this is revealed in the alternate history explored in the premiere) have anything to do with his existence/nonexistence?

3. I know a revelation about the Smokey Dragon Thing happened in the premiere, but I need more!

I’m serious. It makes clicking noises and grabs people in a cartoony way, so what the hell is it??!

4. A little abstract, but are Jack and Sawyer brothers?

I remember at one point there were hints of this, but the writers never explored the idea more. Since then, I’ve been looking for clues that they may or may not be. I know it had something to do with their dads.

5. Why does Richard never age? Does he time travel? Or is it REALLLLLY good botox?

I’m just wondering. It’s not all that essential, I just wanna know.

6. Why is Desmond special when it comes to time travel?

Faraday, you’re responsible for answering some questions, yet confusing us even more. Why don’t the rules apply to Desmond? Why can he change the future, but no one else? You had to die before answering my questions, didn’t you Faraday?

7. Who the crap has been whispering in the woods for all this time?

Another of the creepy aspects of Lost has never gone away, yet never really been explained. Someone tried transcripting them, but that doesn’t really mean anything. Is it the Island? Is it their subconscious? Is it God? And if it was the Others like some say, what the heck do they say and why not explain it fully?

8. Walt. Why is Walt so significant? I know he is, but I just don’t know how!

We’ve been following this kid sporadically since the beginning, and we know that Michael’s dead, and they explained Michael’s reconnection with the Island, but Locke kept seeing Walt in the jungle, which was hella creepy. ARE YOU AN ANGEL, WALT?

9. What made all the babies die?

That’s the whole reason Juliet came to the Island, but they never explained why the mothers and children died when they conceived their children on the Island.

10. How did the Island get there in the first place? And why the hell does it do all the crazy stuff it does?

This is a pretty all-encompassing question, but come on, this is what we’re all wondering.

I did notice this though today when I watched the premiere – is the number 108 significant? The Oceanic 6 were on the Island 108 days before getting rescued, and the button had to be pushed every 108 minutes so the Swan station wouldn’t malfunction, or whatever.

Oh, and the goddamn polar bear. I’m guessing it got stuck their when the Island got all dislodged in time and space, like when Ben jumped into the Arctic after he spun the wheel. I just wanna know.

I WANNA KNOW EVERYTHING! It was sure nice to see Charlie in the premiere though in all those alternate history sequences, and Boone. Damn he was hot.

❤ Abby

the grammys are like the lame relative that still uses cassette tapes and dial-up

And every other recognition in music up-to-date, at least using CDs and wireless internet.

Okay, that may have been a lame analogy, but I went and checked the list of the Grammy nominations this morning just to refresh my memory for tomorrow’s awards. Sorry, Grammys, but you’re out of touch. You’ve become lamer and lamer for the last few years, but this year you’ve succumbed to record sales. I swear it’s like the record execs are blowing all the Grammy voters.

Record of the Year:
Halo – Beyonce
Poker Face – Lady Gaga
You Belong with Me – Taylor Swift
Use Somebody – Kings of Leon
I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas

It’s almost as if the Grammys are morphing into the VMAs, or the other less prestigious awards, only with way more completely unneeded categories. So many flipping categories.

Not to say that some of these nominations are deserved, but just because a song is catchy and played all over the telly doesn’t mean it’s good. If Taylor Swift or Black Eyed Peas win record of the year, I’ll be pissed. Just as long as one of the other three win. And Best New Artist? Grammys, you need to up your indie cred by a gazillion percent. Three of the nominated bands came out with their album a long while ago. Ting Tings – May of 2008. MGMT – Oct. 2007 and Jan. 2008. Silversun Pickups – okay, they released Swoon in 09, but they released Carnavas in 06, and Pikul on 05. For crying out loud, THEY’RE NOT NEW! They may only be new to you Grammy voters, but “Lazy Eye” was actually kind of a hit back in 2006. Wake up, Grammys.

But what’s worse – nay, in fact HORRIFYING – this is the list for best hard rock performance:
War Machine – AC/DC
Check my Brain – Alice in Chains
What I’ve Done – Linkin Park
The Unforgiven III – Metallica
Burn in to the Ground – Nickelback…

…NICKELBACK!??!

WHAT?!?!

Wow, Grammys, you really fucked up this one. Do you honestly think people are going to take you seriously after that? The fact that “1901” isn’t up for record of the year is terrible enough.

I was confused after hearing how ridiculous these nominations were, so I wikipedia’d the Grammy nomination process. I’d rather not explain it myself, so I’ll just CTRL+C.

Record companies and individuals may submit recordings to be nominated. The entries are entered online and then a physical copy of the product must be sent to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Once a work is entered, reviewing sessions are held by over 150 experts from the recording industry. This is done only to determine whether or not a work is eligible or entered into the proper category for official nomination. They may vote to nominate in the general field (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist) and in no more than nine out of 30 other fields on their ballots. Only 5 acts can be nominated for each category. Following this process the votes are tabulated. The 5 recordings that earn the most votes become the nominees. There may be more than five nominees if there is a tie in the nomination process. After the nominations are announced final voting ballots are sent to Recording Academy members. They may then vote in the general field and in no more than eight of the 30 fields. Ballots are tabulated secretly by the major independent accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. Following the tabulation of votes the winners are announced at the Grammy Awards. The recording with the most votes in a category wins and it is possible to have a tie. Winners are presented with the Grammy Award and those who don’t win are given a medal for their nomination. Academy members in the nomination process and final voting process are to vote based upon quality alone. They are not supposed to be influenced by sales, chart performance, personal friendships, regional preferences or company loyalty. The acceptance of gifts is prohibited. Members are urged to vote in a manner that preserves the integrity of the academy. The nomination and final voting processes requires that members vote only in their fields of expertise. The eligibility period for the 2010 Grammy awards is October 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009.

That’s pretty messed up. You have to enter your album to be nominated? What if an artist doesn’t get around to entering, but they have the BEST ALBUM EVER? Again, that’s messed up. There was also a quote on the Wiki page that made me happy.

“I think the Grammys are nothing more than some gigantic promotional machine for the music industry. They cater to a low intellect and they feed the masses. They don’t honor the arts or the artist for what he created. It’s the music business celebrating itself. That’s basically what it’s all about.” – Maynard Keenan of Tool

Yes. I love it. It’s like the Grammys are just a way of keeping all the awards going to the same people. Especially with all the unnecessary categories – so people get nominated for multiple awards which technically all mean the same thing. It’s a cycle of marketing, radio play, music videos, album sales, and awards – some crazy incestuous relationship between the recording industry and the artists they represent and the voters.

This is how ridiculous the Grammys have always been – the Dixie Chicks have won more awards than the Beatles. Jimmy Sturr has won more awards than Michael Jackson. Who the eff is Jimmy Sturr? He won best polka album like 18 out of the 24 years it’s actually been a category. How fair is that?

Not fair.

Grammys, you fail.

Gaga, you better win something.

God I wish I could have seen her last year at the Showbox. No way there will be another chance to see her at a venue like that.

❤ Abby

Why Twenty-Ten is going to be better than Two-Thousand-Nine

Not sure why I decided to spell out the years instead of using numerals, but maybe it’s cause I’m a word person. But since it’s the first day of the new year, and new decade, I want to look forward to why this year is going to be way better than last year. I know I did a “most anticipated albums of 2010” post three weeks ago, but this will be much more inclusive, just briefly touching on how amazing music will be this year.

In no particularly order other than when I happen to think of it:

Harry Potter is back.

I can’t find an embed-able trailer, so the video is here.
I know HP6 came out in 2009, but this is the beginning of the end. And not to mention that HP71 comes out AFTER the third Twatlight movie. So Harry, Hermione and Ron get the last word of 2010. Ha. And I’m hoping that the 4th sparkly vampire fanfic isn’t coming out for awhile. It wasn’t on the actors’ contracts, after all. As of right now, it’s not listed under any IMDB profiles. It’s just too bad that it’s inevitable that they’ll get the last word after HP72 comes out. Unless the production companies are douches and decide to postpone the last HP movie if Breaking Dawn does get made within the next year or so.

I’m turning 21.

But I’m probably not inviting Morrissey to my birthday.. Yes, I will finally be able to legally drink. But that’s not the point. I don’t care to drink. If I wanted to, I would have already. But the thing is – I can’t. Well, not really. I can have a little, just to avoid being the outsider, but I have to practice self-control for my own life’s sake. The point is that I can go to places where people drink. I would be stuck at all-ages shows the latter half of this year. No venues can hold me back! I won’t have to take my sister to every show I go to. Hallelujah! And hopefully – HOPEFULLY – I’ll be at Sasquatch during my birthday, cause sunday is the 30th of May. And hopefully 1) I’ll be camping; 2) I’ll have a media pass, so I’ll only be paying for camping; 3) I’ll have people other than just my sister with me; 4) amazing bands will be playing.

So many awesome bands have albums coming out.

(Thanks to Adrian at the WAS board for finding this.)
I only posted one photo, because this is the most important release of the year. And perhaps one of the most important albums of my life. For one thing – from what I’ve heard of it, We Are Scientists’ new album is going to be AMAZING. And for another – I now have access to music like I never have before. And for one last thing – I may finally get to meet them this year.

In fact, that should be its own reason for why 2010 is going to kick ass. I’ll add that in a sec after I’m done talking about the other albums I’m anxiously biting my fingernails waiting for.

Where was I? Oh – Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Motion City, Morning Benders, Interpol, Frightened Rabbit, The Strokes, MGMT, Panda Bear, Arcade Fire, and possibly Sufjan. Jesus Christ.

Cue.

Yeah.

I might meet Keith and Chris

Yes, it’s a might. But even the prospect of meeting these two men make this year so much better than 2009. I’m pretty sure my life would be pretty damn close to complete if I got to see WAS this year in Seattle and meet Chris and Keith. Well, I still have to finish school, find a paying job, get health insurance, my own place, and married. But other than that – I’d be content with my accomplishments.

More good things to come with Popwreckoning

Remember this? ^^^
Well, more of this ^^^ is coming. And quite possibly this ^^^ for more publications. Since I now have a resume, and a growing portfolio, I can get access to more awesome perks for frequent show-goers. More albums equals more reviews equals more readers equals more exposure equals awesome. More shows equals more photos and more networking equals more exposure equals – again – AWESOME. The one thing that I’d sad about this year is that I have no money – so no SXSW. I have access to SXSW, but alas, airfare and hotel fare – how you thwart my happiness, damnit.

I’ll be starting senior year in the fall.

The idea of finishing college scares the hell out of me, but as I get closer, it’s getting more exciting thinking about it. If we can just get this universal healthcare taken of, I’ll be set. I’m getting sick of school. Honestly. It’s been close to 15 years that I’ve been a student. 15 years of school. Holy crap.

This is the first time in a long time I can say I disagree with this statement. But you gotta give it to Carles, he makes a point in this post on Hipster Runoff posted today.So funny. Love you Carles.

Goodnight. Off to view some videos on La Blogotheque’s channel on Youtube. They make beautiful videos.

Have a wonderful Twenty-Ten!

Hope you knew was a blue moon last night. Yeah, pretty crazy, huh?

♫ Yours, Abigail ♫
(new decade, new sign off)

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

so I’m either broke or dead. those are my options, GOP.

I’m going to talk about politics. I don’t like to often, seeing that things have gone my way for the most part (except of course that beef I have with California) so far in the last year, and I don’t want to jinx the great streak our dear Pres has right now.

But I was at the gym tonight, watching “Hardball” on MSNBC, even though I’m not a huge fan of Chris Matthews. He was on after Rachel Maddow, so I didn’t bother changing the channel. The entire show tonight was about Healthcare reform, and the public’s opinion of Obama’s bill, the language, the consequences, yadda yadda yadda.

I’ve been on Obama’s side the entire time with his government-run healthcare program. Right now, it wouldn’t affect me either way, because my Dad has the best healthcare plan I can think of. He’s been with Boeing for 30 years, and I think that with our middle-class lifestyle, we’re pretty well-off when it comes to Dad’s insurance benefits. If we didn’t have Dad’s insurance, we’d be broke. Seriously, or at least we’d be in trouble of being broke. For one thing – my father has sleep apnea, my mom has had ankle surgery after ankle surgery, and then a blood-clot, which left her on coumadin (blood thinners) for a year. And then there’s me. I not only was on topical steroids for years for “psoriasis,” I had braces for five, a palette expander for 2, and now I’m on some of the most intensive drugs you can get. It doesn’t hurt that my disease affects under 1 in 20,000 people in the US. Being rare, it’s hard to get treatment that is widely accepted by insurance companies. Once every two months I get pumped full of immunoglobulin, or IV/IG for short. It’s REALLY expensive. I mean, that’s the drug that would make us broke if we didn’t have good insurance. Prednisone is more prominent, so it’s not as hard to get covered. Then there’s the methotrexate, which in itself, is a form of chemotherapy. It sucks, because it makes me nauseated and gives me headaches, but without it, I don’t know what my muscles would do.

And just in case you were wondering, I was LUCKY last time that my disease didn’t affect my heart, because it is a muscle too, after all.

Bringing that all back to healthcare – I’m grateful. I’m lucky. We’re lucky. But sadly enough, the job I’m going for is kind of in the balance right now. I don’t know where my “job” will be in a couple years when I graduate. And if I’m not in school, I don’t stay on my parent’s plan, and if I don’t have a job, I don’t have money. And if I don’t have money, I don’t have insurance. And you see the dreaded cycle. Without insurance, I don’t have medications. And then I get back to an unhealthy and sickly weight, with a layer of skin peeling off a day. Basically, I’d waste away. At least it could happen. We don’t know that for sure. But with healthcare, we don’t have to worry about that.

HERE ARE THE FACTS, because I don’t feel like explaining it here, because that isn’t what I do.

So without this government-run healthcare, I’m screwed. Even if I get a job, it won’t have nearly the amount of insurance I’d need to cover my medical expenses. And I’d go broke, having to live off welfare, while I have a job. And in turn, you’d be paying for welfare, which is a government agency. So all you people who are opposed to a universal healthcare, PLEASE change your mind, because you either pay for our healthcare now before we get sick, or you pay for us to live after we go broke.

Either way, you’re not going to be happy. Obama’s not trying to kill old people. But to be honest, I wouldn’t mind if he was. It would just make societal progression go so much faster. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but people aren’t happy with our healthcare system right now. And they’re not happy with the plan Obama has to fix it. Why should they be? There are plenty of other countries with universal healthcare that run smoothly and harmoniously.

Like I said before, I’m moving to Sweden RIGHT NOW.

They have hot Nordic Adonises AND public healthcare.

I mean, good god.

PLEASE.

Watch these:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-april-21-2009/the-stockholm-syndrome-pt–1
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-april-22-2009/the-stockholm-syndrome-pt–2

❤ Abby

I have a genius idea

The other day, I was watching this clip on The Soup with Joel McHale of the Teen Choice Awards, and I was disgusted. Utterly ashamed that I have to call myself an American.

Really. This actually happened. Now, I’ve always been appalled at how ridiculously famous Miley Cyrus has become, merely because I’m older now and don’t “get” Disney stars anymore. But this clip, honest-to-god, made me miss Lizzie McGuire. I swear. I miss old school Hilary Duff. This made me miss the lame straight-to-video movies the Olsen Twins spit out once a year, and it made me miss freaking Even Stevens for god’s sakes. Kids shows now are even more shallow than they used to be.

Oh, and Miley Cyrus is SUCH a great role model.

WTF?

Okay, so she wasn’t “pole dancing” per say, but it was a freaking stripper pole. And short shorts, and a prop trailer park trailer. Like, really? Really Teen Choice Awards? What are parents going to think when their 12-year-old daughters come up to them and ask to get some short shorts like Miley and dance around a pole? You should be ashamed of yourselves, Cyruses.

And all of this while singing a song called “Party in the USA?” Wow. But to be honest, it’s a pretty accurate depiction of the lesser portion of American culture, not to be a utter snob, but be real people.

But what does all of this have to do with anything?

Well, after I saw this clip, along with a few other things in the media this week that have baffled me – I thought, “what would Spock say about this?”

And then it came to me, not to sound cliche, but to start another blog AS Spock. I’ll have to brush up on some old school Star Trek, but I think it might be fun to have a blog entirely from Spock’s point of view, critiquing the illogicality of American society, as opposed to Vulcan. I’d have to throw my own voice out the door, and adopt Spock’s…interesting way of thinking, and the Vulcan morals and beliefs.

Hehe. I’m actually really excited about this. It may take awhile, but it will inevitably happen.

❤ Abby