05.05.03
Hi there!
Yeah, it's been a while. Let me explain:
Oh. Basically, I'm damn lazy. About a month ago, my server got switched over to a web-based update system, which means I had to a) take the time to figure it out and b) figure out HTML. For those of you who don't know me, I've had this site for six years and know very little HTML; I've been using Microsoft FrontPage. And while I'm a bit embarrassed about that, I'm finally pleased to say that I'm learning how to do this by hand, the old-fashioned way. If anything looks a bit off, that's why. I'm not positive what I'm doing, and while I'm learning, fixing stuff is a pain in the ass.
All that said, it's currently six thirty pm on a Tuesday night in early May, and I have three days of school left. Wednesday is my AP Stat exam, and I start Senior Projects starting next Monday. Basically, a Senior Project is the school's way of keeping seniors off campus so they don't drag students' morale down; it's a five-hour-a-day internship that we get approved and then write a paper about. I'm working with Kevin doing stuff with the camp, getting set up for the season and stuff. It should be a lot of fun, and I'll have time to take up some shifts and make some money. This is fortunate, because I'm currently about a hundred dollars in the hole to my parents.
And why is that? The majority of that is concert tickets. Yes, concert tickets. I'm becoming a live-music whore, and I'm digging it. Last Thursday was Carter's birthday, and she likes New Found Glory and Less Than Jake and Good Charlotte, so we saw them. Actually it was just the NFG/GC Civic Tour (God bless Honda), and I didn't find out until after I'd gotten the tickets that LTJ was playing, and I bounced around the house for about fifteen minutes before telling Carter, who also bounced around the house for fifteen minutes. And then we got to the show and did a lot more bouncing. It was INCREDIBLE - Less Than Jake puts on an amazing live show, complete with toilet-paper leaf blowers and lines like "If you know the words, sing along. If you don't, flick me off." We sang. Chris, the guitarist/singer, is nuts; running from one side of the stage to the other grinning madly at the audience. And I have a really neat picture of him on my desktop being sexy.
Good Charlotte was quite good too, but they weren't the performers that Less Than Jake or New Found Glory were. And their fans were obnoxious. The place smelled like a Hot Topic, and they refused to get into the jumping and moshing that make a punk show, well, punk. They stood their, arms folded, in their shirts with the creases still in it, refusing to move around or enjoy themselves. But when Good Charlotte took the stage, they screamed and sang along...I just don't get it. Anyway, that's for another day, and when NFG took the stage, it made everything better. Their bassist is incredible; he bounces around the stage - and I do mean bounces - and it's funny. They're all funny; they're performers. I want to be in a band. It looks like so much fun. The show was awesome, Carter and I had a blast, we visited Jordan on the way back, which made both of us happy...then we got home around two and I slept until nine the next day.
The next day happened to be Friday, the Special Olympics, and since Reid and I had spent fiveish hours on the program on Tuesday, I didn't feel bad about sleeping in. Patrick and I went to the island, where we've been hanging out a lot lately, and it was lovely. I played on the rocks and waded around and almost got attacked by geese. Then I went back to school for a few worthless hours of APs (at which point I got heckled for skipping the Special Olympics), which I didn't mind that much. Following was Starbuck's, and then we (Me, Carter, Matt Fields-Johnson, and Elissa) went back down to the island for a bit more playing. Carter is taking Matt to Prom, 'cuz I set 'em up and am cool like that. [Side story: a few Fridays ago, Christine and I went shopping so I wouldn't have to go to Norfolk with my mom to find a graduation dress. In the process, I also found a Prom dress which I really like a lot; it's the first dress I've ever been excited about wearing. Then I asked Stratton, and he said yes, and I'm really psyched about it. It's gonna be a blast; I don't have to care if I don't want to, like I did at Sweet Sixteen. THAT was an unhappy, awkward situation. I had a lot of fun with Jordan, it was just that I'd had a hard day and wasn't in the mood for a formal dance. This side-note has gotten long enough.] So we went to Belle, Elissa and Matt and I climbed, then Elissa left and Matt and I went swimming. Remember, it's just the beginning of May, and the river isn't terribly warm. I still enjoyed myself, though, and didn't mind being damp for a while. Following that, we played on the Power Plant for a while, then went to see Carbon Leaf at Friday Cheers.
Friday Cheers is a free excuse to get drunk, unless you're me, in which case it's free music. We met up with the whole idiot brigade there - Chris, Matt, Hayes, Patrick, Sam, the two Katies, Blair, and some other people I didn't know. Matt Fields-Johnson and I hung out just long enough for Carter to get there, and the three of us headed off to see my history teacher's band at school for a bit. Then to Friday's for dinner, where we told dead baby jokes and Matt laughed 'till he cried. Then home to bed. A successful day, all things considered. (Like the fact that I didn't have school.)
Saturday I dorked around for a while, I think...I honestly can't remember what I did for the better part of the day. I think it involved hanging out with the aforementioned idiots, but I don't really remember. I slept in, goofed off for a while at home, then came over to Sam's (where, incidentally, I am now; the good thing about this whole HTML business is that I can get to it from anywhere.) We went to dinner at Gray Wolf grill, which is lovely (if expensive) then we goofed of at Spoon's until Matt called and he and Chris and I went to see X2 at Short Pump. Speaking as a devout comic book fan, the movie wasn't as good as the comics OR the TV show, but it was Xmen. There were good guys, there were bad guys, they fought, and shit got blown up. I dug it. Plus, I got to see a preview for Matrix: Reloaded, which made the eight dollar ticket fee worth it. Then home to bed.
Oh yeah; I also dropped by Peak for a while on Saturday to say hi. I talked to Jay, Matt, Chris, Chris, and Robert, all of whom were lovely to see. Especially Robert; I've not seen him in a long time, and he's going to UVA for grad school next fall. It's kinda cool that we're six years apart but still about to start college...granted, he's been through it before, but only at VCU...never this far from home. Anyway, he's gonna be gone most of the summer, which is kinda depressing, because he's like my big brother; I don't know what I'm gonna do without him. I don't know what I'm gonna do without ANY of them next year...I'll keep in touch, but it won't be the same. At least I know that I'll be able to walk into the gym any time and have everyone be glad to see me. I'll get hugs and get called 'bag of rocks' and I'll get asked to cover a shift. The gym is my home, and I'll always be able to come back to it.
I'm getting all nostalgic and I'm not going anywhere yet. I was gonna talk about Sunday, but not enough of note happened beyond the fact that I went climbing with Matt and Trevor and it was a blast. I do love that place.
This week I'm teching the dance concert at school; I have no idea how I got talked into that, but it'll be fun. Then I'm not only done with theatre, but with school as well. Whee. I've realized more and more lately - especially with all of the Peak-going I've been doing lately - that I'm existing totally to get to summer. Not just for free time and for no school and for college, but for the people and the fun and the hanging out and the welcome-ness that I get when I walk into a place. Right now I'm sitting at Sam's, very comfortable, while a dozen conversations happen to my right. And I'll occasionally shout a comment into one of them - like the Lizzie McGuire movie - but I'm not really involved. And that's fine. And this gets kind of awkward when people read over my shoulder like they were doing a minute ago. Anyway, I'm here, but I'm not really involved. But when we put on Eddie Izzard a minute ago, I will be.
Everyone likes to see their name in print. Drew, who is leaning over my head right now, will be able to look back on this and smile, provided he ever reads my site or so much as knows the address. Isn't that right, Drew? Sam is fascinated too, in that manner he has. And I'm being poked and provoked. Lesson learned: fuck these morons; I should update at home. Chris wants me to call this group of people Thor, so I shall. I like to differentiate between my Peak friends, Journalism Room friends, and these guys that I watch hockey with. Chris (Luigi), Patrick (Mario), Sam, James, Katie, Katie, Spoon, Blair, Drew, and that crowd. They're not all here tonight, but they usually exist in conjunction with one another. So if you're a regular reader of this site and aren't one of the aforementioned people, Thor are the village idiots. I'll add these boys to the cast page later.
What else has been up? I went to All-State, which, while it wasn't as cool as last year, was still a blast. I found a girl who's a lot like me - a second Alto named Amanda - and a neat guy named Brett, who happened to be a first tenor. With glasses. (See last year's AllState entry.) Despite the fact that I missed the last two nights of my last show in high school, I still greatly enjoyed myself, and the teching was a blast too. The new guy, Keith, proved to be a lot like me, and we had a lot of fun. It was enjoyable; I'm going to miss working with them.
Well, now everyone's gone outside to play in the rain, which would be fine, except that it's not really raining. So everyone has gone outside to play in the dark. Fine; more cookies for me. Sam's mom makes the best cookies, and just brought a plateful in. If they weren't on the other side of the room, they'd be half gone by now; this is their loss. Missing out on hanging out with me is also their loss, but they don't really seem to care about that. Fine.
Oh, yeah! College. The last time I wrote I wasn't sure where I was going; I didn't get into Wake, so I'm going to Trinity. This is all very exciting to me...I finally know where I'm headed, I'm gonna get REM tickets as soon as the presale opens, I'm probably getting DMB tickets (see? Live music whore), I get to meet Lauri, which is incredible, and I get to hang out in Hartford for the next four years. What could be better? Oh, and now everyone's back.