Automatic

(saw this on my way in this morning, was envious.)

Music Monday

Twitter trends are an interesting thing. I was explaining some of the hash tags to a friend of mine who is new to twitter on our ride to NY earlier today. One of the hash tags you might see is #MM which is Music Monday. Users can post an album, band name, or song and tag the post as music monday. It is a way to contribute to a communal word of mouth music recommendation.

My suggestion - see Penrose if you live on the east cost and can get to a show in the NY, NJ, PA area. I am good friends with all of them and rode up with drummer and eldest brother Tom Murphy. Despite the two of us working 9-5 jobs in Philadelphia, tomorrow being no exception, we rode up to NYC for a few hours for their show. I have absolutely nothing to complain about. No amount of fighting sleep will cause me to second guess my decision tonight. That show was a blast, as are all of their performances, and it beats the dull start to every other week.

I'd rather have this to start the week and have a lousy Tuesday morning that to just have a lousy Tuesday morning anyway. Lets face it - weekday mornings suck, especially earlier in the week. Might as well have something good to replay in your head to counteract it.

Live in the past...

As Tim Hartnett always liked to remind me, and mostly in situations where it hardly applied, 'If you live in the past, you die in the past.' Recently a lot of my friends have been feeling the back-to-school absence in their lives and it has been hitting them hard. If there was every a time for it to settle in for myself, it would be now. This weekend is the weekend that everyone moved back to school. I actually looked at my blog and on August 29th of last year I wrote about having moved in that day to my new apartment in the Bronx. I absolutely loved that place and I missed it all the time. As my good friend Mike wrote, there is never another time in your life where, for 4 years, you get to spend your day to day life living within walking distance of all of your friends, on your own, and for us - in the middle of one of the greatest cities in the world.

In addition to the realization that I am staying put in my home this fall, and for the first time since I was 4 years old, not going to be in classes this fall - my neighbor is starting high school. I remember when their family moved here. I remember small conversations with this kid and some days we hung out. I never really lived near my friends and there weren't a lot of kids my age growing up and so he and I hung out every so often despite the near-decade age gap. I remember thinking at some point while in high school myself that one day when he finally reached highschool I would have graduated from college. It seemed so far off, and yet here we are. Today was move in day at college and a reminder of my completetion of that stage in my life. Tomorrow, the boy who I knew when he was only three years old starts his high school career.

And despite all of this, I do not have a sad blog to write. Yes, if I thought about it long and hard about the amazing era that is my college years and the tragedy of those being now in the passed I would feel sad. But, I have too much to be wrapped up in and happy about. I did not have any hardships with jobs despite the current world we live in. After only applying for one job, and only interviewing for one job, I was hired for that job. Unlike so many of my friends who were also fortunate to be hired somewhere I really look forward to work. I have an amazing situation were most of my days at work are spent with college-age students. No only that, but I really like working with every one of them. Also, my sister is less than two weeks out of being married and I could not be happier for her.

Sure there are things to complain about. I don't make nearly enough money, I am single and have been for longer than I care to toss around, and I will be in school until I am in my late 20s (once I go back to grad school). I guess I just have enough positive things going for me in my life that I am, at the very least, able to overlook what could be a very difficult and sad time.

Tomorrow night will be an adventure. In what looks to be a continuing of my goal to be active, tomorrow I am heading up to NY for a few hours to see my friends band play the last night of their month long residency at Arelene's Grocery. These guys are incredible at what they do and I love every second that I get to watch them perform. Their successes almost feel like my own as I just get more and more excited to see things going well for them. Despite having working at 8 am on Tuesday morning, I am going to make this trip because there is no way I would miss it.

Here's to everything!

Bachelor Barbeque & Penbros

Half Day, Half Asleep

I don't really sleep in anymore. At best I might make it to 10 am on a morning after going to bed at 2. Even still, I don't think I can claim to ever be totally awake when my alarm goes off during the week at 6:20 am. Even I go to be before 10 pm, which I have done, I don't feel completely rested.

There are still days, however, where I feel like I have not had enough sleep to a more substantial degree. Described as "in a fog", some mornings I just cannot get myself going. Today was absolutely one of those mornings. All this week, because of how low the temperatures have been dropping over night we have been leaving the windows open. At 6 am, the house is a cool 63-65 degrees. The perfect temperature to stay wrapped up in bed. I almost fell back to sleep this morning because the atmosphere of my room - lighting, temp, etc - was coaxing me into a coma. I actually jumped to my feet, in hopes to counteract this, and shook my head a bit to try to wake up.

My ride was no different. While I was not ever in danger of falling asleep, I still felt out of it to some extent. I reached the train station, parked my car, and just sat there for a good 3 or 4 minutes before getting out and heading to the platform. All the way in I was battling to keep my eyes open, and I felt like I even was sleepwalking my way to the breakfast cart in the city. The bill is always 3.25 and I try to keep the change from them first day in my bag to cover that 25 cents for the next three. I reached into my bag, then my pocket and then I found my stack of 4 quarters. Not the quarters for the sandwich, you see, as there should only be 3 of them, max. Instead, these were the quarters meant to pay for my parking spot at the train station. Turns out, I was so out of it that I stood on the train platform at the station for 5 minutes and never thought to walk over and pay to park.

I was taking a half day today because I had to run some errands for work. I was planning to spend the afternoon of my work day running around and picking up some stuff. This helped fight my haze. I had a decent amount of work to do and needed to be on the 11:39 train. With little time to waste I tried to stay physically active in the office, moving around a lot, to keep up.

Maybe it was because I had a half day and got back before they make their rounds in the lot, maybe it was just chance, but I got back to my car and happily found it to be void of a parking citation. The day continued to improve with my luck in finding the things I needed for work.

Tonight, however, sleep caught up with me. While waiting on the couch to go meet my friends I happened to fall asleep. My dad came down at some point and woke me up asking if I was still going out. I decided to call it a night.

So, this past week I had set a goal to be more active. This summer has locked me into a routine of going straight home and doing nothing 5 nights a week. This week, from Sunday to Thursday I did something whether it was being active at home or going out. It looks like the week caught up with me, however, as I was too tired to do anything tonight. While I am glad I was successful in doing much more this week, maybe activities in moderation is the key. Otherwise I end up sitting in on a Friday night.

Staying In Touch

The longer you are away from a group of people the more, I think, you realize the people you really want to see, and the people who you feel a little more indifferent towards. I don't know why it works out that way, but the further you are removed from people the more easily it becomes to differentiate who you really miss.

Tonight I got to see some old friends and while I do appreciate and miss everyone collectively, certain people just stand out more and luckily tonight it was a small crowd and it was pretty much the people I'd really want to see. I still wish a few others had made it, but it makes it easier to catch up when it is a small group. When you only see people every 6 months, trying to catch up with 10-15 different people at a restaurant during happy hour is tough. Typically you end up covering very little and repeating yourself a lot.

I have had many encounters like this and was pretty much prepared for that tonight. Instead, we had a small crowd, it wasn't loud in the place and we just really all got to talk and catch up for a solid 2 hours. I am really happy with how things worked out and I am glad I got to see some of those friends.

Rittenhouse Square

Staying Active Continues

Tonight I got home a bit later than usual. I had a few emails to take care of. There was several stories and trailers I have pulled up throughout the day as they came in my twitter or RSS feed that I wanted to make sure I read later. My dad came home and asked if we were still on for the gym. 90% of me wanted to say no. But, being that I am really working at this goal to stay active, I went. I got home tonight at 8:15, didn't finish dinner until 9, and then made 40 cookies.

Sure, its 11:35 and I am still awake which will make me more tired tomorrow. But, I am at least a bit more content knowing that I did something between work and sleep.

Side note: Today for some reason - Amtrak lines went down. This meant that Septa lost power. I ended up walking an hour from the stop I was at to my office. Luckily, it was a beautiful morning and I had nothing to rush in for. What could have been a huge hassle ended up being a real treat.

Too Lazy

Tonight I forced myself to be productive. 75% of the nights since I started working I have driving home and sat on the couch. That 75 is including Fridays where I would go out and nights I have gone to the gym. But if you cut those out - its closer to like 95% of the time that once I leave work all I want to do is be home. I am not sure why this is, but it is really dibilitating.

Tonight I had things I wanted to do/needed to do and I forced myself to stay out until they were done. I was able to go get my watch for the wedding resized. I also drove to Target (20 minutes passed my house - was tempting to just turn into my street) and then proceeded to check Home Depot, Home Goods and then Staples looking for a crate/bin of some sorts for my records. I ended up buying a milk crate.

Neither of these tasks were difficult but it was a matter of convincing myself to not just retreat back home. I am hoping to keep this up. I find myself too content with this sleep-work-sleep routine. Time for a change!

They're There, And Then They're Gone

There are so many different paths an album can take when it comes to how it strikes you. There are some albums that hit within the first 30 seconds. You are convinced before even hearing track 2. Other albums find their spark midway through. Then there are those albums that may take a few listens for you to adjust your ears and really let things grow. Some albums plateau, some lose their flare, and others some how continue to call you back.

Monsters of Folk's self-titled album is one that left me feeling general underwhelmed when it first was released. I really enjoyed the single, "Say Please" the first time I heard it. That in combination with the persons involved had raised my expectations of the album pretty high. However, when it finally was released I found myself listening to it with increasing disinterest. Months later I revisted the album and realized that it had a few really solid gems on it. In particular, I loved how everyone's voices and vocal styles (if you can say Conor Oberst has a style in his voice) blend together in the final moments.

The last few days I have had a melody in my head. Ever have this happen to you? Somehow you have this string of notes running through your head but cannot discern any sort of notable lyrics or figure out where the melody leads thus leaving you unable to identify this sequence. Today I was able to identify that this melody belongs to the middle section of the song titled, "Temazcul" by Monsters of Folk. Maybe it was the satisfaction of identifying the melody finally, or maybe not, but I listened to the whole album again and couldn't help but enjoy it a whole lot. Sure there are still several subpar songs, but its is also definitely better than I first gave it credit for and better than an album with just a few gems. I wouldn't say its more than a 60/40 for excellent-to-mediocre/subpar-ratio. Even so, I find myself putting it on again, so it has some kind of staying power in that 60%-good portion of the album.

(I set up my dad's record player in my bedroom today so I could make some progress on the bomb-shell my room has become, and listen to The Crane Wife [purchased yesterday]."

Day Feels like Days

You know you have had a successful day when you get home and realize that stuff you thought you did for the last few days actually took place over the course of the past few hours. The fact that I accomplished/traveled as much as I did in the past 24 hours is still not quite settled in. I am impressed with how this weekend has gone.

Today I woke up with the plan of taking a train from north Jersey into NY to run some errands and buy something items before heading to central Jersey for a few hours. After the train mishap got straightened out and I ended up having to drive to the Bronx, things just got better. First, I was finally able to get my package from the Bx and give Alex his birthday gift. I got my hair cut, we visited a very cool comic shop and I bought a Scott Pilgrim t-shirt. We headed to Times Square and got to check out the brand new Pop-Tarts store. It was great.

We headed to Bryant park and jumped on the 6 down to Washington Square Park. Walked over to Thompson and grabbed lunch at Boyd Thai. I love this place and lunch was delicious. We then went next door to Generation Records and I picked up two gems - The Decemberists' Crane Wife and Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise. Then it was on to the train and back up to the Bronx for a quick and delicious slice of University Pizza (for old times sake). Got in my car around 4 and went to Chris' to pick him up. Then it was back to MontClaire to get Mike's car and then down to Central Jersey to a friend's house who lives by the beach. We got there around 6 and spent some quality time hanging out with friends. We had a delicious train shaped cake and ended then night hanging out on the beach. I got in my car around 11 and just got home.

For anyone who thinks driving 2 hours to see people is absurd - this is proof that it is not. Not only was I able to visit friends that live 2 hours away today, but I was also able to accomplish all of those other things and still be in bed by 1 am. No excuses!

Hello, again

Spinning

Make a List, Make a Plan

Yesterday I came home totally overwhelmed. There was more than I can handle being asked of me and I was having a hard time balancing my own tasks let alone remembering everyone elses' requests.

I sat down, made a to-do list, and went to bed.

Today I accomplished a lot. I finished half of the to-do list, I completed and turned in my APLS draft, and I came home feeling relaxed.

Tomorrow the office will be empty and I will be able to finish my to-do list as well as start planning ahead. Instead of trying to catch up, I can start working on things ahead of time. Here is to a very well organized and under-control fall.

Feeling Fresh

I went into work today having not been there in a few days. I walked in the doors this morning and while I had a lot to get done, being out helped me feel motivated in the morning. By the ride home today I was ready for another day at home. Today was really hectic. I added more than I completed and I felt a little frazzled.

Tonight I came home, I took a deep breath, made a very detailed to do list, made some strategies, and relaxed. The world can throw a lot of shit at you. All you can hope for is to hang in there long enough to get a few good punches in there yourself.

Visitors

Not from outerspace, although that would be quite interesting, no? Instead, I am referring to the friends of mine who have come and stayed in my house this summer. While my grand plans of moving into my basement and fully occupying it as my own space have not quite happened, the room has not been ignored. I would say there is almost ten weekends in total and 4 or 5 guests who have called it home for a night or more.

It has been nice seeing everyone so frequently this summer. Maybe it has helped me avoid falling into a post-college stupor or maybe that will come in the fall. Either way, it is the most I have seen my friends from out of state in a single summer and probably more than all of the previous summers.

I am hoping to keep this visitation alive. I may find myself in central jersey or NY this weekend. I figure, if there is nothing keeping me here, might as well travel.

A Active Sunday, An Active Weekend

I have fallen into the downward spiral of being antisocial. My job leaves me too tired to do much all week long, and getting comfortable there has left me with feeling that 1 trip to the diner for an entire weekend is enough time to see and spend time with friends.

This weekend, however, was completely different. Kristen was up from New Orleans, and from the time I woke up Friday until right now I was with people to some degree and did a lot. Friday after being gone for work from 630 am until almost 7 pm, I was back out the door within 20 minutes to watch the Eagles 1st preseason game and hang out at a friend's house. I ended up leaving and getting back home around 1:30. Kristen ended up staying here the rest of the weekend.

I woke up Saturday morning around 10 am. An hour later it was time for pancakes and then a series of texts and phone calls to plan for the show that night. Past that I spent the next 2 hours trying to come up with a set list, once Joe came over, and memorizing more lyrics for the show. By 4 is was time to pack the cars and head out. We were at the pool from 5:30 until 11 pm. I then went back to my friend Tom's until about 1 or so. Finally got home and got to bed a little after 2:30 am. Both Joe and Kristen stayed over Saturday night.

Today I woke up and soon after Joe headed out. Kristen had already been up and showered and I showered soon after. Almost immediately after getting out we headed out the door for the diner to meet up with those that slept at Tom's. After the diner, our friends from NY/NJ hit the road and I headed back home. Not for long, though. We were back out the door at 1 pm to see, with Alex, a 1:30 screening of Scott Pilgrim (which was awesome - see it). Home around 4, dinner at 6, and then it was time for one more outing. As if two outings on a Sunday was not enough (and believe me, considering how this summer has gone - that was a lot) my sisters, Kristen and myself went out to get frozen yogurt and met some long time friends there. Finally, I called it a night/weekend around 9:30 pm. The rest of the night I spent lying on the floor reading through/catching up on some news and watching the Phils.

All in all I would say it was an incredibly solid weekend. Also, for once, the weather was pretty bearable throughout.

TSRJ Forever

It looked like it had run its course after one short year. Then it looked like the end of college and the physical dispersal of band members across the east coast threatened to close up the shop. Then there looked to be just one more opportunity for fun. Now it seems there is no end to the monster that is TSRJ.

Tonight's show was a blast. This band has not always been and easy thing and at times it can be down right frustrating. But in the end I love doing it. It's not even about the show or the music but about the people. To be able to get college friends from NY and New Orleans amongst other places all to come to Philly for a night to hang out, have a good time, go swimming, etc is just awesome. A TSRJ reunion/show is more than just the 5 or 6 of us on stage, but every one of our friends. A good amount of the people who came tonight I have barely seen, if at all, in months. Some don't even live that far, but because of schedules we just don't see each other. The band/shows get everyone back together and we always have a ton of fun.

For that reason alone, how could we ever put this thing to rest?

Breaking My Rules

I am definitely going into tomorrow's show much more haphazardly than typical. I still am shaky on lyrics for 3 of the songs. We have no planned set list/order figured out either. Also I typically run through the set in its entirety the day before a show vocally to just build confidence in my ability to sing it well and for at least 24 hours prior to a show I cut out all dairy and just drink gallons of water. This time I went through about half of the set and had mac and cheese and mozz. sticks for dinner. Maybe I am convinced I need less effort to really perform well, maybe I just am trying to take the attitude that everyone else takes coming into a show - it's a fun time, not work. Either way, I am getting a bit nervous and I'm starting to question my new methods.

I guess we will see.

Football On The Horizon

The Eagles season officially begins tomorrow. So. Freakin. Excited.

Futbol!

Went to the Union game tonight. Great stadium and some really passionate fans. Unfortunately, like most things in Philly, the atmosphere was a bit to vulgar for kids - at least down at the "Sons of Ben" end of the stadium. Kind of a shame for anyone who wants to bring their kids/family to the game.

Still - all in all it was a fun night and the game was engaging despite it only ending in a tie.

A City In A New Light

New Phone, New Pics

Today went well. Testing ran smoothly, despite missing a few minor things. I was able to strategically avoid some traffic on the way home, and arrived to see my brand new iPhone waiting for me.

Of course I have been setting it up/playing with it all night. Of the 32gb of space it has, I am down to 1. That is after downloading a slew of apps, copying over 4,000 songs and 3 movies. I will most likely amend this list soon.

Picture quality is indescribable. The 'Tree of Life' image from The Fountain is making an incredible background to the phone.

Courtesy of a new app, today's picture has a bit of age to it.

400th Post!

Somewhere on this blog exists 399 posts. It's amazing that I have written that many times on here. For those of you who continue to check from time to time, I hope this has not been too dull. I don't lead an incredibly interesting life. I think I used to write more interesting blogs but my job and daily routine are so tiring that I find myself wanting to be in bed by 9 pm. I remember I used to see this in my older sister and wonder how anyone could be so inactive. Now, I find myself asking the same question but in the mirror.

I definitely was not made to work the 9-5 life. I am hoping to get involved in some things this fall. They will both make my life, and hopefully this blog, more exciting.

I spent a majority of this weekend working on a paper. A paper? Yes, despite graduating a few months ago, my weekend was spent splitting time between band practice and a paper. Feels like a standard college weekend to me. I am submitting this paper-proposal to be presented at the national psychological and legal conference held in March. This year it is an international conference and that means two things. Getting in is harder, but getting in looks even better. I am submitting research on potential jurors perceptions of risk factors that could lead a juvenile to giving a false confession. The false confession rate for juveniles is scary. It is really an interesting area and I love my research. The paper is due to the grad student overseeing the project tomorrow and then to my boss next week. Official submissions are in September. Acceptance means a huge booster to my resume, experience, and a free vacation of sorts to Miami Beach. Yes on all accounts, please.

Band practice went incredible well this weekend. After a dilemma of losing our drummer, potentially having to drop the show, cancel practice and can the reunion, we were able to enlist my drummer from high school to fill in. He came up with his kit from DC to practice with us and it was a lot of fun. It was the first time a band has practiced in there in 5 years - wow! It felt like it had been only week. The show is this saturday at a BYOB swim club party.

This is definitely a very very busy time for me right now. Work is in overdrive with assessments, this paper-proposal is a big deal, and the show this weekend is right around the corner. September is now not only looking nice as a break from the heat but also a break from the work. Hopefully, if things die down and I really feel comfortable with the day-to-day I can stick to the plan of finding a clinical setting to volunteer my Saturdays. Fingers crossed!

(As I am sure I have mentioned on here before, I always find a way to be really productive doing anything else when I have pressing work due. Today I spent my day cleaning out the pantry and refrigerator of foods we don't ever eat/were stale/had expired. Here is a picture of condiments I removed from the door of the refrigerator. This was not all of them. Yeesh!)

A Long Time Coming

Today was awesome. High school revisited through music. I haven't played music on my porch in 5 years and I haven't played with my good friend Dan in just as long. Getting to do that and mixing it with my more current band was great. We played music from noon until 6. It was one of the hottest practices I have ever had and we were all sufficiently exhausted but it was well worth it. I am very excited for this show.

In other news, my new iPhone shipped. Chris has one and this was my first actual time using one - when I got to play with his for a bit. It is so nice. I got the notice that mine shipped on Thursday. That is about 4 business days a head of schedule from the initial estimate. As of the last time I checked it had reached the sort faciltiy in Philadelphia. The phone took off from Hong Kong, made its way to Anchorage, Alaska. From there it went to Memphis, Tennessee and then to Philly. It's nice to know that my new phone will be very well cultured once it get's to me.

I also got my bluetooth speakerphone today. My sister had found this idea online. I had suggested to her with the amount of travel I do in Philly and in New Jersey that getting a bluetooth would be beneficial. She went a step further and found these beeper-looking devices that act as a very efficient speakerphone option. No more wearing that ear piece - just clip the device about your head and talk normally. I tried it today and it is really great. That combined with my new phone which has voice control for dialing numbers will allow be to be truly hands-free in the car. This is a large improvement over my current system when driving in a no cell phone region - windows up, air off, phone on speaker, resting it on my shoulder and eventually just holding it discretely (if that is possible). Now I will have a brand new phone and sweet way to make calls without ever needing to touch my phone.

Reunion

Tomorrow is band practice. More importantly, its a fusion of my high school band and my college band. I'm totally excited.

High Class Coffee Table Reading

If you don't know what this is from, you should just search for Awkward Family Photos on google.

Pick a State For The Weekend

This weekend we may have practice, a show, or nothing. Depending on which happens will land me in my own bed, a house party in the woods of CT or a friend's garage in central Jersey.

Hopefully we come to a conclusion soon.

Almost Forgot!

I actually just woke up and before falling back to sleep realized I did not blog. Woops!

Wake Up!

Arcade Fire @ The Mann Center tonight. They were really solid. Thanks, Alex.

Spend It With Family

I woke up today and had a debate to settle, internally. Do I spend 5 hours (round-trip) driving to and from the Ocean City - New Jersey beach and see my relatives. Or do I spend the day lounging at home. Typically, I would take the opportunity to do nothing all day in an empty house, especially on a Sunday. The twist is that today is my birthday. I did not want to spend my birthday alone, necessarily. Also, my parents were upset that they might not get to see me on it.

Ultimately I packed up and took the trip. It was a very strange day. I got more birthday wishes than expected (and from some people I would not have expected) and yet it did not feel like a birthday. We did not go out to dinner, there was really no gifts, and there was almost not even a cake. I spent as much time on the road as I spent down there, and until yesterday I was barely even aware that it was my birthday in 24 hours.

I can't decide if this was just an off year, or if this is another casualty of getting older. Regardless, almost as unenthusiastic as I was about today being my birthday, I am pretty much the same about telling people I am 23. For everyone older than me - I know you think I am being ridiculous thinking that 23 is so old but there is someone a few years older than you who feels the same way about you complaining about your own old age.

(This is the site every year where all of my relatives walk down to the water, convince a passerby to take our 19 cameras and take a picture of all of us. If you go back to around this time last year on the blog, you will see our last year's picture.)