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.

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.

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.

Our Last Set

From our most enjoyable show.

Exhaustion

I know what it means now, and it's bitter sweet. Tonight went swimmingly. We may not have gotten the sizable turnout we desired, but eventually it didn't matter. The bands were great, the crowd was great, and my ears are still ringing.

Typically after a show I am comatose and tonight is no different. Realizing I need to be awake in just over 4 hours to make it home for my job interview is scary. Wish me luck tomorrow. This is an amazing opportunity, one that I am lucky to even be considered for.

Goodnight.

300th post!

I learned something today: Playing spread out/outside=unable to hear anyone. I literally felt like i was singing into a mic that had no level and the only other audible sound was the drums. Hoping tomorrow night with a stage and PA that we have a tighter set. If it's our last one, lets hope it rocks!

Oh yeah, and my phone interview today went really well. I have face-to-face interview Friday morning at 10 am. I am incredibly incredibly nervous. I am trying not to get my hopes up, but this job would be exactly what I am looking for. Fingers crossed!

I Love Spring Weekend

The spring week shirts boasting that logo are everywhere right now. Every spring weekend they print a few thousand of these shirts and toss them out at various Spring Weekend-related events. This was the first Spring Weekend where I got a shirt and it's a good one to get. I just happened to catch, of all of the ones they threw out, the color and size that I wanted. Excellent.

This was a great spring weekend. Last year, with TPBA, I had an incredible time. We played to the bigges crowd we ever had and will play for. It was incredible intense to perform in front of that many people, to be a memory of that Spring Weekend to so many, so sing for and sing with so many.

This year, after a year without a show, we out of the blue were offered a spring weekend show. Maybe it was the time off, maybe it was the new line-up, I'm not sure. Maybe it's just that it is hard to recall feelings to the degree they existed in their unique moment, but right now I would say I had more fun and felt more 'right' this past weekend than last year. Our set was followed by an incredible set by Penrose, who played again the next day. I recently was told that they estimated 3,500 people were in attendance for their set on Saturday. I can't even conceive what it must have looked like and felt like for them. And they deserve it.

That was the first spring weekend show I truly enjoyed (no thanks to MGMT), having followed and exhausting but amazing night. Sunday was pretty low key, but it was so, in a good way.

And now, with only days, or hours, left to give to this school I look at my Spring Weekend shirt, my only souvenir from my 4 years here, and have say once again, despite the bitching I might have about Fordham as a school, it has been and continues to be a place of incredible memories.

There are only 18 days until we graduate. That's 18 more chances to have an incredible day here. I hope to capitalize on every one.

365 Days. Worth It.

As of last night, the last show we played was the Friday of Spring Weekend, last year. 5 o'clock yesterday after striking out with any show options this semester and especially for this weekend, we got a gig. It's been a year since we performed live, and with a new line up, and very little notice, I was incredibly nervous.

We killed it. My head aches. My voice is shot. I am basically comatose. And above all, I am so incredibly happy.

This was fantastic.

Paranoia! Paranoia!

I remember dreading band practices. Confession: the week leading up to practice at one point was a total drag. It used to be a chore to make sure a lot of things that needed to happen, happened before we practiced. Back then it was rigid, everyone stuck to what they were comfortable with and that was that.

Now I couldn't be more thrilled. Even if we never got to play a show I'd still want to practice, and as often as possible. It's a blast. It is so relaxed and comfortable. I don't sing on 4 or 5 songs now, and I'm excited by that. I play the drums on some songs, and everyone else is changing it up too. We are also comfortable enough that we might, on the spot, play through the majority of a song that we never planned on playing.

There is a level of enjoyment that fills my weeks that end in a band practice, which definitely was missing at one point. It's so comforting to know that. I don't care that were playing other people's songs or that we have had no success with parties this year. We're playing music for each other, with each other and loving it. That's what matters, and that's why I started doing this six years ago.

Catch A Llama

Some lyrics were meant to be misheard.

Movie Night: It's not that boring

It should be noted that even though this picture captures two people at tonight's movie night screening it is not a reflection of the movie. Tonight we watched Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Wes Anderson. The movie was really great. The people pictured below (yes there are 2, one is half under the table) brought the movie, and had seen it before.

How did we come to realize they were sleeping. The movie reached a quiet, speech-moment, and at the same time, Nate started snoring. Not so subtle.

Also, quickly, we found out today that we will not be playing at Senior Night. We went into today with the expectation of this outcome. It was about 80/20 that we were not going to play. The upside is that it seems as though this is not because of us, our music, or the idea of a live band, but the short notice that the student committee gave the faculty to make this decision. Despite telling us a few weeks ago that we were being considered, they did not bring the notion to the school until Monday. It was too little of a window, with other circumstances complicating the matter, and we're out. But, as I said, the reasons make it hopeful that we could play the next (last) one. Fingers Crossed.

Practicing

We had band practice today. I can almost 100% say that we are playing on Thursday and in a good time slot, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow for the second part of that one.

I am excited for the show, albeit a bit nervous. As far as I know, there has never been a band at senior night and so they're kind of going out on a limb letting us play this show. It was something we talked about last year, that maybe we would get the opportunity to do so. It was not as easy a task as once imagined, but now that it is only a few days from now, I can't wait.

I am going to be playing drums for a song, and that has me a bit nervous. I am capable of playing the song and keeping time. What I am more concerned about it hearing and the sticks. I don't know how the sound will be and I am worried I might not be able to hear the rest of the band. In addition, a few times in rehearsing the song today I dropped a stick. I am hoping that this does not happen on Thursday. I am more concerned about this than I am about singing any of the songs, or just singing at the event in general, and thats an accomplishment.

No matter how many times we play a song, I always come to practice with the lyrics sheet. Something about it, I could know the song very well, and could even sing it to you in any other situation, but come time to sing it as a band and sometimes I just blank. I also have a tendency to misplace said lyric sheets after practice, making my final act before leaving for a practice looking up most of the songs online and printing out lyrics sheets for them. I probably have hundreds of pages of lyrics at this point. I should get a folder.

Back to classes everyone!

( Note: We are not playing as TSRJ for this show. Instead, we are going to play as Carlos The Dwarf)

who would you choose to be

if you could go anywhere?

one of those open ended questions meant to make you think. popped in my head recently. in class on thursday my previous upstairs neighbor from walsh named valerie wynn was there. she was giving a speech on behalf of TeachForAmerica as she apparently is their student representative at Fordham. Back to that in a second. The reason i know this person enough to know where she lived last year was because I met her when she was working with the Breast Cancer Benefit concert in Mcginley last year which would be TSRJs first show. She was helping to arrange the whole thing and spoke at the first Walsh get-together/meeting for residents in the basement which is A. how we found out about it, and the B. how we went on to ask and then utilize said basement for the remainder of the year as our practice space.

Now a year later (a little more, I guess) she comes into my class, having had my professor -Dr. McKay - because she is a Psych minor - and speaks about this opportunity. Now maybe you have heard of TeachForAmerica before but I hadn't. And all of a sudden im totally hooked by the idea. I guess I just have the good fortune of running into/intersecting paths with Ms. Wynn. I am now planning on applying to their program for the Jan. deadline. I know it is extremely competitive and I have very little chance but when you apply you can apply for a specific city, type of place, or 'send me anywhere'. I think I both want to, and would be betting my chances, by selecting the last of those options.

Which brings me back to that opener - the idea of going somewhere totally on my own with this opportunity for 2 years sounds pretty exciting. Sure I'll be making crap money by comparison to alot of people entering the working world, but a teacher's salary and grad school paid for is alot more than I think i am realistically looking at - so I am going for it and hoping for the best.

Do you like my jack-o-lanterns and sam-o-lantern in the middle?

i feel like the more i do the more time i have

something i was made aware of today. and while its not 100% of the time true - the days were you are ambitious - not the days where you have to get alot done and do - racing the clock or w/e but leisurely accomplished days where you decide to get all the things done you havent had time for because all of a sudden you have time. on these days it seems like you can accomplish millions of things and look and the clock and wonder how early it is. then by contrast theres those days you set out to do things and you never really gt into the grove and before you know it is the am hours and your wondering how all the time passed by whn you have so little to show for your day.

this picture is what i have to show for my day. not to say i wasnt somewhat productive - i did get alot done in the living room in terms of sorting out all of our electronics, cables, etc. made dinner, bought my books for classes this fall online and worked on some music. even still every day i wake up with the goal of hanging up all my posters and making this place look a bit more homey but each day its time for a blog post and the posters lay in a pile. i made some progress - i separated them into a pile for the living room and a pile for my room and what i mean by that is a pile of posters that are agreeable and the ones that i hav to keep in my room because no one cares for the subject matter (fair enough - but just pointing out that little thought went into the separation process).

i started writing some music again inspired by a friend who had a sudden surge too. we should have our first TSRJ practice this upcoming weekend and with our new drummer. im excited.

(picture is of the 3 magazine-make-shift-stands i made that have provided as a rise/shelf for my psych books).