Hey, I've got nothing to do to-day but smile doh-doh doo doh-doh doh.

Things are coming together so fast, I can barely keep up!

The final round of finals for my entire academic career begins this Monday and ends on Thursday. My last "class" of graduate school is on Friday. Then the next Tuesday, I begin my full-time practicum. Also, last night I got my first job offer! Next week I visit a last few school districts and make a decision on what my real life job will be in the fall.

It's a lot to keep up with, trying to study for potentially the most difficult two finals I've ever taken, writing a 12-page paper on a complex and over-my-head topic, keeping up with several job applications in different stages, wedding planning, etc. I've never been a star at time management, but if ever I was in need of those skills, it's now.

One thing at a time, focusing on the more current, while being super excited about the future.

From the Closet Teenage Punk in Me:

I have a crush on Hayley Williams' hair.

I have always liked the punk style, and wished I had the guts to pull it off.

More accurately, I like the cute subset of Punk.
The other subset that just strives to look as unattractive as possible is (duh) unattractive. *Hint*: Femullets are NEVER attractive. -->





If I hadn't always been in a fairly professional major, I would totally have gone punk in undergrad. . . . or maybe I would have just dreamed of it and never followed through.

Yeah, that's probably more realistic.

Props to Andrew Kendall for the concert photos (first and last photo). His photos are actually the only ones I've found that make her hair look this neat (which of course the quality loss when posting in Blogger kinda ruins, so click on the pictures for a better image).

Okay, I'm done. :)

Hooray for accomplishing things!

Nick and I just decided on a house to rent for next year.
It's small and fairly basic on the outside, but it's definitely enough space, kinda cute, and very affordable (it's cheaper than most apartments we looked at even though it's twice the size, because Nick has a good relationship with the landlord). AND it has a huge backyard with even more "common space" between the neighboring houses. It also comes with a friendly neighbor who has a passion for landscaping and takes care of all the yardwork for multiple houses in the area. . . for free. :-p

So good neighbors, nice house, nice neighborhood not too far from friends (Almost to Prospect but only one block south of where the Millers live); I can't complain.

It feels good to be making decisions that I can cross off of my growing list of academic/employment/wedding related tasks. It is also nice to be able to start envisioning how things will look for Nick and I next year. Now to just find a job. I have 2 interviews and a job fair lined up for next week. . .

Jeff Tweedy and Spider Cat

So I'm supposed to be writing my portion (10-12 pages) of a 50 page paper.
So naturally, I figured I'd post some videos.

First: Back in January, I went with Nick and a bunch of friends to see Jeff Tweedy from Wilco on one of his solo tours. I liked this guy's music before, but watching him live was such a unique experience. Though he played to a full Folinger Auditorium, the concert had a fairly intimate feel as he interacted with the crowd. Even though he played few of the songs I was familiar with it was enjoyable all the way through. His persona is subtly self-deprecating and sarcastic without being by any means over-the-top and he's an odd mix of finicky and chill. He did an excellent job handling a crowd that was just a little more disruptive than I would have preferred, taking requests yet still making fun of people while playing whatever he wanted to play.

If you've never checked this guy out as a solo artist or have somehow missed hearing about Wilco all these years, check out the videos below.
*Thanks Ben, for compiling the youtubes from that night :)*











And. . . now for spider cat. Sometimes I wish I wasn't allergic to these little dudes.

The Thankfulness Project

Last night, for several reasons, I was convicted (again) about how often I complain and by how much this effects my mood and motivations.

I decided I'll take a moment each morning to write down something I am truly thankful for in my journal. I can pull a bunch of things off the top of my head that people are supposed to be thankful for, but I think writing things down will help me meditate on how much I really do have to be thankful for and really feeling that gratitude.

I don't think I'm going to post them on here, because I think the pressure to make it sound right or worrying about sounding cliche would alter the genuine-ness of it.

I'm baa-ack.

Yes, I'm still alive. I was too busy enjoying my month long break to bother writing in here.

Lots has changed, yet much feels the same. You will probably not hear much about either here.

Every once in awhile through my long break a thought, video, social situation will prompt me to write in here, and sometimes I even went so far as to start a draft. But I'd never complete it, for one reason or another.

So what pushed me back to my blog after so long?
1) Two weeks ago, my brother left for Berlin for the semester and started up his own blog, which reminded me that I have (or had) one that I should probably get back to.

2) Unfortunately, nothing all that deep or profound. Yestderday, I saw a video that Noel H. shared of his blog (check my most recent shared item, "Chasing Pavements"). Then today I found the iTunes download looked very similar in style. I like them both, but for different elements of each. So here's the one from iTunes by Oren Lavie. I really like the visual scenes this one creates and how detailed they are (her head even jerks forward when the "train" stops) . Cute song too.



Sorry the side is cut off. First video I've ever embedded in my blog.
Maybe something of more depth soon. . . then again, I'm not making any promises.

You know it's been a long, tough semester when. . . (Part 1)

. . . you spend your morning shower alternately staring blankly at the shampoo and trying to design an alarm clock that would shoot caffeine directly into your arm through an IV to get you up in the morning.

*Productivity level reaching zero*

1.5 more weeks to go.