Always Behind The Curve

So, I'm moving this blog. Blogger is just too much of a pain in the ass to manage. I'll cross post at both places for a while, since the new place is still deep under construction.

Follow here: http://theunimpressive.wordpress.com/

I Am So Bad At Blogging, pt. 2: The Month-Late Photoblog

Staycation, guys! Ugh, that term is about as overused these days as "recessionista," "tweet," and "Glen Beck Is A Terrorist." Okay, not that last one, but I'm trying my hardest. But anyway, D and I were ready for a little work ditching, as I had just finished doing a bunch of rich whiny people's taxes, and she had been working harder than anyone else in California, as per usual.
So a Friday was picked, work was ditched, and the mythical Catalina Island was the destination. D had never been there, and I went once when I was but a lad. The original plan was to lead off with an old person breakfast at the Carrow's by our house, but that was of course trumped by laziness. Mastodon's Leviathan was on the Subaru stereo. After barely (of course) making it to the ferry on time, we were off.

In the harbor, aboard the vessel.

My better half.

See what I mean?

Leaving the harbor.

Officially on the open sea.

Twas rather windy.

Though I was not fazed.

Remember this guy (and the people in front of him) for later.

South tip of the island.

And then it happened. The family in the picture above (in front of grey sweatshirt guy) decided to start throwing up, at the front of the boat- which was going pretty much top speed. You do the math. When my sunglasses started getting splashed, I thought it was the ocean. I was very mistaken. Grey sweatshirt guy, luckily for me (and unluckily for him) took the brunt of it, though my sweatshirt was out of commission for the rest of the trip. His may not have been salvageable. Poor guy. Also- the lady came to apologize to him, and the baby she was holding started throwing up again! I may not know too much about the seafaring life, but I do know you should avoid the highest point on the boat if you tend to get motion sick. 

We did make friends with the other thrown-up-upon people, and they took a picture of us, far away on the back of the boat.

Into Avalon Harbor.

My seafaring lass.

 Casino.

Friendly tourist pic.

We basically just did a bunch of hanging around, eating a bunch of food, and enjoying the weather.

And looking at fish via glass-bottom boat. Tourism!

Yes, that is a submarine.

At the end of the day, we walked down to this beach (it is a protected wildlife area) and just lazed around for a good while.

Rocky, but relaxing.

And Dawn almost fell in.

Back to reality. Or, at least Orange County.

 A patriotic afternoon voyage.

A bunch of dolphins started swimming in the boat wake after I took this picture, naturally.

Watchmen Was So Unbelieveably Horrible

I've never wanted to walk out a movie at so many different points- including within the first 5 minutes. I don't even want to talk about it, really.

So here are some movies I'd have rather spent my time/money on:
-Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector
-An American Carol
-Ballistic: Ecks Vs. Sever
-Charlies Angels 2: Full Throttle
-Paul Blart: Mall Cop
-Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li
-Speed/Speed 2 (Double Feature!)
-The DaVinci Code
-Star Wars Episodes 1 through 3
-Dave Matthews Band Live Bootleg Series
-Any Cameron Diaz/Drew Barrymore/Julia Roberts romantic comedy
-Testicles Being Crushed In A Vice: An Exhausitve 13-part Documentary

Hate-Reading Pitchfork

I like doing surveys because I'm not really very creative. So in the spirit of staleness and predictability, I appropriated one from Pitchforkmedia.com, where they ask pretentious and overrated musicians about (mostly music-related) things. Let's do this!

>> Favorite Songs from the Past Year
Hmmm, off the top of my head:
Batcat- Mogwai
Dig, Lazarus, Dig!- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Time To Pretend- MGMT
>> Favorite Older Songs at the Moment
Elton John- Rocket Man (I heard it on TV last night, so it's fresh in my mind.)  
>> Favorite New Band
This question is bad because "new" is so fucking subjective. You're the worst, Pitchfork.
But in the spirit of playing along, MGMT is probably the newest band in my collection.
>> My Dream Collaboration
To collaborate with me? Anyone, almost.
To collaborate with each other: Josh Homme & Jack White on a Desert Sessions record, Boris and Mastodon on a noise-metal record.
>> Favorite Song Ever
How could someone choose this? Here's a selection:
Merchandise- Fugazi
A Day In The Life- The Beatles
Teenage Riot- Sonic Youth
Tangerine- Led Zeppelin
Plenty For All- Hot Snakes
>> Best Recent Concert
The last one I went to was one of the best- Mogwai in LA. As of right now, that's also the nest concert I'm going to.
>> Last Great Film I Saw
Man On Wire
>> Last Great Book I Read
I'm reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It's great. 
>> Favorite Piece of Musical Equipment
Mainly the versatility of my Gibson SG, but really any guitar- especially electrics plugged into a shitload of pedals and a fucking loud amp.
>> First Record You Ever Bought
You know, I don't really remember, and I was trying to figure this out the other day. The earliest one I can remember is buying the Nirvana cds of Nevermind and In Utero from my friend Lawrence for $10. He had decided he liked rap. But that was in like 6th or 7th grade, and there must have been some sooner. The first records I remember getting as a gift were: The La Bamba Sountrack, a Cars tape, and Michael Jackson's Bad.

>> Favorite Record Shop
Fucking Amoeba Hollywood of course. It's always crowded, but that's because it the world's best record store.

>> Favorite City to Play
Based on my extremely limited touring experience, I'm gonna say San Luis Obispo.
>> My Dream Merch Table
None, like Fugazi.
>> A Popular Artist I'd Like to Fall Into Obscurity
It's hard to be an "artist" when you are popular, but Diddy or Britney Spears fit, in the absolute loosest definition of the term. As for those who consider themselves "artists," I have to say Radiohead and Bruce Springsteen (sorry Andy). Oh, and Arcade Fire!
>> Obscure Artist I'd Like to Become More Popular
See above. I don't really want to live in a world where everyone listens to "obscure" shit, but I think Queens of The Stone Age should be more popular.
>> Strangest Display of Affection from a Fan
n/a, thankfully.
>> Best Purchase of the Past Year
Have to say the Subaru.

>> Best Thing I Did This Year
Engagement.
>> Favorite Venue
The Troubadour.
>> Favorite TV Show at the Moment
Too many. Arrested Development is the all-time best. Others: No Reservations, Lost, Classic Albums. Top Chef has lost much of it's appeal since Thumb-Head's win.
>> Favorite Video Game at the Moment
Temporarily gave up Zelda to focus on Wii Sports and Call of Duty: World At War. Now it's back to Zelda.
>>Favorite Radio Show
The oft-lamented Jonsey's Jukebox, and the newly reborn Harmony In My Head.

Trader Joe's Soy Orange Creamsicles

Are the fucking best. I suggest you get hip to them ASAP.

Other things I'm digging:
...Trail of Dead: Source Tags & Codes- Still good. Need the new one.
The Juliana Theory: Music From Another Room- San Luis Obispo flashback, and I'm not ashamed.
Spiritualized: Songs in A+E, Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space- Jason Spaceman wins.
Sunn0))) & Boris: Altar- I love the doom.
Counting the number of despondent wealthy people I hear daily convinced that those commies are going to steal their hard earned cash and redistribute it to the unwashed and undeserving- priceless.
Douchechill!

Not Digging:
The Top Chef winner- he doesn't get mentioned by name. Dear Padma, we'll forget this ever happened.
Shunning my instruments- not consciously.
Getting tickets for expired registration stickers, then having the parking cop PUT THE ACTUAL TICKET ON TOP OF the temporary registration in the windshield.
Not getting tickets to the Clarity x 10 tour. Blew it.
Blogger's Block- blowing it.

Musicality

Recent musical tidbits/happenings:
Seriously, Jane's Addiction is all over the goddamn place these days- more than usual. The (internet) radio, TV shows, Pitchfork (twice), even the Irvine post office. Their ubiquity is astounding. What a perfect time to have a reunion.

Recent Listenings:
Fugazi: Red Medicine- Why I don't listen to this more is ASTOUNDING. It may be their best record. When I was younger I think I wrote it off for not being either aggressive enough or song-oriented enough, but, after listening to in the car for the past week, I'm amazed at how good it (still) is. Great recording, and especially great guitar sounds (even for Fugazi). Makes me want a Rickenbacker even more.
Fugazi- Steady Diet of Nothing: Always, always good.
Sonic Youth: The Destroyed Room (rarities/b-sides)- Cool weird stuff and the 20+ minute version of The Diamond Sea is iconic.
Sonic Youth: SYR 8 ANDRE SIDER AF SONIC YOUTH- About an hour of live noise improv, featuring, among others, The Mighty Merzbow. Cool textural stuff if you can stand it (you can't).
Boris with Merzbow: Rock Dream- This is my (metal) rock dream. Beyond perfection, noise+rock+sludge+metal.

I am ridiculous:
I made a spreadsheet of the guitar pedals/effects I plan to buy. It's waaaaay too long.

Do you ever do things that make you hate yourself?

Take Myspace for instance- it's THE WORST. It's like the Paso Robles of web 2.0, all tacky and trashy, full of people you don't want to see except out of morbid curiosity, made up to look modern at first glance. You don't know why you go back. 

Oh, right, it's because your parents live there.

I guess that analogy kind of falls apart at the end. Sorry.

Anyway, I'm over it.

In other news: added a twitter thingy and rss subscription links (at the behest of Andy, I finally figured out how to do it) to the blog. Get ready to get sick of my constant twitterings.

Why The Fuck Has This Not Been ReMastered? Episode One

Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary
For fuck's sake- this is one of the greatest records of the 90's, and it sounds terrible. Luckily for all of us, the excellent songcraft shines through the horrible, muddy mix. Jeremy Enigk needs to get over himself, do the respectable thing by making the record sound like it should, and even, as a side benefit, make some fucking cash (everyone knows Nate Mendel had to pay for the first Fire Theft record).
Ratings in it's present form: Songs: 9.5, Mix: 2.0.
Jeremy/Sub Pop- DO THE RIGHT THING.

Good Night & Good Luck, My Old Friend.

So, it finally happened. I lost one of my oldest and dearest friends this last weekend.


Yeah, I know... traumatic/dramatic. She required a princely sum to get running again, in addition to untold future investments- so I decided the do the economically smart thing and invest it in an otherwise more reliable vehicle:

And so now I join Maine residents and various other hippies as the proud owner of a Subaru. I am very proud of my absolutely pragmatic decision making.
Dawn played DJ on the way home (ipod connectivity!), and after the obligatory round of Hot Snakes, she made the best possible choice: 99 Problems- immediately easing my separation anxiety from the Red Dragon, at least temporarily. The first record you listen to in a certain situation is very important, I think. (Also noteworthy- the first song I heard on the car's radio was Q-Tip. I didn't even know he got played on Power 106 these days. Even so, a very good omen.)
So, I say a tearful goodbye to my friend of 12 years, and bid a bittersweet welcome to a new one.

I've Got 96 Tears In 96 Eyes

I new something was up with my car this morning. Come to find out, it was bummed about Lux Interior's passing. Well, that makes two of us, Jeep.
Sadly, I've got no pictures of me lurking out-of-focusly behind Lux. Oh well- check out the youtubes instead.
My favorite two Cramps songs:
I Was A Teenage Werewolf

& Human Fly


[Update: I came across what I thought is the best eulogy for Lux- written by none other than The Mighty Sw@mi  himself:

"no way only 95,000 people bought Bad Music. i'm guessing it's 10 times that. as important as the ramones or mozart. the cramps not only taught us songs but a way of life. no one will ever be cooler than lux. he was badass lethal and outrageously hilarious until the end i mourn"]

I had finally come up with a plan to replace my car- however, it required my car to be driveable until at least September. Hopefully this is an easy (and cheap) repair, but that doesn't usually happen.

Hmm, Weird/Good, Weird/Bad.

Item 1:
In reference to the previous post regarding my dissapointment with the demise of Indie 103.1 fm Los Angeles: the new, web-only version of the station is better in every way except two: no Steve Jones, and you can't listen to it in your car (actually, Dawn's car- my radio doesn't work anyway). Listen here if you desire.
Awesome surprises- yesterday they played Slint. Fucking Slint! Unbelieveable. And not just any Slint song- Good Morning, Captain is nearly 8 minutes long. Normal Version. Crappy Live Version.
Today- Wire's Ex-Lion Tamer, and not even on Rollins' show. Normal Awesome Version. Not Really Awesome At All Rollins Cover Version. (See how I brought those together?)
Two of my favorite bands/songs ever, but I suppose I shouldn't be that suprised- either of those tracks is probably being played hundreds of times a day somewhere on the internet.
[Subitem A: All the internets were like "lolz, indie sucked, listen to KUCI ftw, icanhascheezburger brb!!!111" KUCI is the UC Irvine college radio staion (No doy, Jack Donaghee). It is just as bad and possibly worse than I remember college radio being. The d.j.s might actually be retarded. Can you be mentally handicapped at the UC level? All they really have to do is comb Pitchfork for playlist ideas or play horrrrrrrrible "World Music." Dear internets: you were so wrong. KUCI=Epic Fail, lolz!!!!111]

Item 2:
I watched some live Nine Inch Nails movie/dvd thing on the HD music video channel the other day and it was APPALLINGLY HORRIBLE, sound-wise at least. Hardly any drums, no synths or guitars in the mix at all, only bass and lead vocals. I'm chalking it up to someone at the TV station fucking it up, because I can't believe there'd be anyway a band would release that shit on DVD- it would be humiliating.

Item 3:
Dear Coachella Festival: Fuck you. I've successfully avoided going to your festival for the last 10 years or so. But those days my be nearly over. Look at this shit! Amazing.
Bands I wanna see: Fri- A Place To Bury Strangers, Conor Oberst, Franz Ferdinand, Girl Talk (meh, maybe), Leonard Cohen, Morrissey, Paul McCartney (!), Patton/Rahzel.
Sat- Amy Winehouse (assuming she's still alive), Glasvegas, Henry Rollins, Liars, Mastodon, Tinariwen, Turbonegro, TVOTR.
Sun- Fucked Up, My Bloody Valentine, No Age, Paul Weller, The Night Marchers, X, Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
(I did not plan to bold those just because they are all M's. They're just the ones I'd like to see the most (again). Weird!)
Christ though, $269 for 3 days, plus the need to find somewhere to stay. They have fucking layaway though.

Some Times It Just Takes a While To Get Things Done

Like, say, 6 or 7 years.
Case in point: my turntable. Like any self-respecting young "punker," I've had a record player and the requisite Minor Threat 7"s for years. However, I never had it set up correctly- until last night. See, I never had a stereo with the proper phono input/preamp, so playing records involved plugging the beast into my crappy bookshelf stereo and turning the volume waaaaay up, and listening to records without the proper EQ curve. I could've bought a phono preamp, but who has $50, right?
Anyway, I recently aquired the proper receiver/preamp, bought a classy new needle/cartridge, bought some new speakers (hooray gift certificates!), new speaker wire, etc. etc. etc. After a liberal application of electrical contact cleaner (the balance & volume knobs were corroded, causing distortion and general not-workiness) last night, I'm in business- finally. And it really does sound great. Apparently the reciever I got from my parent's house is very well thought of in stereo cicles (it's a Luxman R-117, if you care. But I know you don't). Fantastic. I don't plan on replacing my (hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of) cds, but when new stuff, or stuff that I don't physically own is available on vinyl, that's what I'm buying.
One thing I've got to get used to: having to stand up and walk over to the record to see the track names.
One thing I don't need to get used to: vinyl really does sound better. I hate to admit it, but it's true.

Records I've been listening to on the beast:
-Hot Snakes: Suicide Invoice (with a rad extended version of Paid In Cigarettes that I'd never heard until now!)
-Mogwai: Bat Cat EP (it's a 12" 45! Those crazy Scots!)
-At The Drive-In: One Armed Scissor single (yes, there were some cool things about my old job.)
-T.Rex: Electric Warrior (I always regretted buying the album from iTunes, and now I've made it right.)
-Big Black: Songs About Fucking (of course I have to have a Steve Albini record on vinyl. It's virtually required.)

Notable Stuffery

This close to having my turntable set up again. It's been a long while- since I moved out of my Mom's house in college, to be exact. Got some new speakers this weekend, fanagled a vintage receiver from Hall Manor (thanks Ross), still waiting on my new cartridge from Amazon- should be here any day now. I've got a bunch of records that have never been played- time to put a stop to that.

Listening lately:
-(some CD compilations to listen to in the car)
       Mogwai EP Compiliation: EP+2, Bat Cat, My Father My King
       My Bloody Valentine: Glider + Tremolo
       The Clash: Assorted Dub (the only reggae you will ever hear me listening to)
-Sigur Rós: Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
-Hot Snakes: Automatic Midnight

Watching lately:
-Imagine: The Story of the Guitar (BBC Bootleg!)
-John Adams
-Taxi To The Dark Side (Fuuuuuck...)
-Bigger, Stronger, Faster
-Defiance

The Death of Indie 103.1FM:
Bummer. Jonesy's Jukebox was the best radio program ever conceived.

And finally- Blogism
See the sidebar at left for new friend-bloggage. Including, but not limited to: Megan J's Carnival Preparations and Morgan C's drawings of flesh-eating diseases/zombies. Enjoy!

TiVo HD is the greatest.

Even for someone who's been living the TiVo lifestyle fo sooooo long. Netflix Instant Queue! Amazing. The increased hard drive space and dual recording capability are really doing a number on my free time.
Oh yeah, Time Warner Cable=dicks. It took them a whole day to get the cable card working.
So between TiVo, Netflix, and Call of Duty: World At War, I haven't a lot of time for the internets, sorry.

Back To/In The Swing Of Things

As unfortunate as it is, I think everyone gets a little sick of vacation. I've successfully avoided doing very much work (about 3 days worth) in the last 3 weeks or so, and as much as I enjoyed being on a couch by the fire in Paso or on a ski lift in Big Bear, I am more than glad to be home.
Here's what I've been doing since I got back.
-Watching Mad Men (thanks Chase) on the new TV
-Playing Call of Duty: World At War (thanks Michael) on the new TV
-Recovering my sore muscles
-Reading The Nasty Bits by Anthony Bourdain (thanks Tim)
-Listening to these: Roxy Music: s/t, Scott Walker: Scott, Paul McCartney: McCartney, Paul McCartney: Ram, Sonic Youth: Confusion Is Sex/Kill Yr Idols, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Murder Ballads, Explosions In The Sky: All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone (thanks Chase).
-Exploring the wonderful world of the Micro POG (thanks Dawn).

Probably The Final Blog Of The Year

Geez, 2008 was kind of a tough one, you guys. I mean, not really for me, just in general. Actually, 2008 was pretty alright- good even. On to the bullet points!

-Obligatory Christmas info: long vacation, too much food, great (cold) weather. Ranch catastrophes are commonplace this time of year, so we all had to take care of a dying goat- just another day in Paso. All the family was around pretty much the whole time, which is rare. With multiple people, however, comes disease- and I've spent Christmas eve until now as a congested, sore-throated mess.

-Don't buy things from Best Buy. I should've known, especially cause I read Consumerist damn near everyday. Collecting X-Mas money, gift cards and etc., Dawn and I decided to buy an LCD HDTV. I didn't want to order it because I didn't want to deal with delivery hassles (not being home, etc.) and I was sketched out by Circuit City's impending bankruptcy, so I cracked and went to Fucking Best Buy (as it shall henceforth be known). The one by my work didn't have the approprate models in stock, so I drove to Costa Mesa, where they did. After long considerations about which picture was better (Samsung vs. Sony), I went with the Sony, bought it, got it home, unboxed it, and immediatly re-boxed it. Because the screen was shattered. Awesome. Took it back less than an hour after I bought it, when the Fucking Best Buy "manager" told me this doesn't happen to tvs so they couldn't help me, becuase it was something I did. Wrong, asshole. After some, shall we say, stern words, said Fucking Best Buy "manager" dissapeared and someone brought me a new TV, whose box I promptly opened in the store to verify the lack of shattering on the tv screen. Fuckers.

-I was able to summarize my musical taste with one trip to Boo Boos. I Purchased records by 2 artists: Paul McCartney (McCartney and Ram) and Sonic Youth (Confusion Is Sex, and SYR 8 live with Merzbow). One end of the rock music spectrum to the other: oldtimey-folk-classicrock-avantgarde-postpunk-noise-improvisation. Awesome.

-New Years plans: Big Bear. I've probably spent more time in Big Bear over New Years than anywhere else othe than my Mom's house. It's my brother Tim's bday on the first, so we will do much celebrating up there. Should be good times.

-Wedding update: date is set, catering booked, invitations designed, (cup)cake(s) tasted, dress (apparently- not my department) picked out. Not too bad for only one month of being engaged.

This Week's Tunes

Man, weather is wierd. Less than a month ago it was around 100 degrees- and as of yesterday it was about 40 and pissing rain. On of my favorite things about where I live is standing on the beach looking at snow covered mountains.
So this got me in the winter mood- and with the holidays fast approaching, I dusted off some old friendlies to warm me up, music-wise.

-Mogwai: Mr. Beast
-Jimi Hendrix: Band of Gypsies
-Any Beatles record
-Mastodon: Blood Mountain & Leviathan
-Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights
-Ataxia: Automatic Writing
-John Frusciante: DC EP
-And yes, I fucking like Christmas music, so I have a playlist of that going on iTunes. Deal with it.

2 Recent Revelations

I was watching Dave Chappelle's Block Party (again) the other day and I realized two things:

1. Lauren Hill is certainly the best female singer in modern music. Seriously- her voice is amazing, easily ahead of Beyonce (sorry Beyonce, no time to hunt-and-peck for your accent marks), Christina Aguilera (whose voice has like, zero personality), and Alicia Keys (she comes in second place, bolstered by her friendship with Jack White). However- I can't stand her! I don't know why. I love the Fugees, but she drives me nuts for some reason- maybe because she is rather nuts herself.

2. It's a serious bummer living in a world where Dave Chappelle is still in virtual hiding. I know he has/had a lot of shit on his mind- but come say hi once in a while Dave! Even an Oprah appearance would be welcome.

Things That Have Happened (to me) Since The Last Time I Got Gas for $1.86

Yes, the threshold has been crossed. Gas at this particular gas station is actually below $1.86 at the time of this writing- it's 7-11, 17th St, Costa Mesa here. This is a memorable amount is because I was helping Dawn move into the old Costa Mesa apartment, and the day after driving a miserable, air conditioning-less, radio-less huge U-Haul truck from Paso to the Mesa in the middle of August (2003, pending verification), I couldn't help thinking how screwed I was getting by filling up the truck at the 7-11 down the street for $1.86/gal. Little did I know, right? Get ready for a big ass incomplete sentence, starting NOW!

Graduated college, Paso earthquake, layoff, move to So Cal, collect unemployment, blow savings, internship (Adam LaRue is the greatest), "Sweet" music industry job, overworked & underpaid in shitty Garden Grove (excellent freinds made, however), TiVo zombie initiation, getting a cat, early (forced) retirement from music tastemaking (Sierra and I broke Fall Out Boy. Really. Kinda. Yes, unfortunately all in a days work), Dawn graduates law school ass-kickingly, European Sojurn, The Lost Year (which I will not speak of other than saying unemployment, depression, temp jobs), going to the gym, getting my shit together, getting a "real" job, new laptop (!), de-vegitarianizing, expanding liquid horizions, joining/quitting a drummerless band, moving to Corona Del Mar, getting engaged.
So there we are, up to last week. Weirdness!

The Current "Stuff."

Records:
-Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountian (By Strategy)
-Mogwai [as usual]: The Hawk Is Howling & My Father My King
-The Beatles: The White Album
-Melvins: The Maggot [Dude, I like it! Sorry for calling you out in the past Buzz]
-The Andrew Oldham Orchestra: The Rolling Stones Songbook [The last song on here may sound very familiar to you. Research!]
-Mastodon: Blood Mountain
-Scott Walker: Scott 2
-To buy: new (International) Noise Conspiracy, new phono preamp

Other Music Stuff:
-Geeking out over Mastodon recording a new record: check this and this.
-Have a bunch of Boris records to go through that I "got" from my brother. He loves the sludge-metal, that's for sure.

Holiday Attack:
-Other than getting engaged (geez- obvs, Brian), Thanksgiving was memorable for these reasons: A)The worst heartburn of my life. B) Drinking alcohol before 9 am for several days in a row (see "A" above). C) Playing video games with parents/adult family (it was Wii, but still. My Mom thinks creating "Mii"s is the most hillarious thing ever).
-I started Christmas shopping earlier than ever this year. Congrats to myself for good planning/budgeting.
-XMas tree this weekend?

Wedding Attack:
-1 week into planning and shit's going pretty well. After some haggling over the date (and many, many congrats to Megan and Morgan), things are going nicely. Only 10 months to go!
-The first thing I did when I got home and plugged my music hard drive in was start playlisting. I AM UNSTOPPABLE, and possibly the best DJ ever.