My Talents

You asked for it!

(figuratively)

(...alright, not even figuratively)

1. I can play the radio

2. I can eat almonds without dying

3. I can smell bacon from my bedroom in the morning (even if there is no bacon cooking in the house)

4. I can sleep through my alarm clock

5. Sometimes I can go over three hours without going crazy

6. I can lose my iPod, my keys, and my shoes at the most inopportune times

7. Even if there is only one pile of cat crap in a gigantic park I will find it first by stepping in it and smearing it all over the bottom of my shoe so bad I have to burn my shoes and bury them in the backyard

8. On a good day it only takes me five or six times to run out of the garage without tripping or triggering the safety sensor as the door is closing

9. I can make any moment (no matter how fun or exciting) incredibly awkward for everyone within a four mile radius

10. I can blow little bubbles of saliva off the tip of my tongue (it's something)

History Lesson

I don't consider myself a hipster (those of you who know me and have seen me in real life will know that this is true). However, I do get a little irritated when I hear songs on the radio these days that people used to scoff at me for liking five years ago. Seriously. They are the exact same songs and people used to ask me why I liked the bands and the songs and now they are all posting them on Facebook and stuff like that. Terrible.

I think, more than anything, it just goes to show that people will like what is easy to like. People have a tendency to take what is spoon fed to them not necessarily because it's the best music out there but because it's the easiest thing to like. And I don't want to knock anyone's interests (and really, this is a rant against the radio and the industry rather than against the audience) but I think it's safe to say that of all the thousands of songs produced every year maybe only a few of the best make it on the radio.

Anyway, like usual, this isn't what I intended to write about when I started this post. I really just wanted to show some history to some of the better acts coming onto the scene (by scene I mean main- stream- radio- air- time- singles- and- general- recognition not "scene-scene") in the past couple years.

First, everyone has heard of 'fun.' They're a great band who just released three fantastic singles last year. They've been around for a while but only recently have they gained any recognition. When I was a sophomore in high school I went to a show to see Something Corporate, Mae, and The Format. I had never heard of The Format but when I left the building dripping sweat later that evening I knew I had found one of the greatest acts of my life time. Here is a bit of what they sounded like-->

After two full-length, self-produced albums that both rocked my world The Format disbanded (the universe is a cruel, cruel mistress) and stopped making music. However, Nate, the lead singer, created a new band to keep making music. He called his new project 'fun.' and they have yet to completely disappoint although I really do miss how indy The Format was. I really like the way fun. has kept away from the traditional sound by implementing some great instrumentation and experimental sound but, really, so many bands are experimenting now that it has kind of lost its novelty.

I was going to do another one but I'll save it for later. Rather, here's fun.'s newest release to wrap things up.

Pictures From My iPod (Part 2)

Pictures from my iPod (Part 1)

Holidays and Time Machines

I really want to find a cheap (like, free-cheap) piano to put in my room. But I'm lazy and my car is small so I don't want to go get it from somewhere, I just want it to appear suddenly in my room like a time machine roaring back from its latest adventure to the time when some city you've never heard of was scraped off the face of the earth into the deepest parts of the sea.

The fact that we don't have a time machine made yet only tells me that the future is so much brighter than the past.

I have a room of my own in my house. But it's messy because I don't have anything cool to put in it. I just have junk to put in it and no matter how you look at junk it's still going to be junk. So it's arranged in a fashion befitting of junk. The traditional heap.

Time machines are going to be reverse engineered from a time machine that comes home from the future. Only, we haven't yet made it to any point in history truly worth coming home from. That's my theory, anyway.

But I'm looking forward to Christmas and Thanksgiving and the spectrum of holiday that falls between them. Maybe I'll get a piano. Or a time machine.

If I had the time machine I think I would want to go back and watch myself experience Christmas in my earliest years. I was blessed with a family that celebrates Christmas for what it is. So my face may not have shone quite as bright as other kids' may have on Christmas morning and our tree may have been a little more plastic than most trees and our boxes may have been a bit more scarce. But our Christmas was, and is, holy. And the days ahead are as bright as the days behind. Can I be thankful for that this year?

My Christmas List (A Rough Draft)

I realize that it is still early November (not as early as it was yesterday, though) and a Christmas list this early might be frowned upon by some people.

But I say "Hey, naysayers! Whatever a 25-year-old child and his computer do on a blog that nobody visits is his own business."

Ok. 

By the way, how did all you naysayers find this blog anyway? It has yet to be unveiled to the general public.

Disclaimer: Everything I write on this list is true though not everything is practical. I know that. And I don't expect anyone to get me anything I just want you all to know the types of things I really want for Christmas (notice the resounding lack of 'calendar' and things like 'shirts that were on clearance' or 'pieces of plastic fruit').

I really like the idea of having cool bookends. You all know how much I love my books but I do not own (nor have I ever owned) bookends. Also, I really like the old classical libraries where they have busts of famous old people above shelves. It actually used to be the way libraries organized books before some genius said "Y'all never heard of numbers b'fore?" I don't know where people would go about finding cool busts of Athena (probably shouldn't google that) but if there was some zombie-apocalypsed library out there with busts lying about grab one for me, will ya?

Also, Michael Lugo got a home-made panda bear with a guitar and I'm still waiting for a fox playing a ukulele or a banjo or something like that. If I could make them myself I would. Just sayin'.

I also like corndogs and cool drawings or paintings made by people who are 'not good at drawing'.

A cool puppet like the ones they have on Wombatron.

A theremin. I could honestly rule the world if I had a theremin and everyone else fell over dead leaving me keys to their valuables.

I really want a water softener because I'm--how should I say--a wimp. A delicate wimp.

And a key to the library. Like, a key to all the libraries.

Looking Forward

I have a CSET this Saturday. Hopefully it will be my last one. I tried to take four in one day the first time (which everyone advised against). Of course, as fate would have it, I passed every part of every section of every sub-test except for the last essay on the last section of the last sub-test.

Because the universe is a cruel, cruel mistress.

I don't believe in fate. And I know the 'universe' is not in control of anything. I just like calling her a cruel mistress.


It's difficult to look forward to things when there's so much in the way. Like, it'll be fun to be a teacher eventually but all these tests and classes and exams and observations and homework and forms and everything are really dragging me down.

Maybe I should have majored in philosophy or art so I could just starve to death for the rest of my life instead of becoming a teacher. Nah, starving sounds even less fun. Because I'm hungry.

I'm really looking forward to the winter. I have a feeling we'll actually get some wintery weather this year (O! How I've missed thee!). It should be fun. Let me know what you're looking forward to in the comments below.

Also, I need a Winter Movie list so if you have any suggestions let me know in the comments. And remind me to make a post about movies for next time so you don't end up reading all about the musings of a California credential candidate. Dang. Elections are coming up, too. Why did I waste my time writing about CSETs? Oh yeah. Because the universe is a cruel, cruel mistress.