Currently Listening:

The Alternative
By: IAMX

Why yes, I did forget about this thing for a little while.  Things got a little bit crazy for a while there and I guess and updating a journal wasn't exactly 'top priority'. 

So what exactly happened, huh?  Well, I've been frantically been trying to get things arranged for my practicum.  Yes, it's that time.  I've come to the realization that I'm incredibly close now to completing both of my majors.  My undergraduate studies are almost over...  And then comes Grad School and 'real life'.  Am I ready for it?  I can't even manage myself right now let along go out on my own and start working the system.  Either way...expanding the thought a little bit too much here.  I took about 2 weeks intersperssed with classes to get in contact with a LOT of people.  I was sending emails about every couple of hours and then waiting for responses.  With signing up for classes, I needed to get something together fast, and I didn't even have a clue.  So I met with advising, got some recommendations from fellow classmates, and started contacting people.  Turns out that I was cutting it extremely close.  If I would've waited one more week, I wouldn't be able to start my practicum in the spring; I would have had to sign up for the pre-practicum (which I am now in) and tentatively wait until the fall (my last semester) to take the practicum itself.  Fortunately I lucked out, and am now on course to start working one on one with autistic kids in the spring.

Hooray...  I don't know the slightest thing about working with children, let alone children with developmental disabilities, so I'm a bit apprehensive.  It's been difficult for me to be enthusiastic, and part of the reinforcement procedure is being incredibly affectionate with your interactions with the child.  So I'm not sure exactly how I will manage.  I'm sure things will get easier once I start actually doing procedures, but right now I'm still a little bit freaked... 

Well, that's my excuse; please don't hold it against me too much.  (Because I know that there's SO many people who still read this thing.  Like a whole one or two, occassionally)

Meanwhile, I've been playing a lot more bass lately, and have been trying to get started with a jam group and with my own solo covers.  I'm looking towards playing open mics sometime soon, and with my guitar II course I'm registered for in the spring (which requires composition as part of the course requirements) I'll eventually get started on writing my own material. 

Needless to say, playing my guitars has been one of the few joyful things in my life right now.  I feel flustered and scatterbrained, and a little depressed.  I'm starting to question aspects of my life and what directions I'm moving in, and it's bringing me to a point that I don't necessarily like.  I wish things were clearer, I wish there was more of a path laid out in front of me, but there's not, and that gets frightening sometimes....

Well, if anybody wants to know more, I'd be more than happy to share, but until then you'll just have to wait until I post on here next.

Peace.

Currently Listening:

This Is Forever
By: She Wants Revenge

I need to update my playlist...  My taste in music is everchanging and progressing, but I always stick true to my roots.

Currently Listening:

Songs For The Deaf
By: Queens Of The Stone Age

So...  I posted this to facebook and myspace a while ago, and I felt like xanga deserved it too.  This is a list of 100 things that make me happy, in no specific order:

Thanks to Tabitha for the awesome idea!
I'd recommend doing this sometime. It's really cool.

1. Playing Guitar
2. Going to see live music performances
3. Sushi
4. A good cup of coffee
5. Conversations while walking somewhere (preferably through bad weather)
6. Rain (and thunderstorms)
7. and in contrast, Sunshine on a mildly temperatured day
8. Riding in Airplanes
9. Changing guitar strings
10. Fireworks
11. Waking up after a full and undisturbed sleep
12. Accomplishing a goal
13. Breaking a bad habit, and afterwards realizing that it wasn't that difficult to break
14. Walking through sand
15. Sunsets
16. Cooking
17. Introducing someone to a band that they instantly fall in love with
18. Changing my hairstyle
19. Laughing
20. Watching a beautiful game of soccer
21. Random antics with friends
22. Going to a bar and hanging out
23. Attempting to play an intstrument that I don't have any clue how to play
24. Bonfires
25. Dreaming
26. Taking Photographs
27. Things that are ridiculously funny but you don't really have any idea why
28. Making my own tea
29. Distortion effect pedals (sometimes)
30. Random bursts of energeticness
31. The sort of experiences that you barely remember afterwards because they were so powerful while they were happening
32. Not saying a word and have someone be able to tell exactly how I'm feeling
33. Road Trips (even if there's no purpose)
34. Tailgating (even if I'm not going to the game)
35. Partaking in the occassional game of Fifa with my roommates
36. Giving (and recieving) affection to(/from) people that I love
37. A nice, ripe mango in the morning for breakfast
38. Being in an immensely urban location
39. and in contrast, being in an immensely natural and undisturbed location
40. Yelling, just for the sake of making noise
41. Connecting with family members
42. Reunions with old friends
43. Giving (and recieving) advice that pays off in the end
44. Running to the point of pure exhaustion (then running some more)
45. Getting a sweet deal on something awesome
46. Meeting someone who is remarkably similar to myself
47. Hearing a great song for the first time
48. Wearing button-up shirts WITH a tie (there's just something about it)
49. Doing something that I've never done before
50. Quoting things
51. Going to outdoor concerts in the pouring rain
52. Hanging at Monaco Bay on sunday nights with a group friends
53. Going to guitar center for hours on end just to jam on a guitar that I can't afford
54. Spontaneity
55. Driving, just for the sake of going somewhere
56. Singing along to my favorite jams (usually while driving)
57. Spending time with someone who means a lot to me
58. Watching a well-done movie
59. Cooking something for the first time without a recipe and having it turn out awesome
60. Re-Partaking in the things that I loved while growing up.
61. Swimming
62. Deja-vu (The experience, not the strip-club)
63. Buying textbooks for UNDER 300 dollars a semester
64. Trying a new type of food for the first time
65. Being Congratulated
66. Barefooted-ness (I hate wearing shoes if I don't have to)
67. Feeling alive
68. SuperQuarters
69. Finishing a great book
70. Performing music as part of a group
71. A nice, close shave (with no razorburn)
72. Anything that tastes like citrus (except for grapefruit)
73. Finding money in my pockets
74. British Accents
75. Coming up with "the moral of the story"
76. Sharing ideas and opinions
77. Putting my palms on the floor while sitting down and feeling the room move because of reverberating sound
78. Wearing sound cancelling headphones almost upside down so they don't mess up my spikes
79. Clean T-Shirts that fit well
80. Wearing unconventional items around my wrists (bandanas, mardi-gras beads, etc)
81. Celebrating the good holidays and making fun of the dumb ones
82. Intentional feedback and manipulation of it
83. Wearing large sunglasses
84. Air conditioning on a hot day
85. When people biff it while they're trying to show off
86. Riding on the subway in a large city
87. Hoodies
88. Taking care of plants
89. Burning Incense
90. Axe: Kilo (my secret weapon)
91. Recieving a large sum of money
92. Ornamental rugs
93. Record Stores
94. Lost 5-0 energy drink, The one thing that will always remind me of summer
95. Practical Jokes
96. Going to a movie and being the only ones in the theatre
97. Having an off day and turning it around
98. Acing an exam
99. Ringing in my ears
100. Coming up with something creative and innovative for the last item on a list (Don't judge me...)

Currently Listening:

The Resistance
By: Muse

Yes, yes, It has been a while: so, Sharing time I suppose.
What have I been up to?  Well, Classes started back up again and I couldn't be happier about that.  Everything is going very smoothly at the moment; Aside from one psych class, all of my instructors are extremely laid-back this time around.  Little workload, but just a lot of reading, so it'll be easy and fun.  Guitar class is going to be cake...So far I've only learned a few 7th chords and a little bit of theory, but otherwise I know all of the material that the class is going to include.  I will however have to be able to sing and play entire songs for exams, so I will get a little more fluent in chord-work and vocals.  Huzzah!
Um...  I just got over a freak cold that hit me out of nowhere and lasted less than a week, so I guess it's good to be healthy again, but it was a strange affliction...  I kind of wonder how many times that's going to happen this year.  With mass hysteria about flu and everything, and people getting sick all at the same time, there's no telling how the sicknesses are going to pan out.
Let's see, my parents just got back from a couple of weeks across the pond in England.  I couldnt be more jealous...  I was unable to go because "I had school"......  bollucks.  Oh well, I got to pick up my cousins and give them a ride home from the airport the other day, so I did get to hear about it.  (Surprisingly I've been connecting a lot with my extended family recently.  It's odd that it's occurring now, but it's also very wonderful.  I love my family.)
Just upped the guages of my lobes the other day.  I was feeling spontaneous, so I went down to the tattoo place on campus and had them put in some new gear, a coupld of 10Gs.  They pretty much feel just like a brand new hole, regardless of the fact that they were just stretched and not actually punctured again.  They're pretty awesome though. 

The new Muse album is amazing, as well as the new Billy Talent.  For being the albums that I was most anticipated about this fall, they certainly delivered. 
Here are some others that I'm looking forward to in upcoming months:

September 29: A.F.I. - Crash Love
October 13: Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
November 10: The Bravery - Stir The Blood
November 17: John Mayer - Battle Studies
November 24: 30 Seconds To Mars - This Is War
December 15: Lupe Fiasco - Lasers

Active and Abroad!

Currently Listening:

Shaka Rock
By: JET

Oh my my, oh hell yes, it has indeed been a while, hasn't it? 
I believe that the occassional visitor to this site deserves an update as to what is going on in my life.

Well shit...  Where did I even leave off?  It feels like months ago that I last wrote, and if it feels like it, then it probably was.  So I guess we'll start with my big road trip fiasco to Chicago with some pretty stand up people a week and a couple days ago.
I went on a little bit of a quest with some friends who are rapidly becoming very close to me.  Me and Chris Dupont (the singer/songwriter extrodanaire) have known each other about a year and a half now, thanks to a certain someone who introduced us.  And through walks through bad weather in Grand Rapids, and me becoming one of his biggest supporters at shows, we became quite good friends I'd say.  Then he started introducing me to his friends.  Of which Matt Eastman and Justin Reid accompanied us on our road trip.  I didn't know them as well, but I knew they were genuine fellows and the best of people to be around.
I do need to backtrack a little bit though.  First of all, the reason I was in Chicago was to see Our Lady Peace in concert.  And at first, I actually had a ticket to see them in Detroit.  But it seemed like plans were falling through for that show, so I sold my ticket to my roommate and bought a ticket for the Chicago show with these guys instead.  Either way, I was going to be in a city that I haven't been in a while, seeing one of my favorite bands with some really good friends.  So.
Chicago turned out being incredibly awesome.  I kind of hate parallel parking with a passion when there's not enough room to actually do it, but we managed to pull it off with some directing.  We spent the whole day there walking around; getting lunch, heading to Navy Pier, then gallavanting at H&M and the Apple Store, where we finally just chilled on a street corner for a while before going to get tea at this pretty stellar place, then heading out to go to the show.
Our Lady Peace puts on a wonderful show!!  We got so close to Raine that it was incredible.  I could've reached out and touched him if I wanted, but I was so awestruck by his leap in the crowd and run over to behind where we were standing to climb up to the balcony and sing the rest of the song.  It was a great concert and left me with a very surreal feeling.  Not my favorite concert I've ever seen, but a  very awe-inspiring show at that. 
Afterwards we went out to dinner with some random girl we met at the concert and Chris' friend Jeremy; who was gracious enough to later let us crash at his flat in some awesome residential area.  Then we woke up in the morning, got some pretty awesome breakfast and headed back to G.R.  All in all, we were gone for just a little over 24 hours, but it was time well spent.

Oh, but we're not done yet.  Chris Dupont also had a little sumthin sumthin of an album release show at the mixtape last friday.  The show went great!  The openers were great!  and Holy Shit does the album sound great!!!  Great job Chris!
That guy is going places.
Either way, the whole end of the show was a little bit sad.  A lot of people are going their separate ways this year out of that group of friends.  Some moving away to Mount Pleasant, some moving away to Kansas City, some moving away to Ann Arbor, some staying in Grand Rapids.  And although I've been at Western for the past 3 years now, I can't help but feel like I'm part of it now as well.  I've grown attached to these people, and I'm sure they've got some attachment to me at this point.  So there were a lot of goodbyes at the end...  A lot of people getting their final well-wishings and farewells in before everyone does their own thing for a while.  It was difficult to be a part of, but everyone's hearts were in the right places.

Aside from this matter of fact, at the show I got to speak to a good friend of mine that hasn't said a word to me in almost 6 months now.  I honestly don't even know if she's a friend anymore with the way she makes me feel.  She burns me, then shows acknowledgement.  I'd love to restore one of that closest friendships that I've ever had that (at least to me) seemed lost, but I can't really stand the way my head gets fucked with.  Is it even worth it?  There will always be a place in my heart for her friendship, but goodness does she know how to send mixed signals.......

Well, where does that leave me now?  Here I sit, back in Kalamazoo, sunshine pouring in through my upstairs window, with all the worlds weight and pressure building on my shoulders.  I've got so much to accomplish in the next couple of weeks that it seems an impossible task at the moment.  Although I knocked out buying books and updating my resume the other day, I've still got numerous things to get under my belt that are much more complicated and difficult to achieve.
Here's my checklist for what I still have left to do this week:
Apply for jobs
Pick and Practice an audition piece for concert band
Apply for jobs
Go to Waldos on thursday night
Apply for jobs
Go to Mandy's birthday party on thursday night
Apply for jobs
Hope desperately that I get a callback for an interview
Clean and Rearrange my room
Apply for jobs
Pay the Rent, Electrical, and get a Parking Pass
Apply for jobs
Declare my double major in Philosophy
Apply for jobs (can you tell this is the thing I need most this year?)
Meet with somebody in the Psych office about how to sign up for a practicum
Apply for jobs
Help my new roommate move in and get acquainted
Apply for jobs
And then after all of these shenanigans, finally start the semester, and on a good note as well. 
Class starts back up in a week already and I haven't done much so far to make sure everything runs smoothly.  It's going to get hectic for about 2 weeks until it starts settling down.  But as much as it gives me apprehension, I've also been looking forward to it so much.  I'll be taking my first proper guitar class this semester, followed immediately by concert band, so it's like I'll be an honorary music major on mondays and wednesdays (except without the crazyness).  It's all rather fun business, isn't it?
Either way.  I suppose that's all I have. 
Only, you know, a novel an a half that nobody's going to see anyway. 

Peace