rock n roll is back from the dead

seriously folks, when was the last time you heard a good rock record? not pop-rock, not emo-rock, not even 80s hair band rock, but just good old alternative rock. i'm willing to bet that it was sometime in the 90s, as evidenced by the fact that "modern rock" stations are still playing nirvana every two seconds.
if you, like me, are infinitely irritated by this, you'll be happy to hear that metric's new album fantasies is a sprawling, guitar-driven masterpiece that is, in my opinion, capable of reviving an almost extinct genre. i'm talking about catchy hooks, pounding drums, and of course, dirty, grimey distorted guitars. the cherry on top is emily haines' appealingly careless vocals, an ever-so-slightly-flat sing-song that says i'm way too cool to give a shit whether or not my pitch is perfect.
lyrically, this album is among the most intense i've heard. in my opinion rock lyrics have suffered possibly more than any other aspect of the genre. when rockers started disowning the emotion behind the music, they forced it, like any thing that is stifled, to emerge in disturbing forms, such as slit-your-wrists emo, or whiny, creed-esque country rock (shudder). it seems that nowadays it's considered hip to remain emotionally distant from the music you write.
while the lyrics to these songs do border on the enigmatic, they still contain enough raw emotional substance to truly hit home. whether on the glittery, creeptastic satelite mind, or in the animal orgy/throwdown of stadium love, these songs pack a punch while still managing to leave plenty of space for the listeners own interpretation. to me, this an album about what happens at 4 am in the dessert, but i highly doubt that anyone else has made the same connection. in a way, that makes it even more special to me, because my understanding of it is so highly personal.
this is, perhaps what i like best about this album. it is what you make of it. these are the kind of songs that encourage you to think, to imagine, to become inspired. (i took out my guitar for the first time in years, just to attempt to learn gimme sympathy so that i could play it for fluff.) in this way, metric has taken it way back, to the root of everything. fantasies is what rock n roll dreams are made of.

love always

p.s.- there's even acoustic versions of some of the songs. how fucking rock n roll is that?

really cheesy songs i like, part deux

in order to tell you about this amazing piece of musical genius, i have to make a confession.
i'm twenty-four years old and i watch the disney channel .
yes, yes, i know this may seem a bit immature, but in my defense it was fluff who got me hooked on it, and like many things that i enjoy, it's harmless and comforting.
now that that's off my chest, i can tell you that the other day i was watching disney, when i saw the video for the new demi lovato song and immediately fell in love. it's called "don't forget" and it's so simple that even i could probably figure out how to play it on the guitar.
i have a love-hate relationship with demi lovato. she's like the ghost of what i thought i wanted to be when i grew up. she's so fucking pretty. and she's young. and her voice sounds the way mine used to sound before i smoked cigarettes for ten years. even more jealousy-inspiring is the fact that she got to star in camp rock. i seriously would've given up my pinky finger for that part.
in any case, here's another confession:
i actually bought the cd from itunes. i liked the song so much that i couldn't even wait to download it illegaly, so i went out and purchased the damn thing. i've been listening to it non-stop ever since.

love always

my brand new non-career

tommorrow is my first day of work at a brand new job where i'll be......waitressing! i know that some people in my life see this as a desperate move, or as a sign that i'm throwing in the towel, but honestly, it's exactly what i wanted. after being "let go" from a job that i worked so hard to obtain, a job that i perservered at despite the fact that it made me unhappy, simply for the sake of my career, i really just want to wait on tables. it's like when you get out of a real serious relationship and you're not really ready to start dating again. i got burned pretty badly and i'm not in the mood to jump into another career just yet.
i waitressed for five years before i decided to sell wine for a living, and although i occasionally resented my customers, got sick of the late hours or felt like everyone's slave, for the most part, i really enjoyed it. here are my top five reasons why:

5. you actually get to move
the first year that i was waitressing, i dropped about twenty pounds and i couldn't figure out why. then i got a job in a fancy wine shop where i sat at a computer all day, and i gained it all back. that's when it clicked. all those hours that i was busting my ass waiting on tables, i was excercising without even realizng it! not only is it great to be active because you lose weight, but it can also improve your mood drastically.

4. time flies
working in a restaurant is simple. you go in, you do what needs to be done, then you leave. there's no watching the clock, no trying to look busy. either you are busy, or you get cut.

3. free time
restaurant hours are great. shifts are typically short and don't start until later in the day. no one calls you on your day off. no one expects you to put in more time just to prove how dedicated how your are. no one expects you to do anything except show up for your shift and finish your sidework. what this means is that you get plenty of space to do what really matters to you, whether it be working on a side project, or drinking till four am every night.

2. it's such a bonding experience
restaurants are pretty low-commitment, but at times, they can be brutal. the staff gets overwhelmed, the customers get hungry, the managers are all overworked and underpaid. emotions can run pretty high, especially when it's busy and everyone's in the weeds. because of this, you really rely on your co-workers to get you through it when they can. i've met some of my best friends working in restaurants, and we're still close to this day.

1. it's fucking fun!
yes, it's hard work. no, you never get the appreciation that you deserve. sometimes the chef flips out and calls you a whore. other times you wanna murder your co-worker who somehow always gets the best section despite the fact the they never do their sidework. despite all that, it's great fun. you schmooze your customers, gossip with the staff, and deliver people yummy food and drinks all night. you meet lots of cool people, try lots of great food and you get to be social all the time. coming from where i'm coming from, that sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

love always

i always suspected he might be gay....

um, wtf, i'm really confused. i thought that twilight was supposed to be about sparkly, angsty abstinence. now that the dvd's about to come out, i feel like it's turning all sodom and gomorrah on me.
like the other day, steff and i went to hot topic to buy green hair extensions for st. patrick's day, and the guy at the checkout totally tried to hard-sell me on pre-ordering the dvd so i could get an invitation to the exclusive hot topic twilight release party. when i told him that i didn't want to be the oldest person there he got all defensive and said i'd be surprised how many people my age would be there. i still declined, politely i might add, but then his friend jumped in and said that i'd be missing out because there was gonna be a ventriloquist there with an edward puppet.
i've been having nightmares ever since.
then, i saw a preview of one of the deleted scenes on the dvd, and it's so awkwardly sexual that i felt like i was watching a porno. basically what happens is, bella's all like "hey edward, want a taste?", then she proceeds to finger-bang his mouth while he tries not to eat her fucking hand off. that shit isn't even right.
then, worst of all, i heard about how edward ( i mean robert pattinson) plays salvador dali in a gay porn.
wait, what? was dali even gay?
i'm alternately dying to see it and trembling in fear.
seriously though, does anyone else find it ironic that stephanie meyer's horny, mormon ass accidentally created such a sexual phenomenon?

love always

i'm totally not irish, but...

yesterday i got dragged to the hartford st. patty's day parade by steff, who has spent the past couple weeks making every single guiness sign in hartford (whoa!).
we went shopping the day before for some green gear that was appropriately flashy yet fashionably subdued. in other words, we wanted to go green without looking like every other girl in downtown hartford.
here's what i came up with

(i look uber-pissed, but i'm actually not. i am however quite innebriated in this particular photo)
mostly, it ended up being a good time. we started drinking around 10 am (car bombs and jameson on the rocks- yes, i'm hardcore). the parade included a fairly large number of grown men in skirts which was entertaining, but the cheerleader's uniform's were so short that i also saw a fairly large number of pre-teen asscheeks, which was a bit disturbing.
the other thing that was disturbing was the lack of public restrooms. they literally had two porto-potties for the whole parade, which meant that steff and i spent a lot of our day squatting behind various dumpsters.
when the parade was ending we decided to hit up spiritus to get our drink on in case the bars got too crowded. consequently, i ended up carrying around a bottle of cono sur pinot noir (one of joe schling's favorites for y'all that dont know about that) in a black bag like a straight-up hoodrat.
at that point, we were navigating through this intense, thick sea of people and every two seconds someone kept stopping me to be like "OMG!!! kanye west!!!". obviously, it was because of the shades. i mean, aside from them, i do not resemble kanye west in the slightest. but seriously people, did kanye west invent shutter shades? is he the only person in the world who has access to them? i get that he did indeed wear a pair of them once, but other than that, is there any reason to get so starstruck over a pair of glasses?
after a while, we thought it would be funny if we let vinnie wear them, because he bears a much stronger resemblance to kanye west than i. i didn't get to snap a pic with the glasses, but just try to imagine it

it really did look kinda convincing. the funny thing is that as soon as he put on the glasses, not one person came up to us. not one! perhaps they thought he really was kanye and they got intimidated.
in any case, a fun time was had by all. i've been hearing about this particular event for a really long time, but it never really caught my fancy. i'm glad that steff suggested it, because i plan on leaving CT as soon as i possibly can, and it really would've been a shame to miss such a crap carnival as this.

love always

here's where the insanity starts

now that i'm no longer working on a daily basis, i've got tons more time to do the things that i actually want to do. like going to the gym on a regular basis, writing and um, you know, stuff. to be honest, i'm actually uber-bored. i find myself dragging out the most basic, mundane things and turning them into big huge processes just so i'll have something to do.
case in point, this morning i spent such a long time making myself a beautiful breakfast, that i couldn't just eat it. i had to take a picture of it, which i will now share with you.

in case it just looks like a bowl of glop to you, i will explain it.
first, i took some organic oats from whole foods and boiled them in water with a whole bunch of butter. if you ever make this dish, do not skimp on the butter. it's such a healthy meal that a nice chunk of butter is perfectly acceptable, unless you'd prefer eating something that tastes like cardboard.
ok, after your oats are all buttery, you have to cut up a massive pile of fruits and put them on top of the oats. then you can dollop some fage, or any other thick greek yogurt on top of that. for those of you who don't know about fage, you're totally missing out. it's truly amazing stuff. it's thick and rich and ultra-creamy. honestly it tastes alot like sour cream only more yogurty. i use it in everything. salad dressings, breakfast, dessert, you name it, but the best, and easiest way to enjoy it is simply drizzled with a lot of honey. yum.
now that your breakfast has been faged, you can sprinkle some sliced almonds, drizzle some honey and you're good to go. it doesn't just look pretty, it tastes good too. i promise.

love always

i'm such a trendsetter

when i was just a wee lass of about twelve years old, i used to wear a studded dog collar to school. i think it goes without saying that i was teased mercilessly for it. but now, those of you who were doing the teasing can politely raise your hands and bow your heads in shame, because i have the pleasure of announcing that shit is officially in style!
not necessarily the dog collar, but the studs in particular. i've seen them everywhere. on shoes, shirts, bags, earings, you name it. i'm especially pleased about this because it means that i will be spared the embarassment of walking into hot topic just to purchase my studded accesories.
sometimes i get really possesive about fashion statements. like, if i've been rocking a particular style and all of a sudden everyone else is wearing it, i feel kind of jilted. studded accesories however, are one trend that i really don't mind sharing. i seriously love them that much. they are just so classic. i mean, nothing says badass better than the three-row pyramid belt.
the best example of this new trend that i've seen so far are these amazing sandals from urban outfitters. admiteddly, they are pricey as shit, but some things are just worth it.

love always