Junior Year

This semester has been so good to me and it's only 2 and a half weeks in. I have class 2 days a week but I've been ridiculously busy still. I now have a job at a bakery 2/3 days a week and booking shows for the co-op is so much more time consuming than I thought... but in the most wonderful way ever. I've got people emailing me all over to come and playing as well as the bands I've contacted myself. Thank god I got an iphone the first week of school because I find myself needed to answer emails all over the place. In class, in bed, in the shower- just kidding about the last one. But it's fun work. It is beginning to get a bit overwhelming when I get people being rude to me, but it's part of the job. And I finally understand how people can be workaholics. So far I haven't had much schoolwork in classes except for blogging (not this blog, but another one I've made for my radio show). I'm sure I will begin to get more mostly in Junior Seminar. In that class I've decided on a topic for my senior project. I've also discovered what I really want to do, which I don't even think I realized last semester. I want to book shows for a venue. I want to scout out the talent, and contact them and book them. I don't want it to sound like all fun and games and that I'll get to book all bands that I love. My teacher who worked in the music industry for years says she had to work on a lot of projects she wasn't interested in, but in the end she definitely sounds like she's enjoyed it. Everything feels so right this semester. I've never been happier and I want to make this last. And to end this happy post I will add my new favorite musician and Purchase student whose music I cannot listen to without smiling.

Yes whatever else may be, may my friends remember me

I know I have said this so many times, but looking back on my life freshman year of college I have changed so much and become so much happier. I never really felt like I was getting the real college experience in Fredonia, but here... oh my god. I remember walking around pointless one Friday night in Fredonia trying to find something to do on campus but there was literally nothing and we all ended up just going back to our dorms. At Purchase, that never happens. There is ALWAYS something going on here or at least people outside hanging out at every hour of the day and into the late night. And as I type, I hear people yelling outside at 2am on a Sunday night. This weekend was the second to last weekend of the semester and I had a great one. Friday night I had a few people over and we drank Sex on the Beach and danced the choreography to American Idiot. We then proceeded to go to a Latinos Unidos party where the walls were sweating and there was melted, watery pina coladas. We left that and ended up at The New at what was a black light party but had fizzled down to more of a drunk social gathering outside. Made some new friends there as usual.

Saturday I had an ugly sweater party planned. I've always wanted to have a party but never had been able to since I live in a small, cramped apartment with my mom. Not a crazy wall sweating party, but a nice get together with a decent amount of people that it isn't just a bunch of people having beer and snacks on a Saturday night. I invited a good amount of people, because I figure if you have 20 people telling you that they will attend, it is really more like 10. Ashley and April came up/down for it first and we set up. Then another friend came with his friend. Then some toolface came. As much as I want to hate him, even my friends did enjoy his company and joked he was "the life of the party". Another one of my friends came with two of his friends, one of my roommate's friends brought three and at one point I think we had 15 people. Several people texted me the next day saying that they had fun and thanks for inviting them. There were even a few people who couldn't make it but did text me apologizing for not making it but hoped it was fun. The fact that people enjoyed my party really made me happy and motivated to do it again next semester. And somehow in between all this, I still managed to finish my five page grant proposal for class that is due Tuesday. Now I will end this post with some lovely pictures from this crazy weekend....

Please keep taking me away

Tonight I learned that persistance is key in life. You can't be too obnoxious when you don't get what you want right away, but at the same time you can't give up. Tonight I spent three and a half hours waiting in 39 degree weather outside of Webster Hall to try to get down to the Studio, a 300 person venue to see a sold out Green Day show that was announced the day before. I almost didn't go, but I am sure glad that I changed my mind.

To my better judgement, I didn't go down early- I went to my afternoon class, finished my project for tomorrow, did my radio show and bolted to my car in the rain and left at 7:07. Traffic on the FDR drive down looked messy so I decided to take 2nd avenue down 110 blocks. Why I thought that would be quicker, I have no idea. I ended up getting there around 8:30. Drove around a few blocks and found a perfect spot on the street, not even two blocks from the venue. I decided that I had a good feeling about this night at that point. Basically the next three hours involved us waiting in the cold, walking back and forth because security kept saying we couldnt stand on the sidewalk unless we had tickets. All tickets were will call so basically they were calling it "the guest list". The doors opened at 9 and while the line never was all that long, it didn't actually end until 11:30 because once people were in, more people would show up. We must have been told at least thirty times by the guy doing tickets that we weren't getting in unless we were on the list. He said there were already 600 people in there (which is way too many), yet people kept coming out and some people even would say "Oh I have a friend of a friend at the venue" and get in. But he wouldn't budge on letting us in. Fortunately another security guard who was down the steps at the door finally pointed to me and motioned for me to come over. At this point the line was done and there were only six of us trying to get in. He asked if we were on the list, to which I told him no but the guy at the door was letting so many other people not on the list in. He told me you had to pay to get in, I told him that I knew that and was very willing to pay. He asked how much. My mind went !!!!!!!! and I replied with "$40". I mean I would have rathered pay 20, which was how much they were face value but he was doing us a favor by letting us in and I didn't want ot go too low, and considering how much some psychos paid for them on ebay and craigslist, $40 is reasonable. He told me to get the money from my friends, come down and pay him when we got in. I ran back over and told them, but when I turned around with the money he was gone and just the other door guy was there giving us dirty looks. The other guy came back out and told the one upstairs to just let us in. Pissed off, he finally gave us stamps/wristbands, I handed the guy downstairs $240, and bolted straight through the crowd to the second row in front of Mike. There I was standing in front of Mike Dirnt in the middle of a sweaty (not too terrible smelling crowd) when less than a minute ago I was standing outside in the freezing cold not sure if I'd get in or not. Now, I don't go fangirl and start crying when I see them, but I was just in shock and laughing at the fact that I just managed to get me and six other people into this super sold out show. They'd been playing new songs for about an hour, we heard another 6 new songs I want to say and about an hour of old songs, which I've all heard before, but just seeing my favorite band again for the first time in over a year was absolutely wonderful.


I think that I've played out every single Green Day song recorded to the point where I don't get the feeling I get when I used to listen to them in high school. But when I see them live, it all comes rushing back. I feel my mouth curve into this smile that I can't let go and I just let the music take me away. I headbang, dont care who is annoyed by it, I scream at the top of my lungs, I smile, and smile and smile and tear up at certain points. It's not usually anything specific, but just certain points when I realize how much this band has done for me. The people I've met, the places I've been, the stories I've got to tell. And tonight is just another one.

So thank you, Green Day.
For everything you've ever done for me.
No matter what I will always be a loyal fan to you until the day I die <3