FINALLY my computer is home

     I finally got my computer back! I'm typing on his beautiful, black keys as we speak. I didn't really realize how much I missed him until I was having trouble getting on the school's wireless. I was freaking out! As soon as I started my computer, I had to be downloading pictures, posting a blog, or doing the lab for Introduction to Journalism class... or not. But yay! Really. I'm so excited to be back on this sucker.

     What isn't so cool is that I'm getting sick. Or I'm already sick. So I'm staying in tonight. With all the sorority girls! ahah just kidding. I'm sure a lot of sorority girls are still going out tonight even though they're supposed to be dry for rush, but I peaced out of the partay with my boys at green around eleven something so I can get all sorts of better before we start water practices on Friday or Saturday or... well hopefully some time soon. And I got to watch the season 1 finale of Awkward with my roommie. Have to admit though, I kinda hated the ending. Two of my favorite characters got real bashed at the end. Better luck next season. 

     Okay. well. I was gonna give y'all a sweet ass picture of my sassy campus looking peaceful and classy as shit at night, but alas, I cannot figure out how to upload a picture from my hard drive. How ironic. I thought having my computer back would make this easier. oh well. a girl can dream :]

nighty night. 

my Fall 2011 schedule [but not really]

I am so stressed out right now, I could just about explode. I finally got into a Chem 11 class, so that adds a 2+ hour lab to my Monday evenings! Here's the lowdown: Mondays- water practice at 6am, Chem 11 at 10:30am, Philosophy at 11:45 am, French at 1pm [which I found out yesterday has a weekly hour-long discussion that has yet to be given a steady time], Fictional Writing at 2:15pm, practice at 4:30pm, which I will leave early to go to lab at 5:30pm til 8:20pm. Tuesday- water practice at 6am Intro to Journalism at 9:55am [which also has a supplement lab, but it's online and on our own time, so it's way more low-key and I'm hopefully dropping my English class MWF to add this one, but I won't know for sure til later this week, so til then it's five classes and two labs for me!], then my first real break [and when I say break, I mean homework/study time] until afternoon practice at 4:30 til 6:30pm, then more time to study or sleep or cry. Pretty much the same thing for Wednesday except no lab [yayyyy!], so I'll possibly have some time to let loose Wednesday nights and stay up past ten [no water practice Thursday mornings!!] going out, hanging out, or just getting some more work done. Thursday no water practice, so my day will start at 9:55am with my comm class then another break til Peer Judicial Board meeting at 4pm til 6pm. Friday will be the same as Wednesday, but without being able to stay up late since I'll have water practice Saturday mornings, but then we have the rest of the weekend off unless we have a head race to dominate. So maybe it's not as bad as it seems when you're in the swing of it, but I can guarantee at least a couple mental breakdowns. As for right now, I'm writing this [even though I probs don't really have the time for it] then I gotta get my booty to the library so I can get as much work done as possible before practice this afternoon. My computer's getting worked on, so I get to do all my work on the library computers until it's all fixed up and back in my possession. That's the main reason I haven't been blogging much [in addition to total lack of time], because blog posts really aren't much fun without photos [like this one!!] and I need my computer to upload my pictures. Well now that I've tried my best on getting your sympathy, I gotta actually get some thing done [like buy a razor and shave my legs or get gas, except I don't know where ANY gas stations are around here] when I really just wanna curl up in my bed in my insanely hot, insanely noisy dorm room and sleep for a year!

Santa Clara University

Sorry I haven't posted in a year and a half, the past week has been crazy with packing for school, trying to cram everything I didn't do all summer into three days and driving up to Auburn, WA to see Train and Maroon 5 in concert [Matt Nathanson was there too, but we were late and missed all but his last song; oh and look out for a full review and photographs from the concert later his week, once my computer decides to work again and I can download the pictures].

My friend Peyton and I just barely made it down south to Santa Clara yesterday and I drove the longest I've ever driven on one trip! 11 hours! We were a little bit delirious and very much hyped up on caffeine by the time we made it to campus [not without some trouble in the form of both exits that lead to campus be closed for road work], but we pulled it together to hang with some friends when we got here, but still passed out around one am because we were so exhausted. It's been good back at school so far, except for the parking ticket I just got. 53 dollars for a 2 hour zone violation. Bullshit. I guess it was a classic, 'Welcome back!' from the City of Santa Clara. Well all I can say is: 'Glad to be back!'

never forget



Photo credit: http://www.12ozprophet.com/.

      Ten years ago, that day, that act, was meant to bring fear into our hearts and tear our country apart. But as that day proved, and so many since, America was not broken on September 11th. Where fear was supposed to overwhelm, hope was ignited. Where panic and pain was supposed to pull us apart, heroism and selflessness brought us together. I know that we still have a long way to go as a country and as individuals, but remembering those who lost their lives that day, whether they were just going to work on any other Tuesday morning or if they willingly put their lives at risk to help perfect strangers, and those who lost loved ones.

     So far this morning, I've watched over two hours of newscasts about 9/11/01 and all that has changed since, for the better and for the worse, but the most inspiring thing I've seen so far is what is going on in Seattle. The Pay It Forward Foundation is carrying out random acts of kindness throughout Seattle, trying to encourage others to pay it forward as well and to show how America can come together again, without a terrible tragedy as an igniter.

     As of this anniversary of 9/11/01, more than half of my life has been spent in post-9/11 America. Even 10 years later, it still doesn't seem real. But every time I go to the airport or hear about hate-crimes committed on Muslim-Americans, I am reminded that once, our world was torn apart. But that tear is being put back together and will one day be stronger than we were before.



Photo credit: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/.





Photo credit: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/.




Photo credit: http://www.af.mil/.









Taylor Swift, live in Portland

     First off, I just want to say, "wow." I had forgotten how seriously awesome it is to hear a song for the first time after hearing it live for the first time. Honestly, it's been a long while since I've seen an artist I love and actively listen to for the first time, so when I listened to Mine by Taylor Swift for the first time after her concert [it was really more like a musical theatre production than a concert, but more about that later] Tuesday night, it was an almost euphoric experience. It was like the song was coming to life in a whole new way; I could actually see TSwift singing the song instead of imagining her.
     But enough about my experiences since the show. Tuesday night was insane. Insane. My sister Shan [of Simply Shannon] and I were so close to the stage that we could have touched TSwift [if we were that creepy; which a guy by us was]. We were so close that my sister said that she got hit by TSwift's sweat at one point, which is kinda gross, but super awesome at the same time. Just for the record, TSwift honestly looks like a living doll when she performs. She's tall, svelte, and unnaturally beautiful in a completely ethereal way. [... as I'm writing this, I am watching the movie, Lords of Dogtown for the first time in wayyy too long. And although I have absolutely no interest in living in the area now, I would have loved to live in the Los Angeles/ Venice Beach area in the mid-1970s and had been part of the Z-Boys/ Dogtown world. Maybe I could have been Peggy Oki?]

     So here's a breakdown of Taylor Swift's show in Portland, along with some brief notes :]

Sparks Fly [Taylor opened with this song off her newest album, which is rumored to be about a guy she met at one of her past shows in Portland. The hidden message in the lyrics for this song in the album's booklet is indeed, 'Portland, Oregon.']

Mine

Story of Us [rumored to be about Joe Jones. I want to say I wish she'd get over the middle Jones brother by now, but some of my favorite songs by her about supposedly about her relationship and eventual break-up/heartbreak, so if only for my benefit, I hope she doesn't get over him and possibly even gets back to together with him now that he's single again!]

Our Song [definitely one of my favorite songs on her first album, along with Picture to Burn, which she sadly did not play]

Mean [Taylor introduced this song in a slightly sideways manner, describing the song: ‘I can’t think of the word right now, but it’s the opposite of “nice,” if you know what I mean.’ She then gave a little shoulder shrug and then smiled and looked at one of her bandmates, giggling about how punny her comment was]

Back to December [She mixed Apologize by OneRepublic and You're Not Sorry from her sophomore album, Fearless into this song.)

Better than Revenge [one of Shan's favorite TSwift songs]

Speak Now [During this song, the dancers and Swift depicted a full wedding scene, which Swift ruined by stealing the groom and running off the stage and into the crowd. She then walked to the back of the Rose Garden, hugging fans as she walked, where she sang the next three songs on a satellite stage that had a light-up tree on it!]

Fearless [ She played the music to this song on a sparkly ukulele and morphed Soul Sister by Train and I’m Yours by Jason Mraz into the song.]

Last Kiss [Performing this song, another supposedly about former-flame Joe Jones, caused Swift to become very teary eyed and visibly emotional.]

Closer to Love cover [A song by Mat Kearney; Taylor said she had been playing songs at each show of artists that she admires/listens to from that city. She went on to say that Mat Kearney is one of her favorite artists, as she had proved during past shows by writing lyrics from his songs on her left arm at two different stops on her tour: “I guess we’re all one phone call from our knees” in Orlando on June 4^th, from Closer to Love, and “Hey brother, we’re all learning to love again” in Edmonton, Alabama, on August 19^th, from Learning to Love Again. Kearney was born in Eugene, Oregon, but is now based a little closer to TSwift, in Nashville. In Portland, TSwift boasted the lyrics from the song Ghost of You by her good friend, Selena Gomez, who played at the Oregon State Fair the night before, maybe TSwift was there?: “You’re just somewhere that I’ve been, and I won’t go back again.”]

You Belong With Me [During this song, clips from the music video played on the background of the stage.]

Dear John

Enchanted [For this song, the stage had a bunch of beautiful white trees and a dancer dressed in full ballet garb did a fancy ballet dance, always on her tippy-toes!]

Haunted

Long Live [for this first finale song, she said that throughout the Fearless tour, when she heard the crowd screaming before she and her band went on, she always had the melody for this song streaming through her head and so she finally wrote it into a song. She said the song was, “So, completely, 100% for you (us, the crowd, her fans).” When they played, the stage background played videos of her past shows, backstage shenanigans and fan interactions. She was wearing a black sparkly dress and playing a silver, sparkly acoustic guitar.]

ENCORE

Fifteen [Before she played this song, she said her friend Abigail, who she talks about in the song, was in the audience. The stage background showed pictures of the band when they were 15 years old and then video of them now, performing.]

Love Story [TSwift flew around on a balcony while singing, as the dancers did acrobatics on stage for the final final song.]

     Over all, this concert was so friggin' amazing, I don't even have the proper words to describe it. It was definitely a highlight in my summer of so many amazing shows [including Motion City Soundtrack in San Francisco last month and Taking Back Sunday in Portland earlier in the summer]. This is a show that I will be raving about for years to come and will probably tell my children, grandchildren and any and all decendents that I live to be able to tell the story to!

     And what I'm sure you've all been waiting for, the radical photographs I took Tuesday night! I am deeply saddened and ashamed to admit, but my folder of photos from this show is seriously lacking because my camera ran outta battery juice about a song and a half into TSwift's set [and so, I only got one of her many outfits/costumes on film and no videos :[ but I still managed to take just over 200 photos!].

But either way, hurr's some photographies!:

[I don't know what the proper etiquette for amount of photos in one blog post, so I say, fuck it! I'm putting up more photos than I would guess is okay]







The Rose Garden was sold out

  

     So I kinda fell in love with the second warm-up band NeedToBreathe, especially their bassist :] Sadly, we kinda missed the first warm-up artist Josh Kelley because of the crazy traffic that caused it to take almost 45 minutes to get from where you get on I-5 from 405 to the Rose Quarter exit, which was entirely Taylor Swift concert traffic.





I realized that I mostdef have a thing for bassists and that it's probs an unhealthy attraction. I pretty much fell in love with TSwift's bassist, Amos Heller, too :]

She was soooo good at flipping her hair around.

Okay, so this guy was totally wearing a wig. His wasn't nearly as obvious as the other guitarist's wig was [which you will see in a later photo], but the way that he messed with and adjusted his hair/wig at any point he could [between songs, ect] was seriously one of the most entertaining/memorable parts of the night.

Shan+Tay=BFFs

Me+Tay=BFFs as well!





 She was singing Story of Us to her guitarist the whole song. Maybe it isn't really about Joe Jones?

She was so beautiful in person, it was unreal. She looked totally looked like a "a zombie mannequin robot statue" [like in Jennifer's Body] minus the zombie part.

See? Well.. you could totally tell in person that he was wearing a wig. It was pretty bad.

     I can't friggin' wait til Taylor Swift blows through Portland again. And if the wish I made at 11:11 that night when we were driving home from the Rose Garden comes true, the next time I see TSwift perform, I'll be performing with her.  A girl can dream, can't she? :]