03 November 2001
Okay. So I really slept in today. Not good.
Thursday was the finals of the Battle of the Bands @ the Hard Rock Cafe. I'd forgotten it was even going on, and a little bit of my head wasn't really in for it, but by the time I was drinking my coffee at Roma Kim had called to let me know that Randall had called her to tell her about Cornerstone being in the finals and we should go-- not to mention the fact that two-thirds of the
NotFromHere crew had already shown up to drag me along.
So I went, thinking it was going to suck 'cause I'd have to put up with the
Joynt Chiefs and Ulterior Motives and a couple other bands I'd never even heard of that I wasn't too interested in really seeing so late.
Little did Ham and I know that we'd be standing there, mouths agape, at Cornerstone's set. We've both seen them play mucho amounts of times-- Ham's opened up for Randall, and shit, I was even at Cornerstone's first gig at Money Plays back in like March or something-- and this was the off-the-hook set to beat all off-the-hook sets. They had this new song that just had us (almost literally) floored, Randall busting out this machinegun-like flow that could not be described unless you were there.
I still don't know who won. I'm assuming Joynt Chiefs since most of the crowd left after their set, as their bassist Josh (whom I was formally introduced to earlier in the evening) had gloated to me as we were leaving after Ulterior Motives' set. You mention something as small as writing for
CityLife and all of a sudden your ass is a kissing booth at the fair.
It got to meet Kim and
AJ (finally!), who was very gracious enough to give me the new
Hemlock CD. It will most definitely be reviewed next week, and from the initial listening I've had so far, it's in the Top Ten for the year of local releases-- I still have a few things to listen to for that, since I'm supposed to be doing that article next month.
And speaking of Hemlock, the folks over at AJ were nice enough to hook me up with the backstage action for last night, which was very nice. I'd never had that before. I did the VIP thing once, just barely, at the last Hemlock show @ House of Blues, but it wasn't the same as standing on the side of the stage and looking out over a packed crowd like at the
Huntridge last night.
And let me tell you kids, being backstage isn't as lively as you'd like to think. Everybody's walking around, drinking usually, and the bands are hyping themselves up for their sets. It's not all it's cracked up to be, though it's nice to just hang out with musicians you wouldn't normally hang out with. Especially with hardcore bands, a lot of people don't realize they're, on the whole, a
lot nicer types of people than other genres of music. I think it's because they've got that whole angry-music-outlet thing going on.
But the show was crazy, and fun, and I had a good time. I might not be the biggest hardcore music fan in the world, but I always get a laugh at Hemlock shows. I really wish those guys the best.
Kim and Nick had stopped by after their Queensryche show to see what was up. Everyone else had to take off so the three of us decided on Crown & Anchor for a pint. I realized I was hungry, so I got some chicken curry.
But this was the best part of the whole evening. Wait, let me back up a bit here: my favorite memory off all time is New Year's of this year. I'd had all my friends over for a kickback at my house, and we'd gotten more sloshed as the night went on, and at midnight we'd all climbed onto my roof to watch the fireworks and I'd gotten this feeling in me chest that this is happiness right here. I knew this was going to be a really good year. This was going to kick off the theme of the year. For the next week I went to bed smiling because I'd had such a good time.
So fast forward to last night. Kim and Nick and I are all having a nice pint of pear cider, exchanging funny tales and just talking about how Kim and I have known each other
forever. Then my cel phone rings, and it's Ham. He wants me to hear the new song he's been working on, and he
plays it for me over the phone. Kim and Nick are making faces at me on the phone and I'm smiling literally from ear to ear, and when I tell them he's playing for me they get all giggly and I realize I'm having a moment.
"That was awesome," I said. Not because he played it for me, but because it was a pretty song.
"Really?"
"Yes,
really."
Kim asks me after we get off the phone, "He
sang for you just now?"
"Yeah, he was showing me his new song."
"Oh, he's a keeper."
And he is.
.the girl who is not very 2:06 PM
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02 November 2001
I had such a good night last night, I'm too pooped to write about it right now. Add to that the fact that I'm going to
Hemlock tonight makes me feel even more pooped thinking about it.
.the girl who is not very 4:25 PM
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01 November 2001
I've been close to New York once in my entire life.
It was this summer, in fact. My brother's family and I were flying from Pittsburgh to Las Vegas and for some reason they made us fly backwards into Newark then across the country. It was one of those small charter planes, about 50 or so people in it.
I remember flying in, and seeing Lower Manhattan. I'd never seen the skyline of New York in real life before. I remember seeing the World Trade Center towers in the background behind the little Statue of Liberty in the little bay. It was for a fleeting second. Back then it was a big deal for those ten minutes before the next flight home. I got to see New York for a little bit. How cool is that.
And now, that small image in my head of that skyline keeps popping up as I read warblogs and catch the occasional glimpses I get on channel surfing of Ground Zero. Just a minute of memory, now just an erratic loop projected in the back of my head.
.the girl who is not very 6:02 PM
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31 October 2001
I recieved a very strange email the other day. My last ex boyfriend, Morgan, described this dream where he and I got back together in the end after some weird party. I haven't really had a chance to properly write him back. And I haven't been online late enough to talk to him there, either. And I don't really want to call him a) because I haven't really had that much time; b) it hasn't crossed my mind enough for it to really matter; and c) I get this feeling our conversation's going to be really cardboard and is gonna fall over after about 15 minutes and we're going to be really quiet. That would mean I'd have to tell him about the new boi. Something tells me I'm not quite ready for that yet-- maybe because we're not publically labelled yet even though everyone knows we're together. "You already have a new boyfriend... oh, that's good. No, I'm not mad at myself. I just suck." I
really don't need that right now.
Dad's supposed to me coming home today. I don't know how good that's going to be until he gets here. He's supposed to have been coming home for a few days now, and we're all getting frustrated.
Been writing a lot of poems lately. A little on a novel. Absolutely nothing on short stories. Maybe a review in the next couple of days. A little journalling. A lot of brewing in my head.
Dad and I had planned a trip to Florida. A family friend has a condo down there that she wants us to stay in near Ft. Lauderdale. Dad wanted just he and I to go down there and veg for a couple of weeks-- for me, maybe get some major writing done. Now, that won't be happening, unless his feeding tube/box thingie can easily be travelled with. Otherwise, we're going to have to take the 6-7 hour drive up to see my Aunt Kathy in Pismo Beach. Which would be nice, except it won't be just Dad and me, taking one of our little trips like we used to do every so often.
And then I get that feeling. Things really won't be normal ever again. Even if things all got fixed and a little bow was tied around it, it wouldn't be the same.
And we're supposed to be going out tonight for Halloween. I'd rather celebrate the Pagan holiday-- I've been thinking about Mom all day and how much I miss her right now. I'd rather go look at the blue moon, have the Silent Dinner, and then watch
In & Out, which was the last movie I'd seen with her when she and Dad were in Redlands to see me for Parent's Weekend my freshman year.
At least work went well today.
.the girl who is not very 3:14 PM
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30 October 2001
Via Kelli Fox.
Have you ever noticed that as one person leaves your life, another tends to enter? When this happens, it's the universe's version of checks and balances system. Try to savor the ebb and flow of human energy that is going on around you as much as possible, Gemini. As the Moon moves through Aries, you're ripe for an affair or a social awakening. Chart your course through these next few days, even if it's only for a record on which you can look back in amazement.Off to visit Dad. He might be home tomorrow.
.the girl who is not very 4:25 PM
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29 October 2001
A couple of times this weekend I sat in front of my computer, started typing a sentence or two for in here, and scrapped it. So it feels now like I should have more entries than I do right now. But then again, maybe it's the whole self-deluding productive factor that feels different.
Today, being that I
didn't get called into work for once, was spent making computers into mp3 jukebox thingies. iMacs rule.
I'm gonna post first. Something feels. Weird.
.the girl who is not very 4:49 PM
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