Tell me, whatcha gonna do now?

Hilarious discovery of the day: my blonde, banging head can be seen in this video taken at Conor Oberst's performance on the 4th of July (you can finally see for realz how close I was!) Watch the right corner of your screen, and you'll see me in the beginning and again near the end. I'm probably in more videos by this YouTube user (she has 5 more videos recorded from the show), so if you have time and wanna go Caitlin hunting, feel free.

Mother Superior jumped the gun.

I'm going to divert a little today from the normal "this is what I'm up to" post, because I was linked to the following article by a friend, and I'd love some outside perspective on this:

Spinning in the Grave

Weiner allows for the fact that music journalists do still carry some weight because there's just so much music to shift through, and he definitely seems to think music journalism can still be worth it. But he also makes good points as to why music journalism seems to be falling on really rough times. As this is my profession of choice, I wanna know - do you follow music journalism, and why? I skimmed through the two comments left on the article, and I'll be going back to those to try and pull in as many users' opinions as possible.

I'm trying to brainstorm now - what would be some improvements to make m.j. more appealing? Focus on the interviews/profiles, stay away from reviews? I still like to read a good review when I have time. I definitely think, for my generation, that time is a huge issue. Why read through a bunch of reviews, when (as Weiner points out) I can spend that time listening to the music myself, streaming from MySpace or in 30-second clips on iTunes? I love to read and watch interviews (when they are done well) of my favorite musicians, but time is still an issue there. I'm just more LIKELY to read an interview, I think. Granted, I do feel like some of my colleagues who have recently graduated do have some downtime, but is that time spent reading magazines, or is it more likely to be filled with television programming? I have lots of questions, and I'm definitely lacking in the answers department. Anyway, I just wanted to throw this out there as a general question. What do you think?

As the days keep turning into night.

What a week!! I did so, so much, and am using today to unwind and relax a bit. I'm gonna go for a run soonish, and then will shower and hopefully get a chance to meet up with Raquel today. Definitely psyched for that, I've missed seeing her. Really, this whole week was pretty much Trip-centric, which was awesome but I kept telling him, "You probably think I have no friends here because we've hardly run into any!!" He did get to meet 1/2 of my roommate situation, Melissa, and we had dinner with Jade last night which was way too much fun. It was great sharing my city with another Austinite, but I'm also glad to have it to myself again for these last three weeks.

Wednesday. was. incredible. Caroline and I hit up the luncheon early (right at noon) and were the first two people to sit down. Natch, we sat on either side of the table, right next to the three speakers, and wished that *we* would be the lucky ones to sit next to Rob Sheffield. Austin Scaggs sat in the middle of the trio, and Jenny Eliscu sat next to Caroline, leaving Rob's seat next to me. He came in late, but when he did arrive, he pulled his chair out and was literally sitting right alongside of me. It was crazy and awesome. I asked a question, which made me feel good because I did want to interact more with Scaggs and Eliscu, too; they were SO AWESOME! When they described what qualities a good music journalist should have, I felt like they were describing me. It made me so excited, and also more determined than ever to learn more about the history of rock and pop music. After the luncheon, I turned to Rob and said, "Hey there, I was wondering..." He stopped me and said, "Hey, how are you doing?!?" I was so overwhelmed, I said, "I'm really great, thanks! How are you??" and he responded "Awesome!" This made me feel sure that he recognized me from our first meeting, which made me really happy. I asked him if he could possibly sign my copy of his memoir, Love is a Mixtape, and then Caroline headed around the table to have her book signed, too. We laughed and told him, "You've got a fan club in the online department!!" Sarah came over at that point to be included in the fan club, and then Rob turned to me and said, "Caitlin, how do you spell your name?" I almost wept when Caroline and I were leaving the luncheon. He REMEMBERED MY NAME, for goodness' sake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Siiiiigh. We chatted about various Lifetime movies and other things, and then I tried to corral the group away from him so he could go about his day's work. Before the four of us who stuck around left, though, he invited us to befriend him on Facebook. So, yes, I'm officially Facebook friends with Rob Sheffield. I can die happy (but I hope I live on to meet more amazing people like him! Also, need to earn the friendship of Austin and Jenny now, too!)

Thursday was a good day where I got to bond with Chris during work, and then Friday, Trip and I hit up the Met, which was epic. I loved the Egyptian and modern art, although I could do without Francis Bacon, to be honest. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, which was pretty tasty. Then Saturday, we hit up Grand Central and the Brooklyn Bridge, the latter of which was super cool. We had dinner at "our" place again, Two Boots Pizza in Greenwhich, and then we hit up Strand books for a third time. We ended up in Washington Square after that, and watched some street performers do their thing. Sunday was the Guggenheim, which made me realize I'm not really a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright at all. I like a few things he did, but since he seems to be the inspiration behind so much of the boxy architecture of modern America - no thanks, no thanks. I like that he opened up the inside of houses, dislike that structures turned angular. I preferred the ornate and delicate.

Then we went to Times Square to pick up some souvenirs for his buds, and then we scrapped plans for a trip to MoMA because of exhaustion. We grabbed dinner with Jade at a burger place (they had veggie stuff, natch,) and then headed home. He went out again at around 11 with his friend Badger, and then he left early this morning.

It's been a crazy week for me, mentally. I am still settling into the lifestyle I know that I want and need to lead, but it's still difficult when I see so many pictures of what I "should" be around me. That's super cryptic, and I apologize - if you're curious, you can ask me.

OK, I think I need to get my run on so I can be ready for Raquel, should she have time to meet up! Then I've got plans to get a little grocery shoppin' done, and then get to bed early for work tomorrow. These days go by faster and faster.

I think you're lonely/But I could be wrong.

I've been feeling super creative lately, but I haven't taken the initiative to write down any of the thoughts or phrases that have come out of my brain. Too bad, too bad. Hopefully I'll be motivated to start doing that more often.

Trip is visiting right now, which is a real treat. We've done all sorts of walking around. We found a great, giant disorganized bookstore in Union Square that we've already been to twice, we found delicious pizza in the area, we went to Crumbs (a cupcake place people have raved to me about). I was a little disappointed in my choice; in retrospect, I should have gone classic vanilla but I went "cookie dough" because it sounded and looked exciting. Not so much. Still, I'm not writing off Crumbs just yet.

We hit up Central Park and walked around the great lawn to the turtle pond. We walked around Times Square. There's been a lot of walking, and he's only been here two days. It's been good!

We also watched "Revolutionary Road" last night, which brought on some bad (and strange) dreams. That was a hard one to watch. So was "(500) Days of Summer," though I loved that one. And I really enjoyed "Harry Potter," though I understand the criticisms I've been hearing.

Tomorrow, I get to meet up with Rob Sheffield again (hopefully!) and I couldn't be more excited. I'm trying to re-read "Love is a Mix Tape" but I doubt I'll get too far (it's already 10:00 p.m. and I've only re-read the first chapter so far). I've had a lot to think about recently, and I like it even though it's difficult sometimes. I like feeling that passionate feeling inside of me when I'm arguing for something I believe in, down to my core. I forgot that feeling, and although it's a little uncomfortable, I want to push for it. It might lead me to try to suppress it, but it's worth fighting for those lively moments. I'm still learning to love myself, and learning what my "style" should be. I've felt this strong rebellious streak in myself recently, and it's made me want a leather jacket VERY badly. However, Edward's voice is right there in the back of my head, reminding me that killing an animal for clothes doesn't make me a badass at all. Still, what other jackets give you that classic sense of rawness? I guess it's time for me to pick my own jacket and redefine it that way. In NOT playing into that trend, I guess I'm rebelling. I am, in fact. Nice one, self. We hit up Urban Outfitters, and although there's a definite part of me that wants to buy into that style, a part of me that looks longingly at the lanky girls with their hippie haircuts and their paisley leggings with their plaid shirts and just wants to BE that, at the end of the day - fuck that. Because I feel on the inside the way they look on the outside, and that's even better. That means that no matter what I put on, it's automatically "indie" because *I,* Caitlin, am indie.

Not sure why I needed to wax poetic on that, but there it is. I cannot believe how quickly the summer is dwindling. Raquel leaves in nine days. I leave in less than a month. I love where I work with my whole being. I hope they love me, too.

I almost closed this post there, but then I couldn't remember if I talked about the Siren Festival in my last post? All I want to say is: sandy beach in New York City, right next to a boardwalk and carnival rides. If that isn't cool, I don't know what is.

Oh no! You just got dealt a low-blow in your forbidden craze.

It's been two weeks, and I feel like life has changed SO much just in that short time. Like Raquel said today, "It's like each day is its own world!" She's been won over by New York, and will quite likely be moving back here in a year or so. I told her that would just make me SO happy, because I'd love to have some friends settled here already when I move back. OK, how can I tackle this?

Last Friday, I went to another River 2 River Festival free concert at the South Seaport. Let me backtrack a little. Before that, Caroline and I actually went into work with the other 3 interns even though it was our day off because Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy for the not-quite-superfans) was in for an interview with Peter Travers, our film critic. The interns and our bosses stood around Travers' office, where the interview was held, and took places dressing in wizard garb and quietly/nonchalantly walking around in the background. It was hilarious and brought us all together as a family, I think. When Eric, our film guy, asked Caroline (who used to intern with him) where our own costumes were, I jumped into action and made paper wizard hats out of the covers of magazines sitting around. They were a hit! We gifted one to our exec editor, and he was tickled by the gesture, I think. Then Caroline and I were off to do some vintage shopping, which was fun but unfruitful, and then we grabbed DELICIOUS pizza (the best I've had in the city so far) nearby in the area of Brooklyn we were inhabiting, and then we headed to the South Seaport for the free concert. The setting was beautiful, and although the bands were VERY disappointing (so it goes, sometimes) it was such a gorgeous night that it didn't even matter. It was warm with just the right amount of breeze, and the ships that were the background of our show were too picturesque to be true. A great day, all in all!

Saturday, I met up with Raquel for brunch in Greenwich, and it was delish and so, so much fun. Angelica joined us part way through, and then we headed off to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in New York. We walked there, which allowed for some nice neighborhood examining. The hall itself was absolutely perfect; I don't think they could have done anything differently. The first room you go into is this kind of holding space you wait in until they are ready for you in the screening room. It has all of the autographs, cast in silver, on the walls, and when certain bands or artists are lit up, their song comes on the overhead. As it gets closer and closer to moving on, the music speeds up and the clips of each song get shorter until they explode into the final chords of "A Day In The Life," my favorite Beatles' song. Brilliant. Then you go into this room that has sort of semi-theater-arena seating, and classic clips from concerts of the legends (Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, etc.) are screened in front and around you so you feel like you're there. Then you go to the museum, and they give you this headset with a chip inside so that it can sense what part of the exhibit you're in and play music and sound clips accordingly - you don't have to press a thing!! The rock memorobilia they had is too overwhelming to name really, but it includes things like the awning of CBGB's, Bruce Springsteen's first car (!!), letters between Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon, Madonna's cone bra outfit, and SO, so much more. The final room is the special exhibit, which for now is a John Lennon exhibit. It was stupendous. There was old footage of his art films with Yoko Ono, their family films with him and Sean, handwritten lyrics, artwork by Lennon, just amazing artifacts that bring you closer and closer to the artist. Then, finally, on the last wall, there is an "art project" by Yoko that is called "Smile in a Box" that is a mirror inside what amounts to a jewelry box, and a phone that says, "Call for Peace - if it rings, pick it up!" On rare occasions, Yoko herself will call the telephone and wish the receiver peace. I wasn't one of the lucky ones, but it's just such a cool idea. Then, as "Imagine" is playing in your headphones, you get to a canvas where you can sign your name to ask Obama to put more restrictions on weapons to end gun violence. Then you come to a paper sack encased in a plastic bag. Within, John Lennon's bloody clothes that the police gave to Yoko after they finished with them sit. Though you can't see the clothes, you see the blood stains on the tape on the bag. At this point, I started to weep. Then, when I moved to my left, there was a picture Yoko took of John's bloody glasses in the window of their apartment. I sobbed openly. It was just so overwhelming, to think that such a creative soul was lost to such bloody violence. This is how Yoko intended this part of the exhibit; to show people what we lose when we use guns. It was beautifully done, and I really appreciated it.

Sunday was my homework day, if I remember correctly, as was Monday. Then, after work on Tuesday, I met up with my friend Arnell for dinner, which was absolutely wonderful. It was great to see him and catch up (he is also a student at UT, with just one year left, and he's interning at L'Oreal.) I'm hoping we get to go to some concerts together or something, because I definitely want to see him again! Wednesday was incredible. I met up with my Aunt Laura's friend, Bill Van Parys, who used to write for Rolling Stone. When I got to his posh building in Chelsea, I had to wait a few minutes for him to arrive, so I got to know the doormen. They were very friendly and funny, and it was so comforting to see how all of the neighbors knew them and each other. It felt nice. Then Bill came, and we headed up to his giant room (two rooms he renovated into one.) His place is great, and when we went over to his building's rooftop terrace, it was just unreal. I wish I had taken my camera with me, because the view of the city by the waterfront was just unreal. We chatted about his book that's in the works, about his time in Germany, his time at the magazine, and he asked me about how I was enjoying it and what I was doing there. I hope to keep in touch with him, because he was super nice and funny and interesting, and there's still so much I want to know!

Thursday was my flagship day, without question. I had e-mailed my boss on Wednesday to let her know about a surprise free show the Dead Weather (Jack White's new band with Alison Mosshart from the Kills) was putting on in their makeshift two-day label store in lower Manhattan. Erica ran by my desk at noon on Thursday to release me to go check it out. The only problem was, the show STARTED at noon, so the other interns and I knew it was a long shot. Sure enough, by the time we got there (half past noon or later, if I remember correctly) the show had started and there was no way in HELL we were getting in. We went into the store to see what we could see/hear what we could hear ('cause the band actually played in the basement below the store), and we could hear them pounding away under our feet. I decided I wanted to buy a copy of the record, so we went in search of an ATM. Walked around the block, got my money, checked out the listing at the Bowery, and then headed back to the store. People in hipsterish attire were flooding the streets, so it seemed we had gotten back right as everyone was being released 'cause it was over. I interviewed a group of fans to see if there was anything at all we could use, and then headed into the store to buy a CD, and in hopes that the band would make an appearance. They didn't (I found out later they were whisked into a car to get outta there, although our fantastic intern Jonathan, who actually got into the show, managed to get a quote from Alison) BUT. Matt Pinfield, ex-MTV veejay who was interviewed an insane amount (and caliber) of musicians in his life, showed up to help sell some CDs, and I rushed forward to ask him how he liked the show. I introduced myself, said I was an intern at Rolling Stone, and could I ask him how he liked the show? He gave me great quotes, and I strolled out, incredibly happy and hopeful. We met up with Jonathan, and all four of us headed back to RS headquarters. I typed up my quotes and e-mailed them to one of my bosses, and then kept working. After work, Chris, Caroline and I got pizza for dinner, and chatted about ridiculous things. Chris headed out, but Caroline hung out with me as I wandered to the right subway to head straight to the Stellastarr* concert I've been anticipating literally since the first week I was here. I got to the Highline Ballroom just after the openers had begun, and they were meh. The second openers were a little better than meh, but the best were Stellastarr*. They played songs off of all three albums (mostly new and off of the oldest one, only two from the middle CD). They looked happy and healthy and played tightly, and I just wish I could somehow see them again soon. Hopefully they'll hit up Austin sometime in the fall (they're playing there July 27th, but the last time they played Austin in 2005, they played two times within a few months, so it could happen!!) Then, after the show ended and I was super sweaty from all of my dancing, I checked my phone to see Caroline had texted me. She told me that I had been credited on RollingStone.com for "additional reporting" in the story that Jonathan ended up writing on the Dead Weather. I literally screamed down the street about it to anyone I could get a hold of. SO happy!!!!!!!!!!!! My name is now officially associated with Rolling Stone. I really couldn't be more ecstatic about that.

Friday, I slept in (sort of) and got a LOT of homework done. Then Caroline and I met up for a late night showing of the new Harry Potter film, which was awesome. Today, I hit up the Siren Fest at Coney Island (which is a three hour round-trip from where I live, because it's on the tip of Brooklyn. Phew.) I saw the band I really wanted to see, plus a bonus band, and took a picture or two of the beach there. If I ever have the energy, I'll try to go back and hang out on the beach. It's beautiful! (Albeit a little crowded.) I feel bad that I didn't stay at the fest for very long, because Raquel is leaving in 12 days and I want to spend as much time with her as possible. But I was exhausted and grumpy, so I decided it was best for me to get home. Now I'm trying to relax. I only have ONE assignment left and then I'll be done with summer school!!!!!!!!! I was going to jump on it tonight, but it's time for sleep. Hopefully, after I finish this damn summer school, I'll have more time to go into greater detail about my summer, and more often, on here. On the other hand, I refuse to give myself things I "HAVE" to do after I finish school (apart from the internship) because I want summer to just happen:) I'm gonna see (500) Days of Summer tomorrow, and Trip is coming for a week starting Monday!!! This is going to be a good, good week. Love to all, and I'll be back soon!!!

I found myself a sweetheart with the softest of hands/We were unlucky in love, but I'd do it all again.

It's been an exhausting week and a half or so now, mentally and physically. There's much to update, but I think I'll just focus on a few things here and there, because that's what I'm feelin'.

Last Sunday (as in, a week ago from two days ago) I met up with a friend from UT named Raquel. We bought ice cream cones and wandered off into Central Park, chatting about our big plans for our futures and what we wanted to get out of New York. Raquel had only been in New York for a week, so she was still deciding how she felt about the city. I was in total New York-lovefest mode, so I chatted her up about that. We found a place to sit in the park, and it smelled vividly of my Grandma's lavender soap or perfume that she would use at her and my Grandpa's farm in Kansas. It was a comforting, new summer smell, and matched the magic of the lightning bugs scattered around in front of us. I had forgotten lightning bugs. . .anyway, it was incredibly pleasant and we promised to meet up again for free concerts. Tuesday I headed to work, and last work week was rough, because I felt a cold coming on as early as Tuesday that progressed into full-out sick mode by Thursday. Luckily (I guess?) I needed to do some homework, so I used Thursday evening and Friday to be productive. Still, I was very, very worried that I wouldn't be feeling very good for the 4th of July celebration I had planned since the second I knew I'd be in NYC this summer - the River to River festival was hosting a free concert by Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst - as in, love-of-my-life Conor Oberst. Happily, though I still felt weak when I woke up Saturday morning, I knew I could soldier it out. I took the morning very slowly; I had a delicious breakfast of a bagel and yogurt, and then threw sunscreen in my purse and headed out into the world. I hit up CVS on my way to the show and bought a deck of playing cards plus three bottles of water. I was in line at Battery Park on the very edge of Manhattan by 11:30AM - the show started at 3:30PM, but I was absolutely convinced that I MUST be there early to be close. It was true, and we did end up with great spots, dead center and only about 15 or fewer feet from the stage. My work pal Caroline joined me at about 11:45, and we played a game of war (she kicked my butt) and chatted about work and folks. The line started to move at around 1:00PM, and I was worried because I was still expecting two friends to show up. Luckily, Raquel showed up right around 1, and managed to get to us in line. Apparently some of the other folks in line were grouchy, but she was our savior because she brought us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, without which we probably would have starved. Jessica from Connecticut still wasn't there, and I was very concerned she would have to watch the show from far away, but happily we were able to secure her a spot in the grass up close with us by stretching out a little bit wider than was completely necessary. She joined us as we finished up our first game of "Go Fish!" and we included her in the second round. A small group in front of us broke out some bubbles, and there was just a general feeling of summertime sitting in the grass on blankets and towels and (in our case) jackets and plastic bags. At 3:30, a blonde woman goofily introduced Jenny Lewis, and the band popped onstage to start the opening drumbeat of "See Fernando." The blonde guitarist dude in her band said, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, presenting the daughter of the revolution, Ms. Jenny Lewis!!" and out ran Jenny, vintage American flag flapping at her back (she wore it as a cape.) Her set was fantastic; she was impressive and completely sure of herself, which completely attracted me to her (she was everything I wanted to be). She played a few songs that really tugged at my heartstrings, but in particular, "Acid Tongue" and "Silver Lining" really got to me. It made me want to grab my guitar and start writing again, so hopefully that vibe will still exist when I get back home in August to my beautiful acoustic. Also, I loved when she invited out Oberst and Nik Freitas from the Mystic Valley Band to sing "Handle Me With Care." I am currently discovering that in the recording, she has Ben Gibbard and M. Ward sing with her (as well as Conor). Nice one, Jenny!

After Lewis left the stage, there was about a half hour wait (which I totally called), during which we chatted about various things we saw in the crowd, like a random Longhorns cap and other silliness. At 5 after 5, out marched the boys of the Mystic Valley Band. They all looked adorable - Macy Taylor has FINALLY cut that shnasty hair, so he looked downright good (he was Caroline's favorite; she's always going for the underdogs, haha!) and Taylor Hollingsworth is just always gorgeous. In fact, Conor joked near the very end of their set (when he was doing band introductions, as he always does) that he told Hollingsworth he had to scar his face if he was going to join the band. "He didn't listen to me - so I guess I'm out of luck," Oberst said. Hilarious. Anyway, they opened with the oh-so-appropriate "NYC - Gone, Gone," and I jumped around and pumped my fist and generally forgot that I had been sick the five days before. They broke out "Souled Out!!!" after that, which was great because Conor got to break out his growly-voice pretty much straight away. Oh, how I LOVE that growly-voice. Then it was on to "Sausalito," and then "Nikorette" - kind of a "hits" list from the solo albums, and I certainly wasn't going to complain. Hollingsworth got to stretch his vocal chords after that on the incredibly nasally but also incredibly catchy "Air Mattress." Conor's version of "Eagle on a Pole" was completely entrancing; his voice echoed around the park, all chill-giving and haunting and whatnot. Just beautiful. The next one is this one that reminds me of Paul Simon every time, called "Spoiled" which Conor said was "about being a spoiled brat." There's a verse in there that gets me every time; you'll have to ask me about it if you want to know:) Then was "Ten Woman," which is apparently about "overcompensating, because you have no self-confidence." I feel like every time I see Oberst perform, he lets the audience a little bit closer to him all of the time. I like that. He picked up the pace again after that with "Slowly (Oh So Slowly)" which I felt like had a significant amount of people singing along. Then was poor Macy's track, "Worldwide." The man's voice is just too damn icky, I'm sorry. He sounds so timid!!! It's like, if you have a weird voice (a la Hollingsworth), you have to OWN it (a la Hollingsworth). If you sing all apologetically, you're gonna make folks uncomfortable. Ah, well. Then Oberst dedicated "Moab" to Jenny, which solidified the notion in my heart that she's been going through hard times recently (she said something before "Silver Lining" about have a "crazy couple of years.") I though. . .why can't Conor be MY friend and dedicate songs about the healing power of the road to ME?! Anyway. Then "Cape Canaveral" went over much like "Eagle..." and I called Edward for it because I remembered he loved the line, "I watch your face age backwards, changing shape in my memory." Again, it was just beautiful. My favorite line: "And you don't judge me/That's not your style." The twangy "Get-Well-Cards" was next, but only after some digression about the day. "Do y'all have some sparklers or something?" Oberst asked. "Let's get festive, for fuck's sake!" LOVED it. Then, after Freitas' Mystic Valley Band best-of chanting tune "Big Black Nothing," Oberst had to tune his guitar.

"I don't know if you know this," Oberst said, "but it's really, really hard to tune your gutiar in the sun. Hollingsworth. . .say something to the people."

"[pause]

It's really hard. You get the sun in your eyes, and you can't see, and it's hot. . .

[pause]

What statue is that, it's huge! [referring to the Statue of Liberty]

[audience laughter]

This city is so big. I'm from Alabama, I'm just - it's so big here!"

ADORABLE. Love, love, love these guys. Then they played the one song I don't have in my iPod, "One of My Kind" (the title was used for the documentary about them). Fantastic, I can't wait until they release it!! Then I heard the tinkling guitar sounds that suggested they were about to play my current favorite, and my heart skipped a beat - when Oberst said, "This is about having a reason to get out of bed every morning," I squealed audibly (people who have been to a concert with me, you know what I do) and they broke into "I Got the Reason #2." I mouthed along hard to this one, pumped my fist at all the right places, and was utterly thrilled to get this one. For "In the glass houses, in the pages of the Rolling Stone..." I sang the lines to Caroline, and she smiled really big and laughed. It was just wonderful, basically. The band left the stage after that one, but Oberst and keyboardist Nathanial Walcott returned pretty promptly to do an acoustic, heart-enveloping version of "Lenders In The Temple." The line in this one that gets me every time is, "That circus tiger's gonna break your heart/Something so wild turned into paper/If I loved you, well that's my fault." Every time. Conor announced they would do a couple slow ones, and then pick it back up at the end, so they followed that up with the snoozer "Difference is Time" by drummer Jason Boesel (who, incidentally, plays the drums in Rilo Kiley with Jenny Lewis, too). I feel bad, but Boesel's voice just doesn't do it for me. It's too blah. Still, maybe this song will grow on me with time. I still sing along to the chorus, because it's super catchy. Then they broke into "Danny Callahan," which seemed to be a crowd pleaser to a big, big extent, which surprised me for some reason. It's a great song, but I didn't expect everyone to sing along to the extent that they did. Then came the band introductions, so I knew the end was nigh, but right at this moment Caroline looked at me like she was going to hurl, and so she had to sit down on the ground and try to pull it together. Poor lady; I wasn't sure what she needed from me, but I was prepared to do it, whatever it might be. Luckily, she felt tons better after sitting, so that was good. Then the band broke into the raucous, romping country swing tune, "I Don't Wanna Die (In a Hospital)," a modern look at mortality. Love that one. Then, my heart got to swell one last time for the last song - I knew what it was the second Conor introduced it. He said, "This is the most patriotic song we have, so we saved it for last," and I automatically knew it was "Roosevelt Room." He ripped into the opening guitar riff seconds later, and my head did not stop banging until the very last notes were played. He really growled out the lines with passion and meaning and it was just perfect. It was exactly how I imagined it would go down (minus the fact that I was never asked up onstage to guest with the band - ahem:P)

Raquel, her friend Angelique, Jessica, Caroline and I wandered off to find food (and bathrooms!!) afterward, and then we (minus Jessica, who had to get home) headed to a spot near the Hudson so we could watch the fireworks go off. We could just see the highest ones over the top of a building in the spot we chose, but it was beautiful and fun nonetheless. The rest of the weekend was spent working on homework and resting more (still a little sick, even now) which was good, but also has made me incredibly restless, and very body-conscious and other things. I've been incredibly stressed and grumpy these past few days, and the condition doesn't seem to be improving, which just makes it worse. I did force myself out of the house yesterday to travel to the NYU area of New York. I checked out a famous indie music store there, Other Music, which was cool, but honestly - Waterloo kicks its ass in terms of selection. Still, it was fun, and there were also quite a few vintage clothes shops in the area that I might have to check out again in the future, who knows.

I think that's a good enough update for now. This week, I'm trying to get as much homework done as I possibly can so I can finish up these history courses by the end of the week, if at all possible. I also have plans to try to see Shakespeare in the Park (Anne Hatthaway is one of the stars in their production right now), as well as possible free concerts on Friday and Sunday. I want to get a little more homework, so I'll end this here and try to check back again soon!