Last night's Radiohead show was by far one of the best performances I have ever seen. I am almost forced to say that it was better than the first time that I saw them. Being close to the certainly helped, but it was amazing. Thom Yorke's energy is through the roof and it rubbed off on the crowd. There were many sing-a-longs with the crowd (such as Paranoid Android), which was great, you could feel the entire crowd and they sang with him, and I could really see the band getting off on the energy. Hail to the Theif was almost played in its entirety and OK Computer was thankfully revisted often throughout the show, especially during the happily anticipated double-encore. Three or four tracks were played from The Bends, as well as a few from Kid A and Amnesiac, and REM's Micheal Stipe joined the stage for a duet on Karma Police. They had very cleverly placed cameras all over the stage, projecting interesting camera angles and close-ups of the bands instruments (including the oh-so-cute iBook) and one awesome fish-eye style cam placed next to the microphone on Thom's piano. I got some great shots, check them out. There are a million things I could go on about this show, the lighting (incredible), the quality of the sound (vocals and instruments, they are super tight) and the brilliant experimentations with samplers...they would record bits and pieces of, say, Thom talking to the crowd, and within seconds have it perfectly looping into a song...I swear these are some of the best musicians this planet has to offer. Please support this band and buy all their albums.

Only a couple more hours until I am in the presence of one of the greatest bands in rock and roll history. This evening's Radiohead show is going to be fantastic. I am not so sure that it will top the show I attended at the Gorge 2 years ago, that venue creates an atmosphere that is truly unlike any other, however I am going to love what I see tonight no matter what. This weekend I will be putting together a couple more photo pages, from last weekend's wedding festivities and my camera will be attending the show tonight as well, we shall see what kind of photos I can get. Maybe I will throw together a few "concert" pages as well, I have a nice little collection of photographs from a few shows last year; Sigur Ros, Low, etc....We'll see how ambitious I get.

Having to rely on financial aid as my only source of income, aid that is coming in from another country, is increasingly becoming the root of all my stress and frustration in life. I was told that I would have my money on August 15th. After a handful of long distance phone calls, tracking down checks, and signing over checks, I was finally told that I would have the money in my hands today. I slept so well knowing that in the morning I would make a giant deposit that would cure all of my financial illnesses and treat myself to some good music and food, after all my summer semester ended last night with a test I had studied so hard for, I have a good reason to celebrate and relax until the start of fall semester next week. But NOOOOOO! I get an evil e-mail, one that I had prayed I would not receive, telling me that because so and so are on vacation (let me just say that this is the 4th person to handle my checks that has been on vacation and delayed my happiness) I will not receive my money today, but Tuesday. Maybe. They aren't sure yet. RARRRRR!!!!! Who do I have to strangle to get a little cash in my pocket? Looks like I will be borrowing yet MORE money from the ole roommate. Thank goodness for my saviour, Radiohead, whom I have tickets to see tomorrow night! That will make everything go away, if for only a couple of hours.

Found this website of bad designs interesting, but I might suggest they add their own site to the list, it is really awful.

I am taking a much needed break from my attempt at an all-night study session. I got behind in my work over the last couple of days, partially due to my short vacation to the States, and now I am "cramming" for my design history final tomorrow. I also wrote an essay tonight, in under two hours which is a record I think. I don't know, this being old stuff doesn't work for staying up late. It is only 2am and even though I sit here with coffee in hand, I am struggling to survive the night. I am trying to talk myself into believing that a good nights sleep is better than no sleep, although I don't know if that is the smart choice. Ok, I give myself one more hour then I am toast.

I attended the wedding of my dear friends Nat & Heidi last night, it has to be one of the best I have ever been to. The ceremony itself was really nice, it was really a non-denominational ceremony including some traditional vows and borrowing from different cultures. The groom's family (making up about 80 of the people there) are Jewish, so many Jewish elements were included in the ceremony as well. It was interesting and it really made it something more special, and much more personal. The reception followed and brought much joy and love to everyone there. Many drinks were poured and great food was consumed. There was a band, and Heidi brought in jugglers to entertain. The best part was the traditional Jewish dancing, I wish I could remember the name, when everyone holds hands and rotates in circles around the bride and groom, who are hoisted up above the crowd in chairs. It was really amazing. On top of that, I was able to spend time with people I haven't seen in many years. People from high school, people whose birth I remember. Fantastic event, really. Now just one more social event before I head off to the library to start on some homework.

well, I sit, bored, waiting for a phone call that will take me to another party. Some party that is taking place in a swanky hotel room in downtown Portland. I went to a wedding rehearsal dinner tonight, drank a lot, then left to see some shitty bands. As shitty as they were, I still enjoyed myself. Considering I am loaded with beer, wine and tequila.

This morning in Seattle I saw the coolest guy. Big Samoan man wearing a muscle tank (though he had no muscles), he sported a crazy mullet with a bleached-out backside (ya know the "tail" portion of the beaver cut, or the "schlong"), but the best part was the giant, wrestling championship belt slung over his shoulder. I have a poor photo, showing only the mullet. I will post it later on.
I am really happy with a couple of magazines that I purchased this week. The lastest edition of Print has some great articles and features a photographer that blew my mind with his work. Check out Gregory Crewdson here.

On a typical day (a summer day), I get out of bed around 11:30am or sometimes much later. But if I have a bit o'cash in my pocket and I have that uncontrollable itch to shop, I have no problems getting up at 7am and rushing downtown to greet the salesclerks as they open their doors at 9am. That is what I did this morning, do I regret spending as much as I did? Possibly. But I satisfied the urge and I have a great new outfit to show for it.(did I mention that I have a serious shopping disorder?)
Tomorrow I catch a train once again to the States (at 5:45am!!!what am I thinking?), I have a wedding to attend on Saturday. This has got to be the worst time for me to leave town. I have a paper due next week, and two final exams, one on Monday that takes place one hour after I get of the train. Not good. The majority of my vacation will be spent at the Multnomah Library. Fun. But at least I will be learning in style.

What a weekend! Fabulous party here at my place on Saturday night. Lots of people, really good mix of people too. My neighbor downstairs opened up her place as well so we had two apartments full plus the garden outside. I really should learn how NOT to mix my alcohol though. It is either BEER, WINE, or Liquor. Not all three. One or the other. I was fine though, didn't get sick however there were a couple of moments when I thought I wasn't going to last the night. That is the wonderful thing about having parties at your own place, you have hiding spots and comfort zones. A bed if you need it.
Last night Cindy and I went on a wild search for tickets to a sold out show at the Arts Club. Will Oldham (currently touring with Bjork under the name Bonnie Prince Billy, we found out at the last minute while making plans to see a different band, the Microphones), was playing a sold out show, and we were NOT going to miss it! Rare opportunity to see him live, especially in a city he has never been to before. Thank goodness we decided to wait around outside, like the loyal fans we are, and were granted two tickets after the opening act finished. So we saw a spectacular show, PLUS even got to catch the frontman and mastermind from the Microphones (the band we had intially planned to see before we found out about the Oldham show) afterwards around midnight or so at the Sugar Refinery. And it was free. AND he actually was the guy we missed opening for the Oldham show. Fantastic night of music.

There is a little part of my brain that is like a radio station, and every morning I wake up on some weird station. The last few days I have woken up singing this whale song that plays on a commercial for Marineland. This morning it was David Cassidy and "I think I love you." I must admit it is a nice change to the whale tune, but come on, I have this enormous collection of music in my head, good music, and one would think that at least once in a while I would wake up to something pretty good, like "Armageddon it" by Def Leppard.

I am going to start a "quote of the week" section I think, because I keep hearing these great statements that I must share with everyone. This week's quote comes from the ever adorable, oil guzzling robot, Bender of the critically acclaimed Fox series, Futurama. I cannot stop giggling!
"Bodies are for hookers and fat people."
tee hee hee!

There are just too many shows to keep on top of this season! I am certainly happy about it, but then again I get angry because I cannot attend all that I would like to. It is just getting far too expensive to see all these bands! I remember, back in the days of old, when most shows, good ones, were under 10 dollars! Now, I am shelling out at least 35-50 dollars! Thank goodness I am not a Justin Timberlake fan, because he is charging upwards of 100 dollars for his shows, what the hell? The majority of his fanbase, say 10-15 year olds, do not have jobs and certainly not enough of an allowance to afford ticket prices that expensive! It must be these damned parents that spoil the hell out of their kids. I can understand maybe for one's birthday, or perhaps christmas or something, but this guy is probably selling out his shows, I just don't get it. Well, no I do get it, but I am just complaining about it because I am not wealthy enough to do the things I want. *Imagine pre-Jedi Luke Skywalker whining his little dirt-head off, that is what I sound like**Where is my allowance(financial aid does not count)?

I am allergic to absolutely everything. It all started way back when in the desert, Las Vegas 1996, when I was 19. The dust started making me choke and over time I developed many respiratory allergies. I thought that would all change after I made my move back to the homeland in the pacific northwest, but no. It got worse. I became allergic to not only dust, but pollen, animal hair, mold & mildew, perfumes, basically anything airborne. I took medication for a number of years, such as Claritin, which works, but I really hate the idea of having to be doped up on medication for the rest of my life. Over the course of the last year I have developed more allergies, and since I have all the respiratory allergies known throughout the galaxy (although I don't know if I am allergic to space dust, probably so), I now am living with a variety of skin allergies, and (enteryourgodhere) knows what else. I can't touch anything, dust, animal hair, mildew & mold now make me break out into rashes. Today I learned that there is something that gives me hives. I have never had hives before (except once when I was like 14 years old, I had an allergic reaction to a medication). So, either the medication that I use to keep my rashes away gave me hives, or organic milk gave me hives. Organic milk is the only thing that I have changed in my diet. OR maybe space dust got into my apartment and that gave me hives.
Lucky me, I have every allergy known to man. Pretty soon I am going to be allergic to the food I eat. Did I tell you bout my poison oak allergies? he he, I'll save that story for another time.

I am going to use this moment to plug a band I have recently discovered, The Mars Volta. If you aren't listening to them already, you have got to start doing so. You can listen to a couple of their tunes via their website, (I highly recommend Intertiatic) just use the link above and follow the music option on their menu for downloads. Just check it out and be happy.

Didn't loud-ass, brain-bumping, wall-thumping, I'm-gonna-kick-yo-ass-if-you-don't-turn-off-your-car-stereo-cause-i'm-in-the-comfort-of-my-peaceful-home-trying-to-relax-with-a-glass-of-wine-but-yo-stupid-ass-shaky-bass-booming-out-of-cheap-speakers-and-crap-blaring-out-yo-piece-o'shit-stereos-loaded-into-piece-o'shit-suped-up-hondas-and-lowrider-trucks, go out of style in say, 1991? Then WHY are they constantly driving oh so s l o w l y by my place? drives me nuts. It is a good thing I am not one of those crazy, drunk-ass postal workers, or, um...a postal worker.

I forgot to mention that one of my girlhood dreams is finally going to come true-*I am grinning from ear to ear right now*-The concert of my dreams will become a reality, well I have seen three concerts of my dreams already, you see I have this weird, imaginary list that is categorized into different genres and venues.....nevermind you just won't understand. ANYWAYS, next month I am going to witness a spectacle I never got to enjoy in the eighties, cause well I didn't have money and my parents were not willing to support my music habit. OK, ok I will just get on with it. DEF LEPPARD baby, Yeh!!! I am SO excited you have no idea....Joe Elliot, although much older (like I really care, at least I am legal now) and unfortunately no longer wearing his trademark ripped up jeans, will be in my presence. Oh my god, what should I wear?? I wish I still had that jacket from 88.

First mid-term test outta the way, thank goodness. I had this history test last night, and for the very first time in my lengthly college career, a career that has seen dozens, if not hundreds of tests, I got myself so worked up over it that I stressed my self out to the point of virtual sickness! I was dizzy and was on the very edge of vomiting up spinach all over the classroom. Luckily I was able to calm myself down and take the test without too many problems. I think that over time, as I increased in age and realized the importance of my marks, and also the importance of actually learning and absorbing the information givin to me, did I finally set much higher standards for myself than I had in previous years. I remember being just fine with a C, or even a C- in some cases, but now I can't allow myself below a B. I suppose that is a pretty decent standard to set for myself. Shit, I am paying an enormous amount of money for this education, put myself in debt for this education, sacrificed much for this education, I have even sold my soul for this education, I should walk away with a damned smart head on my shoulders, right? Hopefully so, however I am beginning to worry that I might leave with some serious anxiety issues as well.

It has only been a couple of months since I launched this site and already I am considering a complete re-design. I am just not happy with it. Since I am quite the newbie when it comes to site building, there are a lot of things that I now know I should do, and not do, and want to do, etc. It is quite unorganized I think and certainly is not accessible by the masses. I want to try some more experimentation and make everything run a bit more efficiently. With summer school currently underway and fall semester starting just around the corner, this could be a bit of a slow-going process. For now, it will stay, roughly, the way it is. When I have a good idea of what I want to do with the site I will post some preliminary ideas for ya'll to toss around and hopefully I will come to some sort of happy conclusion. Any ideas on color schemes, organization, format, etc. gladly welcomed.

Reality has struck, I have reached that age when all my friends are getting married and settling down. *shiver* Don't get me wrong, I certainly do not want to be in their shoes. That is the absolute last thing I would want for myself in this stage of my life. I am extremely selfish and want everything for me, and my focus is me and I buy things for ME. It is best to get to know yourself before you take that kind of plunge. That reminds me of a rad band name I saw recently...Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. I love it!

I am having this problem that I had when I first started this blog, there is one little issue with my style sheet, and well I don't know what it is. Soooo...again I'm leaving it for the time being because I have too much reading to do. Oh, and if you want to rent a movie over this holiday weekend, watch The Theory of Flight. A severly crippled girl in a wheelchair trying to get laid. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to laugh or what, but I mostly laughed. (Is that wrong?)

I finally decided I should try and fix this page, however I have a lot of studying I should be doing so I will stop for now and just leave it as is for another couple of days perhaps.
I am working on getting a couple of pages put up with some recent photos, again due to my laziness it might be a couple of days before that happens. So, back to the garden I go, coffee in hand, ready to take on some futurist manifestos.