FINALLY got me some Drive-By Truckers! Pretty awesome. Love the song Daddy's Cup especially (figures...it's about car racing). Where the Devil Don't Stay and Carl Perkins' Cadillac are great, too, from what I've listened to so far.

Highlights from that game where you put your iPod on shuffle and see what you get: How am I going to get ahead in life? “Forty Years Ago” – Jamey Johnson (Yes! I knew it! I’M GOING TO INVENT THE TIME MACHINE!!! Ahahaha! And people said it couldn't be done!) How is today going to be? “Aenema” – Tool (Damn, it wasn’t THAT bad!) My grandparents? “Silver Dagger” – Joan Baez (Hmm, the first part sounds like them – my great-grandma didn’t want them to get married because my grandma was only 16, but they eloped anyway, so the second part doesn’t fit at all…or else I wouldn’t be here, haha.) What do my friends really think of me? “Mannish Boy” – Muddy Waters (Oh GOD!!! Thanks a lot, iTunes. I know I have short hair, but come on!) Do people secretly lust after me? “Wild Honey Pie” – The Beatles (Hot damn. So…apparently I look like a guy, but people think I’m hot anyway. Hopefully it’s GUYS that are lusting after me.) How can I make myself happy? “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” – The Beatles (OH MY FREAKING GOD!!! Are you kidding?! Help, iTunes is giving me suicidal messages! Jeez, what is this, some kind of Ouija board game?! Someone please exorcise my computer!) What should I do with my life? “Stolen” – Brian Jonestown Massacre (So...according to the song, I’m supposed to kill my parents, get drunk, steal a truck, and run from the cops? Ok, no wonder about the last question, then. Apparently life is about to get a lot more exciting! And a lot shorter...) Will I ever have children? “Stop” – Pink Floyd (Hahaha, I’ll take that as a no) What type of men/women do you like? “Good Hearted Woman” – Willie Nelson (Okay, I’m a man. I admit it. Excuse me while I move to San Francisco and get a crew cut and some hiking boots. At least this way I can get some little bitch to bring me a beer while I’m watching TV.)

Oh cool, so you're going for sure? Have fun, that sounds pretty awesome! Argh, and I still haven't listened to Bottle Rockets, but just so you know, I haven't forgotten about it. It's on my list of things to do this weekend. 21 days until Jamey Johnson, woohoo!!! I think I'm going to the Grand Ol' Opry while I'm in Nashville, too, but I'm not sure who's playing yet. I'll also be in Memphis (YES!! I wasn't sure if we were going to go there or not), so I'm sure there'll be something good going on there, too.

Good point! Haha, I know, right? At least I get a So Cal resident discount (and even then it's not incredibly cheap), but what they really get you with is the food! Ridiculously overpriced, and pretty horrible. And I always say I won't buy any souvenirs, but I always come home with a pirate hat or a t-shirt or something. I'm such a Disney freak...definitely one of my favorite vacation spots, too. I've never been to DisneyWorld, though...I'd love to go someday!

Let's see... 1. Grace Slick 2. Janis Joplin 3. Sandy Denny 4. Neko Case 5. Fiona Apple 6. Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs 7. Gwen Stefani (back when she rocked) 8. Agent M from Tsunami Bomb 9. Patricia Day from the HorrorPops Oh! Does Emmylou Harris count? She'd be like #4, in that case. Also, someday I'm going to listen to Cradle of Filth, Nightwish, and Lacuna Coil. I know those bands have female singers, but I've never actually heard them, and I love the idea of chicks in metal bands. In fact, I'd like to be a chick in a metal band, myself. I think I'd be better off playing guitar than singing, though...

Thanks!! Yes! Paychecks are good! Maybe I'll be able to afford to go to Disneyland on the weekends that I now don't have to spend writing pointless papers. I like, I like. Of course, I have to make enough to pay the rent first, but that is why I went to college, after all!

Thanks! I'm so excited, even if I do have to get a job now. 9-5 sounds just fine to me right now!

I get to graduate, yay! A few days ago I logged on to my school's site and found that a hold had been placed on my degree. THANKS FOR TELLING ME, ASSHOLES!!! I thought I was missing a class (even though I've looked at the requirements a million times over the last 3 years), but it turns out their crappy computer program hadn't realized that two classes I've taken do, in fact, meet the requirements. Jesus. Way to give me an unnecessary heart attack. Glad it was unnecessary, though. And this is the same school that not once, but twice, mailed out notices to people who were applying saying either they hadn't been accepted when they actually had (that was the first time) or that they had been accepted when they actually hadn't (the second time). Ready for the big irony? My school is considered to be one of the top universities for computer science in the nation. WTF.

Some people don't have the luxury of taking a holiday. Or weekends. I know some gardeners that work 6-7 days a week just to get by. I doubt they were trying to insult our fallen soldiers...just trying to feed themselves and pay the bills. And don't get me wrong - I sure don't appreciate people disrespecting others' cultures, whether it's someone visiting/moving to the U.S. or an American abroad, but in this case I don't think it's a cultural misunderstanding, just a matter of survival. I got attacked by a bird today...that made me pretty unhappy. I swear it knew I already have a burning hatred for birds, so it decided to attack me out of all the other people going down the stairs. Yep. I wonder what the penalty is for hunting without a license...that mofo is going DOWN!

Importance of the Apostrophe, Exhibit 1A: Bob Wills: excited about a dance, or paying tribute to his boys? The punctuation decides!

TONY STEWART WON!!! That is so cool - everybody was saying at the end of last year, "Oh, this new team won't go anywhere, he won't be as good as he was...blah blah blah." Eat crow, naysayers!!!

That's always a good feeling, isn't it? It seems harder and harder to be sure of that, the older I get... I saw Star Trek!!! That should probably be in the "Movies" thread, but it was so great that I think it merits making an appearance here. Loved it!!

beer

I do like Big & Rich...it's a guilty pleasure, but I won't deny that I get a kick out of their songs. Bottle Rockets, eh? I'll give them a listen, for sure! Thanks! Yeah, I need to get on the ball with the Truckers...I like what I've heard from them a lot, but I always forget about them when I go to the music store (I swear the second I walk in the door, I forget about everything I'd thought about getting). Which album would you recommend starting with? Southern Rock Opera? Darn it, nope, I just got the regular version. Maybe that's why it was so cheap. Wow, that album sounds really cool...I'll definitely have to give that a listen when it comes out. Townes Van Zandt writes some awesome songs - Pancho and Lefty was one of my favorite songs when I was a kid (and it still is!), and I'd love to hear Steve Earle's take on them. Have fun at the show - sounds like a good time!

Hey, well that makes sense! That was kinda my first thought when I listened to them..."they sound a lot like the Grateful Dead!" And now that I listen to them, I know I've heard Panama Red somewhere before. Not bad...you know I tend to like the harder-driving Skynyrd side of things, but for that kind of laid-back sound, they do it pretty well. Thanks, Swede! ...Did I say I got Steve Earle in my last post? Can't remember, too lazy to look.

I've never heard of these guys, but that is the raddest band name I've ever heard, and I love that t-shirt, so I'm now off to check them out! I don't usually listen to bands based on graphic design, but in this case, they got me. I got: Steve Earle - Copperhead Road

It was damn nice today! I went to the beach. The water seemed clearer than usual, so it was really pretty when the waves rolled in with an aquamarine tint. Not quite Hawaii, but better than our usual murky, gray water. It was a little on the humid side, but no big deal. Anyone from Florida would tell me I'm crazy and that it's positively dry, but everybody knows San Diegans are weenies, so there you go.

Well, yesterday I was supposed to do a presentation in my French class, which gives me a heart attack every time I have to do one of those (I can't talk extemporaneously in front of a bunch of people in English, and now you want me to do it in FRENCH?!?!), but guess what?! My class was canceled! Best. Day. Ever.

HOT! It's 10:30 pm and I've got the fan on high speed, and for all that, it ain't helping much. This is not how it's supposed to work! We haven't even had June Gloom yet! It's skipping at least two steps here!

Yeeeeeesssss!!! Same here. Those are two of my all-time favorite actors, and I love gangster movies, so I am all over this. And hey, even if it sucks, that is going to be one fine-lookin' movie! I'm kinda looking forward to the new Star Trek movie, as well as Wolverine. Oh! And Inglourious Basterds. That is going to be epic. Whether it's epically good or epically bad remains to be seen, but you know Tarantino isn't going to do things halfway, whatever the outcome.

I watched Gone With the Wind. I hadn't seen it in a million years, but I do love that movie. Accuracy aside, it really gives you an appreciation of what people went through during the Civil War. There's that one shot of Scarlett in Atlanta asking the doctor, who is administering to the wounded, to come and help Melanie deliver her baby, and it's focused in on her and the doctor. Then it pulls back to an aerial view, and it's just this total "OH SHIT" moment because there are dying soldiers laid out in rows on the ground as far as you can see. Please, let's never repeat that again. I love you guys, North and South! That was kind of an unhappy thought...uh, to put it back into lighter territory, am I the only one who likes Ashley Wilkes better than Rhett Butler? I mean, Clark Gable is a way better-looking guy, but there's something sexy about Ashley and his divided mind. I love watching him go back and forth between his loyalty to Melanie and his lust (or possibly love) for Scarlett. Puts a little sizzle in the skillet, ya know?

Hank Williams - Moanin' the Blues (LP)

I was thinking about making myself a Hurricane, but I wasn't sure where I was going to get the passion fruit juice. Then I thought, uh, hello - you have a passion fruit vine in your backyard, smart one! I'm not sure if there's any fruit on it right now, but as soon as there is, it's Hurricane season, baby!

Funnily enough, I know exactly what you mean! I'm from California, right, so I'm one of those anti-social city slicker jerks you're talking about, and I visited Asheville last year myself (along with the rest of NC, as well as Tennessee and Virginia). I expected it to be about like what you expected it to be like - friendly, laid back, etc., like most of the other places I visited. Instead, it was like...well, Berkeley! I was like, did I drive in the wrong direction? I thought I was in the South, but here I am in some kind of alternate universe populated with hippies who make jewelry and pottery and "live off the land" because they're already independently wealthy and can afford to make artisanal cheese. W..T..F? Since then, I've talked to a bunch (and I mean a bunch...it's eerie) of people that have said, "Oh yeah, I have friends that moved to Asheville..." Apparently, the cool thing to do right now for wealthy, retired Californians is to move to Asheville and live in a cute craftsman bungalow out in the hills so they can concentrate on their "art." So if you're weirded out by people who won't talk to you, part of the problem is because they're from here. Sorry. I don't know what's wrong with us, seriously. I guess the city life got to us first, and now we're infecting you with the same attitude, even though it's what we're trying to get away from. I hope I didn't act like that when I was there, ugh. But anyway, just so you know, it's not just you...Asheville is definitely confusing.

Best album/Dodge Ram review I've ever read: "This CD hasn't stopped playing in my truck because I won't let it! Not 'cause it's a Dodge!!"