1. listen to more third eye blind

2. buy the tournament

3. find a 6 cell msi wind

4. make my fall course schedule before the classes i need are full

5. cancel my Time subscription [it's basically all availible online anyways]

6. find a place to live before i am homeless

7. lead a last minute 92 yard drive to win the super bowl

8. get one of those skinny ties

9. install that new window in the basement

10. buy a zune, or really just any mp3 player

11. make everyone i know watch "stealth". greatest bad movie of the decade?

12. go to the baseball hall of fame

13. get myself a nice suit

14. switch over completely to rechargable batteries

15. see a pirates game at pnc park

16. get more socks

17. fix the leaking faucet on the tub

18. find my lost (suspected stolen) belt

19. get a new pair of shoes (geesh ... again already?)

20. put my new innertube on my bike tire

21. track down some uni-ball gelstick pens (buy a busload)

22. put pictures in those picture frames

tbc

This opening paragraph was very nearly a detailed explanation about my inability to track down a specific type of pen. You see, I have become quite particular about the writing utensils I use. However, upon a second reading [something I should probably make use of far more often] I filed it under the "no-other-person-on-this-planet-cares" category. Ctrl A. Backspace.

If you had seen me today, you would have picked up upon an actual skip in my step. Last nights hockey game was absolutely stomach turning. My nails are all chewed down to the finger. An abundantly overjoyed "high-five" shared by John and I nearly broke both of our hands. The Todd would have been proud. To my neighbors I apologize for the shrieks of exuberance at such a late hour. "The Shift" played by Brooks Orpik will go down as one of the greatest sports moments I have ever witnessed. Last nights game was precisely why I watch sports.

Due to a technical glitch, my firefox browser just crashed. I took this as a sign that I was out of wrapping up this xanga post. Due to technological advancements, my post was actually restored. I take this as a sign that technological advancements, from the very invention of the wheel to the light bulb, have only created more work for us all.

Anyways, I've really said nothing, but I'm out of here. I have to write up something that can be posted at EFotG tomorrow. I am also thinking I need to write an essay on Doug. Yea or Ney?

New Mates of States album came out today. Or I suppose it was yesterday, since it's now almost 4 in the morning. I'm just about through the first play-thru and I've got to say I'm pretty excited about it. Especially since I don't really recall enjoying "Bringing It Back" too much, and I had no idea they had a new album out until I checked this weeks releases.

Just for when future Justin reads back and wonders what he was listening to in the late Spring of 2008 it's time for a minor recap. New Death Cab for Cutie album is solid. I was worried at first because there wasn't any song that struck me as great on first listen. Say what you will about Plans, but "I Will Follow You into the Dark" is great, and was from the first time I heard it from the leaked MP3 that found my way several weeks before the release. "Lack of Color", "Title and Registration", "Blacking Out the Friction", even "Styrofoam Plates", all great from day one. Nothing grabbed me in a similar fashion on "Narrow Stairs", but it's just a very solid album. You can just put it on and listen to it from beginning to end, and I find that is an important shared characteristic in the albums that I really learn to love.

Why not call it Ben Gibbard's "coming of age" album. Forty years ago Holden Caulfield and Sal Paradise were forced into become adults at a tender young age [oh, indie music and Jack Kerouac reference, just tune this rant out, I'll surely regret it in future readings when it isn't four in the morning]. Anyone could reasonably assume that in the handful of years following those novels the characters would be married and have kids and be beginning their adult lives. The same really isn't true today, twentysomethings don't carry the same expectations. People start their mature adult lives and begin having families in their 30s. And the content here reeks of this, maturing, and settling, albeit cynically at times. Cath... is a great example, as is Long Division. really there's a great 1500 word essay in this album.

And lets see, what else has kept my ringing ears company of late? The new Cloud Cult is just so-so, not anything compared to the life-changing album that The Meaning of 8 was [seriously, find a quiet space and listen to it uninterrupted]. I've probably underrated The Mountain Goats "Heretic Pride" simply because John Darnielle constantly creates amazing songs. It's great, but that was to be expected. Really I'm at a slow point right now, which could just be the time of the year, we should get some summer releases coming up, but I could also use any suggestions.

The Wedding Present also had a new album hit the racks, so I'm sure John will be swooning over that. California inspired I believe.

I just read a great write up on James Frey in the LA Times. I never held it against him that he lied, if it's a good story it's a good story. The story didn't really hold me, but, you know, Oprah loved it, so what the hell do I know. Which really is a bizarre way to wrap up a post entirely devoted to music, but I thought it needed to be said. Just hold my attention, lie if you must. hmmm... sleep? stanley cup finals in four days.