"You look like the songs I've heard my whole life comin' true"

Two of my favorite artists right now are The Rocket Summer and Imogen Heap. Now these artists don't really have a similar sound at all but they do have one major thing in common. Bryce Avary, of The Rocket Summer and Imogen both sing, write and play every instrument when recording each of their songs. It is actually pretty amazing when you think about how much work they much put into recording each and every song. I don't think seeing either of them live would do them very much justice, because I'm sure they get a band to tour with them.

This performance by Imogen is one of my favorites. To me, it is the eptiome of real music. It is so cool to just watch her do her thing.



Now for The Rocket Summer. I just got his new cd and I am obsessed! I couldn't pick a favorite song so I'm just going to post a few of my favorites. I just love him :)

Here is Goodbye Waves and Driveaways. This is one of the best break up songs I have ever heard.


This song is called So Much Love. It is his newest hit and I am pretty much in love with it!

"Sweetly broken, holy surrender"

I thought this was a cool picture...and of course a great quote!

"Summertime"

So I have been thinking that I want to go out of state this summer and work at a youth camp or something. There are so many different options but I don't know where I want to go. I just want to get out of AZ for a while. I think that would be fun. My ultiamte goal is to someday start my own youth camp. So I want to work in a variety of different places and get different experiences of how things are run. I worked at my first youth camp this past summer, and personally I saw a lot of areas where things could be improved. I don't know exactly what I want to do, where I want to go, or for how long but I know this is what I'm supposed to do. I'm excited to see where this lead me though!

"Self conclusion in one simplified motion"

There are so many things that I could write about today, but honestly I'm just not in the mood to collect my thoughts and put them into words. Maybe I'll feel more like it tomorrow...

"Nobody said it was easy, No one ever said it would be this hard"

Why am I so bad at science?!?! Seriously! My physical science class is killing me, and I pretty much have my own personal tutor in there. For some reason I just can't get it! Well, thank the Lord that we are able to do test corrections for full credit, because if not, I would definitely not have a decent grade. Luckly, with my major I only need one lab science, so I'll be done after this semester. Ugh...I'm off to do corrections on the latest test.

"I am who I am!"

This is the most painful thing I have ever seen, but I don't think I have ever laughed so hard.

"Memories..."

For Thanksgiving this year my family and I went to see my Grandparents in Albuquerque, NM. Now, this isn't an unusual trip, except for one thing. In mid-October, my Grandpa called my dad and said "Marc, if you want to see the house again, you better get out here before Wednesday". This was his way of telling my dad that he and my Grandma were not only moving from the house that my dad has lived in since he was three years old, but they were moving in less than a week. Now this was surprising and a little disheartening to all of us. It has been a second home to my brother and I since we were born. We have almost as many memories in that house as we do in our own. Everything from "our" bedrooms, swimming in the pool, cards at the dining room table, ping-pong upstairs and a lifetime's amount of just stuff that my Grandparents have accumulated.

Their new house is nice, but it isn't the house that we are used to. They haven't even put the house on the market yet because they need to replace the carpet and do a few other repairs. So I asked my Grandpa to take me to the old house so I could see it all empty. My parents and brother ended up coming too. I didn't expect it to be as sad as it was. Just knowing that was the last time we were going to be in that house was horrible! It was weird, usually I love change, I even crave it, but there are a few things in my life that are just always stable. My Grandparents are one of those things and now they go changing on me! What the heck Grandma and Grandpa! Well I guess I just have to just get over it and make some memories in the new house, because my grandparents are still the same.

"Who do you love?"

I'm a little pissed at my brother right now. Brian thought it would be hilarious to put my phone number into a website called yourcrush.com and then give random names of people who would have a crush on me. Since he did that I have been getting text messages from this website saying that Dwight Schrute, Kobe Bryant, Phyllis from The Office and Zane Johnson all have crushes on me. It is fantastic.....I love my brother so much.

"1 Turkey, 2 Turkey, 3"

Today I had my third Thanksgiving dinner, and I'm pretty sure it gets better every time. My first one was two weeks ago when Amy's mom came up to visit. She felt bad because Amy wasn't going to be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner, so she cooked us and 17 of Amy's friends a huge dinner. It was amazing! My second dinner was a little bit different. Laurel and Keri and the Cares Teams from the apartment complexes near them put on a Thanksgiving dinner for the residents in their complexes. This dinner was huge! At least 500 people showed up. We cooked 20 turkeys, 8 hams, and what seemed like an endless amount of rolls, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing and an array pies. This dinner was really cool because it was really the only experience I had with all that goes into the preparation of a Thanksgiving dinner. I never realize how much food there really is and how much effort is put into the cooking and cleaning. My third Thanksgiving dinner just ended. This one was with my family. My Grandmas and my mom cooked while my Grandpas and my dad watched football and Brian and I watched The Office. Now its time to eat some pumpkin pie, play cards and of course...watch The Office. Happy Thanksgiving!

"Are you ready?"

Three episodes in and Brian is already hooked and loves Dwight. Mission accomplished...

"Lets tune out"

I am so happy and relieved! I finally finished all of my work and am finally aboe to relax. Tonight I got to go to Phoenix and watch Brian's basketball team beat Arcadia and then tomorrow I am going to Albuquerque with my family. I didn't want to have to think about school at all so I got my two papers, that are due the Monday after the break, done so I don't have to worry about it. I'm so excited to spend some time with my family, get Brian hooked on The Office and completely relax. It will be amazing!

"Walkin' on sunshine"

In this chaotic day, I have found my happy place. Oh how I love you, Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino :)

"There's one thing you should know"

I'm not usually a huge country fan, but this is such a good song and this video kills me every time! Be sure to grab a tissue before you hit play.

"She doesn't get it"

Tonight I went to The Format acoustic show. It was amazing. I decided that I would take The Format acoustic over The Format electric any day. Although the music was amazing, I think my favorite thing about the night was the girl sitting behind us.

Before the show started people are standing up taking pictures of the stage and she starts yelling "Sit down!" and talks about annoying it is when people stand up at concerts. Then when no one listens to her she gets mad and says things like "I'm the shortest one here" and "sorry that I'm jaded". Then she claimed to know each of the band members personally and after the start of almost every song she would say to the boy with her "oh this isn't the song they wrote about me so we're good." Then they started playing On Your Porch and she claimed that the song was written about her Grandpa dying. Then when they played If Work Permits and she said that was the song that was written by her and that the band "didn't give her enough credit." Then she started crying while singing along. Later in the show someone yelled "I love you!" to the lead singer and he talked back to her and the crowd a little bit. All the while, the girl behind us says, "I would yell I love you to him, but he would know it was me and he wouldn't be able to respond because it hurts too much." Apparently our little band here has a past. Then the entire show she was standing on the seat, blocking everyone's view of the show after she complained about people standing up and blocking her view. She told her boyfriend, "they probably see me right now and are mad that I'm not up front with them." The entire night I felt like I was in on something I shouldn't be, like I had my own VH1 Behind The Music. It was awkward, yet quite entertaining. The entire night I was straining my ears to hear what she was going to say next. Whether it be yelling profanities at the top of her lungs toward the band, or bragging about everything she knew about them and all of the songs they wrote about her, she always had me laughing at how ridiculous she was.

"Listen up y'all 'cause this is it"

If I could give anyone any advice....people aren't always what you think so don't judge a book by its cover.

"Oh, go cry about it why don't you"

Tonight I went to Alissa's play. They did Steel Magnolia's, which is a movie that I love...yes, I admit, I do love a good chick flick. She did such a good job! I was really impressed. Alissa played the part of the mom, M'Lynn. She did an amazing job with the ending scene. It was the scene where her daughter, Shelby, has just died and she is questioning why she had to die so young, and what she is going to tell her grandson. I'm pretty sure that the entire audience was in tears. My eyes even welled up a bit, and thats pretty big for me! Well, I think its back to homework. Night!

"Its the little things"

I will be posting twice today because I didn't have my computer yesterday. This week is going by pretty slowly but I am getting a lot done, which is good.

Amy's mom has been in town since Monday and we are loving it! She cooked us an amazing Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday night and then yesterday, she made a turkey soup with all of the leftovers. She is an amazing Christian woman, who has one of the biggest hearts! It was refreshing just to be able to sit and talk with her. I'm so happy that Amy got to spend time with her too. I know she has been missing her family a lot lately.

Yesterday, I found out that one of my supervisors at work had a heartattack and was in the hospital. She has been gone from work since last Thursday and I thought she was just out sick. I was in complete shock when I found out yesterday. One of the other supervisors and I went down to the hospital yesterday and spent about an hour with her. She looked better than I expected and she actually just called me a few minutes age and said that she was released, but she has to go back in two weeks to get another stint. She is the lady that I talked to all of the time, so I've been pretty lonely at work without her.

I have been stressing majorly about all of my school work that is due in the next few weeks. The biggest thing that I need to do is have 25-19 hours of volunteer work completed. I have been doing it at South Beaver Elementary and just helping with the FACTS program there, but I really don't have enough time in my day to finish the 25 hours by the 28th. I was talking to Laurel about it last night and she reminded me how much I have helped with CARES and how I have pretty much eaten up their volunteer hours. We thought about it and did some math and realized that between the Haunted House last month and by after the Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, I will have more than the required 25 hours. This was the biggest relief in the world! I can't believe I didn't think of it before. I already have the hours done, now I just have to write the paper, which will be way easy. My goal is to get that paper and my New Teatament paper done before I leave on Tuesday, because they are both due the Monday after I get back and I don't want to even have to think about school during Thanksgiving.

Well that is pretty much the gist of what had happened in the last few days. Hope everyone else is doing wondeful!

"No One, no one"

In honor of Alicia Keys' new cd...

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

so painful...

"I don't wanna grow up"

I'm not really focused enough to write anything good tonight. I've got my mind on other things. Tomorrow I have to write a note to my younger brother for his senior yearbook ad. I'm still puzzled at what to write. Do I tell him how proud I am of him, and how much I love him? Do I keep it lighthearted and write one of our many inside jokes? Do I tell him how much I'm going to miss him when he leaves? I don't know and I don't really want to think about it. I feel like once I write it he will have permission to grow up and leave, and I am pretty much dreading the day that he does leave. I feel like I have so many things to say to him, but I don't have the words to say it. What do you even write to someone who means so much to you? Well I am going to bed. Maybe the words will come to me in the morning.

"Waiting on the world to change"

What is wrong with kids today? They are so eager to grow up. Was I like that? I hope not. If i could give any kid or teenager any advice it would be to be a kid or teenager! I don't know why they are wanting to be something that they aren't ready to be yet.

I was just talking to a kid that I babysit who is in 7th grade. I've been babysitting him and his little sister for about the last four years. He has always been extremely mature for his age in certain areas and very immature in other ways. It almost scares me to hear about the things that he knows about, and how accurate his information is. I feel like I am one of the only positive adult influences in his life. His mom cares, but she doesn't know how to handle his raging hormones on her own. His dad's exact words were "pace yourself" and his grandpa is only fueling his fire.

At first I was really freaked out by this kid and it scared me because I don't know how I would be able to handle a pre-teen boy like him, but then I realized that a lot of it has to do with how lenient his parents are with him, and how uninvolved they are with him. By spending so much time with this family, I have definitely learned a thing or two about parenting. But then again....I bet its not as easy as it looks. Good thing I'm not going to be a parent for a very long time.

"Blowin' out my mind"

This is probably one of my favorite moments in history. Three of my favorite artists sharing the same stage. Corinne Bailey Rae, John Mayer and John Legend. Does it get any better? I don't know...you tell me.



Oh, and can I just say....John Mayer sure knows how to end a show!

"Woman, get busy"

I can't wait until Thanksgiving! I love this time of year and I love the holiday season....I just wish it would get here already! I have so much to do in the next two weeks before I leave for Albuquerque. I need to write three papers, do a group project, study for a test and do 15 hours of volunteer work. Luckly, I am feeling really motivated today. I wrote my 7 page paper that is due on Wednesday at work today. Yes, I got paid $8 an hour to do homework. Oh, how I love on-campus jobs! I just can't wait for next Tuesday when I have all of this done!

There are a lot of things to look forward to though. Tomorrow is Alexis' birthday, there are no classes on Monday, Amy's mom is coming up on Tuesday and going to cook us a Thanksgiving dinner, Alicia Key's new CD comes out on Tuesday and next Saturday The Format is playing an acoustic show. It should be a busy, but amazing couple of weeks!

"Bear Down"

Earlier this week Lute Olson announced that he was taking an immediate leave of absense from coaching my beloved Arizona Wildcats. Apparently he won't be gone for a lengthy amount of time but this is still a very sad day. He made a statment saying that it wasn't a health issue (which is pretty impressive since he is 73 years old) but it had something to do with one of his kids. The assistant coach, Kevin O'Neill, will take over until Lute's return. Hopefully the Wildcats will be able to function without him.

We got the top two high school players in the state, Jerryd Bayless and Zane Johnson. I've never seen Bayless play, but I've seen his stats and they are very impressive. My brother's high school team played Johnson's last season and he was pretty good (even though Brian did block one of his shots...yes it was a very proud moment). He obviously didn't play much because Sinagua is no where even close to being in the same league as him. In addition to these two, we still have Budinger and McClellan. Although, we did take a big hit losing Mustafa, Radenovic and Marcus Williams.

I think we are going to be pretty good this season, but we need as much of Lute as we can get. He pretty much established the Arizona men's basketball program. He has been coaching for about 40 years and is a Hall of Famer. He brought Arizona's basketball program from nothing to a National Championship, 4 Final Four apperances, 22 consecutive NCAA tournament apperances, 11 Pac-10 Conference titles and the nation's second best winning percentage.

Lute Olson is amazing and he definitely has one loyal fan awaiting his return.

"You say you want a revolution?"

I read this article written by Mr. Leno a few days ago and was very impressed. Its long but so worth it to read.

The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true, given the source, right? "The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed, and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the President. In essence, 2/3's of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?''

Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week?

Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter?

Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job?

Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time, and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state?

Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can provide temporary shelter?

I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough.

Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all, and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital.

Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you, your family and your belongings.

Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes , an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss.

This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers.

How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?

Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy. Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S., yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have , and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.

I know, I know. What about the President who took us into war and has no plan to get us out?
The President who has a measly 31 percent approval rating?
Is this the same President who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The President that cut taxes to bring an economy out of recession?
Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?
The Commander-In Chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me?

Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it...are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day.

Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom.

There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a 'general' discharge, an 'other than honorable' discharge or, worst case scenario, a 'dishonorable' discharge after a few days in the brig.

So why then the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans?

Say what you want, but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds, it leads; and they specialize in bad news. Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner?

The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells , and when criticized, try to defend their actions by 'justifying' them in one way or another.

Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J. Simpson to write a book about 'how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way'...Insane! Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media.

Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your bird cage.

Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad.

We are among the most blessed people on Earth, and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative.

With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" Jay Leno 2007

"And so it is"

Last night I went out to dinner with Laurel. We had good food, good conversation and a hot waiter. There was one point at the end of the meal when we started singing. I didn't think we were singing that loud, but who knows, sometimes we get in our own world where we don't really notice anyone or anything around us. Yeah, its kind of embarassing now that I am thinking about it. Anyway, a woman at the table behind us tapped me on the shoulder and randomly asked if we were Christians and went to church. It was really awkward, but I said yes and talked to her for a second about the church I went to. I turned back to Laurel and gave one of my famous "that was random/awkward/weird" looks. Then Laurel pointed out that some of our conversation that night wasn't very Christian-like. Its hard to remember that we live in a world where we are always being watched and listened to. I forget that all too often. I have to make sure that I remember that everything I do or say acts as a witness to everyone around me.

"This love has taken its toll"

My favorite couple...

"Don't talk to me about work, please don't talk to me about work"

I've been working at an athletic gym for the past 3 1/2 years. I work in 3 different departments and I love it. This semester I am not working very much at the gym because I need to focus on school and I don't have enough time to work 7-8 hour shifts. I started to regret not working so much when I picked up my paycheck and saw the minuscule amount written boldly on the front. That night I went to the gym with my roommates so we could relax in the hot tub for a bit and an interesting opportunity presented itself.

A lady that worked in the Kids' Club with me is now the manager of the custodial department and she was telling me that she needed more people to work for her. My roommate, Amy, and I were talking and we decided that we both needed the extra money and the hours would be perfect for us because they were at night. So we went and talked to the manager and told her that we were interested in the job. We were hired on the spot and scheduled to start our training at the end of the week. Everything went very well.....for a while.

I couldn't remember exactly how long we had been working there so I just asked Amy. To quote her exactly, "We have been working for a month.....the month from hell." It was really fun at first, we liked the people, the work was easy and the hours were great. About a week ago things started going down hill and last night, Amy and I came home and decided that we were going to quit.

Last night we were supposed to be off work by 9pm. To make things go quicker, Amy and I sign up to clean everything together. After we get all of our work done we are supposed to go see if anyone needs help finishing their work because we all leave at the same time. Everyone is finished with their work at about 9:15pm except our manager. Her job was to clean the entire women's locker room, which takes about an hour to do. We all go to see what she needs help with, only to find that she hasn't even started cleaning the locker room because she had the urge to get on her hands and knees and scrub the entire shower area. We start cleaning the rest of the locker room together, while our manager comes in and tries to explain to us how to do things that any person that has common sense can do, such as refilling the lotion and soap bottles. It took her 10 min to try and explain how to screw the lid onto the bottles. The whole time she was talking I was staring at the minuet hand on the clock move further and further around and all I can think about is the amount of time I am wasting listening to this.

Finally, we got out of there a little after 10pm and Amy looked at me, knowing exactly what I was thinking and said "I've got to use up the rest of my tanning package before I quit"

"Gentlemen and Ladies, please put down your expensive champange, It's about to get ugly in here"

I am watching the ASU vs. Oregon game. The 4th quarter just started and Oregon is up by 19 and it is looking good for the Ducks. I've never been to an Oregon game, but I despise the SunDevil's, especially their fans. Last year I went to the NAU vs. ASU football game and the ASU fans were throwing hot dogs at our cheerleaders and fans.....classy huh? I don't know, I've always liked Oregon in every sport so I hope they kill ASU. Like I said, it's looking good for Oregon so keep your fingers crossed!

GO DUCKS!!!!

"It's not a silly little moment"

Have you ever had a really awkward moment with someone? I'm pretty awkward in general so this isn't a rare occurance. Most of the time I do it on purpose to see the other person's reaction, but sometimes I just get really awkward and in turn I say things.

I had an old friend come visit for the night yesterday. We had a great time staying up all night talking and just catching up on the past year of our lives that we haven't been in consistant contact. Everything went great until the goodbye. This morning when he left, my awkward self took over and started saying things that didn't make sense. Granted, it was 9am and I hadn't slept in over 25 hours, but I probably shouldn't use that as an excuse because I really don't think it had anything to do with my lack of sleep. I don't know why, but I always get weird at goodbyes and don't know what to do or say. Maybe it is because I don't know when I will see him again, maybe it has something to do with what happened during our interaction, or maybe I'm just socially awkward. Regardless, this issue keeps coming up with me and I am just greatful that my friends love me for the socially awkward, quirky me that I am.

"I have arrived and I can't keep this inside"

I joined NaBloPoMo. To join, pretty much the only thing you have to do is post one original blog a day for a month. So, for the month of November that is what I'm going to try and do.

We'll see how long I can last. Hopefully ya'll stick around and hang out with me for a while!