...clever titles...

I'll really miss arrested development. *tear*



That's me and my roommates being sad about the lack of future AD in our Arrested Development themed clothing.

(p.s. I know I haven't updated in like 4 months and I suck)

Okay, so this actually happened like 3 weeks ago...

My little ol' jetta (I never did give her a name, I tried Moritz for a bit but I decided the Jetta is a lady), hit the 50K mark. I know its no 100K but it was worth a picture with my camera phone.

Whew. I spent most of the summer and the beginning of the fall writing/preparing for my A-Exams. Once they were done we decided to have a long-awaited party at my house. Somehow Taryn & I came up with the name "Super-Mega Party" and it stuck.

I would have posted these pictures earlier, except my camera fell in the toilet and was toast. I had to wait to order a new camera to transfer them to my computer. I am pissed about the camera, by the way, but other than that the party was super mega fun.

Here is the super-mega liquor we had. We inherited a lot of it from Matt when he left town.



There was a lot of random liquor in there, like some sort of Israeli Coffee liqueur. There were also a lot of people named "Sarah" at the party (including myself). Because I am a dork I said at one point "Sarah is the modal name here." That went over about as well as the joke I made this weekend when I was helping Tri Delta with rush and I said "Yeah she's not normal. She's like 3 standard deviations from the mean." In any case, because there were so many Sarahs, we decided to do a "Sarah Shot."



There were actually multiple Sarah Shots. I think the Sarah Shots are what did me in the next day.



I'd like to say that the reason I am pretending to touch Zoe's boobs is that she is so tall and her boob was just in my face. But actually, I have a thing for pretending to touch my roommate's boobs in photos.



Taryn isn't tall so I have no excuse.

Sometimes we can be pretty starved for excitement here in Ithaca. But occassionally minor excitements come our way. The other night I was at a bar with some friends when we noticed none other than Dennis Haskins, better known as Saved By The Bell's Mr. Belding at the bar. He joined our table and had drinks with us. We were all quite excited about having drinks with a "celebrity."

Here's a shot of my friends Heather and Daphna with Mr. Belding. Daphna was REALLY excited to see him



As you can see, he's gained some weight. Here's my roommate Taryn with him.



Taryn was also pretty excited. The entire bar was pretty excited about the Saved by the Bell experience. Some of my friends wondered if maybe Dennis was annoyed by being asked repetedly to take pictures. I think he loved it, I mean, c'mon he decided to come to a bar in college town. You could tell he was eating it up. When your celebrity goes as far as a crappy series of Saturday Morning pre-teen comedy shows (though the college years may have been on Prime Time, I can't remember now), its nice to be noticed I'm sure.

Seriously, I have the cutest niece ever. I've been restraining posting tons of pictures of her up here since nobody wants to see a whole bunch of pictures of babies and what not. But I think this one deserves to be posted.

First, sorry about the nearly 3-week lapse in posting. I was really trying to update more regularly. However, I'm in the midst of a super-busy period, and I took a trip to the Midwest last week.

When I got back from my trip I had an exciting piece of mail. As I have previously posted I had an unpleasant trip flying United Airlines a few months ago. Since one of my hobbies and interests (according to my friendster profile at least) is "emailing companies whose products and services I am dissatisfied with" I wrote United a letter explaining my dissatisfaction. I actually didn't expect anything to come of it. However, my exciting piece of mail was a $150 United discount certificate good whenever (no blackout dates!) How exciting!

So far, I have received the following from writing companies:
*2 $1 coupons on blowpops (The apple blowpops in my bag of blowpops had no flavor)
*1 Free item from Taco Bell (They didn't put my soft taco in my bag)
*1 12-pack Wegman's brand diet Wedge + 1 2-Liter any Wegman's pop (there was an empty can in my 12-pack)
*1 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts (I got the wrong donut)
*2 Free Starbucks beverages (The cafe mocha I ordered at a hotel bar serving Starbucks was a late + Swiss Miss)
*$10 Friendly's Gift Card (Overall poor service)
*$150 United Travel Coupon

I said that a couple of days ago and my roommate's boyfriend made fun of me. But its true. I'm good at thinkin about stuff, and writin stuff, but doin stuff, not so much. Two recent cases in point:

1. I got my new CDs and tried to do that CD trick to easily remove the adhesive label off the top of the jewel case where you pop the cover off. Yaeka walked me through this trick when I was in Seattle. I was not successful. I just broke the jewell case.

2. I had a collage frame to fill for over my TV. The pictures are 3.5 x 5, but I have 4 X 6 pics so I had to some cutting. Even though I traced the space onto the picture and cut on the traced line I somehow cut the pictures about a half in too short. I actually had to tape them back together so they wouldn't look retarded.

Seriously, I'm not good at doin' stuff.

So I know that like 99.9% of the time the people who are reading this blog are Yaeka & PhiLL, but just in case someone else happens to be here, I'd like to highly recommend checking out the Phill(er) Podcast. I really haven't jumped on the whole podcast bandwagon overall, but I do enjoy Phill's podcast and if you have similar tastes in music as I do (as can be evidenced by my CD collection link below) then I think you might like it too.

Arrested Development Season 3 premiers on Sept 19. Season 2 will begin airing Fridays starting this week on Fox. This Friday the first 4 episodes from Season 2 will air. I HIGHLY recommend watching these episodes and definitely watch Season 3's series premier.

John Vanderslice will be releasing his fifth full-length album, Pixel Revolt on August 23 on Barsuk Records. Notice that although I have his other 4 albums he is not on my list of do not buy for awhile. I *heart* him.

Nada Surf will be releasing The Weight is the Gift on September 13 on Barsuk records.

Cedar Point (America's Roller Coast!) has changed their policy on loose articles. All items must fit in cargo pockets or fanny packs. Since nobody actually uses fanny packs anymore, that pretty much means all loose articles must fit in cargo pockets. Keep that in mind if you are heading there. Hopefully I will be in a couple of weeks.

That's all the random information I have to share with the world right now.

Last night in a fit of not feeling productive, I decided rather than do the pile of readings I desperately need to do, that I would make a list of my CDs. The list really serves no purpose whatsoever, though I guess if all my CDs were stolen I would have a record of it. Although I don't have renters insurance (which I know I really should) so I'm not sure what the record will serve me other than the fond memories of the CDs I once had. Though, they are all in my iTunes playlist so I still will have my fond memories (and songs). So pretty much making this list was just a complete act of procrastination.

I'm not going to post the list all here, since its long (well not super long, not like 1000 CDs or anything, but too long for a post) but if you happen to be remotely interested in my CD collection you can see it here.

Looking at my collection in a list form like this made me realize that I think I don't need anymore Death Cab For Cutie, Damien Jurado, Elliot Smith, Radiohead, or Pedro the Lion for awhile. I think I'll make sure that my next 10 CD purchases or so are different bands. (I also don't need anymore Nerf Herder or Weezer, but I had no intention of buying them anyways).

Yeah, this is just a lot of pointless procrastination.

Note The link was broken before. Its fixed now.

Arrested Development Season 2 DVD will be released October 11. You can preorder it already on Amazon.com. I haven't preordered it JUST yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

So apparently I didn't win the amazon.com wishlist sweepstakes. Damn...I was really hoping to get $5000 worth of CDs. I also didn't with the $170 million Mega-Millions jackpot on Friday. That was a disappointment because as usual, when I play the lottery, I had big plans for that money. Among them to buy all the CDs (and everything else) on my amazon.com wishlist. I was also going to give a lot to charity.

Even though I didn't win the big bucks, I did decide to make some recent CD purchases. The impetus for my CD buying were the 3 CDs (The Minders Hooray for Tuesday, Decemberists Picaresque and Nick Drake Bryter Layter) I bought in Seattle. I have all my CDs organized in CD binders, and adding these CDs into my collection will be quite the reorganization project. I decided to buy more CDs now, so I wouldn't have to reorganize until I get some CDs for Christmas. So no more CD shopping for me. My purchases:

Heartless Bastards - Stairs and Elevators

This was a "diversifying my CD collection" purchase. The Heartless Bastards have been heavily played on my Yahoo LaunchCast customized station and I have really dug every song. They have the kind of sound that you "dig" rather than "enjoy." Even still, I usually don't buy CDs without downloading some of the songs and putting them on rotation for awhile before making the decision if I like it enough to buy it. I actually was planning on buying The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat but it was out of stock, and Heartless Bastards have a similar sound so I figured I go with them and still give my CD collection some diversity.

Modest Mouse - Good News for People who Love Bad News

Ok, so this is not a "diversifying my CD collection" purchase. Granted I only own 2 other Modest Mouse albums (Building Nothing out of Something and The Moon and Antartica) but my CD collection is full of generic, "everybody who kinda likes indie rock or ever had a college radio show owns at least one of these bands albums" type CDs, which I think Modest Mouse fits. I had delayed purchasing this album for awhile even though it had gotten good reviews because I wanted to diversify-up my CD collection some. Plus once I saw Modest Mouse playing on MTV (or maybe it was some special on Comedy Central) I decided they were big enough that my couple of illegally downloaded songs weren't going to break their banks. (Although I don't feel bad about an illegal copy of No Doubt or Eminem, I don't like not buying the albums of indie bands because I know a lot of them actually really are very dependent on their album sales to make a living). I don't know why I decided to buy it now.

Damien Jurado - On My Way to Absence

I actually almost bought this in Seattle. Then I almost bought Ghost of David because it was like 4 bucks cheaper. I decided not to buy either. I almost bought Ghost of David this time. I decided that I should try to listen to more new releases. This is a really dweeby motivation; basically I was thinking at the end of the year everyone will be talking about what the best albums of 2005 were and I won't know anything because I haven't heard any albums released minus Picaresque.

So none of these CDs have come yet, so I can't say if they are good or anything. I actually haven't heard any of the Damien Jurado tracks at all, but I'm going on faith the its Damien Freakin Jurado so its gotta be okay.

Getting my iPod changed the way that I listened to music. I had always been a fan of the mix, but my listening primarily revolved around listening to albums. Once I got the iPod and downloaded all my CDs to my computer my album days were over. I almost exclusively listen to my music library on random - or at best a playlist consisting of my 4 and 5 star rated songs. I still buy CDs, and will give the whole CD a spin or two, but mostly that's just to rate the songs on it so they can be smart playlisted.

Since buying Picaresque about 2 weeks ago, I think I've listened to the entire album at least 10 times. I think this is the most times I have listened to a single album in its entirety in the last 18 months.

What has compelled me to keep playing Picaresque? With about 3000 songs at my disposal why I am choosing these same 11 songs over and over again?

At the most basic level, its just a damn catchy album. But there are lots of damn catchy albums that I'm not listening to all the time. What makes Picaresque more than just a damn catchy album is that the poppy tunes are layered over rich lyrics and intricate story lines. The Decemberists are known for their theatrically-minded songs often revolving around maritime, sea-faring, Victorian European-esque themes. When my brother played me a song he'd written about wandering gypsies, my immediate reaction was, "That sounds like it could be a Decemberists" song and played him "A Cautionary Song" from Castaways and Cutouts. Picaresque also maintains this theme (especially in The Mariner's Revenge Song, which is one of my favorites on the album). However, as has been noted in most reviews of this album, Picaresque deals with a number of modern themes, particularly (as most everyone who has heard the album has noted) Sixteen Military Wives, clearly an anti-war protest song. However, despite tackling more modern themes, the album maintains its sound.

I've always felt the Decemberists were sort of old-worldy in a hip rock and roll sort of way. I think I had this impression before I saw them live on New Year's Eve 2003, all decked out in 1920's style tuxedos and dresses (the drummer and keyboardist/accordionist are both female) with their bassist playing a stand-up bass rather than a rock and roll electric bass. However, in listening to past Decemberists albums I've had a hard time putting my finger on the definitive aspect of their sound that gives them this "old-worldy" feel. Obviously the subject matter of many of their songs drives this impression, but I was struck that even when singing about "modern themes" they maintained this sound. I think I've finally got my finger on it.

First, most Decemberists songs are instrumentally thick. The addition of keyboards and accordion to most songs adds unique dimensions, especially the accordion whose sound is lacking in most other modern pop-rock bands. Secondly, lyrics show evidence that Colin Maloy, the bands frontman and songwriter, clearly scored really high on his SAT Verbal portion. The language is reminiscent of late 19th fiction and poetry with lines like "Below the tamaracks he is crying, 'Corncobs and candlewax for buying!" This romantic language populates even the "modern" themes. For example, the espionage themed romance The Bagman's Gambit includes, "And for a tryst in the greenry I gave you documents and microfilm too."

What this album does best is supplant these poetic versus of wayfairing sailors, child kings, forbidden lovers, academics, and athletic failures on top of poppy tunes that make you want to keep listening, even if you have no idea what "Picaresque" means. It is able to be unpretentious; it is intellectual while at the same time completely accessible.

And it's a damn catchy album.

(By the way, I had no idea what picaresque meant either, so I looked it up)
pic·a·resque
adj.

1. Of or involving clever rogues or adventurers.
2. Of or relating to a genre of usually satiric prose fiction originating in Spain and depicting in realistic, often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social degree living by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

Last weekend Taryn and I finally painted my living room. I'd been saying almost as soon as I moved into this house that I wanted to paint the living room, which was a lovely light brown wood paneling. We also had a beautiful mirror collage consisting of a 4 by 5 grid of smaller squares of mirrors. It was clearly a decorating choice out of the early 80's or late 70's.

The color we chose was "iconic ivory." I would have gone with a strait off-white, but Taryn wanted a little color, so we chose this color that was the lightest in one of the green palates.

Although we ran into a minor catastrophe (Sherwin-Williams sold us an alkyd primer instead of a latex primer - we didn't realize this until about 11:30 pm when we tried to clean our brushes and rollers with water) the project was fairly easy (just a Saturday and Sunday's worth of work) and I think was a major improvement to our living space.

We also did some re-decoration that I have been dying to do. With the exception of Yaeka's Klimpt-inspired self-portrait all of our wall art is black and white. We also have more stuff on the walls, and no more African-themed items (my last roommie was from Africa and had a lot of tapestries etc. I can't say I'm a fan of elephants and what not in my living room).

Here are some photos to show the improvements. The "before" pictures were taken after we had already removed some of the furniture etc. for painting plus the lovely mirror thing was taken down. Imagine it above the TV.

Before shots:




After Shots:






Now if we could just do something about the lovely drop ceiling....

I have previously posted on my concerns with elite colleges failing to reach out to economically disadvantaged youth. Since entering college at Colgate I became aware of this issue, as a student from an economically disadvantaged background. I feel that there are two related issues to economically disadvantaged youth's access to higher education: 1. Unless these youth are a racial or ethnic minority they're background is often not considered when making admissions decisions (e.g. affirmative action does not generally apply to them) 2. Because the high schools these youth attend are not gearing them towards college, and because many of them are first-generation college students, they are often unaware of the opportunities available to them. They clearly know about such elite schools as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Cornell, but they see these schools as the domain of prevailed classes that do not apply to them.

While the first issue may not be addressed adequately yet, it appears that at least some universities are finally addressing the second issue of student's perceptions. A friend of mine, whom I've discussed these issues with in the past, sent me this article. (You may have to sign up for a free Boston Globe account to view it). This past year, Harvard has begun leading the way in creating initiatives that reach out to economically disadvantaged youth. They increased their financial aid budget (however, I don't think they are currently "need blind") and have begun a number of outreach programs, such as having current students who come from modest incomes call potential students from modest backgrounds and producing a brochure on how to attend Harvard on a "Shoestring Budget." Following suit, Yale and the University of Virginia are beginning similar outreach programs.

I find these initial steps commendable and I hope that similar universities will follow suit. Indeed, I plan to email the admissions department at Colgate regarding this issue. I never actually responded to the email that Gary Ross sent me over a year ago. What is attractive about these measures is that they open the door for students without costing the university very much. Colgate already offers fairly excellent financial aid packages, I left there with only $6000 in debt, and my parents' yearly contributions were less than they would have been had I attended the local community college. Colgate may only need to advertise what it already offers in a targeted fashion.