Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl

Rilo Kiley: "Miami was pretty, before we were bitter, before we let our sadness litter the streets"

I wish I was younger. I'm almost 19 and I already wish I was younger. How am I going to feel when I'm 39? 56? 96? Assuming I live that long. I don't know what to be when I grow up or what to major in. At all. I guess that's me resisting the whole process.

I had more fun in high school than I do now. By far. It's not like I was a jock or popular and miss my glory days.. I just miss living with my family and letting other people absorb my consequences and make decisions for me. I know I have to grow up and step into my adult shoes one of these days, and I really hate it. My adolescence feels so long ago and my childhood feels even further, much more like a dream than anything.

I feel like since I've moved out, people don't care about me as much. There aren't best friends and siblings around to keep an eye on me and give me advice. I'm surrounded by strangers who don't even notice me, much less worry about my safety. I have to deal with everything on my own, and it's hard for me.

I guess it's just my ego being crushed :) I want people to

park that car
drop that phone
sleep on the floor
dream about me.

In an semi-related note, seeing BSS live was one of the more incredible experiences of my life.

Humble Adoration

I love Kate Winslet.
I'm so glad she got the Oscar for best actress!
She is such an inspiration to me.
I cried when she won.
She shouldn't be married to Sam Mendes.
She should be married to Leo.
She is the best actress of our generation.
I can't believe she beat out Meryl!
Her hair looked kinda weird at the Oscars, but that's okay.
My favorite movies of hers are Sense and Sensibility, Titanic, and Revolutionary Road.

In other news:
I am so excited to get a record player finally!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so excited to start collecting records finally. (Right now I have 2 lol.)
I'm so excited to own my favorite music on vinyl.
First purchases will be:
More Adventurous- Rilo Kiley
Execution of All Things- Rilo Kiley
The Ugly Organ- Cursive
Sun, Sun, Sun- The Elected
Rabbit Fur Coat- Jenny Lewis & Watson Twins
Islands in the Stream 7"- Constantines feat. Feist
Arcade Fire- Funeral
Dark was the Night- Various Artists
Transatlanticism and Something About Airplanes- Death Cab for Cutie

Haha that should be good for now. I'm so excited!!!

Daily Routine

Today I:
-Woke up after staying up too late watching the new Grey's Anatomy and Dr. Horrible
-Laid around until I felt ready to move
-Went to the caf and had a tofu stir fry (mmmmmmmmm)
-Worked on reading (for the millionth time) A Ring of Endless Light
-Downloaded a nice Flight of the Conchords wallpaper
-Deep cleaned the bathroom. It was gross. I listened to my Perfect Songs playlist though, which made it all better :)
-Spent a long time getting ready because I was waiting for my friend to be ready to go thrifting
-Ended up not going thrifting, went to dinner and tried to find good food
-Got startled in the act of preparing my bagel by my friend Seth
-Got startled again by the same bagel when it literally jumped out of my hand, rolled neatly along my leg and then jumped to the floor, causing me to utter a peanut butter clogged wheeze that elicited much laughter.
-Went to my friends to watch Dollhouse (Which was interrupted by a stupid press conference about a prominent local man dying that lasted the ENTIRE hour the show was supposed to play in.)
-Went to Smith's and to get a smoothie
-Came home, got in pajamas and laid around perusing the internet and reading and watching things and eating a banana.
Overall, it was a pretty good day.
Bonus for taking the time to read about my life:

(I would have posted Animal Collective's "Daily Routine" if I wasn't afraid of getting in trouble haha.)

Prince [Jemaine].mp3

Concert Review: Obi Best

On Saturday, I saw Obi Best. I had only heard their song "Swedish Boy" but I suspected it would be a good show. I was wrong. It was an AMAZING show. Her voice was so light and delicate. It just swirled around the small, appreciative audience. She played this cool keyboard that she wore around her neck, and her keyboardist/synth player guy was INCREDIBLE. He was so good at switching from sound to sound and basically was perfect. Here he is:

But of course, the best part was when the drummer came out. She looked a LOT like Barbara Gruska, Jenny Lewis' drummer and I was like no it couldn't be... Why would Barbara be here of all places? Why wouldn't she be with Jenny? But I was like ok, if her name is Barbara then that's her. A little later, someone goes "Your drummer is awesome!" (Which she is) and the singer is like "Oh yeah this is my awesome drummer, Barbara." And of course I started freaking out because I was so excited to ask her questions about Jenny Lewis. The concert started feeling really long because I was so anxious!
The most awkward guy ever was there though. He stood right in the front, staring up at Alex (the singer) and awkwardly dancing and saying "yeah!" at inopportune moments. Things got REALLY creepy though, when Alex held up some fuzzy handcuffs she had brought, and said she wanted to incorporate them in the show somehow. The creepy guy instantly yells "Oh please me!" and she was like "You want to be handcuffed to me?" and he was excited beyond his wildest dreams. So up he went, and they were thus handcuffed. While he's up there, he yells "This is the most action I've had in three years!" and in case that wasn't awkward enough, he yells "No, I'm serious!". And Alex stayed calm even though I'm sure she felt frightened for her life. I thought he would just run out of there, with her in tow.
After the show, I finally got up the nerve to talk to Barbara, and she was SO nice! She shook my hand and introduced herself and said Jenny is doing a huge tour in May and that she'll most likely come here! I was so excited. And she said we could be myspace friends and that she'd keep me posted on tour news. If they come this summer, then I can totally be like "Hey Barbara!" and she will then introduce me to Jenny and invite me to tour with them. Basically. :)

Concert Review: The Delta Spirit

It's always interesting to go to a show for Filter, because I usually am not very familiar with the band playing. I think it's fun though, because then I have no idea what to expect, and I'm usually pleasantly surprised. This concert was also unusual because it is the first one I have ever been to alone! One of my friends was going to come along but she got sick, and no one else could come on short notice on a Tuesday night. I won't lie, it was scary riding the train downtown and wandering around the dark streets trying to find the venue (I'd never gone there on foot before). It didn't help that the venue is a converted garage that is literally down a dark alley. But the funny thing is that the dark alley wasn't even the creepiest place. I was most worried for my safety at the McDonald's I stopped at! I went in to use the restroom since Kilby Court doesn't have one, and there were two creeps sitting right by the door, staring at me. I seriously booked it out of there. Later on, while I was waiting for the train home, there was a weird guy wailing down the road. But that wasn't even as scary.

But anyway, back to the show. It was amazing! Delta Spirit is a bluesy rock band from San Diego, and they were so much fun. They used cool instruments like huge drums and wurlitzers, and even banged on a trashcan lid for the song "Trashcan". The singer had an amazing wail, and looked like he could be John Stamos' son. I love shows at Kilby because they are so intimate! It feels like the band is playing to you in their living room or something. I wish I liked Rilo Kiley when I was twelve so I could have seen them there.. but anyway I came late but ended up right near the front. There was a moment where the singer looked right into my eyes as he wailed. It was earth-shattering. I've come to the conclusion that concerts make me feel better than anything in the world. They are medicine for the body mind and soul. No matter how nervous or angry or depressed or stressed out or ill I feel, I always feel better once the music starts.
Overall, it was a super fun show. Everyone was singing and dancing, and the band interacted with the audience frequently, and said they loved playing for sober crowds.
Here are some pictures I took during the show. On my crappy camera phone haha.


Banging on the trash lid!


Guy in middle is shaking a Maraca!

Mashup Perfection

Okay, so usually mash-ups are more of a novelty, that is, they aren't really expected to sound as good as the original songs, and they are usually more of a fun, "Oh wow look what they mashed up this time" type thing. But every once in a while, one comes along that just blows me away. This one for example: It's Grizzly Bear's "The Knife" mixed with The Knife's "Heartbeats". Usually in a mash-up, one song takes priority and the other just provides a bass line or something, but in this one, they are intricately layered so that they each get a chance to shine. I think I like it best when the Grizzly Bear vocals are featured, but both sound good. Anyway, without further ado here is the song, in all its glory.
Knife vs. Heartbeats [Grizzly Bear vs. The Knife].mp3

Twitterpated

Twitterpated: When a car has one headlight out
Twitterpated: When the animals in Bambi get silly and get down
Twitterpated: A state of excitement caused by Twitter

I just joined Twitter, and it is so fun! I feel special that Andrew Bird is following me, and that I get messages from Shaq sent to my phone. Shaq's updates are probably the funniest. But for some reason I am always thinking of things to say on Twitter, whereas it was always hard for me to think of a facebook status. I guess less people see it so it's less pressure. Anyway, my twitter name is rilouisa. Add me! If you want to hear random irrelevant things.

In other news, I have a cold/sinus infection/something bad. But my friend gave me some nyquill so hopefully I'll feel better. I feel guilty for not going to my classes today or yesterday, but my head is all buzzy and I keep having hallucinations and weird thoughts. You know when you see something move out of the corner of your eye? Or think something is different than what it is? Today I was walking to get a bagel and a lady was walking her dog in the periphery.. and I thought it was a dog and cat haha. When I was little I hallucinated that there was a glass of orange juice nailed to the wall. I've never done drugs because I'm afraid of them, but I think this might be what it feels like. Maybe. I probably sound dumb. Blah blah blah. Scatterbrained.

Bonnaroo vs. Coachella

I've always thought Coachella would be more fun to experience, but this year's Bonnaroo lineup looks better than Coachella's!

Reasons to go to Coachella
Jenny Lewis
Beirut
Conor Oberst
Crystal Castles
Los Campesinos!
Paul McCartney
Lykke Li
Amy Winehouse
The Cure
The Yeah Yeahs

Reasons to go to Bonnaroo
Jenny Lewis
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Andrew Bird
Bon Iver
Of Montreal
Animal Collective
Neko Case
Kaki King
Grizzly Bear
St. Vincent
Crystal Castles
The Ting Tings
Okkervil River
Beastie Boys

Hmmm... Too bad Bonnaroo is in Tennessee! So far away. But so many good artists!!!!!!