The other day on a less than happy trip to someplace less than happy I popped in the mix CD Anna Funtimes made me for graduation. She didn't include a tracklisting, so every song was a special surprise. It was probably the best mix CD anyone ever made for me. It felt like every song meant something different, yet unique to me. From Begin The Beguine to songs about alcohol, to amazing acoustic Gogol Bordello... it was the best ever. It made me laugh, smile, and cry. And quite frankly that's what a good mix CD should do.

This is my public thank you to Anna for rocking harder than anyone I know.

I was just reading old LJ entries and quite frankly, this deserves to be reposted.

( How to write a college paper. )

_lolapalooza gave me letter "P" to do the top 10 things I like beginning with that letter. So here it is.

1. Panic! At The Disco. Easy, but true. I've loved the band for like a year now I believe, but it's just a musical fascination. I'm not obsessed with things like I used to be, and while I can appreciate their slashiness from afar, I'm just not into it anymore.

2. Perry Cox, MD. How can you not love this character? I was watching Scrubs season 3 last night when he tries to show off in front of Turk and Carla and he makes a slam dunk, and Enrique's "Hero" is playing, and it's just pure comedy.

3. Perfume. I have a thing... I have every scent from Bath and Body Works and now I'm working on Victoria's Secret. It's unhealthy.

4. Parker, Willie. Damn that little guy can run! Go Steelers!

5. Pittsburgh. I'm not from the city, but close enough, and I love it. If I could someday work for the Pittsburgh Symphony, life would be good. It's a great place.

6. Pets. I wish I had some in Fredonia. I miss my pup and my kitties more than anything!

7. Purses. I turned into a girl in the past 2 years and own more purses and shoes than I ever thought I would. I don't need any more, but I keep buying them.

8. Performing. It might take a lot of time, effort, and work, but put me up on a stage with my clarinet and a pianist, and it's the best feeling in the world.

9. Potatoes. You know, PO-TA-TOES. Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew. They're tasty. I like them mashed the best.

10. Pumpkin pie. MMMMM. I'm going to make one tomorrow. Because that's what I do. I bake pie now. Yes. Tasty.

Sigh. Steelers. At least Charlie Batch delivered when he was needed most. I <3 him!

It's so weird how yesterday, I wanted to quit. EVERYTHING. I felt so helpless and hopeless. Life wasn't going the way I expected it to. I was wasting my time and my money, and just swirling around in a vortex of my own misery.

Today? I can't imagine my life without this. Without music. I can imagine my life without Fredonia. Because in the end, it's not this place. It's what I take from here. And today I took so many things... it's going to be hard as hell. Sometimes you're going to have to make opportunities for yourself and not expect them to be handed to you. It's possible to do what you want in life, even though the dream has evolved. There are people that will touch you in ways they'll never know, and maybe you'll never have the courage to tell them. Then there are those that have touched your heart and soul endlessly and you can't wait to tell them every single day. When I feel like a bad person, it's mainly because I feel like I don't have my priorities in order. Well, you know what? I am my main priority. I need to make myself happy. So if I'm a bad person, a bad sister, so what? Sometimes making myself happy means letting others down, and maybe that's a bad attitude to have, but I'm so past the bullshit. I'm 23 years old. I've done all the bullshit undergrad stuff and I'm ready to delve deeper into what I want to do. My priorities have changed, but I finally think for the better. No one here really knows me, and no one even knows how hard this has been. This is something I either keep bottled up or only open up to my closest friends to. And because this is SO temporary in the grand scheme of things, I don't even care. Again with the bad attitude, but whatever. Things have definitely not gone the way I thought they would, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The clarinet has been my passion. It's been the hardest thing I've ever had to do IN. MY. LIFE. At the end of the day though... it's still there. I still want to do it. It gets disheartening when you've been playing 14 years and you realize there's still SO much to do. To learn. But that's life - you never stop learning. When you stop learning, then that's when it's time to hang it up. I came in here expecting that I should be at a different level. So I'm not there yet. Oh well. I'll get there.

Um, hi.

I had to help train a new temp at work today. O_o Too much pressure man!

I listened to "Halfling" on the way home from work. And sang along. I am teh dork.

Tomorrow I want to put a dent in my Christmas shopping. However, The 40-year-old Virgin comes out tomorrow and I will be purchasing and wanting to go home immediately to watch and laugh my ass off. So the Christmas shopping will most likely get pushed back unless I get a bunch of people stuff at Circuit City. I will also be purchasing The Island and watching the good parts of that. :-D

( Journal meme. )

New RW/RR Challenge tonight! I don't even know who's on it, but I'm sure I will love it.

Grey's Anatomy is probably the best show on TV. MAN. It just tugs on my heart strings in so many ways. That's amazing.

Okay I had a dream that Jason Mraz was giving me a private concert and he was all like "You're cool, we should be friends." And then we were. He actually called me his homie.

...

Right.

also, i had this great idea at work today involving zach braff directing a video for jason mraz's "plane" and damn, i got excited. clearly someone needs to make this happen asap!

"Oh and I finally got into those Harry Potter books. I say I root for Gryffindor, but secretly I love my Slytherin boys." -Karen, Will & Grace

Hee!

I slept like shit last night. It was a combination of being congested and not being able to breathe and the other part was I kept dreaming about Lost and it just kept waking me up. WTF. When my alarm finally went off, I was sorta happy, even though I laid there for awhile because it was freeeeezing in my room.

And now I've had my coffee and oatmeal and I am ready for the day. Even though I'll probably just sit here for a little longer and read LJ.

The power flickered off and on (like every 30 seconds) for almost an hour. Jeeeeez. It better stay on now or I might freak out a little bit.

Plus this delayed the GIP of my new Cedric icon. Hot damn that guy is cute. Annnnd legal. Sweet.

( More... )

More here if you want to sort through them all.

Called temp agency. Emailed resume. Should get a job v. soon! Hurrah! Money!

LOST season one is MIIIINE. I have a feeling I will be watching TV the rest of the day.

Am still riding the wave of sparkly happiness induced by Nsync footage from last night.