In the shadows, in the darkness.

I've pretty much been trying to do this anyway, but I'm desperately trying to stop spending money.  Not very easy, seeing as 80-90% of the money I've spent in the past week or so was music related.  I finally bought Carnival of Venice for my recital, and then I needed more trumpet books.  In a random move, I also bought a capo, so that I can continue to learn to play the guitar, and play everything in the correct key.  I'm not making a ton of money this summer, (my own decision) but I will hopefully have two jobs at school this year.  If the stars align, (a.k.a. the rumors are true, I have the money and the days off from band) I want to see DMB again.  There is talk of a fall tour, and if they are in NYC or Boston, I see no reason why I shouldn't go up and see them.  It won't be the end of the world if I don't go, but it sure would be nice...

I'm going to see if I can get into a rhythm this week.  The 3.1 miles I ran on Friday were rough, but I've now had two days off, and I need to get back at it.  A weekend full of family and parties was wonderful, but damn, does it throw me off track.  I also need to get back to practicing more regularly, and organizing myself to get ready to go back to UConn.  There's 25ish days left until I need to leave, and I'm kind of feeling weird about it.  I really miss some people, a lot...but I'm perfectly content being home.  My mom keeps telling me that the year goes so fast, why haven't I learned that yet...well, I don't know why, but you would think this transition would get easier after 4 years.  So much for that.  I make things much more complicated than need be.

Things I'm a little freaked about: student teaching,  preparing for Praxis II, deciding if I want to do grad school now or look for a job first, marching band in general, living in the apartment full time...why is it so difficult for me to get used to this stuff?

If I had it all...

...what would I sing for?

The most random bit of stuff in my brain, the abridged addition:

• I'm really excited to see my entire family tomorrow.
• It might be slow, but I cannot believe I ran 5K in under 39 minutes.  I thought I was even more out of shape than that.
• Thanks to my iTunes shuffle, I now wish it was Christmas, so I could listen to the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack, guilt-free.  (Btw...not winter.  Just Christmas.  Oh well.)
• I do not want to go back to school.  Ugh. 
• I'm looking into applying to UNH and the University of Bridgeport for grad school.

Actually, I'm actually going to (try) to keep my mouth shut, considering the rest of what I'm thinking will probably get me in a lot of trouble.

ummmmm...

I'm seriously frustrated and scared and don't know what to do.

Home is where my heart is.

Things I like about being home/summer:

• Babysitting.
• Having/making money.
• Swimming/the pool.
• The beach.
• The Staven crowd.  I missed them all very much.
• Seeing my extended family more than once every 4 months.
• Concerts.  (Obviously.)
• The ability to "run" to the store for a quick stop.  No longer do I need to plan a 2 hour expedition to Wal-mart with a long list, because if I forget something, I'm not driving back to Willimantic for awhile.

Things I miss about living at UConn, (mostly during the semester):

• Having the ability to go out, stay out, and come back whenever I choose.  However, living at home, I pretty much go out and stay until whenever I want, but staying over usually ends up in some sort of discussion with my mother that I would like to avoid.

All in all, I definitely love being home right now.  I'm sure that come September, when my friends all are back and classes are in session, I'll go back to loving UConn, but I'm foreseeing that this fall might be a bit like the last.  I remember hoping into my car right after my last rehearsal that Friday, driving home, and staying until pretty late Sunday.  I did not want to be there.  Do I go through phases, or what?

Concert List

"You know the kind of song that'll get you high
When the moon's so big 
it looks close enough to touch the sky
When the sun don't reign and the moon won't shine
I got a little thing that'll get you by, just a little while
When you turn it on it's gonna blow your mind
Head over heels you go, look at you, look at you, fly"

-Dave Matthews Band

I'm going to try to remember openers and dates of these, and the order I saw them, but it's probably not going to happen.  Skip to the bottom for a general overview.

1. John Mayer, Oakdale Theater.  The first concert I ever went to, my freshman year of high school.  Maroon 5 opened for him, and I don't even remember that part.  My mom dragged us out before the encore so we wouldn't get stuck in traffic, and I think that might be why I hate leaving before the encore.
2. O.A.R., Oakdale.  I believe this was the summer after sophomore year of high school.  I think.  I went with my aunts and my uncle, it was hysterical.
3. Backstreet Boys, Oakdale.  Summer 2005.  My mother, Gina, Anne, and I.  Nosebleed seats.  We danced the entire time. 
4. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Meadows.  Summer 2006.  Didn't actually listen to Tom Petty prior to going to this concert, and now I love him.  Tom Petty is a show that you can go to and have a great time listening to the music, even if you don't know it word for word. 
5. Toby Keith, Meadows.  Summer 2006. I don't hang out with this crew of people anymore, however, it still is in my memory of one of the most fun night I have ever had.
6. Gym Class Heroes, Webster Theater.  Fall Semester, 2006. Ricky and Brett got lost trying to get to UConn.  Along with Liz and Cody, we went into Hartford to see the concert.  Cobra Starship was one of the openers.  Right after we bought tickets for this show, Liz and I see a sign outside of Jorgensen for...
7. Gym Class Heroes, opening for Matisyahu, Jorgensen, (UConn).  Fall Semester, 2006.  We were pretty much only there for GCH.  We left about 2 songs into Matisyahu's set. 
8. Dropkick Murphys, Jorgensen. Spring Semester 2007.  I went with Liz and Andrew just to check it out.
9. Straylight Run, Reel Big Fish, and Dashboard Confessional, Gampel Pavillion.  Spring Semester, 2007.  Spring Weekend concert.  Why SUBOG thought an acoustic set from Dashboard was a good idea, I'll never know.
10. Fiona Apple, Mohegan Sun.  She was ridiculous.  Anne and I knew she must have be strung out on something, but she was still amazing.  Damien Rice was her opener.
11. Hellogoodbye, Webster Theater.  Spring Semester 2007.  Liz, Andrew, and I saw lots of 7 year olds with light-up sneakers.  Wtf.  A really fun show.  Boys Like Girls was the opener, but this was pre-popularity.  I remember Liz and I hating on them because they just kept swearing and acting really badass, then would sing these whiney pop-punk songs, hopping around in their skinny jeans.  Now I listen to "Two Is Better Than One" as I write this.  Oh well.
12. & 13. Dave Matthews Band, Meadows, N1 & 2 Summer 2007 was the first DMB concert.  I wasn't supposed to go to both nights, and ended up getting a lawn ticket the night before.
14. Incubus, Jones Beach.  The thing about Brandon Boyd...he literally didn't make a mistake the entire night.  It's kind of weird, like listening to their CD, since I am a fan of jam bands like DMB and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, but still awesome.  I remember how badly we wanted them to play Stellar, (they didn't) but they did play Aqueous Transmission, which we did not expect in the least.
15. O.A.R., Meadows.  Summer 2007.  Locked out of my car in Northford.  Having to move my car so I don't get towed in Hartford.  Traffic on the way home and blasting DMB all the way home, to the point where Dana and KP wanted to die, (pre-KP liking DMB.)  However, there were so few people there, they let lawn ticket holders sit in the last section of seats, so that was pretty cool.
16. DMB, Meadows, N2. Summer 2008.  We're not talking about it.  Show was good though.
17. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Meadows.  Summer 2008.  Went with Brett again.  Was disappointed, because after the 2006 show, Brett said he heard they were done touring.  A lie, because we obviously saw them again, and they're touring again in 2010.
18. Reel Big Fish, Toad's Place.  January 2009.  Junior year, with Nate, Liz, and Andrew.  Liz and I stood in the corner to prevent us from being trampled. 
19. The Toasters, some random place in Danbury that I will never go again.  I went with Nate as a gift to him for Valentine's Day.  He's a ska fanatic.  They were fine, it just wasn't my scene. 
20. & 21. DMB, Meadows, N1 & 2.  Summer 2009, 21st birthday weekend.  A great time, spent the weekend with Anne, Gina, Brett, Soler, and Matt Q at the shows.
22. Rascal Flatts, Meadows.  Summer 2009.  Now listen.  I like Rascal Flatts.  A lot actually, and I am a big fan of country.  However, since I had to bring my sister and her two friends to this show, and it rained, and I got stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes while less than a mile away from the Jennings Road exit...I was not a happy camper.
23. DMB, Virginia Beach Ampitheater.  Summer 2009.  I plan vacations around DMB concerts.  Great venue, and I don't think I need to talk about the concert, I think it's implied.
24. & 25. DMB N1 & 2, Meadows.  Summer 2010.  DMB's tour openers, which this was, are usually kind of lame.  They threw Matt and I for a loop, however, when this weekend, they played/liberated JTR, KIT KAT JAM (!!!!), Hello Again, So Right (!), and Busted Stuff.  Awesome.
26. DMB, N2, Comcast Theater, Mansfield, MA.  Mark and I decided one weekend of Dave is just not enough.  We sat halfway down the pavilion, dead center.  Amazing.  The seat was very similar to Hartford, however, we got Cry Freedom and Idea of You.  I was happy.  Very happy.
27. Victor Wooten, Toad's Place.  Summer 2010.  Brett was on the guest list thanks to his job, and we got in for free.  This guy is amazing.  His band was great, his brother was on guitar and is also ridiculous.  I've seen the Flecktones all separately...Bela Fleck at school, Jeff Coffin with DMB, then Wooten here.  It was a fun night.
[Dana and I will also be going to see my 28th show,  Lady Antebellum open for Tim McGraw on July 16th.]
 28. Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum, Meadows.  Summer 2010.  Lady A is an excellent group of singers.  Very predictable set, but they only have one CD, I think, so what do you expect?  Tim McGraw was good, very good, much better than he was on the CMT awards in June-he was unbearable to watch on TV that night, so I was a little nervous.  His show had a huge dip in the middle, lots of slower songs and ballads, but overall, decent show.
[And, I've discussed how I purchased the ticket for what will be #29- DMB @ Citi Field, N2.  July 17th, 2010.  Epic, it will be.]
29. DMB N2 @ Citi Field, with opener Zac Brown Band.  Summer 2010. There's something about country singers...even though I love country, so many of them CANNOT SING LIVE.  So, again, I was a little nervous about ZBB...turns out, he's awesome.  A lot of fun.  DMB was on fire, as usual.  We left early to beat the traffic, but everything he played after I left, I heard this summer,  so I didn't feel too bad about missing it.  The lawn GA was kinda brutal, but I would like to try the small pits in the ampitheaters in 2012.  They opened with The Stone, (which I called, I'm getting kinda good at that...) followed by Warehouse, then One Sweet World-all of which I had not heard this tour.  He played Seek Up for the first time this summer.  I was also happy when he played Crash, which I've heard this summer, but it's becoming a really big favorite.
30. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, with opener Crosby Stills & Nash, Meadows.  Summer 2010.  Awesome as usual, and didn't really play a lot off of Mojo, his newest album.  The stuff he did play was great though.
31. Big D and the Kids Table, with opener Tip The Van, The Webster.  Fall 2010.  I've seen both of these bands before, actually, but didn't include them in my count.  Went with some trumpets and had a great night.  Even though I kept getting lost in Hartford.  Totally worth it.
32. Dave Matthews Band, TD Garden, Boston, MA.  Fall 2010, with Tommy Weeks and Zima.  Amazing.  My first Last Stop ever :)
33. Goo Goo Dolls, Sara Barielles, Kris Allen, + more.


Current numbers as of 10/2/2010:
32 shows.  28. bands/artists, (not counting Matisyahu, since I only stayed for a couple of songs.)   13 venues. 11 DMB shows.  I don't think I'm forgetting anything, but I might be...

This is nothing for some people, I'm sure.  But I have had some of the absolute best times of my life at these shows.  This doesn't even count the shows I've been to for my friend's local bands, that I have been going to see since sophomore or junior year of high school-the Puppet House, The Space, Toad's Place, the Webster.  Something about live music is just addicting.  There is absolutely nothing like hearing your favorite song being played right there in front of you, and watching amazing musicians in person.  Or watching Dave Matthews do that funny dance that he does.  But I digress. 

By my very, VERY rough estimates, I've spent less than $1,000 going to these shows, not counting gas and tailgating and whatnot.  To me, it's worth every penny, and I would pay more than most, I think, to see a show I really wanted to see.

I will update this as I go to more shows.  Hopefully by the end of the summer, I'll have hit 30(+).  I have so much more to see, and hear.

So, how many shows have you been to?

Stay American, Baby!

Happy 4th of July!  This weekend was kind of tame, (...sorta) at least at 4th of July celebrations go.  No big family party this year, just my aunt, uncle, grandma, and couple cousins.  (Maybe that's big for some people, but that's nothing for this house.)  I once again ate too much food, but I redeemed myself by going for a run.  I had this desire to go running today, and since the next few days are going to be ridiculously humid, or so I hear, I figured I'd go now when it's just warm.  The next few days will be good for 30 Day Shred, or just a walk. 

Also today, I started listening to Incubus and some of the older Jason Mraz stuff again.  Like, high school era music.  Make Yourself is a fantastic CD to run to, in my opinion.  In other music news, I finally bought my ticket for DMB at Citi Field-that'll be show #10, and yes, finally, the last show for me for the summer.  I still can't believe they aren't touring next year.  Honestly, it's like this-some people smoke, some people drink, some people like to buy really expensive clothes, some people put tons of time and money into their cars...I buy DMB tickets.  Or just concert tickets in general.  I think I'm going to make a list of all the concerts I've seen.  That'll probably happen sooner rather than later, since this is turning out to be a lame-o 4th of July evening.







P.S. KP comes home in 2 days.  Omg.

How to...

How to get (and stay) motivated.  I think I need to read this every day.

Beeeeeeach

Days 7 and 8.  Ugh.  8 days.  I was doing so well in the beginning.  Misquamicut today was beautiful.  Tomorrow is my first day with nothing to do in awhile, so it will be filled with exciting activities like running errands and going to the bank.  If I can muster up the energy, I will go for a run later.  Maybe a walk.  Maybe running is why I don't want to work out...it takes me so long to get into it; going for a run doesn't pump me up or make me really happy and euphoric.  It's just annoying.  I need to find exercise I enjoy doing...

In other news, this has been the best summer ever.  I can't wait til KP comes home in 5 days :)