i've been drowning in memories.

Progress on my "52 Books in a Year":

House of Night Series: Books 1-4

I have always been a sucker for vampire books, and so when Jackie Pierre recommended it on Christmas, and handed me three books of the series--of course I had to go buy the first one and start reading the rest of them immediately. Let me preface this by saying that I have read the Twilight series and although I like the idea behind it, and I find guilty pleasure in the movies, I do not think the books are well written at all. Yikes. These books, however, are written even more horribly! I groaned at the majority of the dialogue and shotty, predictable, unrealistic-but-makes-the-story-flow-along plot. Despite my huge criticisms, I could NOT put these books down. I wanted to read more! The vampire ideas are interesting (Vampires are "marked" at an early age--and it is a genetic dysfunction that is somewhat accepted in their society. Once marked, they attend a "vampire boarding school"). There are also lot of guilty pleasure "romance novel" aspects to this series. I will never say these books are good, but I apparently sure do love a trashy vampire novel. I read four of them in one weekend.

Lolita:

I was prompted to read this book by Justin, after we watched the film Lolita (1962). It was always on my list of "books to read one day," and after the movies I was quite interested in how an author could write a novel that is seen as controversial even in today's society. Lolita is a witty, well-written, disturbingly fun read. It gave me a very conflicted feeling while reading it. The main character is a pedophile, and at times in the novel I forgot that fact. It is unnerving to love a novel about a completely horrible scenario--a man in love with a child. This writer had some serious balls, especially in his time. It is a must read.

Next up: Eating Animals, finishing Good Omens, The Life of Pi, On the Road.

Justin, MCS, and Farewells:

Justin came home from MCS's small in-store tour in promotion of their new album (which you better have gotten by now!) on the 22nd for an in-store show and signing at the Best Buy in Mall of America. I worked until 6, so I had to rush over to the mall. I missed the show, but I arrived just as the signing had begun. The whole store was packed to the gills with MCS fans. The signing line wrapped around the store--it was insanity!

So I stood around with Mike Minehart until the signing was finished. I had the pleasure of chatting, meanwhile, with Beth and B-South. I love seeing how many people are so dedicated to the guys and their music. It was fun to witness. After the signing I drove Justin back to his place and we watched some movies, ate some food, and lounged.

The next day was the First Ave show. I got ready early and arrived to the venue a few hours early and met up with Justin's family. Little did Justin know, that MCS was getting a star on the side of First Ave that afternoon. Jill, Josh's wife, had contacted me a week earlier about the surprise. So we met up with all of the families and close friends outside and waited for B-South to bring the guys out under the guise of an interviewer wanting to tape outside (or something). The guys came out, were weirded out we were all out there, and unveiled their star. It was especially great because the line already waiting to get in witnessed it as well, and cheered when it happened. It was a fun moment. The guys completely deserve it, and they have worked so hard for the honor.

After the star, I headed across the street with Justin's family for drinks and dinner for a few hours. We all bonded, and I love all of them so very much. What great conversations and times had.

Then Heather and Lydia arrived and so I went to meet them. We got our passes, and went up to the VIP section where we sat with Nels. All the family and friends fit into the VIP section by the end of the night including Tommy, Kari, Josh, Jim, Shane, Sing it Loud boys, Raven (girl from the Disappear video) and her parents, and so many others. We were able to score seats right by the railing over the stage--so we had the perfect view of the guys and the audience. WHAT AN AUDIENCE. They sang every word to every song--even the brand new ones. It was incredible. The guys were flawless. It felt so, so good. I visited Justin backstage, and boy were the guys on their "game" that night. Dancing? Check it out.


After the show us girls waited for Justin to get finished with talking to everyone. Once that happened we went over to Luce. I brought Justin home to finish packing. And then I brought him to his bus. Sad panda face...

Friend Time!:

Since Justin leaving I have kept busy with my lovely friends! Last week I went to dinner with Larissa (who just finished her latest theatre show), Heather, and Lydia. We had some margs and some Mexican. In the midst of this noise, we ended up with a video treatment for the next MCS video. I don't know how it happened, why it happened, or what we came up with. But I have included the video for your viewing pleasure. Please don't judge us too harshly.

On Thursday I put out an emergency call for "girl's night"! It had been a very long week, and I needed some socialization if I were to survive another night. Luckily my friends are quick with responses and tweets. We all met up at the ugly mug for some drinks, some Lady Gaga, and some passionate conversations. GOD I love my girlfriends. Included in the picture below is Laura, Lydia, Heather, and Kristin. Not included is my cousin Casey, who left early.

Anxieties, Fears, and "Other":

Tonight I hope to hang out with Daniel, Amy, and Jojo. Tomorrow is Tiffany's baby shower and coffee with Sarah.

Everyone around me is starting to morph into a vegetarian. I am not one, and am not saying I would never be one, but now I am feeling guilty while eating meat. Not because I am against killing animals for food, but because I fear that everybody else is being a better human being than I am! We will see how this turns out...

At the end of the year I may possibly be losing my job because of district cuts, because I was the last full-time employee hired. Understandable. But now I am fearing for my life. What will I do? Who will I be? Where will I live? Help. I am having a mental breakdown of sorts.

Today I cleaned out my life. Threw away all of the junk I own, went through my closet and drawers for donations to give, dusted, vacuumed, etc... I feel alive!