maybe we’ll get out somehow

another night in Penn station, another night sharing a table in starbucks with a stranger. another little blog typed on my touch.

it was another great night seeing the get up kids and Kevin Devine. I was a lumberjack. it really wasn't an amazing costume, but it was last minute and all I had to buy was my hat. and it was half off and will serve me well in the upcoming months when I am going to be shoveling my driveway and the walk.

my outfit did resemble the dreaded hipster uniform. and also in a dreaded form, I think I enjoy it. I might have to invest in a button up plaid shirt or two. first i wore my emo sweater last night and now this? damn me!

half of the fun of my night was looking at everyone else's costumes. my top three favorite ones in order of greatness:
1: Quail Man in Irving Plaza
2: the abundance of contestants from Legends of the Hidden Temple that I saw everywhere from union square, a bar and in the venue.
3: Nightman (circa The nightman cometh)

also the bands on stage were great. the opening band was zz top, Kevin and the band were mummies (but Kevin was a mommy) and then the Get Up Kids were all the characters from the Wizard of Oz. I was disappointed that there were so many non dressed up peoples. I am not a huge Halloween person, but I think if you go out, you shoul at least do something.

completely random point: my feet hurt. sitting down feels amazing. now I have no desire to move. but in ~8 minutes I am going to have to. boo.

...

so it's over an hour later, I'm still on the train. I'm so tired and can't wait to get into my pajamas. my head hurts, my eyes are begging to be closed for a long period of time and my feet can't wait to be free of my chucks.

i just put on mariah carey's "always be my baby"...I don't know, it is just one of those songs that I will always love. I really need to make a good list of songs that are guilty pleasures, those songs that make you lose any degree of coolness because you geek out so hard.

that is one mix I going to have to make on cassette so I can play it in my car no matter what. get ready, the wheels are turning on this one...

right now it is 1:09 for the second time today, does that mean there would have been another 1:19 train in penn leaving in 10 minutes? damn I hope not. cause then o would have been able to stay at the venue later than I did. boo.

two more stops from home. this is where I was yesterday when I ended this, so maybe i'll end it here again. I'm not sure who I should have sing me through the rest of the way, but right now I have monty python's lumberjack song entertaining me.

If they ask me, I'm with you

i just found my irving plaza ticket for get up kids and kevin devine on Halloween. that saved me having to lie to live nation for about 20 minutes tomorrow morning. it is going to be a magical weekend with two great shows with two great bands with so many fabulous friends.

I also finally got Jeff Buckley's "Grace"on vinyl. if my two Liz Phair albums don't come in the mail tomorrow, I'm going to start taking away starts on someone's eBay feedback. 

dreamt this dream a thousand times

i have been super busy lately. this week is filled with doing so much & then trying to get some rest.

day three of my birthday week was spent in west chester, pa. i could always write volumes about going to kevin shows, so i try not to. those shows are always something that i don't think i could ever explain to someone who doesn't really get it.

but the long & short of it is that i drove out there with jess & bex. we met up with kinja. i got a bangin' chicken hero thing. we finally found jackie. fred mascherino was really good live, but i have always loved him since breaking pangaea. kevin's was beyond amazing. i didn't get my song ("the three you asked for...i don't even know") but this box is empty & confessional was worth the trip & more.

we did pub on the way home. i love that place. it is just a diner but it somehow feels like more. i guess it is that pavlov's dog association type deal. it is always the post pennsylvania show hang where we reflect or just try to be revived from the death music can cause. we left, got back to piscataway & then i drove home. i pulled up to my house at 5:15. it was a full day and it was everything i could have hoped for & more.


day four of my birthday week was spent driving all over the island. hana & sharkey joined me seeing nightmare of you's instore performance at looney tunes. i enjoy them a lot. live they aren't always a winner to me. it isn't that they are bad, they sound good, but it doesn't hit me like other acts do. while i was there, i picked up their album that came out the day before. it is very lovely. they rerecorded two of their early demos. they sound good and i'm happy to have better quality of two of my favorite songs of theirs.

i also got a cd by the gay blades. it is outstanding. this is one i am going to pass around & makes sure everyone listens to. i saw the lead singer play an accoustic set when i was at looney tunes for record store day. i was impressed but never picked up the album. since i was finally out in east bumblefuck again, i thought it was time. i'm happy i found it & it rocks pretty hard.

after our looney tunes experience was over, it was diner & a long ass movie hang in sharkey's basement. i left my house at 4:30pm & then i got home at 3:30am. needless to say i was pooped.


day five of my birthday week was spent seeing blondie/pat benatar/the donnas in a park at coney island. i loaded my car with snacks & popcorn chicken and then headed over to hana's place. we loaded her car with food, drinks & lawn chairs and we were on our way. we were there super early but it ended up being good becasue we got a nice spot & things filled up super quickly. the two hours before was filled with super amounts of people watching. laura showed up just in time for the show. two fights almost broke out behind us during the donnas. pat benatar was great live & totally played the jams. seeing blondie made me so happy. debbie harry looked so old rocking out...but even at 64, she was phenomenal.

i always want to see acts that i haven't seen but i know i should see before they are at that stage where they don't play anymore. earlier this year i saw fleetwood mac, and last night i knocked two more acts off my list.


today is day six, but all i am probably going to do is hang around. i was going to go out shopping like i normally do onmy fridays off...but i haven't showered yet & don't feel like rushing around so i am back by babysitting. then again, i might get some boost of energy & leave my humble abode.

the girl at the rock show

Dear Thomas Matthew DeLonge Jr,

i was at your show tonight at jones beach. now that i have finally seen a band of yours live, i can officially say that you are every bit obnoxious in real life as you have been in my mind for the last couple years. you are 33 years old. talking about fucking dads & constant penis jokes during your set is just sad.

travis flawlessly played his drums hanging in the air & sideways. you fucked up a good amount of your songs tonight with your feet flat on the ground.

not cool my friend, not cool.

love always,
katharine.

now the days go by so fast

after a pretty sad moment in the history of my life occurred not more than 30 min ago, i moved forward & realized that my birthday week is going to be awesome. i had this feeling a couple days ago that i wanted to go into hiding. not talk to anyone or see people outside of a work setting. but that would be impossible since the days are filling up very well. so far, i have something to do 5 out of 7 days.

sunday - blink 182 at jones beach
monday - (opening at the store)
tuesday - lunch with mary in nj (maybe) & kevin in west chester
wednesday - nightmare of you at looney tunes (perhaps)
thursday - blondie/pat benetar at coney island
friday - (babysitting)
saturday - my birthday at sharkey's

i have to work monday morning & babysit friday night. so it won't be like i'm sitting home doing nothing. and even some of the moments i'm sitting home doing nothing, i'll be getting paid for it. god bless vacations days.

this year's birthday is already better than last year's (it wouldn't take much at all for it to be better than last year).

then again, i'm going to so much more broke than last year. but for me, it's worth it!

don't trust a ho

in my head, i have a well overdue big post brewing. but i know it isn't going to work out on screen as well as it is currently forming in my brain.

but today was a good day.

one of the managers & i went to the new crepe place in the shopping center we work in. i am going to get so fat & broke. but it is worth it. but it was a good time. i know people out there don't like their jobs. but for as much as i can complain about the bookstore, i really enjoy some of the people it has brought into my life.

now i'm leaving to finally check out tina's new apartment in brooklyn. then is once again off to hoboken to enjoy food/tunes at maxwell's. it always, without fail, rains when i go there to see a show. it can be before i leave, in the car on the way, while i am actually in the city of hoboken or on the drive home. it doesn't matter when, but it always happens. i will never understand it.

the sound of you working

i went to bed not too long after that post last night.
this morning i woke up a little after 5am. bizarre.

there are a couple albums/artists that i have been playing a shit ton lately...city & colour, bess rogers, jenny owen youngs. and i need to change my Now Playing song, so one of these lovely people will be getting that spot. i'm not entirely sure who will be getting it though (but it's not city & colour, because i'm not that depressed right now)

both jenny & bess are great, but i think this one is going to go to the lovely Bess Rogers. her new EP is great. i downloaded it off itunes the other day, but i need to get a physical copy of it.

in other music news, today i have acquired some tickets for concert experences:
august 9th - blink182/falloutboy/takingbacksunday at jones beach (totally lol-worthy)
august 11th - kevin devine at the note in west chester, pa
october 31st - the get up kids/kevin devine at irving plaza (boo. i wanted brooklyn)
november 28th - brandnew/glassjaw(!!)/tba special guests at nassau colesieum

there are a bunch of shows coming up the next couple weeks too. there is a little thing in the side bar for the whole list. i totally forgot about planning for the blondie/pat benatar show. tina reminded me when we were on the phone. i am getting excited again for it (even though i would like to be at the tori amos show maybe a little more). i guess that means more vacation days at work are being taken off.

so i hold on tight to letting go

so far so good. it hasn't been as hard as i thought it was going to be.

the one biggest things bumming me out about life is that i am working when tickets for the get up kids & kevin go on sale. i am going to need to ask for a favor from a friend at some point next week.

(ps - my subject lines are always lines from songs. this one is from an ingrid michaelson demo walk away. i have yet to find a free standing copy on the internet, so i think when i get home i am just going to rip it from her loverly twitter site. anywho, you need to listen to it. sometimes demo recordings are my favorite. they are just simple & right to the point. they are also often leaps & bounds different than the final product. i mean i never would have guessed that kevin's carnival would have evolved into the gem that it is. i am interested to see if this makes it to an album or this is basically all that will come of it. either way, i find the low-fi sound and crackles absolutely charming & makes the song possibly better for me than if it was done in a professional studio.)

every sweetheart on the scene

[Now Playing: Kevin Devine - I can be with anyone]

lately my musical trips have been few & far between. i don't like that fact. but i have somethings coming up that i am super excited about.

here is what's coming up:
03.03 - bess rogers @ red lion
03.04 - manchester orchestra (early show)/anathallo (late show) @ mercury lounge
03.13 - fleetwood mac @ nassau coliseum
03.21 - chris cubeta / bryan dunn @ mercury lounge
03.26 - brian bonz @ johnny brenda's (philly)
04.17 - we're all broken @ maxwell's (nj)
04.24 - kevin devine @bowery ballroom
04.30 - manchester orchestra @bowery ballroom

the only one that i am not sure about is the bess rogers one. but all the other i either have tickets for or have pretty much concrete plans in my mind to go. the two shows in april that are both on fridays are going to be hard to swing with babysitting, but i am going to just have to do it b/c i haven't seen joe's full band outfit yet & it is kevin so it is pretty much obvious that i will be there (& any other shows that pop up around then).

go your own way

oh! i forgot!

guess who i am going to see in march with helen...


that's right. fleetwood-motherfucking-mac

i can't wait.

i should at least try to sleep so i don't over sleep for work

sunday - work, kevin devine/manchester in philly
monday - teaching
tuesday - teaching, computer class
wednesday - teaching, my final seminar, concert (either kd/mo in hoboken or jessi at the living room)
thursday - teaching (last day), work (joy?)
friday - para job (maybe), babysitting (& playing rockband)
saturday - teaching exam (last one!), work all night

speaking of jessi's show on wed, here is some info:





we all know i love jessi & kelli rae is a doll and can play a mean ukulele. it is for a good cause so besides listening to lovely ladies, it is worth your time.

you move awfully quiet now

i'm almost a month away from being done with school
and a month and a halfish from graduating college

i have a feeling life is going to get amazingly
better or be horribly worse once i graduate.




all i know is that i am super broke right now and it sucks.
cause that means all the things i want to do this week...

mon - dinner with friends from school
tues - kevin devine & brian bonz at tcnj
friday - colour revolt at highline ballroom

are probably not going to get accomplished.

i'm also not babysitting this weekend and my paycheck is going to be super low next friday since i only worked three days last week. boo.

always feel this tall

[Now Watching] Nancy Grace (she is nuts, such a riot to watch)

today was a full day. quite busy but at the same time, not at all.

i had work this morning. had to be at the store at the bright & early time of 8am. it wasn't swamped, but it wasn't dead. so i was keeping busy & the day actually flew by pretty quickly.

i was supposed to go to my cousin's first birthday party, but i had to babysit tonight since i went to the city last night. kind of bummed, but i stop by there all the time. plus she just turned one. she has no idea i wasn't there.

babysitting was good too. they watched star wars. i napped. i know it is hard work but someone has to do it.

when i came home, i finally ordered my tickets to manchester & kevin for the december shows in philly and hoboken. i was worried that they were going to sell out, thankfully that was not true.

& i also felt good about myself today all day today (even when i expected not to). that is a plus as well.



oh and last night was fucking phenomenal (more pics here)


(Moneen is a band you don't need prior knowledge to enjoy)


(kevin was entirely electric & let me see that i'm going to love the new record)


(saves was so good. i'm sad i waited this long to finally see them live)

the night ended with a perez hilton sighting & baked goods.
sometimes life isn't as bad as it normally turns out to be

while the night is still ahead

life has seemed more busy in the past week or so than it has in a long time. but i really can't figure out where all the time has gone.

i just found $6.
i am super broke, so i am super excited about that.

i just realized that i don't know where my ticket is for kevin & saves friday night. i should probably look for that, right?

dancing in the dark

i was thinking i could have bought them by now, but i am hoping that philly & hoboken don't sell out by friday morning when my direct deposit goes through.

i don't think anyone reads this thing here, but if you are - please cross your fingers for me that they aren't too close to being gone for good.