I am in love with this album.




But the best song on the album is "Still," which reminds me of Automatic-era R.E.M.

Of Montreal's merch guy writes a tour blog! Lots of pictures and even a video. Hopefully more videos to come!

It about an hour, some girls from my soccer team will be coming by to pick me up for the tournament in Vegas. Yay!

It's actually cool outside today. It looks a little overcast, and it might rain. Today is perfect soccer weather. I hope the weather is like this in Vegas tomorrow but it will probably be hot.

I took today off work. This morning, John and I slept in a little and then went to Starbucks to use a Starbucks gift card someone gave me for Christmas. I got a green tea latte. This is the first time I've ever had a green tea latte, and I was very very pleased. I wonder if I can figure out how to make that at home. It was a nice and relaxing morning.

We got Mexican food for lunch. I love Mexican food. Cilantro and lime juice. Mmmm. I definitely live in the right state.

I got a couple books from the library yesterday, and decided to take Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies to Vegas. I've been meaning to read it for a long time.

I loaded up the iPod last night with Belle and Sebastian, Hem, the Mountain Goats, Bright Eyes, Richard Buckner, and other thoughtful music that's good for traveling. I have several new (to me) albums to get to know, which is fun.

I think I've just fallen in love with the folk/country band Hem, thanks to Pandora.com. The song I heard was "Radiation Vibe," a Fountains of Wayne cover. Unfortunately, I'm out of emusic downloads, so I can't download an album yet, but I just noticed they have a cover of R.E.M.'s "So. Central Rain" on this album on emusic. What a happy coincidence.

I also just heard a cool song by Erin McKeown that instantly made me think of Amber and Shannon (the style). Maybe I'm wrong, but she sounds like someone you guys would enjoy. I hadn't heard of her before, but I might need to try out some of her songs too. The one I heard is called "As Fast As I Can."

Here is Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag" sung by a Belgian girls' choir. They also do "Creep" by Radiohead.

It's been a long day. I only slept three hours last night, for no particular reason. I kept nodding off at work and then I left early to get an MRI of my neck. I got contrast through an IV. It was my first MRI and my first IV. The contrast made me feel warm and then hot inside and made me feel like I was wetting my pants (I wasn't!), so that was a new and interesting experience for me.

I have had a lump in my neck since I was about ten. For a long time, I told no one about it and I was sure it was cancer that would kill me before my twenties. (I bet I'm the only person you know who wrote a will while in elementary school.) When I finally told John about the lump in college, he pointed out that if it was a malignant tumor, it would have killed me by now. That made sense and eased my worries a bit. He helped me gather the courage to ask a doctor about it back then. The doctor didn't seem at all concerned, so I went on my merry way. But I have to admit it still worries me, so I convinced my current doctor to look into it. She's not concerned by it either, but she ordered an MRI for me.

Well, I'm glad I spent so much time listening to music today. I feel a little more alive. Lately, I haven't been feeling much of anything.

I had a job interview today at another university. I think it went well, but I try not to analyze job interviews anymore. Even if an interview was pleasant and I feel I expressed myself well, I never know if I stood out more than the other candidates, which is what is ultimately important.

Most of the interview questions were about my personality and hobbies rather than my job skills, so that was refreshing. I even got asked about the last couple books I've read. I've always wanted this question at a job interview, but I've never gotten it before. This university is really big on finding employees who fit their culture, and I think I fit it, whether they know it or not. I just hope I expressed it. This is the same place Josh works at.

Now I'm at home painting trim in the living room. I'm going to try to work on the house all afternoon and all evening. I'm listening to Pandora while I work, so I hope to find some new music. I haven't been impressed with Pandora's suggestions in the past, but due to Shawn's recent enthusiasm for it, I'm giving it another chance.

When I'm at work, I often write down journal entries on paper thinking I will go home and post them, and sometimes I email myself thoughts to post at home. But I never post them.

I really hope this job works out, but I've started applying for others, too, in case this one doesn't happen. But this one is at a really cool university. Oh, by the way, my job has gotten boring, so I'm finding a new one. Don't know if I've mentioned that before.

Of Montreal is playing in Tucson January 24 and Tempe February 5. :)
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In September, Son Volt will play in Flagstaff. Son Volt was one of my favorite bands in high school. They broke up but there is now a new lineup with the old singer Jay Farrar and some other guys. So it's not really the same Son Volt, but I really want to see them anyway. Driving to Flagstaff would be like driving to Chicago from Winona Lake (for you former Winona Lakers). I'd have to leave work early and I'd get home super late. John doesn't really want to go, so I'd probably go alone. I'm still debating it.

Why the hell would any band come to Arizona and NOT play Phoenix? It would be like a band going to Illinois but not playing in Chicago.

I've recently started paying attention to what bands are playing when out here, and in the last couple of months I've seen Of Montreal, Richard Buckner and Anders Parker (in a wine bar in Flagstaff), and the Pernice Brothers. I've missed some, like Sufjan Stevens, which Josh said was good. Next month is the Decemberists. I'd better go to that one because they're already doing $15 shows. Soon they'll be out of my league. :) In October is Iron and Wine. The White Stripes will be one of those big expensive shows, so we'll skip that. I love this city! I want to start devoting some budget money to rock shows.

We also joined a music service called E Music. It's $10 a month for 40 songs a month. That's about 25 cents a song. Or you can do $20 a month for 90 songs (about 22 cents each). It seems to be cheaper per song than other legal music services, although the monthly limit sucks. The songs are just plain old MP3s, no proprietary software or anything. They will give you 50 songs for free if you sign up for a free trial (you can quit before you're billed your $10). They don't have all the bands I'm interested in, but they have enough to keep me occupied for a while.

I'm still trying to figure out the balance between money and music. I'm not willing to spend a ton but there are lots of bands I'd like to hear and records I'd like to have. I'm trying to this legally, which is frustrating because I could have anything I wanted if I didn't care about the legality of it. Oh, woah is me. Sometimes I just have to laugh at the "dilemmas" I have while sitting in my comfortable air-conditioned apartment, typing on a laptop, playing a GameBoy Advance, while people all over the world are working 12-hour days just to eat. If I never buy another album again, I should be content.

On Monday, John, Josh, and I saw Of Montreal. I'd been looking forward to this show for a few months, and they did not disappoint. Josh decided to come at the last minute, so he had to get a ticket at the door. He was just about the last person let in, too.

( baby, your magic is working )