The less human you are, the more likely you are to finish the game.

Okay, so it's been a very long time but life happens and it sure has been um,... interesting. Loads of things are going on with the wedding planning and the apartment and my new hours at work but,... there is a spot of light shinning through the clouds and reflecting off my computer screen making it impossible to finish my game. PAX East 2013 tickets went on sale today and there are now two badges heading in our direction. The wedding planning and my job are taking up quite a bit of my time but what little time I do have is being distributed between a few games. Minecraft is one of the big time takers especially since, thanks to my fiance, I've discovered mods. Lego Star Wars on the PS2 is another time thief. I've played it on the DS but as of recent the power cord has run screaming into the hills never to be seen again. Seriously, I've looked all over this damn apartment and it's no where to be found. So in an act of desperation to quench my Star Wars thirst I put the game in and I don't remember the next three hours. The next thing isn't actually a game. I've the discovered the wonders of the X Files. I was quite young when the show was originally aired and never really thought about watching it until my fiance's mother let us borrow a two episode VHS tape. After that we rented season one from the library and we were hooked.

Also, my fiance did something wonderful and hazardous to my health. He bought my The Binding of Isaac from the steam summer sale. I spent the next three hours battling monsters in a randomly generated cellar/dungeon/crypt/catacomb. For those of you who don't know anything about The Binding of Isaac, it's a little indie game from the makers of Super Meat Boy. Well, I shouldn't say "little" game. With all of the randomly generated pieces you will almost never get the same dungeon layout twice. The annoying or helpful thing is sometimes you get the same monster three times in a row. Good for easy bosses, bad for frustrating ones. That Saturday I sat playing as Eric and his friend played his friend's Xbox and discovered something. The more character add on bits you have the easier it is to move from level to level. Except for the pills. If you find the item "mom's pill purse" take caution. Some pills can help you, like give you more hearts. Some pills, on the other hand, can make you sick or transport you to not so good areas of the dungeon. At one point I had Isaac transformed into an interesting little creature. A cyborg eye piece, floating on air and able to go anywhere, lasers shooting out of one eye and a few other things. He looked bad ass. I showed Eric and he mentioned that the less human you are the more likely you are to win. In a horrible turn of events I was killed by a poorly placed bomb. I have yet to get to that level since. Because it's randomly generated there is no strategy and no way to obtain the same items in the same order or to even have the same items on different play through.

It's getting a we bit late and I have some games and wedding planning to do so I'll say goodnight. Hopefully I can upload some of the pictures I took from The Binding of Isaac. I do plan on updating more often (I know that's something I say often but carry through. I really mean it this time.) Goodnight.

May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

* WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS TO HUNGER GAMES BOOKS AND MOVIE.

I know I promised updates now that internet is consistent but come on, I have internet! There are games to play and articles to read and internetish stuff to do! I actually didn't end up turning my computer on at all yesterday but I had a good reason. I saw my very first midnight movie showing last night. Yes, I am 26 and I have never been to a midnight showing. My fiance took me to see the hunger games as a late birthday gift. I have worked at my current job long enough to receive paid sick and vacation days so I took my very first vacation day. I strongly suggest that if you're going to a midnight showing of any kind pre-order your tickets! It ended up saving us some time and a lot of hassle. When I got home from work at 2 I checked the theater online and 3 out of 4 screens were still available, two hours later when I checked only one screen was left so I ordered some tickets. My fiance was going to order them when he got home from work at 7 but I didn't see it lasting that long. We got to the theater by 10pm and the line was huge but we actually didn't end up standing in it for more than 30 minutes. This theater is pretty good about getting people in their seats quickly and in an orderly manner. We ended up sitting for a good hour and a half, which is why we brought our e-readers. My fiance wandered off to the concession stand and stood in line for 25 minutes but came back just as I was starting to worry. He brought back the most wonderful surprise though, collectible Hunger Games popcorn bucket and drinking cups. :) He's awesome.
The movie was pretty great. There were only a few changes but it works well in the plot. I understand that some stuff had to be cut because you just can't work in certain internal discussions. Some scenes were cut short but what might have worked in the book would have made the movie drag on too much. I wasn't sure I was going to like the casting but things worked great. Still don't agree with the casting for Peeta but I'll get over it,... something's come up, must be off, hopefully more later.
-Katie

it's 1:13 am, do you know where your game controller is?

Okay, I admit it, I'm the worst blogger ever. It's been months since my last post but it's not my fault, I swear! Minecraft and Steam made me do it! Between my fiance introducing me to Minecraft and buying me loads of fun games on Steam for Christmas I've been pretty busy. Blame him, yeah that's it, it's all his fault!?! No seriously though, the gaming has hit an all time high recently. I've been playing Minecraft, Plants vs Zombies, Defense Grid, Grand Theft Auto, Sims 3, and Lume. He bought me Mass Effect 1 and 2 but somethings up with my computer and it won't let me play *pout. My laptop is great for most gaming but it has trouble with the high graphic stuff. Skyrim and the new Batman game are a definite no no. I thing my computer would explode if I even attempted it. So, let's start with Minecraft.
Minecraft was a little confusing at first, it might have been because I was trying to play on a day when I had only gotten something like 3 hours of sleep. Once you play around a bit you eventually get it. The wiki helped a lot, especially the page with the list of everything you can craft. Once I learned which pickax to use on what stone and that a shovel is better on dirt than a pickax I was set. It looked like it was going to be a fun game. I had loads of land to explore, lots of animals and everything looked pretty. Then night fell. The good news is I didn't die! By the time the sun came up and toasted the skeletons and the zombies I had about one heart, maybe a heart and a half left. Of course stupid me didn't think to burrow into the side of a mountain or something and wait it out, no, that would be too easy. I ran from island to island while being chased by monsters, and a very determined chicken. I think it was some sort of glitch, the chicken followed me everywhere and I couldn't kill it. Anyway, after the first night me and my new pet chicken decided it might be important to find a semi permanent residence. Should have been easy right? Wrong. Again, this is me we're talking about. The next night I was fully prepared. The chicken and I found a nice cave to hide out in. I blocked up the entrance to a room off the side of the main entrance with some dirt blocks and spent the night digging in the back of the cave with a wooden pickax. When Mr. Chicken and I emerged the following morning we were surprised to see an archer waiting for us. I didn't even think about the fact that the sun wouldn't reach him in the cave. This is the point where I finally kicked the bucket. As soon as I removed the block he shot at me a couple of times so I replaced it and formulated a plan. I had used the last of the wood in my inventory to make the before mentioned pickax, which had broken during the night and the only other things in my possession were dirt blocks, cobblestone, and eggs from my chicken. I tried throwing an egg to do damage. Fail. I decided to just run at the archer with the cobblestone blocks and maybe I could kill him that way. Fail Again. I cornered him, he jumped to my side, I turned to hit him, hit the wrong key, went backward instead of forward and fell off a cliff. Dead. My next life wasn't any better. I spawned on top of a very large tree,... under a spider. I fell from the tree while trying to avoid the demon and that was the end of me, again. The third time was actually the charm. I found a little hole under the ground and decided that was going to be my home. Cut some trees, made a crafting table, made a door and a wall to close off my underground home and I was set. Night fell, monsters came, I survived. I made myself a nice wooden sword, pickax, and shovel and went to explore my new homeland. I found nice things like pumpkins and cows and sheep and some coal. Then, panicking, I realized I didn't know where my house was. I had outfitted it with a crafting table, furnace, chest, and a bed. Everything I had was in the chest, I wanted to make room for the treasures I would find after my adventure. After cursing myself for not marking my underground home I began looking for anything familiar. I finally found it as night fell and an archer got in a few arrows. I placed torches to mark it's entry after that. My first experience with a creeper the next day blew the roof off and part of the wall but it was easily repaired just in time for the next nightfall. I watched my fiance play that night when he returned from work and learned a lot about how to survive in the game. I really love the game except for the spiders. I have severe arachnophobia which unfortunately effects my gaming but I've gotten better at it. I found an abandoned mine shaft at one point and it was full of spider spawners. Didn't like that at all! There is one important thing I've learned. Spiders can climb walls so if you build a residence with a open look out tower they will be up there waiting for you but if you place a row of blocks around your fortress they won't be able to make it up because they can't climb upside down. Be careful though, the shade from the ring of blocks will make it so the zombies and archers don't burn up in the sun. Try to build high and place the ring 5 or 6 blocks up, or better, use glass blocks. I love the new addition of the jungles, made a really nice tree house that's high up so I can see almost everything around me. I've learned lots of neat tricks like if you use shears on a sheep you'll get more wool, and now it will grow back, and if you build a snow golem make sure you pen it in a fence or else it will walk off and you'll never see it again. I'm going to finish everything up later, it's late, I'm tired, and because of that my spell check is getting a hell of a workout. Good night!

"Or it's a key all the time, and when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death."

*contains spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 and parts of Chain of Memories*

Yes, that is a quote taken from Red vs Blue. Yes, it was Caboose. Sorry it's been so long but so much has been happening. My boyfriend moved into an apartment owned by my parents and we haven't had a lot of money, we've been sharing internet with my parents but something's up with their wireless and we can only have internet every once in a while and most of those nights I end up attacking things on DDO. My boyfriend finally found a job after a 2 month search so hopefully we can chip in with my parents for a new wireless or just buy a modem of our own.

On the weekends when we go camping I've been lucky enough to have some quality time with a PS2 that my boyfriend has. I've been addicted to Kingdom Hearts. We stayed at camp this week and I finally finished the game. I thought it was pretty decent but was bothered by how many cut scenes were included in the game. I understand that they were needed to progress the story line but, in my opinion, I think you should be able to skip the one's you've already watched. There was on time where I was fighting a boss that had a pretty lengthy cut scene before you were able to attack. I was killed partway through the fight and had to watch the cut scene all over again. I died about four times during that fight so I watched the cut scene more times than needed. It was a fun and cute game that kept me entertained. I disliked the gummie ship parts and the Colosseum but that was a personal dislike not having anything to do with game design or anything like that. Something very important though, you can't go back and play after you've beat the main boss unless you save just before beating him. You'll have to beat him again but it's worth it to be able to play more and get the rest of the goodies offered in the game. Also, the higher level you are the easier it is to beat the final boss. Oh, make sure you leave loads of time for the final battle, it's a long one.

After finishing KH1 I moved on to chain of memories. My boyfriend said it would be wise to play them in that order so I could follow the story line. I didn't care for COM very much so I didn't play through. There isn't as much freedom to move around and it's a card based fighting system which is a little (very little) confusing at first but once you get it you're good. I'll probably go back and finish playing it once i'm done with KH2.

So, after finishing KH1 and part of COM I moved on to KH2. Thankfully my boyfriend filled in the missing story line like who is Namine and Roxis and why Sora is in an egg and why Kairi can't remember him. Those are things you find out after playing through COM. It must have been confusing to play through them when they first came out. COM was made for the gameboy advanced. What if you didn't own one? The order went Kingdom Hearts 1, Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts 2. If you didn't have one you'd be going for 1 to 2 with huge story line gaps. Playing as Roxis in the beginning was a little disappointing at first and confusing but he's not so bad after you get used to him. Unfortunately you get used to him just as he changes back to Sora. There isn't any Travers Town which is a little sad but Hollow Bastion takes it's place so far. The routes for the gummie ships are drastically different now, I actually like flying it now, and the best part,... you can skip cut scenes! I suggest watching them the first time in battle but if you die and need to play again you can skip right past it!

One thing I really miss is the original voice actors. So many of them changed. David Boreanaz (Angel, Bones) is no longer Leon, Mandy Moore (a walk to remember, save me) is no longer Aerith and Christy Carlson Ramono (even stevens, Kimpossible) is no longer Yuffie. The good thing is the main cast is still the same. Haley Joel Osment (sixth sense, A.I.) is still Sora, Hayden Panettiere (Heros) is still Kairi, and David Gallager (Seventh Heaven) is still Riku. Well that's all for now, the library that I'm in using internet is starting to close. Bye!

Thank you For 100 Visits!

Thank you all for 100 visits on my blog! I apologize for not blogging recently but moving and lack of internet has taken it's toll on my gaming life and blogging habits. hopefully all will be better soon! Thanks again!!!

Thank You for Participating In This Enrichment Center Activity

PORTAL 2 SPOILERS
Once again I am warning you that this probably contains spoilers for Portal 2. We did it!!! My boyfriend and I beat Portal 2 co-op mode. It took a while because of jobs and moving but we did it!!! He read on some website that only 1 out of 4 players beat co-op so it's exciting to be in that group of people. I'm almost done with the single player mode, hopefully I'll be able to finish that tonight. We'll be camping this weekend like we do every weekend in the season and there's no internet. Yes, I can still play games through Steam without internet but I can't get the awards and achievements. To me that makes the game a little more fun. I love completing the extra challenges and searching for hidden items to get the achievements. It also makes play a second time a little more tempting. Some are hard like finding all of the radios and shooting down the cameras in Portal 1 but some are as simple as looking a little bit harder for a door that shouldn't be there to find a hidden spot or item in Portal 2. Steam is a really good gaming engine in my opinion. You can buy tons of games through them and download them onto your computer. You never have to worry about games discs or loosing them and never being able to play your game again. The best part is, if your computer crashes and you loose all your games you just log back in to Steam and re download. They keep all of your info on what games you've purchased. I'm not sure if it keeps your levels or achievements, I've never had to re download before. You can also download demos for most (but not all) games to test it out first. I love Steam!

Damn You Wheatley!!! PORTAL 2 SPOILERS

Okay, so I haven't posted in a while but come on,... Portal 2!?! Plus I've acquired a new house guest last week. My gamer boyfriend has moved in with me. It's definitely a plus but there are problems,... This was totally unexpected so finding places to put stuff is an interesting game and I do still live with my parents. We'll be renting the small apartment from them as soon as it's fixed up and livable. But I digress from the original point of this post,... Wheatley is freakin evil!!!!! If you haven't played Portal 2 yet or, like me, you're not finished you may not want to continue. At first I thought he was cute and funny but damn, now I seriously want to kill him. I think my favorite commentary from him was... (crash sound as you fall into a room from the broken ceiling) "do you see the gun? Are you alive? I should have asked that one first,..." There's more dialog but I don't feel like looking it up. Portal is excellent for it's commentary. As you go along and discover other places there's new commentary for accompany you. At one point you get awesome commentary from Cave Johnson who apparently founded Aperture Laboratories. His quotes are so funny, it makes the stress of the game more bearable. My boyfriend's actually serenading me with Cave Johnson quotes as I'm typing and I can't stop laughing. I'm actually going to play more after I finish this entry.
I've been asked so many times why I haven't finished the game yet. I'm taking my time. Between work and life events I don't have time to sit and marathon game like I'd like to. I like to take my time when I play a game so I don't miss anything. Sometimes I jump into it and finish as soon as possible, like with lego Star Wars. If you finish a level with the characters you're given you can go back later and play it with all the characters at your disposal. It makes it easier later to get through the level and get the goodies you're offered. Okay off to play now. Oh, just been told that there will be new DLC for Portal 2 soon. No official date announced yet. Signing off now, Happy Gaming! -Katie

Stupid game, no fair making my brain hurt!

Have you ever had one of those moments where you felt like a complete and total idiot because you couldn't think of a simple solution? I've had one just a few minutes ago. Don't get me wrong, I've had loads of moments like that but lets focus on this one for now. I've been playing Overlord on my laptop and have gotten stuck trying to kill this stupid guy standing on a table playing a fiddle. I've sent fire balls at this guy, tried standing on the table with him, striking him with my sword while on the ground next to him and nothing has worked. You know why? Because I didn't target the stupid bastard with the stupid shift key! That's one of those moments where I'm so embarrassed that I couldn't figure it out sooner. I had another one of those moments a while back when I first played Portal. There was a level where you needed to place your portals in certain areas to have a reaction (like my attempt at trying not to give away information to people who haven't played yet?) and it took me forever to figure out that it was the simplest placement ever. At least I figured it out on my own. I've been trying to avoid walkthroughs. Not as good a feeling when you finally beat the game.
Speaking of Portal, the Portal 2 release is just days away. Tuesday April 19th I will hopefully be downloading the the game that scares the hell out of me. I've seen videos and screen shots and read articles and seriously, I'm frightened of what I'm up against this time. Here's a link for anyone who wants to check it out http://www.thinkwithportals.com/index.php you'll have to copy and paste, sorry about that. Seriously though, it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

Changes

Okay, so there have been some changes to the blog. Not many, just a little variety. Instead of just talking about music I'd like to talk more about gaming, books, you know, the stuff that no one else but me would find interesting. There is a lot to discuss unfortunately this is not the time to discuss it. Hope to write more soon seeing as I am now more motivated since there were five page views today.

His name is Ian Anderson not Jethro Tull!

Let's get this straight,... his name is Ian Anderson NOT Jethro Tull! Jethro Tull is the name of the band, which includes multiple members. Why is this so hard for people to understand? Another common error is Lynyrd Skynyrd. There are people out there that insist that's the lead singer's name. Didn't they ever look and question the spelling? My spell check is raising red flags and yelling "wait a minute, something's wrong here!" The original singer's name was Ronnie Van Zant who unfortunately died in a plane crash in 1977 along with Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. The other band members on the plane suffered serious injuries. The plane ran out of fuel and the pilot tried to make an emergency landing. The name for the band actually came from a physical education teacher named Leonard Skinner who strictly enforced the school's policy against boys having long hair.
I digress,... This used to just bother me a little but one day while shuffling through cds at the library I came across a Jethro Tull cd that was filed under Tull, Jethro. NO! Grrr! I shouldn't let this bother me but it does. Generally when a band has a name that's like a real person's name it's filed under the first letter of the first name but if it's someone who's using their name it's filed under the first letter of the last name.
Jethro Tull has a very interesting stage presence, not that I've ever had the chance to see him live but from what I've seen on tv and videos on the internet he looks interesting. He is a master of the flute and his voice is amazing. One of my favorite songs of their's is Locomotive Breath. If you look it up, like for a video on youtube you must be careful. It's kind of hard to find a good video for it. His costumes were interesting sights as well. Sometimes wearing a renaissance looking getup other times regular clothing. Sometimes his music sounds like it's something out of the renaissance. Fiddle, flute, tambourine, then it surprises you with synthesizers, electric guitar, heavy drums, but it all works in the end to make this wonderful melody. More updates to come. -Katie

The Concussion From Hell or why I couldn't listen to music for a week.

I fell. It hurt. A lot. My boyfriend works for a company that shovels the path ways and side walks at a nursing home. This is a rather large nursing home that's run by retired nuns and I believe there's a school on the grounds as well. I've worked with him once before but we only got a few inches so it was a short night. Usually there's a plow truck driver and two shovelers on at a time. Since I've been spending the weekends at his house his boss said that I could work with him if he worked on the weekends. The pays good and it's extra time with my boyfriend so I jumped at the offer. Basically you get called in when the snow starts to accumulate and you walk around keeping the sidewalks clean and listen to your ipod.
At 5 am on February 21st (forgot what holiday it was but I had that Monday off from my regular job) we got called in. I was ready to go, ipod and shovel in hand and a big bottle of Mountain Dew to sustain me until our shift was over. We weren't even there for twenty minutes before I fell. My boyfriend was just about to turn around to warn me about the ice when I hit a patch covered by fresh snow. I went down hard on my back and smacked my head and that's the last thing I remember. My boyfriend says I seemed fine after that, I was talking, I knew everyone's names, where I was etc. They stationed me on one side of the building and went on their way, my boyfriend came to check on me when he was done with his side and says only a patch of my side was done and I was no where in site. When we finally found each other I told him that I didn't know what was going on and he knew something was wrong. Now I remember none of this what so ever, in fact I don't remember anything for three hours after I fell. My boyfriend says he took me back to his place to get a ride to the ER and I sat at the kitchen table and talked to his mom while he called my parents. She says that I would ask what happened, they would tell me and thirty seconds later I'd ask what happened again. This went on for three hours. I couldn't remember anything we did that weekend either, just remembered driving up to his house after work on Friday.
The first thing I remember is being wheeled to get a brain scan of some sort by a male nurse that was talking about playing games on his xbox. I was holding up my end of the conversation, I just don't remember much of it. They did a scan where I had to lay real still and I remember sneezing and being scolded and told to be still. Then I remember bits and pieces of other things like my parents walking in, his grandmother talking, and I remember that he never left my side except when they wouldn't let him go with my for the scan. I actually went home with him because we had plans with friends that night and he drove me home that night and stayed at my house for two days to make sure I was okay. I'm glad he did, it was comforting to have him there. Eventually the details of the weekend came back but the first three hours after falling are gone for good.
I was in quite a bit of pain, constant headache, my tailbone hurt and my ribs were killing me. Sneezing was torture and at one point I had the hiccups which was horrible. I couldn't bend down to pick things up or even sit up to get out of bed. The ribs still bother me and I still get small headaches but it's not bad. The worst part was I couldn't listen to music with out it being a horrific experience. I could if I kept the volume down but it was almost a whisper and I could barely hear it. Even a movie with the sound up hurt. It made my head feel like my brain was going to explode and ooze out my ears. I use music for everything, to sleep, to make a long car ride easier, while doing chores, even while playing video games on my laptop. I couldn't for a week. It was hell. Moral of the story, avoid ice at all costs if possible.

So take off your clothes

I'm currently sitting in my boyfriends bedroom listening to Morningwood while he's in the shower. Morningwood is a very interesting band. I like them a lot, they're catchy and it makes you want to get up and dance. They're not really a band you'd want to see live from what I hear,... unless you're a guy. She strips on stage and starts doing,... up,... stuff. Lets leave it at stuff for now, if you're reading this it's obvious you have internet access so you can look that one up on your own. The band list has been released for Mayhem fest 2011. Big Bands are Disturbed, Godsmack, Megadeath, Machine Head, In Flames, and Trivium. http://www.mayhemfest.com/bands Here's the link for the full band list and tour dates for every area. Disturbed and Godsmack are great, I've heard of Megadeath but not the others. This should be fun. Last year was, I never finished talking about that and I don't think I will right now. I'll just say Rob Zombie is incredible live and so is Avenged Sevenfold. Rob Zombie just has the best stage effects and Avenged Sevenfold has an awesome stage presence. I'd love to see them live again, especially Rob Zombie. He had tvs set up with his music videos and some of the lyrics to his new songs so you could sing along. Sorry this wasn't much of an entry, Katie

you can never say "it" enough

Hello all. I know, I'm a terrible person for not updating this in so long but so much has happened. Music is still my savior for certain situations, my boyfriend for others. There are some situation though where you need to curl up under the thickest blanket you can find with your ipod and try to tune out the world. Most of the time when I do it I want to forget I exist,... I haven't had many of those moments lately but it does happen. Sometimes that's the only way to pull ones self out of an abyss. Stop existing for as long as possible. Get lost in the music, follow the notes, really listen to the voices. Every breath, every crackle of their voice, it was meant for someone. Whether it's a "hope you feel better", a "I need you more than you know", a "why'd you leave me like this", a "I miss you", a "I never should have left", a "you're the greatest thing in my life", a "you lied to me" or a "I love you more than you could ever know" (that's the "it" by the way,... i love you) it was written for someone. One of the best things about a song is it can be taken so many different ways. What someone may see as a love song can actually be a song about a love or lover that has died. Rise Above This by Seether is viewed by some as an inspirational help song but was actually written about the suicide of the lead singer's brother. Recently I'd been listening to Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie, a song I'd heard a thousand times and I just realized it's actually about a woman who's trying to get on with her life after the death of her love. It's still a beautiful song but to me it now has more meaning. Right now, I'm listening to Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews. Have you ever really listened to the lyrics? Yes it's a song about his love for this person but it's also about sex. No one realizes this. Think about the lyrics for a minute, "crash into me and I'll come into you" or " hike up your skirt a little more and show your world to me". I'm not saying this is a horrible sick or dirty song but take it for what it is. I personally love this song, he's handled the subject matter tastefully. Time to stop for now. Hopefully more soon. Bye _Katie

Mayhem Fest 2010 *I'm Not Insain

Sorry it's been a long time since this blog was updated but a lot has been happening from crashing computers to concerts to new relationships. This will be a quick one seeing as I'm sitting outside a closed library stealing internet access with my boyfriend who is downloading awesome zombie killing games. I've strayed away from the original point of this blog which was supposed to be music so what better way to get back on track than with the best concert experience i think i've ever had. Mayhem Fest2010. Yup, i was there! Rob Zombie, Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, Atreyu, In This Moment, and so many more.
The day started early, my boyfriend, friend and I driving to Mansfield Mass before the parking lot even opened,... we got kicked out and wandered around a strip mall and finally got there to wait in line for the parking lot to officially open. Again, we got kicked out so we went to the nearest gas station and got slushies. Yum!Okay, finally in the parking lot and into line waiting to get grouped by eager security guards.Going to be a to be continued because we have to evacuate. Damn,.. sorry! -Katie

August 3rd 2010 5:23pm

Okay, back to the story. This was my first Mayhem Fest so I was completely unprepared for the day but now I know better for next year. The last real concert I had been to was a Dropkick Murphys concert in 2007 maybe, so I was excited. We waited in line for quite some time but we were behind some people that provided interesting conversation so it wasn't too bad. It was interesting to watch the line grow by the minute until it stretched across the parking lot.

Finally we made it in and it was so worth the wait. There were lines of booths selling all sorts of interesting items from jewelry to specialized t-shirts and more. So, we headed for the tared parking lot area where the first and second stage bands played. In This Moment was the first band to play, they were great. I strongly suggest looking for one of their cds but if you go to a concert watch out for the mosh pits. I got caught in a circle pit and if it wasn't for a kind stranger picking me up off the ground I would have been squished. This was a nice guy who was walking around picking all of the girls up when they fell and heading them to the wire fence where the circle mosh hadn't reached. Unfortunately the fence didn't survive the weight of the people leaning on it and a portion fell. I lost my boyfriend and friend by this point because they wanted to participate in the carnage.

After everything was done I found my boyfriend who was severely dehydrated and we went on a search for water. He looked like he was going to pass out. Water cost $4.50 per bottle by the way. I had $10 in my pocket for the whole day. So once he was hydrated we went in search of our lost friend, Steve. We didn't find him until two bands later. Again, to be continued! -Katie

Who I Am Hates Who I've Been,...

Wait, no,... who I am hates who I am. Who am I? I am a shy girl who works in a library with no confidence, I constantly crave physical contact whether it be a hug or holding hands, I run on that stupid treadmill and walk every day and still can't seem to loose any weight, I do things I don't want to do so everyone will get along and be happy, I give my heart to all the wrong guys, I lack the social skills to have friends or meet new people and every other Friday I dress in uncomfortable clothes and head out to a club where I awkwardly attempt to dance and fumble my way through conversations with guys because my friends tell me that I have a chance. On top of that all I will be 24 in a month and I have not accomplished ANYTHING. I'm done. I'm done trying to be someone I'm not, done trying to change myself in the hopes of obtaining new friends and possibly a new boyfriend. I'm going to be me. I'm going to dress in my jeans and high tops when I go to the club, I'm going to talk to people if I want and avoid those that I feel need to be avoided, I'm not going to be pushed into going places and doing things that I don't want to do anymore and damnit if I want to dance with the cute guy at the bar I'm going to dance with him. I'm sick of regretting the actions that I did or didn't take. I'm me. I'm a 1988 delta oldsmobile driver, a lover of Ben and Jerry's phish food ice cream, a master of the old school NES nintendo system, a geek who plays Dungeons and Dragons on Friday nights while drinking blue mountain dew, a fan of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Star Wars lover, someone who's constantly searching the sky in hopes of finding Doctor Who, a curvy person who's not perfect in any way shape or form, a jeans wearing puddle jumping converse high top loving tomboy bookworm. Deal with it. My friends say that I can't find a date because of the person that I am, I say I can't find a date because I'm trying too hard to be someone I'm not. Maybe I come off as desperate or unapproachable when I follow their advice so here's my plan, I'll be me and do my own thing and someday someone will like that and it will all work out. I know this was more of a boring rant than anything but I had to get it out of my system. Goodnight! Katie

I'm Not Ok (I Promise)

Seriously, I'm not. I'm listening to an interesting little mix right now of Rocky Votolato, My Chemical Romance and Nirvana. I Think my favorite is I'm not ok by My Chemical Romance because the truth is I'm not. I'm pretty good at faking ok but I can feel myself slowly sinking down into an abyss that I'm not sure I'll come out of. Today was a snow day, no work. And what did Katie do with this free day? I slept and played video games. What a productive human being I am. And what did Katie do yesterday? I went with my friend on a little trip to the closed camp ground to check out the camper to make sure everything was still standing and we watched Doctor Who dvd's. As fun as it was I didn't get anything substantial done. I can honestly say that if I were given the chance to do yesterday over again I'd still drive to camp and watch Doctor Who with Eric but I'd definitely do today over again. I'm completely unmotivated these days and I don't know how to cure it, I know what causes it, I just don't know how to fix it. Stress is the problem. I guess my biggest worry right now is one of my family members. They don't like that I spend so much time with my friend. I don't know if it's because he's a guy or if it's because I'm actually doing things that "normal" people do. I've always been the kind of person who hides in my house all day and never goes out unless I absolutely have to. I've had friends but not many and most of my friends were like me,... shut ins with no personal life. Now I'm hanging out with Eric and I'm going places. He and I do a lot together like going to the movies, shopping, random car rides to anywhere, parties and clubs, dungeons and dragons on Friday nights... stuff like that. And we're always under criticism because,... come on, anyone know the answer,... I'm a girl and he's a boy. WE ARE NOT DATING. We've talked about it and both came to the conclusion that being friends is as far as we're going to go, just friends,... really close friends,... really really close friends,... Anyway it doesn't help my case that he and I are going out on Valentines day but we're not "going out". We're going to try to forget that we're both single and we're going to go to the movies to see the bloodiest most horrifying movie that we can find then we're going to one club or another to dance and get horrifically drunk. Well,... I'll probably be the designated driver so he'll get drunk and I'll wish that I could have just one shot. I've always preferred the company of boys to the company of girls because I'm a complete and total tomboy. I was raised by truckers and motorcyclers, there was always a big truck to play under, a bike to ride, and a mud puddle that was begging to be jumped in. I had more match box cars and GI Joe's than most of the boys on my street and my most prized possession was my ninja turtle collection. My parents gave me barbies but they became the giants that the six inch GI Joe team would fight and the dollhouse that I got on my sixth birthday was their base. Boys like this kind of stuff and being grown up I've discovered that my girl friends still gush over cute movie stars and clothes and makeup while I'm in the corner talking with the boys about the classic car sitting in the drive way or the latest bloodfest that was just released in the theater. I'm just more comfortable with guys.
Other worries include the fact that I'm three days, now four days, behind at work, I don't sleep anymore no matter what, I've completely fallen off this diet thing and cannot stop cramming my stupid face with salt and vinegar potato chips, I've been sick (actually got sick just after I wrote the last entry) and I'm still completely weak and still weak from the mono so running on the treadmill is exhausting and very very painful, my car is only two years younger than I am and I don't know how much longer it will live, I've lost all motivation to clean and the items in my house are slowly piling up around me, emotionally I'm fried to a crisp because of family, friend and personal problems that I just can't solve and I just can't seem to be able to pull myself out of the water to breath. Help! Can you hear me? HELP! I know that to anyone who reads this these problems may not seem like they're horribly depressing or stressful but I'm leaving a lot out because some things are just not ok to write about in a public place like this and you try handling yourself after not sleeping in like forever. Grrrr. I should probably go now,... I've read over this entry and it's nothing but ramblings and stuff that no one will read. If anyone does read this please, please, please feel free to leave a comment. Please... Goodnight!

A Series of Unfortunate Events Turned Fortunate or Come On Eileen

Ok, so it's been quite a while since I've last posted but a lot has happened. On Christmas eve my mother's computer ended up with a horrible virus and thanks to the wonderful computer works of my friend Eric and AVG virus protection 40 something trojans were removed from the system. Just days after Christmas I fell horrible ill with a mystery disease that caused the glands in my neck to swell up and I couldn't breath or swallow. Following an ER visit the mystery was solved,... I had Mono. I think I got it from work, I work in a library, very public place and germs are everywhere. I do not go off kissing strangers so I didn't get it from kissing anyone. The only person I had kissed before I had gotten sick was not infected prior to us kissing and thankfully I didn't infect him. That took me about a week to get the swelling down, it still hurts to swallow very cold drinks fast and I'm still tired and a little weak but I managed to lose 10 pounds on my diet of chicken broth and spaghetti o's,... that's just about all I could swallow. So after getting better my friend Eric and I ventured out to this new club called the Colosseum with our friends that we met at Club Hell back in October. Now I'm not usually a club dweller,... I'm a shy book reading shut in and October was my first club visit and I loved it. So the Colosseum kind of sucked, crappy rap/pop remixes of songs from the early 90's,... I'm not a fan of rap to begin with, no seats unless you're a VIP and almost no one was dancing. About an hour in we decided to walk down the street to Club Hell. Did I mention I was wearing a dress and it was freezing outside? I was, which may not seem like a big deal unless you know me. I never wear anything but jeans and t-shirts and high top chuck taylors. Eric took me shopping the day before to pick out a dress because I seriously cannot dress myself. I'm a complete and total tom boy and Eric dresses better than me so I trusted him and it turned out very well. We found a nice brown and black strappy dress with a print and a nice sweater wrap thingy that fit nice and was on sale. Unfortunately I was wearing heels because again, all I own is chuck taylors and they didn't go with the dress and I was out of money so I had to use the shoes that I already had. Big mistake, after two hours people probably thought I was drunk I was stumbling around so much. Anyway, we walked to Club Hell. This place is perfect! Friday is rock and roll high school playing stuff from the 80's and 90's like KISS, The Clash, Def Leppard and so on and it's only $5 to get in. YAY! So now this is perfect, I'm happy to be back in my habitat and the best thing happens, the song that David Bowie sang in the Labyrinth (you remind me of the babe) comes on and before I know it I lost control of myself and climb up on these stage things with Stacy and Jen and start dancing. I was happy. Usually I don't dance but that night I was on a mission, I was going to have fun and I did. Here comes my favorite part, Eric decided I needed to dance with boys other than him, so far I had stayed in my little group of 4 friends so he drags me kicking and screaming to the dance floor and starts dancing with me because his philosophy is boys always want what another boy has and it kind of worked. I was actually retreating from the dance floor after two failed songs and I made eye contact with this super hansom guy and we both did a double take kind of thing and I said "Hi" a little under my breath not expecting him to pay attention but he was and he started dancing with me to a KISS song. Now there's a fair amount of distance between us and there's a drunk guy hanging around this cute guy like he knows him. So Cute guy leans in and starts talking about the music and swears up and down that he doesn't know the drunk guy who, thankfully, disappears after the end of the song and I'm thinking this is too good to be true then he gets closer. I'm not talking a step forward closer I'm talking bodies touching closer and I'm a little surprised. Again, I'm a shut in, I spend my free time with books, not boys and boys don't usually like me because I'm semi-smart and like to have intellectual conversations instead of giggling and popping my gum and twirling my hair around my fingers. On top of that I'm not very good looking, I have glasses and freckles and I'm not too thin like most guys like. So now we're really close,... and here's where we come to the dreaded To Be Continued because my clock says it's 12:14 AM and I have work in the morning. So the continuation will hopefully be here tomorrow and it has to do with me, a cute guy, and a dexy's midnight runners song. Good night!

FEBRUARY 4 2010 7:56pm

Ok, here's the edited continuation of the previous post, I say edited because it's already a long post and no one reads this anyway so who really cares. So I'm dancing with the cute stranger guy and we're just chatting about little things like the music and where we live and his hand settles itself on my hip,... ok we'll let this slide because I'm having fun and he's not trying to cop a feel or anything yet,... keyword there being yet, so one of my favorite songs comes on, Come On Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners. If you don't know this song off the top of your head look it up right now, watch the video on youtube if you can. Seriously, GO NOW! It is the hardest song to try to sing! The lyrics sound different than what they actually are, in another post I'll paste in the lyrics, I sat down and decoded them with a few internet versions. Anyway I mention that I love it and he starts singing it and he's doing pretty great. Cute guy knows his stuff! He's the only one I've ever met that knows the song and most of the lyrics so far. Anyway, after this I kind of got lost, I wasn't paying attention to the people around me or the songs that were playing, I was paying attention to how much I liked dancing with this guy. How much I liked his hand on my back, how wonderful his cologne smelled, how his back felt under my hands and how much I loved it when he put his hand on the side of my neck and played with the back of my ear,... Then he kissed me. I know I said I don't go off kissing strangers and I don't but he caught me off guard and I just got lost. I kissed him back and then I felt his tongue in my mouth and all senses snapped back to where they were supposed to be and I stopped. You just can't go kissing people you don't know! How do you know where they've been? What did he know about me that made him feel comfortable about kissing me? Do only girls think about this? So this is where things started getting,... how do I want to say this,... challenging. He was still decent after I wouldn't kiss him, he still wanted to dance with me like it never even happened and then he started saying stuff like how much he liked me, how there was something about me he liked, he said I was cute and that the way I kept pushing my glasses up was cute. At this point my brain worked out two options, he was either (1.) trying to set me up for a one night stand, or (2.) he actually liked me. I don't know which one I'd like to believe right now, well, I'd like to believe the second of the two. So turns out he was a smoker and I'm not. He asked if I'd like to go outside with him to this smoking area they have and I said no because I'm mildly allergic to smoke and didn't think that my hacking and coughing would be attractive so I said I'd check in with my friends seeing as I was one of their rides and he said he'd find me. He said this a couple of times to reassure me but I ended up loosing him. I really don't think he was blowing me off, if he was trying to he wouldn't have asked me to go outside with him. He probably thought I blew him off. Anyway, that's it. Not much of a story I know, but it was an interesting adventure for me. I'm going back to Club Hell tomorrow night with my friends, I wonder what adventures will come out of this. Goodnight!-Katie

"And we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun..."

I can't believe I was stupid enough to let a ginormous music related historical date go by and not write about it. John Lennon was killed December 8th, 1980. The world lost one of it's greatest souls that day. This man was pointlessly killed by a crazy man. John Lennon was a passionate man who saw beauty and hope in everything around him. Think how different the world would be today if he were still in it. Not only was he a member of the famous band The Beatles he was an inspiration and a voice of reason. One of my favorite things that he did, and I might get some of this story wrong, was when he fed a man who had been living in Lennon's garden for three days. If I get any of this story wrong please correct me, I've only heard it a few times and can't remember it all. I guess a man had been in Lennon's garden for a few days, now if this was happening today most people would call the cops, but Lennon went out and talked to the man, then invited him into the house and fed him. No police assistance required. It's a shame that he was taken away from the world. I know this wasn't much of a post and I know I still have to finish the last post but for now this is all I can do. Gotta Run! -Katie

PS. I've added a link to a very well put together web page about John Lennon. It hasn't been updated in a while but it's still pretty cool to look at.

http://www.johnlennon.com/site.html

Calming the Savage Soul

I'm super sorry I haven't updated in over a month but there were,... lets say,... some complications in my life that prevented me from spending loads of time on the computer. Complications aren't always bad, they're just complicated situations. I know this may sound like a bunch of crazy babble and it is. You see I'm super tired right now and when I get tired I start to say really stupid things and being an insomniac doesn't help,... I'm always tired, therefor, I always say stupid things. I'm happy to announce that I have a follower. Isn't that exciting!?! An actual living breathing human that follows my blog! *squee* I feel the need to make a few points,... 1.) this is in no way professional. I know nothing about music except how to play a few notes on a guitar. 2.) This is just my opinion on music that I like and rants about things I don't like, kind of like a way to blow off steam. 3.) I AM a babbling idiot so much of this may not make sense to you, trust me, at one point it made sense. 4.) I'm actually using this as a way to gain more music and to hopefully help someone else find music that they like. 5.) I am new to this whole blogging thing so please be kind. On to the actual entry.

A lot has happened in my life with in the last few months and music is what really gets me through the day sometimes. Everybody has a list of songs that gets them up and going or helps them sleep at night or helps them cry when they're so frustrated and they need to let it all out. I'm one of those people who has a playlist for every event in my life. For example,... this past week has been filled with highs and lows, mainly lows and my um,... love life is to blame for some of those lows. It's not bad or anything and I don't regret any decisions made I'm just mad at myself for not saying what I should have said to someone and for letting myself get involved even though I knew I was going to be hurt. So, feeling completely restless and for some reason not able to cry I hid in my bed under the covers with my ipod and turned it up as high as it would go to tune out everything. I had kind of a sappy playlist but it said all of the things that I couldn't say and what I wish more than anything I could say. This music is the best of the depressed, stuff like Vertical Horizon- Everything you want "he's everything you want, he's everything you need, he's everything inside of you that you wish you could be, he say's all the right things at exactly the right time and he means nothing to you and you don't know why,... I'm everything you want I'm everything you need I'm everything inside of you that you wish you could be, I say all the right things at exactly the right time but I mean nothing to you and I don't know why..." This one just fits my mood perfectly,... rejection. After Midnight Project- Take Me Home "take me home (slow down my heart) I wanna go (I'm breaking apart) I'm sorry I can't love you I'm sorry I can't make you see who I am. And I can't go on I can't live like this and we can't get back the time we've wasted no I can't go on I can't live like this..." This song has a hint of remorse and longing that interests me. Pearl Jam- Just Breath "under everything, just another human being, uh-huh I don't wanna hurt, there's so much in this world to make me believe, stay with me, you're all I see,... did I say that I need you? did I say that I want you? oh, if I didn't I'm a fool you see, no one knows this more than me." This is everything I wish I had said. That was the point where the tears finally started to flow. I should have told him I needed him and I wanted him. I was afraid to though, this was the first guy that I had pursued since I broke up with my boyfriend of two and a half years. And I know I bearing my stupid heart on this blog entry,... hopefully he doesn't find it. This is going to have to end as a To Be Continued Until Tomorrow, there's more to the playlist but I have work tomorrow morning and it's 12:59 am despite what the actual time on the blog says,... I can't figure it out. Goodnight! -Katie

The Great Musical

Tonight we're going to do a short little entry about one of my favorite things... the musical. Not all musicals are good though, some are just plain annoying. So far, the ones I've grown to love are along the lines of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sweeney Todd, Phantom of the Opera, Nightmare Before Christmas, dark things that are more of an acquired taste. Then again there are the bright airy things like Across the Universe, Chicago and Moulin Rouge. Moulin Rouge is an interesting film, only a couple of the songs are written for the film. The rest are a blend of old and newer songs remixed to fit in with the setting. A lot of people don't realize this unless they're really paying attention. It's a mix of Elton John, Sting, The Beatles, Gloria Estefon, Phil Collins, even Nirvana can be found in this movie if you look hard enough. I don't mean that the three movies mentioned above are bright and airy like happy little disney movies but they're different from the ones mentioned in the beginning. Those involve Tim Curry in drag singing about transvestites, a demon barber who exacts revenge by hacking into peoples necks and walking skeletons and zombies questing for Christmas. Anyway, a musical is a fun thing to watch if it's done properly, I mean Rocky Horror just wouldn't seem right if it was Arnold Schwarzenegger running around in women's undergarments singing "in just seven days I can make you a man." Its actually kind of scary how well Tim Curry plays the role...

One musical that I could never really sit through was Cry Baby. At first I thought it a spoof movie, a joke on musicals, then I found out it was serious. I don't know why I think it's silly and I know if anyone ever reads this they'll attack me but maybe I'll get more readers that way. Anyway, it just seems a little weird, the way the movie plays out. It's just a little too cliche, good girl falls for bad boy, all live happily ever after. Reminds me a little of Grease. Grease was a good one but I don't like how Sandy has to change her appearance for Danny to love her. If he really loved her he would have just accepted her, poodle skirt and all. I know that's not how it plays out in real life but that's another blog for another time. The music of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a bit of rock and dance, Sweeney Todd is dark at some points but cheery in others, Nightmare Before Christmas is just fun and interesting, Chicago's music is 1920's jazz... Oh, how could I have almost forgotten one of the best!?! The Labyrinth. One of Jim Henson's masterpieces featuring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. I don't think Jennifer Connelly actually does any singing in that one... just Bowie and a ton of goblins, but it's still awesome!

I'm getting tired seeing as it's 10:22 pm where I live and this is turning into a long dragging ramble so I'll end it here. I apologize for any and all spelling errors. I'm typing on my laptop and it doesn't have spell check and the spell check offered here doesn't catch everything. Goodnight! -Katie

Hey Soul Sister

I discovered Hey Soul Sister by Train one morning while getting ready for work. I usually watch VH1 while getting dressed. I was mesmerized by the beat, lyrics and video. It's very upbeat and good for dancing around the room like an idiot. Did I say that out loud? Anyway, the lyrics are very easy to remember and fun to sing. I can't help but to bounce around in my seat right now as I'm listening to it. It's not too jumpy though,... something I don't quite know how to describe. It is a love song, you hear that in the first verse " Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains, I knew I wouldn't forget you and so I went and let you blow my mind. Your sweet moonbeams, the smell of you in every single dream I dream, I knew when we collided you're the one I have decided who's one of my kind..." This is just a happy song, full of beats and rhythm, you can't help but to like it. Even if you're not a fan of Train you might want to check it out. I haven't heard a lot of their songs but this one's different from the one's I have heard. Here are the lyrics and a link for the music video for your listening and viewing enjoyment. You're going to have to copy and paste the link... I can't figure out how to add the link so you can just click on it. Sorry. Also, somewhere on the page is a sample of the song,... I forgot where I put the box...
-Katie

Hey soul sister by Train

Hey, hey

Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains
I knew I wouldn't forget you, and so I went and let you blow my mind
Your sweet moonbeam, the smell of you in every single dream I dream
I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided who's one of my kind

Hey soul sister, ain't the Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do...tonight
Hey, hey

Just in time, I'm so glad you have a one-track mind like me
You gave my life direction, a game show love connection we can't deny
I'm so obsessed, my heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest
I believe in you, like a virgin, you're Madonna, and I'm always gonna wanna blow your mind

Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do...tonight

The way you can't cut a rug, watching you's the only drug I need
You're so gangsta, I'm so thug, you're the only one I'm dreaming of
You see, I can be myself now finally, in fact there's nothing I can't be
I want the world to see you be with me

Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do tonight,
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do...tonight
Hey, hey

Tonight
Hey, hey

Tonight

The video is a little choppy at some points. It's supposed to be that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfBHv5IwBd0

How this works...

Ya! First blog entry of my first blog! That might not seem like much to you but I'm amused by small things,... and shinny objects. This blog is mainly about music. I'm on a constant search for more music and I'm very picky so finding music that I like is a hard thing to do. I'm hopeing that by doing this I can help someone find a song to quench their musical thurst and maybe they can throw something my way. What I plan on doing for every post is introducing you to a song from my playlist that gives me an intense emotional reaction like goose bumps or random and spontanious dancing. Then at the end I'll eather post the lyrics or a link to the music video because sometimes the song just doesn't work without the video. I would absolutely love any and all comments as long as they're appropriate. I'll also take suggestions for songs and blog entries. I'd love to hear what you have to say. So, here it goes...