Nostalgiafest

So in case you haven’t heard, Fall Out Boy is back together. They have a new single out now and a new album, Save Rock and Roll, slated to drop May 7. The only way I could be more excited about this would be if a. I were still twelve, which was the age at which my FOB obsession peaked or b. the new song were a little better.

It’s catchy, of course, and since it’s Fall Out Boy, I can’t help loving it. It even has a classically lengthy Fall Out Boy title. But it’s not objectively awesome the way so much of Folie a Deux, Infinity on High, and From Under the Cork Tree all were. Those albums actually rocked. This one may talk about rock and roll, but all I hear so far is pop.

That being said, I’ve played “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)” at least twelve consecutive times now and am showing no signs of stopping. Listen for yourself.

This always happens.

I start blogging a lot because I’m bored, and then as soon as I’m not bored anymore I completely forget I have a blog.

I do like blogging though. Blogging about music and, more recently, about life has been really nice.

I’ve been listening to and talking about music late at night a lot lately, actually. It’s one of my favorite things, period. Some friends have just gotten me to really appreciate Streetlight Manifesto. I was totally unimpressed with them when I saw them at Warped Tour last summer but now I kinda get it. In turn, I’ve gotten some people into Jack White and Franz Ferdinand and The Strokes. There’s a new Strokes album coming out next month, actually, but I’m not as excited as I should be because the new song kinda sucks.

I’ve have a decent amount of homework so far this semester, but it’s mostly just reading. I don’t have any exams until the end of the month, which is kinda fantastic but also kinda scary. There will be reading quizzes and lab quizzes before then, though, but no one stresses about those. They’re nothing compared to the terror of midterms.

So because of how unnecessary studying seems right now, I think I’m just gonna watch the latest episodes of Supernatural and The Vampire Diaries online instead of cracking a book. Also, it’s Saturday morning.

Well, it’s 3:30 p.m. right now, but still. It’s Saturday.

Thoughts and opinions.

I have a lot of these. I guess that, on some level, everybody does. But I’m not usually huge on sharing them with the masses–at least, not all of them. Thoughts about Green Day‘s latest CD (which kinda sucked)? Fine. First reaction to Emma Stone‘s latest movie (which I still have yet to see)? All good. Politics? Religion? Raising my hand in class? Now you’ve left my comfort zone in the dust.

But stepping out of your comfort zone is just one of those rites of passage, right? A necessary college experience and part of being human? Well, I buy that. I’m always pretty open and honest anyway, once you get to know me. You typically just have to actually meet me in person before you fully realize this. But not so with my recent blog posts. Ditto with the article I just finished for my school newspaper.

First semester, I was all “ohmygawd, college is so kewl!” and signed up for a whole bunch of clubs whose meetings I never actually attended. The one thing I really did commit to, though–at least at first–was the newspaper. I had done journalism for all four years of high school, eventually becoming editor in chief of our cute little publication, writing a ton as well as laying out entire issues by myself. So whether or not I would continue the trend in college didn’t even seem like a question. It was just something I had to do.

So I wrote a bunch of reviews for the arts and entertainment section. I liked doing it, but I didn’t love it. Somehow, something always got changed in my articles without my knowledge–not until I saw the final product in print, of course. I never felt like I really had enough time to take in whatever it was I was supposed to be judging before the deadline. The atmosphere of the totally student-run paper was very political and I didn’t get the A&E assistant position I wanted. After a while, I stopped showing up to meetings.

After I got out of the habit of writing for the paper and into the groove of writing papers all the time (#englishmajorproblems), I thought I would never go back. But then the new semester started, and a friend on the staff became opinion editor. A simple suggestion that I try the opinion section was all it took. Obviously, I wanted to go back.

So now my name is about to appear in print above some very real, very political opinions. (Will they be published on this site as well? Another day, maybe.) Some people will strongly disagree with my views. Some people will criticize me for being stupid or uninformed.

And I am shockingly, uncharacteristically, happily okay with this. Long live the press.

Getting back in the groove.

That really wasn’t supposed to be a retro music pun. I don’t even want to talk about music today. There’s a lot of other stuff to talk about.

Coming back after your first long break away from college is really exciting. It’s exciting no matter what, and it’s especially exciting for someone like me. Because I don’t just like my school. I don’t just love my school. It’s really cheesy to say, especially considering that the extremely-well-respected-but-still-public college I attend was initially about as far from my first choice as you can get, but I have a fierce, fiery passion for my school. Toward the end of break, being away from it was starting to give me anxiety. Another week and I would’ve started having panic attacks induced by chronic boredom.

Don’t get me wrong–I saw friends and family and made money this break. It was great.

But it’s hard to describe how happy I was to be reunited with my roommate and my dorm room and all my college friends and all the crappy individually packaged food I live on when I’m here. Initially, I had planned on getting a full eight hours’ sleep before my first day of classes. With all the catching up I had to do and all the excitement and all the unpacking and all the coffee drinking, you can guess whether or not that happened. (Obviously the answer is no. I barely got five hours.)

So I had my first two classes of the semester earlier today, and they were both decently interesting. I already have tons of reading to do; this post comes as a welcome reprieve from geology and Shakespeare. But even though I’ve always thought of myself as a major slacker, I’m glad to be doing some work again. My brain was starting to rot over break. B-movie marathons and occasional eight-hour stints behind a cash register didn’t do much to expand my mind.

So now it’s back to work for me. And it’s good to be back.

Back to school tomorrow.

Well, after a very lengthy and almost overly relaxing break, I’m finally going back up to school tomorrow. College is a funny thing. It’s not like high school; when you live there, it’s your whole life. So you look forward to it starting up again a lot more. At least, I do.

I’m looking forward to seeing all the people I’ve missed seeing every day. I’m looking forward to starting new classes and reading about stuff I’m genuinely interested in. Believe it or not, I’m looking forward to walking up and down those hills in the brisk air and getting at least a minimal amount of exercise. (While on break, standing behind a cash register and occasionally wandering the mall have been my only forms of physical activity. That’s right, standing is included.)

I’m not looking forward to the endless bus trip, though. Not at all. I’m already planning ahead to what I’m gonna listen to: some Florence + The Machine, some Best Coast, and some Radiohead of course. My brother and I also have a long-standing tradition of always playing The Hives on our respective iPods during long road trips, so even though he won’t be accompanying me on this particular journey, there will definitely be some of that.

Now I just need a packing playlist. Because of course I haven’t even started getting my stuff together yet. What did you expect?

TV isn’t real life.

Logically, I know this. I know I shouldn’t feel as close to the characters in my favorite shows as I do to my friends and family. I know that said characters don’t hear me when I verbally react to their stupid or shocking actions.

But still. How could Sam leave Amelia behind without so much as a note in last night’s Supernatural?! How could Dean leave Benny hanging like that? How could Cass not wisen up and fight that mind controlling witch Naomi rather than kill poor Alfie? These are just a few of the questions I ask the moving pictures on my laptop screen.

I know that Ted and company from How I Met Your Mother aren’t really my friends and won’t be waiting to hang out with me when I move to New York City. I know that Dunder Mifflin isn’t an actual place I can land a backup job if writing doesn’t pan out.

But that doesn’t mean that I’m not super-excited about the return of the beautiful and dangerous cast of The Vampire Diaries just the same. The winter premiere airs in T-minus one hour and fifty-seven minutes, and I wouldn’t miss new footage of Damon’s insanely handsome face for the world.

New music! Finally!

Sometimes I feel like none of my favorite bands ever come out with new music anymore. What’s worse is that some of them make mediocre music that almost cancels out their past achievements, however awesome and legendary (I’m looking at you, Green Day). Either way, it sucks when I don’t have any release dates to look forward to.

But last night I discovered that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are coming out with their first LP since It’s Blitz! this spring. Um, can I get a hell yes? It’s called Mosquito and is set to drop on April 16. It’s supposed to be really dreamy and psychedelic while still marking a return to the band’s raw garage rock roots. All I know is that there hasn’t been anywhere near enough Karen O insanity in my life lately, so I’ll gladly take whatever she and her boys are willing to give. Even if Karen is wearing a glittery zebra cape over her face while they dole it out.

As if that weren’t enough, there’s also a new Cold War Kids song out and it ain’t half bad. It’s called “Miracle Mile” and it’s really sweet and feel-good-y. I love the piano in the background and Nathan’s trademark gospel-y vocals. Of course, the rub is that each of CWK’s albums has been regrettably less brilliant than the last. But they did start out pretty ingenious so I still have pretty high hopes for a potential future release.

This new music stuff really does get me pretty excited in general. I just might have to go have me a celebratory cup of coffee.

Not that I wouldn’t do that anyway.