Nothing is more American than an Eric Church concert

If you have not had the chance to experience Erich Church and his band live in concert, than you my friend are missing out on something. I recently got to experience his show for a second time on a whim. I knew that he was playing near by, but in a place which is really hard to get to unless you drive there...a place called the Starland Ballroom (Think the barn/dance hall in Foot loose). This place is literally in the middle of nowhere, New Jersey.

After waiting 10 minutes on the road (due to concert traffic), maneuvering parking directed by local VFW members and crossing the dim-lighted street (as well as dodging non-concert drivers) I finally got to wait in the 20 minute long line for ticket holders. (Mind you it was about 20 degrees outside...it was no spring picnic). Conveniently my phone died as soon as I got inside, where I was supposed to meet up with a couple of friends. However, as luck/karma/something could prove it I ran into a a few mutual friends of mine and my other country loving pals. I was able to wait with them as we were able to all join together.

After hugs, and the how-do-you do's were passed around, it was not long before the first act went on. Sean Patrick McGraw and his band were not too shabby for an opening act. They were mostly upbeat, sang songs about being cowboys, and kept the crowd jumping and grooving while the caught up with old friends, met new friends and threw back a few cold ones. However, the crowd was still anxious for the main event...chants of ERIC and some random boos to towards the stage were shouted by some of the more Eric Church loving fans.

Between sets there were even chants of U-S-A...these fans were country lovin, American pride, whiskey drinkin', cowboy hat wearin', kind of New Jersey folk...much different from the more popular "Guido" stereotype which people may have due to the popularity of such shows as the Real Housewives of New Jersey and Jersey Shore.

But it was well worth the wait!

Eric Church and his band have an AWESOME opening act, with lights, guitar solos and intro using Clutch's "Electric Worry" , instant goosebumps and a feel for a promising show were presented.

He sang everybody's favorite songs as well as his own. At the end of the night the crowd left more than happy, well at least those who weren't thrown out, not lucid, or passed out in some corner of the bar. The crowd sang along, people danced along to the songs which had the beat bumping and swayed and threw their lighters up to those which were more sentimental. If one thing is certain, New Jersey welcomed Eric and his band with wide open arms, and they put on a damn good show in return.

This Week's Song of the Week:

Eric Church - "Smoke a Little Smoke"

Last semester...so bitter-sweet

So my last days at Drew University are quickly dwindling away.
I am happy that I will be recieving my Masters this year, but there are so many obsticals I must overcome that are still in my way..so lets take a look

Plans for the Present (aka graduating)
1) In order to delay my loan payments I had to be considered a full-time student. Therefore I needed to take a class on top of my thesis work. The class I chose is interesting and will help me with my understanding of Irish history in the long end, however its readings and papers are def cutting into my thesis time.

However my time is not spent 50/50 with those two subjects...so lets take a dive into other projects/activies I devote my time to:

2) I'm still working at the General Commission on Archives and History for The United Methodist Church. I work here 15 hours a week, it's the bane to my existance because its what pays the bills...its also teaching me the many skills and abilities I will need to perform in future job settings...so this is equally important...which divides my time 33.3/33.3/33.3...But oh wait there is more! of course silly!

3) I was asked to present one of my papers to an Irish conference in Savannah, GA. So what the heck I thought I'd give it a whirl. I answered to the call of papers AND my paper got accepted...wooohooo? I HATE public speaking...so that should be fun... A lot of my friends and advisors from school will be traveling there as well so it shouldnt be that bad...and it will look GREAT on college/job resumes...right? So as of right now that leaves my time to 25/25/25/25

4)And then there is my time spent as the History and Culture Convenor...I basically am the link between students, the faculty and the GSA. I am supposed to voice out the opinion of the masses and bring peace and prosperity into the minds of those in the History and Culture Program...also good for the resumes...and getsme more involved with what really goes down here on Madison Ave. Leaving my time at 20/20/20/20/20

THE FUTURE
My time also has to be spent job/school searching for future plans which means
a) school applications (in Library and Information Science) AND
b) job resumes (in libraies, museums, schools, etc etc)

Most of the schools need Essays and applications which = time...while most of the jobs require that I have a degree in Library and Information science...I will lump these two together...leaving me at 16.7/16.7/16.7/16.7/16.7/16.7 equally shared time between my activites I must perform before graduation

I also need to throw in sleeping/working out/eating (and drinking...just to keep me sane) which leaves me a grand total of 14.3/14.3/14.3/14.3/14.3/14.3/14.3 equally divided proportions for my last months here at Drew..so again, I'm happy that I'll (hopefully) be graduating this semester...but at the same time I'm equally terified of how it will take place


This post's song:
"Bitter Sweet Symphony" - The Verve

Not Your Average North Pole

For those of you who were not aware of the mass Exodus of Santas in NYC this past Saturday, a little thing called Santa Con was in action.  It's basically a "Santa crawl" though out the city. With many starting points conveniently placed around NYC and it's neighboring cities, the santas are given location points throughout the day so that they can meet up and spread some holiday cheer. While holiday costumes are a MUST, one does not have to rock the Santa look. Throughout the day I saw a wide variety of peoples creative minds at work...there were elves, the "north pole", candy canes, reindeer, Hanukkah Harry's, penguins, Santa "on vacation", Darth Vader Santa, the Grinch, green man, where's waldo Santa, the misfit toys, and many scrooges.

Out of all of New York's traditions this has been one of my favorites by far.  Santa con can be what you make of it... for some, its a flash mob of sorts, and for others its a "bar crawl"...however I have been advised not to actually call it a bar crawl...for every time you call Santa con a bar crawl a sugar plum fairy dies. It's another excuse to dress up and have fun with friends and family. AND the looks from people who have not heard of Santa con before, or are just visiting the city for the day are PRICELESS!

Towards the end of the night, your childhood, hallmark image of Santa has quickly deteriorated. I saw some pretty messed up Santa things...Just because you are in a Santa suit, does not mean that one can break the law...Santa con gets pretty rowdy once it gets dark out.

This was my second year participating in Santa con...And I would totally do it again...mostly for TWO reasons: 1) It's way too much fun to drink in a bar filled with that much holiday cheer and 2) It's not just for us "adults" its also for the kids...there were so many children who were having just as much fun as we spotting the different holiday characters throughout the day! I LOVE the holiday season  in NYC, and so should you!

Happy Santas and thier elves...

"Santa Claus is Coming to Town" - Bruce Springsteen

A Thank You...Thank You Very Much

Well Thanksgiving 2010 was another successful year filled with good food, amazing friends and great times. This was my third year celebrating Thanksgiving in Croton-On-Hudson with one of my best friends and her family!  Traditions were kept and new new stories were made.

This year the girls made two pumpkin pies and one apple!

It's tradition to open the holiday poppers before the meal...inside is a silly toy, a paper crown and a horribly amazing joke! This year I received a plastic pig paper clip...yeahhhhh

We then concluded the weekend by celebrating my friend's 23rd birthday! We went to Brother Jimmy's in NYC and began with the famous fishbowls filled with "swamp water." Although I'm a bit skeptical of the amount of alcohol that was really used for the beverage, it sure was tasty!  They played great music and we were able to catch up with some old pals!

This weekend seriously got me thinking of how thankful I am for the friends that I have kept over the years. As cheesy as it may sound, my friends really have become family. We've been through so much over the past couple of years and we still keep in touch and updated with our crazy lives. Whether we're finishing up grad school and pursing more dreadful applications for PhD programs; Acting as an Au-pair in a foreign country; or acting as a PR for a political campaign we will be in each others lives.

The trek through life can be a tough one. We've all have had our ups and downs, and it's a great feeling to know that you have a gaggle of supporters who are there to get you through life's little diddies.  Recently I've had a lot of support as I've been finishing up my numerous papers for grad school...as well as the help I've been receiving as I finish up applications for more education opportunities...both here and overseas! It's a wonderful feeling to know that I'm not alone on my pursuit of happiness!

I am also grateful for my actual family as well.  They have had to put up with my craziness for 23 years, and still claim me as their own. So thank you y'all...It's because of you that has made me who I am today.

"Pursuit of Happiness" - Kid Cudi ft. MGMT

There are not enough hours in a day to satisfy a grad student

So I've done it again. It's 9:00pm on a Monday night, and I have a 15-20 pager due at 4:00 on Wed! Great! I know that I will get the paper finished in time for class only because I have found myself at this point every semester thus far in my graduate student experience.

Looking back, I probably could have worked on such coursework instead of the mustache party, Dave Matthews Band, John Butler Trio, endless hours of watching Eureka on Netflix, or my friendly hellos to my neighbors next door...but in all reality, its those events that keep me sane in this crazy life I live.

I will continue to tell myself that I need to fix my time management skills. But its like they say...once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator. My nights will be filled with power naps, Barry's Gold Label tea and little laps around my apartment. It just gets me thinking though, if I can produce grade A papers on the dime, how good they would be if I actually took the time and wrote a decent paper...Untill next time I guess


"Where is My Mind" - Placebo with Francis Black

That was a crazy game of ....apples to apples?

Following our weekly trip to the campus pub, we thought it would be a great idea to continue our fun and play apples to apples....with a box of wine, a handles of Beam, two bottles of  Long Trail Double Bags and Baileys (and no it was not drunk of a boot...). For those of you who have not experienced apples to apples....I am sorry...but it is a game where you receive 7 "noun" cards and you have to match it to an adjective the best you can with the cards which you are given...One person is to judge the options, and changes each round.  Sometimes a "correct" item is chosen, while other times a less appropriate, but more humorous card wins the round...those who have the most green cards at the end of the game is the "winner." However, when playing with a good bunch of friends on a drinking night, there really are no winners or losers.

It got me thinking though. How each one of us thinks so differently, when a given adjective is placed down...while some of us would appreciate the humor of a less appropriate noun, others might become appalled and be quick to discard such an opinion.

On ANOTHER NOTE,
all this drinking and fun had me on roll, and I thought why not bring up a touchy subject!! My favorite...Let's put a group of my closest and dearest, in an awkward situation while in a night of drinking of fun! My curious mind brought up the Abortion issue...deep...maybe too deep for some, but it was defiantly interesting to see what people had to say about the topic...just like the game of apples to apples, some agreed with each other, while others were appalled and disagreed full heartily.  It is important for me to state that I believe that there is no correct answer to such an issue, that valid points can be made for either side, and how I respect both opinions of the matter.  However like many issues there will those who agree with it, and those who don't, there are also those stuck in the grey area in between.

Regardless of this little social experiment that I threw at my friends, we still had a great time and stayed up til the wee hours of the next morning.  Thus creating the best game of apples to apples that I've played in a long time!

Apples to Apples to Apple, Fiona
"Fast as you Can" - Fiona Apple

GO TEAM GO

Another aspect of a person's identity is to have similar beliefs in a common notion. Whether it's the music you listen to, the books you read, the food you eat, there are many qualities that unite a community together.

One of the most dedicated of these topics is the sports team. In retrospect, I consider it more of a culture. There are many different levels of fandom ranging from supporter to die-hard fanatic psychos.

Whether you watch the game on a TV at home with close friends and family, at the bar with new friends and family, on the radio, or live at the stadium/area itself. These supporters ban together into an community which creates it's own identity. An identity which gives you the feeling of belonging. You can watch the game 10,000 miles away, and if you spot another team supporter, you become instant friends, you are rooting for the same team, the same family, the same identity.

It's always the same goal in mind for these supporters of sport...whether you are a fair-weathered fan, or an over-obsessive fan...whether you have played the sport maybe once in the past, or have followed it religiously through newspapers, magazines and TV programs...we're all trying to make a community that we feel home at, no matter how far away from reality that it may be.

"The Sporting Life" - The Decemberists