It Always Comes Back To This

I'm seeing Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (the Swell Season) in concert. I'M SEEING THE FUCKING SWELL SEASON IN CONCERT. I've seen Glen before with his band the Frames but oh my god. This is about equal to me seeing Dylan or Rufus Wainwright for the first time, the I!-might!-pee!-my!-pants!-I'm!-so! excited! Too bad I have to wait until June 18th. JUNE 18TH. Why the hell did tickets have to go on sale so damn early. This is only going to cause four months of butterflies in my stomach because I am that excited. The Swell Season! Can't fucking wait.

I got my sweet-ass tax return last week and holy lord was it a lot of money. Well probably not a lot of money for people who have actual jobs, but a lot of money for me, considering I have a fake job. The type of job where I get pissed if it's busy and I can't read at least 100 pages of my book. You know what this money means? I'm having a good ol' time in Vegas baby, when I go in April. It may be gone in 25 minutes but it'll be fun while it lasts.

I got my hair cut a few weeks ago, probably shorter than I've ever had it in my entire life. I also got bangs. Do you have any idea how much thought I put into the idea of these bangs? You'd never even guess because the answer would be absurd and I would be ashamed. I was terrified to get them because the last time I had them, probably in seventh grade, they would curl all funky on me if I didn't straighten or dry them with a hair dryer. This time, about a decade later, they just dry magically straight without me having to mess with them at all (we'll see how well they work once I have to deal with humidity though). They're more side-swept bangs, but nonetheless they are bangs and they dry. Straight. Without me doing anything. Does this excite anybody else except for me? No? Well you SHOULD be excited because it's considered a miracle. Seriously - ask Benedict.

I bought an album on a whim a couple weeks ago from this band called The Helio Sequence. The "if you bought _____, you'll like _____" part of iTunes is probably the best thing since.....ever. I can't even thing of a simile for it here because come on, is sliced bread really THAT great. But anyways, the album, Keep Your Eyes Ahead by the Helio Sequence is as delicious as the "if you bought _____, you'll like _____" part of iTunes. (That'll be the new simile from now on, but must shorten it somehow.) It's all I've listened to for the past three weeks. I am not exaggereating. It's only 37 minutes long and as soon as it's over I just start it again. I think about hearing the first song, Lately, and get all jittery cause I want to hear it so bad, IT'S THAT GOOD. I need to get a life.

I'm here at work where it's T-minus 100 minutes until my weekend starts and I'm off until Tuesday. This weekend is the Southside's Christmas because it's the Southside Irish Parade on Sunday. It's pretty much all we talk about after New Year's Eve because it's our next big holiday. It's supposed to be cold Sunday which blows, but really who notices when you're drunk all day anyways.

I was really sick all last week, my twice yearly so-tired-and-achy-I-can't-get-out-of-bed-for two-days-sickness. I was feeling a tad better by Wedensday and went to see The Kite Runner with my mom and her friend at this art center we have by my house. I had a dry cough, but it had only really been bad when I was laying down in bed, I hadn't had any coughing attacks or anything of the sort yet. I had just bought some cough drops and had those and a bottle of water with me in case things got bad but I really wasn't worried about it. (Like cough drops do shit anyways, I think it just made me feel better to have them.) But wouldn't you know it, as soon as the goddamn movie started I couldn't stop coughing. I lasted for about 45 minutes, sweating and coughing my balls off, trying to muffle the cough with my shirt, sucking down cough drops like it was my job and drinking the water to no avail. Finally I couldn't handle it anymore and told my mom "I have to leave, I can't take it anymore". She says to me, "Did you try the cough drops?" OH, THE COUGH DROPS. HOW SILLY OF ME. OF COURSE! WHY HADN'T I THOUGHT OF THAT. THE COUGH DROPS! Christ on a cracker mom, really? I mean I love my mom and everything but sometimes I really wonder what she thinks before she says something. LIKE I HADN'T TRIED USING THE FUCKING COUGH DROPS TO STOP COUGHING. My mom - what the hell would I do without her.

I think I lost my camera. That kind of blows. Understatement of the year.