It's colder than it ought to be in March.

It's hard to sit down and write when I'm so busy - when I'm galavanting about town, screaming my lungs out at a show, catching the latest Swedish film based on a book I read, or hanging with the best people.

And, so, I'll attempt to tell you about my fun.

Last week, I was reminded that one of my favourite bands, Dashboard Confessional, would be playing at the Nokia Theater on Friday. With a little help from my friend Ang (another Dashboard geek/aficionado), we found out the day of that we would be able to get in. And so we met up, headed to Nokia, grabbed a drink at the bar and found a spot to sing our lungs out.

(Do we all know about Dashboard? About his shows? Where he basically lets the audience sing a decent amount of the lyrics? Well, now you know.)

The show may have been the best setlist I've seen from the band so far (I've seen them a lot!) -

I was going to pick apart this setlist to enumerate the many reasons it's constructed with all sorts of WIN, but I would just come out looking like a looney to those who have no idea who Dashboard Confessional is. To those who do, I know you can tell by just looking at this how awesome it was and why my voice was hoarse the next day.

So, after the show my friend Dubin let me know where he was hanging out, as he had been photographing the Dashboard show. We walked over to the bar and I re-met his good friend Chris Carrabba (you know, lead singer of Dashboard) and I gushed about what an awesome show it was (but I think I kept my cool?), reminded him about that one time we hung out in Boston, how I am married to Jesse (he's an MCS fan), and that I was thisclose to saying hi to him a couple of years ago at a Bed Bath & Beyond. He was ridiculously nice and laughed along and said, "you should have said hi!" And when he asked where we watched the show from, he let me know that next time he was in town I could hit him up for spots.

Yeah. I don't think I need to explain anything else...no need to explain how fantastic that was! Those photographs Dubin took are amazing though - both from the Nokia Theater and the next evening at Starland Ballroom. Here's just one example of his work from Friday night:

Saturday I woke up to a little catch up with Jesse, who is off in the UK doing his job (what a life!). Then Jaime, Sean, and Amber came over for the War & Peace book club! We have 250ish pages left!! I will soon be able to say - nay, proclaim! - that I have read War & Peace. The great thing about our book club is that we really enjoy each other, discussing the novel, and the novel itself. Here's what the table looked like during the meeting:

Instead of red velvet donuts, Jaime brought us cupcakes! (And Mint Candy Apple nail polish for Amber, ha.) Always good times. I don't think I'd be able to read the book without being able to discuss it with people; and these three friends have some great insight into the content! I really love the book - I can understand now why it's often deemed the best novel ever written.

The rest of the night the girls and I stayed in and watched horrible movie after horrible movie (it's really great entertainment!), as well as Fatal Attraction. I ask you this seriously: have you ever found Michael Douglas attractive? EVER? Because he may be the most unattractive person that got/gets such "sexy" roles. Shudder.

And on Sunday I met up with Keller, Perry, and Rene to see the Swedish film adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. You may remember that I read that book in 2009 as part of my 52 Books Challenge! While I think the book lacked something lost in translation, the movie did not skew very much at all from the gory (or even boring) details. The titular girl (played by actress Noomi Rapace) was captivating on screen - and I thought she looked a lot like one of the Quin sisters from the band Tegan & Sara -

Right? But like...if Tegan or Sara fronted a German metal band? Anyway, she was great and I think when they "Hollywood" the movie, it won't be as graphic, but probably a lot shorter. It clocked in at over two and a half hours! I heard a rumor that David Fincher might direct the U.S. version, which I think works perfectly with the source material (it's dark, sadistic, and mysterious), though Zodiac was no average-length film. Also? I can't imagine a Hollywood actress getting it as right as Rapace. She was almost too good, too convincing. Anybody else seen it? If you've read the book, I'd recommend it only because it's such a straight adaptation of the book. I'm interested to see the liberties the U.S. version will take with the storylines. 

After grabbing a post-viewing coffee with the gang to talk about the movie, I met up with Sean and friends for some sushi. Sean's lovely girlfriend is in town from Missouri, and we got to catch up over raw fish and then at a sake bar. And yes, I've been ruined by the delectable fresh fish in Japan to really have enjoyed the sushi and sashimi on Sunday night. But that doesn't matter when you're having fun times!

Speaking of, I do plan on writing about Japan, but after jetlag, my pinched nerve, and keeping up with friends, family, and Jesse - I am only now beginning to feel "caught up" and settling back into my routine. Of course, Jesse gets back tomorrow for a mere four or five days, so we'll see how settled I get! Even my dad has been pestering me to post about Japan: it'll happen, I promise!