I made my slow way home.

I love the Hipstamatic photo app for the iPhone (obviously) & I love my friends.

This (long!) weekend we're taking it to my parents' house for Jesse's birthday festivities!

How is your weekend looking?

Havin' a party up next door.

Gwen Stefani via Tim Armstrong!

You know, Tim Armstrong, the lead singer of Rancid? Also in The Transplants? Operation Ivy? Apparently, he took that photo of Gwen. And then he transformed it into a stencil and now two hundred 20x24 screen printed posters are available at Poster Child Prints for $50, signed and numbered! He also made fifty "Artist Edition" prints, each unique and handpainted by Armstrong, available for $150. On the site you can see that he even scrawled the lyrics to Rancid's "Ruby Soho" on one of the Gwen Artist Editions. This is Armstrong's first ever release of artwork, though he'll be releasing more in the near future. I honestly had no idea he was making art.

You all know I keep my ear to the ground when it comes to Gwen news, so, I thought this was particularly interesting. (More interesting, actually, than pregnancy rumors...which she's denying, by the way.) I am acquiring my own print, and will prominently display my all-time girl crush proudly in the apartment! Plus, a first-ever artwork from Tim Armstrong. Pretty, pretty sweet.

Poster Child Prints also has a pretty nice artist roster to peruse - Jim Houser, Tim Biskup, Mike Giant, Taki 187, Love Me, Dalek, Friends with You, and more. I've added their blog to my feed to keep up with it all, too.

Oh, by the way, they went on sale this morning at 9am PDT! Better get on it if you like them!

Anybody else going to get one? Think it's a pretty stellar homage to a stellar woman? I do!

The floors are falling out from everybody I know.

Him: You have no idea how much changed...like, after you left.

Me: Well, yeah, we broke up right after college -  everyone changes after college. I wouldn't expect everyone to be the same person. We all grew up.

Him (laughing): I don't know if I would say that. I wouldn't say all of us "grew up."

Me: Okay, we all got older.

Him: Yup, that's what happened. We just got older.

Oh you know me I love the universe.

An evening of event(ful) organization. Not for an event in the immediate future, but a future a few more fervored months off.

The gray of my nails does not imply a pallor in my mood; a weekend of marital solitude amongst friends brought both peace and chaos. Friday flings with films I'd yet to witness. Saturday singing every song my former teenage heart could muster. Shunday shopping and brunches and mysteries (somewhat) solved with the loved ones - the ladies, the gentlemen, my husband.

And remember, tonight, event planning. I do plan a lot these days. I imagine it's an activity I won't ever get the pleasure of ignoring.

See you in another life.

On September 22nd, 2004 - a Wednesday night - I sat down to watch a show called LOST in my college dorm room. I'd heard a few good things about the pilot on the internet, but what most enticed me was the series' creator, JJ Abrams - he had already created what was then my favourite show on television, ALIAS.

The show immersed me in its island and flashback world immediately, and I couldn't look away. Even in the pilot episode, those commercial breaks were torture (this was before DVR). I was enthralled throughout the hour and immediately called my dad afterwards:

"Dad, you have to see this show I just watched. It's called LOST, it's replaying this Saturday, you're going to love it."

He trusted me, and we soon began calling each other after each episode to discuss what had just happened. This was before online "gatherings" sprang up in order for me to get my theorizing fixes - I joined some LiveJournal communities, it's true. I spent at least two Valentine's Days on my couch watching the television show. When I met Jesse, we did what you do, talk about your most favourite things ever. I told him I loved LOST, and strangely enough, he decided to start watching LOST in 2007. He caught up on the seasons in his many cross-oceanic flights (see what I did there?). But, literally, he watched the pilot episode on a flight from the US to Australia.

And now, six years later, the show has come to its proper end. I am sad - I've never liked saying goodbyes or concluding things - but I am completely satisfied and happy to see it end in an appropriate manner.

Anybody else watch? I know there are some polarizing opinions about, but everyone entitled to their own thoughts, right? I loved the finale, and I think the writers did the series justice.

I want to get away, to our sweet escape.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm kind of addicted to sunglasses. I currently own about ten pair?

Well, most of my shades are variations of wayfarers, cateyes, or big bug-eye frames. I just decided I probably need something a bit different. Something not yet in my collection. I turned to my trusted style guru, Gwen. Well, not Gwen herself, but Gwen Stefani via Google.

And I was surprised to find she wears a lot of aviator-style frames. I really dug these:

They are apparently Carrera-brand sunglasses, and in my research of the brand I found out most people already know the name, based on it's history as a "racing sunglasses" since 1956 but also because of some badass popstars sporting them. Not just Gwen but, Rihanna, Christina, both wore pairs in their latest videos, and Lady Gaga wore a pair in her (best) video, "Bad Romance" -

This summer Carrera is promoting their sick glasses through The Carrera Escape, which is a four-city party tour (how fun does that sound already?) that's hitting Las Vegas tomorrow (at Tao Beach with LOSTie Rebecca Mader, aka Charlotte, aka will she be in the finale tomorrow?!), and eventually LA, New York, and Chicago via Lollapalooza! Um, according to the Nylon blog, during the stops: "Carrera sets up shop somewhere in a city, offers massages, food, and concerts to whomever finds their oasis, and documents the whole thing via Facebook, Twitter, and everyone who comes out to party."

Needless to say, I want to go.

I'm keeping my eye on the Carrera Escape Twitter in order to figure out how to get into the NY date, for sure. Last year they roped in Peter, Bjorn & John to play the party - and I'm wondering who they'll get this year!

Right now, my mouse is getting really itchy for some of those fun Carrera Safaris my favourite celebrity ladies are sporting. I may traipse about some stores this weekend to try them on first, though - they sell at Solstice and Bloomingdale's and are not too expensive for their $100ish price tag! Let's see if I can look as kick ass in them, too.

What do you think about the glasses? Too Gaga-licious for my walkabouts in the city? Would you hit up one of those Carrera Escape parties??

We have to go back.

The days, they do not go by so slowly.

If I literalized the list of tasks to do and should do...the list that sits in my brain, not really as a list at all, but more like mini-sentences with checkboxes floating around, a mess in my head - if I were to write that down, I would have at least the length of a novel in my hands, though not the content (can't check that one off).

I've mostly tried to ignore it. My husband is here and I'd like to take advantage of his presence, our life together, hang out, talk, etc. My friends are each and every one of them amazing and spending time with them makes me happy, too. Can't worry about pesky to-dos in these times of living IN IT! You can see how it's easy to ignore this corner.

I blather on right now, but I've been pensive lately...and thinking of this space and what to do with it. How to treat it justly. I am sometimes seized with moments of "I must articulate every single thing that happened so I can remember how happy I was just in that time!" and I write a long, winding, winded, and hyper post. Other times I can't write exactly like the "window into my life" I've made this place -- I've always kept certain things to myself, but lately there are so many things that are either too mundane to share or I feel it's not right to. (Right to me, right to friends, right to family, right to that actor I've written about once or twice here and then hung out with him and his dog a couple of weeks ago-type thing...you see?)

So I'm trying to figure out how to keep this light, easy, and entertaining. I think my posts will become shorter, more concise, perhaps more cryptic so that I feel like I told you something without truly revealing it. You can guess. (I used to write such posts, but pre-Twitter and pre-Tumblr - I just want to pay more attention to my writing, think more of the structure of a sentence. Stylize the place, if you will. If you have a question there's always FormSpring, and the archives here, right?) I think change is afoot. I've always loved change. I want to streamline the site into something more organized, rather than the jumbled outpouring of my brain onto e-paper.

And LOST is ending, so we all need some more perplexing ruminations in our lives after Sunday, right?

Oh, no.

River's Edge.

Dear Jessica,

I have to catch you up, dude. Things are pretty rough out here in the future right now. It's 2012. Cusack's trying to convince me to get in some trailer with him, but I don't trust that dude. But now I do know there was some sorta reason I was signing up for all those sci-fi movies back where you are. My brain was trying to communicate.

Anyway, yeah so you just witnessed Sandy's marital debacle. (JUST learned that word!!!!!) I was super bummed, cause I went to their wedding and I thought that dude was cool. But he was not. I told you I didn't like weddings, and NOW you know why. I'm never getting married.

But I guess you heard that I've been seen out "with" Charlize Theron. My old co-star, from probably my worst movie ever. I learned the word "reviled" after trying to read some of the reviews for Sweet November. Not cool. But Charlie is. She's like cool, but also wicked hot, right? And she just split from a dude after like a decade. I don't think they were married, but dude, ten years is a long time. That's basically BEING married. And yeah, I had to drop Parker Posey because dude we were seeing each other for a while. Sorry you liked her so much and I had to be like NO.

I do wish you all the best in your marriage.

Regards,

Keanu

PS I revile Jesse James. I hope your OWN Jesse gives me no reason to revile him.

PSS I just remembered Charlie and I were in Devil's Advocate together WOW. Dude.

I put my hands to the table and dare say...

I had a swell weekend. When I have more time, I'll try to tell you about it.

It only takes one word or idea to send me in real deep.

I pondered whether I was in the right state of mind this morning in which to blog. Last night (or, rather, this morning!) I went to bed at 330am after watching Iron Man and Iron Man 2 in theaters. I woke up at 7am for work. You can see why my brain might be malfunctionous.

I mean, I'm making up words here.

But, as this is MY blog, I can be as crazy-sounding as I want, and I'm pretty sure you're all used to it. You read my last post, I assume. That means you also know what I've been up to the past two evenings.

So I lead with somewhat of a headline:

01 Robert Downey Jr.
02 Hugh Jackman
03 Joseph Gordon-Levitt
04 Mark Ruffalo
05 Sam Rockwell

You know what that is. You know what that is!!!

I think I live in my own brain too much. Good thing I get to share it with all of you.

And Adam. On Wednesday, Adam and I went to see the Broadway play A Behanding in Spokane. Christopher Walken was playing up his "accent" throughout the play and I double-overed laughing every time. I think there were even times Sam Rockwell was trying not to laugh delivering his own lines opposite him. The play was "uproariously funny," "hilarious," and other such similar exclamations.

The day before we saw the play, Walken got nominated for a Tony for Best Actor for it! I call that "legit."

Immediately after the play, on our way out, Adam impressed me by out-recognizing-an-obscure-actor. He sees a guy in a black sweater and goes, "I recognize him from something!" I take a look and go, "Pfft. He does not seem familiar in the least. How do you know he is an actor?" Said dude looks right at us as we're "recognizing" him and then steps backstage - so he's definitely someone. Three blocks after leaving (yes, I decided not to wait around to meet Rockwell) Adam realizes where that actor is from...he recognizes the dude from - wait for it - FINAL DESTINATION 2. YEAH. My mind was certainly blown. It was the actor who played the COP. I think there was a genuine flicker of pride that he thought two kids recognized him. Even though only one thought of him as vaguely familiar.

POINT: I recommend seeing A Behanding in Spokane if you get a chance, because you will laugh, and it is ridiculous, and damn that Rockwell is a talented comedic actor! And you might also see someone you kind of saw on tv that one time.

Last night I geared up for IRONMANia!!! Tyler and Jim came over after work even though I wanted to nap before the near-all-nighter. So I made them watch The Hills. They knew a wee bit too much about those characters, methinks!

We then headed to Manhattan to meet up with Adam and Kells - Kells, she the lady who has doth never seen Iron Man.

Hold on, my literary prowess is faltering. I must take a quick blog break to give my brain a rest and also take a five-hour energy drink.

I'm back. Those "breaks" don't really translate on blogs. Perhaps I would fare better not telling you.

Anyway. For any readers I haven't lost yet:

We sat center and center (surely you know what I mean) for Iron Man and awaited the impending awesomeness. I came prepared with Twizzlers and Peanut Butter Cups to share amongst our group. I told Kelly at the last possible moment that there were scenes in the film set in the desert, wherein dust and sand were surely to appear wild and out of control. Kelly has a thing about dust and sand in film: she does not like it. But I got her there so she had to stay and watch it!

And who is not charmed by Robert Downey Jr? COME ON.

The best thing about the IRONMANia was that we got to stay in the same seats for the midnight showing

Preview thought #1: The Last Airbender looks like it borrows a lot from the "disaster movie" genre, therefore, I will not be able to help seeing it and loving it.

Preview thought #2: Inception - most anticipated movie of the year for me (since I'm in the theater watching the other one.)

Preview thought #3: Oh, JJ Abrams! You old so-and-so. You always reel me in. You made me see Cloverfield at midnight. Will you also make me see Super 8 at midnight?!

RDJ RDJ RDJ RDJ! ----ack, wait, we open with Rourke. That's okay, it's a movie not an ogle-fest. (Sidenote: FALSE! I realize that I cannot roll my eyes any more at Johansson's casting - here I was, ogling RDJ to the best of my ogling abilities (they're really quite good) and those who are into good-looking women should have the right to do the same...though I will say that straight men leave much, much less to the imagination with all that spandex and butt close-ups - put Tony Stark in a well-tailored suit and I will swoon - he needn't be showing off the equivalent of cleavage for me to go "badowwwww" or whatever they say. I don't know what they say. WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS PARENTHETICAL?)

I digress.

Things I don't need to see any more of in my lifetime: Mickey Rourke's fingernails. I thought the eerie, shudder-worthy transluscent whiteness of his nails in The Wrestler was horrifying enough. But! Here they are the same meaty curves except with grime and dirt and who-knows-what caked all over. As a lady who notices hands first, and rates the attractiveness on men solely on particular loveliness of their hands (that's a lie), Rourke's hands were frightening.

Finally, we see RDJ. Badowwwww.

Oh hey, Sam Rockwell, I didn't know you were in so much of this movie. And you are hilarious! Just like when I saw you yesterday! I enjoy every scene you are in! You as Justin Hammer and RDJ as your business rival Tony Stark -- I love it! Oh, you've got nice hands.

Except when your character obviously used too much self-tanner because his hands were orangey and they didn't even make an outright joke about it which made me love it even MORE.

I realize you may not be able to follow this rambling. I realize this.

I recommend Iron Man 2 especially if you loved the first one and you like to laugh and you love RDJ's nuanced and witty portrayal of Tony Stark. Also, if you are a comic book nerd because there is a lot of that in there, obviously. And if you like well-tailored suits. Like in Mad Men. By the way, Roger Sterling is in the film, but they took away the thing that makes him inherently silver fox-hot: his white hair! And trust me, that is where his power lies.

Fun fact: that scene on the racetrack they show in the previews? Apparently Rourke made them blast Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" while being super menacing and crazy during that scene. That made me laugh out loud to read in last week's Entertainment Weekly.

Also! I liked some of the plot choices made...and there was some real great innuendo in some of the lines, as well. Justin Theroux wrote the script, and I am impressed. He was in my top five at one point - it's true.

One final shoutout to my friends for hanging out for IRONMANia and staying up until 330am with me. THEY ROCK.

So now it's Friday. Jesse arrives from Boston this afternoon!!!!!!! I will probably nap a whole bunch when I get home from work. This is good news to you, I'm sure, as you've reached this sentence. That in itself makes me think that you too are not well and should get some rest, ya hear?

Come down on the street and dance with me.

So there's a bit of catching up to do!

I've been fantastic. This past weekend reunited me with Jesse (several times!), I witnessed Motion City Soundtrack cover Nine Inch Nails SUPERBLY at the Hoodwink festival (picture above from backstage Friday night before they played, credit Colin Blake), had a tacos & margaritas girls night with Jaime, Lauren Ashley, and Cara, and Bamboozle'd it up on Sunday in the distressing heat.

I should mention that all members of MCS were incredibly nervous before taking the stage on Friday night to play those NIN songs. However, they all seemed cool as ice when they started playing: I was so surprised! I mean, I guess I shouldn't be as I know they are all talented dudes, but: WOAH. They were GREAT! IMPRESSIVE! MINDBLOWINGLY GOOD!

Also fun was watching Saves the Day cover Weezer's Pinkerton. My friends and I were all sidestage singing along and dancing. I remembered the days in which I would drive around in high school listening to Through Being Cool and was like, damn, I am freakin' right here now. Watching them cover one of my favourite albums. So strange. They did a great job, too!

Unfortunately, Jesse and Motion City had to fly out early Saturday morning from New Jersey to KANSAS for a show, and then return the following morning to the same stadium to play Bamboozle. Jesse was a tired boy.

My Saturday was spent more pleasantly, after a good ol' brunch with the good ol' boys Adam and Jim, the girls came over for tacos! Margaritas! Hilariousness!

My mind is being really crazy today with these writing hijinks. You think I'd be better able to control it. Nope.

The ladies night was a real lovely respite from the rest of the weekend's outdoor shows. Especially since we realized our varying relationship statuses went from married, engaged, serious relationship, and single. Also, all the "involved" people have dudes out on tour somewhere (we're "band widows," as Lauren Ashley says) - always leads to funny observations and conversation.

Rhyming, first sign of insanity.

On Sunday, Adam, Jim, Sam, Tyler, Pete and I got together and headed to Giants Stadium for Bamboozle! Where I got to see Jesse again. And I also got to witness fun. for the first time! We met up with other music aficionado and good times gal (what is that?) Liz and danced as much as we could in the blazing heat (trust me, you don't want to move a lot when you can hardly breathe in the muggy air). But wow! Fun. ruled. If you haven't heard this band yet - what?! Why haven't you downloaded Aim and Ignite?! It's so good! DO IT! NOW! HERE! It's only FIVE DOLLARS on Amazon right now!

Now that that's out of my system: we caught OK Go's set, as well as Good Old War's, and Minus the Bear before Motion City Soundtrack took the stage! Though there were some technical difficulties, I think everyone had a good time by the looks of the crowd! Were any of you there to witness it? What did you think?

After they played, I was going to stick around for Piebald's set, but that blazing sun and the ever-irksome crowds were draining me. I did get to see a lot of friends in town, like Aileen, Leslie, Dan, Ben, Steve, Luis, etc., but I had to go! Amber and I hightailed it back to the city with her newly spackled-looking sunburn (spread your sunblock evenly, y'all!) and my craving for a Nathan's hotdog. My craving was satisfied upon arriving at Penn Station, and Amber's sunburn was rudely pointed out by a girl with a lei while we were waiting in line. Seriously: done with people after that, and raced home to the comforts of a quiet apartment!

And Jesse returned home that night! Yay!

Last night a whole bunch of us dined on sushi and then giant ice cream sandwiches and then watched LOST. I call that a fun night. Except when you're crying in front of a room full of boys because of said tv show. But it's cool, I know they were crying on the inside.

Tonight - GET THIS - Jesse leaves again. But only until Friday! Motion City has a show at my college rival (PFFT) and so he goes (I'll bring home the turkey/if you bring home the bacon). Fortunately, I have some fun plans lined up!

I'm seeing SAM ROCKWELL and Christopher Walken on Broadway tonight in the play A Behanding in Spokane. Yes, the title is intriguing enough, but when Adam told me Rockwell was starring in it - after just seeing him on the streets a couple of weeks ago - I was 100% in.

Tomorrow night Adam and I join forces again with some other geek friends to see IRON MAN and IRON MAN 2 in theaters. Yes, double feature! Super RDJ-ness! DOING IT! I am so glad I have friends who I can get uber nerdy with. It's really the bees knees.

And that's what's what!