Nothing breathes here in the cold.

The view from our hotel in Chicago last week.

As you may have noticed, NaNoWriMo has most certainly taken over most of my writing time! I'm currently a little behind schedule even in that, but it's all going very well. I visited Jesse and The Tour this past weekend in New Jersey and Providence, and he sweeps back into town tomorrow for their New York show.

I can say without question that this tour has been the best one I've been able to visit - the other people in the crew and bands are all fun, nice, and surprisingly grounded. I mean, on Saturday night when I was hanging out by the stage door waiting for a friend, Chris Conley passed me, then stopped to introduce himself to me. I mean, what? The guy who wrote one of my top ten albums of all time is saying hi to ME? Unreal. I suppose it was warranted given the many times we'd been part of the same conversation in dressing rooms and stage areas the past few days. But still. The people who make up Valencia, A Great Big Pile of Leaves, Saves the Day, and Say Anything are rad - and if you don't have a chance of checking out the live show, buy all their music (with Motion City Soundtrack's own included, of course!) and make an equally rad playlist. Given all the crap skeezball dudes and crap scenes I've witnessed over the years, it's refreshing to see a good group of talented people go out there and have fun.

November's already become a whirlwind of activity, and though I'm enjoying it, I'm already exhausted. I'll try to check in more often here (by the way, I'm at a 98 count of Google readers there on the sidebar - which two of you would like to turn that into 100??) but, as always, you can find me posting on the go via Tumblr or Twitter. And, my Formspring's still up and running, too - and since now I have an iPhone app to  help me out, your questions can be more readily answered. I actually have a post to show off some Gap black pants I love, pictures have been taken and everything, so stay tuned for that!

If you've been wondering about my pop culture intake lately, here are some things I've immediately loved recently: the novel Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (even more soul-crushing than the film - but invigorating), the British series Skins (on Netflix Instant! I told Say Anything's Jake he reminded me of Tony aka Nicolas Hoult), and I finally own the film In The Loop (and you should watch it if you like witty comedy! The next time I meet my NaNo day-quota, I'm treating myself to a viewing). Oh, and this song, constantly.