The Arrivals- "Simple Pleasures In America"

A friend came up to me
And she said “Why’s it always gotta be
Just a sad sad song,
Someone’s falling apart,
It’s always not enough money and too much heart.”
And right away I could see
That’s sometimes how it seemed
And I don’t wanna be a bitch
And I don’t wanna just hate on rich folks
Though that’s
Kind of how we have our fun
Still just for her
This is a positive one

I like the bill of rights and I like to ride my bicycle
And everybody get’s their little piece of the pie
Yeah everybody get’s their little piece of the pie

I like to go that extra mile to turn your frown into a smile
And everybody get’s their little piece of the pie
Yeah everybody get’s their little piece of the pie

I enjoy speaking my mind
And blaring records late at night
And everybody get’s their little piece of the pie
Yeah everybody get’s their little piece of the pie

I just wanna drink some whiskey
And hang with good company
And everybody get’s their little piece of the pie
Yeah everybody get’s their little piece of the pie

For the rest of our lives
We’ll probably work for someone else
So for tonight
We are
HAVING
A
PARTY

Here’s to Montrose beach and Chicago public library
And everybody get’s their little piece of the pie
Yeah everybody get’s their little piece of the pie

I like not having to worry about rationed electricity
And everybody get’s their little piece of the pie
Yeah everybody get’s their little piece of the pie

And access to uncensored news, cheap booze, OH AMERICA!
And everybody get’s their little piece of the pie
Yeah everybody get’s their little piece of the pie

Simple pleasures in
Simple pleasures in America
Simple pleasures
In America

Banner Pilot- "Division Street"

If I’ve had better days then they’re hard to remember,
I was stuck in a bender before we met, there wasn’t anything.
But I’ve been on a high since the moment I saw you,
And there’s nothing I won’t do for you now because you’re everything.

And as we’re walking back through these north east streets and we pass the neon signs,
I see the stars explode and I start to float when you put your hand in mine.

And I won’t let go,
This sky can tumble down.
Earthquake can cut the ground,
It won’t shake us, hold on tight.
Blue eyes and moon glow,
This world can disappear.
It’s just you and me my dear,
No distractions, no red lights.

I know I have my days when I get real dramatic.
I get lost in the static and when you talk I don’t hear anything.
And I know that there’ll be times when we’re missing the West Coast
And remembering old ghosts we left behind before Division Street.

And as we’re walking back through these north east streets and we pass the neon signs,
I see the stars explode and I start to float when you put your hand in mine.

And I won’t let go,
This sky can tumble down.
Earthquake can cut the ground,
It won’t shake us, hold on tight.
Blue eyes and moon glow,
This world can disappear.
It’s just you and me my dear,
No distractions, no red lights.

And when the morning sun is missing, my heart beats pacific
And when the morning sun is missing, my heart beats pacific
And when the morning sun is missing, my heart beats pacific
And when the morning sun is missing, my heart beats pacific
And when the morning sun is missing, my heart beats pacific
And when the morning sun is missing, my heart beats pacific

I love this stuff

One of my favorite bands covering one of my favorite songs from another band.

Please do this more...

Test

Trying out a new Droid app.

The Flatliners- "So It Goes (by the Menzingers)"

Holy hell yes!

LaGrecia- "The Montage"

So you got a little loaded
And realized that you liked it
Maybe a little broken-hearted
Or something to that effect

You never took your chance to leave it
All the answers in your body
Instead it stays internally
It’s never going away

You let sleeping dogs lie
You let yourself get angry
It’s hard to be affected now by anyone
It’s hard to be affected

You can’t beat yourself up
You can’t put yourself down like that
Stop being so ominous
Stop being so goddamn obvious
Do you have a bit of surprise?
It’s tough and quicker than you think
It’s hard to live any other way
It’s hard to live any other way

When you’re cursing at the moon in the night
The cold blues just feels so right
You in the wail and appealing
Just to know you’re alive

Maybe you’re looking for a lyric
If it’s poetic that you’re chasing
I hope you find it real soon
I hope you find it real soon

The longer you wait
The tougher you make decisions
Decisions that won’t make or break you
But you let it control you

The harder you breathe
The quicker fatigue
It makes your body numb
I know that you can’t help it
I know that you can’t help it

You let sleeping dogs lie
You let yourself get angry
It’s hard to be affected now by anyone
It’s hard to be affected

You can’t beat yourself up
You can’t put yourself down like that
Stop being so ominous
Stop being so goddamn obvious
Do you have a bit of surprise?
It’s tough and quicker than you think
It’s hard to live any other way

But you should know
That you can start over

Less Than Jake- "Last Hour of the Last Day of Work"

I couldn't help but think back to the advice
that I got from my dad a few times
he said"...time goes by so fast in a blink of an eye
so never close your eyes..."
"...I always wanted something more than 50 hours every week
and a paid vacation on the jersey shoreline"
And he said
So when ambition turns into competition
I'll never be the better man
I can't help but think back to the time
he said "life goes right by"
And told me never think twice
"you can't second guess how to live your life"
All these years have been way too short
to be spent on some factory floor like me
I never went back again
I never looked back again
And he said
So when ambition turns into competition
I'll never be the better man
It's the last hour of the last day
don't fall so far behind now
you'll be another nameless face
he said

House Boat- "Real Life as a Metaphor for Real Life"

Syke! This one is better

A better video-

Syke! Life is Awesome- BTMI!

I sat along the rocks and I watched the cold Maine water rush away.
The sun and my guitar and I knew what you were doing yesterday.
You broke those promises but I'll get over it.
'Cause as long as I'm breathing fresh air I really don’t give a shit.
But I'll get mad for the next ten years, but realize sometimes things are great.

I didn't have directions, I hadn't eaten anything all day.
We sucked a fat one and wasted a hundred dollars just to play.
I ate a bag of peanuts before the windy road.
I couldn't drink a thing all night because of the vomit in my throat.
Then you gave me your sweatshirt and your number, sometimes things are great.

You don't own me! You don't own me!

I worked my ass off my entire life to accomplish my dream.
It started happening and everything got bastardized by greed.
I said, "Pull this shit over and let me out,
I swear to fucking God I'm fucking giving up right now."
And now I've got a brand new start, I realize sometimes things are great.

Scream it in apartment halls -
Shout this shit in shopping malls -
Take a ball point pen and paint the inside of your eyelids with the constant reminder:
You don't own me. You don't own me.

Then I was underground without food, sunlight or encouragement.
Depression set in I was a product of my environment.
And then the other day, you said, “Jeff, get in your car.
Yeah, pick Glenn Tillbrook up at the hotel and take him to the bar.”
And he wore a t-shirt just like me and he wasn't on his phone
For fifteen fucking minutes I had a conversation with my hero.
I'll be mad for the next ten years
And after that I’ll drink ten beers until the bar runs out of beers
And prepare for the next twenty-three years.

And if I wasn't a fat kid in high school, I would have never listened to punk rock.
And if I knew how to throw a football, I would have never played any music.
And if never got my heart broken, I would sing, "Blah blah fucking nothing."
And if you didn't fuck my ex-girlfriend, I would still owe you three thousand dollars.
And if I never lived in that van there I wouldn't have met Chris or Steve, Alex, James, or Middagh.
And if I never worked in a basement I would have never quit my job.
And if I had a big emo band or dropped out of college, I would have never met you, man.

It's funny when people get angry at you for acting a certain way, and then act that way all the time.

It's not like I planned it, but yesterday, I was up for 22 hours.

That song below, the First Eviction Notice.
I heard it for the first time in a cabin at my camp. A girl I had a crush on played it for me. It never worked out.
Years later, I saw the Lawrence Arms in Brooklyn. That same girl was there with her husband.

This was the first Lawrence Arms song I ever heard, and I love this version as well...but not as much as the first.

New razor + aftershave = important day. Beard must be pristine.

Off With Their Heads- "Clear the Air"

I wanted to tell you, I wanted to share,
Some important details that you're unaware
I want you to listen, I want you to care,
I'll choke to death if I don't clear the air
It's not a secret that I obsess,
And then I get angry, and then I get stressed
And you can't imagine, you can't compare,
You have no frame of reference and then you get scared
I'm doing my best to help make you see,
That it's not your fault, when I'll beg and I'll plead
It's much easier to go back to sleep,
We gotta find a place to start because I'm falling apart

I never feel happy, I never feel safe,
I can't let myself ever stay in one place
I look in the mirror and I see the face
Of a failure who will never be significant
The face that you see from morning to night
Is the mask that I put on to hide whats inside
I don't take it off until you fall asleep,
I don't want you to see what live inside of me
I thought I'd get older and it'd go away,
But it only gets worse and causes more pain
And being alone is getting so hard, I just got to tell you

God dammit, I'm falling apart

I'm down on my knees in the dark
Feeling for whatever is left
But the pieces are falling too far

God dammit, I'm falling apart

Don't leave yet, I haven't got to the part that explains at all
Don't leave yet, I need some body there to catch me before I fall
God dammit, I'm falling apart

I wanted to tell you, I wanted to share,
Some important details that you're unaware
I want you to listen, I want you to care,
I'll choke to death if I don't clear the air right now

Sometimes all it takes are the little things in life to click before the big things fall into place.

Yoga has been fun. Tiring, fulfilling, and it has definitely improved my posture.
It's a start.

So of course one day after declaring my intent to write more often...I don't write.
It wasn't intentional. For some reason yesterday, I was exhausted. I got home from a staff retreat and instead of schlubbing around my apartment, I called a friend and walked to the local library.

I grew up in Brooklyn. I would walk everywhere, and if I was too tired to walk home, I would take public transportation home. It was great. It was liberating. It made the world seem alive. Where I live now, the library is the closest walkable destination. No sidewalks, no shops on the way. Just a tiny library, with a better movie selection than reading options. What does that say about America today?

Anyway, after this walk, which took the better part of an hour (growing up the library was 5 minutes away, now it is 20), in a strong summer sun, I was beat. I watched some TV and crashed, and boy did I crash. I passed out and next thing I knew it was time to actually go to sleep. That nap ruined my day. I didn't sleep well and woke up late, missing my time at the gym. I have been out of sorts all day, exhausted and cramping, and left work early.

Now, 4 hours later, I am feeling back to normal. I started one of the books, but am still working on feeling better in my, as my sister says, dome piece.

Thankfully, I have the vote of confidence from some friends, so that helps.

Teenage Bottlerocket "Mutilate Me"

First things first: I love this band. To me, this band is what pop-punk should be- quick paced, tightly played, catchy hooks, and vocals that are just off enough to make you love them. I saw TBR once at Club Europa in Brooklyn, and they blew me away. They had an hour set and just did not stop playing. Everything about them screamed energy and fun.

They make me want to play in a band. I'm sure you know that feeling.

Anyway, earlier today I got a hold of TBR's new single "Mutilate Me" and quickly tweeted (look how up on shit this guy is) that this song was probably the best pop-punk song of the decade.
Everything I said about the band applies here. The song is just long enough, punchy and catchy with incredibly tight instrumentation that doesn't break the genre in half but rather pays an amazing homage to the history of pop-punk. The vocals aren't going to win any awards (in the public arena, at least) but the slightly nasal tones just compliment the lyrics so damn well. The song, about S&M, is so damn catchy. I have found myself rewinding it (read clicking back on my iPod) over and over just to sing along with the chorus "I want you to dominate me/I want you to violate me/I want you to, then for what it's worth/ I want you to pretend you hate me."
Unlike other songs on this subject I've heard, this one actually makes the process sound enjoyable and again, it has the hook. The chugging guitars provide a sexual rhythm that works well with the song and well, just listen for yourself.



I cannot wait to see them live again. Pick this single up, like, yesterday.

Getting dressed after a night out is the hardest thing ever.

Nothing screams "I love drugs" quite like a picture of yourself at Burning Man on okcupid.

A benefit of being short: saving money on clothes by shopping in the children's section.
Flip side: the odd looks you get as the bearded guy in Old Navy Kids.

Life as a male internet dater is rough. I am positive that there are two distinct species of men on dating sites:
1)Dudes who are looking for a series of quick lays
2)Dudes who are actually looking to meet someone meaningful
Nothing in between. And dudes that fall into category one totally ruin it for the guys in category two. Trying to start a conversation with a woman on one of these sites is so hard, because as a guy who claims to fall into the latter bunch, I have to fight through the perception that I am just out there to get laid.
Here are some other things that suck about online dating:
Everyone claims to be a unique free spirit who loves to hang out with friends, go out or stay in, enjoys wine and the same indie bands. Stop it.
It doesn't matter how nice you are, because everyone has the idea that they are going to meet the absolutely right person online, and that if you do not meet their incredibly high standards (which, let's face it, we're online dating, take a chance people), you are not worth their time.
Super-awkward first dates. Both parties are going in mostly cold, and that is incredibly hard on the psyche.
Verbal first impressions are tough. I have been on quite a few dates and on more than one occasion have been told that I am much shorter than they expected. Here's a hint- I put my height in my profile, check it out. While I have never been explicitly dumped for being short, I have had many people stop seeing me and mention the fact that I am short/thin/smaller than they are as an underlying reason. Seriously?
Profile based judgment.
Not specific to online dating, but it seems like the main skills in dating are all designed so you never have to use them again, ideally.
Now part of this is on me as well. I am pretty darn isolated due to work and so I do not have a chance to get out and meet people in a more organic setting, so I am limited to the web. Have I had success? Well, I've been on a lot of dates, but have yet to sustain a relationship. Which is fine, but sometimes, I just want to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Instead, what I see, is a history of hilarity.
So here is my plea: we are dating online because we want to meet someone. Let us give each other chances but be realistic. Treat everyone else with humanity, since we are all human and are engaging in this behavior because we want to fulfill some aspect of the human condition.
But I'm not bitter or anything.

This is awesome.