i go to espresso royale in urbana every chance i can get, but today, it was different.
today, when i received my drink, the guy at the counter pushed my money back to me and said, “don’t worry about it.”

i think it might be because i look homeless with my super-sized enormo red scarf, or maybe holiday cheer just hit early this year. i’ve always assumed that it’s pretty people who get free drinks (usually with vodka or a bonus roofie in them), so unless the dude had a thing for gigantic hair that rivaled that of Elaine’s on Seinfeld, that’s ruled out.

regardless, i spilled it all over my white shirt.
sometimes, you just can’t win.

Saw this photo on The Fork today.:

Hmm. Kinda reminds me of…

Ah, yes.
(Two peas, one wonderful pod.)

I went to see M.I.A. over the weekend, and while I could blow off all of my work and write about it, I’ll instead refer you to Erin Gillman’s review of the show, available here.

quick recap: i will never again rely on coat check (i held my bulky layers the whole time), i am going to get to Girl Talk’s january show soooo early (so i can dance onstage like people did at MIA), and “Pull Up The People” has been stuck in my head for days. (Sorry. dayz.)

The Jackson 5 (most likely) will be going on tour next year!

(Fingers Crossed.)

While ordering legwarmers off of the American Apparel website — a phrase that sounds as hipster as it does ’80s — i stumbled across this puffball puppy. There’s no way something this adorable actually exists. Eek!

(the final LA post.)

alex is 21!
birthday breakfast:

Writer’s Strike in front of Paramount.
(If you create The Office, you deserve a boatload of money. That’s my stance.)

Murakami Exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. crazy cool.
Apparently, he also did the CD art for Kanye West’s Graduation.
(I bought these while I was there. Eek!)

Elliott Smith would be proud.

undiez 4 SaLe

you can run away to california, but you can’t run away from conference calls.

sigh.

i miss perfect weather.
(and The Coffee Bean. best ice cubes ever.)

we’re officially five years old.
(and this grass is as wonderful as it looks.)

alex buying her first bottle of alcohol!
wee-hoo!

these boots were made for walking like a badass.

Spoon:

That’s how black my soul felt after the show, too.
Just like of Montreal, it wasn’t the band’s fault. Spoon, like always, was fantastic.
But the crowd — oh, the crowd.

The show was at the Gibson Ampitheatre, which was located inside a (frightening) mini-world owned by Universal Studios.
The standing-only pit up front was ticketed, so we were stuck in the fourth-to-last row of the arena.
Not a person was standing, dancing, cheering or wiggling.
We got yelled at by security for dancing in the side of the aisle, and we got screamed at by the crotchety old folk behind us for standing.
As much as we were trying to enjoy ourselves, a clear-cut, repeated “SIT YOUR ASSES DOWN!” pretty much overpowered “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb.”
Fucking LA audience.

Oh, and every single person stood, clapped and cheered for Feist, who apparently was the headliner, not a co-headliner.
So, is that all it takes? An iPod commercial to turn a city of horrible audience members into decent ones?
Fuck you, Steve Jobs. I better not have to bump elbows with adults the next time CSS comes to town. That’s all I have to say.

Universal Studios’ City Walk, outside the Gibson Amphitheater.
(i had to hold Gillman’s hand the entire time because the fake town scared me so much.)

two highlights of the night:
1. getting backstage at spoon.
2. this cute churro stand!

i was way too amused by this.

after a nighttime in n’ out burger, a long bus ride to the airport in the morning, standing behind some musician in line at the airport, lunch at chili’s, Gillman going souvenir shopping with Alton from The Real World, being the last ones on the plane, giggling our way down the aisle, realizing that giggling totally made us look like we were the reason the plane was running late, not being able to stop giggling because Alton was sitting right in front of us, realizing that the musician in line with us at the airport was probably in Spoon, mistakenly identifying a woman as Irulan, and landing in O’Hare, i finally got my suitcase, and it looked like THIS:

really, American Airlines? you wanna play me like that?

I was front row at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival this past summer. And, well, this video shows it.

Go to 8:50 to stare at me awkwardly rocking out.

And, in other news, Best Buy is hell on earth. I still don’t have the DVD because they were sold out and my car is in the shop so I can’t travel to another store. It’s not only irritating, but terribly ironic — I overheard three other people ask for it, and considering the state of the music industry, they should be stocking the fuck out of it.

But, if it’s any consolation prize,Buddy Guy tickets for a slew of January shows go on sale Saturday, and NOTHING is better than that.

Forever 21. MTV. iPod Touch.

Nope, these aren’t a 12-year-old girl’s Facebook interests. They’re outlets that are providing the public with fantastic music.

First off, calm down. True, the words “MTV” and “fantastic” are rarely used in tandem by anyone with a sane mind, unless it’s to describe the latest Spencer-LC-Heidi catfight, but I’m impressed. The sudden turn-around and turn away from Fall Out Boy makes me want to be a cynic, but I can’t help but smile.

When i bought way too much shit while shopping at Forever 21 today, I heard Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse, and Matt & Kim. They also always play of Montreal, and have been spinning Tokyo Police Club since earlier this summer.

While watching MTV (i identify with that angry Real World bitch Pareesa, what can i say), they continued their weekly artist support with Kenna, and earlier in the year had Rodrigo y Gabriela, Chromeo, and Tegan & Sara, just to name a few.

iPod Touch, as I previously yet cynically mentioned, has CSS’ music in the ad, and caused a nationwide Feist explosion over the last one.

I want to be a pretentious bitch, but if some of my favorite songs are blasting through the TV and blaring while I try on dresses, what is there to complain about?

(Well, a lot, like the suits catching on too slowly and now them brainwashing the youngn’s with good music and then uber-commercializing it and ruining it, but for now, i’ll just try to enjoy my TPK with my tube tops.)

And I thought the Gap had topped out with their John Mayer campaign shot by Annie Leibovitz….

i’d buy anything these two put on their bodies.
Even a segway.

we went to amoeba music, twice.
i spent almost $200 on our trip on records, but what’s money when you have all your new favorite albums on vinyl?
(well, it’s still money, but it’s money you no longer have.)

if this place was in CU, i would probably have to work the corner of sixth & green to keep up with my record addiction.

we went to some ubertrendy sushi place called katsuya for dinner where people were dressed up like crazy…on a sunday night.
they had three different kitchens, but fuck that, all i ate was sushi.
a lot of sushi.
a lot of expensive sushi, but a lot of good sushi.

alex’s 21st was the next day, so she got a birthday treat.
(i hope she wished for another california vacay)

list of dream jobs:

1. magazine website blogger
2. concert photographer
3. hip-hop dancer
4. food photographer

i think i’d be pretty good at number four…

Upright Citizen’s Brigade!

Jeff Garlin (best known from Curb Your Enthusiasm) did a comedy show where all he and his friends did was talk a little, then talk a little more about something the audience suggested.

when they talked a little, Jay Mohr discussed how when he was a child, he gave blow jobs to a six-year-old friend before they understood what they were doing.
when they talked a little more, the audience suggestion was “boners.”
(let’s just say it was pretty funny.)

Marc Maron was the third comedian there.
he is angry, divorced, old, and has a beard. therefore, he was perfect.

(gillman and i fell in love and almost hung out with him, but…i’ll only recite that story verbally. sorry, kids.)

waiting in line to get good seats at the show

we’ll never smile again…without maron.
(hahaha)