the nothing

November 10. 1999

It's hard to believe that November is a third gone already. It's also hard to believe in a little over a month my first semester of college will be finished, and I will have a whole month off for Christmas.

Things are getting crazy with work and stuff. And it only serves to get crazier, with final crits in three weeks. I forsee myself neglecting my website and online life severly as the first week of December approaches. I also forsee myself working my ass off during Thanksgiving break. Maybe I will emerge from my basement once in a while for a bite of trukey, but with a full length self portrait due December 8, I am chaining myself to that for most of vacation. Also a bit providential is the fact that my sister is getting her impacted wisdom teeth out the day before Thanksgiving (ouch) so we're planning to stay in and not go visit any relatives (which sucks because my grandparents are home for Thanksgiving for the first time in seven years). While I will sorely miss that, it's going to be a good opportunity to get some shizit done.

Hm. I was intending this entry to be about something horribly important and deep, but I think I will save that for November 11.

Anyway, my lil sister Lauren (aged 15) and her friend Jess (aged 16, totalled her parents car immediately after she got her learner's permit, still, my favorite of Lauren's friends) are making an appearence on Friday here in Elkins Park for wild weekend of shopping, going to South Street and shopping, going to Gallery and shopping and going downtown and shopping. Some things never change. *sigh* I don't forsee me getting them to go to the Philadelphia Museum. But hey, it's their weekend, and I guess I should do what they want. Too bad I don't have a car, we could go to the King of Prussia Mall. And I could also hurl myself off a ten story building.

Meanwhile, Scenes from A Memory, Dream Theater's new album, just continues to kick my ass so hard. I had an opportunity to read an FAQ about the album at a great DT site called Lines In The Sand, and it gave me the background I needed to fully understand the album. God, if only all bands would pay this much attention to music and how it all works together. The story behind the album and how it relates to Metropolis Pt. 1 on DT's album Images and Words is just fascinating. Really. I'm not making this up. This is one hell of an album.

New Music

Fiona Apple: When the Pawn... (1999)

I'll admit, I was so eager to hear Fiona's new album that I had to make a special trip out to the Cheltenham Mall to get it on Tuesday, the day it was released. And I was not disappointed. From the very first song "On the Bound" you can tell this is a new and improved Fiona. Not only has her excellent voice improved and matured, but on this album she pushes it a lot farther than she did on her debut album, Tidal. The same deal with her songwriting and arranging. While the piano and strings are still a strong presence like it was in Tidal, there are a lot more sounds incorporated into the songs. To be quite honest, a lot of the album sounds like it could be "Tidal II", and the song "love ridden" sounds almost exactly like "never is a promise", but it's too good to be dismissed that easily. All in all, an excellent piece of work. The fact that Fiona is smiling on the cover seems to make up for her infamously dour expressions on Tidal.

music: Tori Amos, Under the Pink
food: Skittles
read: nothing
sight: the good ol' computer lab
random: my back itches
Song Lyric:
so sure we were onto something / your feet finally on the ground
- Space Dog, Tori Amos