Two weeks until Hit The Lights and Every Avenue!  <3 <3 <3 And I found a couple of girls to go with me!  :D  Yeah!!!  I am so beyond pumped for this shit!

In other news, it's incredibly likely that I will in fact be going to Fuji Rock.  That's right.  Let me say it again in big caps:

I AM MOST LIKELY GOING TO FUCKING FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL :D :D :D :D :D :D

Bonus to being able to go to Fuji Rock: I'm going with a very pretty boy by the name of Keisuke.  :3  We'll have to spend lots of time together before the concert, you know, to get to know each other and to plan out how we're gonna get there and where we're gonna stay and all of that kinda stuff.  >3  :Db

HTL ticket: BOUGHT.

FUCK YEAH. :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Now begins the countdown!  28 more days until HTL & Every Avenue! <3<3<3<3

So, I just found out that Hit The Lights and Every Avenue (as well as Valencia and There For Tomorrow) are touring on the Beyond [The] Blue tour in June.

They will be doing a show in Nagoya on June 7th.

:D

Hello new birthday concert!  I will be buying my ticket this weekend.  :) <3

Hey, I'm alive. :)

11 more days til the coolest person in Mexico gets back.

Brian sent me Cheetos and KitKats, I am happy.

Monkey Majik concert was freaking awesome.  They played all three of my favorite songs.  And I totally speak better Japanese than Blaise, so, :Db

Tokyo was a blast.  Loves me some Yui, Neiji, Takumi, and Abbie.  Yusuke might come visit my area in April, so, looking forward to seeing him again, too.  Takumi said he'd come visit as well, so, double yay because Takumi is freakin' awesome.  Totally want to go back again.  I'm going to have to at least once more before I leave.  Yui and Neiji and I are all going to Summer Sonic or Fuji Rock.  Neiji has an in with one of the bands, so, backstage passes?  *crosses fingers*  Ha ha, oh, I love my friends.  <3

I need to go to the post office today.  I have been meaning to all week, but I'm a lazy bum, so I haven't yet.  Still need someone to sign that thing as a witness, too.  D:  I'll go stop by I-House before I head down to the post office, then, I guess.

I've been bored with not a whole lot to do.  I should study.  Stupid kanji.

A new year full to the brim with concerts!  Here are the ones that I am/plan on going to so far:


Bottle Cap Label - January 17
One OK Rock - January 24 (need to buy ticket)
Fall Out Boy - February 6 (need to pay friend for ticket)
Flumpool - March 1 (need to buy ticket)


Of course, you can all assume that as soon as Arashi does another tour, I will be going to every single show.  Or, at least as many as I can afford to go to.  x3  Possibly a Kanjani 8 show, too, if they do a tour while I'm still here.  They look ridiculously fun to have a concert with.  But mainly, this is Arashi's year, and I'mma see my boys in style.  <3

Oh, and if I recall correctly, Cobra Starship is doing a concert or two in Tokyo sometime later in January/February.  I would love to be able to go see that and be all, "HEY I SAW YOU IN IOWA. :D".

Mucc is being dumb and touring overseas currently.  LAME.  C'mon, Tatsuro... You said you'd see me again!  What is this crap touring the states?  Get your ass back here to your own damn country and tour here, bitch.  >[

I made some New Years Resolutions.  Wanna hear them?  Of course you do!  :D

1. Write & send Ohno at least one letter.  I'm here in Japan.  Should I pass up the oppertunity to communicate with my idol?  I think not!
2. Make more Japanese friends.  Ties in with...
3. Speak more Japanese.  Read more Japanese.  Write more Japanese.  I need to keep up with my translating projects and I should watch Japanee TV instead of watching movies on my computer.

Yeah, that's about it.  Other than those three things, I'm pretty damn content with my life at the moment.  :]

Hope everyone else had a happy new year and all that good stuff!  <3

I'm off to bed, as I have to be up early to go visit Nani's host family in Gifu with her tomorrow.  Fun times!  :Db

PEACE.

Okay, so, for, like, the past, what, three days I've been playing my guitar pretty much non-stop.  My fingers hurt like no other.  Even typing makes them hurt like a bitch.  But I've just been poking at the raw finger-tips for so long that the pain doesn't bother me anymore.  It probably will again once I sleep and wake up again.  But, then again, maybe they'll have calloused by then?  *fingers crossed*

I got sick of only knowing how to play one song - Good Riddence by Green Day.  So, I've been memorizing the other song I kind of knew how to play - This Boy by James Morrison.  And, I decided I wanted to learn a few new songs on top of that - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight by Postal Service and Shiver by Maroon 5.

It's really difficult to learn songs online.  Mainly because I can't read the tabs that they're usually written in.  My old guitar teacher was going to teach me, but then my mom was like, "WE HAZ NO MO' MONIEZ SO YOUZ NO GO GUITAR LESSONZZZZZ.  D<" Or we moved.  Same diff.  So, because I've only ever seen chords written like "G   C   D   A" over a line of lyrics, I have no earthly idea how to read and play:

Intro/Verse:
e|------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|
D|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--|
A|------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------------------|

And it's much easier to read and play:

A		AM7	D	      A
We'll do it all, everything, on our own.
A	   AM7	    D         A
We don't need anything, or anyone.

    A			AM7
If I lay here, if I just lay here
		D			    A
Would you lie with me, and just forget the world.

Mainly because the site I use, if you hover over the chords, it shows you how to play them.  Oh, and the biggest reason is becuase it's MUCH easier for me to know when to change chords and keep rhythm with the song.  And I like being able to sing along.  =]  But it's hard to find songs that are chorded rather than tabed.  The internet is so lame sometimes.  ....Not that I'm complaining!  I can usually find chords to simpler songs.  But sometimes, I just wanna learn how to play something... cool, hip, and heavy... Something like... Fall Out Boy or something.  Those songs aren't very simple.  And by simple, I mean use basic finger-chords, not annoying bar chords and power chords and other shit like that that I can't play very well at all.  >[

'Kay, I'm gonna stop complaining for the time being.  x]

By the way, both samples are from Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, which, though I was just looking for an example, I have decided I'm going to learn how to play.  'Coz it looks relatively easy.  Believe it or not, I'm still a beginer when it comes to chords.  I learned notes first, then I moved on to finger picking (which is just playing several notes at once), THEN I started learning chords.  Then I had to quit.  =[  I'll learn how to read that shit eventually.  Then I can amaze you all with my AWEOSME and FULL OF WIN guitar skills.  =D

I am officially going to see Hit The Lights in concert.  They are pretty much my all-time favorite band (besides One OK Rock, of course).  They have a show in Des Moines on April 12th.  I'm super excited!

And then, when I buy tickets on Monday, I'll be going to see Panic At The Disco, Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound, and Phantom Planet on May 24th in Chicago.  Fuck.  Yes.

Oh, I'm so excited.  Sherwood Concert is in two weeks, and then I have these two amazing concerts to look forward to... Can my life get any more awesome?

Wheeeeeeee!  Mood swings!  :D

I've got my ticket to go see Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin and Seether on March 27th with Justin, Amy, TJ, and TJ's friend.  FUCK YEAH.  w00t!  I am so excited for this!  :D  ^_____^  =)

On top of that, although my paycheck kinda sucked, I found out I'm getting paid $7.00 an hour instead of $6.50.  So, SWEET!  :D  My next paycheck should be huge then, with somewhere in the range of 60 or more hours for those two weeks.  Yay monies!  :D

Tonight is the Hy-Vee Chirstmas party.  It should be a better time than last year because a bunch of kids that didn't go last year are going this year, so I'll know more people and there's gonna be karaoke, and Justin said that he and I should duet.  Because we're awesome.  :D  Hehe.

I went and saw Sweeney Todd for a third time last night with Amy.  She's sitting there crying because he's killing people, and I'm sitting there bouncing in my seat, clapping my hands, with this huge grin on my face.  Ha ha, I'm so messed up!  But it's cool.  I'm cute, so the evil balances out.  :3

I have random bruises on my body and I don't know where they're coming from.  ._.

I'm in a good mood.  Yay!  ^___^

So, all in all, this Christmas was quite a bit better than last year. I actually got some of the things I wanted.

My gifts, whether you care to hear about them or not, in order of awesomeness:

1. ELECTRIC GUITAR AND AMP. Chelsea, hope you don't mind me rocking out! It's a good way to annoy the apartment below us. I don't know how loud my amp gets yet, but I'm sure it's loud enough to interrupt their music-playing at 2 AM.
2. Rice cooker! It's pretty and red and makes six cups of rice! Umai~
3. Iwo Jima Kara No Tegami. Fuck. Yes.
4. A new scent set called Haiku. Smells pretty.
5. A book about the Templar Knights, The Hush Sound Like Vines CD, and The Sims 2: Castaway DS game. This should keep me busy for a while...
6. When I'm not playing World of Warcraft.
7. Memory foam pillow! Maybe now my neck and shoulders will stop aching every morning.
8. Ooldes of pens and pencils and notebooks! I have an obsession. ._.;
9. CHOCOLATE and other delicious snacky items. I need these badly.
10. Socks and other random stuffs like a pretty crystal frog ornament.

So, all in all, a fuckin' awesome Christmas. A lot better than last year, since I actually got a lot of things that I wanted/that I like. Favorite thing, though, is my electric guitar. I need to name her. Yeah, it's a her. She needs a name. My other guitar has a name. Not a very creative name (She's a Court, so her name is Court x_x), but a name none the less. This guitar is a Fender Stratocaster, and she's black on the outside fading to a pretty blood red on the inside. She's just gorgeous.

Anyways, I hope everyone else had as rockin' of a Christmas as I did!  xD  That joke won't get old until tomorrow.  *sigh*  Happy Holidays, everybody!  Next one is New Years - Be safe, guys, and have fun!!

So, I was really worried about this one thing that I thought I was gonna have to deal with and didn't want to deal with, but, as it so turns out, I don't really have to worry about it.

Fuckin' sweet! One less thing for me to deal with then! :D I like not having to hurt people. It's pretty cool when I don't have to hurt people. I suppose I still need to talk to him about it a little bit, to make sure everything is clear, though I might just avoid that altogether, too (you all know me and my hatred of confrontation).  We'll see.  I won't worry about it now.  I'll probably take it up with James if I see him tonight.

Oh, yeah, I'm going to a couple of concerts coming up here.  Tonight Jessica is taking me to a small-ish concert at The Mill.  James gets off work at 7, I think, so, hopefully he won't be too dead to go with me.  And then November 11th is the Switchfoot & Relient K concert James is taking me to.  And on November 21st I'll hopefully be going to see Fall Out Boy, Plain White T's,  Gym Class Heroes, and Cute Is What We Aim For with Daniel and maybe Chelsea and possibly James.  I'm pretty excited for it all.

And for a memo for myself:
Things To Do:

1. Set Up Router/Wireless
2. Laundry
3. Clean Apartment (or at least room)
   
4. Read Handmaid's Tale
5. Write Thesis (print 3)
6. Study for Japanese Test
7. Mail Bill
8. Check Pip's oil/buy more oil/add more oil/get Pip's oil changed

Working on 1 now, I'll put 7 in the mail when I go out tonight, and I'll try to get 4 and maybe 5 done today.  Tomorrow will probably deal with 2, 3, and 6.  I'll deal with 8 when I get to it.

Also memo to myself: Last Book Of Nostradamus tomorrow at 8 on History Channel.

Okay, so, the degree I want at IPR doesn't take four years. It typically takes 18-24 months. That pretty much sealed it for me. I'm going to IPR after I graduate Iowa and I'm getting my AAS in Music & Entertainment Business. :D:D:D:D

All I need to worry about now is magically pulling about $30,000 out of my ass and finding somewhere to live in fucking Minneapolis for two years. -_-;;

But, god, none of you readers know how happy I am about this. It's seriously, like, my dream. I've always wanted to work in the music business. It's just been kind of hard to find a school that offers the degree I'm after. And, now, some of you may ask why I'm at Iowa taking Japanese when it's been my dream to work in the music industry. Well, living in Japan and being fluent in Japanese is another dream of mine, one that was seemingly more easily attainable than my music industry dream. I was torn when I was looking at colleges, I really was. But now it's all working out, so, YAY. :D My goal in life will be fulfilled! If I were a Sim, accomplishing this would give me Platinum Aspiration/Mood for life.

I will get these two degrees, move to Japan, and either teach English while on the lookout for a hot, upcoming Jrock band and then manage them to the top of the charts or start working for Johnny and try to get all of his boys more popularity in the States/other English-speaking countries.  YOSH.  :D:D:D

In other news: Boys are failures at life. So is my family. I, however, am not.  :P  Also, IT'S MY LAST DAY AT HY-VEE. :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Okay, because I have to work a fucking 12-8 shift tomorrow at the brand new Hy-Vee (everybody ooh and ahh at it, c'mon now), I'm going to bed.

BUT!

Before I do, I'd just like the world to know how fucking awesome the concert was and how much I am in love with Fall Out Boy, specifically Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump.

I <3 FOB.

Motha Fuckin' FOB!  <3<3<3

I forgot how much music means to me.

I mean, I know I listen to it all the time. I know it makes me feel better, or worse, or whatever mood I want to be in. I know I want to work with music somehow.

But, I forgot how much it actually means to me.

I walked in to the concert half-way through Sherwood's set. I had been in a kind of pissy mood, since I walk in and the room's a fuckin' mess because Vanessa can't seem to clean up after herself ever, and Tim was kind of annoying me earlier. But, I walked in to the concert and the bass and drums attacked me and then the guitars and vocals assaulted me and I almost cried with relief.  I almost fell to the floor and cried, honestly.  Who does that?  Who's that much in love with music?  God damnit, I am.  I fucking am.

My heart stopped beating.  The only thing that kept the blood coursing through my veins was the steady beat of the bass and drums.  The only reason I kept breathing was because I was singing along and the vocalist took a breath.  I ceased to exist.  I was just part of the music.  My god, I love that feeling.  Most of the time, I was head-banging and dancing around, but occasionally, I would just stand there with my eyes closed, just feeling the music in my chest.  I fucking love that feeling.  Like it's too heavy to breath because the bass is so fucking loud.  My whole body was vibrating with the music.  Fuuuuuck, I fucking LOVE that!

I swear to god, Bob was staring right at me when The Hush Sound did Crawling Towards the Sun.  Probably because I was pretty close to the stage and singing right along with him... ^^;;  But it's nice to think he was singing it to me.  It is my favorite The Hush Sound song.  Well, that and Momentum.  And there was this guy, who I'm assuming was there for Mae, but was there to hear The Hush Sound play.  He was all, "Hey, how many albums do these guys have out?" And I'm all, "Two!  So Sudden and Like Vines."  He's all, "Are they pretty amazing?" And I'm all, "Well, I think so.  :P"  It made me feel special.  ^_^ v

I got to meet Sherwood.  Holy FUCK I got to meet Sherwood.  I was all, "I'm so sorry, I walked into your set late.  It was my friend's sister's birthday and we left a bit late..."  They were all, "Aw, that's a shame.  But happy birthday to your friend's sister." And I was all, "Thanks!  I'll tell her you said that.  But, I was really worried I would miss you guys all together.  I was so happy when I walked in and you were still playing.  You're one of my favorite bands!"  They were all, "Really?  We're not your favorite..." And I was all, "You and The Hush Sound were the only reason I bought this ticket.  I love you guys." And they were all, "Aw...!  Thanks~<3!"

I wish I had had money to buy stuff... Like Sherwood gear.  :P

OMG, there's a band called You, Me & Iowa.  Lawls, they're from fuckin' LA.  xD

But, shit, I'm gonna be happy and bouncy forever now.  Fuck writing that Rhetoric paper.  Fuck studying for that Japanese test.  I just want to go back to that concert and become part of the music again.

Ah~! <3