1703 Music Series

I've been a little absent from the blogosophere lately and not living up to my "more regular posts" resolution of the new school year, but at least for this week, I can get a note from the doctor to excuse myself. In an impressive rally, my immune system has battled back against what I initially thought was strep throat. I was out of commission for a good 3-4 days but some penicillin, codeine, and a tearful phone call to Mom later, I feel pretty back to normal.

I haven't posted in a while, so a recap of all events seems over the top. But in summary, I saw Kathy Griffin at DAR, Jenny Lewis at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, and GEMA Rocks at Gonda Theater. Most importantly, I saw Bahfongu in my basement.

We hosted our first house party of the school year with a live performance by American University band Bahfongu. We transformed our basement into a present-day Cellar Door with Christmas lights and some furniture reorganizing. The beer was abundant, dancing was widespread, and of course, the band was groovin'.

I had some reservations about Bahfongu since I had never heard them before, but they were amazing! A well-chosen mix of funky instrumental originals and crowd-pleasing covers (highlight = "Proud Mary") had the crowd in constant motion. The party crowd even cheered for an encore at the end of the set. An encore in my basement? Yes, please. Look for recaps of Part II of the 1703 Music Series in the future. Needless to say, I'll be riding this wave of cool through the rest of the week.

Gaiken

Clay Aiken ("Gaiken" to KG) has come out just in time for tonight's tomorrow's Kathy Griffin show at DAR Constitution Hall. Can anyone say perfect timing? Kathy Griffin is a guilty pleasure of mine, but I emphasize the pleasure over the guilt. I'll let you know how it goes.

Life is good.

Let me give you a peek into my academic life. I'm currently working on an assignment for a hypothetical radio pitch based on an episode of NPR's This American Life. My particular idea concerns interviewing a few of my favorite bloggers and weaving together a story of their lives behind the blog. In my Seminar in Songwriting class, I presented my first assignment in which I wrote a new song around the lyrics to CCR's "Proud Mary." And today in my Computer Science class, I made an animation of a leaf falling from a tree and tumbling to the ground with Adobe Flash. Life is so good. I almost don't want to jinx it.

It's finally starting to cool down a bit here in DC. Coming back from London, I had this false impression that summer lasts forever here. But my refusal to adapt clothing choices to climate is quickly backfiring. Time to bring out the fleeces (50% off...) and put away the flip flips.

In other news, Gitnerblog readership has increased back up to London levels. Thanks for reading everyone!

Blogging High

I'm on a blogging high right now, because Matt from You Ain't No Picasso has just commented on the Touch My Clickwheel blog! More than likely, you're not sharing in my enthusiasm. BUT for some perspective, realize that YANP was my first blog love, my first introduction to mp3 blogs, and the inspiration for the TMC blog. I don't know much about Matt, YANP's creator, but he's my pseudo-anonymous peer role model. Was that too many adjectives?

I'm a Political Economy major with seemingly unrelated career aspirations, and blogging has kept my dreams close to mind. Hence my excitement when one of my favorite bloggers stumbles across my meager website.

At Georgetown, students perceived as ambitious are usually reaching for investment banking and finance... for Lehman Brothers, for Merrill Lynch, for AIG, etc. Idealists and dreamers are seeking their fortunes elsewhere in "less serious" fields. With the sudden collapse and rescue of the aforementioned companies, I feel reassured in pursuing my passions. There's no guaranteed money anywhere anymore, so why not go for what I want?

To be fair, I'm writing this before my potentially epic job search, but I still feel excited about the journey ahead. Alright. I promise my next post will be... less hopeful? Well, I can't promise. Until then...

The Past Week's Summary in Photos

1. A Norwegian visits. Sight-seeing occurs and Newseum volunteer takes terrible (but funny) photo which she deems "great"!











2. Piggy back rides back from 80s Night at the Tombs, a Senior Dis-Orientation Event.

















3. Housemates dressed up for the Super Hero Keg Party at Leo's, yet another Senior Dis-O event.

















4. Jazz Party at DPE House, a much classier event than I'm used to.

Red Light, Green Light, 1-2-3

I was in London for 9 months, an eternity when every year of my life is measured in semesters. But still, I digested it as a very temporary situation in which I should not establish serious relationships. Emotional attachments, I decided, were a bad idea. Well, here I am back at Georgetown and suddenly feeling like that wasn't the wisest of decisions.










See exhibit A (above). No, this is not a Christmas party; it's my housemates and me on our way out to a stoplight party. Available? Wear green. Taken? Wear red. Don't get me wrong. I like green. I love green. But suddenly in this context, green sucks.

London for me was an extreme form of being single. Not only did I lack a special someone, I also lacked friends. Don't cry for me, Argentina, because it had its benefits. I thought about me, what I wanted to do, what I needed, what I wanted to eat. All the time. No consideration of other people and guiltless selfishness are surprisingly liberating. I'm exaggerating, but hopefully you get my point. Living in a self-centered world gets old.

In some ways, it's great that my generation has shifted the life timeline down five years or so. Ten years ago, I would be openly panicking about my single status, fearful of becoming an old maid. Instead, I get to excitedly plan my career, work hard for upward mobility, and focus on myself while fearing becoming an old maid in secret! In this more feminist era, we're taught that these goals, rather than marriage, are what's important. And they are. I'm happy to feel successful and ambitious and interesting as my own person. But damn biology! We're also wired to partner up.

Why can't feminism be more welcoming to discontent about flying solo (maybe it does and I'm just ignorant)? After all, isn't it just biology? I'm a strong, independent woman who would prefer to be a strong independent woman WITH an awesome partner in crime.

So as senior year progresses and fantasies of meeting prince(ss) charming in college fade away, I say (and I'm sure some of my single friends say it too)... fuck green. In the meantime, find me reading books, becoming incredibly intelligent, and being the happiest single person on the Eastern seaboard.

End of Summer

via Darkman's world Flickr

Summer has come to a close and on this occasion, I offer a Best/Worst summary.

Best
1. Visiting the Cape
2. Seeing movies (The Dark Knight, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder)
3. Sports (vball, tennis, climbing)
4. Cooking
5. 4th of July
6. 21st Birthday
7. Concerts (Aimee Mann, Fleet Foxes, Tilly & the Wall)
8. Work

Worst
1. Mosquito bites
2. Work

Ay, ay, ay. It was my last summer between school years where I could have hypothetically done nothing at all! It was a good one, but I'm happy the school year is starting. More updates and less lists in the near future. Slowly but surely, I'll be blogging more consistently... and on more interesting topics. Until then, happy hump day.