A tale from the Days of Emo.

I used to be emo.

I fell in love with a boy a long, long time ago. We were young; we were but mere puppies. And we listened to a lot of Jimmy Eat World (with a healthy sprinkling of Sunny Day and Dashboard Confessional). We'd drive with the windows down and sing at the top of our lungs. They were good times. And try as I might, to this day, when I hear these songs -- I think of him. Not as a person who wistfully wishes for the past -- but as a person who admires a particular album that defines a time period.

Jimmy Eat World's Clarity defines a large moment in my life.

The boy I fell in love with left. We broke up and he went to the other side of the world. I hadn't heard from him in months, and Christmas was rapidly approaching. I didn't know what to say. So I made him a Christmas card. It was a sad and dreary picture; a wintry scene with a cold looking couple. There were no words on the front of the card, and on the inside of the card I wrote one simple thing. The lyrics to Jimmy Eat World song.

"I didn't mean to leave you hanging on.
I didn't mean to leave you all alone.
I didn't know what to say.
I didn'tknow what to say.

Merry Christmas, Baby.
Merry Christmas."

I signed my name and send my card across the world.
And to this day, I have no idea if he got the card.
Frankly, I don't really care.
But driving down the 710 freeway with friends tonight, singing that song at the top of my lungs -- I couldn't help but tell the story. Sure, I was an idiot back then -- in fact, I'm an idiot now. But, I poured my lil soul out on a Christmas card using Jimmy Eat World lyrics....which is pretty awesome.

Here's to days of old.
Here's to emo.
They were good times, the emo days.
And it made for damn good Christmas cards.

I'm turning into one of "those" cat owners.

MY KITTEN IS A LUSH.

Quote of the Week

From Steinbecks "In Dubious Battle":

" 'Christ knows I don't want luxury, but I don't want to get batted around the way all the kids I know got it. Lunch pail in the morning witha piece of soggy pie and a thermos bottle of stale coffee...'

Mac said 'You've picked a hell o fa fine life if you don't want to get batted around. Wait til we finish this job, you'll get batted plenty.'

'That's different', Jim protested, 'I don't mind getting smacked on the chin. I just don't want to get nibbled to death. That's the difference.' "

kittied!

Meet the newest addition to our household.
Her name is Penelope.
I am a cat owner. I am happy. I am complete.
I think I am going to make her a myspace (and put 300 pictures of her up).
Yes, I think I am already a crazy cat lady.

Back in Black(berry)

After a few months of borrowing phones and phone breakages, etc...I am back in the world of Blackberry. The Lindsay that we all know and love (the one who is continually chained to her phone) is back in biz.

A few things to share; a list is in order.

(JON BRION)

1. Happy new year to me, I'm an insomniac again .I do not sleep. At all. And, if I do sleep, my mind runs in tiny little circles and overthinks meangingless things and dreams meangingless dreams. Case in point: last night, I spent the entire night dreaming about being in a supermarket. Yes, a supermarket. I don't recall the point or nature of the dream, just that it was terribly frustrating and I woke up utterly exhausted -- as if I hadn't slept a wink. The night before, however, proved to be more entertaining. I dreampt that I was dating Jon Brion. I don't remember much about the dream except the ridiculous bragging rights that I had with my friends. I just kept saying over and over "Guys, I can get you into Largo ANY Friday night you want!". Oh, and I had my own special table in the front of Largo. That was pretty cool.

2. After a long and thoughtful discussion with Matt M., I've decided to read the Bible cover to cover. He's made it to Deuteronomy and is still really enjoying it, and encouraged me to do the same. I'm 2 chapters into Genesis, so I don't have much to say on the subject....YET...but I am pretty excited about this. Its going to take awhile.

3. I discovered www.Elbo.ws. It changed my life. There is so much music to be had on that site. Just today I got Neko Case (live in Austin), Elvis Perkins, Low, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Beirut, and much more. Go to the site, please, and have your fill.

4. Amber and I are starting a book club. Currently, we are reading John Steinbeck's "In Dubious Battle:. I just started tonight -- well, truthfully, I plan to start as soon as I am done writing this here blog.Next up, "What is the What" by Dave Eggers. Holler if you want to join.

5. My mom called and Micah's funeral went well, her time with her family was amazing, and she says she has stories to tell. Thank you all very much for praying.

My cousin Micah passed away this week.
I was told that he was murdered, though no one can be sure at this point. His body was found in a river in Alabama a few days ago and the authorities are still investigating his exact cause of death.

I didn't know him terribly well, but I'm still relatively shaken up by this event. My parents flew out to Kansas City yesterday, as my dad is doing the funeral.

My mom wrote about it, and does a better job than I could ever do -- so if you want to read more about it, you can: www.shawnalyne.blogspot.com.

One thing I find interesting in all of this is that it will be the first time my mom's whole family will be under one roof since her mom passed away (which was long before I was born). Many of them do not know Jesus, and so I am praying that this will be a time of healing and a time of discovering the love of Christ. if you think of it, please pray for my mom, my aunt Shannen (Micah's mother) and their whole family. And pray for my dad, that his words will bring grace, peace, and understanding to a hurting family.

thanks.

I ate a bran muffin for breakfast, and thought of this.

New Years Eve, 06.

This is one of the better New Years Eve celebrations that I can remember.

My good friend from high school, Justin, happened to be in town for New Years Eve. I was excited to have him in town -- he's a good friend AND I got a built in date out of the deal.

We made sushi for Cameron, Erica, Amanda and Dan. We drank Sake and green tea, ate edamame and miso soup -- and I gotta hand it to Justin, our hommade sushi was GOOD.

Then, Camerica, Justin and I headed up to the Biltmore hotel in Los Angeles for drinks. We got dressed up and prepared for the swankiest New Years Eve EVER. But, much to our chagrin, when we arrived we found that all the swanky bars were closed for private parties. We were told that we could enjoy a beverage in the Sports Bar, which was simply not going to cut it. So, we crashed a wedding instead. We saw the wedding (it was gorgeous) and the bar was right there -- in front of us. No guards, no ropes, no special wrist bands. So I charged the bar, got myself a Gray Goose cosmo and got the heck out of there (so as not to get caught). I felt awesome.

We attempted to go to a secret party at a Speakeasy after that, but there was a scary man pretending to be a parking lot attendant who wanted to take our money (and he had thug friends) so we left. We ended up at the Hilton (across the street from the Biltmore.) and we had a grand old time. We got a free round of shots (for no apparent reason), there were party poppers galore and we watched the ball drop with a number of other LA bar-goers.

We came home to Myste, Katie, Kristin, and Amanda -- who were watching Dirty Dancing. I was thoroughly exhausted (as I'd been up since 4 am) and went to bed (after eating a delicious spanikopita that Kristin made me).

All in all, a successful evening. See for yourself:
(and yes, I am balancing a christmas tree on my head in one of them. woot woot!)