all my favorite bands of yesteryear seem to be celebrating 10 year anniversaries of pivotal albums that i loved when i was 20.

i just got tickets to see the get up kids. they are going to play something to write home about start to finish. this makes me want to scream in a high pitched very girly voice.

first, jimmy eat world, now this. also on deck for the next month: david bazan and mute math. come to find out, sunny day real estate is here on thursday, but we can’t seem to secure tickets at a reasonable price. that is pretty much my last missing piece for “concerts i wish i’d have gotten to go to in the late 90’s early 2000’s, but didn’t”. blast.

what is going on?

exhibit a: david bazan’s recent search volume

exhibit b: david bazan on abc news?

heck yes, i did.*

12 shows in 12 years. so excited about this. going to be a good year for music, methinks.

*thanks to kelly, who bought the tix when they went on sale because i was in a meeting. woo!

it’s so 1999 of me, but i’m going to see jimmy eat world on saturday. go back with me for a moment to the year 2001, and soon you’ll understand why i’m so excited…

in 2001 i was in college, and was a nanny for a crazy family. (not to be confused with the awesome family i nannied for.) i told crazy mom i needed to leave early on a particular day because i had plans. the plans? to see jimmy eat world, in nashville, at exit/in, one of my fav venues in nashville. as usual, she came home circa 9.30 pm. needless to say i missed the show. brian and his brother did get to go, though. the show turned out to be awesome. it was shortly after they released their first widely popular album, bleed american, but they were tired of playing songs from that album, so they played their entire clarity album (1999). all the way through. are you kidding me? this never happens. the good bands never play the old good songs once they’re on mtv and the radio. but jimmy eat world did. and i missed it. do you own the clarity album? if not, you’re silly, go get it. i listen to it literally every time i run. every. single. time.

i have heard about how awesome this show was for nearly 8 years now. its hands down the best show brian has ever been to. and i missed it!

last fall, our friends in arizona’s best rock band made this announcement:

Jimmy Eat World will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its classic Clarity by playing the album in its entirety for 10 one-time-only shows beginning February 23 in New York City and concluding March 7 in the band’s native Arizona.

did i ever think i’d have the opportunity to see this band play those songs ever again? absolutely not. did i doodie my pants when i learned of this? absolutely yes. will i doodie my pants on saturday night? possibly yes. i’ll take lots of pics. until then, i’ll watch this video and others like it, repeatedly, as i eagerly anticipate saturday night. the bro-in-law and wife are even making an appearance in chicago - so its truly a second chance to see the show as i should have so many years ago.

I promised I’d see it again.
I promised I’d see this with you now.
I promised I’d see it again.
I promised I’d see this with you now.

I said said said it out loud over and over
I said it out loud but what do I know.
I’ll stop now.
Just so I can hear you
I stay up as late as it takes.
-just watch the fireworks, jimmy eat world

so. stinking. excited. i glanced at a set list, but i can’t ruin the surprise and actually look at it…

i’m less than a week out from the marathon. i definitely have not trained as much as i should have, and a recent foot injury/shoe malfunction has made things slow the past couple of weeks. i’m hesitantly optimistic, and am 100% ok with quitting or dropping out at any point if necessary. after all, its not like this is the last marathon ever and i’ll never have another chance. if i can’t do it, fine.

however, i did 8 miles today, easy as pie, so that was a nice confidence booster. many times, my mp3 player is the only thing that keeps me going during a run, so i figured i’d count down my marathon must have tunes this week.

first, gnarls barkly: crazy. yeah, yeah, its a stupid pop song, and i typically hate stupid pop songs. but once you hit the double digits in a training run, you kind of feel like you are crazy, so when this song pops up at a time like that, its easy to relate to.

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

And when you’re out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn’t because I didn’t know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Probably

And I hope that you are having the time of your life
But think twice, that’s my only advice

Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,
Ha ha ha bless your soul
You really think you’re in control

Well, I think you’re crazy
I think you’re crazy
I think you’re crazy
Just like me

My heroes had the heart to Lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember is thinking, I want to be like them
Ever since I was little, ever since I was little it looked like fun
And it’s no coincidence I’ve come
And I can die when I’m done

Maybe I’m crazy
Maybe you’re crazy
Maybe we’re crazy
Possibly

ok, easy to relate to except the “die when i’m done” business. none of that.

i think today might qualify as my 2 year running anniversary. i actually started in the spring of 2006, but didn’t decide to do a race and train for something until a july 4th picnic that year which made it fitting that i ran my last race before the move today. the course sucked for running (super hilly and the 10k looped the same course twice - yuck) but it was really great to run around downtown one last time before the move. lots of great views. i know i’ll be back for some races, but its different when its not your hometown.

i’ve discovered over the past few years that i must have music to run. if i run along and can hear myself breathing and my feet hitting the pavement, my brain takes over and i end up feeling exhausted. but find a good song, i can zone out and i’m set. found a new one today, luckily just about a quarter mile into the 6.2 mile jaunt. if you run, its a great tempo, and the lyrics were - well, all too appropriate. i actually put this song on repeat and listened to it for the entire hour and seven minutes of the race. try it on your running playlist:

hello stranger - “her in these lights”

Back then when we were young
Who thought this day would ever come?
After all this time

Some dreams are coming true
Some of us just can’t get through
After all this time

And all my friends are trying to reach some end
Trying to pretend that we’re alright now
I see her in these lights as the setting night

There you and I are standing still
The years dissolving into stronger will
After all this time

Everything we’ve torn apart
We’ve built back with stronger hearts
I’m so afraid of how long I’ve made you stay,
The choices we made but In the end, dear
Who cares who did it right if only we had survived

The things I’ve seen so far away
Are getting closer everyday
After all this time

And all I want when this is done
To say I tried, say we had fun
After all this time

Nothing will be the same
We keep playing the game

Here comes a girl her eyes like stars now
She’s given me a fearless heart
After all this time

making some new playlists and being reminded of some awesome songs…this one’s thrice “between the end and where we lie”. i’ve narrowed my running playlist down to just shy of 300 songs..you know, just the ones i really like. also, i wonder if i hold some kind of record for being the mac owner who holds out longest before opening itunes on their mac? had the laptop for just shy of 10 months and opened itunes for the first time today. ugh…itunes.

Is this everything? I’ve dreamed of so much more between the end and where we lie.
here all our hopes and dreams are scavenged from the floor and fed into machines that feed on vacant eyes
all of my dreams, always find me far beyond these fake fluorescent skies
I know there must be something more, if I could only find the door then I could free myself and see the world outside

where daylight breaks on you and shines into the grey that sleeps beneath your skull
daylight breaks on you and burns away the grey that suffocates your soul

for now I hold a key, and though I may be lost I know that I will find my way
I search endlessly but every time I’ve thought that I was near the smoke and mirrors lead me astray
see the pit boss, steal each tick tock; time it seems will suffer at our hands
I look for exits in the haze, the dense electric twilight maze, I’ve heard that there is one that leads to sunlit lands

where daylight breaks on you and shines into the grey that sleeps beneath your skull
daylight breaks on you and burns away the grey that suffocates your soul

daylight, they tell me that it’s just a myth, they try to betray you with a kiss
daylight, they tell me that it can’t exist, they might never know just what they missed as

daylight pours fire into my grey eyes, pours grace into my grey life
breaks in and lights the way I can’t live without the day

what i can’t stop listening to right now:

we are here to save your life
the fool, the drunk, the child and his wife.
we won’t let the sun go down
we’re gonna chase the demons out of town.
sing it when you feel alone,
backwards through the megaphone.
sing it to the ones you love,
and the ones you’d like to be rid of.

we are here to take the blame,
to take the taunts, and live the shame.
we are here to make you feel
it terrifies you, but it’s real.
it will keep you up all night
and in a flood, the morning light
spilling out across your room
you say the words will get there soon.
-stars, soft revolution

me, who used to work with–>old boss, who toured with–>david bazan, who got yelled at by–>john krasinski
just stating the facts.

if you like neat photos, visit this site. you will be delighted. or if you just like david bazan, ben gibbard or john krasinski, click on the pic above for more.

i stayed up last night in order to download the new modest mouse album, we were dead before the ship even sank (or wwdbtses, if you will). you know, the follow up to their last album, gnfpwlbn. not to be confused with the mid 90s punk pop sensation album, sgtwotb. (bonus points* if you know what that means without me telling you the band)

this album is fantastic. i like just about every song enough to listen to them repeatedly. highlights:

It honestly was beautifully done.
We’d tried to hide the daylight from the sun.
Even if we had been sure enough it’s true we really didn’t know.
Even if we knew which way to head, but still we probably wouldn’t go.
-fire it up (this may be the most fantastic thing i’ve ever heard on my car stereo)

It was always worth it, That’s the part I seem to hide
And the busy ant empire, Put up their closing sign
Even as I left Florida
Far enough, far enough, Wasn’t far enough
Couldn’t quite seem to escape myself
-florida

dashboard, missed the boat and parting of the sensory are all worth a listen, or at least a read. they are so good i couldn’t narrow down the lyrics.

wow, as i was writing this i just saw a commercial for this album. big time. go buy it.

*points are not redeemable