The Kings of Leon are smokin

AAAHH!! I am trapped by the hypnotizing powers of YouTube!!!

Earlier I was listening to a Kings of Leon song (Soft) that I for some reason decided I wanted to hear live. Well, that was pretty much a death trap. Two hours later I still can’t stop. I watch these videos and literally scream. Yes scream. Alone in my room in my pajamas. You'd think I was actually at the concert. I can feel the energy even through the computer screen. Maybe its because whenever I play that game, “if you could be anything in the world what would it be,” with Noelle, I inevitably always pick a tattooed male who’s a kick ass drummer. You laugh. But I’m dead serious. Blame Michael Victor. He passed on the passion. Anyways. That won’t happen any time soon so I’ll just remain an obsessive, insatiable fan.

I got a Black Crowes CD and a Hot Tuna CD from Nuggets (the local used CD/records/old stuff store) this weekend. I’ve been listening to a lot of older stuff lately. Especially Creedence. Kings of Leon just popped into my head today though. They are the essential modern-day rock band (with a little country influence). They have songs about love, hate, revenge, friendship, parties... The guys in the band are all family members (three brothers and a cousin) from Tennessee. They change their hair cuts more that most BU girls. They are skinny boys in tight pants. They apparently play as well (if not better) live as they do on a CD. Hopefully I’ll find out for myself sometime soon.

Until then, I'll continue watching these videos on repeat:

The drummer is amazing. Especially in this video.

The Bucket

...and in this one. The "T in the Park 2007" videos are all pretty well done. I like the scenery shots with all the different flags and views of London.

Slow Night So Long

This is one of my favorite of the live videos and one of my favorite songs on the newer CD.

On Call

This video is a little older but it's one of my favorite songs of theirs. The singer gargles the lyrics at some points but it's still a good video.

Red Morning Light

This is the most played song of theirs on my iTunes. And the singer looks dreamy in the video. I could never resist a bearded guy in flannel.

Razz

...

Christos Anesti!

Happy Easter all you wonderful Greek Orthodox people!

Easter is probably my favorite holiday. The Greek services are epic and moving. Last year was my first year fasting during Holy Week. The fast is meant to last from Sunday until Midnight Mass ends on Saturday. It basically necessitates a vegan diet for one week. This year, I fasted a little but cheated a lot. I didn't start the fast until Tuesday because I was busy celebrating another holiday (Marathon Monday) which requires a lot of food to soak up liquor. I figured Jesus would understand. I fasted Tuesday through Thursday taking a break for a few pieces of calamari and a slice of cheese pizza. While fasting, my diet consisted of bread and leaves with vinegar. Mmmmm.

Wednesday I went to church for the Holy Unction, which, according to OrthodoxWiki.org is a sacrament that "provides both physical and spiritual healing with holy oil blessed by the Holy Spirit." I accidentally showed up for mass half an hour early. I had to ask some elderly Greek man if I missed service. When he told me I hadn't, I decided to sit in a row in the middle and reflect on my life. I stared at the icons and art and watched the elderly people conduct their pre-mass rituals.

Watching people practice their spirituality is intimate and interesting. One older lady approached the altar several times and kissed the feet of a huge painting of Jesus on the wall next to the altar. Others lit candles and stood in front of them praying for a while. The mass itself was two hours. It was very long but beautiful. Going to a mass at the Greek church alone is a lot different than going with people. Standing in the pew for two hours trying to follow along in both Greek and English while listening to the chanters and watching people are difficult tasks to juggle but half an hour into the service I had developed a manageable routine that allowed me to do all these things at once. My favorite part about Greek masses is the chanting. It's beautiful and eerie.

The priest eventually spoke directly to the parishioners and actually started crying. It was strange because sitting there for an hour and a half was very emotional so most people were on the verge of tears, especially since the mass is about gaining forgiveness for all the things you've done wrong. He spoke about the importance of forgiving other people in order to be forgiven yourself. I'm not a particularly religious person. I don't follow the Greek Orthodox religion strictly. I don't think I believe in God and I don't believe a lot of what the church preaches. I do, however, believe that it is a strong part of Greek culture and I believe that even the least religious person can gain insight and have a positive experience in a religious atmosphere.

Two hours after arriving, it was finally my turn to have my sins forgiven. I'm not really sure what they would consider my sins but it is comforting to know that in someone's mind you can be completely forgiven in a few brushes of an oily Q-Tip. Despite the unappealing sound of the tradition, everyone left the church feeling a little freer than they entered.

I couldn't go to Springfield for Easter this year. This was extremely upsetting. Stephanie wrote me on Saturday night saying I should have been getting ready for midnight mass with her. I agree. She also told me I was missing out on all the hot Greek guys hitting on her at the feast after midnight mass. Some other things I missed out on this year include:

1. Scaring Yai when all the lights go out during Midnight Mass
2. Trying to make Nick break his serious, alter-boy expression while he stands in front of hundreds of people
3. Communion: bread and red wine
4. My favorite song: Christos Anesti.... It is stuck in my head year round
5. Breaking hard-boiled, red-dyed eggs on Nick's forehead at 2 in the morning on the ride home
6. Dancing with Yai and Angelo in the kitchen
7. Feasting at Nouna's house
8. The Greek Mafia
9. Seeing Yai rub Steve down with oil because he didn't attend the Holy Unction
10. Being in a car with Yai while she drives under 20 MPH and sings loudly to Greek music about smoking cigarettes

I guess there's always next year. In the meantime, at least my sins are relieved!










This is kind of creepy but it was the best I could find.

I feel like Harold and Kumar looking for White Castle...

Just a week ago I was but a young 20 year old eagerly awaiting midnight. My how things have changed.

My birthday was pretty much one of the greatest things ever for several reasons. My parents clearly knew what they were doing when they conceived me. Last weekend was the perfect weekend to turn 21. Not only did my birthday fall on a Friday, it also fell on Marathon Monday weekend. Room 426 feared the weekend.

THURSDAY

I woke up at about 8 to finish my 12-20 page paper on Vietnam and the Tet Offensive that was due the previous Tuesday. I finished my paper after a few hours and then called my Media Relations professor, who I was supposed to be meeting that morning. She informed me that I was mistaken... she NEVER has office hours on Thursday. Thursday is her day with her kids. After making me feel like a heartless over-achiever who would receive a final grade of "F," she told me we could just talk on the phone. We talked about my internship this summer and I told her it's my first internship and I'm nervous I'll screw everything up and look like a complete rookie. She told me that if my only worry was that I'd make a mess up, stop worrying. First, my bosses will not expect perfection, she told me. Also, I am a professional and conscientious student and she knows I'll do well, she told me! WOW!! This was just what I needed to hear.

Feeling wonderful about myself and my future, I packed my bag for classes and headed out. I ran into Christina and shared my excitement by exclaiming, "I am in the best mood ever!" Christina laughed hysterically and continues to re-enact this moment I shared with her. I'm not usually a morning person so my chipper attitude starkly contradicted her usual perception of me as the "princess of darkness" with really bad bed hair and a grumpy frown every morning.

I went to classes, fully completed my paper, had dinner with Michelle and squeezed in a 20 minute nap in preparation for the evening. Katie, Drew, Zach, Evan, Erin and Kevin came over to start celebrating in 426. People made wonderful toasts, including Christina's cheersing the "two-one" and everyone making weird noises mocking my occasional tourettes. We had a lot of fun in my room. I love my friends. (Yea. Corny. Get over it. It was a special weekend.)

The clock was ticking closer to midnight. Kevin gave me frequent updates as we scurried to Kenmore T Stop. We boarded the T and Kevin informed me that it would be mere minutes until my 21st birthday. Michelle (I think) and others were telling people on the T that it was my birthday and everyone was getting excited. Strangers started counting down from 10 seconds. My blood was rushing. Here I was in the middle of Boston on a T at midnight with (most of) my favorite people helping me celebrate my birthday. The clock finally struck midnight and everyone started screaming "happy birthday." Strangers on the T sang the happy birthday song and the second I stepped off the T, Antonia, my birthday buddy and twin, called me to celebrate our birthdays. We all went to a club called Caprice and boogied for a solid two hours.

We got home at about two. One of my roommates (who, for reputation preservation, shall not be named) shared some intimate time with our toilet bowl. While I took off my dancing shoes and got on some jammies, Noelle fell asleep like a little Korean angel in my twin bed. Luckily, she positioned herself close enough to the wall to save room for me. I fell asleep within two minutes of laying down but was woken some hours later by an arm slamming into my face. I slept soundly until Noelle woke at five realizing she wasn't in her bed and left.

FRIDAY

I was in better shape Friday morning than anyone expected. People seemed disappointed I wasn't hung over on my birthday. One of the advisers at work gave me a gift of big chocolate and coconut truffle type things. They were amazing. At about two in the afternoon, my boss decided it was time to take me to the pub. We went to the Dugout with another guy I work with for a mid-afternoon beer.... A mid-afternoon pitcher of beer and a gigantic "shot" of Jagermeister that took four swigs to consume, to be precise. My boss even let me pick songs on the jukebox. I decided on some Creedence. Good Golly Miss Molly and Susie Q. It was a perfect way to start Friday's festivities.

As a birthday gift, I got to leave work early. I headed home, talked to everyone in my family for a while and got a surprise birthday visit with whom I had another beer. Having not eaten yet that day, I met Drew for lunch. He brought me to the BU Pub. On our way there, someone screamed happy birthday from across the street. I love my birthday. The pub was as magical as people say. It's in a castle and the inside is dark, somewhat medieval looking and cave-like. I got a ham and cheese sandwich and another beer. Life is a lot more enjoyable when you can go wherever you want without being kicked out or yelled at.

After the pub, Drew brought me home. I fell asleep within minutes. I already had a long day of drinking and I was pretty pooped. I forgot to set an alarm clock, which was somewhat problematic since we were supposed to go to dinner downtown. My roommates struggled to wake me up and we finally went to Sunset Cantina. We had to wait for a table for one hour. It was ridiculous. When we finally sat down we were all starving and delirious. People started pounding on the table hoping our food would come faster. Our waitress took all our orders slowly and then stated, "I don't think this will work. I can't even read my writing." We decided she was completely wasted.

Ali ordered me a 32 ounce strawberry margarita. It came in a bowl-shaped glass the size of my head. As I nursed the monstrosity, someone approached the table and grabbed my shoulder. It was Michael. He looked into my eyes and said, "Come with me. You're having a shot right now." I followed him to the bar where he ordered me a Bongwater (Jagermeister and some other fruity stuff.) I returned to my seat and enjoyed a delicious dinner. I was minding my own business, innocently chugging my margarita when all of a sudden people erupted into song and a giant slice of ice cream cake approached our table. I tried to blow out the candle but it was a trick candle that kept re-lighting. Our drunk waitress ripped my camera from the table and forced me to pose with the cake. Those were probably the most awkward pictures of the weekend. When the song ended, everyone at the table started screaming, "woo! woowoo! woo! woo!" The cake was orgasmic. While we feasted, Christina, in true Christina form, made a video in which she forced everyone to wish me a happy birthday. The video ended with a shot of Noelle's mouth as she screamed "woo! woo! woo!" while Christina screamed over her, "aaaaaand CUT!"

Following Sunset, we went to An Tua Nua, a bar on campus. This was somewhat disastrous. The bouncers let me and my friends in for free since it was my birthday but wouldn't let everyone in. We were all extremely frustrated. Michelle, Katie and I entered the bar and looked around. There was a crazy-dancing short man in a button-down shirt and dress pants sweating in the middle of a dance circle. I'm pretty positive he was on ecstasy or some equivalent. We went to the bar where Michelle bought me a Surfer on Acid (Jagermeister, Malibu, pineapple juice.) The theme of my birthday was definitely Jagermeister.

The three of us stood at the bar preparing to drink when some tall, scrawny, seemingly pre-pubescent young man approached us. He asked me what I was drinking and continued making pointless conversation. His moves were suspiciously similar to those taught by the Pick Up Artist on MTV. He bought me a beer and followed us around for the entire evening, apparently oblivious to our painfully obvious attempts at ditching him. He told the DJ it was my birthday, apparently. I didn't hear them say happy birthday, but he assured me they did. The strangeness of An Tua Nua evolved when a group of small Asian guys approached Katie, pointed at her toes (she was in sandals) and laughed. None of us understood what was happening. We left shortly thereafter.

SATURDAY

I slept in and relaxed in the room for the morning and afternoon. Drew came to pick me up for the evening's adventures. We went to his friend's apartment where we listened to Three Six Mafia (amongst other things) in preparation for the evening concert. We met Noelle, Evan, Michelle and Louis on Nickerson Field. We missed Cobra Starship but made it in time for Three Six Mafia. They took the stage and invited several eager, scantily clad collegiates to join them on stage. There was a "booty shaking contest" and a lot of arms flying to the beat. The first ten or fifteen minutes of their performance were pretty good but then the sound system gave in and almost every song thereafter was interrupted by the faulty equipment. The guys of Three Six Mafia grew very angry and frustrated screaming things like, "yall pay too much money to go to school here to have this shit happen." Eventually, one of them just gave up and said he couldn't stand it any more and they left.

Everyone left the field. Most people ended up at Chi Phi. As did the cops. Surprise, surprise. After being chased out by the cops, I met some people at T Anthony's for some pizza. I went home, went to bed and thus ended Saturday.

SUNDAY

Sunday was a day of rest. For the most part. Noelle and I hung out with Drew and other people at Chi Phi then got some food and walked home in the lovely weather. For the rest of the day, we watched movies and relaxed. Evan joined our night-in for a little while. The rest was much needed.

MONDAY

This was one of the longest day of my life. I got a text from Evan at 9:30 in the morning to wake me up for the marathon. He and I started the festivities in my room then headed out to watch the marathon. We met Noelle, Christina, Andrea and others by the marathon. We all went to someone's apartment where students were watching the marathon from the roof. This was extremely dangerous and we were all afraid Noelle was going to go flying off the roof so we didn't stay very long. We walked around for a while observing the hilarity of super healthy runners making their way across 26 miles of land contrasted to the completely obliterated college students screaming ridiculous things to encourage the runners. Aah, Marathon Monday.

Evan and I headed back to the dorm to meet Drew and eat some lunch then we all set out for the marathon again. We walked all over campus and eventually ended up at Chi Phi where one of the brothers was indulging in a short nap on the hood of a car. Inside the house, there was a huge water leak upstairs. As they tried to clean up the mess, two of the brothers got in a minor physical altercation that was resolved fifteen minutes later when we found them sitting in the sun on the porch chatting.

We all sat on the porch reflecting on the craziness of the weekend. Evan told us that he felt like a different person than who he was on Thursday. He and I headed to Sunset Cantina for dinner. Even though we were seated right away, our meal took over an hour to arrive. Sunset needs to work on their time management. When the food came, we were too tired to eat. We had the waitress pack everything up and brought it home. I'm pretty sure I had shin splints by the end of the day. We put on The L Word and Evan passed out on my floor after forcing Noelle to stroke his back.

My birthday weekend was, in-and-of-itself, one long marathon. Our years of training paid off and got most of us through the weekend unscathed. Katie broke her house key in the door, some people hugged some toilet bowls, some brain cells were damaged, most livers were damaged, many embarrassing pictures were taken but everyone made it through.

Thanks guys! Here's to another great year.

Chooch visits his sister.

I love having guests!

Joe came to visit me two weeks ago for his spring break. The little bugger arrived at about 8 AM Wednesday morning. I eagerly awaited his arrival in Logan airport. He came down the escalator and I didn't realize until he was standing next to me that he'd grown another three inches. We headed to my dorm stopping at Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast. I brought him up to my room where he threw his luggage on the floor and spent some time looking at the things on my walls. The first thing he scoffed at were the advertisements of men (mostly scantily clad) on the wall next to my bed. I left him to ponder the greatness of my room and sleep while I went to work.

Several hours later, I returned to find him snoring like a chainsaw with The Mask DVD menu repeating itself on my TV. I took him to the dining hall for a little snack then brought him to an after-hours work event I had to attend. It involved passing out registration codes to freshmen. I figured he wouldn't mind checking out the girls. Apparently they didn't mind checking him out either. Several approached him to ask questions while I was across the hall handing out codes and trying not to gag after someone drive-by-farted in my area. He and my bosses made fun of me and then I dragged him away. We had a barbecue to attend.

Joe and I caught up on life while walking to the other side of campus. Drew came by work that week to inform me he really wanted to grill something. Joe and I headed to the house where Drew greeted us eager to work the grill. In the kitchen, Drew had already prepared six massive lumps of meat with a "special rub" he brought all the way from Texas. Joe and I were very excited. Meat and beer. What more can you ask for? A bunch of us stood on the porch. While Drew tended to the burgers, the other guys told me to bring Joe to a lot of parties and told Joe to tell girls he was actually a freshman in college. We took the burgers inside and ate around the kitchen counter. They were the best burgers I've had in a while. We all went to Zach's room where the boys played video games and made fun of each other. Joe got pretty accurate insight into the Chi Phi lifestyle. I was happy he got to meet people I see often. We went home and were so tired we passed out at 10:30. Day one, great success!

Thursday we woke up around noon and headed to the GSU for lunch. I finished my Stats homework while Joe ate Twizzlers and played on the Gameboy he stole from my room. I brought him to class so he could see what he has to look forward to. My Stats class is a 1.5 hour lecture taught by a Russian with a heavy, almost indecipherable accent. I guided Joe to the seat I claimed for myself this semester in the very last row. I took notes while he tried to beat Donkey Kong. About an hour into the class, we both bored of our tasks. He took my graphing calculator and we wrote notes to each other. Some read along the lines of "if you read this you have herpes" and "stop talking. your breath smells like dirty butt." We giggled silently as we insulted each other in the back row. After the lecture, I brought Joe to Uburger, a famous establishment here at BU. It was very enjoyable. Later that night we went to see Doomsday. The movie was bizarre, ridiculous and one long advertisement for the new Bentley Continental GT but it was highly entertaining and left me with the overwhelming desire to punch someone and then run them over with a Bentley.

Friday morning I left Joe snoring like a trucker while I went to work. The office was not busy and my bosses are wonderful so I got to leave a couple hours early to be with my brother. He met me at work and then we went to he GSU for some food. We went to Fenway to get him a Red Sox hat that fit since the one I got him for Christmas was a couple sizes too big. Oops. We went to the Prudential with the roommates hoping to go to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Upon discovering there was about a two hour wait, we headed to the food court and got Japanese food instead. Some old man was leaning back in his chair convulsing. We thought he might be having a heart attack or something so Michelle and Ali informed security who then told them he was a "regular sleeper." Security woke him up and he wandered around the food court falling asleep while standing in front of various fast food booths. (Joe got a pretty good taste of Boston during the trip.)

That night we brought Joe to a party at our (often visited) friends' house. We sketchily entered through a back door leading us to a dirt floor basement that opened into a brick room with a bar, graffiti, Christmas lights and people dancing. Joe was able to meet some of my friends and experience dumb, drunk people as well as a dance party to Shipping Up To Boston and The Impression That I get, two Boston favorites. We left the party and brought Joe to T Anthony's for pizza. Free Falling was playing so we all sang along with the drunk people. We got a large pizza to share. When Erin and Noelle referred to it as a pie, Joe asked them to repeat five times and didn't understand. Don't Stop Believing came on so naturally everyone danced and sang loudly. Another accurate taste of college life here.

We had an early morning the next day. Steve came up to visit from Worcester. It was great to have both of my brothers here at the same time. We were a little late to meet Steve at the train station so, in a true OCD/ADD/whatever-you-want-to-call-it fury, Steve called about ten times before we reached the station. We had a lot to catch up on since we hadn't seen each other since Christmas so we went to Teriyake House. I got a delicious passion fruit smoothie and orange chicken. That place has the best smoothies. We left Teriyake House and Steve firmly stated, "I would never live in Boston." When asked why, he told me it was because there are "too many people and too much going on. I like being in small areas." Oh Stever. I know. We went back to my room where the boys watched Brick and I made weird noises while taking a nap. (Another trait I've inherited from my father.) We brought Steve back to the station then Joe and I met the roommates for dinner at Charlie's. After a power nap, Joe and I went to see 21 with Noelle. The movie was ok. It was exciting to recognize so many places. (The movie was film on our campus.) I made sure to point out every place to Noelle and Joe. "I forgot I hate watching movies with you," Noelle whispered loudly.

Sunday we woke up in time for Joe to pack and eat some breakfast. While waiting for the T I realized I forgot his passport in my room so I sprinted (ok... speed walked) to my room and then back to the station. We rushed to his gate to discover his flight was delayed a little. By the time I got back to my dorm he was calling to tell me his flight, which was supposed to leave at 1 PM, would actually be leaving at 8 PM! Delta! What the hell! So poor Joe was stranded in Logan with nothing but an old Gameboy, Donkey Kong and our mom calling repeatedly to make sure he hadn't been kidnapped by a pedophile.

Joe finally made it home ok. I was very happy he and Steve came to visit. Joe got to see a lot of my life here including my crazy roommates, friends, bosses, place of employment, boring Stats class, favorite places to eat and the city that I love. He even reminded me how much stronger than me he is by tossing me over his shoulder and slamming me onto the air mattress on the floor which squealed as it deflated under my weight. Come back Chooch!!!!