Thank God Almighty, Spring At Last

Arboreal
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

Four random memories dredged up during the sweaty walk from Shattuck through the Berkeley campus to Café Strada:

My first day at Rutgers: After dropping off my bags at my dorm, mom, Earl and I drove back over the river to explore downtown New Brunswick and the College Ave. campus a bit. I remember being impressed by the cobblestones and freaked out by the prospect of living with some random dude. The real memory revolved around parking on a side street off of College Ave. and trying to cut through a building next to the Theological Seminary, which is affiliated with but not technically part of Rutgers. This was a library of sorts (I don't think I ever stepped foot in that building again in my four years on the banks) and we were immediately reprimanded and forced to go back and around to College.

Nearly a year later, I randomly received two tickets to a Cranberries concert, I think from Stephanie. No one wanted to go with me, so I mentioned it to Kris, with whom I had been exchanging emails and maybe one or two phone calls during the previous two months. I totally mentioned it in the hopes that he would volunteer to go without me having to ask. Mission accomplished. Thus began one of the most bizarre but interesting friendships of my (not so short) life.

Standing on the corner of Sixth and Mission in San Francisco, a really seedy area, I was early for an interview at Greatschools.net. It was just a few days after landing in Oakland for my pre-move summer in the Barea, way the hell back in the summer of 2001, when everything was possible and on track. I was dressed up and realized as I was talking to Lauren (I think) that the prostitutes on the corner across the street thought I was looking for action. I took off.

Finally, sophomore year at Rutgers, fall of 2000, I was at Menlo Park Mall with Kris when I got a call from Melissa. I don't know if she was early or if I had lost track of time, but I needed to haul ass back to the Louis St. apartment to meet her. She was visiting from UConn, which stole her away from me that summer. I was actually visiting her in Rhode Island when she got the call offering her all sorts of perks to join their track team. That night in NB was bizarre because I was leaving this guy with whom there were some definite sparks to hang out with this girl with whom there had been definite sparks. I'm happy that I remain in touch with both.

There are 1,000 things on YouTube I want to post, but I restrain myself. So what is fabulous enough to join the ranks of Jesse Spano's techno freakout? Ms. Sarah Silverman. "I wish the retarded could be resmarted." Her show is going to kick ass.

Flashback to 1995: Just saw a guy with a walkman clipped to his back pocket and making a call ... on a pay phone.



In other news, I am embarrassingly excited to have secured tickets for Kelly Clarkson's Addicted tour. I almost had a heart attack when I realized I had not received my text message reminding me tickets had gone on sale. Hellbitches! Anyway, I got me some seats after selling my future children to pay for Ticketmaster's ridiculously exorbitant service fees.

I saw Kelly last year at NJPAC (her first of 13,452 tours supporting this album) and she was really, really good, totally on point and vocally stronger than even I expected. Can't wait to see her at Shoreline, with fellow pop-culture junkie and future roommate in the dormatory in Hell, Ernie.

From Ernie:

Get the Top 15 artists from my Last.fm page (or in my case, my iTunes playlist) ... The first song I heard by the artist, the song that made me fall in love with them and my current favorite song:

1. Alexz Johnson (sigh: star of Canadian show for teenagers BUT A REALLY GOOD SINGER.)
First song: 24 Hours
Fell in love with: Let Me Fall
Current fave: 24 Hours

(Alexz with a Z! -- Gayest sentence ever.)

2. The Fray
First song: Over My Head
Fell in love with: Over My Head
Current fave: How to Save a Life

3. Kelly Clarkson
First song: A Moment Like This
Fell in love with: Just Missed the Train
Current fave: Gone

4. Carrie Underwood (how did that happen???)
First song: Some Hearts
Fell in love with: Some Hearts (I guess)
Current fave: Some Hearts

5. Julieta Venegas
First song: Algo Esta Cambiando
Fell in love with: Lento
Current fave: Lento

6. El Canto del Loco
First song: Puede Ser
Fell in love with: La Madre de Jose
Current fave: Puede Ser solo version

7. Dar Williams
First song: What Do You Hear in These Sounds?
Fell in love with: Iowa
Current fave: Echoes

8. Shakira
First song: Donde Estan Los Ladrones?
Fell in love with: Ojos Asi
Current fave: Dia Especial

9. Ben Folds
First song: Brick
Fell in love with: Brick
Current fave: Zak and Sara

10. Gwen Stefani/No Doubt
First song: I'm Just a Girl
Fell in love with: Don't Speak
Current fave: Cool

11. Rufus Wainwright
First song: April Fools
Fell in love with: In My Arms
Current fave: Poses

12. Jamie Cullum
First song: Get Your Way
Fell in love with: Catch the Sun
Current fave: Catch the Sun

13. La Oreja de Van Gogh
First song: Puede Ser
Fell in love with: 20 de Enero
Current fave: 20 de Enero

14. Lisa Loeb
First Song: Stay
Fell in love with: Alone
Current fave: Garden of Delights

15. Jason Mraz
First song: The Remedy
Fell in love with: You and I Both
Current fave: Geek in the Pink

Muir Woods

Muir Woods
Originally uploaded by tjdee.

I turned 26 (GASP) this weekend. To celebrate teejaymas, Mom and I went to Muir Woods. Also on the agenda this weekend: Muir Beach Overlook, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Beach Chalet and Lap-POP. After a four-day weekend, I'm back at my desk tomorrow. LE HUGEST SIGH EVAR (as the kids say).

I have nothing to say, but I'm slightly disgusted by the previous post and I want to push it down the page, so here's what I'm working on right now: a Web story about Wal-Mart's decision to publish EEO data on its Web site, a Web story about how shareholder resolutions can push companies toward more inclusive policies and a magazine feature on how corporate America has advanced gay rights through inclusive policies such as including sexual orientation in nondiscrimination policies and offering domestic-partner benefits and why if companies don't continue protecting gay workers, the entire movement could grind to a halt. That's in addition to 17,890 other things, of course.

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