Pray that my creation makes the cut on Fuck Yeah! Ryan Gosling.

"I was dancing, and laughing at death."

I put my public relations textbook down tonight to link arms with Branka (my usual partner-in-crime) and went to town: rave-hopped from Athens established Dave Rave's 1 year anniversary to some basement where techno and dubstep were in heavy rotation. Don't let our black and band shirts-ladened wardrobe fool you, we love that dance music.

I never go out when I'm back in school, according to the 15+ friends who relentlessly reminded me of that. (It's true.) To shun the "pics or it didn't happen" argument, here's the aftermath... though I guess it would have been more convincing within a more livelier setting.

I think it's time for me to make my travel debut in Texas. There are some bands I don't give beans for, but there are a lot that's blowing me out of this seat. For some reason, Chaos in Tejas is the show destination for sought-after Japanese bands doing "one-time" only reunions/hosting their last show. Last year, Bastard reunited for the States show and now we have Kriegshog doing its last show in the States. Guess if you got to play big, you need to be somewhere that could accommodate the "big."




Miseryyyyyyyy!

Glad to see Vile Gash and Nukkehammer representing Ohio on the bill. My stomach churns over the idea of not going to this, and the line-up hasn't even been finalized! We'll see what crushers March will bestow us with.

via Brooklynvegan.com

My testimonies turn products into cash money. Unfortunately I didn't think of getting a pair for myself before OC sold out. Loser points for me.

Despise you - scored at Dude Fest 2008, during which the band blew the crowd to bits. Pretty bummed over missing this year's.
Divisions - Florida hardcore band with a mixture of that lo-fi, sludgy power-violence flavor. Got this shirt when they played the Legion of Doom in Columbus... I'd say almost 2 years ago? My ex may have gotten this for me, that I also don't remember.

What's in a shirt? For one, a statement of interest. Two, a back story of ex-lovers, memorable events, acts of charity, and phasing taste and style.

After reading Lesley Arfin's breakdown of her seemingly depth defying sea of shirts, posted on the Opening Ceremony blog, I cracked open my closet to sift through my own. Few have withstand time since their high school premiere, some have cumulated the stench and stains of crusties and near collapsing venues, and many were defeated by New York City's summer scorch 2010 as they morphed into cropped tanks.

My shirt collection is exclusive to music tees. They're generally more attractive than your standard graphic tee, seem to have more meaning than a shirt that screams designer names (an odd exception to the Rodarte/"Radarte" shirts, for reasons even I can't explain), and versatile in wear. Music tees in particular remind me of music (duh), which then triggers my mind to drop a tune or two, which then triggers memory to reference these tunes to the faces and places I've encountered.

... The point I'm trying to get across is that my collection of band tees is very personal to me. Like music is to many, I see these shirts as fossils of my life's past.


Rusko - Limited edition shirt. Don't usually purchase shirts of the dance genre (as much as I LOVE them), but I couldn't pass this up.
Mad Decent - From summer's Mad Decent block party. VIP access, free beer, and that different sort of sweat one exerts from dancing. The cut of this shirt is perfect for my next invasion on the dancefloor. I need to thanks Jasper for those good times. Also reminds me of the break dancing grandma I wrote about for Styleite.


Hombrinus Dudes - PC Michigan grindcore. Haven't listened to this band in ages, but I do remember their advice on shopping for apples at the farmers' market. June 2006 at the 666 Fest, and Skeletonwitch played as Motorhead.
Scholastic Deth - one of the first few shirts I bought in high school (that mattered). Purchased at Badskulls.com and they may still be on sale. Was obsessed with this band for the longest time and dove into Bay Area hardcore because of SD.
Goat Horn - Thanks to my friend Kevin, "Rotten Roll" was the anthem to my senior year of high school. I later interviewed Jason Decay, the man, the myth, the legend, for ACRN and scored this shirt after asking whether there were still some available. Got the last one in XL white; transformed it into a cropped tank.


Slayer - Recent grab. It was a hand-me-down from my friend Kent. One of the many perks of having guy friends with similar taste is that you fit into their shirts when they no longer can. My collection grows.
Tragedy - a Portland transplant from Memphis, Tragedy is a worshiper of Japanese d-beat. Saw them with my ex when they came to Cleveland on a Monday night. Remember feeling dead the next day. I remember that this show attracted a lot of the clean-cut crusties with freshly bleached hair and covered in oddly fresh crust patches. Masakari played this night and look at where they are now.
Gauze - a semi-recent grab from eBay. Apparently purchased around the same time my best friend/radio show co-host purchased her Gauze shirt. "Crash the Pose" is Absolute Catastrophe's anthem and I'll never forget that.
Katharsis - also a semi-recent grab from eBay. One of my to favs because the shirt is just so sick. It'll remind me how much I enjoy "\/\/orld\/\/ithoutEnd." I've widened the collar and gave the bottom an asymmetrical drape so now it pretty much has a butt flap. Oh well, it looks great with tights and cigarette jeans.

The night is silent, so my mind is like a man shouting in an empty white room. If it's not my fatiguing aches that can put me to sleep tonight, making my mind shut the hell up sure can.

The result: writing down my new year's resolutions for 2011. Let's hope no more birds fall from the sky, so that my new year's resolution doesn't morph into a panic bucket list for Armageddon.

Fall in love: Yeah yeah, you can't sought out for romance - it just happens. I'm fairly picky when it comes to men (not boys, thank you very much), which makes it harder for me to fall for someone. I sure do miss waking up to someone next to me. Won't force this on myself... but it would be nice.

Buy a mannequin and start designing: Eventually I would love to go back to school and study fashion design. In the meantime I want to get back into designing bags, along with buying a mannequin so I can make myself, and others, a wardrobe worth drooling over.

Start skateboarding again: Rolled my ankle skating downhill during my sophomore year of high school. It's time to stop being a pussy and have a need for speed.

Be in a band - or try to: I'm teaching myself how to play guitar on the Hello Kitty Stratocaster. (No really, I do have one.) Slow progress, but I do enjoy playing it fast. I've also considered turning my front woman fantasy to reality. Scratch that, I need to turn my front woman fantasy to reality.

P.M.A.: Within my 22 years on this planet, I've been through some trying times. There were moments where I feel as if I'm hanging off a cliff by a few fingers, but in retrospect I've accomplished so much in so little time just by being proactive and more confident. Life is fantastic, even if the man is trying to keep me down.

Move to New York City: Doing whatever it takes to make the move after graduation.

Minimalism for quality: Stop shopping at fast fashion retails, stop shopping "by the carrier," and clear out what I don't need. Definitely exterminating a good chunk of my wardrobe in exchange for quality pieces that will go a long way.

What I'm already doing but would like to sustain:

Eating healthy: I'm a programmed health freak.

Keep a work out routine: I work out every other day thanks to my pre-paid membership at my university's gym. Hoping to keep that going after graduation.

Travel more: I venture the East Coast often. Time to take my wanderlust to the South and the West. Chaos in Tejas, visiting my best friend Erin in L.A., and going so West I'm East in Japan.

Love my family more: Parents have bust ass for me. A great time to say thanks.

Write more, draw more: Flex that right brain.

Think young, stay young: Never quit on keeping life vibrant.

And finally, hold on to my relationships, because if for some reason I fall, I would rather fall into the arms of those who love me. Goodnight.

And just like that, the year is gone. For the month of December, I returned to New York City with little on my back, yet a lot to look forward to. I want to establish a name there, maintain friendships there, and live my life there. Did a little of all three during my stay, and I'm craving to make that permanent. Couldn't have asked for a better way to end the year.

I am back in Athens and I don't feel at home. Home has turned into an obstacle of graduating come June, because instead the city is my home and I already miss it. Yep, I am a city girl.

Pop quiz: the first sentence is also a song by what screamo band?