So This Is The Game Plan, Folks

Not much to say today, but I do have a few things that have transpired since the last update. I'll put them in a list.
- Relient K sang a new song at a concert. Forget And Not Slow Down. It's amazing.
- I was assigned to teach Sunday School for the summer
- Michael Jackson died
- I've finished the top of my dress

Now that I've caught you up, I'll get you a step ahead.

This next weekend I'm off to Wyoming for a week. A whole week. No internet, no Zune, just my cell phone. I'll be able to check my Twitter (/relientkfanatic), so if any of you feel the need to keep up with me or contact me while I'm gone, go ahead and use that.

The reason I'm saying all this even though I'll still be here for 7 days is that I have to finish my dress's skirt before the trip. Entirely. That alone will take up the entire day, let alone packing and working on my Sunday School lesson plans. So I probably will not be able to blog again until I get back. Not to worry, I'll tell you everything about the trip that's worth telling.

So that's the game plan for the next few days. After this the only big thing for the summer is Ignite which is the 18th-19th. I'll have much more news about that than I will about Wyoming. But I'll talk to you when I get back I suppose.

Here's to Peace, Love & Busy Days
~ Lola

P.S. Today's John Warne's birthday. He doesn't read my blog. But that's okay.
Happy Birthday, John Warne!! You rock!!

The Goldfish Technique

I went to the doctor's office recently. In the waiting room they had one of those big aquariums with two goldfish and some of those scarily strange white frogs in it. Their little red eyes glow and they look dead until they move...

But anyway, this isn't about the unnatural amphibians. This is about the goldfish. Did you ever notice how they're constantly opening and closing their mouths even when they aren't moving anywhere? It makes them look as if they're perpetually at a loss for words. They look silly as they stare at you, mouths opening in a timed pattern. But they're alive, aren't they? Unless they opened their mouths to inhale water, they wouldn't be able to get oxygen through their gills. I have a theory that many of the goldfish who end up floating above the water were only trying to be cooler than the rest.

Sometimes I think we're like that. We don't want to be any different or look silly in front of anybody; we end up dragging ourselves through a boring day-to-day existence - dead to what's known as really living. We need to breathe constantly, no matter how retarded we look while we do it. We need to do the unexpected, make life interesting, wake up the adventure that's asleep in all of us. That way we'll stay alive - really alive.

I believe the nurse thought I was rather insane as I was thinking all of this, smiling widely at the small fish across the glass. But now you know what goes through my mind in the doctor's waiting room.

Of course, all of this is highly suspect. The reason the goldfish die could be because the undead frogs sucked out their life juices while they slept.

Here's To Peace, Love & Aquariums
~ Lola

It's Like Letting Go Against My Will...

I woke up today wishing I was someone else. Someone with sandy blond hair and eyes that waver between brownish-gray and blue. Someone who talks with an accent and a different sense of humor. Someone who is my best friend's best friend.

For the past few month I've slowly watched my best friend be stolen away by this person. I've never personally talked to them and I'm sure s/he's very nice and isn't intentionally doing this, but it's happening none the less.

What used to be a promise of "best friends for life" has deteriorated to sharing the leftover time when I'm the only person still around. I love my friend more than I can say, but it's slowly becoming clear that they don't exactly care. I guess that's what this all comes down to - I've never had anybody tell me that they care, that I'm their very best friend, that they'll always be there for me. I would give anything for someone like that who won't let me down...

Here's to Peace, Love & Trying To Sleep When The Pillow's Too Wet.
~ Lola

P.S. I recently discovered that more people read this blog than I thought (thanks, everybody). So, to my best friend who now reads this, I'm sorry if writing this hurt you. I'm sorry I'm so selfish. Please don't be mad, but it's the only way I know how to tell you what I feel.

Excuse Me, I'm Looking For the ITCZ...

I'm sitting here with a pen and paper, ready to post something witty and interesting. But today, I've found that I have nothing to say.

I believe it stems from having nothing to do. Intermission may be nice for a while, but it can easily lead to the Horse Latitudes. The Horse Latitudes are an oceanic latitude where winds may suddenly die for hours, days - even weeks. Spanish merchant ships would then be forced to throw their cargo of wild horses overboard to conserve water for the crew to stay alive until the winds picked up. Not a pleasant history, and not a pleasant place to be.

Unfortunately, I think that's where I am. For the past week, I honestly have done nothing at all. I was planning on breaking the cycle and doing something fun like tennis today, but yesterday I was diagnosed with asthma so going outside at this time of year just won't work. But I'm not going to stop trying! The ITCZ is somewhere around here and I'm determined to find it. Maybe sewing my dress is a start in the right direction...

Here's to Peace, Love & Spanish Merchant Ships.
~ Lola

Allow Me A Few Moments To Be Myself

*This blog post is pretty much just my rambling on about Relient K. It's part of who I am, so please just excuse it if you find it odd. But, seriously, it is what this blog is named for after all.*

I just spent the last 20 minutes watching a "mini-mentary" of one girl's adventure following Relient K on their west coast tour. She got to go to 9 shows, hear snippets from their unreleased album early, and best of all hang out with each band member pretty much every day. Awesomest kind of adventure ever, if you ask me.

Today was a Relient K day for me. I've spent the afternoon following all the members' twitter posts and blogs, reorganized my picture album of them into seperate little folders for each member, and listened through the playlist of their concert nearly 4 times. The next item on the agenda is to draw a chibi-fied version of Matthew Hoopes with my tablet.

Obsessed? I figured you knew that by now...

I'm not sure if I've told you yet or not, but I'm going to see them again this summer. July 19th. I'm counting down days. The first concert of theirs I went to, I was unprepared. I wore normal clothes, took no CD for signing (I purchased a hard copy of FiveScore while there), and didn't go up to the mosh pit when only 10 pre-teen girls were standing up there. I also didn't have the forethought to wait by their bus for them to sign autographs. I'd heard they weren't signing but another person said they were and now I'll never know. It was the first time they ever played "Deathbed" at a concert, and I was the first person to have the video of it up on YouTube, but that's the only proof I was even there.

For this one, I'll be ready. My 'Life After Death And Taxes' jeans are in the wash to prepare for the use of a bleach-pen to make the words more readable since Sharpie seems to wash out of denim. I also have an official T-shirt of the band to wear, and a hat and messenger bag bearing their logo to finish out the ensemble. I plan to take my copy of FiveScore And Seven Years Ago and my drawing of the band for them to sign (and a Sharpie!) and even if it means missing part of another show (never been to a band festival, so I'm not sure how it works) I'm going to find them for pictures this time.

I wonder what they'll play? I wonder if their CD will have a release date by then? I wonder if Hoopes will have the flu again and not be able to sing very well?

And for the next few hours, you are very lucky to not be within earshot of me.

Here's to Peace, Love & Being A Fangirl Every Once In A While
~Lola

Intermission

Every ballet performance has more than one act. Between two such acts, there is a pause given for the dancers to take a break and prepare for the rest of the show. This pause is called intermission.
Here's a little "did you know" about intermissions. The only children's movie with intermission in it is 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'. With good reason, too, since a straight 2 1/2 hours of confusing fairy tales and whiny children could grate on one's nerves.

But intermissions occur in more than performances and movies. Sometimes it can be a blissful pause in life between chaotic days. For me, my intermission begins today. I no longer have to prepare for our showcase which was pulled off with several backstage hitches that the audience never saw. I no longer must worry about due-dates for multi-page papers or study hereditary gene traits of pea plants.

The only thing on my mind anymore is the trip to Wyoming in July, Ignite Chicago, beginning work on my ballgown, perming my hair, and keeping up with the band members as Relient K works on a new CD...so maybe that is alot, but to me it's all very enjoyable and I'm quite pleased to have some structure to the endless days of summer.

I got my cast off on Tuesday, and the pain is all but gone. I can't play my guitar yet, but I will soon enough. <3

Here's to Peace, Love & Summer,
~Lola