And the not-so beautiful

I've been pretty bold recently.

Last Saturday, I went to downtown Salem and rode carnival rides. I love going fast - speed has always been a friend to me, so I absolutely loved it. We went on the Spaceship and The Arctic Trip - which speeds forward then backward really fast. I loved it. It was so spiny. Haha.

But after that, we walked around downtown. Halloween in Salem is crazy by definition, but with it being a weekend and unusual warm weather, everyone was out. There were so many awesome costumes. I def need a better camera, my little point and shoot is dying :(

After walking around for a while, we got hungry so we went into a bar. It was pretty good, reasonable prices and I got wasted so there's that. I had two Long Island Ice Teas and there was a dance floor, so you know I was getting my groove on. When we were dancing, there was this guy checking us out. So my friend, being the genius that she is, smoothly danced away from but still stayed close. And he kept looking at me!

As the night continued, I got drunker, but he kept checking me out. I caught him a couple times, even smiled and tried to encourage him to talk to me. Only, I don't really know how to do that and worse, he never made a move. So at 11, when the bar's entertainment license ended (?), and we were about to leave I wrote my name and number on a napkin, walked straight up to him and pushed it into his shirt's front pocket!

I've never been that bold with a man before. I'm usually super shy around guys - cause of the whole lack of self-worth thing. It's been a week and he hasn't called, so I'm guessing that's another romantic dead-end. Tough break for this lonely heart.

Then on Monday was The Hurricane. It wasn't too bad here - nothing like N.Y. or N.J. Thank God. But during the beginning stages of the storm, a friend and I went to a local park that bleeds into a beach to see the waves and face the beast head on. It was crazy - trees had fallen. The waves were crashing against the pier. As we were leaving, you could see nails that were pushed up and some of the planks had popped up. It was crazy, but super exciting. Definitely not something I'm used to doing, but I loved it.

See how high the waves were getting?!

The tree that had fallen

Just one of the nails that was pushed up.

Florence

On Friday I saw Florence and the Machine in Mansfield. Getting there was actually really fun.

Mansfield is 60 miles from my apt (which I didn't know when I got the tix), and we had to drive through Boston 5 o'clock traffic.

But we discovered the joys of the HOV lane and we only almost got hit once. My friend GD was tots freakin' for a bit. haha

We got there just as the opening band was finishing their set. Enough time to see them leave. Then 20 minutes later Florence came on.

Barefooted and wild, Florence would just move with the music. I'm not sure if it was on rehearsed or natural, but you could feel her reacting to the music. Her arms would raise and fall almost too perfectly timed with the beat for it to be fake.

She actually sang quite a few songs from "Lungs" and her voice was clear. There was a bit of distortion but I think that was more the venue's fault than hers.

There wasn't a lot of planned crowd interaction, but a couple people in the front row seats had brought signs and flower headbands - which Florence wore for a couple songs before they fell off.

There was also one crazy part during the only slow song she has when fans took out lighters. It felt like a 60's hippie rock concert. And it was definitely a fire hazard. haha

That's all for now.

Love Always,
Joe

Today

Dear diary,

I don't feel good.
Goodnight.

Love always,
JB

Birthday Shenanigany

I'm 22!

I normally don't make a bug deal out of my birthday, but I'm glad I did this year.

First, a bunch of us saw ParaNorman. The movie was amazing! If it's still in theaters, I highly recommend it. The storyline was fully developed and heartwarming. Some of the scenes were painfully honest about children dynamics on the "playground." But there were some really cute one-liners and the character growth of minor characters was nice to see. Oh, the movie also used a unique zombie trope that was a pleasant surprise.

Then after the movie we went to a local resturant known for their Helltini - an incredibly spicy drink that's made with Hellwater, Fire Whiskey and a secret, spicy drink. Anyone who drinks it gets a free t-shirt saying "I survived the Helltini." I've done the Helltini twice before, but it still burned when I had a sip from my friend EL.  My cousin SR said that eating tomatoes will dull the burn, and it did! So if you're ever eating fire-inducing food, maybe eat a tomato as well.

Pretty much right as we finished eating, it started to rain and lightening was cracking against the night sky. It was oddly a perfect way to end the evening.

My mom, sister and cousin AC stayed in town for half a week in order to celebrate/explore my city. We went to my favorite museum to see works by Ansel Adams. It was nice hanging out with my fam for a bit. Even if my sister's cat, who spend the week with my kitties, established dominance in my home.

Then later that week, I met up with AW, BL, and MX in Boston for a picnic in the commons. AW and BL surprised me with a birthday cake and while I was blowing out the candles, BL played a youtube video of Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was really sweet, especially considering how the day before the surprise cake, BL asked me my ideal lunch and I joking said I wanted JGL to serenade me. hehe, it was really sweet and definitely a memory I want to keep.

And while most people have New Year's as the start of their year, I feel like birthdays are better indicators of what's to come. And if this year's festivals are the leading points, I know this year is going to be amazing!

Now, I'm off to work!

Love Always,
Joe

Getting Drunk

Dear Diary,

I've been getting drunk kinda of a lot recently. Haha, I don't have a drinking problem, it's just that one glass of wine knocks me out. For realz.

But I got drunk at the Maria and the Diamonds concert, which was awesome. The opener was fabulous. Emeli Sande is definitely someone to keep an eye out for. Even with some crappy acoustics (seriously, the TD Garden was not built to house concerts), we could hear her perfectly. She had such feeling and was so courtous, thanking us for coming to see her. Ugh, it was a great way to start a night.

By the time Marina come on stage, I was already drunk. But that's actually awesome because all three of us started dancing with these equally drunk Scottish boys. Maria was perfect! She had just as much power as Emeli and it was well worth dancing to!

We stayed for a couple Coldplay songs, but since I don't know any and GD doesn't really like them, we left after we saw the concert-y parts. Which were actually pretty cool. Everyone got a bracelet that glowed a color (there were a variety of colors) throughout the show. When Coldplay first started, it was awesome to have the arena dark and seeing lights of every color flashing. Just thinking about it makes me think of chasing fireflies as a kid. Only instead of just white lights, there were blasts of pink, blue, green, and orange.

After we left we went to Harp, a bar that was in walking distance. The cosmo I got was kind of strong, but overall the bar was nice. We talked with the bar tender until the concert ended properly and other concert-goers filled the bar. Since we were hungry, and the Harp's kitchen was closed, we went ... somewhere and got pizza.

It was a perfect night.

I also got drunk with these girls again, yesterday. This time we just bar-hopped. The night started in a communist bar and ended in an Irish one.

The communist bar was ok. The decor was actually pretty awesome, there was a fake nuke above our seats and the beer was good. The nachos were so hot! We couldn't even finish them! haha. The bar tender was also kind of rude and a little slow, but I think he was the only one working that night so I get it. Working alone is rough.

The Irish bar was... an experience. There were three floors. The top one was full of people, so we went to the  basement because there were drunk guys and we were hoping they would buy us drinks. They did not. haha.

But we did tequila shots and took drunk photos. We got some of Almost Captain America and Really Drunk Guy, but Rude Drunk Guy was being a dick so we left. Of course, all of this was before the rapping :)

I remember touching both GD and BL's boob and BL threatening to make out with me in order to stop me from repeating the Fibonacci Sequence. I also remember doing some algebra. I guess when I'm drunk I do math. That's cool? Oh! and on the train ride home, GD and I tweeted "Mean Girls" quotes to each other.

My internships end next Friday and I haven't started the final paper yet! haha, I need to get on top of that. I plan to do it this weekend. We'll see. haha

Love Always,
Joe

June and July

Dear Diary,

OMG, it has been sooo long.

I'm going to bullet point this update cause seriously, it's 5:30 in morning and there's just too much to say

• Not to Czech anymore.
• Got an internship with the Salem Partnership, but I've got to start doing some real work
• Screwed up my internship with Salem Sound
• Fucking up my internship with the university. -_- so mad at myself for that
• Didn't go to CG or HB party, that was such a mistake!
• Finished another pattern. I totally need to stitch more.
• CG (MP) picked a date!
• saw some dead things at the beach. It was kinda cool
• BL came home! 
• landlord getting ready to sell the building. I'm probs gonna move soon :(
• I've starting reading Steve Rogers/Tony Stark fanfic
• Thought about connecting SP. still haven't done it
• 4 of July. got to see SMC, which was nice
• rediscovered reading
• Mom's birthday. I really do love my family
• Kitties turned 1!
• held hostage in Ispwich
• Saw "Brave" and "Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter." Both were actually pretty good.
• Upset how people are making Merida from "Brave" gay
• Discovered "otherkin" and... just... wow
• Strawberry festival in Ispwich

I think that's it.

I promise more regular updates. Or I'll at least try.

Love Always,
Joe  

May

Dear Diary,

Since I pretty much already covered April, it's time to do May. Also, this entry sucks cause I'm not feeling very write-y and it's already June!!!!

First, school: my semester ended with a 3.2! Not fantastic, but nothing to scoff at. I got accepted to study in the Czech Republic. I'm still filling out paperwork, but Europe! It'll be exciting to travel again. I'm going to miss my cats for sure, but it'll be worth it.

I have a 6-credit internship,but I don't really want to talk about that.

I saw Ingrid Michaelson live. She was fantastic! She told a story, complete with a little jig. It was awesome.I record all but the punchline because my piece of shit phone died. The opening band was actually really good, so that's a plus. I should put the videos on youtube, but damn dude, I'm lazy.

My cats are almost 1 year old. I can't believe they're so young, it feels like they should be older. I've got two on the bed with me right now. hehe

I've got to sit down and make a timeline for myself soon or I'm going to forget important things. Shit, I just want to remember everything, even the crappy shit that makes me booze it up.

Ok, this went downhill fast. LOL

Love always,
Joe