sinking into the lava. can't keep myself from going under.

man oh man.  i am declaring this the week of argue.  i don't like arguing with people.  and this week i've done it TWICE!  so lame.  

anyways.  there are like, flies everywhere.  it's gross.  

i'm tired tonight.  i'm working, also.  btw.  3:30-10pm baby.  

went to sleep last night around 4:30am.  woke up at 6:45am.  downstairs by 6:55am.  work until 9am.  i wore my fancy sweat pants because i wanted to look nice.  hehe.

slept from 9:30am-1:45pm.  i was supposed to get up at 1pm.  but, i didn't.  and i would have kept on sleeping if Ruby Tuesday hadn't awoken me by licking my arms.  she was ready for breakfast.  

so i got up.  fed her.  she went right back to sleep.  i had some waffles.  watched Veronica Mars.  ooo so good!  so much drama.  

and then tonight is the big Entourage night.  oh, i'm so reluctant to watch it because i know it's the last one.  

this summer i have watched:

-  All 3 seasons of Heroes

-  All 5 seasons of Entourage

-  Season 3 of Weeds

-  Season 1 on Veronica Mars

wow.  am i proud of that?  you bet.  should i be proud of that?  ehhh...it's probably debatable.  

so, in the near future, maybe later on tonight after i'm finished crying about Entourage, i have a post i want to write.  it's a cover song post.  i've been really into cover songs lately.  

MORE SPECIFICALLY covers that normal folks do on youtube.  i really had no idea that people use youtube as such a creative outlet.  i think it's pretty cool.  and i want to show you all the great covers i have found.  so, you should start getting excited right about now.  i'm excited about sharing them with you.

ANYWAYS, that will come later.

what i have to tell you about now, is the great day i had yesterday!  we're talking about wednesday.  9 september 2009.  great day!  i hope you all had a great day too.  

i woke up at 12:50pm.  nice sleep.  had some breakfast.  watched some Veronica Mars.  and then i was thinking about my speakers.  and i went onto Best Buy and looked at what they had to offer me.  not really impressed.  and the cheapest were like, $55.  not ideal.

so then i thought, "hm, what about Radio Shack?"  i looked up speakers at Radio Shack and was very surprised at what i found!  

- 3 piece speaker system for $32!  and it had 22 customer reviews, 4.5 out of 5 stars.  win!

and!  they had a great, "search for this item in your local store" option.  great.  every every every retail website should have this option.  ESPECIALLY Hollywood Video.  

so, i got dressed.  drove over to my local Radio Shack.  i was kind of nervous about going in there.  just because it was a store full of electronic things that i generally don't understand/can't afford.  

so i walk in and this Radio Shack lady comes over and asks,

RADIO SHACK LADY:  Hi, what can I help you find today?

JULIE:  (thinks about just looking for the speakers myself....and then decided, ah, what the heck, i'll let her help me.)  Hi!  Um, I'm looking for some speakers.

RADIO SHACK LADY:  Speakers, um, okay.  What kind?  Like, big ones?

JULIE:  Um no, tiny ones.  I actually was searching for some online, and found some that I think I like.....(i told her all the information i knew)

RADIO SHACK LADY:  Um, ok.  Let's see over here....

(we walk over to the speaker section)

RADIO SHACK LADY:  I don't really know anything about speakers.  I'm new here.

JULIE:  That's okay, I don't know anything about speakers either.  But, these got really good reviews on your website.

RADIO SHACK LADY:  Oh, really!?  Wow, that's great.

JULIE:  Yeah, that was the deciding point.  Um, but what is this other part it comes with?

RADIO SHACK LADY:  Um, I think that's the subwoofer.  

JULIE:  Oh, right...

RADIO SHACK LADY:  (turns to other RS employee)  Is this the subwoofer?

OTHER RADIO SHACK EMPLOYEE:  Well, yeah!

JULIE:  Great...  Well, I'm just going to get these.  

RADIO SHACK LADY:  Okay!  I'll get the box for you.

she was the best.  i COULD NOT have wanted a better or more inexperienced Radio Shack employee.  she was perfect.  i wanted to be friends with her a lot.  if i had a 'let's be friends' business card, i might have given her one.  she seemed cool.  and we bonded over our cluelessness of electronics.  and at one point, i did think for a second, "wait a sec, she should kind of know something about this...."  but then decided, "no, i like it better that she doesn't."

so, it was just great.  i was so, so pleased with my speaker buying experience.  

and i remembered how i felt before going in to buy my memory card for my camera, and then meeting up with all those great Best Buy employees who were so helpful.  that was a fun day too.

SO THEN!  i was in such a great mood that i thought, "well, i'll just check out the guitar center over here since i'm in the mood for experiencing new things."  

i knew of this place called Blue Mountain Guitar Center.  i knew about it because it is right next to the Midas i took my car to to get that really, really expensive brake job back in the winter.

so, i headed over.  now, i really had no idea what i was in for.

i walk in and it's all these middle-aged guys with long grey hair.  now, these guys, were the best guys i've ever met.  ever.  they were so cool and so incredibly nice.  

GUY:  Hey, how are you?

JULIE:  I'm good, how are you doing?

GUY:  Pretty good.  Can I help you with something?

JULIE:  Yeah, that'd be great.  So, I have this guitar, and I've had it forever, but I don't know how to play it.  So, I guess what I'm looking for, is a really basic, beginner book.

GUY:  Do you have the guitar with you?

JULIE:  No..

GUY:  Ok.  You might want to bring it in sometime just so we can take a look at it to make sure it's still in good condition and everything.

JULIE:  Alright.

GUY:  But, let's take a look at some of the books we have....

and we go over to the books section.  

GUY:  What type of music do you like?

JULIE:  Uhh....piano-folk-rock...music...

GUY:  Great!  Because, that's important to know so you can pick a book with songs that you'll actually want to play.  So, what I would do, is spend a couple of minutes over here, take a look through the books, and see what jumps out at you.  Maybe there's something in this book that connects with you more than in that book, ya know?

JULIE:  Yeah, sounds great.  Thank you so much.

he was great.  and i found a book that i liked.  it came with a CD.  i was excited about that.  and it was only $10.95!  i believe it is of the Hal Leonard variety.  

so then i needed some picks, because i couldn't find my box of picks at home last weekend.  so i go over to a different counter and talk to a different guy.

JULIE:  Hi!  I am looking for some guitar picks.

GUY 2:  Okay, do you want (names a bunch of fancy kinds...)?

JULIE:  Um, just normal kind...?

GUY 2:  Alright, over here....  so we have thin, medium, and thick.  

then he explained all the brands and prices.

JULIE:  What is the difference between playing with the different kinds of thickness?

GUY 2:  It depends on the type of sound you want.  (and then he explained it all.)

JULIE:  Hm.  Well, I think i'll just get one of each!

GUY 2:  Sounds great.

he was awesome.  those guys were so nice and so easy to talk to.  i want to work there.  i almost asked how much the drum sets were.  but, i didn't.  because i remembered that i don't actually know how to play drums.  

so!  i left the store with a great book, and three great picks.  i was so happy.  in such a great mood.  and then i listened to a great Jonas Brothers cover song (that i will post for you later) the whole ride home. 

it was such a great day.

and then i got home and set up the speakers.  i had to google, "subwoofer" to try and figure out what it was.  

so, a few weeks ago, i was riding in the van with the two residents.  and, they were blasting their Eminem music and so we got to talking about hip hop and rap and such things.  and then one of them said, 

RESIDENT:  My boyfriend has the best car.  He's got these huge subs in the back.  It's so awesome.

and, i'm thinking, "what the heck does he have subs in his car for?"  and i kept thinking, "sandwiches?  submarines?"  and THEN, after probably a good 45 seconds of trying to figure it out, i was like, "ohhh wait a minute, she means subwoofers."  and i knew it was a music thing, but didn't know what it did.

so, i looked it up yesterday.  now i kind of know.  but not really.  it's just this little box that sits on the floor.  and it's like a personal speaker for the bass.  i think.  

the speakers are quite nice.  i am very happy with them.  nothing fancy.  i simply just wanted to replace the decent ones i had, and i did that.  but, i guess they seem like kind of an improvement because of the sub.  but, whatever.  

and the first song i played on them was, 'Microphone' by Coconut Records, because i think i mentioned that that was the song most affected by the non-working speaker.  and it sounded great!!  i was happy.

and then i played guitar for a while!  with my new book!  i learned the first two strings.  i can play Ode to Joy.  and "Spanish Theme."  oh, and "Untitled."  it's pretty great.  

and then i talked to my mom on the phone for a while and that was great too.  

had supper.  watched Veronica Mars.  

Ruby was doing this thing last night where she would jump up on the counter and cry really loud.  and then i would go see what was wrong, and she would climb up onto my shoulder.  this happened three times.  

and she had some tortilla chips on the floor with me.  i really like sitting on the floor and eating.  in the kitchen.  i do that a lot.  i'll sit on the floor and eat chips and salsa.  or, crackers.  it's nice.  

OK.  it's 8:41pm.  thursday night.  i've got some work to do before i head back upstairs to home.  so, i'm gonna do that.  

TOMORROW I CAN'T FORGET THIS.  and i keep forgetting about it.  i have a tour to go to at 3pm of the Birthing Pav at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.  The Birthing Pavilion.  i'm pretty excited because i've never been there before.  and also because i now have a reason to say "Pav" again.  

remember the "Party on the Pav" that Kerianne and i helped planned?!!?  we had a ribbon cutting!!!!  best party on the pav ever.  

OK.  go do your work so that you can go upstairs.  

i guess it's been kind of a rough night.  i'm definitely not on the good side of one of these girls.  haha.  i called upstairs to check and make sure she was doing her chore,

JULIE:  Hi...is this Girl 1?

GIRL 2:  No, this is Girl 2. Want me to get her?

JULIE:  Yes please.

GIRL 2:  GGIIRRLL OONNEEE!!!!

GIRL 1:  (in the background)  Yeah?

GIRL 2:  Julie's on the phone.

GIRL 1:  UUUGGHHHH.

i just had to laugh to myself.  teenagers, right?  right.  she'll be fine in the morning.  

alright.  NOW it's time for me to do some work.  i'll talk to you later.  have a great rest of the night!!!

<3