on the fourth of july!

Drove past John Wayne on the way home tonight and almost cried. Why can't I just forget?

Dr. John's Fourth of July party was fun. I mostly hung out with my mom, laughed a other peoples' adorable babies and played a few games of pool. I beat both of my parents and lost to a thirteen year old. Some kids can actually be pretty chill though, when they're not obnoxious. There were six kids I was hanging out with in the pool room at one point. Two pairs of brothers and then one brother and sister. In each pair, the younger sibling was always the annoying child. Funny how that works.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the cookies my mom and I made this morning. They were oatmeal and chocolate chip, and the whole plate got cleared off before the fireworks started. We could see three different fireworks shows from John's balcony, all fairly close. Fireworks are pretty fun to watch. I really enjoy the ones that leave trails of light in the sky, or the ones that fan out and turn into dozens of smaller explosions. (in the sky?)

On our way there, we stopped at the Albertson's by my best friend's mother's house and it made me feel so nostalgic. Every time I'm near or in Tustin, I really really miss living there. We got some drinks, including a few Kahlua Mudslides which I would highly recommend. They are delicious. I had one while we were eating and before I even finished, I lost balance while I was squatting down and fell on my butt. That led to plenty of jokes about how I'd had too much to drink. Highly embarrassing. That was the only drink I had, but when we were in the car my dad told me not to get too carried away with myself. Anyone who knows my dad will understand why this is humorous.

It's still fairly early but I'm extremely tired. I think I'm going to see the Proposal with my mom tomorrow, or maybe we'll see Up instead. I'm not sure yet.

day nine - on food and music

Currently listening to: "At the Bottom of Everything" by Bright Eyes from I'm Wide Awake It's Morning.

Tomorrow night, Takota is playing their first show at Chain in I don't even know how long. They haven't been promoting it all that much outside of the confines of their Twitter followers so I'm not entirely sure what to expect in the way of crowd turnout. They're also opening the show, so that could be an influential factor. My parents are going to go for their set and leave, but I'll probably stick around for the whole thing. Or maybe I won't, considering I'm not familiar with any of the other bands' music and I'm probably not going to be feeling very well. We'll see.

I'm excited to see the guys though. It's been far too long and they are sort of the poster band for my love of local music. Takota and Filmspeed/NOGH were definitely contenders for the top spot. I always counted Pistolita in that category too, even though they were from San Diego. Once you throw in Dead Letter Diaries/Eye Alaska, it's a nicely rounded out little list. It's really gratifying once you've seen a small band enough times that they start to recognize you and you can tell that they really appreciate you being at their shows. I think my top two favorite things about live music are being friendly with the bands and the energy you feel in a crowd when everyone is singing along at the same time. That's what makes going to shows worthwhile to me. That's what makes feeling old at nineteen and dealing with all the screaming pre-teen girls worthwhile. Though I suppose enjoying the music I do pretty much sets me up for that, but I don't mind. When the music starts, nothing else matters.

So in order to celebrate Takota's return, I've decided to make cookies from scratch, which I've never done on my own before. I'm going to make them tomorrow and bring them to Chain. I'm almost equally excited for that and the show itself. There are very few meals I can make other than breakfast, but I'm learning slowly. My mom has been having me prepare dinner some nights so it'll be ready when my parents get home and it's kind of fun. I tend to like the preparation part of a meal more than the actual cooking - the chopping and slicing and mixing and whatnot, probably because I like the preciseness of measurements. It's easier to know what you're doing when you can just follow directions. When it comes to knowing that a course is done cooking though, I get a little unsure. I guess, like anything else, I'll get more comfortable with practice.

I need more ideas for what to blog about. Suggestions are welcome. :)