matthew.

Seriously...what's up with the not being able to sleep thing!!! I can't fall asleep at night, and then I wake up WAY too early in the morning, sometimes in the middle of the night. The moon is my new best friend and I follow it's night adventures closely out my window. I think it has to do with switching medications because there is a shortage of the drug that I need to take on a daily basis and if I stop taking it abruptly it would most likely result in a heart attack. So I had to go on some other version of it. The pharmacist told me it would most likely make me even more tired than the med i was taking, but it turns out that "more tired" = "no sleeping". Maybe she meant it will make me more tired because I won't be able to sleep. The official side effects include sleepiness and insomnia, which i still find really confusing.

I guess I'll go get ready for work and get there super early.

So it's 2009. I spent the New Year attending some gatherings with old friends. First, Joey and I went to see his high school friend a few towns over. I had Jello shots and sangria and pigs in a blanket, along with some other assorted goods that together equaled out to my dinner for the evening. We then headed over to my high school friend Rosie's, where we played Rock Band ( I never got a chance to sing Bikini Kill however, yet it came up for everyone else's turn), drank champagne and then turned the kitchen into what I consider when looking back at the evening the best dance night in Metro Boston since Manray shut down years ago.

A lot has gone on in the past year, and when thinking back, it was mostly a good year. I started school in a program that I actually love to death. Joey finished his Masters program and found himself an awesome job. I spent the summer riding jet skis on the lake, hiking mountains and making s'mores by the campfire. I went on a few trips, went to a few parties and attended a few events that will leave positive marks on me for the rest of my life.

Looking ahead, I expect this year to be no different. I'm heading to LA in a couple weeks (I've never been before), then I start back at school the day after I return. This year won't be as enjoyable, as school will take up most of my available free time, with maybe three weeks off. In September, I start my year-long clinical which means I work full-time without pay. That's maybe the one thing I'm not jumping all over the room in excitement about, but it's only a year, and will lead to much better things.

I've also decided I don't have time to maintain friendships that leave me with a dissatisfied feeling. I want to surround myself with positive people. People who don't wear me out by trying to maintain their friendship. I've met/reconnected with some good people this year, and I'd like to foster those relationships more. They don't require extra attention, they just exist in their raw state and that's how friendships should be. I also have some of the best people already close to me, and I plan on keeping them right where they are, because they are amazing individuals.

So that's what I've got. It's not really an in-depth look at the past or present, but just a general overview. Oh...and my only real resolution of the new year? To know what I am going to be for Halloween by the end of September so that I can appropriately get a costume in order, no more of thisthrown together last minute Halloween costume crap.

I just went to see Letters to Cleo perform a reunion show at the Paradise. I feel like i'm 18. It was really weird, but a good weird. The songs rocked and it's as if no time went by at all. The most amazing part was that the Cleos are donating $5 from every ticket (2 sold out shows) to Jeanne, one of my most favorite bartenders in all of Boston. The money will help her pay for her medical bills, as she was diagnosed with cancer a little ways back. It really just hit home when Kay announced that they were doing that...totally unexpected and completely incredible. Not only did I get to see a kick ass show, but got to see that good still exists.

I was talking with Kay after the show, and she doesn't even know if Jeanne knows yet. They haven't talked in like 6 months. I just find that completely awesome. Thanks LTC, for a great show and for being good people.

I should probably try to be a better person.

So i was going to get lunch today at my local Whole Foods when this moron decided to almost hit me because following the law of the road was not something they cared to do. Then, he beeped at me because I didn't back down when he was being an idiot. I parked my car and got my lunch, came out and saw his car parked there, so i decided to leave him a little note:

Joey and I took the last three days of this week off from work. We were originally going to be in NH until Monday night, but then my mom had the opportunity to rent out the lake house this week, so she did. So now we aren't going until Saturday.

Instead of being in NH, we went and bought a new car. It's a 2008 Honda CR-V. Originally I had only thought I would buy a hybrid from this point on, but apparently sometimes I lie to myself. And then to buy an SUV on top of it? Well, apparently I just have no true beliefs. We have to go by tomorrow morning and finalize it all and then hopefully we'll be able to have it for the weekend.

I have to say I'm stoked to get a new car. Usually I trade in my cars every two years or so because I like to keep things fresh. I've had the Volvo for like three and a half years. It's definitely time to move on. She's been good, but she's gotten pretty beat up in the city, and well, who wants to drive an old car? (And yes, it seems I do. Because we still have the 1993 Volvo wagon, Lorelai)

The list is as follows:

1998-2000 ------ 1983 Dodge Aries
2000-2003 -------1998 VW Jetta
2003-2005 ------- 2003 Mini Cooper
2005-2008 ------- 2001 Volvo S40
2007-present ------- 1993 Volvo 240 Wagon
2008-present ------- 2008 Honda CR-V

So I've had my license a little over ten years, and have had six cars. I'm kinda greedy, huh?

Anyway. Next week I start school. Let the fun of having zero free time begin.

It seems as though I have completely forgotten about updating to LJ. I still check in occasionally, but have not written anything in a long ass time. I suppose that reading my friends blog elsewhere got me thinking about it again.

*sidebar* She posted a video I made for her on her blog a few days ago. That led to speculation about our relationship by her fans, so then I made another video to confuse them all even further. Anyway, the second video is here if you want to look at it. It's better than the first one I made which was completely boring. *sidebar over*

But now I think I should maybe use my journal more. I mean, I won't have time to do anything once I'm back in school in a few weeks. (okay, who am i kidding?) I just enjoy looking back on my entries years later, and now that I'm starting to see this huge gap develop, I want to step in and keep on making a record of my life. yup.

I was just reading through the archives of my life via LIvejournal, and i realized a bunch of people who I used to have online journal comment relationships with no longer have journals. and it's sad. I've been on this thing seven years.

so if you are reading this and we have that kinda relationship, just don't delete your profile without notice.

thank

yeah. i'm kinda in love with hillary clinton.

so i'm still pretty excited after last night's events. i went to the hillary clinton victory speech. we got there early and got against the barrier right in front of the podium, next to LA's mayor, ambassadors and congresspeople. after waiting and watching the results come in, it was the most uncontrollable excitement and joy when it was clear hillary was the winner. when she came on stage, the place went insane! i was so wrapped up in it i don't really remember much of her speech after she said what she did about NH helping her find her voice. amazing.

afterwards, we hung around and met not only hillary, but bill and chelsea too. they were are pretty incredible.

i know, i'm on the young side and i'm supposed to be for obama, but i just don't see it. i compared him to deval patrick (MA gov) who we elected a year ago. I believe actually they have the same campaign manager. But it was the same message of hope, and change and growth that obama is running on now. And i got wrapped up in it, devoted myself to the campaign, afterall, it was uplifting and a wonderful thought. Now, a year later, there is not really any promise he made that has been delivered. He blames the slowness of the legislature, but I can't help to think that it has something to do with his lack of experience in politics before he was elected. I fear the same result would come about from obama, and i'm not willing to do that to my country. experience does mean something afterall.

but more about why i don't think obama is the right candidate another time. right now i'm still relishing in meeting the clintons and being there to experience such an uplifting event.

Thank fuckin whoever that baseball is finally over. I could not take another night of getting completely wasted and staying up late and getting up early for work only to repeat the cycle. I'm totally excited we won and all, but I need to reclaim my life.

Friday I am leaving work early and am packing up the wagon for a drive up to NH to help furnish the new lake house. Papers are being passed Friday morning, and we will all be staying over for the weekend. I am staying until Monday, and am going to thoroughly enjoy it. I already picked out my bedroom when I went up for the home inspection. I think I made the right choice.

I've posted a few photos  of the place up on Flickr

I can not wait to be back up there. We already have two brand new three-person jet skis, a new jet boat, and a pick-up truck with a plow. I believe next will be snowmobiles and some quads. I can't wait. Being outdoorsy will be fun.

i don't have anything to say. i just wanted to write something.

i'm sitting here drinking, killing time until we leave to go see rilo kiley at avalon. i'm actually not really looking forward to the show, and not just because the new album is a musical disgrace. the fact that the show is at the avalon is crappy. it's a crappy venue. not as crappy as seeing a show at say, the roxy, but pretty damn near close.

i could almost just sell my tickets tonite on the street and i would be okay. however, the last time i did that with a band i had loved for years, it turned out to be their last tour, and that sucked. actually, that's happened to me twice. granted, their music didn't go downhill, i had just seen them so many times that the thought of being at a crowded show in the big ol' college town that is boston didn't really interest me much.

but we are going to meet up with phil and crew and have drinks at the bar in the back and laugh. seriously, have you seen the live video for rilo kiley's "Smoke Detector"? hilarious. in an uncool and i'm totally making fun of what you've become kinda way. and generally, i'm not that person anymore. but it's always fun to return to my youth. because how do you expect me to not poke fun at a dance in which the hand motion is the hand motion you use to take down/put up a smoke detector. i shit you not.

tomorrow i study all day.

sunday i go to NH while the home inspector inspects the new lake house.

So joey and i bought another car this weekend. We've been looking for a while and really wanted an old volvo wagon. We finally found one with low miles and in good shape and we got an amazing deal on it. Here she is:





I can't stop driving it! I love it. I want to trade in my car for another one.

I also have to apply to the program in a few weeks so I can actually officially start my schooling. Hopefully that will come together smoothly. I'll have my current professor write a letter of recommendation, along with the cardiologist. I don't need the letters, but I don't think that it will hurt to have them.

oh yeah. my mom is also buying a cottage in NH on the lake we used to have a place on. This one is much bigger and on an acre and a half of land. It also has like 4 bedrooms and two baths, so i guess it's a little more than just a cottage. I'm pretty stoked about it. Next summer I'll be up there all the time swimming, jet skiing, boating, kayaking...etc. Can't wait. It'll also be great for winter weekend getaways to go skiing and snowmobiling.

i finished my class today. i will get my grade by friday. i do not expect to get less than an A-.

I am also going to the beach on Wednesday for the first time this year. who's comin?

Tonight I made friends with a three legged opossum. I named her Hespa. She is my favorite opossum.

When I was a child, I used to be seriously afraid of them....the opossums. Once, I was heading out to the mall with my mom. I decided to start the car (because it is really cool to do when you are like 9) and wait for her. WELL! I stepped out onto the porch and down the steps I went.

THERE IT WAS!

An opossum. With it's large body and long ass tail, sitting under the bushes next to the car. I screamed. I screamed so loud my mother thought I was being attacked. ( I was...mentally...).

I ran back up the stairs and onto the porch. I had locked the door behind me when I left, so I wedged myself in between the screen door and the front door. Yes, the ever protective screen door, keeping out mosquitoes and burglars since the good old days.

Somehow I manged to shut the screen door behind me and I trapped myself in the safe haven of screen and wood. My mother opened the door and I ran in. It was then I realized that I had literally jumped out of my shoes. I left them sitting on the front porch under the hanging light that lit my way to freedom. I left them there. A monument to the fact that I escaped such danger at a young age.

I didn't go back outside that night. It took a while for me to get comfortable with going down those front stairs in the dark. I somehow managed to overcome the fear of seeing an opossum under the bush, near the car.

Ever since then however, I have had an odd paranoia about the opossum. That is, until, this evening. Joey and I were playing cribbage on the back porch of my mom's house (she was away and we were looking after the property). We heard a noise and I investigated. Nothing was there on the porch, although it sounded like there was someone walking around. Then, I got a flashlight and looked under the porch. I couldn't really see anything....



UNTIL!

My line of vision realized that there was an opossum 10 inches away! She was just sitting there, not moving, petrified of what predator I might be. I watched her walk away and I snapped a few pictures of her through the lattice. As I watched her wobble away to the front of the house, i noticed she was having difficulty. It was then saw that she was missing her rear left leg. More precisely, her tibia, fibia and foot. Her femur seemed to be intact. (Thanks A&P 1!!)

I went back up on the porch and got a blueberry out of my sangria. I went back down and found her again and left the blueberry near her.

Me and Hespa, you see, have a history. Although she is not the same opossum I met years ago, I did see her at the beginning of the summer with her young (the appropriate name for baby opossums, i googled it.). I watched her walk through the yard and stare me down as she did so.

I can only imagine she escaped death from the grips of one of the coyotes that lurks the neighborhood. i hope that she will survive, but I know, deep down, I'll be removing her body from under the porch in a matter of weeks. Poor Hespa.

dear livejournal,

i just want you to know that i still think about you often....it's just, i tend to blog more frequently on myspace.

it's nothing personal. it's me, not you.

i promise to try to be in touch with you more often.

love,

matthew

Okay. Here's the deal.

Joey and I just returned back from CT where we went to see our friend Ashlin's band, The Eames Era, play in New Haven. You may have heard of them from me, or perhaps you remember hearing them on Grey's Anatomy. One of their songs of the new album was also used as the theme to MTV's "I'm From Rolling Stone".

They are playing here on Sunday and are from Baton Rouge, so they don't get up these parts often. I was reminded just how amazing these folks are on stage after seeing them live again, and I am urging all of you to come on out for this show.

Yeah, I know it's a Sunday night. Yeah, I know it's Father's Day. But I don't ask you all for a lot, and this is one thing I am sure you are going to fall in love with.

Check out their web site: TheEamesEra.com

i just had a really great time visiting some local music venues.

I originally was pulled away from studying because shari told me juliana hatfield was playing a few songs with frank smith at the middle east. So obviously i had to go out for that. I hung out at TT's with shari and listened to Brendan Little's set. He's really good with a band, and i like him a lot. Then I went downstairs to the mideast. joey met up with me there. we bought the frank smith/juliana hatfield cd and listened to frank smith and band (not sure if they have a name or not). It was some pretty good shit, then juliana came on and sang one song. not bad. The album, which i bought from her, at least has her vocals, so it's pretty rock.

Then we went upstairs to TT's again and caught Kevin Devine's set. WOW. if you have not heard/seen him, you need to do so. Shari convinced us to stick around for his set and i'm glad she did. He was pretty impressive...and if you know me, not just anyone can impress me musically. check his shit out. He's playing again on July 25th...who's coming with?

I just ate a peanut butter sandwich and now i'm gonna go to bed.

okay.

so i've been pretty busy the past couple of days. yesterday i left work early so that i could attend my first class. it was a good time. my professor is sarcastic and fun, so i know this will be a good 7 weeks. I have a quiz tomorrow though, so i've been studying like whoa. i almost know all i need to. and i need to learn it in the next few hours cause i am heading out to dancing later.

today, i had to leave work early again to go to the dentist. I was there for an hour and 45 minutes. we took off my front tooth, or rather, the fake part of my front tooth. ( i fell on it and broke it in half when i was like 11. ) it was turning darker so i decided to finally pay for the cosmetic dentistry. My dentist also lasered my gums to raise them. oh yes, that's right, lasered. the smell of burning flesh is a wonderful smell, no? especially when rachel ray was on the flat screen tv attached to my chair. anyway, they look pretty good now. and i am getting them laser whitened before i get the permanent tooth on, so i can have a perfect smile. The dentist also buffed my teeth or something so that they are all even at the bottoms. yeah. my first cosmetic improvement. i'm pretty sure this is the end of my cosmetic surgery days though.

anyhoo. i should get back to studying so i can head out and start drinking. later yo.

It's the day I always knew would come. I always hoped it would take longer to get here. but no. Due to strenuous production schedules, writers who are no longer up to par and a myriad of other reasons, it's over. Tonite will be the last new episode ofGilmore Girls.

I know. I know. It's just a TV show some will say. But no, it's more. So much more. What other show makes reference to obscure music and pop culture references as much as this show had? What other program would discuss the quality of music Rilo Kiley put out pre Jenny and Blake dating and post Jenny and Blake dating? Where else would one see Sonic Youth playing in the middle of a small town as a bunch of traveling musicians in a town that lost it's troubadour? Where else will I hear the "ba ba ba ba's" of Sam Phillips' voice? And what about when they had on Barbara Boxer? That's when I knew it was all too good to be true.

I should stop myself before I begin an evaluation of Lorelai's character played so lovingly by the wonderful Lauren Graham. Never was there a meal cooked on that stove in the old victorian home in Stars Hollow. Pop Tarts and various cheese items ruled the menu. Classic movies were always on TV, including Riding the Bus with my Sister, the made for TV movie in which Rosie O'Donnell plays a mentally handicapped woman.

I am going to start consuming the alcohol now and I'll heat up the Pop Tarts in a little bit. I know I have 7 seasons of shows to fall back on once they are added to my DVD collection. They will be my most prized possessions. There are so many memories. Even when Lorelai decided to go off and marry Christopher, I stuck with the show, and I'm glad I did. The end is here. Rory's all grown up. Lorelai and Luke...who knows what will be. Emily and Richard. Friday night dinners. Sarcasm sarcasm saracasm. Life will go on without the Gilmores.

And yes. This posting is entirely serious. In lieu of flowers, please send me copious amounts of alcohol and take-out to my home.