There's A Few Things I Should Say Before I Make My Way

Sorry, but you're going to have to deal with a lack of posting. My computer's being a royal pain in the ass these days, and I just try to ignore it as much as possible to be honest with you. Hotmail, Facebook and any sort of videos are pretty much inaccessible and the pop ups are killing me. Plus, as usual, I have nothing to talk about.

The Audition's Self-Titled Album came out today! Buy it! It's great!


Madina Lake's From Attics To Eden also came out. I had already owned that though. Heh.


The headache that was Jane Eyre is finally over and I managed to not completely bomb the test. We're onto another book now, a contemporary book of our choice at that. I'm reading Naughts And Crosses. Ever heard of it? Me neither, not 'til now anyway. It seems pretty good though.

This is going to be a pretty lame countdown since I don't plan on posting a lot, but here goes:

How long until The Believers Never Die, Part Deux Show?: 20 days!

I can't believe I'm announcing this on the internet of all places, but most of you have probably also heard that me and my mom and sister will be attending a Jonas Brothers concert this summer as well. I'm not going to lie, I am excited. But we'll wait to start that countdown. Please don't humiliate me too much.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Everybody Is Someone Else's Secret - The Audition

"Dear Radisson, I don’t know how to work your sleep number beds.. sorry. Love Nick"

Nick Santino makes me think I should get a Twitter.

Danny Stevens, I'm sorry you're kind of hideous-looking, but I still love you.

All Time Low's song is on iTunes now, but thanks for all the funding offers. Pfft.

"Dear people at fast food Japanese places, Your use of chopsticks doesn’t impress me, there are forks right next to them."

We got chocolate in English today from the AP English class. Almost as cool as snow.

Chemistry is owning my social life. Thanks.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Sleep, Everyone... - Powerspace

My Cat Is Sitting On My Arm Like An Evil James Bond Character's Cat

Don't worry, I really am alive. Although I must say, influenza B sure does take it out of you. And it takes you out of two weeks of school too, which sucks. A lot. So, if you were expecting a lot of detailed postage since I've been tardy, I'm afraid you will be disappointed, because laying immobile on a couch for two weeks does not create a lot of interesting blog material. I can tell you one thing tough; daytime television is awful. There is a reason that people get jobs - other than the fact that one needs to eat - and go to school, and that is because there is absolutely nothing on TV from about 9 until 4. It's positively atrocious. Same as Jane Eyre. Mr. Rochester's a total creeper, the book is bizarre, it's assigned reading, which I hate, and it's just all around painful to read. Classic literature, my butt. I've yet to find a redeeming quality. But, we did have a snowball fight in English today, so I guess there's one good thing that has come out of the last few weeks of class. And this snowball fight was not outside like most snowball fights are, this was in the middle of the English wing, in Mrs. Klawonn and Mrs. Harvey's classrooms. I didn't see what the other room looked like, but after the entire AP English class pelleted us with snowballs, the entire floor was covered in snow, along with the whole class. Mrs. Klawonn, on the other hand was hiding in a corner of a room while we took the hits. Very classy. It was all in good fun, though, and it pretty much made my sophomore year. I have pictures on my phone.

Now, some of you may have been left confused by that last paragraph, but you see, we live in South Dakota. We get freak spring snow storms in April. Six inches on April 4? We are not bothered. All of that snow melted on the roads by April 5? Whatevs. It happens.

There's a few new things rocking my world in music these days, and I will grace you all with those because I am a nice person.

All Time Low's new song from the new album Nothing Personal, Weightless.

Clips from two new The Audition songs from the new self-titled album.

Nevershoutnever!'s new song Losing It.

Cobra Starship's new song Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We're Famous.

Also, Madina Lake's new album Attics To Eden leaked and I listened to it. If anyone else would like a little preview, just say so and I can show you where to listen. But, can anybody tell me who killed Madina Lake? It's so different. I kind of like it, but Madina Lake was different than everyone else, and they were good. What happened? Does anybody else think The Audition's album should also leak because it sounds like it's going to be freakin' awesome?

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Folkin' Around - Panic At The Disco
P.S. If anybody has the funding to purchase All Time Low's song, feel free to send me a copy.

this is my town, THIS IS MY PRIDE, these are my friends, this is my life

Well if you need to know anything about cloning in the next several days I'm the one to ask, apparently. I just finished a three-and-a-half page essay about the godawful subject. Grace and I coauthored the lovely paper, and I'd say it's pretty good myself. If you'd like to read it, just ask. I'd love to give you a copy. And anyone can feel free to hop on MSN and proof-read it. It's only a huge chunk of my grade... And my mother is off to Arizona, so she's not here to comb through it. Yeah, you did read that right. Not only did my parents leave me and my sister home alone two weekends ago to go to Minneapolis without me, but now my mom has jumped on a plane headed to Arizona to celebrate her parent's fiftieth anniversary. Life's rough, I know. But a weight is off my shoulders now that this essay's done. I extremely dislike English papers.

In other news, it was GORGEOUS outside today. Obviously warm enough to launch a hot-air balloon, because I saw one on my way home from school today. Bizarre, I know. You don't need to tell me. Sure, it was wonderful at fifty degrees at ground level, but up in the air? Most likely not. There's probably an icicle-encrusted hot-air balloon laying about the city somewhere with a dead body falling out of the basket. Or maybe I've been watching too much Supernatural.

Well there's your first February update! I figured you wanted one, but that's about all I got.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Pages - There For Tomorrow
P.S. Despite popular belief, there's still four more days to endure before the five day break. FRICK!
P.P.S. Our power went out today when I sat down to write the English essay today. DOUBLE FRICK!
P.P.P.S. I have noticed that no one is attempting my lovely contest. It can't be that hard, people! Not even one comment! FRICK YOU!!!

The Life And Freakin' Times

Well, after being jipped of my All Time Low concert and taken to freakin' Disney World, this just had to happen. The time some decent bands come to Sioux Falls for an event not related to LifeLight, the only band I go to see cancels. I don't blame The Cab. They haven't said anything as far as I know, but bands only cancel if something bad happens, such as an illness, injury or van breakdown, etc. How would they make money otherwise? It's not their fault, it's just my luck.

Life is not looking up, especially after this little incident. After missing a week of school, my grades are suffering. I only have A's in Spanish and Psychology, my easy classes. Everything else is not good. B's in Geometry and English, a D in Chemistry and I am failing Modern Civilization. Seeing as I usually keep straight A's, this is not a good ordeal. My parents get pissed if I have B's, and midterms are coming home this week. Chemistry I completely don't understand, I wouldn't be surprised if that grade just sank lower and lower. Mr. Bechard is frustrating, and he doesn't really teach ANYTHING. We have a multitude of homework today, that I haven't completed due to my lack of understanding of ANY of it. Modern Civ, I'm not worried about, which sound odd. But, I just missed a test and Mr. Pooley entered the grade and mine is listed as missing. I intend to make that up tomorrow afternoon, and then I will have at least a B. I'm fine in that category. After the stupid English project is over, I won't be so stressed over that. There's no hope for Chemistry, but all I can do is pray that I understand it eventually.

We're studying stress in Psych these days, and I can't help but think of myself. Mr. Aukerman even found some stress tests specifically for me. I didn't take them, but the message was clear. It's not just me feeling I'm stressed out. It's obviously noticable. I don't seem to sleep enough every night, I always feel exhausted and brain-dead during school. That mindless feeling does not help me concentrate in the least bit, and I wonder why I'm bombing things and getting bad grades in classes.

Oh, yeah. I missed a freakin' week for the Happiest Place On Earth. Looking back, it wasn't magical. It only caused pain now.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: The Unwinding Cable Car - Anberlin
P.S. I'll post some Disney World pics on Facebook eventually. After I get out of this hellhole.
P.S.S. 3 days

"Pull those traveling pants out of your bottom drawer and come join the sisterhood."

I need to have a pack stain remover pens on my person at all times.

Last night, Jordynn and I went and saw Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street the musical at the Washington Pavilion, and it was there that I had a little incident during intermission...Red wine is awfully...red... So there was this guy who had a full glass of red wine in his hand, and for whatever reason I wasn't looking where I was walking and ran straight into him. Nonetheless, I'm glad I wear more black than I should. This guy certainly wasn't as emo as I though, for his nice WHITE button-up shirt lost the battle with the red wine. He was NOT happy. He didn't use his indoor voice... Oh well, there were a lot of richie-riches at this shindig, so he can just go buy a new $95 shirt and $15 glass of wine and get over himself. I still feel bad though, I was just waiting for him to come rampaging through the Great Hall, mass-murdering his way to get to me. My paranoia was not helped by the fact that we were at SWEENEY TODD. Which was great, by the way.

In non-Melanie-accident-related news, and in the light of another musical, Forgive Durden continues to blow my mind. They (or I should say Thomas Dutton, since everyone else walked out of the band), have a new album (but it's not really an album at all), coming out at the end of this month. It's called Razia's Shadow: A Musical. Several singers from other bands play characters in the plot:

• O The Scientist - Casey Crescenzo (The Dear Hunter)
• Bawaba Brothers - John Baldwin Gourley (Portugal. The Man), Kris Anaya (An Angle)
• Narrator - Aaron Weiss (mewithoutYou)
• Gargul The Oracle - Danny Stevens (The Audition)
• Toba the Tura - Chris Conley (Saves The Day)
• Sangara - Daniel Young (This Providence)
• Barayas The Spider - Max Bemis (Say Anything)
• Princess Anhura - Greta Salpeter (The Hush Sound)
• Pallis - Brendon Urie (Panic At The Disco)
• King Malka - Nic Newsham (Gatsbys American Dream)
• Doctor Dumaya - Shawn Harris (The Matches)
• Nidria - Lizzie Huffman (Man in the Blue Van)
• Adakias - Thomas Dutton (Forgive Durden)
• Ahrima - Thomas Dutton (Forgive Durden)

Everyone should go check it out at the ALBUM WEBSITE. There, you can see illustrations of the characters and hear clips of their parts. It's really quite amazing. Also, you can pre-order Razia's Shadow for only $12 at the Fueled By Ramen Store and you get the special edition, with the script in everything. I've pre-ordered mine, and I'm very excited. The first single, Life Is Looking Up, is also available wherever you get music from. It's really cool, and I may or may not be listening to it right now...

Well, I think I've advertised that enough for one day, so onto something else.

I hope I don't fail my Literary Analysis for English...I turned it in at Turnitin and it said I plagerized 8% of it without quotes from To Kill A Mockingbird. I didn't plagerize though, so this worries me. And since the school district only accepts a maximum of 3%...

School gets me down, so forget that.

Uh...REMEDY DRIVE. They're coming again! I'm pumped! October 15th, I'll see you there! Also, in much bigger news, the Plain White T's are coming to the Expo Building on the 18th of November with Meg & Dia and The Cab. IT'S HUGE! Bands suddenly like our humble, lifeless town!

More advertising. Wow. I should look into being a telemarketer...

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Belong With You - Remedy Drive
P.S. Anberlin's new album, New Surrender rocks!

Rule The World With Latex!

"We'll put condoms on their hands! 'You're fingers won't get pregnant today!'"

Apart from my sister being devil-child, the week has gone well. Finished all end of the year projects, and it feels good. Botched up the oral interp., we'll see how far my catapult goes tomorrow (more on this later), etc. Yesterday I met up with our new pastor at church and the other three girls who showed up and I had a great 2-hour conversation with her. Very deep. She's really nice, and I'm kinda disappointed that I won't be in her confirmation class.

Also this week in English, we met with Mrs. Klawonn (pronounced: klah-vonn, what a weirdo) and discovered that we have homework over summer. That bites. And apart from that, we have to write an essay AND take a test in the first week we get back to school over said homework. At least Wallenberg didn't give us hw over the summer break. I miss her already...


The above pictured is a rat trap, as compared to the regular bobby pin. Yes, I think it could kill small children as well as rats. Or at least crush my hand. You see, this is what Catapult A is made of. And yes, my hand has been crushed on the occasion. My knuckles do not look well. Some of you may also be asking "Catapult A? Are there more than one?" Why yes, there are. My dad got a little too into the project and made his own contraption, or Catapult B, if you would. Furthermore, it launches tape balls a good 50 feet if it goes well. So, if my science teacher accepts his simple machine, I think I got the competition in my palm.

The Widget thingy at the top updated today, and I suggest you watch the new videos. They're pretty funny, and the effects for the Honda Civic shows are sure to be amazing! And Panic's improved live from what I can see, and that's always good...

On a final note, the trailer for Twilight, the movie, was released yesterday and it has me ecstatic among other things. Go HERE to watch it.

Days Until the Panic at the Disco Concert: 23

What is Melanie listening to right now?: This Is Our Town - We the Kings

Pretty Harmless As Far As Super Villians Go

I PASSED MY DRIVER'S TEST!!! I'm SOOO happy! So now, I'm officially done with driver's ed, and you won't have to hear about it ever again. And I (hopefully) won't have to drive that silly driver's ed car, or see our instructor ever again. That would make my life.

In other news, while one half of South Dakota was being struck with 6 tornado touch-downs, the other side got up to 48" of snow. That's the size of a small child, if you didn't know. This little tidbit leads into the fact that I'M FINALLY DONE WITH MY GLOBAL WARMING SPEECH. I don't think I did too shabby, 230/250 is good enough for me. And Ms. Arbogast said that I'm in her "top three" best speeches. All is well. Now all I need to do is make a catapult and do my oral interp. presentation, and hopefully all the crappy end-of-the-year projects will be over with. God, I can't wait until summer.

Piano recital this afternoon. Wish me luck, so I don't make an 88-key fool of myself.

Well, to add something interesting...

Days until the Panic at the Disco Concert: 28

Still holding out for a hug from Ryan Ross.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Moving For the Sake of Motion - Underoath

Title Under Construction

So a lot of weird stuff is happening at school these days. And I'm not just talking about the Teriyaki Chicken Chunks at lunch today... But, I'm not quite sure who or what to believe, so if I'm a little stressed out - you probably know why.

Today in Hellth, we did all diseases and impairments of the female sexual system along with childbirth, and boy, do I not want to have children. Ever. Or use tampons... Wehrkamp ruins EVERYTHING. Not that there's much you can ruin about menstruation.

Would you find it weird if a person my age walked into the library, got one novel and about 15 children's books? Because I thought it was odd, and I didn't have to check myself out. (Not like that...)

The number of times I've almost killed me and other people while driving has drastically increased as of late. Lane changing is a lot harder than it looks, sheesh. And your car shifting to Neutral basically on it's own in the middle of a turn on a busy street is not a good thing either. On Saturday, I started driving with our instructor for the exam. I. Hate. It. I've relayed the whole story several times, and I'm not about to type it up, either. Too much mental pain...

Well, those are my thoughts for today. Piano recital coming up next weekend, and I practiced once this week. I have to give my huge, semester test controversial speech this week, finished it yesterday, and our Oral Interp. presentations and catapault start on the 5th and 6th of May. God, I hope school is almost over. I can't handle these huge projects anymore...

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Clouds - The Morning Light

...So He Picked Up the Cow and Flipped It Over

Lots of excitement this week/weekend. My ears are shot, I'm exhausted and have a ton 'o homework. Not really, but I do need to finish my speech, find an Oral Interp. piece. Maybe get started on that stupid catapault thing. So really, more homework than I want.

But back to the excitement, 'cause there's really nothing more lacking in excitement than homework... On Thursday night, Maddy, Alissa and I trooped down to the local college to see a concert of the LifeLight kind. Bands included were: Bread of Stone, Remedy Drive, and Building 429. If you enjoy any of those, you were probably there...or went/are going to one of the other dates. It was great, though. I made a new "friend" with the drummer of Bread of Stone, but I won't go into the details here. Remedy Drive was amazing (we went there to see them), and Building 429 made Alissa want to have a child. Ask if you want, it's not as bad as it sounds. We left the concert with tons of merch (all Remedy Drive too, they don't lack in merch...), pictures with band members, and posters signed. All around, Thursday was a highlight of my week.

Last night, me and my dad went to the Blue Man Group at the arena. They were very...blue. And entergetic, exciting, fun. If that's not an oxymoron... The Blue Men and band were great. The music was amazing, and they played Baba O'Reilly. I was going to be disappointed if they didn't, but they didn't let me down. I can't even explain how fun and funny it was, so just go see a Blue Man Group show. Scroll down for pictures...

The Blue Men

The Blue Men and Band

Alissa, Paul (Remedy Drive Guitarist), Me

Remedy Drive Bassist, Philip

I've got like, two folders of pictures from the concerts, but I'm not gonna post them. I'll think you'll all live. I've been lacking in Favorite Songs of the Weeks. I'll post one for this week, and we can all say that I've posted one every week.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: The Feel Good Drag - Anberlin

You Are the Cheese to My Macaroni

Long time no blog. I figured today would be a good opportunity to report, as something interesting has finally happened. Not only is our toilet clogged beyond belief since SOMEBODY *coughcoughMattiecoughcough* dropped a cup in and decided not to take it out before another somebody decided to use the restroom and promptly flush down said bodily wastes, but we got a new cat. That makes three animals in the house, not to mention my sister and dad. Max - the other cat, who has gone through several family pet line-up changes himself, and never was happy about them - is definitely not liking the new addition. Whereas Otto - the dog - stands outside my door whining to play with her. Do you think the cat wants to play? I thought not. But here are some pictures...

She's a 6 month old tortie cat, spayed, affectionate, insane, etc. She also doesn't have a name yet, so feel free to give us ideas, otherwise she'll just be "Kitty" and we're more creative than that, aren't we?

In other news, I have $0.02 on my iTunes account and, even better, new music! Feel free to ask if you need any recommendations. Also, I will probably fail my Persuasive Speech on Global Warming. And does anybody happen to have a nice Oral Interp. piece or a catapult handy? Projects galore in 4th quarter, I'll tell you what. Tomorrow we have a half day, going in to school at 7:30 and coming back home at 12:30. Isn't that lame? Who plans inservices on Wednesday? Fridays if they're going to make us come to school at the crack of dawn at all. I have an eye appointment right after school gets out too. What an awful day.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Ambulance Chaser - Search the City
P.S. Juno comes out today.

You Really Have a 50% Chance of the Answer Being NO...

As I sit here making a playlist of my all time fave songs, I remember I haven't blogged for a week. So now I will write my little heart out for all you readers, while listening to some Chiodos (I just realized that they ARE good, and I haven't listened to them for a very long time).

Yesterday I wrote a pretty nice essay for English in under 2 hours, which is really good for me. Somehow I don't think I'll be able to do that with my Global Warming Controversial Speech, though. Maybe I should stop procrastinating? Nah...

Have you heard of Jared Leto's new book coming out? It's called The Eco-Friendly Murder, and he's supposedly writing it under a pen name. Kait has all the new info, so tune into HER BLOG. She's working on ordering like 50 copies and getting Jared to sign them all, so keep your fingers crossed...

I really don't have a favorite song this week, either, so I hope you weren't looking forward to something new and exciting over here... Go listen to Pretty. Odd.? That's my favorite song of the week. Pretty. Odd. And Chiodos. They're pretty good.

That's all I got for you for today.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Intensity In Ten Cities - Chiodos

Fancy Guitar Chugga-Chuggas

Why have I not been posting as of late? The real question is WHY DON'T I HAVE PANIC TICKETS?!? I'm gonna be SOOOOO pissed when they're sold out without a nice seat/floor space for Melanie. Beyond the fact that everyone will be going to two concerts that weekend, I will be alone - possibly not even going to one. At least I'll have Alissa to pout with. Let's all cross our fingers that she'll be able to join the rave in Council Bluffs, minus the electronic dance music and ecstasy. (Well, I could be surprised at what Pretty. Odd. will sound like...or what designer drugs are used in Iowa.)

It's been a pretty good week. I finished my English project and gave the presentation of said English project...AND DIDN'T FAIL! Which is always good. I also didn't have to give a speech or write one this weekend. I had no homework, therefore allowing me to have a social life again. Too bad me and the little satan were home alone all weekend, thus limiting above-mentioned social life. Oh, and she had a child. What does that make me, an aunt? Ick.

I've driven a few times since we last...read. I almost killed me and my mom and the groceries on our driveway. That would be why there's a giant Prius-shaped indentation in our snowbank - going UP the hill. Who put that snow there anyway?

I really need to watch more movies. I'm thinking DVR. Free movies On Demand = hours of entertainment. And they're cheaper than buzzing out to see what's playing locally. Since they're free.

More random thoughts next time...

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Shameless - All Time Low
P.S. Ryanguy thinks I'm cute. E for EMO!

Jump The Gun

Sorry for the lack of posting. I've been a little swamped with procrastination, the occasional homework assignment and disease.

GUESS WHO CAN GET HER LEARNER'S PERMIT?!?!? It only took two tries...but I'm SO GLAD DRIVER'S ED IS OVER! I can't even express it in words. Now we move onto the driving portion. I can only think of one thing more frightening than me on the road...me on the INTERSTATE going +65 mph. At least once I get my Learner's I can practice driving legally with a person over 18 years of age between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. (see, Melanie WAS listening during DE...)

I also got over the fact that Elizabethan England sucked and finished my project last night. It's pretty good for being written in under two hours with no experience prior. Now I need to work on that presentation...

How much do the new Schedule Regulations suck, people? I think we should picket! Gather the wood and paint my fellow freshman! I've already taken a semester of P.E. and I'm taking Hellth. And now we hear one has been a waste of time? PICKET!

On a lighter note, here's a few bands you should all listen to and enjoy:
- Daphne Loves Derby
- Edsion Glass
- Driving East
- Number One Gun
- Flight 409
- FM Static
- Haste the Day
- Kill Paradise
- Sullivan
- The Send
- Test Your Reflex

Also, one person we haven't heard about recently, my Sweater Guy, likes to run into people. He ran into me today and afterschool basically bowled down Zoey. We won't mention what happened after that event...including Rich dramatically falling to the floor in front of Crushing Barbie Chick. Which was funny. At least my Sweater Guy hasn't DISAPPEARED OFF THE FACE OF THE PLANET. Remind Alissa to find a new one.

I'd like to finish with a quote from Jack Handey I came across today: "If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason." And if that doesn't make you laugh, go put a "Kick Me" sign on your FACE.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Dismantle.Repair. - Anberlin
P.S. Yes, the Rice Krispie wrappers ARE different.

Another Fork Stuck In the Road

This is probably the best day of my life this year. Not that I can even remember back far enough to know... After Driver's Ed, otherwise known as "Waste of Life" or, in simpler form, "Hell," me and my mom took a little trip to the Last Stop CD Shop. One of the most amazing stores EVER. And I got, not only Dane Cook: A Vicious Circle on DVD and a couple of games for Wii, but a BRAND NEW iPOD!!!!! I'll probably earn myself back problems from it's sheer size in physical and capacity forms. It's an amazingly emo (you should see its scars from cutting itself...) black 60GB BLACK iPod. Except for it being a little scratched up, it's my new best friend. Sorry, guys...

Whatever shall I name it? Third Time's A Charm?

In other news, I must register for my Sophomore year by tomorrow and my cat is trying to stuff himself in my CLOSED backpack. I have a speech on John Lennon (flower power!) due Tuesday and must present my English project in a little under two weeks. Yeah, that English project I haven't worked on at all.

What is Melanie listening to right now?: Thank You Ending - Number One Gun
P.S. Innards still shoved to the opposite side of my insides.