So much better than a ticket stub :-)

Ok, I admit it. I'm kind of a concert t-shirt addict.

Sure, by the time you're at the show you've already shelled out plenty for the ticket itself- and the shirts are undeniably overpriced-- but there's nothing like the thrill of getting to a concert and pushing your way through the throng to see what treasures the merch. booth has to offer.

There's usually a variety of snazzy/clever/catchy shirts to choose from (bonus points if they actually have the tour dates on the back, making it even more of an epic souvenir!) I usually only ever intend to buy a shirt from the headliner- but sometimes the opening act's shirt is just too awesome to pass up, and I end up with a double-header.

You just can't beat the joys of the "morning after" when you get to don your concert tee with pride. It always serves as a great conversation piece. "Oh, did you go to the show?" someone will ask you. Suddenly you've been given the perfect opportunity to reminisce just a bit- reliving your favorite moments from the performance.

Yes- I'm a concert shirt addict. I have a closet full of "souvenirs," and I wouldn't have it any other way :-)

"My Life Would Suck Without...GLEE :-) "

What could be better than the upcoming return of "Glee" to television, you might ask.

Well- there are few things that fit the bill, but the chance to see all of the beloved "Glee" stars live on-stage, belting out fan favorites from the show just might do the trick.

That's right- the "Glee LIVE" tour will be hitting the road soon, and it promises to be one of the most anticipated live music events of the summer.

The tour is tragically short- hitting only four cities- but I will definitely be doing my best to catch one of the shows. The chance to "Gleek" out to my favorite singing pseudo-high schoolers live on-stage is just too good to pass up...

Life's Short- Eat Dessert First (Or at Least ORDER it First!)

This one's so simple- yet so brilliant!

A friend and I were looking for a quick dinner spot before the recent Third Eye Blind show (see yesterday's Best. Thing. EVER!) when we stumbled upon Max & Erma's burger joint.

It looked tasty, affordable, and didn't have an enormous line out the door-- so we knew we'd found just the spot for a pre-concert bite. Little did we know what kinds of joys awaited us just inside :-)

As we perused the dessert section of the menu, something immediately caught our eye. "FRESH, HOT COOKIES" it said. And they mean "fresh!" All you have to do is make your desire for cookies known when ordering your entree, and they go put your batch of cookies in the oven to bake while you enjoy your main course. (It's a great ploy to make sure they get you to commit to a dessert order early on before you have a chance to decide that you are "too full" on your entree) ...Then, like magic, a cookie sheet full of piping-hot, ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies was brought straight to our table at the end of our meal. Amazing.

"I want something else, to get me through this, semi-charmed kind of life"

The other night I got the chance to see Third Eye Blind in concert at the Norva in Nofolk, VA- and I absolutely loved every minute of it.

While rocking out to old "classics" such as "Semi-Charmed Life" and "Jumper," I realized that there's really nothing like getting to relish in the awesomeness of bands that are a blast from your Middle School past.

In fact, I hadn't had quite that much fun at a live show since I saw Mark Hoppus and the other thirty-something man-children of Blink-182 take the stage last September.

Oh- and while on the subject of Third Eye Blind- here's one extra little tidbit of awesomeness. In the otherwise lackluster movie The Yes Man, Jimmy Carrey uses the song "Jumper" to coax a suicidal man off oh his rooftop. It's a delightful patch of randomness, and it's definitely worth a look!

Best. Souvenir. EVER!

So my family made a recent pilgrimage of sorts to the little town of Mount Airy, NC... fondly known as "Mayberry" because of its claim to fame as actor Andy Griffith's hometown.

I was bummed to miss out on experiencing this little gem of pop culture... but thanks to the souvenir they sent me, I can still have a little taste of Mayberry right here in the comfort of my dorm room!

I am now the proud owner of "Mayberry's Finest Chocolate Chunk Cookie Dough Muffin Mix," and I can't wait to whip it up and see how it tastes... I'm sure it will be just as delicious as if Aunt Bee had made them herself :-)

An Early Taste of the Summer Movie Hype :-)

With the release of How to Train Your Dragon this weekend, it was like a sneak peek at the forthcoming excitement of summer movie season.

Sure, it's basically three months of excessive hype and omnipresent marketing gimmicks... but I'm a sucker for all of it.

But seriously, in the case of this movie, what's not to love??

You've got a kindly reptilian sidekick that's so bizarre-looking that it's absolutely adorable, a fun, Celtic-style score (with a little Sigur Ros thrown in), the vocal stylings of sexy Scotsman Gerard Butler, and a full-fledged McDonalds Happy Meal tie-in complete with containers that can be transformed into horned viking hats!! What's not to love?

Netflix Knows Me All Too Well...

So today I logged into Netflix, and the welcome page greeted me. As usual, a plethora of film suggestions appeared based on what Netflix claim to be my demonstrated movie taste.

Normally these suggestions range from treacly family fare to straight-to-video action b-movies... a bizarre assortment which never ceases to baffle me, and pretty much never results in me hitting the "add to queue" button.

But- today- Netflix finally got it right! Apparently the "system" has finally made sense of my eclectic film tastes-- because the suggested sub-genre of films which it recommended to me was entitled "Romantic Movie Starring James Stewart." It pretty much doesn't get more spot-on than that where my cinematic interests are concerned...

Thankfully I got a screencap to preserve the moment while it lasted-- by the next day the homepage had reverted back to its old ways, recommending Vin Diesel flicks and and obscure educational videos... but it was nice while it lasted!