Day 103: Goodbye, July

I tend to think of the blog in terms of months. And each month tends to have its own distinct feel, and for whatever reason things tend to be wrapped up near the end of a month and I'm ready to move on to new things in the following month. As a writer, it makes me think of story arcs in serialized fiction. The big-picture things slowly play out to a conclusion while the day-to-day aspects take up most of the spotlight on any given day.

Continuing with that thought (as geeky as it is), the past few days felt like the finale of an arc in my story. I moved out of my summer apartment and into a friend's place for a few weeks. The move began on Thursday with a trip to the storage unit; I threw some unessential stuff in there until I need it again for school. Yesterday, I moved my remaining belongings out of the apartment, and set up shop in the living room of the new place. Today, after hanging out with Caitlin and Meghan in Miromar, I finally managed to clean out the spare room and move my stuff in there. Including my bed.

I promise I'm not sleeping directly on the floor. There's an egg crate there.

No matter what, the stage is set for an interesting and exciting August. I look forward to some new experiences.

Hold on
Just stay strong
Isn't that what you always say?
Disappointment is a feeling
But failure is a disease

Song: "Wonderwall" by Oasis. Mid tempo pop rock.

Day 102: The Light That Overcomes Us

I continued riding the sweet victory of the previous day, packing everything up and listening to music while the sun shone through my window. There's something to be said for solitude and packing. It's relaxing and cathartic.

Later I got all my stuff in the car and moved it across the street. The bunny and I are staying with Matt and Jeb for three weeks before school starts up again: it should be a great time to recharge my batteries and get some good hang-out time with the guys.

It's hard to understand
But I know that this was always the plan
The summer heat can't change the facts

Song: "Come Sail Away" by Styx. 80's progressive rock.

Day 101: We Could be Untouchable

It's a cool picture (at least in my opinion) but unfortunately it doesn't even begin to capture the essence of my day. That's my bad.

Everyone needs a victory every once in a while. A lot's gotten me down recently, as I've stated before in this blog before. And on top of that, my keys have been missing for the past few weeks. I'd never lost my keys before and I was a little annoyed, but I figured eventually they would turn up. Well, weeks went by, and it was coming time for me to move out and turn in the keys. I was getting more and more distressed over the fact that they hadn't turned up eventually, and I feared that I had lost them to the abyss and I'd have to pay whatever ridiculous fine that the shady management here deemed necessary.

Well today, the day before I had to move out, I finally found them.

It sounds so small, but honestly, it's the little things. It's exactly the victory that I needed. Not everything will go wrong.

I spent the rest of the night doing preliminary packing while listening to music. There was a serenity and a peace after finding my keys, and I just wanted to continue living in that moment where everything was right.

Let's go down to find
The very thing we're seeking
Sand will take us there;
The river leads us home

Song: "Sidekick" by Man Overboard. Mostly acoustic pop punk. This album just came out but it reminds me so much of some of the music I listened to back in high school. And for some reason, really encouraging for me right now.

Day 100: The Commitment

I honestly didn't know if I'd make it to Day 100 in this blog. It's a larger undertaking than you'd think, or at least than I thought. It's a huge commitment. There's been some rough patches along the way. No doubt, this has been the most difficult month so far when it comes to keeping up with everything.

But getting to a hundred days gives me a resurgence of energy and drive to see this project through. There's still so many things I want to do with the project - photos I hope to take, poems I want to write, songs I want to share. I want to make sure I get to accomplish all these things.

As summer winds down and it becomes time to move on to new adventures, I'm left wanting to soak in everything that I've enjoyed about the summer. It's been a rough time for me emotionally and financially, but there's a lot that went right. And a lot of good memories. Day 100 will always be remembered, especially when I see the photo for today. This will always be known as the photograph I almost got arrested for taking. Apparently you're not allowed to walk along train tracks that are owned by the Seminole Gulf Railway... they'll cart you to jail if they find you. Luckily we left just in time. It was a funny experience though, and one of the memories I'll always have.

It's taken me this time
But now I realize
What you have and what I've got
Nothing brings you down

Song: "Skyway" by The Replacements. A perfect little song with a simple acoustic arrangement and a simple structure. It's a two minute escape from reality. Within this song, everything's alright. I smile every time I hear it.

Day 99: Behind Closed Doors

This is basically my attempt to make the Build-a-Bear Workshop look as creepy as possible (click the picture to make it bigger). That white stuff is the cotton stuffing that is placed in a glass cylinder and violently beaten by four long sticks for hours upon hours. The yellow bear is the sentry, he keeps people from getting too close to the machine and figuring out the company's dark secrets. And I can only assume that the lamp and table in the background are there to lobotomize any heretic bears that try to expose the company for what they are: horrible. Just awful.

Build-A-Bear? More like Build-An-Army! These bears are getting ready to take over the world, one workshop at a time.

My friends, we must prepare... for the Bearpocalypse.

Leave the sorrow at the door
When you stay in here, nothing comes
Set your troubles free and stay awhile.

Song: "The Bird and the Worm" by The Used. Creepy song for a creepy blog post. Well it's not really creepy, just a little unsettling. In a really cool way. Just listen to it. It toes the line between post-hardcore and alt rock.

Day 98: The Dog Who Stares at Doors

Bacchus and Butters seem to be a tag-team on my blog, they're always complimenting pictures of each other. There's a reason for this. Take a good look at this picture, really study it. At first it might seem normal, but after a while you should start to realize what's wrong. It's a dog, staring at a door. And he's been doing that ALL DAY.

You see, I'm pretty sure Bacchus is in love with the bunny. Every chance he gets he goes up to the closet door and just stares longingly, hoping for even the briefest glimpse of his furry friend. Whenever I open the door to my room Bacchus immediately comes running in, so he can stare at the closet door and silently contemplate how awesome it would be if he could get inside and find the bunny of his dreams.

I'm glad I do this blog, because otherwise, years from now I might not remember how silly this dog was.

Beyond the obvious I don't know what went wrong
But I don't care.
It doesn't have to be this way.

Song: "Back to You" by Fighting Instinct. Southern-tinged rock. Can I just say that Fighting Instinct is a great band name that was totally wasted on this band, because they made one album and disbanded. They showed a lot of potential but some touring and time in the studio could have results in some awesome jams. Now nobody gets to use the cool band name. Lame.

This song is pretty good though.

Day 97: His Name is Butters

Something had to be done about the bunny pooping everywhere. Now he's got a a home where the ground is edible and he can poop all over it. I leave the cage door open for him so that he can hope out and into his Bunny Suite on the second floor of the bookshelf, but he seems to like it in the cage as well which is cool.

I'm told that rabbits will pick one corner of their cage to use as a toilet, while they will sleep in another corner and you can put water and food in the remaining two. This is not the case with Butters. He will poo anywhere and everywhere, he will hop from one side of the cage to the other and make ten poo's along the way. He will sleep underneath the water bottle and he will throw his food bowl around with his mouth. Long story short, he's not the brightest crayon in the box. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. He's not the... he's dumb.

When I wash away, decay, and all is rust
Will you run away, turn, say, we are more than dust

Song: The acoustic version of "Fixed at Zero" by VersaEmerge. At first glance it's a Paramore knock-off, but there's a moodiness and experimental quality to the music that Paramore has largely ignored on their later releases. Still catchy and poppy but slightly darker than what similar bands are putting out. Some really cool lyrics too, which are more evident in the acoustic version as opposed to the full band version.

Day 96: Scrim and Crumb

Behind the Holiday Inn at Fort Myers Beach there's an entire underground rugby ring. I'm probably breaking the first and second rules of the rugby ring just by talking about it. Guys and girls both get together and fight on the sand dunes for ultimate domination. There's tents everywhere, and everyone just has a really good time beating each other up and pretending they know how to play football.

Dana's friend plays in the league so we took a trip out to the beach to watch them play. It was worth the massive sunburn that I got. Unfortunately the day ended on a sad note as one of the girls broke her leg while playing and had to be rushed off to the hospital. Nobody ever said rugby was safe =(

Help me find the reasoning in this
You're always on the move
And you show no signs of stopping

Song: "No Reason" by Sum 41. An energetic blend of punk and hard rock. I can see myself running around a rugby field while listening to this.

Day 95: Initiative

On boring days I usually try to take pictures that I can be creative with somehow. This picture didn't turn out too great but it was fun experimenting and messing around a little bit, especially since I didn't have anything incredibly noteworthy to take a picture of.

Kindred spirits who seem so out of sync
This is but the ordinary.
Polar opposites for being just the same.

Song: "Different" by Acceptance. Catchy and melodic alt-pop. Piano, strings and acoustic guitar all lend to the atmosphere.

Day 94: And After

...And ended at around 2am on July 22. It took me a while. I had never cut my hair before, so I wanted to make sure I did a decent job. I was worried about doing the back because, like, I can't see it. But I used two mirrors and I think I did okay. At least I hope so.

We made a bunny bed for the bunny today. Originally I had given him an old sheet to sleep on, but he peed on that of course. Now there's a towel on the second shelf of the bookshelf in my closet. I didn't even know he could reach the second shelf, but since he can and there's a comfy looking towel, he seems to spend most of his time just chilling up there.

Maybe I was wrong to keep you.
You're generous but selfish,
And I don't need your pity
Nor your condescension.

Song: "World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies. Also on my haircut soundtrack. It is one of the happiest and most depressing songs ever. Listen to it and tell me I'm not right. Indie/acoustic. (Thanks Matt for showing me this one.)

Day 93: Before Everything

My friend Brandon got into town so I spent the day hanging out with him. You know, showing him all that Fort Myers has to offer.

Brandon, I don't know WHAT this is, but you are clearly PARTICIPATING!

If you've been following my blog, then you know that I mark all the days in which I get my hair cut. Well ladies and gentlemen, my last haircut was on Day 29. Twenty-nine. That was like, over 60 days ago. This has mainly been an issue of not being able to afford a haircut, but enough was enough, and it was time. I just decided to do it myself. My haircut started just before midnight on July 21...

Maybe I don't need your comments
Or your lessons or your smirk
Your approval was desired
But I'm not losing sleep

Song: "Two Weeks" by Grizzly Bear. This song was part of the soundtrack to my haircut, lol. Indie pop with really intriguing vocal harmonies.

Day 92: Modus Operandi

I'll remember July 20, 2010 as the day that a murderer was hiding out across the street from me. Good times.

The picture is of the line of cars that was stopped from going into the Country Oaks community. There was a police blockade while they searched for the suspect. A few days ago he and his partner in crime broke into a house in Cape Coral and it ended badly. They caught his partner but hadn't gotten a hold of this guy until they pulled him over just outside Country Oaks. Somehow he managed to evade capture and ran into the development, which is how this whole mess happened.

We can grab a drink
You owe me
We can catch a show
You'll show me
Nothing nowhere seems alright

Song: "Phoenix With a Heartache" by Kids in the Way. Emo/ alternative.

Day 91: I'm Not Tired and I Have Listened

My camera isn't great at capturing objects in motion, but it did a surprisingly good job here.

A thousand days
A thousand suns
A thousand times I said I'm sorry
A thousand nights I spend in silence

Song: "Breathe Me" by Sia. One of the most moving songs I've ever heard. Seriously. So raw and universal, tender and understated. There are very few songs that I can listen to over and over. But this is one of them. Listen.

Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And the worst part is there's no one else to blame

Be my friend
Hold me
Wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
And needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Ouch, I have lost myself again
Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found
Yeah I think that I might break
I've lost myself again and I feel unsafe

Be my friend
Hold me
Wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
And needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

Day 90: There's a Bunny in My Bathroom

Adding to the list of things that are in my bathroom but shouldn't be, the bunny was living in there last night and most of today. Turns out he's not a big fan of tile, though, so I started transitioning him to a life in my closet. I wish I could let him roam free, but there's two problems with that. One, he chews wires up when you're not looking. I don't want this to happen. Eventually I'll rabbit-proof all of my electronics, and make it so he can't get lost underneath my bed.

But the other problem is that Bacchus freaking loves this thing. As soon as he found out about the rabbit, he started stalking my bathroom door, and later my closet door. And since Bacchus can very easily open doors with his mouth, this is a huge problem. We did an experiment to see how they would react to each other. The bunny played it cool. Bacchus just about lost it. So they have to remain separated, lest we have another dog-chases-bunny-around-the-house-and-terrorizes-him experience.

Once was quite enough.

I'm longing for a return to form
Allowing us to fall back into grace
And be amazed
While cities fall

Song: "Captivated" by Slow Coming Day. Emo/ indie rock. Heartfelt lyrics, and a huge climax.

Day 89: There's a Bunny in My Bed

I should start from the beginning. I had been wanting to get a bunny for some time, but for various reasons it never happened. But I did tell Jesse that I wanted one, so he went out and got one this summer to have in our dorm for next fall.

But as he was moving out of the dorms today he needed someone to hold the bunny for him so that the RA's didn't notice while checking him out of his room. So he dropped the bunny off at my place. While he was here though, he admitted that he was soon going to give the bunny back to the pet store.

I told Jesse that the pet store probably wouldn't take the little guy back (or would they?), so I offered to keep him for a few days while I figure out what to do with him.

Soooo he's been hanging out on my bed. And under it. Dana came home to my feet sticking out from underneath my bed as I was trying to capture the wily rascal. We figured out it was a two person job. One of us has to flush him him out and the other has to be waiting to grab him. He's a fast little sucker.

The days we'd fight for each other
Where have they gone?
Are they not remembered?
And why have they lost?

Song: "Losing a Whole Year" by Third Eye Blind. 90's alternative rock.

Day 88: Use Your Eyes

Bacchus and I went on an adventure today. We walked around Coastal Village, I took pictures and he peed everywhere. He stopped to smell these flowers for a while and it turned out to be a pretty cool shot. Then he peed on them.

Fervently running forward
Like a melody run loose
Nevermind all the distractions
What we see is living proof
Live unafraid

Song: "Boy Lilikoi" by Jonsi. Jonsi's the lead singer of Sigur Ros, an Icelandic post-rock band that will no doubt be featured on this blog at some point. This is a song off Jonsi's debut solo CD, which, if you know anything about Jonsi, was destined to be awesome before it ever came out. This man can do no wrong. It's a post-rock influenced pop song with soaring melodies and inspired percussion. The poem and picture mesh well with the song, in my opinion. There's an unabashed optimism to Jonsi that is both infectious and refreshing.

Day 87: Shades

Don't know if you can see the rain, but it was pouring.

The truck stops never seemed to stop
Just like you never seemed to stop being so proud
Endless, but noble

Song: "No Rain" by Blind Melon.

Day 86: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Bacchus is dog-tired. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and he's been fighting like cats and dogs. Every dog has its day, but it doesn't mean we should give a dog a bad name. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, that'd be like the tail wagging the dog. Call off the dogs because this dirty dog is done up like a dog's dinner. Bacchus is top dog around these parts. But if you lie down with the dog, you'll get up with the fleas.

It would... be like a dog with no bone. Like a blind dog in a meat market. Put a dog off the scent...
Doggone it.

Alright you got me, I'm just putting on the dogs at this point.

...This blog post has gone to the dogs.

Nevermind the truth of it
We were always getting tired
Still asleep here
Still in coma
For a little while

Song: "You're a Wolf" by Sea-Wolf. Could have gone with "Hungry Like the Wolf" or "She-Wolf", or anything by Steppenwolf.... or anything by Wolfgang Motzart... okay I'm done. Indie rock. (Credit goes to Matt for showing me this song a few months ago)

Day 85: One Shot

July 13, 2010 started with a trip to the emergency room because my friend split his finger open at work. The story behind the injury is pretty boring, so until he comes up with a better one I'm just not going to share it. We got to the ER around 1am and waited there three hours before they slapped some glue on his finger, gave him a tetanus shot, and sent us back out the door.

I almost didn't want to use this picture for today because, the way I've been thinking of it, I only get one chance to use a sunset picture for the blog. Only being on Day 85, I keep asking myself, "Is this the best sunset picture I'll be able to get all year?" I finally realized that the answer is no. There will always be sunsets, and chances are one will come up that's even better than this one.

But I don't want to sit around and wait for that to happen. This was an amazing sunset by my standards, and even if it isn't the perfect picture, I'd rather capture something incredible than sit around waiting for the perfect one. At the end of the day, I'm proud of the picture.

And if another one comes up, well, I don't see the harm in having two amazing sunsets in the blog. So we'll just consider this "Awesome Sunset #1".

This isn't gently, darling
Onslaught, I don't call this compassion
But stay here. Please stay with me.
I'm still lost.

Song: "808" by Olivia the Band. Great summer jam from an awesome pop/punk Hawaiian band.

Here's 365, Volume III. In my opinion it's the most consistent batch of tunes yet. It's the first time I've done a themed week of music (Folk Week), but it's also got a lot of variety. Hope you enjoyed!

57. Half-Acre - Hem
58. Letters From the Sky - Civil Twilight
59. Resurrect Me - Jon Foreman
60. When Paula Sparks - Copeland
61. Shine On - Needtobreathe
62. Cut and Move - Day of Fire
63. Made of Stone - Envy on the Coast
64. Since I Left Your World - Rookie of the Year
65. Recovering the Satellites - Counting Crows
66. Emotion - Subseven
67. Shadows - Red
68. Lithium - Nirvana
69. Gravity - The Fold
70. Natalie Portman - Team Sleep
71. The Attic - Fair
72. Under My Skin - Skillet
73. Hey Jude - The Beatles
74. Daylight - Matt and Kim
75. In Transit - Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz
76. Fireworks - The Wedding
77. 3 Rounds and a Sound - Blind Pilot
78. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
79. Rolling Sea - Eliza Carthy
80. Desolation Row - Bob Dylan
81. Lost America - Jack Savoretti
82. Furr - Blitzen Trapper
83. Who Knows Where the Time Goes? - Fairport Convention
84. Just Breathe - Pearl Jam

Day 84: Snubbed

I finally looked at all the Emmy nominations today. Some of them are awesome and unexpected. Kyle Chandler and Matthew Fox for lead drama actor? Didn't see those coming from the Emmy voters, but it's completely deserved. And I'm ecstatic that NPH, Ty Burrell, and Eric Stonestreet got nominated for best supporting actor in a comedy.

But there's a couple of missing candidates here. While the above 3 all deserve to be nominated for supporting actor, a few others needed to be mentioned alongside them. For one, Donald Glover from Community. He is consistently awesome, especially in almost any scene where he's crying and yelling. Nick Offerman absolutely needed to be nominated for Parks and Recreation. He's Ron Effing Swanson! Duke Silver! That episode where he's completely immobile in his chair due to a hernia is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen. Completely snubbed by the Emmy voters.

In the dramatic supporting actor category, Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn both got nominated again for their work on LOST. The problem is, they weren't anything special this season. Emerson barely got any material, and Terry O'Quinn was much better in past seasons when he was just playing John Locke. The Emmy voters got lazy on this one and voted for actors who had already won. Josh Holloway and Nestor Carbonell deserved the nomination much more this year. Neither of them have won before, and they have been the standout castmembers this season. As this was the last season of LOST, they totally deserved at least a nomination.

I could go on and on about what they got right and what they got wrong, but this isn't a blog about entertainment, so I guess I'll stop.

This is an assassination of character
To go from quirky flaws to their
extreme conclusion
And watch you fall apart

Song: "Just Breathe" by Pearl Jam. A chill, acoustic song to close out another volume of the 365 soundtrack (will post the full list of Volume III tomorrow).

Day 83: Unhalfbricking

I have a few pictures of my guitar on the blog already, but I always think it makes for an interesting picture, especially when I don't do anything else newsworthy during the day and my guitar is always nearby.

Bigger dreams mean longer scenes
As of now, we're living
But slip into dreams with you
And suddenly we're falling

Song: It's the end of Folk Week =( The last song is "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" by Fairport Convention/ Sandy Denny. I think it's a fitting end to the week. It's laid back and nostalgic, with a cool electric folk sound that hasn't really been explored much in the week's other songs.

I really enjoyed doing the themed week, it allowed me to pick some songs that otherwise probably wouldn't have been included in the blog, and I hope at least one person found a new song or two that they liked.

Day 82: Drawn Into the Pack

I didn't get a chance to hang out with Jenn and Kyle on the first day of their visit to Fort Myers, so I made up for it today. I don't think we'll ever outgrow swingsets, or ziplines, or jungle gyms. Or at least I hope we never do.

Let's shout about it
You're happiest when fine
But only for a time
So let's shout about it
For tonight

Song: "Furr" by Blitzen Trapper. All the familiar elements of folk music are here, but it's put together so well that it's still a fun and refreshing listen. Blitzen Trapper is one of the few indie bands still making listenable music that doesn't sound pretentious or overwrought. There's an easiness and laid back quality to this track that a lot of modern, forward-thinking music just abandons. Folk isn't supposed to be an inaccessible or complex genre.

Day 81: The Bubble Room

The Bubble Room is a tiny little restaurant located on Captiva Island. Tiny halls and stairways lead you further and higher into the restaurant. There's a full Santa's Wonderland exhibit (it's always Christmas time here), each table is next to a fish tank, and the waiters are called Bubble Scouts.

It's awesome.

After chilling at the beach on Sanibel I ended up going to the Bubble Room with my friend Jake and the rest of his family. Good service, excellent menu (the fillet mignon is called The Great One, and its name doesn't lie), and if it were a little less pricey, I would definitely recommend it just for the quirky atmosphere alone.

Now you come returning to the fold
With stories and you know? You always were the one that was there

Song: "Lost America" by Jack Savoretti. Upbeat track with some great musicianship and vocals. Lyrics that bring folk back to its Dylan-inspired roots, political yet nostalgic.

Day 80: Locksmith Gremlins

The locking mechanisms in my car have been taken over by a gremlin. I should explain. My car has manual locks. You have to put the key in the door, unlock it, and then unlock all the other doors from the inside. It's really not a big deal, rarely a hassle, and I don't complain.

But today the doors started AUTOMATICALLY LOCKING AND UNLOCKING.

Yeah. I know. I know!!!

I was driving down Corkscrew Rd. when all of a sudden I heard some clicking noises. It was weird. But I let it go. Then I heard it again. And again. I was startled and perplexed, but I didn't know what it could be. Eventually I looked at the passenger side door. Unlocked. Not how I had left it. I looked at the rear doors. Unlocked as well.

And then, before my very eyes... they all locked themselves again.

Like I said, gremlins.

It did this the entire time I was driving around today. Sometimes the gremlin would get really excited and lock/unlock my doors 20 times in quick succession. It was both spooky and awesome.

And you'll raise your fists so high
Because that is the sign of triumph
When you're the last one standing

Song: "Desolation Row" by Bob Dylan. Speaks for itself. Amazing lyrics, be sure to check them out. If you don't like this song there's something wrong with you.

Day 79: Lessons Learned

Don't forget to read the blog for yesterday, which I posted shortly before I posted this one. It's about a toaster, so yeah. It's kind of a must-read.

And I should apologize for the absolutely abysmal schedule this blog has been on recently. I've taken the picture every day, because that's the most important part, but lately I've just been updating the blog once every two days. I try to put a lot of thought into the blog, the poem, and the song, but sometimes this means it takes me longer to write it. However, I want to kick this nasty habit and get back to a once-a-day schedule. Wish me luck!

Kids, today's picture is a perfect example of how a well intentioned photo can go terribly, terribly wrong. I wanted to take a picture of my gelati from Rita's before I ate it, but I was overwhelmed by my hunger and completely forgot until I was about halfway through. Nothing I did could salvage this picture. It looks super gross (a horrible impression because it was ANYTHING BUT), the lighting is bad, I couldn't work out a good angle to shoot it at... there is absolutely nothing redeeming about this picture. It is without a doubt the worst picture I have in my blog (...so far). Why include it, then? This picture is a warning. Never eat your ice cream before the cameras roll. It's a lesson everyone should learn.

Another lesson I learned is that I no longer need to make tough decisions at Rita's. I told the guy to just include all 4 flavors of frozen custard. Check it, I got chocolate, vanilla, strawberry cream, and orange cream, in one all-inclusive gelati creation.

It was delightful.

Knowing what we know
Would you feel the same?
If we could turn back time
Would it be this way

Song: "Rolling Sea" by Eliza Carthy. Lots of fun stuff in this song. It's a sea-shanty, but it's made cool by... well, I mean, it's a sea-shanty. It's automatically cool.

I hope everyone's enjoying folk week as much as I am.

(...Who am I kidding, none of you will like this song lol)

Day 78: Toastertown

My plan for this picture was to make it as sketchy and shady as possible. Like a picture of those old motels that look like they haven't been renovated since the forties, and there's streaks of blood running down the medicine cabinet, and it just looks generally unpleasant. You know what I'm talking about, you've also seen those photos. Because let's face it: at the end of the day, this is a picture of a toaster in a bathroom. My bathroom. And while this is most definitely an awesome thing, it also seems a little shady.

I should clarify that it is still definitely awesome, though. It's definitely made me more inclined to toast a pop tart when I feel a fleeting tinge of hunger. The pop tarts are located in my snack box, if you'll recall. Sure, there's a toaster oven in the kitchen, and it's got fancier settings, and it's located in a more glamorous room, but come on. Who wants to walk all the way to the kitchen when my snack box is right underneath my bed and the bathroom is three feet away?

So maybe I've hit a new low.

I should explain that the toaster originally wasn't going to come with me to the apartment, but it found its way into my moving boxes, and I didn't really have anywhere to put it. There was a toaster oven already out in the kitchen, like I said. So I put it on my desk. Well the problem with that was, pop tart debris was getting all over my printer. So I moved it to the dresser, right by the TV. Problem with that was, when it came time to toast a pop tart, the plug for the toaster couldn't reach the outlet. Side bar: What were the makers of my toaster thinking when they developed a six-inch cord for my appliance? What if my dresser is really tall and the outlet is really low to the ground? Did anyone think this through?

So it's in my bathroom.

This isn't the first time I've had a toaster in an untoaster-friendly environment. My freshman year of college, I woke up one morning to find my toaster on the carpet, plugged into an outlet in the hallway, right in front of my roommate's door. Yes, my roommate had moved my toaster to the optimum location, requiring the least amount of movement for him personally while still technically having the toaster be in the public area of the dorm.

So it stayed there the whole year.

Maybe it's not the thing I'm most proud of. Maybe I shouldn't be writing a really long blog post about it. But there's a toaster in my bathroom. It happened. We have to deal with it and move on.

It's also probably not the safest way to avoid an electrical disaster. But if you have to live, why live safely?

The first and last all are the same
You took me back up, and carried me away
Still I fly.

Song: Folk week continues with "Thunder Road" by Bruce Springsteen. Harmonica, piano, storytelling lyrics, and soulful vocals. The Boss is one of folk rock's coolest icons.

Day 77: Captivating

The lighthouse at Sanibel can be spotted from a mile away. Thankfully though it can also be spotted from very close by. That's how I managed to take a picture of it.

Taking advantage of the federal holiday (independence is so cool that the government gave us two days off this year), my mom and I headed down Sanibel way to lounge around the beach, get burned, and take pictures of lighthouses. Afterward, we ventured into Captiva, because I'd never been there before but I've heard nothing but good things. There's all sorts of nifty stuff there, like beaches, tackle shops, gift stores, chiropractor offices...

Okay, so Captiva is kind of like Sanibel but with a chiropractor's office. But it's still a charming little place and I'm glad we decided to take the detour into there. I didn't really fit in though because I wasn't riding a bicycle.

Tell me that we're never getting old.
And maybe we can't leave this place
But please don't make me stay.

It's Folk Music Week here at the 365 blog! This is something new I decided to do, we'll see how it goes. Folk is a really underrated genre and I think more people need to give it a chance. It comes in a lot of forms, has been around for forever, and is super chill and relaxing. The music featured this week will be a mix of different folk styles, including oldies staples and new indie folk music. Hope you enjoy! Depending on how I feel about this I might do more themed weeks in the future.

Song: "3 Rounds and a Sound" by Blind Pilot. Indie folk from an up and coming band. Mostly acoustic guitar, but there's some other fun instrumentation in there. Sad, like almost all folk music should be. I figured I'd start you off with something easy, nothing crazy yet :P

Day 76: Painted Sky

Independence, yussssss. Love me some freedom. For fireworks, we ventured over to the Naples pier. Google Maps let us down, but we still managed to find our way, following a crowd of other America enthusiasts who all seemed just as confused and lost as we did. But after walking for a while and hearing but not seeing the fireworks being set off around us, we finally came to a narrow trail that led to the beach and the fabled Roman candles. It was like a midnight vigil out there, a bunch of people sitting quietly in the night as some somber patriotic music filled the air. We were a few minutes late to the show but it was still as awesome as ever. I had my camera out the entire time because you never know when the awesomest firework is about to be set off. And you know I hate missing opportunities like that.

It is harder than you think
To find a good pair of shoulders
To which a competent head is attached

Song: "Fireworks" by The Wedding. I'm super clever with today's song, yeah? It's pop-punk with a very audible country flair, including a choir and a fiddle solo. Yay America!

Day 75: In Complete

It is finished.

Everything I learned I learned from you
It's a sad song
But you taught me how to make it better.

Song: "In Transit" by Mark Hoppus and Pete Wentz. Alternative rock song from the Alice in Wonderland companion album. Two of the best doing what they do best.

Day 74: Start

Been playing a lot of FIFA lately. My little video game soccer stars have been bringing the heat, getting better every day. They no longer lose games by seven goals, so that's an improvement. Real Madrid, they my boys. Pepe, Ronaldo, Kaka. Scoring goals like crazy. It's like it's really me playing in the World Cup. Except I'm eleven different people and I'm awesome.

It's not as good the second time around
And now you just would know that its about you anyway

Song: "Daylight" by Matt and Kim. Apparently all you need for music is keyboards and a drum kit.

Day 73: Puzzles

Puzzles would be a great band name. Or a great name for a bar.

Happy July! Another month, another 30-so blog posts. I'm really happy with the way June turned out for the project. I tried some new things with pictures that I hadn't done yet, and for the most part I was proud of how they came out. I think I had a good balance of interesting photos and photos that are good memories of the month. There's only one or two pics that felt uninspired, but overall I like the results and I hope July will be just as awesome.

The poems, not so much. I've been struggling with them lately, to make them both relevant and interesting without being redundant from the poems I've already written. I didn't realize how hard it would be to write 365 unique poems, but I should have. It is far and away the most difficult part of the project.

Today we started assembling a 500 piece puzzle based on the cover art from The Beatles' Revolver album. 500 pieces sounds like a lot. But in reality, it... well, it is. We worked on it for a few straight hours before going to bed and starting again the next day. I still say "Sergeant Pepper's" would have made a cooler puzzle.

I also saw Avatar: The Last Airbender a film by M. Night Shyamalan. I have come to the conclusion that Shyamalan should no longer be allowed to make movies. When was the last time he made anything that wasn't totally and 100% awful?

Yeah. I can't remember either.

Shyamalan:
You were once awesome
But that must have bored you
And you decided to be lame instead.
You've succeeded.

Song: "Hey Jude" by The Beatles. By far one of my favorite songs by them, and I even paid homage to it a few times in my (still incomplete) novella. It's also been mentioned in the blog before, actually. Super catchy and meaningful.

(This blog is actually a day late, today's will be up as soon as I... put it up.)