So close to the end...

Not much has been going on lately, mainly because it's getting closer to final exam time and my work load has just gotten insane. Some of the frustration since my last post has worn off, thankfully, but I'm still just quite stressed. With all the school work, weird dreams and awful sleep, and the fact that I've been killing all the technology around me, it's just been a bit much all at once. Luckily, little fun things have been sort of breaking up the stress for me.

Earlier this week, I met up with my friend Staci and we played a little pool. I haven't done so for several years, and even though I am less than excellent at this, I really enjoyed it. We had a fun time.

Yesterday (Friday), I helped out another friend, Trisha, with a project she has to do for her photography courses at school. She shot some photos of me goofing off and some other normal ones. They were all on film, so if I'm not sure if I'll get to see copies of them or not. I just hope they turn out well for her. We spent a lot of time catching up, as we haven't really seen each other in about 2 years.

Yesterday was also a good mail day for me. I received two postcards I was really fond of. The first was a Futurama card that someone received and was kind enough to pass on to me. I do love Futurama.

The other was a handmade card that just made my day. It was really interesting, in a good way, and also had some beautiful vintage stamps on the back (commemorating the moon landing).

I know...I'm a nerd, but simple things make me happy.
Today, Staci came over and helped me dye my hair darker again. It turned out really well, thankfully, so I think I'll keep her. We spent a couple of hours just talking and laughing about random things afterwards, which was a nice way to end a day of studying.
Unfortunately, the only break I have between the end of classes and my exams is Reading Day....I get one day off. That's never happened before. I've also never had an 8 a.m. exam before or one on a Saturday - this year I have an exam at 8 a.m. on Saturday. So, I will not be getting out of town until after my exams are finished. Hopefully then I'll have some more interesting news.

FRUSTRATED!

nataliedee.com

Waste of Time?

Wednesday evening after class, I spent 90 minutes traveling 16 miles to get out of Charleston and to head toward Charlotte. I was excited all the way there because I was going to see Nicole Atkins for the third time, this time with her new band.Even though I was an hour behind schedule, I made it early enough to see Stephen Warwick/Secondhand Stories take the stage. I really enjoyed them, just as last time. Their trumpeter is back and Stephen cut off all his hair. He started the night off right, breaking a string on the first song. It was replaced and he broke another one before the set was over.

Next up were HYMNS. They hail from Brooklyn, NY and have a spazzy lead guitarist. Actually, I'm not going to lie, when I first saw them, I though the bad hair and shoes convention had come to town. Unfortunately, I do not have a good picture to share. Luckily, the internet is always there to help.

Appearance aside, I actually enjoyed their set very much. Am I going to rush out and buy the albums? No. But it was worth seeing. Their lead and rhythm guitarists also managed to each break a string.

Foley Stewart played two songs before Nicole went on. He has a beautiful voice, but I'm not sure if his music is really my thing. He also comes from New York.

Nicole and her band took the stage and here's where I start sounding like a snobby bitch. Maybe it's because I was accustomed to the old Nicole, but I really wasn't impressed. The new band have an air about them - I can't even exactly say what that means, but it just was a weird feeling from the start. They played a lot from the upcoming new album and it's a completely different sound - not in a bad way! It's just different. I can appreciate an artist's desire to take things in a new direction. A "but..." should follow that but I really don't have one.

The thing that sort of struck me most was the way Nicole has seemingly changed. She dressed the same, had the same gorgeous hair and amazing voice. But she, like the new band, had an attitude about her. There were many comments made throughout the set in a very sarcastically rude manner followed by "just kidding". It honestly made me think of that girl in high school that thinks being a bitch makes her cute and sexy. And it doesn't. Don't get me wrong, I still love her music, I still think she's a great person, great with her fans. But I just don't understand the on-stage presence change. It was just weird to watch.

I left immediately after the show - didn't stick around for chatting or anything. I was glad I went, but at the same time, I wasn't overly impressed. Broken string count for the night was 4, and that was pretty much the most amusing thing to me. I don't have any photos that came out from the show, simply because there was no lighting from the front of the stage and I'm not the asshole person who uses flash when I'm right in front of someone's face. I have one video of Hymns and one of Nicole. Hymns video is not uploaded yet. But here is Nicole doing "The Way It Is" - my favorite song by her.

I got home at about 3:30am, changed clothes, and went to bed. I love these little trips, but they really wear on me - I could just be getting old. The next morning I woke up with the worst migraine I have ever had in my entire life. Every little movement I made set my head throbbing, and the light coming in through the crack between the curtain and the wall was just killing me. So I spent most of the day sitting in a darkened living room with one of those eye masks on. The medicine I was given months ago wouldn't touch it, so I'm asking that if anybody knows of any non-medical ways to help destroy a migraine, please please please share. I don't plan on it happening anytime in the near future, but I'd like to be ready when it does.

My mom sent me a box this week with my aquarelles in them. I'm looking forward to a few weeks of artsy stuff ahead!

iTunes can suck it.

I've installed the newest version of iTunes and have been waiting approximately 20 minutes now for it to update my library. This is what I'm seeing.

Unbelievable. Twenty minutes and that's all??? What the hell, iTunes?

God willing, I'm off to Charlotte tomorrow night (departing immediately after German poetry class!) to see Nicole Atkins & the Black Sea. If I make it there, pictures and video will be posted later this week.