Prathna: the world is not a happy place anymore
Kaitlin: that was the moment all the happiness ended
Prathna: i think it started when we skipped autumn
Prathna: and it progressively got worse

Here, by popular demand, is my Christmas Wish List:

1. New hair; mine is attempting to kill me
2. Death Cab albums (except for Plans)
3. Internship with Jude
4. Weezer memorabilia
5. Malamute puppy
6. Postal Service album
7. Teleportation device
8. Finding Nemo
9. Reindeer
10. Exciting earrings
11. Cute flannel pajamas; it's so cold in Berkeley
12. Logh albums
13. Rivers Cuomo
14. Batman Begins 2-disc DVD
15. Volkswagon Bug convertible (green with black top)

There, that should be plenty to choose from. Considering that I have way more than 15 friends, I'm totally going to get everything on this list. NICE!

A storm blew in. The cats nearly ate the turkey. (Twice.) My parents' friends got drunk before we served the appetizers. My mom and aunt got in the obligatory fight over how to cook dinner right as they're finishing the last dish. My brother and I nearly dropped an entire tray of wine glasses. Maggie got violently ill and had to be taken home in the middle of supper. My parents burst into song three times during the course of the meal. Several pieces of pie went flying as we tried to serve it. Then my brother and I finished off the night with a game of cards while the siblings/spouses got in arguments.

All in all, just your regular Hayes-Jaskula family holiday. The only thing missing was the very-much-alive turkey running through the house.

Oi.

Since I didn't go home for the holiday, I'm attempting to spend all this extra time doing homework. A resolution that, as you can see, I'm not living up to. It's very sad. Last night, I spent four hours watching episodes of a TV show (which shall remain nameless) instead of reading The Sound and the Fury.

In Other News:
I have successfully avoided Black Friday, despite my poor brother having to work. In retail. Let's have a moment of silence for him.
Christmas present buying has officially begun. I, personally, have not yet bought anything, but I have ideas for almost everyone. That NEVER happens. Woohoo!
The national NSCS office still hasn't sent out an email concerning the Peace Corps presentation next Tuesday. No one is going to come.
I'm dying of Senioritis.

The Slip is pretty darn awesome, I must say. They're a total jam band, though, so their album (available on their website for easy listening) is quite a bit different from their live performance. While both are good, I think I like seeing them live better.

It was a little confusing when we arrived, though, because all three members of The Slip + a new singer were the band that opened for The Slip, Surprise Me Mr. Davis. (Apparently, the singer for SMMD is Nathan Moore, who usually heads up ThaMuseMeant.) Their songs sounded a lot like the album versions of The Slip songs, which I thought was a little odd since The Slip doesn't sound like the recordings of The Slip. But hey, it could just be me.

Last night, I was supposed to go to Bottom of the Hill with Hilary, but we were both too exhausted-me after working five hours with an almost 2 year old and Hil after riding horses all day-to get up the energy to get our butts over to SF. So, instead, we rented a movie that turned out to be exquisitely...confusing. The Jacket is a great movie, but I was confused the entire time until about 3/4ths of the way through. And somehow, I came away thinking that was the point.

In Other News:
I saw HP 4. It was okay, but they had a tendency not to explain things, so if you hadn't read the book, you wouldn't know what the hell was going on.
My pool skills might be improving. After a humiliating defeat (x3) at the hands of Myung, Teale, and Mike, respectively, I thought that I would never get the nerve to play again. However, when I played with Myung and Nancy Friday night, somehow it all came together and I had about three absolutely beautiful shots. They were magical.
The Castro District is extremely confusing street-wise. I led the way up and down Market (thinking it was Castro) about three times before we figured out that we needed to be a block up.

Considering that I am fighting the threat of bad music one boy band at a time, my friend recently asked me for my stance on Celebrity Playlists. Do I like them, vandalize them, think they're the stupidest invention since lip-synching?

Surprisingly, I think the subject came up thanks to the new Harry Potter film. As true Hollywood mega-stars, the teens' publicists are product-placing their young charges as energetically as possible. Thus, Daniel Radclifef and Rupert Grint have created Celebrity Playlists on iTunes.

Some of the other veteran playlist creators include the members of Weezer, which endeared me to the process if only because Weezer is my favorite band. Of all time. This is not something I tend to gloss over, so I'm sure that most of the readers of this page are already aware of this fact about myself, but it bears repetition.

I digress.

In general, I'm of two minds about these alleged Celebrity playlists.

First of all, how do we know that the stars really listen to these songs? What if they're just picking the ones they think are "cool"? Second of all, why the hell do we care what Daniel Radcliffe has playing on his iPod nano? I certainly don't. Then again, I'm not a prepubescent Harry Potter fanatic with "I (heart) D.R." posters plastered all over my wall. However, I maintain that I do not see the point in actors or actresses making these lists, as the only effect would be to "bring the stars closer to their fans" or some such publicity bs.

On the other hand, Celebrity Playlists compiled by musical artists--such as, say, Weezer--are an interesting tool. Not only do they neatly outline the artists' current or past influences, they have the added bonus of painlessly expanding a fan's musical canon. If one of your favorite musicians--such as, say, Rivers Cuomo--liked Usher, you'd give him a listen, and you know it.

Actors and actresses don't carry this kind of musical clout; unless, of course, we're talking about someone like Hilary Duff, the current artistic-medium-cross-over sweetheart. And frankly, I wish she didn't.

My contemporary novel class got out early yesterday, so I ended up going to history sooner than usual, something I will never do again. It freaked me out. You know all those people who are in the lecture hall before anyone else gets there, silent, as if they've melded with the chairs? They're so much a part of the background, something you see every day, that I never even notice them anymore. Well, I had to confront them yesterday. Worse, I became one of them. When I arrived, they weren't in their seats. They started trickling in one by one just like everyone else usually does (only, you know, like ten minutes earlier than everyone else). And they completely ignored me.

I had ousted them from their usual background position, replaced them as wallpaper.

It bothered me so much that I started making noise (dropping my backpack, slamming my book shut) just so that I stood out. It was a weird day.

Today was slightly better, though. I went to my internship at the magazine. And I found an absolutely awesome band called Lovedrug. At first, I was like, "Lovedrug? What are they some sort of kickback to the 80s, wannabe Adam Ant people?" But they aren't at ALL. They're actually really amazing. CHECK THEM OUT.

I have become addicted to thefacebook. Again.

I really thought I had weaned myself from is tormenting grasp. I spent almost one year free of its enticing spell, where I would check my page for messages maybe once a month. And then I discovered the pictures.

That's right. thefacebook now lets you post pictures and I have created three albums full. And that's just so far. It's horrible. Now I can't stop checking my page. Every few hours, I go back on and check for messages, send a message, make an update to my page, load a new photo. I can't stop!!!

I'm debating whether or not I should create a support group.

Myung and I went to play pool last night. I was having a bad day so it was good to get out. Of course, after Myung spent two hours cheering me up with pool tips, I almost killed us by turning onto a One Way street the WRONG WAY. That was scary. I don't think Myung will ever ride with me again.

On an up note, though, I wasn't as bad at pool as I remembered myself being. I flatter myself that I actually gave Myung a run for his money (not that we were playing for money) on a couple of games. It was very fun. We're thinking of going again later this week.

In Other News:
I have a paper due on Thursday that I really need to start on.
My brother got paid to have a story published. What what!
Prathna had a majorly excellent party to celebrate Diwali.
Hilary, Danica and I went out on Friday and had a MASSIVELY good time.
Saturday we had a Girls' Cooking Extravaganza. Very fun.

Tomorrow night I reaffirm my post as intern to Chris as I embark on the expedition to Café du Nord. There, I will endure endless amounts of gofering, merchandise selling, drink toting, lifting, last-minute-errand-running, and many other menial tasks that I can't even think of right now. Meanwhile, I will be listening to the musical genius of Sean Hayes.

I'm looking forward to it.

Other than that I have an incredible weekend planned. Friday, Hil and Dani are taking me to Voda, this vodka bar in SF. Then we're going dancing. Sounds fun, no?

That's all for now. It's time to study. Woot, woot...