"There's diamonds in the sidewalk, the gutter's lined in song. Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long. There's treasure for the taking, for any hard-working man. Who will make his home in the American Land." ~bruce springsteen

Oh, Thanksgiving, how I love thee. I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. In fact, yes, it is my favorite holiday. Every Thanksgiving we gather in my aunt and uncle's apartment in Manhattan. There are always a ton of people there, but we all manage to fit. I get to see cousins whom I only see once a year. This year my parents flew in from Colorado. My grandparents from South Carolina were here. My brother drove down from Colgate. We have tons of food, and I always end up stuffing myself. This year I stayed at my aunt and uncle's apartment for a couple of days just because it was easier than going back home to mine, so I got to spend even more time with my cousin Bess. On Friday we all headed out to Chatham, NJ to have a chili dinner at our relatives' house (as if we hadn't eaten enough the day before). It was a great few days. Some random pictures:
Me and some of my cousins (and my brother on the far right):
Again, on 6th Ave. (still blocked off from the parade):
Bess, Aisling, and Colleen:
Maureen, D.J. (background), & Aisling (and Colleen's foot):

It's always a strange feeling when something you've been looking forward to for so long passes. It leaves you with a sort of void. I guess it's time to start looking forward to Christmas now.

Ooh, totally random, but I love it. I cannot wait for this show. And not just because I love Lauren Graham. Parenthood promo:

"Well, I've been out walking. I don't do that much talking these days. These days--These days I seem to think a lot about the things that I forgot to do..." ~jackson browne

I love Jackson Browne. I was so excited that he was at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts I attended last month, even though he didn't get to sing much. Just to get the chance to see him perform at all was wonderful.

If you watch Chuck, you're going to love these season 3 promos. If you don't watch Chuck, go get the first two seasons and catch up before season 3 begins on January 10th! They started with an order of 13 episodes for season 3, but it's already been upped to 19. It's my favorite show on television. It's a blend of comedy, action, drama, romance...basically it's everything you could hope for all rolled into one awesome show. Seriously, take my word for it and start watching.
Season 3 preview:

Promo 1:


Oh, by the way, go here to watch Live from Abbey Road featuring Counting Crows. Adam is so sick that it hurts me just to listen to his voice during parts of it, but "A Long December" is absolutely beautiful.

"Strung out like some Christmas lights, out there in the Chelsea nights. Strung out like some Christmas lights, out there in the Chelsea nights. Strung out like some Christmas lights, out there in the Chelsea nights. Strung out like some Christmas lights, out there in the Chelsea nights." ~ryan adams

Movie reviews. Because I don't have the energy for anything else. I am so drained right now, physically, emotionally, and mentally.

The Blind Side
I cried at the end. I didn't cry during Precious, but I cried during this; I never know what's going to set me off. The fact that it's a true story got to me during the credits. Oh, how I love Sandra Bullock. She's absolutely wonderful. Go see this movie just for her performance.



New Moon
I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a Twilight fan. And I liked the movie. More than I liked the first one. Kristen Stewart is good at angst. Is the film groundbreaking cinema? Of course not. But I love the story so I don't care. And those guys are definitely worth looking at for a couple of hours.

"Did I sleep? 'Cause I must have been dreamin'. Did I weep? 'Cause I cried like hell..." ~ryan adams

I love Ryan Adams. He's such a character. It's particularly entertaining to read his interviews. There was one hilarious Rolling Stone gem where it was a phone interview and he got angry so he handed the phone to someone else for, like, an hour; the interviewer stayed on the line waiting for him to come back, while Ryan went and did something else before he finally decided he would talk again. I've been listening to him a lot lately. My family and I saw some of his free Battery Park concert on July 4th, 2003. That was a long time ago; he wasn't really all that well known. Adam Duritz is really good friends with him; they lived together in L.A.. There's a verse in the song "Los Angeles" by Counting Crows that's about Ryan, and Ryan cowrote the song. AD contributed to Ryan Adams' song "Answering Bell," which I love.
Okay, for two days I've been trying to post a video of a live performance of the song (featuring Adam Duritz), but it hasn't been working. Hopefully this does work (or just click on the link below to watch it on my webshots page):


AnB.avi

Life has been super crazy lately. Over the weekend I went to see my cousin D.J. perform in My Fair Lady at Princeton, and I loved the production. It was good to spend some time with my aunt and uncle. I had parent-teacher conferences yesterday and had over 50 parents come visit me. I didn't get a break at all; it was four hours of solid conferencing. I had a huge grad school assignment due today. Tomorrow I have my student-teaching interview. I have way too much to do and not enough time in which to do it. But I need to take some breaks from the craziness or else I would go completely insane.

On Sunday I went to the dress rehearsal of David Mamet's new Broadway play, Race. The plot had been kept secret and I was in the first audience ever to see it, so that was cool. I really, really enjoyed it. It's the best Mamet play I've seen performed. I won't say too much because it's not really fair to talk about a dress rehearsal (it's not a performance that's supposed to be reviewed), so I'll just say that if they clean a few things up it will be fantastic.

Back to Rolling Stone: check out the current cover.

Aren't they just gorgeous?? What a trio: Bono, Mick Jagger, and Bruce Springsteen. I still can't believe I saw them all on the same stage.
The magazine focuses on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts, which I was lucky enough to attend. It's a good issue.

Bono was an op-ed guest columnist in The New York Times this week. He wrote a wonderful piece, so check it out.

Okay, now back to work.

"Superboy and the Invisible Girl, Son of Steel and Daughter of Air. He's a hero, a lover, a prince, she's not there. Superboy and the Invisible Girl, everything a kid oughtta be. He's immortal, forever alive, then there's me. I wish I could fly, and magically appear and disappear. I wish I could fly, I'd fly far away from here." ~next to normal

I saw Next to Normal on Broadway tonight for the third time. I'm in love with it. I've seen it from the front orchestra, rear orchestra, and now front row of the mezz, so I'm working my way around the theatre. Here's my review from last time. The last time I saw the show Michael Berry was in as Dan, and I liked him, but I was so glad that J. Robert Spencer was on tonight. I am in love with Bobby Spencer. Seriously. He is amazing. I cried during the reprise of "I Am the One" tonight (along with most of the audience). I cry just thinking of it. I'm angry that Bobby Spencer didn't win the Tony this year; I think he definitely deserved it instead of the Billys. His performance is so incredibly moving, and it's often overshadowed by Alice's. Of course Alice is amazing, this seems like the performance of a lifetime for her and I'm sooo glad she won the Tony for it, but I think Bobby needs to be recognized as well. Of course the entire cast is incredibly strong.
Here's a tiny clip of Bobby's "I've Been:"

And "I Am the One" (this breaks my heart):

And "Superboy and the Invisible Girl" from the Tony Awards concert:



Oh, by the way, Fantastic Mr. Fox is, well, fantastic (ba dum dum ch!). I'm sure that's not the last time you'll hear that line. I love Wes Anderson.