Let me preface this by saying that if I had written this blog 24 hours ago, it would have a very different tone. Between school and work, I've been pretty swamped. This isn't the hardest semester that I've encountered during my scholastic career, but it definitely has been a challenging one. One of my classes has been particularly difficult, not because of the subject matter, but because of the professor. In fact, I had a class almost identical to this particular one at WVU and got an 'A.' If it were not for extra credit in this class, I would be lucky to have a 'C.'
My issue with this professor is that he or she grades based on personal preference. For example, this type of conversation has taken place more than once in the classroom:
Professor: Someone give me an example of a type of car.
Student: A Toyota Matrix.
Professor: No, that isn't what I'm thinking of.
I am not now, nor have I ever been a mind reader. I don't know what you want me to say on presentations or in papers. If what I'm saying is grammatically correct and factual and answers the questions that were asked, I don't understand how you can give me a bad grade for it. (I swear this whole thing isn't going to be a rant...)
This brings me to yesterday. I got the grade for a group presentation that I took part in earlier this week. Don't even get me started on how I feel about group projects. Anyway, we had to change our entire project last Thursday (because the professor didn't like it,) and redid the entire thing over the weekend in order to present on Tuesday. I am my own harshest critic, and I thought we actually did a good job. So to say that I was disappointed in receiving a very low 'B' on the project is putting things mildly. I couldn't sleep last night. I was angry. I felt like I had been treated unfairly.
Then tonight, something just sort of clicked in my brain. I don't know how many times I said, "it's not fair!" growing up, to which I almost always heard the response of, "life isn't fair." As much as I hated hearing it, and as much as I hate to admit it, it's the truth. Life isn't always fair. You don't always get the grade/bonus/recognition that you want and/or deserve. It sucks, but then you move on. In 5 years, I know I will have forgotten all about this class and how angry it made me. But it's these kind of moments that can help you become a better person. I am a firm believer that if you work hard, you will get ahead in life eventually. There are some people that you will never please, no matter how hard you try. But, things will work out in the end. I will not spend another sleepless night worrying about something that has already happened and that I have no control over. I will try harder next time and do better. Upward and Onward! And let's be honest, a 'B' really isn't that bad.
In closing, in another class this week, we were talking about injustice in the workplace, and what it does on a psychological level when you see someone getting paid more than you to do the same job as you. I know that I have encountered this in the past, and it became another one of those teachable moments that I hated as it was happening. Anyway, here is a video showing that it isn't only humans that react negatively to this type of injustice...
That's all I have for tonight. Sorry that this post wasn't about music or anything else entertaining. I just needed to do some self-analyzing. But, you did get to see a video of a monkey throwing a cucumber in a fit of rage. :)
This video is from a house show he did for my friend, Steph. I really wanted to wait until 11:11 to post this, but I'm just too tired. Plus, I have a 16 hour day tomorrow, so I really need to hit the hay. Feel free to wait until 11:11 to watch this. Either that, or just keep watching it over and over until 11:11. Better yet, go download the song/album on iTunes and then tell your friends about it.
I realize that this was already the song of the week, but you have to see the song performed live to really understand how amazing Todd Carey is. This is from the Wilmington, DE show, and he has the Seths (aka Seth by Sethwest and Let's Talk About Seths) with him. It's a fun song, and you can buy it on i-Tunes to give to all of your friends and family for Christmas.
I know that pretty much all of my posts have revolved around music, but I have to take a second and tell the world how much I love Lush Cosmetics. They sell fresh, handmade cosmetics, and they are fantastic!! I just got done using a Twilight bath bomb, and I could not be more relaxed. Their stuff is a little bit pricey, but definitely worth it. I will be ordering more of their products online in the near future.
Demi Lovato - Shouldn't Come Back
See you calling again
I don't wanna pick up, no, oh
I've been laying in bed
Probably thinking too much, oh, oh
Sorry I'm not sorry for the times
I don't reply, you know the reason why
Maybe you shouldn't come back
Maybe you shouldn't come back to me
Tired of being so sad,
Tired of getting so mad, baby
Stop right now,
You'll only let me down, oh, oh
Maybe you shouldn't come back
Maybe you shouldn't come back to me
Trying not to forget,
Should be easier than this oh, oh
And all the birthdays you've missed
I was only a kid oh, oh
Sorry I'm not sorry for the times
I don't reply, you know the reason why
Maybe you shouldn't come back
Maybe you shouldn't come back to me
Tired of being so sad,
Tired of getting so mad, baby
Stop right now,
You'll only let me down, oh, oh
Maybe you shouldn't come back
Maybe you shouldn't come back to me
To me
Sorry I'm not sorry for the times
Maybe you shouldn't come back
Maybe you shouldn't come back to me
Tired of being so sad,
I'm tired of getting so mad, baby
Stop right now,
You'll only let me down, oh, oh
Maybe you shouldn't come back
Maybe you shouldn't come back to me
Maybe you shouldn't come back to me
I think I'm in love. I don't know any other way to describe it. A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of stalking following two of my favorite artists, Curtis Peoples and Todd Carey, around for a few of their tour dates on the 8-bit Heartbeat Tour. I went to their shows in Wilmington, DE, Philadelphia, PA, and Solomon's Island, MD. Before anyone starts to think I'm delusional, I should probably clarify that I'm not in love with Curtis or Todd. I'm in love with live music. In my almost 27 years of life, I haven't found anything that is so fulfilling and satisfying as attending a great concert. In one weekend, I got to attend three.
Wilmington
As much as I love seeing Todd and Curtis live, I really went to Wilmington on a special secret mission. One of my very favorite people runs a Todd Carey fansite. The last time we went to a show together, she told me how it was weird that she ran a website devoted to him, but didn't have anything signed by him. Everything she gets signed, she uses for contests and giveaways for the site. So, I created a collage of pictures with her, Todd, and other close friends to have him sign. I should also mention that she would be with me for the rest of the weekend, so Wilmington was the only shot I had at getting it signed in order to surprise her.
Rory Sullivan opened the show and completely blew me away. My only issue is that there was a table full of drunk people right next to me, and they had no idea how loud and obnoxious they were. His music style reminds me of old school Tony Lucca, with his phenomenal guitar playing and soulful lyrics. My favorite song that he performed was "Ride the Rails", but all of his songs were great. On top of that, he had a great personality and was super friendly. Talent only gets you so far in the music industry, but I believe that Rory was the total package.
After Rory performed, Curtis Peoples took the stage. I was excited when I heard that Curtis and Todd were touring together, mainly because it has been forever since Curtis toured on the east coast. I saw Curtis for the first time almost five years ago on my 22nd birthday with Tony Lucca and Ernie Halter. It was the first time I ever attended one of these type of concerts, and I was hooked immediately. I also saw Curtis perform at Hotel Carolina a couple of times, but that's it. He had a new album come out earlier this year, and it was great to see him perform what he spent so much time perfecting. If you are reading this and haven't checked it out yet, you should do so now. You can read the rest of this while it's downloading.
Todd had already been out for a few shows, but Wilmington was the first show that Curtis joined on the tour. Curtis had some crazy excuse for not going to the first couple of shows. Something about getting married and wanting to spend time with his wife. Anyway, since he was late to the party, he didn't have much of a chance to rehearse with the band before going onstage. I know I'm a fan and I'm a little bit biased, but if he hadn't made it known that they hadn't rehearsed together, I would have never known. It felt like he only performed for like 5 minutes, but I'm pretty sure it was a little longer than that. He has such a unique tone to his voice and his songs are infectious. If you have a chance to see him live, you should go. I personally guarantee that you will have a great time.
Finally, Todd finished out the show. He mostly played tunes from his new album, Future Throwback, which is supposed to released in early 2014. Like Curtis, his songs are infectious and so much fun. Also, Todd makes the best guitar faces. By this point of the night, most of the drunk people left and it was mainly fans that remained. Most is the key word, because there was one older gentleman that was slightly intoxicated, and he couldn't have been more than a foot away from the stage. He spent the entire night requesting Billy Joel songs. Thankfully, Curtis and Todd were pros and were able to deflect the heckler with little to no effort. Curtis joined Todd onstage for a cover of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down." It was pretty amazing, but if you don't believe me, I captured it on video.
Don't Let Me Down
Overall, it was an amazing night. I got to see Todd and Curtis for the first time in way too long, and I got to meet their new drummer Seth. The only other negative about the night was the fact that Keller Williams was playing downstairs at the same venue, and that made me a little sad that I couldn't go to both shows at the same time. I think it's safe to say that I made the right choice, though.
Philly
Before I can even talk about the show in Philly, I have to talk about the ride to the show. I heard about this new app called Uber, which is a luxury car service. It's pretty nifty, because you just request a car and it tracks your location and gives you the license plate number of the car, the name of the driver, and a picture of the driver. It didn't take long to arrive at all. But, the entire trip to the venue (about 30 minutes,) the driver never. stopped. talking. I talk a lot, so if I say someone talks a lot, they really talk a lot. In our thirty minute ride, I learned that the driver was married and had a son, saw pictures of said son, learned the entire history of Philadelphia, what streets separate the north/south and east/west, and that the name Amanda means "our way" in Ethiopian. That probably isn't all he talked about, but that's all I was listening for. It was nice riding around in a Lincoln town car, but it could have been just a bit more relaxing. I would Uber again though.
There was definitely a different vibe in Philly than in Wilmington. It was a much younger and more energetic crowd. I have several friends in the area, so it was awesome getting to see them. I also made some new friends, which is always great. Dan Godlin opened the show, and he was going on the rest of the tour with them. I'm sad I only got to see him perform once, because he put on a good show. He reminded me a lot of Jesse Ruben. I would definitely see him again.
Todd and Curtis both did an amazing job, as per usual. There were a lot more people there that were fans of both TC and CP, so it's always fun to rock out with other fans. My favorite part of the evening was giving out presents. I'm always a little hesitant to give presents to the artists that I see on tour, not because of what they think, but because I don't want to be perceived as a crazy groupie. I know I shouldn't worry about what other people think, but it's human nature. And yes, Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" is running through my head now.
But, back to the gifts. So the tour is called the 8-bit Heartbeat Tour, and Todd's new single is called "Nintendo." I found Todd's gift first. The moment I saw it, I knew that I had to get it for him. I found Curtis' gift soon after, and was hoping that they would like them. Finally, my favorite gift that I gave was to my friend Amanda. This is the "secret mission" that I alluded to earlier in the post. I think she liked it. :)
Blow me. Cuz you had to blow into Nintendo cartridges to get them to work. GET IT?!?!
It's the fireball flower from Mario. Fire... hot... GET IT?!!?
I love that I could surprise her with this!
I also had the pleasure of meeting a celebrity at the show. Geno from THE Geno's was at the show. I know it's slightly ridiculous, but I was starstruck. We also went to Geno's after the show, which was phenomenal as usual. Best cheesesteak ever. Night number two was a success!
Solomon's Island
Although I live in Maryland and it's a fairly small state, I had never previously had the opportunity to venture to Solomon's Island. My only real complaint about this trip is that I don't own a boat. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Solomon's Island from my house, and it is literally right across the bay.
See what I mean??
But, seriously, other than that I have no complaints. We took our time getting there since we had all day. We shopped at Wal-mart for longer than I think I ever have trying to find stuff for our Halloween costumes, since Todd informed us the night before that it was a costume party. We also stopped at a really awesome costume shop that we just happened to find when I took a wrong turn. Once we finally made it and got ready, it was time to party.
We're cats... duh!
Unfortunately, most of the night is kind of a blur. Between not eating nutritious meals (if any at all) and the very little sleep we had gotten over the last couple of days, we were running on fumes. One thing I can tell you is that we danced. Non-stop. The Sam Grow Band was up first, and they were a lot of fun. They were dressed like the Duck Dynasty people. They didn't play very many of their own songs, but they played a lot of fun covers. I really like SGB's music, so I would've loved to hear more of their songs, but it was a ton of fun regardless.
After the Sam Grow Band, Todd came up and played a few songs. I should also mention that SGB is from southern Maryland, so most of the people that were there were fans of Sam and probably had never heard of Todd Carey or Curtis Peoples. The good news is that both Todd and Curtis rock so hard that they can win over any crowd, including a bunch of drunk people dressed as Elmo, Jelly Fish, and Jesus. Todd did a good mix of his songs and some crowd-pleasing covers including Get Lucky and The Joker.
Curtis came up next, and I think this was my favorite set of his from the three nights. He always rocks, but for some reason this night he seemed even more awesome than usual (if that's even possible.) Even though I was dressed as a cat and beyond exhausted, I rocked out as hard as I could to his set. It was so awesome to see these people that didn't know anything about Curtis or any of his songs having such a blast.
After Curtis played a few songs, Todd came back out and finished out the night. I don't honestly know how long we were there or how long the artists played. But, I do know that I had to lose my shoes after the first 15 minutes, because although they were adorable, I was getting blisters and I was likely to fall and break something if I kept wearing them. The last night really felt more like a huge party than a concert, and that was awesome.
Before I went on this trip, my co-workers gave me a hard time for "stalking" Todd and Curtis and called me a "groupie." None of them understood why I would pay money to see the same people for three consecutive days. Even though I saw three shows with the same artists (other than the openers/Sam Grow,) I had three totally different experiences. Honestly, I feel kind of sorry for my co-workers, that they haven't had this type of musical experience. I am so glad I have people like Todd and Curtis in my life that have music so amazing that I could listen to it over and over again and never get sick of it. And, I'm also thankful that because of their music and attending different music events, I have made some of the most amazing friends that anyone could ever ask for.
