Friday, June 8, 2012

Summertime

After being threatened by Shelby, I decided it was time to actually finish this blog that I've had sitting in my drafts for the past few weeks. I meant to write it during my three weeks off before summer classes started, but I was busy reading (for fun! Oh, what a wonderful thing) into the wee hours of the morning and sleeping until noon.

One of the very best things about being out of school* is having time to read. Right now, I'm reading This Is How by Augusten Burroughs and The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot. I (finally) finished Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer a week or two ago, and it was really wonderful. I rented the movie a couple of days ago, and for the first time ever, I liked the movie more than the book. But I think I liked the movie more because I read the book, if that makes any sense. It's a complicated thing, but both the book and the movie are beautiful, so just go buy them.

When I'm not reading, I'm rewatching the Sex and the City series (which only gets more fabulous as time goes on) or listening to one of the fifty new albums I've downloaded recently.

The great thing about pre-ordering something on iTunes is that you often forget you've done so, and then it's a nice surprise when you receive an email (or three) stating that your songs are ready for download. This was the case for John Mayer's Born & Raised, the deluxe edition of Regina Spektor's What We Saw from the Cheap Seats, and Sara Bareilles's EP Once Upon Another Time. All three are fantastic (as I knew they would be, which is why I pre-ordered them).

Other things I will be listening to nonstop this summer include Charlene Kaye's Animal Love (which is so deeply fabulous that it's difficult to understand why she isn't famous yet), Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros' Here, and TalkFine's Lesser Known Hits (also known as the band that includes the incredibly attractive Clark Baxtresser).

Speaking of Clark and Charlene, Apocalyptour was superb. It is remarkable how much better it was than the SPACE Tour, and the SPACE Tour was amazing. The arrangements were fantastic (good on you, Clark), their voices improved so much, and it was hilarious. Team StarKid keeps saying they're not sure whether or not they're going to release a DVD of this one, but they better be bluffing because I need to watch that every day of my life. Also, I managed to meet and get pictures with Charlene, Clark, Lauren Lopez, Brian Rosenthal, Julia Albain, and Jim Povolo, as well as everyone I got pictures with last time. It was a good night.

In other news, Melany and I have decided to kick it early-2000s style and actually use our email accounts. We are having way too much fun with it, but are also really impatient and keep texting each other to see if the other has gotten the email yet. Our plan is to eventually compile all of these e-mails into what will surely be a bestselling book. So just keep your eye out for that in the near future.

-Maggie

* I am taking summer classes, but it doesn't really feel like I'm in school. Probably because I'm only taking three classes, and one of them is yoga** and one is a freshman level sociology. I'm also taking Spanish (MY LAST SPANISH EVER, PRAISE), but even that hasn't gotten too difficult yet!

** This is kind of off-topic, but I just have to tell you this because it is literally the stupidest thing that has ever happened to me: My yoga instructor has NEVER TAKEN A YOGA CLASS BEFORE. I shit you not.

8 comments :

Anonymous said...

I love summer activities. :)

I can't wait to get What We Saw From The Cheap Seats. I love Regina so much.

Also: YOUR YOGA TEACHER HAS NEVER TAKEN YOGA WHAT?

mayte. said...

*looks for torrent of new regina spektor cd*

I'm glad you liked EL&IC and the movie, the movie made me cry like there was no tomorrow, especially the part when Oskar is telling the Renter about all of the things he's afraid of and ugh. They made that part so perfect.

sociology classes are the best and how in gods name is your yoga instructor teaching a class that they haven't even taken before? jfksjdfakdf.

Bookish.Spazz said...

WHAT. Your yoga instructor is cray cray.

Lizzie said...

I don't blame you not blogging in favor of sleep because SLEEP RULEZ.

I'm glad your "summer" was a lot of fun, and your real summer isn't too hindered by those classes. What gives with the Yoga instructor, though? What did he teach otherwise? Physics? Like I'm genuinely unsure how else he would be qualified to teach. Unless he is some Yoga prodigy and never needed to take a class? And now I am officially thinking way too hard about this. Certainly just enjoy the class! :)

You may have convinced me to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close in movie form. I'm still slightly skeptical. Perhaps because I've never liked Sandra Bulluck as an actor...I suppose she doesn't play that big a part, at least in the book.

I will have to check out Sara Bareilles's EP. Not to pull the hipster card, but I heard her single "Love Song" and liked it, showed to a few friends, at least a few months before it was ever heard on the radio. I felt so cool. ha ha.

I will keep my eye out for that bestselling book. Any idea of a title?

Take care, my dear.

Dillon said...

Well thank goodness for SHelby, or none of us would ever blog.

I really want to take yoga this summer, but I'll try and take it from an instructor who is certified... good luck with that.

Also, yay sociology classes!

Have a great summer.

Natalie said...

Oh, reading for fun. What a glorious thing indeed. After you recommended Augusten Burroughs I can't get enough, so I will most likely be adding This Is How to my to-read list.

I loved the Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close movie too, actually. I was crying alone in the theater, haha. It was different from the book and how I'd imagined it in a few ways, but I thought it was really well done. I'm pretty sure that without reading the book, though, the movie would not be as powerful. I've been loving Regina Spektor's new album too.

Gah, I'm so glad to hear that Apocalyptour was so amazing! SPACE Tour was the best thing EVER, so I can't even imagine. I NEED A DVD. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd you need to put the pictures of you meeting all of those people. How the hell do you do it? When we were at SPACE Tour we waited by the tour buses but they never came. Sadness.

How can a yoga instructor have never taken a yoga class. I really don't understand.

Lizzie said...

YOUR NEW BLOG DESIGN IS BEAUTIFUL.

maggeygrace said...

You're hilarious.

I'm definitely going to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close but I'm saving it for my road trip so I'll have some for sure great material to read!

If you ever want to send more book recs my way... please do!

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