More Often Than Sometimes

In an earlier post I spoke of my love for words. (Reading back I realize I didn't even say love. I said I liked words, which is a horrific understatement. Truly, it is an infatuation.) Sometimes I find words that I love so much I am at a loss for words. I will read or hear something that is just so . . . just so that I can't even form a proper sentence to describe it and am reduced to rolling around on the floor. It's incredibly frustrating, but also probably the best feeling.

During a break in tonight's latte-fueled study fest, I stumbled upon spoken word poet Shane Koyczan. His poem "More Often Than Sometimes" left me at a loss. I hope it leaves you the same.

-Maggie

BEST DAY EVER

HOPE FOR HUMANITY HAS BEEN RESTORED, MY FRIENDS.

Fall Out Boy did more before nine this morning than I will do all day. I wasn't even out of bed yet when a Tweet from Britny told me the best news you will hear all year: FALL OUT BOY IS BACK TOGETHER. Just a few hours ago, they announced their comeback and upcoming album Save Rock and Roll (out in May), released the single "My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light Em Up)", and posted tour dates.

Needless to say, I am freaking out. I absolutely adore Fall Out Boy. I can't tell you how many times in the last three years I've lamented not being able to see them live before they broke up, and how many times daily I wished they would get back together. AND NOW THEY ARE.

Tickets for their tour go on sale Friday and Saturday, and until I get a ticket to one of their shows (hopefully Austin, but let's be real–I would go anywhere for Fall Out Boy) I will be a big ball of anxiety. So if you see or talk to me this week, just keep that in mind.

Now I have to try and go about my day normally, but we'll see how that goes. I'll probably be singing Fall Out Boy loudly everywhere I go. (See: Reasons Maggie is Still Single)

-Maggie

A Few Things

As a reader, writer, and English major, words are a big part of my life. I really like words, and I like it best when those words are strung together to make really great sentences. I like to collect quotes. If you hang around me for more than hour, you will quickly realize if you say something that strikes a chord or makes me laugh, I will quote you on various social media sites. It's just what I do.

Anyway, lately I've found a lot of words that I want to share with everyone. Words are good. I hope you appreciate these as much as I do.

01. I'm a sap, and Thought Catalog's 8 Ways To Say I Love You really gets to me.

02. All of the words Augusten Burroughs says are the best words.

03. Recently, Kyla Roma wrote this inspiring post about creativity and patience. It starts off with an awesome quote, too, so it's doubly wonderful.

04. Last week, I discovered Letters of Note, a website that compiles letters of all kinds from all different people. In short, it's the best website to ever be created, and I'm incredibly inspired by what I've read there. Two of my favorites are this one from Stieg Larsson to his partner, and this one from John Steinbeck to his son.

05. "Skin" is one of my favorites off of Boy's album Mutual Friends (you know, the one I had shipped from Germany). The acoustic version is even better, as acoustic versions usually are.


-Maggie

Seattle Trip of Dreams and Wonder, Part II: Blogger Family

I can now cross off number two on my Twenty Before Twenty-One list.

The Blogger Family met in Seattle last week. We are all crazy–spending hundreds of dollars and traveling thousands of miles to stay in hotel rooms with people we had never met prior to this. To answer the most pressing question: Was anyone a creepy old man with pedophiliac intentions? Only one, but we were able to outrun him, so everything turned out okay. (I'm kidding, Mom.)

My brain had a hard time rationalizing that I was actually in the same room as these people. It kept thinking But why aren't you in a computer? I had to keep reminding myself that they were really there in front of me. I think I may have poked a few of them.

The weirdest thing of all though was that it really wasn't weird. We were all prepared for it to be a little awkward since talking via Facebook or even over the phone is different than meeting face-to-face, but it wasn't. Everyone just clicked. It was as if we'd always known each other (and this feeling was only reinforced by Dillon's mom and the hotel concierge).

We managed to squeeze so much in the few days we had together. Dillon, the Seattle native, went above and beyond planning what we would do each day and ensuring we were having a good time. We enjoyed the beautiful weather, shopped (a lot. Probably too much) ate fabulous food (well, except that one time), explored different parts of the city, ran through fountains, took naps in parks, made s'mores (Nicola's first!), and took a million pictures. We even got to meet Sam! 

My favorite part of every day was the meals. We all passed our food and drinks around the table to be shared, and laughed and told stories and talked about "next time." One of the more idyllic concepts of "family," to me at least, is that of a group of people gathered around a table just like we were, so each time I looked around at everyone during a meal, my heart felt as though it could burst. Because that's exactly what we are–a family.

This trip was so much more than any of us were hoping for. It was one of the best weeks of my life. I knew there would probably be tears at the end of it, but I was not prepared for how difficult it really was. I cried more that last day than I have in a very long time. It feels like I've left a sizable chunk of my heart behind.

Luckily, as Nicola pointed out, it wasn't really a "goodbye." It was a "see you next year," and while a year still seems like much too long, it's better than a "see you never." We have the little things we gathered from this trip to help us through until the next. Any time I get too down in the coming months, I'll just remember the time Shelby stuck her foot in a public toilet.

Love you guys so much. See you in Austin.

-Maggie

Seattle Trip of Dreams and Wonder, Part I: Cousins

I'm currently sitting in a Starbucks in Normandy Park waiting to meet Dillon and Amy for the first time. Julia and I have been staying in Seattle (well, technically Bellevue) since Friday, but this morning we dropped Julia off at the airport and now I'm about to meet the Blogger Family!

Julia and I stayed with my uncle's best friend Viki and her family while we were here, and we were so spoiled. They showed us their favorite parts of this area of Washington, treated us to some fantastic food, and even let us borrow a car! Needless to say, we loved them and are so grateful that they not only let us stay with them, but took us on their fabulous "Tour #7" and shared their wealth of knowledge and random trivia.

Despite having lost my bag* and not getting it back for an entire day (which isn't really important, but I will complain about forever), the first part of my Seattle trip was so much fun. We were spoiled with fantastic food, drives along the coast, Pike's Place Market, shopping downtown, a trip to Snoqualmie Falls, lunch at the top of the Space Needle, and good company. No better way to tell you about it than through some pictures.

-Maggie

* I managed to fit a week's worth of bulky winter clothes in a carryon for my trip to New York, so I thought I would be fine going to Seattle. This was not the case. I was either going to really push the height limit for carryon or leave things behind that I actually needed, so after many assurances from my family who travel Southwest all the time, I decided to check my bag. Then, naturally, my bag went to Tampa instead of Seattle.

April 24: Vlogbrothers

I was going to do a question vlog today, but I got home from school about ten minutes ago and have to work from five to eleven, so I don't have time today. So instead, I will leave you in the hands of vloggers much more talented and hilarious than I–the Vlogbrothers.

Here are three of my favorite, more recent videos from them. (All of their videos are fantastic though, so you should just go start at the beginning and work your way to the present.)







-Maggie

8

"8" is the stage adaptation of the 2010 federal trial that ultimately overturned California's ban on same-sex marriage. It was written by Dustin Lance Black using actual court transcripts and first-hand interviews. None of the lines were made up or exaggerated–this isn't fictional. The characters portrayed by these celebrities are real people.

This reading was a one-night-only benefit put on in support of the American Foundation of Equal Rights, and was streamed live on YouTube so that everyone had a chance to see. The video will only be available for a week, and so for the next week I will be extremely obnoxious in my promotion of this play.

"We put fear and prejudice on trial, and fear and prejudice lost."

Open your mind. There is so much more beyond what surrounds you, what you know, what you believe. You do not have to agree with it, but you cannot ignore it. Your opinions matter, but they are not the only ones, and you are not the only person they affect.

What is being denied is happiness, and with the state of things today, who has the right to deny anyone a little more happiness?

-Maggie

This is the story of how I died.

Last week started off badly.

I noticed that I could feel a thumping behind my gas pedal when I was in second gear, so I asked D-Dad to check it out since I was driving seven hours to Austin on Friday. When he drove it, the thumping turned into shaking, so we took it to the shop. The first place we went to couldn't diagnosis it without taking the axle off or something like that, so D-Dad took it to another shop the next day. The second shop was able to figure out the problem and went to work on fixing it.

I asked my mom what I would do if my car didn't get fixed and she said that I probably wouldn't get to go because plane tickets were far too expensive now. Cue my breakdown.

The shop called Wednesday afternoon and said they had fixed the first problem, but found something else. At this point, I was searching for buses and figuring how long it would take to walk there. I was desperately searching for some means of transport while simultaneously trying to prepare myself what seemed to be an imminent defeat.

But there was no need. My car was fixed and running smoothly by the time my school day ended on Thursday. I am very thankful that I have grandparents and parents that realize when something is important to me even if they don't understand why. My grandfather worked very hard to make sure that they fixed my car before Friday while my mom and dad were trying to come up with alternative ways I could get to Austin just in case. They're the very best.

So on Friday, November 11th I packed, stopped to make an epic wish at 11:11am, and then drove the seven hours to Austin–saved once again by an audiobook lent by Andrew (this time it was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). I was driving into Austin by the time the sun had set, and met Britny and Melany at Chuy's.

After we ate, we went to this toy store called Toy Joy, which was magical and had Spock and Kirk nutcrackers. Then we went to play putt-putt and walked around downtown, and had no ulterior motives for doing so.

The next day we got in line for the S.P.A.C.E. Tour at about twelve-thirty, which was later than we'd intended, but we always get places later than we intend. We had picked up McDonald's, but I was too anxious to eat my Big Mac, so I made Melany put it in her purse. Then we had to deal with Grumpy Line Melany, which is my least favorite Melany.

Julia Albain walked by at one point and I was all weird and loud when I said hi. Nobody else really noticed her, and I was all SHE IS THE DIRECTOR OF THIS TOUR. SHOW SOME RESPECT. Then I saw Liam White of Liam's Got A Phone Call fame, but I wasn't sure if it was him when I first saw him, so I didn't say anything.

When we finally got inside, we got in the merch line where I spent all of my money and saw Corey Lubowich. I bought the S.P.A.C.E. Tour shirt, Jim and the Povolos shirt, their EP, and two StarKid buttons. Money well spent.

While in the merch line, we could see Team StarKid walking around upstairs, and I nearly died the first time I saw Joey (and every subsequent time). We got a spot in the back on the left side of the stage as per Natalie's suggestion for maximum Joey viewing, and stared up at the StarKids chatting amongst themselves while we waited for the concert to start.

Charlene Kaye was fabulous, and I am looking forward to buying her new CD. Dylan Saunders came out to sing "Dress & Tie" with her, and we all swooned because he has the voice of an angel. Later on, he came back out with Jaime Lyn Beatty to sing "Animal Love," and it was FANTASTIC. They pulled a girl up on stage who Charlene recognized from covers the girl had sent her and she got into it. It was the best part of Charlene's set.

Then we waited and stared some more, until Brian Holden's voice came out of the speakers requesting no flash photography or video and then they went into this bit that was just so something Team StarKid would do. I cannot convey to you how wonderful the show was. There are not enough positive adjectives in the world to properly describe it. I officially declared it as the best day of my life before the  show was even halfway over, and after the show Melany said, "I could walk into traffic and get hit by four cars and have no regrets now."

LITTLE DID WE KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT.

So I found my friend Alissa (who I met at Darren Criss's San Antonio concert) outside after the show. We waited outside the doors with about ten other people and discussed the possibilities of polypolygamy. There was about thirty more people waiting across the street where the StarKids' trailer was, and we all stood there for the next hour watching them walk back and forth loading all their equipment. I was trying to gather the courage to ask Joey for a picture as he walked by, but couldn't do it.

Then all of them were standing by their trailer and some sort of signal was given that meant we could ask for pictures, so we ran across the street and I went straight for Joey. I kind of wedged my way to the right side of the crowd surrounding him, and then he turned to me and I don't know how I didn't throw up or faint, but I'm glad I didn't because then I introduced myself and got a picture with him.

No, I don't think you understand. I GOT A PICTURE WITH JOEY RICHTER. LIKE, I MET HIM AND HE SAID MY NAME. AND I LOVE HIM.

Anyway, I called Amy and fought my way back through the crowd to Joey. I told her to hold on just one second, called out to Joey, and heard her say, "JOEY RICHTER?" even though I was holding the phone away from me, which was really funny to me. After that, we made our way over to Joe who was trapped between a wall of a parking garage and a wall of fangirls, and then to Brian who is really tiny. Dylan and I bonded over the San Francisco Giants and he said his mom's name is Maggie, which I am taking as a sign that we'll be married soon, and Jaime said she liked my earrings.

I called Keren and she did not answer, so I called her twice more and she sounded flustered when she answered. She asked me if she could call me back in ten minutes and I told her to hurry as fast as she could and she said, "Okay, just two minutes. Let me get out of work." So she called me back and I said, "Sorry if I freaked you out, but I have someone here who needs to talk to you," and I handed the phone to Joe. I cannot remember exactly what Joe said, but this is the gist of it.

Joe: Hi, this is Joe.

Keren: . . .

Joe: This is Joseph Walker, and I'm here to tell you some bad news. We're all gonna die someday.

Keren: . . .

Joe: Well, you're taking it a lot better than I did when I found out.

Keren: . . .

Joe: If it makes you feel any better, you probably won't die for a long time. Don't die now or I'm going to feel really bad.

Keren: . . .

Joe: Okay, well, your friend just wanted me to say hi and please don't die. Here's your friend, okay, bye!

Then he handed the phone back to me and said he was so embarrassed and it was just really adorable. Also, we took two pictures with him because he made a weird face in the first one and said, "I don't think I look very–yeah, let's take that again." It was just funny.

In short, I am madly in love with every member of Team StarKid.

After they all boarded the bus, we walked down the street towards Melany's car, but ended up sitting on a bench across the street from it for a good fifteen minutes trying to take in what had just happened to us. Eventually, we got up to put our stuff in Melany's car and walked back down to Austin Java. I ordered a chicken sandwich, but couldn't eat because I was still reeling from everything that had happened and Britny said that I had "involuntary anorexia," which I think should actually be a thing if it isn't already.

So that's the story of how I died, and if any of you who are not in the blogging family caught that Doctor Who reference, then I love you.

Oh, and the wish I made on November 11, 2011 at 11:11am?

"I wish I could meet Joey Richter this weekend."

WISHES DO COME TRUE, KIDS.

-Maggie

And it ain't hard to believe in love in the city of lights.

Sitting in Starbucks. Sipping a white chocolate mocha. Listening to Bon Iver Pandora. Frantically working through my math homework. Wishing I had a sweater.

Tomorrow is my first math test, which I am hoping upon hope that I do not fail. You should hope the same.

After my usual eight to five school day, I have to drive straight to work where I will be until ten-thirty. So that's fun. Upon arriving home, I will I have to study for my second Spanish composition that will take place Friday morning.

But then, after all that crap, I will leave for Austin.

Yes, please.

-Maggie