Go Cougs!

I leave in less than 24 hours. Whoa!!!

My friend Brady threw me a "going-away" party last night. It was me and the Microsoft-posse that I have grown so fond of. I will miss them all so dearly!

September is such a fantastic month in Seattle.. I wish I could be here for it. The fall weather is just absolutely beautiful! The warm winds, the trees swayin' like crazy, football on the tele! I'm so bummed I have to miss football season! When I was planning to study abroad I was thinking I didn't want to miss basketball season... but now I would miss out either way really. I love the sounds of football games, it's a weird comfort. The announcers..the crowd screamin.. the echoing calls from the refs,.. the little FSN ditty that plays every time the game is back..

Hmmm sigh. Hopefully I can find a way to watch or listen online :) Thank goodness for the world wide web, eh??!

It's gametime, yo. Cougs vs Cowboys. GO COUGS!

Thoughts

As I ready myself for my departure, I am experiencing a multitude of emotions. At first, I was full of excitement, then nervousness, then excitement again... Now I am feeling some sort of bittersweet something.. I've made some pretty cool new friends this summer and weaved closer bonds with others. I am so sad to leave them. I have to keep reminding myself that I am ONLY gone for 4 months and it's just like going to Pullman for regular school anyway just without Thanksgiving break. The Warmth by Incubus. I am sad to leave my family again also. They are so supportive of me and they are all so excited for this awesome opportunity for adventure I have ahead of me. I really am lucky to have such a fantastic family. I Can't Quit You Baby by Led Zeppelin. One day when I'm all grown up and moved out, I hope that my family is close to me still. I don't want to have to fly across the country to see them..That'd be like moving away from my best friends! The people that make me laugh and smile the most! Sigh. I am feeling creative, I think I'll paint something. Of course, after I take off my brand new black skinny pants that are the most comfy pants I have EVER owned! I wouldn't want to ruin them :)

I hope everyone is having a fantastic time enjoying life and taking advantage of every opportunity that comes their way. You only have one life....so live it well! Strip My Mind by Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Holy granola, Strip My Mind's solo is so stinkin mind blowing.

Moving?

I am going to give WordPress a shot.

My study abroad to Italy starts in 10 days. This blog is moreso my random thoughts and discoveries...the WordPress blog will be about my travels.

If you'd like to follow my trip to Italy feel free to take a little trip on over to this blog I just created: http://katyharrison.wordpress.com/

I haven't decided what I'll do with this fantastic blog, ...I might not like WordPress and come back here..but so far WordPress seems much more organized and has some more user options that are appealing to me.. hmmm. We'll see!

Warped Tour 2008

Warped Tour, as always, was at The Gorge in George on Saturday. The place is so beautiful.. every time I go it never let's me down!

Firstly, here's a little list of the bands I saw (in no particular order):

Confide
3oh!3
Angels & Airwaves
The Academy Is...
Say Anything
Alesana
All Time Low
Reel Big Fish
Classic Crime
Cobra Starship
Katy Perry
Oreskaband
Gym Class Heroes
Story of the Year
Family Force Five


I know there were more, but that's all I can remember at the moment. Also, Four Years Strong and From First To Last both played at 11:something AM so I wasn't able to see them--we arrived to the gates at about 5 til noon... I also wanted to see Dr. Manhattan but they played when I wanted to see another band.... Lame.

Confide was a good live screamo band. There are some really bad ones out there...You have to even out the screaming with some good melodies and singing, maybe some good heavy beats and double bass.., otherwise it's just difficult to keep listening. They had great stage presence and put on an enjoyable show, though coming back and listening to their MySpace was a little disappointing. Sometimes bands are just way better live.

30h!3 I highly recommend if you are into some good quality white boy electro hip hop.. huh? Yeah. It's pretty bumpin. With those contagious beats it was hard not to dance. Not to mention their humor... You can tell those guys were a bunch of horny dudes making music about your typical rap topics.. they just did it in a way that wasn't completely serious; it was hilarious. I almost bought their cd, but I couldn't find their merch tent and had to move it to the next stage to see A&A. Track to check out: Don't Trust Me

I walked to the main stage for Angels & Airwaves thinking to myself that I shouldn't ruin the image I have of them by watching 'em totally suck live... But I was pleasantly surprised! Tom Delonge could use a bit more facial expression to improve his stage presence, but his singing voice was hitting the notes and sounded good so I didn't mind that much. A&A, in my opinion, had the most feel-good show at Warped this year. (Side note: I went to their tent to snag a Tshirt and their merch guy totally hit on me! Niiiiice :P haha)

Say Anything was fantastic!!! I had been looking forward to seeing them for a long time so I was hoping to not be let down. Alas, Max Bemis's total theater geekness and energy did him well--he was very fun to watch. Do yourself a favor and check them out if you haven't already.. Tracks to check out: Shiksa and Every Man Has A Molly

So those were the good ones...here are the "could have been better" bands (plus I'm getting bored so I'll wrap it up):

Alesana could have been better. I think they are too poppy for me.. I left about 2 songs into their set. The Academy Is... was lame. Boring. All their songs sound the same... Bleh. All Time Low I had seen before.. They always put on an energtic show, interacting with the crowd and movin' all over the stage. Quality live show. Not really my cup o' tea for regular listening though. Classic Crime (one of the few Seattle bands) wasn't too bad; I think I've seen them too many times. For Cobra Starship I just chilled in the back...My ride was in the pit and it was the end of the night. They weren't awful, but very mainstreamy. Katy Perry kissed a girl and she liked it. I wonder how many girls have kissed..girls just because of that song? I only caught her last song and thought it was pretty alright, though my friend who saw her whole set said she has a bad voice... Oreskaband was awesome! I'm not into ska at all, but this Japanese ska band blew everyone out of the water. An all girls 6-piece group, ..these energetic chicks were so funny and were very talented. Like others though, I was disappointed when coming back home and visiting their myspace page..They sound better live. Gym Class Heroes I caught about half their set from the lawn. I think I shoulda gone closer because I didn't enjoy it much.

And last but not least we have Story of the Year. They played on the well-deserved main stage. I saw these guys back in high school when their debut album Page Avenue was released. They were great, experienced, energetic... man I'm out of juices here. All in all they were enjoyable, sorta nostalgic (Until the Day I Die).

YEAH WARPED TOUR!

My family is so stinkin' cool.

With the birth of two new cousins (left Cedar & Tesa), I have seen my extended family a whole lot more than usual these last few months. I wish we all lived just a little bit closer so we could hang out more like this. I love it! My extended family is so stinkin' awesome....we are so lucky. We all have so much love and respect for each other.. Fantastic humor is always present.. Little cousins running around screaming with laughter.. There's always incredible food to enjoy..

I leave for Italy in 23 days. These are the things I keep hearing from friends and family: "Be safe!" "Have fun!" "Be careful..." 'I'm jealous!" "You'll have a blast!!!" "Are you excited??"

My favorite little piece thus far is something my grandpa said to me:
"Have you heard the eyeball thing?"
"No gpa.., eyeball thing? What are you talking about?"
"You go in like you're going to kiss the guy,..." *his hands move up to hold the sides of my head*
"...and then you smash his eyes to the back of his head with your thumbs!!"
And then he mentions something about wanting to hear the guy sing and using your knee as well..... haha.

Alright! So now I know how to make a man scream in pain. Though I'm not sure I'd be able to stick my thumbs into his eyeballs and smoosh them backwards.... I might be too grossed out--unless I was actually scared and helpless then yeah, I guess I'll use it. Thanks Gpa, for that fantastic lesson in self-defense haha.


OH! and get this... My grandma, yes.. my grandma, is coming with me to the Radiohead concert in 2 weeks! DUDE! I HAVE THE COOLEST GRANDMA!