#RIPFOB

As some of you may know, Fall Out Boy has been one of my favorite bands for a while. I, however, am not one of the fans that has been there since Take This to Your Grave. I never heard Take This to Your Grave until after I heard Infinity on High.

The first time I heard about Fall Out Boy, a friend of mine was telling me about "Sugar, We're Going Down," as she was looking for a copy of From Under the Cork Tree in FYE at the mall. I had never heard of Fall Out Boy and I had never heard of the song, so I didn't really care very much. Then, there was the explosion. "Sugar" was being played on Vh1 and MTV ad nauseam and I quickly resented Fall Out Boy for becoming so popular so quickly. I refused to like them because everyone else did. But, secretly, I loved them. I loved "Sugar, We're Going Down," "Dance, Dance," and "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me," but I could barely admit it to myself. I was going through that phase that all little alt-loving preteens go through, in which I loathed anything and everything mainstream. I was almost embarrassed to love Fall Out Boy as much as I did, so I hid my love and mocked those who obsessed over them.

Then came Infinity on High. I absolutely adored "This Ain't a Scene, it's an Arms Race" and "Thnks fr th Mmrs," and I bought the album from Best Buy along with Sick Puppies' debut, just to maintain my un-mainstreamness. I put Infinity on High into my boombox and fell in love. Every single song became my favorite as soon as I listened to it. The lyrics were amazing and deep and well-written and I became a fangirl so fast that my head spun. I read Pete Wentz's old blog posts on FueledByRamen.com and searched for every little detail about each band member.

For my eighth grade graduation from hell, my two best friends, Hannah and Jessica, my father, and I went to Hartford, Connecticut to see the Honda Civic Tour, which Fall Out Boy was headlining. There, I fell in love with Cobra Starship and The Academy Is.... But when Fall Out Boy began to play, I nearly died. They opened with "Thriller," the first track off of Infinity on High, and I screamed so loudly and sang along so loudly that I felt as if I was going to throw up or my throat would tear in two from the sheer force and volume of my voice.

I obsessed for two more years. I got every album (except for Evening Out with Your Girlfriend) and memorized all of the lyrics and defended their integrity to the death. I got the CitizensFOB Mixtape and Folie a Deux and loved them, but my fangirldom has been fading ever so slowly.

Now the news that they're over, at least for now, and my heart has broken a little bit. I didn't cry or anything--I'm not THAT crazy--but I am really sad and disappointed and just hoping that this is only temporary. Fall Out Boy was one of the only constants in a time of my life that was horrible and trying and torturous.

-xo

In Light of the Buried Life...

...I have decided to make a list of things I want to do in my life. I did this in seventh or eighth grade on MySpace and had quite a few stupid things, so hopefully this is a bit less trite:

1. Sing at Carnegie Hall (realizing this dream on April 11th!)
2. Spend at least a year in Uganda, Rwanda, or the Democratic Republic of Congo doing volunteer work.
3. Get into a college that isn't a safety.
4. Make All-County or Area All-State choir.
5. See Orfeo et Euridice, Carmen, or Il Nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera House.
6. See Grace Bumbry and Placido Domingo perform (not necessarily together).
7. Drive cross-country with friends.
8. Get published in a nationwide periodical.
9. Get into an Ivy League law school.
10. Hike the Appalachian Trail (yeah, Georgia to Maine. The whole thing.)
11. Backpack across Europe.
12. Meet my extended family in Ireland and England.
13. Learn German.
14. Learn how to play piano well.
15. Hit a high C, D, and E.
16. Rescue a dog.
17. Go to Coachella.
18. Work as a state prosecutor.
19. Hold public office.
20. Work at the UN in any way, even as a tour guide or page.
21. Go to Australia and see a performance at the Sydney Opera House.
22. Open a dog rescue in Galivants Ferry, South Carolina.
23. Live in Seattle, Portland, Monterey, Chicago, Brooklyn, Baltimore, and Charleston.
24. Be in the audience for a taping of SNL.
25. Get two tattoos.
26. Read the entire Old Testament/Torah and reach a conclusion to what the eff I believe in.
27. Write a novel of publishable quality.
28. Get said novel published.
29. Direct a play on a college main stage.
30. Be involved in many more protests and rallies.
31. Find someone worth loving.
32. Do something noteworthy.
33. Study abroad.
34. Not have to take any pills.
35. Get Lasik eye surgery.

I know that some of these are still trite. Sorry.

-xo

Winter Reading List

For Christmas, I got a few books. However, because of my heavy course load and bevy of extracurriculars, I've been getting through them quite slowly (at least for me). So far, I've read

1. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
2. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (for AP Lit)
3. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (for AP Lit)
4. Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

I'm in the process of reading Diary by Chuck Palahniuk, which is very good. On my list are:

1. Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
2. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
3. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Any suggestions for me?

How many times do I have to do this...

...before it becomes meaningless? I'm sorry I haven't posted in forever. *Insert same old story about being busy here.*

But I have been busy. I just finished my first semester at WVHS and I am now entering what will be the most hellish semester of my life. I need to maintain a 3.8 unweighted GPA (that's about a 91 for those of you who aren't on the 4.0 scale), get at least a 2000 on my SATs, at least a 32 on my ACTs, a 4 or 5 on both my AP US History and AP English Literature & Composition exams, a 3 on my AP Environmental Science exam (because that shit is hard), AND maintain proper extracurriculars. If only I were less ambitious. My life would be SO much easier.

I know that I'm definitely applying to six schools: Barnard College, Oberlin College & Conservatory of Music, Binghamton University, Guilford College, College of Charleston, and the University of South Carolina. I'm on the fence with Bard College and still considering New York University, Mt. Holyoke College, and Davidson College. So, yeah. Tough places.

Guilford, Charleston and USC are my safeties, and thank god they're all in such beautiful places. Guilford's outside of Greensboro, NC; Charleston's in Charleston, SC; and USC is in Columbia, SC. I absolutely LOVE the Lowcountry. I got SO excited when I realized that Dear John was set in Charleston.

Oh, bee tee dubbs, I saw Dear John tonight with my best friend, Jessica. I expected it to be really dumb and shallow, but, I swear, it was really decent. While the acting wasn't Oscar-worthy, the interactions between Savanna and John were very real, especially compared to the rom-com couples that are depicted in movies all the time. John's father was absolutely heart-wrenching. Channing Tatum was very believable as a soldier, unlike some actors can be, and really exemplified the brooding brute. I didn't feel that Savanna developed as a character much. I was really, really happy that the film showed a lot about autism, as it has become a really common condition in the US and has not been dealt with much by the media. Overall, it was a surprisingly good film, but nowhere near as good as The Notebook. Let's face it...nothing ever will be.

I promise I will try to post here at least once a week. Really.

-xo