Shame and Fortune

The media is rather annoying. But this is obvious and many people can agree with me.

So many people are so obsessed with what celebrities are doing all the time, and not just when it comes to their careers. I just don't get how it's exciting when a magazine does a spread about how "Celebs are Just Like Us!!!"

Obviously they are just like us. They are human beings. Yes, Angelina Jolie has most likely been grocery shopping in her life. Celebrities don't get their everyday necessities beamed down to them from some kind of Hollywood Gods. 

I am a fan of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt because they are both very good actors, and I admire them both for being activists. I agree they make a very attractive and seemingly perfect couple. If I were to meet either one I'd probably mention that I appreciate their work, but I wouldn't go all fangirl on them. I've always had that mentality when meeting celebrities, they're just people. 

The main reason I'm making this post is why the media gets so caught up in celebrity relationships. Some are rather appalling and I can see why people find it interesting. I have to admit I stopped to read a couple times about the Lohan/Ronson craziness that was their relationship. But when two successful people get together and have a pretty normal relationship why is it such a huge deal?

I see magazine covers, blog headlines and other media outlets saying OH NO! Brad and Angelina are fighting!!! OH MY GOSH!

Ok so because they're celebrities, they aren't allowed to have arguments?

They are two very successful and very famous people, they have 6 kids, they are probably apart very often, yes they will fight. They will scream, argue, disagree, make up, break up, and everything else that happens in a relationship. People (like my mother) think if they see a magazine cover saying "Brangelina" had a fight that it means their relationship is destined to fail.

Yes, because every normal relationship between people who aren't famous is absolutely perfect.

Ha.

It's Blitz

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Heads Will Roll

I'm still recovering from the magnificent show last night. I just saw the vid for Heads Will Roll this morning and I'm in love. I love Karen O's outfit in the video. Her costumes designed by Christian Joy never cease to blow me away. The video is weird in a fascinatingly awesome way. Their insides are made of glitter and confetti. That also explains why when they opened with Heads Will Roll last night, the crowd was showered with glitter and Y shaped confetti. Three of which happened to get stuck to me. Best coincidence. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt0IlrQYOxM Watch and love people <3

It's Blitz

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I really f***in love you

The other day when I took Travis to work I had six hours to occupy in Kansas City. I started off by going to Urban Outfitters where I fell in love with some bowls and plates, after that I went to State Line Rd. and found a mall. It was the worst mall. It was a strip mall/real mall/Target/Dillards contraption of a place. It was the biggest fustercluck.

After wandering around and finding absolutely nothing that caught my interest I decided to go to Dillard's. The sandals I wore were not good for walking, so I figured I'd pick up some more comfortable shoes. I usually like Dillard's, this one just looked bad. I pulled on the really heavy door that made the worst creaking noise and then slammed shut behind me. This Dillard's had to have been built in the 70's. Did they have Dillard's then? It was unattractive.  The store was set up like Tj Maxx, where there are just rows of racks and random clothes on them. I made my way to the escalator and went down, this was the women's section. It was set up the same, and everything was packed in. I noticed a printed out sign that read Dillard's Discount Center. So was this Dillard's own little version of Tj Maxx? No clue.

I wandered over to the shoes, because I still had 5 hours to kill and I was freakishly curious about this store. I walked to the aisle that had my size and there in front of me, were these: 

Obviously they were not a comfortable alternative to my Volcom sandals, but I had seen them somewhere about a year ago and wanted them badly. They're Jessica Simpson, and while I'm not a fan of her, her line of shoes isn't half bad.

The box said $26 and I was ready to pay that much. Then I saw a sign that read Extra 50% Off. I was in budget fashion heaven. No doubt I paid $13 for these badass shoes.

The Pretty Reckless

Now, on to my choice of song. I chose a song by The Pretty Reckless, the band fronted by Gossip Girl's Taylor Momsen.

I love love Gossip Girl, and I think Momsen is okay. Obviously I don't know her personally, so I can't really judge her. One thing I do definitely like about her is her sense of style. 

I figured I'd check out her band, they are actually quite catchy. They are a "fun listen." I'm going to check them out live soon when they come up here.

photo: taylor-momsen.net

When I Get Home

My weekend was extremely lovely.

Travis' mom went out of town for the weekend, this led to the above statement.

Let me explain further, Travis and I live downstairs (basement). We have our own kitchen, living room, laundry room, etc. His mom lives upstairs with all the same amenities. I've noticed this is normal here in the midwest (southern girl who grew up in a place without basements).

There are several things that make living with her hard:

1. She does not like me. 

2. I'm a rather quiet person, while she is loud. I like to chill and have some music playing at a normal volume. She comes home and immediately turns on more than one TV to a very high volume which leads to me having to listen to The Bachelor and Dancing With The Stars, both shows that I despise, at the same time. My ultimate pet peeve is also having to listen to something from another room. But I digress...

3. Did I mention she doesn't like me?

4. I cannot go upstairs for anything while she's home, it's the most awkward situation ever. I try to be nice and make conversation and she just looks at me weird. Rude.

She left before I had even gone to sleep on Friday. I usually turn a really loud fan on so I don't have to listen to QVC while I try to sleep, but that night, I curled up in bed with no noise. The house was dead quiet, it was beautiful. Saturday mornings are usually hell, but I woke up to silence.

I went upstairs and curled up on her couch, it's so dark in the basement and the living room is so bright. I relaxed, made lunch, watched a little TV and enjoyed it. 

Sunday, Travis and I woke up and I decided to drive Travis to work and spend the day in Westport. We left without Travis getting yelled at for anything and did I mention my car was in the garage? Yes, my black car was not in the heat. Joy.

We saw Night At The Museum and had dinner with Alex, then came home to a quiet house and went to bed in the beautiful silence.

Yesterday we decided to just relax. We played some PS3 and went out to dinner. I went to eat a banana and found that they were starting to go bad. It was the perfect time for us to take advantage of the empty kitchen (that I'd cleaned all day Saturday) and made some banana nut bread.

It's delicious by the way.

Now, on to my rant. Since I'm sitting here downstairs listening to the Bachelor or Bachelorette, whatever poor sap wants fifteen minutes of fame and boyfriend/girlfriend for two of those minutes. She got home around 1am and the first thing she does is asks Travis what days he works. He told her that this week he worked Sunday-Tuesday and was off until Saturday. These were his first three days off in three weeks and he took them off for my birthday. 

"WHAT?!?!?!?" she yelled and by this point I'm downstairs on the couch shaking my head. "You don't even work full time, what are you going to do for THREE WHOLE DAYS?!?!?!"

Travis quietly explained to her that yes, he does work full time and he'd been working on average 60 hours a week. So he took three days off, all of three of which he had made plans for.

Knowing she had lost, she grumpily said "Whatever..." and left the room. 

It's like she just loves to yell at him for stupid stupid things. He's a twenty year old full time college student. He's a grown man, he takes care of himself. He's only in her house for now until he moves away to finish school. It's so annoying.

I cleaned the house in an attempt to make her happy. She scoffed at it and proceeded to make the mess of a 4 year old at 8am while my sleeping self had to listen.

Apartment search starts now!

The Beatles

A Hard Day's Night

We Both Go Down Together

So I seem to have strayed away from titling each blog entry with a song name then including the artist and album at the bottom.

I'm going to get back to doing that.

Like, right now.

The Decemberists

Picaresque

Adventure!

Travis recently got a job at the AMC Mainstreet, which is a new theater that just opened up in the Power and Light District here in Kansas City. It's a beautiful theater that was originally a Vaudeville theater in the 1900's. Travis told me they tried to keep some of the original framework, which can be seen throughout the theater. It has this modern mixed with classic feel. I love the architecture. 

Anyway, he and I were hanging out downtown before he had to go to work and I dropped him off. I had plenty to do that day so I offered to drive him to work so he could save gas. A couple hours before he got off I decided to chill and see a movie. When the movie was over and Travis was off he told me he had to show me something. 

He usually works booth, this theater is digital, so there's no changing reels. Which means, on a little touch screen he goes in before the movie, clicks Play and has to find something to occupy his time until the movie is over. So, he wanders around the old theater to see what he can find.

He snuck me to the elevator in the back corner behind the grand staircase and we went up to another floor. When we got out, the hall had new white walls, and pretty carpet. Travis had to go into another room to change and as soon as I looked to my right after I got off the elevator I saw the most beautiful old staircase. I'm a sucker for old architecture and buildings, so I had to whip out the trusty Blackberry and take some photos.

It was very dusty and behind it was a tiny space that looked like it used to be a room. When I looked up there was a year etched into the wood on the bottom of the stairs, it looked like 18 or 19 something. I could make out the rest because of the dust. When I looked up, the stairs went around and disappeared into the ceiling. I wanted to know so badly what was up there.

I began to go down the hall next to the stairs and Travis came back from changing, he told me he'd already been all over and nothing was back there. So we got back in the elevator and went up to the top floor. When we came out, it looked the same as the floor below. New walls, new carpet, there was still stuff from the people working on the building. It had that smell of a new building, even though it was so old.  We went down the hall and around the corner to these two white doors that were off the ground. Travis opened one and I stood there in awe at what was before me. 

I stepped inside and I was standing in an old theater. I was at the top row of seats, and at the bottom of the stairs you could see what used to be the stage. The room still had it's original brick walls, in some spots the bricks were missing and it made the whole room seem creepy.

I walked down the stairs, some of which seemed to have crumbled and stood by the stage. 

I also took a picture of the creepy dark room at the top of the stairs, I didn't want to go any closer. I wasn't too sure about a dark creepy opening in a really old theater. 

After that, Travis took me to this very small door. He told me to open it and I expected to see a garbage chute or something, when I opened it I saw the bright lights and tall buildings that make up the city. For some reason I've always wanted to be on the roof of a tall building. I didn't go out the small door, it locks from the inside when it closes and I would have had to have jumped pretty far down to get out. 

I plan on taking my DSLR back and taking better photos. Hopefully we can sneak through again without getting caught. But getting caught might just be worth it. 

This website has a history of the theater including old photos:

http://www.amctheatres.com/theatres/domestic/mainstreet/history.html

XOXO

I am a Gossip Girl FREAK. I absolutely love that show. I read the books years ago, and the show is my ultimate guilty pleasure. I usually hate shows like this (90210, One Tree Hill..), I don' t know what it is about Gossip Girl. Maybe it's just better?

Anyway, this season finale made me say FINALLY! over and over again. 

They graduate from High School- finally! because they don't seem at all like they're in high school, college seems more appropriate.

Lily and Rufus decide to get married- finally! They've been deciding whether or not to stay together for twenty years. It's about time they make it final.

Gossip Girl pisses everyone off and brings them together- finally! It's fun to have GG spreading Gossip, but it was entertaining to see everyone outed for their downfalls, and then to see them realize they need to stop getting pissed at GG because they're the ones spreading the rumors to begin with.

Dan meets the guy who could possibly be his brother- finally! Several eps ago someone tried to get in touch with Dan, who we found out was his long lost brother. I'm hoping the guy he met in the cafe was him, that'll be super interesting next season.

And the last finally!

CHUCK SAID HE LOVED BLAIR!!! 

Yay! He's been holding back and being a douche all fricken season. I was starting to think it would be far too lame for him to just finally tell her, so I really loved all of his romantic gestures for him to prove himself.

Things about this episode that were kind of "eh"

Jenny's graduation outfit was a bit risque and wasn't something a 16 year old wears to her brother's graduation. I do love Jenny's style, but really?

Rufus telling Dan he should go to Nate's party because even though he didn't really like any of his classmates, he should still go party with them. Wtf Rufus? "Yeah, these people bullied you and dragged you into their scandal for the last four years, ditch Vanessa and get drunk with them!"

When Nate told his grandfather he was getting paid to have sex with an older married woman and his grandfather is just like "K, well, that's cool, we'll just make sure nobody finds out." I understand this family is used to scandal, but maybe a "I'm a bit disappointed in you." or something to that extent. Maybe?

xoxo