#mostnights vs. Friday night

It's official. Friday night was one of the two best nights of my entire life, with no exaggeration whatsoever.

On Friday at around two, my parents, sister and I got in the car and made the ninety minute or so drive to Philadelphia to see the band fun. perform live in concert at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts as part of their Most Nights summer tour.

Believe it or not, it was the first concert I'd ever been to. As I write this, I'm wonder if I've struck you all as the kind of person who goes to them all the time, especially ones for singers/bands most people haven't heard of, or have heard of, but haven't actually listened to them. Believe me, after Friday night, I want to be that kind of person.

Anyway, so. fun. Yes, that's the way their name is stylized. Let's do a quick background check- fun. are the artists of the immensely popular "We Are Young" and "Some Nights", the former of which won the Grammy award for Song of the Year.

They are made up of Nate Ruess (right), the lead singer, an Arizonian, Jack Antonoff (left), the guitarist, a New Jersian, and Andrew Dost (center), a player of multiple instruments (mainly keyboard), a Michiganian (I think that's how you'd say it). Apart from that being maybe the most use of participles ever on this blog, each of these talented gents were members of another band before subsequently leaving to join fun. in 2008. Despite their being most known for their second album, "Some Nights", and the two songs I mentioned from it, they have also released an album called Aim and Ignite. They wrote a song for the HBO series "Girls", and have done several Christmas covers.

I think that's a lot of the reason I like fun.- they're a pretty big deal in the public eye; however, they're hipster enough to have a college-aged fanbase and plenty of awesome songs that you don't hear about. Oh, and did I mention that Nate Ruess is INSANELY attractive?

Yep. We're getting married, in case you were wondering.

Anyway, back to the concert: after about forty minutes of sitting in traffic, which was painful, as we would be about two minutes away from the venue without it, we were able to get to the concert and park on the lawn across from the ampitheatre. As we walked toward the gates, I started to get a glimpse of the personnel who were arriving- a big influxof people, despite our getting there just at the start of the opening act. It was a lot of hipster, artsy college-age kids and twenty-somethings.

Once in, the challenge of finding a seat arose. Our seats were on the lawn, which, despite their connotation of "nosebleed seats", had a pretty good view of the stage. Plus, they were right under the jumbo screen. However, the term "lawn seats" is rather broad- you could have sat anywhere. Our options were a bit limited, though, as most people had already gotten there. Under some sort of divine providence, however, I was able to secure a spot at the front of the sloped lawn. Here was the view:

The performers you see on the stage are Tegan and Sara, a Canadian sister duo who opened for fun. They were quite good. They performed until about 9, and, at the point, the roadies took to the stage to set it for fun. This took a rather long gtime- fun. didn't go on until 9:30, an hour and a half after the start of the concert. I was pretty thankful for this, as I spent some of this window with my dad getting a shirt and using the bathroom- now that was an unpleasant experience. A.) The woman's line was so long that some girls were going into the men's room (it went by pretty fast, though). Not to mention, B.) the bathroom was about 1,000,000 degrees; no less than the outside temperature, I might add.

But, oh God, once fun. came on, it was all worth it.

I don't really remember how they made their entrance; it seemed like they just sort of appeared in the left corner of the stage, all wearing white tuxedos and singing the intro to "Some Nights" in front of a piano helmed by Andrew. It was at this point that it actually it me: oh my God, I'm at a fun. concert. A real, live, actual fun. concert. It's such a strange sensation to see a group of people for so long in music videos, televised award shows, and iTunes acoustic sessions, and then to see them in the flesh, right in front of your face. You think to yourself, "That's not just a pixilated hologram. That's. Really. Them." I'm not afraid to admit I got chills upon pondering this.

Anyway, after the climax/ending of "Some Nights Intro", Nate's amazing belt of a high C, the stage went dark for a few moments, until...

(Sorry for the atrocious quality) That's the "explosion" that occured on the stage screen when the guys ran out from the wings, changed from tuxedos to casual clothes, and bursting into "One Foot". It was so amazing.

Well, the rest of the concert went as you'd imagine it would go. fun. played a bunch of their songs from both of their albums, including "Carry On", "At Least I'm Not as Sad (As I Used to Be)", "Why Am I the One", "It Gets Better", "The Gambler", and "Walking the Dog". They also covered "You Can't Always Get What You Want" by the Rolling Stones, and some song called "How Far is Heaven". Also, Nate dropped an F bomb on multiple occasions, but that was okay.

Yes, Nate cut his hair. :(

As expected, "We Are Young" was the last song they sang, which was especially awesome because, at the part when the hook starts ("I'll carry you home...TONIIIIIGHT"), the stage lit up with the word FUN written in light bulbs behind them. It was so cool. Then, they broke into "Barlights", I believe, which was when Nate actually went into the crowd. I was so hoping- perhaps praying is a better word -he'd come up to the lawn in an attempt to prove my dad wrong; however, he did not, which was no skin off my back, as the stairs he would have climbed had been crowded with fangirls like me, thereby decreasing my ability to see him. The atmosphere was so pumped up at that point.

Of course, "We Are Young"/"Barlights" was hardly the last song. Just seconds after the "thank you"s and "good night"s, the band reentered the stage for a performance of the song from which the title of their tour comes: none other than "Some Nights". We stayed until the end of that song, then made a point to leave the ampitheatre so as to beat the crowds. Unfortunately, this enabled us to miss the real last song, "Stars". Now that I think of it, though, it was probably smart; "Stars" is about eight minutes long, which would have put us  especially behind. Plus, as we were making the trek back to the car, we could hear it perfectly well.

At this point, the time was about 11:00. Sure, I was tired, but there was no way I could sleep in the car after something as big as that (I rarely sleep in the car as it is). I was so stoked; plus, the big yellow glowstick my dad had bought was casting a loud glow that illuminated the car.

As we cruised up the highway back home, my mind was swimming with thoughts:

• "That was fun.. It was really them."
• "Wait a second... Nate didn't do the cool think with his voice in 'Some Nights'!"
• "Sweet mother of God, I can still feel the humidity clinging to my shirt."
• "Now that I think of it, 'The Gambler' is actually a really sad song..."
• "Oh, hey- I just saw fun.."

I hope I don't sound obsessive in saying this, but I still can't stop thinking about Friday night's concert. fun. put on a fantastic show that left us all chomping at the bit for more, plus, they sounded exactly the same in person as they do on their CDs.
So, yeah. One of the two best nights of my life.
I said "one of", you'll notice. The other one is another story entirely...
****************

I took all of the pictures in the post except for the following:

First fun. pic: npr.org

Nate Ruess, close up: tumblr.com

Nate Ruess, lights in the background: weezer.com

Nate Ruess, hands crossed: zimbio.com

(Dear God, I used a lot of Nate Ruess pictures in this post...no regrets, though!)

On Memories and a Certain Miss Cyrus

Another confession: I really love YouTube.
I can spend quite a while trolling the billions of clips there are to see on this fabulous videoplex. However, due to my tendency to focus on some of my favorite YouTubers (Vlogbrothers, WheezyWaiter, charlieissocoollike, Nerimon, etc.) and video styles (fan videos, music videos, funny clips), I can easily skip over the most viral content that everyone's been talking about (yet another confession- I've never seen Charlie bit my Finger).
A few minutes ago, I decided to combat that by taking a look at one video that's got plenty of attention: the music video for Miley Cyrus's new single, "We Can't Stop".
I'd heard it was crazy. It was.
But, more importantly, it was appalling. And, it made me extremely angry and upset.
I'm not really going to attempt to explain the unexplainable and tell you what the video was about. If you'd like, you can take a look at it here:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/LrUvu1mlWco" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
If you didn't watch it, I guess, in the loosest terms, one could say it was about a party, and a very wild one at that.
It was chock full of campy, new-age assets, including bubble gum blood, a taxidermized lamb, a bizarre hologram of a white face, rather large teddy bears being held by dancing girls, an old-fashioned exercise bike, and a lot more weird schlock.
I'll admit it. If this were the craziest the video had to offer, I probably wouldn't have cared much. Artists these days are always trying to be cool and show off their inner teen. I think Madonna led that pack years ago.
But, needless to say, it wasn't the craziest.
See, Miley's producers felt the need to add some...hmmm...."extra features" to the video so as to compliment the crazy stuff going on.
Those extra features? Let's see- we see several girls shaking their butts /directly in front of the camera/; girls smacking a each other's butts with playful grins on their faces...notice a recurring theme here?
But, why stop there? After all, every video needs something sweet, something to pack an extra punch, maybe even something to enjoy the video while watching (definitely possible with this clip). You know what it is- drugs!!!
And this video had them- a beer bottle shaped pinata, to be exact, filled with cigarettes!
But, perhaps the most used facet to this video was Miley herself. There were plenty of shots of the diva in her video, most featuring her, clad in a crop top bearing the phrase "West Coast" and tight white pants, shaking- you guessed it -her butt in a provocative manner, flashing the rock star hand sign, or showing a close-up of her baring her teeth.
Yeah.
A lot has changed since several years ago, when Miley was on my TV pretty much every night on her popular television show, "Hannah Montana". I'm not going to lie- that show, along with "Wizards of Waverly Place", "Sonny with a Chance", "High School Musical", and "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" basically made up my media consumption during childhood (I was a Disney kid, save for Spongebob, which I still watch).
I always loved watching Miley's double life as a mega pop star and high school sophomore unfold upon the small screen, along with her interactions with her friends, brother, dad, and boyfriends (She and Jake Ryan and Sonny and Chad were my first ships ever, people!).

To this day, I still cite quotes from "Hannah Montana" and other series from my youth. I apply situations from the episodes to my daily life. I can sing almost all of the songs from the show by heart. Sometimes, I laugh at how high school is so similar yet so radically different from its portrayal on the show.
However, sometimes, I wonder if I and the other one time fans of the show are the only ones who remember these great moments; the ones who don't being the celebs that starred in them.
I mean, come on: Selena Gomez ("Wizards of Waverly Place") is a musician with her own clothing line, Zac Efron ("High School Musical"), has been in movies, and Jake T. Austin ("Wizards of Waverly Place") is in an ABC Family TV show. Not to mention the fact that almost all the stars of these television shows have had penny roles in shows like "CSI:" and "Criminal Minds". I'm sure it's pretty easy for these now-adults to forget their humble beginnings on network children's television.
Clearly, it was for Miley- after all, I certainly never expected her to practically become a stripper in front of my eyes.
I mean, everyone needs to grow up- I respect that. It seems to me that Miley is going through her stereotypical "rebel" phase where she changes her look and practically becomes a new person who she expresses through her clothes and doings.
However, keeping their former fans in mind, is this really the right way to do it? I certainly didn't think so.
Miley, congratulations on the popularity of your new song. However, I can't honestly say that I'll be snapping at the bit for more.
Pictures courtesy of hannahmontana.wikia.com

Challah, high fashion, balloon arches, backwards books, and a whole bunch of sugar-high kids: My first bat mitzvah

Confession: I'm Catholic.
There, I said it. For those of you who read the above sentence and immediately associated my statement with the negative connotations surrounding the Catholic church, please get off my blog if you believe I'm about to embark on some religion-infused rant.
Now, for those of you that cared to read on, you'll realize that the fact that I'm Catholic is only important to this post in the way that, due to my being so, I've never really been exposed to any other religions the world has to offer. Sure, I've attended a Methodist funeral, heard a Presbyterian sermon, and seen some televangelist Baptist ceremonies on Sunday morning television. However, that pretty much summed up all of my first-hand knowledge of of religious movements other than my own.
Notice I used the past-tense form of 'sum'. The reason: two weekends ago, my mom and I attended a bat mitzvah for the daughter of one of my dad's friends. (Dad and my sister were camping, so my mom and I had to, as she said, "represent the family)
Now, I know that people hear the words 'bat' and 'mitzvah' and start thinking of all these different things. However, for those who aren't really sure, a bat mitzvah is a religious ceremony in the Jewish faith held honor of a girl's thirteenth birthday, symbolizing her transition from youth to adult in the church. Boys have the same thing, except it's called a bar mitzvah. I always used to mix those up.
Okay, let's be frank: what I talked about above is really only half the battle. The facet most commonly associated with the bat/bar mitzvah is the gargantuan party held after the ceremony in honor of the boy or girl for which the ceremony was held. The reason: the bat/bar mitzvah is one of the, if not the hugest event in the life of a Jewish individual. It's arguably more important than weddings. And, as we all know, a big occasion requires a big celebration. This particular bat mitzvah was no exception.
But, I'll talk about that later. First, let's recap the ceremony, which was held in a synagogue in Rockville, Maryland.
One of the first things I noticed when I walked in with my mom was the abundance of men and boys wearing the same maroon-colored yamikah- you know, the little cap worn on the back of Jewish men's heads you see in all the movies. At first, I thought that my mom and I were literally the only non-Jewish people there. I found out later that Maiya's (the bat mitzvah- yes, that's what the girl honored is referred to as) parents had commissioned special yamikahs to be worn for all of the men and boys in attendance. It's actually a requirement for any male who enters the synagogue to wear one out of respect. In truth, the men who were actually Jewish had brought their own.
Another moment of enlightenment came the first time the rabbi asked us to open our Torrahs- the Jewish bible. Upon picking one out of the front pew, I realized that the pages are printed backwards, beginning on page 1,187 (I don't remember the exact number, but that was close) and going all the way back to 1. I'll be honest- I don't really know why this is. I think it has something to do with Hebrew, the language of the Jewish faith, being read backwards.
Going off on a brief tangent, the language of the Roman Catholic church is Latin. Before the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the whole mass was celebrated in Latin. Now, it's mostly in English, with only a few key parts being read in Latin. (You have no idea how helpful this has been in helping me learn Latin pieces for choral auditions) In the Jewish faith, however, it's an entirely different story. At this bat mitzvah, I'd be willing to estimate that 80% of it was read in Hebrew, most of that being chants. Because of this, I can only remember a few key parts of the ceremony, as the chants were used to fill the "cracks" between these parts.
Let's used a bulleted list to recount them. (Don't worry, I'm almost to the part with the party)

• At the very beginning, Maiya and Julia, the girl sharing her bat mitzvah, were presented with their very own tallits from their families. A tallit is a cloth inscribed with words from the Torrah, usually handed down from generation to generation. It's worn draped over the shoulders.
• Eventually, it came time for the girls to read from the Torrah for the first time. To do this, they had to retrieve the scrolls on which the Torrah was written from a door behind the altar, then parade around the synagouge with them as the rabbi and congregation who knew how chanted in Hebrew. As the girls walked through the aisles, Torrah scrolls in hand, the Jewish attendees would reach across the pew and touch them with their own Torrahs, then giving their copy a kiss.
• Towards the end, Maiya and Julia each had to read a selection they had chosen from the Torrah called their Pirke Avot, which should show symbolism to their transition from youth to adult. Maiya's was about the distinguishing characteristics of a fool and a wise person, while Julia's was about speaking up for oneself.

Phew. Well, after the two hour ceremony, we all went out into the lobby and took our own challah bread and wine (grape juice was what it really was). At this point, Julia's guests boarded a bus- you hear that? A bus. They rented a bus. That just shows you what a big deal this is -to go to the location of their party. Lucky for us, Maiya's party was being held in a banquet hall inside the synagogue, so we didn't have to go very far.
Don't think that just because it was held in a banquet hall, it was a stuffy environment. Oh, no. Maiya's parents had hired a party company called Electric Entertainment to work the party, and they had totally taken over the place.
The DJ booth was at the front of the room, eminating a whole playlist of songs and remixed versions of songs from the 80's to today. There were a ton of neon lights illuminating the place, complete with streamers and balloons. My dad's friend from high school had set up a photo booth, too.
It was totally the best party I've been to in a long time. The DJs and dancers were very engaging, holding games that everyone- not just the kids- could play. These included making human pyramids and attempting to get across the dance floor, having kids teach adults dances from "their time" and vice versa (examples- the Wobble, the Harlem Shake, the Robot). This was great, seeing as Maiya had invited her entire school class, swim team, and Hebrew group.
There was also an awesome ice cream bar in the back with tons of toppings, like a fro-yo place.
And, the coolest thing was, the party was totally, as the emcee, Brian, put it, "Maiya-ized." They played Maiya's favorite songs, gave out giftcards to Maiya's favorite restaurant (Chipotle), and made a ton of swimming themed events. Example: when we played Coke or Pepsi, it was called Breast or Butterfly.
Okay- to make a long story short, the Jewish people really know how to party, and I had a fantastic time. Thanks, Maiya!

I can't sign yearbooks.

Yearbooks have come a long way. I still remember my first one- a glossy, paper tome with a chalkboard on the front, bearing in a child-like chalk font the name of my school and some wax-inspirational slogan designed for a second grader to comprehend. Presented with these on one of the last days of school, my wide-eyed peers and I would eagerly pass them around to one another, begging for everyone to write some sort of message as if they would never see us again. "Have a great summer", perhaps. "Your (sic. in an attempt to showcase the not yet developed grammatical skills of a young child) really nice and fun!"
Fast-forward seven years, a la a Hollywood coming-of-age film, and these much-exalted yearbooks have quadrupled in size, their covers going from paper to glossy cardboard, their contents going from class pictures, a few posed playground shots, and the "student council" to a myriad of clubs, musical performances, sports teams, senior pictures, and candid shots, some well-taken and some blurry. The messages penned inside them have changed, too: long, heartfelt notes full of inside jokes and memories, focusing on the past, rather than the years ahead, which I theorize to be because of many high schoolers' fear of the future. Yes, sir or ma'am: the high school year book is quite a different beast.
Despite the changing nature of these memory-filled volumes, however, one thing has stayed irreversibly similar- my ability (or lack thereof, rather) to write in them.
Whenever someone approaches me with his or her yearbook with the intention of my signing it, I am, at first, flattered. After all, one doesn't ask just anyone to write in something he or she may show to his or her children one day. Usually, the yearbooks I sign belong to three "classes", if you will:
- A very close friend who I've known for over five years and have shared many secrets and jokes with
- A friend who I am able to laugh with, but I have either a.) not shared any secret jokes with or b.) do not feel comfortable with talking about some subjects. Possibly both.
- Someone who I only know in passing- perhaps he or she sits near me in a class, or I always see him or her in the hallways before third period
Perhaps I mistitled this post- really, when it comes to the first and third classes I listed, I usually have no trouble formulating a message. With my first class messages, the real issue comes up in thinking of inside jokes to incorporate into them! You know that Relatable Post? "Whenever someone asks me what my favorite movie is, I always forget every movie I've ever seen"?  It's very much like that. Because of the longevity of these messages, I tend to go to a blank page in the front or back of the yearbook to write them.
As for the third class, well, that's easy. A "have a great summer" ("H.A.G.S." for those who wish to keep it short) or "[insert grade you'll be in next year] is going to be awesome!" is almost always sufficient.
So, there we go. Not a lot of problems there. But, it's the second class that gives me some grief.
For, you see, I know these people- but not well enough to put in a joke or fun memory. I tend to think of a compliment I can pay next, but I'm not very good at these when being put on the spot. Just the other day, for instance, I told a girl I only know from church and my gym class that I liked her dress. That same day, when writing in the yearbook of a girl in the viola section of my orchestra, I wrote this (if I can remember): "You're so funny and nice- stay that way." How commanding does that sound? Who am I to force someone to keep the same personality?
Maybe I'm making too big of a deal over this. I mean, despite the whopping $40 cost for a yearbook, just how much will my peers treasure their yearbooks much after their senior year? Most may not even remember me, let alone what I wrote in their book.
As soon as I start thinking about this, however, I am reminded of the many signatures enscribed in my mother's senior class yearbook. Some have rude words, others have inside jokes, others long, poignant notes I've never attempted to read in full.
If they're this important to her- and to me, as someone who was curious about her life in high school -then who's to say I shouldn't make an effort to write something memorable?
It's a skill I hope to perfect in my next three years of school.

On Page-to-Screen Film Adaptations (emphasis on "page")

Oh.
So, I haven't posted in over a month.
I guess this post should be interesting, then.
So, in the time since my last post (some lake pictures- perhaps you recall), there's been a tremendously popular new film on the market called The Great Gatsby, featuring Jack Dawson, Sally Sparrow, and Spiderman- I mean Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire. Poorly orchestrated pop culture joke aside, this film has attracted a large quantity of moviegoers in the past three weeks it's been out. However, despite the film's impressive winnings of over 117 million dollars thus far, its professional reviews have been less than stellar, garnering a C- from USA Today, a B- from the Denver Post, and a C+ from People Magazine*.
So, what was director Baz Lurhmann's "fatal flaw" in his final product? I think one F. Scott Fitzgerald might have a theory.
Obviously, F. Scott Fitzgerald's name is known throughout English classrooms as the man who penned the "Great American Novel"- that would be The Great Gatsby. Seeing as I'm reading the book right now (and throughly enjoying it), I can't give a full summary of what it's about. All I can say is, considering it's known as the "Great American Novel", it's probably pretty good. Chock full of underlying themes, metaphors, parallels to society of the day, and all that jazz.
However, as is the case in many Page-to-Screen adaptations, Mr. Luhrmann has appeared to forfit these themes, metaphors, and parallels for the three Gs- gold, glitz, and glamour. In short, a film that's more technically than substantially impressive- kind of like those confections we see on Cake Boss.
And, sure, this can pass for a movie with no prior basis- a superhero film, for example. They need extra explosions for the plot to work (Disclaimer- I love superhero films). But, for a film whose idea comes from a novel- especially the Great American Novel, for Pete's sake -wouldn't it be somewhat logical for it to contain at least some ideas from the original story?
What you just read wasn't even the main point of this post. Yes, it stinks that Mr. Lurhmann neglected to award The Great Gatsby with the plot-satisfying film adaptation it deserves. What really aggravates me, however, is the fact that millions of moviegoers went to see and will see the movie with no prior knowledge of the book, and came out and will come out of the theatre shielding their eyes from the sun and thinking that what happened in the movie they just saw was an accurate representation of the real book, and is therefore equivalent to reading the book itself. Cue Bruno Mars's "The Lazy Song".
GRRRR!!!! As a reader, this is one of my ultimate pet peeves! There have been so many page-to-screen adaptations in the past few years- The Hobbit, Les Miserables, The City of Ember, One Day, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Lovely Bones, The Golden Compass...the Harry Potter films, for crying out loud! All of them had elements that did not hold true to their original manuscript, but people went to see them anyway, without having read the book at all. How is this okay?
If people continue to see movies without reading the often iconic novels they stemmed from- without which the film would never exist -, the standard will continue to go down for movies written from books, until the only thing they will share is their title.
So, whether it's with a book as iconic as The Great Gatsby to Silver Linings Playbook, whose book inspiration was virtually unknown before the film- read the book before you see it! For the love of better movies!

*Thanks to http://www.ew.com/ew/package/0,,20483133,00.html for these grades.

Rail Trail Rendezvous

Today, we took a trip to the local rail trail. It's this really beautiful bike path located right on the river. Nice and woodsy.
My favorite spot on the trail is this rocky area on the banks of the river. It's right under a huge stone bridge. Normally, you can walk around on the rocks, as exhibited here.

However, due to the recent rainstorm, the area now looks something like this.

Though we weren't able to explore as we usually do, it was nice to admire the rushing river and show how it can really take command of a situation when it wants to.


I like personifcation, okay?

The Actual Start

I'll be honest.
For months, I totally forgot about this whole blog thing.
Really, I did. Several months ago, I decided to look into Blogger to start...well, a blog. You know, just something to relate my adventures* to the Internet. I'll be honest, it'd be so, so cool to be one of those famous Internet stars that the hipster and tumblr sect looks up to, the blog version of Charlie McDonnell or Alex Day. But that wasn't the plan, not at all. I just wanted to have one.
However, moments after quitting out of my newly created account, I sort of-kind of-definitely bailed out on the whole thing, and I haven't logged on since. If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I get totally excited and obsess over something for about five minutes (by five minutes, I mean a short period of time) and then totally forget about it. Let's think...scrapbooking, Opuss, a journal, BSG, multiple stories/novels, all examples of this peculiar character trait of mine.
But, now, I'm back. I'm actually back. And I'm going to do everything I can to ensure that I'm active on this blog and will try to use it to the best of my ability. As to what's actually going to be on here...well, I don't really know. This is what happens when you abandon something and don't think anything of it for quite some time. I can probably say that it'll be a fruit salad-esque mixture of personal musings, book reviews, pictures I take, current event recaps, fandom thoughts, and other things I come across.
In short, I'm just here to share my thoughts with the world. Will anyone care? After all, I'm only one blog, a mere shell fragment on the biggest beach in the world. I guess I'll have to see.
In the mean time, I'll think of some good ideas in an attempt to make a good impression in my first few posts. Au revoir**, for now, anyway.

*I use 'adventures' here in the absolute loosest sense. I suppose every day is an adventure in its own way, but if you expect 'Survivor' style feats on this blog, I'm going to have to tell you to move along.
**I'm not nor will I ever be French.