Oh, look at this old comment I made back in 2007:

Well, hmmm. For the past few months/years, I've been seeing Pete Wentz around and going, god, what a douchebag. I really don't want to like him. (Especially since I have extreme dislike for Ashlee Simpson, but that's beside the point, because it has nothing to do with Pete.) But lately, I've been seeing him on interviews and things and finding myself laughing out loud at something he says instead of scowling, or shaking my head and saying 'oh, Pete' even almost affectionately. Especially since with Panic! fandom, its hard to stay away from him, particularly in fic. But I think that really I'm gonna stay away from Fall Out Boy fandom for the time being, because even though I like some of their music, that's just a whole, huge new thing I'd have to try and keep track of. Not to mention that it goes against some principals that I've held for a very long time. Telling my hippie, Country Joe and the Fish-lovin', global warming-stopping friends that I like Panic! at the Disco is proving it be difficult enough. Announcing a new love of Fall Out Boy? I'd probably be disowned. *is ashamed of being ashamed*

Wow, I really did a great job, there. /SARCASM. I sounded like such a douche. And I really like Ashlee now, I don't know what that was about. Fair warning to everyone else; the slope, it's slippery.

So, I like Paramore. That's all, just a fact.

I downloaded Misery Business a few years back, actually on a recommendation from John Mayer, of all people, and I liked it, but I was just kinda like "meh". I did not like Crush Crush Crush when I downloaded that a short while after, so I kinda just moved on to other things. The two songs were on my ipod, but nothing more happened. You could call it a one night stand with a repeat performance that hadn't lived up, so I didn't call again.

But then, I was on the ship. I was missing bandom like crazy, because it was one of my comfort zones and I was literally floating on a sea of new experiences. We had this thing that we had to set up once a cruise for the teenagers, and it was a huge outdoor video screen. We'd play company-authorized dvds of music videos over and over again, and the kids would swim and watch the videos, etc etc. It was called "Dive-in movie" (clever!). One night, I was setting it up, and it was me and my two managers, who at the time I was pretty pissed off at. We put the disc in to see if it would play correctly, and one of my managers was telling me something about how I had put the clamps on backwards and meanwhile, the video for That's What You Get had popped up on the screen. The manager was telling me I had to do it over again, which would take like, half an hour, but he hadn't shown me correctly in the first place, so it was not my fault, yet he was bitching me out, and I just remember looking up at a 20 foot tall Hayley Williams, and tuning him out completely. The song stuck with me instantly, whether it was the fact that it saved me from Pierre's wrath or whether it was really catchy. I loved it. Especially the chorus group sing, who doesn't love a group singing in unison? Anyhow. I went back to my cabin and re-checked out Misery Business and Crush Crush Crush, and I liked them both instantly. Psychological, weird.

Anyway, I was very comfortable with expressing my emotions while I was on the ship because I was sort of bombarded with them for the first month. I opened up to a lot of things I would not admit to liking while I was back here, because there was just no judgement and no standards. I was on a ship where only like, 6% of the people were white North Americans. Do you think that Paramore was a popular band, or that mocking Paramore was a popular opinion? The answer is no. So I was free to express my Paramore love. (Hilariously, my English roommate used to be like, "Virginia, you're so hardcore!" completely seriously when I'd listen to them in my cabin. I never got the chance to find out what she'd say if I had busted out some Distillers or Dean Malenkos.)

When I got home, and had access to music stores, I bought Riot and listened to it non-stop (I fell in love with Hallelujah, and it's still my favorite, and also: Born for This). I also got All We Know Is Falling. A few months into my intense Riot! love, I remembered, like. The Who, Joel Plaskett, Springsteen and The Mountain Goats, and had to stop listening to Paramore for a while. Because I realized that even though I was loving it so much, I was ashamed of it, and I had to step back to see if the love was real, or if I really didn't like it and had been gripping onto it for emotional reasons that stemmed from like, the 20 foot Hayley and the rocking waves and Pierre and the missing normalcy thing. I didn't really get back to it, but it's not because I didn't want to, it's because I kinda purposefully distracted myself every time I thought about listening to it.

I bought Brand New Eyes almost the day it came out, and didn't listen to it until I knew I had a nice long drive in which to get acquainted with it. I've listened to nothing else in my car since then. I love it, ugh, I love it.

So here are some facts about me and Paramore, just to clear things up:

1. I think Hayley's voice is really, really fabulous. I think she can really sing. It's clear in the right places and rough, and she's got a higher range than I do, which I always admire. She sounds great live, such as in this video on Conan where they play Ignorance. It's really tough to sound good singing those types of songs live, but she can do them just as well as she can do acoustic performances, and it really impresses me.

2. The songs are catchy, and I like them, but I acknowledge that they're not amazing. They're melodically a pop lovers dream, hence the catchy. I like the songs. I wouldn't give them any awards for innovation or reinventing any genres, but the songs are solid and exactly what they need to be. They do pop well.

3. The guitarists in the band are just kinda meh for me. They are solid at what they do, but they take no risks and do no solos, and yeah, that's the genre, but I guess what I'm trying to say is, I do not like this band for their guitar work.

4. I have a huge girlcrush on Hayley Williams. Yeah, I said it! She's hawt.



And here are some things that I like to watch:

1. The That's What You Get video, which I first saw projected onto a 30 foot screen and fell in love with.

2. That's What You Get on MTV unplugged, because I just. Love this song. Her voice really impresses me here.

3. The Twilight song!!! Or, erm, Decode. This song is so much better acoustic. I'm not a fan of the album version at all. In this video, they're sitting on top of a roof and Hayley is a little hoarse. It's actually how I like her voice best.

4. This song is from the new album, and I think it's going to be the next single. Anyway, the album version is awesome, it's one of the songs that I liked instantly (mostly because, like. Ba-da-ba ba-da-ba ba-da.) Here's the MTV unplugged version, though, because it's also awesome. Possibly even more awesome. Awesome.

5. Sometimes she's goofy, but mostly this clip is to illustrate her vocal control. Not easy, dudes! Also, she's adorable, ahaha. This clip is 18 seconds long, watch it.

6. The Final Riot! dvd version of Hallelujah, which is actually my favorite Paramore song. She does a really pretty intro of Leonard Cohen, which she sounds fabulous doing.

I need girlrock in my life. This stems from my very early obsession with Jem and the Holograms and No Doubt, and continued in a progression of like, I dunno. Distillers and Alanis and Joan Jett and Bif Naked and superchick and Fleetwood Mac, and like. The Josie and the Pussycats soundtrack. And now Paramore.

Still? My favorite pseudo-interview of all time.

Here's the thing; bandom is my happy place. For me, bandom primarily revolves around these guys. I go to this place when the world is fucking me over (also know as: everyday). When I go to my happy place, and it's not there anymore, I am sad. Simple, yes? Yes.

Witness me: wandering around the house lost. Drinking. Having the longest and best bath in the world.

It absolutely kills me to see people talking about sides. Whose taking whose side, Brendon and Spencer vs. Ryan and Jon. The fact that there are sides to even take is the most depressing thing coming out of all this. I hope that what they are claiming is true, and sides there are not.

Hee!

Bandit Lee Way > Bronx Mowgli Wentz.

FOR A NAME, I mean. Come on. Bandit is alright, because it's Gerard we're talking about here. He's lucky he's not named Artorious Molikite-Wolverine Bloodthazar Way, or the like. Bandit is totally cool! He's like a superswank comic book character who was born into a superhero family! His superpowers won't be realized until he's, like, thirteen! What will they be?! TIME WILL TELL. Bandit. Cool.

And Bandit and Bronx... think of the playdates! Their friendship could be totally epic.

Missing frakkkkkkkkkking Hey Rosetta! at the Roadhouse tonight because I'm exhausted and have to work in the AM.

Also, for the record, being kicked out of your house sucks. Apartment hunting. Looked at some tonight, looking at the one that I hope will be the answer on Sunday. The first thing I'm gonna do in my new place is set up my record player. Since I haven't had a stable home/ a place of my own for almost two years, this is exciting for me. I can finally listen to my vinyl copies of Folie a Deux and Up the Bracket, my two latest additions.

I think Pete Wentz is a witch. And he put a spell on me. Like, he took off his jacket and jumped into the crowd (like he always does) and talked about selling out corporate blah blah blah (like everyone always does), and even though I am sensible and not ridiculous, I was just like, ♥_♥!! I even said to larebear, "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY OR THINK OR ANYTHING, I JUST LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM I DO!" And then the next day, I felt kinda dirty. Like I've been used, or gypped, or something. NO IDEA. Still maybe kinda love him though, so like. Long-lasting effects, this spell's got.

For some reason it really annoys me when the patd lj community is updated with Ryan Ross' blog and twitter updates. I think I feel like if people wanna read them, they should just go there and read them.

Hi, I'm not dead!

1. I will never get sick of this video. Nights like this are what it's all about, and I don't mean bandom wise. I mean in general. Songs, music, sounds so much better in this setting. Life looks so much better from this setting. Saturday ♥.

2. I finally got the chance to see Twilight. It was in Puerto Rico, and it was subtitled in Spanish, but I saw it. I liked it, haha. It was either because a) I liked the books and so therefore am under Edward Cullen's spell or b) because I hadn't seen a movie in an actual theatre and it was amazing. I can recognize that if I hadn't read the books, I might have been like, 0_o. Mostly, I wanted to see more Cullens, and I thought the baseball scene was well done. Supermassive Black Hole, ♥. And Edward, haha, shiny. ♥

3. I bought Panic at the Disco; Live in Chicago the day I saw the movie because I was at the mall. It has saved my life in the last few days. Watching them, watching Brendon alone could have lifted my spirits. But it's just all of them, and Ryan, Ryan is having a blast, and I'm so proud of them. It's a dvd I'd actually SHOW people. I now put it on whenever I can't sleep. I can't believe how on they are, especially for Esteban. ♥

4. As shirethief has informed me, Pete Doherty is doing a Who show with Roger Daltry. Hi, yes, please. Good lord, that's one of the hottest things I can think of.

5. I want you all to know that the SOLE reason I don't have a Christmas icon uploaded (or ten) is because I ran out of my userpic add-on and don't want to delete all my icons until I can add it back on. And to upload one to use, I'd have to lose them all. So when I use any, just picture a Christmas one until the day after X-mas.

6. I feel like I've lsot my livejournal, which is sad for me. It's been a big part of my life, and in a very positive way. It's made me happy for the last few years, and now I can't be a part of it anymore. I can only wait until February, when I have access and time, and I wonder; will I be so out of the loop then that it will be impossible to get back in? Already, in the hour I get here and there, when I check my flist for the first time in weeks, I feel like I have no idea what's going on. In the lives of my lj friends, with communities, with challenges and fic-a-thons, etc. And yeah, maybe that's pathetic, and maybe I live my own life now, but it was a part of my life that's made me happy, and I want it to continue to do so. I can only implore you; don't lose me.

Again with the awesome weather, except this time I'm at my dad's place, inside, helping him pack up his house. He's moving, and he guilted me into helping because I'm gonna be gone when he actually has to move.

This morning, I watched the first four parts of Life on the Murder Scene, and yeah, five minutes into it, and I already knew. ♥ Those guys! Especially Frank. What pisses me off more than anything in the world is that I get a lot of shit from people about liking them, Panic and Fall Out Boy, but the majority of the guys I get it from are exactly Frank Iero. At one point, when he was talking, I was like, whoa, what, Dave, is that you? Craig? Jon? WHOA. When it was talking about them starting up, with him and Pencey Prep and their practice space, and then again when they were talking about their influences, Black Flag, etc, all the usuals, I just wanted to take those parts, show them to half of my friends and then tell them afterwards that the guy was in My Chem. I'D SHOW THEM.

So a few months ago, when I was getting into bandom, I was like, gee, I really need to have The Black Parade, because obviously it is a bandom staple. And I listened to it, and it was legitimately great. Like, really, really good. And I've been listening to it non-stop since.

And then later, I was like, wow, that Mikey Way was really awesome in his horn-rimmed glasses/french mime phase.

And wow, I think Gerard said some things that maybe are awesome one time, but I don't know specifically what those things are.

And that is the extent to what I know about them? So I was wondering if maybe please possibly some of you could give me some reason to LOVE My Chemical Romance other than their music. Like, pictures, quotes, whatever. So that I can know them and love them more.

I went shopping last night, and let me tell you. Bandom makes me buy, or at least consider buying, some pretty stupid shit. For instance, I bought a scarf. Which, okay, I have purchased a few scarves in my time. But I very seldom wear them. Yet, I bought a new one, and I suspect it's because my head went, ooh, Ryan Ross would buy this scarf! And then there was this t-shirt, which was kinda pretty, and it said on it "Chicago | Disco", and I was like, YES, THE BOYS MEET JON AND IT'S AWESOME. It also said "dance" somewhere on it (as in TIME TO). I was halfway to the cash when I stopped, and kinda went, wait. I don't want this really. I do, but really, I don't. So I had to make myself put it back.

And I went and saw Hancock, which I liked a lot better than I thought I would. I knew practically nothing about it, and I was pleasantly blindsided by Jason Bateman, because I didn't know he was in it. My brothers had been begging me to take them all evening, and if they had just said, "hey, but, Jason Bateman!" I would have jumped on board. And obviously Will Smith is fabulous.

Friiiiiiiiday.

The new TAI TV, Las Vegas Shakedown, is one of the funniest I've seen in a while.

- "I'm not the Aussie you're looking for."
- "Look, man, there's only one game I bring... chess."
- LOL COBRAS.

Guess what today is? Paaaaaaaaaaaydaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

I have a question: are headbands, like the plastic covered with cloth type we used to all wear when we were eight, in right now where you guys are from? Because they are ridiculously in around here. It's kinda amazing, because I love headbands. I'm trying to decide whether to wear black or gold today. STAY TUNED.

There were some Panic at the Disco HCT pictures circulating last night. MY FAVORITES, LET ME SHOW THEM TO YOU. ( Well, I should say, my favorites that aren't of Brendon showing off his tattoo to Jon's chagrin. Because THAT ONE is the best. )

I'm going to a Hedley show tonight. I dig Hedley. Especially their new stuff. Mock me and I'll punch you.

Hi there! Me and Patricia are having Pete Wentz Is Getting Married Today Discussion. Topics include Joe's insane-ness and how we wish we were at the Panic show tonight with signs that said "Don't Worry Ryan, We Weren't Invited Either".

Honestly, though, weighing in, I really, really hope they work out in the end. They're kinda adorable, and Pete should be happy. That being said, my belief (and I believe that as a person with a blog, I have a right to express an opinion on something that is absolutely none of my business) is that it's not going to end well. I honestly do hope that I'm wrong though.

Am I allowed to follow that up with a "congrats and good luck, Pete and Ashlee"? Because, well, I am. I wish them happiness, 'specially Pete.

What are you guys thinkin'?

(People who care not: please do not be disowning me for this a)icon or b) entry. We've been through too much together to throw it all away now.)

BDEN AND PETE. RYRO AND PETE. SEE ALL THE REST. THE END.

BOSTON IN 5 HOURS.

first: I had a dream last night that I was going to go work on a cruise ship (like I think I'm gonna), but I couldn't because I couldn't bring my kids with me. And then, when I woke up, I freaked out for a good minute because I had never considered that before in real life, and I thought, thank god I had this dream or I never would have even thought about that, how could I have been so stupid, to overlook something as huge as that? And then I shook my head and realized that I... don't have kids.

second: I absolutely love love love that song from the A&W commercial. Every time I hear it, I am happy, hahaha. "Cupid, draw back your bowwwwwww". It's called "Cupid" by Sam Cooke, and I need an mp3, but I recently got rid of my limewire in favor of frostwire, which, uggh, just does not work. Oh, illegal downloading, how are you not easier?

third: I finished my exam (WOOOOOOOOOOHOO) and then my professor asked me to go to coffee with her to discuss a theory I had written on the exam I had for her last Monday. It was about Alice Munroe's "Miles City, Montana", and I didn't find it particularly brilliant or anything, but apparently, she liked it? Anyway, no lady, I am not capable of discussing literature with you, but if you want to chat about Brendon Urie's precious face, I'm all in. (We're going on Friday anyway, so. I hope she wants to hear about Jared Padalecki's monstorous arms.)

fourth: Vicky T of Cobra Starship asks people to stop hatin' on her in a video entitled "I'm sorry people think I look like a dude". I honestly have so much love for Vicky T, her whole band, really, but it's not very often that I fangirl girls. And I haven't noticed her getting picked on particularly, but fbr_trash pretty much trashes everyone without discrimination, so I can imagine she found some nasty things, it can get pretty disgusting. I hope she knows that there are way more people that love her than hate her, and that we're the better quality of people, too. Ha! Anyways, Victoria is beautiful and smart and funny and talented and very, very cool.

fifth: reading things like kalpurna's Gerard Way Love Manifesto is making me start to like him.

Hey listen up! All you racists, sexists, homophobes, and just plain assholes, we've got a message for you: go the fuck home! We don't want you here. Don't buy our merch, and don’t listen to our music. If you have our CD, break it. We don't want you, and we don't need you here.

Dear IMDB

I'm actually 5'4...closer to 5'5 but I round down...cause...well...I'm short.

And though I was voted Unsexiest man by some piece of shit tabloid, I was also voted 2008's Sexiest Man by Patrick Stump Unpublished/Imaginary Weekly in a poll conducted just now. By me. Of me.

- Patrick Stump, in his latest funfacts updates on http://patrickstump.com

My day will go like this: watch Gossip Girl, volunteer at the elementary school, come home and study study study! Exam tomorrow morning, in the wee hours.

My concert list this summer is so flippin' sweet. And these are just the concerts, not all the shows that I will inevitably head to a few times a week.

May 11th: Panic @ the Hinda Civic Tour
May 20th: Bob Dylan @ the Coliseum
June 7th: George Thorogood @ the Coliseum
August 3rd: The Eagles with John Fogerty. AND SAM ROBERTS, YO. (And KT Tunstall.)
August 7th/9th: Dutch Mason blues festival with Garrett Mason and BONNIE RAIT.

Also, hmm. I wonder when Evolve and Sunseeker are.

ETA: Good Lord, happy birthday Jeffery Dean Morgan, you gorgeous, gorgeous man.

I feel that I should link this OTP video, which is a dude that wrote a Spencer/Jon shipper song, because, well. Jensen and Jared aaaaaaaaaaare in loooooooooove...

We fandom songwriters need to stick together.

ETA: How hilarious and awesome and badass would it be if the Panic boys covered that? BECAUSE JON WALKER SO WOULD DO IT.

Ugh, somebody going to one of the My Chemical Romance tour dates has to buy me a "Mikey Fucking Way" shirt. Honestly. I really, really want one. Like, a lot. Ebay is failing me. I'll offer first borns and hugs and anything.

I'm not yet done the essay I have that due tomorrow, but it doesn't have to be in 'til three, and I am going to bed instead of finishing it. I shall finish it in the morning. Because I've been completely useless today, I can't even form coherent thoughts. The 2/3rds of the paper I've got done don't have any format, coherency, plan, thesis... nothing. I'm past caring, it's my last paper of the year. But I just know I'm gonna get up in the morning and proceed to freak out about it. WHAT WAS I THINKING OMG OMG. Or something? But here's to hoping not.

I was falling asleep watching Atonement, so I'm gonna have to finish it tomorrow, but what I saw so far was really, really great. That one-er on the beach, good lord. Pretty.