Jenna's House of Idiosyncrasies Version 10.0 [Focus.]

Butch Walker can have my children any day of the week.

I'm now completely wired, and I've lost my hearing and my voice. Somehow, I'm ecstatic about all of this. This is the effect Mr. Walker has on people.

“Jaded people, go home. Hipsters, go home. We are going to have an arena rock moment here in Athens, Georgia.”

I haven't jumped or screamed or danced like that at a show in so long. Butch Walker always manages to remind me why I started going to see live music in the first place.

And he sets the bar pretty high.

In other news: even though I don't really care for their music, I still find American Hi-Fi's guitar player totally hott. He and other members of AHF were Butch's backing band for the evening, and goddamn, he's just quite good at what he does.

Also, I have to be up at 8. Gross.

G'night.

Despite a gut-wrenching, head-splitting, all-over-body-pain migraine, I insist on both going out tonight (Better Than Ezra @ the 40 Watt) and then following that by pulling an all-nighter for a test that I literally just found out about from someone living down the hall from me.

Now, I have to go lay down. Oy.

So guess what: I'm WUOG's music staffer of the month (Well, myself and a male counterpart by the name of Robert. All things being equal, you know).

This may seem kinda silly but this feels like a big deal to me. I'm not your student-council-event-organizing-worker-for-the-community. I'm just me, and someone like me thinks that you do things because you like doing them, and the things you like, the things you are good at, are not really the things that people actually get recognized for.

But there was my name, emblazoned in red magic marker (or perhaps red Sharpie, since they are required equipment for WUOG) on construction paper beneath the banner proclaiming "Staffers of the Month". It felt good. It brightened up my whole day.

And then, like the good staffer I am, I cut out of our staff meeting early, to go see Angie Aparo at the 40 Watt. It was great. He is awesome, and funny, and gracious. And I literally starting crying during "Cry". He moved me to tears, can you believe it? And at one point he was randomly calling out city names to get cheers (because the crowd was cheering equally for every geographic location) and he actually goes, "You know, I was in Winder today...". Angie Aparo knows where Winder is. I am only so impressed by that because I am in awe of him. If you ever get the chance, you should see Angie Aparo play live.

Perhaps the nicest thing about going out was the company. Allison, Dave, Abie, and Catie are awesome people. They don't put up these walls you have to break down, and they somehow make me feel like a part of the group. I'm not watching what I say or afraid of looking or acting stupid or of laughing too much. They just make me feel really comfortable being me. There are only a handfull of people in the world that do that.

The girls and I went to Blue Sky after the show (coolest little coffee house in Athens, for those not in the know), and then Abie was kind enough to give me a ride home. She noticed that her gas light was on, so we went in search of gas. Do you know there are no gas stations open near campus at 2 in the morning? Crazy, right? We did ultimately find an Amaco way up on Broad, and the gas excursion came to an end, but it was actually pretty fun. Anything not to go home, right?

But I did come home, I had to, it's a school night.

Which means I should be in bed.

I'm trying to relax.

First row B-52's.

Oh. My. God.

I wasn't a huge fan before— but now I have an overwhelming urge to go out and buy every B-52's record ever.

At some point in the middle of the set it occured to me that these guys started before my parents were married, and the cute guitar player I was watching is probably old enough to be my father. Eek.

But the energy was huge, so it was small details like age are easy to forget.

Best party band ever.

I am also reminded that I have a crush on 40 Watt's sound guy.

Everyone go visit Nuçi's Space!