11:27am (el calafate, argentina time)

we are waiting in our hotel to go to the airport and fly to buenos aires. we leave in 30 min so i have a bit of time to blog. let me pick up where i left off last.

so the last night at patagonia camp was really fun. i recall earlier in the day the von trapp family left and the one girl started crying and they were all hugging the staff and all that. garth and i were saying how yes it's nice and all but we wouldn't be hugging people and crying. oh how we change our minds... haha so after i posted that blog we relaxed and then before dinner we went to the quinto to look at another slideshow/presentation. paulina and nacho were in there as well as steve, ellen, scott, garth, jan and kitty. basically all our favorite people were there. and since the camp is all inclusive we all started driving more pisco sours and wine. oh man... the slideshow was the final one but then we all just started talking and it turned into another slideshow and more drinking and chatting. and on and on. we were all bitching about kate's nasty behavior and how inappropriate she was to nacho that day. the bitch session lasted awhile over more wine and photos. and then the topic of mate tea came up and we all decided to reconvene in the quinto after dinner for some mate with nacho and paulina. at dinner kitty said to kate as she walked by "you are a disgrace..." and just walked on. apparently earlier in the day kate was bitching again and saying how she wouldn't tell any of her friends to come to the camp and kitty said "well we wouldn't want any of your friends here either!" oh man... anyway after dinner we all went back to have the mate. they demonstrated the traditional way to drink mate. how to pass it on and make it and all that. very fun times. goofy photos. then i don't really know how it happened but we didn't end up leaving the quinto til like 1am!

i think we all had mate and then they started busting out the wine. see, the owner of the camp owns a vineyard so it's sort of like all you can drink wine. so we just started plowing into it. steve and ellen went to bed fairly early. maybe 11. then jan and kitty followed. so it was just me, alex, scott, and garth. and then nacho, paulina, and two of the managers there. we were all getting drunk off the wine slowly but surely. chatting away and being loud and rowdy. i mean we are the "young" people there after all. it was great great fun and i realized that night that i would really miss the camp. i would be hugging all these people goodbye and exchanging emails and whatnot. and that is what happened.

the next morning we all left at 10am. most went in the same van back to the airport while alex and i were on our way to el calafate in a separate van. hugs all around for goodbyes and we were off! very sad indeed. alex and i got in our van and got ready for the LONG ride to el calafate. we had to cross the border which was a huge pain the ass. you first go to the chile side and stand in long lines and get your stamp and all that. then drive about a mile to the argentina side where you stand in more long lines and wait for stamps and whatnot. such a pain in ass. why can't they streamline that process? after that it was just like 3 or so hours to el calafate. we slept a lot of it since our drive spoke no english. when we arrived in el calafate you could see that it was a city/town that was built up recently due to tourism. and once we got to our hotel (laurel, you will LOVE the photos of this hotel....modern meets rustic with antlers and all) we explored the town for an early dinner and realized a few things. this place is ENTIRELY built on tourism. all the shops on the main road (there is only one main road and not a stoplight in sight) are all trekking gear shops, souvenir shops, excursion booking places, or car rental places. there is absolutely nothing to do in this place other than excursions. and that was why we were there. to go to the perito moreno glacier. so we found some nice dinner at this place a girl at the camp recommended and we went back to the hotel early since we had to wake up for a 7:30am departure the next day. oh and also, there are a shitload of stray dogs running around. and they don't bother humans really. just sort of run after cars and walk around the streets. very bizarre.

so the next day (yesterday) we hopped on a tour bus and everyone went to the glacier which is in the national park. holy FUCK this glacier was huge. i mean considering it's like right at sea level (uncharacteristic of glaciers), it's not receding (most are) and it's right smack btwn like mountains and stuff. it's just nuts looking. we got a lot of great photos and then hopped on the bus to go to the south side of the glacier where were had some lunch quickly and then set out for our trekking ON the glacier. basically you strap on these ice pick things on your shoes and then they guide you out onto the glacier where you walk around for over an hour. totally fucking awesome. oh man. well worth the stay in this horridly boring town. i swear when we first arrived i was depressed missing the camp and the people. but the glacier turned me around. thank god. after the trekking we just headed back to the hotel. freshened up. got some dinner at a traditional steakhouse type place and went back to the hotel. oh year the ATMs here are a fucking nightmare. but i shant rant about it since i can't do anything about it. a place based on tourism SHOULD make it easier to get money. but WHATEVER.

so now today we are heading out to BA. i am stoked. i'm ready to pack up all this hiking and cold weather gear and get some sun! and good food. museums. etc. but i do still really miss the camp. i think it was the highlight of this trip. it's like no other. til next time...

3:24pm (patagonia, chile time)

well. i shouldn't be writing right now. i should be hiking back down from the base of the "towers" in torres del paine. but the weather was total shit this morning so we had to abort. very sad. if we had made it to the top it would have looked something like this:

but we didn't. now to backtrack and do this chronologically from where i left off...

so last i blogged we were in santiago on the second day. santiago is quite boring hence the two days in a row of internet-ing. essentially santiago is just another biggish city in south america. it's very modern and looks like most larger american cities. it has a downtown and a business area and parks and all that. the museums aren't known for anything but that doesn't matter because like most cities, the museums aren't open on sunday or monday – the days we were there. so there really wasn't much to see and i was glad we were leaving. after our wine tour on monday it was kind of a crapshoot. so tuesday we flew out of santiago and to punta arenas which is pretty far south in the chilean geography. it's not too far (probably a few hours) from ushuaia which is where all the antarctic expeditions launch from. i was there back in 1992 when i went with my parents. anyway, we flew into punta arenas which is a "city" by comparison in the chilean patagonian region. we got in a large-ish van with some other patagonia camp (that's where we are staying) people and headed out. i, and many others, didn't realize how far punta arenas is from torres del paine national park. it's like 4+ hours. on the way you pass through puerto natales which is the other "city" (again, by comparison) in the chilean patagonian region. it's the closest one to torres del paine. we stopped somewhere near there to eat a traditional lamb meal. it was tasty but the presentation was waaaaay too "authentic" for me. i have photos, but essentially there was a man out there with a full on lamb stretched out on a rack and he was roasting it over a fire pit and then chopping off meat for us. way too close to the animal for me. i like to not be able to see where my meat is coming from. but i ate it anyway because i was hungry as shit. after that we continued on to the camp!

we finally arrived at the camp at like 8:30 or maybe even later. i forget. it stays light out here til about 11 or 11:30 when you can finally say it's like actually dark out. it gets light out around 4 or 4:30 i think so your sleeping is all fucked and your sense of time is a bit skewed. anyway we all arrived and got an orientation of the place. now basically this "camp" is like a luxury way of doing the rugged camping you can do in torres del paine national park. all the "hotel rooms" are these yurts. there are 18 of them and they all face the park. so on a clear day the view is downright spectacular. all the yurts are situated to have optimal viewing based on the placement of them on the side of the mountain. we happened to get the last yurt so we were closest to the water and in no way obstructed from the magnificent view. the yurts themselves are quite a sight to see. again, i have photos. but basically they are glorified tents. they real bathrooms, real beds, heating, the works. it's quite odd to be honest. the rest of the "grounds" are just a couple of buildings. one is where we eat all our meals and get drinks and use the wi-fi. the other is where we have all our orientations and slide shows and such. it really is sort of like a camp. like a summer camp. just for rich grown ups. we've gotten to know some of the people here during our stay. there are a few notable characters:

1. scott and garth - americans living in london for the past 6 years. i think i can safely assume they are a gay couple. they are super nice and the people we talk to the most. they are mid-30s i think. scott works in finance and garth works in IT. they are going to british citizenship next year. i am entirely jealous.

2. jan and kitty - aussies who are probably or grandparents age, give or take. very lively older women who are traveling together for this trip. they went to antarctica at the expense of jan's husband (he's disabled and can't travel) who got her this trip for their 40th wedding anniversary. they might be older but they still have spry in their step and can keep up with the best of us. well on the easier hikes that is.

3. steve and ellen - new jersey/new york couple around our parents' age. very nice. ellen is a real city girl so she's not that much into hiking which comforts me because i'm not that much into hiking either. though i think i might be more into it than she is. we've caught wind that she works for sesame street but keep forgetting to ask. and steve is on facebook which i find funny whenever i hear someone my parents' age is on FB.

4. kate and tim - kate is one of "those" travellers. the kind that makes a fuss about everything. i don't want to get into it but basically she's been bitching about everything the entire time and really putting up a huge stink to some of the people here which is very sad. our poor guide today got a big thrashing from her. now all of management is walking on eggshells around her. very sad.

5. the frenchies - they crack me up. the husband is sooo french looking and the wife wears a lot of chanel clothing which is totally not right for this atmosphere. it's really amusing. whenever i see them i just laugh inside. methinks they were really wealthy but i am not sure.

6. the von trapp family - this dutch family that we think has been staying here for a long time. we don't know their names but scott and garth call them that so i shall too. they are amusing because they sort of prance around like they have been here forever. and i think they have. i don't really know. but they left today and one of the waiters teared up a bit. so i think they probably have been here awhile.

7. the thai's - younger couple from thailand but live in LA because the guy went to USC (graduated my year in engineering, i wonder if he knows anyone i know) and the girl is currently going to USC. i don't know their names sadly.

in terms of staff the two notables would be the two guides, paulina and nacho. paulina is very very nice and lent me her fleece and jacket for today since mine upper clothing was either not warm enough or too warm. she liked washed it and everything and lent it to me. so kind of her. nacho is this petite little man who LOVES the mountain life. he has only been working at this camp a few weeks but has been working in torres del paine for 8 yrs. very knowledgeable and likes taking photos. when i first arrived the first thing he said to me was "that's a very nice camera." he's very precious. i have some photos.

ok so the first full day here we split into groups and fortunately we were put in nacho's group with scott, garth, steve, ellen, jan and kitty. we went out to glacier grey in torres del paine and saw some glaciers. it was SO FUCKING WINDY. holy shit. they said it would be windy but i had NO idea. wow. the wind here is downright fierce. someone said at night the wind has been like 80mph. and i believe it. because in these yurts you can hear and feel the wind at night. so much so that last night people could barely sleep. it was intense. like i was worried the damn yurt was going to fall apart. and of course it didn't but DAMN the winds were insane. anyway, at the glacier the winds were fierce and i thought my one half of my face was going to be numb from the cold. we saw some iceberg in the lake as well. then we hiked up to a higher look out point and got some good shots of the mountains and the "horns" of torres del paine. we also saw a really awesome waterfall. but it was so fucking windy i thought i might blow away. and i'm not exaggerating. when i was standing still the wind was slightly pushing me!! the entire trek took a few hours given the winds making it hard to walk (i have some ridiculous looking photos) and the amount of hiking involved to get to the higher point. it's kind of funny because it's summer but from the looks of all of us that day you'd swear it was the dead of winter. ski jackets, gloves, wind hats, etc. totally ridiculous. but that's how the weather is here. it's an unpredictable mess. someone should explain that to kate because she doesn't seem to get it! haha (i'll get to that)

after that stop we headed to the visitor's center and then back to the camp. we got back around 4:30pm and relaxed before a slideshow at 7 and christmas eve dinner to follow. christmas eve dinner involved pisco calafate sour (calafate because it has a berry from the calafate, patagonia region) and spiked eggnog. very tasty. then the dinner itself involved little christmas ornament type things on our tables and a full 4 course dinner. soup, cerviche style salmon, turkey or lamb, and a scrumptious dessert. the people here are soooo nice and ready to help. some people had so much wine i think they were drunk for hours. haha after dinner we just hung around chatting with scott and garth before going to bed.

the following day (yesterday) was christmas day though i kept forgetting that fact because we had dinner the night before. the day's activity was a "half day" "easy" hike around the camp. well, since we had nacho that was not the case. he's adventurous. so we set out on what seemed to be simple and then we started going through all this brush and before we knew it, it was like a full on hike through the woods where the path was not well defined, the brush had thorns, and and we came to a part where the incline was quite steep and difficult to get down to the valley. but once we got there it was beautiful and we had our packed lunch in the hot sun. yesterday was unlike the first day in that it was quite windy at first but that cleared out all the clouds and it was totally hot and sunny and gorgeous. the weather here is entirely erratic. even as i'm writing this it went from hot sun to full on stormy rain. like i can't see ANY of the mountains from my window and normally you can see all or at least some of them. probably by the time i finish it will have stopped raining and be insanely windy. who knows! so that "easy" "half day" hiked turned out to be harder (physically) than the day before and we got back at 2:30pm. more than half a day for sure considering the first day was a "full day" and we got back at 4:30pm. i wasn't complaining because it was beautiful but i didn't pee the entire time which was fine since i didn't need to but i wish i had been warned. after the hike we lounged around the camp and freshened up before dinner. dinner was every bit as good as the night before even though it wasn't a "special" dinner. the food here is quite tasty i have to say. but then again it IS a "luxury" camp so i mean...

today was supposed to be the "big" hiking day. you had two options: 1) easy route where they drive you to this lake that you hike around (very flat and easy) and get a nice view of the "towers" of torres del paine in the distance. 2) hard route where you leave the camp at 7am and drive 2 hours to the start of the hike to the base of the "towers" of torres del paine. you hike for 2 hours uphill. stop to pee. hike another hour up and down through brush and whatnot. then hike another 45 minutes up an incline involving boulders and loose gravel and shit like that. after that you get to the base of the towers where the view would be like the picture above. well....

nine of us set out at 7am with nacho as our guide. first kate bitched about the fact that we left 15min late. seriously? 15min and you are bitching? WOW. and i don't mean a lighthearted bitching. i mean full on yelling at nacho. poor guy.... so we drove off and on the way we saw this magnificent rainbow. i've seen more rainbows here than i can even count. but this was by far the most beautiful. you could see the entire rainbow from one end to the other with the mountains in the bgd. truly gorgeous. my photo of it is shitty though because we stopped to try and take a photo and alex got out of the car and the wind was so fucking insane that it blew his glasses right off his face immediately. i thought he was going to lose them. but he grabbed them from the ground before the wind caught them again. after i saw that i said fuck this. it's not worth a photo. my lens might get ruined from rocks flying or something. garth got a decent photo from the car. i'll try and get it from him. we continued on til we got the the base of the trek. it was raining but we set out anyway. now i swear to god that the fierce wind the last night should have been a sign because it was so intense i could barely sleep. i kept waking up because it was so damn loud and the yurt felt so unstable. i mean it wasn't but i did have some fear. and garth said a bolt from their yurt came out. he also had a nightmare that the yurt fell into the lake. the thai girl also had a similar dream. so i mean the wind at night is definitely INTENSE.

anyway, so we set out for our hike. nacho said that we'd do the first 2 hours uphill and assess the weather from there. though at the beginning of the trek we could barely see the "towers" and you should be able to see them clearly. but hell, we came all this way. we had to try. so we set out in the rain and started hiking. some of us more prepared clothing/gear-wise than others. the rain wasn't TOO bad but it was a bit cold and knowing that you'd be hiking for like 2 hours without shelter is not that exciting when some people in the group don't even have proper waterproof pants. i was mostly worried about my camera. i had a waterproof covering but i don't think it'd hold up for 8 hrs (4 hours up and 4 hours back). so after about maybe 30-40min (or maybe it was more, i really had no sense of time) we stopped and assessed. one guy had already turned around before that so of the remaining 8 we took a vote. no one was gungho to keep going. nacho would have led us since he doesn't mind but he didn't want all of us to be miserable. kate was the only one who you could tell was visibly upset that we weren't going forward though she didn't say she really wanted to keep going and her husband/bf was like "this isn't happening." it's like she's the bitchy one and he's just trying to keep her somewhat in check or just stand back and not get involved. so we all agreed we'd go back and wait a bit to see what happened to the weather. we got back to the lodging area and waited for at least an hour. the weather just got worse. you went from slightly being able to see the towers to not being able to see them at all. so we decided to head back to the camp, regrettably. we all WANTED to go up there but it just seemed insane. kate wanted to drive around and see other things but what the hell is there to see in stormy weather? i know going back to camp is boring and sucks but wtf? and then she started bitching at nacho for not reading the forecasts right. like we should have done this hike yesterday. which yes, we should have but how is anyone to know? the weather is insane. right now the intense grey storming outside has subsided (it's been like 15min since i last spoke of it) and it's getting sunny again but is still a bit rainy. so i mean within this past hour it's been hot, cold, windy, rainy. everything short of fucking snowing. so you can't blame the goddamn guide for not being able to predict mother nature. i wanted to start yelling at her because she's being irrational and just one of "those" awful travellers. but what can you do? so we headed back. and now here we are. just relaxing. enjoying what we can of this beauty. this will probably be my longest post since i had all this time to recap. tonight we have our last meal here and then tomorrow we head out to el calafate via car. til then...

7:34pm (santiago, chile time)

still in santiago and finding it boring. thank god we leave tomorrow. there really isn't much to do here today. we went on a wine tour at like 10am which made me incredibly sleepy by lunch time so we took a nap. then went out to some random part of town and walked around and went to a mall where we window shopped a bit and ate lunch. i know, come this far and go to a mall? but there ain't nothing to do here! and museums are closed sunday and monday. so yea. boo. we leave tomorrow though for patagonia which i am insanely excited for. it just looks breathtaking. i think they have internet there afterall so i'll have to at least do an update about christmas since that'll be interesting. christmas in the forest in a yurt. i can't wait!

6:58pm (santiago, chile time)

alex and i made it to santiago early this morning. the 11 hr flight wasnt too bad. the seats were really awesome. the seat back reclines and then the seat itself moves fwd so you get a really good recline for sleeping. i really think ALL airplanes need this. anyway, the flight was decent considering it was a day flight and hard to sleep and there wasnt too much turbulence.

we landed at like 6:15am and it took over an hour to get out of the fucking airport. very disorganized. ugh. but we made it. our hotel is lovely. we are staying at the ritz. i know i know. bougie as fuck. but this was a trip planned by alex`s parents. so yea. santiago is a bit boring. i mean its not bad or anything. its just not known for having anything that special. we are only here today and tomorrow. tuesday we fly to patagonia. today we are exploring downtown and we went up to this scenic area to get shots of the entire city. my new camera is a beast to work but i think im getting the hang of it. ill check out the photos later. i think they look nice on the camera. note, i cant find a lot of the punctuation on this keyboard. oh well. anyway, its like 7pm and totally light out. i bet it wont get dark til at least 9 or 10. we shall see. anyway, time to continue exploring. we mainly hit the internet to tell our parents we arrived. but i figured id do a quick blog. the next time i might get on might be after patagonia. i think we wont have internet there. we will be hiking for like 3 or 4 days and sleeping in yurts including christmas night. very neat. i have my acrylic menorah and christmas tree. im totally psyched about that. til next time...

well. this is it. i'm heading out to south america tomorrow! last minute packing is in order tonight. i have no time to write out descriptions and post cd packaging photos of my top 20 albums of 2008 so i'll just laundry list it below in alpha order.

clinic
cut copy
dept of eagles
fleet foxes
friendly fires
girl talk
hot chip
islands
juvelen
late of the pier
long blondes
lykke li
mgmt
my morning jacket
mystery jets
passion pit
ra ra riot
sigur ros
tv on the radio
the walkmen

if i HAD to pick a #1 album it'd probably be a tie btwn fleet foxes and girl talk. both for different reasons of course. anyhoo, happy holidays everyone!

bah too much crap to do!!! and i feel a bit sick. i think it's a mix btwn the flu shot, me mentally worried about getting sick before a trip, and the cold/rainy weather. ugh. it will pass. i have a week. but still!

i am finally sending off my holiday cards tomorrow. the envelopes came and they are all stamped and ready to go. once i know they have arrived to most people i shall post a photo.

this weekend was good though mostly spent getting ready for the trip. i do NOT want to pack. basically i have to pack everything from a ski jacket and gloves to tank tops and shorts. we will be facing all seasons in one day apparently. ugh! the wine and cheese party at amanda's was top notch and nearly everyone was there so it felt really nice to see people one last time before the trip. fun times. ok time to sleep.

i make jewelry now! acrylic laser cut jewelry. these are some of my items. if you like, please let me know! i can set up a "friend" purchase of sorts. cut ya a little deal. :)

ok. i WANT this. it's a modern photo booth. the "boardwalk photo booth" prints photos in a strip of 4 like vintage booths but it does it using a thermal printer and it only takes 16 seconds! i wonder if they can replicate the fuzziness and unpredictable looking printing of a vintage booth. that would be one downfall. oh and the fact that it costs $11,000. sigh.

well, it's that time of year again. i finally finished my best songs list. here it is without further adieu...

BEST 20 SONGS OF 2008
by jen m.

***a mountain of one - "brown piano (remake by studio)"
this remake is quite long (11+min) and for as long as it is, it took about that long (relatively speaking) for me to latch onto it. i had the studio remix collection for awhile and this song didn't do that much for me. but the more the listened, the more i saw the slow beauty in this song. it really takes the instrumental essence of the original song and heightens it. it's definitely for everyone but i thoroughly enjoy it.

***amazing baby - "head dress"
this song is airy, breathy, guitar-driven goodness. amazing baby is a band out of NY with nothing more than an EP. i expect good things from them if they hold up to this song.

***bag raiders - "shooting stars"
head-bobber. foot-tapper. hip-shaker. bag raiders do a lot of remixes, some of which are not half bad, but this is by far my favorite of their work. the build up and breakdown 1/2-2/3 way through is just awesome.

***coldplay - "viva la vida"
ok so i used to really like coldplay. and i still think they are a great band (don't laugh, cuz i know some you are). but this latest album was just not very good. it wasn't BAD but it wasn't GOOD either. but this song. this SONG! it just rings in my ears and i can't get it out. it's just so good. the violins. the booming. i don't care what people say. i like this song damnit and this is MY list.

***cut copy - "far away"
one of, if not, the best electro albums of the year and this song is top notch. it was a toss up quite frankly btwn this one and "hearts on fire" but the latter got so much play that i felt this one deserved some love.

***department of eagles - "no one does it like you"
i don't know what it is, but i really love this song. maybe it's the constant tambourine. maybe it's dan rossen's vocals. or maybe it's the entire package put together. i'm not really sure. but i think it's really good. it's probably not going to be on a single "best of" list this year because probably not that many people even heard this album which is by a spin off band from grizzly bear.

***friendly fires - "paris (aeroplane remix)"
i am a HUGE sucker for handclaps. huge. this is like a jazzy chilled out version of the original which is quite good in its own right. but this version is just that much better. the original feels sped up in some parts where as this is more even keeled in tempo. fucking fantastic.

***jamie lidell - "figured me out"
a little anecdote about this song. so i was in the dressing room trying on some clothes when this song came on and i found myself dancing in the dressing room. i didn't know what the hell it was so i pulled out my trusty iphone and used that shazam app for the first time to identify this song. jamie lidell? really? whatever. handclaps and distinctly dancey beats. i'm there.

***little comets - "one night in october"
a fun little ditty from an upcoming british band from newcastle-upon-tyne (i love those hypenated "upon" cities). it's kind of like this year's maccabees for me or something.

***MGMT - "electric feel"
i was listening to this album well before 2008 began so i almost forgot that technically speaking this album came out in 2008 and therefore i can put this song on my list. i'm pretty sure everyone has heard this song already so i don't even really need to describe its funky electro-ness.

***M.I.A. - "paper planes"
ok ok. i am cheating a little bit here. this song comes from an album from 2007. i wasn't going to put it on this list but then i heard that it was nominated for a grammy and i thought "wait, isn't the album from 2007?" well yes, it is. late 2007. but the song was released as a single in 2008 so that's how they got away with it. and i am taking that "opportunity" to get away with it too. after all, i didn't really hear about this song til 2008 anyway. i really actually hate M.I.A. but this fucking song is so infectious it kills me. i can't believe how many times i've listened to it.

***MSTRKRFT - "bounce ft. N.O.R.E."
hmm i'm not really sure what to say about this. it's not really the kind of song you'd think i'd like. jen? N.O.R.E.? no no no. but sprinkle in a little MSTRKRFT. yes yes yes. it's basically what you'd expect when a rapper meets an electro group.

***mystery jets - "young love"
i think i like this song more for what it's about than what it is. it's very cute and bouncey and when the laura marling comes in, i get especially happy. but basically i like it because it reminds me of college life. go to a random party. meet a random guy. hook up. never speak again....but wish you could.

***pacific! - "sunset boulevard"
i remember i was in love with this song a lot more when i first got it than i am now. but i still do love it and think it's one of the best tracks of the year. i can't pinpoint this one either. it's kind of pretty. kind of poppy. kind of....awesome.

***passion pit - "sleepyhead"
this song comes off a stellar first EP for boston's passion pit. all the tracks are really solid but i'll go with this one because it's the most odd with it's synthy sounds and high-pitched celtic sample laid over a sort of chilled out dancey beat.

***sam sparro - "black & gold"
thank god whatshisface couldn't make it to coachella to perform with mark ronson and instead sam sparro took his place. otherwise i don't know how much longer it would have taken me to learn of this awesome song. i really wish the rest of his album was this good but i blame poor production. i have faith that if he's paired with mark ronson or someone else equally great, he can pull off a fabulous sophomore album. because this song has all the makings of a great single and if extrapolated, a great album.

***the temper trap - "sweet disposition"
i don't remember where i got this track, nor do i really know anything about the band. but i found myself listening to this song a LOT. so whatever. i think it's from 2008.

***the ting tings - "shut up and let me go"
ok. if you were rolling your eyes at coldplay, you might be rolling at this one too. after all, this song has one thing in common with coldplay -- itunes commercialism. so yea, this song is poppy and probably not that GOOD per se. but shit, it's catchy. it's like feist from last year. i swear to god i listened to "1, 2, 3, 4" so many fucking times it was THE song of 2007 as far as i was concerned. and while this isn't THE song of 2008, it is one of my top 20. let's face it. apple makes shit shiny and people eat it up. they also pick really catchy songs to sell that shiny shit.

***TV on the radio - "stork and owl"
out of all the tracks on the new TVOTR album (which is fucking great btw), i think this might be the least obvious. i've already noticed the album hitting best of lists and some other tracks as well. likely this song will not make people's lists but it's totally my favorite. it's just so pretty. it's got a bit of the eccentric sound that we all love from TVOTR (well, if we love TVOTR that is) with beautiful music to accompany it.

***vampire weekend - "a-punk"
this album came out so early in 2008 that like MGMT, it feels like a 2007 album for me. nevertheless, it's 2008 so here we go. now, when i first heard this band i thought they were decent. i saw them live and quickly realized why they sound the way they do. they are total new england upper middle class paul simon lovers. i love paul simon. do not confuse. but their album sounds much like the clothes they wear -- dockers and topsiders. this song is a standout though for sure. it's a bit "edgier" than the rest. probably just because it's faster paced. i do like some of the other tracks off the album but this one takes the cake for me for sure.

BONUS TRACK:
***prince - "creep (live cover)"
this is the best cover i've heard all year. and i got to hear it LIVE. i am not a huge prince fan like some people i know *ehem alex ehem* but he does have some great tracks and he puts on an amazing live show. and this cover of radiohead's song is just phenomenal. i mean you can hear the oohs and aahhs in the live track. oh my, i had shivers down my spine when i heard this shit. so fucking good.

this weekend seemed quick yet was totally packed. friday night was the company holiday party at beauty bar. i had a lot of fun but i drank WAY too much too fast. we had the bar to ourselves from 7-10pm and i got there right at 7 and hit the ground running. i hadn't even eaten any of the food we had catered for it and i was drunk after one drink. alex came shortly after and everyone else slowly trickled in and partying ensued. not of the AA nature but it was fun enough. i had 5 drinks in 3 hours and got totally trashed. i ended up leaving the party at like 10:30 and just literally passing out at home. i think it was all because i knew i could just leave and pass out so i did. otherwise i'd have held out longer. i won the best prize of the night. a flip mino. a little digital video camera for taking quickie fun videos. kind of useless in a sense but totally fun. alex and i have already taken a bunch of random videos.

saturday was cynthia's holiday potluck and sai's birthday party. we split the night. the box game at cynthia's is always fun (we have video!) and alex got close to winning but kristen ended up the winner. sai's party was filled with many people we didn't know so we mostly listened to dwayne be loud and crazy. her and arian's place is SUPER cute though. i totally love it. too bad it's in venice...

today was a lazy day. people came over to watch wall-e and we ordered thai food and it was a good time. i just watched the 2nd to last episode of dexter and i'm totally excited for the finale but also really sad about it because that show is so good and once it's over i just want more. busy week ahead as alex and i are that much closer to going to south america. i can taste it yet i still feel a bit unprepared. ah!

ok so i'm really pressed for time but i want to get this thanksgiving holiday post off. some highlights:

at thanksgiving dinner alex's cousin's daughter, leah, who is 2.5 years old, was not only saying words that i swear someone that young wouldn't know, but she also was taking photos with my camera! and at least half the shots were decently composed given her height. i was thoroughly impressed with this child. aside from that, food was good. turkey was good. stuffing and cranberry sauce were good. pies were yum. i was stuffed. continuing on...

throughout the weekend we did random shit like go to this kid's museum where alex and i posed for this photo:

we also went to the art museum. the highlights had to be going to barclay prime to get the kobe beef sliders which i LOOOOVE and also going to the infamous chinks for cheesesteaks. i have been wanting to go there for ages ever since i heard about the racist name and how the original owner named it after his given nickname which he got because "he had chinky eyes." and they say that's not racist?!!? wtf?!?! anyway, i got to take the photo i've been waiting to take for years now:

and finally, the flight back was INSANELY bad for the first hour. the turbulence was like no other. it was like star tours only real and in the air. i swear i was starting to hyperventilate a bit. gah! but the pilot was awesome and talked us all off the ledge despite the bumping and jerking the plane was doing. part of me is glad i went through that because it allows me to realize that planes CAN withstand that kind of turbulence but STILL. i was not a happy camper.

last but not least, an overdue photo from halloween that byron had been hoarding on his camera for awhile now. it's just fucking priceless:

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