Aych

The interview went really well and I'm hoping to hear back about the job sometime soon, like within a few days. (thanks for the positive vibes, everyone)

Second-round job interview in two-ish hours. I need this job so badly, if for no other reason than it's an actual full-time, salary-based position that has actual career growth potential. They told me they were very impressed in the first interview, so I think I have a good shot at this.

I didn't get nearly as buzzed as I was hoping today. As it turns out, one shot of vodka and a glass of sake doesn't do anything for me. I chock it up to me being big-boned. Or something like that. Whatever.

I've spent the majority of my day going America all over everybody's ass.

We all have our moments, haha. I will say, though, it's sort of strange how many out-of-town people I hear say Hotlanta and mean it. Like, I don't think I've ever heard someone from the metro area ever call it that without joking.

It's not really a destination city or anything, but there are enough things to do to make a weekend getaway out of it. There are some great record stores too (Criminal, Wax 'n Facts, Decatur CD), and they're all pretty close to various train stations, which is a huge plus. Also pro tip: if you ever do visit, try avoid calling it Hotlanta.

Okay, this is super niche and the chances of it actually happening are zero to none, but I'd buy the shit out of the original Ape Escape soundtrack. Anyone remember that game? It's what got me listening to drum 'n bass when I was younger.

Daaaaaaamn, this is my absolute favorite IH album and I never thought it would get pressed, but it's way out of my price range right now. Bummed as hell, but nevertheless I'm glad it finally got pressed.

If you ever find yourself in Atlanta for some reason, haha. Also, speaking of the heat, we're finally out of it for now, but we had a crazy heat wave late last month. It was at least 97°F (36°C) every day for two weeks, then it jumped back down into the upper 80s, which is where we normally are this time of year. Nowhere close to Arizona summers, but still pretty hot.

Don't mind me, I'm just gonna break up the political ideologies discussion for a bit... So I finally got a second round interview for a full-time job, which is awesome because I feel like I have a good shot at it (the people who interviewed me said they were very impressed, ayyyy) and I'm tired of living on $600 a month, which I've miraculously been able to do somehow since January. I feel conflicted, though, because I just got my job at Ben & Jerry's two weeks ago, and if I get this full-time gig, I'll have to give B&J my two weeks notice before I'm even done training. That's not to say I'd take working at B&J over the full-time job. I totally won't do that. I just feel a little guilty, is all.

If only I were so confident, haha.

How to make realizing you don't have enough money for groceries while you're at the store fun: put all of the groceries back onto the shelves like you're a spy and try to sneak out without anyone noticing. Source: I did this earlier today. On a semi-related note, I'm beyond excited for my first paycheck to go through. It's only part-time at minimum wage, but it sure as hell beats unemployment. And playing "the spy who can't afford groceries" more than once every few weeks.

I've been high-fiving five ninths of SCOTUS all day today. It's been great. We still have a loooong way to go, but this is a great step in the right direction. Also, fuck Scalia. Dude dead ass looks like an old-ass Italian bullfrog whose throat never deflated the last time he croaked.

So I started working at Ben & Jerry's this past Monday and so far I'm really digging it. One of my favorite parts is that the music we play in-store is from Spotify, so I'm trying to put a good summer work playlist. So far, I've got a lot of 80's throwback-type stuff, plenty of surf punk, a few "everyone knows this song" songs, and a bunch of bands from Captured Tracks and Carpark.

Honestly, I don't hate it. I actually kind of like it. Would I buy one? Probably not, but it's still a cool concept. It's interesting to look at, I can appreciate the amount of time they've apparently put into designing it, and it seems like they've used decent-quality materials to build it. Not an audiophile table by any stretch of the imagination, but audiophiles aren't their target market anyway, so take that for what it's worth, I guess. Also, from the videos I watched on the Kickstarter page, it looks like the platter isn't completely vertical; it rests at a slight angle, which makes a lot more sense design-wise. (Side note, it'd make taking Instagram pictures a hell of a lot easier. Obviously I'm sold on that alone.)

Anyone else watching Ore Monogatari? It's surprisingly good, especially for a romance series.

Just ordered deez Can't wait to get 'em!

I've been in NYC for two days. I never want to leave.

When I was in high school my friends and I started a shitty metalcore band and I wanted to call it The Failing State (which, surprisingly enough, doesn't seem to be taken) but the lead vocalist insisted that we call it Poison Glove Monkey. I was also in another shitty metalcore band called aStringOfWords. We were band name geniuses. Anyway, to stay on topic: Rare Finds - could be anything from lofi to trip-hop Messy Wrists - probably an emo/punk/hardcore band of some sort (not gonna lie, I've thought about trying to do something using this name, but that probably won't happen any time soon) I Think I'm in Love - not really sure whether this could be an actual band name Live and Leave - dangerously close to the name of a punk band from Azerbaijan Funeral Waltz - again, how is this not taken The Four Temperaments - this is actually a personality test, thought it'd be good for a depressed doo-wop revival group or something

I'll be in NYC this Friday to next Tuesday and y'all have given me a few good ideas for things to do outside of the things we've already planned on doing. I'm going for "least touristy first visit to NYC ever."

In exactly one week, I'll be leaving for the airport to go to NYC for the first time. It's probably not even that big of a deal for a lot of y'all, but I've been wanting to go for years and the opportunity never presented itself until recently. AHHHH, I'm beyond excited and it's still a week away! I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do while I'm there. I know I'm going to some kind of concert the night I get there, but after that I have no set schedule. I know for sure I'm going to The Met, MoMA, Nintendo World, Central Park and the High Line, possibly the 9/11 memorial, and a few other touristy things, but I also want to go to the Dover Street Market, a bunch of record stores, and wherever else the friend I'm going with wants to go.

Some friends and ex-roommates of mine are in a post-rock/slowcore band called Juna, and their most recent EP/minialbum/whatever you wanna call it just went up for pre-order. https://globegaragerecords.bandcamp.com/album/on-courage-2

Finds from this past weekend: Savages - Silence Yourself (black vinyl) Blood Brothers - Crimes (4th pressing, transparent dark blue, /334) Got both for $10 each, Savages from the UO clearance bin and Blood Brothers from the used bin at Criminal.

Damn. You beat me to it.

Finally booked a flight to New York City. I'm super psyched. Aside from record stores obviously, any suggestions for cool not-touristy places to go are welcome.