i like interactive blog posts

Billy posts these on Facebook all the time . . . figured I'd give it a shot too. There are no repeats of bands and there are no songs with the song title in the first line except for one that I didn't think was *too* obvious.

Guess the artist & song name based on the first line of the song.

Here's the rules if you wanna make your own...
Step 1: Put your music player on shuffle.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 20 songs that play, skipping only the instrumentals
Step 3: Strike through the songs when someone guesses both artist and track correctly.
Step 4: For those who are guessing -- looking the lyrics up on a search engine is CHEATING!
Step 5: If you like the game post your own.

1. Well I can't ever really believe no one was sent to get me - "No One" by Cold
2. Gonna dive into a dive I've dove into before - "Another Drinking Song" by Mighty Mighty Bosstones
3. I don't want to get too close - Courtnie's right that it's Gavin DeGraw
4. Come see, I swear, by now I'm playing time against my troubles - "#41" by DMB (one of the only DMB songs that I actually like!)
5. Call you up in the middle of the night - "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum
6. Welcome to the planet - "Dare You To Move" by Switchfoot
7. Sit tight, I'm gonna need you to keep time - "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage" by Panic At the Disco
8. Maybe it's not that I don't care anymore, maybe I just never did
9. Here now, don't make a sound - "Long Road to Ruin" by the Foo Fighters
10. Hope dangles on a string like slow spinning redemption - "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional
11. After school walking home fresh dirt under my fingernails
12. I close both locks below the window - "Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park
13. I never seen you look like this without a reason
14. Yeah he's a looker but I really think it's guts that matter most - "All Over You" by the Spill Canvas
15. I worry I weigh three times my body
16. Well I'm watching Geraldo on TV and I'm thinking about you and me
    
17. When the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone - "Everybody Hurts" by REM
18. Racy days help me through the hopeless haze - "Change Your Mind" by the Killers
19. We've been on the run driving in the sun - "California" by Phantom Planet
20. Oh myyyyy twenty throw down in my fist of rage
    

Have fun! :) And for the record, each of these songs and/or bands have gotten regular radio play, so no, I haven't filled this quiz with random "Kerri music" that none of you but Courtnie has ever heard =P

Fogs Piles Palin

Just for giggles, the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator . . . what's yours? ;)

and now on a lighter note . . .

Continuing the tradition of posting "flashback Friday" posts on every day of the week except Friday . . . I thought I'd share some yearbook pictures from throughout the years ;)

me in 1952


me in 1954


me in 1956


me in 1960


me in 1966


me in 1968


me in 1972


me in 1978



me in 1982


me in 1990


me in 1994



me in 1996


me in 1998



me in 2000


Maybe one (actual Fri)day I'll post some real yearbook pictures. For now though, let me know which one's your favorite ;)

most days i can't put to rest the burning city smoking in my mind

On the 7th anniversary of the scariest day of my life, and the first time that I was in NYC on September 11 in five years, I thought I'd share an entry I posted on a far more personal "blog" on September 11, 2002, while it was still "fresh". I know it's not conventional, but this is my September 11 story, and this is how I choose to remember it.

---

On September 11, 2001, I was on 14th Street, sleeping, when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I was awoken by Raina, who'd received a phone call from her mother... then a phone call from my father... then a phone call from my own mother.

Despite being in New York City that day, I didn't see the buildings fall. I didn't hear the buildings fall. I didn't even see them burning, except for on TV. Raina and I went upstairs to the highest point in our building to see if we'd be able to see anything, but the windows in the building only faced north... by the time we'd come downstairs, the second tower had fallen. I saw the smoke-filled sky as I fled from the city with Lauren and her friends, but aside from that, I was no closer to the events of that day than the millions of people who watched it on television that day.

See... my real September 11th story isn't about that day... it's about the days afterwards. And it's not about the events... it's about dealing with the events.

I was never fearful for myself that morning. I went back to sleep after Raina told me the news. I went back to sleep after my dad called. It wasn't even 9:00 in the morning... I had more than an hour before I had to get up for class. I was exhausted and not processing the information. The fear started when my mom called, and even then, it wasn't for myself.

I pictured Lauren, walking to student teaching. I pictured Mary, waiting for the bus to take her to campus. And when I tried calling them, I got no answer on either of their phones.

And then the fear really set in.

September 11 was, for me, about finding strength in friendships. About taking the scariest thing that had ever happened to any of us and getting through it together.

The largest dorm at my school was evacuated that day and its residents were unable to return for two weeks. The dorm's residents, which included Mary and Lauren, were put up in hotels, given free textbooks and school supplies, and given money to buy clothing. But because that didn't happen right away, my roommates and I invited them to stay with us.

Nine of us in all... me, Anna, Janeen, Raina, Mary, Lauren, Lauren's roommate Cassie, Lauren's friend Anita, and Anna's friend Ricky. Nine people in a room designed for four. For at least two nights... Mary stuck around on and off for the full two weeks that she was "displaced".

And what do I remember about those days?

I remember making up a song to the tune of Newsies' "Santa Fe" entitled "Water Street" - an ode to the evacuated dorm.

I remember singing Weezer's "Island in the Sun" with Raina, Janeen, and Mary... not all of it... just the "Hip Hip"'s.

I remember eating the sprinkles off of the chocolate chip cookie scented candle I had, just because Anna's friend SWORE that they were real... and he was totally right.

I remember eating lots of "fart food".

And I remember not being scared anymore.

When Raina came into my room a year ago today, I had lived with her for only a week. I knew her a little bit, but she was still "Janeen's roommate" to me... she wasn't yet my friend.

In those days afterwards, that quickly changed. In a matter of days, Raina became one of the closest people in the world to me.

I got to know Anita, who I'd met a few times through Lauren, but never really knew.

I realized that there was not a thing that I wouldn't do for Mary and Lauren.

If nothing else, last September proved to me that out of even the most horrible events, some good could come.

~*~

September 11, 2002 was a little different for me.

I woke up and Lauren was here... she slept over last night and we ate fart food and watched Matthew Perry on the Caroline Rhea show, since Who's the Boss? sadly did not air, and we basically treated it as a regular old sleepover... and when I got up in the morning, it was another one of those "it's just another day" type feelings. (I'd slept through the 8:30am memorial service.)

Of course, walking past Union Square Park on the way to class proved that was not the case... there were people everywhere, dressed in red, white and blue, writing their feelings about the day in chalk art on the ground or on murals or in paintings and just showing that they remembered.

I went to class, like normal. I came home in between class and work and wrote an e-mail to Mary, again, fairly normal. I went to work at 4:00 to discover that due to an "electrical emergency" they were closing at 6 - seemed kind of ironic that they'd be closing early for the first time since I've been working there TODAY... so I went there for a couple hours and had some fun with Alan and Tim and the crew, especially when 6:00 came, the doors were locked, and people STILL insisted on trying them despite the four huge signs across the doors that said the gym was closed... ha.

It was walking home from work and returning to an empty apartment that it started to hit me what today really was - up until then, it had been almost easy to forget.

Today - 9/11/02 - was a day of remembering. Remembering the buildings that had been such a part of my city for so long that I was so used to seeing them that I couldn't even mentally place them back in the skyline after they were gone. Remembering all those who were killed on the planes that day; all those who were killed in the buildings that day; all those who were killed trying to save others that day. Remembering all those who lost loved ones that day. Remembering thinking, "Things will never be the same again after today"... and about how in the past year, life has gone on for so many of us, and things have returned to normal, and how we've grown stronger for that.

And remembering the people who made the recovery process possible.

Remembering the friends who were there for me that day.

Remembering the friends who were there for me in the following days.

Remembering how fortunate I am to have such a group of people in my life, how fortunate I am to have not lost anyone that day, remembering how fortunate I am to have come out of that day stronger than before.

I don't think I said nearly what I wanted to in this entry, but I didn't really know how to say what I wanted to say.

So I'll end it by saying that not a day has gone by in the past year that I haven't thought about how thankful I am... and I will never forget.

~ In Memory Of All Those Lost~

God bless America, land that I love...

you can't argue with the scogic

But I'm going to try!! After getting into an argument with my darling friend Scott this afternoon about Bradley Cooper (highlights included his insistence that "it takes a douchebag to play a douchebag" . . . of course it could just mean that he's a good actor, but as my title states, you can't argue with scogic), and since Becky pointed out that I've been neglecting my blog and I don't want to turn into Briton or Pat updating once every month or so, I thought that this would be a good place to defend my favorite actor. I'll admit that I haven't seen him in all of his roles (most recently missing him in The Rocker, but in my defense, and as my last couple of posts have indicated, can you really blame me for that? Nobody else saw that movie either!), but let's look at some of the more memorable ones:

• Kitchen Confidential - I might have been the only person who watched this show; it only lasted 13 episodes (effing Fox). But you can't go wrong with a comedy starring Bradley Cooper! This show was hysterical and was canceled way too soon - fortunately, thanks to the amazing people over at hulu.com, the complete series can be watched for free online. Check it out.
  
• Wedding Crashers - When I saw on IMDB years ago that Bradley Cooper AND Vince Vaughn were going to be in this movie, I knew that it would be a classic. It's obviously not one of my favorite BC roles (and it's the one that started the whole "Bradley Cooper is a douchebag" fight), but let's be honest, he had some good moments. And since he was playing a character so different from my favorite role of his (see below), I think that this movie just showed his range and talent as an actor! Scott sucks.
• Jack and Bobby - Another show that was canceled way before its time. This show was for serious up there with Lost as my favorite premiere of the 2004-2005 season and I was truly saddened when it was canceled. I loved it even before they announced that Bradley Cooper would be joining the cast, but I was so glad he did (even though he ended up being a love interest for Jack and Bobby's mother . . . what the hell was that?!) I probably contributed to Alias's eventual cancellation by regularly watching this show instead of Alias, which it aired opposite of, but when you remove the best thing about Alias and put him onto the WB, of course Bradley Cooper's going to win.
• I Want to Marry Ryan Banks - This was another movie that I found out about months before its premiere on ABC Family, when Mary sent me a text message to excitedly proclaim that "Will Tippin and Brandon Walsh" were going to be in an ABC Family movie together. It by far remains my favorite movie ever shown on that network - I would buy it in a heartbeat if it ever came on DVD. (It was on TV a couple of months ago for the first time in years - it shows up on the SOAP network from time to time too, which I sadly did not get in my apartment, but I'm psyched that I get it at home in case it's ever on again). BC played Jason Priestly's best friend and manager and was trying to help his image by putting him on a reality show to get America to love him again. Of course the girl that the producers decided they wanted to "win" ended up falling in love with Bradley Cooper instead. Of course she did, because she had EYES! Um, and because he's awesome and totally not a douchebag. Definitely my second favorite role of his.
• Wet Hot American Summer - This would be my favorite movie even if Bradley Cooper wasn't in it . . . but it makes it so much more awesome because he is. Never mind the fact that he had a gay sex scene halfway through the movie . . . BC was awesome in this movie. I love the scene where Amy Poehler gets made at Jeanene Garofalo for making her put the weird kid in the talent show and then she throws her clipboard to the ground and Bradley Cooper keeps picking it up . . . GOD I love that movie. So obviously anyone who can be in such a brilliant movie couldn't possibly be a douche, he could only be AWESOME. Awesome enough to also play my favorite role of his, one of my favorite television characters EVER, #2 on my list of fictional characters I'm in love with . . .
• Alias - Will Tippin. I feel like those two words alone should justify why Bradley Cooper is not a douchebag, but since Scott (and most people I know) have never watched Alias, I feel a need to elaborate by sharing my top five favorite Will Tippin moments just to show the range of Bradley Cooper's awesomeness and non-douchebagginess.

5. Will gets to live, but he gets a heroin addiction.

Oh, the price to pay for being friends with Sydney Bristow, but Will's not complaining. I bawled during his confession.

4. Will stills loves Sydney.


"I don't love you for what you do, or what you don't do. I just love you." If I hadn't already been in love with Will, that's the line that would have done it.

3. Sydney surprises Will in Paris.


This scene is one of the best Alias scenes ever and this picture was my buddy icon for years. If you think his expression is funny, the accompanying scream is just as great ;)

4. Rock star Will.



"I'm here, she's here, we made it!" The only thing hotter than Will Tippin is Will Tippin undercover as a British rock star.

Don't believe me Scott?





1. Will hugs Jack Bristow.


Another scene where I bawled like a baby. Will and Spy Daddy... sigh. I don't even know that Spy Daddy had hugged his own daughter at this point in the show, hahaha.


Sadly there are not many Will Tippin videos on YouTube, but you should all (especially Scott!) take my word for it that he was a brilliant character and that Bradley Cooper portrayed him brilliantly and that him being sent to witness protection destroyed the show. Except it gave him the chance to come back in that one episode in season three. Which was amazing. But anyway. I don't know that I made my point and it was probably a waste to try to combat the scogic, but I had to try.

And Scott . . . if you're still not convinced . . . maybe this scene will make you feel better about a "douchebag" getting what was coming to him. And bonus David Anders for the ladies ;)