Worth getting up for in August: new Ruby Oliver novels from e. lockhart; when someone gets a music recommendation absolutely spot-on for you; discovering new depths in favorite albums; coffee coffee coffee; heavy metal covers of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”; photos of crowd-surfing banjo players; pitching and defense!  pitching and defense!; beer; getting my metering right on the first blind try; emails from publicists and label owners about my photos; Brent Best’s crazy Texan ass; breakfast burritos; surprise new releases from bands that only I love; surprise new releases from musicians I’ve loved since I was a stupid 18 year old; surprise new releases that I’m pretty sure somebody told me about weeks ago but then I forgot about, thereby making their release a surprise again; press passes, guest list spots, and the freedom to roam backstage in the Cradle to shoot; My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade¹; laughing at Colt McCoy’s horrific pornstache; old riotgrrl albums; photo blogs that post vintage photos of famous people; weird collaborations between musicians you love; sending invoices for consulting work²; that feeling where you take painkillers and a pressure front change headache starts to recede; Garth Brooks’ Double Live³; chips and queso; clean sheets; beer; college football season; waking up happy.

1: you wanna go about my chem?  bring it on.  that album is trufax a fucking tremendous rock and roll album.
2: probably not fun for the people i’m invoicing, but awesome for me.
3: i’ll go about garth, too. he was a consummate showman, he had a great voice and an absolutely flawless ear for a catchy, quality pop country song. and after the pre-inauguration concert in dc this past january, i heard that he can still absolutely kill it live.