Mistakes! Or great learning experiences?

I was reading Tom Gabels blog and he did this "tour diary" type blog entry, well, since good artists create and great artists steal I will be creating my own original/neverbeforeseen "tour diary" type blog entry. The excitement is overwhelming...

Wednesday!!!

I headed to the Doug Fir Lounge with some awesome friends (Curtis, Jenny, and Mistzy (Sp?, you would think a friend could spell their friend's name, I'm just not that cool)) and witnessed a slice of Portland trendy nation. Man, I must admit, the Doug Fir Lounge is a pretty sweet environment to watch live music. The venue has an aesthetic that works. You could take a bunch of bums off the street and put them inside the Doug Fir Lounge and from a far you would think these bums just got back from shopping at Neaman Marcus. To sum it up, the DF (I'm abbrevin!) is HIP, which is neat. The concert consisted of Natalie Portmans Shaved Head, Copy, and Hey Champ. Before the show started we stole (we're such rebels!) three show flyers from telephone poles located around the DF. That was fun. We then headed into the Jupiter Hotel/Doug Fir and waited in line. While in line I asked the ticket person, "is the bar downstairs the same as the bar upstairs? Are the prices the same?" He replied in a sorta nonchalant way something to the effect of, "Yeah, they're pretty much the same, but the upstairs has hot drinks." I then replied, "Wait, is it cold down there?" Somehow that response had the ticket guy and Missy (sp?) laughing, gotta love shitty comedy in a recession, people will laugh at anything! We then walked downstairs and went straight to get our spot front and center in front of the stage! Just kidding, we went to the bar. Pabst for $2, not really a good deal, but whatevs (still abrevin!). I ended up purchasing 4 bottles of Pabst (4 too many, probably). Then "Hey Champ" started playing and I found the band to be very Death Cab For Cutieish. Not bad at all. I thought they were pretty good. After Hey Champ finished I went with Mitzsy (sp?) to go smoke a cig (abbreve till I die!!). I don't smoke cigarettes, but when I am intoxicated and someone offers me a cig I usually end up smoking (Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird would never have imagined my justification for this situation when he stated "never refuse a gift"). Side note: What do you say to the dentist when they ask, "do you smoke?" My imaginary reply, "Only when I'm drunk at concerts or parties, I know I shouldn't smoke it's bad for the health and all that jazz, but doc, I gotta stay cool, peer pressure always gets the best of me, I don't know what to do, I think I should see a psychiatrist, or a dentist." Anyways, Misstzy (sp?) and I talked about growing up Catholic while smoking cigarettes, that is funny.

After finishing up our riveting conversation we then went downstairs and watched "Copy" perform. Copy is composed of one guy with a keytar and a computer. The stage presence of Copy is pretty much non-existent. Might as well just put in his CD, because there is no reason to watch this guy "perform." He stands in one place and does a shoulder-shake-head-shake type dance move the whole time. Copy did not say any memorable lines during his performance as well, the performance was (un)unforgettable. The music was fun though and one guy in the crowd was entertaining.

I'm not exactly sure what happened during the set change between Copy and Natlie Portmans, I'm thinking we just stood near the front, but one can never be too sure of these things, memories are mailable. So something happened (stood near the front possibly, went to the restroom possibly, met some sweet folks possibly) and then Natalie Portmans Shaved Head came out and played some music. They were good. This was my second time witnessing a NPSH show, the first was at Sasquatch! This show was just as good I felt. High energy, catchy songs, interesting clothes, these are what I hope for at a NPSH show. As the set ended somehow a conversation was created between myself and an attractive female who works for the Portland Mercury. The conversation was pretty interesting. I was quite drunk at this point and when I get this drunk I think that sarcasm is just hilarious!! Don't get me wrong, sarcasm can be funny, but using tons of sarcasm with a girl you just have met may be the wrong approach. I don't know, the conversation may have went alright, but I definitely said some things that made me look like an idiot. You gotta love making yourself look dumb when you are trying to not look dumb!! (I'm pro looking dumb in the right situation, as Chris Rock said, "it's all about context"). The highlight of the whole night came when she (Portland Mercury female) asked me for my phone number. I realize this is a very big thing for girls to do, but in this moment in time the alcohol definitely got the best (worst?) of me. So she (Portland Mercury female) asks for my phone number and name, and I say something to the effect of, "my name is Sean" and she asks how to spell it and I say "guess." Then she spells it incorrectly which I am perfectly ok with, I spell folks name's wrong all the time, just look at my impeccable spelling of Miztsy (sp?). Empathy folks, it is important in all aspects of life, probably one of the best lessons learned in the college of Business. I then tell her (female who works for/at the Portland Mercury, I felt I used the "Portland Mercury female" title quite a bit, time to start mixing it up) the correct spelling, and she says something like, "That looks like seen" and I say something dumb like, "that's funny I have not been called that since like Middle School." Seriously, what person says that sentence I just said in this situation? Also, one other key point in this little anecdote is that I never asked her (Portland Mercury artisan) for her name. Woooo! That's how you flirt ladies and gentleman! Never ask for a name or a phone number when she asks you for a name and phone number. I should have my own dating television show!! How to never engage in relationships with Doctor (quack) Sean! Just to show how epic this conversation truly was, I later ended the conversation with the (always-fail) never-fail pickup line, "Go Beavers." Wow. I hope to meet said girl again sometime soon, we can always hope!! I then biked home and that was an adventure. Thank you Curtis for hooking up that bike light!


Thursday!!!

I saw Off With Their Heads play. It was awesome. During "I Am You" another man grabbed both of my shoulders and we both yelled, "Whether you admit it or not we're all the same, I'm every moment you wake up alone, I'm every time you're drunk and walking home, I'm all the tears you cry when you can't see, I'm everything you swore you'll never be." It was a truly magical experience. Off With Their Heads: Bringing self-loathing dudes together since 2007!!
Dear Landlord played, they were great. Great great great punk rock. The crowd was dancing, the band was tight, I danced with myself, everything was great!
Bomb The Music Industry played, they were way better than I anticipated. The whole room/livingroom/house was jam packed. One could barely move. I would imagine the sweat in that room was unmatched by any other venue/club/whatever in Portland on that Thursday (although I have heard this "Fix" Hip-hop night club thing on Thursday nights is pretty rad). I'm not a big fan of the music Bomb The Music Industry creates (Its Ska, and I can only pick it up for so long, ha ha ha ha huh?), but I must admit their live show is great.

Friday!!

I went out on the town with my friend Samantha and a rather large crew of Oregon State folks. I only knew 3 of the folks in the pack but that is OK. The night was pretty fun. The first stop was a bar called "Henrys" that has a swanky (this is a positive word right? I'm using it in a positive way, I think) pool table area upstairs. Two people were celebrating their birthdays on this particular night. A girl named Brittany (sp?) and a guy named Andrew. My friend Samantha ended up getting really drunk, that was funny. Samantha's friend Kelly was there, that was a downer. I would like to describe Kelly but I'm not sure if I could give a righteous description. Lets just say she is not one of the sharpest tools in the shed, she is the tool that broke about 3 days after you bought it, she looks nice and all but she is useless (Oh man, that is a terrible thing to say, I probably should not say that).
After Henry's we went to club Aura (I think, it was some club on Burnside by Everyday Music). This place was terrible. I am not a fan of dance clubs, I am not a fan of meat markets, it's just not my bag. Terribly music mixed with people wearing clothing that is thought to be fashionable, I try not to judge (The whole No Envy, No Jealously, No Hate concept) but when I am put inside these so called "clubs" the inner jaded sociologist comes out. I instantly dislike folks, it's an environment that brings out my negativity. I left club Aura about 30 minutes after entering. One entertaining thing did happen though, a 21 or 22 female was having her Bachelorette party and one of my friends Andrew put a shot underneath his belt and the Bachelorette took a shot from his pants, that was funny (this was the Bachelorettes idea). I wanted to yell, "Too soon, Don't do it, Reconsider, Read some literature" to the Bachelorette but I wasn't sure she would get the joke. I then went home!

Saturday!!

Played two tennis matches, lost them both!!! Tried to incorporate the motto, "If you're winning act like you've won before, if you're losing act like you're enjoying it!" The matches were pretty fun even though I lost both.

Oh snap, so I just heard the Cold War Kids in the tv show "Entourage," and Entourage used the exact same song and clipped the song almost exactly the same as I did for a radio segment I made a while back. I thought I was a true original (Like Budweiser), turns out I'm a great artist! Here is the link to the radio segment:

http://www.archive.org/details/Kbvr-StoryTime

it turned out pretty shitty, should have done a bit more editing, they can't all be winners, or something.

Keep winning, or something

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Enjoy life, or act like you're enjoying it!